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makeste · 4 months

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BnHA Chapter 410: Kacchan Fights a Baby

Previously on BnHA: Kacchan was born and then he grew up and murdered the Demon Lord.

Today on BnHA: Kacchan fights a baby. Tomura and Deku finally remember that they were supposed to have been fighting too this entire time, and get on with that once again. Tomura is all, “[literally just reaches out and grabs Deku’s face because Deku’s main character powers suddenly abandoned him in a fit of confusion].” Deku is all, “[chops off Tomura’s fingers which is somehow not even in the top twenty of violent things that have happened in this series in just the last five chapters].” Tomura is all “joke’s on you I still got your quirk :D” and fuck me he actually stole Danger Sense, what the fuck.

logically I knew AFO still had to be alive somehow because he’s too big of a villain to go out that easily without a proper sendoff. but deep in my heart, I’m still secretly disappointed

it just isn’t fair, lol. this guy has died more times than Rasputin and he’s still out here scheming his schemey schemes. when oh when will it end

sir you did not just say you had yet ANOTHER unused trump card up your sleeve??

(ETA: the translation isn’t fully clear here, but I think the trump card he’s referring to is the whole “I’ll just go back inside him and join the part of me that was already in there and we’ll take over Tomura’s body again together” plan that he was trying to pull off. I think. if not though, that’s certainly something worth speculating about.)

well as always the psychology in this series is unironically fascinating! he just wants acknowledgement at the end of the day, huh. just wants some love and attention. too bad he was born in a rat-infested hellscape and learned all the wrong lessons and turned into a crazed omnipotent murderlad

also he really did turn back into a baby sdfsdlkjfl oh no. I need to see Katsuki’s reaction to this immediately

oh my lord

(●__●)

lmao this is so incredibly fucked up

ngl though, this is karma at its finest. he tortured and killed so many people trying to earn everyone’s fear and awe and reverence, only to literally blip out of existence at the end with absolutely nothing to show for it

everyone please enjoy this series of panels of a deeply vexed Bakugou Katsuki picking a fight with this slowly melting evil baby

“you think I care that you’re a baby now. you think I won’t fight a fuckin’ baby. let’s do this you little punk”

also I’m sorry but it’s absolutely ridiculous that the gigantic chest wound Tomura inflicted on him got sewed up so neatly lol. AFO’s not the only one who stubbornly refuses to die no matter what

...

just once, it would be nice if Horikoshi didn’t immediately shred my plot nitpicks to pieces mere seconds after I write them

LMAO

BABY AFO DON’T CARE. BABY AFO WILL THROW HANDS WITH ANYONE ＼(｀0´)／

KACCHAN MY BELOVED FAVE OF ALL TIME, ARE YOU REALLY ABOUT TO LOSE TO A LITERAL FUCKING INFANT

WHAT HAPPENED TO “PERFECT VICTORY” LMAO. MOVING THE GOALPOSTS EVEN AS HIS CONSCIOUSNESS FADES. “EH, CLOSE ENOUGH”

-- OH FOR THE LOVE OF --

me: wow it sure is uncharacteristic of Katsuki to just pass out before he properly wraps up this battle

Horikoshi: oh yeah good point, sure would be a shame if someone... IMMEDIATELY ADDRESSED THAT CONCERN ON THE VERY NEXT PAGE

me: ఠ_ఠ

ldskjflaksdjfkds

fdsfsdkf. “SORRY ABOUT THAT, FOR A MOMENT THERE I ALMOST FORGOT TO BEND THE ENTIRE UNIVERSE TO MY WILL”

holy fucking shit. his body was all “um, just a quick reminder that you’re HORRIBLY WOUNDED and have lost like ten gallons of blood and all of your cells are about to call an emergency meeting to shut this thing down before you get us all killed.” and he was all “WHAT WAS THAT?!” and his body was all “oh my GOD, FUCK, OKAY just forget we said anything”

and meanwhile Baby AFO is just lying there all “(◉⌓◉)”

this six-month-old child is truly and sincerely still trying to kill Kacchan while screeching death threats in high-pitched baby talk

this actually would have killed him too, if he’d succeeded in passing out. all that just to be punk’d by a damn baby

you are actually shitting me right now

at this point I’m genuinely not sure which of them has the more powerful angry toddler energy

oh no ffuffkdsfk

meeeeelting. meeeeeeltiiiiiing!!! oh what a world what a world

jesus Horikoshi I am genuinely speechless

... welp

WAIT NO WAY, REALLY?!?!

?!?!?! WAS IT ACTUALLY THAT SIMPLE THIS WHOLE TIME

-- lkjf

three times. three times in the same fucking chapter. I give up. apparently I’ll literally believe anything this man says. does it feel good, Horikoshi. preying on your readers’ hopeful naivete

yeefuckinghaw lmao

GOOD JOB KACCHAN YOU DEFEATED THE EVIL BABY

awwwww

I actually had a theory about this! well more of a wishlist item, really. I can’t remember if I’ve actually posted about it yet or not. but it’s like. you know how Deku and Kacchan are always being really dramatic about holding hands? wanting to hold hands; not wanting to hold hands; being afraid to hold hands; holding hands via proxy, etc. etc.?

and you know how both Endeavor and All Might have each done their own version of the victory pose that Kacchan is referring to here? with each one using a different hand?

so you see, I was thinking that it might be nice. might be a little poetic and all that. if at the end of the fight, Deku and Kacchan did, in fact, hold hands. and then did the victory pose together. and it became like their iconic hero moment. them standing there together. having accomplished their goal and defeated TomurAFO through teamwork. realizing their shared childhood dream. and sharing that moment of triumph with each other and with the world, ushering in a new era of heroes

anyway yeah. I was thinking that might be a pretty good ending. but it looks like Kacchan maybe really is about to pass out here now, lol, so maybe not? anyways time to finally scroll down

-- okay I literally said awww again out loud

what a fucking nerd. I have never felt more fondness for a character in my life

every damn person watching this on the news better have leaped to their feet and started applauding, goddammit. those motherfuckers better be CHANTING HIS FUCKING NAME. all those nagging reporters better be bombarding his phone with calls. those fuckers who deleted his footage from the Shouto interview better be shamelessly leaving him dozens of voicemails acting like none of that ever happened and presumptuously asking when he can free some time in his schedule to visit their studio again. all the heroes who haven’t hugged him yet better be lining the fuck up. that one guy from the post-kidnapping press conference in chapter 86 better be writing a fifty page letter of apology!!

oh hey it’s a random pre-battle flashback mysteriously taking place in Troy “a few days before the battle” even though I thought they only moved into that place the night before the fight

I love how Katsuki immediately narrows his eyes (I assume. we can’t see for sure but that’s the vibe I get) at Jeanist and has to resist the urge to call the police on him for that pun

so Hadou’s wondering what Jeanist is talking about because they already evacuated the civilians, so what else are they trying to protect. and Edgeshot is all, “well obviously we’ve gotta protect everyone’s future,” which is a nice... rearshadowing?? for him saving Katsuki’s life later on lol

and now Mirko is all “get to the fucking point already.” which, same

so Jeanist says that Tomura is an even bigger problem than AFO, because at least AFO doesn’t want to murder everyone on the entire planet. and he concludes with “he’ll probably try to touch the ground and use his quirk.” which is a conclusion that I have to say wasn’t really worth two pages of flashback buildup for, considering that we all figured that out years ago

I’m guessing this is all just some sort of awkward transition back to Deku’s fight now lol

and now we’re getting two pages of exposition on how long it would theoretically take Tomura’s Decay to spread throughout the city, and then the entire country, yikes

damn. talk about stakes

and now finally back to Deku!!

shoutout to everyone who correctly predicted that Deku was once again talking out of his ass when it came to being out of Gearshifts. we all knew. unlimited supply

wow Tomura way to throw AFO under the bus

the way I recall it, AFO wasn’t the one who failed to kill him back then lol. but go ahead and talk your shit king

DEKU WHAT ARE YOU DOING

holy shit?!?!

like my first thought was “well last time he did this he just tried to steal OFA rather than Decay him, so he’ll probably try that again and it’ll be fine.” only to remember that the AFO inside Tomura is currently permanently(?) out to lunch, and Tomura himself doesn’t give two figs about stealing OFA. so, uhhhh >_>

(ETA: nevermind.)

but then this happened

Deku what the actual fuck

OH MY GOD??!?!

HOLY SHIT

okay. okay, fuck. lemme gather up my thoughts, and then we’ll wrap this up

they’ll never admit it, but you know the other OFA Vestiges secretly resented Shino a tiny bit for being the only one of them to not be gruesomely murdered. bet they all feel guilty for thinking that now

Shino and Banjou also seemed to have this cute little pseudo-rivalry thing going on, so I really feel bad for Banjou now. :/ he looks so horrified in that bottom right panel

gotta admit, I did not see this coming in the slightest. OFA has been this immutable “I do what I want!” quirk for so long that I never thought Tomura or AFO would actually succeed in stealing it, even partially. that shook me to my core

BUT, it’s also really exciting to me because it’s going to make this battle much more interesting if Deku can’t use his get out of jail free card. shit just got way more real and I’m here for it

lastly, so! let me tell you guys my prediction. I still can’t see Tomura being the final villain lol. I just can’t. it feels too anticlimactic. if I’m wrong, I’m wrong, and I’ve certainly botched MANY predictions in the past, but I have not yet learned my lesson from any of it and I will not apologize lol

so here’s what I think. Deku and Tomura battle it out for the next chapter or two, and Tomura snatches up more of Deku’s quirks one by one. we see all of the Vestiges disappearing and the mood gets more and more desperate. eventually we’re down to just Kudou and Yoichi. Deku is panicking, but for some reason Kudou seems even MORE panicked

Kudou/Gearshift eventually gets stolen too, and it looks like this might finally be it for Deku (I have no idea how he’d stop Tomura from Decaying the ground once Blackwhip gets stolen, btw, but maybe Katsuki or someone else interferes in desperation towards the end). but just when it looks like Tomura is finally going to take the last piece of OFA, Deku’s vibes suddenly do a 180, stopping Tomura in his tracks

cut to the OFA Moon Gorgeous Meditation Realm, where Deku and Yoichi are staring at the door -- yes, that door -- in shock. because it’s finally been opened (now that the other Vestiges are no longer there to keep it at bay). and just like that, enter AFO, for the THIRD FUCKING TIME :D :D

tl;dr, HERE’S HOW HORCRUX!DEKU CAN STILL HAPPEN!!! wait where are you all going. wait come back

anyway so wow that was a really bizarre chapter that I truly thoroughly enjoyed, which should probably be a bit concerning. on to the next two week break! (for anyone who’s not aware, Shounen Jump will be on break next week, so yeah.) I’m on chapter 391 now. so close but still so far. the end of the year has gone by too damn fast tbh

#bnha 410 #bakugou katsuki #all for one #midoriya izuku #shigaraki tomura #one for all #bnha meta #bnha theory #bnha #boku no hero academia #bnha spoilers #mha spoilers #bnha manga spoilers #makeste reads bnha

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atopearth · 1 year

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Ken ga Kimi Part 2 - Kei Route

So apparently there's four endings so I guess I'll just follow my walkthrough and do it in the order of fortune, harmony, wild and then strange I think. The first two are "kimi" endings where the LI chooses Kayo above all else and the latter two are the "ken" endings where the LI chooses his sword above all else. Apparently fortune is the general "happy" ending but I guess it depends on what you think as well?🧐 Anyway! Kei time~ ooh I like how when you make a choice, it shows what colour it represents and basically what ending you're heading for. Hearing Kei call her Kayo was actually really sweet for some reason haha, it makes my heart flutter a bit for her haha. Kinshirou witnessing Kei being cool by paying off that Saburouza guy's debt was nice, like dangg 10 ryou has to be quite a bit and he gave it to them just like that. Lmao when he tried to offer Kei his daughter, like geez dude, stop making your daughter something to sell off lol. It's sweet to know that Kayo trains with the naginata because it makes her feel closer to her mother since her mother trained in it as well and often took her to the dojo she went to. Lmaooo when Kei had enough of seeing Enishi flirt with Kayo and kicked him away from her😂😂😂 Okay, I didn't expect everything to go downhill like that. It's frustrating that Kayo apologised to Kei for saying too much but Kei refused to think from her perspective and just viewed her as naive and thoughtless. Yes, Kayo is probably naive, but I expected better from Kei even if her words about him swinging a sword just for money probably hurt him. I know he just wanted to protect her but now that she's crying, what was the point, Kei?! Yeah, swords are a weapon but what you use it for depends on you. At least he's sort of reflecting since he can't get Kayo's look and her words off his mind.

Kinshirou's attempts in trying to make the kid (Yanohiko) stop crying was so funny haha hahaha. Aww, Kei carrying Yanohiko on his shoulders so he could see stuff was really cute. Anyway, I really love how so many side characters have character sprites!! It makes the story flow so much more nicely actually seeing characters aside from the main characters. I'm so glad Kayo and Kei made up, they really are like little kids needing a bit of a push haha. Kei is definitely the bigger kid though, since Kayo properly apologised on her own initiative. Madara and Hachimoku are so cute as humans!! I find it kinda slack that the others kinda made it seem like Kei was such a monster for pushing Suzukake away and hurting him. Like yeah, he didn't apologise for it and just ran off blah blah, but they or well Kayo and Kamuro should also understand that Kei is never honest, but also that even though Suzukake was just trying to be nice, he was invading Kei's personal space and he's a person that doesn't like being close with others so it should have been expected tbh? I can understand why Madara and Hachimoku are so mad though, since Suzukake really did get hurt when he was just trying to be nice. LMAO at Kei continuously eating beans because he didn't know how to reject Kayo's dad's kindness even though he gets itchy from it, legit died when he ran away saying "no more beans!!"😂😂😂

I'm so happy they finally talked properly!! Kei properly apologised and even realised that he was forcing her to understand his perspective on his reason for using a sword by getting her to watch him fight in the tournament, when he should have just been honest with her and talked with her. Suzukake is such a sweet kid to properly apologise to Kei even though they're about to fight loll. Awww Keo's headband is sewn by his grandma, that's so sweet. So cute how Kayo is learning sewing from Kei's grandma now, love how honest the grandma is about wanting Kayo to be her granddaughter🤣 I'm impressed at how good Kei has become at expressing himself now. He still accidentally shouts at Kayo when things get serious (e.g. regarding his grandma's health) but he also properly apologises now instead of just brushing it off. Sadly, I got spoiled that Kei is an oni, so it wasn't surprising to me, but I think what shook me was when he said what's wrong with desiring more power. Kei had to hide his true self all this time because oni aren't allowed to wield swords, and not only that but his parents, his village and everything was destroyed by humans, and to this day, oni are discriminated for being who they are, so yeah it was kinda thoughtless of Kayo to say why didn't Kei tell her, like how could he?! I found it really cute how they both hugged each other and cried their hearts out together though, I think Kei really needed it since he's definitely been holding back his feelings about his past this whole time. The CG of them holding hands with Kayo quietly staying by his side listening to Kei's story just felt very soothing even though it's a sad story. I didn't expect Kei to actually be royalty though, no wonder why he wants to be the one to get rid of the ban on swords for oni. I guess I never really thought about why Kei was always so standoffish and distant to everyone but this is very understandable considering who he is. Getting close to people could allow them to discover what he is just like Kayo did and that's very risky. Kei really is too soft and kind, the reason why he let Kayo into his house and learn to sew was because he couldn't refuse after seeing how happy both his grandma and Kayo both were to share that time together.

I feel sorry for Tsuzumi and Nanae. Tsuzumi just wanted to repay his debt by protecting Choushichirou, and Nanae just wanted to follow Tsuzumi, and now they've gotten involved in this crazy ritual where even Asakura was brainwashed about it enough to want to sacrifice Nanae to the Marebito so they can revive Tadanaga. I honestly thought Kei's grandfather was dead so I didn't expect him to come back with a fiancee for Kei too, like whattt!! I also didn't expect things to affect Kei so much that he wouldn't be able to go to the tournament!! He's been aiming to win that for so long!! Kayo not being able to handle her feelings as well as face Kei and his fiancee was actually really cute lol. I'm glad he cared enough about Kayo that he went all the way to her house to try and fix the misunderstanding though. I'm glad there's no love triangle or responsibility thing and that Kureha actually came all the way here to meet her lover! That is actually very sweet, and I'm so glad she smacked some sense into Kei telling him to be more honest with himself and not let his chance at love get away from him since it's not like a sword tournament where there's a guarantee that there will be another one next year or whenever. Hahaha, trust Kei to shout at Kayo saying how much he likes her and that he didn't give up his dream and has just understood that there are other ways to fulfil it without being so obstinate about doing it that way. And I agree, I think cultivating a bond between humans and oni will help being the first step to bridge the discrimination rather than giving them swords back. Zantetsu was the guy Shiguragi was working with or protecting right? I'm surprised they were dealt with so easily by having Sakyo and Kei co-operate with each other. Sakyo is so terrifying as usual when it comes to oni lol.

Omggg I didn't expect Kei to be so sweet. I love how he told Kayo he wanted her to be his wife and he was thinking about how he should tell her father because he wants to take her with him back to his hometown. Kei tried so hard to tell Kayo's father how much he wanted to marry her, I'm so heartbroken that Kayo's father is so against it because he's an oni even though it's understandable😭 It hurts so much because we've seen how much Kei has opened up to Kayo and how much they care for each other so now I'm sad 😭 I know it's naive to think that you can change the mind of someone's parents to accept you in real life, so I really enjoy seeing it in games haha! Kei doing anything he can to get Kayo's dad's approval because he understands the importance of family itself and because he knows how important Kayo is to her dad and vice versa is very touching. The CG of Kei holding the yamabuki flowers fulfilling Kayo's dad's condition was so pretty~~ I think what I liked best about this ending was how well Kayo knew and understood Kei as a person. As Kei sought to prove to Kayo's dad through his actions how much he loves Kayo and how much he is willing to do to cherish her and marry her, Kayo was also trying her best to get her father to understand the type of person Kei was, and how much he meant to her, and I think that was nice. Aww it's sweet to see Tsuzumi and Nanae happily married here in Kei's country. Kayo looks so beautiful!!

Aww the fortune ending is pretty cute. I like how yeah it was pretty cliche with how Kei and Kayo handled the guy trying to kill Kei because his daughter was killed for being an oni, and it was because Kei has been trying his best to have humans and oni live together in peace that some humans have become more cautious and trying to find oni that are hiding as humans. It's actually really sad, but I think Kei as a king is really nice in its' own way because of how strong his heart is and how determined he is towards creating a better place for oni in this world. I also think both Kayo and Kei liking each other more and more for how cool they both are to each other is so cute hahaha. Omg that harmony ending legit broke my heart. Which part of this is harmony?! Initially, I thought it was so cute how Kei and Kayo wrote letters to each other secretly, but then when Kei was revealed to the town that he is an oni, and then when he honestly expressed how much he loved her but felt like he was ruining her life by wanting to be loved by her as an oni, it made me want to cry. They just simply want to be together😭😭😭 It was really sweet to see Kayo learn that her father was the one who gave them the chance to continue communicating through letters because he saw how physically tolling the whole thing was on her health and he couldn't bear to see her like that. They ended up basically eloping, but I'm happy for them and I love the kiss CG! Honestly, even though it's more sad than the fortune ending, I think I preferred how bittersweet this ending was. I think it really conveyed to me how much they really wanted to be together, enough that seeing them actually get to be together was very heartwarming. But man, it was so hard to watch Kei be so hated and feel guilty that his existence and his race is making Kayo suffer too. But I was also so happy for them at the same time because they refused to give up on their love for each other no matter what.

Unrelated but I reallyyyyy hate that KgK has the jump to next choice function BUT it skips unread text as well, like what is the point!!! Initially, I thought the story was the same for all endings but apparently it does have changes so now I'm hoping I didn't skip too much😭😭 Guess I'm stuck with just the skip function then, sigh... Kamuro is such a bro, I love how in the ken endings, when Zantetsu reveals to everyone that Kei is an oni, Kamuro just gets mad that Kei thinks he would treat Kei differently after knowing it. How unexpected that Kamuro actually isn't human either! It kinda hurt to see Sakyo demean Kei when he was going on a rampage trying to kill the oni. My heart hurt for Kei😢 It was obvious that Zantetsu and Shiguragi would have an "understandable" reason for hating humans, but it's just saddening to have to see so much hatred go around whether it be from humans or oni, especially when there are people like Kei who want to change things. Seeing Kei receive the "honour" of being able to carry a katana and have oni also be able to carry one as long as they're samurai was very fulfilling. It really felt like he achieved his dream and that's something that was missing in the more romantic endings. Okay, I hate this ending. Kei had no reason to die such a terrible death, especially by dumb people like that, I'm so annoyed. How dare they spout about happiness while killing someone. Even if Kei was evil, that was disgusting. I honestly hope they suffer for the rest of their lives if they think that they deserve happiness after killing another person. Honestly, I was expecting more tragedy in the strange/mysterious ending but it was so wholesome, I loved it!! I thought it was so cute to see all the guys and Kayo's family cooperate together to make them both be honest and say that they only love each other and want to be together for the rest of their lives. On the other hand, I'm really happy that Kei is being relied on by the oni and working hard at cultivating their relationship with humans in town. I nearlyyy wanted to hit Kei when he shouted at Kayo after she waited for him for so long! I'm glad he made up with her super fast and told her his reasons. It was so sweet seeing him propose to her so cutely and be so honest about how much he wants her in his life. It made me want to tear up haha!

Overall, I enjoyed Kei's route much more than I thought I would haha! His attitude can be annoying and frustrating at times but I really loved seeing how hard he tried to have Kayo's father accept them and their relationship. He's pretty much a tsundere but I think he and Kayo complement each other well because they can both be so stubborn but still try their best in their own way to communicate to the other because they like each other and they want to be with each other. I think him being an oni was "sad" in the sense of the discrimination, but I really liked how he never faltered when it came to fighting for their rights. Anyway, Kei is definitely really cute, and I love how he blushes when he's trying his hardest to show Kayo how much he cares for her, especially when he was so insistent on eating her cooking even though he wasn't able to eat the food lol!! So adorable and sweet haha! They’re definitely super cuteee together haha.

#ken ga kimi

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connan-l · 1 year

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Steins;Gate 0 scattered thoughts

Sooo I finally managed to finish Steins;Gate 0………… (NO I STILL HADN’T FINISHED IT…… I put it on hold last summer and didn’t get the occasion to continue it until now lmao. WHICH is stupid because I really didn’t have a lot left to read lol)

Anyway, it was okay! I enjoyed it overall but man, the story is really a mess and there were some parts particularly frustrating and disappointing.

I think S;G0 is interesting in how it is basically a Frankenstein story. The writers took some bits and pieces from other stories (ie the original Epigraph light novels from which it was inspired, and the Arclight CD drama/manga most notably), then added some other stuff and sew all of this together. Which, at times it does give some interesting things, but at others it just fumble really badly.

The original S;G was pretty flawed, but at least it was clear that the narrative knew what it was doing and what the plot was about; all the plotlines and characters had a purpose and it was able to come all together at the end pretty neatly. In S;G0, there are just a lot of story bits and plotlines that simply… never goes anywhere, never get concluded in a satisfying manner, or just seems to be forgotten altogether. Which means that even if they did an interesting and cool thing with the final and true ending in tying the two principal routes, the narrative as a whole still feel very disjointed and awkward. I honestly think they should have tried to do a more linear storyline, rather than doing the double routes thing.

This VN just isn't sure what it wants to be at times, so it does throw at you some potentially cool concepts and ideas but never know how to properly handle or explore them as it should. The pacing as well was all over the place, because in the first route it has a very slow build up and meander around until it all explose at the end but it doesn’t really feel super earned, and in the second it kind of get lost here and there, then throw at you some cool stuff to keep you entertained (ie Okabe going to the future), and then go back to just meandering around (seriously, the end of Kurisu’s route felt very… anticlimatic in a lot of ways).

The most glaring thing regarding this was that plotline with the encephalitis patients and where Okabe arrive in warzone Okinawa in the timeline where the URSS still exists or something, with also that Fubuki girl who apparently has Reading Steiner, and it just…. Never leads to anything?? Like what was the point of this whole thing? It feels like a plotline they originally intended to have but then scrapped at the last minute, but for some reason they still left some of its plot bits here and there??

Also someone will have to explain to me WHAT was the point of Fubuki and Kaede’s characters as a whole. I don’t have anything against adding new characters to the cast (I mean, I absolutely ADORE Maho, and even if her character have a lot of issues I still like Kagari), but in their case they… literally served NO purpose, to the point where they actually annoyed me whenever they popped up because!! I don’t care about you two!! Who are you, what are you even doing here. You could get rid of them and lose practically nothing of the story. They pissed me off because it felt like they were taking away plot points and screentime that could’ve been spent on, oh I dunno, some actual established characters like FARIS AND LUKA??

Seriously Faris and Luka were SO sidelined in that game it’s not even funny. Imagine how much better this whole storyline with Fubuki would have been if it had been with Luka or Faris instead! Imagine one of them actually getting Reading Steiner and the narrative making something interesting with it! How cool it would have been?? But no, instead we’re stuck watching those nobodies doing nothing for the entire story. The only thing I like about them is actually seeing Mayuri hanging out with her own friends without Okabe being invovled, but y’know, we could’ve had that without this bullshit.

It’s all very frustrating and confusing because, the encephalitis thing could’ve been so interesting if dealt properly! I really love the perspective of other characters getting Reading Steiner and the Evil Scientist OrganizationTM trying to experiment on this once they learn about it; I think it ties pretty nicely with Okabe’s conclusion in the original game where he thinks that in the end, everyone probably got Reading Steiner on some level. How come this plotline didn’t get actual consequences on the overall story and true ending. Hell, maybe have the real Yuki involved in there too! Poor Yuki as well was treated so badly orz

Now, to be more positive, on the things I liked better compared to the original game: the POV switch! I know some people will argue with me that it makes sense the og game had only POV from Okabe because he’s the center of the story and it’s kind of thematically important for him and us to have a very tunnel-vision of what’s happening, which yeah I get that, but man, the story felt SO much more alive and dynamic when we’re allowed to follow the perspectives of other characters. And it also does wonders for those characters; whenever Maho, Suzuha, Kagari or Luka were allowed to have their little introspectives tidbits it added so much depth to them.

I also really like that the labmems where allowed to have more relationships with each other; in the og S;G, most of them were friends with Okabe but didn’t have any relationship with others except some rare cases like Kurisu and Mayuri or Mayuri and Luka (but even then, it’s not like we saw a lot of these friendships given everything was in Okabe’s POV). Because of this the labmems have always been a bit weird, because sometimes the story tries to push for them to be this group of kind-of outcast, weirdo friends, but… none of them are really friends exactly, they’re just friends with Okabe and because the story is so focused on him we barely see any of the other potential relationships. So here it was nice to see Luka and Faris being friends, or Suzuha and Mayuri having a peculiar relationship, or of course Maho and Moeka’s slow burn romance budding friendship. It made them feel… you know, like an actual group of friends with different, complex dynamic. And I also really liked how most of them got to know and be involved directly in the time travel shenanigan right off the bat instead of being kept in the dark; in the original, it’s really only Okabe-Kurisu-Daru-Mayuri and Suzuha for a time who knows the whole truth, Luka and Faris are always sidelined and kept out of the group which I never liked. (It’s especially wild with Faris because like… with her wealth and connections you’d think she’d be super useful in the plot?? And with the fact we knows her dad was researching time travel with Suzu Hashida AND was a friend of Kurisu’s dad?? Gah, Faris was so wasted in the original story! And unfortunately she was wasted in S;G0 as well -_-).

On that note, I also loved the endings much more than the ones from the original game. The thing with the different endings from the og S;G is that, most of them are basically ‘here’s an ending for each girls that Okabe get to more-or-less date!’ in that typical harem fashion. Meanwhile S;G0’s endings actually focused on the characters individually and actually offered different interesting alternatives to the events? Like, I was SHOOK when I saw that Maho’s ending was ENTIRELY about Maho and her complicated feelings about Kurisu and her friendship with Moeka, or when Kagari’s ending was entirely about Kagari and Mayuri, and that Okabe had almost NO role at all in either of them! Like wow, a S;G game where its female characters don’t entirely revolve around Okabe, incredible, right?

Like it’s funny saying it like this, but thinking about it in a way S;G0 actually did a better job at letting its female characters exists by themselves and having motivations and goals that doesn’t relate to male characters — things like Maho’s relationship with Kurisu, Mayuri’s relationship with Kagari, and Suzuha’s relationship with her mom was even arguably more important that the one with her dad at times (they still fumbles with it and drop the ball after a while. But still. It was nice while it lasted.) Given how nonenxistent moms were in the original S;G compared to the dads, that was a neat improvement imo (I mean, we even got a brief cameo of Okabe’s mom lol!)

All in all I think S;G0 really worked the best when it came to (some) of its characters and emotional moments; there were some raw scenes that were well executed, especially for example with Okabe and Maho’s grief over Kurisu, or with Suzuha and her complicated feelings about her parents and her situation, or hell even if I have issues with them even some Mayuri and Kagari scenes were pretty effective. (Suzuha and Maho’s breakdown scenes in Mayuri’s route, for instance, were both very well build up and handled.)

But in the end the best thing the story has to offer to me is, hand down, Maho. Even when the plot isn’t necessarily about her, she’s still the character that manages to shines the most, and she’s just… such a cool, charming, complicated person with lots of intricates relationships; and she just always made me smile whenever she was onscreen. Like, if you ask me if S;G0 is worth it, then I’d say yes 100% just because of Maho.

And to be honest, that’s kind of an impressing feat to accomplish? Because the thing is that, the writers really weren’t in an easy position I think when they decided to make Steins;Gate 0; they had to make a Steins;Gate game where Kurisu isn’t in it AND with a new heroine, and given Kurisu’s literally the most popular character of the franchise and basically the emblem of S;G as a whole it must have been a bit of a challenge. I think I’m not the only one who were feeling not super invested in a big S;G story where Kurisu is just dead in it. So they had to make it so that new heroine manage to 1. stand on her own without feeling like a Kurisu 0.2 and 2. still not make it feel like she’s ‘‘stealing’’ Kurisu’s place as the original main heroine.

And somehow it worked? Maho is similar to Kurisu on a lot of points (young brilliant scientist lady, strong character and harsh and cynical personality but still pretty kind person deep down, asocial/lonely person) but she still manage to stand on her own, have a very good and compelling arc even in the route/ending that isn’t her own, and have a very interesting dynamic with the rest of the cast, especially with both Kurisu and Okabe.

I absolutely loved her complicated relationship with both Kurisu and Okabe; here too it’s actually impressive they were able to implement her friendship with Kurisu in a way that you can buy the both of them were really close and had a deep connection, despite the fact that this is a retcon (as originally Kurisu was meant to be a lonely person without any friends in America) and that Kurisu is dead for the entirety of the story. They do such a great job at portraying Maho’s complex feelings of admiration and resentment and jealousy, all while without never negating the deep love she has for Kurisu, and, as a result, how much she’s struggling with her death (once again, her ending!! is so good!! and her last conversation with Kurisu in there is aggghh. Or how in Mayuri’s ending Amadeus says to her she thoguht Maho was the real Amadeus all along… They’re the second best ship of the series, don’t @ me (even first depending on your perspective ;p)). And in parallel the relationship she slowly builds with Okabe is also very cool and interesting on its own, with how they instantly connect with each other through their shared love of Kurisu and grief over her and manages to develop a deep friendship over it and how it balances and contrast their own character development; I said it during my playthrough but those tow as well as their complex relationship with Kurisu are the actual driving force of S;G0. She basically manages to be a foil and parallel to both Kurisu and Okabe at the same time and it’s just. Very cool.

I also really dig the inherent tragedy of their relationship, because like… obviously I’m sure Okabe and Maho will be able to become friends again in the Steins;Gate world line, but it still will never be the same thing as the deep bond they formed in Beta. In Beta, they specifically became friends throughout Kurisu’s death; that’s something only the two of them can understand and the first thing they’re able to relate to each other, so without it, their relationship will inherently be different — and they know all that, yet are still willing to sacrifice all this just to bring back Kurisu in their lives. And I love how in that sense it also sorts of parallel Kurisu’s sacrifice in the Alpha world line ; just like Okabe and Kurisu’s meeting and romance, Maho and Okabe’s friendship could have only happened in world destined to die.

Although I absolutely could have done without Maho catching feelings for Okabe… I SWEAR I know that S;G is a pseudo-harem but not every single woman needs to be in love with this guy! Stop it, writers!! (I also rambled in lenght about it on my twitter back then but I genuinely think it harms Maho’s character.)

My only grip with them is that it’s actually wild that there is no actual proper confrontation or big reveal over Okabe killing Kurisu. Like it’s something they tease and build up in the two routes, and yet it’s another one of those plotline that is just never resolved? I know the game seems to imply that Maho must have guessed what happened, but there still should’ve been a more emotional confrontation between the two of them at the end; I think it should’ve also played a role in Okabe finally deciding to ‘revive’ Hououin and work towards saving Kurisu; especially if Maho had been the one to forgive him explicitely? But no, I guess, whatever lol.

Anyway, in the end I just… love how they actually allowed Maho to be this very flawed and messy person in her own right and not just go for the route of her being another cute additional girl with yet another crush on Okabe (…even if her STILL getting a crush was annoying but well sdsdfs). What I personally find the most compelling with her is that… honestly, in all of Steins;Gate she’s probably the one character the story... really allow to have ugly and messy feelings? To actively be unlikeable at times. Other characters had that in the og story with Okabe kind of, and a tiny bit with Moeka and Kurisu, but it was never to this level and because S;G0 actually let its characters other than Okabe have POV then she feels much more fleshed out and solid than just the glimpses we get. Honestly, dare I say that even Kurisu, for as much as I love her, doesn’t get as much as a proper arc and character exploration as Maho does in S;G0 (which makes me very mad tbh lmao) There is her entire ending/route dedicated to her to showcase this of course that is very good, but that scene specifically in S;G0′s bad ending ‘Gehenna’s stigma’ is the one that stand out the most to me about this (Gehenna’s Stigma is very messy and weird, but Maho steal the entire spotlight and is amazing in it so I still really like it just for her sdsfs).

It’s not like her character writing is perfect either, because like I said earlier the route structure make it that… in the end some of her development and conclusion either feel pretty rushed (the end of Mayuri’s route) and almost completely cut (Kurisu’s route), and it’s really only in her ending that she gets to have that proper closure. It’s frustrating, because man, it’s your main heroine, you should have done a better job with this! I think Maho’s arc should have been what she goes through in Mayuri’s route + her friendship with Moeka + her ending ALL throughout the game. Also her relationship with Moeka is one of the best thing of the VN and it should have absolutely been a more important part of the story, especially given aside from Maho’s ending Moeka is treated pretty shittily.

Also, man I really hate how in the true end Maho’s codename is ‘Kurisu’? Like!! You do realizes that the biggest point of her character arc is about how she wants to step out of Kurisu’s shadow and how she needs to learn to respect and love herself and her abilities as a scientist and person? Giving her the codename ‘Kurisu’ just goes against everything about this, it just sucks!

Okabe was pretty solid in this too. It was honestly refreshing to have him just be… a normal dude for most of the VN. Because to be honest, one of the things I like the most about Okabe is that he is not actually a ‘chuunibyou.’ He pretends he is one for Mayuri’s sake, but in reality he’s very self-aware about being a very average guy, who is even actually a pretty serious, socially awkward introverted person at heart. I’m always sad that’s not something that’s much more explored than that in the original story, and even here the duality with his made up persona is very… not dvelve much into, or at least not in the way I personally wish it was. Still, here in this case he just feels particularly relatable as a mentally ill, depressed college student desperately trying to run away from reality with the end of the world looming over his head lmao. It was… actually kind of surprising they handled his struggle with PTSD/mental heath seriously and this more-or-less throughout the whole story, with actually showing how much he suffers from panic attacks (well. They still could’ve done more with it though. How come his therapy sessions never come up again after the prologue? I’m so also pretty sure the Epigraph manga actually made a big deal of him being very dependant on his meds, but it’s not every seen mcuh in the VN which is a shame.) But his actual character arc still feel a bit either too rushed at the end or not well-implemented. I don’t like that they choose to have two separate occasions where he ‘revives’ Hououin, because it felt like it lesser the impact it should have had. Personally, again, I think the narrative should have been more linear, and that his ‘revival’ should have ultimately happened after a combination of Mayuri leaving with Suzuha + time travelling into the future + confrontation with Maho about Kurisu’s death.

(The bit with him time travelling in the future is such a cool thing too but I hate how much they... rushed it. Okabe should have stayed a lot longer in the future I think, and it made him seems like an asshole that he wasn’t even williing to interact with Mayuri & co. It’s also super weird that him staying in the future for, like, an hour manages to convince him that war sucks, but in the Vega & Altair route when he’s stuck in warzone Okinawa where he stays A MONTH he’s just like... ‘idk whatever, let’s ignore this and move on’?? WHY are you so inconsistent game!! Although I do hate the way they killed off Luka in the future just to further his angst, it felt veru cheap and shitty.)

One thing I got pretty disappointed about concerning Okabe, though, was the way they didn’t touch much on some of the impact and consequences his actions in the orginal Steins;Gate had, specifically regarding time travel. By which I mean, obviously we see the consequences the events of S;G had on him, but it’s mostly focused on his trauma regarding Kurisu’s and Mayuri’s deaths. There are zero mentions of his guilt regarding what he did to Luka and Faris, for instance; which feels especially off when this time around, Faris and Luka knows about the time travel stuff. You’re really going to tell me that someone as perceptive as Faris never connects some pieces together and confront him about her father? I know that really comes from the fact that, again, Faris and Luka’s presences in the game are nonexistent, but it’s so frustrating. There IS a little bit of something when it comes to Suzuha and Moeka; I really like how initially he feels very awkward around Beta Suzu because she is so different from Alpha Suzu, and how he specifically mentions her suicide in Alpha as one of the events that marked him the most and as to why he refuses to get involved with time travelling again, but honestly in the end there’s almost no conlusion in their relationship (like, they DO try a little in Kurisu’s route, but it still feel unsatisfying?) It’s wild to me there’s no followup, for instance, on Suzuha’s breakdown in Vega & Altair where she threatens him with a gun, we just... never seem them discussing this incident at all afterwards, like it’s just forgotten, when it should’ve been a big deal? And with Moeka/Tennouji, his reaction and relationship to them is also really bare minimum stuff, when again, with them being proper allies this time there should’ve been a lot more done.

So, regarding Kurisu/Amadeus… See, I actually really liked the idea of Amadeus. I think it’s a pretty neat way to use and showcase Kurisu’s research and neuroscience skills --- and yes it was also a way to have ‘Kurisu’ still be in the game even though she’s technically dead, but I think it worked really well in the sense that it ended up making her some sort of ‘ghost’. In general, for the most part I quite liked some of the ways they handled Kurisu’s presence, the way that even if she’s dead almost everything still revolve around her and her ghost haunt every single actions that is taken in the story, not just by Okabe and Maho, but by all the characters. Characters who are dead but still end up haunting the narrative is actually one of my favorite trope in fiction, and that’s why I really enjoyed that aspect of S;G0 because there is something very cool that they do in the way the different people remember and portray Kurisu after her death. So, Amadeus really works for this, in being there to haunt Okabe (and Maho) every step of the way and never letting him escape what happened, no matter how much he wants to (which is then made double so by Kagari’s presence). But it is a little frustrating that in the end… they didn’t do as much as they could have with her? There’s this storyline they hint at about Amadeus developping ‘normal’ human feelings (and specifically romantic feelings for Okabe) and the way she’s Kurisu but also not Kurisu, but they never really do much with this at all? I also dislike how little weight the story give her being deleted in BOTH routes when it should be a much bigger deal, especially emotionally for the characters (again, the only time where it worked for me where in Maho’s ending, which is truly the superior end of them all). So, yeah, Amadeus was a cool concept, but as most cool concept in S;G0 it ended up falling kind of flat at the end.

(On Kurisu, though, I was surprised her parents had no role at all in this. I would’ve expected her father, and hell her mother too, to have a bigger presence. Especially with the way moms appeared to have a much bigger role in S;G0 contrary to the og story, i would have really worked well thematically.)

And, on that sense, although I really liked the way the story make a point to presents Okabe angsting over Kurisu’s death in almost every scene and the whole OkaKuri tragedy (that one moment where they meet again in Alpha…. Yeah it worked for me lol), I felt disappointed that she… didn’t seem to play much of a role at all in the final part of the game. Like yeah obviously in the end Okabe still does all this for her, but that’s why I thought she should’ve been… idk. More integrated in the the final. It felt off, like she was almost sidelined.

And then, there was…. Mayuriiiii…. SIGH. So Mayuri’s the character who disappointed me the most. S;G0 is so damn weird about her, because on the one hand, it is INFINITELY better than what she had in the original game. Like them actually giving her some agency and an actual storyline that doesn’t involve Okabe? GOOD! Because let’s be honest, Mayuri in the original game doesn’t really… does anything besides dying and being Okabe’s motivation for most of the game. And yeah slapping him at the very end too I guess. So S;G0 was definitely a step further from that, and I also think that them deciding to make her a mother was such a great choice; you can argue maybe giving one of your most traditionally feminine female characters whose story only revolved around the male protagonist before now a story that now mostly revolve around her being a mother is not super great, but I think it works specifically because Mayuri’s biggest problem is that she’s always SO infantilized, not only Okabe but the narrative as a whole; so her getting a kid was a really good way to have her actually grow up and some great interesting character development. And she Does get it, for the most part — the last part of her ending where she decides to actually get invovled in all the time travel bullshit and went with Suzuha is one of my favorite things! But then, as I’ve rambled in those threads at large last year, they still… never do more than that with her. Even her big moment at the end of her route come off as not as impactful as it should be, because they don’t build it up at all throughout the route! (Especially since we get NO POV from her, even when the game actually does POV switch! Which is just WILD)

Her perspective on being a mother and her relationship with Kagari is dealt with a little bit in Kagari’s ending, but it’s very… superficial, it never goes into details about what it must be like to suddenly have a grown up traumatized daughter thrown at you when you’re barely an adult yourself, which sucks when that’s the most interesting part of those types of storylines (they do the same with Daru and Suzuha, to be fair, but yeah, it sucks here too lol.) They never let her get angry, never let her move on properly from her codependant relationship with Okabe, hell they STILL barely let her know about hte Big Plot Stuff happenings, EVEN when it concernes HER OWN DAUGHTER. It’s bonkers to me that she never actually get to know what truly happened to Kagari or that she plays no part into getting her back when she’s kidnapped by the Evil Scientists OrganizationsTM.

Mayuri should’ve just been A LOT more involved in the plot as a whole, not just at the very end of her route, and I’m endlessly frustrated that they consitently refuse to let her grow from her Innocent Ditzy Childhood Friend/Little Sister archetype whom Okabe is obssessed to protect, even when S;G0 gave them the perfect occasion to do so!! Her ending was good, but there should’ve been a more proper buildup throughout the narrtive, with moments including her POV; there should’ve been a narrative about her remembering her deaths from Alpha and actually deal with that trauma, there should’ve been an instance where she remembers KURISU too, have her interact with Amadeus and Maho and deal with her complicated feelings regarding her sacrifice, and it should’ve deeply impacted her finale decision to time travel and help save her (seriously, why was Kurisu and Mayuri’s friendship was so undermined??); and ultimately, I’ll always maintain that she and Okabe should’ve had a falling out of sorts at some point and gotten a Divorce Arc, and it doesn’t make sense that there’s no big clash between them other than the fact that the writers refuses to let Mayuri act like a normal, real young woman her age rather than a fantasy. Like… I’ve seen people who apparently complained about her big love confession at the end (although mostly from anime-only viewers, because in the VN Mayuri having feelings for Okabe is pretty explicit) but I’m going to be honest, it’s the least of Mayuri’s problems as a character. I don’t like her being in love with Okabe either as I much prefer their platonic, siblings-like relationship (and to be fair yeah, there are some parts they handled this in S;G0 that I think was shitty, like Mayuri having this speech where she says that in the end she’s the one who loves Okabe more than Kurisu?? Like okay??? Way to randomly do the misogynist trope of pitting your two main heroines against each other), but if they’d given us a proper arc with her where she’s treated like a real person I wouldn’t have given a rat’s ass about this. You people really have weird priorities.

(And on a personal level? I actually like the perspective of Mayuri feeling jealous of Kurisu and Okabe’s bond and feeling left behind (especially in S;G0 when it’s about a dead girl she knows nothing about and who, from her point of view, had nothing to do with Okabe up until now), if only because it’s the ONLY instance where Mayuri is allowed to have ugly feelings and, y’know, feel a bit like a multi-layered normal teenage girl; but it should definitely be handled with nuance and never undermine her love for Kurisu either, which... tbh I don’t trust the S;G to be able to write this lmao.)

And honestly, I also didn’t like the fact that Okabe end up going to ‘save’ her and Suzuha at the end, because it feel like it undermines the ONE heroic moment of agency that they gave Mayuri, to still makes it all about goddamn Okabe in the end. Mayuri and Suzuha DIDN’T need to be saved, because regardless of what they do they’ll get to Steins;Gate afterwards either way so? Did we really need to STILL relegate Mayuri to a damsel in distress status AFTER her big moment?? CAN’T MAYURI HAVE ANYTHING IN THIS GODDAMN SERIES

Related to this, Kagari was… god, she’s such a mess of a character lmao. Okay, so, the thing is that for some reason I can’t really explain I’m actually kind of fond of her. Maybe blame it on Megumi Han’s voice acting that manages to makes her super endearing, but yeah I do actually like her and I genuinely think there could’ve been… so much they could’ve done with her. She’s just a pile of wasted potential. Her story with Mayuri was very touching, and one of my favorite part of the game actually, but they could’ve done MORE. Because in the end, she only really feel… either very bland or annoying. And it’s like, I’ve seen some people who called her… ‘cringy’? Which is a bit of a weird term because, what does that even mean concretely, but it kind of bugs me a little bit because I don’t think there’s something inherently wrong with the way she’s portrayed. She’s a war orphan who was then forcefully separated from her mother and family and was tortured and groomed most of her life, to the point that even as a 22 years old she still has the mind of a child. She’s heavily traumatized. To me her behaviour about being so clingy to Mayuri and throwing tantrums about not wanting to change world lines makes sense, because Mayuri is quite literally her whole world and there’s nothing else that matters to her. Like… it’s wild to me how dismissed her concern that she wouldn’t get to be with her mother again if they go to the S;G world line is, because she’s right? Suzuha seems to have at least some guarantee she’ll still be born (and even then, it’s weird that it’s not something really questionned either), but Kagari has no such thing. Her very existence and only happiness was threatened. So calling her ‘cringy’ annoys me because she’s literally a mentally ill child with such heavy baggages, like what else would you expect from her?

However, I do agree that her writing and characterization is way too over-the-top and super clumsy at times, which makes the character feel very off (…and, also, there’s this fucking stupid twist with Yuki BUT it is one of the worst twists I’ve ever seen in any fiction so let’s just pretend it doesn’t exist lmao). The thing with Kagari, is that I’m very invested in the idea of what she could’ve been; of her being this traumatized girl who has this idealized version of her mother as this perfect, kind person, but who still felt horribly hurt by her when she had to abandon her, and then when she goes to the past she actually has to reconcile those two things all while actually meeting her mom’s younger self and realizing she is her own, flawed person as well. At the same time, I think I did like the arc they tried to give her in her ending of her deciding she couldn’t just cling to Mayuri forever and actually take the active decision to time travel with Suzuha (even if honestly it doens’t make much sense… like what would Kagari do once she gets to the past??), but it didn’t really feel… well build up or earned. I also dislike that the abuse and grooming she went through is like, heavily brushed aside; and her relationship with Okabe was… interesting but also really messed up, and it’s never properly addressed. Because like, Okabe heavily project Kurisu on her, at times even struggle to see Kagari as her own person, but this and the whole plotline where she gets Kurisu’s memories implemented in her just… never really leads to anything…

And honestly, same thing with her having Kurisu’s appearance, like what was up with that? I DID thought it was interesting, and I was so sure they were going to reveal something about how she was a baby created with Kurisu’s DNA for X reason or something, but no?? Apparently she just looks like Kurisu for no reason. Like man. Why. It’s just… I think the idea of her being both Mayuri and Kurisu’s daughter in SOME way was a pretty cool concept, and it especially would’ve been nice to explore this with Okabe’s projection of Kurisu on her and the memories implant where you could’ve had an arc with Kagari ultimately asserting herself as her own person.

And also… I kept thinking that honestly, I think that she could’ve been a very cool final antagonist in a way. Because again, I do believe Kagari’s motive to not go to Steins;Gate are very emotionally resonnant and valid, because from her point of view that’d mean losing her mother and her entire life altogether. This plus with her being abused and groomed by Leskinen, it would make sense she would try to stop the group from saving Kurisu (which would be darkly ironic if Kurisu had been her kind-of bio mother), and actually give her some agency in that story where she’s not just a victim who, in the end, doesn’t really do much of anything in the storyline. And you know, I kept thinking that, I hate what they did with Moeka and her relationship with Kagari in the Vega & Altair route, but I genuinely think that Kagari and Moeka’s relationship could have been very interesting because of how similar they are (both are heavily traumatized and orphaned young women who are desperate for love/parental approval and get used/manipulated into doing terrible things because of this). Imagine if we had a proper redemption arc for Moeka that would have paralleled Kagari’s descent into villainy, and how in the end Moeka could have fought to save her because she knows what it’s like to be in her place?? And how they could’ve done something with Moeka and Mayuri’s relationship through this as well??? (Yes I’m just writing fix-it fanfics at this point but!! Idk it would’ve been cool.) Kagari’s ending in the true end also feel… kind of off but whatever.

Also it’s a detail, but man, I think it’s really ridiculous they gave her some Upa as Mayuri’s memento instead of Mayuri’s grandma’s watch. Like what the hell, the watch would make a lot more sense thematically and emotionally than some random Upa. …Actually, it made me realize that Mayuri never ever bring up her watch at any point in S;G0 which, honestly, is super fucking weird. Did the writers just forget about it???

But anyway. Suzuha is also a character that I really like, and I specifically really love Beta Suzu, and during the first part of the game they actually… do some pretty interesting things with her. At least in Mayuri’s route. For the first part of this route, I love the way they characterize her as being this traumatized, no-nonsense young woman who is struggling between her responsability towards her missions and just spending time with her family that she never gets to have while growing up. I think they do a good job at portraying her complicated feelings towards her parents, and especially towards her mom, and the way at first she keeps exhausting herself until she has a breakdown and threaten Okabe on the roof. That’s one of the rare arc that was actually build up and earned properly in the whole story. However… well, the thing is that after her breakdown they really drop the ball hard with her? There’s no actual proper conclusion to her arc, not with her mother, not with Okabe (they have a little something in Kurisu’s route but not by much), not with trauma. They seemed to put forth an arc where she learns how to be, like, a normal girl her age again in the present era,bu they just… never deliver in the end. I was also surprisingly invested in her relationship with Kagari; the responsability she felt towards her as a big sister and how she failed her and is struggling about the perspective of having to fight her (and the guilt she felt towards Mayuri because of this too!), but here too it’s just… never lead to anything, except for a little bit in Kagari’s ending, but barely so.

And then in Kurisu’s route she doesn’t even get an arc at all. No like seriously, she’s only there to occasionally be a badass and say stuff sometimes, but that’s it. Like?? That’s so disappointing. I’m very sad they didn’t do anything, with, like the resentment and anger she’s implied to have towards her parents and Okabe at times. I swear, Beta Suzuha has so many interesting aspects but in the end they all feel glossed over. (And also, unlike Okabe they do a pretty poor job at handling her trauma… Like guys she was a literal child soldier, you’re not going to tell me she doesn’t have a minimum of PTSD.)

Special kudos too to that one Kagari/Suzuha fight scene where she’s completely naked, and she doesn’t have any scars or muscles or anything. Like okay, man. I think S;G0 in general had a lot of inappropriate fanservice that actually deviated from the story too; like obviously the original game had these too, but they didn’t feel as overwhelming as those and they didn’t pop up in serious moments at least. Seriously, why was S;G0 so horny with no reason sometimes, wtf.

I do really appreciate that they actually took the time to develop her relationship with Daru this time. Daru is also a character that is greatly improved in SG0 because this time around he actually feel… well, you know, like a character, instead of a plot device. He’s still not Good and I hate that they won’t let got of his gross jokes but at least he feel more like a person than just a walking stereotype who’s here to facilitate the plot (that scene in Mayuri’s route where he punches Okabe?? That was very cool. And there’s even one scene where he comforts Okabe after he’s had a panic attack which is… surprisingly sweet?? Like, wow, some genuine feelings between thos bros that let you know they do actually like each other, amazing.) I love how somehow the writers suddenly woke up and where like ‘Hey what if we Tried to write this guy as an Actual Character who's allowed to show varying emotions instead of as a joke?’ But anyway, yeah, it was nice and it really reflected in his relationship with Suzuha; which, again, had its issues but at least it was a lot better than what they did in the original game. Here I could buy at least that he genuinely come to care for Suzuha even while being a bit awkward with having this grown traumatized daughter thrown at him out of nowhere, and even despite some bullshit moments they still had a few nice scenes

Yuki’s character on the other hand was just… fucking bullshit lmao, like god. You know, initially I was pretty excited to learn that Suzuha’s mom would be introduced and play a major role in that story, because I always disliked the way she was completely non-existent in the og story, just as a joke “lol Daru will end up marrying a hot wife.” (Seriously, Suzuha herself barely talk about her when she’s the person who RAISED HER?? ALL ALONE? She should be a lot more importnat to her than her dad!) But in the end... well, there was one of the stupid twist I’ve ever seen in a story with the whole ‘well she was actually Kagari all along!’ in the Vega & Alair route and it’s just!! WHAT was this twist! It’s so ridiculous and in the end serves absolutely zero purpose I’m just… why! Why what the point of showing us those scenes of Daru & Suzuha bonding with Yuki if it was to undermine all of this for that….. And then in Kurisu’s route idk. She’s just there I guess. Being almost as useless as Kaede and Fubuki. Man, would it have really killed the writers to give her some personality and an actual arc and role in the overall story??? Even just a SMALL one? PLEASE? Even her romance with Daru was subpar and like I said her relationship with Suzuha lead to nowhere, so EVEN at just being A Wife and A Mom she fails at it!! (And again, that sucks because imo, her relationship with Suzuha could have been very interesting and nice, and HELL even her romance with Daru could’ve been cute (as long as they portray him as an awkward smitten nerd and not a gross perv)). I hate you, S;G writers. I hate you.

The rest of the characters though were just… kind of there. I’ve already rambled about how useless Fubuki and Kaede were, and how Faris and Luka really SHOULD’VE had their screentime as well as a bigger rôle; but honestly I could say the same with say, the Tennoujis. They also had no purpose in this story, just popping up to reminds you they still exist I guess. Moeka was lucky enough to get a pretty nice short development in Maho’s ending, but it WAS very short and ONLY in Maho’s ending ; the rest of the story she’s either pretty sidelined or treated pretty shittily (like seriously… the way they handle her character in Vega & Altair makes me want to punch someone. She deserves better than this!!) It sucks because her friendship with Maho and the development she gets in her ending is the best thing that happened to her character! I don’t understand why we couldn’t have gotten something like this throughout the entire game? Have her (and Tennouji too!) get a proper, actually ‘redemption,’ this time around (even if they don’t remember what they did wrong) ; let Moeka have a more solid character arc where she learns how to value herself properly thanks to Maho and have her actually interact witn Tennouji so that they resolve their issues too? Idk. I DID like they were allies to Okabe this time, but like… they could’ve done so much more with them it’s disappointing.

And then there were the bad guys, which…. Ugh, okay, not gonna lie but Leskinen and Reyes were very weak antagonists. See, one thing I actually really like in the original S;G is that there is not really a ‘proper’ villain. Moeka and Tennouji all play the part of antagonist throughout the story, but in the end they’re mostly like, victims of circumstances (well, there’s Kurisu’s dad too but he’s something else entirely). The ‘true’ big bad are either : SERN, which for the entirety of its story is just some formless entity that we never concretely ‘meet’ or really understand what it’s about, or it’s just… ‘fate’ or the ‘universe’ itself, as the the thing keep killing Mayuri over again (or Kurisu at the end). And I think that’s one of the coolest aspects of S;G that works very well as its overall theme of coming-of-age story for Okabe. So it was pretty disappointing that they decided to have a pretty classic ‘bad guy’ in Leskinen. Like he and Reyes feel very flat and corny, the story never tries to give them any depth and deeper goals beyond being Evil Mad Scientists,’ and yeah it makes sense as they’re mirroring Okabe what with them being Actual Mad Scientists and all but they still… could’ve had more? There are some instances with Leski & Okabe and Maho & Leski where I thought they had the opportunity to make them interesting, what with him feeling a bit like a father figure for them at times — and the story was very centred around parenthood — but they just never do it, so their ‘betrayal’ are incredibly predictable, and end up feeling ridiculous when Okabe seems so hurt over it too, so in the end they mostly made me cringe. (They could’ve very compelling stuff with Leskinen’s relationship with Kurisu compared to his relationship with Kagari, but noooope... Like I said, it would’ve been SO much more interesting to get Kagari as the final antagonist but ohhh well!)

Anyway, yeah, that’s pretty much it. So I complained a lot, but I do think S;G0 was an interesting ride in the end. I’m glad I got to finally play it because I’ve been wanting to try it since, like… 2015 lol. I feel like there’s some very mitiged receptions on it; I’ve seen some who says it’s better than the og game, and others that it’s worse. Personally I’m somewhere in the middle, but in general I dont think both stories are comparable, they feel more… complementing?

There’s a lot I liked about it, sometimes more than in the og VN (again, stories that dealt with messy grief are always my jam), but also I’m just very disappointed about cause so many cool concepts that could’ve been so much better. I’ve also seen some complaints that the time travel stuff was less well-written than in the original, like with things like Mayuri and Kagari’s song being a bootstrap paradox, but... I dunno, I think there are problems that can be easily found in the original story too. Like, yes, I do think the worldbuilding and time travel science is generally well put togeter in the original story, but at the same time it was never mean to be very grounded or realistic, so those type of details don’t bother me. Same with the ridiculous bigger plot points and all, where it’s like... obviously the whole thing about World War III and the two secret organizations and all are kind of silly, but that’s a type of silliness and over-the-top-ness that’s expected from S;G and that works within its universe. I’ve sait it before I think, but to me Steins;Gate have always been more of a coming-of-age story for Okabe than a time travel stotry, really, and that’s how it works the best.

Now an odd criticism from me maybe but I... didn’t like huke’s art in this? Like, it is a lot more... polished and ‘standardized’ than the art in the first game, and as a result didn’t feel much like S;G. I don’t know, I’m aware some people don’t like it, but to me huke’s arstyle is definitely one of the most charming and defining aspect of the VN (and why the Elite version sucks ass, just like the anime’s artstyle), so I didn’t like seeing it being made more... ‘normal anime,’ I guess. I was pretty disappointed with the music as well too? Like most of the tracks were either the same than the original game, or utterly forgettable...

But yeah! The only thing I really take from it is Maho (she’s now officially my second fave S;G character <3) and everything related to her; her ending is just the best, as well as Maho/Kurisu and Maho/Moeka, truly the best parts of the story, the Okakuri angst, and a liiiittle bit what they tried to do with Mayuri and Kagari. A little. The rest is kind of *shrugs* to me.

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leetotters · 3 years

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could you do a peter parker x reader where she can control her hair? and it can be any length she wants but prefers the length mid thigh and its and its unbreakable? so like fury asks if anyone in the team knows anyone they could recruit and he suggests her and all the avengers go meet her at a tailors shop she owns while she's cleaning and she shows her powers? please and if you do it, thank you

note: i hope you meant the powers to be reader's hair bc that's what i used it as lmao. also i used the gif because this is kinda how rocket got smacked with your hair. thank you for requesting<3

warnings: kissing, curse words

peter parker x reader

summary: something like request^

The swooshing of the broom and the melody of a random song played through the speakers of your tailor shop while you swept the floor. The small lengths of wool and silk thread tangling on the broom bristles as you scooped it up. The racks and unwanted pieces of cloth laid on the marble floor making you let out a sigh of exhaustion.

A knock on your glass showcase window made you jump. The movement making your hair disentangle from the neat twist plait. You lowly cursed as your hair touched the floor, the belly laugh behind the window noted you that your bestfriend was the person responsible for your little mishap.

"Couldn't you ring the bell like a normal person!" You annoyingly exclaimed, closing your eyes and controlling your hair to stop at mid-thigh length. Your preferred length. You picked your broom up and teasingly shook your head when Peter told you open the door. "I think I'm gonna leave you outside tonight, just for scarring the life out of me and my hair."

You resumed your previous activity, counting the numbers in your head until you heard the lock on your ceiling window open. The sound of Peter's displeased voice and childish complains filling your storage room.

"Can't keep me outside Y/L/N, I'll always find a way." He proudly dusted his shirt, taking the scoop from your hand while you grabbed the racks and placed them in your extra closet.

"Thanks to your super spidey powers." You teased, thanking him when he returned the dustpan. "Anyway, why are you here?" You inquired, curious why your best friend decided to stop by your little, tailor shop.

"Well I- wait," Peter scrunched his brows. "Can I not drop by to visit my bestfriend?" He sassed, hand on his hip giving you a quizzing look.

"Oh please Peter, you only stop by when you need something." You remarked, returning a pointed stare before you began to reorganize the formal wear you were currently adapting. "And that something is usually to stitch those huge ass holes in your spidey suit."

Peter didn't respond immediately, because you were right. He did stop by your shop for you to mend his suit. Because one, he loved your company. And two, you were the only person who knew his secret other than the avengers, Ned and MJ.

"Fine! fine!," He huffed. Not so discreetly looking over his shoulder as if he was giving someone a signal. "You're right-"

"I always am Parker." You boasted, using the ends of your hair to move the sewing machine and pins to there rightful place.

"Yeah- okay, but I really came to tell you life changing news!" Peter amazed, a gasp leaving his lips when he saw the movement of your hair. It never ceased to amaze him how your hair was basically magical. Being able to move stuff with your command, grow at whatever length you wanted, heal others and even be unbreakable. Epic, really.

"And what is this so great news-"

The words didn't leave your lips properly as your tailor shop entry door was suddenly yanked open. Your door handle and lock was surely broken, at the loud eerie sound of a metal crunching noise.

"Get out of my way Tony!" Stephen scowled.

"Shut it wizard dude, I'm the leader here not you." Tony rolled his eyes, removing the pair of expensive shades from his face.

"Since when? Fury sent all of us Tony." Rhodey said, dusting his shoulder.

"I wonder how much she makes in this shop, not much I bet." Steve scrunched his face, eyeing your little shop.

"Did we really have to bring Groot?" Clint groaned, flicking baby Groot off of his shoulder when he tried to grab one of his arrows.

"He's a baby, Clint. We can't leave him at the compound alone." Gamora remarked, tickling Groot's tree stomach as she picked him up.

"Okay if she does joins us, we will have to ask her to design new clothing! Look at this!." Wanda marveled, showing off the mid thigh silk dress.

"I should get this for the recruiting party Tony is planning for her." Natasha thought out loud.

"What the fuck!" You yelled, glaring at the talkative avengers standing before you. Looking mighty and high as always. "I just fixed that lock dude!" You whined, sighing gallingly when you saw the chunk of metal by Thor's feet. "You're repairing my lock, hammer man."

"Ah yes, I will have the Man of Iron restore your brittle lock Lady.."

"Y/N."

"Lady Y/N." Thor smiled.

Peter let out a small chuckle, rubbing the back of his ear and looking at you sheepishly. "Surprise?"

"Surprise my ass Parker! Why are the avengers in my tailor shop and why is this raccoon trying to cut my hair?!" You moved your hair with your mind, smacking the animal avenger with your y/h/c locks.

"Woah, did she just-" Bucky froze, mouth agape.

"Control her hair to hit Rocket, yeah." Peter Quill laughed at his co guardian misfortune.

"Okay her hair is very much un- unbreakable," Rocket coughed out, holding his stomach. "And strong."

"I am Groot." ˢʰᵉ'ˢ ᵃ ᵇᵃᵈᵃˢˢ

"You can not say that word Groot, but I do agree with you." Gamora smirked, finger bumping the cute tree.

You were mad, really fuming. You spent two hours cleaning and by the looks of it you'll have to do it a second time. So yeah, you wanted an explanation.

"Okay don't get upset." Peter spoke calmly. Holding his hand out and gesturing towards the superheroes infront of you, who had the same impressed expression on their fanciable faces.

"This is the life changing thing I was talking about," He paused with a smile. "You're joining the Avengers!"

"What?" You were officially bamboozled, with everything. One minute you were simply tidying your shop and next, half of the avengers are occupying your shop. Quarreling and interfering with your stuff.

And not to ignore the fact that your best friend just blurted out four questionable words to you.

"You're going to be an Avenger, Rapunzel." Tony repeated, strutting to you with short steps. "If you want to of course, sidey here told us your hair power thingy and though I was a little iffy about it at the beginning, it looks like your power is truly powerful." Tony patted your shoulder. Looking over at Rocket, who was being assisted by Drax.

"As much as I would like to say it's an honor to be in your presence," You said. Controlling your hair to grow back at mid-thigh. "Why?" You faced Peter, inquiring him with the plain word.

Peter shrugged, giving you a bashful look. "Fury asked if we knew anyone who could be recruited, and without thought I suggested you." He sighed, feeling completely awful for the situation he put you in.

"And I know, I should've asked you first but I know how much you adore helping others and the money here isn't enough for your college tuition Y/N." Peter ignored the awkward silence in the room that was loud seconds ago before continuing. "I thought this would be a way to assist you."

You physically softened at his words. He was too kind and caring for his own good. You could never be upset with this idiot boy.

"I'm sorry-"

Peter didn't finish. His apology was muffled by your lips pressed deeply to his frowny pink ones. He was slighty awestruck, the feeling of your lips were breathtaking. He swore he could kiss you forever. His hands found your waist pulling you in closer, even including a little tongue movement inside your mouth.

As if reality kicked in, a teasing 'ohhh' sound came from a few avengers. Causing you to shyly pull away from Peter, who loudly groaned at the lost contact of your plump lips.

"Looks like Spidey is getting a little too handsy." Sam quipped, chuckling when Peter told him to shut it and hid his face in the crook of your neck.

"So is this a yes?" Peter hopefully asked.

You feigned ponder. "Yes."

Peter pecked your lips, mumbling a short 'yay' attempting to deepen the kiss.

"That's enough smooching spiderling." Steve uttered, obviously not enjoying the PDA.

A beeping sound came from Tony's watch altering the team about an upcoming mission.

"Looks like we gotta go," Tony spoke with a serious voice before turning to you. "Glad to have you on the team Rapunzel."

"It's Y/N." You corrected.

"Okay, I'll send some people by tomorrow to pick up your stuff. See ya soon, Rapunzel." Tony winked, exiting your tailor shop.

"He's not gonna give that up." Peter laughed, tucking a loose strand of hair behind your ear.

"I oddly don't mind." You responded, waving bye to the others. "Thank you Pete."

Peter grinned. "I didn't quite hear that, say it a little louder baby."

"Thank you mister Parker." You kissed his lips, playfully rolling your eyes. But you weren't that distracted to miss Thor stealthily trying to leave your shop.

"Hey hammer God! Don't forget to fix my lock."

"I will have Stark right on it Lady Rapunzel!"

#peter parker fanfiction #peter parker fic #peter fanfic #peter parker #peter parker x reader #peter parker fluff #peter parker x y/n #avengers x reader #peter parker x you #peter x reader #avengers x you #lee writes short fics

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wthtorke · 3 years

Text

Incandescent (Kofi commission)

Kofi one shot commission by Insta is day_of_mayhem!

(I might have gone off on this one lmao Enjoy!)

Incandescent.

The night had been quiet, the trees softly hustling against one another as the wind blew. First, it was the strange noise.

From your little house in the woods, a sharp noise rattled through your bed, making you jump up in surprise. Running to the window, you saw what could only be described as a falling star, coming quickly towards your house.

You could barely brace yourself against the windowsill as the star ripped through the clouds, falling far into the woods. Panting and scared, you looked for any signs of it. Any burning trees, smoke, noise coming from the general direction where it fell. You found none.

From the window, you caught sight of your truck, still parked in the driveway. Grunting to yourself, you made your decision as you grabbed a coat and the wooden axe from the fireplace, running to your car, hoping to find the fallen star before anyone else did.

Gripping the steering wheel hard enough your knuckles turned white, you drove through the path in the forest, stopping when even more strange noises reached your ears.

Stopping your car, you tilted your head slightly, trying to catch it again. Seconds passed before a sudden blast made you jump, looking into the direction a flash of light also happened. Leaving the car, you held the axe close to your chest as you slowly walked towards the noise, breathing quickly as you did.

From the trees behind you, a slick, black ridged tail moved quietly as its owner's drool fell onto the tree branches, slowly stalking towards you.

'Hssssssss..'

Eyes widening, you turned around in time to see a black creature jumping from the tree, arms outstretched and claws ready to tear into you.

Falling to the ground, the creature landed heavily on you, claws grappling your axe handle as you barely had time to process its weight before shiny, sharp fangs closed itself repeatedly before your face.

You only realized you were screaming when the creature shifted its weight to your chest, cutting your air as it reeled back to strike one final time to kill you.

Closing your eyes in fear, you could only open them again as an animalistic roar reached your ears, and then the crushing weight wasn't there anymore, a screech and a heavy, wooden thud following suit. The creature had been rammed from on top of you, instead hitting the tree it jumped from hard in its back, falling to the ground, briefly shaken.

You took your chance to get up as well and dart between the trees, out of the creature's way. You only bothered looking for whatever had knocked it out of you when the black creature hissed into another direction, and you realized there was absolutely nothing there.

Still, under the dim moonlight, the creature leaped into nothingness, surprisingly landing on the thin air, snapping and hissing, swinging its tail around. You watched as it tried to hit something with its piercing tail. With a roar, you jerked back as it seemed to hit its goal, whatever was beneath it started zapping and glowing with failing electrical power, soon revealing what the thing was perched on as it didn't stop its struggles for one second.

At this point, you had come to the conclusion that they were indeed aliens, and the star was no star but probably a ship that crash landed, even if you had no idea where it was now. The stream of roaring and screaming snapped you out of your thoughts, the massive humanoid alien trying to shake the creature from it’s back as best as it could, while still trying to dodge its deadly tail.

You looked around, your fight or flight instincts screaming at you to do something, anything. Looking at the dark forest behind you, you had no idea if there were other alien serpents around or more alien warriors to help this one. It was when the serpent's tail pierced the warrior's arm and you saw bright green blood explode everywhere that you took action.

Running towards both of them with your axe in hand.

Your decision was made as the blade of your weapon sunk into the black creature’s back, it’s startled shrill making your ears ring as it’s tail hit you hard in the chest, both making you fly a few feet back and thankfully escape it’s weird fizzing blood that you’d later come to know was pure acid.

You shook your head as you tried to breathe again, all the air knocked out from your lungs as you landed on your back. Your vision threatened to darken as you sat up, trying to spot where the aliens were.

Slowly your ears started focusing again as did your eyes, permitting you to see that not only was the black serpent not on top of the alien warrior anymore as said warrior was about to jam it’s blades into the serpent’s throat. The most intense occurrence of all your life didn’t last more than 5 minutes it seemed.

Getting up on your wobbly feet, you noticed just about how much blood there was around the ground. You watched as the warrior clutched his side, chest rising and falling as he stared at you, and while he could absolutely kill you if he so wanted, he didn’t.

Not that you were opposed to that, of course.

You felt the adrenaline die down in your blood, the cold air finally making you shiver a bit. You looked at who you supposed was a ‘he’ and back towards the general direction of your car. If his ship had truly crashed, he was stranded. Hurt and stranded.

“Safe,” You said, pointing back where your car was, “Together…?” You questioned, montioning between you and him with your less hurt hand. He took a few moments to analyze the situation before making his decision. He was hurt, more so than he’d like to admit, but less than he’d be if you hadn’t shown up. He nods, slowly, unsure, later following you to the truck, all but hauling himself up the back of the pickup truck. ‘I’ll definitely need to hose that down in the morning.’ You thought as you saw the green blood streaks as you got into the driver's seat.

The drive back was smooth, no longer fueled by raw fear and adrenaline. You felt tired, maybe because of the bruises forming where you got hit or well, the fact that this was more action than you had since….Well, ever. Getting home, you didn’t really know why you snuck him through the garage door, you had no neighbors and no family living with you but somehow it seemed the right thing to do, he was an alien after all.

He seemed to know the concept of showering, at least. He washed all the dirt and grime off of his body and you were more than a little upset at yourself that you didn’t see him take off his mask, only noticing your mistake when he got out of the bathroom and the metal was so clean it was sparkling.

You watched as he sat in your living room and started patching himself up. While he wasn’t bleeding profusely anymore, the roaring surely gave you chills down your spine as he plunged some kind of needle into his thigh, pumping the syringe’s contents into his system before sewing his wound shut.

You pointed at the couch and told him to make himself at home, as far as that could go, anyway. You passed out as soon as you hit the pillow, your body paying no mind to the huge alien downstairs.

The next morning, he was gone.

As much as you were expecting it, it still felt...odd. Like some kind of fever dream. Only you knew it happened by the state of your house and garage. If you didn’t know it was an alien, you’d have thought a wild bear had wrecked your house. The floor was muddy, some things were out of place or straight up on the floor while some you couldn’t tell if they were touched at all.

Sighing, you gathered the broom, mop and trash bags to start your new mission; Cleaning the house.

Cleaning was usually boring, but this time it just felt restless. Even as your favorite songs played in the background. Of course, no alien could just have a slumber party in some human’s house but still, much had happened yesterday. You wondered when the government’s men were going to burst through your window and shoot a sedative up your arm because you’ve had alien interaction.

You were cleaning the kitchen cupboards when a reflection that very much wasn't your own caught your attention in the mirror. Squinting a bit, you jumped back when your eyes focused and revealed your guest's reflection, only his position was right behind you. "FUCK-” You turned around quickly, hitting your knee in the process, ”When did you get here?! God-," You started coughing a bit from the sudden intake of air.

You looked back at him when you heard strange noises coming from his helmet, almost like someone was tuning a radio before the words became clear, recordings.

"No-, trails."

You blinked in confusion for a second before realizing what he meant, slight dread setting in your gut at the prospect that an alien could speak, or well, play recordings of english to you. "Trails-, in the forest? Wow..that’s, that’s very nice, actually, hadn’t thought of that,” you thought over your next words, taking in his huge form as you did, “You’re headed home now, I suppose?”

He shook his head, motioning to his still tender wounds from yesterday’s battle against the serpent.

The serpent.

“Oh, Um-, That thing is dead, right?”

He nodded, “Exterminated. Contained.”

Contained.

“Great, great-, well, if you’re not planning to kill me and take over my house, you’re um...very welcome to stay?” You said, a bit unsure.

He nodded, walking over silently towards your garage door, you heard rummaging around, following to see him picking up after a broken vase you didn’t remember was there.

He was a considerate roommate, you could say. Wherever this alien came from, he knew of common sense, or just had a very strict mama as he helped in the chores he could. You suspected he didn’t trust you to clean his trails properly, but you weren’t complaining of free help.

Another thing you could tell is that he learned fast. Very fast.

He’d been skeptical of you, at first. You’d never catch him sleeping or eating, always the same passive expression of his mask looking back at you. You couldn’t blame him, but even then, it was hard not to speculate what was underneath it. Did he look like Davy Jones? The Shape? He didn’t seem to be aquatic. Maybe a lizard? His skin was mottled like one, at least.

3 months passed by before you both had that feeling. He’d been here for too long. His wounds were beyond healed, no one had shown up for him, no government, no other aliens, nothing. You’d seen him mess with his wrist gauntlet a few times, seen him test the cloaking device he had, it worked.

So, why was he still here?

It was on a similar night that you met him that you mustered the courage to ask.

The stars were bright, as was the moonlight. The breeze was soft, you both sat outside for a bit, looking into the forest. He told you he feared they’d come at night. You guessed he spoke of other humans, the kind that would want to study him alive, in the name of ‘science’, and he wasn’t entirely wrong.

“Are you waiting for your people to come get you? Have you sent a signal yet?”

“Yes.”

Your breath hitched a bit, the cold air around you prickling at your skin. “Oh-, well...have they replied?”

“Yes.”

You nodded, “So, I guess they’ll be coming soon, right?”

You waited for another robotic ‘Yes’ to hit your ears, to shatter your fantasy of living a nice life with him, somehow.

“No.”

“No?” You asked, lifting your head to look at him, “Why not?”

He turns to look at you for a second, at least you could assume he was looking at you behind the mask.

With that, he lifted his hands to the object of your speculation during the last 3 months, fingers slowly snapping off tubes that connected it to the rest of his armor with an audible ‘Fzzzzz’.

You held your breath as he hooked his fingers around the mask, snapping it off as well. He hovered the mask for a second before slowly lowering it away from his face.

You could feel your pupils dilate as you took in the sight of him, the spiky crown around his forehead, the mottling, so similar to the rest of his body, going down to his eyes, you lingered there for a moment, taking in how yellow they looked, and how they were staring directly into your own.

You gulped as you kept lowering your gaze, spotting the fangs, the tusks, the strong jaws that could very much clamp around your neck right now, if he so wanted. Everything about him screamed predator before, but now, having the last piece of the puzzle, you could only think of one word to describe him.

Perfect.

You let out the breath you didn’t know you were holding when his hand touched yours, so tender, mindful of his talons, yet still enveloping your cold ones in warmth. You looked up at him, fingers slowly squeezing his own, an attempt to show him you weren’t afraid, just stunned.

“Stay.” He said, in a much deeper voice than any he’d ever played for you before. His voice.

You only realized you were crying when the tears caught in between the crinkles of your smile, stopping their journey straight down your face, giving them a shortcut to falling down your chin, to where his other hand was raising up, gently tipping your face up, as he lowered his own, pressing your foreheads together.

“Stay.” You repeated, in a much quieter, shakier voice than his, but with every bit of intention behind it, still smiling as he squeezed your hand again.

Suddenly, the night didn’t feel nearly as cold anymore, nor did it feel as lonely as it once did.

#fluff lots of fluff #The Predator #predator #predators #yautja #yautja x human #human/yautja #yautja/human #kofi commission #Alien #alien relationship #yautja x reader #reader

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fernisworm · 3 years

Text

Lycan!Karl Heisenberg x Reader Headcanons (Pt3)

[an;

I haven’t posted in a while so I thought I’d upload this since it’s been sitting in my drafts for a while LMAO

(PSA: I touch on some of these HC’s in previous posts)

some more Lycan!Karl brainrot for the soul amirite 😎😎

🎕 You can find Pt 1 here! (& Pt 2 here!)

❀ Characters: Lycan!Karl Heisenberg x (Gender Neutral!) Reader

❀ Warnings: N/A

✿ You can find all my stories here!

✿ My requests guide is here! (And you can place a request here!)

🌟 Karl can actually understand the lycans almost perfectly, and funnily enough, they seem to understand basic English too

🌟 “ *assorted lycan growling and barking* “

🌟 “What? No, you aren’t all sleeping in the factory! I don’t care how cold it is outside, fur-for-brains!”

🌟 anyway, they all slept in the factory

🌟 Karl actually regards most of the lycans in a familial way and likes to take care of them in any small way he can

🌟 He even went as far as to reinforce the Stronghold for them to keep it warmer in the winter

🌟 While the lycans have names, they aren’t human names

🌟 It’s kind of hard to translate “grrrgrg BARK BARK BARK grgrgrgrg AWOOOO” into English

🌟 So instead Karl has various nicknames for the lycans, such as; fur-face, fur-for-brains, fur-freaks, etc. (Just to highlight the extent of his creativity)

🌟 You actually get along quite well with the lycans

🌟 Heisenberg is very protective of you, however

🌟 He doesn’t mind you interacting with the lycans but is always sure to keep a watchful eye on the situation

🌟 One time he actually got really jealous because you were giving a lycan more attention than him (which really wasn’t that much more, all things considered)

🌟 The following night he disappeared for a while and you heard loud snarling, barking and the like from outside the factory

🌟 Karl returned later looking rather pleased with himself

🌟 The lycans avoided you for nearly an entire month before you got Karl to confess that he had threatened all of them to stay away from you “or else”

🌟 You made him apologise and scolded him for being worried over such a thing

🌟 He blamed it on his wolf blood (being territorial and overprotective) but you knew better and that he was just a big whiny man-baby

🌟 Tying into my point from before; surprisingly, the lycans prefer the Stronghold over the factory itself and you guessed it had to do with the factory being too overwhelming for them (similarly to how it worked up Karl sometimes)

🌟 But every now and again it might get particularly cold and frosty and the lycans will ask Karl if he can let them into the factory for a while

🌟 Usually he says no, but you always try to convince him otherwise

🌟 “But Karl, it’s so cold outside! Pleeeease can you let them inside??? Just for the night!!! 🥺😢🙏🙏“

🌟 “(Y/n), if I keep caving to every request they ask of me they’re going to think I’m going soft!! I cannot have that, I am a very mean and tough alpha wolf!! >:(”

🌟 “ *you proceed to smooch Karl on the cheek* “

🌟 “...ⁱ ᵐᵉᵃⁿ ⁱ ᵍᵘᵉˢˢ ᵗʰᵉʸ ᶜᵃⁿ ˢᵗᵃʸ ᶠᵒʳ ᵒⁿᵉ ⁿⁱᵍʰᵗ ⁱᵗ'ˢ ʷʰᵃᵗᵉᵛᵉʳ ⁱᵈᶜ”

🌟 It’s fair to say that you’re usually able to convince him to open the factory up to them

🌟 The lycans are often restricted to the lower levels, but they don’t mind since that’s where it’s the warmest anyway

🌟 When they do end up staying in the factory for a bit Karl makes sure to lock away the Soldats and Haulers

🌟 (mostly to stop the lycans from coming into harm’s way, but also because overall the lycans are probably a better defence system than Karl’s experiments lmao)

🌟 One of the biggest things you’ve had to help Karl work on is his ability to control his own emotions

🌟 Prior to you living in the factory with him he used to be very destructive, transforming on every whim he got without really trying to fight his werewolf blood

🌟 When you first moved in, and you didn’t know anything about Karl’s lycan side, it made things very difficult for him since he was so used to wolfing-out whenever he felt the need to

🌟 His complacency with random transformations actually caused him to wolf-out several times during meetings

🌟 You weren’t present for any of them but when he recalled the memories you could tell they were somewhat embarrassing for him

🌟 He told you that times like those were when Mother Miranda’s true disgust was on full display

🌟 Karl always insisted that he didn’t give a fuck about anything she said, but you knew it still affected him sometimes

🌟 After all, Mother Miranda was the only parental figure that he’d had in his life in a very long time. How could her words not have some affect on him?

🌟 It became a lot easier for Karl after he told you he was part lycan, but prior to that there were some very close calls

🌟 He would disappear randomly, and for varying amounts of time without an explanation

🌟 One time you nearly caught him wolfing out so he had to lock the door and find a way to the bottom levels of the factory so he could sneak out without you seeing him

🌟 Of course all of this was made ten times harder by the fact he was in werewolf form by that point

🌟 Heisenberg decided you had to know about his lycan side when you started blaming yourself for him acting out

🌟 He knew he wasn’t perfect, not in any capacity, but god forbid you blame any of that on yourself

🌟 He was relieved that his confessed seemed to disperse almost all of your worries

🌟 Due to your combined efforts, and some realistic practice on volunteers such as Lady Dimitrescu, Karl has a far better grip on his werewolf transformations

🌟 Even around full moons he finds himself able to calm his emotions and stop himself from wolfing out

🌟 Karl (along with all the other lords) are so very grateful for everything you’ve done to help him

🌟 But Heisenberg insists he’ll kill you if you ever tell a soul that he’s helping Moreau control his own unpredictable transformations

🌟 “Aren’t you just the sweetest big brother omg 🥺🥺“

🌟 “SHUT UP I WILL LITERALLY KILL YOU IF THIS GETS OUT”

🌟 Whenever Karl wolfs-out (or just transforms in general tbh) all his clothes get torn to smithereens, so you have to do your best to persuade Donna to make him some more

🌟 Especially now since he was literally down to his last set of clothes

🌟 But you can imagine she was still quite angry at Heisenberg for literally breaking into her house and gnawing on Angie like a chew-toy

🌟 But since she was the only seamstress in town you had to try an appease her in someway

🌟 It didn’t help that Karl had recently dug up her garden

🌟 Like what the fuck Karl we need Donna to like us you freak-show

🌟 Either way Karl was always running out of clothes, and fast

🌟 He had a small plethora of sewing knowledge, from years of patching up his own clothes, but that wouldn’t nearly be enough to fix the ribbons-worth of material he had left

🌟 Anyway you made Karl apologise to Donna and (especially) Angie

🌟 “I’m... sorry.”

🌟 “For...?”

🌟 “For being way too epic for you losers to handle hehehe 😎😎”

🌟 You slapped him behind the head and made him apologise again- properly this time

🌟 Donna (begrudgingly) decided to help out and make Karl some new clothes

🌟 Despite being an absolute menace, he was still her brother

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damerondala · 3 years

Text

Suture Up Your Future

i was watching reservoir dogs last night and that scene in the beginning with mr. orange is so intense i wanted to write some bad batch AnGst that mirrors it (and yes, the title is a queens of the stone age song, im really just snatching ideas from everybody huh lol). im also not too knowledgeable about trauma wounds like this and how to patch them up, but i did my best so pls be nice lmao im a sensitive bitch

Pairing: Platonic Bad Batch x Gender Neutral Reader / Platonic Tech x Gender Neutral Reader

Warnings: adult dialogue, severe wounds and blood loss, wound suturing, sad batch ™ but with a happy ending! yay!

Word Count: approx. 1.4k

✧·ﾟ: *✧·ﾟ:* *:·ﾟ✧*:·ﾟ✧

“Say it for me, Tech.” You were met with an agonistic cry instead of the words you needed the trooper to say. Not only to reassure himself, but you as well. “Say it,” you nearly screamed while he lay there bleeding out, “You’re going to be okay, fucking say it. You’re going to be okay.”

“I,” a sharp intake of breath made his chest heave and a new wave of fresh blood come out of his gaping wound, covering your hands in the warm substance, “‘m guh be oh-okay.”

“There we go, come on Tech, come on buddy breathe for me.”

Nothing was out of the ordinary when you woke up that day. Hunter asked if you wanted to stay on the Marauder while he, Tech, and Crosshair went on a supply run. Hunter sang his reassurances to you, fully knowing you had a point when you reminded him that this planet was not the most welcoming place for outsiders. Especially the army of the Republic. But Hunter made sure they had civilian clothing to disguise themselves; this was the closest planet you all could get to at the moment, with the little fuel you had, after all. “In and out, just like that,” the sergeant cooed with a snap of his fingers to enunciate the last word of his promise.

Echo, Wrecker, and yourself gave your best wishes to the group, then retreated back to the hull of the beloved ship. Echo toying with a new prosthetic he and Tech had been working on, Wrecker subjecting poor Gonky to yet another workout, and you occupied yourself with some tidying up. Maker knows that five busy soldiers plus one even busier medic, patching up said soldiers on a regular basis, equaled a filthy ship that was in dire need of some elbow grease.

What none of you had expected however, was the very early return of the three bad batchers, one of them being supported by the other two. Barely able to walk and blood leaking out of his abdomen.

Panic set in your gut upon the sight. Wrecker and Echo already in front of you, screaming their concerns and questions while you scrambled back into the ship to clear the table that was littered with empty dishes and Tech’s projects, then sprinting to your medkit to snag the supplies you’d need to treat a wound such as this. Returning to the table just as Wrecker set his vod down on the flat surface that, might you add, was much too small for his six-four frame and much too dirty for the situation at hand, but would have to do. Considering the severity of the scene before you. Tech had an enormous gash — you guessed from some sort of large knife — that ran from the bottom of his left ribs all the way to the front of his abdomen, ending just above his bellybutton.

“Fucking bounty hunters,” Crosshair growled from behind you but you couldn’t afford to pay him any mind, Tech was damn near about to bleed to death if you didn’t act quick. You could curse the people who did this to your friend later. “Echo, he’s going to need more blood. Get Wrecker hooked up to the blood draw.” You ordered while applying pressure to the gash, Tech’s blood slowing at the contact, but still steadily seeping through your fingers. Normally Wrecker would pout about being hooked up to a machine but the sight of his friend dancing with death made him move quicker than any of you had ever seen, ripping his shirt sleeve up so Echo could begin drawing blood.

The scene felt like a dream. Well, more like a nightmare, one that never stopped no matter how badly you wished you could just wake up and it would all be over. Instead, you were sweating through your shirt, a few tears stained your cheeks, and you were fucking covered in blood; Tech’s blood, to make the matter even more chilling. Everything happened so fast, you desperately wished you had gone on the run instead of Tech. Maybe that way you could all be sitting around this table, playing cards and giggling at Echo and Wrecker’s bickering over who’s cheating by now.

“What do you need me to do?” Hunter stepped to your side, prepared to do anything in order to save the youngest of the squad. “Get the gauze and alcohol out of my pack.” You threw your head in the direction of the stocked medpack sitting on the table near Tech’s legs. Hunter opened the bottle of antiseptic and handed it to you, Crosshair on the other side of the table taking the gauze from Hunter’s hand. Ready to stuff the wound in an attempt to slow the bleeding more until you could properly suture him up. Dumping the alcohol inside the gash caused Tech to gasp, eyebrows furrowing and body going taut at the pain you inflicted on him. You pleaded with him to relax and help you in reassuring himself that he would be fine. Both you and Hunter continuing the verbal comfort while Crosshair unraveled the pristine white gauze and began shoving it into Tech’s side, dying it crimson almost immediately. The pressure from both yours and Crosshair’s hands did a good job at stopping the blood loss, just enough so you could begin really cleaning him up and sewing his abdomen back together. Hunter helped with handing you the needle and thread and you began puncturing Tech’s skin and pulling the thread through the tissue.

Cries and mumbles of curses came from Tech’s lips, his face paler than any of you had ever seen before. “Shhh…eh..it,” Tech groaned as you diligently worked at his stomach. You silently thanked whatever celestial power that was out there for slowing down the blood flow to a much more manageable pace. Crosshair’s efforts clearly paid off, you mentally noted, as you watched his steady marksman hands slowly remove the gauze while you advanced with your stitching.

“Blood transfusion is ready,” Echo suddenly appeared, ready to start replenishing the blood Tech had lost. “Just in time,” you managed a half-smile, not entirely sure of where it came from. But looking back, you think it was out of hope.

Tech’s glazed eyes silently caught the way your mouth curled up and he was infinitely grateful for it. To him — and the other members of the squad — you were a beacon of light in the cruel and unforgiving war you all were in the midst of. It was easy to let the darkness and the violence consume them, but the second you joined their squad as their senior medic, there was that sudden sense of hope; you were something that made all of it even more worth it.

The entire procedure of fixing up your friend honestly was a blur for the most part. One second they were dragging Tech’s limp and bloody body up the ramp, the next you all found yourselves slumped into chairs, over crates, hell, you were nearly passed out from exhaustion on the floor next to the table Tech was splayed out on. His wound clean and stitched to near perfection, and Wrecker’s blood slowly being pumped back into his veins, bringing that beautiful, healthy tan back to his features.

Being so tired led you to neglect the dried blood all over your arms and shirt. In your haze, you remember Wrecker gently grasping your biceps and heaving you off the grimy ground, urging you to wash up and change. When you began to protest, the gentle giant rubbed up and down your arms in an effort to persuade you, “He’ll be fine, kid. You stitched him up real good. Plus, you know how queasy he gets with blood. He’d want you to get cleaned up.” Just as the final syllable left his mouth, you felt the soft cotton of your extra shirt being brushed against your forearm, Crosshair’s arm extended to you from his place on a ration crate with a nod in your direction. A silent way of showing you he agreed with his older brother — we got him, don’t worry.

Your squad member’s wisdom proved to be true. Stepping out of the fresher in a new shirt sans sweat stains and blood, and your skin nice and clean, you were greeted with the sight of everybody crowding around their youngest vod still laying on the table. Weaseling your way in between Hunter and Echo, you found Tech awake. Albeit less sharp than he usually is, but still awake. Breathing. Fucking alive. The weight of dread that had been crushing your chest was suddenly gone, letting your lungs fully expand for the first time in hours. A soft hand found Tech’s cheek, the tips of your fingers accidentally bumping the edge of his goggles and another smile gracing your face, this one out of relief.

“Told you you’d be okay.”

#i know reservoir dogs is like...the ultimate white boy douchebag movie but i still like it #im taking it back from those bitches lol #and this is my first time writing something platonic AND writing angst I hope it's decent lol im more of a fluff and spicy stories kinda gal #my writing #tech fic #bad batch fic #the bad batch tech x reader #the bad batch platonic fic #the bad batch crosshair x reader #the bad batch hunter x reader #the bad batch echo x reader #the bad batch wrecker x reader #the bad batch fanfiction

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imgloriaa · 2 years

Note

https://youtu.be/6St-aVsYUR8 can you translate some of this? idk what it is abt why they keep handling the guys random stuff ;-;

the interview basically about ten essential things for them when they tour (it was recorded while they were on tour for toa la noche club tour), they started by introducing themselves.

*showing off toilet paper*

C: so you can wipe your ass

*the toilet paper was actually a joke*

C: the first essential is our phones because personally i can’t go on tour without my phone (n: everyone else agrees)

R: also if we get lost it’s over for us

C: which app do we use the most?

E: Safari!

R: Youtube, Instagram

E: also Tiktok, Snapchat

C: When we are on tour we use it [TikTok] like a lot. There are moments [for us] to watch [TitToks] and create content

R: I think Erick spends [also] a lot of time watching video and stuff on Facebook, Zabdiel as well but Erick is the one that spends the most time on Facebook

*showing the second item which is a bluetooth speaker*

C: Like it’s a must

Z: yeah, sometimes we use it [because] we want to freestyle like especially when we’re in bus we play a beat

Z: i’m not saying we’re good at freestyle because we aren’t

E: but [at least] we try.

E: lately we play a lot of salsa

*showing the third object which i believe are plastic straws*

Z: this is a weird one especially if you don’t know how we use it

C: we use it to warm our voices

Z: we were in london and a vocal coach at xfactor taught us this technique

R: yeah yeah a vocal coach at xfactor i remember

C: also little mix’s vocal coach

Z: we were taught to sing with straws and since then we always do this to warm up our voices before shows

C: basically you take the straw and put it into a glass with water and start singing [n: we all did it as kids you know when you blow inside the straw to create bubbles, they sing instead of blowing]

R: the vibrations of this thing make your vocal cords are properly warmed up

C: I recommend [this technique]

*showing the fourth object which are face masks*

C: since the pandemic

E: whenever we need one we never have one with us

C: that’s why we bring with us such a big package of masks

*showing off the fifth object which is a sewing kit*

C: especially my friend Richard right here [because] he’s the only one that likes sewing

R: this is an essential that we bring with us because of one tour in particular where zabdiel broke his pants

Z: yeah it isn’t just for sewing it’s also useful to cut things [n: because there was a scissor in that kit lmao]

C: or for killing people

C: i know how to put the thread through the needle

E: naaah

C: i swear

Z: i never saw you doing that

C: yeah you didn’t but i can do it. so next essential

*showing off their sixth essential which is airpods*

C: you can’t say [it isn’t an essential thing] *sings x*

Z: i would’ve shown it off before but ok

C: you can use those everywhere basically, also during promo

R: individually, like we don’t use the same pair of airpods all together

C: one for you, one for me and [we] listen to something together from one airpod

E: and it’s one of the things we loose the most, we’re constantly buying new ones because we lose the other [ones]

C: i’m not throwing those away [like the other stuff] because those are expensive so i’m gently put [those] away

*showing off their seventh essential which is lip balm*

E: this is also very very important. rich & i use it the most

C: i use it, not that much, but i do

Z: honestly i don’t

E: i always get dry lips so i need it

[n: they also have a joke going on, zabdiel said it because of something erick said like you know lips in spanish is a non countable word i believe (correct me if i’m wrong, because it’s totally based on the fact that’s the same thing in italian) so it’s singular while in english it’s plural (you use lip when you need to say like upper lip, not as mouth) so zabdiel made fun of erick for saying that word in plural even tho it’s a singular word]

*showing off the eight essential which are gums*

C: these are gums

Z: cheers cheers

C: the fruity ones-

E: the fruity ones don’t last longer

[n: then they start talking of one pack of gums they brought at the airport that were kinda fruity, like a very specific type and got lost in it]

*showing off their ninth essential which is duct tape*

C: we don’t use it all the time or every day but it helps a lot especially on stage. we put on so we know where to stand individually

[n: they also put it somewhere else which i don’t know what it is but it’s something regarding their mics idk]

Erick: also for *handcuff gesture so to use whenever you don’t have handcuff with you*

R: this one… honestly not this one.. we don’t use it for [that thing]. It also works when our suitcases get broken and it happened a couple of times actually

Z: yeah but [we use it] more on stage so we know where to stand other wise [three of us] might be more closer and the other one [might be] somewhere else. yeah, that’s it

C: the other essential, well, essentials because we have two things

*showing off their last essential which are steam iron (like a friendly travel one) and lit roller*

C: so our clothes are always-

R: fresh

C: ironed

C: and [this other one] for when we don’t want to have animal hair all over our clothes

*they proceed to show off how to use those things*

Z: but we have our techniques

#ask #anon #cnco #christopher velez #zabdiel de jesús #erick brian colon #richard camacho #cncomusic

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bi-writes · 4 years

Note

Medieval fantasy AU with prince Tom plsssss 😍😍😍

ooooooh here we go down this rabbit hole lmao

The corset of your dress was so tight, you could barely breathe properly. You refused to wear them in your own home. They made you uncomfortable, and you weren’t able to mount your horse properly. They made you stiff and proper, and you hated being stiff and proper. But your mother had begged you, and you gave in.

You were happy to do it for her until she forced a new dress on you and put you in her best jewels. Emeralds on your neck, rubies in your ears, and diamonds littering your tiara and making it sparkle unimaginably. She was powdering you up for the party, and you hated feeling like a trophy to be passed around. But how could you protest when...you weren’t allowed to even have an opinion?

You were on your mother’s arm when you entered the large hall. The ceilings were high, tens of feet tall, and the chandeliers were glowing with lit candles, casting a gorgeous light on the party below. There was music and tables full of food, trays of wine never going empty. You saw chocolate and sweets, and then you saw everyone staring. Of course they were staring. You were a princess, unwed, polished like a golden trophy for all of them to gawk at. Lords staring at you to see if you were fit for their sons, and men staring at you to see if you were fit for their households. It was insulting, but your mother tugged you along anyways.

You grabbed a handful of sweets, popping them into your mouth before your mother could see. She let you go to get a few glasses of wine, and that was your cue. You ripped your tiara off and hid beside a server as you followed them into the kitchen. You greeted the staff warmly before going out the back, into the stables. You were going for your horse, that beautiful black horse that stood at the back of the stables. You hurried, picking up your skirt and running, and thats when you bumped chest first into someone else, both of you falling backwards onto the floor.

“Oh, Christ!” The other person swore, sitting up, rubbing their chest. “Oh! Oh, my lady—”

You let out a breath as you were picked up off the floor quickly, put onto your feet. You were dizzy for a moment having hit the ground so fast and so forcefully.

“N-No, it’s...it’s all my fault, I wasn’t watching where I was going,” you said after a minute, putting a hand on your head. You blinked, trying to focus, and you swallowed hard when you noticed the man in front of you. He was wear a simple dress shirt and trousers, tucked into his riding boots.

“Getting away from the party so quickly? I hear it’s grand,” he tried to lighten the mood, and you sighed, rolling your eyes a bit.

“Grand for who?”

“The princess, of course, is this party not for her? The invitation said all eligible noblemen were to attend this evening,” he chuckled, and you picked up your crown, hiding it as you went to the back, towards your horse, towards Eve. You tossed your crown into the hay, putting both hands on her and petting her warmly.

“Of course it did,” you muttered. “The queen is adamant on her daughter finding a husband. But...it doesn’t even matter. I don’t know why she pushes so much. Don’t you think a woman should be allowed a few years to herself before she even begins thinking about uprooting her life and starting a family?”

He laughed behind you, shrugging, “I...I suppose a woman should be entitled to that. But...they aren’t.”

“No, I suppose not,” you replied with a hard tone. “But they should be. You can’t even be pardoned of that burden as royalty. It’s as if all a woman is good for is marriage. They teach us to dance and to sing and to paint and to curtsy and to...to sew. And for what? No one will want to watch us do any of those things. They don’t care.”

You laid your cheek against Eve, sighing deeply.

“In our lifetime, I suppose that is all a woman can do. But perhaps they can find men that make them feel otherwise.”

You turned your head to look at him, and he was blushing all over. His cheeks were red, his ears were red, and he was adorable, looking so flushed.

“You’re funny,” you said finally, laughing. “To think such things are possible.”

He came towards you, offering his hand. “I’m Thomas.”

“y/n.”

“Shall we...get away from this party? Go for a ride?”

You nodded slowly.

“I’d...I’d like that very much.”

He helped you onto your horse, his hand in yours as he lifted you up over Eve. You got comfortable on her back before clicking your tongue a bit, patting her to walk. Tom reached for his horse and followed you close behind. You took him on a small tour of the grounds, following the paths you walked everyday with Eve. You went through the gardens, around the lake, through the trees.

You didn’t ride in silence. Tom was quick to pick up conversation with you, and you were laughing, always. You bantered back and forth about who was the better rider, who could eat more chocolate tarts in two minutes, and the first time you both got drunk on old cellar wine. You were starting to get tired as he helped you off of Eve. You both sat on a bench near the edge of the lake, which was lit by torches all around. Your horses were tied behind both of you, relaxing.

“Do you think the princess is having fun then?” Tom asked after awhile, looking over at the castle in the near distance. “Surely. This whole...thing was for her.”

You looked in the same direction as him, watching the figures in the windows dance and eat and move around. You sighed.

“I don’t think the princess cares for parties all that much.”

“No?” Tom looked back at you. “What does she like then?”

You frowned, “why are you so interested?”

He bit his lip, “my father instructed me to come down here. He said I was to come, meet the princess, and give her my best. He talks too much. Of course I’d never catch the attention of the princess.”

“Oh? And why not?” You asked, sitting up, curious now.

“They say the princess is...the most beautiful woman in this country,” he murmured, turning back to look at you. You smiled a bit at him, and he smiled back, staring at you, intrigued. You looked lovely bathed in moonlight. “They say she has a sweet tooth, that she wears dresses made of silk always, and that she has a voice like a siren.”

You snorted a bit, “she sounds terrible!”

“What?!” Tom blushed, so embarrassed. “Is it so bad to secretly admire someone I’ve never met? To think that...in some alternate universe...a princess described such as that could ever be mine?”

You stared at him longingly, nudging his shoulder.

“Are you a nobleman? Looking to...rise in station by marrying a princess?”

Tom shrugged, “it isn’t like that,” he muttered. “It’s just...I’ve met many princesses. And I’ve been to a lot of countries, love. And they...they all have stories written of them such as that, but then when you meet them...” He closed his eyes. “I am disappointed when I meet them. Because they are not always sirens that sing and...and they are not always as sweet as others might tell you. Sometimes they mock others beneath them and rule with wicked hands. Sometimes they...sometimes they are cruel.”

“Women can be cruel,” you said softly. “They ought not to be, but sometimes they are. And it’s not always their fault.”

“No, it’s not always their fault,” he murmured. “Women with history...women with pasts...sometimes they are damaged here,” he touched where his heart is, “but sometimes it makes them better. They feel deeply. They love stronger. They speak wiser. My mother was like that.” He smiled a bit to himself. “That is the kind of woman I’d like to have. I suppose I’m just chasing stories until I find the right one.”

“What if you never do?”

“Then I suppose I will never marry.”

You looked out at the water, tucking your hands under your knees.

“Me neither,” you said softly. “I wish...I wish I could be the woman you dreamt of, Tom. I wish...perhaps tonight would have been that night for you.”

He nudged you a bit with his shoulder. “Aye, I wish that, too. Do you think I still have a chance with this princess then?”

You took a deep breath, shrugging. “I don’t know. Perhaps you should go find her inside.”

Tom stood up, nodding to himself. He picked up your hand and kissed it gently, and your stomach fluttered a bit.

“You deserve someone very special, Thomas,” you said sheepishly, smiling at him. “You’re...too kind for this world.”

“As are you, sweet y/n.” He leaned over and gave you a kiss on the cheek next. You watched him mount his horse and ride back to the stables. You stayed a little longer outside, looking out at the water. Thomas seemed lovely, lovelier than any prince your mother could throw your way. You refrained from kissing him, from pulling him close. If he was anyone else...if he was a lord or a nobleman...your mother wouldn’t approve.

But what did it matter? You were never traditional, anyway. What would it matter who you found yourself with? Didn’t you owe it to yourself to try?

You got onto Eve, pulling on the reigns so she could hurry back to the castle. You slipped off of her quickly, brushing your dress off as you looked for the crown that you threw in the hay. You started to panic when you couldn’t find it. Your mother gave it to you to borrow for the night, and you had thrown it like some cheap child’s toy into the hay.

“Looking for this, love?”

You turned abruptly, and Tom stood there, holding the glittering tiara in his hands. You blushed.

“Tom...I...I wanted to tell you, I just—”

“Didn’t want me to know you were a princess?” He asked, raising a brow. “The princess? The princess of all the stories I’ve been hearing?”

You looked down, “What do you want me to say? I don’t...I don’t sing much. I’m not...I’m not the most beautiful woman in the country, and...and I don’t wear dresses made of silk. I’m just me, Thomas. And you’re...you’re you. Why would you want someone like me? I have no idea how to be the princess you said I was.”

He chuckled a bit, “you know, I did come all the way from England to meet you, Your Highness.”

“Please don’t call me that,” you sighed, coming closer to him. “Please call me y/n.”

He smiled down at you, “then don’t call me it either. We’ll have a truce.”

“What does that mean?”

“Formally, you should call me your highness, but I suppose I’ll let it slide for you, love,” he teased, and you pushed him a bit.

“Y-You’re...you’re the prince? The prince of England?”

“Aye, love, I am, but let’s not talk in detail, yeah?” He reached up to touch the side of your face with his knuckles, and you laughed.

“And you said nothing?”

“I didn’t want you to get a crude impression of me. I thought you were...”

“More humble?” You asked, touching the collar of his shirt. He nodded a bit, and you put your head on his chest.

“I like to be. I don’t care for theatrics, Thomas. I like the simple things,” you said, looking up at him. “Don’t you?”

“Oh, love...” he smiled wider. “I’ve been chasing after a story all my life. It’s all I’ve ever wanted. Just a woman on my arm as sweet as the stories they told about her...”

“And?”

He leaned in, nuzzling his nose against yours.

“Tell me, darling...how long would I have to kiss you to find out?”

You broke into a giggle, “forever, I suppose.”

“Then I suppose that’s what I’ll do.”

#just wanted to write something soft dont come at me #tom holland imagines #tom holland imagine #tom holland fanfiction #tom holland fanfic #tom holland fic #tom holland x reader #tom holland au #tom holland fluff #prince!tom #requested

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raskies456 · 3 years

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okay but I absolutely need the lemonade scar lore

sorry for the wait anon I wanted to make sure I had time to write this up properly

I’ve had to get stitches only once in my life (so far) and it was an entirely separate lemonade incident (that may also potentially involve the vengeful ghost of J.F.K. /j)

a while back my mom had a conference in Boston and my dad and I came along bc my uncle and his family also live up there so we wanted to visit

for whatever reason my uncle decided that we should visit the JFK Library of all places, which is kinda a niche choice of tourist destination in Boston considering all the historical stuff there, but is esp interesting considering my parents and I have lived in the DFW area for a long time and therefore have inevitably gone to the sixth story museum which is literally a jfk museum built in the building he was shot from

there’s honestly a decent chance my uncle was lile lmao let’s take the Dallas people to the jfk museum bc it’s funny since he was killed in dallas, but it’s also entirely possible he just wanted to go there anyway and didn’t wanna do the usual tourist stuff

anyway no hate to the jfk library it’s a solid museum lmao. after we looked through it we went to the museum cafe and I was like ooooo they have nice looking bottled lemonade, let me get some

I get up to the cash register w no problem, I’m just holding a glass bottle of lemonade just above the countertop (as one does) when it spontaneously decides it actually does not want to be in my hand (or is cursed by jfks ghost) and slips out

somehow the precise height I was holding it above the counter is far enough above it that the bottle shatters on impact but simultaneously close enough that when my hand reflexively tries to hold the bottle tighter as it slips I manage to grab the very top of the bottle at the exact moment it turns into a fistful of broken glass

I didn’t really feel it at the time interestingly enough, I only really had one cut that wasn’t clearly surface level, and so when the (understandably) horrified lady at the register asked me if I was okay I was like “yeah am good” and I went to go eat my lunch

but I guess the sight of me standing in a puddle of blood and lemonade (plus the deeply entrenched usamerican fear of customer lawsuits) was bad enough that they not only had someone come in and look at it and help me bandage it up but were like oh we Called an Ambulance which was. so completely unnecessary but lmao

I remember my dad being like you guys are so nice if not overly concerned yes we had a good time at the museum no we won’t sue it’s okay y’all did your jobs

the ambulance arrives, the EMT looks at my hand which is now starting to hurt and is still bleeding, and is like yeah you need stitches. which I hadn’t really considered until they said it bc I’d assumed it wasn’t that bad, so I guess it’s good a medical professional told me bc had anyone else done it I would’ve thought they were being overly worried

(tho to be fair they also offered me a ride to the ER but lmao I wasn’t about to pay thousands for a ride my uncle could give me if I wasn’t actively bleeding out)

to make a long story short my uncle dropped my dad and I off at ER, I made a lot of fun jokes w the staff, had a panic attack about the numbing shot, they brought in a psych to help distract me but were very bemused by my panic when I’d been joking w them earlier and also the fact that after the shot I was like lmao I’m good and watched them sew up my hand

ended up getting 6 separate stitches bc even though the actual cut was less than an inch long bc its location at the base of my ring finger made it a very gnarly shape, and it def was still bleeding 3 hours after i got it so it’s a good thing I went to the ER. the stitching made the scar even more fun bc you can actually see the perpendicular lines where they got put in

it doesn’t photograph super well but I can try if y’all want

#456 words #long post #injury #asks #anon #the lemonade story

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roadtoeboyado · 4 years

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@ Tagging Game

i was tagged by the awesome @serialreblogger !

rules: tag 10 people you think would like to be tagged, and copy/paste the asks into a new post. Answer all/as many of them as you want!

1. do you prefer writing with a black pen or a blue pen? i actually prefer to write and work with blue gel pen, but i plan to get a good fountain pen soon to practice calligraphy properly

2. would you prefer to live in the country or in the city? in the city for now, but i frequently daydream about living in Italy with @etspera, close enough to the ocean to go spear fishing in the mornings

3. if you could learn a new skill, what would it be? machine sewing. i need to learn it, but i never have the time/energy to just sit my ass down and do it...

4. do you drink your tea/coffee with sugar? i need at least 3 teaspoons of sugar to drink my coffee

5. what was your favorite book as a child? i really liked Lois Lowry books (Number the Stars and The giver were my favourite) and The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry was really important to me, but my absolute favourite was The Lord of the Rings trilogy. I reread it so many times I could quote parts of it word for word.

6. do you prefer baths or showers? showers, but only bc our tub is tiny. one time i was over at my friend and she had a gigantic tub and i was soaking in cold water for hours and it was glorious

7. if you could be a mythical creature, which one would you be? vampire. i’d have time for everything i could watch history happen for centuries!! not to mention the drama

8. paper or electronic books? i have no problem with reading books as epub/pdf, but my favourites i always get in a nice edition

9. what is your favorite item of clothing? i have a thin maroon shirt and it has the coolest hood ever. i’m actually really concerned what will i wear if it get’s too old...

10. do you like your name? would you like to change it? nah, i really hate it actually, but i’m unsure what i’d prefer instead

11. who is a mentor to you? you guys get mentors ???

12. would you like to be famous? if so, what for? maybe for my writing or art? but like famous in the “having a legacy” and not the “being a celebrity” sense

13. are you a restless sleeper? oh yeah, i wake up multiple times during the night and turn and move around a lot

14. do you consider yourself to be a romantic person? nah

15. which element best represents you? fire? or if we go by Naruto elements (as we should) then lightning. i really really like lightning

16. who do you want to be closer to? no one, i just want to keep my friends as close as they are, that’s much harder

17. do you miss someone at the moment? no

18. tell us about an early childhood memory. so i was a big fan of the Harry Potter books and was very excited about the fifth book. My sister, who was six years older than me got the book first, and no matter how much i pleaded, our parents were like “one book is enough, learn to share”. The problem was three fold; A, i was a significantly faster reader than her B, i was much more invested in the Harry Potter series C, we were bitter enemies and this situation delighted her. Usually she kept to herself in her room, but now? Now she started to spend time in the living room, or at the dinner table, just slowly reading, frequently looking at me with a smile as i seethed in silence. One day i was sitting at the table, glaring at her as she was laying on a thick rug in the living room, our baby ittle bother between her arms. She had the book open in front of them but she was just playing with him, not actually reading it. She was just sending me a smug look as she turned a page, when my adorable little brother (who was like. one) slammed his little fist onto the page and ripped it clean off. time. stood. still. Then my sister laughed hysterically, i started to creech like a pterodactyl and my little brother was so confused he cried. this is my villain origin story

19. what is the strangest thing you have eaten? probably the fried frog legs, but i actually had to ask around the office. imho the fried pork brain was the weirder dish

20. what are you most thankful for? for all the art in my life, my ability to appreciate art

21. do you like spicy food? yesssss, there is nothing better than a spicy curry

22. have you ever met someone famous? a few times, but usually other people had to tell me they were famous lmao

23. do you keep a diary or journal? nah, i tried a few times but it’s not for me

24. do you prefer to use pen or pencil? pen

25. what is your star sign? aquarius sun, sagittarius moon, scorpio rising

26. do you like your cereal crunchy or soggy? mostly crunchy, but there is one i always let to soak for a few minutes and then eat it like a soup. it’s a real problem

27. what would you want your legacy to be? something helpful, something for those that will come after us

28. do you like reading? What was the last book you read? oh yeah, i’m always reading something. the last book was Felix Ever After by Kacen Callender and i loved it very much, even though i usually don’t like romance

29. what are you afraid of? being ignored, irrelevant and out of touch

30. what is your favorite scent? the sea

31. do you address older people by their name or surname? surname. like i don’t call anybody by their given name until they say i should, it actually makes things awkward sometimes

32. if money was not a factor, how would you live your life? in a small house near the ocean in Italy of course

33. do you prefer swimming in pools or the ocean? take a wild guess

34. what would you do if you found $50 in the ground? like i would probably look around, and if someone obviously is distressed/looking for it i’d probably give it to them, but otherwise? lunch is on me friends

35. if you were to get a tattoo, what would it be and where would you get it? i just got one actually! It says Liberté, Équité, Ou la Morte. I didn’t want to write out Fraternité, so the words are around the assassin’s symbol (as in “brotherhood”)

36. what can you hear now? the noise of the office. it could get overwhelming fast, so i might take a smoke break soon

37. where do you feel the safest? when i know i’m completely alone

38. if you could travel back to any era, what would it be? i mean. how long can i stay? if the answer is years, i’d go to America just before the revolution, then hop over to France for their revolution & Napoléon’s reign

39. what is your most used emoji? i actually really hate emojis? like nothing could replace a good old :D

40. describe yourself using one word. critical

41. what do you regret the most? who i was when i was young. like i know it was a relatively good outcome with my childhood, but still. not cool

42. last movie you saw? Hamilton! and it was great and i urge everyone to pirate it and watch it

43. last tv show you watched? Community. A friend was over at my place this weekend and she wanted to watch it so much

44. invent a word and its meaning: thalaessen - the bond you forge with fictional people and worlds

okay, i’m gonna tag @etspera, @haythamsama, @bunnymoss and @joshg1973 but if anyone wanna give it a try feel free (and don’t forget to tag me)!

#tagging game #hitsu talks #tagging meme

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purplesurveys · 4 years

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665

Grossest thing you’ve seen in a bathroom? For some reason I’ve always found myself more grossed out with seeing improperly-wrapped sanitary napkins than poop that failed to flush. I get all wince-y with blood in general, so maybe it’s why. You’d be surprised at how many girls DO NOT and cannot wrap their napkins up properly. Is there a place on your body you can’t stand to be hit? My head I guess? It’s the part of the body I technically use the most, and I would hate to have it hit or slapped or be in general discomfort. Do you consider your family dysfunctional? It’s ‘dysfunctional’ in a sense that we have no capacity to be emotionally intimate with one another – we’re all very distant and can’t have heart-to-heart talks. But other than that we’re doing pretty okay, and we’re honestly one of the happier families I know. I don’t need to be emotionally close with my family because I already have that relationship with my friends, so I’m not bothered much by that aspect. Do you hate people who act like everything is fine when its not? No? If anything I admire them for keeping themselves together. Do you get nervous during interviews? Depends on what kind of interview. Lighter interviews, like when I applied for my present college org, didn’t bother me a lot; but I’d imagine job interviews would terrify me.

Ever had a body piercing ripped out? Yeah, I accidentally ripped the piercing on my left earlobe when I was ten. Worst FUCKING pain you could ever think of. To this day, the ‘hole’ is still one long line from being dragged down. Ever cook/mix up your own concoction and it actually be good? I don’t cook a lot but I do add mayonnaise to a great deal of dishes and I always turn out liking them, but that’s because I love mayo lol. Can you sew/croshae/knit? I know it’s 2020 and we’re tired of grammar/spelling nazis, but that is a rather IMPRESSIVE spelling for crochet, lmao. Anyway, no I don’t do any of these. Are you a heartbreaker? I don’t think so? Idk. Do you have a common middle name? If by middle name you mean the name I adopted from my mom, then no, it’s not common, not even among Filipino names. Been given laughing gas? Never, and I’m also scared to know how it feels lmao. Do you put the cap back on the toothpaste after using it? Always. Have you shot off a firework from your car? No. That’s possible??? Do you like jelly beans? They’re fine, but I like other candies much more. Do you keep literally everything in your purse? I don’t own a purse but haha yeah, my wallet is pretty loaded with items that aren’t money. I dunno why I always forget to take them out. Are you straight edge? I used to claim that I was. But there’s a saying that goes if you stopped being straight edge then you never were, so I don’t identify as that, nor do I say I used to be edge. I admit that I was a bit of a poser, but I’ll also be honest in saying that when I was a teenager I had used to feel so lost and just like such a big nobody, that claiming that I was edge gave me some kind of purpose and a sense of belonging, even for a little bit. It kept me alive and it kept me positive back when I was still struggling to know who I was, or what I was meant to be doing. So I was happy claiming to be ‘edge’ during that time. I’ll always be sorry for letting it go the second I had my first sip of margarita though. Are you there to pick up the pieces for someone? Sometimes, but I think it’s okay when you’re okay doing it. It gets toxic when it starts becoming a chore. In my case, I’m okay with picking up the pieces for the people I love. Are you offended when you see women breast feeding? I’ll forgive this question because this survey was made in 2009, but the simple answer is no, I don’t get offended. What do you drink when you’re sick? Warm water, and that’s about it.

Do you hate when people keep things from you? If they already introduced a certain topic and hyped it up, but decided to refuse to tell me the rest, then I’ll be annoyed. Do you use mouthwash? No. Are you hard-headed? I can be. Can you multitask? It depends on what I have to balance. I can’t drive and do a Powerpoint lmao, but I can work on two academic papers at the same time, especially if both of their deadlines are coming up. Are you too sensitive? Yep, in every sense of the word. Ever had to wipe your computer because of viruses? Had to do this for my old HP laptop, yeah. Not anymore with my present laptop. Are you a speed demon? Sure. I certainly don’t work slowly. Is your name/last name constantly mispronounced? Nope. It’s pretty straightforward. Who sunk your battleship? No idea what this is a metaphor for. Who wears the pants in the relationship? My girlfriend certainly does, and I have no problem with it lmao.

#survey #surveys

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ohpenelopes · 5 years

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i mean i could be aesthetic but instead i'm just pathetic

ALISHA BOE? No, that’s actually PENELOPE “PENNY” BROWN-PATIL from the NEXT GENERATION ERA. You know, the child of LAVENDER BROWN and PARVATI PATIL? Only 21 years old, this HUFFLEPUFF alumni works as a BARISTA and is sided with THE NEUTRALS. SHE identifies as a CIS WOMAN and is a PUREBLOOD who is known to be SELF-PITYING, A PERFECTIONIST, and INSECURE but also FLEXIBLE, GENTLE and IMAGINATIVE.

LINKS – pinboard, stats. CHARACTER PARALLELS – jackie burkhart ( that 70s show ), chloe gemell ( my mad fat diary ), mini mcguinness ( skins uk ), engel beekman ( skam nl ), cassie howard ( euphoria ), emaline ( everything sucks! ), gretchen wieners ( mean girls ), caroline forbes ( the vampire diaries -- earlier seasons ), kelly kapoor ( the office ) AESTHETIC – star shaped hoop earrings, drawing hearts all over your notes, needle pricked finger tips, unapologetic femininity, a loud and cheerful laugh echoing through a hallway, pinky promises, heart shaped sunglasses hiding hungover stained eyes, movie nights with popcorn and rose wine, drowning in the sea of your own thoughts HEADS UP – this intro has mentions of anxiety, but i’ve marked all of these with a trigger warning! <3

backstory ( 2008 - 2026 )

penny is born penelope lyra brown-patil --- penelope, for the woman who not only waited faithfully for her husband’s return for years, but who tricked many man in the process; lyra, for the constellation (because the stars are so wise) --- and as the second (and eventual middle) child to lavender and parvati

and she grows up happy. her childhood is peaceful and wonderful, filled with fun days and laughter. there’s not much out of the ordinary --- it’s stable and beautiful, and penny longs for those days quite a lot.

at some point, she learns of the things her parents went through at school, about war and rebellion and fear. penny admires her mothers more than anything --- she’s scared of this world, of this past, but she’s filled with admiration and a bit of fear that she won’t be able to live up to that. (she doesn’t have to, of course --- there’s no pressure or reason to, but still; she wonders about it, and she can’t shake the thought.)

anxiety tw | though life was stable and good, penny has always felt very uncertain about ... everything. insecurity has never been a stranger to her, nor has anxiety or pressure. she has high expectations of herself, expecting nothing short of the best --- and when she failed as a child (whether it was in playing quidditch on toy brooms or when drawing or when trying to sing perfectly), she would throw tantrums. she got help for this as a child after she had her first full-blown anxiety attack, but it never really faded. | end of tw

her interests as a child mostly range from princess stories to drawing elaborate things to cutting out pretty outfits from fashion magazines. she’s gentle and quiet and excitable when she wants to be, a whirlwind of pink and smiles and tangled long hair

at hogwarts, penny is sorted in hufflepuff (though the hat did consider ravenclaw) for her spirit. she doesn’t mind not being a gryffindor like her parents once were (or, at least, she doesn’t later on; at first it just seems like an affirmation that she’s not as brave as they are), likes how yellow compliments her eyes and fits in quite nicely among the puffs.

anxiety tw | teenagedom is a tough time for her. it seems like everyone is able to juggle it all, and then there’s penny: unable to keep up good grades and look pretty and have an exciting social life and have enough sleep. she feels like she’s drowning in all the expectations she has for herself, feels like she’s the only one on this world who is suffering (she’s prone to a woe is me mentality, for sure) and so hides it all behind perfectly curated smiles. her insecurity has always been strong, but it grows. she drowns them out by pretending. end of tw

in those years, she should be learning who she is, but in stead, penny learns how to be what others want. she shifts and shapes and bends herself to match others expectations --- she’s loud and funny and excitable among her peers, grinning widely and flipping her hair, appearing confident and extroverted and completely at ease. sometimes she’s quieter, a more gentle and softer being, lovely and quaint. she’s a model student (minus the amazing grades) to her teachers, a kind older housemate to the first years, a tough bitch when situations call for it. and sometimes it feels genuine, this person she’s showing off, and sometimes it all feels like a play. it depends, on her mood, on the role, on the weather, on the stars.

and you know what? it works. for most of the time. and then sometimes, it doesn’t, and there’s nothing to do but cry endless tears in her bed and be the most melodramatic person in the castle. alcohol tw | this happens when she’s drunk most of the time, to be honest --- penny is such a messy drunk. end of tw

penny also developed a taste for fuckboys during this time. she wanted to feel loved, she wanted to be touched, to be desired, and part of her was desperate --- but that didn’t make it okay for guys to treat her that way, period. i would get into this more but i don’t feel comfy about doing that akdjssdf.

when she turned fourteen, she got a sewing machine for her birthday. the next schoolyear, she dragged the thing behind her into the castle, unable to part from it after a summer of sewing. penny had always been interested in fashion, but now she was able to take it to the next level.

the dream to become a fashion designer grows and grows and grows, and penny is quite handy with the sewing machine, and her designs aren’t half bad, but of course it’s a stupid dream --- because penny doesn’t believe in herself, not yet at least.

post-graduation life ( 2026 - now )

penny graduated with one ambition only (see above) and no faith in herself. she became a barista, telling herself that she would work on her self esteem, that she would build herself up and become stronger and ready, that she would work on her portfolio and her design skills and that she would practice and work hard and ... that’s where she’s been for the past few years.

not much has changed, to be honest. penny still feels like that lost teenager, and in a certain sense she is --- she has just gained a slight bit of maturity, has moved out and has started working. her sense of self is still incredibly fragile, as is her self esteem, and while she’s trying to improve it, she just hasn’t found the right way to.

she feels so stuck. she feels so frozen. she feels like she has no clue who the hell she is, and she doesn’t know what to do about changing that. another part of her doesn’t even want to be thinking about these things, and just wants to have some fun --- once penny graduated, she definitely started partying more sfksjdfhsdkjfh. party girls dont get hurt!!!!! and like, on one hand, that’s all completely fine, because this is the time for fun and self discovery, and who says you can’t do both?

the timeclash kind of turned everything upside down. it did for everyone, i imagine, but that’s not really how penny sees it (woe is me! why does everything bad always happen to me!!). she’s so scared sakjdf. scared to see her parents and to be a Big Disappointment because she’s scared of the fact that there’s suddenly a war (like, what the fuck?), because she doesn’t want to fight, because she doesn’t even know how to fight!!!

she’s a coward lmao, but a coward with Standards (lookin at you peter)

i mean, if it came down to it --- if she had to protect her friends or family --- she would fight, of course. she’s just not very good at combatical magic, or at strategy, or at anything war or rebellion-related, really (except for smuggling booze into hogwarts, i guess, but that’s something of the past). and that’s fine, if you ask me, but penny doesn’t think it is --- but that doesn’t mean she’s going to push herself to be braver or to do more

personality & details

jfc i rambled so much up there, time to get a bit more coherent up in this BITCH

penny is such a mess. i have a hard time talking about her sometimes because she’s so messy and because her mood and her energy fluctuate so much --- she can be high energy and extroverted one moment, and completely down and sad the other.

did i ... project myself .... onto penny? maybe. partly.

she’s a bit of a chameleon, really. she’s very adaptable and flexible and willing to change for the comfort of others, and she thus feels like she has a small sense of self. this is true, to a certain extent. i think she’s too focused on finding herself that she doesn’t see that she’s already found herself a little, that there are parts of her that are genuine. she’s so hard on herself, expects so much, she’s just ... completely blinded by her own doubts, tbh.

and she’s def a sad bitch and a messy bitch, but she’s so much fun. god. penny just loves laughing and being happy and doing fun and cute stuff! she likes good things! so much! she tries to be such an upbeat person and she can be and agh. i love her like that.

such a romantic. pls stop her. her idea of love makes her so blind and deaf and she always falls for dumb boys :( but skfjshdf she just loves romance! and romantic comedies! and romance novels (tho she struggles to focus on books properly, ngl) and just ... pink hearts and all that fuzzy stuff

when she got her job as a barista, all she thought was that it might just bring her the perfect coffee shop romance

she’s an idiot

she usually just goes by penny, but not because she dislikes the name penelope --- she thinks it’s a really neat name, to be honest (a bit poetic and mysterious), but penny has just been her nickname for so long that she doesn’t want to make people call her penelope. BUT she does want to be referred to as penelope when she gets famous, thank you very much.

regarding that: penny wants to be famous dskfjhdsf. a famous designer, of course --- but she just likes the idea of fame altogether as well!!!

she takes that dream and ambition seriously, in a way. she plans to take serious steps soon (but she’s been saying that for years), always waiting until she feels ready to put herself out there. the idea of being rejected is just ... massive. the idea of not succeeding, of flopping, is so terrifying, that she prefers sticking with her dead-end job, for now. she has been sewing a lot after graduation, and i imagine she constructs a fair amount of her outfits herself (and does the same for friends), but that’s it, and she’s such a Coward about it

when she buys fashion magazines, she always gets two copies so she can use one for cutouts so she can make collages and moodboards

aEsThEtIc QuEeN!!!!

no really though, she has such a good sense for aesthetics. knows what colours and fabrics and prints mesh well together, always looks on Point, etcetera.

idk what to say this intro is such a gd mess bc i wrote everything from scratch and i kept changing my mind about things and while penny is a Very old muse, i changed a LOT oops!!!

#quantum intro #alcohol tw #anxiety tw

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atopearth · 5 years

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Higurashi When They Cry Part 7 - Ch 7 Minagoroshi-hen

As I thought, Rika was trying her best to save every world that existed, she always tried her best and yet she could never succeed past the “curse” that would fall on whichever character. It must have been so tough for her to watch all this, to die all those times and to experience that failure to save everyone each time. I’m happy to say that I noticed all the rules for the worlds! Please praise me hahaha. I’m just sad that Rika’s mental life span after experiencing all this is shortening and she’s going to mix up stuff soon, I guess that’s why you can tell after each succeeding chapter that she is revealing more and more things for you to unravel what exactly is happening. Well, it seems like this is the last chance for them all to fix everything in two weeks! Seems like it might be the last chance for Hanyuu (Rika’s sister? Inner self?) to rewind everything with the rest of her powers~ How will it go, I wonder~

Hanyuu is SO CUTE! Honestly, it was so heartbreaking to see Rika so disappointed that Keiichi couldn’t remember what he did in the last world, she really wanted to believe in a miracle happening, yet they wouldn’t allow that. Rika still has hope, so I really don’t want those hopes of hers to be crushed. I want her to finally win against this cruel fate… Satoko has an incurable disease?! Why is the poor girl suffering so much?😭 How has Rika been doing the same thing over and over so many times? Sure, there’s variations, but it’s crazy to think that she has to react similarly to her first when it comes to stuff that has happened before. I guess it’s finally causing a toll on her… It couldn’t be helped that she didn’t react properly to Satoko… In a sense though, with how Rika’s mind is breaking from being unable to cope with death once again and living the same life again, and with the end coming sooner than usual, wouldn’t she be the “cursed” one this time around? The thing is, Rika is always talking about how it’s fate that they’ll play this game at the toy store with Mion and them, but she’s forgotten that she doesn’t have to go along with this fate. She’s become so numb to it that she’s forgotten that she’s Rika, she’s a person in this world as well, she’s not an overseer, she could have rejected playing that fish game, she could have asked to play another, there are so many choices for her but she’s forgotten that just as there are these “rules” that have forced her to live these 100 years endlessly, she is also in control of what she can do in this world. So, I’m really glad that even though Keiichi may not have the memories she wants him to have from the previous world, I’m glad he said that he wouldn’t go along with her “predictions of the future” and that he would change fate. Even if everything happens as she says it does and the owner would give them that specific game, Keiichi can reject it and get another for his group. I’m happy that Keiichi showed her that this world doesn’t have to repeat and be boring like she thinks it will be. So it was really nice to see Rika be inspired and want to change her fate again, without complaining that two weeks wasn’t enough to change it when Keiichi changed it so easily in 5 minutes. I liked her initiative in telling her group she didn’t want to play the fishing game. C'mon, you’re Rika! Of course they’ll go along with you on whatever game you want to play, they all love you hahaha. I’m not sure what the point was for the “choice” with Rika telling Keiichi to give the doll to Mion or hoping that he would, but I’m happy that either way, in this world, Keiichi knows who wants the doll the most and didn’t cave to embarrassment or anything, he literally gave the doll to Mion. I’m so happy for Mion. It’s such a simple thing but I’m sure Mion would be so happy. Is it true that Keiichi is growing as a person throughout the worlds without consciously knowing? I prefer the music and the result of when Rika doesn’t try to tell Keiichi though, because it surprises Rika and she thinks of it as a miracle, she just sounds more hopeful and I like that haha.

I would have loved to see Keiichi playing that pop up pirate game, it would have been awesome I bet! But, oh well, the idea that everyone wants him to be a part of the Watanagashi Planning Committee to host an auction for donated items sounds cool! It seems that Keiichi is starting to get mixed up with his previous memories unconsciously now… Was ohagi the food that made Keiichi doubt Mion and Rena in the first chapter? It probably was… The first chapter always saddens me… The sewing needle story must have been traumatising for him as a kid, no wonder why he overreacted in the first chapter, or maybe he was just so paranoid about them, he imagined the sewing needle in the ohagi huh? Regardless though, it was nice to see Keiichi have absolute confidence now that Mion would never do such a thing. It was so wonderful to hear that Rena and her Dad are redecorating their house with new furniture now that he’s got a new job! Everything seems to be going well with them now! I’m so happy that they’re moving forward together. I’m also so glad that Rena could actually tell them openly about her parents divorce, I think the fact that she did makes it sweet to see how much she has also learnt to trust her friends. I kinda believe that they all possess the memories of the previous worlds as well tbh. Ooh so Rena saw her previous world memories through a dream, I guess that means that subconsciously, they’re all changing because of what happened before, so really, Rika’s efforts weren’t for nothing! Things are changing for sure!! I never really thought about or realised that Tomitake and Takano were like a protection for Rika, and that the main reason why she can be killed later on is because she loses their protection after their deaths, so in order to save this world, she needs to save them. It was also saddening to hear that back then, she used to try her best to save her parents from death until the point she became apathetic towards it, I guess that’s why her mother thought of her as like a monster? If what’s causing Rika to die every time is someone’s strong will for her death, wouldn’t it be ironic if the one that’s killing her was herself/Hanyuu? The future is uncertain, but the cycles of life they repeat are certain and similar, what if there’s a part of her that actually is really scared of the future and actually would rather repeat all these worlds “safely” and repetitively, having fun with all her friends even if it’s momentary?

Lmao at Rika saying Takano should take photos inside the ritual storehouse if she paid her 10,000 yen and she really did hahaha. It’s also funny that Hanyuu was against it until she gave the money and could eat more desserts with it lol! Well, this Oyashiro-sama (i.e. Hanyuu apparently appears every couple of generations or something?) is very chill as long as there’s desserts! It’s kinda cute how Takano really would do anything just to see the storehouse, and it’s also kinda weird going into this storehouse with such “fun vibes” when it was so scary the last time Keiichi and them went inside… Does that mean the “stomping” they all heard in the other chapters was Hanyuu hearing Takano badmouth her and she got mad at that since she never wanted these torturing systems, it was all the people just using her name to conduct such atrocities? So…the curse of Oyashiro-sama really is a disease that causes hallucinating etc when it progresses to the higher levels, and Tomitake is involved with people in Tokyo that are giving Irie and Takano the budget to cure it? And they’ll protect Rika hopefully… But omg! Akasaka is here too?! And this time, he actually listened to Rika and went back to his wife in the middle of his work so his wife and child are still alive! I’m so happy for them! Rika really is working in a world where all her efforts are bearing fruit! I guess you really can’t blame Rika for giving up when Satoko’s uncle came back. She’s tried so many things before in these 100 years and they never worked out after all… It was just saddening to see Shion acting like Keiichi back then when he murdered the uncle… Everyone cares for Satoko…but murder won’t solve anything because Satoko will just continue to blame herself even more… Sigh…

I love how they’re slowly progressing on how to help Satoko and are gathering people to the child consultation centre to kinda have like a peaceful mass protest. It was hilarious when Keiichi tried to get Kameda (the friend from the baseball game), and he described Satoko’s charm as a tsundere but when flipped, will be deredere lolll, and then when he said Satoko is just like the first and last half of Higurashi’s plot itself hahahaha, he’s so right😆😆 I must admit, Keiichi’s passionate speech about 2D and 3D girls was great, it was so easy to change Kameda’s mind hahaha. I love their friendship lmao. HAHAHA, I loved it when they said they needed more people than just Kameda’s baseball team and then he just shouts out to his comrades in Angel Mort (the cafe) who all love moe and 2D of the like, everyone is so funny but united in such weird ways, but I love it hahaha. I like how friendly Ooishi and Keiichi are, they bond over such silly things, it was also nice of him to give his warning/advice about the Satoko situation and how the child consultation centre is viewing everything. I knew Keiichi wouldn’t back down regardless but it was nice to see his resolve like that. I’m also really happy to see that everyone in Hinamizawa can be so united in a good way rather than the intimidating way it always was in the previous chapters. Also glad that Rika has finally realised that although it’s true that they can’t help Satoko as much as they want to unless she requests for the help herself, Rika herself has not been cooperative either. She’s merely watched over what Keiichi and everyone has done like a bystander when really she should be in this story as well! She can’t change her world to be what she wants if she doesn’t take an active role as well. Just as Satoko needs to realise that she needs to seek help from the others, Rika also needs to understand that if she can’t do it, she must rely on the others as well.

Although I do feel like Keiichi’s talk with the oldies and Oryou (Mion’s grandmother) was rather “easy” and smooth considering how everyone was once so adamant on thinking the curse would kill them or whatever for doing anything like this, or maybe because Tomitake and Takano haven’t died yet so they’re a bit more chill? Nah, I dunno, but I did feel like it was rather smooth sailing, but I guess in a sense, everyone wanted to drop the negativity towards Satoko just because she was a Houjou, so they really just needed someone brave enough like Keiichi to say that out in the open and make them change their stubbornness on the surface, they all already knew that they didn’t want to continue isolating her, they just needed a push from someone else. I always love Rena in these situations though, I feel like she doesn’t say much but what she says is always critical and to the point, and that’s why I think she’s a great match for Keiichi. Also love and think that she was one of the only ones that could really tell that Oryou wasn’t angry at Keiichi at all when he confronted her, she just had to don that aggressively angry persona to keep up with appearances as the Sonozaki family head. Not surprised that the child consultation centre isn’t gonna yield just because there’s a lot of outside pressure though. But I do think it’s about time they bother doing something like a reassessment rather than try and check the power balances between the village heads etc, like can you focus on the children? I don’t blame the centre for being busy and overwhelmed with such cases, and that the things our main characters are doing are merely putting pressure on them rather than providing proper evidence, but at the same time I want to cheer for our main characters for doing so many things just because they want to help their friend, and hope for the centre to finally understand that if so many people are willing to take their time out to protest about something, they should really learn more about this supposed guardian of Satoko’s, especially with his dodgy background and everything and the fact that so many people are witnesses of his atrocities last year and right now. And after all, I really do like Hinamizawa’s motto where if one person is hurt or whatever then two people should rise up and protect them and if there’s too many, then the whole village should, I think that sense of unity in Hinamizawa is its charm and I like it.

I’m happy that Rika was finally able to get through to Satoko. She’s right, Satoko is still the same as she was last year, enduring abuse and waiting to be saved. If she truly wants her brother to acknowledge her and come back, she needs to stand up for herself, especially when so many others are offering their hands to her, so I’m glad that Satoko has finally decided to face what Satoshi faced in order to protect her. I’m soooo disappointed that it’s the festival and we didn’t even get to see Keiichi actually host the auction! I’m so sad😭😭 I’m so sad that they cut all those slice of life moments (with summaries), they’re what really make Higurashi what it is as well! So it feels really incomplete without it… *Super spoilers from here on* I’m not surprised Takano was the one who killed Tomitake by injecting that disease into him, and I’m not surprised she faked her own death. She’s crazy enough to want the curse to be true and continue on like this. I’m not sure what they want to achieve though…like destroy Hinamizawa with this disease? Does she think of herself as part of the Demons and needing to cleanse Hinamizawa by killing everyone? Does she want Hinamizawa to live as some kind of legend without physical presence? How did this disease even come to be, and why does no one in Hinamizawa know about it when it’s something most apparent in their village? Btw I feel sorry for Tomitake. I still don’t trust Hanyuu though, I still think she just wants to live happily here with Rika forever repeating this same life however many times rather than going past June. I feel that since there are circumstances where she can be heard e.g. the stomping, she definitely is suspicious! I’m sorry Hanyuu if I’m wrong hahahah.

I’m glad that Rika finally found the courage within her to tell Keiichi and them everything, especially when she knows that she’s gonna die that night. Just wondering though, if villagers who leave Hinamizawa get sick quickly after and this is proportional to the distance from the village, what about Rena’s mum? So if “Tokyo”, the organisation trying to use the Hinamizawa Syndrome like a military weapon is Takano and them, then does that mean the reason Hinamizawa kinda gets destroyed later on is because they experimented on Hinamizawa to see how much damage they could cause on a community? Not sure I really get Rika being the “queen” idea but it seems that maybe the village is always destroyed in the end because Rika is killed and when she’s dead, the disease somehow spreads rapidly and makes everyone have that persecution complex to kill each other? I wonder if it’s really wise for the Mountain Dogs (secret military unit that Takano is a part of and is a part of Tokyo) to just kill Ooishi and Kuma like that, they’re policemen, it’ll definitely be investigated properly if policemen are killed.

Anyway, I’m not surprised everything ended the way it did considering how ill prepared they were to take on Takano and them, but I agree with Rika, it’s sad that everything ended the way it did, but the amount of progress that happened in this world was unfathomable and definitely hope for next time to be better and to be possible for them all to survive. Although I wasn’t fond of all the fourth wall kinda stuff talking to the reader and how they could talk to each other even though they died, I did enjoy the fact that they finally could touch Hanyuu and make her believe that there is hope, and that she shouldn’t be so passive like a bystander anymore, just like Rika, she needs to be a part of this story for it all to work as well. I think that was nice. Honestly, it does feel rather ridiculous and rushed for them to so easily agree to killing so many people that probably will exert these “terminal symptoms” when they just found out about this disease itself and what destruction it can cause, no one has even really shown the effects of it after losing the “queen” yet. And they let the villagers bring their bank books and cash? They trying to rob them while they’re at it? I don’t see how after all this that the Sonozaki family that is in Okinomiya wouldn’t react suspiciously to this “gas leak” considering how many of them there are and how powerful they are too. And Takano is ruthless and crazy as usual but for some reason I can’t really feel for her craziness? Like, I don’t know if it’s because things ended so fast or because I just don’t find it interesting that it makes me feel like this?

Overall, I think for once, I’m actually disappointed in the chapter! Lol! I feel so bad that I feel like that because maybe it’s because of my high expectations and how long I had to wait for this chapter to come out rather than the issue of the story itself. I’ll still try and talk about what I feel though. Another reason I might be quite sad is that I kinda missed the formula of Higurashi in the previous chapters, like, I always enjoy the slice of life games before the actual story and not getting that in this chapter made me a bit sad. I also felt that a lot of Rika’s thoughts were repetitive, like too repetitive, it’s kinda like when I’m reading To Aru Majutsu no Index and a lot of the time, the author likes to reiterate a lot of things for effect but it’s a bit too overused and it felt like that with Rika and Hanyuu. We knew how they felt and how much despair they felt having to relive all this so many times, so I thought it was unnecessary to keep mentioning it with the same words, I think if the despair could have been put in more different words or in a different way to show her feelings, it would have hit me more than just the idea that Rika is devastated and can’t find it in herself to move on or give up entirely. I’m also not a fan of stories breaking the fourth wall really, so the beginning of the chapter where it kinda “talks” to the reader felt a bit surprisingly unconnected to me, it kinda made the story of Higurashi feel a bit more detached to me, and it made me feel like a true “outsider”. I always read the story and engaged with the mystery as like a part of it in a sense where like a lot of the staff room rolls, you would think alongside the characters on how the story would unfold, and yet that beginning made me feel pushed out of wanting to find out the mystery of everything with them all. I also didn’t like how a lot of things were explained and told to you such as the summaries of what happened and the origins of the disease, rather than being shown through the characters and their stories. I liked the extra exposition and background of it, but I think that could have been done as a tip rather than as a part of the story. I guess my biggest complaint is just that as Ryukishi07 wanted, this was really an answer to everything in the sense like it was an answer key. You flip to the last page and it gives you the answers but doesn’t really show it to you in a way where you discover it along the way kinda feel, it’s literally just an answer. I enjoyed the previous answer arcs because you kinda go step by step into being enlightened to more things that happened from another perspective and I guess I expected that instead. I guess I also wasn’t a fan of the motives and how everything played out with Takano and their organisation, this is mostly my problem though, I just didn’t enjoy it being what it was?

However, I did still enjoy the chapter. I thought it was really nice to see how everything could be resolved for Satoko’s situation. I didn’t agree with everything that happened and how it was done all the time, in terms of the story and the characters’ actions but I really did enjoy the sense of unity from everyone. It really felt like a culmination of all the hard work in the other chapters, it really felt like everything was done to achieve all this and make these miracles really happen. It made me believe in them strongly as well haha. Rika’s monologues were repetitive but it really reflected how much she had suffered and how apathetic she was forced to become, so it was nice to see Keiichi break all that. Basically, I guess I am satisfied and dissatisfied with everything at the same time hahaha. I hope the next chapter comes out soon though… I mean, however everything ends up being resolved, I’d still love Higurashi just as much though. I’ve always been a person who loves stories for the journey rather than the ending, and I always appreciate the journey much more no matter what, but yeah, I still hope I’ll like this last chapter of the main arc much more than this one haha.

#higurashi when they cry #higurashi

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