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philliamwrites · 3 years

Text

koi no yokan

Fandom: Genshin Impact

Pairing: Kazuha / Aether

Tags: boys kissing, slight angst with happy ending, simping aether, practice sparring

Words: 2k

Summary: “A healthy mind in a healthy body,” Kazuha said, crossing the little circle they used as their practice area to the maple tree where they left their stuff. He took a dark cloth from his backpack and began wiping his body. Aether looked pointedly at the clear sky as if checking if one of Baal’s bolts would spontaneously flash and smite them. “Whatever thoughts trouble you will affect your performance and slowly but steadily deteriorate your physical capabilities.”

“Did the wind tell you that?” Aether wasn’t really into the idea that the gentle breezes cooling their hot skin spilt all his troubles. Be it his mourning for his absent sister or how horny he was for Kazuha. “Maybe the wind should just mind its own business.”

Notes: Inspired by @jeruki's fanart. My twitter: @philliam, my ko-fi: philliam

koi no yokan(恋の予感) (n.) lit. "Premonition of Love"; the sense one can have upon first meeting another person that the two of them are going to fall in love. It is the feeling that future love is inevitable.

In his journey through Teyvat, Aether had seen a lot of things. Dragons, assassins, sentient flowers shooting their frozen or burning seeds at him which never made for a funny joke when he and his party sat around the campfire in the cool evenings. Catboys grown into men who paid their taxes and lived a humble life near calm Springvale. Name it and Aether had seen it.

But Kaedehara Kazuha was something else entirely. When he fought, it was hard to look away. He had a dancer’s grace and a seemingly unerring instinct for what his opponent would do next. His sword wasn’t simply a weapon he swung to cut through enemy lines. It was part of him. Like Lumine completed Aether, Kazuha was only fully himself with a weapon in his hand. This kind of commitment Aether only knew from Xiao, but Kazuha made his devotion for battle look divine; so much purer. Almost innocent in a way that did not speak of foolishness or guilelessness or the innocence of a child that simply waited to be consumed by the world. Kazuha’s innocence was something honest, linked to the making at the heart of the world.

He looked happiest with his sword slicing through the air. He looked graceful plunging from the skies like a hawk pouncing to catch its prey. He looked deliciously fuckable with his hitatare slipping off his shoulders and revealing smooth, white skin glistening with sweat. Aether had noticed a little scar winking at him whenever the fabric slipped and wondered how it would taste like near that elegant curve where Kazuha’s chest turned to solid, firm abs. He imagined leaning over and tasting Kazuha’s skin and suck—

A harsh blow swiped his feet from under him. The world spun and for a moment Aether was flying again, soaring through the sky before golden eyes flashed in malice and his sister was taken from him. The reality of Lumine being absent would come to Aether in flashes. He knew it to be so, but he could not feel it to be true except in these sudden bursts of realisation. The light of that strange, unthinkable truth would dazzle him for a moment and then it would be gone again, a fleeting sense of terrible loss. The pain almost always felt the same, and all he could do in that moment was take it, endure the unbearable and bear it.

It ended as quickly as it stared. Aether’s back hit the hard ground, the impact punching the breath out of his lungs. He stared up at the beautiful crimson sky stretching overhead—red like so many things in Inazuma which was fitting for the country governed by a goddess with a taste for blood.

But then, Kazuha’s even more beautiful face bent over him.

“Focus, Aether,” he said, offering his hand. Aether imagined pulling Kazuha down next to him where they would roll in the dirt like two puppies, drunk on adrenaline and intoxicated with the addicting taste of defiling these sacred lands where the cries of helpless, innocent men would never be heard over the ever-present roar of thunder. Where neither of them was welcome.

Instead, he allowed Kazuha to pull him back up on his feet, slick skin against slick skin, with a swift ease that left little room for imagination how else he could manhandle Aether. He swallowed, his mouth dry.

Kazuha exhaled softly, and even in that companionable silence Aether had grown used to, it was loud enough to catch his attention. “Where are your thoughts, Aether?” Kazuha asked.

Aether kicked some pebbles. He could hardly confess how he imagined sucking Kazuha off. Somehow he didn’t think someone as versed, with a soul consumed by wanderlust like Kazuha, would like to hear that. So he simply shrugged, inspecting the hilt of his wooden practice sword as if it could be held accountable for his lack of focus.

“Oh, you know,” he said, shrugging. “Archons and Visions and the like. The usual stuff.”

Kazuha’s eyebrows rose. Aether held his stare for a long minute but ended up turning away first. Somehow he didn’t believe secrets could be kept hidden for too long from those keen scarlet eyes, and while he wouldn’t mind presenting his body to him, he wasn’t too comfortable bearing his very soul to someone he’d known for less than a month. He wondered if that even mattered. He had let Kaeya rail him in much shorter time than that.

“A healthy mind in a healthy body,” Kazuha said, crossing the little circle they used as their practice area to the maple tree where they left their stuff. He took a dark cloth from his backpack and began wiping his body. Aether looked pointedly at the clear sky as if checking if one of Baal’s bolts would spontaneously flash and smite them. “Whatever thoughts trouble you will affect your performance and slowly but steadily deteriorate your physical capabilities.”

The wind picked up, tossing Aether’s hair left and right so it came even more loose after their sparring. He was sure his mind played tricks on him, but somewhere in the distance it sounded like Venti’s clear, bell-like laughter. If this was his weird way of trying to set him up, Aether was not happy with it.

“No, you just did.” Kazuha finished cleaning himself, but was in no apparent hurry to tie up his hitatare. When he looked back up at Aether, his smile was a little mischievous but still gentle, and Aether wanted to kiss that stupid grin away. He flopped down next to Kazuha. Dry maple leaves rustled under his body and he took one in his fingers, turning it this and that way just so he could observe the crimson and stall time.

If he met the Raiden Shogun and she didn’t have the answers he desired, then what? How much longer would he have to journey, to tread foreign countries and dangerous lands until he found what Lumine needed him to see? Why was this arduous task better suited than simply telling him? The only logical answer was that during her own travels, Lumine had grown to not trust him in a way only she understood and couldn’t confide in him. The thought closed like a cold fist around Aether’s heart. There was nothing logical about that, for if Lumine chose to hide her heart from Aether, where would that leave him? Loneliness spread like a dark stain inside him, a horror that stole his breath and tightened his chest. Black dots danced across his vision. Aether noticed his body moving without his will, he sat up, afraid he might suffocate. His heart. His heart wasn’t in his chest anymore. It was in his throat, making it hard to breathe. Just thinking she doesn’t need me, Lumine is gone forever and all I have loved, I have loved alone—

A warm hand grasped his, squeezing his fingers painfully until his splintering mind reassembled to the present. Aether stared at Kazuha with wide eyes, filled with horror, with fear, he just couldn’t understand how anyone bore that loneliness without a twin, without another part of their soul bearing the harsh world with them and give comfort and respite.

“Aether?”

Aether flinched, only noticing then how close Kazuha hovered near his face. When he looked down, he saw how his golden strands were caught between Kazuha’s slender fingers.

“There was a maple leaf in your hair,” Kazuha said, not taking his eyes away from Aether.

“Oh.” Aether’s reeling thoughts momentarily halted at this whimsical observation, so simple and apart from his anxious feelings. He looked up at the grand tree above them, crying red leaves. “Really?”

Kazuha still looked at him. A gentle tug lowered Aether’s head back down.

“No,” he said, and then kissed him. His soft lips brushed against Aether’s once, then twice and then he pressed his mouth to his, pushing Aether to the solid, hard ground. One leg stole between Aether’s, pressing a knee against his crotch, and Oooh. Until now, Aether had thought Kazuha to be soft and restrained, a man more servant to the voice of nature than his own desires. But there was nothing soft or restrained about the way he pinned Aether to the ground now, stole his breath and swallowed all those little huffs and moans, making Aether go crazy with lust.

Swift fingers dug into his bare waist. Aether was looking forward to the bruises he’d see blossoming the next morning. Their bodies pressed together hard; Aether arched his back, hoping that if he just willed it hard enough, he would become one with Kazuha and fill that gnawing black hole inside him. Kazuha reached out and put his thumb to Aether’s jawline. The tips of his fingers brushed the hollow of his throat and pushed against the pulse point where Aether’s blood visibly thundered in exalting beats against his skin.

Kazuha’s tongue darted across Aether’s lower lip. Willingly, Aether opened his mouth, longing to savour his taste and finally quench his thirst for the exquisite being that Kaedahara Kazuha was.

But Kazuha remained still, their mouths inches away from each other, each inhaling the other’s breath. Aether opened his eyes, meeting Kazuha’s that had turned so much darker. Wilder.

“You don’t even know what you do to people, do you?” he mumbled against Aether’s lips. His nose grazed his cheek as he dove for Aether’s jawline, his neck, mapping Aether’s face with his lips and teeth. Aether remembered Kazuha saying once that he smelled like stars, and wondered how that worked.

“What—“ Aether exhaled a long, shuddering breath. “—do you mean?” He tried to buck up into Kazuha, to create some delicious friction between them, but Kazuha’s grip around his waist was like iron. Aether whined, but Kazuha made with one, sharp bite pretty clear that whatever happened would only happen on his volition.

“The way you move, the way you look and think no one notices.” Amusement stole into Kazuha’s voice. “Or might you think only I don’t notice?”

“I am anything but subtle,” Aether acknowledged, planting a kiss on Kazuha’s temple. He chuckled against Aether’s skin. “And you don’t necessarily make it easier, fighting like this.” His hands sneaked inside Kazuha’s hitatare, fingers trembling with excitement spread against his warm chest.

Kazuha inhaled sharply. His own fingers trailed a path up Aether’s waistline, nails scratching the sensitive skin and sending shivers all over his body. “Look who’s talking. It’s hard focusing on anything else with you walking around like this.”

Aether laughed, dark and rich. “It’s my pleasure.”

“No.” Kazuha tugged the fabric of Aether’s black collar down and kissed his neck. “It’s mine.”

Aether didn’t know how long they stayed like this, cradled against the maple tree’s trunk, growing drunk on kisses and lust and the taste of each other until their lips were bruised. At some point, they had dozed off under the setting sun that made way to twinkling stars that winked at them in mischief. Only they knew the secrets and confessions they shared, absolving one another from their darkest sins.

“I know you seek your sister,” Kazuha said, studying the joints and bumps on Aether’s fingers before he brought them to his lips. “We both follow steps of people dear to us, choosing to ignore we only run after shadows. I think that is why my soul refuses to leave you.”

Familiar pain throbbed in Aether’s chest, but where it once was sharp and overwhelming, it now had softened to a dull song. Bearable. “I’m sure one day we’ll catch up to them.” He intertwined his legs with Kazuha’s, felt the warmth radiate off his body. “Together.”

#genshin impact #genshin #ao3 #philliamwrites #genshin impact kazuha #genshin impact aether #genshin impact kaedahara kazuha #kazuha x aether #kazuther #genshin impact kazuha x aether #genshin impact kazuther

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drangues · 3 years

Note

I hope you’re right, but the future remains to be seen. On the upside, I’m finally gonna be able to see my therapist again! Which is good because I can finally report back on how my meds are doing. Also nooo I’m sorry your teacher is a Fool, that sucks. They clearly don’t know Good Kitty Doodles when they see them. Anyways, YEAH their dynamic is one of my favorites, they’re like. The definition of the vitriolic best buds trope, I feel like? (Nyanon, 1/7)

And it is a bit annoying when people reduce them to Kunikida hating Dazai and Dazai mocking Kunikida, because like you said, that’s part of it!!! But they also trust each other a lot, Dazai genuinely believes that Kunikida is a good man and I do think he tries to base a lot of his morals off of Kunikida’s (and Oda and Atsushi and Fukuzawa, but this isn’t about them), and I think that, while he finds Dazai’s antics annoying, Kunikida very clearly trusts and cares about him? (Nyanon, 2/7)

Sure he thinks he could take things more seriously, but he trusts in his ability to get the job done when it needs to happen, and he even plays into his antics a few times! That fic does sound like them though, Dazai being Extra and Kunikida being exasperated because “you’re dying and this isn’t a manga (unless we break the fourth wall)??? Please focus on staying alive so you can actually confess to the brat.” I love the two of them so much. (Nyanon, 3/7)

Moving on a bit, I seem to have bad luck with friends??? If they don’t randomly stop talking to me if they’re online friends (not for mean reasons, contact just tapers off), then I’ve has like. Physically abusive friends and friends who lied to me and took advantage of how gullible I was as a kid? I’d hope I get a friend like that but at this rate I’ve accepted my lot as a hermit. I am an introvert though, so I guess it’s fair. Back to BSD, though! (Nyanon, 4/7)

I BET OLD ATSUSHI GETS IT FROM FUKUZAWA, he’s been taught his Ways. And Atsushi is probably the one giving people hugs half the time, he’s touch starved and very nice to hold and be held by, again, like a cat- Speaking of, at least it’s a nice rent free thought and not something Super Weird like the theme song of a kids show (yes I hate having songs stuck in my head). But yeah, poor thing needs hugs, preferably from the rest of the ADA when he’s feeling inadequate. (Nyanon, 5/7)

I want them to tell him how much he means to them and shower him with love and affection. And listen, Atsushi is a Literal catboy but he isn’t anywhere near as chaotic as Dazai is, he isn’t a sadist, he isn’t a sugar addict, he isn’t,, The Tanizaki Family (TM), as far as Kunikida is concerned it’s a dream come true. The fact that he actually does try his best and take on extra work when Kunikida is overwhelmed is just a bonus. (Nyanon, 6/7)

Also Atsushi is an indulgent big brother who says fuck gender norms, he adores Kyouka to bits and if she wants him to model some fashion that she likes then he isn’t gonna say no. Anyways, moving on to another Scenario Concept: I’m reading a chat fic right now, so how do you think that’d go with BSD? I know they aren’t action stories but they’re always great if you find a good one,,, I feel like there’d be pictures of Atsushi as a tiger are being thrown around at lightspeed. (Nyanon, 7/7)

WOOO HELL YEAH IM GLAD YOU CAN GET BACK TO YOUR THERAPIST!! make sure to take not of EVERYTHING all right?? dont reduce to “eh it’s fine” S M H

and yes!!! i also hate how theyre reduced like that, though we also got the anime adaption to blame here because they really love to Crank That Part Of The Dynamic up, so the fans are not TOO much to blame. Plus as you said, they trust each other a lot clearly. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO MAN FUCK ALL YOUR FRIENDS YOUVE HAD SO FAR S M H, i hope the abusive ones Rot In Hell they did not deserve to do that to you i swear. i understand if this makes you be more closed off but please dont let that hinder you from experiencing the true beauty of people that actually care!!! relationships/friendships take time to build so just have patience im sure youll get someone soon!! i believe in you!!

man you have songs stuck in your head?? mood, i feel that, it’s pretty hard for me to have Something stuck in my head for too long because of how many different thoughts my brain spits out constantly, it’s like several tabs open with many of them playing different sounds it’s all a M E S S but i like it uwu

atsushi is the Least weird in the ADA and kunikida appreciates him, im sure kunikida is the type to say something caring in a threatening voice and then play it off as something Logical like “make sure to not overwork yourself- good health is important for good work ethics”

i’m sure atsushi would feel weird being shoved feminine stuff in his face at first, but because he cant say and loves kyouka to bits he would sit through it and start actually liking it because really, why Not? Whats Wrong Exactly? nothing. thats the point.

I WANT A CHATFIC OF THE ADA LIKE FROM WHEN ATSUSHI FIRST GETS HIS PHONE AND ALL THE CHATFICS THERE MAN (though except for all those intense ass arcs man i like fics where i ignore the canon arcs that happened because F U C K that personally, bsd has VERY emotionally draining arcs imo and mainly the reason i stuck around is cause of the characters OSGDHJSK)

#anon #ask #ask anon #anon ask #nyanon #nyatsushi anon #bsd

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wizardessheart-sideb · 3 years

Photo

Image ID: A chapter image done in the style of Wizardess Heart. A large, off-white imagine with a guy on it. He’s wearing a dark gray uniform. There’s a lavender bar over him that reads “Tsukasa Kuze.” The rest of the text reads “Main Story” and “Chapter 8: Complications” /End ID]

Chapter summary: Tsukasa does his best to attend classes, but he ends up cutting the night short.

“Good morning, everyone.” I walked into our kitchen, ready for a big breakfast. I was so giddy yesterday that I may have forgotten to have dinner. Aika looked up from her place at the table and smiled. Dorian was at his usual station, the stove. I looked around, but there was no familiar mop of lavender curls. “Where’s Isabelle?” I asked.

“She wasn’t feeling really good, so she’s staying home today,” Aika explained.

“Oh no. I hope nothing going around the dorms.” I shuddered. I didn’t want Isabelle to have the same thing Tsukasa did. Although, wait. How would Isabelle have it before me? I’ve spent the most time with Tsukasa. If anyone was getting sick, it would be me. Maybe it’s something unrelated.

“I mean, if we want to be technical, dorms are a breeding ground for se-”

“Dorian, knock it off, they didn’t mean those kinds of infections. Jeez,” Aika cut him off. Dorian just snickered and handed me a plate.

“Thank you. But yeah, I’m worried something’s going around. Tsukasa’s not been feeling well the past few days,” I informed them.

“That’s a bummer. But I’m sure he’ll be fine. It’s just a little cold, probably,” Aika said.

“That’s what I hope too. I know he takes medicine to improve his immune system, but he’s been feeling ill the past few days,” I sighed.

“He’s taking what?” Dorian asked.

“Uh, I don’t know what it is exactly and neither does he, but it’s something to improve his immune system.” Maybe it wasn’t even a cold. Maybe his body was just out of sorts.

“You’re telling me he doesn’t know his own medication?” Dorian put his spatula down and turned to face me, looking incredulous.

“I mean, it probably has a name, but we were talking about it and he said he didn’t know what was in it, exactly. But he never said the name so I don’t know what it is,” I defended us. Aika frowned.

“I think I know what you’re talking about, though. We’ve ran into Azusa a few times when he brings Tsukasa his medication and it’s quite the set-up,” she commented, sipping on her cocoa.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“The bottles it comes in don’t look like they were meant for medicine. It honestly looks like he had some bottle lying around and put the stuff in there and topped it with that special syringe lid thing,” she explained.

“So you guys have seen it but you don’t know what it is?”

“I’m not a pharmacist and besides, when we run into Azusa, our first thought is to flirt with him, not ask him what his brother’s medication is. And I’m not the one taking it, so why should I know what it is?” Dorian retorted.

“Okay, I guess that’s fair, although I’m reluctant to say that,” I relented.

“You should check with Tsukasa and see if he’s had his dose lately,” Aika said. She glanced over to her boyfriend. “He usually gets it around this time, doesn’t he, Dorian?”

“Now that you mention it, I think you’re right. It’s about this time Azusa comes around with it. At least, he was hauling it around here this time last month and the month before that,” Dorian said.

“I’ll check in with Tsukasa on that. Thanks for the heads up, you guys,” I told them. Dorian smiled at me.

“Of course. We both want your boyfriend to be happy,” he said.

“B-Boyfriend?! How did you know?!” I demanded. Dorian just smirked and got his own plate of food, sitting at the head of the table.

“That’s my special power.. I’m in tune with attraction, love, lust, all of that. And there’s a lot of that between you two,” he said teasingly. I expected Aika to cut in, telling him to stop joking around, but she did. I glanced at her and she didn’t look irritated with him or grinning like she was in on the joke. So he’s serious...

“I, um, well yeah, we got together last night,” I informed them.

“On the Love Holiday? That’s so cute!” Aika squealed.

“Thanks. When did you two get together?” I asked hurriedly. Please let them change the subject. My face feels like it’s going to melt at any moment! Aika and Dorian’s faces fell, eyes cast down to the table.

“Oh, uh, it’s a little complicated,” Aika said. “I don’t really remember when.”

“It was around the Winter Holiday, I think? We just celebrate it in November, but I don’t remember either. We were young when we got together,” Dorian told me.

“I had just turned twelve when we got engaged,” Aika added.

“You got engaged at twelve?!”

“I don’t know if you know this, but we’re both very dramatic people,” Dorian said. “We decided go big or go home. So we were engaged from that point on.”

“Not to mention… Well, I come from a pretty abusive home. Dorian was an excuse to get out of my home and get to safety. If I hadn’t run off with him, chances are I’d be dead right now. I don’t think my abusers would have killed me on purpose, but head injuries can go wrong so easily…” Aika’s voice was trembling before she trailed off. Dorian walked over to the table and gently rubbed her back.

“But you’re here now, and you’re safe. We did the right thing, running away,” he told her quietly. My heart ached for her. I got up and gave Aika a hug. Part of me wanted to ask Dorian if his backstory was the same, but I felt that maybe it’d be a bit too much. After all, this is the most I’ve ever heard about their lives outside of school.

“Um, did I come at a bad time?”

I looked over to the door to see Tsukasa standing in the doorway, a frown on his face. Aika quickly straightened up, pushing me and Dorian off to the sides.

“No, everything’s fine,” Aika told him. The fake smile on her face was unnerving, but I tried to ignore it, going over to Tsukasa and giving him a hug.

“Morning, Tsukasa.” Dorian was back in dad mode, smiling and getting up to go to the stove. Tsukasa’s concerned face quickly turned to a genial one.

“Good morning, everyone,” he said.

“Do you want some breakfast? We’ve always got enough,” Aika asked.

“No, thank you. I just came here to get my partner.” Tsukasa’s eyes wandered over me and he smiled. I couldn’t help but beam. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Dorian and Aika smirking.

“Go on ahead. I’ll take care of your dishes,” Dorian told me. I quickly thanked him and after grabbing my stuff, Tsukasa and I were off to class. His fingers laced themselves through mine, his hand soft and warm. I squeezed it. When I glanced over at him, his face looked paler than usual.

"How are you feeling?" I asked him.

"... Not my best. But since I missed yesterday, I wanted to try and make it through today," he replied.

"Could I convince you to just go back to your dorm to rest?" As much as I appreciated him trying to make it through classes, he really should’ve been in bed resting. But he just shook his head.

"No. I already missed classes yesterday. I don't feel like I can afford to miss any more this week," he explained. I mean, he wasn’t completely wrong, but that didn’t stop me from worrying.

"Okay, but promise me you'll go home if you start feeling worse," I did my best to sound fine. But really, I just wanted to march him right back to his dorm.

"I promise." He gave me a small smile and his hand squeezed mine reassuringly. I tried to push that worry from my mind and focus on other things. Viggo bickering with Fandamilia in class, working on my magic in class (and not failing the assignments!), sneaking notes to Tsukasa when professors had their backs turned. But every so often, the worry would bubble up and I’d steal a glance at Tsukasa. His face wasn’t getting any paler, but from his shoulders slouching and from the dead look in his eyes, it was obvious he wasn’t feeling any better.

Isabelle and Clive sat across from us during lunch, chatting heatedly and chomping down on fries. Even though Aika said she was ill, she seemed just fine. Maybe she just needed a mental health day. Tsukasa and I sat together, cuddling up as we ate. We were both quiet. I wasn’t in the mood to engage with them that much and surely Tsukasa felt the same.

“Clive STOP, you can’t keep spouting these ‘hot takes’ that make no damn sense,” Isabelle said angrily. Clive just rolled his eyes, but I could tell he was enjoying getting a rise out of her.

“I didn’t say I believed it, it’s just something I heard and it made me want to die,” he said.

“You’re still playing devil’s advocate,” she retorted. “Jeez. Saying you like catboys over foxboys isn’t classist... Tsukasa, are you okay? The topic’s not upsetting you, right? Because we can stop.” Glancing up at Tsukasa, he looked like a ghost.

“No, I’m fine,” he insisted. “I’m just feeling a little sick.”

“I’m sorry to hear that. Maybe you should go back to your dorm and rest,” Isabelle suggested.

“I don’t know…”

“Tsukasa, you really should,” I insisted. Maybe he’d listen to us. He sighed, looking down at his bowl of soup

“You’re right. I should go rest up,” he admitted.

“Here, I’ll walk you back to your dorm,” I offered. I went to get up, but Tsukasa stopped me.

“No, it’s fine. There’s not a lot of time left before classes start back up again. I don’t want you to be late because of me,” Tsukasa said. Oof…I didn’t want to say it, but he was right. If it was Nox’s class I could get away with it, but not when my next class was taught by Professor Schuyler. Tsukasa gave me quick hug before heading out. I really hope he feels better soon. I’m not strong enough yet to help in any significant way.

---

As soon as classes were over, I sprinted to the dorms, straight to Tsukasa’s room. Throngs of students heading back made it a little hard to run, but I managed to weave in and out until I got to Tsukasa’s suite. I knocked on the door.

“Come in.” Even his voice sounded exhausted. As soon as the lock clicked open, I shoved the door open and hurried over to Tsukasa’s bed. He was lying down on a bunch of pillows. He had blankets piled on him.

“Is there anything I can get you?” I asked him.

“No, it’s fine.” He reached out for me and I took his hand. I sat on the edge of his bed. “What did I miss in class?”

“We don’t have to worry about that right now. You need to rest.”

“I can do two things at once.” He cracked a small grin as I sighed and pouted.

“You’re going to be the death of me,” I told him quietly. I gently pushed some hair of his eyes. He smiled back at me. “How are you feeling?”

“Bad.” At least he was being honest with me. “I took some medicine to get my fever down, but it’s not gone yet.”

“Have you taken your normal medication yet? Should I get Azusa?” I asked.

“No!” I flinched; he’d never raised his voice at me ever. “Er, you don’t need to get him involved, I already sent him a message.”

“… Okay.” If that was how he was going to be, then fine. Tsukasa sighed, eyes wandering over to the wall.

“… I don’t want you to worry about me,” he told me.

“I’m going to worry about you no matter what. I’m your partner.”

“I know. But…” He looked up at the ceiling. “I already told Azusa. It’s fine.” But there was something off in his voice. Something in my gut was screaming at me that he wasn’t being truthful. And as much as I wanted to believe him, I couldn’t find it in me to do that. “I’ll be right back.”

I moved out of his way as he got out of bed and left the room. He really wasn’t getting better. But maybe his medicine would help.

I know he told me not to tell Azusa, but he needs help. I pulled out my Magic Notes and a pencil and quickly wrote a note to Azusa, telling him that Tsukasa really needed his immune system medication but also not to tell Tsukasa I sent him a message. I know we promised to be more open, but Tsukasa was sick. He had to worry about that and I didn’t want him to be angry about this on top of that. At least, that’s what I was telling myself. I sent the message off and shoved my things into my bag. A moment later, Tsukasa returned, looking even paler than he had left.

My heart ached as Tsukasa climbed back into bed. I carefully climbed over him and laid on the other side on the bed. We scooted closer together. One of my arms rested behind his neck and the other over him. Even through the blankets, I could feel his heat.

“I really hope you feel better soon,” I told him.

“I know. I do, too.”

“When you get better, why don’t we go on our first date?” Maybe I could lighten the mood a little bit. All this negativity probably wasn’t good for him, anyway.

“I’d like that. What do you want to do?”

“We could go into town and have dinner,” I suggested.

“There’s a really good cafe in Hidamari Market. We could go there.”

“Oh, that sounds like fun!” There was a pause. Tsukasa reached over and cupped my face, smiling warmly at me.

“I promise I’ll get better soon.” His voice was so serious it threw me off a bit. But I knew he just wanted to reassure me. He was probably frustrated with the situation.

“I know. I know you’ll get better.”

“I don’t want you to worry about me. I just want to make you happy,” he said, hand cupping my face. “I hope you know that.”

“I know. But I don’t want you to hide anything from me. You don’t have to put up a strong front with me, even if it comes from a good place,” I said. He nodded slightly.

“I really care about you.”

He leaned forward and in a moment, his lips were on mine. My body followed his lead, melting into him. His lips were soft and warm against mine. When he pulled away, I dived back in for another kiss. It was brief, but it wouldn’t be fair for him to be the only one initiating, would it? We pulled away again and I couldn’t stop smiling. My whole body felt jittery. There was a sweet silence between us, but I wanted to say something. I just wasn’t sure what.

“.. Um, I’m not contagious, by the way,” he mumbled.

“I wasn’t worried about that?!”

A pause. We burst out laughing, holding each other tighter. There was something exciting about this. We’d have so much more laughter and silly kisses and fun in our future. As the giggles quieted down and we snuggled, the butterflies in my stomach calmed down.

Slowly, Tsukasa fell asleep nestled against me. I was just about to nod off when a Magic Note came flying into the room. It got in my face and I grabbed it. Did Azusa already respond? But it’s so early in the morning?

But it was Azusa. And the note was addressed to me.

I’ll come over after my classes and give Tsukasa his medicine. It’s the very last dose of this batch and I’ll need help making a new one. Can I count on you to help?

Help. I could finally actually help Tsukasa out instead of just bring him homework and snuggle him. Not that I minded doing these things, but this was so much more substantial. Carefully, I removed myself from Tsukasa’s arms and wrote Azusa a quick response.

Yes. I’ll help you out.

#tsukasa kuze #tsukasa kuze: kind spirit #wizardess heart #wizardess fan route #long post

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x-exo · 3 years

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Hehe but why would I not do such nice things and reblog your amazing creations like ??? I must share, I must show love

Dhkadnsk I felt that xD and then shortly after we got wonho's comeback and I screamed because oh my gosh yesss!! This song is just flippen amazing, I really love that 80's vibe we are getting (it reminds me of songs my parents listen too from that time) and the dancing. I LOVE how just smooth he is dancing, apparently he wanted to appear like water for the dance and he pulled it off. I'm proud for both boys, they put out amazing works of art that has me both dancing and crying in the club

Exo wise, kyungsoo is amazing like you said, the way he is casual about his solo album talk is making me laugh but be excited like I'm curious what style he will go for? Sehun has a movie coming out soon I think (catboy for the win lol) and lastly chanyeol. Welp it seems to be an exo trend where the boys surprise us with something good and then they say "peace out" lol. This makes me laugh a bit, idk I'm weird cx but while I do wish we could have a bit something more from chanyeol (or him address the chaos from a while back) i hope he will do well at the military! It was going to happen soon for him and soon baekhyun so now nor never right?

Yeah I couldn't send an anon :c asks are on but not anon, not sure if it was a glitch on my end. But for mingyu, its getting a bit more chaotic if you have been catching up (I know you said you are taking a break which i support! I will miss seeing you active but take a break for sure! Your happiness and health is important and this news with mingyu is alot. Come back when ready of course! I'll be here and others as well!) But one thing for sure is pledis DID their job and put out an announcement! They confirmed one of the accusations to be false, they are working on getting things more cleared up and in the meantime mingyu is on a hiatus. Its a good step and I'm guessing for the more series stuff they are getting evidence and talking with everyone they can and put it out like starship did for kihyun. As a mingyu stan I'm happy one part is cleared up BUT this isn't far from being fixed which is what I'm seeing many fans say "oh we should have believed him in the first place" and I am sitting her confused because like no, it isn't? We don't know any of these idols, they are meant to just entertain us with music really as you said. They still need to clear up the first set of comments so I'm happy things are being done, its far from being finished so I'm staying in the middle still. All I know is there's the issue with mistranslations that also are causing problems

Ok i wrote alot I'm so sorry dnakdba but I hope you're doing good!! I may hope off on anon sometime in the future! Dont wanna bother you with shoving myself into your dms lol. Ps fudge kakao m as well

sorry again for taking ages to answer 😔😔 i’ve been away from here for a while but omg thank you again for being so nice :’)

I’ve been OBSESSED but like OBSESSED with Wonho’s Devil OMG it’s literally one of the best songs that have been released in the last few years HIS MIND ??????? i love it so much wow also CHANGKYUN all his songs are so good and mysterious and sexc and so him i love them so much (all the content i’ve been getting from him these past months... chef’s kiss!!)

Chanyeol is finally in war and Baekhyun is leaving next month! I’m happy they can take a break and focus on other things other than being idols tbh and they’ve prepared things for when they’re away! I’m really looking forward to every 27th of every month omg pcy and his big ass brain! i wonder what’s he prepared! also he’s got a station coming out tomorrow which i’m v excited about (even though sm for some reason won’t give him his well deserved solo but that’s to discuss another day smh...) ALSO DID YOU SEE OBSESSION XIÜMIN???? MY GOD the concept was tailored for him omg i’m so glad he knew we wanted him in there and he delivered!!!!

As for the mingyu thing...things have been kind of “cleared” out now but i feel weird still idk i’m still waiting for him to say something on the matter tbh idk if it’s ever gonna happen but..yeah but at the same time i miss seventeen and gose so much i hope they come back soon

BUT...

HOSHI

HOSHI!!!!!! omg hoshi ???????? i’m in love with spider and the mv and the concept it suits him so well AND THE CHOREO???? i can’t wait for studio choom and to see him perform it live on music shows (i think he’s going to attend a couple???) he looks so good and seems so happy to be releasing his music! nd also the seventeens hyping him up at any given chance??? we love to see it!

but anyways i hope you’re doing well too! and hope out of anon whenever you want to ☺️ also we got the songs back!!! yessss but still fuk kakao m for being petty

#ask

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inkribbon796 · 4 years

Text

Rules of the Game Ch. 1

Chapter 1: Angling the Deck

Summary: With the deck stacked so unfavorably against Dark, he decides to even the playing field a little bit.

A/N: Briefly touches on Logan dealing with stuff that I will touch on more in future fics. Like PTSD from a previous fic.

Chapters: 1, 2

He’d snuck out dozens of times to hang out with his friends late at night, it was almost routine and if his mom or siblings knew then they didn’t talk about it.

So a young fifteen-year-old boy snuck out of his mother’s small house and walked out into the streets, hoodie pulled down although he doubted many of his father’s friends would’ve recognized him by sight.

Deeper into downtown Brighton he met up with some of his friends to engage in some of their usual antics: spray painting and generally pissing off the locals.

So he snuck into an alleyway next to a cafe where two of his friends were already working on something. They had climbed onto a fire escape to get higher

“Hey, Paddy, yah piece ‘a shite,” one of the other teens threw him a spray can. “Took yeh ages.”

“I got here, didn’t I?” Paddy walked over to the bag.

“While yer down there, can yah pass me a blue?” His friend asked.

“Only if yah catch,” Paddy smiled and tossed the can up, perfectly landing in his hand.

They started joking and laughing, until a shrill ringing echoed through the alley. A man in a dark grey suit stood at the mouth of the alley, all four kids froze where they were.

“Pádraig,” Dark smiled, an expression that. “I’ve heard so much about you.”

“The hell yah want?” Paddy spat at him, looking for possible weapons or an exit.

Dark smiled at the young man, “Oh no, you have it all wrong, Mr. Brody. It’s what I can do for you.”

Chase walked into the main common area for the base. The atmosphere was tense, as if he’d just missed something. Logan was sitting with Patton in the corner of the main area, chair back against the corner of the room and a small tray table next to him with a cup of coffee. Patton was just happily talking to Logan who was leaning into him and reading a book.

Logan was always awake when Chase was up, which was a problem because Chase was a known insomniac and he often found Logan tucked away reading some book with Virgil sleeping against him or working on something with dark circles under his eyes.

He didn’t think Logan was sleeping, the Sides explained that he was having nightmares whenever someone asked, and it was hard for him to go to sleep afterward. His only hope was that he would find a method to deal with them in time.

Today looked like one of those bad afternoons, the kind where Logan didn’t talk about anything and bury his attention in a book or some project.

Marvin seemed a bit too eager to leave with Seán and Chase, all three of them in plain casual clothes, even if Marvin took forever to cast an illusion over his face to cover up the scars he’d gotten years ago. But eventually Chase got into his car with Marvin and Seán and they started driving.

Normally Chase stayed away from his ex, they’d been divorced for years, almost five years now and even before then Chase and Stacy had been having issues. Chase’s alcoholism and recklessness being chief among them. Chase was only allowed visitation to his kids if there was someone else with him. Even then Chase was sadly certain that his visits were only for his sake, not anyone else’s.

But Damien and Chase had talked about their families. Dark had been vague, but Chase hadn’t. It’d been a couple days since Damien had been unmasked as a manipulative, demonic mob boss . . . and Chase had put his family in danger by buying into the illusion.

So after a call to his ex that turned into an angry argument, he was driving over to talk in person.

Chase appreciated driving, he got to focus on something else. Halfway into their trip, uneasy tension in the car that was only kept back by random pop songs on the radio, Marvin spoke up.

“I think Logan’s got a fear ‘a knives now,” Marvin commented seriously as they drove, turning down the radio a bit. “Completely understandable, but something people should be aware ‘a so we don’t set him off.”

“Somethin’ happen?” Chase asked.

“Logan was inta the book he was reading an’ I was showin’ Ethan some of my knives, an’ my hand slipped. Thin’ hit the table an’ Logan stiffened like I’d thrown it at ‘im. Ran outta the room an’ didn’t come back fer a half an hour. When he did, it was with Patt.”

“What the fook was he doing spyin’ on Dark?” Seán demanded. “He almost died.”

“We know if he’s seein’ anybody ‘bout this?” Chase asked.

“Lo’s always kinda kept ta the Sides, I probably know more ‘bout Virgil than I do ‘bout him,” Marvin admitted. “Even if he was, I doubt he’d tell us right now.”

“Think kickin’ the shit outta Dark would help?” Seán asked, texting Stacy, warning her that they were getting closer.

“It’d make me feel better,” Marvin promised.

When they finally got to her house, Stacy was already at the front door. She glared at them as they got out of the car, “He sober?”

“Dry as one ‘a yer funnel cakes,” Marvin held up the paper. “Doc couldn’t be here ta speak fer himself.”

She took the paper which was a full drug and B.A.C test, which was the reason they’d come over at mid-day and not earlier. It was full of signatures to verify it from not just Chase and the other Septics, but Mark and Logan as well. Stacy read through it before turning to Chase, “Paddy’s out wit’ his friends, if he’s not back before yah leave there’s nothing I can do.”

“Okay,” Chase said, his mind remembering the last argument he’s gotten into with his eldest son. The thing that almost cut off even talking to his kids after the mess with Anti.

“First off, what were yah thinking?” She spat at Chase, starting to argue with him outside her house.

“I thought he was my friend,” Chase defended.

“Hey, look, he got all ‘a us, an’ who knows what other identities he was able ta get?” Seán cut in. “We all thought he was on level. We all fooked up, I was the one who told Chase ta help watch that asshole.”

“You guys don’t get ta let him off the hook either,” Stacy reminded. “This isn’t the first time he’s put his own bloody kids at risk. It was fine when it was the two of us, but yah folks weren’t here when he was drunk and blathering on ta everyone who would listen.”

“I wasn’t drunk when I was talking ta him,” Chase insisted.

“You’re not drunk now,” Stacy held up the paper. “But you’ve lied and been fucked on the job.”

“I’ve been sober for months!” Chase insisted.

“We have him tested regularly,” Marvin cut in, pulling out his phone and pulling up the record of test results that Henrik had given him access to. “The brainiacs keep a full digital record ‘a it, the only thin’ he’s got in his system is caffeine an’ nicotine. An’ you can’t blame the guy fer switchin’ one fer the other.”

“Fine,” Stacy allowed, turning to the front door. “Come in then.”

The instant they were inside, Marvin was tackled by Chase and Stacy’s two ten-year-old twins.

“Magic Man!” They cheered as they pulled on his coat.

The girl twin jumped up excitedly, two fistfuls of Marvin’s coat, “Show us a trick!”

“I wanna see a magic trick!” The boy twin repeated, pulling on the other side of his coat. Marvin smiled and summoned three small orbs of green fire and started moving them around and doing tricks with them.

He smiled at the other adults, “I’ve got the kiddos.”

“Don’t burn my house down,” Stacy ordered.

The boy’s eyes seem to glow in excitement, looking over at Marvin and the fireballs he had. “Give ‘em to me.”

“Not on yer life,” Marvin smiled at him.

“Hey Lills, hey Tee,” Chase smiled.

“Hey Daddy,” Lily smiled back at him.

“Tell Marvin ta give me the fire,” T.B demanded.

“No,” Chase already had this look of resigned exasperation as he looked at Stacy, “How do yeh manage?”

“I don’t give ‘em fire ta play wit’ and that usually works,” Stacy reminded sharply.

Marvin was left with the kids, showing them magic tricks — some with actual magic and others with just some slight of hand — as Seán and Chase went into the kitchen to talk.

The talk was a bit hostile as Chase explained the whole situation, but it calmed down after a while. They were just standing around talking. After a while they agree that Marvin would ward the house, and she’d call Chase or Seán if anything changed.

After that point, Stacy looked a bit uneasy, “So, I wasn’t gonna mention it, but yah guys seem actually serious ‘bout this.”

“We are,” Chase agreed. “I am.”

“So Paddy always sneaking off every night, and usually it’s not that big a deal since I know the boys, but he’s been coming home busted up sometimes and other times he doesn’t come back till after school the next day.”

“Yah know where he’s been goin’?” Chase asked.

“Which excuse yah want?” Stacy offered. “At this point I’ve heard ‘em all and then some. He even joked he’d joined a gang ta get me to drop the subject.”

“Has he?” Seán asked in concern. “There’s lots’a bad groups in the area.”

“I don’t know if his friends formed a gang or what, but I know it’s something dangerous because he came home with a busted finger, and said he sprained it.”

“How long has this been goin’ on?” Chase asked.

“Bout a week, I’d reckon,” Stacy admitted.

“Mind if we follow the kid fer a bit,” Seán offered. “If it’s just a bunch of kids taggin’ a wall or pushing some cars, we’ll just slap ‘em on the wrist an’ send ‘em home. If not, then we’ll see what we can do from there.”

“If yah boys are already going out,” Stacy agreed.

“Right, I’ll get Marv started,” Seán stood up. “Hey, Catboy an’ his Magic Hands, we got a job.”

When Seán walked back into the living room, Marvin had the two twins around him, one had his cape and Lily had her hand in one of his magical top hats.

“I think I got it,” Lily smiled and pulled out a very confused and angry American opossum from the hat. Marvin startled in surprise. “I got it!”

The opossum hissed and wiggled in her grip. Marvin drove and shoved the marsupial back into the hat and took it away from her. “Good job,” he smiled nervously. “Well, I gotta get back to work.”

“No!” The both yelled at Marvin.

“I’ll be back, just need ta check something an’ I can do one more magic act,” Marvin promised and Chase knocked on Paddy’s door. Seán was walking around the house with Stacy to check for anything suspicious.

“So,” Marvin started as they walked into the room. “Yeh want the good news, the bad news, or the funny news?”

“Good,” Chase sighed, walking over to Paddy’s closet and quickly looking for anything out of place. Like bullet holes in one of the shirts or a strangely immaculate 1,000 dollar suit that a fifteen-year-old who ran around town at night and wrote graffiti had no reason to own . . . unless he worked for Dark.

“So Lills is definitely gonna be a powerful magician one day, if she isn’t already, she’s got way more potential than any kid I’ve seen in years,” Marvin praised confidently as Chase tried to disturb the least amount of things possible, looking under his son’s bed as Marvin continued. “I mean who summons a demon rat from a hat instead ‘a rabbit?”

“Pretty sure opossums aren’t rats,” Chase reminded.

“Hey, I didn’t go to school for biology so I could use it,” Marvin huffed. “I got it so I could pervert the laws ‘a nature.”

“Yeah, no need ta remind me,” Chase muttered under his breath as he stood up.

“What was that?” Marvin glared at him.

“Nothin’,” Chase told him sharply. “Kay, his room’s clean.”

“What should I use?” Marvin shrugged.

Chase reached into the laundry basket and pulled out a dark red hoodie at the bottom of, tossing it to the magician. Then Chase grabbed the entire laundry basket and dragged out of the room and towards the laundry room. “So what’s the bad news?”

“Anti wasn’t blowing smoke up yer ass, she’s powerful an’ she needs direction,” Marvin said.

“No,” Chase denied, setting the basket down a little harder than necessary. “Even if it was up ta me, Stacy is gonna say no.”

“It’s either us or the villains,” Marvin reminded. “An’ I’m sick and tired of them having a stranglehold over this whole place. We made a huge strike against Dark, an’ now we gotta focus on Anti.”

Chase wiped his hands down his face, “Just, ask Stacy, I can’t say yes or no either way.”

“Fine,” Marvin snapped. “She’ll say no, but fine.”

“What was the funny news?” Chase tried to change the conversation.

“Tee’s got a new nickname,” Marvin answered. “Paddy an’ his friends gave it ta him.”

Chase held his breath a little bit, “What is it?”

“Toss Boy,” Marvin smiled.

“Why—” Chase started, but he paused. “Yah know, it’s not as bad as the last one.”

“Paddy competes with Roman fer givin’ the best nicknames,” Marvin smiled.

The three Septics eventually had to leave, Paddy still gone and Stacy agreeing to call if he showed back up while Marvin and the two other two Septics went back to the base with Chase’s son’s hoodie to start a tracking spell, Marvin more than a bit salty that Stacy had denied him taking Lily under his wing as an apprentice. But he was joking around while he worked.

“Here we go,” Marvin had Paddy’s hoodie in one had and a large needle in the other.

“We need anythin’ else?” Seán was already back in his Jackieboy costume.

“An apprentice,” Marvin reminded.

“No,” Chase told as Chase and Jackie began following the magician out into the city to find Paddy.

Marvin huffed and they started following Paddy’s trail.

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takaraphoenix · 6 years

Text

Riiight! So I just watched season 6 of Voltron: Legendary Defender (or as I like to call it season 4B...). SPOILERS ahead, obviously. But have my personal opinion and knee-jerk reactions to it!

(The following is a chronological list of my reactions, followed by a summarization of my thoughts.)

Lotor calling the Paladins his colleagues is very precious to me. Also, daaamn I really do ship Lotor and Allura a lot by now.

Hunk. Having interest in Galra history. Hunk being the engineer and getting to boss the others around. Just, generally, Hunk having a speaking-roll beyond being a comic relief is... such a nice change of pace. Hng. HUNK IS SUCH A BOSS IN THE FIRST EPISODE.

OH GODS FINALLY KEITH GETS TO ASK ALL THE QUESTIONS. Do not talk about this later, Krolia. Nothing is more important than the truth, gods damn it.

THEY NEARLY KISSED. ALLURA AND LOTOR NEARLY KISSED. AND GOT COCKBLOCKED. Hng. I feel teased about that.

Lance calling himself “a third wheel”. I mean, seriously, first he stumbles in with Hunk and Pidge, pointing out how he is not really part of Team Punk, then he calls himself that. Ah. I live for the brief moments of Langst that we get.

I am very appeased by the “This is how Krolia ended up on Earth” flashbacks. THAT was very high on my checklist of things this season had to include.

Lance referring to himself as “a boy from Cuba”. I really appreciate that, because I fucking hate it when shows publish external canons – through tweets and interviews and side-books – but don't actually acknowledge and vocalize said canons on the actual show. I don't like having to do homework when watching a show. I want my canons on the show.

BABY KEITH IS FUCKING ADORABLE.

Keith adopting a fluffy space-wolf is just all the yes.

So Keith is now two years older than Lance due to time-works-differently-here-shenanigans during his and Krolia's mission, did I read that right? That's nice. I approve.

Team-bonding? I approve. Altean D&D? Very weird, but why not. But I did not expect Lance to be a party-pooper. Would have thought he'd have played human D&D with Hunk and Pidge at the Garrison.

CATBOY LANCE CATBOY LANCE CATBOY LANCE.

Dear Allura, please fucking finally talk to Lance. You clearly have no feelings for him and the mice had literally spelled it out for you that Lance has feelings for you. Talk to him. Tell him there is nothing and never will be anything. So he can properly move on. This pining and weirdness and inappropriate flirting is highly unprofessional and annoying and now, thanks to new OTP, also really super pointless.

TALLER KEITH FOR THE WIN. SERIOUSLY. It's been driving me fucking insane that 90% of fanart artists in this fandom draw Keith like one whole head shorter than Lance, while in fucking canon, the two are essentially the same height. So with him actually being taller than Lance, maybe finally things will be... more evened out. -__-

Nooooooo. Fuuuuck thiiiis. Even though “Altean managed to escape and hide on a different planet” makes a lot of sense. Seriously why would all Alteans be dead. I like Lotor, I am not approving of the “It was all a ruse” thing. He's been so good lately. Fuck canon, I live in denial.

THAT'S TOO MANY SHIROS. WAY TOO MANY SHIROS. WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON. Did Haggar seriously clone herself an army of Shiros...? Whut.

WHAT IS THAT THING ON KEITH’S CHEEK. Because by logic alone, it can’t be a “Galra mark” as everyone claims. First of all, the Galra don’t... usually... have marks? That’s the Alteans? And secondly, that’s kinda not how genetics work? You can’t just suddenly “activate” that half of your DNA?? All the other half-Galra just look a certain way. You can’t just... turn it on. It’s a scar, right? Because it is right below where the certainly very hot laser-sword was pressing down on Keith. And in design, color and making, it looks very much like the scar Shiro has running over his nose.

Kiddo!Keith is even more adorable than baby!Keith.

So... they actually killed Shiro off. Okay. Did not expect that. Thought he was just “locked away” in controlled!Shiro's mind or something. Straight-up dead? Did not see that coming.

Argh. The whole fucking sudden “Oh by the way Lotor fucking experimented on Alteans and killed a whole lotta bunch” pisses me off so muuuch. I like Lotor. I ship him and Allura. Why would you do this to me, DreamWorks?? I so rarely ship canon straights. And when I do, you turn half of the ship into a genocidal crazy scientist... hng... It’s the quintessence though, right? I mean, Allura said it herself and we saw the Paladins react to it within moments. If Lotor has been experimenting with this shit for millennia he has been as... corrupted by it as his father. His whole rhetoric is the same as his father’s too. So. Can we un-quintessence him...? Please...??

HOLY SHIT THEY’RE GOING HOME. Does that mean we will get to meet their families? All of their families?

Now, to what I thought about it.

I genuinely think that the whole “oh by the way Lotor is a crazy scientist” thing came hard out of left field. Literally everything about it. From his rapidly changing behavior to “by the way a bunch of Alteans are still alive” and finally in “Oh and Krolia and Keith happen to meet not just the Alteans but that one specific Altean who uncovered that Lotor was behind a giant-ass conspiracy to murder a bunch of Alteans for his own agenda”. That was just... all about that was bad writing.

And yet again a season where neither Hunk nor Lance had plotlines. But at least they had a bit more to say in the past. Still. Really hoping next season on Earth, where the two of them have their families, will actually give them more focus.

Generally, I don’t... like most of the stuff that happened this season? Lotor going crazy, Alteans still being alive (I hate that no franchise ever that says “last of their kind” actually pulls fucking through with that and they always reveal “ooops was a mistake. There’s still a bunch of them! Never mind! :D”), the castle blowing up like that.

I also did like a lot though. Krolia origin story, or rather Keith origin story, Keith adopting a wolf, Keith now being taller than Lance. It was, yet again, a Keith centric season. Honestly, when I started watching this show, I was really under the impression this show would focus on the team and not just, you know, mostly on Keith. Hope they even it out more in the future, because now with the whole origin story out of the way, his sub-plot seems to be mostly done.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I will return to my cave of denial where Lotor is still a good guy and he and Allura are having an epic romance, yes? Yes.

#Voltron Legendary Defender #Season 6 #Spoilers #Phoe's Random Show Rants

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forestwater87 · 7 years

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This is quite possibly the stupidest thing I’ve ever been insanely proud of. I don't even know where to begin with this one. I just think it's cute as fuck.

Heavily inspired by (and maybe a little ripped off of) PadalickingGood's RT Hybrid AU. Their art is AMAZING, and their hybrid dorks are absolutely precious. (Not gonna lie, totally stole some ideas off of them, such as many of the animal ideas and the idea of trimming horns.

Anyway, the fact that David is a cat is entirely the fault of Pheebadohoh and KatykatUniverse, who made the cutest damn catboys and broke my insanely long bunny/dog tie with the need to make him a kitten.

ALSO I’D JUST LIKE TO MAKE IT ABUNDANTLY CLEAR THAT @kittensneezi IS LITERALLY THE ONLY REASON THIS IS BEING PUBLISHED INSTEAD OF LIVING BURIED IN MY WIPS FOREVER. BLAME HER. SHUN HER.

Sometimes Gwen was convinced that God thought He was real funny.

"God damn it motherfucker . . ." She yanked at the comb that was caught, wincing as it tugged but wouldn't budge. "David!"

Yeah, God was a hell of a comedian. Because what would a sheep be without wool?

David burst into the room, half-in and half-out of his shirt. "Is everything okay?" he asked, frantically trying to wriggle into his clothes and hurry to her side at the same time. Tripping over his tail, he stumbled forward, catching himself on one of her horns and nearly sending them both to the floor. "Gah!"

"Sorry," she said, helping him to his feet. "I didn't mean to make it sound like an emergency or anything, I just . . ." She sighed, pulling at the comb with no better luck. "Got stuck again."

His ears perked up. "Oh, no problem!" He hopped up onto the desk behind her and settled into a crouch, flexing his fingers to extend his nails. Gingerly sliding the needle-thin point of his index claw into her wool, he teased apart the strands until the comb was freed, then retracted his claws and fluffed her hair. "There we go! All better!"

"Thanks." She glanced down at herself to make sure everything was more or less in order and gestured for him to get off her desk. "Come on, let's go wake the zoo."

"All right!" As they walked toward the campers' tents, he gently patted her horn and said, "I didn't hurt it, right?"

She shrugged. "Nah, I've got a tough skull. Though . . . aren't cats supposed to be graceful?"

"I couldn't see! No one's graceful when they're blind!"

Rounding up the kids was never especially fun, though at least when they were tired it was easier to keep track of them. Even Nikki wasn't up to much this early in the morning, barely snapping at David's tail before settling in for breakfast.

THUNK.

"Fart nards!"

THUNK.

"Stupid door!"

David glanced toward the entrance to the mess hall, his eyes widening. "Gwen, Nurf's h —"

"On it." She got up, leaving her food behind, and went to where the boy was twisting and floundering, trying to get inside without catching his horns on the doorway. "Can I trim them now , Nurf?" she asked, leaning against the wall and watching him snort and scuff at the ground with his sneakers.

"I don't —" THUNK "— like —" THUNK "— people touching —" THUNK "— my horns!"

"No one does." After a few more seconds he stopped, panting, his tail flicking back and forth. There were some pretty impressive gouges in the frame, and Gwen raised her eyebrows. "But it's just gonna be worse the longer you wait."

He glared down at the ground, crossing his arms. "Fine," he muttered, tugging at his septum ring sullenly.

Gwen looked back at David. "Hey, bring us food when you get a chance? We'll be out back." She liked trimming inside, but there was no way those horns were getting into their cabin, so she settled him down on a rock behind the mess hall and went into her room to get the supplies.

She pawed through her stuff, wincing. Normally she'd shine a flashlight through the horn to see (and avoid) blood vessels as much as possible, but that was for maybe half an inch at most. Nurf'd never been trimmed in his life — and to be fair, she couldn't imagine anyone getting close enough to try without getting gored — and she was going to have to take off a lot more than that.

"All right," she said, setting the box down next to Nurf's rock and running a hand along one of his horns, "this is probably gonna bleed a lot, but it shouldn't hurt. You're off the hook for camp activities, though — don't want you fainting, so you'll be in our cabin most of the day."

"Fine." He looked and sounded angry, but she noticed the way his leg kept bouncing and his hands trembled. "Whatever, I don't even care."

"Close your eyes. It'll be less scary that way."

"Shut up! I'm not scared!" But he did as she said, screwing his eyes shut and taking a deep, shaky breath.

It wasn't pretty, and it wasn't quick, but eventually she'd cut his horns to a manageable length and gotten the bleeding to die down. "Okay," she said with a sigh of relief, gently bandaging the ends, "remember they'll grow back, and if you do it more often they'll look and feel better. It's like a bad haircut, all right?"

Nurf opened his eyes and gaped in shock; the grassy clearing looked like the site of a gruesome murder, bits of bone and huge splashes of blood staining the ground around them. "What the — !" He climbed to his feet and wobbled just a bit, letting her take his elbow and guide him over to lean against the wall.

"I know, I know." Gwen rested a hand on his upper back, hoping she sounded soothing. But she wasn't very good at this kind of thing. Where was David when she needed him?

"Oh my gosh, what the heck happened back here?!"

Oh. There he was.

David's knuckles were white around the tray of food he'd brought to them, the glasses of orange juice-like product trembling in his unsteady hands. His face was pale and cheesy, his hair had puffed out on end, and his pupils dilated into slits.

Well, so much for soothing. She took the tray, ignoring the way he hissed and jerked away from her bloody fingers. "Thanks, David. Can you get Nurf some clean clothes? I'm gonna make sure he eats something."

"I-I . . . um, okay." She'd never seen him this shaken, and it would've been entertaining if she didn't need him to be a functioning adult. "I'll . . . be right back, then."

Once he was gone, Gwen handed Nurf the tray. "At least get through the toast and juice so you don't pass out."

"I won't," he grumbled, but nibbled at the toast and kept his gaze turned away from the bloody patch of grass.

After a few minutes David returned, keeping his eyes on his feet. "I'm, um, here. With clothes."

"Awesome. Take Nurf to the showers and then bring him back to the cabin. I'm gonna change into something that looks a little less Carrie ."

The rest of the day was spent in an armchair, watching old cartoons with Nurf, both of them trying to ignore the way his horns were jagged stubs. He wouldn't look at them, not even when she periodically unwrapped them to put more anti-bleeding gel on the ends, and when she heard the faintest sniffling from his side of the room, she tossed the remote at him without looking and let him turn the volume up.

David wandered in as the sun was setting, bringing them both dinner (they'd wordlessly agreed it wasn't a good idea to leave Nurf alone with their personal belongings, so Gwen was confined to the cabin). He set the tray down and stretched out on the floor, rolling onto his back and watching the television upside-down.

"Nurf?" He glanced up at her with a grunt, and she continued, "I think you're in good shape. Eat something and I'll walk you back to the tents?"

"Yeah, fine, I don't care." He picked at his dinner, frowning, and she suspected the Quartermaster's spaghetti and crickets wasn't the only reason.

Gwen glanced down at David, who met her eyes and shrugged as well as he could while sprawled on the carpet. She rubbed at her own horns, poking the dull tips thoughtfully. "You know, I should probably trim these down too, before I forget. It's been a while." They both turned to her with varying levels of wariness. She met Nurf's gaze, trying to keep her face and voice casual. "Would you mind waiting around a little longer so I can get that done? It won't take long."

"I . . ." He shrugged, still looking sullen. "Whatever."

"Great!" She stood and stretched before heading to the bathroom, making sure to leave the door open. After a second she texted David: 'Come in so he doesn't feel weird about being curious.'

He replied almost instantly: 'but what if he steals something while we're both in there?'

Gwen didn't even bother replying, just cleared her throat loud enough to travel into the next room. Getting the hint, she heard David mumble, "Excuse me!" A few moments later his head appeared in the doorframe. He hopped onto the lip of the sink as though that wasn't the most inconvenient place he could perch. "So why are we doing this?" he asked, drawing his knees to his chest and cocking his head to the side, his tail wrapping around him like a shawl.

"You'll see." She kept her focus on the flashlight in her hands, flicking off the overhead light and shining it through her left horn. (She didn't need to; after enough years of caring for them she'd more or less memorized where the blood vessels ended. But just in case Nurf decided to wander in, she wanted to make sure she showed the whole process.) Marking the place she wanted to cut with a black marker, she turned the lights on just in time to hear clumping, heavy footsteps.

David winced, shifting back as she reached for her trimmer. "Sh-should I move out of the way?"

"Nah, it's not gonna bleed, don't worry." Despite himself, he leaned in closer as she began to work, looking fascinated. "You can ask questions," she added, keeping her eyes on David but really talking to the silent figure in the doorway.

He finally seemed to pick up on what they were doing and scrambled for something to say. "So . . . uh, how often do you have to cut them? I've never noticed."

"I try to get it over with before showering, just in case I nick something," she replied, "but like once a month, ish? About the same time I shear my hair."

"And it doesn't . . . hurt?"

She shook her head. "Once, at like fourteen, I was embarrassed and tried to cut them all the way off. Didn't get halfway through one before I passed out from the pain. But it's like your claws; fine as long as you don't go too deep. Though sheep horns are a little different from, say, a bull's, which'll probably bleed a little every time." Setting aside the trimmer, she filed the end until it was smooth and rounded.

"Why're you doing that?" Nurf blurted out. He didn't look away as the counselors turned to him, but his jaw tightened, and he reached up and brushed the bandaged ends of one of his own horns. "Why didn't you do it to mine?"

Gwen continued working, focusing on making a straight cut. "Figured I'd wait until it was a little less raw, you know? It wouldn't hurt, but it'd be pretty gross and might fuck up —" David winced and she rolled her eyes, "— mess up the healing. I don't know enough about bull horns to be cool with risking it." He didn't reply, watching her carefully as she finished and cleaned up. "Ready to get out of here, kid?"

"Don't call me that," he muttered, but followed her to the front of the cabin.

"W-would you like me to walk him back?" David asked. He usually was the one who'd do this kind of thing; Gwen wasn't known for being especially nurturing, let alone going out of her way to escort one of their more difficult children to bed. But David was still looking a little pale, his eyes darting nervously to Nurf's horns and quickly away, so she dismissed him with a raised hand and led the way to the campers' tents.

They walked in silence for the most part, which Gwen had expected. Nurf wasn't chatty on the best of days, and this certainly hadn't been one of those. Aside from a muttered obscenity when the Quartermaster flitted low overhead, the boy was quiet.

It was only after she'd bid him goodnight and turned to leave that he spoke, so mumbled and fast that she almost missed it. "It won't be that bad every time, right?"

She shook her head. "Just be smart and don't go another 11 years between cuts, okay?"

"Do you think . . . maybe, next month . . ."

"I'll teach you how, yeah. And I'll ask QM to pick up the stuff you'll need." If it was any other kid she would've ruffled his hair, but even with his horns shortened and stubby, she didn't want to get too close. "Goodnight, Nurf."

David was curled up in a ball on her bed when she returned, his eyes glittering in the light from the hallway. "Everything all right?" he asked, stretching and rolling onto his side as she came in.

"Yeah." Shoving him over so she could sit down, she plopped onto the mattress and started untying her shoes. "He's freaked out, but he'll get over it. And I can't blame him — freaked me out a little, too. Lot more blood than I'd expected." She was quiet for a few moments, waiting for him to agree (and admit how unnerved he'd been), but when she looked over his eyes were glued to her shoelaces, the pink tip of his tongue poking out between his lips. "Oh, for Christ's sake, here ." She swiveled so that she was laying back against her pillows and set her feet on his lap, letting him untie her shoes and play with the laces. "You're fucking ridiculous."

He blushed, but glanced at her out of the corner of his eye and grinned. "You did a good job today," he said, swinging one of the laces around his index finger. "I'm really proud of you!"

"Why?" Gwen snorted, shaking her head. "I ruined my boots," she glared pointedly at the sneakers she'd been forced to wear instead, "I turned the back of the mess hall into a swamp of evil — almost making you throw up, by the way — and you were left alone the whole day." She flashed him a sarcastic "okay" sign. "Real stellar performance all around."

"You related to Nurf," he replied with a shrug. "That's not easy."

"Eh, thick skulls gotta stick together." He chuckled, finally done with her shoes and sliding them off her feet before laying down next to her. "Besides, it's . . . shitty, having someone fuck with your horns. Especially when you're away from your parents and the person doing it doesn't really know anything about bull anatomy." She hooked an arm around his neck and gently scratched behind his ears, smiling as he melted into her side with a purr. "I felt bad, I guess."

"I didn't know it was that scary," he mumbled against her neck, growing drowsy from the fingers in his hair. "I'm sorry."

She kissed him on the forehead. "It's fine. Beats having a giant tail, at least. I still can't believe you've never closed that thing in a door."

"Just like another arm." His tail came up and clumsily flicked her nose, making her sputter and laugh. "Hard to forget it's there."

Fighting the urge to shove the fuzzy limb out of her face (she'd learned quickly that some things were too sensitive to be touched without good reason), she wrapped her other arm around his waist and pulled him closer until he was laying half on top of her. "Shove me away when you wanna get up," she said; he usually couldn't sleep more than a few hours at a time, and spent most of the night prowling.

He gave a sleepy hum of agreement and licked her nose before curling up and falling asleep.

#and i published such good angst literally a few hours ago #why did i immediately follow it up with this?#campcamp #hybrid au #i don't even know #cc david #cc gwen #gwenvid #cc nurf #hey at least there's lots of nurf bonding

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takaraphoenix · 7 years

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Two things. One, where did you watch Crazy Ex-Girlfriend? Two, Miraculous Ladybug?

Oooh. Oh, I have a very odd relationship to that one.

I definitely like it but I wanna strangle the people who were responsible for airing it? Like? The order doesn’t even make sense? And I had to consult three independent fanpages and their suggestions at viewing order to find one that suited me personally the best? And I hate that.

In today’s time and age, shows already have a hard enough time surviving. Why would you sabotage yourself by airing them in an order that doesn’t fit the timeline? It’s good that it were only minor things that messed it up, but if they had major plotline events out of synch, this could really hurt the show and I hope that they can get their act straight.

I was really very skeptical at first about this. I mean, a French-Korean cartoon? Whut? That is such an odd combination and I’ve never seen a cartoon from either country - well, French yeah, Asterix, of course.

But there was a cute guy in a literal cat-suit? So I had to at least try it.

Let me start this off with the love-square. (This show is a mess, really. Like, “Oh, love-triangles are sooo last year. Let’s mess it up even more!”)

Adrien is Chat Noir. Marinette is Ladybug. Neither knows the other’s identity.

Adrien loves Ladybug in a ridiculously adorable blushy fanboy way.(Approve. Adore. Ridiculously cute)

Chat Noir flirts with Ladybug in what would really earn him a sexual harrassment complaint if they were co-workers at literally any other job aside from superheroing. (Do not approve, because it’s highly unprofessional and no means no, Chat, get your act together, kitten)

Adrien sees Marinette as a non-sexual, non-threatening creature and a friend. (Understandable)

Marinette is... absolutely useless when she’s around Adrien because she’s hopelessly in love with him. (Nope. That girl behaves in exactly the way I hate girls acting when in love)

Ladybug ain’t having any of Chat’s silly flirting and is being professional and putting her foot down because they have better things to do. (Approve)

It’s a mess. A real mess. And when I started watching the show, I was really very annoyed by the love-story and wanted to stop watching because it was mainly Marinette making a fool of herself - I hate when girls are portrayed as those brainless morons who stutter and blush and can’t even when around the boy they like.

But then we got to see more of the love-square and I found the dynamics interesting and really adored Adrien.

And ths is why this show is a mess and why my relationship to it is so complicated. There are two characters, but four ship-possibilities between them and one of them is a NOTP while another is an OTP and something feels enherently wrong about that being A Thing That Exists.

So, my hopes for this show is that once the identities are revealed, they’ll even out into normal behavior on both sides - that is to say, Chat tunes down the aggressive flirting and Marinette tunes down the dumbness.

Though I have to admit, a huge part of why Marinette/Adrien is the angle of the square that bugs me the most lies in the flashback episode where we learn how she fell in love with him.

Until that point, I had assumed that she had been a fangirl way before they started attending school together. But to reveal in that flashback that when she first met him, they were behaving like normal human beings around each other and that she was Not Impressed by the pretty boy and had no idea that he was even a model - which, if that had stayed the angle and she had fallen in love with him in a normal way, I would have liked. But no. Instead out of some bogus little interaction, she suddenly falls head over heels in love with him and turns into a stalker.

I mean. Seriously. If he had been a celebrity she had been fawning over before meeting him, that would be a different story. But if you start putting posters up of your classmate and collecting photos of them, that is stalker-behavior. If you know that person personally, that kind of action gets insanely creepy.

Which brings me to another point where I’m confused about what this show does to me. I love Ladybug, but I really dislike all of Marinette. And, lemme repeat this just one more time, they’re the same person.

Ladybug is confident, brave, strong, even when faced with Adrien she behaves like the hero she is. She has that sense of duty that she puts even before that.

Marinette is... hopeless. She can’t even function like a normal human being around Adrien, she does ridiculous and very pathetic stuff due to her feelings for him. She’s so desperate but if she’d just act normal around him, she could already be so close to him. She also occasionally does things that I don’t approve of morally just for the sake of Adrien and wanting him.

It makes me feel weird to like half the main character? And I am really hoping that once she realizes the obnoxious kitten flirting with her is actually Adrien, she’ll callm the fuck down and start behaving normal.

Moving on from the love-square and the main character.

I like the side-characters. They’Re all ridiculously individual and the fact that the first season takes it slow enough to properly introduce all of them and give them all not just small roles but actual roles to shine and show what they’re worth and what they stand for is amazing in a world where TV is currently dominated by shows that are far too fast-paced and uses secondary characters more as props than real, fleshed out characters.

I particularly like Alya. She’s that sassy friend that just can’t be missed. I think that Marinette should have trusted her earlier to tell her about being Ladybug, because she’d have been an amazing sidekick and supporter and I feel like... this very long on-going lie between them should cause quite a rift once it’s revealed. I’m very upset about the spoiler for the coming season because it’s definitely not the direction where I wanted Alya to be taken. (If you know the spoiler, you know what I’m talking about. I don’t wanna spoiler those who managed to avoid it so far. Kudos to you)

I also like Chloé, not in the sense that she’s a good person, but she’s a good character. That bitchy antagonist at school who’s after the lead’s crush is... a very overused cliche, yes, but it’s that for a reason. Because it works in high school shows and movies. I’m curious to see where they take her character, because the best part about the antagonistic bitch is always her redemption arc where she ends up becoming the lead’s friend.

I really love the anime-feel of this show. It sets up those heroes in a way American heroes - DC and Marvel - would be set up, but it brings in all those anime-elements and I love magical girl animes to death and back. The adorable talking sidekick animals in Plagg and Tikki are so Artemis and Luna and I adore them. We got the costume change - but thankfully not as slow as in anime. The powers and color-coded different types of heroes.

And the fact that there are more. Honestly, what I particularly love about this cartoon is the big pay-off two-parter at the end of season 1 when we actually learn some about how and what is even going on here.

That there is the potential for a six-characters strong hero team is the most exciting for me. What I love about superheroes is not one hero heroing around on his own. I love the team-dynamics.

I mean, I definitely don’t want this to turn full Sailor Moon where there’s only good girls and then there’s Tuxedo Mask. Adrien can’t stay the only boy. My personal hope had been for a male fox, because Adrien is a bit of a mischievous trickster and to have a buddy who’d also fit that description would be great (yeah, I wanted to ship them, leave me alone, I’m addicted I know I have a problem).

Taking the bee out too, the only ones remaining would be the turtle and the peacock. The peacock being in Adrien’s house, I’ll get into that later on, doesn’t mean it will never be used. And the turtle belonging to the master, well, the guy’s old and I could see him die just as he reveals something potentially very important - because it’d up the stakes if the newly introduced potential mentor dies. So yeah, that could be passed on too.

Not that we’re limited to the seven Miraculouses in Master Fu’s box, of course.

After all, when he introduces the Miraculouses to us, we see this compiliation that includes Heracles with the lion fur and that stag dude. So there’s two animals already that aren’t covered in this box. Implying there are more boxes with more Miraculouses out there, so potentially we could very well encounter an entire team of male-only heroes, a mixed team, a total cliche magical girl team. I love that they opened the world in such a subtle way, like “For now, let’s focus on what we have, but seven are quite a limit so let’s keep the option for if this show takes off well to include more potential heroes”. It’s clever. I like clever in my cartoons.

Now, circling back to the peacock in Adrien’s house.

My personal headcanon slash theory about this is that Adrien’s mom used to be the peacock and his dad is the hawk moth. They used to be a hero duo just like Ladybug and Chat Noir. But then she died. And he became... corrupted. Angry, desperate, something in between.

Maybe he just wants to watch the world and the heroes using the Miraculouses burn to pay for it.

Maybe... there’s a special kind of magic linked to possessing all Miraculouses. Maybe Hawk Moth is trying to steal Ladybug’s and Chat’s Miraculouses because he thinks that if he has them all, he can use their magic to bring back his wife. And that one would be my personal theory.

So yeah, at first glance this looked like a very simple hero show, but I love the detail that went into it and the world-building and I am definitely very excited about what the coming seasons will hold.

Though it is a little ironic that I came for the cute catboy in hopes of finding a hot guy to ship him with because gays are what I watch and read and write for, but ended up actually liking the straight main pairing.

#ask me a show and I shall rant #TV Rants #Fandom Rants #Miraculous Ladybug #that love square though #such a headache #elements1999

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