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tranquil-ivy · 9 days

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OH MY GOODNESS, LEON WOULD LITERALLY BE SWEATING.

Knowing Leon; he’d probably show up in a fancy suit. Him and his now wife had been dating for a couple of months, having to push back when he’d finally be able to meet her parents because of work. He wanted to look presentable and nice, especially after finding out her father was a high ranking military official.

He’d probably show up with flowers in hand for your mother, giving her a hug as she kissed both of his cheeks and treated him like a baby. All while her father stood back and watch with his arms folded, poor guy was probably shivering as his girlfriend’s mother introduced her husband, giving Leon a nice firm nod and extending his hand out.

They had planned a nice little dinner together; His girlfriend and her mother would finish cooking in the kitchen as her father quite literally conducted an entire interview with Leon in the living room.

“What do you do for work?”

“What are you trying to do with my daughter?”

“How long were you in training for?”

Being the nice respectful guy he was, he’d reply with “No sir” or “Yes sir” to his questions. Go into further depth with the harder ones, really trying to get on the old man’s good side. They had a little talk about the army and stuff, listening to his old stories before your mother and you finally finished the food.

Dinner went well, so far your parents absolutely adored him. Especially your mother; she’d probably be telling your father “Can you believe it Dave? Our little girl with an amazing man like him! I know he’ll protect her, especially with that fancy government job he has!” Leon would just blush and thank her, smiling and happily eating his steak.

Let’s just say, as soon as he felt, your mother was already gossiping with you. Talking about how “Handsome” and “Strong” he was. You just blushed at giggled, agreeing with her every word.

- Anon! 🎀

Love this 🎀anon, but I have a feeling as soon as her father heard his name he knew who Leon was. Everybody knows everybody in certain lines of work!

The second he hears your father is a general in the military he has a lot of questions. He's questioning you and you're answering to the best of your abilities. But his rank pops up. Four star general... Your father is a four star general. One of the highest ranks you could possibly get...

Then his brain starts turning, your last name moving through his head until it finally sticks. He's scrubbed floors at the rumor of that man showing up. Knows stories of how ruthless he is and the things that man's done. Climbing ranks quickly in the Army with the amount of raw potential he had.

"General Tarkin..." You freeze for a minute looking at him.

"The Star Wars character?"

"No, the other cadets... They'd call him General Tarkin. I know your father... Well, know of your father. Never met him personally but I've heard he's... Terrifying." Your father? Terrifying? You laugh at the thought, smiling at your boyfriend who seems to look a lot more tense than he already was.

"Daddy's not terrifying. He's like a giant teddy bear if anything." Leon knows you mean well but the thought of meeting this man has his stomach in knots. Not only would he have to impress her parents but the man who he knew could do a lot of things to make his life more miserable if he pissed him off.

Leon was definitely gonna have some kind of stomach ulcer with the amount of stress by the end of the night.

Your mother adored him, wouldn't stop calling him handsome and welcoming him into the family without even thinking about it. But Leon could hardly focus feeling the generals burning glare on him from behind your doting mother.

As soon as Leon introduced himself, your father tightens his grip on Leon's hand.

"I know who you are boy."

Boy... That's the name Leon gets stuck with for a chunk of the night and sometime after.

Your father tells you to go help your mother with dinner and you happily follow. Leaving the two of them alone in the den. Sitting across from each other in silence for a few minutes.

"You know me?" Leon's the first to speak, your father still staring him down with his arms crossed.

"Hard not to. President Graham speaks highly of you for helping him with his daughter. We're friends, told him personally who my daughter was seeing and he couldn't stop talking about you." His face tightens as he leans forward, towards Leon.

"I've read the reports from '04. Know what you saw. But I don't take too kindly knowing my daughter's dating a man who skipped around in Spain with another woman. Even if it was to protect her."

Leon's at a loss for words. What even could he say!?

"What're your intentions with my daughter?" Oh thank God something he can answer.

"To be with her, Sir." The generals face softes slightly with a nod.

"You love her?"

"More than anything, Sir."

"You wanna marry her? Have a family?"

"When the time comes, Sir."

The grilling continued until you came in to save him with the news of dinner being done. Your father didn't say much after that. Your mother talking all through dinner and dessert.

Upon leaving you and Leon say your goodbyes and take off. Your mother looks at your father as he shuts the door and smiles.

"Well?" She questions, looking at him.

"He'll do fine." He says, smiling ear to ear.

#leon kennedy x reader #leon s kennedy x reader #leon kennedy x fem reader #leon s kennedy #🌿 ivy replies #🌿 ivy writes #resident evil x reader #🏡 domestic life with leon kennedy

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hmspogue · 3 years

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Outer Banks season 2 Official Trailer shot-by-shot rundown

A comprehensive post where I scream about analyze the entire trailer frame by frame for clues, theories, and plot. Just my own opinions and general tin foil-hatting

These are screenshots from Netflix’s trailer for Outer Banks season 2. I do not claim or own any of these.

note: this post is tagged as a long post if you wish to avoid having to scroll until your thumbs break.

“My old man used to tell me, ‘it’s best to never say you’ve hit rock bottom’.”

(Putting all of these shots together since they’re scenes we already know but-) Holy shit, okay let’s just....start off like this I guess, damn.

“'Trust me’, he said...”

Kiara looking back and forth between the boys like this really just feeds the headcanon I have that her form of grief this season is going to be her trying to hold it together for their sakes (and eventually just snapping).

JJ just looks fucking furious someone give these kids a hug? I already know this scene is going to ruin me.

“You can always go...”

JJ back working at the hotel. He looks literally so angry again in this scene I could see him self destructing at work and losing his job? (Please do not be isolating yourself you beautiful son of a bitch even though I know you’re going to).

Pope in the Twinkie (costuming wise they all are in warmer looking clothes for some of the shots, so just confirming it’s a little bit into the school year when this all takes place).

“Lower”

Big John was real big into pep talks, I see. (seriously can you imagine Big John having this conversation with like 8 year old John B after he fucking dropped his ice cream cone or some shit I shouldn’t be laughing).

I’m just-

These poor kids, I wanna know how the police all the way down in the Bahama’s knew about them?

Their calves....

“RUN!”

Are going to be so fucking jacked by the end of this season I stg.

Fuck you.

“The gold from the Royal Merchant....it’s here.”

For a while, I had thought that maybe they didn’t even make it to the Bahama’s at the front of the season and ended there (because everyone had been filming in there). But I guess they’re going to be making two trips.

If I were a bird from this POV I’d shit right on that house no questions asked.

oooooh ho hokay. Just so we’re clear. Ward Cameron not only get away with murder and about two dozen other felonies, but-

“Half a billion.”

HE STILL FINDS THE GOLD IN THE CRAIN HOUSE AND GETS TO KEEP IT?

Not the polo with the snap back, I just know this man has a playlist called Sad Boi Hours that is just Juice WRLD’s top 5 songs on Spotify and he tells his friends they wouldn’t know the underground artists he listens to.

Sh, you have lost screaming privileges. Go inside and take a nap maybe.

“John B, we are fugitives in a foreign country.”

So, previously, I was talking about how I was confused how they would still be trying to find him is everyone thought he was dead, but here the wanted poster clearly says “presumed lost at sea”. I think that will be interesting to see how the Pogues all interpret that.

Especially because they already had a memorial for John B and everything, I wonder if there will be any part of the Pogues holding out hope that they both could still be out there OUCH.

I’m going to circle back to this, but it looks like John B and Sarah are going to get separated for a little while in this man hunt, I could see my idiot himbo son trying to sacrifice himself so Sarah can get away but in reality just....stranding her.

“Promise me you won’t do anything stupid?”

Oh, sweetie....

“Well, Sarah Cameron, I do stupid things all the time without realizing it.”

The volume of his self awareness is astronomical. sir, that is your whole character summed up in your own words.

GOD, IT’S ME AGAIN. PLEASE LET THEM LEAN INTO COMPLETE HIMBO JOHN B THIS SEASON I’LL DO ANYTHING-

nyyooooOOOOOOOOOOOOM-

“Hold on!”

The complete abject terror I would feel having John Booker Routledge driving get-away and then saying the words “Hold on” while reaching fro the gear shift? The english language fails me.

Sarah, bestie, I’m so sorry.

I just wanna know-

what the plan or objective was in this situation. What was the reason for being this dramatic.

Rest in piss, bozo <3

“Ward’s still out there...”

Okay, same conversation they were having as before. I wonder what makes them decide they need to get back to the OBX for this tho.

“I can clear my name. This can all be over in one shot.”

It looks like Topper watching this but way more concerningly, correct me if I’m wrong but this 100% looks like....John B gets caught. And the DEATH PENALTY?! He did have a mug shot for the fliers in s1 and the one above but he was never brought in? Plus he just looks super dirty and dishevled in this one so I-

Jail break anyone?

I also still want to know if they’re going to go with a Topper redemption arc this season. like, does he know more than he should just from being around Rafe and his big fat mouth? Is he going to help out the Pogues even if it’s just for Sarah?

This shot just suddenly made me really sad. The thought of this all started because Big John left one last thing for his son to find, his literal life’s work. And when it all started, it was just a fun adventure John B and his best friends were going on together and having fun with. Then it all got dragged to absolute shit and turned into what it did, including the remaining 3 Pogues thinking that this treasure hunt took their two best friends away from them. And it’s nothing like Big John intended it to be.

Why my eyes wet?

Now we’re edging into what I was talking about earlier with John B and Sarah getting separated.

“If you think there is anything I wouldn’t do...”

Once again, John B is no where to be found. Also, just in case y’all didn’t already know or forgot Ward is an actual psychopath.

I believe this one of the new character, played by Jontavious Johnson (Stubbs). Based on the voice over it lowkey sounds like they’re implying Ward maybe hired Stubbs and Cleo to find and bring Sarah back. My theory would be I bet they do go to retrieve her, but she somehow convinces them that it would be more beneficial for them in the end to be on the Pogue’s side instead.

Miss Girl you gotta be keeping your head on a SWIVEL. Especially when you’re a FUGITIVE of the LAW-

“...you haven’t been paying attention.”

My guy, who are you clarifying this for?

It’s what you deserve for monologuing.

in all seriousness, the idea of them coming to face to face with Ward in Nassau after thinking they finally escaped him is genuinely terrifying.

“SARAH!”

It kind of looks like they’re either hiding their faces or covering their noses? I don’t know maybe it was from some tactic to get away from Ward.

What did I literally jsut say about yelling privileges, you unhinged mother fucker?

“I’m calling the shots now. I’m driving.”

The following progression of scenes made me actually snort-

“I can’t drive stick.”

PLEASE THE FINGER GUNS LAUNCHED ME INTO ORBIT I LOVE THEM, YOUR HONOR.

Alright, so now it looks like we’re in Charleston. This is the same scene with Heyward’s truck that got leaked from BTS (read: JJ and Kie shoulder touch).

One of the main things that stuck out to me in the following scenes which, you will see, is it lowkey looks like Pope is kind of heading up this part of the operation, or even going in alone? The following clips are just very Pope focused.

I don’t know what it means, it’s just an observation.

“John B was not the only one that Ward double-crossed.”

LIMBRY-

Bro, we have been hearing about this woman for literal months and I just have....so many questions?

Who the hell is she? How is she connected to Ward? Why is she in South Carolina instead of the OBX? How do the Pogues even learn about her and how to track her down? How is she meant to “help” them? GAH I JUST WANNA KNOOOW. I already know I don’t trust her though and no I will not be offering up supporting evidence.

Sir, that is my son please unhand him.

“I think you know what I want.”

.......no? But feel....free to explain yourself?

The print on the paper is the same one that’s on the ceiling tiles in the following scene. Obviously, with a key on it that most likely goes to the place a few shots from now.

Hell yeah, son, let’s get SLEUTHING.

“The treasure belongs to the Pogues.”

DAMN STRAIGHT.

Bestie’s I’m not going to lie, I stared at this frame for a solid 10 minuets and I have no idea what it says on there I’m sorry. Someone in the comments is welcome to enlighten us.

“We gotta find it first.”

I can’t tell if that’s just dirt or if he hurt his head? But he look GOOD right now for one thing. For another, same outfit as the one in the Twinkie from the beginning of the trailer.

Look at her. LooK AT HER! LOOK! AT! HER! I MISSED HER SO MUCH even in that damn smiley face top that continues to haunt my waking hours she is in it so much and it stresses me out for literally no good reason I’m sorry-

I could literally cry right now and I think that speaks volumes to how little we actually see him genuinely happy. Have I mentioned how much I love that red hat?

Also, probably not that important, but this is not from the same scene as the shots of Pope and Kiara were. This is from the next one-

“Woogity-woogity?”

“Give me some woogity, baby!”

Yeah, this pushed me over the fucking edge, the way that they’re actually happy and laughing? The fact that they kept woogity-woogity and made it A Thing? Yes.

I am, however, going to be intentionally ignoring what appears to be the very intentional stagingof having such an obvious space between where Kiara and Pope are sitting adn where JJ sits, even including the level they’re sitting on because I don’t have the emotional capacity to face those implications right now. Thank you for your time.

Yes yeeeeEEEEEESSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!

GIVE ME ALL OF THE SCENES OF THEM ACTUALLY GETTING TO BE TEENAGERS AND JUST BREATHE AND LAUGH AND HAVE A GOOD TIME AND NOT BE RUNNING FOR THEIR FUCKING LIVES!!!!!!!!!!!

before Rafe comes in and literally starts shooting because they can’t breathe for more than 7 seconds but we’ll....get to that.

They refer to Sarah as a Pogue this season or I burn Netflix to the ground. Your move, Jonas.

50 bucks says John B is driving the Twinkie again for the first time since being back.

I deadass think the Pogues JUST got Sarah and John B back and they’re just having the time of their life. Kie was in her smiley face outfit when Pope was in this one a few clips ago, and I still hold to the belief that that one still they released of JJ and Kie hopping over a fence is the Pogue reunion so-

Ward? I have no idea what he’s looking at behind the wall paper and I’ll be so honest I don’t care my eyes are only seeing Pogue content right now.

“This is a map of the whole island.”

This fit, when will John B learn how to operate buttons, stay tuned for season 5. Also my previous theory of this being their reunion outfits and stuff because Pope is in the back in the same jacket as before.

The plot thickens and so has JJ’s hair, Rudy drop the shampoo brand.

Please, dear God, tell me they’re back in the sex church. For @jiaaraa sake.

Kiara, your Madison is showing.

Okay, I really did try but all I can make out is Something to the tomb begin something something.

You’re welcome.

I am no expert but I do not believe boats operate on land.

John B looks like he is in the same outfit here that is in his mug shot we saw on the TV screen so I have a sneaking suspicion this is where he gets caught.

“John B is back-”

Once again with the damn sexual tension that’s always between Barry and Rafe in every scene they do are we about to kiss right now?

“-it’s him or me.”

First of all, no.

Second of all, I’m just....so very confused about this time line this season. It kind of looks like Ward and Rafe follow and find Sarah and John B in Nassau (unless those scenes by the truck were actually back in the OBX). So did they....go to Nassau, then just come right back when they did? I’m just confused.

Put that thing back where it came from or so help me.

Literally when will you stop at this point I am begging you.

This looks like the same scene the Pogues were, ya know, literally just having a good time at so fuck me, I guess.

Yeah, no, it’s going to be a no from me, I’m just going to pretend like I’m not seeing this and moving on.

I have simply no idea what is going on here or who that is on the bike but maybe JJ? Maybe Luke even? I think that’s JJ’s bike.

The sewer scene. The SEWER SCENE-

For months sicne that tiktok leaked this damn scene has been genuinely all I could think about. So (obviously) it seems like they’re sending Kie down into the sewer to go do seomthing and things go horribly, horribly wrong.

If you haven’t seen the tiktok, essentially all it was was JJ and Pope screaming and trying to lift up the man hole cover while Kie is begging for them to hurry from inside. I’m cheating a little bit as this isn’t a shot from the trailer but this picture was posted and it’s from the same scene.

I’ll just....leave this here. Back to the trailer shots.

Nice. Also, same shirt as mugshot.

Hey, um, what?

Kiara’s car, she’s driving, I can’t tell who’s in the back seat or the front.

Holy God what is going on and how can I as an audience member put a stop to it?

So, same scene as we will see and was in the teaser but, for some reason, they’re all jumping off of a giant ass boat into the little life raft where it looks like JJ gets hurt later but don’t you worry we’re getting to that.

JJ AND KIARA WITH THE POGUE HANDSHAKE JJ AND KIARA WITH THE POGUE HANDSHAKE THEY BOTH LOOK SO DAMN GOOD AND THEIR LITTLE SMILES SPARE ME-

Cleo 🥵

I’m so excited to see her arc and what it brings this season you guys have no idea.

Please for the love of God be about to get Ward Cameron’s ass like he deserves literally punt him into jail right from Tanny Hill.

Sarah at My Druther’s with what looks like a bloody bandage on her side? Same outfit she’s wearing when they’re running from the police on the beach and she has the bandage there too so. Interesting.

Topper hugging who I’m pretty sure is Sarah, being a general douche because he’s clearly looking at John B like 😏

Clips like these serve to remind me just how many of my worldly posessions I would gladly give up to be able to punch Topper Thorton in the throat one time.

I think this is Cleo jumping off the boat with Pope after John B and Sarah.

Absolutely busting a lung at Pope’s form in this one.

John B and Sarah waiting in the life raft, still Cleo and Pope coming after them. The obvious next question is where are JJ and Kiara. The scene I’m sure you all have been waiting for is coming up and clearly takes place in the life raft as well.

So, I really think JJ and Kie get left for last, something horrible happens as they’re trying to jump (my head instantly goes to JJ maybe like pushing Kie out of the way and getting hit on the head instead or even just some accident).

And, oh my GOD a scene of him falling off the boat after it happens and Kiara diving in after him immediately, having to desperatly try to stop him from sinkingand get to the life raft holy shit-

Girl CATCH HIM?????

Because why wouldn’t this be Rafe’s fault. Part of me wonders if this isn’t related to JJ being hurt.

I am going to try and unpack this as calmly as possible because behind my computer screen I am vibrating at a frequency that could shatter glass but respectfully.

WHAT IN THE FUCK IS TIAUEWFHLAILA

Okay, so scene wise, JJ’s hit his head somehow (probably while he was jumping with Kiara) it looks like and now they’re back on the raft.

In my opinion, this is either:

A) JJ is in really, really bad condition after getting hurt in the jump and they’re not sure he’s going to make it. So this is a “Please stay with me, stay awake, please don’t die” hug OR

B) They very narrowly just avoided a deadly situation (my first thought is JJ hits his head while jumping, passes out in the water, maybe almost drowns but Kie and the others get him onto the life raft in time) and this is more of a “Oh my God, you’re okay, you’re safe now, we’re okay” hug.

I honestly lean more to the second one based on the little bit of Sarah’s face we saw in the background. To me, it almost looked like she was smiling thru tears, which, fits way more with the second option than the first.

Anyways. Moving on before I burst a lung again.

(also, before anyone comes at me, no, I’m not happy JJ is hurt, obviously.

(Once again, arrest outfits). You can still see the bandage but it looks like Sarah’s limping now too so...good Lord give the girl a break maybe?

Everything in this trailer just went to shit so fast I think I have whip lash, can we go back to the Pogues hanging out and being happy now pkease I liked those scenes.

“I get it. You guys are scared.”

“No.”

She’s cute but, uh, hello sewer scene outfits. Seems like them planning to do whatever the hell they were going to do in the sewers but the boys are starting to get cold feet as maybe they should but hind sight is 20/20 I suppose.

“It’s kind of cute.”

“I’m not scared.”

“You should’ve just led with that.”

I will never be able to express how much I adore Pogue banter and general dumbassery and I have a feeling this season will not be lacking in either department

I high key don’t think these two are actually going to be there for this scene to go down but I’ll let it slide this time because-

They do be kinda cute.

It both feels like I’ve been waiting for this damn show for 3 years and also like I just watched season 1 last month explain that to me.

Either way holy shit. I missed this dumb show and these dumb kids so much it physcially hurts and WE GET THEM BACK IN T-MINUS 16 DAYS.

Also. Where The Hell Is Wheezie Cameron And When Will She Have The Rights She Deserves.

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inarizakibabe · 3 years

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Changes

As the first prince of his country Suna had just about everything his heart could want. Riches, fine silks and linens, and more food than he could eat. One would expect with a life as luxurious as his he would be happy. Unfortunately his father could see the sadness deep in his son's eyes. Maybe he needed new hobby or more servants to boss around? Then again looking at things carefully the king noticed his son avoided the servants as much as he could. Just what could cheer up his son and bring back the joy in his eyes? Oh! Maybe that could work.

"You called for me father?"

"Yes Rintaro. I've noticed your sour mood these past few months and I think I know what could make it better." the king smiled down at his son. "I remember entering a funk as you young kids say and your grandfather threw a ball in my honor and I ended up meeting your mother."

Suna fought hard to hide the disgust creeping onto his face. Surely his father didn't really think he wanted to meet someone.

"So that's why three days from now we will have a ball and invite all eligible maidens to attend. Maybe I'll be able to see you smile again,"

"Um father with all due respect I don't really see how a ball will improve my funk as you called it. Maybe if I took a ride around the forest I'll feel better?" Suna hoped his father would get the message but knowing how stubborn he was he'll most likely be engaged three days from now. "I'll even bring my attendants to make sure I'm alright."

"Nonsense going for a ride isn't what you need. Trust me on this Rintaro. A ball is exactly what you need. You're dismissed. You have a ball to prepare for." The king said before turning back to the papers on his desk.

Suna sighed and left his father's office. Maybe if he ran away nobody would miss him. Or the entire kingdom would be put on lock down until he was found. He couldn't put his people through that so there was only one thing to do.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The next day Suna found himself taking a walk in the garden. If all goes to plan he wouldn't have to propose and maybe he could get the freedom he was craving. Sure castle life was fun but when you have people constantly telling you how to live and doing every thing fro you it can get tiring. Before he turned eighteen he didn't have as many responsibilities as he does now. Life was simple he would take lessons during the day and after a certain time he was free to do what he wanted until dinner time.

Now he's stuck behind a desk everyday taking on the tasks of the kingdom he father didn't want to do. If he got to leave the castle anymore it was for business and once all was settled he'd come right back home and behind the four walls of his personal office again. His home had become a prison and his office his cell.

"You know if you continue to frown at the ground it's less likely to open up and take you away from here."

Suna looked up and found one of his attendants speaking with him. He had two personal attendants who miraculously happened to be twins. They met each other at the age of six and have been together ever since. The one speaking to him now was the blonde one Atsumu which meant his brother Osamu, with gray hair, was most likely harrassing the kitchen staff.

"That sounds like a dream come true right now. Don't you feel suffocated here? You've lived here your whole and trained to work for me. Was it something you always wanted or was this chosen for you?" Suna asked.

"Sounds like someone is scared of their responsibilities. Alright Rintaro tell me what's wrong." Atsumu offered Suna an encouraging smile until he noticed the deadpan look on Suna's face. "You don't have to look at me like that you know."

"No offense but, actually take as much offense as you can from this but last I checked advice giving wasn't something you were capable of. Where's Osamu?"

"Looking up one of the maid's skirts. Now what do you mean I'm not a good advice giver? I happen to give great advice to people in need." Atsumu huffed.

"Right right remind me again why ten percent of the palace guards quit after you left 'inspiring' words with them." Suna mused.

"Be glad you're a prince." Atsumu muttered dejectedly.

"Threatening the crowned prince? That's grounds for dungeon time. Let me know if you want gray or white sheets." Suna laughed as he continued in the direction he was headed before.

"I'll take green. Look the fact of the matter is you're clearly not happy about something and as one of your attendants it's my job to fix that. I can get your horse saddled if you want and tell your father you had an entire platter filled with cheese." Usually Suna would grimace at the mention of cheese but a ride through the kingdom sounded more like what he needed.

"Thanks but no thanks, after the last time my father would kill me if he found out I ran off again. If you did want to cheer me up you could figure out a way to get him to cancel this ball he's throwing in my honor."

"You know as well as I do just how stubborn your old man is. You'd have better luck raising the dead than changing his mind. Look on the bright side. There'll be cake." Atsumu smiled at Suna who in turn frowned at him.

"For saying that you get purple sheets."

"Wait! Let's talk this out!"

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The following day Suna found himself in his room being fitted for a new suit. In the twenty minutes he's been standing there he's been pricked by pins three times.

"Last warning tailor. The next time you hurt the prince you'll be charged for treason." Today Osamu was keeping Suna company

''Forgive me your highness. You're more built than I'm use to dealing with. Rest assured this suit will be the most beautiful suit you'll ever wear." the tailor put another pin in the fabric he was working with and prayed he hadn't pricked Suna again. "If I may ask, what occasion is this ball in honor of? The last celebration we had was your eighteenth birthday and I believe your birthday isn't until next year so what's the joyous occasion?"

"You'll find out the day after the ball until then please focus on leaving skin on my body." Suna sighed.

"Of course your highness my apologies again."

"Tsumu talked to me yesterday. What's going on with you?"

"He talks too much. He simply saw me walking in the garden nothing else."

"Oh yeah? I heard that princess you met in Shektor is coming tomorrow. Should I make arrangements that she's your first dance of the evening?" Osamu smirked at Suna who scowled at him. "Oh dear your highness what an expression. Be careful Princess Tsumaki doesn't see it she might think one of the wind goblins is tickling your nose again. In fact I'll write a letter to her right now to bring her special medicine to cure you!"

"Osamu you bastard! Ow! Alright fine enough I'll answer both your questions just stop tormenting me! I should have both of you locked up for treason." Suna growled trying to keep the parts if his sanity he still had.

The tailor and Osamu smirked at each other as Suna began to speak again. "I just felt trapped behind these walls recently. Is everything I'm doing really important? I sit down and sigh papers all day either about farm rations or mining and I just don't see the need to do any of that. The people know what they need to survive and they know how to do what they need to survive so why should I waste time looking over it for them? They're not children who need to be supervised they'd be well off without me. The again if I don't do that then what is my purpose here? What am I suppose to do with my life? Am I just the face the people use when they need something? No wait that's my father's job so I'm just here. I make agreements and trade deals with other countries and attend diplomat meetings my father can't make it to. If I didn't do any of that then I'd be a regular boy in the kingdom maybe doing stable work. Sounds better than being the one everyone blames for everything if things go wrong. My father apparently doesn;t know me very well and thought I was lonely so he's throwing a ball for me to find a wife. What's not to love about that?"

Osamu sighed and pulled one of Suna's cheeks. "First don't talk about yourself like that. Like it or not this is how you were born and there's literally nothing you can do about that. It doesn't matter what kind of job you do even if all you did was tell someone to move a chair you still did something and it benefited somebody in the long run. You can't see yourself for the things you do but me and everyone else around you can. You just need to look at things from a different point of view."

Suna looked away from both of them and sighed while taking in Osamu's words. Maybe all he did need was to view things from a different perspective. Yeah maybe that could work. "Ow!"

"You didn't have to stick him again Mori." Osamu sweatdropped.

"Nope that time definitely was an accident. Please try not to move your highness." Mori smiled innocently.

Or maybe his tailor would take him out first. Whichever came first he guessed.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The day of the ball finally arrived and carriage after carriage arrived at the castle holding nobles and royals from near and far. Suna was in his room again watching from the window as carriages entered the palace grounds. Maybe if he's lucky he could make a run for it during the party and jump the fence to get away from everybody to maybe save himself for a little while. Or maybe one of guards sees him and tries to follow him and ruins his plans.

"Just sit through the ball and I'm sure your father will let you leave for an hour tomorrow."

"Yeah right after his engagement announcement. Listen Rin if you don't want to do it then I don't see why you should."

"Don't listen to Tsumu. We'll help you if you need a breather every now and again but we can't cover fro you the entire night."

"Or eat these two slices of cheesecake right now and be excused for the rest of the night." Atsumu suggested wiggling his eyebrows.

It was a pretty solid plan but a night of pain wasn't worth missing the ball. His father might only postpone it and he'd be confined to his room until everything passes.

"Well gentlemen it's my last night a single man. If I'm lucky Tsumaki won't be my future bride. The small bout of freedom I had was nice but it's time for me to be a big boy and do what I have to. Once I'm king the first thing I'm doing is making sure Asami doesn't go through this." Suna sighed.

"I doubt she'd have a problem with it. Which girl doesn't want to be entertained by a handsome man? Bonus points cause he's rich." Atsumu shrugged.

Suna's eyebrow raised in confusion, "Are you calling the princess a money whore?"

Atsumu chuckled softly and smiled at Suna. "You and I both know that's not what I meant. You're really the only person who has a problem with palace life. Asami is actually looking forward to her happily ever after which is something you need to start doing. You can hate it but if it's something that has to be done then you have to suck it up and get it over with."

"You can say that because it's not your life. I need to teach Asami about how dirty boys are. Osamu you'll be the example for what you and Mori did yesterday. Who could've imagined my attendant and the tailor conspiring against me. The mutiny." Suna shook his head in mock disappointment.

"Be disappointed all you want. I did what I had to do. Now you have to get ready for tonight. If you need us you know where we'll be." Osamu left with Atsumu right behind him.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~**~*

Night fell quickly and two hours into the party Suna finally met all the young women his father had invited. Many were kind and some more beautiful than necessary but all quickly looked away when Princess Tsumaki approached him. The night continued on as his father hoped with Suna being forced to mingle with everyone present. Eventually his social meter began to run out and he retreated to a hidden balcony for air.

A sound close by caught his attention and Suna found a young woman who seemed to be in the same situation as him. If he remembered he remembered her name was (y/n) third princess of a neighboring country. Suna tried to sneak away before you could see him but alas luck wasn't on his side.

"Your highness good night."

Suna counted to three then slowly faced you with a friendly smile, "Good night my lady. I hope you're enjoying the party."

"It's lovely and so is your country. Please give your father my thanks for inviting my family."

"I can assure you he'll give his thanks for attending. If I'm not being too forward may I ask why you're out here instead of enjoying the food?" Hopefully pressuring you like this will give Suna the quiet time he was hoping for.

"Forgive my rudeness but the amount of people inside made the room a little stuffy. I came out here for a little air." you smiled at him.

"Fair enough. I hope the air is to your liking."

"With all due respect your highness it's been a long night and it's exhausting speaking like this so if you don't mind we can call each other old acquaintances and speak like old friends would. It would be an honor if you would call me (y/n)."

Suna blinked at your request and fought the grin trying to rise on his face. "If that's so then feel free to call me Rintaro. Blame my father for taking things the wrong way and forcing us all to go through this."

"We can't really fight what our parents want us to do. Comes with the title really. You seemed upset earlier should I assume that you don't really want to get married?"

Suna sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "I don't mind getting married I just don't think I should get married because my father thought I was in a funk as he called it. Sounds cliche but I actually believe in meeting someone and falling in love."

You blinked at the prince and giggled. "You're very cute Rintaro. I like to believe everyone wants to fall in love that way. Nobody wants to have their partner chosen for them. What good is being married if you're gonna be miserable everyday."

"If it means I don't have to sit through marriage consultations and weird balls like this one then I may just prefer the other way."

"Careful what you say. I think we both know your father is capable of that. I saw princess Tsumaki looking for her Rinnepoo earlier. Maybe I should let his majesty know you've chosen someone." You looked up to find Suna pouting at you. "Careful your highness they may send you back to etiquette classes for making such a face."

"Good evening Prince Rintaro. It's a pleasure to make your aquaintance tonight. I do hope that-"

"Ok! That's enough! Don't you dare repeat that."

Suna smirked and hid his mouth behind his hand. "Pardon me princess. I just found your greeting to me this evening amusing. I mean no harm it's just you were so cute. How many times did you practiced that?"

"Whatever. Let's see what you would do if the roles were reversed."

"Sorry princess but this isn't about me." Suna giggled.

"So you can smile and laugh. I almost thought you were emotionally constipated. Is that the funk your father thought you were in?"

Suna sighed being reminded of the situation he was in. "It's more than that but nobody would understand."

You smiled at him encouragingly. "The whole you're royalty so you have absolutely no reason to not be happy thing?"

"Exactly that. It's gonna sound stupid but I guess I miss the freedom I had before I turned eighteen. Well more I don't see the need for me to do the things I'm doing."

"Ah you feel monarchy should be abolished. Look at it this way crackers taste good on their own but with cheese the taste is elevated. Cheese and crackers is superior to just plain old crackers by themselves or just cheese by itself. Yes your kingdom could probably prosper on it's own but there are situations the people shouldn't handle on their own. Budget distribution, land distribution, diplomatic matters and many other things. We exist to keep harmony in the kingdom. Imagine leaving children to raise themselves. Many would unfortunately die before reaching a certain age. Think of your kingdom as your very own children. They're self sufficient yes but without you to guide them in the things they don't understand they'll be hurt. You can still do the things you love but your children come first. If you don't take care of them then someone may just take them away. "

Suna sighed. "I can understand that but I just don't understand why it has to be me."

"I don't understand why it can't be you. Anyone could've been chosen for the job but you were chosen. I don't know you well enough to speak on certain things but I have heard rumors that you basically run half of your kingdom on your own. The fact that nothing has fallen apart shows that you're more than competent to do your job. You need to have more confidence in yourself. I've only known you for a short time but I can already tell you're a wonderful person. Don't sell yourself short." You smiled at Suna who looked at you unsure.

Suna shrugged, "If you say so (y/n). Are you hungry?"

"I'm alright for now. But I do think we need to get back before someone misses us."

"What's the rush? You know the reason for this party."

"Is that you asking for my company your highness?"

"I didn't hear a no princess." Suna smirked when you giggled.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

A few months later Suna found himself sitting in his office again. He was hard at work but this time with a slight smile on his face. A knock on the door took him away from the work he was doing and Atsumu stepped into his office.

Atsumu placed a sandwich and a cup of tea on the table in front of Suna "You seem to be in a better mood these days. What's your secret?"

"Sorry but secrets are secret for a reason."

"Keep your secrets then. Simply means I can't tell you the one I just heard." Atsumu smirked.

"I heard the dungeons don't have heat." Suna shrugged.

"Really? Just make sure my sheets are red."

Suna laughed and shook his head, "You little turd nugget. What's going on?"

"Alright fine but only because you asked so rudely. I heard your favorite princess is coming by later today. Maybe if you finish all your work you can be at the doors to greet her."

"Lucky for me this was the last page I had to look over. Prepare two horses and I'll make sure your sheets are maroon."

"And you call me the turd nugget." Atsumu rolled his eyes. "His majesty said you can do whatever you want for the rest of the day once you stop keeping him in suspense."

"Sounds good. Thanks for lunch."

Things were definitely starting to look up and with one simple question later tonight Suna's life was about to change again. This time for the better.

#haikyuu!!#haikyuu x reader #suna rintaro #Suna Rintarou #Suna #suna x reader #suna rintaro x reader #suna rintarou x reader #haikyuu fluff #haikyu x reader

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woulddieforperrytheplatypus · 3 years

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I've been rewatching all the Loki content to get ready for the new show and I have thought of A Phineas and Ferb AU™ for your viewing pleasure (and if anyone wants to turn any part of this into an actual fanfic I would owe you my life)

this post was brought to you in partnership with @dumbausfromdanville

You know how the first Thor movie ends with Loki yeeting himself off the Bifrost and falling to earth? What if, instead of going after the Tesseract, he falls straight to the Tri-State area?

Jane, Darcy, and Selvig all seemed to be on vacation, right? So Thor presumably took place during the summer — say, perhaps, ending on June 3? So he falls right onto Phineas and Ferb's rollercoaster just before it goes down that ♫ three-mile drop straight down ♪. He has no idea wtf is happening so it's not like he gets the chance to sit down and put on a seatbelt, so he's stuck holding on for dear life for the entire rollercoaster ride which Phineas and Ferb find weird but they're not really concerned bc they're chill lil dudes and tbh this isn't too far off a normal day for them.

Phineas and Loki strike up a none-too-pleasant conversation (not that Phineas notices Loki's bad mood; he's too Him to realize not everyone is rainbows and sunshine all day, every day), and our favorite lil disoriented demigod has to figure out where the fuck he is now ("You there. What realm is this?" "Danville 🙂" "Wut da fuk?") and what the fuck he's supposed to do now that he's here.

Phineas ends up inviting him to hang out for the afternoon, and Loki is about to turn him down but then he smells the pie. He's never had doonkleberry pie before so obviously he has to try it. Then, when Loki's no longer hangry, they can hold an actual conversation. It's lowkey more Loki wallowing in his own self-pity than anything else, but Ferb recognizes Asgard when Loki mentions it so he and Phineas piece together that he's a god pretty quickly.

More importantly, though, they figure out that he's completely alone, and because Loki never mentions trying to, you know, murder his brother and lowkey overthrow the monarchy, they just kinda assume Loki's family sucks (Ferb is completely prepared to start the anti-Thor club but Phineas stops him because he doesn't want his brother to get struck by lightning) and adopt him (without his consent, but it's not like he has anywhere else to be -- and he did like that pie).

Loki has no desire to build anything with the boys He thinks the idea of a backyard beach they make the next morning is stupid — even more stupid than a regular beach, and that's saying something. But over time, he gets more involved -- not just with the boys, but with the entire family. He helps the boys build their inventions. He talks about human history with Lawrence and corrects much of his knowledge on mythology. He lets Linda teach him how to bake seriously, her pies are so good. He even suffers through Candace's mall trips as long as he gets to go to that fro-yo place on the second floor (though he draws the line at any conversation involving romance).

He's still a little skeptical of the platypus (and he feels like the platypus is a little skeptical of him, too) but Phineas insists that he's "just a platypus" and he "doesn't do much." Loki doesn't realize that Perry's keeping an eye on him for OWCA, nor does he know that Monogram has absolutely no idea what to make of the dude so he hasn't actually told any of his superiors about him. As far as the government is concerned, after the fiasco in New Mexico, Loki just disappeared.

This makes it fucking hilarious when the boys accidentally steal the superheroes' powers in Mission: Marvel and the superheroes show up at the Flynn-Fletchers' front door only to see fucking Loki. Loki just shuts the door in their faces without a word because what the fuck?, but eventually Phineas and Ferb go check the door and they agree to help the heroes (much to Loki's chagrin), which, of course, isn't complete with Candace fangirling over them (also much to Loki's chagrin; she never fangirled over him). At first the Avengers are fully convinced that Loki is responsible for stealing their powers, and Loki never actually denies it because he's a little shit but Phineas, Ferb, and their friends are very insistent that Loki didn't do anything (except a little bit of manual labor putting together the satellites because they're 10 and he's a whole-ass demigod).

At some point, Thor and Loki have a very heated discussion about the events of Thor, and it's pretty much all news to the Flynn-Fletchers and their friends. They're not really sure what to make of it so they basically glue their mouths shut and watch it all play out. I'd like to think it goes something like it does in The Avengers and that a) Thor is pissed because what the fuck have you been up to Loki you fucking dumbass, b) Thor has been in mourning since Loki yeeted himself into the abyss and he wants to make sure the guy knows it, and c) Loki does not take it seriously at all he's being antagonistic the entire time because he is so sick of Mr. High-And-Mighty's shit. In the end, Loki storms out of the SHEDquarters and Phineas doesn't even think to try to stop him until he's halfway out the door and it's too late.

He shows up again when Phineas, Ferb, and the Avengers try to fight the bad guys in the mall with the wrong powers and he basically singlehandedly saves their asses until superhero Perry shows up. As everyone's favorite shapeshifter, he has absolutely no problem figuring out that this beaver duck dude is the Flynn-Fletchers' platypus. He has no idea what to do with that information, but it sure is information that he now has apparently. (At this point, poor Loki has a very warped sense of what earth is supposed to be like lmao).

Phineas tries to get Loki to come back with them after superhero Perry grabs them and carries them home. Instead, Loki cuts himself loose and falls like 30 feet straight down (and tbh after falling from the Bifrost, that's nothing to him) and peaces the fuck out.

Loki ends up accidentally bonding with Candace and Isabella over feeling useless and unwanted (and he absolutely gets his own verse in Only Trying to Help because it's what he deserves), but unlike the two girls who are hell-bent on changing that, Loki is content wallowing in his own self-pity. He's tried this whole "being important" thing before and he ended up in self-exile for it. He's not putting himself through it again because he really doesn't expect it to end well. But then the powerless heroes decide to face the villains again, and with Candace and Isabella in space and Perry nowhere to be seen, he realizes it is once again up to him to keep the tri-state area safe (which he knows is a stupid priority but he's gotten kind of attached to these stupid little humans and he wants to keep them safe).

Then the heroes get their powers back and they join Loki (and Perry and the mysterious waffle gun in the sky) and beat the shit out of the villains. Thor and Loki work together in the heat of the battle which serves as a Great Bonding Moment™, and once the villains are gone, they have a nice lil heart-to-heart where they both apologize for their past. Thor remarks that Loki seems to have grown a lot over the last couple of months and tries to bring Loki home with him, but Loki refuses. He'll never be welcome back into Asgard, no matter what Thor may say.

But he is welcome with the Flynn-Fletchers, who are completely over the fact that he tried to ruin Thor's life and take his not-so-rightful place on the throne (except Candace who's very skeptical about having him back but it's not like Linda will believe her if she tries to tell her what Thor and Loki talked about so her opinion is unfortunately as irrelevant as it usually is on the show).

And early the next morning, before anyone else is awake, Perry gets an alert that he's needed in his headquarters (presumably to talk to or about Fury). He quietly sneaks off, only to find Loki waiting at the bottom of the stairs for him. They have a very nice "conversation" (not that Perry speaks) about the superhero Ducky Momo they saw the day before, and Loki assures him that his secret is safe, thus starting a much-needed bromance between Loki and Perry because it's what my babies, goddammit!

Anyways yeah if anyone wants to write a fanfic about Loki hanging out with Phineas and Ferb during his self-exile I would give you a socially distant high-five because I want to read it but I have too many other fanfics on my plate to start this one for at least a few months. It doesn't have to follow this prompt literally at all (I swear I wasn't trying to get this in-depth with it but this is what I do apparently) or it can follow this prompt exactly idc i just want a PnF/Loki fanfic 🥺

#marvel #mcu #loki #phineas and ferb #pnf #fanfic idea?#mission: marvel #mission marvel

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peralta-guaranteed · 3 years

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Ao3 prompt by Eneritac: I'd love it if you were to re-visit the Johnny & Dora episode from Amy's POV and then Jake's POV!

(this is basically some introspection set before their real kiss, just imagine there was a night inbetween, I don’t remember how much time actually passed in canon?)

She kissed Jake Peralta. Or rather, well, he kissed her once. And she kissed him. Once. Twice, if you count that cheek kiss she did first. Maybe she shouldn’t count that. It was pretty chaste. But it was a kiss. And it came from her. Before everything else. She had the idea of playing engaged to get a table. It was her. Literal hours after re-instating her ‘no cops’ date rule to Jake. After he made that face at her, the one that she always pretended not to notice. The one that could only be described as ‘longing’. The one that was back on his face after she kissed his cheek.

She’s such an idiot. A bumbling fool. An imbecile, as Holt would say.

Jake likes her. He’s been pretending not to for so long it almost seems believable, but it isn’t. He likes her, and she’s pretty sure it has long since grown out of a crush into something far more. She’s been pulling him to and fro, pushing him away every chance she gets, playing the ‘friends’ card and the ‘colleagues’ card and yet, he continues to like her. He might just be stubborn and persistent enough to keep up with her high strungness.

He makes me laugh, she thinks. At the moment, it had sounded like a rather simple, easy-going answer, nothing too revealing yet still sweet. It was so much more than that.

He made her laugh. He made her feel lighter. He knew how to take her worries, her nervousness, her panic attacks, her constant feeling of pressure and duty, and turn them into nothing with a joke and a smile. He knew how to make her forget and feel carefree again, making her giggle with silly ideas and lifting her spirits with his surprisingly heartfelt little gestures hidden behind pranks.

He likes her. He makes her laugh.

She likes him.

She likes him, she does, she never really stopped, and today she kissed him. Twice. Thrice, actually. She remembers the way his lips felt during that first kiss from him, tense and nervous for a second for their cover being blown, then immediately softening into an actual kiss. If Augustine had just walked past them then - had not talked to them - what would’ve happened? He wouldn’t have stopped, she thinks. He clearly didn’t want to stop when she kissed him in the park, oblivious to her reasoning for it - he didn’t see the suspect near the briefcase, she realises now, all he saw was her, and then nothing when she pushed him up against that tree. There was no cover to be kept in his mind at that moment. And yet he still kissed her back.

She doesn’t know what to do while she lies on her bed, staring at the ceiling, unable to sleep despite adhering to her usual schedule. They’ve agreed to not let it change them, keep things professional. And in the moment those words left her lips, she knew they were the worst lie she’d ever told. She’s kissed Jake Peralta. Jake Peralta has kissed her. There’s no turning back from that fact, no chance to rewind and pretend like it didn’t happen, and she’s not going to go the easy route and chalk it all off as ‘professional’ and ‘necessary’ for their case anymore. Not when she doesn’t remember what Augustine’s fiancée looked like, but clearly remembers Jake’s dazed expression seconds after their kiss in the park. Not when she remembers the feel of his lips on hers and his hands on her back, and wants to feel nothing else while she’s alone at home.

There’s no going back.

So Amy decides to move forward.

-*-

Amy Santiago kissed him. Like, full-on kissed him. Twice. Well, the one time she only kissed him back, but it still counts. It was a proper kiss. Maybe she even kissed him three times. Does a kiss on the cheek count? It does. It does when it makes him feel the way it did. Like fireworks exploding in his belly. Like complete silence in the room around them, despite it being a busy restaurant. Exactly what it felt like to kiss her properly about an hour later.

He’s sure he looked like a complete idiot after that little peck to his face. He definitely felt like one. Amy Santiago had just kissed him, and he should’ve been elated, to say the least, but - it kinda hurt. Because it wasn’t real. It was Johnny and Dora. Not Jake and Amy. Not the way he wanted them to be.

Where they Jake and Amy when he pulled her in, near the kitchen? Or was that Dora sliding her hands around his nape, and sighing just the littlest bit against his lips?

Where they Jake and Amy when she pushed him against that tree, gripped his face, sent a hot line of fire down his back with her kiss?

He didn’t see the perp then, and for a split second, for the rarest moment of his life so far, he had hope. That Amy Santiago was kissing him because she wanted to, not because of some cover like before. It stopped pretty quickly once she drew her gun and shouted something about this ‘being a working situation’. Because of course it was. That’s all it was.

Was it?

Is that the way she sees it still?

There’s really no one else’s opinion I care about more than hers.

It wasn’t a lie back then, and it wasn’t some platitude either. It was a realisation he’d come to a long time ago. He couldn’t give less of a damn what anyone thought about his antics, his weird ways, his unusual habits. He would barely ever listen to criticism or outsider input, not for his cases nor for his regular life. Except from her. Her words weighed like gold against his scales. He’s lost track of the times he’s made a change after something she said, even if it was just a throw away comment. And he’s not going to keep track of it going forward, because it will happen again, and again, and again.

He likes her. She makes him want to be better. There’s really no one else’s opinion he cares about more.

Does she like him?

She used to, once. He knows that now. And god, does that knowledge hurt. The idea that he had a chance, a miniscule chance. And missed it. Would she have kissed him twice if she didn’t like him anymore, at least a little bit? It wasn’t just for show. There is no way the gentle movement of her lips, the soft grip of her hands was entirely played. Not twice in a row, not like that. But he hears her words later, about being professional and not letting this change them. Despite how much he wants to change everything he can, for her. With her. Like he always does.

He doesn’t know what to think while he buries his face in his pillow, tries to drown out the sounds of Brooklyn’s street underneath his window. Closing his eyes doesn’t help him fall asleep, because then his head just replays what he felt the last time his eyes were closed, rough treebark against his back and soft lips on his face, the scent of her perfume he knows so well in his nose. Fingertips carding into his hair. Warmth and comfort and joy wrapping all around him.

He doesn’t know what to think, doesn’t know what she thinks, keeps asking himself what to do now, what she wants him to do now, what he should do now. There’s really no point in second-guessing himself without actually doing anything, though.

So Jake decides to take a leap.

#B99 #Brooklyn 99 #Peraltiago #Jake Peralta #Amy Santiago #my Q needs no more vowels #my writing #ficlet

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purrincess-chat · 4 years

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My Chosen’s Keeper CH2

Posting a little early, but I doubt anyone will complain. ;) Who is the mystery voice from the end of last chapter?

Read on AO3

Chapter 2

The putrid smell of old cheese hit her before she even turned around, and the lazy black cat that accompanied it lounged on his side. He tossed a wedge of Camembert into the air and caught it in his gaping mouth, swallowing it whole with a gulp.

“Plagg!”

“Great prank, sugar cube. Did you see the look on her face?” He snickered, clutching his swollen belly.

“It wasn’t a prank!”

“Oh? Then I suppose that sink just malfunctioned all on its own?” He raised a brow, and her cheeks warmed.

“What are you doing in here?” Tikki asked, and a mischievous glint flashed in his eyes.

“I could ask you the same thing,” he said, circling her—a cat hunting its prey. “It’s been the weirdest day for your owner. First someone accused her of cheating, but the answers weren’t in her bag. Then someone accused her of stealing, and magically, the necklace was returned to its rightful owner. Almost as if she had someone watching over her.”

Tikki averted her gaze with a sigh. “Okay, you caught me. I meddled. Are you going to lecture me about it?”

“Nah, lecturing’s not really my style,” Plagg said, leaning back and propping his arms behind his head. “I’m actually impressed you’re finally getting back at that girl, sugar cube. It’s about time you did something fun. Our owners are such pushovers when it comes to her. Don’t you think someone should teach her a lesson?”

“Plagg, no! I’ve already done enough. From now on we should stay out of it,” Tikki said with an emphatic shake of her head.

“So, you want this girl to keep tormenting your owner?” Plagg asked.

“Well, no, but-”

“Hasn’t she already been nearly akumatized because of this girl? And in this very bathroom too. What if she can’t fight off the akuma next time?”

“I know, but-”

“Just think of how awful the world will be if Hawkmoth gets his hands on those earrings. Not to mention you’ll be under his control, and the whole entire world will be-”

“Alright, alright!” Tikki snapped. “I know she’s dangerous. That’s why I interfered today, but we can’t just go around meddling in human affairs all the time. We’ve already been seen by a human once. What if it happened again?”

“Relax, sugar cube. You worry too much.” Plagg waved it away, but at her glare, he added, “Look, no one believed that cranky old bat anyway. Everyone thought she was crazy. Besides, it’s not like anyone can capture us.”

“I still don’t think it’s right, Plagg,” Tikki said, and he rolled over and floated down to place a hand on her shoulder.

“Listen, you know this girl is out to hurt both- bleh and Ladybug. Stopping her could be our most important mission yet,” he said pointedly, and Tikki lowered her gaze.

“Okay, but how are we going to stop her? If we foil her plans, she just comes up with new ones. She’ll never stop until she succeeds,” she said, and Plagg tapped his chin.

“I think you had the right idea earlier. This girl won’t be able to scheme if she’s too busy worrying about the universe playing tricks on her,” Plagg said, but Tikki darted several paces back.

“No way! I already feel bad enough about the sink,” she said, but Plagg gave her a knowing look. “What?”

“Come on, sugar cube. Haven’t you ever wanted to cut loose and have some fun? It’s not like our owners give us any restrictions. We can do whatever we want,” he said, and at her conflicted expression added, “Live a little. Partners?”

He held out a small paw that Tikki eyed hesitantly before shaking. Plagg seemed surprised by her acceptance, his ears sticking up straight, and she’d even surprised herself. But he was right about Lila needing to be dealt with, and she couldn’t in good conscience encourage her master to resort to playing dirty. Besides, Lila was too good. This operation needed stealth that only a kwami could achieve.

“Alright, sugar cube, here’s what we’re gonna do.”

***

Tikki peered out from under Marinette’s lab bench the following day while students worked in pairs. Marinette was too preoccupied with her assignment to pay attention to her which was fine. Part of Tikki didn’t want her knowing what she and Plagg were up to because she didn’t want to be up to it herself.

Plagg popped up underneath Lila’s desk and motioned her over. With a quick glance around the room, she darted over to join him.

“Ready, sugar cube?”

“Stop calling me that, you know I hate it,” she hissed, but Plagg barely noticed. “Are you sure we should be doing this? She’s not even doing anything right now.”

“Yet,” Plagg said, catching her gaze with a more serious expression than she was used to from him.

“Why do you care so much about Lila anyway?” She asked, and he faced forward again, tail flicking.

“Last time she weaseled her way into my owner’s house, she went through his stuff which included my cheese stash. I’ve never felt more violated in my life,” he said, and Tikki rolled her eyes. Typical. “And I don’t like how she uses him.”

Tikki smiled at that then rolled her shoulders in preparation. “Ready?”

“Three.”

“Two.”

“One!”

They surged forward, disappearing into Lila’s lab chair then popping out moments later with two bolts. Before anyone could see them, they ducked back under the bench with wicked giggles, but Lila didn’t sit in her stool right away. She wandered over to Marinette and Alya’s bench, concealing a test tube behind her back.

“Oh, Marinette, Nathaniel and I are a little lost. Can you help us?” She said, tipping the contents of the test tube into Marinette’s beaker when she wasn’t looking.

“Here, I’ll go take a look, girl. You prep this next part,” Alya offered, trading places with Marinette, and Lila walked back to her bench with a smirk.

“See? She totally deserves to be put in her place,” Plagg said, and Tikki eyed Marinette’s beaker worriedly.

“We have to do something before whatever Lila did blows up in Marinette’s face. Literally.”

“I’ve got an idea, but we need a distraction,” Plagg said as a loud crash sounded above them.

“Ow!” Lila cried out as her stool gave out under her weight.

“That’ll work,” Plagg said, zipping over to Marinette’s bench.

Together, they lifted her beaker and swapped it with Lila’s while everyone was focused on her.

“How did this happen?” Alya asked, crouching down to examine the stool.

“Looks like some of the bolts came loose,” Nino said, digging them out from under the table.

“Someone must have unscrewed them. Someone’s out to get me!” Lila said, but Mme. Mendeleiev shook her head.

“There’s no need to accuse anyone. These stools are just old. The bolts probably popped out when you stood up. You’re not hurt, so just go back to-” Mme. Mendeleiev’s voice trailed off when Lila’s beaker erupted onto the counter, and she examined it with a sigh. “You’re supposed to add the acid last. There’s not enough time for you to start over. You’re just going to have to take a zero on this assignment.”

“But-”

“No, buts! Next time read the instructions more carefully.”

Everyone dispersed after that, and Tikki and Plagg retreated under Marinette’s bench with triumphant beams. They slapped paws before returning to their owners to await their next mission.

***

Lila was quiet the next day, and Tikki thought that she’d given up on trying to get back at Marinette. It didn’t last an hour. By the end of their first class, Lila was already on the move again, but she was no match for Marinette’s silent guardians.

Tried to hide a book Marinette needed for her history report? Hope she enjoyed the several bumps on her head from a stack of falling books.

Put pudding on the lunchroom chair? Strange how her milk carton mysteriously exploded. She could have fun getting that smell out.

By gym class, Tikki was having the time of her life pranking Lila. She didn’t care if it was mean. Lila was a mean girl, so it was all justifiable in her eyes. Or so she told herself, pushing away the nagging feeling in the back of her mind. Plagg was right. It was about time she cut loose, and the more pranks they played, the more she wished she’d done this ages ago. But the most important thing to come out of all of this was Marinette.

“Look how happy she looks,” Tikki said as they watched students pelt each other with rubber balls from their refuge under a cart.

“See? What’d I tell you. Your owner hasn’t had to worry about a thing since we started messing with Lila, and she hasn’t been able to tell as many lies because she’s too busy trying to figure out how her schemes keep getting thwarted,” Plagg said, crossing his arms over his chest. “You should listen to me more often.”

“Oh, you mean like that time we went to Italy and you ran into the-”

“I didn’t see it!” Plagg huffed. “Besides, it’s famous for being crooked now, so I did them a favor.”

Tikki giggled, and Plagg’s ears flattened, his tail swishing back and forth. He tackled her to the ground, playfully jabbing the spots he knew were ticklish. The curse of knowing someone for eons was that they knew everything about you, but just like he knew all of her weaknesses, she knew all of his too. Like that scratching behind his left ear always incapacitated him.

“Okay, okay, truce! Truce!” He sighed as his limbs failed him.

The dodgeball game wore on above them, but in their moment of distraction, they’d taken their eyes off Lila. The teams were diminishing swiftly, and seeing as Lila had most of the boys in the class entranced, she’d managed to survive until the end. Kim and Nino were on her team leaving Ivan and Adrien on Marinette’s side, and as Ivan moved to catch a ball Nino had thrown, he opened a clear shot at Marinette.

It was probably a harmless situation, and hitting the opposing team with the ball was the object of the game. Interfering was petty at best, but Tikki and Plagg didn’t care. They tied her shoelaces together, and she stumbled forward, tossing the ball directly into Marinette’s hands.

Mr. D’Argencourt blew his whistle to pause the game as Lila screeched from the ground. She glared down at her twined laces as everyone rushed to her side.

“Art thou alright?” Mr. D’Argencourt asked.

“No! Someone tied my laces together,” she growled, but when she gestured to her feet, her laces were neatly tied into individual bows. “But-”

“You probably just tripped over your own two feet,” Nino said, giving her shoulder a pat.

“But I swear my shoelaces were tied together just a second ago!” She said.

“But we’ve been watching you play this whole time just fine. Besides, how could anyone tie your shoelaces while you were running around?” Alya asked, and Lila sputtered to reply.

“Man, she’s gonna give you a run for your money as the clumsiest person in class, Marinette,” Kim laughed, elbowing Marinette’s side.

“Stop,” she giggled, shoving him back as several of their classmates snickered.

“Regardless of the circumstances, Marinette caught your throw, so I hereby dub thee…out,” Mr. D’Argencourt said, gesturing Lila to the sidelines with the other eliminated players before blowing his whistle. “Resume.”

With Lila out, Marinette’s team was able to easily overtake Nino and Kim, securing their victory. To make matters better, it was Marinette’s turn to clean up the dodgeballs after class, and Adrien volunteered to stay and help.

“You didn’t have to stay behind. It’s breaktime,” Marinette said as Adrien stooped to pick up a ball.

“It’ll get done faster if we work together,” Adrien said, tossing the ball into the cart. “Besides, I wanted to talk to you.”

“Y-You wanted to talk to me?” She stammered, cheeks burning red.

“Yeah, Lila’s been acting weird lately, don’t you think?” He said, opting to push the cart while she retrieved the balls.

“Yeah, she’s been trying to get me in trouble, but her plans keep backfiring somehow,” Marinette said with a smirk. “I think it’s karma catching up to her.”

“Maybe so, but I mean, come on. Did she really expect anyone to think you would ever cheat or steal?”

“Ugh, I don’t know what happened there, but I’m glad it did.”

“Me too.”

Tikki and Plagg huddled together in the cart, masking their snickers behind tiny paws. They’d tell their owners eventually, but not today.

#miraculous ladybug #tikki #plagg #lila salt #petty kwami au #my writing #hiatus cat

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collectsfallenstars · 4 years

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Lee Gon’s 3 Rules and How and When He Fell In Love With Jeong TaeEul: An Analysis in 2 parts

Part 1: Love like You Row

It’s pretty easy to say that Lee Gon starts off in “The King: Eternal Monarch” already in love with Jeong TaeEul and he remains in that constant state all throughout the series. That his character is that flat, as flat as the world according to Jeong TaeEul. While it may be true that his character remains deeply devoted to her all throughout, I’m here to show you that he isn’t a flat character. Aside from the external struggle he has with his uncle Lee Lim, and convincing TaeEul of his identity and depth of feeling for her, loving TaeEul also forced him to confront certain things.

On their first chicken dinner together in episode 2 which felt more like an extension of his interrogation instead of a friendly dinner, Lee Gon finds out exactly what kind of person he’s dealing with with Jeong TaeEul. He had just thanked her for being the reason why he survived the last 25 years of his life after his father had been murdered. She was tied to that one great big mystery of his life and he had wanted to find her all these years. Now she was there, eating dinner with him. But she didn’t believe anything he said, almost canceling out his entire existence because she did not have enough proof.

We are then taken to a flashback of baby Lee Gon talking with Lady Noh about the night his father was murdered while a cute baby Maximus ran around in the background. Lady Noh hands over the two things Lee Gon had held onto that night – half of the broken bamboo flute and Jeong TaeEul’s ID. And then little Lee Gon asks,

“DO YOU THINK IT’S HERE, THE REASON WHY I SURVIVED THAT DAY?”

The flashback ends and we are brought back to the present time with Lee Gon asking TaeEul,

“WHY DO YOU NEVER BELIEVE ANYTHING I SAY?”

This was a very good juxtaposition of events. As a child, the question of why he survived had been foremost in his mind. That’s him questioning the purpose of his existence and he’s tied it to these two objects – the flute and TaeEul’s ID. One is a symbol of utter power, and the other, I suppose, is love, or his destiny.

And all his life he believed held on to the idea that his life had purpose, had meaning, and it was tied to this woman, before him, who sat there not believing anything at all. She tells him to stay put till she gets back his DNA test and he takes it out of context and asks her,

“ANYTHING ELSE? IS THERE ANY OTHER REASON? THE REASON WHY I HAVE TO STAY IN YOUR WORLD? COULD THERE BE A REASON?”

This is him grasping at straws, a little desperately. He’s basically asking her to tell him, give him his purpose. He’s waiting for her to say, “I want you to stay because of me.” To hand it over to him. But of course, TaeEul thought it was all bullshit.

In Lee Gon’s world, he’s the king. He has never needed his existence to be validated. And he has always been sure of who he was. But one thing he was never sure of was his why he survived that night, his purpose. So he tied his purpose to the flute and to TaeEul. He had probably hoped that he would find it if he could just find her.

And he did find her. But she doesn’t believe he exists. She doesn’t believe his Kingdom of Corea exists. And the only reason, she says, that she’s helping him is just so she can send him back home and get rid of him.

He realizes two things here. Just because he found Jeong TaeEul doesn’t mean he gets an instant answer as to what his purpose is for surviving that night. And just because he’s spent the last 25 years attached to the idea of TaeEul doesn’t mean that the moment she sees him, she’ll come running into his arms like a long lost love. There is no love. At least, just yet.

This must have been a lonely time for Lee Gon. After this scene, we are shown a clip of him visiting an exhibit of Korea’s last monarch. The building occupies the same place where he and his father were attacked in the Kingdom of Corea. But that history of the royal family doesn’t even include his line. He has no identity, no history, no purpose.

And in this world, if he wanted purpose, it wasn’t just going to be a simple find Jeong TaeEul and she’ll give you the answer. He’ll actually have to work for it, find it by solving the mystery of the bamboo flute and work on building a real connection with Jeong TaeEul.

He finds out exactly how to best do that on this dinner too. When Jeong TaeEul answers his question about why she wont’ believe him, she says,

“IS THAT HOW BELIEF WORKS? I’M THE TYPE OF PERSON WHO STILL CAN’T BELIEVE THE EARTH IS ROUND.”

It’s in this part when he realizes they don’t see the world in the same way. I like how he doesn’t force her to believe him just because he believes it, doesn’t guilt her into seeing things his way. You know how most people would go, this is how I see it. why cant you see it my way? Nope. He shuts up. He listens to her and understands that she needs to see things before she can believe them, and works with that instead of trying to change her mind.

He takes on 3 tasks. He must first convince her that he is telling the truth about his identity. He next has to convince her that parallel worlds exist. Once those two things are done, it will be easier for him to convince her that his feelings for her are real. He then formulates a plan the only way a mathematician and a rower would, tailor fitting it to meet Jeong TaeEul needs. I've written about this on a previous post, detailing how Jeaong TaeEul’s feelings for Lee Gon devloped exactly because of this method. If you’re interested, you can just scroll down my tumblr. It’s in there somewhere.

As I said, he looks at situations like a mathematical equation. If there’s a problem, there has to be a solution. A beautiful one. And his solutions are pretty simple. Patience and honesty. Every time she asks him anything about his identity and where he’s from, he will tell always tell the truth. No matter how many times she asks the same question, he will always give her the same answer. This is why rowing is such a perfect sport for him. He makes repetitive motions, moving in a single direction and onwards until the finish line. That’s exactly how he was with Jeong TaeEul. Keep telling the truth until she believes. But he won’t try to force her to believe him before she’s ready and endures it every time she insults him or accuse of fictionalizing everything.

If you look at episode 3, on what’s probably their 2nd chicken and beer dinner, he tells her,

“YOU GOT NOTHING ON MY DNA RESULTS. BUT YOU STILL CAN’T REALLY BELIEVE ME, RIGHT? SO WHO DO YOU THINK I AM? THERE IS NO INFORMATION AT ALL ABOUT ME IN THIS WORLD.”

He leans forward on the table again, making the gap between them slightly smaller. Notice that he doesn’t make the conclusion for her. He just asks her the questions. He lets her make the conclusion on her own; and gives her time until she’s ready to actually say it out loud that she believes him, which won’t be until the 5th episode.

Having gotten no results for his DNA and fingerprints should point TaeEul towards the existence of another world where he does exist. But keep in mind that TaeEul needs to see something before she believes it. And no results mean no evidence. No evidence means, it’s all bullcrap form TaeEul. So when he tells her,

“I HOPE YOUR EARTH CAN BECOME ROUND SOON.”

He is saying “I know you can’t see it, but I hope you believe that my parallel world exists, and that I exist for you.” Just like the world being round. He’s essentially preparing her for what’s to come next. And it has nothing to do with seeing his world and him being king because those are things she will be able to see for herself. He’s preparing her for one of the greatest leaps of faith of all time – believing in love. It is, after all, an intangible concept. You can’t see it, you can only feel it to know it exists.

Now, when the time finally came that TaeEul got all the evidence that she needed and was finally prepared to believe him, he was still very patient with her as he answered all of her questions about her ID card that was issued exactly when he said it would be.

He goes to her, gathers her hair together in ponytail in one hand, and holds on to the side of her neck with the other, while he answered all her questions correctly, getting rid of her last excuses for not believing him. He is literally and figuratively holding her steady, as her world kind of fell apart knowing that she had been wrong all this time. He didn’t jump with glee or anything because he was right and she was wrong. He understood how this must have been terrifying for her and he kind of just was there for her to help her keep it together. Then he offers her his other world, letting her decide if she wants to see it for herself.

“DO YOU WANT TO SEE FOR YOURSELF? COME WITH ME TO MY WORLD.”

He holds her hand, pulls her to Maximus, puts both her hands on his shoulders and he puts this woman who had never watched fairy tales on a white horse fit for a prince and princess. I swear, when snow started falling in this scene, Maximus turned into unicorn for me. It was that magical.

Physically, you can see him become more protective of her in this instant. He closes his hand over hers. Puts her hands on his shoulders as if to tell her you can depend on me, you can trust me. He cages TaeEul between his arms as they ride off. And even when they get to Corea, he still has her inside his arms in a protective circle, asks the guards to step back because he knows exactly how flat earther Jung TaeEul will feel in a parallel world.

He already knows she’s a strong capable woman. But he didn’t hesitate to provide comfort and protection because he understood that even the strongest ones may need comfort and protection at times.

He does gloat here, a little.

“SEE? I WAS RIGHT, WASN’T I?”

Still on his horse, he leans closer to her, almost speaking right into her ear. His lips quite possibly less than two inches away from her earlobe. I mean…if I was Kim Goeun I’d be shivering with want. But of course, she’s very busy taking in the fact that a parallel world exists so maybe her libido is in the backburner for now. But when she turns her head to face him, and it was , quite possibly, the sweetest, most electrifying non kiss kiss ever.

Now at this point, he seems to have ticked off all his tasks. Convinced her he’s a king. Convinced her that a parallel world exist. Now the next thing to do is to convince her that his feelings, 25 years in the making, are real.

Part 2: Love of a Monarch with a Scar

But how real are his feelings? Because the Jeong TaeEul he’s now with is very different from whatever he imagined Jeong TaeEul to be when he was 8 years old! That’s actually the first thing he had to confront the moment he met TaeEul at Gwanghwamun Square. After they bicker and he insults her intelligence by asking,

“IT SEEMS YOU DO NOT KNOW WHAT A PARALLEL WORLD IS. DID YOU NOT STUDY SCIENCE?”

He finally observes something about her. He says,

“IS THIS WHAT YOUR PERSONALITY IS LIKE? I HAVE NEVER IMAGINED IT. I THOUGHT YOU WOULD BE SOFTER. THIS IS NEW.”

And this signals to the audience that he is aware that the Jeong TaeEul he had imagined and possibly loved for the last 25 years is different from the real Jeong TaeEul. He might have arrived at the scene loving only the idea of TaeEul but as soon as the 2nd episode, he takes it upon himself to actually educate himself on all things Jeong TaeEul, setting aside all of his built up notions about her.

In the precinct, even in the midst of his interrogation, he takes the time to really look at her and come to a decision that she “LOOKED BETTER IN REAL LIFE.” So that’s great right, he prefers the 3 dimensional version of her as opposed to a picture. And then when TaeEul finally released him from jail, he reveals that he has already pumped Eunsup for information about her life. He is making sure that he gets to know her right from the get go. It was also on the 2nd episode that he went to the library to get to know her world’s history. He looked up the poet Kim SoWol and bought his book before going back to his world, just because TaeEul randomly quoted him during their conversation in the bamboo forest in episode 3.

Now he didn’t completely let go of his imagined version of a TaeEul because he did manage to get a short glimpse of a softer TaeEul during their early days together. Time had to stop before he could see this softer side of hers because at this point, she still didn’t believe anything he said and was less likely to trust him enough to show him her softer side. So when time stopped, that was the first time he got to see the TaeEul he had imagined all this time. It was just there, buried underneath the hard, flat-earther exterior. He just had to wait til the 9th episode to finally see this softer, sweeter side of hers.

He also asks her important questions like, “Why did you become a detective?” which is essential when you’re trying to get to know someone. You ask them about their dreams to get an idea about the kind of person they are. Now, when TaeEeul answers,

“NOT EVERYONE IN THE WORLD CAN BE BRAVE. SO I DECIDED TO BECOME BRAVE.”

it absolutely fascinated him. For someone who’s had his life set for him the moment he was born, the fact that someone can make a choice about which direction to take their lives must have amazed him. He admires this trait, that she can make a decision to be a cop just like that.

Notice also that she didn’t say, “I am brave so I joined the police force.” She said, I DECIDED TO BECOME BRAVE.” If you look at Lee Gon, the kind of decisions he tends to make are what to do. Do I leave for my home? Do I stay a little bit more? Do I give her my name? But the one thing TaeEul shows him is that he can make decisions on what kind of person he wants to be, just as she did. So as he’s getting to know her, learning her, he’s also learning from her.

Why is this important? Because his identity is tied to him being a King. There’s a flashback of his time with his father on episode 4 where the father talks about the duties of a king. He asks,

“DO YOU THINK YOU CAN FULFILL THIS CALLING, GON?”

So it’s all about performing a duty that is attached to the title of King. CAN YOU DO IT? It is never about what kind of King do you want to be? Which makes this part very important.

After she talks about her own dreams and what she wanted for herself, she asks him,

“SO THAT’S MY STORY. TELL ME WHAT KIND OF KING YOU ARE. A YOUNG, HANDSOME, AND RICH KING?”

This question appears to pleasure him, as much as bother him. He answers,

“A ROWER, MATHEMATICIAN, A WELL-GROWN ORPHAN, AND THE OWNER OF THE FOUR TIGER SWORD. A KING WHO HAS NEVER BEEN ASKED SUCH A QUESTION AND TRYING HIS BEST NOT TO PANIC.”

This is her asking him, “How have you been doing as a king so far?” How are you? A question on his well being as a king. Like whenever he returns to her from his world, he always asks how she has been and if she’s been well. It appears to have the same effect on him. It pleases him to know that she wants to know he has been doing.

But then, he also has no idea how to answer her question. And this makes him panic.

Since no one ever bothered to ask him what kind of person, what kind of King did he want to be, he never thought about it. He just simply accepted that he was a king and had to fulfill the duties that came with it. It probably never occurred to him that he can decide what kind of king he wanted to be. It wasn’t just a job, which I suspect is how he sees it. That’s why he likes escaping from time to time when it becomes too much. But here was Jeong TaeEul, teaching him how to be a better King because being a cop is so much more than just a job for TaeEul. Lee Gon is slowly becoming a better King, just by talking to TaeEul. Imagine how much more glorious he would become once he gives himself fully to her, and she reciprocates that love?

Ironically though, this love that taught him how to choose to brave is the same love that he has to give up when he finally chooses to be a brave King and save both worlds. But, we still have one more episode so that’s still up in the air.

Now, let’s go back to simpler times when their only problem was themselves and their own trust issues. So as I said, he makes great effort to really get to know her and once he was able to tell apart the Jeong TaeEul in his imagination and the Jeong TaeEul in reality, he lets her know that he much prefers the real version of TaeEul. At the end of episode two, he tells her,

“YOU’RE ALWAYS BUSY AND YOU DON’T CARE MUCH FOR ME. BECAUSE OF YOU, I’M POWERLESS HERE. BUT IT’S FINE. YOU ARE MUCH MORE AMAZING THAN I HAD IMAGINED.

This moment was especially pitiful because he said this after revealing to her that he felt hurt that she kept leaving him when she’s the only person he knows in this world. But even through his hurt feelings, he is able to understand why she does this. He understands that she’s busy, that she has a life, and that to her, he was simply just a stranger. So if we jump to episode 8, when TaeEul asks him if he would have fallen for her if she had been rude and decided not to help him, Lee Gon really wasn’t lying when he said,

“I WOULD HAVE UNDERSTOOD AND THAT UNDERSTANDING WOULD HAVE LED ME TO FALL FOR YOU.”

Because he was already doing it as early as the 2nd episode. She had just upset him and there he was, understanding why and still finding her amazing despite it all. He tells her this in what seems like a love confession, at first, but it really isn’t. When he compares her to the number Zero, he’s essentially saying that she alone can make him weak but at the same time, has the power to give him strength. And that whenever he felt trapped, she was the only one had the power to save him – like that night of treason. He was seeing firsthand the effect she has on him. And he sees that

she already has this much power and influence over him even without an established relationship. That’s how much power he has handed to her by the simple fact that he has hung on to her existence for the last 25 years.

This was not a confession of love but somehow, it feels heavier than that. I appreciate how he didn’t rush to say the words I love you to her at this moment, but instead chose to show her what she meant to him.

I feel like saying I love is sometimes a cop out, you know. I’m just gonna lump all these feelings for you together and call it love. But Lee Gon does not do that. He constantly reveals to her how she affects him. He is constant in allowing himself to be vulnerable and honest with how he feels for her.

“YOU LOOK BETTER IN REAL LIFE” is attraction.

“WHY ARE YOU TYING YOUR HAIR? DON’T TIE YOUR HAIR,” is a marked preference for the TaeEul in real life because the TaeEul in his imagination has her hair gathered in a low ponytail.

“DON’T GO. IT TOOK 25 YEARS FOR ME TO MEET YOU. I HOPE TODAY WILL BE A LONG DAY,” is him begging, or bargaining for more time with her after having pined after her for so long. And he doesn’t hide the fact that he has pined for her for a long time.

“THANK YOU FOR EVERYTHING. BECAUSE YOU EXISTED SOMEWHERE, I WAS LESS LONELY FOR THE PAST 25 YEARS,” is deep gratitude. Just the thought of her somewhere brought him comfort in his lonely life and that’s a powerful thing. Most people depend on an actual presence of a person for them to be significant enough in their life. But for Lee Gon, just the idea of her had been enough.

“THAT’S COOL, LT. JUNG TAE EUL,” is open admiration for her character and spirit.

But I think what really drove it home for me, and also my favorite declaration of devotion, is when he said, “I IMAGINED BRINGING YOU HERE LOTS OF TIMES BEFORE” when she asked him why he looked so calm after bringing her into the palace and the entire staff erupted in disarray. It is a very simple line, but so naked in its honesty. And Lee MinHo delivers it with the glee of a child who opens his gift on Christmas morning, gets exactly what he wants, and proceeds to tell his parents thank you because he’s dreamed of it all year long and now it’s his. Except for Lee Gon, he’s dreamed of it for 25 years already. Just the weight of that longing is flabbergasting. Can you imagine anyone loving you this much?

However, for all of Lee Gon’s openness about how he feels for TaeEul, I don’t think he ever fully allowed her into his world until the 6th episode. And this is because of the 3 rules he has always abided by when it comes to himself and all three are rooted in his trauma from that night of treason in 1994.

He doesn’t eat food that hasn’t been tasted beforehand.

No one touches his body.

No one can call him by his name.

Now the first two are broken as early as the 1st and 2n d episode. TaeEul cuffs him at Gwanghwamun Square and once more back in the precinct. Then on the 3rd episode, she tapped Lee Gon on the shoulder on her way to the restroom. By this time, he’s not even protesting when she touches him, he even welcomes it now. And this is growth for him, considering the last time someone touched him in such close proximity, he almost died. And on their first dinner together, he actually surrenders that rule willingly, using that point to tell her what the idea of her has done to comfort him for the last 25 years.

But his last rule, the one rule he clung steadfastly to, was the one that did not allow anyone to call him by his name. He consistently refused to give her his name in the first 4 episodes, and even when he finally did give it to her at the start of the 5th episode, he still stuck to the rule. He gave her his name, but she is still not allowed to use it.

Now, on episodes 5 and 6, we see him on uber boyfriend mode. He’s like a kid who finally got a puppy. Here, let me take care of you. Here let me feed you. Here let me give you alcohol. Here let me kiss you. Here let me pick you up when you’re stranded. Let me play with your hand and show everyone how I feel about you. Let me pat your head to comfort you when you’re lonely.

He’s basically a giver. Let me love you. But the danger in being with someone like this is that they control what part of them you’re getting, because they pick and choose, very frequently, so you never feel like you’re lacking for any affection. But you’ll never know the full extent of what they’re giving and holding back because they won’t let you in. And he hasn’t. At least, not completely.

TaeEul had to find out the whole deal with Lee Lim and the night of treason by google searching Lee Gon and his family. When he tells her,

“I GUESS YOU NOW KNOW WHAT ROOT YOU ARE STANDING IN FRONT OF. IT’S MY HELL AND MY HISTORY THAT WAS ENGRAVED ON MY BODY BY THE GREED OF THE PERSON THAT KILLED MY FATHER AND STRANGLED ME.”

he simply confirms what she found out. But he didn’t offer the story himself. No matter how vulnerable he is with everything else, this source of his trauma is still something he struggles with. And the way that he clings to the rule that his name must never be called by anyone is a manifestation of this.

Names are deeply personal and the people who are close enough to him to say it out loud are both dead. So since he was 8, his name has never been called. He has always existed as Pyeha to everyone and this safe distance has guaranteed him safety. No one will ever get close enough to try and murder him like his uncle did. But this also afforded him great loneliness. Because Pyeha is only a title but being King has swallowed up his entire existence. That’s why he panicked when TaeEul asked him what kind of King he was. That’s why the idea of his purpose for surviving that night still evades him. Because if he doesn’t know who he is beyond the title of Pyeha, or King, it’s going to be hard to find out his purpose too.

And his name is his last barrier against TaeEul. He’s given her everything, except for the right to call him by his name. But she doesn’t wait for it. She punches right through his wall when she said,

“I WILL SEE YOU AGAIN, LEE GON.”

And he is left there, dumbfounded, because she dared. He says,

“I THOUGHT MY NAME WAS NOT SUPPOSED TO BE CALLED. BUT I GUESS IT WAS SUPPOSED TO CALLED ONLY BY YOU.”

And with this, by calling him by his name, she is now the person closest to him. And the impact that this had on him was huge. He’s been an orphan since he was 8 and no one has probably called his name with love until now. She just blasted his whole world wide open. And this, I think, must have been the moment when Lee Gon fell in love with Jeong TaeEul, completely, helplessly, and fiercely.

#the king eternal monarch #thekingeternalmonarch #lee gon #leegon #jeongtaeeul #jeong tae eul #leeminho #kimgoeun #lee min ho #kim go eun #kdrama #analysis

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underthedekutree · 4 years

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Young Link might have PTSD - Part 2: Termina is NOT a Parallel World, Technically

This is a continuation of my last post so if you’re seeing this and haven’t read it, go here.

This is the part where I somewhat smoothly segue into Majora’s Mask. Link, lonely and filled with unprocessed trauma, leaves Hyrule in search of Navi. According to most sources (which take from Hyrule Historia probably? don’t quote me on it), Link falls down a hole into Termina, a parallel world to Hyrule, that contains many familiar looking denizens of Hyrule, but playing different roles. And well, if you probably guessed by the title, I have a rather different interpretation.

Okay, so in a nutshell my theory is that Termina is in fact all a dream, kind of like Koholint Island. Except the one dreaming up this world isn’t some deity like the Giants or Skull Kid or the Moon. It’s Link.

(big explainey hoo hah below)

Evidence 1: Link begins the game sleeping. Yes, I know literally every Zelda game begins this way and it’s a whole tradition thing. I am beginning with the weakest points first and working my way up to the strong ones. We’ll get there.

Evidence 2: The reuse of character and environment models from Ocarina of Time. The literal IRL reason for this is of course the game famously being given only one year of production time, which meant that the most practical method was to reuse as much material from MM’s predecessor as possible (eg. Romani Ranch sign is the Kakariko Village sign, and still says Kakariko Village on it). It seems like a rather offhand afterthought for Nintendo to chalk it all up to “oh its just a parallel world like Link to the Past or something. But think of it like this; when we dream, we often see familiar people from throughout our lives put in strange and unexpected situations, like that irritable old farmhand you hated so much is now a depressed circus master for some reason. Dreams don’t make sense. Things you know will mix with other strange inexplicable things, fleeting thoughts in your mind, all roughly tied together by whatever emotions you had been feeling when you went to bed. Malon is split into two people, Romani and Cremia, her older and younger self. This might reflect how Link feels about Malon, that she changed so much in those 7 years that she’s like a different person entirely, that it’s hard for him to process that they are the same, because the change was so shockingly sudden for him.

Evidence 3: Gorons in the snow, Gerudo by the sea. Yes, I know that sounds a lot like good evidence for a parallel world (that’s why the idea is widely accepted in the first place, it has merit), but it also works in as dream world evidence too. As a child, my family was obsessed with skiing. We would go to the same mountain every winter, and we would stay at the same lodge. It almost became like a second home for me. So much so, that one night I dreamed that my house had been replaced by the lodge, so it wasn’t on a snow-capped mountain, but in a bushy Australian suburb. Okay that kinda got off subject but I’m bad at conclusions so in summary Dreams Just Be Like That (tm). You get what I’m saying right? No? Sorry, let’s just move on.

Evidence 4: The Milk Bar. AKA my favourite location in the game! It’s often overlooked as the “haha funny they couldn’t put alcohol in kids game so its kiddy milk hee hee”, but it is actually a strong thematic pillar of Majora’s Mask. As I mentioned in Part 1, if you put a 9 year old in a 16 year old’s body and call him an adult before ripping that all away is probably going to leave the kid with an identity crisis. What is a mature place open at late hours when children are sleeping? A bar. What is a drink associated with the young, being produced for the purpose of helping children grow? Milk. No please don’t go I swear there’s more to this, stay with me. In order to gain access to the bar, Link must prove he is mature enough by wearing a mask, a disguise, like Adult Link is to Young Link. Being adult isn’t earned through years of natural living experience and mental development, it’s a thing you are given by adults to just BE when they deem you worthy, at least from how Link sees it. So that is the amalgamation of dream thoughts that is the Milk Bar. Is it mature? Is it childish? What is the line between the two? Is there one? It’s the culmination of his anxieties and confusions that he doesn’t know how to express. Another, smaller expression of this anxiety is the Clock Town Guards. When Link is a Deku, the guards say they don’t allow children outside the gates. When Link turns back however, the guard goes to stop him because he looks too young, but sees that he has a sword, and lets him pass. Why the sword? Well, in one way this is a callback to Kokiri Forest, where Mido doesn’t let Link see the Deku Tree until he has a sword. But also, what is the item that lets Link travel through time and become an adult in OOT? The Master Sword. Link seems to believe that adulthood is measured by the things you have, physical markers of maturity, which is how lots of children see adulthood. You’re an adult if you can drink, if you’re tall, if you’re married, if you have a house, a car etc. But in reality this isn’t how it works. Heck, I’m technically an adult but I sure as hell don’t feel like one, because I know I still have things to learn about responsibility, patience and all the other things, that can only come with time, which is the moral conclusion of OOT, but clearly Link missed the memo. Don’t get me wrong, there are some indicators to show he’s grown a bit. He can ride Epona, use the bow, do flips like some kind of acrobat etc. But those strange and confused feelings linger, and manifest in the young boy’s dreams.

Evidence 5: The four transformation masks. The four masks represent different aspects of Link’s self, and the way he grew and changed in OOT. Deku Scrub the Innocent, Goron the Confident, Zora the Mature and Fierce Deity the Hero. Link began only knowing the Kokiri Forest, and nothing of the world outside. As he set out on his journey, he grew more confident in his skills and defeated greater foes. When evil took over, he learned from his fatal mistake and worked to right it. And when it was finally time to face the greatest threat, he was ready, with all the heart pieces, bottles full of fairies, Biggoron Sword in hand. At that moment he struck the final blow he probably felt like the strong and unstoppable hero everyone in Hyrule told him he needed to be. And that feeling of pure uncompromising strength, with the whole world behind him, manifested in the Fierce Deity. Fierce Deity is much taller than Adult Link, and packs so much of a punch that he can beat Majora without batting an eye, like some overpowered Super Saiyan. It reminds me a lot of Undertale, with young Asriel becoming what he imagines to be an all-powerful godlike being, like something you’d see as a children’s drawing. Fierce Deity gives off those vibes, like “he has a HUGE SWORD that SHOOTS BEAMS OF LIGHT and he’s 8 FOOT TALL and CAN KILL ENEMIES IN A SINGLE BLOW!!” Before the final battle on the moon, when Majora gives you the mask, he childishly asks if you want to play a game of good guys and bad guys. And the good guy always wins, no matter what. Fierce Deity makes the final boss a cakewalk, but its supposed to.

Evidence 6: Anju and Kafei. Short one, because it falls a lot into everything else I’ve said regarding childhood vs adulthood. Kafei is effectively a switcheroo of what happened to Link in OOT. An adult shrunk back to childhood, uncomfortable in his new body and looking for a way to fix everything. He’s a reflection of how Link now kinda feels like an adult in a child’s body, because he had started to be used to being called an adult.

Evidence 7: The Moon. I haven’t super touched on the main meat of the game yet, so here it is. The moon and the 3 day mechanic is an allegory for constant mounting pressure, that builds and builds, never ceasing, because the world is in danger, and there’s only one person who has been chosen to save it. I’ve always been interested in the Chosen One narrative, and how different media explore the idea of the world’s very existence being pushed onto one person. How at the end of it all, they can never be the same again after all they’ve gone through. When you’re somehow expected to hold up the Moon itself single-handed, and your life and everything you care about suffers because you’re putting everyone else before yourself. That feeling of complete loneliness under a crushing weight, and although other characters may come to help you, in the end its still all down to you, and you never had a choice in any of it, as all the decisions were made by someone else. You must do what they tell you. Believe in yourself, believe...

Evidence 8: Skull Kid. The story goes that long ago in Termina, the Skull Kid and the Giants played together, until one day, the Giants left, leaving the Skull Kid alone and heartbroken, with nobody to turn to. As life moves on, things may change, and people always come and go from your life. Your friend might move overseas, or stop texting you, or you might fall out of friendship after an awkward event from which you could never recover (no, these have totally not all happened to me, shut up i’m fine), or your fairy companion might just disappear without so much as a goodbye after their task is complete. And it feels like you didn’t matter at all. That they never really cared about you, and you’re as easy to drop and move on from as a child’s toy. You might get angry, and want to shut them out, and give them a taste of their own medicine. Majora’s Mask teaches you that this isn’t the case. Life is ever changing, but you will always have the memories of times with your friends, and a chance to make more with new friends, like a sassy talkative fairy sprite and her shy brother or a child made of wood who wants to destroy the world. Friends come from unlikely places, so accept that change will happen and hope that wherever the people you knew are, they’re okay. You’re thinking about them, so they might be thinking about you too. And who knows? Life is unpredictable. They might just come back one day, and it’ll be like they were never gone.

Evidence 9 (the final one, I promise): The Song of Healing. At the end of all things, after losing ones you love, connections to family and friends, memories of things long past... you need time to heal. Link’s journey through Termina is a constant gauntlet of running into his own past traumas, forced to relive them again, and again, and again. But sometimes you should take a deep breath, gather your thoughts, and take time to heal. Although it can be important to confront your fears and learn to surpass them, it is exhausting, and you can end up more emotionally broken than when you started. The three masks all had regrets of powerlessness; unable to protect your community, your loved ones, or even yourself. Troubles you’ve gone through that keep plaguing your mind, and you’re wondering if you’ve done enough, seeking answers where none can be found. And the best thing you can do... is accept and move on. Be kind to yourself, and give yourself time to heal. Link’s way of processing his grief and trauma is to create an entire hellscape world in his own head, but not everyone processes it the same way. Sometimes you feel like you need to busy yourself, or listen to soothing music, or talk to people you trust, or spend copious amounts of money, or make some angst art, or cuddle your plush toys until their stuffing squeezes out. Sometimes life hits you in the face and you want to blame yourself for standing in the firing line, but it’s not your fault. It’s okay to feel however you feel, whether you’re drenched in a pool of tears or you just feel numb, it’s okay and natural. You’re okay. You’re here.

Okay so it got kinda personal at the end there but I hope it was informative, and made you think a little bit differently about Majora’s Mask and Ocarina of Time. You probably want to go back and play them now. Me too.

So was this all just an excuse for me to gush about how cool Majora’s Mask is? Hell fucking yes it was. Congratulations for making it through my monstrous ramblings, you get the secret prize of looking at my weird art on my DA. Here you go. Have a nice day, Zelda Nerds.

#long post #legend of zelda #majoras mask #young link #fierce deity #zelda theory #wow i cant believe i never realised i wrote fuckig outset island instead of koholint im dumby af

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hamsterrivals · 4 years

Text

ok, so.

I made a youtube video, of me narrating Ashita no Joe episode 4.

I was wondering for awhile if it would be ok to upload a video that’s just directly an anime episode of Ashita no Joe.

I thought partly, maybe it would be ok, since that anime came out like before 1970 or something so maybe it’s free domain,

but nah. It is blocked. I can’t find the video at all.

but, that isn’t going to stop me..

I will do the impossible, (even though I am depressed, about someone I know. irl)

and narrate Ashita no Joe episode 4.

I made a whole video of me narrating it with my voice. but it’s blocked aaaa. I refuse to let it go, though.

giga..drill...breakeriswhat I’d say but I am too depressed about someone I know irl.

Ok so anyways, this was gonna be a YouTube video, especially cuz-- [had to delete the explanation] anyways here:

[deleted stuff.....] ...

anyways here:

oh shizzat its 4am I’m fluffin’ tired. so I’m just gonna skim the episode and post screenshots argh my foot is pulsating as I type that as if my entire body is thinking “wow I know you re-watched Ashita no Joe episodes again yesterday but you should watch the whole episode again its godly” I’m sorry ewotjwte its just almost 4am and I had to wake up at 10am yesterday.

the opening plays. and then:

that one guy that is like my dad reads about my stuff

Jebus freakin’ RICE I’m tired. But I need to do something productive today cuz after I woke up at 10am for my social worker I was tired and drained all day from hearing the voices of the people upstairs and the noise in the wall.

my dad I mean Danpai keeps reading the newspaper (like how in -- gah nevermind [deleted cuz I’m paranoid about what [NEVERMIND deleted the explanation]] and

my freakin’ dad I mean Danpai gets mad at Joe just like

I DELETED [can’t say] like 8 years ago cuz of that time when I [=/ Can’t say the details]

GOSH DARN IT this is just like something irl and I can’t even say what it is because I’m too paranoid about people [deleted explanation here]

ok so basically Joe is super successful and doing good things in this world but no one believes him cuz his stupid azz danpai adopted dad figure is a dumb bummie, and then

and then I wanna explain 99 lines but we’re not even 2 minutes into the episode, so I guess I have to skip some parts; I mean it is 4am after all

and then

ok so there’s this snobby lady (at the time ? perhaps she changes at the very very very very end but I won’t give any spoilers about how the very final episode goes itjewiot btw I literally watched this anime starting from the very last episode cuz someone said this series has best ending in anime/manga of all time, and then I started back at early episodes after that, when I first watched this however years ago,)

and then

yes we printed this article cuz .. you’re trustworthy and popular but Joe is just an unpopular guy who helps out orphans and gives his money away to help out orphans

ya know how when I watched the first 11 episode with [won’t say but the guy that begins with Sau and ends with ce that I was friends with for 15 years and he kept making fun of it multiple times in the chat saying “More like a shit a joe.”] well these guys are like wow Joe is a delinquent cuz he is helping out orphans

wow Yabuki Joe used an alt account or some shiz and made a complete lie to try to help society for the better like making a peaceful game and then I mean boxing I mean waterver and then

no one believes ni the main character Joe who is LITERALLY helping out local orphans; and they’re basically like just jealous of him and twisting the truth to make him look bad is what these snobby popular people are doing t hat actually have friends unlike the wondering loner Joe Yabuki,

this very popular snobby lady who actually has friends unlike ab- Yabuki Joe doesn’t care that Joe is actually being helpful and wants to make projects that will bring peace to this world, she will not give him a chance because she cares more about appearances and keeping up her reputation.

....She takes on the full pressure and responsibilty. But can she handle it?

they’re basically like “uhhh do you have [deleted in case it comes off as offensive, since I know some others that make fun of that stuff >=\ which I don’t like either cuz I get made fun of [the deleted thing] too . It shouldn’t even have to be deleted >=\ but I was in a [DELETED] and they made fun of [the deleted thing] so I guess it has to be [deleted] which is so sad for this world ??] and so

the really cool person who *doesn’t reveal spoilers of the end of the series aa* says please leave Train- Yabuki Joe to me !!

i have faith in him he totally will not somehow break this faith that I vaguely have in him and am kinda too shy to publicly admit..

I wonder what Joe is feeling like right now and doing:

s o anyways Joe keeps laughing 99 times in this episode, and, cuz he knows he’s right and just helping out orphans and people that aren’t popular and too afraid to join the b- never mind.

some of his followers don’t respond to his long rants and are like maybe he is going too far and should back down fro mthe very popular snobby lady

Yabuki Joe laughs again

he says What’s the matter with you!? Stop siding with the very popular lady that actually has friends and a good reputation who is a stuck up and like do what is right instead of what . will make people think better of you even if you know in your hear that maybe it might be wrong.

The snobby lady posted on Twit- I mean irl the anime known as Ashita no Joe the they posted a screenshot of me saying “I have family.....” and they mocked him saying “Um.... I have family too....?” as her followers mocked Yabuki Joe on twitter in the 1970s anime or something,

but family isn’t what matters, everyone has family,

what matters is that you all still have a poor reputation because you have no friends which I think is 100% ok but the stuck-up lady who hates Joe for some reason atm just cares about how they’re rich in [deleted snarky remarks] reputation.

stop caring about the dislikes and haters and appreciate the supporters that you do have;;.

yabuki Joe says F THE HATERS THIS IS Just the beginning of [would say but I wanna here but X_X; [deleted the reason why I won’t] because of [deleted] because of [deleted]]

,y gpa; s 1 million followers cuz then they at least know what is right

in this world.

and then joe is like

and then;

then he’s like yea in my heart I know its good to have that many followers cuz I know the true true truth about Yabuki Joe the anime and manga character from Ashita no Joe, he just wants that many followers to program an indie game about- I mean anyways

they say

[OK WHAT THEH ECK I SERIOUSLY DID RECORD A VIDEO OF ME JUST NARRATING THIS ENTIRE EPISODE AND I uploaded it yesterday on a video sharing site but it is blocked cuz of copyrighted content aaa even though this was from before 1970 aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa now I gotta explain in text instead of voice like I already did last night AAAAAAAAAAaa]

they say But what would you do with that much power, that many internet I mean irl followers in 197o in Ashita no Joe the anime/manga series?

and then Yabuki Joe says teh

then he’s like What the gosh darn shiz in yoshville mans,

and then

and they’re like Look Yabuki Joe lives in a Terrible place with Terrible living conditions wher e brick dust keeps falling down and then

and like Joe has no problems like getting kawaii innocent ppl to follow him, but the others are a bit suspicious.. of Joe and his behavior..

Joe is like i’m gonna build a huge online hamster game soon.

and then someone tells Abu in tumblr messages I mean they tell

Someone tells Yabuki Joe as you can see if you flippin’ watch the episode yourself (I don’t blame you. I hope someone will check this series out, though. It’s my favorite anime series, to be honest.) anyways and then someone from his fandom of - anyways someone says

He’s so full of himself.

I guess you suffer from delusions of grandeur?

the bully who is even in the same exact fandom as ab- Yabuki Joe of being an orphan says that, and because they’re so big inside, people blindly listen to them.

the true actual innocent follower that knows trainerab- Yabuki Joe is actually honest and truthful is like, wow shut the fak up brah, and then:

Then the “Are you sure you don’t suffer from delusions of grandeur?” doubtful follower who is keeping an eye on Ab-Yabuki Joe I mean and watching over him to try to keep the orphanage safe falsely then says “This is a clown. See this clown? Abu is hiring th I mean Yabuki Joe had this younger person defend him” Wow and then

one of the only innocent ppl in this show besides Yabuki Joe and a bunch of later characters in this series in later episodes that happen soon, know Joe really is telling the truth and that he really is honest and she’s pizzed awf at that hater troll person trying to Provoke joe and such on [deleted] anime & manga series Ashita no Joe the anime/manga series, and then

then they’re like, uh oh maybe Joe does have some loyal followers who know the real truth and we should hold our distance and see what he does and what he is truly like, first, and then

so, then

so then Yabuki Joe shows them their steam profile and the gam I mean the BY- I mean

Joe is like ok I played retro games my whole life and watched cool cartoons like the Rugrats and I play cool games and twisted trolls like the snobby girl try to make it look like I “change my interests to appease others” but come into my YouTube channel office and c the truth that I really DID play a lot of SNES games and then

I mean Yabuki Joe says this is my office and this is where I live,

I live in a factory that rains brick dust,

and then,

AND THEN I WANNA NARRATE THIS ENTIRE EPISODE BUT IT IS FREAKIN’ 4:35am and I gotta get up soon

I mean I flippin’ already narrated this entire episode and commented on it etc. and made a cool video of it but YouTube blocked it AAAAAAAA even tho it was an anime made in

1970 I thought it would be free domain by now and o.k. to upload a video of it to YouTube with audio commentary GOSH AAAaaaa GOSH I WANNA NARRATE THE WHOLE EPISODE

AS I SAID IN THE youtube video that is blocked on YouTube I think it is a requirement cuz like it really pejeroyjoirjyorejijioe

ok have a nice night.

#Ashita no Joe #anime #manga #Megalo Box #screencap #screengrab #screencaps #screen caps #boxing #series #1970 #best #relatable #The best series ever #imo

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alesbiancowboy · 4 years

Text

Get ready folks, this one is going to be lengthy and heavy. That's right, we're looking at the Rose Queen episode, AKA "Let Patsy Mount breathe for five f*cking minutes please".

Since this is a very Patsy centered episode, and I don't have the mental bandwidth to break down every scene, I'm starting when shit gets real for Patsy: when Noakes comes and talks to her and Trixie.

Okay, this face speaks volumes. You see the pissed off, dejected Patsy when Noakes talks about putting in the pretty police to “Smoke out his type”. First of all, he’s talking about Tony like he’s some sort of vermin (I see what you’re doing there with the symbolism of the rat infestation Heidi, I see you). But this is Noakes telling Patsy that people like her aren’t normal and should be flushed out and gotten rid of.

As I have said in like all of these breakdowns, Patsy is motivated by self-preservation. This most likely cemented itself from her times in the camps, but this episode is the one where we see it truly taking root within her, and then it later affects how she interacts with everyone including Delia.

Of course, Patsy “I’m good at my job” Mount takes her frustration at the situation and focuses on what Mrs. Amos needs. This is something that a lot of people do in a stressful situation, they deflect what they’re feeling and focus on what they’re feeling or how to help someone else’s problems. She’s stuck in this place where she can’t make her true feelings known, but she needs to get out her indignation for this in some way, so she does so on behalf of the mother she’s there to take care of.

This is a gorgeous moment for Patsy and Trixie’s friendship. Trixie is saying how she couldn’t forgive Tony if she was in his wife’s shoes and Patsy automatically assumes it’s because he’s gay, but Trixie (the true MVP of this episode) automatically says how she doesn’t care that he’s gay, just that he cheated.

Emerald does this small thing where she looks at Trixie as she says she can’t forgive him and then does a small look down and tries to busy herself with her bag as she asks if it’s because of “what he is” so she won’t have to look at her best friend and roommate voice some sort of hate for people like Patsy.

Then we get Trixie being supportive of the community and we get that iconic Patsy Mount half-smile as she realizes that Trixie isn’t like other people and wouldn’t hate her for loving Delia if she ever came forth and told her (to be honest, I have a theory that Trixie already knew, but that’s for another time if you wanna hear it just dm me).

THEN we have them laughing over the “no dark secrets” thing, and we have a fucking amazing acting moment from Emerald where she’s laughing and smiling, then her face just falls. It’s so small and I couldn’t really get a good picture, but I will sell my soul to whoever can get a good gif of it. But this is Patsy remembering that she does have a “dark secret” and it could cost her everything but in a way, this would be Patsy having to decide between the two great loves of her life: Delia or her work.

Now we have Patsy at work with Mrs. Amos. She knows what’s up and is clearly trying to lighten the situation any way she can. She’s cheerful and smiling more than we’ve ever seen her smile on a regular house call, but she’s also being very attentive to how Mrs. Amos is acting, she doesn’t want to really let her know that she knows what’s up. She’s worried about her patient but is also clearly trying to judge how she’s feeling, because if she doesn’t like the gays, then Patsy could be in a difficult situation.

I love this moment, like so so much. Patsy is coming at this from her role as a caregiver but is being so smart with her wording and how she approaches this. She starts it with “my work, it’s about caring”. Not “I am”, this is because you can bet your bottom dollar that Patsy wouldn’t be here if not for her work. This is a difficult space and situation for her because a badly hidden reaction could cost her everything.

Then she makes sure that she lets Mrs. Amos know that she’s there for her, not just the baby, she cares about this mother and her situation and is there to help. I think it’s very telling how she doesn’t say anything in response to Mrs. Amos saying how she can’t be upset. Patsy knows that no matter what she says it would be insensitive or could be taken the wrong way, so she stays silent and carries on with her work.

This little line makes me so happy. Any discussion that she has with Mrs. Amos about this situation could hurt Patsy and she knows this. She knows that Mrs. Amos is holding onto a lot of anger and sadness and so she does what’s right as a caretaker and offers a shoulder and a sympathetic ear even though it could hurt her feelings and possibly her mental state. This is the core of who Patsy is. She’s a loyal friend who will put other’s needs before her own for those few people she lets in and it’s so touching and nice to see her letting Mrs. Amos in and giving her a safe place and person to talk to about all of this because we know Mrs. Amos won’t be able to talk to anyone else about all of this.

This lunch (dinner?) scene is delightful. Nonnatus is talking about the Amos’s and we get to see Patsy just stay quiet (most likely so she can not incriminate herself in any way) and not look anyone in the eye until Sister Monica Joan (who Patsy has some truly great moments with throughout the show) and Trixie stand up for Tony and the community. There are those small moments where you see something in Patsy’s eyes while they’re standing up for Tony that could be read as hope and it’s delicious to watch.

She literally puts her fork down and stops chewing while Sister Winnifred says all of this. This poor girl is so tired and already feels the weight of the world on her shoulders being in charge of the Amos baby, then she has to hear this sort of hate being spewed about LGBT people in her home with people that she has to live and work with.

Now we have the shitty neighbor lady yelling about the newspaper and we see Patsy get visibly anxious. The woman walks in and Patsy is still in her full posture, then she says something about secrets being out and Patsy seemingly shrinks just a little. Still, she automatically is watching Marie worried because at the end of the day she knows that she is in charge of her wellbeing, and this won’t be good for her physical or mental health, the first thing she does is move to help get Marie out of there.

This shot is everything. I love how they played into Emerald’s height to make it a fight for the power at this moment — she is taller than the frame and she’s physically looking down at this woman for 1. hurting Marie and 2. being a homophobic asshole. Not to mention, Patsy is someone with a lot of actual power and respect in the community. She’s a midwife, a nurse, and she’s in charge of the cubs, there is no way that she’s not known in the community and I love the way this woman looks surprised and taken aback that Patsy is standing up fro Marie and Tony because it’s her using her power to actually say what she’s been wanting to say this entire episode. And it’s clear that the way she says this line, she’s talking about herself just as much as she’s talking about Marie.

Just this look. I don’t have anything else to say... okay that’s a lie. her saying “small-mindedness has no place here” is just too good. This is as close as we get to Patsy snapping from all of this hate and bullshit and it’s done in a way that’s still respectable and is using her power for good. She then literally runs to go comfort Marie and it’s beautiful and she goes from being hard and laying down the law to soft and comforting (showing that soft underbelly and loyalty she has to the people she decides gets to see it.)

This is (as far as my knowledge) the only time we hear Patsy say any sort of formal identifier for the LGBT community. This is also just so good because I see this as Patsy doing a final test to see if she can truly trust Trixie. Trixie has been doing great this episode standing up for the LGBT community where Patsy cannot, but so far, it’s all be just talk. And we know from that first big Patsy episode that she truly believes that actions speak louder than words. the second Trixie says it’s not their battle to fight, you can visibly see Patsy put her walls up again.

She then argues “mother and baby first” when Trixie talks about the Rose Queen, bringing up her work (we are seeing a reoccurring theme this episode of Patsy having to seemingly choose between her love of her work versus her love for Delia). THEN we get Trixie asking (as sweetly as possible) why Patsy cares so much about this, giving Patsy a very clear opening to come out, but instead, we see Self-Preservation Pats come in and she shuts it down before going to bed and ending the conversation.

Patsy is called to the birth and we see the (very artfully done) “Queer” spray-painted across the door and goddamit she looks like she’s about to cry. Still, she powers through, walks into the house and gets to work. She has to ignore just how much this hurts her and has to focus on what she’s there to do.

When Marie tries to talk about the vandalism, Patsy stops that conversation before it even starts and stays in her work mode. If she let that conversation happen, it would have been hard for her to do what she needed to truly be there for Marie.

We get to see Patsy genuinely happy for the first time this entire episode when the baby is born and it’s just too good. This birth almost serves as a reminder for her that no matter what sort of hate is out there she’s good at her job and what she does brings actual joy — it’s a labor of love.

This is the first time Patsy gets to see Tony since all this insanity went down. She’s watching this entire interaction closely because she’s in the room with someone who has been living her worst nightmare of being found out then criminalized, but she’s also still there as a support for Marie. Then we get a close up of Patsy watching them worried, she knows that not everything is all fixed and happy, the Amos’s may never be the same as they were.

I love this. I love this so much. The very very small smile that Patsy gives Tony as he checks to make sure Marie is still able to do the Rose Queen is just true wlw/mlm solidarity and it’s perfect.

Then we see Tom give an excuse as to why they weren’t planning on having Marie there and we see Patsy’s face fall and she sighs. It’s a reminder to her that the community’s stance on people like her and Tony haven’t changed. She literally scowls at the homophobic ladies as they’re spewing hate and then everything changes as soon as Trixie starts talking.

This is the action that Patsy believes in. Trixie saying her beliefs about the LGBT community in Nonnatus when they’re surrounded by people they know and love is one thing, her standing up for Marie and Tony in front of the Popular community is a big deal, and we see Patsy smile and she’s trying to hold back her facial expressions because her best friend just stepped the fuck up to the plate and hit a home run.

Patsy going to hold Tony’s hand is again Patsy’s actions speaking louder than any words she could say. We don’t see her really say a lot to Tony, and we don’t see a lot of people touch Tony besides Marie, so this small moment is Patsy’s way of saying she’s here for him and the way he looks down at her hand says volumes. She’s not afraid to touch him and accept him, and that’s a big deal that Tony has been struggling with this entire episode.

Then we get the standing ovation, which is cheesy as hell, but so sweet.

Anywho,

ding dang that took a while, huge thank you to @ms-shady for requesting this one. This is a hard episode to get through just based on the subject matter, but goddamit it’s so satisfying to just watch the journey that Patsy goes through this episode. If you wanna see a breakdown lemme know!

#Call the Midwife #patsy mount #episode breakdown

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crackimagines · 5 years

Text

A Professor’s Daily Life (FE: Three Houses Short Fic)

Edit: PART 2 HERE!

Edit 2: SEQUEL HERE!

When we vomit about 40 flowers onto a student, fish for an unholy amount of time, and sprint faster than the speed of light across the Monastery, that’s normal to us because game shenanigans.

But, what does that look like to the students of the Blue Lions?

The bell rung, and the long day had finally ended.

The students of the Blue Lions were finished with a grueling week of lectures that neither they or the professor were excited to learn about, but had to regardless.

Now that it was over, everyone decided to group up and talk about what they were feeling.

“Jeez, I thought that would never end! I know this important to learn but...” Annette griped.

“I know, I was almost ready to pass out!” Ashe responded while tidying up his papers.

While everyone chimed in their two cents, Sylvain had a troubled look on him, which made Ingrid tap him on the shoulder.

“Sylvain, is something the matter?” she asked.

Everyone turned to him, and began tapping his chin.

“Ya know,” Sylvain said. “I’ve been thinking lately-”

“What, about girls?” Felix sarcastically asked, already rolling his eyes.

“No, actually. It’s about the professor. Something’s been bugging me about him.”

Dimitri shrugged and replied.

“Whatever it is, he was just as thrilled as us to discuss the topic, so I say give him a-”

“No, not that. That I get,” Sylvain interjected. “It’s about what he does.”

“Whatever do you mean by that?” Dedue asked.

“...Wait, you guys seriously don’t know what I’m talking about? I’m talking about how different he seems during lectures and his days off!”

“Um, I assumed that’s natural. He can’t be professional a hundred percent of the time. After all, even people like him need breaks!” Mercedes said.

“Well yeah, but...Does that mean none of you have ever seen him on a day off?”

Everyone looked at each other and shrugged.

They said the only times they really saw him during days off was when he personally went to talk to them, invite them to tea and lunch, or when they had a problem.

“What’s your problem with the professor?” Ingrid asked.

“You’re not making a lot of sense either, Sylvain,” Ashe added.

“I mean just like...how-gah forget it! Tomorrow’s a day off, right? I need you all to come with me!”

“Tch, to hell with that.” Felix said. “I need to be training, so-”

“Please! I know I sound crazy, but I can’t be the only one imagining this! You need to understand why it’s been plaguing me, I’M BEGGING YOU ALL!”

Sylvain was grabbing Felix’s collar shouting in desperation which made Felix shove him off.

“Ugh, fine! If it means you’ll shut up!”

The Next Morning...

The class had gathered around a small barricade of boxes, watching his personal quarters.

(Felix) “...This is so dumb.”

(Sylvain) “Quiet you, he should be getting up by now!”

(Ingrid) “...Um, just how much have you watched this routine?”

(Ashe) “Listen Sylvain, maybe we should just get you a cup of-

SLAM!

Everyone suddenly turned to his room, which he bolted out of, dashing at a full tilt sprint, faster than they’ve seen anyone in their life run.

They noticed the door had opened up on it’s own, and closed itself as well making everyone do a double take on what they had just witnessed.

(Dedue) “W-What was that...?!”

(Annette) “I think that was the professor!”

(Dimitri) “If it was, then that’s the fastest I’ve ever seen him run! I don’t think he goes that fast on the battlefield!”

(Felix) “Where the hell did he go?!”

(Mercedes) “I-I see his outline! It’s bolting towards the greenhouse!”

(Sylvain) “AFTER HIM!”

Everyone hopped over their barricade and began chasing after the professor, going to the side of the building, watching him with the greenhouse keeper.

(Keeper) “Hello, Profe-”

Byleth said nothing in response as he dumped flower seeds in front of her, alongside a pouch of about 3,000 gold.

Everyone’s eyes widened, seeing him nonchalantly throw money like that, much less at flowers.

It looked like she was about to say something else, but Byleth stepped back and pulled out a map of the academy.

(Ingrid) “...What is he-”

Fast Travel to this location? [YES] NO

Right before their eyes, he vanished into thin air.

(Ingrid) “-BY THE GODDESS!”

They all rushed in, looking for any sign of their professor.

(Mercedes) “U-Um...! Our professor isn’t a mage, right?”

(Dimitri) “N-Not at all! He’s a swordmaster!”

(Annette) “Then how did he just teleport?!”

(Sylvain) “SEE?! SEE?! THIS IS WHAT I WAS TALKING ABOUT!”

(Felix) “Why didn’t you tell us this sooner?!”

(Sylvain) “CAUSE YOU WOULDN’T HAVE BELIEVED ME!”

(Dedue) “Ma’am, do you know about this?”

“...”

The keeper was dead silent, not even moving an inch.

(Ashe) “T-That doesn’t matter! Where did he go?!”

They all went outside, looking for any sign of their now mystical professor.

(Sylvain) “I-I think I saw a blur just dash near the marketplace!”

They all sprinted towards the market, and saw him at the Batallion’s guild. He pulled out what seemed to be a measly 100 coins, and a wave of troopers appeared before him, and disappeared suddenly.

(Guildmaster) “Need any more refilled?”

(Everyone) “...”

(Dimitri) “Wait a second, THIS is how we get our battalions?!”

(Ingrid) “T-That can’t be right! From what I understand, our platoons must cost hundreds of thousands of gold to replace the manpower each time our forces replenish! How does he pay more for flowers than he does for our troopers?!”

“Greetings, Professor’s students!”

Everyone turned around to see the Gatekeeper waving at them with a smile.

(Gatekeeper) “What brings you all here?”

(Ashe) “Um, it’s about the professor! He-”

(Gatekeeper) “He’s just making his daily rounds is all. I heard you guys talking, well more like shouting really. You all seem so concerned of how much he spends on flowers and stuff.”

(Mercedes) “Y-Yes! It makes no sense how he pays that much versus how much he pays for mercenaries!”

(Gatekeeper) “Bah, that’s nothing! You should see him buy tea bags! He buys so much it amounts to 10,000 gold!”

Everyone’s jaw hit the floor.

(Everyone) “WHAT?!”

(Ashe) “...Oh my...T-Then all those times he’s bought me my favorite tea!”

They all realized that the Professor had only been buying them their favorite teas. Somehow catered each and every one of them despite them never bringing it up at any time.

(Sylvain) “Uh, b-before that! Do you know where he runs...er uh, as crazy as it sounds-”

(Gatekeeper) “Teleports to? Should be around...Ah right, Black Eagles class now.”

(Dimitri) “Wait a second, how do you know-”

(Felix) “He did it again!”

They all turned around, and he was nowhere to be seen.

(Dedue) “WITH ALL DUE HASTE!”

They all nodded and ran for the classrooms.

Once they finally reached it, they were running out of breath at that point.

Panting heavily, they desperately tried to find the Professor with him nowhere in sight.

(Sylvain) “D-Did he already-”

Without warning, Byleth materialized in front of them, making everyone scream.

Somehow not noticing them, he immediately dashed towards Dorothea who was standing out in the courtyard.

(Dorothea) “Oh, hello Professor! What can I-”

Before she finished that sentence, Byleth pulled out a massive bag, and dumped it over Dorothea, dozens and dozens of flowers and miscellaneous gifts showered her, feathers and coins and the such.

Everyone stood in awe, as Dorothea didn’t even flinch at it, keeping her smile up the entire time, saying “Thanks!” rapidly with each item hitting her hat.

(Byleth) “Hey, want to join my class?”

(Dorothea) “Sure thing, Professor! I look forward to it!”

(Everyone) “HUH?!”

Byleth turned around and finally noticed them, making everyone ready to jump out of pure terror with his blank stare.

He had his sights set on Dimitri and walked slowly towards him.

(Dimitri) “P-PROFESSOR! A-AHEM! Professor, what can I-”

Putting the massive bag on the ground, Byleth pulled out an item.

(Byleth) “Is this yours, Dimitri?”

Dimitri looked at the item, then at the bag, suddenly realizing it had swords, paintings, food, flowers, and literally any item you could name, it was in there.

(Dimitri) “N-No...! Professor why do you have-”

Not even bothering to respond, he ran away again at the speed of sound leaving them all in the dust.

(Mercedes) “Ah darn, here we go again...”

(Ingrid) “DON’T LET HIM GET AWAY!”

They all attempted to run after him again, but they were so out of breath that a few of them collapsed onto their knees, everyone stopping to make sure they didn’t puncture a lung.

(Felix) “How in... the hell... does he run so fast?!... And why doesn’t he do that during battles?!”

Mercedes gently patted Annette in the back while trying to not topple over herself.

(Mercedes) “T-There there, Annette...!”

(Annette) “So...tired!”

(Ashe) “A-Alright Sylvain, we believe you! I don’t think we can take much more of this!”

(Sylvain) “Right let’s...call it...a day!”

Everyone was about to leave until they noticed something.

(Dedue) “...Where is his highness and Ingrid?!”

They looked around, suddenly realizing the two were nowhere to be found.

(Mercedes) “Huh?! T-They were right behind us!”

Dining Hall...

(Dimitri) “Ugh...WHAT IN THE-”

(Ingrid) “How in the?! Where did every-”

They stopped talking when they realized Byleth was in front of them, holding a plate of food they enjoyed. They looked down and realized they had their plates as well, and noticed they were in the dining hall.

Deciding against freaking out, they both smiled.

(Dimitri) “A-Ah, thank you for the food.”

(Ingrid) “N-Nothing b-beats my favorite food!”

Once they smiled, they were suddenly transported back to the group, landing on top of each other.

(Ashe) “OH MY GOSH!”

(Felix) “What in the damned hell is going on?! Where did you two come fro-No! Where did you two even go?!”

(Sylvain) “Oh to hell with this! EVERYONE, WE’RE TAKING SHELTER IN THE CLASSROOM!”

Dedue picked up Dimitri while Mercedes and Annette helped Ingrid to the classroom, shutting their doors. Everyone took a deep breath, making sure everyone was accounted for.

(Sylvain) “I-I’ve never seen it affect people directly like that! Let’s j-just camp out here until night! He’s usually not active that time!”

(Mercedes) “...Goddess, please help us!”

The next day on the beginning of new lectures, Byleth noted that when he introduced Dorothea as their new classmate, they didn’t seem exactly surprised. In fact, they seemed fearful of him, somehow.

He didn’t really recall doing anything to freak them out.

#shitpost #fire emblem #fire emblem three houses imagines #fire emblem three houses #fire emblem three houses headcanons #byleth #blue lions #dimitri alexandre blaiddyd #felix hugo fraldarius #sylvain jose gautier #ashe duran #mercedes von martlitz #annette fantine dominique #ingrid brandol galatea #dedue molinaro #gatekeeper

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undertalethingies · 4 years

Text

Confessions

It was a normal conversation. They’d been talking about politics or sports or some book they’d read, and before they’d known it the topic had slid to their time in the Underground. Undyne was talking about their “fight” and how annoyed she’d been, when all they’d done was run away. She didn’t seem to notice how they’d gone quiet, which they supposed made sense, since they were always quiet.

“Hey punk, speaking of fights, who was hardest? Was it Asgore?” She asked it like she already knew the answer, and no one looked at Sans. Why would they? Frisk felt like laughing, but it wasn’t funny.

“OOOH, DARLING, WAS IT ME?” Mettaton proposed, posing dramatically as always. Again, no one looked at Sans. For a moment, they considered lying, giving some easy answer that wouldn’t raise questions, but the words just wouldn’t come.

“you ok there, kiddo? you don’t have to answer if it makes you uncomfortable,” Said Sans. Hearing the genuine compassion in his voice, they broke. Frisk began to giggle, then to laugh, tears running down their face.

“uh, i know i’m a pretty funny guy, but-” “It was you” Frisk said, their hysterics replaced with a burning desire to just end this damn charade already. They heard the other monsters in the room reacting with confusion, but their voices blended together until they all just sounded like the Amalgamates. Frisk was entirely focused on Sans. For a moment he just looked befuddled, like he didn’t know what they meant, before they saw the comprehension dawn across his face.

“oh jeez, kid. did i…?” Frisk looked at the floor. Clearly, he hadn’t put it together completely yet. They weren’t sure what he was thinking, but it was probably related to what he’d said in the restaurant. They needed to make him understand. Make him stop thinking they were as good and kind as their LV 1 would imply.

“It was in the Hall,” they said haltingly (hall-tingly, perhaps? They thought briefly that Chara might have appreciated that pun, before jerking abruptly back to reality). Looking around a bit, everyone but Sans seemed utterly baffled by the odd turn the talk had taken. It seemed prudent to explain.

“Toriel, do you remember how you knew I liked butterscotch, even before I told you? And Papyrus, do you remember how you thought we’d met before?” They saw the mentioned parties opening their mouths to answer, but they found themselves afraid that, if they stopped, they’d lose their nerve. Instead, they barreled forward with their explanation.

“Sans could probably explain the science of it better than me, but it was like… every time I felt “determined” I could create this… “SAVE point”, like in a video game” They paused, and took a breath, before continuing. “And when I died, I could go back. I didn’t use it for good,” they looked at their hands and didn’t need to wonder what they’d feel like covered in dust. “I- I didn’t mean to, the first time,”

“the first time?” asked Sans. Frisk didn’t look at him. They didn’t need to. Easy enough to tell what he was thinking about. They supposed that this was their last chance to back out. Their last chance to deflect or lie, preserve the illusion that they deserved any of this. They couldn’t RESET anymore, not without- The others deserved to know.

“The first time I- I killed someone, I mean. The first time was an accident. The rest... weren’t,” Frisk picked at their hands, a nervous habit Toriel was always admonishing them for. She didn’t say anything about it, this time. No one said anything. The whole room was waiting on their next words, waiting for them to justify what they’d done somehow, give some logical reason for their cruelty. At that thought, Frisk laughed. They laughed for a solid 30 seconds, holding their arms tight to their sides. As they calmed, still grinning, they said;

“I enjoyed it, you know. I was having the time of my life! How sick is that?” They giggled a bit more, “Toriel, I can’t believe you forgot it! I was so nice to you, through the whole battle, and then at the last second, right as you were about to spare me, that’s when I-!” Their grin is hurting their cheeks, but they just can’t stop! It’s just so funny! They tried to finish the sentence, but they couldn’t get it past their wide smile. It was okay, though. They could see, somewhere in her horrified face, that some part of her remembered what they’d done. They turned their gaze to Papyrus. “You tried to spare me, did you know that? You didn’t even want to fight! I just walked right up and slapped your head off! And then-” they gestured the movements violently, arms jabbing to and fro. At least one person flinched away. Good. “Then you said you still believed in me! That you thought I could do better! Like I was some sort of good person! Like I was redeemable, can you believe?” Their breath hitched, and they couldn’t figure out why. Wasn’t this right? Wasn’t this true? Wasn’t it all just so funny it made them want to choke? They didn’t get it!

“Haha… And Undyne, right? You remember that kid who kept following me?” They knew she did. They knew she was probably thinking of all of the terrible things they could have done to the kid, but have no fear, for Frisk was here! Here to finally expose what a shit person they were, once and for all. “Yeah, so that confrontation on the bridge went a little bit differently. Instead of them running away and almost falling off of a cliff, they tried to emulate what you would do!” They would grin, but they were already grinning. Pity. “So this idiot kid decides they’re going to try- get this, they decide they’re going to try to stop me!” Frisk stopped for a moment. Their smile dropped. They… weren’t proud, of what they’d done next. “...Bet you can guess how well I responded to that,” they said quietly.

“But Undyne you- you just had to play the hero, huh? You, uh. You didn’t let me hit them, but you didn’t stop me from delivering a hit in general, either,” How do you tell someone you’ve watched them turn to dust and die? Not like this, they were pretty sure. Oh well, too late now. “You took the hit yourself, instead. You should have died, kind of, immediately?” Neither Undyne nor Alphys looked very happy with that pronouncement. Undyne, though, appeared to have noticed something in what they’d said.

“...Should have? The hell does that mean?” Frisk took a deep breath, before looking up and allowing their own confusion to show on their face.

“It was super freaking weird!” They yelled, throwing their hands up in the air. “I have no idea what happened! You started, like, shivering? Like you were about to dust except anime happened instead???” Undyne was starting to look excited.

“Anime happened?” She prompted.

“Yeah! Some fucking- ‘this isn’t even my final form’ level anime bs happened! You had 5 digit health, your eye was shooting spears, it was crazy!” Frisk was getting into the heat of the explanation, now. Which was presumably why Undyne picked that moment to interrupt them.

“Wait. You said your hardest fight was with Sans. How the actual FUCK did he upstage that?!” Frisk smiled ruefully.

“Don’t fuck with Sans,” They said feelingly. “Anyway, after a long, grueling battle with you that ate up most of my healing items,” Papyrus screeched “I was victorious. It was extremely unsatisfying. I mean, all of that, and you just kind of… melted and turned to dust. I- I was almost happy, all the times you killed me, y’know?” Frisk laughed a little, “The killing stopped feeling good after Papyrus, but it started feeling bad after you,” They took a long breath in, and let it out as a sigh. “I mean, I’m a genocidal maniac, not a sadist,” Frisk pointed at Sans. “He might be, though! Not that I can really blame him!

“He was waiting for me in the Hall. He told me that if I took another step forward, I wasn’t going to like the- the consequences. Honestly, at that point, that was kind of a motivator,” Frisk could feel the silence. The way the whole room was hanging on their next words. It was less oppressive than it felt like it should have been.

“He asked me if I wanted to have a bad time. I did. He gave me one,” They said. “Sans is… really strong. I died in the first attack,” They look at their hands, and remember dust.

“When I came back, he said “that’s the expression of someone who’s died twice in a row.” and he… He said he knew. About how, no matter how many times he killed me, I’d just come back. What kind of person do you have to be? To- to know that, and do it anyway? To pit yourself against someone who’s literally impossible to defeat?” The answer is that you have to be a lot better than them. “And he just kept killing me. It took ten tries to beat Undyne. For Sans? It took me forty seven. And even then, I only won because I cheated and attacked twice in one turn! And I don’t even know if he actually died, because he went to fucking Grillby’s!” They laughed. It sounded choked.

“Then I went to the throne room, and Asgore died in one hit like a fucking bitch. It was so unsatisfying that I went back to fight Sans again. Eventually, I killed him again, and Asgore died like a bitch again, so I went back a third time, Sans called me out for being a sick fuck, and I decided to see what would happen If I spared him that time. Man, it was awesome. He just- fucking,” Frisk loved this memory, it was hilarious. “Murdered me? It was the funniest thing ever. Told me to ‘get dunked on’ whatever that means. Then he said, if we were really friends, I wouldn’t come back,” Frisk looked at Sans, and stood up. “Guess we weren’t, huh? Since I did come back, after that. Came back to the very beginning, right after I fell. Did it right that time,” They went to leave the room, but paused in the doorway.

“Now you know,” they said quietly, and left.

#undertale #undertale fanfiction #sans #frisk #undyne #toriel #papyrus #mettaton #asgore is probably there too #this is the second longest fic i've ever written #i wasn't going to post this but I didn't want to let that AU thing take over the blog so #confessions

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hellzyeahthewebwieldingavenger · 5 years

Text

Spider-Man: Far From Home Thoughts Part 3 a.k.a. Iron Man Junior: Far From Spider-Man

This will be the final part of this essay series and here I’m going to go through how this film holds up as an adaptation of the source material.

Shockingly the answer will be that it’s fucking awful.

I’ve already made what must be over a dozen posts about how terrible Far From Home is as an adaptation and representation of Spider-Man but screw it let’s go over it more!

Before I start to rant let me qualify something.

When you are adapting a character as famous, iconic and beloved as Spider-Man you don’t have to be a 1:1 translation of the source material. But you 100% do have to respect the spirit of the source material as much as practicality will allow. You have to respect the essential ideas, original intention and core themes and concepts underpinning the character and his world.

That is the root of my objections in this post and so many others.

Homecoming and Far From Home misunderstand Spider-Man on a fundamental level. Or worse they do understand him and actively chose to ignore what he’s about, what he represents.

He’s all about great power and great responsibility within the context of being a relatively relatable Average Joe.

This isn’t making him an everyman the way Bilbo Baggins or Luke Skywalker are. For Spider-Man he has to much more accurately reflect the average person and the world the average person lives in. He has to live in a real city, he has to worry about bills, laundry, studies, getting a job, holding a job, maintaining friendships and romantic relationships. He just has to be Spider-Man ON TOP of that and that must clash with his normal life. Being Spider-Man is one more additional responsibility he must juggle.

Before I rip this film to shreds for so aggressively NOT doing that let me get a few scant positives out of the way.

First of all the action scenes were not just generally improved from Homecoming, but honestly felt more like Spider-Man. I could easily see the way Peter and Mysterio attacked, defended, countered, etc, being something from the comics. Particular praise must go to the Berlin action sequence.

For many years Spider-Man fans have understandably claimed that Mysterio would be the perfect villain for the big screen due to his skill set being about generating great visuals. And we were right because we get not just a classic Mysterio action sequence in Berlin but outright one of the all time best ones from any version of Spider-Man. The film even drops us some appreciated fan service, firstly by putting Peter in his red and blue costume so it feels like the comic come to life and secondly via the giant Mysterio hand ripped straight out of ASM #66-67. The snow globe sequence in particular, if it wasn’t from a comic (and off the top of my head I can’t recall it being so) was simply inspired.

Equally Mysterio’s look was a different yet ultimately brilliant realization of the comic book. To an extent Mysterio is also a spiritually faithful rendition of the comic book character. In the comics he was a special effects master, stuntman and failed actor who craved fame and was frustrated by the lack of recognition he got.

In the movie he created highly realistic holographic technology, was frustrated by it’s small scale use, the lack of recognition he got for it and with a whole crew of helpers fabricated his Mysterio identity in the hopes of becoming the most famous superhero in the world, although he was himself rarely in the costume.

Traditionally Mysterio is a practical effects guy and this makes the most sense given how he physically fights Spider-Man, but the updating of that to holographic technology is fine and dandy because CGI has, for better or worse, supplanted practical effects. Even in the 1994 cartoon when that wasn’t the case the showmakers gave Mysterio holographic tech.

Him not being a stuntman is more of a mixed bag. On the one hand being a stuntman is what enables him to sort of fight Spider-Man himself, but on the other hand outside of his debut Mysterio’s usually been more effective when not physically fighting people but rather tricking them and manipulating them. So if you are focussing more on that aspect of the character dropping the stuntman angle is fine.

In fact one of the two things (and we will talk more about the other later) which does spiritually undermine this version of Mysterio is his lack of explicit connection to Hollywood. However he is still an actor just not a professional actor in the film or TV industry. And a great actor at that as he is so capable of fooling everyone.

We might also argue that having a crew of helpers undermined Mysterio’s independence and intelligence, but I think it works for the movie fro 2 reasons. First of all in a movie for general audiences suspension of disbelief doesn’t stretch as far so savant characters are less acceptable. Mysterio is 100% a savant. He’s a skilled actor, stuntman, manipulator and technician who knows holographic technology, robotics and all manner of things like that. In the movies you could maybe buy someone having a grasp of the purely technical side of things, but even Tony Stark wasn’t an expert on biology or chemistry, maybe he knew enough to get by but remember he needed to read up on stuff in Avengers 2012.

By giving Mysterio a group supporting him it makes it more believable that this villain is capable of all these things. More poignantly, and you can see this especially when they were ‘rehearsing’ for the London attack, it renders Beck something of a director, thus subtextually giving him yet more connection to the world of film. Again it’s just a shame this was not more explicit and instead his abilities and motives stem from...well we will get there.

On a final note Mysterio can in truth be one of the creepier Spider-Man villains and you don’t really get that vibe outside of the Berlin fight scene (and even then only a little bit). I think that’s fine as he was still manipulative which is one of Mysterio’s better skills in the comics.

So there is a lot this version of Mysterio has going for him, he’s faithful in the idea but not in certain details. Unfortunately those details sink this take.

Other positives include the set up of Chameleon as the stoic and silent agent Dmitri within SHIELD. This will not only pay off in MCU Spider-Man 3 but will is also a great example of irony and foreshadowing. Chameleon was introduced as a saboteur and enemy agent so him being a mole within SHIELD lends itself well to his character and the fact that he is an imposter amidst imposters (the Skrulls) is deliciously ironic.

Also this movie gave us the best version of Ned and Betty’s relationship ever because no one died or got cheated on. Finally I liked Aunt May running a homeless shelter. It gives her something to do and is a very fitting role for her.

I want to go back to Mysterio for a moment though as this isn’t really a positive or a negative of his character.

He’s a very tricky character to adapt. In his debut he is pretends to be a powerful new superhero who wants to bring down Spider-Man whom he’s obviously framed.

In a movie I can understand how framing Spider-Man might not sustain a 2+ hour movie.* However the bigger question to ask is whether or not you bother with having Mysterio framed as a hero or not.

In the 90s it was easier as Spider-Man and his mythos wasn’t so prevalent so people simply know a lot of stuff via osmosis, and in the Spectacular Spider-Man cartoon the showmakers simply present him as a criminal off the bat.

If you do go with him pretending to be a hero it’s tricky to pull off without feeling like you are going through the motions.

All of which is me saying the movie is faithful to the comics in presenting Mysterio as initially pretending t be a hero but I don’t know how good of an idea that is. I don’t know anyone who walked into the movie not knowing he was the bad guy.

That’s about it for positives.

So...FUCK THIS MOVIE!

Once again in this Spider-Man movie everything revolves around Iron Man.

I’ve written in posts past how this undermines Spider-Man’s agency simply as a character in a movie but as far as adaptations go this is beyond insulting.

Spider-Man was in part created to be an independent superhero. In part created to literally NOT have the kind of relationship he has with Iron Man in this movie.

I cannot describe how much of a fundamental misunderstanding of Spider-Man’s character it is to have Iron Man be utterly integral to who everything about him.

He’s so goddam integral that Peter’s alleged character arc in this movie is about becoming him (in the most obnoxious of ways too, see Part 2) and he is the wellspring from which 99% of this movie springs from even though he’s fucking dead. I mean my god the plot device everyone is after is Tony Stark’s glasses!

Spider-Man doesn’t get to be his own man even when Iron Man is literally not alive!

Shit even Mysterio is motivated and built to be a dark reflection of Iron Man. And this kills his character not just because it denies him independence because it makes his ambitions entirely too big scale to work as a Spider-Man villain. His motivation is to gain access to Tony’s magic glasses. At least Vulture with a tweak could have worked as a regular Spider-Man villain. He had the working class down to Earth and relatable ambitions and lifestyle down. Mysterio is doing everything to both spite Tony and become him.

Jesus, even Iron Man’s dead weight and most irrelevant supporting character Happy Hogan is not just in this movie but plot relevant...for the second movie in a row! He’s even dating Spider-Man’ aunt. At this point given how she’s never even mentioned him is Uncle Ben even dead in this universe or did he just run off with a somehow even sexier 50 year old?

Oh...and let’s talk about Uncle Ben, whom I was naive enough to think was going to be referenced when that gravestone appeared but noooooope, fucking Iron Man again.

From Endgame onwards disgusting posts and articles were written about how Iron Man’s death now truly makes him MCU’s Uncle Ben. Because you see he was Peter’s father figure and he died...so that’s the same thing. Nevermind that he didn’t die because Peter was inactive and selfish, or the fact that his death didn’t widow his aunt, or anything like that. Shit Peter doesn’t even seem that upset about it beyond 1 or 2 scenes. And yet that’s one or two scenes more than we’ve ever seen Uncle Ben get referenced. Think about that we’ve seen Iron Man mourned more than Uncle Ben in a SPIDER-MAN movie!

We see that more than we see Aunt May even. Aunt May is just there in the MCU movies which is not just a waste of Tomei as a talented actress but it is again insulting as an adaptation. Even in Spider-Man 3 and ASM2 she had more to do and delivered a good scene or two. In these movies she’s eye candy and nothing more. She is more relevant as a punch line about how men are attracted to her than as her own character.

And now that we are on the subject of supporting characters, I talk about this more in other posts, but Michelle is so bad. The romance comes out of nowhere there is no justification given for their respective feelings for one another and to say she’s not Mary Jane would be redundant.

She fails to be anything like Mary Jane on any level beyond her nickname. This is not okay for several reasons. Among them is the fact that the Spider-man movies have had a problematic habit of treating the love interests as interchangeable characters as opposed to being their own distinct characters. Worse we’re screwing up Mary Jane not only a second time on film but worse than before. This is the Lois Lane of the Spider-Man mythos, she’s an iconic beloved character integral to the over all story of Spider-Man. And we’re treating her as so insignificant as to able to present an OC with her initials and claim that’s good enough.

As for the other supporting characters they continue to be broken. Like how the fuck did Betty Brant wind up the relatively most faithful character? Ned is just a repurposed Ganke except now they’re writing him as a lame Disney Channel sidekick character so he’s not even got the depth of comic book Ganke and Flash...oh Flash. He’s not just irrelevant to the movie, he’s not even really a bully in this film. He’s just a preppy docuchebag no one takes seriously and in fact gets treated as the butt monkey on more than one occasion. The only redeemable moments for his character were when he sang Spider-Man’s praises and was stoked that Spidey follows his social media channel.

All the characters feel like shallow attempts to make Spider-Man ‘about youth’ which as I’ve said countless times in the past, he provably isn’t about and never was. But this film not only continues to lean on that misinterpretation but lean harder on it. Like the premise of this movie is literally about Spider-Man trying to enjoy his summer vacation and school field trip.

But the film fucks up Spider-Man’s defining values in so many other ways.

Of course there is the blip.

People were so hype for Spider-Man to be in the MCU but hindsight is painful because that fact just hurt Spider-Man movies on a fundamental level.

In Marvel comics, we never know for sure if any of Spider-Man’s friends or family died in the Infinity Gauntlet and no one remembered it happening anyway. It also didn’t happen in a Spider-Man story so it could be safely ignored as is the nature of a shared universe.

But in the movies Far From Home acting as MCU Chapter 23 creates an ongoing problem for these Spider-Man movies. The fact that Spider-Man and everyone he knows died and came back but also there were some people who are five years older than him now creates a fundamental dissonance undermining the more grounded, relatable angle of his character. The only solution of which is to simply wilfully ignore the elephant in the room that represents that dissonance. In short these Spider-Man movies would’ve been better off not being connected to the MCU or at least being on it’s fringes.

This applies to even the post credits scene of the movie as now in our movies that are supposed to be about the grounded and relatable hero we have fucking aliens! And they were there the whole time. The movie even gleefully plants its flag in rejection of the idea of having a more grounded Spider-Man by saying Spider-Man ISN’T a friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man by virtue of having gone to space. I was okay with that in Infinity War as that was not a Spider-Man movie but by actively rejecting that idea in this movie it showcases how the film makers treat Spider-Man as a more generic hero who can be anything and everything...and therefore nothing. There are no definitions to the type of things he will get involved with.

You might counter outside of the opening school scenes and post-credit sequence the alien involvement isn’t that much of a problem because all the interdimensional and alien stuff wasn’t real in the movie.

But that leads us to the next problem. Spider-Man as a globetrotting super spy agent. Again...this is not Spider-Man. Spider-Man is more domestic, more down to Earth and sans space travel there is nothing less grounded and down to Earth that globetrotting and secret agents. There is a reason James Bond is indulgent escapism!

Worse the spy stuff essentially hijacks the movie, it’s not even something that flows out from Peter’s character or world, it comes out of nowhere to appropriate his story.

Speaking of which...SHIELD have to hijack Spider-Man because...Spider-Man doesn’t want to get involved...

...what?...

I will repeat that.

Spider-Man, the character defined by a low level burglar he chose not to stop who then killed his uncle thus teaching him that having super powers gives him a responsibility to use it to help others...chooses to not help out against giant elemental monsters threatening all life on Earth...because he wants to enjoy his vacation...

...words simply cannot do justice to how beyond broken that is as an interpretation of Spider-Man.

This isn’t even a case of he quits because being a hero has taken such a toll on him and he’s had a wobble.

This is him still deciding to be Spider-Man but actively tries to avoid it because he wants to have fun for an extended period of time. MAYBE that’s okay. MAYBE him deciding to not take his suit along on vacation could be justified and in character.

But when presented the means to be Spider-Man and a major crisis that requires his help (it isn’t like there is a small group of equally or more powerful heroes to cover for him) for him to simply reject it, to have to be forced into helping and when he reluctantly does only doing the bare minimum until he realizes people he cares about are in danger...no.

Just no, whoever was responsible for that characterization you should not be allowed to write for Spider-Man.

It’s not even consistent with Homecoming’s already misinterpreted version of Peter Parker. In Homecoming Peter was screwed up because his intervention made everything worse near 100% of the time but even that’s better than presenting Peter as choosing to not intervene at all for purely selfish and unsympathetic reasons. And to rub it in our faces when he does choose to intervene he does it with more high tech Stark crap. No him making the suit himself doesn’t make it okay, Spider-Man shouldn’t be using technology from other people like that nor consistently having access to such high-tech. It goes against the idea of him being independent and of being grounded.

The Stark tech crap is also relevant to what is a major contender for the single worst scene of any Spider-Man film to date. The drone strike on a bus.

In this movie about the superhero who’s supposed to be relatable and like us, Joe Average, we have a scene where he uses a pair of high tech bequeathed to him by his dead superhero father figure accidentally to launch an orbital drone strike on a fellow school student on his bus because he’s about to ruin his chances with hooking up with a girl. Then he has to engage in wacky hijinks to save the kid and everyone else.

Do I need to say more about that scene? To call it jumping a shark would be an insult to other shark jumping moments. It shatters the verisimilitude of the movie maybe even more than the blip.

Let’s switch back to Peter’s personality in this movie. I’ve already talked a lot about it in prior posts but I do have two more things to point out.

The first of these is that we have less quips than in prior Spider-Man movies. And I don’t just mean the most recent ones I mean of any of the movies going back to 2002. And by less I mean 0. Spider-Man NEVER quips or jokes in this movie. Ever. It’s like they’ve grown to understand Spider-Man even less than in the last movie!

The second and more significant is how stupid Peter is when it comes to his secret identity. In the comics Spider-Man is famously secretive about his identity, to the point where it’s almost paranoid.

Here though he isn’t concerned about SHIELD or random SHEILD agents knowing who he is, or Mysterio, or everyone in a bar or anyone looking at the bridge in London where he unmaskes makes out (awkwardly) with Michelle.

The movie pretends like it cares about this aspect of his character by having Peter point out if he goes out as Spider-Man abroad people will deduce it’s him.

Not only is this an attempt by him to weasel out of hero duties but it’s moot because Betty immediately figures it out (leading to the cringe Night Monkey gag which doesn’t even make sense since monkeys don’t crawl on walls or shoot webs!), Michelle figures it out and Peter was cavalier with his identity before and after that scene.

All culminating in just everyone knowing his identity which like in the comics fundamentally fucks up the idea of him as the everyman even more. Forget space aliens and spy shit now he’s a celebrity. Celebrities are the exact opposite of the everyman, that’s why they’re friggin celebrities!

Big take away from this movie as an adaptation?

It was fucking insulting for it to have been dedicated to Lee and Ditko.

Fuck this movie. Fuck this direction for Spider-Man. Fuck Marvel for ruining Spider-Man again.

*That being said I did once hear a brilliant pitch for Spider-Man 4 wherein Mysterio frames Spider-Man and the police call in aid from Kraven the Hunter to catch him.

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aesthyuckic · 5 years

Text

AVENOIR | l.dh - QUINQUE

(gif not mine - credits to rightful owner)

Genre: High School AU (at beginning) ; Tarot Reader!Witch!Hyuck

Word Count: 2.4k

Warnings: (for future chapters will bold if in use) belief contradictions, mentions of r*pe, blood, swearing, violence, mentions of abuse, slow but with a purpose

Pairings: Lee Donghyuck (Haechan) x Reader (F)

VII OF SWORDS IN REVERSE - turn a new leaf, desire to reform, desire to change

The sky outside of the diner was a royal blue color as the sun slowly approached the horizon. It was early and the two had been awake all night, walking to the city. Sitting in the greasy diner was really the only rest that they experienced that night. Donghyuck felt exhausted. He felt exhausted all the time but not quite in the way he was currently. He never craved sleep so badly before.

“Ask me a question about your life.” Cosimia said as she leaned back in the white booth.

“Okay,” He mumbled, ignoring how strange the request was while he rubbed his heavy eyes. “When the fuck will I get to sleep?”

“On the bus,” She sighed. “And I’m being serious!”

“So am I.”

The bus wasn’t going to be there anytime soon which made the boy pout while he suppressed a whine in throat. While he hated long drives because of how numb his butt got, he couldn’t wait to get on that twelve bus drive even though he doubted he’d sleep that long. He felt somewhat on edge being there in plain sight while his friends and family looked for him. They should’ve left already...

The girl across from him let out a sigh before she abruptly put a small, black box on the table in front of them. He noticed the top had gold engravings on it that sparkled in the nice so beautifully that it was hypnotizing to look at. She took the lid off with ease which revealed sleek cards, just as black in the box covered in gold engravings as well. She put the lid to the side before she examined his reaction to the object. He was too busy staring at the pretty, gold drawings that caught his eye until he felt her eyes on him.

“Are those tarot cards?” He asked, finally looking up at her.

She nodded. She reached over and pulled the cards out of the box and put them in front of her on the table. They smelled brand new to him. He just wanted to stare at the sparkling gold on the simple black cards all day long.

“There’s so many different types of reading...” She mumbled, more to herself than Donghyuck. “Let’s do self-assessment.”

She picked up the cards and began to shuffle them. She struggled at it judging by the neat pile turning into a heaping mess of cards all over the place on the table. She wasn’t very good at shuffled which for some reason brought a small smile to his face.

“I need you to ask a question in order for the spirits to provide me with information about your current path.” She said.

“You believe in all that sort of stuff, don’t you?” He asked as he crossed his arms and leaning back, a small smile on his face because of how naïve she was. “Tarot cards, zodiac signs, ghosts, crystals having energies... Stuff like that.”

“Yes,” She admitted. “Don’t you ever get scared at the accuracy of tarot sometimes? Or just the dreams and feelings of something happening and then it happening? Things like that, you must get scared by because it happens too many times to be coincidences... Crystals do have energy, it’s actually what technology depends on and zodiac signs are more real than you’d think. It’s not just your sign, you have a whole natal chart that makes up you. I know you’re a leo moon so you’re very affectionate towards your friends and family, also very creative and childish but need attention, badly.”

“H-how do you know that?”

“All I need to know is your birthday for the most part. You were born on a day where the moon changed but I doubt you’re a cancer moon, I’ve seen how cuddly you are with your friends and you were always trying to make sure the spot light remained on you.”

He hated it. He hated the words that came out of her mouth and how accurate they were. He understood what it was like to be scared by accuracy of mysterious things. He didn’t expect something so unlogical to sound so logical when she said it. He hated how smart she was. He always liked to win in agreements and get the last word in. He frowned about it to which she smiled as she picked three cards that stood out in the pile.

“Now, question.” She demanded.

He huffed, “I don’t know, just give me the regular?

She rolled his eyes at him as she began to set the cards face down on the table. She put the rest back in the box which sat to the side. He found a gold drawing of an eye with the tarot suits staring back at him. There were little drawings of stars in each corner as well.

“Past,” She started by pointing at the card to her right. “Present and future.”

Cosimia flipped the cards over one by one until they revealed new drawings to him. He saw little words in gold print at the bottoms of each of them.

High Priestess, reversed, Ace of Cups and III of Wands.

“What do they mean?” He asked, looking up at her only to realize how minimal the space has become between them due to his eagerness to know.

Her eyes seemed to go gold even in the bad lighting of the restaurant. He noticed her breathing had become slightly irregular as well, her eyes darting everywhere trying to find exactly what to land at it. She just smiled while blinking a few times before she turned her attention back to the cards below them. There was no blush on her cheeks like he’d expect or sweat. She looked more startled than nervous because of him

“The High Priestess,” She jumped right into the reading, not a sign of unease like previously. “In reverse, she stands for lack of center, lost inner voice and repressed feelings. She wanted you to listen to yourself and voice your problems with what you want and don’t want. You silenced her for too long when it came decisions and staying true to yourself. Present, Ace of Cups represents new love, overflowing feelings and creativity. It symbolizes new beginnings and the start of emotion fulfillment. It’s a good time to open your heart to people and a time to unleash ideas you have. Lastly, for future, Three of Wands is about looking ahead, expansion and rapid growth. It quite literally embodies future as a card... It stands for the transformation of your dreams into a reality. Look forward and despite any obstacles, be dedicated to getting what you want and go at any length you must.”

Donghyuck’s breath hitched in his throat at the accuracy of the past card. He was unsure of the present and future one but didn’t like the sound of new love or the thought of overflowing feelings. He had never actually liked anyone or experience the roller coaster of feelings it had attached to it. Frankly, he wasn’t ready for any of that from how he’d seen his friends go through. He simply just nodded in response to Cosimia’s reading as he leaned back in his chair, slowly.

“Do you like to give these readings to people?” He asked in a small voice while he stared intently at the black and gold tarot cards that still laid in front him.

“Not exactly,” She shook her head as she slipped the cards back into the box before she closed it and slid it across the table to him. “They’re for you anyway, you’ll be good at them.”

“I don’t know how to read these things!” He frowned.

“There’s a little book at the bottom that tells you how to read them and I know you don’t know why I gave them to you, but you’ll need them.”

“I really don’t think I’ll ever use them but thank you for thinking of me... I guess...”

“Don’t be so bitchy about it. You’ll be using them in San Diego so we can get money to live on while we’re down there.”

“Excuse me? And what will you be doing to get our money?”

He hated the idea of work considering that was one of the reasons he decided to tag along with her in the runaway. In the least, he couldn’t be disappointed in it since they needed some way to get money. She had smiled at him from across the table as still air surrounded them. The only sounds being the humming of refrigerators and cup of coffee or two, hitting the counter.

She laced her fingers together on the table before she leaned forward. The lack of space between her and Donghyuck had made him internally panic. The eeriness of it all didn’t help either. Wasn’t she the one that didn’t like this situation earlier? She chuckled after she finally leaned back.

“You’re scared of me.” She mumbled.

“No, that’s not it!” He was quick to exclaim. “You’re just creepy... That’s all...”

Not to mention how she made him feel made him act differently than he usually would... He didn’t quite understand why his stomach ached, but in a good way, oddly, whenever she was around. Or how he wanted to turn into an different person whenever she was in sight... It was all new to him and he had no idea why it was just her and why then in his entire life.

“We give off that vibe sometimes,” She shrugged. “People are scared of the unknown and what they can’t exactly understand.”

“We?” He questioned.

“We psychics,” She answered. “Didn’t you want to know how I know we’ll be okay back at the beach?”

He bursted out laughing in the diner. He laughed so hard he almost fell out of his chair and onto the grimy floor of the place. To be completely honest, he laughed more out of fear and in hope that she was joking. She never said ‘sike’ though. He guessed it was good that it sounded like regular laughter rather than nervous laughter. The outburst had pissed off the half asleep customers that had just come in to start their days.

“What’s so funny?” She asked.

“Psychics aren’t real!” He shook his head with a panicked grin on his face. “No one can talk to the dead. The dead are just, well, dead!”

“I’m the type that can predict the future.” She informed him.

“That’s even less real! No one can know the future, it’s so unpredictable! Faith is nothing but a myth.”

“Free will is nothing but an illusion.”

Silence followed her words as the two just stared at each other from across. The customers found euphoria in the tranquility while things so small to them went on. It was clear they were both passionate, perhaps the moon they shared was at fault.

“Listen,” She sighed. “You don’t have to believe what I believe-“

“I believe you’re crazy and stupid.” He interrupted.

“And I believe you’re a bitch that has relationship issues,” She snapped. “It seems like you’re getting more comfortable with me, that’s good.”

Donghyuck remained quiet for once as he couldn’t find the words to respond. She was right about him having relationship issues that he needed to work out. He always tended to torment those close to him with how annoying he always was. Also, would cling to them the next moment which confused everyone. A very hot-and-cold personality. He didn’t like the fact that Cosimia could see that like no one else. He was scared of her because of this...

Her mood changed constantly, which made it seem like she had multiple side to herself. He wondered if her snap was because of sleep deprivation because it wasn’t like her. Maybe even the thing he had said was due to his irritability. Or even better yet, he was just hallucinating because of his sleep deprivation.

The sound of metal hitting the table had caught his attention and dragged him out of his mind. He noticed Cosimia standing up and paying for the cups of coffee she had been drinking all night. She dropped something on the table in front of the boy. He picked up the thing she dropped and look at it. It appeared to be an ID, more specially, a college ID. It had his face on it put with a different name. It looked so authentic but it was obviously a fake. He looked up at the girl.

“We’re dead, remember?” She tsked. “Let’s go, the bus is coming soon.”

He nodded before grabbing his own bag. As the walked out, he couldn’t stop staring at the name on the ID he held.

Peter Lee.

There’s no way she could’ve known his English name was Peter. He felt a random set of chills run down his spin which he ignored. He shoved the ID in his pocket and continued to follow closely behind the girl.

The bus was already at the station when they arrived. They rushed to get on, checking the IDs and tickets as the few passangers got on. He was shocked that checker hadn’t recognized him. He wouldn’t doubt their faces being all over the news right now. It was nice to be oblivious to the chaos you created in order to live in tranquility.

It was quiet on the bus because of how early it was and how many people got on due to the time. The sky had turned into a purplish-gray color that marked dawn. Donghyuck’s eyes felt heavier than before as he watched the scenery through his window. He hadn’t noticed himself subconsciously rest his head on Cosimia’s shoulder. He felt her flinch and her shoulder disappear from under his head. When he looked at her, he noticed she looked rather terrified at the action.

“Sorry,” He coughed. “The window is not very comfortable. Can I rest my head on your shoulder, please?”

“Sure.” She breathed.

She sat back in her original position, slowly. It didn’t take him long to go back to resting his head on her shoulder in hope of sleep. Though, he could feel how tense she was and noticed she was holding her breath. He opened his eyes and saw her hands gripping the handles of the seats so hard the color disappeared from her knuckles.

She broke.

“I have to go to the bathroom.” She told him as she shot up from her seat.

She rushed down the narrow isle. He watched as she stumbled into the back and into the bathroom. He leaned back once she shut the door behind her. He sighed at the situation. He began to wonder about what had just happened. Was it something he did? What even was that?

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ayakashibackstreet · 4 years

Note

for the oc ask: Angus: 5, 9, 36, 74, Lea: 22, 43, 54, 78, Venicus: 31, 40, 53, 83 (also all of your ocs have very pretty names!)

93 fun OC asks because why not

Ahhh, thank you so so much, Nonnie!!

Angus:

5.What’s their relationship with their parents like? What about otherrelatives?

Angus is a family man and he’s always had a great relationship with his parents. He’d be willing to sacrifice a lot for both them, his grandma and his older sister – Lamair. He’s lived with them all the way up until the story proper begins and he’s supported them near unconditionally. Sure, his sister might snark at him, his dad might expect just a bit too much and his mum might have a tendency to overreact – it doesn’t matter, he loves them dearly and there isn’t anything that could change that.

9.What is their favorite color? Favorite animal?

He’s the kind of guy who tends to stick to mostly grays when it comes to his clothing – however, it doesn’t mean he doesn’t like other colours, too. He really likes green and yellow in particular – they put him at ease and go nicely together. He’s got an eye for colours, even though people might not notice that about him.

Animal-wise, he loves birds of all kinds – from sparrows through flamingos all the way up to eagles. He finds them inspiring as well as funny – few things in life are as amusing as watching parrot videos. He domesticated a swallow when he was a kid – he was a feral child, as well as good with animals. Other than birds, he really likes dogs and he’d love to have one as a pet at some point.

36.What is their sense of humor like? Give an example of a joke theywould find humorous.

He’s mostly keen on situational as well as physical humour – notso much in media, moreso in real life. It’s the small things,mostly stemming from absent-mindedness; putting milk in the kitchencupboard instead of the fridge and not realising it is just reallyamusing to him. Bumping into a glass door? Hilarious!… so long asit wasn’t too painful. He’s also fond of funny animal videos;he’s the kind of guy who immediately wants to show them to hisfriends.

Also, Axciss’ face when he’s trying really hard to hide hisamusement is hilarious, second to none, hands down.

74.What weather is their favorite? Do they like storms?

He was always a fan of sunny weather but since the summers started to get hotter and hotter, he really started appreciating rain, too. Still, nothing beats a cup of coffee in the early morning as his face is gently warmed up by the sun. Morning jogs are also the best in the sun, so that’s a plus, too – rain makes him feel more lazy, so he prefers it when it rains in the evening if anything.

Storms are fine – he’s not a big fan but he can appreciate how fresh the air is afterwards. Despite being a pretty tough guy overall, an especially aggressive storm can actually make him a bit jumpy. The moment the thunder gets too loud, he’s not up for watching the lightning anymore. Also, he’d rather die than be outside during a storm, so there’s that.

Lea:

22.What is their least favorite thing about their personality?

While she generally considers it a strength, the bubbly side of her personality can be a real toughie for her to truly accept. She overall likes it, sure, but the moment someone seems even slightly annoyed with her, she immediately begins to despise it. Despite being people-savvy, it can be very hard for her to contain her excitement and it doesn’t always go over well with others – as she really needs others’ acceptance, it’s very difficult for her at times.

She also doesn’t think very highly of her own intelligence – she admires people who are more analytical in their approach to things and tends to overlook her knowledge in different fields because of that. She’ll frequently call herself stupid and seems surprised when her friends jump to her defense.

43.What is their least favorite thing about their physical appearance?

Her relationship to her appearance shifts a bit over the course of the story, actually! I don’t think there is a feature she’d single out as the worst one when it comes to her appearance – she finds everything perfectly average, which is exactly the problem she sees with it. Amongst all those beautiful, cute and/or unique-looking people, she’s just… Lea. She’s always wished to be more than that – in particular, she’s always wanted to see herself – and for others to see her – as cute and pretty.

Well, as the story goes on, she actually gains a whole lot confidence in that regard! Nowadays, I don’t think she finds anything about herself extraordinary either way, but she still sees herself as very cute and she grows to like her looks quite a bit! So while she still doesn’t single anything out, it’s because everything is just right.

54.What is their current hairstyle? What have been some of their pasthairstyles? Which was their favorite hairstyle?

Lea doesn’t experiment too much with her hair, mostly keeping it in her usual curly bob or a cute fro – she always decorates with cute littly bows, however, and she changes those on daily bases. She has a whole collection of them, she is going to use them and that’s final. Back in the day she also tried out braiding her hair but she decided she’s not a fan of it, not on herself anyway. Sometimes, if she gets bored, she might put her hair up in two buns, but that’s pretty rare for her – while she likes the look just fine, she prefers just keeping it simple.

78.Who do they consider to be their best friend?

That’s easy – that’d definitely be her girlfriend, Estela! (who’s @aceteling’s OC btw)

They met on the Internet and they’ve been online friends since. They started out just sharing memes with each other, gradually working their way up to sharing their daily struggles. Estela’s the one who’s affected her life the most, she’s someone Lea’s admired for a long time now and she finds herself incredibly lucky to have such an amazing friend, as well as a partner.

Venicus:

31.Does this character ever put somebody else’s needs before theirown? Who do they do this for? How often do they do this?

Veni is, in a way, pretty selfish and he hardly ever puts others’ needs before his own. To be fair, that’s a result of the environment he was stuck in – he basically didn’t have anyone to look out for, so he’s not used to considering their needs as much. Still, when the need arose to protect his guardian, Avaxius, he did it without too much thought, as if acting on pure instinct. If Venicus gets attached to you (admittedly a chore to accomplish that), he’ll be willing to put his life on the line, as he desperately doesn’t want to lose anyone anymore.

Avi aside, Veni’s very protective of Shion (again, @aceteling’s OC!) and this is where his ability to read people truly shines – he can tell if they don’t tell him how they really feel, which is oftentimes the case with Shion. He can put his own needs aside, every now and then, for just a moment, to try to talk sense into them. He’s pretty good at telling what people need and if it’s Shion, he will most likely even take that into consideration.

40.Who do they trust most? Is that trust mutual?

He’s a dumbass boy and the oneperson he trusted the most throughout most of his life was Avaxius –he literally would trust the demon he was contracted to with his verylife. The years they spent together made them both trust each othernear completely, even if they bickered quite a lot.

After Avi’s death, the one personVeni actually trusts is Shion. He doesn’t put much trust in otherpeople, he’s not even entirely sure which one of them he can trustnot to murder him atany given chance.

How much Shion trusts Veni is…debatable? I mean, they definitely trust him, probably too much since he’s a murder baby with, at this point, very little self-preservation instinct, but Veni’s definitely not the person they trust the most. Up to some degree, while they believe that he’s not an inherently bad person and certainly consider him a friend, they’re confused about how to interact with him. They trust Angus more, which is a valid choice (in spite of Angus having his own morality problems but hey).

53.What is their hair color? Eye color? Skin tone?

83.Can they swim? How well? Do they like to swim?

He can swim enough to not drown if thrown into water. Only breaststroke though. He’srather fond of swimming nonetheless, the water’s pleasant!

Once again, thank you for the questions, aaaaa

#VT answers #OC tag #Angus #Lea #Veni #Anonymous #long post #By all means send me more of these

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