#everyone should make an unbeatable character | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

Visit Blog

Explore Tumblr blogs with no restrictions, modern design and the best experience.

Fun Fact

There were a total of 171.5 billion posts on Tumblr in 2019.

#everyone should make an unbeatable character

muzsmoux · 2 days

Text

Reviewing tgcf characters because I have thoughts

I finished S2 recently and I need somewhere to put my not exactly hot but like warm (?) takes because it's taking up too much storage space in my brain.

🤍 Xie Lian 🤍

It's a good thing I'm not into guys because if I was I would be on my knees for this man in every sense of that expression and his pet menace to society would mince me up like garlic.

So I'll try to be brief about my overflowing feelings about him. Xie Lian is the best main character I have come across in a WHILE. He's the embodiment of compassion and kindness. And also a cold blooded murderer. A babygirl. A father figure. A terrifying martial god. A silly little guy. A pathological liar. The most genuine man you'll ever meet. He's everything, and Hua Cheng is 100% valid in his obsession. I'm right there with him.

Rating: 10/10

❤️ Hua Cheng ❤️

Idk if we ever figured out who wrote My Immortal but I'm pretty sure we have our culprit.

"Hi my name is Hua Cheng Crimson Rain Sought Flower Red-Robed Ghost King and this is my evil weapon of death E-ming. I've killed soooo many gods with it!! My dark power is I can summon storms of BLOOD and SUFFERING. I have my own scary city of DEMONS and they all love me and think I'm HOT but I only want my BOYFRIEND who's the only REAL GOD so STOP FLAMING HIM YOU POSERS-"

Needless to say I love him. Being the 8 time winner of the Loverboy of the Century Awards with unbeatable records in the yearning olympics is truly a remarkable feat.

Rating: 9/10

(Bonus: E-ming. Cute little guy. Likes his stepdad more than his real dad. Not afraid to show it's feelings even if it makes it look like a muppet, 10/10)

🧡 Feng Xin & Mu Qing 🧡

Tweedle dee and tweedle dum gets a shared rating because they would hate to be grouped together like that and that's funny to me. Their dynamic is great, they're good characters, I wasn't sure which one was which until midway through the second season. But then also I have a pair of 7yo twin cousins who I still can't tell apart despite them not looking even a slight bit similar so that might just be a character flaw on my end. Oops.

Rating: 7/10

🩵Shi Qingxuan🩵

I'm doubling the rating because she is best boy and best girl at the same time. I love that I can use any and all pronouns for him because he's literally a pride parade personified and therefore all of them are correct. You don't get that type of chaotic fun just anywhere.

He is truly living my dream, presenting as whatever gender they want depending on what's more convenient and/or funnier in the moment. Super useful, for things like gathering intel and terrorizing Feng Xin by being a woman.

And I personally think we should crown her the new emperor. She'd look significantly better on that throne, with her Barbie-like radiance and flourishing Kenergy.

Rating: 20/10

🖤 Ming Yi 🖤

Listen, I hate to say it because I like a sunshine x grump moment as much as the next gay but he's just... not giving what he thinks he's giving. Everyone is whispering ominously about him having some dark devastating secret but MY point is no matter how big his boobs are in his female form, Shi Qingxuan could do better. I'm sorry. She really could.

Rating: 4/10

💙 Lang Qianqiu 💙

Just an honest man with good intentions and a sickass fucking sword. He did NOT hesitate to attack the infamous Crimson Rain Sought Flower on SIGHT and I respect a quick decisionmaker, even if it shows some himbo tendencies. He also has the same distinct energy as Fred from Scooby Doo.

Rating: 6/10

💚 Qi Rong 💚

He's got some odd dietary and moral choices going on. Definitely. But he's just such a fun villain!!! Being Xie Lian's nr 1 source of migraines SHOULD make me like him less but I'm sorry, every time he was on screen I was LIVING. He would do numbers on reality TV. Someone put this guy on Kitchen Nightmares, I need to see him 1v1 Gordon Ramsay.

Rating: 7/10

🌚 Jun Wu 🌚

He has his emperor status & DILF card going for him but something about this man just ain't right. If he came to a party I was attending I would cover my drink is all I'm saying.

Rating: 2/10

🔥Pei Ming🔥

I don't know much about him besides he had that one shady empolyee or whatever (could not hear the plot over the deafening sound of Hua Cheng's yearning) but I'm partial to a good manwhore character. The thought of people praying to him like "Hugh Mungus, who art in heaven-" really tickles me.

I know he's probably straight but I headcanon him as at the very least bi-curious because you can't be that hot with that much game and not use it for evil. (That evil being causing large scale gay awakenings among his soldiers.)

Rating: 7/10

❓Pei Xiu❓

Unreliable, unimportant, unattractive, unemployed.

I remember not a singular thing about him besides fucking up Xie Lian's daughter's life and also being on my last nerve from the jump. If you're going to be evil at like least be memorable about it, you know? You can't be a bad person and a bad character at the same time. Pick a struggle.

Rating: 1/10

📚 Ling Wen 📚

I heard she committed some war crimes but honestly if I had to do an entire realm's tax returns by myself AND teach Pei Ming how to read (I refuse to believe that man is literate, just look at him) I would want to rage on occasion too. I hope she has a hot wife waiting for her at home to give her massages after carrying the whole system on her back all day. It's what she deserves.

Rating: 8/10

Thank you for reading!! Opinions might change once I read the books but as of now this is it. Remembering everyone's names has been a journey and a half so this post is sponsored by @kirstenly 's character cheat sheet go look at it! and everything else too!!!

#heaven official's blessing #tian guan ci fu #tgcf #xie lian #hua cheng #feng xin #mu qing #shi qingxuan #ming yi #lang qianqiu #qi rong #jun wu #pei ming #pei xiu #ling wen #sorry for the long post #im just obsessed

60 notes · View notes

sareisnot · 3 months

Text

Lord Gwyn: The Perfect Anticlimax

"Dark Souls is a hard game"

To anyone who's even a little bit familiar with the franchise, this is an obnoxiously obvious statement. The game has held the title of THE "hard game" for so long, that not only has the statement "X is the Dark Souls of Y" become a cliche, but so has every subsequent mocking subversion of that comparison. To even acknowledge its obviousness, as I did, is territory so well-worn, that I'm at risk of falling through, into the hackneyed void. But it's still worth mentioning. It's a well-earned reputation. Not only is Dark Souls, on a purely technical level, difficult to beat, but its entire identity is based around its difficulty, if the name of the "Prepare to Die" edition is any indication. Its world is a punishing one, seeking to beat the player character down at every single opportunity, until they can't stand to move another step forward, lest they get thwacked by a swinging axe, skewered by a demon, swept off a cliff, or obliterated by a dragon with teeth where its torso should be. It's a game that crushes you down, intending to make very clear just how easy your character can die, and, importantly, just how unimportant your death will be. To these bosses, these titans, these near-gods, you are nothing but an annoyance. Many of these fights feel like climactic struggles against an ancient, near-unbeatable foe, who existed long before you were born, and has a pretty solid chance of existing after you've expired. When you enter the arena of Ornstein and Smough, the music swells, and the two knights flex the skills that they're going to use to kill you over and over again. Many of the game's bosses, try to tap into that sense of scale, of importance, of grandiosity, each of their respective battles feeling like they could easily be the final one.

Then, after a long struggle, you make it to the end.

The game's final boss is Gwyn, a towering figure who's been hinted at throughout the game, through dialogue and item descriptions. Even if you didn't pay much attention to the little pieces of lore that the game hands you, you're able to put together that he's a pretty important guy: the mighty Lord of Cinder. The buildup to his fight hints at an even larger presence than the other bosses. You travel beneath Firelink Shrine, your home base for most of the game, where you find a massive expanse of land, cold and dark, a mysterious coliseum-like structure looming in the distance, which is impossibly large, even so far away. As you get closer, ghosts of old knights appear to attack you. They are easily dispatched, but still a shock. The structure towers over you, emphasizing just how much space is needed to house this mythologically strong figure, and the power that he holds. You enter, and find…….a hollowed old man. He's slightly taller than you, dressed in robes, and wielding a flaming greatsword, but he's nowhere near the scale of other bosses. However, he rushes at you all the same. When you begin the duel, it feels different from the others. There is no dramatic, sweeping music. All you get is a somber piano, like something that would play during a funeral, rather than a climactic duel. It feels like Gwyn's theme is actively pitying him. Granted, it's appropriate for the fight. All Gwyn can do is swing is flaming blade, which you can avoid with ease. There's been some easier bosses, but at least they didn't feel like they WANTED to die. Besides, this isn't the fragile Moonlight Butterfly, or the starting Asylum Demon, this is the final boss! He should be challenging you! Putting all the skills you've learned to the test! He's a fucking King! Why isn't he stronger? Fighting Gwyn after you've fought everyone else feels like walking into the home of an old, dilapidated hoarder, and kicking him while he's down. If you've been practicing your parrying, its like doing the same, except with cleats. He just seems………tired. As pathetically destitute as you were at the start. He might as well just keel over when you walk in the door. You beat him, naturally, and then the game just kinda….ends. If you got the ending I did, you just exit the area, look at all the nice snake friends you just made, and then roll credits. For all the work you've put into getting here, and all the struggles you've had to overcome, it feels like a severe anticlimax, like the game is playing a prank on you.

But if you know anything about the setting of Dark Souls, you'd know that there's really no other way this could end.

"The world of Dark Souls is dying"

This is a phrase that, while not as oft repeated as the above, is also pretty common knowledge at this point. Lodran, the game's setting, is a desolate place, long past its glory years. Once a powerful kingdom, teeming with life and magic, it is now in ruin, every citizen either dead, hollowed, or left to survive amongst the numerous deadly creatures that now roam the land. Everyone who's still around at the start of the game is either destined for misery, or already there (Unless you're Andre. He seems to be doing pretty well, all things considered). Somewhere around the time Lordran has reached the end of its life cycle, is when the player character enters the story, albeit with a rather unenviable role. Your job is to essentially be the world's janitor, cleaning out the world's former main characters, most of whom are insane, and all of whom are well past their useful days (or, if you have the DLC, you get to see Artorias right as he passes this point). Unfortunately, most of them would like to keep being alive, so they're going to make that difficult for you, by turning you into red mist until you stop trying to kill them. Even the grandiose presentation some of them have can't entirely hide the fact that this is a rather sad state of affairs for everyone, especially for those who haven't really done anything wrong (I nearly cried at having to kill Sif, and I will never fight Priscilla). Fortunately, some of these bastards contributed to the world's current bleakness, so killing them provides at least a twinge of catharsis, albeit one that will certainly be gone by the time you move onto the next bastard. The goal of this whole clean-up process, is to prepare the world to either continue with the age of fire with you as the catalyst, hopefully without those brutes who were clogging the power vacuums, or plunge the world into a new age of darkness, now that it has been cleansed of its polluting influences.

The only mean to either of these ends, is to kill Gwyn, the Lord of Cinder, former ruler of Lordran, and one of the primary reasons that this world is such a goddamn mess. To sum up his actions without getting too deep into the lore's intricacies; Gwyn knew that his kingdom was destined to fall, due to the world's oncoming transition from the age of fire into the age of shadow. This transition was represented by the dwindling light of the first flame, the lifeblood of the kingdom. After utterly failing to rekindle it, Gwyn entered a final gambit to prolong the life of his empire, linking himself with the first flame, but burning himself, and many of his knights, away in the process. This left him as a hollow, doomed to languish in his kiln, until another unfortunate soul took his place, linking the flame to further prolong the changeover. In doing this, Gwyn went against the natural laws of his world, which didn't react well to having its transitionary cycle interrupted. The world fell into a sharp decline, becoming a desolate, unhappy place, festering with demons and monsters (many of whom were the result of the last time someone tried to rekindle the first flame), making life hell for anyone unlucky enough to still be around afterwards. Gwyn wanted to prolong the inevitable, prevent the death of his kingdom, and continue its prosperity, so he sacrificed everything. His realm has persisted, but in a state of undeath, having stuck around long past its natural expiration date, just like him. Gwyn's story can be properly summarized as what happens when someone is psychotically obsessed with preserving their power, even when that preservation only serves to make the world a substantially worse place. Gwyn, in his hollow state, is a symbol of Lordran's persistent deterioration.

None of this information is directly handed to the player. Some bits are alluded to through snippets of dialogue and item descriptions, and the opening cutscene depicts one of the major inciting events of the narrative, but for the most part, it's a sprawling, multi-phased story, that is dolled out non-linearly, and piecemeal.

Now, with that context, let's cast a new lens on that fight…

After delving underneath Firelink Shrine for the final time, you come upon a desolate landscape, the Kiln of the First Flame looming in the distance. It's clearly well past its glory days, looking decrepit and sad. It is home of the world's lifeblood, but in name only. Now, it holds the last remnant of an age long past. As you approach, the spirits of old knights come to attack you, but they aren't much of a challenge, being just shadows of their former selves. They're victims, really; their loyalty has bound them to a sorry task, but they're in the way, and they weren't really living much of a life anyway. When you get closer to the kiln, it feels impossibly large, but also cold, and surprisingly dark, for something that's supposed to house an eternal flame. When you can see more details, it becomes clear just how long it's been falling into ruin. It feels abandoned, but you know its not. After all, you're here to end the life of its only resident. You enter, and find…. Lord Gwyn, a king who destroyed himself and cast the world into ruin, just to hold on to a formerly prosperous time. Lord Gwyn, whose refusal to let the fire die is the reason why you had to struggle through this entire journey. Lord Gwyn, whose death will mark the end of a era, no matter what you do afterwards. He charges at you, barely even conscious anymore, having been locked in this tomb for unknowable amounts of time. But he can't really fight you, at least not well. His strength isn't nearly what it used to be, now that he's a hollow, tired and worn-down, just like you were at the start. He's a pitiable figure, and the music knows. That sorrowful piano fades in, almost like something that would play at a funeral. But this isn't a funeral. This is a mercy killing. Spiritually, Gwyn died a long time ago. You're just putting his body to rest. When he's finally dispatched, it feels like an anticlimax. But of course it is. Gwyn is the embodiment of the world you've spent so much time exploring. Lordran has been denied a proper climax for so long, because he extended the story long past where it should have ended. He's been waiting to be killed for ages now. It feels only right that Gwyn be an easy, anticlimactic boss, because how could such a destitute figure be anything else?

"Dark Souls is a hard game for a reason"

The above statement is a simplified summation of why Dark Souls is one of my favorite games that I’ve ever played. It's set in a dying, hostile world, that's been brought to ruin by the violation of its natural laws. Thus, the game is insistent on making the player struggle at every turn, to make them feel just as downtrodden as the world they explore. Lord Gwyn is a example of just how thoroughly holding onto power can corrupt someone, leaving them as a husk, the scraps of their former glory existing only the in the memory of the people who are still forced to cope with the consequences of their selfish actions. Thus, his boss fight is an intentionally easy anticlimax, to emphasize just how far he's fallen, to the point that he can't even put up a good point. It's the themes of his character, perfectly melding with the gameplay. It's a perfect encapsulation of the game's best quality, how the experience of playing the game, reflects the themes and tone of its story. The reasons why the fight with Gwyn is the perfect anticlimax, and why Dark Souls is a near-perfect game, are one and the same.

#video games #gaming #dark souls #dark souls 1 #fromsoftware #fromsoft games #Gwyn #game writing #game analysis #boss fight #videogame #game #long post

106 notes · View notes

deathbxnny · 10 months

Text

☆《Mha boys dating a civilian!Reader》☆

-----♡

A/N: So uhh... this is self-indulgent and a small cry for help, because I would love to write requests for other fandoms than just hsr and yeah... I just want to write for something else for once and am brain rotting hard, so forgive me- (If you're curious about what other fandoms I'm willing to write for, check my request info!)

Featured characters: Izuku Midoriya, Shoto Todoroki, Katsuki Bakugo

Content: Slight angst if you squint, fluff, established relationships, reader being a civilian, sfw

Reader has no set pronouns!

((Not fully proofread))

-----♡

》Izuku Midoriya

He genuinely appreciates your existence in his life so much. He's always so busy with hero and quirk training, that it can sometimes consume his very existence. Something that starts to become very draining to him over time, despite loving what he does. So being with you is like a much needed break from everything going on in his life.

He can escape the stress and pressure with you, as your life is so much more calm and mundane than his. It doesn't stop you worrying over him though, since you know very well how dangerous his life sometimes can be. But he always reassures you that he'll be fine, that he'll always come back to you after a fight. He tries making time for you and makes sure you know how much he appreciates you during your dates.

You're his second best thing to talk about after Allmight and he genuinely cannot shut up about you either. He loves telling everyone about your normal life. It's comforting and motivates him to do even better at training, so that you can keep your peaceful life and live without any worries. It also makes him glad that you aren't a hero, as he already worries about your safety daily. But there is nothing for you to worry about, as your hero boyfriend will keep you safe no matter what!

-----♡

》Katsuki Bakugo

He's surprised at how fast he fell for you, when it should've been the other way around. Despite the fact that you were a hero or anything, he still felt oddly connected to you, something he thought about often even after months of dating. He didn't get what about you made him so attached, but he doesn't necessarily complain either, surprisingly. Instead, he feels pride in the fact that you appreciate him for all the training and work he does. His ego just inflates even more through you, but you're at least somewhat spared from his arrogance.

He likes that you are just a civilian, mainly due to him being able to show off that way. He likes impressing you and cares about your opinion alot, despite denying it. He's grumpy whenever you ask him to go out, but will show up fully prepared with flowers in hand, as he complains about you interrupting an important training session for this. You ofcourse know that he was willing to drop anything for you anyways, so you never take his words seriously.

He dismisses all of your worries and gets slightly offended. He's strong and powerful, so what are you even worried about? He's unbeatable! Besides, if anything, he should be worried about you. You may be a weakling in his eyes, but you are his weakling and therefore protected better than anyone else in this world.

-----♡

》Shoto Todoroki

Todoroki was unsure of how to be around you at first, especially after he began dating you. He always only knew the life of having to be the perfect hero and therefore didn't really know how to deal with your calm and mundane life. You were such opposites, that it deeply comforted him. You taught him about normal everyday life stuff, something he greatly enjoyed learning about at your side.

Your dates were something he always looked forward to everyday and he made it very clear at that. You gave him a sense of normalcy he missed and for that he was grateful. But that also made him more protective over you, as he didn't want you to ever get hurt. It's the last thing he ever wanted. He is surprised at your constant worry however. Sure, he was the one putting himself in immideate danger all the time. But you were the one he cared about the most.

He takes pride in you, even if you don't have anything special going for you. The fact that you're so kind and normal drew him to you and so he's more than willing to repay his kindness by training hard every day for you. He wants to prove that he is a good boyfriend and hero to you, as you practically motivate him to do something good with his life for once. You're the peaceful light in his dark world and for you, he'd do anything.

-----♡

A/N: Ah I feel much better... honestly, mha request are very much open and so is anything else on my request info list... please spare me and forgive me for going off my usual hsr theme for a little moment. But God... I'm so burnt out, I just wanted to write for something else. So I hope that's fine with you guys. Please let me know, if you don't like it. :((

#my hero academia #my hero academia x reader #my hero academia x you #mha x Reader #mha x y/n #boku no hero academia #bnha x reader #mha bakugo katsuki #mha bakugo x reader #mha izuku midoriya #mha izuku x reader #mha shoto todoroki #mha todoroki x reader #bnha #mha

89 notes · View notes

yuikomorii · 9 months

Note

If it’s not rude of me, I’d like to ask how is Ayato the favorite in Japan among fans?

I’d always assumed it was Shuu, since he consistently ranked first in the polls and that Ayato was the favorite among the people who don’t play the games but buy merch, so that’s why he got a push in merch. I do not mean to offend, I quite like Ayato, I’m just curious.

(I apologize if my English is bad, it’s not my first language.)

// Shu has more active and sociable stans, Ayato has more solo and private stans in Japan. Popularity polls never really show how popular a character truly is because 1) you can vote once a day everyday in some cases, 2) it’s not that hard sending a link to your friends/followers in order to vote for your favorite character and 3) not everyone votes. I’ve never even seen any DL character get close to even 10k votes and I’m sure all of them have over 1 million fans. I mean… Just take a look at Piofiore's Dante, who came in first in the popularity poll, although Yang and Nicola are much more well-liked. The same is true for Lupin from C:R; even though he tops the polls, Van Helsing and Saint-Germain are all the rage. If we interpret it that way, Kou won the 2022 poll too, right? Ayato also won the 2017 Rejet shop poll, which took place in Tokyo.

Shu is still indeed very popular in the Japanese DL fandom, but Ayato is more popular in the Japanese otoge fandom and with locals. Sometimes you’ll find Shu merch a bit more expensive than Ayato’s one, other times you’ll find Ayato more expensive than Shu. It simply depends on how the sellers view the situation.

Another possibility is that Shu’s stans aren’t as active as they were in the past since things change or Ayato just had a huge DL fans boost. I know votes aren’t everything but the fact fans voted Ayato’s CD as the best Daylight one and also won best overall CD drama in 2022, surprised me a lot because I, at least, never found his CD dramas particularly good.

I made a post about this once, and as I said, it started off as a joke but Ayato is truly an IT boy, lol. A famous idol cosplayed him once… that should say it all. In 2020, people recommended him so much that he ended up co-starring at “Nino-san”, a program held by Kazunari Ninomiya, a national idol as well. I don’t know how, since he’s literally 40 years old, but he somehow knew who Ayato was and even smiled when he saw him. Moreover, the interviewer literally went to a stranger and interviewed her, then she started shaking and laughing when she saw Ayato and even admitted being his fan. That, imo, shows how HUGE Ayato must me, if even random people know who he is and bias him too.

I don’t think any Diaboy could ever be more known and loved than Ayato is outside of the DL fandom but that’s not because of his character or anything like that, but due to his unbeatable visuals. You’ll see a lot of people saying that his face is ideal/perfect/desirable, as seen here, and they’re not even joking. Most people find Ayato the most good-looking one there because he is the closest to their beauty standard. Don’t get me wrong, everyone is very handsome; Shu has one of the most liked designs too but the reason why his visuals are not more praised than Ayato’s ones is because he looks too western. Japanese people are fascinated by western features but they don’t want to look like that; the majority would prefer someone that fits their ideal of beauty more. Ayato has canonically big eyes, a small face but not too small, long dark lashes, a youthful and quite androgynous face but that still shows some masculinity, a slender yet muscular body, above average height (170cm) but not too tall. That’s what makes him visually perfect.

To sum it up, all DL characters still have their fans but due to the fact that a lot of other otome games came out, they lost some hype they used to have. Ayato still manages to be the most talked about, praised and trending character at the moment merely because of his visuals, since that’s what sets him apart. Him being super pretty makes otoge fans and locals bias him, so they desire his merch, plus he got a big amount of DL fans too. Is he the most popular in the jp DL fandom? Idk, I don’t think anyone could truly measure that. Is he the most popular DL character there? Yes.

#admin

100 notes · View notes

gold-rhine · 1 year

Text

Itto is actually an example of high Wisdom, low Int, high Charisma. like yeah, he can’t logic for shit, but when the smart highbrow characters get into their asses with mind games and self-destructive spirals he immediately cuts through their crap like no, you should not die for your mistakes, we can find other solution, your life matters and actually you’re adopted into my gang now, have a reason to live

like the important thing to understand about itto is that while he’s loud and brash about being strong and proud and unbeatable, he will always put helping people over his own pride and he will do it without even making a big deal of it. like itto met one of his boys when he was getting beat up by the bullies and itto immediately jumped to defend him and he *didn’t* win! itto lost, he got beat up himself, but didn’t give up - “Akira believes that it all began when Itto saved him from a few two-bit ruffians. That day, Itto persisted even after having been knocked to the ground 7 times, ultimately causing the punks to back off in annoyance. Helping Akira up from the ground, Itto declared: "Well, guess you're with the Arataki Gang now!"

this is why his gang is so loyal to him, not because they actually believe he’s super powerful, they saw him lose hundred of times, but because he accepts everyone and they know that when push comes to shove, he will stand his ground to protect them until the bitter end

#rhine talks #arataki itto

98 notes · View notes

silviakundera · 5 months

Text

a very official and unserious ranking of chinese mini-dramas I've watched. Mini-drama = 5-15 min episodes. Color coded "sets" that had same actor or writer.

1. Night of Love with You (2022) - the unbeatable. the ULTIMATE. villain 4 villain romance with a protagonist who knows she is in a manga series... but something has gone wrong, because how did she and the heroic female lead get switched this time?!

2. Provoke (2023) - Republican era noir revenge saga. Unresolved sexual tension. Glamour. Great lighting. Hot people in period costume giving VIBES. She married her mortal enemy as a concubine and keeps a murderboard. I'm in love w her.

3. The Deliberations of Love (2023) - Married consort of a prince dies with him due to the struggle for the throne. Then she wakes up in the past, only for this ambitious idiot to get them killed again! Receiving yet another chance after 2 awful deaths, she's determined to choose life over love and not marry into the royal family again. But it's not quite so simple... especially when the prince starts to feel echoes of their past life together. The romantic chemistry is what sells this lil tropey drama. She keeps subconsciously drifting back into acting like his familiar spouse and then he starts vibing too.

4. A Familiar Stranger (2022) - Like with Provoke, I think everyone's seen this one? Conniving prime ministers daughter face-switches an innocent girl who is searching for her sister and pining away for this hot general who saved her once. Wow what luck, the horrible marriage the prime minister's daughter wanted to escape is with her dream man. This all sounds very wtf but this director x screenwriter combo creates these moody pieces that have a certain dream logic.

5. Zhang Gong Zhu Zai Shong (2022) - The emperor's sister is tyrannical and keeps a stable of hot men. Political intrigue ensues. ngl this one is real choppy but is ranked high due to my bias for achingly hot leading ladies who step on a breathless delicate ML. 🔥 She makes me SWEAT.

6. The Killer is Also Romantic (2022) - Mr and Mrs Smith in costume drama imperial era china. It should be higher, but for an English speaker it's dragged down the list by terrible subs.

7. My Decoy Bride (2023) - Hidden identities, assassin marries her target in imperial era china. Same male actor as Deliberations of Love who builds good energy with his costars. But less budget, worse subs, choppy editing. Still fun. Probably ranked way too high but idc I was entertained.

8. Dong Lan Xue (2023) - 3 min episodes of broken Murder Couple ❤. The slighted 7th prince and his ex-prostitute maid who are out for blood & revenge. (It's that badass lady & her delicate suitor again. Love this webisode pair. love herrrrrrrrr)

9. Miss Mystery (2023) - Republican era revenge drama in a similar vein as Provoke but lacking it's elite lighting, sets, & cinematography. To her it's Fake Marriage but he agrees because he liiiiikes her. The couple has chemistry, gives good power-couple, and the FL is out for bloody revenge. It's a fun ride. But the writing isn't as strong as Provoke and the uneven acting of the supporting cast drags it down the list.

10. What's Wrong with My Princess (2023) - The standard reborn revenge tale played straight. Female general helped a prince fight for the throne, then he & her sister have her murdered when vulnerable and pregnant. Gasp! She wakes up years earlier on her wedding day to this other prince she'd married once, only to kill for her evil lover boy. Now she plots the downfall of lover boy & her sis, joining hands with the husband she betrayed the 1st time around. It's... exactly what it sounds like lol. Nothing stands out and the script is a string of tropes. But it delivers exactly what it promises.

11. Everlasting Bride (2023) - Republican era revenge with added spy games. Like Miss Mystery & Provoke, strong character intros & first meeting. They're mysterious and well-dressed and dangerous to know. More polished than Miss Mystery. The leads here are more filtered and more conventionally attractive. But I have to admit that there's a charm about how rough around the edges Miss Mystery is. And I like the lead actress in Miss Mystery a lot more. The first 3rd is pretty fire, then it lost steam for me.

12. Forever Love (2023) - It's that smoldering guy from Maid's Revenge (absent from this list because due to crap ending). Absolutely extra in every way, a tropey hormonal mess, to the point one can argue it circles back around to be ART. Female protagonists for 1-10 are all great & fun. Alas I can't say the same for #12. 💀

Haven't Finished:

Butterfly Lover (2023) - I have a serious hate for open-endings and I heard this has one, so I paused on it. It's from that amazing director&screenwriter combo, though (Provoke, Familiar Stranger, Killer is also Romantic...). So I know it's worth watching.

Romantic aka Love Strikes Back (2023) - I started this but stalled out. idk it wasn't compulsively watchable for me. Other people loved it.

#cdrama #im sincerely intrigued about where c-ent goes with mini-dramas in 2024 #diving head first into gratuitous tropes

19 notes · View notes

meganwasbored · 9 months

Text

The Dragon Prince Thoughts Season 3 Episode 9

-THIS IS IT

-wait does he actually have to paint the symbols on his arms to get the spell to work or is he just trying stuff because if he does does that mean that ibis has them tattooed on his arms or something? that made no sense i should probably watch more than 5 seconds before i start making stuff up

-WAS HE ABOUT TO SAY I LOVE YOU

-soren’s character development from season 1 to now is incredible i went from being slightly annoyed by him to loving every second he’s on screen

-is it just me or is aaravos’s snake form thing longer than it was last episode

-OMG CALLUMS TRANSLATING I JUST REMEMBERED GREN ISNT HERE WHERE IS HE

-won’t they all die on the way up because of the air or does their demon form change that

-THE LAST DRAGON GUARD

-wait why is callum down here i thought the plan was for him to stay near the top to pick them off on their way up

-SERIOUSLY WHO IS THIS GUY

-claudia carrying the whole army rn

-NOOOOO NOT THE DRAGONS

-IDC IF HES THE KING HES STILL A CHILD GET EZRAN OUT OF THERE

-“it’s going to be okay, wee fella” not when the thousands of demon soldiers burst through that doorway

-ok so the rainbow lighting did nothing but at least it was pretty

-THERE ISNT A SINGLE PERSON WITH CALLUM???? THEY LITERALLY JUST DROPPED HIM OFF LIKE “YOURE ON YOUR OWN KID SEE YOU IF YOU SURVIVE”

-everyone could just swarm kasef and claudia for a second and it would solve 90% of our problems

-callum why do still you have your emotional support sketchbook on you in battle i feel like that’s just slowing you down buddy

-AANYA WHERE DID YOU COME FROM

-THE MOST ICONIC CHARACTER AND I MEAN THAT MY QUEENNNN

-IM SPEECHLESS OMG

-I CAME HERE FOR RAYLLUM BUT I STAYED FOR THE BROYALS

-CRYINGGGGGG GREN AND AMAYA BACK AGAIN I FORGOT HE PROBABLY THOUGHT SHE WAS DEAD SINCE THE VOLCANO

-SKBAIFBEODBDOSNDOSJWLWHAODH

-THE ELVES BOWING TO EZRAN

-EZRAN THE BATTLE LITERALLY JUST ENDED YOU CANT JUST RUN OFF ON YOUR OWN LIKE THAT

-WHAY WAS VIREN HIDING UNDER A BLANKET AND WHY WAS CLAUDIA WALKING AWAY FROM HIM WHAT IS GOING ON

-NO WORDS THIS IS TRULY SORENS EPISODE

-THE AMOUNT OF SOUL CRUSHING TRAUMA HE JUST WENT THROUGH IN THE PAST HOUR

-THIS ONLY TERRIFIES ME BECAUSE I ALREADY KNOW HES GONNA SURVIVE SO WHAT HORRIBLE THING IS CLAUDIA GONNA DO TO MAKE THAT HAPPEN

-ALSO SOMEONE LITERALLY JUST GOT STABBED RIGHT BEFORE EZRANS EYES POOR BABY

-SHUT UP HOW DID I NOT SEE THAT COMING

-HOW DID HE GET UP THERE

-RAYLA IS IN THE EXACT SAME POSITION HER PARENTS WERE IN THIS SPOT I DONT LIKE WHERE THIS IS GOING

-HARVEST????? CONSUME??????

-BAIT OMG

-IM SO DUMB HER PARENTS ARE COINS LIKE RUNAAN ARENT THEY

-I HATE THIS I HATE THIS I HATE THIS

-I WENT INTO THIS THINKING I ALREADY KNEW MOSTLY EVERYTHING THAT WAS GONNA HAPPEN AND I WAS SO SO WRONG

-BAITS FACE WHEN RAYLA CALLED HIM A HERO

-PUT ZYM DOWN RIGHT NOW OR SO HELP ME I WILL KILL YOU THROUGH THE SCREEN

-OKAY I KNOW SHES GONNA SURVIVE THIS AND YOU KNOW SHES GONNA SURVIVE THIS BUT SHE DOESNT KNOW SHES GONNA SURVIVE THIS WHICH MEANS SHE JUST SACRIFICED HER LIFE FOR THAT DRAGON

-THE FACT THAT HE DIDNT EVEN THINK TWICE ABOUT JUMPING AFTER HER

-pause can we talk about how strong rayla is to hold herself up like that i’d be dead

-this is the one time the “we beat the unbeatable villain through ✨the power of love✨” trope is acceptable

-this is awesome and all and i’m loving every second of it but why are we acting like everything is okay it’s not claudia is still out there with a super powerful staff that could destroy that whole cave with all of you in it if she gets up there

-also i can’t be that only one who doesn’t see the point of this baker like i feel like they just put him here because they can he serves literally no purpose

-wow very convenient of you to wake up right after the battle is over it’s not like you couldve been a huge life saving help anyway😐

-ZYM IS LITERALLY THE SIZE OF THE QUEENS EYEBALL I CANT

-i’m sorry i still can’t get over the fact that the dragons can talk i don’t know how to feel about it

-claudia’s hair is now half white i don’t like this

-if aaravos hatches out of that cocoon i’m gonna lose my freaking mind

-my word that was a lot

-you’re telling me y’all had to wait 3 YEARS after this cliffhanger for season 4???? i’m suddenly very glad i didn’t start watching until now i don’t think i could’ve handled that

#tdp #tdp thoughts #tdp season 3 #tdp thoughts season 3 #the dragon prince #the dragon prince thoughts #the dragon prince season 3 #the dragon prince thoughts season 3

27 notes · View notes

acacia-may · 3 months

Text

In Your Eyes (Kelbrey Feelings Realization Fic)

“Kel froze. His eyes widened—heart racing so loud he could hear it pounding in his ears which had turned red at the sight of her. His hands trembled. His breath caught in his throat as he met her eyes. Her brown eyes.”

When Aubrey gets something stuck in her eye during a game of poker at a college party hosted by Hero’s fraternity, Kel has a realization that has been a long time coming…

Kelbrey-Centric Slice of Life, Feelings Realization, and Developing Romance several years Post-Good Ending with a side of Hero & Kel's brotherly love and support. Also, (briefly) feat. Hero actually being happy with his goofy college friends (and some hints at Hero/OC), Sunny the poker champion, and Basil wishing everyone would just play Crazy Eights.

Relationships: KELBREY (Romantic Kel x Aubrey) CENTRIC. Kel & Hero's brotherly bond is also included & important, as well as Aubrey, Basil, Hero Kel, & Sunny Friendship. Some (Minor) Hero & His College Friends (OCs) Friendship and Some (Potential?) Hero x OC. Past Romantic Hero x Mari is referenced.

Word Count: 9,110

Rating: T for some language, mentions of drinking, and sequences of partying.

Warnings: Major Spoilers for OMORI! A brief sequence of legal drinking. Some language. Some partying. Characters playing footsie. Characters playing poker. An almost kiss. Please see AO3 for additional tags.

Link to original post on AO3. Full Text Below the Cut.

A/N: This story is dedicated to my youngest sister who doesn’t know anything about OMORI but knows a lot about contact lenses. ^^

Thank you for reading!! 🧡🩷

Kel frowned at his cards. He had been having rotten luck all night and had the smallest pile of individually wrapped candies turned poker chips in front of him. Kel sighed. It probably would have been a little bit bigger if he hadn’t kept eating them.

As he absentmindedly plopped a taffy in his mouth, Aubrey glared at him with icy teal eyes. “Those are your chips, Kel.”

Kel shrugged. “Eh, I can spare a couple.”

Quirking an eyebrow, Aubrey blinked at him and his dwindling pile of candies even more pathetically puny next to the elaborate castle Sunny had been building out of the many, many he had collected throughout the course of the game. They should have known he would be virtually unbeatable at poker, but for her credit, Aubrey seemed to be doing fairly well for herself too with a modest stack of caramels in front of her. Basil would probably be doing better if he stopped folding every round, even when he had a good hand, but even he had more ‘chips’ than Kel, probably because he didn’t keep eating them.

Kel shrugged, then ate another taffy with a satisfied smack of his lips. He didn’t think it mattered much, seeing as he wasn’t going to win anyway, but Aubrey huffed—a long piece of pink hair falling into her face as she rolled her eyes, kicking him under the table. Chuckling, he playfully kicked her back. It clearly wasn’t the reaction she had been expecting. Pushing her hair out of her face, she tilted her head at him with a scowl, then kicked him again a little harder this time, but he just laughed, delighted by that twitch in the corners of her mouth she had tried to hide. He wondered if he could get her to actually smile—not always the easiest feat in the world with Aubrey, especially when she was annoyed like this.

Sunny dropped a piece of taffy in the center of the table—stone-faced and unreadable as usual, a truly unfair power in a poker game, and Kel picked one of his own up—appearing to follow suit until he plopped it into his mouth.

“Kel!” Aubrey huffed.

“I’m hungry,” he insisted with a smack of his lips as he chewed the taffy.

“Then have Hero make you a sandwich and stop eating your poker chips.”

With a sigh, Kel glanced off over Aubrey’s shoulder at his brother, hard at work in the kitchen as he generally was whenever his fraternity hosted a party. Hero had been nice enough to invite them along to this one, provided none of them drink anything that didn’t come out of a can or bottle clearly marked as “non-alcoholic,” since unlike Hero and most of his friends they weren’t of legal drinking age yet and Hero had warned them repeatedly that it was far too easy to accidentally get wasted, especially when you’re not used to it. Whether he knew that from personal experience or not, Kel wasn’t sure, and he didn’t think it was his place to ask. As far as he knew, Hero didn’t drink, even though he had legally been able to for the past few months, and Kel noticed that for the whole evening, he had been sipping a mug of hot tea rather than anything boozy…but, Kel supposed, that could have been because he had wanted to keep a watchful, sober eye on them. Always the responsible big brother, he had been checking in with them periodically all evening to make sure they were okay and to see if they needed anything even though he was busy taking care of party guests and making sure things didn’t get too rowdy and out of hand, like a “Mama” his roommate, the party’s host, had somewhat teasingly insisted.

Hero had politely opted not to play poker with them, however,—whether because he wanted to keep making sandwiches or because his group of college friends had teased him that he couldn’t lie well enough to last five minutes in a poker tournament had yet to be seen. Hero’s friends, for their credit, had seemingly tried to make up for it by playing in his place, however. Brandi and her boyfriend, C.J., made it through a couple rounds before getting called away to watch Hero’s roommate try to use a beer bong while standing on his head, which Hero had politely insisted Kel and their friends skip out on. Music major Tamra played five rounds mostly spent comforting Basil when he panicked and accidentally bet 7 Charleston Chews before realizing he had forgotten to look at his cards, and Kel had spent at least ten minutes trying to teach the bubbly Lorraine how to play before she finally decided she’d rather just sing Spice Girls karaoke with her sorority sisters. Out of Hero’s closest friends, at least the ones Kel knew of, only two hadn’t played: Hero’s roommate, Kyle, who was absolutely plastered after that thing with the beer bong, and spunky engineering major, Zoey, who had offered to keep Hero company in the kitchen so he wouldn’t feel so left out.

Glancing over at his brother now, Kel couldn’t help but think Hero didn’t seem to mind being left out at all now that he was busy cooking, chatting, and laughing with one of his best friends. Kel couldn’t make out what they were talking about, but he watched Zoey’s mouth curve into a dry, somewhat lopsided smile as she poked Hero in the chest with a spatula and Hero’s smile actually managed to reach his eyes as he laughed so loudly it caught the attention of everyone at the table.

They all blinked—wide-eyed at the rare occurrence of actual Hero happiness: a true unicorn over the past several years though not completely impossible anymore especially when he was with his college friends and, they had all noticed, this one in particular. Almost on some kind of unspoken cue, the whole table shared a glance at each other as if to acknowledge how much they were all indebted to the young lady and not just because she had helped Sunny build a trebuchet for his physics project, found the missing lens cap from Basil’s camera, invited Aubrey to stay with her during her college visit, and always let Kel call her whenever he was stuck on his math homework.

Aubrey cleared her throat—reminding them to quickly turn back to their cards before Hero caught them staring. He likely would have been mortified, but Kel knew none of them had been trying to pry, they were all just glad to see him enjoying the company of his friends and smiling again. It had been a very long time.

“On second thought, don’t bother him,” mumbled Aubrey though an affectionate smile tugged at her mouth. Sunny nodded in emphatic agreement, even handing Kel some of the candies from the palace he had been building.

Kel stifled a chuckle but shook his head. “Thanks, Sunny, but I’ll just eat later.” Staring back down at his cards, Kel hummed. “And I’ll raise you two licorices.”

“How much did we say a licorice is again?” asked Basil with a weary sigh.

“I think two licorices equals one caramel, and two caramels equal a taffy,” explained Aubrey rubbing her eyes.

Basil nodded, then sighed again. “Okay…I fold.”

“You know you don’t have to fold every time,” Kel teased with a good-natured chuckle. He glanced over at Aubrey, meeting her teal eyes—distant and a little exasperated but not unkind. Even so, she jabbed at him with her foot again before she reached for her own pile of candies.

As Aubrey thoughtfully hummed at her cards, Kel playfully poked her with his foot under the table again. Not even blinking or looking up from her hand—she jabbed back at him then he poked at her, and back and forth they went, hopefully, unnoticed by their friends. Finally, she dropped a handful of candy into the center pile meeting Kel’s eyes, the corners of her lips twitching again. As a smile began to spread across his own face, he ran his foot across her ankle, then without thinking, up the side of her calf. A yelp caught in the back of Aubrey’s throat—startling Sunny and Basil, and Kel stopped abruptly watching the bright red spots appearing between her indignant frown.

His own face grew warm. He had just been playing around and hadn’t been thinking, certainly hadn’t been intending to play footsie with her, even though, if he was being honest, it was kind of nice. Something swooped in his stomach as he was suddenly struck by the thought of Aubrey running her foot up his leg, instead of the other way around...

That blush in his face deepened, and he cleared his throat. He didn’t know where that thought had come from, honestly.

He reached for another piece of candy.

“Seriously?” Aubrey huffed, rolling her eyes at him again—that usual pale pallor returning to her face as Sunny met her bet. Kel tried his best to quiet that fluttery sensation in his stomach by turning back to his cards.

For a split second, he had actually forgotten he didn’t have anything in his hand. Even so, he exclaimed, “I’m going all in!”

Kel had always liked that phrase: “all in.” He supposed he was an “all in” kind of person—jumping into things with wholehearted enthusiasm, oftentimes without thinking. In a way, he guessed, that was a good thing sometimes—like when he dragged Sunny out of his house or pestered his brother into taking much needed breaks from constant studying, but it probably wasn’t the best when he was trying to play poker and annoying his friends by going “all in” with whole hands of nothing. Still, he shoved his remaining candies into the middle of the table.

Aubrey snickered. “What will you have to eat now?”

Before he could banter back, however, his stomach growled, loudly. He probably should grab something to eat beyond just his “poker chips.”

“Here, Scotty. Sounds like you need it more than me.” A plate with a hot sandwich on it appeared next to him on the table. Kel didn’t need to turn around to know who had put it there: Hero’s friend Zoey was the only person in the world who called him “Scotty,” a reference to his penchant for fixing things as far as he understood it.

“Thanks, but I can’t take your food,” Kel insisted as Hero ran up beside them, wiping his hands across his apron.

“Kel’s right,” he gently interrupted, patting Kel’s shoulder before quickly turning from him to Zoey. “I can make him something. You don’t have to give him yours.”

Zoey quirked an eyebrow at him. “Your poor brother is practically starving over here,” she quipped in a dry, matter-of-fact voice. “And it looks like Sunny is wiping the floor with him. He deserves a sandwich.” She tilted her head towards Kel but met Hero’s dark eyes with her teasing green ones, just for a moment. Hero turned away, clearing his throat, and she turned to Sunny, with a bright smile, “Nice castle, by the way.”

“Thank you,” mumbled Sunny as a smile tugged at his mouth. “But…it’s having trouble staying up…”

As she tucked a piece of short, red hair behind her ear, Zoey’s brow furrowed, but her mouth twitched in its corners. “You want some help with that?” she asked, and Sunny nodded. “A stronger foundation should fix the problem, and you have plenty of candies to build a bigger base.” She paused, chuckling lightly. “Remind me never to play poker against you. We’ll just have to stick to crazy eights.”

“I’d like to play crazy eights,” sighed Basil. “Poker is stressing me out.”

“Everything stresses you out,” huffed Aubrey with an affectionate smile as she rubbed her eye. Basil chuckled lightly, somewhat helplessly as Hero gave him a reassuring pat on the back.

“I prefer crazy eights too,” he admitted with a sigh and a gentle smile before turning back to his brother. “Kel, please don’t eat Zoey’s sandwich. What would you like me to make for you? And does anyone else want anything?”

Aubrey, Basil, and Sunny all shook their heads, but Kel hummed thoughtfully, “I’ll just have something easy to make like ham and cheese. Or just some chips or something if you’re too tired. You’ve been cooking all night.”

“It’s fine. It’s actually…”—Hero’s face softened—“kind of fun. I’m usually so busy studying I don’t get to cook as much anymore, so it’s nice to have the opportunity.” He paused then sighed. “Sorry I haven’t been around much tonight though. It’s been kind of crazy around here, but after I finish cooking for you guys, maybe we can all play together.”

“You’re just saying that because they’re switching to crazy eights,” teased Zoey as she helped Sunny arrange his squares of caramels into a wide base for his castle.

Hero chuckled lightly but gently insisted, “I would have played poker too. Whatever you want.”

“Crazy eights is fine,” said Aubrey, still rubbing her eye. “Kel’s out of poker chips anyway.” Aubrey huffed, blinking rapidly and pulling on her eyelid with her finger. Her eye started to water.

“Are you okay?” asked Kel reaching out a hand to her, but she jerked away from him.

“Yeah, I think I just got something in my eye.” She blinked again with a disgruntled groan.

“I have eyedrops in a first aid kit upstairs if that’ll help,” said Hero. “I’ll go get them.”

“No, I can do that.” Kel stopped, realizing what he had said only after he had said it. “I mean…I wouldn’t want you to have to leave everybody and you’re so busy hosting.”

“It’s no trouble,” Hero insisted. “But if you want to get the first aid kit, you can, Kel. It’s in the lower right drawer of my desk.”

“That’s okay,” interjected Aubrey. “I don’t think I need a first aid kit or anything. Whatever it is, it’s stuck up under my contact lens, so I’ll probably just have to take it out. My bag’s upstairs I think.”

As Aubrey stumbled to her feet, Kel followed. He and Hero both opened their mouths, about to say something when the slurred voice of Hero’s roommate Kyle called from across the room, “Mama! Mama!”

“Just a second,” Hero called back, but Kyle yelled again—a slurred and drawn-out whine.

“Heroooooooooooooooooooooo!”

Hero let out a long heavy sigh. “Yes? Is everything okay?”

“Come here! Tamra’s gonna play a song for you.”

“I’ve been working on this transcription project, I think you’re really going to like it,” Tamra’s voice called from her seat at an old, chipped piano on the back wall of the busy living room.

“And we’re all going to sing,” giggled Lorraine.

“That’s really nice, but um…can you wait a couple minutes?” asked Hero.

There were teasing, playful groans before Zoey called, “Hold on, you big babies. He’s in the middle of something.”

“Unless someone’s dying or he’s making out with you, it can wait!” Kyle yelled then cracked himself up in raucous laughter. Given the bright red hue of his brother’s face, Kel felt bad for laughing a little himself, even though he tried his best to stifle it. It seemed Brandi and her boyfriend were trying and failing to do the same—laughing behind their hands as they curled up next to each other on the couch. Sunny and Basil were both blushing—probably from second-hand embarrassment for Hero’s sake, and Aubrey rolled her eyes before rubbing them again.

Hero pressed his palm to his forehead muttering something about being “so sorry.” Zoey, however, seemed annoyed but unsurprised as she got up from her seat at the table then walked over to lightly smack Kyle on the back of the head. “You’re such an ass sometimes, ‘Drunk Kyle.’”

“But you still love me. I know you love me, Zuzu…” Kyle cooed in a bantering melodrama, blowing kisses at her until she rolled her eyes.

“Don’t push your luck.”

Still red in the face, Hero sighed heavily, turning to explain to the table in stumbly, nervous words, “We’re not—! I’ve never…It’s not like that.” Hero took a deep breath before rambling very quickly, “We’re just friends, and Kyle’s known Zoey forever and just says…really weird and uncomfortable things when he’s drunk…” He sighed, shaking his head. “I’m sorry you had to hear that.”

Kel shrugged his shoulders with a reassuringly dismissive wave, but he bit his lip—trying his best to choose his words carefully for once in his life. He knew his brother would hate to hear him say it, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that Hero was fragile, especially when it came to something sensitive like this. He couldn’t tell if he was so flustered because he was actually, secretly attracted to this girl or because he was worried that everyone would be upset if they thought he was or because he was still so devoted to Mari that he was sickened by the idea of anyone thinking he had even noticed another woman. Or maybe it was just Hero’s shy personality and dislike for being the center of attention?

Kel’s head ached. He didn’t usually read this much into things, but he didn’t want to say the wrong thing. He had accidentally broken his brother once before, and he didn’t want to do that ever again.

“It’s okay,” said Sunny with an emphatic nod, pulling Kel’s attention out of his thoughts. It was a shock to say the least. Even Aubrey stopped fidgeting with her eye for a second to blink at him. Kel wracked his brain and tried to think of a time when Sunny had managed to have something to say while the rest of them were speechless. It was very possible that had never happened before, but Kel was extremely grateful that it had now.

Trying his best not to look too shocked, Hero stumbled a, “Thank you, Sunny.” He cleared his throat, then turned back to Aubrey. “Anyways…Aubrey…let’s get you—” He stopped as Aubrey reached out a hand to pat him on the shoulder, cutting him off.

“Hero, I’m fine. Go hang out with your friends.”

“Yeah, I’ll help Aubrey with the first aid kit and everything, and we’ll be right back,” Kel insisted with a reassuring smile, grateful to have something to do to help that didn’t depend on him saying the right thing. Honestly, with the way he tended to just say whatever popped into his head, he just didn’t trust himself not to make everything worse for Hero anymore.

“Okay…” stumbled Hero, unsurely but he eventually conceded at the cacophonous calls of his friends. “But if you need anything just call okay? If you don’t come back in a few minutes, I’ll come check on you.”

“It’ll be fine,” sighed Kel with an affectionate chuckle. Without thinking he grabbed Aubrey’s hand and started pulling her towards the staircase. By the time they reached the landing, they could hear the distant melodies of the piano and an enthusiastic, if also a little drunk, chorus of Hero’s friends loudly, teasingly belting out, “I can be your Hero, baby!”

Kel laughed. He would have paid to see his brother’s face when his friends started singing that song to him, but as it was now, Aubrey was much more important. Despite still rubbing at her eye, even she managed a chuckle and a somewhat affectionate, “Hero’s friends are such goofs.”

“Yeah…” chuckled Kel. “But I love them. They’ve made Hero so happy. I…really missed that.”

Aubrey sighed, a gentle smile twitching in the corners of her mouth. “Me too.”

As Kel led her down the hallway towards the room Hero shared with Kyle, Aubrey fidgeted then sighed again and asked, “Hey uh…Kel…?”

“Huh?”

She cleared her throat—her voice a little stiff as she answered, “You’re uh…still holding my hand…”

Blinking, Kel stared down at their hands. He hadn’t even realized he was still holding hers. His face flushed. “Oh uh…”—he cleared his throat—“I sorta forgot. Sorry about that…” Letting go of her hand, he rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly then pushed open the door to Hero’s room. “It’s right here.”

There was something familiar, almost cozy about Hero’s room. In a way, it reminded Kel of the room they had shared back home. The left side of the room was bright and colorful with chaotic clusters of photos and posters on the wall. It was cleaner than Kel generally kept his room, but just as cluttered with books, CDs, school supplies, and bottles of something or other haphazardly strewn across the dresser and desk. Though the bed was made, the duvet was crinkled, wrinkly, and the pillows looked like they had been scooped up and thrown at the headboard in a hurry. Sunny would probably give it a 4 out of 10.

To be perfectly fair, however, it probably would have just looked “lived in” if it wasn’t for the left side of the room: simple with pale, muted colors, but perfectly pristine like something out of a catalog. Nothing was out of place, and there was no clutter to be had: no knickknacks, no mementos, and just three photos in matching gray frames on the desk. Every book, every record, every CD had been carefully placed on the shelf and all office supplies were housed in drawers or an unassuming gray pencil holder. The blue duvet was perfectly smooth with pillows perfectly arranged. Even their coats and bags that had been placed on the bed had been carefully, thoughtfully lined up in a neat order against the wall.

“No guessing which side’s Hero’s, huh?” quipped Aubrey as she climbed over the mattress for her purse. “Always neat as a pin.”

As she began digging through her bag, most likely for the case for her contact lenses, Kel turned towards Hero’s desk to search for the first aid kit. Like everything else belonging to his brother, it was clean, sanitized, boring though Kel felt badly for thinking that. He was happy to see the photos though—the only truly personalized things of Hero’s in the room. One was of him with his group of college friends—laughing together probably at some party just like this one by the look of it. The second was their most recent family photo, and the third was of their group of friends in Faraway Park when they were kids back when Mari had been alive.

Kel’s chest ached. They looked so different back then—especially Aubrey. He glanced over at her now, still digging through her bag, long pink hair rippling down her back rather than the dark brown locks she had sported in that photo and for the majority of her life. Her eyes were different too—an icy teal now from her colored contacts. That reminded him…he had better start looking for those eyedrops.

As he pulled open the bottom left drawer of Hero’s desk, he paused—blinking in surprise.

“Woah!” he exclaimed before he could stop himself.

“What?” asked Aubrey.

“This drawer is a mess,” he mumbled, so stunned he wasn’t even able to look up at her. In an entire lifetime of knowing Hero, Kel had never known anything of his brother’s to be a mess. He sighed and supposed that there really was a first time for everything. Kel’s brow furrowed as he began sifting through odds and ends—a whole junk drawer of papers, notebooks, books, a couple CDs, even some receipts, a few pictures, and who even knew what else. “There’s all kinds of crap in here…”

Aubrey snorted a partially stifled laugh. “I didn’t know Hero could make a mess.”

“Me neither,” quipped Kel, pushing some of the papers around looking for anything resembling a first aid kit.

“Hey uh…” She sighed. “Speaking of Hero…do you think he’s…”—she paused as if trying to think of the right word—“worried that we’d all be upset if he…if he was, you know—dating again?”

Kel stopped, but he sighed heavily. He had just been wondering the same thing after all. He shrugged his shoulders—focusing his attention on digging through the desk drawer, but he answered, “I think Hero worries about a lot of things he doesn’t have to worry about.”

“I just wouldn’t want him to feel like he couldn’t put himself back out there, you know… because of what we’d think or because he’s scared we’d be upset or think he was disrespecting Mari…” Her voice trailed. “I wish there was a way we could tell him that we’d all be happy…without it sounding like we were prying or making assumptions.”

Kel nodded, but let out a heavy, somewhat helpless sigh. “Don’t look at me. I’d probably just say the wrong thing,” he chuckled, self-deprecatingly—rubbing his hand across the nape of his neck.

“Kel…” Aubrey’s tone softened, but he didn’t look up at her, instead choosing to quickly shrug it off and change directions.

“Besides he says he’s not interested in having that kind of relationship anymore anyway, so he probably just isn’t—no matter what we’d think about it. You know how Hero is. He’s been…”—he paused, unable to think of the right word—“really weird about that kind of thing ever since Mari died. I just…I don’t know if he’ll ever want that again…”

As Kel continued rifling through the drawer, Aubrey sighed. “I know…and I understand that. I wasn’t suggesting we push him or anything I just…didn’t want to be part of whatever was holding him back.” She paused, sighing again. “He looked so happy, and…I really like her.”

“Me too. I’m pretty sure she’s the only reason I’m not failing math right now,” Kel bantered with a laugh before his face softened. He knew he didn’t have to say the rest—didn’t have to say how much he loved her for being such a good friend to Hero, for always studying with him or going on runs with him at the crack of dawn, for helping him do the dishes at their college parties or talking to him about his favorite foods or favorite kinds of music, for being that lone voice of reason in Hero’s somewhat chaotic group of college friends, for making him laugh and smile, and, most of all, for bringing something out in him that they had never imagined they’d get to see again.

“But it’s really not like that,” Kel added, though he wasn’t sure if was reminding himself or reminding Aubrey. “They both swear they’re just friends, and I believe them. I mean, I wish…Maybe someday, but I just—it’s Hero. I don’t know if he’s ever gonna be ready for it.” Kel stopped with a heavy sigh—brow furrowing as he pushed some of the papers around in Hero’s messy desk drawer. “I mean…he’s got a bunch of books about widowers in here…”

“Kel, don’t snoop through Hero’s stuff,” Aubrey scolded with a huff.

Kel’s face flushed, but he shrugged his shoulders. “I’m not trying to. It’s just such a mess in here. There’s papers everywhere and notebooks and books and CDs and…ooh! A present!” Curiously if also a little impulsively, Kel picked up a small, wrapped box tied with a red ribbon. “It’s heavy. I bet it’s jewelry.”

“Kel! Stop snooping,” Aubrey snapped at him. He fumbled around with the box before placing it back in the drawer.

“Look, I’m not being nosy. I’m just looking for the first aid kit. It’s not in here.”

Aubrey huffed. “You’re looking in the wrong drawer. Hero said lower right not lower left.”

Kel took a step back to stare at the desk—tilting his head. “Okay but…my right or the desk’s right?”

“Just check the other drawer!”

Kel closed the messy drawer then opened its identical twin on the other side of the desk—nearly empty except for a neat stack of blank notebook paper, a metal pencil case, and a first aid kit. “Found it!” he declared triumphantly—ignoring the way Aubrey was shaking her head at him. Snapping the clasp of the first aid kit open, he sat the case on the desk and rifled through it for the eye drops. “Here…” he said, turning to Aubrey.

She looked up from her bag and turned to stare at him as she reached for the bottle of eye drops with a muttered, “Thanks.”

Kel froze. His eyes widened—heart racing so loud he could hear it pounding in his ears which had turned red at the sight of her. His hands trembled. His breath caught in his throat as he met her eyes. Her brown eyes.

Kel had nothing against Aubrey’s colored contacts. Her teal eyes certainly were pretty—even if he’d probably never tell her that, but there was something icy, something cold and distant in them. Her real eyes were warm, inviting—cozy like the gentle glow of a candle. The light reflected off of swirls of golden brown in them as they glimmered and sparked like a crackling fire, and Kel found himself suddenly taken back to happier days: to making flower crowns, buildings sandcastles, jumping through puddles, having picnics, and watching sunsets. But there was something more in them than just treasured memories—something that made a swooping sensation twist in the pit of his stomach, made him feel dizzy and seasick but deliriously happy. Something that left him wonderstruck, left his mind empty— hazy and bare except for the words that ached in the deepest part of his heart: So beautiful…

“Kel? Are you okay?”

Aubrey’s stiff and awkward voice drew him out of his thoughts. He caught sight of the pink blush in her cheeks, and his face burned. He was staring at her, and she had noticed.

He opened his mouth to say something in response but found that possibly for the first time in his life he didn’t have any words. “You—your eyes…”

Aubrey’s cheeks turned an even deeper red, but she shrugged her shoulders brusquely. “Yeah…they’re kind of red and irritated. But that’s because I got something in them.”

Kel’s brow furrowed in confusion. Tilting his head at her, he finally noticed the streaks of red irritation in her eyes and the tears caught in her long eyelashes. He couldn’t believe he hadn’t seen it before—too mesmerized by her warm, dark eyes to see much of anything else, he supposed.

Something swooped in the pit of his stomach as she met his eyes briefly before turning away again, adding stiffly, “I haven’t been crying or anything…”

“Right…uh…,” he stumbled over his words, fumbling around with the eye drops until he finally handed them to her. “Here.”

Aubrey nodded—carefully pouring the drops in her eyes. As she stared up at the ceiling, Kel took a seat next to her on the side of the bed—sinking into the soft mattress and fluffy duvet with a satisfying creak. Sunny was right this bed really was a 9 out of 10, perfect for Hero. Kel tried his best to focus on the squishy foam of the mattress or the comfort of the bed linens or anything—literally anything else besides the way he felt every time Aubrey looked at him with those wide, dark eyes.

After a few moments of silence, Aubrey finally blinked the eyedrops away, the watery mess spilling down her cheeks. As she wiped her eyes, she reached for her contact lens case again. “I think that got it. I’ll just put these back in—”

“Do you have to?” He hadn’t realized he had interrupted her until her brow furrowed at him. The tips of his ears burned as Aubrey blinked at him.

“Um…Yeah.”

“Why?” The question slipped out before he could even think to stop it.

Aubrey frowned—though she looked more confused than irritated. “Because I can’t see without them.”

“Oh,” Kel’s voice hitched before he cleared his throat. “I guess I didn’t realize they were prescription.”

“Yeah…I wouldn’t have paid for them otherwise. Contacts are expensive.”

Kel tilted his head at her. “But why the colored ones?”

“I guess I just thought they’d be fun—pretty…” Aubrey shrugged. “Why?”

Kel flushed again, but he shrugged his shoulders. “I guess I just wondered if you ever thought about getting just regular contacts.”

“I mean I guess…But I don’t think it makes much of a difference, does it?”

“I guess not,” sighed Kel. “But you have such pretty eyes it’d be nice to see them every now and again.”

Aubrey’s face turned as pink as her hair, and Kel let out a long, heavy sigh. He had spoken without thinking again. It was going to be the death of him one of these days.

Before he could say anything more though, Aubrey frowned and elbowed him with a bristly huff. “Knock it off, Kel.”

“I wasn’t kidding around,” Kel insisted, but Aubrey didn’t seem to hear him or at least didn’t seem to acknowledge his protests as she continued.

“First you try to play footsie with me. Now you’re complimenting my eyes. It’s”—she glared at him, but her voice hitched—“it’s not funny.”

“I didn’t mean to play footsie with you—I was just goofing around and…”

“Well, it was weird,” Aubrey interrupted him, crossing her arms with a huff.

“It wasn’t that weird,” he insisted, but he fidgeted with nervous energy—bumping into her legs as they dangled from the side of the bed. Her eyes narrowed, but she kicked at him with her feet. Then with a lopsided twitch of her mouth, she ran her feet over his ankles—then up and down his calf. Kel bit down hard on his lip. Was she doing this on purpose—trying to get back at him for playing footsie with her earlier?

A startled yelp got garbled in the back of his throat as she nudged her foot against his knee. Red in the face after a long, wavering breath, he somehow miraculously managed a stumbly laugh and teasingly conceded, “Okay…okay you win, princess. It was weird, sorry—is that what you wanna hear?”

“Yes.” A somewhat smug smile twitched in the corners of Aubrey’s mouth, but her face was flushed. “It was weird. I mean, if we were dating then maybe, but—” she stopped abruptly, eyes widening at him.

Kel could feel his face burning and could only imagine how red he must look to Aubrey. Dating? He swallowed hard. Hearing her even mention it made his stomach backflip.

A question tugged at his mind and slipped out of his mouth before he could even think to stop it, “If we were dating, would you wear regular contacts sometimes if I asked?”

The blush in Aubrey’s cheeks deepened, but she bristled. “You and those contacts…” she huffed, rolling her eyes. “What’s up with that? If I didn’t know better, I’d think you didn’t like them.”

“What? No! Uh…they’re great.” Kel’s ears burned as he scratched the back of his neck. “It’s just…what I said about your real eyes—it wasn’t a joke.”

Aubrey’s brow furrowed in confusion. “Huh?”

“They really are pretty,” he admitted with a sincere, somewhat helpless smile. “I…had honestly kind of forgotten what they looked like and I just…I guess I—” He stopped, his mind going blank as her eyes met his again.

Her eyes. Kel could have sworn his heart skipped a beat as they held his gaze. So beautiful…

He swallowed hard—trying to calm his pounding heartbeat and the butterflies erupting in his stomach enough to say, “I missed them.”

Aubrey blinked at him. Her long eyelashes fluttering as her eyes widened. He could hear her inhale sharply—breath getting caught in her throat. “K—Kel…”

She turned away from him abruptly, but he felt her reach out to cover his hand with hers. Jolts of electricity riveted through him and that aching, twisting feeling returned to his stomach, but he couldn’t pry his eyes away from her to look down at their intwined hands on the duvet.

Instead, he could feel himself leaning forward—reaching out his free hand to her and getting lost once again in her eyes. He pushed a long strand of pink hair out of her face with his thumb before running his fingers across her watery cheek before he pressed his lower palm to her jaw—angling it towards him. Kel swallowed hard—his attention finally pulled from her big, dark eyes to her mouth. As he watched her bite her bottom lip, Kel’s stomach backflipped. He ran the end of his tongue across his lips—finding them chapped, still caked with the leftover taste of taffy.

Aubrey licked her own lips as she leaned forward—bracing herself by gripping his knee in her hand. When she was mere inches away from his face, he tilted his head towards her until the tip of his nose brushed up against the side of hers.

With a breathless sigh, he watched as her eyes finally fluttered closed—her long dark eyelashes tickling his skin and her warm breath whispering against his lips. She was so close—so close he could feel her trembling and could hear her wavering gasps of air. So close he could smell the hint of watermelon in her shampoo and could taste the mix of cola and caramel on her breath.

Kel chuckled lightly—his laugh reverberating in his chest. So she had been eating her candy poker chips too… Hypocrite. But the truth was Kel didn’t even mind—how could he? How could he care about anything else in the world when she was only a breath away from him?

Time stopped, and they froze, each seemingly waiting for the moment one of them would finally close that space between them. But the moment never came.

Instead, there was a mortified gasp of “Oh! I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to interrupt.”

Kel and Aubrey quickly scrambled away from each other red in the face as they turned to find Hero standing in the open doorway—almost equally as red as Kel could only assume they were.

“Oh uh…no you’re not interrupting anything,” he insisted, the words racing out of his mouth as he struggled to catch his breath. “I was just…Aubrey was just…I found those eye drops and…”

In a swift motion, Aubrey gathered her things, stood up from her seat on the bed, and practically sprinted towards the door. “Yeah…I was just about to put my contacts back in. I think I’ll do that in the bathroom. Thanks, Hero.”

His brow furrowing in confusion, Hero could only blink at her as she sped past—her pale cheeks blushing a bright crimson red. She kept her head down, as if she was unable to look at him. “Oh uh…it’s no problem…” he stumbled over his words as she took off down the hallway.

As he turned back towards Kel in confusion, Kel swallowed hard. “I—I can explain…” Truthfully, he didn’t know how he could explain, but he was sure as hell going to try.

“That’s okay,” Hero gently insisted, his blush deepening. “You really don’t need to explain anything to me, Kel.”

“No, seriously,” rambled Kel. “I…Nothing happened. I was just helping her look for those eyedrops, and when I found them, she took her contacts out and her eyes…they were…were…” He scrambled around for the right word before finally deciding on, “brown.”

Hero’s expression softened. “It has been a long time since we’ve seen Aubrey without her contacts in.”

“I was just surprised. I forgot what her eyes looked like, I guess,” shrugged Kel. “I know she needs those contacts to see, but I tried to tell her that maybe she could just get regular contacts too, someday. Since her real eyes…they’re just so—” He stopped abruptly, but he wasn’t sure that mattered. The look on his face surely said everything he couldn’t, and Hero knew it. Kel could tell that he did. Kel sighed heavily—his blush deepening at the knowing look Hero was giving him. Kel frowned as he watched his brother stifle an amused laugh.

Thankfully, Hero didn’t call him out—just reached out to ruffle his hand through his hair with an affectionate, “It’s okay, Kel. It happens to the best of us.”

“Even you?” asked Kel before he could stop himself. Hero’s face flushed pink, but he chuckled lightly with a somewhat sheepish nod.

“Yes, even me,” he admitted with a sigh before his eyes grew misty—wistful. “I think…there are certain people in this world whose eyes are just filled with possibilities. When you look at them, you just know that there’s something more…something beyond what you can even imagine—a life…a future…even if you’re not ready to see it.”

“Wow…that’s deep…” Kel chuckled, watching the gentle smile that tugged at his brother’s mouth.

Somewhat bashfully, Hero scratched the back of his neck. “Sorry…was that too much?”

“Nah, I just…” Kel’s voice trailed, and he shook his head. He was used to this kind of deep, philosophical advice from Hero or, at least, he had been—Hero hadn’t really given advice like this to him in a while. While it was true that Hero was a changed person, probably permanently so, after losing Mari, Kel supposed it was more his fault than anything they didn’t talk to each other the way they used to. Hero was so private Kel was convinced he’d just say the wrong thing or hurt Hero by prying into his business, even if he was worried about him, and he didn’t feel right bugging him for advice with problems which he considered small and petty compared to everything Hero had going on. The truth was he had missed it—missed how intuitive his brother was, how he always seemed to know exactly what to do and what to say, like a real hero. His hero.

Something ached in his chest, and he wrapped his arms around him.

“I missed you,” he mumbled into his shoulder. Kel could feel Hero lurch backward a little in surprise before his shoulders relaxed and he pulled him into a tight hug.

“I missed you too, Kel.” He sighed—rubbing his hand across his back. “We’ll have to make plans for you to visit again or maybe I can start driving home more on the weekends. And summer break is coming up soon so we’ll see each other a lot then…”

Kel’s expression softened as he pressed his chin to Hero’s shoulder. That hadn’t really been what he had meant. But his brother was so earnest. It made him chuckle lightly.

“I’m sorry that I’ve been so busy with classes and med school applications and everything,” Hero continued with a guilty deep breath. “But I always have time for you. I know I’m a little far away from home now, but you can always call me. I’m not sure I’ll have much advice for you, but I’ll always be here.”

As he pulled away from his brother, Kel shrugged. “No, that was good advice.” Amazing, almost superhumanly relevant advice actually, but he wasn’t ready to tell Hero that.

Hero smiled. “I’m glad. Just hang in there, okay? There’s no need to rush into anything. You’ve got time to sort out your feelings.” He gently ruffled his hair before turning to open the messy drawer of his desk. “In the meantime, why don’t you take this?”

He pulled out a CD, and Kel’s brow furrowed. “Peter Gabriel?”

Hero chuckled. “There’s a song on there called ‘In Your Eyes.’ I think you’ll really like it.”

Kel tried his best to frown at his dry teasing, but a smile tugged at his mouth in spite of himself. If he was being honest, he supposed he had even missed that too—at least a little bit. He twisted the plastic case in his hands.

“I’m not sure I should take this. I mean it came out of your messy junk drawer…”

Hero’s face flushed, but he scratched his neck with a sheepish, “Yeah I really need to organize it.” He stopped and tilted his head. “How’d you know?”

“I wasn’t trying to snoop through your stuff,” Kel explained hurriedly. “I was just looking for the first aid kit, and I opened the wrong drawer but I didn’t know it was the wrong drawer so—”

“It’s okay, Kel.” Hero gently patted him on the arm. “I don’t have anything to hide.”

“You’re hiding a present in there,” Kel teased with a bright, crooked smile.

Running a hand through his hair, Hero blushed, but he cleared his throat. “Oh…uh…yeah…I guess there’s that...”

“What is it? What is it?” teased Kel, poking him in the arm.

“It’s…uh…” The blush in Hero’s cheeks deepened, and he turned away from him, watching his shuffling feet on the rug. “A necklace.” Kel’s grin widened, and he puffed out his chest with pride, a bit smug at having guessed it was jewelry after all. He’d have to tell Aubrey.

Kel’s face grew hot at the thought of her—at the thought of how she had playfully grazed his legs with her feet, how she had leaned in so close to him and, could he even believe it, had almost kissed him, and most of all how she stared up at him with those warm, dark eyes...

“So ‘In Your Eyes’ huh?” shrugged Kel, flipping the CD case over in his hands.

Nodding, Hero hummed. “It’s a great song.”

“Are you sure you won’t miss it?”

Hero laughed, but his face flushed. “I uh…I’ve been listening to other things recently.”

“Yeah, Mama here can’t get enough of that Piano Man guy…” chortled Kyle—his speech slurred but enthusiastic as he stumbled through the doorway and draped his arms around Hero, practically hanging off of him.

“Billy Joel,” Hero explained but whether to his roommate or to Kel, Kel wasn’t entirely sure.

“He hasn’t been listening to ‘Piano Man’ though…it’s some other song…” Kyle’s voice trailed as he took a swig of whatever was in his cup then he sang, enthusiastically but off-key, “‘She’s got a way about her…’ Something…something…”—he sighed—“I don’t know all the words but it keeps getting stuck in my head since Mama won’t stop listening to it.”

“Sorry, Kyle,” mumbled Hero, his face surprisingly red, as Kyle teasingly patted him on the head.

“Nah, it’s cool, man,” he said with a laugh that made his blonde curtain bangs fall into his eyes. “But seriously, where have you been? I had to come up here to make sure you weren’t dead or didn’t jump outta window or something…”

As Kyle laughed, Hero glanced at Kel with a kind smile that said he could keep a secret. “I was lending this CD to my brother. I’ll be right down.”

“Ooh what CD?” Kyle peered over the plastic case in Kel’s hands—tottering until Hero steadied him.

“Hero wants me to listen to some song called ‘In Your Eyes,’” Kel chuckled, teasingly rolling his eyes at his brother.

Kyle blinked at him for a long time—blankly as if waiting for the words to register, but then he laughed and started his slurred singing again, “‘In your eyes…I see the doorway…to a thousand churches…’”

Kel’s eyes widened, and his face grew hot again. He shook his head. No way… He must have misheard…

But Hero gently bantered, “That was beautiful, Kyle,” as he steadied his roommate on his feet “but you’re ‘karaoke drunk.’ Let’s get you some water and something to eat.”

“Is that…really a line in the song?” asked Kel, curiosity getting the best of them as they headed towards the door. He tried his best to frown, rather than laugh, but found that too difficult in the face of Hero’s knowing, teasing smile and the light chuckle he tried to hide behind his hand as he practically dragged Kyle out into the hallway.

“Yes,” he admitted—looking far too happy about it for Kel’s taste. Kel huffed and twisted his mouth so he wouldn’t smile in spite of himself. His stupid brother… He should have never told him about that thing with the nail bat.

“That’s not funny…” Kel pouted, playfully, with a huff, but Hero chuckled, clearly begging to differ but too kind to say. He ruffled a hand through Kel’s hair before he propped Kyle up against his side as they made their way down the stairs.

Hero shrugged his shoulders, but gave him one last, teasing look. “I told you, you’d like that song.”

Kel sighed, but his face flushed an even deeper red as Hero mumbled so quietly Kel almost couldn’t hear him. “And who knows…maybe we’ll be seeing more of Aubrey’s eyes pretty soon…”

*-*-*

One Year Later…

“Okay…I will see your taffy and raise you two caramels.” Hero took a deep breath then placed his candy into the center of the table. Kel laughed watching his brother purse his lips together as if trying to force himself to keep a poker face. He supposed that even after a year of periodic poker tournaments, he still couldn’t lie very well. It was something they had in common.

Basil, it seemed, bought it, at least, nervously exclaiming, “I fold!” before throwing his cards on the table with shaking hands.

Aubrey shook her head. “It’s not even your turn, Basil.”

“Oh…right…” he stumbled, a flush of pink in his cheeks. “Never mind.”

“And don’t worry, Hero doesn’t have anything,” Zoey teased dryly with the twitch of a lopsided smile as she absent-mindedly ran the gold chain around her neck through her fingers.

Hero’s face flushed. “Zoey…did you look at my cards?”

“No, I looked at your face,” she quipped, picking up a piece of taffy. As she placed it at the top of her candy pyramid, she added with a certain friendly affection, “You’re too sincere.”

Hero sighed, but his face turned red as he folded his hands over his cards, and Kel burst into laughter, somewhat in spite of himself.

Kyle, still and they often joked possibly forever Hero’s roommate, did the same before he bantered. “Poor Mama can’t lie to save his life.” He paused, laughing again. “But in that case, I’m all in.”

“You only have five pieces of candy, Kyle.” Zoey rolled her eyes—tugging at her necklace before tucking in back into the collar of her sweater, but Kyle just shrugged. He had been not-so-inconspicuously sneaking candies into his mouth the entire game, but Kel couldn’t judge that—he had been doing the same thing after all.

Aubrey had scolded him for it by lightly kicking him under the table, but Kel had just laughed and playfully kicked her back. He was playfully nudging her with his foot now—taking a certain sense of pride in the flush of red that filled her cheeks as he tickled her ankle with his toes.

“Fine. I’ll throw in my watch too. Happy?” With a dramatic wave of his hand, Kyle dropped his candies and his watch into the pot. Sunny looked up from the fortress he had been building with the fortune of candies he had collected throughout the game, as always, and stared at the watch with wide eyes.

“Nice watch,” he mumbled before pushing all of his ‘chips’ in.

Kel laughed but stopped abruptly, a flush of red in his cheeks, as he felt Aubrey’s foot grazing his calf, slowly gliding up and down the side of his leg. Before she reached his knee, he caught her foot with his, intwining their ankles, and she yelped—pulling her leg back to kick him but missed—bumping Sunny instead. He turned towards her with wide eyes but his expression softened as a smile twitched in the corners of his mouth and he nodded at them with a knowing look and a blink-and-you’d-miss-it thumbs up. Aubrey’s blush deepened, and Kel did his best to stifle a chuckle.

Kyle cursed under his breath. “Sunny’s smiling now. He must have something really good. I take it back.”

“You can’t take it back,” Zoey huffed, swatting his hands away from the pile of candy.

“We can always play again. We have plenty of candy…” Hero gently insisted with a slight smile.

“I fold! I fold!” exclaimed Basil far more anxious than Kel felt this low-stakes poker game warranted.

The turn passed to Kel, who stared down at his cards. If he was being honest he had been so distracted he had completely forgotten what he had in his hand. He sighed. It was a whole lot of nothing again. Still…he looked up catching sight of Aubrey and meeting her eyes—her brown eyes. His breath caught in his throat as the light reflected off them, their warm, dark hues so soft, so inviting. So beautiful.

He smiled at her. “I’m all in.”

As he pushed his chips into the center of the table, he winked at Aubrey who frowned though a blush flushed in the corners of her cheeks.

“You have nothing in your hand,” she whispered through her teeth, but he just chuckled, catching her hand and holding it under the table.

He leaned close to her—practically whispering in her ear, “I do now.”

“You’re so corny…” Aubrey rolled her eyes, but the flush in her face and the twitch of a smile in the corners of her mouth was not lost on him. She squeezed his hand, and with a sigh, threw her candies into the pile. “Oh what the hell…I guess I’m all in too…” she sighed, but Kel’s heart jumped as she glanced over him—blinking at him with those warm, dark eyes.

Kel supposed Hero was right. Someone’s eyes could show you something more, something beyond what you could even imagine. When Kel looked into Aubrey’s, he saw a light. A promise. A world. A home. A future.

And as he intertwined his fingers with hers, he knew that whatever that future held for them, he was all in.

#kelbrey #omori baseball #omori baseball bat #kel x aubrey #aubrey x kel #i am so normal about them 🧡🩷#also hero deserves to be happy—thanks for coming to my ted talk #thank you for reading

10 notes · View notes

youarentamaybeyoureayes · 9 months

Text

I'll never understand why people act like the first season of HSMTMTS is or should be deemed the best?

Don't get me wrong, it's totally fine to have a sense of nostalgia because you might recall season 1 being the first time you fell in love with the show or you're reminiscing about what drew you into it in the first place, but most arguments about season 1 never involve talking about any aspects of the show other than the fact that it ended with the R*ni love confession, and it makes it difficult for me to believe that there's any other reasons why you deem the season so superior to the others.

When you remove the nostalgia blinders, season 1 only gives a semblance of justice to a tiny amount of characters. Ricky and Nini get the most attention devoted to them, but whether it's because of the writing or simply the fact that she's the best actress on the show who's also capable of elevating any material that's given to her, it's Gina personally that stands out to me this season. Yet while it was airing, she was getting harassment from R*nis who were ignoring the obvious issues in their relationship to take all of their anger out on Gina. This would go on to happen for two more seasons.

Everyone other than Ricky, Nini, Gina, and maybe EJ, gets abandoned or shoehorned into things that age in a horrific way. I would argue that Kourtney's character suffers the most this season, and it was actually jarring seeing someone as vocally talented as Dara Reneé play a character that wasn't initially a singer. She wasn't even supposed to have a role on the show that lasted beyond two episodes, and yet she has one of the strongest, if not the strongest voice in the entire cast. For a show that was meant to revolve around theater kids, that alone was unrealistic and as a black woman, I can't ignore how colorism played a role in that. No one with a voice like that would have been given a supporting position if they were nonblack. Somehow the likes of M*tt C*rnett were given more solos on the show, and he is easily the worst male "vocalist" of the cast.

I won't even get into the fact that other than Gina, EJ was one of the most hated characters that season singlehandedly for getting in the way of R*ni, yet once the chances of R*ni making it to endgame status were getting increasingly lower, everyone decided that he was their favorite person and became P*rtwells. Not because they saw potential in anything (we all know one of the biggest plot points of season 1 was Rina getting closer, no matter how many people want to ignore it) but because they hated the idea of any character involved in R*ni being happy with someone who wasn't a part of their ship. Because I'm saving that for a later conversation.

The point is, like every season, season 1 had more flaws than most of the fandom wants to acknowledge, especially in the characterization of the ensemble cast, which was never the right move for a show that would not be as strong without their ensemble. Nostalgia as well as the plague of real life shipping has made people believe that this season was somehow unbeatable, when I would even argue that at the show's absolute worst in season 2 we would already see the improvements and corrections that season 1 failed to expand on. Such as giving underutilized characters like Kourtney and Carlos more depth by introducing their storylines with dealing with self doubt and acceptance.

I've always said that the episode that really made me stick with the show was episode 5 of season 1, and it isn't just because I'm an avid Rina. One of my favorite parts of the episode will always be the Born to Be Brave group number. Seeing Carlos start off dancing by himself and then Ashlyn going up to join him was one of the first moments of the show where I noticed just how strong the ensemble was and just how much heart they all brought to the show.

One love confession that didn't even manage to end up being the best love confession on the show is not what made the show what it is now. Delusional nostalgia is trying to tell you that despite other seasons allowing characters who were overdue in getting their own storylines finally have their moments to shine, nothing will ever amount to season 1 because of what you shipped. Season 1 didn't even deal with their deepest subjects. In retrospect, the entire season was essentially like a trial run. Even the first 4 episodes were written by a different show runner. The entire thing was an experiment. And while it was a good start and while I do understand why it's a season that's so loved, I just wish more people would unpack the reasons why they loved it and stopped dismissing the fact that there were seasons that did things better, even if your nostalgia is trying to tell you otherwise.

16 notes · View notes

yanderes-galore · 2 years

Note

Can I request yandere!The Batman Who Laughs? I don’t mind whether you do a concept, short, scenario, etc; whatever sparks your interest most is fine by me.

For now I'll use a concept to get my thoughts down. I call him 'Laughs' in this. As always, in character, Laughs is a nightmare towards you.

Yandere! The Batman Who Laughs/Bruce Wayne (Earth-22)

Concept

Pairing: Romantic

Possible Trigger Warnings: Gender-Neutral Darling, Yandere-like behavior, Sadism, Triggering themes such as physical and mental harm, Manipulation, Cruel behavior, Implied kidnapping, Dehumanization, Murder, Possessive behavior, Forced relationship, Blood mention.

- Bruce from Earth -22 is a literal nightmare.

- A mix between the Joker and Batman, this Bruce is sadistic, arrogant, and fixated on winning.

- His sense of right and wrong is extremely distorted and he holds no remorse.

- He wouldn't bat an eye at jokerizing children into Groblins or killing the entire Justice League of his universe.

- That alone makes 'Laughs' terrifying.

- But if you add obsession to this Batman?

- Just how low is your survival rating?

- You could be from his Earth or Prime-Earth.

- Or any universe.

- Once he has access to all of the Multiverse through Barbatos, you're safe nowhere.

- The Batman Who Laughs/Laughs would be Sadistic, Controlling, Manipulative, Cruel, and Possessive towards you.

- Laughs would also be incredibly skilled in tracking you down.

- You won't get far once you're in his mind.

- His Robins will sniff you out before dragging you to their master.

- He is the Batman who always wins, he'll have you if he so wishes it.

- There's not really any need to explain how Laughs is sadistic if you read the comics.

- He likes to see you fearful, cowering at his presence.

- He's strong, unbeatable, bow to him and accept him as your new partner in torture.

- Laughs would make you bleed just to satiate his twisted desires.

- He'd probably also jokerize you like the Robins if he saw fit.

- Yet he wants to make you last....

- You're too good to waste if you're from the main/prime Earth.

- He's seen many others like you, did what he wished with them before casting them away.

- But you? The original?

- He can't waste his moments with you.

- It's easy to say Laughs is controlling, too.

- If he wished he'd collar and chain you.

- Leading you around like a pet for his own amusement.

- Free will? What's that?

- You don't need it when he's here to play with you.

- Controlling and manipulative go hand in hand with him.

- Laughs would love to break you mentally and physically.

- All so he can prove to you and everyone around you just who you belong to.

- He's cruel, eating up your tears and pain like it fuels him.

- Perhaps he'd give you a little affection as a treat?

- A clawed hand drifting across your face or a firm yank to get you into his lap for example.

- It's strange when he's like this.

- It's best not to trust this lasting too long but it's also a nice refresher.

- Anything that isn't his cruel sadism feels heavenly to you.

- If that wasn't bad enough, Laughs is possessive too.

- Don't even get him started on Prime-Earth's Bruce.

- Laughs would be livid if he saw you with the original Bruce.

- You should be with no other Bruce than him.

- Laughs always wins.

- He doesn't care if he has to kill everyone in the Multiverse to keep you.

- No one else will have his most prized Robin....

- You're his and his only, even if it means the destruction of everything around him.

- "Aw... is the chain too tight? Poor little Robin... why don't you smile for me?"

#yandere dc imagine #yandere dc comics #yandere dc villains #yandere batman who laughs

231 notes · View notes

e17omm · 4 months

Text

Okay I should have the third chapter to Scars I'd gladly wear up this weekend. The Snippets chapter is gonna need A LOT longer time, its real finicky.

I'm attempting to do like a two-phased 1v4 fight where some characters gets knocked out, and then the reinforcement arrives and makes it a 1v4 again. And I am being real finicky and adjusting who does what, when, and how. (I gonna have several cut content moments to post later in the supplementary...)

And, like, I am trying to keep the flying abilities to the Herrschers, because making everyone able to fly is boring, so the grounded characters needs to be more creative to reach them, and conveying this all through text is rather tricky. (Just Sirin and Mei adds 4 flying combatants as Bella and Kurikara are with them. [Sighs])

And having the 1 person not seem completely unbeatable but also like theyre being worn down - which is the point - just makes it a little trickier.

You might be able to guess who it is. And I am trying to avoid making them overpowered. I'm trying to make them a powerhouse, but also not overpowered.

#snippets of sirin schariacs life #scars id gladly wear

5 notes · View notes

simp999 · 1 year

Text

A New Home Ch. 10

Various Splatoon Manga x Skilled! Isekai'd! Reader

Wc: 1k

Back to the start! Previous Next

You stretch your arms above your head, relishing in the comfort of waking up in an actual bed. You take a look around your new room, spotting the new posters, figures, merch and a cyan squid plushie with a gas mask on it sitting on your desk. You haven’t been living with your team for long, but there are already lots of papers scattered about over the desk, clothing on the floor, and some video games stacked on the desk that make it feel like home. You slip your top on and try to remember what’s supposed to happen next in the story. You’re not sure when Team Blue is supposed to battle Team Purple again, but it should be very soon. You’ve already been sure to be in the square as often as possible for the past day, watching out for them. Today you had to come up with another excuse, but it was getting too hard to come up with anything rational. You take a seat on the couch with a bowl of cereal in hand, and you try to come up with something. The silence doesn’t last long when Leo runs into the room, mostly directing his attention at Tasha.

“Skull’s in the plaza! An influencer got a picture of him today, look!”

You take a quick peek and see the back of the head of an inkling with blue ink that appears to be wearing pilot goggles, along with a blurry shot of Skull. It does look like it was taken today for sure. You tell everyone to get their stuff ready to go out, under the guise that Skull’s someone you look up to or whatever. Well, you’re not wrong, you do look up to him. And you are a fan, just in a different way than most.

You pick up the manual from your desk and shove it in your bag before shrugging it over your shoulder and picking up your weapon. The rest of your team is already at the door waiting for you. You throw your footwear on and you’re out the door. It looks like you made it just in time, catching the last bits of the conversation between Goggles and Skull. You’re glad you live close to the plaza. Moray Towers, huh? This battle was interesting, you’re looking forward to seeing Skull show a little more emotion. He did go through some quick character development, going from a big, scary unbeatable S+ rank player to a lovable dork with a hopeless sense of direction.

You’re already making your way toward Moray Towers before your team even catches what’s going on. They follow behind you, wondering why you wanted to come to the plaza if you didn’t even want to see Skull. The four of you get comfortable, setting your weapons down, and you pull out your pencil and manual. The battle begins shortly and you quickly take point-form notes on how Skull’s team battles. A few seconds in and he’s already got the whole Blue Team down. You’re still unsure of how Goggles was seriously able to defeat a team with so much skill, but you remember that it’s all about main character powers. The Squid Sisters are heard over the loudspeakers, announcing Skull’s quad kill, and call it Skull’s Territory.

“Hey, Tasha’s territory sounds cooler, don’tchya think?” Leo wants to up the mood, but he doesn’t realize that you’re perfectly content with Skull winning. Too bad it doesn’t last long.

‘Oh, here comes Skull’s Kraken!’ You lean forward in your seat, never having seen it up close before. You always splatted your opponents right before they could use it, or you would simply splat them so much that they had no time to fill their special gauges. You only got to see them in Splatoon or videos you saw online. Even though you had no real references, you could tell that Skull’s kraken form was bigger than most. Maybe around 1.5x the size if you were to guess. You take a look to the side to see Tasha completely focused on the battle with a smile on her face. She sure is a big fan, huh? Then you remember how rude he was in the beginning of the manga, catching his “Weaklings are such boring opponents,” line. He’ll warm up soon.

Team Blue does their usual shenanigans and the purple team is dumb enough to be grouped together. That seems to be a constant issue between the S4 members, you find. Team Blue finally uses their singular brain cell and uses the inkzooka on Skull, effectively making him back down. Aviators and the rest of the team are nearly back in the center, ready to fight again. You’re disappointed that not one of them stays back for Skull to super jump to to save time. It’s too late now though, since Goggles managed to face Skull at the top of the tower.

“Show him Goggles, your new special move…!” You notice Leo’s head turn to behind you quickly, recognizing that voice.

Rider wasn’t saying it loudly, mostly just to himself, but Leo gave away your position right then and there. Rider looks down at Leo, who has the biggest, dorkiest smile on his face.

“Oh my cod, it’s Rider!” Okay, you’re glad that he got to meet one of his idols but you don’t wanna be caught up in this, not right now! You keep your focus trained on the battle, but Leo makes it hard to do so when he grabs your shoulders, shaking you in excitement. Tasha gives him a side-eye, you know it’s not meant to be in a bad way, that’s just how she is. You can see Milo bounce his knee up and down, clearly excited to see Rider too, but not wanting to scare him off with his excessive amounts of talking.

You finally half-heartedly turn to face the Yellow-Green inkling, trying to show the least amount of interest as possible.

‘I’m just a random fan, is all. Nothing special. It’s not like he’ll recognize me-’

“It’s you again.”

It wasn’t a question.

He was confident in what he said. He didn’t sound interested in you more than anyone else, but this proves that someone from the manga knows you.

Next Part

Apr.30.23

#fanfic #x reader #splatoon manga #splatoon manga x reader #splatoon #splatoon 2 #splatoon 3 #splatoon manga rider #splatoon manga skull #splatoon skull x reader #splatoon rider x reader #splatoon manga skull x reader

40 notes · View notes

sitp-recs · 2 years

Text

Hidden Gems by @fw00shy

I’ll never stop screaming about the masterpiece that is Phoenix in the Fire - not on this list but one of my top five favourite short fics ever - but when it comes to Fwoosh, suddenly I can’t find the words to covey the way her writing cuts me raw and deep. She’s hands down one of the most talented, daring and resourceful writers I’ve ever seen, and I’ve been around for a very long time. A master of short form, her unique and bold style steal my attention right away, her sharp dialogue and unbeatable world building make me sit straighter and forget whatever’s going on around me, her impeccable prose with perfectly chosen and well-placed words takes my breath away, her tender angst makes my heart break for pining Harry, her deliciously explicit, self-indulgent smut make me sweat like a whore in the church 🥵

As if that wasn’t enough, fwooshy’s range is really impressive and she always manages to deliver a long-lasting blow with any genre, any rating and any length, but especially under 3k. Her creative mind, vibrant characters and powerful writing deserve way more recognition and that’s why everyone should go check her catalogue right now. I’ll help you out and share a short selection of goodies below - I could have chosen any 10 fics at random but I wanted to include a little bit of everything, even tropes that aren’t really my jam (hello MCD!)…. unless they’re written by her, lol 🤡 this is actually my second reclist for Fwooshy so I tried to diversify a bit, you can find the previous one here. Happy Monday with these delicious short treats!

Drarry:

Silence on the Seventh Floor (T, 970 words) - such a creative and heartbreaking drabble, love this pain-in-the-ass ghost!Draco and smitten Harry, my heart ached so much for them. Cw MCD

Draco haunted the seventh-floor corridor of Hogwarts. A Third Year found him up there one night, knocking the frames together as though trying to shake something out of them. She reported it straight to Headmaster Potter, who passed her a Cockroach Cluster and sent her off to bed with a promise to handle it.

Basement Level 9 (M, 2k) - poignant and disturbing short story with dark!Draco and a resigned Harry who loves him, plus excellent dialogue and a brilliant Ron puzzling the pieces together, ugh so good 😔🤌🏼

Draco was behind the bomb that blew up Level 10, though they didn't talk about it.

You Either Fuck or You Get Fucked (E, 2k) - the ultimate enemies to lovers PWP with scorching hate sex, crude dirty talk and top notch banter, sharp and witty! I’m obsessed with this confident Harry and their sexy push and pull, thought I’d combust on site 🔥

"That's not how fucking works. Fucking's…" Draco waved a hand in the air. "You either fuck or you get fucked." "Sure," Harry said. He took out a Sickle. "Toss for it?" Read my rec here.

10:47 am (T, 2.3k) - this series of short yet immersive slice-of-life vignettes are wonderfully original with vibrant multiple POV and such distinct character voices. One of the fics that best showcase Fwoosh’s genius writing

Scenes of lives lived out in front of an open balcony window.

Big Hands (E, 4.5k) - Victorian AU with pianist rivals, yes please!!!! Incredible world building, delightful and on point humour, unbelievable ust, that basic hand kink we all deserve AND a piano sex scene as a treat, this is rich and sexy and the atmosphere is irresistible

Draco Malfoy is a pianist who's just moved to Paris. Harry Potter, his new roommate, has the biggest hands he's ever seen. Draco is immediately obsessed. Read my rec here.

in a rambling way (T, 7.5k) - probably the softest Fwoosh fic I’ve read so far, a gorgeous and wistful break up make up with lots of pining Harry, camping shenanigans and peak road trip romance. A must read!

Ron knocked Hermione up, and now Harry's got to figure out how to clone himself so that his friends don't split up fighting over him. Falling for Draco again was never part of the plan.

Rare pairs:

In the Mood (E, 367 words) - the hottest 367 words you’ll read today, delicious established Dron feat. rough sex and feral possessive Ron hoho me gusta!

“I saw you with Harry today," Ron says. "In the Ministry cafeteria."

Money (M, 1k) - my favorite Ginsy treat out there, hot af and with an impressive amount of character and story for a short fic. Superb Pansy + superb Ginny POV, I want them both to ruin me (and then each other) pls and thank

Pansy looks like money. Ginny's letting her call the shots.

Laundry Day (E, 1.8k) - I’ve been in a Ginny/Hermione phase lately and this neighbours AU PWP is s total banger! Laundry room snogging, confident buff Gin and shy horny Hermione, excellent dynamics and really hot smut

Hermione was afraid of Ginny, because Ginny made her wet.

They Bought A Sports Bar (T, 2.2k) - another compelling femslash because yes, Fwoosh can write pretty much any ship. A fascinating take on Cho and amazing dialogue, love her subtle dynamics with this patient Ginny, and the idea of a sports bar is brilliant!

Ginny buys a sports bar (run-down biker pub, really) and ropes Cho into helping out. They're just business partners, so why does everyone else think they're more?

#hidden gems s2

102 notes · View notes

pokefighter · 1 year

Text

Thoughts and headcanons

I was lazy to type these at first despite it being in the back of my mind for months, but it’s nice to have a place to organize dumb thoughts. As I’m catching up on other anime like Yugioh, it’s kind of sad that Death Note in comparison doesn’t have much content in terms of world building, merchandise, or even showing what a character’s life is like outside of doing their job. In fact, some of their existence are treated solely as a plot device instead of a fleshed out compelling person. I know it’s mainly because DN’s writing is more story-driven than on characters, but it leaves me wanting to know more about them.

Besides being highly fond of a few characters, admiring the animation’s cinematic visuals and how the style is a time capsule of early 2000 anime (muted color palette, gothic aesthetic, white gradient lighting) I’m not that invested with DN as a whole, the Yotsuba arc being the weakest with forgettable side villains (seriously, how often do you hear anyone mention the Yostuba members besides occasionally Higuchi?) and a section that dragged on longer than it should have. Rem being the one to kill L also ruined the point of this whole battle of wits DN was building up if Light can simply make a fucking shinigami do the work. It’s fine though, L’s passing means BEST BOY NEAR has now entered the picture.

Only Near can have soulless eyes and still be cutest thing alive. He actually fits well with the gothic visual design of DN in subtle ways- It’s those black eyes that stare right into your soul, his ghostly appearance, playing with creepy toys/finger puppets/L’s mask, and smiling like a psychopath out of nowhere in some scenes, hilariously contrasting his usual stoic demeanor.

Onto headcanons:

Near

can be more sensitive than he lets on, he’s just good at hiding it.

avoids eye contact unless it’s with someone he trusts.

enjoys visual stimulation such as the flickering of holiday lights, rain drops on a window, colorful contraptions performing in a loop or predictable pattern like a toy train driving in circles or a spinning windmill (I sketched something for this).

round pudgy Near >>>> generic skinny anime girl Near. I get why some imagine him skinny since he barely....moves. but a lil bit of chub fits his character design better. Plus there’s already plenty of skinny bitches in DN so it’s more fun to see some variety (long-haired Near is an exception bc he lost all his baby fat by then).

has a rather big capacity to hate or look down on someone, shown by his opinions on Kira, the president, Takada, etc. It’s visually amplified in the anime where he constantly looks like an angry kitten.

smug brat

the giant common room at Wammy’s House is also Near’s playroom and there are days when everyone needs to clear out so he can play amongst 1000000000000000+ legos.

his reaction came off as cold during the announcement of L’s death, but I imagine he didn’t exactly know how to express his grief at the moment. You even see a nonverbal display of his upset in canon when he spills his puzzle pieces on the floor. The first emotion he felt was anger towards L. The hero he respected was supposed to be unbeatable. L promised he’d win. It’s not until Near’s alone in his room that he breaks down.

this one’s not a headcanon, but I love the fact that he's literally the only main character who survived. And on top of that, a breaker of the white-haired-anime-character-dies trope. What a king. Big win for autism.

has extremely low pain tolerance. One little splinter to the finger and he’s done.

Creepy nightmare fuel L is best L.

can play the piano and sometimes does it during his Wammy House visits.

has 0 interest in romantic relations. He doesn’t even express interest in making friends. He’s shown only ever focused on crime solving and is content with it. Other than that, I can only see him as a top. He’s prideful, hates losing any ounce of control, and isn’t the type to let his guard down.

L understands Near best. Everything about them looks like they’d be on the same wavelength. They can communicate and tell what the other’s thinking with a glance. No words needed.

so dependent on sweets that he can’t function without it, almost like an addict. If he doesn’t get his daily sugar, he becomes distressed and easily irritated.

Speaking of addiction, I doubt he’s the type to use drugs (though he certainly would have easy access), but maybe he’d save it for rare occasions when he needs to truly wind down and turn off his mind especially after an exhausting case.

is impatient and less cooperative when working with others as opposed to Near. (canon actually, just an observation.)

like Near, L is also sensitive to noise and dislikes being around loud people/environments, but he’ll tolerate it if it’s necessary.

unlike Near, L has a much higher pain tolerance. He took a punch to the face several times and didn’t even flinch. If something did hurt, he’d under react simply saying: “ow.” with the same stoic face.

Yeah I know that’s Misa’s eye but there’s no official anime screencap for B so fuck it that’s him with mascara.

Beyond Birthday

if Another Note ever got an anime adaption, Akira Ishida would be the ideal voice for B. Just listen to these clips. I can’t find anyone else more perfect for the role. A soft yet menacing tone, constantly scheming.

I know there’s BxL fanfics out there, but it’s hard to see B ever wanting him. If anything, I’m more convinced that B loathes L, what he represents, and how he’s idolized by the kids at Wammy’s House, you know, an institution that grooms orphans to become L’s successor.

B is also often depicted as a top but we all know he’s true bottom because what edgy tryhard says out loud: “I’m a top, an aggressive top (guys i swear i’m a top look at me lick this knife i’m so evil)” -B

he’s a few years younger than L.

was close friends with A. A’s death was the final straw that pushed B to leave Wammy’s House.

B is Californian, more specifically from L.A. What better location to scheme complex murders than in a place you’re well familiar with?

he had eyebrows, but shaved them off for his L disguise.

#death note #near #L lawliet #beyond birthday #headcanons #thots

34 notes · View notes

Last Seen Blogs