#the fact that the finals are between to adults arguing like children | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

sorcerous-caress · 6 months

Note

So fun fact about me irl I work with children but often my teacher language slips out like telling my friends to say “bye bye bus”, telling another person in my lecture writing to “be nice to the pencil, it’s your friend.” And greeting a roomful of grown as adults with good morning boys and girls. It’s mortifying but How do you think the companions would react to having a teacher!tav slip up like that.

Dealing with a Teacher Tav

[Bg3, fluff, platonic kinda, nb!reader]

[Gale, Shadowheart, Laezel, Wyll, Karlach, Astarion, Halsin, Minthara, Jaheira, Minsc]

Gale

He delightfully plays along whenever you tell him to thank a stranger or say goodbye to an inanimate object. He thinks it's very silly and joyous.

Teachers have always been a big part of his life, it doesn't phase him in the slightest when you unawarly awake the deep memories of being in wizards pre-school for him.

Says good morning to you back, adding a teacher honorific at the end for the sake of being playful while asking if you've finally graded the homework he handed in.

He gives you an apple occasionally. He thinks he is very hilarious.

Shadowheart

She freezes in awkwardness whenever it happens, not sure if you’re being serious or just playing around. Sometimes, you don't even register slipping up as go on with your day, leaving her wondering if she's imagining things.

She has zero experience with the school system, completely confused by the need to say thank you for carriage after it arrived. It's just a carriage, why should she?

One time while her and Laezel were arguing, you used the same call you'd use in the classroom to get the kids to quiet down and it completely caught them both off guard. They just stood there baffled, forgetting their original argument.

Laezel

Why, yes, she is very familiar with teachers. In fact, she was the best out of her class, ask any githyanki teacher, and they'd tell you endless praise about her throat cutting techniques and sword welding stances.

You, whoever, use very unusual teaching techniques. How would learning a song about washing your hand and brushing your teeth help her in slaying her enemies?

Intriguing, so you take advantage of the brain's tendency to latch on to phrases that rhyme, which makes them easier to remember? And you encode your melodies with instructions to embed them into the impressionable youth?

Huh. She actually is impressed. She made her decision, you will lend your teaching skills to help her embed the most effect way of fracturing someone's spine into a melody to spread to the githyanki children.

Wyll

As someone who has been an unofficial teacher for so many kids throughout his years, he can relate to your struggle a lot. He slips up more than he cares to admit.

The both of you meeting early in the morning while still groggy and tired, your brains working on automatic mods as you greet each other with the same high pitched enthusiastic voice you use to greet a toddler.

Then just stare at each other, complete understanding between the two of you. Like two people accidentally using their customer service voice in front of the other.

You struggle to tie your boots once, and he unconsciously bends down to tie them for you while using the rabbit loop euphemism, only to stop in his tracks as he realises what he's doing.

He uses a curse word once, and you immediately use your teachers voice and say, "we don't speak like that here, that's wasn't very nice."

You're both tired, you both need a nap and neither of you brings it up when the other slips.

Karlach

Much like Gale, she finds it extremely amusing. Top tier comedy to her. Unlike Gale, she hasn't been to any proper schooling system, so she doesn't exactly know what most of these phrases mean or imply.

In a way, it lets her pretend she was a part of something like a school in her youth, like she could've had a normal childhood like everyone else.

She'd indulge you, saying goodbye and thank you to the pigeon that delivered her a letter, or overhearing Wyll's rabbit loop ryhme and whispering it under her breath as she ties her own boots. Who knew this could've been so easy?

Astarion

You remind him of how Leon was with his daughter back in Cazador's manor. Astarion never was close with any of them, but still, he sometimes overheard him attempting to give his daughter a semblance of a normal childhood and growth.

It's endearing when you accidentally use your teaching ways while dealing with the owlbear cub, but he'll never admit it.

Doesn't indulge you with it, he has appearance to keep. Well, unless he has a chance to twist your innocent meaning words into a sex or gorey joke like the 12y old humour that he has.

Ah, the scrowl on your face is the exact same one Leon had around him, such fond memories.

Halsin

Ah, you bring him back to his old days of having to deal with the children at the grove. Although his methods focused more on showing them that nature is a friend rather than inanimate objects.

But who is he to judge your ways? If anything he could learn a thing or two from you to add to his skillset.

Tells you about the fables that were passed down from elf to elf throughout the generations, animal stories have always done a great part in teaching him morality.

Do you happen to have any? Maybe you could tell it to the children of the grove, they are good kids.

Minthara

As a noble, she was only given the best and most prestigious of teachers while growing up. Even the ones that weren't a drow would still be considered the best of the best, crème de la crème.

Yet not a single one of them applied such...childish methods. etiquette and discipline were taught by the lash and threat of punishment, not lullabies and gentle guidance.

....it's not as bad as she imagined.

She doesn't get why some of your companions find it amusing. She doesn't bother indulging either.

But sometimes, sometimes, when it's just the two of you, and she is sure not a single soul is around, she will reply with a pun with the most deadpan face expression you've seen.

Jaheira

Despite what most would think, she actually integrated the same methods into her teachings back when her kids were little, it just happened to be weaved with her more dangerous lifestyle ascept.

Here comes the plane, with the airplane usual holding a good dosage amount of poison to build resistance.

A short rhyme about what to check before leaving the house, except the list has a suspicious amount of daggers and trap disarm kits in it.

If it works, it works, so what if she had to alter a kid's book about a honey loving yellow bear into one with decipherable texts to teach them Harpers' secret communication language.

Minsc

Ah! Boo does use the same method on him sometimes, the two of you have a lot in common. Although Boo's methods do involve a bit of biting every now and then.

Say, how about he teaches you some fables from Rashemen, a lot of them are about a rabbit who got lost after not listening to his witch frog companion.

You could use it in your teachings later! Show the youth the importance of good teamwork. Yes, he is aware of the fact he didn't listen to Jaheira and got captured by the cult. No, he doesn't see why this is relevant? Why is Boo suddenly agreeing with you? He is supposed to be on his side.

618 notes · View notes

spider-stark · 11 days

Text

INFINITELY YOU

part three // spitfire

SUMMARY - In every universe, Peter Parker seems destined to fall in love with you. And, in every universe, he realizes it too late. When universes collide and two of them are granted a second chance at rectifying their biggest mistake, neither of them are willing to let the opportunity go to waste–even if you end up not being the person they thought you were.

WARNINGS - 18+, minors DNI

WORD COUNT - 4.5k

// masterlist // series masterlist // send me your thoughts // no way home fan fiction // rewrite

name key: tom!peter = peter // andrew!peter = parker // tobey!peter = pete

On the walk back from Peter Pan’s, it seemed as though Parker had managed to entirely escape the sputtering awkwardness that had ensnared him the night before.

And, after countless city blocks of listening to him babble about absolutely everything and anything, you realized that there was one very striking similarity between him and Peter.

Both boys had a fervent interest in all things nerd.

“New Hope takes place nearly two decades after the rise of the Galactic Empire, meaning that Leia is only nineteen when she's kidnapped and forced aboard the Death Star! Which is like, absolutely insane, right? Seriously! Imagine being nineteen years old and stuck inside of something that has the potential to obliterate an entire planet!”

Shoving open the lobby door to your complex, Parker hardly even waits for you to hum your agreement before continuing his retelling of the Star Wars film.

“And at the exact same time, Luke is finally beginning his Jedi training! Which, honestly, nineteen is actually super old for that, but-”

Moving towards the stairs, Parker close on your heels, you cut him off with a question. “Too old? Nineteen is hardly even an adult,” you argue. “What age do most Jedi start training?”

“About four or five, so obviously Luke was way behind,”

Not even a full three stairs up, you come to a grinding halt, leaving Parker to bump into your back. “Four?!” You cry out, wide-eyed as you spin around to face him. “That’s insane!”

Parker only lifts his shoulders, clearly not understanding the reason for your horror.

Furthering your point, you add, “There’s nothing ethical about taking a bunch of little kids and training them to be weird, intergalactic warriors!”

“It’s the best way to train them!” He lifts his hand defensively, explaining, “The earlier they start training, the less likely it is that the kids will have formed an attachment to their families! That way they learn to act out of logic instead of emotion!”

For a heartbeat, you’re rendered entirely speechless by the absurdity of his claim, left to stand with your mouth agape as you blink at him.

“That sounds like emotional abuse,” you finally huff, shaking your head. “Actually, scratch that—it doesn’t sound like emotional abuse, it just is!”

“It’s not abuse-”

You hold a hand up, stopping him before he can say anything else. “Give me one good reason why a group of adults should withhold love and affection from children if they aren’t abusing them.”

“Uh, how about the fact that love is basically what made Anakin turn to the dark side!” Parker scoffs, clearly unwilling to recognize how insane the notion he was pushing actually is.

“Or maybe Anakin turned to the dark side because he was indoctrinated and traumatized by some stupid space cult!”

The expression on his face is downright laughable.

It was as if you had just reached out and slapped him across the face. His jaw went slack, his mouth hung open in blatant offense. As a sputtering noise falls from his lips, trying and failing to come up with a good rebuttal, you smirk.

“Exactly,” you boast, taking his inability to speak as a sign of victory.

Twirling on your heel, you continue up the stairs, nearly all the way to the top before you finally hear him come stomping up behind you.

“The Jedi Order is not a cult!” He finally shouts after you.

Already traipsing through the hallway, fiddling with your keys, you sing-song, “Whatever you say, bug-boy.”

Reluctant to admit defeat, Parker continues grumbling under his breath as you unlock the door, spouting something off about your lack of respect for George Lucas.

“Look,” you tell him, pushing the door open, “if liking Star Wars matters this much to you, then I’ll gladly watch them with you.” A wry smile plays on your lips as you turn to look at him, standing in the doorway, “Maybe watching them will be enough to change my opinion on turning kids into galactic slaves.”

Eyes narrowing in a playful glare, he’s only able to hold the expression for less than a few seconds before a laugh causes him to break character. “I just can’t believe that Peter hasn’t made you watch them already,” he admits. “I had you watch them so much that you could probably recite the scripts from memory alone!”

His amusement dies off as soon as he finishes the sentence. Despite having been the one to bring it up, the mention of his world seems to cast a sullen shadow over him, ruining his sweet, boyish smile.

Curiosity instantly claws at you, begging you to ask him why his world seemed to have such a negative effect on him. Or, rather, why his version of you seemed to have such an effect.

This had happened last night too, when you had asked him if the two of you were friends in his world—and it was because of this that you assume that you’re somehow the common denominator in his discomfort.

Still, you don’t let yourself ask him about it. For as much as you’re starting to like Parker, you don’t know him nearly well enough to try prying into his life.

Not yet, at least.

“Well, you’re more than welcome to force me into sitting through them in this world, too.” You tell him sweetly, sweeping an arm out to gesture inside of your apartment, inviting him. “It’s not like I’ve got any plans for the rest of the day.”

You couldn’t even remember the last time you did have plans. Life had been so quiet since that last night with Peter and Mj—the night when everything went so horribly wrong.

Parker sucks in a breath through his teeth, a hand coming to rest against the back of his neck. “I should probably get back out on the streets,” he reluctantly says, sounding more like he was convincing himself of that than you. “But, I don’t know, maybe we can take a rain check on it, yeah?”

Disappointment washes over you, sudden enough that you’re sure it shines through on your face. It takes a shocking amount of willpower to stop yourself from trying to persuade him to stay, wanting to remind him that two other Spider-Men were already running themselves ragged in pursuit of the villains—so why did he have to go, too?

You had grown used to his constant talking, having found solace in the chatter that kept you from slipping too far into your own thoughts. Selfishly, you wanted him to stay so that you wouldn’t have to be alone; so that you wouldn’t have to risk thinking too long about Doctor Strange or the multiverse or constants or Peter.

The thought of admitting any of that out loud, however, felt incredibly humiliating.

“For sure,” you force a smile, trying to ignore the many thoughts swirling in your mind. Then, eyeing the slightly too-tight Ramones shirt that he’d stolen from you, you add, “But shouldn’t you at least come in and change?”

His nose wrinkles slightly as he shakes his head. “Nah—I think this city has more than enough spider-people swinging around it right now. I figure we might actually benefit from one of us patrolling on the ground-level, y’know? Maybe I can ask around for any giant lizards or blown light bulbs.”

It’s hard to tell if the last bit is meant to be a joke or not, but you laugh anyway if only to avoid knowing why you should be worried about lizards and light bulbs.

“Sounds like a plan,” you second his idea. “Well, I guess I’ll see you later then?”

A surprising sense of joy lights his eyes at the sound of your hesitance, unfitting of the simplicity of the moment, but charming nonetheless. He grins—a wide and endearing sort of grin—as he takes a step back, “I won’t be gone long,” he promises before reminding you, “lock the door behind you, alright? And if you need anything-”

He pauses, patting the pockets of his jeans only to remember that he didn’t bring a phone with him to this universe—and that, even if he did, there likely wasn’t a wireless plan good enough to support multiversal travel.

“If you need anything, call 911.”

“Got it,” you laugh, watching as he stumbles backwards towards the stairwell, cheeks red with faint embarrassment.

Turning to go inside, you can’t ignore the warmth that now blooms in your chest.

You could definitely get used to having him around.

A peculiar sensation prickles at your skin, curling along your spine like icy fingertips.

Something was wrong. Very wrong.

The usually comfortable atmosphere of your apartment had shifted. An eerie tension fills the space, a near-suffocating feeling that has the very walls holding their breath, humming a tune of warning as you inch further into the living room.

Your stomach twists as the sharp tang of exhaust fumes fills your nostrils. By the couch, a faint breeze rustles the curtains of a window, wafting in the nauseating scent of the city street below—a window that hadn’t been open when you left earlier.

A mere foot or so away, you notice that the picture frame Parker had been fiddling with before is now lying on its face, having been knocked off the end table and abandoned. Atop the table, you notice that the lamp is sitting askew, its base just inches from tumbling over the edge and joining the frame.

Someone had come in through your window—and it didn’t appear as though stealth had been very important to them, given that they had clearly stumbled into the table upon their entrance.

Adrenaline floods your senses, your spine stiffening as you take a series of slow, quiet steps.

Moving towards the corner, you carefully reach out a hand to grab the metal bat propped against the wall. The bat had been an unlikely housewarming present from when you first moved in, given to you by Peter’s mentor and your own reluctant renegade, Tony Stark. For nearly two years now it had sat in this corner, unused and gathering dust—until now.

You wrap your fingers tightly around the base, wincing slightly as the rubber grip pulls at the still-healing flesh on your palm, making you curse yourself for not properly bandaging the wound last night.

But you’re used to pain—and so you’re easily able to bite back against it as you ease through the living room, checking for any sign of the intruder's presence.

As you walk, gripping the bat like your life depends on it, you can’t help but hear Tony Stark’s voice echo in your mind.

If you’re gonna live alone, then you should have some sort of protection—he had told you, gently placing the cool steel into your hands for the first time, a ribbon tied sloppily around it—not that you need it.

Satisfied with your search of the living room, you start easing towards the hall. You’re good at sneaking around, having had a lot of practice at it—every movement you make is calculated, every footfall so purposefully gentle that it’s nearly silent.

Quiet as you were, you could do nothing to ease the sound of your blood thrumming wildly in your own ears, your heart pounding against your chest.

The incessant beating worries you—because you know that there are people in the world with the unnatural ability to hear such things. Peter, even with his enhanced hearing, had to be close to someone in order to hear something as soft as their heartbeat; but you had heard rumors that there were others who could hear a pulse from miles away, others like the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen.

The thought makes your blood run cold, though you try to push the worries from your mind. From what you know, the Devil doesn’t have a habit of breaking into apartments, nor was Queen's his usual jurisdiction.

No—what you were dealing with had to be no more than an average burglar!

An average burglar who, somehow, scaled up the side of a building to break into your apartment…

Alright—you think, approaching the end of the hall—perhaps it’s a not-so-average burglar, then! Still better than the Devil.

Peeling one hand from the bat’s handle, you curl your fingers around the doorknob to the guest room, Parker’s room. You ease the door open slowly, trying to keep the old hinges from crying out as you peer into the space.

The sweet scent of vanilla is the first thing that hits you, contrasted by the subtle bite of vetiver.

Parker—the room smells of him, even though he had only been here for one night.

On the bed, the quilt is rumpled and thrown about, pillows strewn about. The doors of the armoire are wide open, a few old shirts hanging over the edge of one of the shelves, no doubt from when he went digging through your clothes in search of something to wear.

The room was messy, but empty.

Your shoulders sag, half-a-breath loosing from your lungs. The relief is short-lived, however; as by the time you edge back into the hall to turn towards your own door, you’re overwhelmed with dread.

If whoever broke in was still here, then this was the only place they could be—save for the bathroom, though you seriously doubt any burglar would have much interest in scouring through your toiletries…

Easily, gracefully, you twist the knob, the metal yielding quietly to your careful touch.

The curtains are tightly drawn, eradicating any trace of sunlight and leaving the room cloaked in shadows. But, even in the darkness, you’re able to see the rough outline of a figure sprawled out across your mattress.

For a split second, you think of Parker’s advice to call 911, the weight of your phone suddenly heavy in your back pocket.

You think of how you should follow that advice.

You think about how fast you could run—if you would be able to reach the front door before they could catch up to you.

But then you stop thinking, disregarding all logic and reason as you take a step into the room, as if drawn in by some invisible force.

Remaining mindful of your surroundings, you slowly approach the edge of the bed. Squinting in the darkness, you try to study the body laid out atop your comforter. Watching the steady rise-and-fall of their chest, it suddenly hits you that, whoever they are, they’re asleep.

Slinking around the corner and coming to stand at your bedside, you’re finally close enough that you can see them in spite of the absence of light. Crimson and blue spandex clings tightly to their arms as they cling one of your pillows to their chest, and you feel your entire body sag with relief as you loosen your grip on the bat.

So this must be Peter 2.

The fabric of his mask is bunched up and resting along the bridge of his nose, which is somewhat smushed against the pillow he’s holding, no doubt leaving him to breathe in the scent of laundry detergent and your perfume.

Lower, you can make out the subtle contours of his jawline and the curve of soft, pink lips. Higher, you’re met with the impassive stare of then white lenses sewn into his mask.

The lenses shield his eyes from your view, and a curious feeling begins to tug at the furthest corners of your mind. Take it off—it seems to whisper, compelling you to move in closer, your shins pressing against the side of the mattress—take it off.

You grit your teeth and try to ignore the feeling, try to ignore the velvet-voice slithering through your mind; begging you to look at him, to touch him, to notice him, to-

Pain shoots along the side of your temple, likely in response to the sudden tightness in your jaw. It distracts you enough that you’re able to shake the strange feeling long enough to regain your focus—even if the remnants of it still linger.

You shouldn’t be interested in him—you should be pissed at him.

Not only had he broken into your house, which was already bad enough, but he had also climbed into your bed and made himself cozy! The absolute gall, the audacity he must have, has you allowing the tiniest sliver of rage to ignite inside of you.

Both hands still gripping the bat, you lower it from where it rests against your shoulder to swiftly jab its head into his stomach.

A cough sputters past his lips as the impact pushes the air from his lungs.

You’re actually shocked that you landed the blow—in truth, you had expected his spider-sense to kick in and detect the incoming hit, waking him with just enough time to dodge the shot. But, apparently, his instincts had made the mistake of assuming that you were of no threat to him.

“Morning sunshine,” you chime, your feigned cheerfulness set off by a sneer.

He’s scrambling into an upright position, knees sinking into the mattress as he presses a hand against the sore spot you’d created on his stomach. “What the fu-”

His voice is hoarse—from sleep or pain, you’re not sure—and he doesn’t finish the curse spewing from his mouth once his head shoots up towards you, as if finally registering the sound of your voice.

“I don’t know what things are like in your world,” you muse, swinging your bat back to rest against your shoulder, “but in this one, breaking and entering is considered a crime.”

He’s still catching his breath, and while those damn white lenses covering his eyes give so little emotion away, you assume that he’s going to apologize. It’s what Peter would do, and Parker, too.

But not him.

“Your friends said I could stay here,” he defends himself. Taking another deep breath and extinguishing the burning in his lungs, the lower-half of his face transforms into a defiant smirk. “It’s not breaking and entering if you were invited.”

“And did they tell you to sleep in my bed, too?” You shoot back, brows rising in annoyance. “Word of advice: next time you’re invited to stay in a total stranger’s house, maybe try not to repay their kindness by crawling through their window.”

He mocks you without missing a beat, “Word of advice: you live in a shitty neighborhood—if you don’t want people coming through your windows, you should try locking them.”

“Ah, right! Cause the average person is definitely willing to scale the side of a building for the prospect of an unlocked window!”

“You’re a pretty girl in a dangerous city,” he drones, lifting a shoulder as he meets your sarcasm with purposeful calm. “You’d be surprised what people would be willing to do for a chance at getting you alone.”

The insinuation sends a shiver down your spine, but you mask your unease, flashing a smile that’s more predatory than sweet. “Aw,” you coo, “so you think I’m pretty?”

He returns the expression, skillfully avoiding your derisive question. “I think you’re irresponsible—and a little cocky.”

“Better to be cocky than a felon,” you remark. “Just spare my neighbors the acrobatics show next time, would you? Maybe try knocking on the door like a normal person! Preferably when you’re not dressed like… that.”

It’s not that his suit wasn’t nice, because it was. But it lacks the advanced Stark-tech that makes Peter’s suit so uniquely sleek, meaning that it was likely safe to assume that no one in this world would mistake this boy for the real Spider-Man.

Unless they were to catch him scaling up the side of your building…

“I tried knocking.” he sounds exasperated, as if you are testing his patience. “You weren’t home.”

You snort a laugh, wondering if he truly believes that is all the reason he needs to break into someone's home.

“Then you should’ve waited until I got home,”

“I hadn’t slept in over twenty-four hours. I was too tired to wait.”

“Then you should’ve slept in the alleyway with the rest of the strays,” you hiss at him, fingers tightening around the bat as your frustration builds.

The sheer ferocity in your voice gives him pause, stunning him into silence.

Then the corner of his mouth begins to twitch upwards, lazily grinning at you as if he actually enjoys the verbal onslaught.

You can tell that he’s watching you through those white lenses, and his tongue darts over his bottom lip, you feel your breath catch in your throat. “Fine,” amusement dances in his tone as he raises his gloved hands, “fair enough.”

For a moment, no sound comes from your parted lips, leaving you to stand there gaping at him until you remember how to speak. “Fair enough?” You echo, shaking your head slightly. “That’s all you’ve got? No apology?”

He moves, forcing you to take a step back as he shoves his legs over the side of the bed and rises to his feet. He’s not as tall as Parker, but he still stands an inch or so higher than you, making it hard to not feel intimidated as he stares down at you, your own face staring back from the reflection of his lenses.

“Better not push your luck, Spitfire,”

He’s baiting you—he has to be! Using a stupid nickname to get under your skin, to try and prod further at your short temper. And it’s working—god, you hate how much it’s working!—because you find yourself contemplating putting his superhuman durability to the test by whacking him over the head with your bat.

“By the way,” he says before you have a chance to act on your intrusive thoughts, pointing at your hands, “you’re bleeding.”

As if his words switch a flip in your head, you’re suddenly aware of the acute throbbing in your palm. You loosen your grip on the bat, letting it clatter recklessly to the floor as you hold your hand out to examine it.

Unsurprisingly, the rubber handle managed to tear open the barely-healed cut on your palm, courtesy of your too-tight grip on it. You hiss through your teeth, watching as blood oozed from the cut, dripping down towards your wrist.

Slipping past you, the boy only half-manages to stifle his laugh. “You should probably take care of that.”

He’s already slipping out into the hall by the time you regain enough awareness to follow after him, gritting your teeth against the pain.

“And where do you think you’re going?”

“To the other room,” he calls over his shoulder. Once he’s standing in front of Parker’s door, he spins back around to face you, his snarky expression still in-tact. “Where I’m hoping you won’t follow me.”

Everything about him causes your blood to boil—his grating voice, his insolent attitude, his stupid soft lips.

“Would it kill you to be nice to me?” You exclaim, your voice strained with pain as you try to wrap your hand in the lower half of your shirt.

It takes no-time for blood to start seeping through the thin material, and you certainly don’t look intimidating like this—the lower half of your abdomen on display as you try to apply whatever pressure you can to the wound—but you don’t care.

“I don’t have to let you and Parker stay in my house—I’m doing it because I’m nice, alright? And, so far, you’ve been nothing but a dick!”

The thin fabric of his mask shifts, brows furrowing at the mention of Parker. Unlike Peter, however, he doesn’t bother commenting on the nickname. “Nice isn’t exactly the word I’d use to describe you. Especially since you’re the one calling me names.”

The levity in his tone makes you want to scream—what was his deal?!

You press harder against your bleeding palm, your breathing turning shallow. You’re not sure if it’s frustration or pain or what, but you feel like your head is spinning. “Look, I don’t know you, alright? But this? Isn’t gonna work,” you bark at him, chin lifted defiantly as you stare into his mask, unrelenting. “If you plan on staying in my house, then you’ll get your shit together—got it?”

His head tilts, curiously watching as you continue your frantic speech.

“No crawling in through my windows or sleeping in my bed or smarting shit off! And take off that stupid mask!” You huff, shaking your head. “Or, I don’t know, pull it down the rest of the way! Just do something because you look stupid like that!”

The words are spewing from your mouth like a torrential downpour, fueled by the rage swirling in your stomach and the throbbing in your hand and—

He laughs, a genuine laugh that isn’t born of derision, and you feel your racing thoughts slow to a halt. “You should work on your insults,” reaching for the nape of his neck, he tugs his mask off. “Because that was pathetic.”

It’s no longer just your thoughts that have slowed, but the entire world. Everything around you feels like it has come skidding to a stop—leaving you staring up at him like a dumbfounded idiot.

He’s beautiful—a commonality among Peter’s variants, it seems.

He’s smirking, an infuriatingly charming smirk that lets you know he has no intention of listening to your demands for him to silence his quick wit. But you’re not focusing on that—no, you’re focusing on the features that had been hidden from you this whole time; his dark hair, tousled from removing his mask, falls in a chaotic halo around his face, contrasting the vibrance of his eyes.

His eyes.

They leave you breathless, and you hate it. Colored with the deepest cerulean you’ve ever seen, his eyes feel like staring into the depths of a crystalline ocean. You can almost feel yourself getting swept up in their tides, feel them enveloping you in a feeling of familiarity, as if this wasn’t the first time you had been pulled into their ebbing waters.

“Have we–” your mouth has gone dry, your voice cracking. “Have we met before?”

It’s a ridiculous question, and you recognize that even as it’s spilling from your lips. You couldn’t have met him before—not when the two of you weren’t even from the same universe!

He seems to be thinking the same thing, and you’re already preparing to take the full force of whatever smartass comment he’s about to fling at you. “I’ve met you,” he says simply, taking you by surprise. Then he inclines his head towards your still-bleeding hand, “You should patch yourself up before you stain the carpet.”

You look down at your hand, at the hem of your shirt, soaked in blood.

“But just so I know,” you look back up, his body half-turned towards the door, his fingers resting against the knob, “if Peter and Parker are already taken, then who does that make me?”

You have to force yourself to take a breath. “What did I call you in your world?” He’s silent for a moment, staring at the floor and chewing on his lip. Then, pushing the door to Parker’s room—their room—open, he smiles.

“Pete.”

a/n - ayyy, pete's finally here! and, ofc, lots of other little important details sprinkled around as well.

also, i really wanna say thank you to everyone who has been reading and enjoying this story so far! it truly means the world to me to read all of the nice comments and to know that you guys are interested in this story! so, again, thank you 💖 as always, please comment/like/reblog and let me know if you wanna be added to the taglist!

part four, titled "blooms of subterfuge", to be released april 29th

347 notes · View notes

byeuijoo · 3 months

Text

argument 𐀔 boynextdoor

genre : angst ⋆ warnings : angst, crying in jaehyun's, yelling ⋆ word count : 1,1k

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ ୨ ✩ ୧

⭒ park sungho

during : when he argues with you, sungho often acts surprised and indignant at your words. why are you blaming him for things when he's always trying to do the best for both of you? he hates to hear you raise your voice, so he tries to play dumb thinking you'll get rid of some of your anger, in vain. then he ends up getting angry too, saying that you're talking nonsense and that he doesn't agree with you at all, so he ends up going out for a breath of fresh air because he doesn't want to get too carried away and risk saying things he might regret.

after : when he gets home, it's already pitch dark outside and bedtime is just around the corner. but sungho flatly refuses to go to bed with you pissed off, so he often comes and snuggles up to you on the sofa, while you watch tv to keep your mind occupied. and like two responsible adults, you calmly explain and apologize for each other's behavior. you for getting angry over almost nothing and raising your voice, and him for going out for a long time worrying you, and for not taking you seriously at first. in the end, falling asleep in front of the tv, snuggled up together.

⭒ lee riwoo

during : baby doesn't know how to react, what to say or what to do. so he often looks at you trying to understand the situation, and the fact that he acts as if he doesn't understand anything makes you even angrier. so he ends up hearing your words and defending himself by trying to combat your arguments with his own, except that he raises his voice, which makes you raise your voice too. all this often ends up with you in one corner of the sofa, and him in the other, turning his back on you without anyone saying another word until the night.

after : unlike sungho, when it's time to go to sleep but the problems still haven't been solved, you often go to bed angry at each other. in reality you're no longer angry, just sad, but your pride is preventing you both from taking the first step towards each other. so you go to bed first, followed by riwoo, who falls asleep away from you instead of clinging to your waist as usual. and when the morning comes, the argument seems to be over and you don't plan to talk about it again later. life returns to normal.

⭒ myung jaehyun

during : the arguments between you and jaehyun are often the same — either out of jealousy or because you miss each other. and the problem is that you don't know how to do it without shouting at each other, because you're both tired. so when you look into each other's eyes, ready to cry like children, all you do is scream and blame each other, arguing which of the two is more at fault. you often end up going your separate ways, you locking yourself in the bathroom, and he slamming the bedroom door, both crying silently.

after : after a very long time recovering from your emotions, neither of you dare approach the other. nonetheless, you're often the first to come out of hiding, busying yourself here and there doing the housework or cooking the meal. then, jaehyun finally comes out and silently starts helping you with the chores to apologize without using words. and you can't resist the warmth of his arms and his eyes sparkling with remorse. “i'm sorry..” he says to you in a small voice, almost too fragile to be used, and you give in because you don't want to stay angry with him for too long.

⭒ han taesan

during : he often spends most of his time listening to you get upset without saying anything, because he already starts to overthink the first second of your argument. he can be stressed over little things and easily feel guilty, especially when reproaches come from someone he hold in high esteem. so he listens to you, shakes his head and goes off to the bedroom to think about everything you've told him. he needs time alone to reflect and understand what he's done wrong, and what he can do to make up for it. but he won't get mad at you.

after : after a long hour of reflection, when you see that he doesn't come out of his room, you often end up going to see him to apologize. deep down you know that getting upset is pointless, and that's why you feel guilty. and barely a second after the door opens, taesan has already pulled you into his arms, apologizing and telling you he's going to try harder to be a better boyfriend. and you assure him that you won't get mad at him again just because you've had a bad day.

⭒ kim leehan

during : he often remains silent and only speaks up when he feels it's necessary, but won't hesitate to go against what you say if it's not true. he can hear all the reproaches you want to make, as long as they're justified and you don't exceed a certain limit. but he doesn't like conflict, so he'll do anything to avoid it, even if it means not talking to you for a while.

after : after you've isolated yourself for a while and he senses that your anger has subsided, he thinks he can finally explain things calmly to you. so he approaches the bedroom, knocks a few times on the door before entering and approaching you. most of the time, he waits for you to speak, but sometimes he starts to speak first, pointing out things he doesn't think are right, and explains his point of view, and you discuss it calmly together, finding solutions to problems together.

⭒ kim woonhak

during : arguments with woonhak are often explosive because you're both pretty loud. woonhak has trouble managing his emotions and tends to lose his temper quickly. so when you start arguing, he's often the first to raise his voice — and usually his words go beyond his thoughts, but he realizes it too late. he wants to be right at all costs, so he pushes you to the limit so that you give up.

after : after you've both calmed down, he's usually the first to apologize. mostly because he was the first to yell, and because he said hurtful things he should never have let slip out of his mouth. so he approaches you, wrapping his arms around your waist and hiding his head against your back because he's too ashamed to look at you, then he murmurs countless excuses until you break down and take him in your arms.

⠀

reblogs & feedbacks are highly appreciated !

taglist ౨ৎ @leehanist @wtfhyuck @florainnie @dazzlingligth @yuma-is-mine

301 notes · View notes

sohnric · 24 days

Text

best years – j. haknyeon

pairing: ju haknyeon x fem! reader

genre: early 00s au, established relationship au. fluff !!! sooo fluffy it makes ME feel single. casual engagement i guess ?? tamagotchi mention for all nostalgic girlies <3

warnings: honestly not sure some swearing i'm sure. other than that the reader has hair long enough to play with

word count: 2.5k

a/n: thank you best friend @csenke for beta reading this as always it means a lot to me i love you so bad. also tagging @okkotsu-simp kyuzu bc she told me to and @winterchimez because.. hak fic...

Most things with Haknyeon aren’t planned, grandiose or romantic. Sometimes, you just take a step forward together, holding each other tight, no questions asked. Much like today-- who would've thought that a Tamagotchi toy evolving would lead you to take the biggest step of your life?

this fic is a part of the @deoboyznet 'the love letter collective' event o:) oh and also a spin-off to my 90s au universe! (go read millennium bug and to. my first for 10 years of good luck!)

September 2007

A sweet strawberry is placed in between your lips as you lay on the blanket, the sun shining into your eyes making you squint and shield your vision from the scorching beams. You blindly bite into the juicy fruit, enjoying the freshness of it in your mouth, knowing that this might be the last time you can taste the red miracle this year, since fall is quickly approaching despite the warm days of early September.

Your ears are filled with the noises of the birds chirping in the distance, the occasional buzz of a bug flying by your face, and apart from the sounds of nature, also the occasional humming of your boyfriend’s voice and the tech noises of the toy in between his fingers.

“He finally evolved into an adult!” Haknyeon gasps and places the Tamagotchi into your point of vision, shielding you from the view of the cloudy, blue sky. Eyes falling onto the little device, you snicker at the man and nod, looking up from your position in his lap to meet his gaze.

“Stop gendering our child, Hak.”

“I’m pretty sure that when we named him John, we wordlessly agreed on it being a boy,” your boyfriend’s hand drops, the sharp sun once again piercing your gaze when there is nothing making a shadow fall over your face.

“For all we know, John can be a girl.”

“Y/N-” the man sighs, the slightest tinge of irritation already in his voice. As if the fact that you were both fully grown adults taking care of a toy for children wasn’t strange enough, now you have to argue about the identity of your little animal.

“It’s an it,” you conclude. “I think we can agree on that, can’t we?”

Your boyfriend rolls his eyes, but doesn’t argue with you further. The view of him crossing his arms at his chest and averting his gaze from you has you burst out into laughter– he was clearly upset about something, and you’re fairly certain that this was not the matter.

“What?” you pry, letting out an airy laugh slip from between your lips.

“You didn’t even acknowledge that it evolved,” he peeps, sighing. “But if you don’t care, it’s okay, you can just go back to what you were doing before, which was nothing–”

Now it’s your turn to roll your eyes at the boy, humored with his childishness. Taking his palm into your hand and holding it up in front of your face again, you gaze at the toy in between his fingers and hum in acknowledgement. “It did!” you nod. “Good job. You finally didn’t let it die–”

“Now, that only happened twice–”

“Three times,” you correct him, watching with amusement as your boyfriend sighs again and chews on the inside of his lip, the sight of him from below more entertaining to you than watching the clouds. You know that by the logic of the Solar system, there’s only one sun allowed in this universe– but looking at the sky shielded by your boyfriend’s head, his tan skin glazed in the warm orange hues of the late afternoon, you think he’s the personification of the greatest star itself– for you that is, at least.

“Okay, well, three times. But I’ve got a hold of it now,” he says, nodding to himself. “So that means we can get a real kid now,” he says, face stoic and serious, as if he really meant what just came out of his mouth.

Laughing to yourself, you shake your head in disbelief. “I’m sorry, get what now?” you grin. “I wasn’t aware that I was a part of this deal.”

“You agreed to it, though,” Haknyeon nods, flicking your forehead. “You must have not paid attention again, but we definitely shook hands on it.”

“Wait,” you say, sarcastically humming and brushing your chin, a playful act of being lost deep in thought, “no. I still don’t remember any of that. So as long as you don’t have a written proof with my signature and the date on the bottom, I don’t think we can proceed with this arrangement, Mr Ju. We can, however, settle on getting a dog–”

“So you don’t want children with me?” he asks, looking down at you with big eyes. Thinking that it’s all a part of a joke, you try to play along– going as far as even shaking your head in disapproval.

“Hell no,” you drag out, furrowing your brows in deep unsettlement. “To have a clone of you running around our flat in a few years? That sounds like my worst nightmare,” you hum, snickering to yourself. “Besides, we forgot to buy toilet paper last week. What makes you believe we can take care of another human? Hell, that damn thing died 3 times before it grew into an adult, Hak…” you sigh, the tone of a know-it-all you like to use on him so much whenever you joke around not quite hitting the boy in the right way this time.

“Ah,” he hums, fingers suddenly playing with the strands of your hair sprawled out like the beams of the sun in his lap, his face now shielded with a cloud. Haknyeon chews on the inside of his cheek for a second before a bashful voice reaches your ears, making you look up to meet his eye. “I think it wouldn’t hurt to at least try…”

Noticing the playful sparkle in his eye completely gone, your heart stammers, skipping a beat. Stomach dropping, you jump to rescue. “Wait… you thought I was being serious?”

Haknyeon shrugs, pouting for a second before a rosy tint flashes over his cheeks. “You sounded convincing…” he says, laughing. “Besides, it’s completely up to you if you wanna have kids or not, I was just a little taken aback–”

“Stop being silly,” you say, shaking your head. “I should stop being sarcastic all the time, it’s doing a lot of damage recently.”

“Like when MB!Y/N thought you were being serious when you told her it was embarrassing to cry on her wedding day?” Haknyeon laughs, remembering the memory from only a few weeks ago.

“Exactly!” you agree. “I still feel bad for that, by the way. Now I know why nobody liked me in high school–”

“That’s not true,” Haknyeon denies. “You keep forgetting the fact that I had the hugest crush on you, Y/N.”

“Well, you were always very subtle about it.”

“I was shy.”

“I think you were just trying to be cool,” you say, poking the inside of your cheek with your tongue, taunting the boy.

“Well, it worked, didn’t it?” he laughs, moving his hand up to your head and cradling it, going as far as gently scratching your scalp. “Back to the topic at hand, though. Do you… Have you ever thought of us having kids together?”

Looking up at the man you’ve been dating for the last 4 years, watching as his face morphs into pure wonder, your heart sores when you stare at his features for long enough– even after all this time. You bet you see a hint of sunlight reflecting in his orbs whenever he pays you a look, and the apples of his cheeks catch a light strawberry color whenever you compliment him still, even after so many years. It’s kind of adorable, really– you two have always been an open book, honest with each other– but neither of you were really big on romantic gestures or big confessions.

You two do everything casually. You don’t tend to make a big deal out of things. Somehow, your relationship naturally progresses through all the crucial stages without paying it a second thought. Sure, you two have been on dates– the title wasn’t established for a long time when you first started going out, though. For you and Haknyeon, you were just two people hanging out and enjoying each other’s company.

The title of your relationship gained an official name as naturally as the seasons change– after many afternoons spent together doing various things, Haknyeon just asked you if you wanted to be his girlfriend. You agreed, no questions asked. It felt casual– it fit like a puzzle to the dynamic of your energies. You didn’t need big words or gestures. In the mundane reality of your lives, you two always had each other– without taking each other for granted, you both somehow always knew you were a given to each other. Both of you always knew you had the other person to fall back on– your security, your other half. There was no need for big words in a connection like yours. It just felt right.

And yes, you do talk about everything. Most things, at least. But somehow, the topic of having children together hasn’t really come up seriously until now– only in passing, mentioning it as a matter of course for most relationships. You don’t blame Haknyeon for getting so serious at this moment.

“Yeah,” you say, voice soft and gentle. “Come on, Hak. I imagine spending the rest of my life with you, what makes you think having children isn’t in the equation?” you say, choosing to be serious with him for once.

“I dunno,” he shrugs. “I mean, you were kinda right about the toilet paper thing, though–”

“I know, I know…” you sigh, “but I bet the oxytocin will get the job done.”

“Look at you using big biology words so suddenly,” Haknyeon jokes, making you roll your eyes and flick his chin.

“Be serious for once!” you laugh out, making the boy grin at your little outburst.

“Okay, okay, I’m sorry,” Haknyeon says, the pad of his thumb suddenly glazing over your cheekbone. The touch is tender, managing to cross the words always somehow left unsaid, yet always somehow understood– your brains and hearts on the same wavelength, buzzing at the same frequency– before your boyfriend casually drags out: “That’s good to hear, babe, ‘cause we’d make the prettiest babies. Would be a shame to let the good genes go to waste.”

“Tell me that,” you confidentially whisper. “They’d be mega smart too. They’d get that after me, obviously–”

“Hey!”

“I’m joking, I’m joking,” you laugh, shielding yourself from the hands of your boyfriend already reaching to give you a playful flick to your forehead again. “I do think we should wait a while before having children, though.”

“Not that I don’t agree with you, but why?”

Hands blindly reaching for another strawberry to chew on, you watch your boyfriend easily pluck the fruit out of the basket and hold it up against your lips, helping you with your task. Thinking over your answer, picking out your words carefully, you chew and stare at the boy as he helps himself to a strawberry himself, the two of you gazing at each other in a fond silence.

“I think we skipped a few steps. We live together already, so that’s a start, but I’d like to get married before having kids,” you shrug, licking your lips off the watery sweetness, watching your boyfriend take in the new information.

Haknyeon hums, nodding to himself. “Makes sense,” he admits. “And when do you see us doing that?” he asks, genuine interest coating his saccharine voice.

“Not really sure,” you admit, snickering. “I haven’t thought about it much until now.”

“Hm,” Haknyeon hums in thought, the two of you staring at each other, chewing on your strawberries. There isn’t much contemplating behind your boyfriend’s words before he says them, but nonetheless, it doesn’t even catch you off guard– much like not many things do in your relationship. Somehow, you’re always perfectly synced. “Now seems like a good time, doesn’t it?”

“I mean… it doesn’t seem like a bad time, that’s for sure,” you shrug.

“We’ve been dating for a long time,” Haknyeon says, as if to further strengthen his argument. “Hell, I can’t believe Eric managed to get married before me.”

“Are you only saying this because your younger friend got married last month?”

“No,” Haknyeon says, although he sounds a little unconvincing. “But it certainly was a wake up call, in a way.”

“A wake up call?” you repeat, big eyes staring into your boyfriend’s soul.

“Yeah,” he agrees, “kinda realized when I didn’t see you catch the bouquet. A part of me was secretly hoping you would.”

“Stop being cheesy, Hak. That’s not like you,” you say, although there is something sweet, thick like honey, swirling in your stomach at his unusually rich wording. The male laughs in your face, enjoying the way he has you flustered with his confession.

“Would you do it, though?” he asks, grinning.

“What? Marry you?” you ask, raising your brows at him. “As in… right now?” you clarify, watching as the male purses his lips at you, seemingly thinking about it for a heartbeat.

“I mean, not right now, because we’d have to arrange the wedding and all, but yeah. Like, as soon as we can, is what I mean,” he says, dragging a stray hair out of your forehead.

Staring at him for a second, contemplating your next words, you feel your heart squeezing with something akin to excitement, your fingertips tingling with the reality upon you. “Ju Haknyeon… is this you asking me to marry you?”

“Yeah,” Haknyeon nods, shrugging. The whole situation is absurd– no one is down on their knee, no ring is present, no big events or confessions are taking place. Yet, the moment still feels perfect– it flows naturally into the trajectory of your life, makes total sense in the grand scheme of your relationship, happens unexpectedly, but doesn’t quite shock you in the tiniest way. It’s just another afternoon for the both of you– doesn’t matter that you’re taking perhaps the biggest decision of your whole life.

You don’t contemplate for even a second.

“Okay,” you say, watching the boy’s eyes light up.

“Okay,” he repeats, nodding. “Let’s do it, then.”

“Let’s do it,” you say, watching the boy beam down at you just like the sun, something in the air changing, yet, the two of you still stay the same.

Haknyeon takes your hand into his, opening your fist before he slips the keyring off the Tamagotchi onto your ring finger like it’s a promise, pressing the toy into the palm of your hand and making you hold it tight. His hand stays on yours when he leans down, lips crashing against yours, offering you all his love in the simple action. He tastes like strawberries and the past 4 years of joy.

Faces close to each other when you pull away, Haknyeon talks confidentially into your ear. “We can go ring shopping tomorrow.”

“You better buy me a very expensive one–” you joke, cut off by your own laughter as the male gently bites into the tip of your nose, teasing you and making you frown, pushing him away with gentle force against his chest, right where his heart is.

Most things with Haknyeon aren’t planned, grandiose or romantic. Sometimes, you just take a step forward together, holding each other tight. You love each other in a casual way– the same way you know that when you wake up, there will be sun, and when you go to sleep at night, there will always be stars– you know that as long as you're alive, you and Haknyeon will always have each other. That’s the calm way in which you two love.

#dbn: love letter #deoboyznet #the boyz x reader #ju haknyeon x reader #the boyz fanfic #the boyz drabbles #the boyz scenarios #haknyeon x reader #haknyeon imagines #the boyz fluff #haknyeon fluff

53 notes · View notes

michelle-is-writing · 11 months

Text

Birthday, Ben Hardy

That gif, whoo 😮‍💨

Word Count: 1.2k~

Birthday parties are better when you're in your twenties rather than your childhood years, and no one can argue that. Instead of small games being played, there are thorough discussions being held. Alcohol and coffee replace sugar-filled juices, and the cakes are better tasting rather than crazily decorated. Plus, as a child, the people who attend those parties might not be there for you in the future; however, as an adult, the people who attend these parties are more likely to be there until the end.

Seeing as Ben was turning twenty-nine, I knew I had to hold a small party for him. We had been together for four years and married for only one of them; however, during those years of loving each other, I found that Ben never celebrated his birthday the way most people do. Some people go drinking or have a party, or some even go on holiday. Ben, on the other hand, celebrated it as if it were another day. I was determined that this particular year had to be celebrated one way or another.

"The guys seem to be having a good time out there," Lucy notes as she moves to stand next to me in the kitchen. Looking around the kitchen wall, I smile seeing Ben joking around with his friends, all of them from his most recent movie. I could tell when the movie was finished that he was proud of it and happy that he had found such great friends while doing it. Even though I wasn't in the film, I also gained a few friends through it as well as a best friend - Lucy.

"They do, don't they?" I ask her, moving back to stand in front of the counter once again. Unboxing the golden sparkly candles, I smile back at Lucy before taking a few and placing them over the cake I just finished decorating. "I'm glad they're all having a good time."

"What made you want to throw Ben a party?" Lucy asks, taking a couple of candles from the box and decorating the cake with me. "Because I think it was a fantastic idea on your part."

Lightly laughing at her compliment, I quickly thank her before answering. "For all of the years we've been together, he's never really celebrated his birthday," I explain, "One year, we went out to dinner, but that's it. Not to mention the fact that he's thrown a party for me with my friends and family members for every year we've been together," I add on, smirking. "This year, I decided that he needed a party for himself finally."

Smiling, Lucy nods and takes more candles from the box. "Now, what made you want to bake him a salted caramel cake?" She asks another question, making me raise an eyebrow at her. I didn't tell her that was the flavor of the cake, so how does she know? "I hope you don't mind, but I snuck some frosting from the bag earlier when you went to rally the boys in the yard."

We both laugh at her words, loving the fact that we're close enough as best friends that we can joke around like that and steal frosting from piping bags like children.

"I asked him, 'chocolate or vanilla?' And he told me to surprise him," Nodding toward the cake, I smile. "So, I chose to make him a vanilla cake with salted caramel frosting and drizzle between the layers," I explain, glancing at the clock on the stove. "In a few minutes, we'll have the boys go into the dining room, and I'll bring out Ben's cake before lighting the candles."

Once Lucy and I finish decorating the cake with the candles and more caramel drizzle, she gathers the boys in mine and Ben's dining room before I bring out the cake. It makes me smile seeing Ben surrounded by people who love him. Brian and his wife stand off to the corner while Gwil and his fiancée stay seated at the far end of the table. Lucy is seated on the right side of the table with Rami standing behind her, his hands gently resting on her shoulders as soft smiles linger on both of their faces. Meanwhile, Joe sits at the other side of the table, eagerly waiting for a slice of the cake, going by the anticipation written all over his face. Although, it makes me smile even more when I see Ben practically light up as I enter the room.

Placing the cake down at the end of the table where Ben sits, I quickly light up the candles as everyone sings Happy Birthday to him. It isn't long until I feel my husband wrap his arms around me and pull me onto his lap, still singing Happy Birthday as I look over at him to see him wearing a smile I haven't seen in a while.

Once the song is over, everyone watches in anticipation for Ben to blow out his candles, but instead of doing that, he looks at me once more. "Will you blow out the candles with me, love?" He asks, making me smile at him with a blush. "We are getting old with each other, so it seems right."

With a giggle, I nod and we both turn our heads to blow the candles out, applause sounding through the slightly crowded room as we do so. "You guys are so sickening," Joe teases, making everyone, including Ben and I, laugh at his comment.

"You're just jealous," Ben jokes back, his arm around me tightening. This comment earns more laughter and a playful shrug from Joe. Just like Lucy and I, the guys all have a close enough relationship to joke around like children as well.

Despite Ben's protests, I remove myself from his lap and stand to cut a slice of cake for our friends, earning sounds of approval from everyone as they take a bite.

"(Y/n), you did excellent on this cake," Gwil says as soon as he tastes the treat. Looking down at his slice of cake, he smiles with a sigh. "Well," He starts. "There goes my diet," he mutters, his fianceé nodding in agreeance as they both dig in. We all chuckle at his comment before Joe speaks up.

"We were supposed to have one?" Joe questions his friend, making all of us shake our heads and laugh at his silliness.

"I quit those things long ago," Brian admits with a simple wave of his hand, causing us all to laugh even more at his raw honesty.

"The cake is absolutely wonderful, love," Ben compliments, leaning up to kiss my cheek with his soft lips. "Thank you, my darling."

His comments make me smile and blush once again, feeling his sweet words squish my heart to death. We've loved each other for so long, and no matter what, his words always affect me. I just can't help but feel every ounce of love this man has for me, and I hope he feels the love I have for him as well.

Once everyone has finished their cake, we all head back into the living room where Ben opens the gifts everyone got for him. Every gift received made Ben smile or laugh as each had a different meaning. Rami got him a new hoodie - similar to the one I have to argue with Ben just to wash it. Next, Roger got him a pair of drumsticks with his name and birthday engraved on them. Gwil got him a few books, as did Brian, while Joe got him something completely different.

"Sweet!" Ben notes, taking the video game from the gift bag before looking over the expertly designed cover. "I have been wanting this one for a while," He adds on, Joe smiling proudly at his gift-giving skills. Ben then looks up at me as I lean over the back of the couch, watching beside him as he opens each gift. "You'll play this with me, right?"

Ben's question makes me grin before nodding, leaning closer to kiss the side of his blond hair-covered head. "Of course, love," I assure him, watching him light up like earlier. "Anything you want."

With a soft smile, I peck his lips again before walking to the kitchen to grab a pair of scissors for the next gift. Lucy decided to get him a new pair of sneakers for soccer, but she also decided to wrap the entire package in a combination of zip ties and duck tape. It doesn't help that I gave her the idea for the gift wrapping in the first place, but Ben doesn't have to know that.

Opening the utensil drawer, I move spatulas and spoons around, trying to find the item Ben will need. Taking the green kitchen scissors into my hand, I move to walk back into the living room; however, Gwil's voice from the living room causes me to pause and listen in.

"You must fall in love with her more and more every day, huh?" The man asks whom I assume is Ben, making me confusedly smile. Why is he asking that?

"Of course," I hear Ben's deep voice respond, making my heart beat rapidly as my smile grows. The blush I had on my cheeks returns as I peer around the kitchen doorway, only to be greeted by Ben's green eyes staring straight back at me as he continues smiling happily. "How could I not?"

#ben hardy #ben hardy imagine #ben hardy imagines #ben hardy x reader #ben hardy fanfic #ben hardy x fem reader #ben jones #roger taylor #roger taylor imagine #roger taylor imagines #roger taylor fanfiction #roger taylor fanfic #roger taylor x reader #bohemian rhapsody x reader #bohemian rhapsody imagine #bohemian rhapsody

113 notes · View notes

fedorah-the-explorah · 5 months

Text

I saw a take that said the family dynamics between team red (especially shadowsan + carm) are somewhat exaggerated by fandom and there's not actually a lot in canon that supports a lot of popular head canons or attributed roles. And it's like, first of all, please keep your hurtful truths to yourself. Second of all, I'm probably going to need a read more.

Despite myself, I really cannot disagree with the points made by this particular poster. It's a sound argument. Carmen Sandiego (2019) is an adventure series. It's fast paced, action packed, and focused a decent amount on edutainment. This is understandable, this is after all, the point of the franchise as a whole. The characters have enough sustenance that they are likeable, though they are most noticeably flat.

I'd argue that Shadowsan and Devineaux are the most dynamic characters, but even then the handling of their respective character arcs leaves something to be desired. Much like the rest of the series, their storylines feel rushed and added in as a second thought. I get the impression that the show was envisioned simply as an adventure of the week type of thing. They had a premise and a gimmick and they wanted to run with it. This is fine. But then came the overarching story lines and... Well. There were no master pieces.

We'll take season one as an example. The first two episodes were pretty solid. They had a coherent and well executed story line supported by characters with personality and potential for growth and depth. The pilot episode of a series serves to set up character arcs and overarching themes without having to go too into depth because of the fact that it's simply the beginning. The first two episodes of this series fulfilled their purpose, and they were executed well. I will even be generous to the rest of the season's story line and say that there did seem to be at least the minimal amount of foreshadowing and groundwork laid for the twist at the end of the season.

The problem then comes into play with the remaining episodes. From episodes three to eight, the story line is episodic and self-contained. There's a formula and it works well without there necessarily being a greater need for depth. I was perfectly invested simply with the caper by caper formula. It was never thought-provoking for me nor did it need to be. It was just a bit of fun. And then came the final episode and it was... interesting! I was pleasantly surprised by the sudden inclusion of an overarching story line, if not scratching my head a little.

Shadowsan's reveal made a decent amount of sense in hindsight, but didn't come across as particularly expertly crafted. It was a sudden shift to the status quo with little build up, and it felt vaguely out of place. It's an episode that could have been executed better if the narrative had started to shift earlier in the season or if there were more episodes between "The Chasing Paper Caper" and "The French Connection Caper." Instead it's everything all at once and I found myself thinking, "Oh! Okay! So we're doing this now."

Upon rewatching, there is some build up that can be noticed and recontextualizes, but it's not much. Even knowing how the season concludes, episodes 3-8 still feel episodic and disconnected from any greater story line. You've got some angst about Carmen's origin, and Shadowsan's insistence about sending Tigress for a second time reframes itself as a calculated decision rather than misjudgment but that's about it. They have the bare essentials of story telling, but they're not skillfully crafted. And that's... fine! This is children's TV. I don't actually hold it to the same standard as adult television, and I do think it's a pretty decent show for what it is.

My point then that I want to address is this idea of bare essential story telling. Carmen Sandiego doesn't lack the elements needed to tell a good story. They're there, just not expertly executed. The post that inspired this spiel mentioned that Team Red reads more as friendly coworkers. I don't fully agree with this, but I see their point. I will also say that I don't think this was what the writers had in mind. I do believe they were meant to be read as Found Family, in fact, it is more or less explicitly stated in "The African Ice Caper." It's just that, like every other aspect of the show, it's handled in a way that gives hints of further depth while not fully conceptualizing the theme.

This is not a smear campaign against the series. No, this is very much a product of passion. It's an entertaining show with beautiful animation and captivating fight sequences. I was hooked from the first episode and I continued to be so through the end of the series. I'd say one of the greatest draws of this show lies in its weakness. We're only given impressions of characters' further depth and personality. With the obvious exception of Carmen, we're only given glimpses of characters'back stories. In regards to over arching story lines, we're only given bare bone elements. This isn't great from a critical standpoint, but it does open the door to a large array of fan interpretation and transformative fanworks.

Because of the flaws in canon, fans are not bound by strict limitations. They are free to come up with their own unique interpretations of characters, they can flesh out back stories however they see fit, and otherwise flimsy storylines lend themselves to deeper fan-driven exploration.

Frequently on Tumblr, you'll see posts that disparage fanon for the way that it tends to flanderize and flatten characters. And yeah! This is bad! Unsurprisingly, flattening complex stories into easily recognizable tropes and clichés is actually the devil! A lot of times in fandom, you see this sort of corporate brain rot that simplifies stories into familiar and easily consumable pieces of "media" ("Consuming media," my beloathed)

Fanon gets a bad rep. Is it deserved? Mm. A good majority of the time, maybe. But where is the discussion for fanon in the other direction? What about when fanon expands a work of fiction? When it assigns more complexity than canonically given? There's something innately human about connecting with a piece of fiction and wanting to do more. We don't so easily let go of things, you know? When you love a piece of art that's otherwise disappointing, you have this desire to see it do better. To meet its potential. I think that's where fanon in the opposite direction stems from.

I think the fandom surrounding Carmen Sandiego (2019) is a decent example of this. The characterization is admittedly lacking, but that's done nothing to stop fanartists from coming up with their own rich interpretations of characters and their relations to others.

Carmen and Julia are two characters that share a decent amount of screen time, but their relationship otherwise suffers from the amount of time stretching between interactions. This has done nothing to deter fans. It seems I can't throw a stone in this fandom without hitting beautiful pieces of fanart depicting the two, or multi-chapter fics exploring the two's dynamics, or impassioned ramblings about them.

The same thing can be said about Graham and Carmen. They share a decent amount of screen time and their interactions are compelling, but they're too far and in between. What's there is not fully developed. Again, bringing it back to the idea of bare essential story telling. They have what they need to hint at the intrigue of both these dynamics, but they're not satisfactorily executed and both relationships suffer as a result. Their relationships, and indeed, the show as a whole, kind of feels like a completed puzzle with various missing pieces.

I chose Julethief and Redcrackle to use as examples, but similar things can be said of every other relationship in this show. Player and Carmen have moments that hint at a dynamic friendship built on unwavering trust and care, but it's only in a few select scenes, (though, the scenes that do do this are phenomenal and make me want to cry-- and I'm so sorry shippers-- but Player and Carmen have a monopoly on the hard hitting emotionally impactful moments in this show. I don't make the rules, I'm sorry.) and the majority of their interactions are reserved for getting down to business.

However, because of the glimpses we do see, you see countless fics detailing their friendship and building on to what we see in canon by going behind the scenes. I myself have extensive head canons about these two and honestly, what I've written and published is only the tip of the iceberg. Player is a bit of a tricky character to get a grasp on because of his limited role in canon, but what we do see opens up all sort of interpretation. I have such a fun time writing him because I can use what I see in canon to shape my own ideas about how he would act in various scenarios. My version of Player is far more dynamic than what we see in canon, but it's only like that because I love the canon character so much. I want him to do more, I want him to be more. My creativity is piqued with this character.

Moving on, let's focus on Shdowsan and Carmen, my other beloved dynamic. I have so many ideas about these two's relationship, and I especially enjoy delving into the dynamic between him and Black Sheep. They suffer the same problems as prior discussed. The scenes building on their relationship are sparse, but they are there. Take for several examples:

Shadowsan interacting with little Black Sheep in the "Daisho Caper," Shadowsan's stated remorse at not being able to tell Carmen about her own family, Shadowsan nursing her back to health after "The Stockholm Syndrome Caper," his stated motive for hiding the truth of her lineage from her, Shadowsan telling her he'd be with her till the end of the line, Shadowsan reminiscing about little Black Sheep when he visits the destroyed VILE Island, Shadowsan's dedication to finding Carmen's mother for her, Shadowsan telling her she can finally rest, and, and, and, and.

There is certainly a reason that fans have interpreted he and Carmen as being father and daughter, and I am in no way surprised by the beautiful and extensive explorations that certain fans have taken into these two's shared history (@frozenwolftemplar my beloved)

After all, you really do have to wonder about the hardened assassin who couldn't bring himself to harm a child or her father. Could there have been more done on the show writers part to really cement their relationship as adoptive father and daughter? Yes, absolutely. Does the development of their relationship leave something to be desired? Yes, absolutely. Do the existing interactions inspire me to delve further and call up melancholy memories of me and my own father, thus making me want to extensively detail their shared history before expanding on their present relationship so that I can process my own feelings about my own father? Yes, absolutely. Is this type of connection a deeply valuable faucet of story telling and kind of the whole point of creating art to begin with? I think so!

Carmen Sandiego doesn't necessarily set things up just to drop them so much as it strives to create compelling story lines and interesting characters before ultimately failing to delve deep enough or dedicate enough time for these things to fully come into their own. They're there and they exist, but it's like... Drinking water with oranges in it. I can taste the oranges, but damnit, now I want orange juice.

It utilizes story telling techniques, but not enough so that the show fully benefits from them. There's an impression of character dynamics, back stories, and personality but they're not fully recognized.

However, it is because of these flaws that fans can take the source material and go absolutely bonkers with it. By engaging with the story and characters, you really get the chance to flex your creative muscle. It's like a sandbox. The sand is there, the box is there, and the tools are there, but what you make is up to you. I've seen some deeply moving pieces of writing come out of this fandom, and it's insane to me how some authors can do so much with so little. In engaging with fanworks for this show, I've drawn connections to my own life and my own relationships. There are lines of writing that have been engraved into my brain. I've met wonderfully creative people and I'm glad to be an active member of the community.

No, the show itself is no amazing piece of story telling. It's fun and it's entertaining, but it doesn't fully realize everything that it set out to do. It does, however, open the door to community as well as inspiring creativity and transformity, and that means the world to me.

#god damnit i did it again #when will i stop dedicating hours of my life to hand wavy analysis of my niche special interests #suzie speaks #carmen sandiego 2019 #carmen sandiego netflix

23 notes · View notes

cienie-isengardu · 4 months

Note

No offense but Cyrax always gave off a new recruit vibe compared to the other members. Seriously he seems a lot more...normal than the other Lin Kuei and seems more...open minded compared to the others. I feel like Cyrax was a fair bit older than the regular Lin Kuei enrollment when they found him(probably late teen to young adult) and since Cyrax wasn't as indoctrinated they just shoved him with Sektor to keep him grounded since Sektor was more obedient of the two.

Cyrax and Tomas Vrbada have no confirmed or hinted biological ties to Lin Kuei and as Botswanian (African) and Czech (European) respectively, both came from culturally different backgrounds than the majority of the clan members (Chinese/Asian). We don’t have much details on how each man was recruited and at what age they joined. However with Tomas, we at least know his reasoning for joining the Lin Kuei, as his official BIO stated “it has been Smoke's hope that through the Lin Kuei he will discover his past--and the origin of his power”. About Cyrax we don’t even know the reason behind his choice to pledge his life to Lin Kuei but there was a clear boundary that he did not intend to cross:

“I chose to serve the Lin Kuei. But I will not surrender my free will! [MK9]

Like you, I too assume he joined at much older age than majority of adepts started their training (either like Sektor from birth destined to be Lin Kuei or like Bi-Han & Kuai Liang kidnapped as a young children), however I would argue with the new recruit vibe, as Cyrax presumably was already well-proven top fighter to take part in Mortal Kombat Tournament and he too was steeped in Lin Kuei beliefs - like the disdain for Shirai Ryu clan

“Your inferior clan is dead. Soon you will join them.” [MK9, Scorpion Chapter]

or once considering Lin Kuei as the honorable clan

“[...] He has contemplated leaving the clan, fearing that it is no longer an organization of honorable assassins.” [MK9's Cyrax BIO]

The last one is especially something that Cyrax shared with Kuai Liang, as the younger Sub-Zero for a long time did not realize how deep Lin Kuei’s evilness run even though he worked for the clan as an assassin himself all his life:

“When I finally killed Sektor, I discovered the Lin Kuei had not sacrificed it's honor with the Cyber Initiative. We had abandoned it long before.” [MKX’s story mode, Scorpion Chapter]

So, I’m not sure if Cyrax was that much more normal (mentally healthier) than the rest as he clearly was influenced by Lin Kuei teaching. Though I assume between Sektor and Bi-Han, it is no wonder Cyrax feels like the most normal Lin Kuei to be around because the story mode allowed him to express emotions and fight for his own humanity. In contrast, Sektor is withdrawn and obey-at-any-cost while Bi-Han has this lone wolf vibe due to barely interacting with anyone, even his own comrades. So in that case alone, Cyrax is the most sociable one, no question about that.

Frankly, compared to Sektor, no one of the named Lin Kuei is even on that level of indoctrination, however what is worth to point out, Kuai Liang in original and alternative timelines was brought to Lin Kuei at young age and was trained to be an assassin his whole life yet even with so long-lasted indoctrination he always rejected C.I. Project. Despite his loyalty to Lin Kuei, he would rather abbadon the clan than allow anyone to turn him into a machine, not to mention rejecting the “no friendship rule”, both in the case of Tomas and his own brother. He, Tomas and Cyrax share that trait, no matter the differences of their backgrounds or amount of time spent with Lin Kuei.

Did Cyrax presumably joining Lin Kuei at an older age influence his stubborn commitment to individuality and humanity? Definitely. But I think it is also the fact he was not alone in believing that C.I. Project was a wrong decision, as at least Smoke and Tundra supported that belief. Was Sektor paired with Cyrax to keep in check the man’s independence? Yeah, that sounds very likely, especially since original timeline mentioned this

“[...] In the guise of fighting alongside his Lin Kuei comrade, Sektor's orders are to watch and report on Cyrax. Sektor's reports will decide whether this is the last mission for Cyrax." [Mortal Kombat Gold’s Sektor BIO]

As human Cyrax was already questioning Grandmaster’s plans, I would not be surprised if Sektor was tasked with watching and reporting his comrade's behavior to the Grandmaster.

#mortal kombat #cyrax #sektor #my replies #lin kuei #i don't think any of the named lin kuei were okay one way or another #but anyone between sektor and bi han probably will give the vibe of normal and sociable person :D #let's just agree that cyrax tomas and kuai liang are too stubborn for lin kuei indocrination (bi han too on his own way)#poor sektor being stuck with this bunch for like forever in lore

19 notes · View notes

scarlettlillies · 9 months

Text

Hetalia- Selfoss

What's this? Lilly posting a new fic so soon after the last one? It's more likely than you think.

This was an old Nordipalooza submission from 2020 that I ended up discarding during the event. The prompt from this was 'Sweden, Iceland - Folklore'. Back when I was researching for this prompt, I ended up on a tourism website that talked about how a town called Selfoss was supposedly haunted by ghosts so I knew immediately that's where I wanted to set the story. I was having a hard time getting started though and after two incomplete drafts, I tossed them and picked a different prompt. This weekend I finally decided to finish them off.

Sweden and Iceland sadly don't have a lot of interaction but I get the feeling that Ice is most comfortable with Sweden just on the sole fact that he doesn't treat him like a child. Therefore he gets to be a bit more relaxed and not always cool and reserved like he is with the rest of the Nordics. I hope Hima expands on their relationship in a future strip.

Also, I hope I'm not the only person who headcanons both Ice and Nor as photographers! They've got some of the best places for a hobby like that. :D

If you'd prefer to read this fic on Ao3 instead, you can check it out here.

Hope you all enjoy it! Summary: During a trip to see the northern lights near the Icelandic town of Selfoss, Sweden couldn’t shake off the feeling that he was being watched.

----

No matter how much he tried, Sweden couldn’t shake off the feeling that he was being watched.

He questioned if it was all in his head. Hundreds of people, mainly avid photographers, were gathered here by the river near the town of Selfoss to catch a glimpse of the northern lights. Iceland stood across from him and didn’t seem to have a care in the world. He was too focused on setting up his equipment and running a few test shots with his camera pointed toward the skies. The boy had a good head on his shoulders. If anyone could sense if something was off, it would be him.

Yes, it was definitely all in his head. The ghost museum they had visited in Stokkseyri must have let his imagination get ahead of itself.

The show of lights slowly began and Sweden tried to keep his mind occupied by splitting his attention between the skies and his fellow Nordic. Sitting on a reddish-brown fleece blanket, Sweden felt over-dressed with his heavy navy blue peacoat and black leather gloves. After leaving the museum earlier in the day, he was struck with a chill that he couldn’t shake off. Meanwhile, Iceland was dressed lightly in a brown spring jacket with no gloves at all. Almost everyone else wore similar clothing.

“Aren’t ya cold?”

“Not at all. I’m surprised you are though. Don’t tell me you can’t handle a little cold in your old age Sví!”

Sweden rolled his eyes but the comment got the both of them chuckling. With just the two of them together, Iceland seemed more laid-back and less hesitant to hide his playful side. He’s sure Iceland doesn’t mean to, but Sweden noticed over the years that Iceland would quickly become uncomfortable and reclusive whenever Denmark and Norway (and to some degree Finland too) became overbearing with their ‘big brother’ personalities. He just wanted to be treated like an adult alongside the rest of them.

He understands that well. After all, Denmark did it to him when they were small children—despite the three of them frequently arguing over who was the oldest. Those arguments died the moment Iceland entered their lives.

So Sweden does just that. He still dotes on him—albeit more subtly than the others do. But in return, he is rewarded to hear more in-depth things about Iceland’s life. Just on this trip alone, he has heard of the late-night calls with Indonesia, the camping trip in Hiiumaa with the Baltics, and the coffee dates with Liechtenstein in Vaduz. He felt grateful that Iceland could trust him like that.

Snap. Snap. Snap.

The colours quickly grew more intense. Shades of green, blue, and purple danced across the sky and their colours reflected against the river below. Loud gasps of delight erupted from the crowd on the ground. Iceland was mesmerized by the sight. Even though he had seen this millions of times, it never failed to put his mind at ease. Any worries he had about his life would immediately wash away. With a hand placed on his left shoulder, Sweden surprised Iceland by coming up close at his side. The average person would never be able to tell, but he could see that tiny grin form on Sweden’s face. He was just as ecstatic to see the lights as he was.

“Gettin’ some good shots?”

“Yeah,” he nodded before he returned his focus to the camera. “The multicoloured lights always make the best shots.”

Sweden tucked his hands into his coat pockets. He watched him work and noted how meticulous Iceland was with each shot. Seeing him like this reminded him so much of Norway, right down to the focused but elated expressions. Norway was also a photographer who loved to shoot landscapes just like him. But Sweden would never dare say that out loud. Iceland would quickly get annoyed whenever comparisons arose between him and his brother, even as a joke.

We’re nothing alike. Don’t say dumb things like that.

He kept his comments to himself and continued staring up at the skies. He didn’t need to ruin the perfect day they’d had together.

The lights had lasted for around twenty minutes when dark clouds began rolling through. Everyone in the crowd knew it was their sign to call it a night. The timing couldn’t have been more perfect. The camera Iceland had been using throughout their trip had begun flashing a warning that the battery was running low. Sweden helped him pack his equipment and get the bags into Iceland’s trunk. The blanket Sweden used earlier remained unfolded and got tossed into the backseat. With everything packed, they were ready for the hour’s drive back to Reykjavík.

But there it was again. That feeling that someone was watching. Sweden was so certain about it.

“What’s wrong?” Iceland asked. Sweden was leaning against the open passenger door as he searched around the pitch-black landscape. He wasn��t sure what he was looking for, just that it was something.

“We’re bein’ watched…”

“Huh? From what?”

“Dunno but—”

Laughter.

A child’s laughter.

It was such a high-pitched noise that rang inside his ears. He hated that he couldn’t see where it was coming from. There were no streetlights in this part of the country. The only light visible came from the inside of Iceland’s car and the headlights of others as many began driving away from the scene and onto the main road.

Sweden’s frustrations hit a boiling point. He reached into the glove compartment and pulled out a black flashlight. He slowly made his way toward the river. Iceland tried to call him back however Sweden ignored his pleas. A frustrated sigh fell from his lips, “I'm never taking you to that ghost museum ever again,” He had no choice but to follow behind him.

Sweden hadn’t noticed earlier that the water was much lower than he had anticipated. Boulders of various shapes and sizes poked through the water, especially along the shoreline. He swung his flashlight around and didn't see anything out of the ordinary. The mysterious sounds of laughter from before had also disappeared. Was it his mind playing tricks on him again?

“Did ya happen to hear a child laughin’ earlier?”

“A child?” Iceland pondered, “The crowd was mostly full of photographers but I’m sure I saw a few families with small kids there. Maybe it was that you were hearing?”

Sweden made a disgruntled grunt as he appeared furious with himself. He hated how out of character this was for him. He could never recall a moment in time when he acted this paranoid before.

But on the furthest rock to his left, his flashlight picked up something stuck against one of the boulders. The two men investigated and discovered it was a small grey blanket. They had wondered if it was forgotten by one of the families from earlier. Upon closer inspection though, they noticed it was covered in mud, the material looked faded, and the bottom tip of the blanket had been submerged into the water. It was clear it had been here for some time.

“Sví, we should go. There’s no one here,” Iceland said as he tugged on Sweden’s arm. “We have a long drive ahead of us.”

It looked as if Sweden had finally come to his senses and the two men walked back to the car. But Iceland took one more look over his shoulder. Near the river, a small child stood there in a white gown. A short blond boy, possibly no older than three, hugged the dirty grey blanket that Sweden discovered earlier. Iceland put a finger to his lips and shook his head. The little boy’s smile turned to an angry frown and disappeared towards the water.

Iceland was open to sharing many things about his life with Sweden. But the stories of the spirits that inhabited this part of his home were not one of them. No one needed to know he could see things that mortals could not. He was determined to keep it that way.

#APH Iceland #APH Sweden #HWS Sweden #HWS Iceland #hetalia #Lilly's Writings #So happy to finally get another fic off my WIP list

29 notes · View notes

stuffymcstuffsworld · 8 months

Text

"Lindy" is a character

Arguments were nothing new. Especially among friends and siblings. It would honestly be stranger if they didn't argue. You can't always understand what someone else feels.

Coming home to find two of your precious thirteen children in an argument was not a worst-case scenario in your mind. Honestly, they could all be fighting like animals, and you'd still be okay with it. Everyone has different options that they feel the need to express. Unless they injured each other, there was no issue.

So, finding Lied and Kerori wrestling on the ground where Kerori was trying to force Lied to be "Lindy" was... rather tame in arguments. But still, you had to be the parent here cause for some reason. Hell didn't believe in communication with your children so they could grow up to be functional adults.

No, it's fight with your fists or magic or ignore each other till one cracks. "Kerori, Lied." You didn't have to yell like you had to with Clara's and Alice's fights, thank goodness. Both stopped to look at you.

"Why are you fighting?" At least knowing the reason would help you better understand what was going through their heads. "I need Lindy for an event this weekend!" Kerori blurted out. "I see. And did you ask Lied if he had any plans this weekend?" You waited patiently.

"They're releasing a new game in stores that weekend. I have to be first in line so I can make sure I get a copy!" Lied said quickly. "So Lied mentioned that he had plans." You state firmly eyeing Kerori, "So why is it you two are fighting."

Both ducked their heads and did not meet eye contact. "Lied?" You prompted. "Well, she said that it was stupid and that her event was more important. But I've been saving up for months for that game, and it's not stupid! Going to her stuff and dressing up and pretending to be a girl is definitely more stupid!" Lied cried out.

Kerori gasped and looked ready to lunge at him, but you quickly stood between them. "It is not stupid! Do you know how hard it is to get to where I am in the akudol ranks today! I worked really hard for this, and I need help from both you and iruma to advance my career!" She snapped back.

"Okay, so you've both insulted something the other treasures." You said flatly, making them wince. "Sit down both of you." They quickly knelt to the floor, and you looked at both before starting.

"Kerori, Lied is passionate about his games, and he works very hard to get those top scores. He saves up bit by bit and plans ahead to make sure that he has enough saved up to get all the new games he finds interesting. He waits hours just to get the first editions, and I know for a fact he takes care of all his games and consoles to make sure their in the best condition. Saying they are stupid is like saying all the time and effort that Lied spends on them is worthless."

You watched as the gears seemed to turn in the girls head as if finally understanding that she said something hurtful. You turned to Lied and took a deep breath. Kneeling down to be at eye level.

"And Lied, telling Kerori that her audol events are stupid is like throwing water on her." He looked confused, and you tried to explain.

"Kerori not only chose her career at a young age, but she stuck by that decision. She practiced and practiced continuously until she got each step and each note right. She put a lot of hard work into making her akudol, you know... like a character sheet!"

Lied's eyes widened in shock. "Oh," was all he said. You nodded, glad that you had both of their attention. "Now Kerori, you know Lied doesn't like dressing up in short skirts don't force them into something they hate otherwise they will hate everything about it. And Lied, I know you hate the outfit, but do you hate being Lindy?"

Both you Kerori wait for his response. "I, I don't hate it. It's fun to play the guitar! Lindy is a fun character. I can understand things I didn't before when I was her, but..." You calmly rested a hand on his shoulder. "Yes?" "I don't want guys looking up Lindy's skirt!" He screamed passionately.

"How dare they take advantage of her like that! It's wrong, it's uncomfortable, and I don't ever want to make anyone feel like the way I felt as Lindy." Tears streaming down his face. He tried scrubbing them off his face. Kerori looked down, upset that she had caused that discomfort for Lied in the first place.

"Would you still want to be Lindy if we got her some pants or shorts?" You asked carefully aware that you were treading deep waters. "I-i don't know.... maybe?" You nodded. "And that's ok. Lindy is just a character, and clothes are just that, clothes. As long as you feel comfortable in the end, that's what matters. "

Lied sniffles a bit and looks at you with watery eyes. "So I don't have to be Lindy if I don't want to?" You nodded, given a quick look at Kerori as you did. "I'm sorry, Lied. I've gotten so used to the attention I forgot what it felt like the first few times I went in stage. I shouldn't force you."

Lied reached out and squeezed her hand. "No way!Lindy is a power house! You saw how she took down all those opponents in tail wrestling, right?! And those jerks that kept learing are the ones at fault!" You could see the anger rise in him, so you just sat still and watched.

"In fact I'll show them! Lindy doesn't have to be in a skirt and heels to look cute! She looks awesome in oversized hoodies and boots!" He said proudly. Fist in the air and determined eyes.

Kerori gasped. "Does that mean?" "Yes we're going to that event, and Lindy is coming out with a whole new look!" He screamed. Kerori threw her arms around Lied, and you caught them before they could fall. "Thank you, thank you, thank you." Was all you could hear from her.

"And what about your game?" You asked, reminding Lied that he also had things planned. The blonde blinked. "Oh. Right, umm..." You smiled and pecked his check. "Okay, I'll go pick it up for you instead. Just write down the name and address."

"Really?" Sparkling eyes shining up at you. "Just this once." You teased as both children now clung to you. Well, you were glad that everything was settled. But you may need to talk to Opera about getting another, lockable, wardrobe in Lieds room just for Lindy's clothes.

#shax lied #mairimashita! iruma kun #reader #welcome to demon school iruma kun #crocell kerori

25 notes · View notes

undead-moth · 3 months

Text

A week ago I go to my local pharmacy and ask the pharmacist, “Do you have longer needles for vaccinations?”

“Longer needles?” She asks.

“Yeah. The CDC recommends if you’re above a certain weight you need a longer needle. Do you have them?” I ask her.

She looks a little confused, and hesitates, but says, “Yes, we do.”

I’m a little nervous by her hesitation, but determine it might be because she’s not a fluent English speaker, or because, hopefully, obviously they have longer needles, why would I even ask?

As I make my appointment online for my vaccinations, I am asked a couple dozen questions about vaccinations I’ve had, allergies I have, reactions I’ve had, etc. I am not asked my weight even though it is medically relevant.

I come in today to get three vaccinations. The new Covid vaccine, flu and Hep B.

The pharmacist is different this time so I say, “Do you have longer needles?”

“Longer needles?” he asks.

“Yes. The CDC recommends if you are above a certain weight you need a longer needle.”

“We only have two sizes. One for children and one for adults. The one for adults is an inch long. You do not need a longer needle. You are the perfect size for this,” he says, without knowing what I weigh, or caring that the CDC specifically states that I am, in fact, not the perfect size for that needle.

He argues with me some. I say, “Fine, whatever I guess, I’ll take it anyway.” I feel rude, and yet I also feel like I have a right to be upset.

I attempt to look up the post with the link to the CDC guidelines on this site that informed me I need a longer needle. Even though I have reblogged it half a dozen times and type in several different words to search for it, Tumblr does not find it.

So I go online and try to find the guidelines directly from the CDC. I can’t find CDC guidelines for Covid more recent than 2022. I click on multiple articles all the while the pharmacist is preparing needles that won’t work for me. I find several articles that state that a woman between 152-200 pounds needs a 1 inch needle. I can’t find any that then acknowledge what size needle a woman needs if she’s above 200.

Finally, as the pharmacist is swabbing down my right arm, I find an article discussing the new CDC guidelines. It states that women over 200 pounds need a 1.5 inch needle.

I say, “Yeah, I’m supposed to have a one-and-a-half-inch needle.”

He stops his ministrations and looks right at me and says, “Do you want the vaccinations or not?” like I’m being completely unreasonable for wanting to follow CDC guidelines, for expecting a pharmacy to be equipped to vaccinate a huge percentage of the population, and for not wanting to get sick or get anyone else sick.

I don’t say to him, “Actually I want vaccinations that will fucking work,” even though I really want to.

I say, “Yes. Sure.”

He promptly gives me my Hepatitis B shot in my right arm even though I told him I wanted it in my left. Then as he begins vaccinating my other arm with Covid and Flu, he explains to me, “These are the needles we have. They are the needles the CDC provided during the pandemic. They work for all adults. The only other size we have is for children and it’s smaller.”

I don’t bother explaining to him, a pharmacist, that the pandemic isn’t over. Nor do I explain to him that these guidelines are new, and didn’t exist when the CDC provided the needles he’s using.

I just accept my useless vaccines, wait the required amount of time, and leave.

Now I have to begin trying to research where I can get vaccinated with properly sized needles. I have to plan another time I can afford to stay home sick the next day. And that’s if I can even find anywhere that gives one fuck that fat people exist and get sick and make others sick too.

#fatphobia #medical fatphobia #Covid 19

18 notes · View notes

damn-it-a-hogwarts-legacy-blog · 4 months

Note

PLEASE— talk about isabel

2, 13, 15, 21, 35, 50 :DD

YEAHHHHHH THANK YOU FOR THE ASK, MY DEAR

2. Why'd you choose your OC's name?

Sooooo in HL itself, she’s Zip Findlesnap, named after my short-lived Hogwarts Mystery character. I wasn’t taking it super seriously, so I came up with the first silly Game Grumps-style name that came to my mind.

Anyway, I had no idea I would get into HL the way I did, so I just copied Zip into HL. Eventually I realized that as funny and cute as her name was, I needed something else that fit the tone of my worldbuilding a little better lol. So now, Zip is just a nickname her little sister came up with when she was a baby who couldn’t really grasp her siblings’ names. Isabel seems like a reasonable name for someone whose nickname is Zip. Thankfully I have never had anyone draw comparisons between her and Isabelle from animal crossing (greatest fear /hj). I couldn’t bring myself to change Findlesnap, so that’s still her maiden name lol.

The Greymoore surname came after ~3 painful hours of researching traditional English names. I wanted something that had some meaning behind it. “Grey” is just an elegant-sounding reference to their subdued state as adults, and a sorta abstract foil to the House of Black, figuratively diluting the ancient families’ mix of xenophobic ideals and inbred bloodlines the same way grey is a dilution of the color black. “Moore” just refers to the moors surrounding Hogwarts on which Isabel and Ominis frequently adventured and bonded as students lol.

13. What's the worst thing your OC's ever done?

This one is tough, ooh. Casting unforgivables is pretty bad since it’s Azkaban-worthy—and because she’s an adult who definitely knows better and doesn’t have the excuse of underdeveloped teenager brain like what one could argue for Sebastian. She’s really ashamed of it. It happens in moments of great weakness while in service to the Ministry of Magic. She could be any combination of sleep-deprived, angry at the fact they have to do favors for the Ministry if they want continued protection from the Gaunts, or reacting to someone who physically hurt Ominis. She’s managed to hide it from Ominis, and it’s her darkest secret. She isn’t sure their marriage could survive if he ever found out she was hiding something like that from him. At the very least, she would become like a stranger to him and he would feel really deep betrayal. Her usage of unforgivables decreased a lot throughout her 20s, and the last time was when she was 31.

15. What item does your OC hold most dear?

I’ve never thought about this one, hmmmmmm. As a teenager, probably Isabel’s wand. She was under the impression she was a squib until she was 15, so it means an incredible amount that she actually has magical abilities. Her wand is the physical representation of the freedom she gained at 15.

It’s pretty dang corny, but as an adult I have to say her wedding ring. They might have their arguments and disagreements like any other couple, but Isabel and Ominis are just so closely bonded and so in love their whole lives, and they would both be in a pretty bad spot without each other. I think a very close second for her would be the 1925-ish Daily Prophet issue announcing Morfin Gaunt’s assault on Bob Ogden and subsequent arrest, in which the article went into detail on how Morfin and his immediate family were the only known Gaunts left alive. It meant she and Ominis no longer felt the need for outside help with protection, and they dissolved their agreement with the Ministry. She finally felt like she and Ominis could lead normal lives, and they re-entered wizarding society after having mostly withdrawn for the past 30 years. Their children and grandchildren were pretty happy about finally being able to do things like have wizarding world jobs, meet with non-muggle friends outside Hogwarts and go to Diagon Alley without undercover aurors monitoring them at all times and telling them where they could or couldn’t go.

21. Is your OC big on revenge?

Isabel used to want to seek revenge for a number of things, but after she and Ominis started having kids, her world view shifted drastically and she became focused on preservation of herself and her family instead. Her children were never caught in the crossfire of the Gaunts’ attempts to attack them, but she was no longer willing to take risks that might have put her family in danger, including seeking revenge. She sometimes wishes her parents-in-law were still alive so she could make them pay for all the ways in which they irreparably hurt Ominis, but she also knows Ominis has never liked the idea of getting revenge on his parents.

35. Random fact about your OC

Isabel doesn't do well with loneliness. In fact, being alone is one of her biggest fears. As she often felt caught between the muggle world and the wizarding world when she began attending Hogwarts, there was a time when she felt extremely out of place in both worlds and actually wanted to go back to believing she was a squib. Being alone was also what got her kidnapped by Rookwood, so she became especially careful of wandering into deserted places for a long time afterwards. As an adult, old habits died hard and she feels better when she has Ominis, her best friend Poppy, or her children with her when she travels someplace new.

50. What do you love and hate most about your OC?

I most love that Isabel is so focused and dedicated. She gives 120% to everything she feels is worthy of her attention, from school to her marriage. She’s ridiculously patient with Ominis as he heals a little more every day, and being married to someone with such a significant handicap, especially back in the days long before most people were willing to accommodate anyone with total blindness, I think says a lot about her character.

I guess hate isn't really the right word because I've lovingly crafted her exactly the way I want, but she has a lot of self-destructive tendencies that don't have any positive impact in her life, including the use of unforgivables as an adult. Probably because I’m usually projecting onto her when I write her being self-destructive lol. Sometimes she’s a bit too impulsive and indifferent to danger, like wanting to fight literally every single member of the house of Gaunt just to defend Ominis and being overly casual about nearly bleeding out, and wondering why Ominis gets so frustrated with her. She wants to demonstrate she’s strong and has overcome her trauma from being kidnapped by Rookwood and being cursed with crucio by Ominis’ mother, but it often comes off like she doesn’t care about her physical wellbeing or Ominis’ feelings.

#hogwarts legacy #ominis gaunt x mc #headcanons #ask game #I'M SO HAPPY YOU GAVE ME SO MANY GOOD QUESTIONS THANK YOU

6 notes · View notes

dontexpecttomakesense · 1 year

Text

I have words with the 4th season of Dragons: The Nine Realms

Once upon a time, we had How To Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World. It was the third installment of the HTTYD movie franchise, which by that time had already branched out to comicbooks, videogames even, and TV series.

At the end of HTTYD3 (let’s call it like this from now on because I aint typing all that every single time), Hiccup, our daring and gangly protagonist, parted ways with Toothless, the wrongly named Night Fury, so he, and all the other dragons could take refuge in the hidden world, safe from any human attack.

That was, at the time the ending to the franchise. The final scene of a last flight with Toothless and his progeny had an adult Hiccup and Astrid, as well as their children, was the melancolic send off.

(Yes I am aware of that Chirstmas special short, but it’s just there as a bonus and has basically no weight on the overall plot. Also I’m pretty sure it chronologically happens before the last scene.)

Then Dragons: The Nine Realms came along. A show set in modern times, taking off 1000 years later, and sequel to both Race To The Edge, the last TV series the HTTYD franchise had, and HTTYD3.

The Nine Realms, unfortunately, cannot hold candle to RttE, which by many (or at the very least me), is considered the height of the HTTYD franchise. It has subpar animation and mediocre writing, had it not been for the IP it was attached, it probably wouldn’t have taken flight. One of the things this show likes to do once per season, is totease the connection between our protagonists, Tom and Thunder, and their ancestors Hiccup and Toothless. On S1 we have the lightning mark Thunder makes on the wall, on S2 we have arrow tip, and at the end of S3 we have the mistrerious cylinder, all with the same dragon crest.

The we have S4 who blow it out of the park, by revealing that, at some point Hiccup had decended into the Hidden World, strongly impled to also have gone there with his family, and lived an unespecified amount of time in the realm where the Night Lights had eventually settled.

This is where the problems start.

Personally, I’m not a fan of HTTYD3′s ending, it’s contradictory to the franchises themes up until that point, and the movie itself does a very poor job of arguing why the dragons have to go away, and why Berk cannot follow where they go. But it was still, it was a conclusion. Hiccup’s story, and the story of the dragons, had concluded. There was nothing more to be told, and the only thing we could do was wait until history became legend, and legend became myth.

But now, turns out that wasn’t the ending of Hiccup’s story with the dragons. There was more. A story we don’t know yet, and that I assume we’ll be told in the future season of The Nine Realms.

So what kind of problems does this bring?

For one, it absolutelly kills any sort of emotional depth the last scenes of HTTYD3 has. The final goodbye between Hiccup and Toothless? What’s the point if he’ll go down there and meet him again a decade later? And Hiccup and his family lived some time in there. That means that to an extent, Berk could’ve gone and lived in there. Their coexistence with the dragons could’ve been possible, so the separation at the end of HTTY3 wouldn’t have been necessary to begin with.

Furthermore, Hiccup was the chief. Astrid was most likely the second in comand, and their children were on the line of succession. So if all of them went down the hole, who was left in charge? Snotlout? Fishlegs? Eret, son of Eret? Valka??? (was she even alive by then?) And that’s not to say that any of these characters wouldn’t have been able to lead New Berk, perhaps not as good as Hiccup, but they were not incompetent. The problem is how negligent is of Hiccup to just, go up and leave. He basically fored everyone and everything to move out to that new location, and now he just goes up and leaves.

Another problem, thought I will admit this is more personal, it the fact that it was just Hiccup (and his family) that got to go to the Hidden World and potentially reunite with his dragon. Why wouldn’t Snoutlout and Fishlegs deserve the same chance? Is not their relationship with Hookfang and Meatlug not as meaningful to them as Toothless was to Hiccup? The twins and Barf and Belch, whil not as develope did too have a meaningful relationship too. Valka and Cloudjumper have spent more time together than any other character, what about their relationship?

I know that to an extent HTTYD is the Hiccup and Toothless show, but the way sometimes the other riders and dragons relationships seem to be dismised is annoying.

I’m sure that the writter kind of expected us to excited at the prospect that Hiccup when there and explored more dragons. But when you sold HTTY3 like you did, when the ending of that movie marked the end of his story. You cannot just, undo it for convenience. You are going against what your own franchise has set up, how am I supposed to be impressed by anything you write if you deliverately go against the stablished canon so flippantly?

...

Well this is a wall of text long enough. Better leave it here.

#how to train your dragon #httyd #dragons the nine realms #httyd3 #httyd thw #dtnr

41 notes · View notes

opiatemasses · 1 year

Text

Normality or Reality?

Some believe that racism no longer exists, that the society we now live is post-racial or colour-blind. However, it is clear racism is an ongoing issue both here in the UK and globally. For example, 95% of young black British children have witnessed racism in school. According to Delgado et al. (2017) many people of colour choose not to speak out about it, as they feel it limits their futures.

Because racism exists in society it also exists in sport. Black people do not have equal opportunities and do not receive similar rewards for equal or better performance when compared to their white counterparts. As a consequence, their desire for a successful career beyond sport or any other profession is dismal.

Racial abuse does not just affect children, it affects adults, athletes, teachers, police officers, lawyers and so on. Anyone who is a person of colour can feel as though they are at a disadvantage because of the colour of their skin. It is something they face and challenge every single day.

Examples of Racism in Everyday Life

It has been argued that race is a social construction.

Within the police force, at the end of March 2020, 92.7% of police officers were White, with only 7.3% identifying as BAME. Between April 2020 and March 2021 black people were over 3 times as likely to be arrested as white people.

These statistics provide evidence to their reasonings of why they are at a disadvantage, simply because their skin is not white. Racism can occur anywhere and to anyone, what is important is that we are aware and report it to the police, or if you are at work to your workplace management. If you or someone you know is experiencing racial abuse you can report it here: https://www.report-it.org.uk

Image credit: Getty Images https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-myth-of-systemic-police-racism-11591119883

Defining Racism

Racism in sport is defined as any form of discrimination against people based on race, ethnicity or nationality. This includes, and is not limited to, discriminatory acts, comments, policies and practices that exclude or hinder the ability of people of certain racial backgrounds to participate in sports.

Racism In Sport

Racism in sport is a reflection of wider prejudice and inequity that exists in both our societies and institutions. Athletes experience racial harassment on a regular basis, whether that be in person or online through social media.

Racism has been found in sport for a long time in European sports, but this has intensified during major international sporting competitions where players of colour are put on centre stage and under pressure.

In 2020 the men’s England football team lost to Italy in the UEFA Euro final. Instead of admiring the skill of Italy’s goalkeeper or congratulating the fact England had succeeded in coming so far in the competition, three players – Bukayo Saka, Jason Sancho and Marcus Rashford – were subjected to floods of racist abuse. A tweet was published in response to this harassment encapsulates this phenomenon: “When you score, you’re English. When you miss, you’re an immigrant.”

Furthermore, racism in sports can often have serious consequences for those subjected to it. Research has shown that in addition to physical and mental stress, athletes of colour often struggle with feelings of powerlessness, depression, and anxiety due to the constant discrimination they face during their sporting career. This can not only affect an athlete’s performance, but can also have lasting impacts on their mental health and well-being.

Image credit: Reuters https://metro.co.uk/2021/07/12/euro-2020-england-players-bombarded-with-racist-abuse-14912944/

What is Being Done to Stop Racial Abuse?

There are several organisations working to combat racism in sport, which include:

The Institute for Sport and Social Justice

The Anti-Defamation League

The National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People (NAACP)

Additionally, many professional sports leagues, such as the National Basketball Association (NBA) and Major League Soccer (MLS), have established policies and initiatives to promote diversity and inclusion in their leagues.

‘Taking the Knee’ was a major movement - a globally recognisable protest against racism, but it was prohibited for football players to do this before every match. This was only just the beginning. If we are to make progress in combating racism in sport, it is important for everyone to take a stand and speak out against racism whenever they see it.

Various important initiatives have been launched to tackle racism in sport, such as the #BritishAthletesUnite campaign across the UK, which aims to create a platform to end racism in sport. Initiatives such as this are important, as they provide education and awareness of racism in sport.

Additionally, organisations like Kick It Out are taking action to fight racism through their campaigns, educational resources and alert system. This ensures those affected by racism are provided with support and the issue is addressed.

Below is a short video on the backlash players received by ‘taking the knee’ before games.

youtube

What Can YOU Do?

Sports are a microcosm of society. So to end racism in sport we need to recognise that the idea that society is post-racial is wrong. We must also focus on eliminating racism in our wider communities.

This includes actively supporting organisations and initiatives that promote equality and racial justice. Additionally, we must continue to have discussions about racism and engage with communities to create change.

Finally, it's important to remember that sport should be accessible to all, regardless of race, gender, class, disability, etc. Encouraging diversity and inclusion and ensuring that everyone has a seat at the table is critical to creating a more equitable sporting environment.

Racism in sport is an issue that we must take seriously and address. We must take steps to ensure that all athletes, regardless of race, are given equal opportunities and treated with respect. This is our reality but let us not make it a normality. YOU can help end racism once and for all. We all need to do our part and take steps to ensure that all athletes, regardless of race, are given equal opportunities and treated with respect. We must also take steps to ensure that those who engage in racist behaviour are held accountable for their actions. Only then together will we be able to make progress in our fight against racism in sport and end racism once and for all.

N0948104

#BLM #make a difference #end racism #equality #inclusivity #equal opportunity #discrimination #sport #athletes #social injustice #abuse #harrasment #black lives matter

20 notes · View notes

birdmenmanga · 2 years

Text

so here’s how I think witch hat atelier is going to end... the next generation (coco and co., coustas, tartar, eunie, etc.) aligns themselves neither with the pointed caps or the brimmed hats, but rather with the hatless: the populace. Ever since its inception, the hats, brimmed or not, symbolize the power that the witches withhold from the populace. I think it’s quite clear from how the series has progressed thus far that the pointed caps are presented as the “good guys” and the brimmed hats as the “bad guys”, but our main cast is slowly discovering that things are much more complex than it seems, and that perhaps neither the pointed caps or the brimhats are fully correct on every issue.

I really don’t see an ending to the series in which the distribution of knowledge isn’t balanced out between the witches and the non-witches. I think it’s probably unlikely that Shirahama will go down the “and they destroyed magic for good” route, even though it’s remarkably simple in-universe. This solution entails driving the silverwood population to extinction, which would quite easily bring an end to magic, but considering the ecologically mindful stance that Shirahama presents during the second exam, with the witches taking responsibility for the land-warping magic that actively harms the local wildlife, I can’t see her choosing this as the final resolution. (However, I would love to see the concept of this explored in the story, even if it doesn’t happen.)

The “knowledge is bestowed upon everyone, with a heavy focus on responsible usage of power” is far more likely, considering Coco’s background. Fundamentally, there’s no difference between witches and non-witches; in fact, I’d argue that Agott’s entire character arc is realizing that if Coco is willing to put in the effort, the fact that she was not born a witch makes no difference in study and application of magic, and there is nothing inborn which makes Coco inferior to Agott.

In practice, though, I’m not quite sure how this will be executed. I can’t imagine it being a one-off announcement to the world about the secrets of magic, because irresponsible use of magic is still a fairly large concern. Since the series is about magical education, I can see the next generation figuring out how to effectively mentor folks who come from a non-magical background, but I think the current apprenticeship model might be too small scale for globalizing the knowledge of magic. From a practical standpoint I would understand the opening of institutionalized magic schools, at least until it’s been integrated into society at large, though personally I’d be a bit disappointed if it went down that route. I think the apprenticeship model is one of the things which sets Witch Hat Atelier apart from other magic-related fantasy stories, and it would be a shame if that aspect of the world was eliminated. Though I guess that’s hypocritical, since I’ve also predicted the elimination of WHA’s signature party hats for the finale LMAO

Of course, these hypotheses run on the assumption that the adults will oppose the will of the children. Doubtlessly, the Knights Moralis will be against such a flagrant violation of their rules and regulations, and I can’t see the brimhats being sympathetic to their plight, either. This leaves the mentors, and perhaps through some political sleight of hand they’ll manipulate both the Knights Moralis and the brimhats into aiding the children’s cause... well, there’s worldbuilding yet to be done regarding the royal family and such; it’s probably a bit difficult to see the details of path to the conclusion at this point just yet. Eagerly awaiting new chapters!

#witch hat atelier #wha #tongari booshi no atorie #tongari boushi no atelier #just thinking thoughts...

37 notes · View notes

m0e-ru · 2 years

Text

touching on the "Kusumi Household" which is basically word on what marie mim teddie kagu and sho ect ect are doing. they're all in Inaba and they live in the same house apparently. Takes place a bit after the whole arena plot. mim takes kagu into their care and stops sho from lurking around the forest and have the two make up to some extent. souji's back with his parents and the IT are in their 3rd and 2nd years.

There's a new house in the middle of Inaba, although it's not what's on the outside that makes it talk of the town. While they're supposed to be new faces, the people around feel like they know them, somehow. Not only is it full of eccentric individuals with strange pasts of their own—their whole backyard leads to a lake in a forest?

Marie, Nami and Teddie had already been settling peacefully enough in the forest the moment the fog disappeared. And once the red fog cleared, the godly siblings decided to work as close as possible to humans, so they constructed a home between dream and reality, mind and matter... wait, that's the Velvet Room. Maybe like Ashihara Nakatsu? No, that would mean it's between the land of the living and the dead... It's a bridge between the human world and the sea of the souls, where the two manipulated a small pocket of space to make it suitable for human life, but still has the otherworldliness of the manifested world of the unconscious.

Teddie finally meets his mama and reunites with the lovely Emmy-chan, and he's invited to come live with them which he's beary much ecstatic about. However, he scowls at the imposter that should reside with them all. There were more serious, pressing matters. After much time, Sho reveals himself and agrees to hear Nami out. After much more time, the two brats would finally look each other in the eyes, although the imposter's sneer was much less fiery from before. The three children learn about one another and grow on each other as time goes, not that this time went by without much casualties. But the imposter slowly found his place in Inaba, making his identity as he nurtured the goodness in people's hearts and living off of that, than thriving as a concentrate of greed and selfishness.

Mariko "Marie" Kusumi

A fashionable young lady makes her way in front of the camera and on the screen—as a weather reporter. She is badgered by her sibling to follow a proper weather pattern and match the climate and yadda yadda yadda bullshit science and believability, as if people didn't rely on stars or silly cards or anything. Her cuteness and energetic charm wins viewers' hearts as she encourages them to live life to the fullest. "The more you put in, the more you get out!"

She's the 2nd in the Kusumis, the beloved "onee-chan" of them all—in fact, it was supposed to be just a stage name like Rise suggested, but Nami took it into their own hands and decided it'd be the perfect human personality for all of them. They're also impressed that she took pride in such a degrading name they once labeled her, but she puts that in the past and makes sure to reclaim it for the better.

She's often confused for a middle schooler, although some others argue she's a highschooler at best. But shouldn't an adult be taking on a public profession like reporting? It's not like she cares, although she finds it a bit of a hassle not being able to enter adult establishents with Nami.

Nami Kusumi

An eccentric young man—woman? Depends on the weather. A charismatic fellow with the charm to rival their own sister if they ever decided to come on screen, but they'd like stray to stray away from publicity as much as possible. Not to say it would stop them from having everyone in town know who they are! In fact, they're the first one who comes to peoples minds when they need a helping hands.

Need to reach the top shelf? A courier got sick? Not enough men to even handle traffic enforcement? Want to stay in the car while it gets filled with gas? They'll be there anywhere anytime you need it. But on the seventh day, God rested, they're halfway through the bible you see, someone handed it to them one time.

They make time for family, cooking meals, washing laundry, reading bedtime stories, getting the char off of the cushions, mending clothes, the like. They also take the day off to visit a friend, already making him more tired he'd have to leave his cell every week.

The oldest in the Kusumis. They're often confused with their mother when they flash a gentle smile with a soft gaze in their eyes, but they introduce themself promptly and brushes off the comparison. Not out of spite, Marie worried, but the solemn tone in their voice may worry her much more. People also assume they've been sincerely named after her.

Despite being averse to publicity unlike their TV star sister and infamous mall mascot twins, it looks like they're the voice behind the well known "Midnight Radio" for insomniacs, night owls, all nighters or folks wanting some company at night. Looks like they just discuss recent gossip and reads a handful of un-written anonymous submissions. They do encourage the safety around fake news, blindness by desires and importance of a good night's rest, although there's irony in the latter as a few folks do wish to hear them every night. Their pseudonym? "イザナミ"

Izanami? Kusumi

The late mother to the rest of the Kusumis, as Nami makes of it. Not like they can explain she was an inhuman entity who physically tore apart and became two, so maybe this explanation would be more suitable for human understanding.

A kind lady who took care of Inaba long before 2011. She was remembered fondly by all, before any memory of her was expunged out of dissatisfaction and spite. However, people's memories return slowly, especially to the elderlies who knew her well. Nami elaborates she was their mother, and should explain why they look and act alike. They also imply she's gone now, but the flowers she used to pick grow beautifully along with all that she left behind.

Teddie Kusumi!?

The case files of teddy bear custody. Not that it actually happened. But it did spark a thought in Yosuke's mind; Teddie Hanamura...

He's a bright young boy with eyes full of youth, dreams and ambition, and Nanako Dojima's best friend! He works hard as the face of Junes, and now he's working even harder now that this "copycat" decided to pester him in the real world! But people assume that's just his brother, and Junes is trying a new gimmick to increase sales. Maybe the ri-bear-ly wasn't the best place to start... but it started to go on so well, General Teddie was a guest no more!

He and his brother are the third in the family, and he's the bubbly, optimistic "older" twin, now that he's come to accept it. He may be a klutz and a silly jokester, but he's maturing day by day as his "mama" teaches him to be a gentlebear.

Word goes around town over why this boy would refer to such a young man as his mother... but it's widely agreed to be some sort of trauma regarding their late mother. But gossip is gossip, let humans assume things to their understanding lest they learn of the more difficult to understand reality of this silly family.

Katsu "Kagu" Kusumi

The bootleg of a bear mascot to Junes' original Teddie; "General" Teddie. A childish rivalry forms between them as Teddie finally has someone his size to compete with. These don't really get resolved without at least one thing getting burnt, but he's learned to have his body repress the fiery nature of himself.

The highly contrasting clad in darker colors equipped with a dark humor of a twin out of costume. In fact, his bear fur is a bit duller than Teddie's. He has a lot to learn about humans outside of their hearts. Though still a bit cynical, he slowly learns to appreciate the beauty of mortals and looks past the thoughts and desire to burn everything down to the ground, most of the time.

As Nami and Marie are "caretakers" of the people, Kagu... that's something he has to get used to, is "to be taken care of" as far as current observations prove. He's quite a lot to handle in the first place and eccentuates much of what it means to be a child. He might be a bit less mature than Teddie himself. Elders poke his cheeks and give him candy he doesn't like, but he sucks it up and keeps the fire in. In fact, his performance around the old folk may be the best out of anyone or anything he's come close to.

His relationship with Sho didn't really start on the right foot. Sho realized he was a god with no power, and an absolute brat for existing for mere months. They give each other time to grow, that conversation is for bit later, they decided.

Sho Minazuki

The ecstatic pun loving boy finally showing his face to the people of Inaba after almost a decade living in it (majority was spent sleeping through it). His dear guardian watches over him as his heart, his Persona. His humor may be questionable but whatever gets him through the day besides walking around with no presence like a nobody in a crowd, or swiftly jumping across roofs getting a few noise complaints here and there.

He's recently discovered he has quite the affinity with cats, and the more he reveals himself, the more do the strays. Almost fantastically, swarms of cats and kits alike may follow him like a little game, causing the detective fuddling "cat tsunami" phenomenon.

Besides the animalfolk, he tries to get used to the people who's surrounded him his whole life. Even having all his sharp objects confiscated from him and the whole safehouse put on lockdown once. He still had his teeth though.

He's made to accompany Nami many a time to help around, maybe delivering for Aiya on a scooter he should take well care of, wiping the outside of windows in the municipal hospital dangling on a few cables, maintaing old man Daidara's "art" and hold in the urge not to slice a wooden shelf in half. It seems though he frequently helps out at Junes with much variety and considered "mysterious scarfaced eye-candy" a few times, and (un?)surprisingly, he does quite well with the kids at the hilltop daycare.

He still wanders about Inaba, learning even more things now that he's let himself be known. It was freeing, a sentiment Nami could share. He'd travel outside, too, although being told to check on Mikuratana in the city a bus away, maybe Seta too. Maybe try and avoid the Shadow Ops jobs here and there, just call Labrys at home or when they come over to visit.

The waters are yet to be still between him and the imposter, but they make compromises. It takes a while, but sooner or later they become tighter knit, and are second in command in watching over Inaba.

Kumori, Hare, Bunnie, and Froggie

Two kitties, a dog and a crow, they're friends with the fox and its kits at the shrine too. Kumori, gray haired curious silkerk rex. The peculiar kitty who doesn't know it's cat, maybe going "ee," gently taking bugs outside, eating the tomato slice you dropped on the floor. It wanders around on cloudy days, and when people see it around and look at the sky, it's bound to rain. Romanticised to be a walking cloud itself... although it really just looks like a walking feather duster at best.

Hare... the equally mysterious black shorthair that only appeared quite recently. She's a bit smaller than Kumori, or maybe it's just fluffier than her. She'll sit in the shadow of a utility pole and you'd lose her figure.... but see clearly her elegant green eyes. She hisses and pouts when disturb her when she meows rhythmically, but she'd come back for a head scratch or two.

uncle..?

Un-local man tired of being called older than his age (he's over 27). The convict finds himself being made to visit his home every week or so to do "community work," his cryptid of a friend tries to assure him. Although it's mostly babysitting a handful of boys less human than he is, fighting tooth and nail to end the day not burned nor unscathed.

Tohru Adachi—or the "actual" eldest of the Kusumis. Because of his coincidental resemblance to the beloved weather girl and the fact he's usually seen around them, people just assume he's also a part of the mix and matched skittles of siblings, although the "pretty gene" was clearly left out. Wearing his glasses, a dust mask and the most inconspicuous clothes possible, he gets by living a new life in Inaba, although it doesn't look like much has changed at all. Of course, a handful of people have already figured it out, but who's going to stop the inhuman freak regularly taking him out for stimulation. He calls this community service much more tiring than prison itself, in fact.

He has trouble considering this "guilty freedom" from "serving justice," but as long as he's making up for the home he almost destroyed and stopping an idiot from voluntarily putting their head on the chopping block in any way, I suppose it's fine with him. Although he'd appreciate less electrocution and fire hazards and booby traps and bear attacks.

#persona 4 spoilers #p4 #gsa sl au #sulululat #ゲッー #marie persona #⛽️🌫#moel gas station attendant #izanami persona #teddie persona #kagutsuchi persona #sho minazuki #tohru adachi #kumori #hare #// kusumi txt....done.........yeah this is just the tip of the iceberg . typical kai moeru behavior #// the art ive made is really just the post ultimax stuff with human kagu and domesticated sho actually #// i plan on giving bunnie and froggie their own post ... wehweh.. I'll also explain kumori and hare on their own one day too

7 notes · View notes

cangrellesteponme · 2 years

Note

Hello. I just discovered your blog, and I wanted to ask you something regarding Devils and Realist. Mind you, I have never read the manga nor watched the anime. Is Dantelion a teenager or an adult? I'm asking because I've seen people ship him with William, who's 17, and from what I can gather, William seems to be a reincarnation of Dantelion's past master. I just hope that this isn't a Seb*ciel situation is all I'm saying.

Hi anon, welcome to hell, aka my blog.

I'm going to be honest with you there, it's questionable at best. I cannot give you a definitive answer on "is this ship morally acceptable?", but I want you to be able to figure that out for yourself, so I'm going to give you all of the facts as I know them. With minimal spoilers.

(However I can very easily say that this is not a Seb*ciel situation. We're not talking about p*dobait written by someone who depicts children in gross and undefendable ways at every single occasion. We're also not talking about content that can and has been used to groom children. So if your concern is about real life influences and consequences, don't worry- this is inconsequential compared to the disgusting sins of Kuro.)

So, what do we know about Dantalion/William?

Starting with the "this is weird!!" parts:

William is 17 at the beginning of the manga, and Dantalion thinks he's Solomon immediately. At that point it has already been implied (and guessed by William himself) that D and S were lovers. We never see Dantalion in his human (don't quote me on that the lore is messy) youth, and though his human form is supposedly of an appropriate age for the setting (17-18) it's barely different from his true form (yeah, the millennia-old one, which does canonically look youthful, but also if he's as scary as canon says he is I'm going to assume it's youthful as in under 30). Demons sort of canonically care more about age than physical appearance (I'm making this assumption based on Lamia. Dantalion seems to be the only one who minds.) which... complicates things. William is canonically a completely separate person (and soul) from Solomon, so yes that's a 17-18 year old, 100%.

Now the "I mean... I guess it works?" parts:

William turns 18 in the manga, and the most popular (and heavily supported by canon, with things like "Your soul should know") interpretation is that Dantalion only really likes William near the very end of the manga. You could even argue the only somewhat romantic thing between them happens in the very last chapter (but that's only if you don't count the countless moments when Dantalion misses Solomon so much William just has to witness his intense yearning). None of the romance is confirmed, the only person who's canonically attracted to Dantalion is Gilles (I refuse to add Lamia. It's depicted both too childishly and too politically to matter.) but even that is arguably not true and that's... a whole other issue I'm not going to get into right now. Makai Ouji is not a romance, the main plot is political intrigue with lots of occult BS.

And finally the "this could go either way but it needs to be considered and interpreted because it's relevant" parts:

This manga (and anime) is very queerphobic (this is not up for debate. dare question my words and I will get angry.) in many (unintentional, I think) ways and its "unapologetic" depictions of "in your face" queerness are bad (Gilles. he's so bad he makes Grelle look like good trans rep. and I love him but this is terrible.), but also it does not shy away from representing unhealthy relationships that could very much seem queer (Michael and Uriel are just one example among many). But it has always depicted Dantalion and William as healthy. (Which gave me whiplash reading the manga because Dantalion and Solomon were mutually destructive. The contrast is baffling.) All of the canon romances are m/f (Gilles/Dantalion is one-sided and only seen a few times. and again, could not be an actual thing). Lots of romantic tropes and typical subplots apply to Dantalion/William.

And my very simplified opinion (for your own peace of mind, or need to unfollow/block me):

ngl I'm just here to see Dantalion yearn for Solomon, some dead guy who never treated him right. Dantalion/William? whatever I don't fucking care I don't ship it. if you ask me (sorry if you don't get that reference), shipping them is like shipping inukag, but I was an inukyo bitch. (like sure, I could like the alive, currently canon version... but why the fuck would I? also similar age gap) I think the romantic moments are peak romance because the angst is spicy as hell. and Dantalion says the cutest shit (again, "Your soul should know" fucking haunts me, this dude wants Solomon to be there so fucking bad it's lovely and sad). but as I've said, it's technically not canon? like, even the gayest interpretation of Makai Ouji is that these hoes still don't date. honestly if Dantalion/William really bothers you it's still readable, just skip the very last page of the manga and you'll be fine? even the end isn't that bad. if you want to avoid questionable/triggering things in Makai Ouji this ship isn't what you should be worried about. worry about the homophobia, transphobia, (we're talking Kuro levels and above) issues of consent (but it is depicted as bad. there's just a lot going on.), weird amount of whiteness????, and other things. but again, it's readable, the anime is worse than the manga tho (it's really not that bad still).

#that was very long but i hope you know all you needed to know anon #if you want a more detailed explanation of the TWs before you get into makai ouji just ask and i'll do it for you #anyway #makai ouji devils and realist #makai ouji #devils and realist #ota's ask answers

5 notes · View notes