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accirax · 1 year

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Eden’s Garden Mastermind Theory Ranking (Least to Most)

Greetings, Eden’s Garden fandom, and happy... uh... two days past the three month anniversary of the prologue release! I know I’m really late to the punch on this, but after thinking it over for a while I have ranked every student in Project: Eden’s Garden based on how likely I think it is that they are the mastermind. Also, I drew them all, because their designs are really cool. So, without further ado:

#16: Grace Madison

Out of all of the characters, I think Grace would be the most bewildering mastermind. This is the girl who screamed “get me out of here” so much that she got shocked, clubbed Tozu until he was writhing on the floor, and nearly got executed for it! She’s been shown to be violent, but not in a particularly manipulative or intellectual way. Yes, you could argue that all of that was an act, but she’s been shown as so honest and blunt that it makes me doubt whether she could really pull that off. I personally believe that Grace may make a deep run in this game (even to the point of being a survivor), but I can’t think of any particularly compelling reasons as to why Grace would be the mastermind.

#15: Jean DeLamer

So… it’s the pirate guy. No, a ship captain! Either way, I think Jean would be a pretty strange mastermind. To me, it feels like a mastermind Jean would have to lean into the sea aesthetic somehow, and given the locale and theming of Eden’s Garden Academy, I can’t see how that would tie in. The way that Jean portrays it, Ultimate Ship Captain is a title built on bringing people together. So, the writers would have a lot of work to do to justify him being someone who would lead his friends to tear each other apart. Overall, this seems pretty unlikely to me.

#14: Damon Maitsu

And here he is, our protagonist boy! While the protagonist being the mastermind certainly isn’t a foreign concept, I personally don’t think it’s what the Eden’s Garden writers were going for here. Protagonists secretly on the evil team, such as Hajime, are typically missing a lot of memories, and Damon doesn’t seem to be missing any more than the average student. It would certainly be bold to have Damon be an active and aware mastermind under the players’ noses for the entire game, but based on how difficult Kodaka has said it was to write just a single case in which the protagonist was a killer, I find it dubious that this is a realistic possibility. Personally, I also didn’t see any thoughts, actions, or dialogue of Damon’s that would indicate that this was the case. If something weird was going to happen to prevent Damon from being the long-term protagonist, I think it would more likely be a shockingly early death as either a victim or killer. However, I think that Damon has a great character arc set up before him, and that he’ll probably survive to the end as our innocent protagonist and POV character.

#13: Jett Dawson

Jett is pretty similar to Jean in that they’re both big, sociable guys with a seemingly killing-game-irrelevant talent. Because of that, it might seem strange that I put Jett above Jean, considering that he’s even sillier and dumber than Jean. However, I think that because of that, it would be more fun for him to have an eleventh hour heel turn and become the mastermind. I also think that him being sillier would allow him to better blend in as a simple comic relief character and believable survivor nearing the end game. And, of course, he’s wearing that mask, the taking off of which could be a fun twist in Trial 6. Despite all of this, however… he’s still 13th overall. And that’s because, overall, I still think it’s pretty implausible for our goofy, Scooby Doo-impersonating Jett to be the mastermind.

#12: Mark Berskii

I’m pretty indifferent on the concept of mastermind Mark overall. His alligator imagery is questionable, given his apparent personality; and having a tech-related talent could be helpful in creating a killing game, somehow…? But, he also seems pretty soft spoken and anxious during introductions, and more of a sarcastic straight man in the Class Trial, neither of which scream “mastermind” to me. Really, the most suspicious thing about him is that Damon specifically points out that Mark is staring at him on the train, and that Mark was sitting in the back of the train near the sleeping gas bag. Currently, I don’t really have anything that can argue him better or worse than 12th place.

#11: Eloise Taulner

Given how much Eloise has already demonstrated how much she cares about her family, I find it hard to believe that she would put herself in danger by placing herself in a killing game. But, on the other hand, maybe her family is her reason for starting the killing game in some twisted way, and her loyalty to them could explain her actions…? I can’t deny that it would be fun to see such a shy and sweet character flip in the final Class Trial to reveal her masterminding ways– sort of reminiscent of Mikan’s character flip, though hopefully on a more solid foundation. Fencing is also a violent talent, one that Eloise specifically pointed out is a calculated mental game more than a physical sport. However, I’m a pretty strong believer in early killer Eloise, so personally, I don’t think that she’ll make it late enough in the game for her being the mastermind to be a real topic of discussion.

#10: Ingrid Grimwall

Being the Ultimate Blacksmith, Ingrid has a weapons-based talent, specifically one that fits in with the old fashioned stylings of Eden’s Garden Academy. She thinks pretty highly of herself and her skills, and is shown to be flippant about safety laws when it comes to cleaning supplies. These traits, in my mind, make her a more viable candidate than Jett or Jean, but I just can’t shake the feeling that Ingrid would be a really random mastermind choice. I don’t know what her being the mastermind would say about her or people like her, or what it would add to the story and world development. Ingrid isn’t a terrible choice, but I think there are far better options to consider.

#9: Kai Monteago

Yes, Kai is incredibly silly, and I probably shouldn’t have even had him this high just due to how much of a meme it would be if he were the mastermind. But, I think that out of the more silly mastermind candidates, Kai stands out for one reason and one reason alone: attention. Kai has already presented himself as someone who wants everyone to know his name, and what better way to do that than slaughtering some of the country’s brightest? The way Kai initially resigned himself to being an observer of the practice Class Trial before jumping in and eventually providing a lot of commentary could speak to him being a fan of killing games or mysteries in a way he couldn’t manage to contain. And, look– I know that his behavior was probably just to communicate that even when he’s underinformed, Kai is still a chatterbox who wants to be the center of attention, alright? I know that he’s probably here primarily as comic relief, especially if he winds up an early death. But at least compared to most of the students ranked below him, I can imagine a point or message that the writers would be trying to convey about social media and fame with him being the mastermind. His other limiting factors prevent him from cracking the top half, but that alone gets him part of the way there in my list.

#8: Wenona

In terms of actual feasibility, Wenona has to be high up there on students who we know could logistically be the mastermind. Cited as a billionaire, I’m sure she has the resources necessary to run a large production such as this killing game, as well as a shrewd, business-oriented mind that could potentially diminish the value of people’s emotions and lives. Plus, depending on what the writers’ collective political leanings are, I could see some kind of message about the evils of capitalism cropping up if she was revealed as the mastermind. Ultimate Entrepreneur is a talent that Damon already respects, so there’s also potential for drama there if she turns out to be evil. So, after all of that, why don’t I have her higher? To be honest, I don’t know. To me, there’s just something about Wenona that makes me think she isn’t the mastermind. It’s not because she’s so sweet or innocent that I couldn’t believe that she could pull it off– to be honest, it’s the opposite. Even if Damon respects her talent, she came off as fairly antagonistic and cold to me in the prologue. If she is the mastermind, I would imagine that she’d keep that attitude throughout the rest of the game. Then, in Chapter 6, we’d be faced with the revelation that, wow, the mildly antagonistic character was actually a really antagonistic character all along! It just doesn’t seem like enough of a dramatic hook to me, I guess? There are a lot of good reasons why Wenona could be the mastermind, but for those reasons, I don’t think she’s it.

#7: Wolfgang Akire

Similar to Wenona, Wolfgang for me is hampered by the fact that he’s already been set up as Damon’s rival. A lot of people are already suspicious of Wolfgang in one way or another, so if he’s revealed to be the mastermind in the end, players might feel vindicated, but not necessarily surprised. That’s why, if Wolfgang is the mastermind, I think the most interesting thing the Eden’s Garden team could do would be to reveal him as such early. I’m talking, like, first Class Trial early. We’d get to see Wolfgang’s calculating mind openly act as the mastermind throughout the killing game, let the other students deal with repercussions of having their trusted leader be the mastermind for a while instead of just in the last chapter (after he may have already done some morally gray things), and explore what people would think about Bargain Bin Damon when they know that Wolfgang is the mastermind. Would they make Damon their new hero, now that they can’t rely on the Ultimate Lawyer anymore? Or would they distrust Damon, potentially thinking he’s working with Wolfgang? Wolfgang being the mastermind also has the benefit of his talent. Given that Damon is so good at Class Trials, I feel like pitting him against, say, the Ultimate Music Producer might be too easy of a fight for him. Lawyer vs Debater is something that would not only be an even match, but has already been set up and, in some ways, executed. For Wolfgang, I think there are a lot of ways that him being the mastermind could go “wrong,” but if the writers play their cards right, Wolfgang could be one of the most interesting and unique masterminds we’ve ever seen in a Danganronpa game, canon or fanon.

#6: Eva Tsunaka

While Eva has a blunt and cold personality, she has the benefit (as compared to Wolfgang or Wenona) of being a character that the player is supposed to feel aligned with. You wake up with her, you investigate with her, she’s the one to agree with Damon when he takes a stand against the common complacency at the end. A lot of people have compared playing as Damon to if we had seen Trigger Happy Havoc through Byakuya’s eyes, and in that case, I think that Eva would have to be our Kyoko. And, although Byakuya and Kyoko had their disagreements, if Byakuya were forced to designate someone as his support character, who could he really trust and intellectually respect enough besides Kyoko to give that title? I think Eva will be our support character of the game, which would only make it more devastating if she betrays us in the end. That would also be a pretty unique road to go down, as I don’t think I’ve ever seen a fangan in which the support character was actually the mastermind, as opposed to a traitor or garden-variety killer, especially in a situation where the protagonist isn’t evil as well. It would also be brutal to make the player confront the Ultimate Liar really being the untrustworthy mastermind all along, after we presumably come to trust and like her. Given the comparison to Kyoko, I think it’s more likely that Eva will not be evil, and instead have a character arc about opening up and being more vulnerable, potentially dying in a late chapter or surviving. However, I would be super excited to see what would happen if Eva were the mastermind, and especially how Damon would react to it.

#5: Desmond Hall

Desmond is this high on the list because, really, I can’t see any reason why he wouldn’t be the mastermind. He’s the Ultimate Marksman, a talent that’s obviously tied to killing and violence, especially when we already have guns at play from the practice Trial and Mara. And, yes, he claims to have never killed anyone himself before, but 1) that could be true and he still could be evil, or 2) he could just be lying. Along with Eva, Grace, Wolfgang, Toshiko, and Eloise, Desmond is one of the characters that you meet before entering the room that contains the other half of the cast, which automatically makes him stand out more as compared to those who were grouped together. He’s shown to have a chill personality, but in a way that (at least to me) could totally be an act. Or, he could even retain that cool attitude as the mastermind, but in a way that just makes him detached from caring about life or death. However, given that we don’t know much about him, I don’t have any particularly damning evidence that he is the mastermind, either. After getting an initial look at him, I really didn’t have any strong inclinations on where his character might go– early death, late death, survivor, what kind of arc he could go through, etc– which is what makes him a more compelling suspect, to me. I plan on keeping a close eye on Desmond to see if there’s any future evidence that swings my opinion of him in one direction or the other.

#4: Toshiko Kayura

Alright, raise your hand if you didn’t think that Toshiko seemed suspicious from the first time you saw her. Given that she’s introduced eavesdropping on your conversation and always conceals half of her face, it’s no wonder that she gave a lot of people bad vibes. While Ultimate Matchmaker might seem like a silly talent to give the mastermind, it could also be a ruse to distract us from the fact that Toshiko has a talent that allows her to read people well and make choices that will impact their lives dramatically. Toshiko obviously stands out from the rest of the cast due to her age, though some people might consider that a reason to avoid suspecting her. However, it’s not like the canon games have strayed away from evil children– in my opinion, Monaca is Danganronpa’s best written villain– and a 14-year-old mastermind could bring up a lot of interesting scenarios which haven’t been popularly explored. Maybe Toshiko has a point to make about child prodigies, and how putting so much pressure on someone to be talented at such a young age is bound to mess them up. Maybe Toshiko grew up in such a terrible, Tragedy-inflicted world that she would be more vulnerable to corruption than her older peers. Maybe killing games are a family business, and traditional Toshiko is being raised to carry on that ritual. On that last note, though, I do think that Toshiko is more likely to be a traitor type than a mastermind, assuming that a role like that exists in this game. I could definitely see her working under the influence of someone a little older and wiser, which is why she’s still only at 4th place. She did seem to have a genuine, screaming reaction when Cara’s fake body appeared, which also points to her not being the manipulator behind it all. Still, I’m wary of Toshiko’s cuteness, and will continue to keep an eye on her and her fan.

#3: Cassidy Amber

Out of all the comic relief-based characters, I think Cassidy has the best shot of being the mastermind. She has Kai’s media and fame angles with the added benefit of being someone who streams games. You know… like killing games! Through that hilarious ladder/stepladder reference, we even know that Cassidy is a fan of Ace Attorney, a trial-based mystery solving game. I think that if Cassidy is the mastermind, a great way to foreshadow it would be to use the games that she references to show the potentially dark subjects she’s into and how she could be blurring the lines between reality and a video game in her head. Similar to Wenona, we know that Cassidy could have the resources to pull off a killing game, even if she usually donates most of her proceeds to various charities. She could also potentially have Wenona’s political angle if the writers wanted to use a killing game to critique communism… somehow? (Personal leanings aside, I genuinely don’t know how a killing game would be a good metaphor for communism in any way. I also feel like Cassidy is a communist mostly for the meme.) An Ultimate Pro Gamer mastermind could also draw on the meta elements showcased in SDR2 and V3, given that Eden’s Garden is, y’know… a video game. While Damon is initially opposed to her after she starts calling him Bargain Bin (stirring up that drama for the viewers), I think it would still be surprising if she was the mastermind because of how hard she reads as a comic relief character. If she made it to the end, I think people would expect more of a Hiro than a Junko. However, that could be just the trick that the writers are trying to set up to make Cassidy a fun and surprising mastermind. But, that’s just a theory… a GAME(r) theory.

#2: Ulysses Wilhelm

I wasn’t all that sold on Ulysses being a good mastermind candidate before I watched Ocean Unknown’s video, Project Eden’s Garden: Who Is the Mastermind?, in which she laid out some really interesting reasons why Ulysses could be it. I’ll summarize her main points here, though, because it’s mostly those I agree with. First of all, Ulysses’ name means “wrathful,” something of note given how uncommon Ulysses is as a name in the modern day. His last name, Wilhelm, means “vehement protector.” While this sounds nice, he could just as easily be protecting his wrath, the legacy of the killing games, or something else evil like that. Secondly, some of the very first words to appear in the original trailer for Eden’s Garden are “HISTORY REPEATS,” which is obviously suspicious for the Ultimate Historian. Ulysses’ symbol is the owl, and while it can symbolize wisdom (befitting an academic like Ulysses), it also means death and bad luck in many cultures. Damon also makes a really interesting comment about one of the paintings in the hallway, a woman with an owl’s face, when you click on it: “Sheesh. Owls always gave me the creeps.” Why would the writers give Damon that character trait, knowing that they have a character symbolized by the owl, unless they were trying to foreshadow something? It could just be a joke about how some owls eat snakes (Damon’s symbol), but… isn’t that kind of suspicious, too? Ocean Unknown also pointed out that we never actually see what Ulysses is taking notes about, meaning that they could be about the killing game in some capacity, although that particular trait of Ulysses’ screams “victim’s unique truth bullet/trial mechanic” to me. Despite all of this, Ulysses isn’t my number one mastermind suspect just because I think he was a little too underdeveloped in the prologue to have a huge role later on. I think it would be really easy for him to fall into a victim role as a relatively unimportant character. However, that lack of focus could just as easily be a front to save Ulysses’ true nature for later on. Don’t sleep on the sleepy boy– he might just be the mastermind behind it all.

#1: Diana Venicia

What a shock: the number one most suspected character in Eden’s Garden is my number one suspect for being the mastermind! Who could have guessed? Although this does feel a little basic, there are just so many things that make Diana suspicious. First of all, she’s the Ultimate Cosmetologist, symbolized by the chameleon. This has obvious parallels to Junko and Tsumugi, two canonical masterminds with fashion-based talents who disguised themselves (Junko via Mukuro, and Tsumugi in chapter 6). The fact that the practice trial featured the hyper realistic mockup body could also be something that Diana did using her talent. Speaking of the body, Diana excused herself from investigating like Toshiko, but wasn’t shown to have the same panicked reaction that Toshiko, Eloise, Jett, or Kai did. That would make her uneasy reaction much easier to fake. Also, is it just me, or does she kind of look like Cara? Secondly, there’s the decal on her shirt that’s oddly reminiscent of the Hope’s Peak Academy logo. It lacks the Monokuma eye that would make it really suspicious, but it’s still notable that she nearly references Hope’s Peak in her core design. Diana has a bubbly and sweet personality that would make her seem innocent, but just like a good foundation, that could be a cover up. It would be a little strange to have the mastermind be, after age revisions, one of only two minors (Diana being 17), but again they could be making some sort of point or connection there. Really, the main thing that holds me back from believing that Diana is the mastermind is just that it seems so obvious that people would suspect her immediately, which takes away from some of the surprise. It almost makes me think that she might be part of the cast as easy mastermind bait as opposed to a true mastermind. But, it’s possible that they could go for something non-standard with her (like an early mastermind reveal, as I talked about with Wolfgang), or they may have hoped that people would get more tripped up by Diana’s cute demeanor and young age. I’d still say that Diana is my #1 mastermind candidate for now, but I’m excited to see whether my prediction is correct or if they’ll go for a different option.

#project eden's garden #eden's garden #damon maitsu #wolfgang akire #fanganronpa #project eden's garden spoilers #eva tsunaka #cassidy amber #desmond hall #diana venicia #eloise taulner #wenona #grace madison #ingrid grimwall #jean delamer #jett dawson #kai monteago #mark berskii #toshiko kayura #ulysses wilhelm #if you made it through that entire post and all these tags thank you so much for reading!#i started writing and drawing all this way closer to when the prologue came out but i've had so much work that i couldn't finish it up #anyways i wanted to add that i didn't rank the possibility of a seventeenth student or no mastermind/tozu just being the mastermind #bc i found it hard to rank that concept versus the more concrete reality of sixteen options #like is damon the mastermind versus is there no mastermind was just hard for me #also i fully acknowledge that i may be totally wrong! i'm half expecting to look back at this once the game is over/closer to over #and laugh at all the misconceptions i had #and if you have any personal theories or evidence... hit me up #fanart #my art

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getvalentined · 1 month

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For the ship "ask" game: #'s 4, 7, and 8, Vin & Veld

4. What they do on date night:

Vincent and Veld don't actually really go out on dates, and they never really did. On those rare occasions they do go out, it's either getting kicked out for somehow cheating at darts in the seediest bar in town, or being dressed to the nines for a live stage performance with tickets sold out for the next year.

Usually, though, they stay home. Vincent burns popcorn and they watch bad movies, Veld reads on the couch while Vincent naps in his lap, that sort of thing. Their relationship was never very public in their younger days—very few people knew they were together at all, actually—and after they get back together when they're both in the WRO, Vincent tries to avoid going out in public altogether aside from work and regular visits to Seventh Heaven.

7. Which one is the worse driver:

Oh, Vincent. Hands-down, no question about it, Vincent. He's a terrible driver—when it comes to obeying traffic laws and the like, in any case. Get him above about 75MPH in a car chase for work and he's a wizard, but don't send him to pick up the dry cleaning or anything. Veld can do both, and is less likely to destroy the car in the process of either.

Vincent can fly a helicopter, though, and Veld can't, so at least there's that?

8. What they argue about:

On the sillier end, Vincent is terrible about putting his laundry in the hamper and always has been and Veld has been fuming and snapping about it for decades.

On the more serious side of things, before Vincent was sent on his assignment to Nibelheim, their usual argument had to do with Veld constantly "testing" Vincent to prove that he wasn't just playing around in the dirt with society's least wanted, something that Veld never really stopped doing even when Vincent proved himself sincere. Early on, Vincent was also extremely insecure—not in the "you were 17 minutes late coming home from work and that means you're cheating on me" way, but rather the "I know that I am never going to be good enough for this man because I've never been good enough for anyone and I need to understand that when he eventually breaks up with me it's my own fault" sort of way.

The big argument that led to their breakup was Veld finally exploding on how Vincent's background and upbringing made him unsuited to the department (regardless of his performance implying the contrary), thereby implying that he was unsuited to a relationship with Veld, and leading to Vincent going to Nibelheim immediately after getting dumped by his partner of 5-6 years.

After everything, their biggest arguments are over whether it counts as "a waste" for Vincent to eat even though he doesn't need to, getting Veld to stop some unhealthy habits and take his damn heart medication, whether Vincent actually needs to own more than three pairs of pants, whether sugar belongs in tea, whose turn it is to take out the trash, and whether either of them actually deserve the few years they have left together when they've both done so much wrong.

(For the ship asks game.)

#ask game #vincent valentine #veld of the turks #vinveld #vincent x veld #final fantasy 7 #FF7 #before crisis #bcff7 #headcanon warning

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mintedwitcher · 5 months

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Putting aside the controversy of Thirteen's run, I think there's a very simple way that her tenure could've been massively improved, and that's to just cut down the number of companions.

Chibnall has a habit of overloading his casts, and it's objectively awful each time. (Staring directly at you, Dinosaurs on a Spaceship, six leads what were you thinking?!)

What I would've done, personally, is split up the "fam" early on. Let that first episode be the same, introducing these characters to the Doctor. But here's where I'd change it:

When offered to travel, Graham and Ryan say no. They're grieving, they've just lost a family member, one that they both loved so much. That loss brings the two of them closer, but they don't need a big fancy adventure to cement that. They say no, and they stay home.

Yaz, however, says yes. Partly because the Doctor is a new mystery, and as (excuse me while I gag) a policewoman, Yaz is going to be drawn to that. But also because she's bored of her life. She's working a job that's sticking her with low-level calls (understandably, she's new), and she's just so bored of it, so when the Doctor promises a trip and that they can get back "in just five minutes," Yaz agrees.

First series companion: Yaz. Just her and the Doctor. This gives them more time to build a genuine friendship and bond, unlike the actual canon which was... surface level at best all around. Let them understand one another, have Yaz bring out the Doctor's sillier, feminine side (since she was most Definitely masculinised to try and appeal to the fanbase). Let them have some fun adventures, some thrilling ones, some dangerous ones, and let them become the Besties we know in our hearts they should've been. (We got bits of that in series 13 before the cast was bloated again, but like. Imagine a full series of that dynamic. The sheer badass potential. I crave it.)

Next series, something happens closer to home, and Yaz decides to become a part-time companion instead, choosing to stay on Earth more frequently than dashing off with the Doctor, staying with her family, working her normal job with the satisfaction of knowing that she's not cut off from the Doctor for good. (More akin to the 11/Ponds dynamic, rather than the Doctor's usual practice of vanishing on past companions.)

As for who would 'replace' her as a full time companion, I'd like it to be Ryan for a time, but not Graham yet. As much as I adore the granddad/grandson dynamic of Ryan and Graham, I think Graham had a tendency to overtake quite often, and Ryan was often the afterthought. I'd love to see Ryan really step up into that role, having gotten through his grief over his grandmother. (During this, I'd like to think that Graham somehow meets and befriends Dan, because he really does need a friend who is not his grandson or his grandson's old school mate, Yaz.)

Ryan and the Doctor could have a lot of really great moments, and I think that having the Doctor travel alone with Yaz first would've prepared her more for the intricacies of social interaction this time around, so she's more adept at handling Ryan's story, and more open to him on an emotional level, almost taking on a parental type role with him.

I think, then, it'd be fitting to have a split-season model (like series 7a and 7b), where Graham finally comes aboard in the later half, convinced to go on "just one trip" with his grandson. We get the family dynamic there between Graham and Ryan, on much more solid ground now that they've had time off-screen to put in the work for their own relationship and grief. We also get Graham taking on a sort of brotherly, almost paternal role towards the Doctor, too, because she looks so young despite her real age, and Graham is just as protective of her as he is of Ryan, and the Doctor is equally protective towards the both of them.

Then, give Thirteen a few episodes fully on her own. Give her the space to take what she's learned from her latest companions and internalise it, give her room to work on her own, either by choice or by necessity. Really delve into this 'new' incarnation of the Doctor, what she's capable of. Three episodes, I'd say. Then, have her go and pick up the 'fam', because she's learned how to ask for help this time around, and she knows she needs her friends by her side for whatever is to come. Along the way we can have her meet Dan, a one-off companion, and a handful of the rest of the bloated cast (seriously how were there so many main characters in a NINE EPISODE SERIES jfc I am taking your pens and keyboards away from you, CC), and etc etc etc.

Just by breaking up the companion structure, suddenly the plot and the characters have so much more room to breathe and become a cohesive unit by the end of it. I understand that Chibnall wanted to shake up the typical formula by having three simultaneous companions, but it just fell flat, and the end result was that none of those characters - even the literal lead of the goddamn show - had any space to develop. Genuinely, if you asked me to recount a single line by ANY of those companions, I couldn't give you an answer. Not a single one. Ask me to do the same for Clara, or Amy, or Rory, or Donna, Martha, Rose, hell even fucking Astrid, and I'd be able to give you a few each, probably verbatim, because those characters were developed.

Sometimes, the formula of a show needs to be shaken up. But sometimes it's been the same for a long time because it works. This is one of those cases.

#obligatory disclaimer: this is not hate #thirteenth doctor #yasmin khan #ryan sinclair #graham o'brien #doctor who #i would've added dan as a long term companion but tbh i don't remember him much sooo... sorry #long post #wow actually did not realise how long this got until now oops #pls god do not let this summon the disk horse

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good-beanswrites · 9 months

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A Shidou + Dance drabble for anon, thank you for the request! It still has genuine headcanons/characterization, but I definitely went a slightly sillier route (kinda channeling minigram vibes at points...)

“I am not doing that.”

Shidou was always very polite, very calm in the face of any high-energy circumstances, whether it was a medical emergency or a raving party. The situation wasn’t quite either of those, but still he maintained his composure as the prisoners beckoned him forward.

Yuno had cleared away some of the common room tables so she could teach Haruka a dance she’d seen online. His performance had attracted Muu, and their giggles had tempted Mahiru, whose dedication in her wheelchair involved Mikoto, whose teasing had recruited Fuuta, whose yelling had dragged in Kazui, and their spectacle had created an audience of the others.

“Aw, it’s easy,” Yuno was telling him, “just a few simple moves. I’m not asking you to pirouette or anything.”

Through his polite smile, he internally cursed Kazui for joining in; now he couldn’t use the excuse that he was too old for such nonsense.

Not that dancing itself was the issue. Shidou prided himself in being very good at the art: he knew several steps and moves, and had never been known to pinch his partner’s toes. He and his wife had received much praise for their dancing at their wedding. Before his work kept him out through the nights, she had talked him into a few midnight waltzes in their kitchen. He’d help his daughter twirl when she was feeling like a ballerina, and would sway with his son to the same music.

But this amalgamation of hand gestures and hip swaying wasn’t quite the same to him.

He opened his mouth to decline, but a small stare in the corner gave him pause. Amane was watching the scene with feigned disinterest. She watched Shidou for his answer. All week he’d been encouraging her to involve herself with others more, telling her of all the benefits to her mental health. If he wanted even the slightest chance of her taking him seriously, he only had one choice.

“I… will do my best.”

“Great!”

Before he had a moment to second guess the decision, Yuno grabbed his arms and yanked him into the circle. His eyes flashed around the group, quickly calculating the moves in order to follow along. Swing your arms this way, wag your finger that way, raise both hands, turn your body around, and so on. It was fairly repetitive. He had it down in no time.

Or so he thought. Mikoto snickered at him.

“What?”

“You look stiffer than a board. You’re supposed to loosen up, man.”

“I am loose,” he said, his limbs perfectly rigid as he moved them with the music.

Mikoto did the little turn, putting a bunch of extra movement into it. It was uplifting to see him enjoying himself. Ever since he’d left the smoking group, Shidou had been worried about his state of mind. “Not even close. You’re doing even worse than Fuuta, somehow.”

“Hey!”

Mahiru swung her arms to the music. “I think he’s doing very well!”

Yuno was dancing circles around them -- literally and figuratively -- and she seemed to agree with Mikoto.

“Come on, you can relax here! Warden isn’t even around.” She swung her hips in fluid motions. “Let me see some rhythm!”

Shidou joined them for claps in sync with the beat, which he thought demonstrated his rhythm perfectly fine, but she kept prodding.

Finally, he set his jaw. He wasn’t the type of man to get embarrassed. He could care less for appearances. Even if he was that type of person, he’d have reason to agree -- Kazui was completely showing him up.

Though his movements were certainly ridiculous and clumsy compared to the others’, he tried to shift his shoulders and legs in similar motions. It earned him some celebration and some laughs from the others. He bent his knees, trying to put his whole body into the silly steps.

He followed Yuno’s example, letting out a chuckle as he danced more ridiculously than he believed he ever had.

The song picked up, and Shidou turned triumphantly to where Amane sat in the corner. This would be a big step, showing her he was willing to put himself out there for the group. Maybe it would even convince her to come and join the dancers, now that she saw --

Her chair was empty. She had left.

#milgram #shidou kirisaki #yuno kashiki #and others #you can picture whatever tiktok/viral dance you think yuno would enjoy - though i was inspired by those shorts deco27 has been posting #with dancing miku!#i thought about doing a play on him dancing around information and his tendency to lie/twist the truth #but i mean if i have a request for dance im definitely gonna make him dance >:3 #i always pictured shidou as that calculated and logical type #not overwhelmingly so - but he kinda analyzes everything in his day and approaches it all like he would a work case you know?#and weve seen him to be a means to an ends guy so i dont think hed be easily embarrassed or shy if he was doing something for a reason #he rarely does goofy things ever but hed make a total fool of himself if he knew it would get the job done #thank you so much for the request ah!#it was fun writing that slightly looser side to him :')#drabbles

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termagax · 9 months

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thots on roadhogs redesign?

net zero. i like the jacket i like the new harness (even if it means loosing the one that goes over his ass) i LOVE the new mask (THE BULLRINGGGGG) but im not fond of the mohawk. i like that the new model has more neck fat.

i think the upside down sunburn on his arm trips me up and like in general his skintone is. less consistent somehow. and like junkrat hes a lot pinker than before which again conceptually i think the idea of them cleaning up and getting less Irradiated is cute and i think hogs sells it better? in both of the new junker outfits i dont love the red i miss the yellow :( but like my main issue with the junkrat one is he doesnt look like himself, like, resculpting his face to be slimmer and cuter and changing his hair to be less messy and polishing up his outfit and his prosthetics kind of strips away the visual indicators of his personality as kind of a ruffian and a troublemaker and his general scatterbrained-ness. it looks like sexified fanart of him done by someone who wants him but doesnt like that hes ugly :( but with roadhog it all looks like yeah he would do that. i believe in my heart hes a guy who would invest in a nice leather jacket and take care of it and he would bother keeping clean and cutting his hair regularly. he didnt lose his visual identity the way (imo) the rat did.

but i digress. another complaint i kind of loathe the new hook its very sexless and unfortunate

like its so overcomplicated like come on man its a fucking hook why is it like that. and it looks so bulky and awkward to throw around and the serated edge looks so dumb like youre overcomplicated what was the perfect design. less is more.

i dont like that his hands are cleaner like i get it. but come on man. also because they covered his arms we dont get to see his sunspots as much. and also now that im looking at it this is a plus, i like the structure of the new armor on his offhand it looks a lot like. sturdier while still obviously being worn in and scrappy.

the old design for ref ^ sorry its a cosplay guide this thing is the bible to me.

overall its kind of like eh. i could take it or leave it. i do go look at it sometimes to admire how gorgeous he is and i think he got a better deal than like, most of the rest of the cast. he still looks like himself and his design portrays a lot of personality its very much giving practical, stern older dude who uses what he has until it absolutely breaks while still letting his sillier side shine through, like they kept his stupid rings and his spikes and the bandages and shit. it looks, very convincingly, like what he would do if you gave him the money and resources to put together whatever outfit he wanted. he would get a nose piercing for his silly pig mask. he would get practical gear upgrades. he would wear a very hot biker jacket. its good all around even if there are details i dont love.

#i dont use it often because of how much i hate the new hook but sometimes i take him in training range and make him do dances.#or go to gallery and watch all his intros and shit.

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dcwnthercbbithcle · 1 month

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🎔 + Sally/Carmina ~ @who-is-muses

Send Me 🎔 + A Ship And I'll Tell You || ACCEPTING! (Please only send in blog ships though!)

@who-is-muses

Who wins a prize at a carnival/fair/festival: OKAY HEAR ME OUT, I'm saying Sally, BUT that's not to say they aren't both competing! I imagine it's the complete opposite! Sally and Carmina walking by hand in hand, Carmina makes a sound of excitement seeing the booths and games and she traces to Sally in their shared touch language what she's seeing! Sally is excited for her and encourages her to go ahead! For old times sake! Life is too fleeting to deny yourself the simple pleasure of trying to beat a rigged game from your childhood!

Carmina pays for a couple of tries but after her first, she passes the ball to Sally to have a try. Sally, for obvious reasons is flushed, embarrassed, she's blind Mina, she can't play. But Carmina does her little, birdie laugh and shakes her head, she puts her hands over Sally's on the ball and guides her into position to shoot. Really, Sally would be doing all the work, she's just directing her!

Sally is giggling, partially because of the compromising, tooth rottingly romantic position of it all, and also because she genuinely never thought of it, and it's silly and fun! So unbecoming of a lady like herself, but who gives a damn?! IN the end she shoots, the poor underpaid carnie ducking for cover, and somehow she gets it right in! Winning the prize! The prize wasn't the real victory though, Sally got to play and Carmina got that nostalgic rush of joy with her lover. They pass the stuffed animal they get to a child they think would love it more and go on, having the best sort of day!

Who does most of the cooking: Carmina! But this is because Sally often forgets or forgoes feeding herself for almost full days on end. Carmina is just the only one to remember, plus, in addition to this, Sally is from Newfoundland circa. the 1800s, which is to say the only spice she really uses is SALT. Poor Carmina doesn't deserve such a fate, she'll cook and show Sally the Better Ways. SADJADASD

Who does most of the shopping: Sally honestly! I don't have much justification for it, but I feel like she powers through the chores in a way that leaves Mina in love and awe at the efficiency and her ability to politely, kindly and warmly side-step conversation attempts and people's stares!

Who is hopeless at board games: Depends on the boardgame!! Narrative style boardgames like Clue and more strategic ones like Settlers of Catan or Risk are Carmina's BANE but Sally loves them so so much, of course it doesn't help that she clears house at them! Meanwhile, Sally finds that she really is hopeless at sillier boardgames because she overthinks them a ton, and card games in general because she has NO POKER FACE!

Who is always trying to make the other laugh: Carmina <333, Sally is always so forelorn and morose, no one can blame her but the demons and weight she carries are obvious. It makes those sweet times when she laughs so honestly and giggles worth their weight in gold! Sally loves making Carmina laugh too, those sounds she makes are perfection, but, with Carmina, she loves knowing that she can take Sally away from her troubles to a happier place with just the two of them.

Who has a tendency to give out TMI: NEITHER, I MEAN LOOK AT THESE GIRLS, I think if they did anything more than a nuzzle and a kiss in public that they would faint on the spot like true Victorian Ladies!

Who does more DIY projects: HMMMM, I don't know! Maybe neither? I know Carmina has her art projects and endeavors, but I'd hardly call them DIY, it's just art! And Sally, well, Sally may have been a 'I'll do it all by myself,' once upon a time, but she's old and tired of her own bullshit at this point. She's not gonna DIY unless she knows damn well she's an expert at the thing, otherwise she's hiring in a professional.

Who is the big spoon: CARRRRMINA!!!!! Carmina cuddles around Sally, she is so small and she loves to feel that kind of protecting, grounding presence around her!

Who gives more casual affection: HMMMM, I'd say equal measures but just cause Sally is Kinda Weird about affection and has her limits. Typically Carmina initiates it more but they read each other both in body language and language language a lot and often when touching is to be done, they do it as one!

Who reads to whom: Sally to Carmina! Sally likes to read Carmina her braille books and journals! Sally likes to share in that way, even though with her throat and breathing issues, the task may take her years!

Who brings drinks and food without being asked: Carmina!!! Car brings Sally snacks when she's in the zone and places it down as a loving reminder and will give Sally a loving little nuzzle before she heads off to do her thing again!

#🌬️𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐍𝐔𝐑𝐒𝐄. || if you do not catch your breath... she will

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demonslayedher · 1 year

Text

Things that ran through my head while watching this episode:

--Sad opening with slow music & slow motion was unnecessarily sad. No, scratch that, an appropriate amount of sad, this is the loss of Rengoku-san we're focused on here.

--I love how Ufotable was probably like, "sure, Fuji TV, we'll air the next season on your channel, but we want as much air time when and how we want in order to tell the story instead of just fit things into time slots, you must have figured out by now that we made enough money on that movie that no one expects us to follow the same guidelines as other anime" and Fuji TV was like, "yes, yes, anything, you got it, one hour premiere, you got it, but we will get some fluffy filler right? Please??" and Ufotable was like, "DONE. But don't expect us to make any big departures from the manga, the fans will be down our throats."

--So with the ability to take their time, I love how they accomplished both a satisfying follow-up to the movie with most of this episode being dedicated to the fall-out (complete with slowing down the Muzan intro and drawing us into the upcoming setting), and then a brief review of what's typical for Tanjiro & Nezuko in the Corp (raincoat Tanjiro, eeeee), and then get us off to an impactful start for the rest of this season.

--Those Yuukaku setting details, though! Particularly at the end of the episode it feels like, "hey, we put all the work into this 3D model of the town, you bet we're going to show it off" but then they turn around with details like a moth that got its wing sliced, presumably by an obi.

--One of the scenes which I loved in the stage play of Mugen Ressha was when Akaza appeared before Selim Bradley child!Muzan, because the actor had such a compelling physical performance which sold the idea that for as hard Rengoku worked to damage him, it's nothing compared to the ease with which Muzan beats him up, over and over. Here, in the anime, it's just one blast, a true statement.

--Akaza. Akaza. Akaza. A KA ZA.

--I love how Zenitsu has learned to be strategic with how he steals manju.

--With Tanjiro asking if Senjuro's even heard the news of Kyojuro's death, it really, really hasn't been that long.

--Show-offy animation moment: the sake bottle crashing against the ground

--Senjuro's horror at Tanjiro's impending doom is palpable. Shinjuro is still powerful and Senjuro knows it. I really love how Senjuro is performed, he's so brave and polite.

--Tanjiro makes a lot of great faces throughout this series. This face as he accept the tea is his worst face ever.

--Kinda drives my inner meta nerd mad how there had already been 20 Flame Pillars by the time the 21st one met Yoriiichi and learned Breath technique. They must die off as fast as Ubuyashikis do.

--Tanjiro's self reflection and determination to become a Pillar warms my heart

--Oh crap, there's the sunset tones and the slow music again as Senjuro gives him the tsuba, nooooo, my heart, it's burning

--I love how Haganezuka levels up every time we see him. I am so, so ready for the next season. And the silliness!! The seiyuu must have been given directions to make it sillier and sillier in every take, which makes me very, very excited for the Tanjiro & Kotetsu antics.

--Speaking of filler!!! Ufotable must had seen that Aoi & Inosuke are endgame and thought, "gee, we need to... leave, like... some kind of hints, somehow" and had Aoi knowingly serve Inosuke a heaping second portion of rice and smile fondly when he gets excited about mitarashi dango. They're taking that "he makes her smile" tidbit and slipping it in as best they can, because we otherwise never see her smile until all is said and done.

--This, as well as Aoi being the smart and brave one to rescue Tanjiro from Haganezuka, certainly endears us to her before her plight.

--Kanao!!! It has been 4 months since Tanjiro declared that she stop using the copper coin, but here she is in a moment of indecision, and with how her actions silence everyone else, this is the very first time she's made such a decision. Good girl, Kanao! That said, she leaves herself speechless too, and when Kiyo and Sumi are emboldened to shout and scream at Uzui, she's as mute as Nezuko. Actions speak louder than words, that's for sure.

--But Kanao's thunder is totally stolen by the entrance of the Kamaboko Rangers

--I love that Tanjiro knows right away that his words have no weight, which is why he very quickly changes tactics and switches to volunteering himself (and his bros) to action

--THESE TAISHO SECRETS ARE SO UNABASHEDLY SILLY

#kny rewatch #my art #uzui tengen #and others

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thisisworsethanitlookslike · 4 months

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hii pointing the same ask back at you; do have any bonkers AUs & crossovers between interests rn 😼

See the thing about The Magnus Archives is that SPOILERS

At the end of the show Jon and Martin are taken thought a portal that leads to another universe or possibly multiple universes. Which means I’m constantly putting these two guys in my current interest.

One of my favs is TMA/Carry On bc both Simon and Jon have wonderful parallels and I even thought of an amazing plot on which all Cosmic Fear Entity’s are destroyed and all Magic Holes get restored that makes a lot of sense. Jmart being weird uncles my beloved. (I have a couple sketches)

There is a sillier Warrior Cats crossover which I made that also has a lot less serious sketches.

Also thought of a Neverafter and Witch Hat Atelier crossover (tho witch hat is an insert instead of a post cannon tma)

But what I’m trying to say is - of course I thought about jmart and ttm crew meeting and how esp Neil would be affected by the fears bc he has so much potential for multiple. And all the flavors that the Sigcorp has is just really really perfect!

Sigcorp does such an invasive procedure where all your secrets, your whole life is laid bare and that is so Eye to me. But the doctors are also somehow angels of death which is giving Terminus and Neil specifically is so so Lonely but also needs to Know and is So So So afraid of dying, The End. Do you see Cat do you???

Anyway so the plot would be - Fears (and jm) enter Sigcorp universe (maybe even unbeknownst to them as code in a simulation 👀👀👀👀👀) and the eye has chosen it’s knew stronghold and it’s Sigcorp - specifically Neil as he is somehow the heir to the laggy Lynri build up.

Jmart come investigate this new stronghold and there we have a premise that has no where to go. But wouldn’t that be fun??

#tma #ttm #to the moon #ask #the magnus archives #crossover #thank you for asking #i am constantly mashing everything up that interests me

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dufrau · 1 year

Note

2, 3, 4, 9, 11 from the Took That Holy Ride Ourselves To Know series

2. What scene did you first put down? "I want to find Bigfoot". Its the first line of the first story so it makes sense but also the honest fact was i lying in bed like 'man i am out of ideas' and then i was like 'why dont they, like, go looking for bigfoot.' so the first scene is a bunch of stoned people talking about looking for bigfoot.

3: What’s your favorite line of narration? This is sort of cheating because it's both dialogue and naration but little bit from the first story i could just see so clearly in my brain:

"You look so angry up there," Robin laughed. "You are the only person in the world, I think, who could look intimidating on the back of the Jackalope Jackrabbit."

"His name is Thunder Bunny," Nancy said, and Robin laughed even harder. Nancy laughed too, on top of this fiberglass monstrosity, in the middle of nowhere, with the sun setting at her back and Robin Buckley smiling up at her.

And then this line from the second one i dont know why, just somehow unlocked the whole story. i think i wrote this around 5500 words in after like a month and a half of trying and then the rest took like 5 days or something.

Just a girl in a bathing suit, just the first and only wonder of Robin's world, bossing Steve around at the grill as if she herself had ever made a meal that didn't come from a can.

4: What’s your favorite line of dialogue? From the first story:

"I know." Nancy stared into the dying fire. "I'm sorry it's not more romantic. I don't have an orange and a glass of milk to share. What was up with that anyway?"

"I'm honestly not sure," Robin said. "I just wanted to see them fuck."

This was metacommentary because first of all i read The Price of Salt like ten years ago and dont remember anything about it but i keep referencing it in this story, and also I for some reason kept mentioning oranges or the word orange and the only reason is that it felt fun to do. and then also its a joke about how i made everybody read this self indulgent bigfoot road trip and made them read the word orange like 14 times just so they could get to the next scene where they bang.

9: Were there any alternate versions of this fic? Probably there is a version of the Bigfoot story that got much sillier and not as cringingly romantic, in which case there would not have been a sadgirl sequel. The second story originally was just going to be a shorter thing of just an expanded breakup scene, and it was going to be meaner, Nancy was going to revert back to her pre-Bigfoot colder self.

11: What do you like best about this fic? I like everything about the first story. It's I think the best thing I've written, satisfyingly self contained and paced well and just I feel like the writing is mostly good. The second story I don't know if I like at all yet. I've never written anything without a happy ending, it feels bad and i am looking away from it for a little while I think. But I liked giving Robin her own say, both in terms of writing her side and also giving her maybe a little more autonomy than we got to see in the first one.

thank youuuuuuuu

#asks #writing #ronance #ronance fic

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menstits · 1 year

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May I ask for your Chaeya thoughts. I suggested this ship as a Joke to some friends once & soon after tumblr suggested me your art so now I’m insane. Thanks!

Hii i waited a bit before answering this because i need you to understand i have been playing this game for like two years and they've been living rent free in my brain the entire time. I'm putting this under a readmore because i sound insane it's really long so i apologize in advance

First of all i wanna say it started out as a joke but i genuinely got invested because the concept is hilarious (as my boyfriend said. Their relationship would cause a political crisis between like 3 nations. 4 if you include liyue <- he's the actual ceo of chaeya I'm just sharing the wisdom)

Also i feel like their personalities match sooo well like. They're both guys who are hiding and lying about major parts of themselves to their loved ones, especially from their siblings. Head in hands. I think childe would be sympathetic of kaeya's situation because it's something he could probably relate to. I think he would want to beat diluc up (deserved) which is like. Sad because i get sad about kaeya mental illness moments but i also think diluc would also want to beat childe up for being a harbinger if he found out kaeya and childe were together which is actually really funny to me I'm sorry. I think it's sweet they're both good with children and they would mutually find that charming in the other too. I'm insane about the fact that they're both somehow resigned to the idea of being "bad people" even though like. In kaeya's case this is patently false because he's universally loved in mondstadt because the kindness he shows isn't a front even if he's not being honest about his origins while childe is actually annoying and kind of a cunt and obviously. A high ranking member of some evil military which he's been part of since he was a child soldier at 14 or whatever. But he also still retained a gentle side in the way he's kind and protective to children despite claiming to be nothing more than a weapon. Head in hands again. ALSO the fact that childe and kaeya were both way too young when they were thrown into their respective roles (kaeya being sent out of khaenri'ah as a spy when he was just a child, childe becoming a warrior and joining the military at just age 14)

I'm also insane about the fact that childe is one who hates lying but has to resort to it to protect his little brother's childhood innocence and i'm insane at the fact that outside of that he's actually a honest and straightforward person and i think his brand of insane would get through kaeya's 700 layers of lying for self preservation.

Sorry that i answered with an insane essay my bf and i have just been bouncing them back and forth like ping pong balls for a long time and I'm sorry if you were expecting a sillier answer and instead i answered this 100% genuinely i'm crazy for real these dudes haven't even met. Hospital

#asks #gilgameshians

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fakesurprise · 2 years

Text

Skipping Hope: first scene

I’d never met a Monday I didn’t like, which might be why the world fell apart Tuesday morning. I came downstairs, not sure how to tell mom and dad I didn’t actually need a job for college

Dad was already up and in a suit and tie: he sleeps less than anyone I know. I could hear mom upstairs in her office fighting with the computer, but she hadn’t yelled for me so it was probably just the normal issues.

“Sannu,” I said, giving Dad a handshake to buy time before figuring out how I’d explain last night to them. He was going to ask what jobs I’m applying for before they left, and I tried not to lie to to my parents.

Dad gave me a puzzled look, his grip loose. “Good morning?”

I let go. “Dad? Is everything okay?” “Everything is fine,” he said, not looking any less puzzled.

I walked over and did a sniff-test, but mom hadn’t replaced his coffee with decaf.

As if my worry has summoned her, Mom came down the stairs in a rush of shoes, a bag slung over her shoulder. “Amari: can you clean up? We have to go: the flight was moved for the conference and the computer crashed when I tried to rebook anything!”

Dad ran upstairs and was down with his briefcase in under four minutes while mom argued with the cab company while handing me a small stack of bills for the week. Dad came down, gave me a normal hug and mom a peck on my cheek before they were out the door, leaving the kitchen looking like aliens had invaded it.

I was halfway through doing dishes when mom came back in, up the stairs and back down as I stared in shock.

“Forgot my phone,” is all she said before the door is slammed and the taxi skidded back onto the road.

I dropped a cup, which hit the ground and rolled against the fridge without breaking.

“What?” I squeaked out, but it’s far too late.

Everyone has weird talents. I have a friend who can tie her shoes without looking, doing it perfectly every time. Dad could guess the time to the nearest five minutes without even needing to look at the sun. And mom never, ever misplaced her keys or phone, to the point that we teased her gently about it and threatened to try and hide them on her. Not that dad or I ever would.

I finished cleaning the kitchen out of reflex, slathering a bagel in butter and headed upstairs as I ate it. Cleaning helped ground me, and mom and dad didn’t exactly object to it.

Their bedroom was neat as always, like they insisted mine should be. Mom’s office was a bit of a mess, but it often is because she wore too many hats at the university and Dad often had his office crammed into a corner of hers when he had to work from home. Nothing weird to it, nothing off in their bedroom.

No smell of drugs.

I knew my parents had met because my mom snuck off to smoke marijuana during a missionary trip. Dad kept her and her friend safe, got them back to their hotel. They’d met properly two days later after she was left stranded in Nigeria and kicked out of the mission after they’d found out her real reasons for joining. They smoked some pot on their anniversary as a remembrance, but that was two months ago. No smell that screamed drugs or anything weird.

I checked the envelope behind my computer desk. Nothing has changed. I had the hundred thousand I’d won last night from Campfire Casino, enough for university and a bit left over. I put it back, as if somehow moving it would do something. Nothing happened. I stood. Breathed. Dad had been off. Mom was busy. I knew my upcoming fees were stressing both of them, but I’d taken care of that. Not smartly, but the slot machines had worked.

Luck had always been my talent: by ten I’d had to stop entering any school raffle because I won them all. It was silly and weird, but no sillier or weirder than how Gorman in grade three had been able to fart entire songs from his butt.

“Okay. Okay.” I shook my head, put my keys in the left pocket of my jeans and went downstairs to water our gardens. Given the weirdness of today, mom hadn’t even left me a list of things to do, but that was always on it. I started making a mental list to check groceries and make sure their flights back would be on time so I’d know when to properly clean the house even as I headed out into the garden, working out a mental map of which plants needed watering first. Most of our back yard was garden, and that I couldn’t just leave for several days or mom would have had my hide. It was the work of a good hour to water all of it but I seldom did it at once.

A noise I hadn’t known was possible came out of me as I opened the back door.

Every flower was dead. The garden was all dead earth and dying flowers like a scene from a horror film. The back wall was devoid of ivy, each planter and pot looking as if locusts had feasted on even the local weeds and mosses. The hedge dad and I had planted six years ago looking like it was the ass-end of winter and not mid-summer.

The sound of the water can hitting cement was moment I realize I dropped it, and somehow water on my sandals made it real. I bolted inside, slamming and locking the street door and yanking the blinds closed after me.

I ran from window to window, checking and locking them. A glance out the living room windows showed that the Mr. Robertson and the Ao family shouting at each other across the road. Every lawn? The whole street? I didn’t know. I was too scared to know. I closed everything I could as if that would be better than my own eyes and was triple-checking the front door even as the landline in mom’s office began to ring so loudly I half-thought it was emergency services.

A giggle escaped me as I pictured baffled police officers calling in old lady gardeners, but the ringing didn’t stop.

I took the stairs two at a time. “Amari. Who is –.”

“Have you been outside?” Ms. Anchor all but screamed in my ear. She’s three doors down, and mom politely called her a study that many papers would love to report on.

I winced. “I saw our garden. Mom and dad are out of town –.”

“My Raymond was right: the government is finally acting! Don’t drink the water! Turn off your TV. They’re controlling us with our phone –.” There is a moment of silence, and then the phone slams down as her body caught up with her thoughts.

I moved to my parents room, opening the door onto their balcony. The six small pots were all dead plants. Beyond that: withered trees, scorched brown lawns. Everyone outside was moving slowly, questions and threats about the HOA giving way to the same confused fear vibrating throgh me. I stepped back, closing the patio and locked it. Yanked the blinds closed.

I sat down on my parents bed, staring at my shaking hands.

No one had called. Mom and dad would have noticed this when leaving, no matter their hurry. Conference or not, mom would have cancelled fights and hunted down the head of the HOA to demand answers about fertilizers in a tone no one would have ignored.

I wiped away tears. The garden had been mom’s pride and our collective joy. I stood, half-hoping to wake up from sleep and pinched my arm to no effect.

“Phone.” I bolted to my bedroom, turning my phone on. The local HOA message board was on fire with messages; three block radius that people knew of, and less terrible on our block. I had no idea what other places must have looked like, and less idea what to send.

A few local twitter hashtags had begun. #gardengate was being used by Eliza, one of mom’s friends.

I began to send her a private message when a stranger stepped into my bedroom.

Tall. I was tall, but this person was tall. Not thin so much as narrow, skin so dark it felt like their shadow was lighter. Long, dark clothing matched that. They didn’t move. I didn’t move. I couldn’t move. My bones felt cold.

A sweaty hand pressed against my face, and let go a moment later.

I stumbled, staggered two steps and found myself somehow on my feet. Sand. Heat. The sun overhead, dunes around me. The air rich and clear, but I turned as quickly as I could to find a stranger staring at me.

This stranger was a good foot shorter than me, skin librarian-white with pale blond hair and wide grey eyes in a round face. He had on sweats, shoes and a large t-shirt soaking through with sweat as he tried to wipe sweat from his forehead.

“Stupid. Stupid,” he said softly, voice cracking a little. “We need to get away from me.” I stepped back as he moved toward me. “Don’t come closer.”

He stopped. “Please. The desert won’t be safe.” He held out his right hand. “I can get you somewhere safe.”

“I don’t know what is going on. I don’t know what you are. But I can damn well break your nose if you move closer.”

He vanished.

One moment in front of me, the next no one was there. No shift of light. No sound. No weird glow. Just gone.

I fumbled out my phone, turned on the map.

Sudan. I was in the Libyan Desert. Miles from any marker on the map.

I had no idea what roaming fees would be. Less how I’d explain anything to anyone.

I just stood as still as I could and gripped my phone carefully like a talisman I didn’t quite trust.

#writing #prose #campnanowrimo #skipping hope #camp nano july 2022

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ultraericthered · 2 months

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Anime Update V3 8

Vinland Saga S2 - The last two episodes were interesting in how the penultimate episode played out like a proper season finale, bringing an ending to the Ketil’s Farm arc that spanned the season, but then there’s one extra episode remaining and it plays out almost like a Series Fauxnale that also sets up where the remainder of the series will go should it continue past here. In the first, Thorfinn not only successfully avoids a violent conflict with Canute and is able to move the king enough to get him to withdraw all his forces from the land, but thanks to this, a change comes over Canute and how he intends to rule going forward, the ghost of his father hopefully haunting him no longer. It’s been building on top of itself all season but only now did it really hit me hard just how beautiful a character arc Thorfinn had undergone and how much more I’ve come to care about him and love his bond with Einar too. With both slaves free to leave with Leif, the finale gives us the long anticipated return to Iceland, and it was somehow the first time I’ve actually cried at anything on this show (Thorfinn and his mother) yet also contained some of the funniest stuff seen on this show in a long time (Thorfinn and his sister). I felt like I’d fully circled to the end when it all came back to the incident with the dying slave in Episode 1, and how Thorfinn now understands the full meaning behind everything his father said and wants to seek out Vinland in order to create a warm, peaceful, nigh utopian safe haven from the uncivil world that the Vikings inhabit. With a much needed shave and new hairdo, he’s ready to put together a crew and set out to do so. I hope we can see his future exploits animated some time later down the line, because in times like these, now more than ever, many of us need a place we can call our “Vinland.”

Hunter x Hunter - Ar last Gon and his friends are ready to infiltrate the palace and confront the Royal Guard in order to stop the selection, while Palm is still undercover, Netero is well prepared for his fight with Meruem, and Meruem himself is questioning his own existence and if his purpose really is what he’d believed it to be...

SHUFFLE! - I saw the beach episode where Rin and Sia end up getting washed away to a different shore on the other side of the island and mistakenly believe they’ve been stranded in another dimension and have to make out, which leads to the following episode where everyone is now under the impression that Rin chose Sia as his bride and are to be married soon. Sia is all ready to go for that but when she sees that everyone else is not so ready and may in fact be burdened by this, especially her demon bestie Nerine, she decides to call off the wedding and strive harder to win Ron’s heart the right way so that she’ll be the one he chooses. Basically I've been seeing a lot of Sia recently, and that’s never a bad thing. ^^

The Case Files of Lord El-Melloi II - This week Waver had to visit a manor that suffered a loss of an important person and is now being haunted by what could be a supernatural murderer out to finish the remaining servants and the lord’s daughter who could claim his inheritance. The build up had some intrigue to it, but I wasn’t that enthused by the solution and how it turned the whole affair into an action sequence, though seeing Gray’s hood come off to reveal her full Saber hair was something I guess.

KonoSuba - And speaking of hauntings in manors, we get more of that on this show. Twice, in fact! First we get Kazuma and his party having to stay overnight at a mansion tended to by a female lich shopkeeper named Wiz in order to put to rest the spirits haunting it ever since her friend, the former owner, passed on. It goes as silly and not all that scary as you’d expect, but at least they get to keep the manor as their new lodging now. The episode that followed was even sillier, with Kazuma paying a succubus to give him a lucid dream where he can have whatever he wants, but the succubus runs late yet Kazuma misunderstands the situation and thinks his actual nighttime activity with Megumin is the dream, leading to all sorts of awkward comedy and him needing to save face in the end by lying about having been controlled by the succubus to act out in that way.

Symphogear XV - What I’d earlier figured was going on turned out correct; Fudou cast some mental control hex on Tsubasa to get her to serve his wishes, as she turned on her friends and took the now possessed Miku to Fudou, who planned on harnessing the godly power to galvanize Japan’s own power and even mentally enslave most of the population, for Japan’s “defense”. Maria and Fudou’s two sons arrive to stop this, Fudou kills Tsubasa’s father, Tsubasa reaches full power as she turns on her depraved grandfather and gives him the pummeling he deserves, and when the Noble Red girls infiltrate the place to break Shem-Ha loose, she reactivates her power and swiftly kills the three of them. At the end Fudou very nearly succeeded in getting Tsubasa to end things on his terms but thankfully Genjo intervened: the Kanzanari is going to move beyond the old monster, who can look forward to rotting in prison for his treacherous acts. During all this, Hibiki was having a productive and heartfelt talk with her dad; who has thankfully wised up and made progress in self improvement since we last saw him. He’s got faith in his girl to not give up on saving her beloved best friend, and so do I!

Eureka Seven - This episode was just kind of going okayish at first, with us meeting the bear-sized, Gonky scientist ex-husband of Gekko State’s own doctor. Then in the second half we see Dominic and Anemone again (yay!), we see Dewey again (fuck!), and we finally meet his much hyped up Ageha Squad…who turn out to be five prepubescent girls in matching attire. These kids are normally as cold and collected as they’re trained to be, even when shooting someone, but they get pretty hyper and over enthused with their work once they get down to it, and yes jt is as creepy and silly as it sounds. They lead an operation that drops a bomb of sorts down into where Scub Coral has nested, resulting in a sudden, confusingly fast paced and alarmingly gory attack on human civilization by a massive wave of Coralians! Both Eureka and Anemone can sense it and are pained by it, Gekko State reacts to it, the episode ends and I honestly had a hard time trying to figure out what had even just happened here. I was not prepared for this. This show is going mad now! MAD, I say!

Gintama - An episode all about Katsura, with the Shinsengumi present and on his tail, and we don’t even see Gintoki until the last minute. Katsura had to hide out in a ramen shop, lie about his identity, and help out the owner by learning to prepare more dishes himself. The twist here is the shop owner lost her father to radical exclusionist terrorists like Katsura, leading to her loathing such people who do such things, and she had a really good line that speaks volumes to how horrible terrorism is at achieving anything of significant value and worth to others, as it only leaves senseless mass destruction and more suffering in its wake, a statement very relevant to today’s world and to those who equate terrorist ideology and methodology to legitimate resistance. Katsura has a lot to reconsider about his life now, as even after he rescues the young woman from abductors, her life and his are not compatible.

AND

Code Geass R2 - Recent events also made me curious into going back to this show, which I’d not done since watching only it’s first episode last year and being reminded of why I wasn’t a fan. This one unfortunately did not win me over either. Showing how the cliffhanger ending of the first season got resolved in a laughably, insultingly underwhelming way was not a good start, and how Suzaku went on to act when he brought Lelouch before Emperor Charles was astonishingly out-of-character: he’d been furious and seeking vengeance before, not cold and valuing dominance to the point of selling out everyone who ever mattered to him! This did not feel like him at all! Kallen’s character also took a huge hit with trite tsundere humor at a place where it was not at all appropriate, and the publicized return of Zero and his Black Knights lacked so much power when it’s coming after only a single episode of us seeing a Zero-less world. It’s like instead of taking big steps forward to service the proceedings of the last season’s finale and possibly get this show afloat again after the stupid “Euphie dies, Lelouch lies, and there’s total Armageddon between Britannia and Area 11 all over what began with a bad taste joke” episode that led there, the show opted to take big steps backwards so that we return to a slightly altered version of the old status quo, in which we can only expect bigger and badder trainwrecks made to justify over-convenience in plot development. Oh well, at least Lelouch and C.C remain mostly pleasing to watch.

#Anime Update V3 #Anime Update

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retrievablememories · 3 years

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love thy neighbor | kun (m)

title: love thy neighbor pairing: kun x black reader genre: fluff, smut, neighbors to lovers request: “Hello again Rain! I hope you're doing well and I'm happy to see you're open for requests again. Your writing in general is a treat to look forward to. An idea for a fic I'd like to suggest is wayv kun/black oc where they're neighbors that secretly pine for another and do feel free get very nsfw lmao. TY!” word count: 5.7k warnings: alcohol use, protected sex, dirty talk, dry humping, riding a/n: i used a prompt from this list of ideas to help me create this fic.

i’m sorry, this fic could’ve theoretically been finished long ago but took me 3893 years because kun intimidates me (and i don’t know why) and that makes it hard to write for him l m f a o chile anyway...

Your neighbor might actually kill you one day—but only in the figurative sense.

Kun is too beautiful and kind for your sanity; he’s like one of those men out of a romantic novel who simply should not exist. In other words, the ideal guy. One who helps all the little old ladies in the building take their groceries up to their apartments, one who feeds all the stray cats that hang around the complex, one who helps new tenants move their things in without even being asked.

Your roommate Charlotte would probably be totally smitten over him just like you if she did not already have her own happy relationship with her girlfriend. But since she does, she has decided to spend her time instead teasing you about your crush on him and trying to persuade you into getting tangled up in a matchmaking mess.

“I’m sure he already has a girlfriend, I don’t know, trying to shoot my shot seems ridiculous,” you say to her, worrying the edge of your blanket in your hands. You toss and turn on the couch, flipping onto your stomach and sighing before shuffling onto your back again. “People like that can never stay single for long. Right? They get snapped up quick.”

“You’d know if you simply asked,” Charlotte points out. “Staring holes into his head won’t help you find out more about him.”

“I guess you’re right,” you say, your fingers stumbling over the blanket as it momentarily slips from your hands. Still, the idea of asking him if he’s dating anyone, whether discreetly or more openly, makes you nervous. You’ve talked to Kun several times before, even hung out with him at those friendly get-togethers your apartment building always holds to get the residents mingling, but you’re still anxious around him. It makes you feel silly, like you’re back in high school; but you aren’t quite sure what to do with those emotions or how to form them into something coherent. “Easy to say all that when you already have the person you want, though.”

“Oh, girl. Love is not easy, but that’s why you have to fucking work for it. AKA, go for what—or who—the hell you want and stop pining over him like some lost Juliet on our couch. It’s better than watching you flop around like a dying fish.”

You stand up from the couch abruptly, leaving your blanket to the side and glaring at her. “You don’t get it, ugh.”

“I get it! But you refuse to let me help—”

“Yes, because if I did, you’d say something completely ridiculous and tell him I’m madly in love with him or something.” You head to the bathroom to check yourself in the mirror.

Charlotte throws her hands up in surrender. “Hey, maybe. But that wouldn’t be a lie.”

“Really? I don’t think—”

“I think so. The way you talk about this guy, it’s definitely sounding a little like love to me.”

Once you’re satisfied, you come back in the main room and grab your keys, wanting to end this conversation before Charlotte sets a world record for how many times she can make you feel embarrassed. “Whatever you say. I’m gonna go to the corner store, so...speak now if you need something or forever hold your peace.”

“You can’t run from it,” Charlotte sing-songs, going back to reading her magazine. “And no, I don’t need anything.”

Once you get out your front door, it’s just your luck when you see Kun’s door is also open. You are not dressed for running into him, of all people; your “corner store” clothes being just a T-shirt, leggings, and slides. You freeze in place and momentarily think about unlocking your door and bolting back inside, which you realize is utterly ridiculous. By then, it’s too late; he’s already coming out his door and closing it behind him.

He perks up when he sees you outside, smiling at you with those deep dimples that make your insides melt. “Hey Y/N, good to see you.”

“Kun! Uh—great to see you too.”

“Are you going out somewhere?” he asks. Inwardly, he feels a bit silly for asking because you clearly are, keys in hand and everything.

“Yeah, just to the store to get a few things.” You wave your hand, and you almost have the urge to lean on your doorframe to appear more calm and collected than you are. Which could potentially end up looking sillier than you intended. “How about you?”

“Going to see a friend,” he answers, and he brushes his hand through his hair in a way that’s completely casual but somehow modelesque at the same time. This is unbelievable, you think to yourself. “We haven’t met up in a while, so…”

“Oh yeah, it’s always nice to go out with old friends,” you say, smiling at the thought of it. Kun nods his agreement, and then has an abrupt, wild idea to ask if you’d like to go out somewhere sometime. Too busy warring with himself over whether he should take the dive, he doesn’t notice you heading towards the stairs already. “I hope you two have a good time!”

“Oh—thanks. Hope you enjoy your trip.” He chuckles, following you down the steps to get to his car. Well, that moment has passed. Sure, he could probably still ask you now if he was bold enough about it, but it feels too awkward to randomly ask someone out in the middle of a stairwell.

You wave bye to him once you both get in the parking lot. He watches you walk to your car with a wistful smile on his face. He wants to say more to you, but the timing isn’t right and it’s best not to hold you up right now. Plus, Hendery’s probably already waiting for him.

It would’ve provided you with a lot of relief if you knew Kun was facing a similar dilemma to you. He’d never had much problem talking to women he liked in the past, but something about you made him feel clumsy and hesitant. But just like with your inability to move forward, there’s no way for you to know his feelings without him saying anything about it—which he has been hesitating over for the longest.

Maybe he was also still cowering from the embarrassment of the time he’d tried to show you a magic trick that didn’t quite work out, but it was a convenient excuse. At least for him, anyway.

One day he’d get the courage to tell you how he felt, but he didn’t think today was that day.

–

Some strong shots and a few hours at the club was exactly what you needed to unravel your nerves after a long week. You and a few others from your work had decided to go out that Saturday night as a group effort to unwind from dealing with your overbearing boss. “Just a couple shots” eventually turned into more than that, though, but you weren’t complaining. As long as it gave you the opportunity to discard all your issues for a while, you didn’t mind losing yourself a little.

However, your night of fun quickly dissolves into frustration when you realize you’ve lost your keys and have no way to get back into your apartment. You’re not even sure where they might’ve disappeared—in the club, or in the rideshare back to your apartment?

Charlotte is out of the city for the week visiting her long-distance girlfriend, so there’s no way you’re getting back in your apartment tonight. The main office won’t be open at this hour, either; it’s the weekend, and nobody will be there regardless until Monday. And you’re definitely not drunk enough or desperate enough to try to bust the door down.

Though it pains you to do so, you knock on Kun’s door, your head throbbing and dizzy. You feel bad about this. He won’t even be awake at this hour and might not answer, but you don’t know what other options you have. You aren’t familiar enough with your other neighbors to ask this of them. Especially not the old lady living on the other side of you who has a perpetually judgmental aura towards everyone in the apartment building. The only person she seems marginally approving of is none other than the man himself—Qian Kun.

It takes a good minute or two, but you hear the latch unlock, and Kun is suddenly standing in front of you, a look of concern on his sleepy face. He is adorable like this, in his pajamas and his hair mussed and his eyes foggy with sleep. He’s so cute it makes you want to cry—and so you do.

But your tears are mostly because you’re very tipsy and tired and currently locked out of your very comfortable apartment.

This awakens Kun immediately. “Y/N? What’s wrong?” He gently pulls you into his apartment, his tone quiet but panicked as you put your face in your hands and cry. You just shake your head for a few moments, crying too much to say anything to him. When you don’t reply, he doesn't try to press you for answers; he just puts his arms around you, a bit carefully as if you’re made of some easily breakable material, and lets you wet his T-shirt with your tears.

Finally, when you’ve collected yourself some, you abruptly feel foolish for crying over something like this. He probably thinks someone’s died, and you’ve gotten him all worked up for practically nothing. “I-I’m locked out,” you sigh heavily, and he has enough politeness not to outwardly react to your alcohol breath with your close proximity. “And my roommate is gone…forever.”

His eyebrows lift. “Forever?”

“The whole week, Kun...but it feels like...f-forever.”

“Ah...I see. Is that why you were crying?”

You put your head back in your hands. “Just kill me.”

“Don’t feel bad about it,” Kun says, and there is a tiny lift to his mouth like he wants to smile at your dramatics. “It’s fine. You can stay here tonight.”

“Kun, thank you.” You’re still loosely embracing each other, and you squeeze your arms more tightly around him. Maybe it’s just a reason to rest your head on his chest again and hear his heart beating strong against your cheek, but you wouldn’t admit that. Wait, why is his heart beating so fast? “Thank youuu, I love you so much, this means the world to me.”

Kun’s mind catches on the words I love you so much, and he knows you’re just drunk and need to sleep it off and aren’t really thinking about what you’re saying, but he cannot help lingering there for a moment. He’s glad the front room is still dim from the single lamp he turned on, otherwise you might notice the flush growing on his cheeks. “I...it’s no problem. We should get you comfortable, then.”

As it turns out, get you comfortable means he lets you sleep in his bed while he takes the couch. In another context you’d protest, not wanting to kick him out of his own space, but you are simply too smashed to think about it. You’re seconds away from falling asleep where you stand now that the adrenaline of discovering you’re locked out has worn off. Kun has the idea to make you drink some ice cold water, though, which wakes you up enough to take a proper shower.

By the time you get out of the shower and are wearing his clothes—his clothes—you are feeling a little more sober. You also feel like you’re going to have another small meltdown over all this. “This” being: wearing Kun’s clothes and standing in his bedroom, which is decorated with all his interests and treasured belongings. There’s a small studio setup in one corner, which interests you, but you don’t investigate it any further.

Now you have another little problem, though; what are you gonna do about the pillows? You don’t have anything to cover your hair with, with all your scarves and bonnets in your own apartment. One night of sleeping on a cotton pillow wouldn’t kill you, but that doesn’t make it any less distasteful to think about.

Kun comes into the bedroom to check on you and sees you puzzling around, sitting on the bed and looking awkward. “What’s the matter?”

“Oh. It’s nothing really,” you rush out, unsure if you should tell him about a problem he likely won’t even understand. It must be at least 4:00 a.m. by now, meaning you both desperately need to get some sleep.

“You can tell me, I won’t bite.”

I wouldn’t mind if you did pops into your head, but you immediately try to ignore that thought and are silently grateful that you do not blush visibly.

“Uh, my hair.”

“Your hair?”

“Okay, I need to cover it at night so it won’t get all broken off or anything—sleeping on cotton does wonders for destroying moisture—but I don’t have anything here to use. I mean—it’s...not a huge deal though, I can deal with it for a night?” You’re rambling now. Kun just nods, taking in all this information like he’s listening to something very important and very interesting.

“So then, what would you do to stop that?”

“Wear a scarf, or a bonnet, or using a silk pillowcase works, too. But you probably don’t have any of that stuff, you don’t have to bother with it—”

“Well, let me see.” Kun disappears into his closet and you pause, wondering for a moment if he actually does have a bonnet or something in there. Which would probably be a little hilarious to you.

He comes back out with not a bonnet of a scarf or even a pillowcase, but one of his own shirts. It’s just the right material though, being a pretty purple silk.

“Oh—Kun.” At this point, there are several emotions all trying to come to the forefront, though you have no clue which one to settle on. “Your shirt? You really don’t have to. I could…”

“It’s just a shirt, Y/N. There are a lot more where that comes from...I don’t mind.” He chuckles.

You sigh bashfully but take the shirt from him. “Thank you, it’s really thoughtful of you.” You cover the pillow with his shirt, and it works perfectly.

“Anyway, if you need anything else, just tell me,” he says, lingering by the door.

“I will...thank you,” you say, your voice quiet as you give him a nervous smile. Only when he shuts the door and his footsteps fade away do you allow yourself to bunch the comforter in your fists and scream into it. Everything in here smells just like him, which is probably more than enough to fuel all of your Qian Kun-related daydreams for the next 8 months.

It doesn’t take long for you to drift off when you finally do lie down, and your mind is blissfully empty of anything throughout the night.

The next day takes a bit of settling into. You’re momentarily alarmed when you wake up faced with a strange room until you remember last night’s events and recall where you are. There is also the smell of food, good food, which is also sadly unfamiliar to you. Charlotte can’t cook to save either of your lives, so you know you’d never be waking up to the smell of a professional chef-approved breakfast if you were still in your apartment with her.

Walking out of Kun’s room, you see that he’s in the kitchen, halfway finished with cooking breakfast for the both of you. It’s more like brunch at this hour, but what does that matter.

You linger at the doorway for a moment, allowing yourself to imagine that this is what things would be like if you were dating. Getting this view everyday? Life cannot be this unfair.

Maybe not too much, though, since you are standing in his kitchen.

“Oh, good morning,” he greets you, breaking your reverie. “Did you sleep well?”

“Good morning. I slept great. Thanks again for, you know, the shirt, haha…”

He grins, and his dimples come out. “Sure thing. Go ahead and sit! Breakfast will be ready soon.”

It’s the best breakfast you’ve eaten since living with Charlotte; maybe some of the best food you’ve ever had. “I had no idea you could cook this well,” you say. “I mean. I guess I wouldn’t since I haven’t—you know, uh—eaten here before, but—it’s great.” It’s just your luck that your thoughts come out in this fumbling mini-rant, but Kun only laughs good-naturedly.

“Thank you, I’m truly glad you like it.”

You both continue eating breakfast while making light conversation. This just might be the longest conversation you’ve had with each other, and that knowledge seems surreal. You’re almost a little glad you lost your key. Almost.

“So...today is Sunday. And the leasing office still won’t be open until Monday.” Kun says this over the remnants of breakfast. He speaks in a measured tone, like he’s trying to ensure he says the right thing. Whatever that could possibly be. “And you told me your roommate won’t be back until Monday.”

To your credit, you hadn’t exactly accounted for this when you first came over to his place in your distressed state. That means another night spent in his apartment though, which becomes very obvious to you now. “Ah. Sorry, am I imposing?”

“What—no, I-I just wanted to make sure you knew you can stay here tonight, or—however long you need.”

Relief floods through you, and you briefly wonder why you even worried about it; as far as you know, he’s not the kind of person to just kick someone out. “Ohh, of course—that’s good to know. Thank you for all this!”

“You’re welcome.” You miss the smile he gives to your response as you’re busy drinking your juice, but it’s one filled with a certain affection.

It feels a bit awkward to just sit around in his apartment all day, with nothing to do and all your belongings still locked out of your reach in your own place, so Kun shows you the studio in the corner of his room. He’d talked about being into music before, but you’d never heard anything of his until now.

When he plays the keyboard for you, it’s to the tune of a beautiful self-composed song. You almost pinch yourself to remind yourself this isn’t a hallucination or a fever dream. A man this appealing really exists, and you’ve stayed the night in his apartment and eaten his breakfast. You give a small round of applause when he finishes.

“Wouldn’t it be cool if you became a famous singer or something? I’d come to all your concerts,” you say lightly, kicking your legs on the edge of his bed.

“All? Really, all?” He laughs.

“Yes, all. A voice and talent like that deserves all the attention.” You lean back on his bed, stretching your legs out. “But all your venues would probably be sold out. Hopefully you’d remember me from your lil’ ole apartment building. I’m sure you’d be living in a penthouse by then.”

Kun smiles bashfully at your compliments, waving his hands as if it’s too much. “Thank you. But I don’t think I could ever forget you.” His voice grows a bit softer. His expression is more genuine than you expect for a conversation that was so playful only seconds ago, and you find it hard to hold eye contact all of a sudden.

It is your turn to be bashful, and you shrug in an effort to seem natural. “Well, I’m flattered.” Despite your unaffected demeanor, you don’t think those words will leave your mind for a good while, even if you wonder about the meaning of them.

Later that evening, Kun makes dinner and you watch TV together, flipping to whatever channels have dramas or movies playing.

You two eventually fall into another conversation when you can’t find anything good to watch—one that does not make you overly nervous for once. During a lull in the talking, that big question pops up into your mind, and you wince internally at how Charlotte would’ve already told you to make a move. You aren't sure how to do that without making him uncomfortable or seeming too sudden, but you decide to make an attempt.

You edge into it with, “So, um, your place looks pretty nice for one guy. It’s just you here, right?”

“Ah yeah, just me. Thanks, I do try my best.”

“Haha, I’m used to my guy friends all having super messy apartments until they get a girlfriend and she teaches them how to clean a stove for the first time…”

“Oh really? That’s a bit sad for them, isn’t it?” He chuckles. “I’m not dating anyone right now, so it’s all me.”

Just the information you were looking for. You try not to show your elation. “Why not?” you blurt out. Then you cringe because this might sound too invasive or even judgmental, but Kun only grins. “It’s just, it’s a little surprising. You’re such a generous person. You seem to care about everyone, even those poor stray kitties that stay outside the apartments all the time.”

He smiles timidly in response to receiving more of your compliments. “I guess it seems curious when you put it like that.” Just like when you’d drunkenly said I love you so much, there’s suddenly heat on the back of his neck that he hopes won’t turn into another blush that’ll expose him. “I don’t really know, I haven’t thought much about it; life’s weird like that.” He isn’t really sure how to answer that question in a way that won’t be too big of a hint that he’s interested in you, though he’s also not entirely sure why he’s still trying to hide it. Wouldn’t now be the perfect opportunity? When will you two have this much time together again? Still, you staying in his apartment for two days doesn’t mean you like him, and maybe he’s jumping the gun.

“That’s true. Guess that’s the same reason why I’ve been alone for a while now.” You shake your head.

“You?” Kun is equally surprised to know this about you.

You laugh incredulously. “Does that shock you or something?”

“I...well.” He rubs the back of his neck as he searches for the words. “I just thought...you’re very pretty, and you’re always really kind when we speak, so...”

“Oh?” Your face heats up at that.

“Yeah, I…think anyone would be lucky to be with you.”

“Oh.” Your body’s first instinct is to freeze with nervousness, but you know Charlotte would be kicking your ass in gear right now if she were somehow here. So, you decide to stop stressing about it and just do it. “Well...wouldn’t it be nice if we both had a way to fix our problems at the same time?”

Kun pauses for a moment before replying. “What do you suggest?” He knows what you are proposing—you can see in his eyes and his slight grin and his posture that he knows—but maybe he wants to hear you say it out loud.

“Hm, well…I don’t know, what do you think?” You lean a bit closer to him, raising your eyebrows and trying your best to look innocent and unassuming. His smile turns into something different with your increased proximity. Something a little more sly.

Mirroring your actions, he inches nearer to you until there’s little space left between. “Well, I think…” Kun tentatively closes the remaining gap between the two of you, the rest of his sentence left to linger as his soft lips envelop yours.

Maybe it’s corny to say it, but it definitely feels like one of those fairytale kisses with the fireworks going off and streamers popping; even though you’re sitting on his couch wearing his pajamas, some movie in the background you’ve long forgotten the plot of, empty dinner plates sitting on the coffee table in front of you.

You aren’t sure how you end up in his lap—who made the first move? Was it his hand on your back or your hands on his shoulders? You straddle him on the couch, your arms slipping around his shoulders and his hands on your back but assuredly traveling farther down your body.

Kun’s hands come to rest on your thighs, pulling the fabric of his shorts up a few inches higher. “I never thought I’d see you wearing my clothes,” he says lowly, grinning against your mouth.

“I also never thought I’d be sitting in your lap like this, but maybe sometimes dreams do come true,” you say jokingly, your lips rubbing against his skin as you slowly kiss his jaw.

You can’t see his expression, but his eyebrows shoot up at that. “Dreams, huh? You think about me often?” His voice pitches lower when he asks this, aroused by the thought of you imagining anything quite so lewd about him. You’ve definitely incriminated yourself now and won’t be able to wiggle out of it without an answer.

“...Maybe.”

“What do you think about me?” Kun grips your hips, which quickly turns into him grabbing your ass—tentatively at first to test the waters, and then firmly enough to grind you against his hardening cock. Sensing him solid and warm underneath you sends a shockwave down your spine, and the sensation heightens when his voice caresses your ear, all low and tense with arousal. “It’s just the two of us here. No one else has to know.”

“I think about your...lips. How you might kiss me. Or what you might say to me. And...your hands.” You pause there, a quiet breath whispering past your lips. “You have really big hands, you know.”

“My hands…” Kun places one on your chest, spreading his fingers across and touching your collarbone. The heel of his palm glides on the top of your breast, and just that touch is enough to get you more worked up. “Hmm. Actually, I’ll admit I’m pretty good with my hands.” He smirks, and he’s possibly the finest thing you’ve ever seen. “What else, Y/N?”

“I thought about how you’d touch me.” His hand slides between your breasts now, down your sternum, and to your stomach. “Maybe I’d invite you into my apartment when Charlotte wasn’t there. We’d watch some stupid movie and pretend to be into it, but we’re really just thinking about each other. You’d eventually end up slipping your hand up my skirt...and making me cum all over your fingers.”

You aren’t sure how you’re saying all this to Kun right now, the dude you have a major crush on, without bursting into flames.

His shaft rubbing against your clit even through your layers of clothes makes you sigh dreamily, pressing your forehead to his and gripping at his shoulders and biceps. His bangs are soft against your forehead, and your breath stutters when he moves to kiss the side of your neck. He has to know how hard your heart is beating right now.

“And then what?” His voice is barely a whisper, then.

“And then you’d fuck me, of course.” There’s a slight laugh in your voice at the ticklish feeling of his lips kissing your skin.

“And then I’d fuck you...hm,” he echoes. “Sure, I can do that.”

The promise of it entices you, and more heat pools between your legs, amplified by the fabric rubbing against your sensitive parts. His hand that’s still on your stomach travels under your shirt then, and your hips falter in your rhythm against him when his fingers brush across your nipple. He brings his lips to your other breast, lapping his tongue against your nipple over the fabric.

You soon come like this, his shaft grinding against your clit and his clothes rubbing against your skin, his hands on your ass and his lips traveling across your breasts. The orgasm is sudden and surprises you, but it’s good, and you convulse as the waves of pleasure course through you. You weaken and slump against him, with him still teasing your breasts with his mouth and hands. Pushing your face into his hair, you moan into the black strands until the quivering stops.

You’re breathless when you speak again. “You haven’t come yet.”

“I’d rather do that when I’m inside you,” he replies. You giggle quietly.

“...What are you waiting for, then?”

“Hold on.” Kun carefully maneuvers you off his lap, and you already want to complain at the lack of his touch. “I have to get a condom.”

“Hurry, or you’ll miss all the fun,” you say as you pull your shirt off with your back to him. You look back over your shoulder at him and grin mischievously.

“You’re such a tease…”

Kun goes into his room to fetch a condom, and when he returns he’s already pulling his shirt off, leaving it on the floor somewhere. You’re fully naked now, your legs pulled up to your chest and your chin resting on your knees as you sit on the couch. Kun’s eyes drop between your legs, your inner thighs still glistening from your previous orgasm, and he swipes his tongue across his lips at the sight of you, wet and ready for him.

Likewise, your eyes drop to the dark trail of hair leading into his pants and his bulge just below it, the way his sweatpants cling to his length, and your pussy throbs with the desire to be filled.

“Please, hurry.”

Kun doesn’t waste any time in getting the rest of his clothes off, shoving his pants and underwear done in one swift move and rolling the condom over his shaft. He climbs onto the couch, grabbing your legs and guiding them around his waist, and you giggle at his eager but gentle touch as you recline on the couch pillows behind you.

He grabs his dick and lines it up with you, then pushes it in slowly at first. The stretch makes your toes curl, but it is a good kind of stretch, the kind that fills you to the brim. Like the missing element you needed.

“Are you okay?” he asks, his voice husky from the pleasure.

“Fuck, please,” is your answer as you shift your hips and try to get him all the way inside quicker. Noticing your urgency, he slides the rest of the way in until your hips are flush against each other and starts thrusting into you. His length dragging across your walls feels much better than you could’ve imagined on any given night, and you clasp your legs tighter around him to get ever closer.

After a point, he pushes your legs up with his hands behind your knees so he can get a deeper angle, and you both moan at the difference in sensation and how much tighter you get around him.

There is no ignoring the messy wet noises of your bodies colliding due to the slickness of your previous orgasm and the new wetness he’s continually fucking out of you. Each thrust reaches deep inside you, deep enough to make you nearly sob, your hands fumbling over your breasts and your clit all the while.

“Kun, god yes please,” you whimper, rocking your hips into the rhythm of his own. You fucking him back makes him groan deeply, his bangs hanging off his forehead as he dips his head to watch himself slide in and out of you. You could not control the urge or the motion of your body even if you wanted to; you want all of him, as close as he can get.

“I don’t want this to end,” he moans, and he pulls out without a warning. You gasp at the sudden emptiness, and your discontent comes out in a full whine. You’d be more embarrassed about it if you weren’t currently consumed with desire, but you presently do not care.

Kun sits back on the couch and pulls you on top of him again. “Ride me,” he says. So you grasp the base of his cock, him grunting as you do, and you press the tip against your entrance before pushing it in. He watches himself slip inside of you while fully enraptured, one hand tight on your hip.

Once you are full with him again, you experimentally grind against him to see how it’ll feel in this new position, and your arms tremble as his pelvis stimulates your clit.

“Go ahead,” he whispers, grasping the nape of your neck and kissing you hard once more, “fuck yourself on me.”

So you keep grinding your clit on him like that, your limbs shaking from the stimulation and your walls fluttering around his cock. You can barely catch a complete breath from him kissing you hard enough to make your lips swell, and your head is so fogged with lust that all you can concentrate on is getting yourself off just like he told you to do.

“Kun…” You roll your head onto his shoulder, pressing your forehead into his skin, your body tiring as you get closer to reaching that high. You’re so close to coming, but you’re not sure if you have enough strength left to get there on your own. Kun notices the state you’re in and grasps your hips to pull them into his, effortlessly sliding himself into you while making sure your clit gets stimulated at the same time.

The new friction of his dick rubbing against your g-spot in this position is enough to have you finally coming and crying out against his neck.

You continue babbling nonsense against his neck as he keeps fucking you, searching for his own end. His hands are hot on your body as he moves you up and down his length.

His climax comes soon after yours, his dick pulsing and his pace slowing. Your back arches at the sensation of him throbbing inside you and releasing his cum into the condom. The way he groans in your ear has your stomach clenching.

For a few minutes after, you both sit quietly and do nothing but cling to one another as you come down from the pleasure.

“So, does this mean we’re together now…?” Kun asks hopefully, running his hands over your back as you lie against him.

You smile against his skin. “Obviously. But if you still want to convince me, we can go a couple more rounds…”

#kun smut #kun fic #kun scenarios #kun imagines #nct fic #nct smut #nct imagines #nct scenarios #wayv fic #wayv scenarios #wayv smut #wayv imagines #ambw scenarios #kpop ambw #ambw fic #ambw smut #ambw imagines #qian kun

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lholland14 · 3 years

Text

Meeting the Fam (Binoe x toddler!reader)

Binoe x toddler reader where the Team meets super shy reader after a football game. Reader is like small and cute but fast as hell and in the end runs around with a couple player

Sue Bird and Megan Rapinoe. The power couple of sports. The outgoing couple who are never one to shy away from their feelings, somehow had me as their kid.

The shy kid, the one who would rather sit in the corner and read.

It sucked at times, everyone telling me "Why don't you have friends?"

"Don't you want to talk to people?"

The truth is, I don't. It's not that I don't want to, it's that I can't. I don't understand it.

I don't understand my momma's incessant chatter, I just don't understand people.

Why are people constantly giving my mommies plants?

Why do people scream so much?

I can't deal with them.

Maybe that's why the first year I was with my mommies they thought I hated them, until they noticed how I would grimace every time Megan shouted, every time Sue bounced a basketball excessively hard on the floor.

I hated the noise.

Which leads me to the question of why would me mommies bring me to this profound event full of noise.

"Meg? Y/N/N? We gotta go." Sue loudly said, looking around as she walks down the hall.

Sue finds you in the same position you were always in except Megan had joined you. She shook her head before giving her wife and amused smile, "Let's go, children. We can't be late to your game."

"Mommy!" you whine, "One more chapter."

"Megan, tell our daughter that we need to go." Sue sighs.

Megan looks at Sue with a tilted head, "But she has one more chapter." she replied with a sillier tone as you.

Sue glared at her, "Okay, okay. C'mon bubs, you can read more in the car."

------

Car rides were your favourite, as you plane rides. For a certain amount of time, everyone and reverting was just how you liked it. Quiet.

Megan on the other hand was the opposite of what you liked. And mixed with the radio was a nightmare.

She sang to genres from Frozen, to Dua Lipa, to Taylor Swift to BTS. You and Sue both agreed to sneaky put on ear plugs whenever Megan was in charge of the radio.

"Lots of people go, Mommy?" you ask after around 15 minutes in the car, to try to shut up your momma.

Sue smiles, looking back at you from the mirror, "Theres always a good amount of people there. If you get bored, we brought your books and some toys."

You nod, "They loud Mommy?"

"Yeah, bubs." she replies, "But usually only when they score."

"So like all the time." Megan add on exaggerating the 'all' earning a hit from her loving wife.

You giggle and hit you Megan as well, but it ended up as more of a pat on the back.

You and Sue burst out laughing as Megan acted insanely wounded from your blow.

Finally Megan looks over her shoulder and laughs, "Crazy child." while rubbing her back.

You shrug, bouncing up and down in your seat. Excited, but nervous for the game.

------------

The three of you climb out of the car and your eyes immediately widen at the amount of people you see.

"Wow," you mumble.

Your mom takes your hand, "Lots of people, huh?" Megan kneeled down to whisper in your ear.

You nod absent mindedly as you were still taking in the vast amount of strange faces.

The two sport stars lead you through a series of doors before finally reaching a medium sized platform with a great view of the field. Sue swung you onto a comfy chair with a cushion on it before settling onto her own.

"Where you go" You asked wide eyed as Megan had stepped out the door.

She looked at you, then walked over to where you were sitting "Do you see that field?"

You nodded.

"Well, that's where I'll be"

"Why?" You furrowed your eyebrows.

Sue chuckled and messed up your hair "She's playing sweetheart."

You pouted, but was quickly distracted by watching the fans form a wave.

As you were watching the wave you missed the loving gaze Megan shot at you, before slipping out the door.

------

"Why are you so late?" Julie shot a look at Megan, before looking at her watch.

"I had to deal with something." Megan waved the questions away, and joined the huddle

"1, 2, 3 USA!" We all shouted.

It was France vs USA.

In short, we won. As usual.

0-1, the screams were incredibly loud, but momma let me wear my head phones so it was okay.

------

When it was all over momma brought me over to a room and told me to wait there while she got mommy.

I decided to finish my book, but someone interrupted me. I briefly considered murder, but decided against it when the thought of how bad it would look on my record.

"Help you?" I asked annoyed

"Huh? Oh, um I was just wondering if you were okay." the girl replied. She was pretty, with her blue eyes and brown hair. However her voice was something that interested me. It was nothing like I had ever heard before.

"Alex!" Another girl yelled "Come on! Megan said she had a surprise for us."

The blue eyed girl spared a glance at me before walking towards the other girl who was yelling.

After a couple more minutes of peace, momma came back but this time with mommy and another girl.

"Hey bubs" Megan greeted you in a high voice that always put a smile on your face

"So this is the infamous Y/n." The girl next to Megan stuck out her hand to shake "I'm Kelley"

"Hewyo" I gave her s shy toothy grin.

"Whats up?" Two other girls walked over to us. One was short, but the other looked like a giant.

"Sam, Kristie meet my daughter Y/n." Megan gestured over to me.

This pattern continued. People coming over and Megan introducing them to me.

Soon I met everyone, but still continued to hide from them until I saw one of the staff picking up some loose soccer ball on the field so I decided to help him.

It wasn't until Kristie noticed I was gone when Sue and Megan began looking for me.

They found me playing pass with Alex and Kelley.

"Hey kiddo! Over here!" Kristie yelled grabbing the attention of the toddler. Quickly she passed the ball over to Kris, and ran over to her to try to block her and get the ball back.

"Sam" Kristie shouted "I need back up! This kid is good."

"Coming, Sonnett come here"

As Kristie was distracted by her younger sister, you quickly stole the ball and ran towards the goal

"Dang she's quick." Lindsey said in awe

"She's like a mini you Kelley" Crystal teased

"What no, she's way to shy. If anything more like a Tierna" Rapinoe mused

Tierna laughed as Sonnett pouted when you scored a goal, and walked over to help retrieve you from Sam's arms.

You were laughing as Sam spun you around in celebration, when she put you down you ran over to Tierna.

"She's the Flash." Alex jokingly told Christen who rolled her eyes but went to join in the fun anyways.

Finally, after an hour later it was time to go. Instead of your usual behaviour of acting like they saved you from a disaster you were pouting.

You were pouting because you liked those girls, and your mommas could tell.

"Don't worry bubs, we'll see them again tomorrow." Megan reassured you.

"Really?" You asked, instantly brightening.

"Really" Megan replied.

“Okay, I tired now,” you say, rubbing your eyes.

Sue grins, “Come here,” she says, crouching down.

You run into her arms, hugging her neck. She picks you up and you rest your head on her shoulder.

Megan just smiles, watching as you slowly fall asleep on her wife's shoulder.

She stealthy takes a photo, but Sue saw and smiles at the camera. Megan quickly post it and captions the picture, 'Finally met The Fam. Peace out USA, Flash out'

#uswnt #uswnt x reader #uswnt imagines #sue bird #megan rapinoe #binoe #uswnt imagine

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