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fangirlingfromdownunder · 5 months

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4th Day of Christmas

Gingerbread Houses

Summary/Prompt - “Everyone knows you’re not actually supposed to eat the gingerbread house. Those things are stale as hell.”

Pairing - Dean Winchester x Reader

Christmas Masterlist | Masterlist

You finally finished laying out all the supplies and ingredients on the kitchen table to make a gingerbread house. Part of you hopes you’ll have some company, but if not you’re more than content to play your Christmas carols and make it yourself. With Sam and Dean nowhere in sight you find your Christmas playlist on your phone and play it through your headphones, knowing they’d just complain anyway. You love the hunters but they lack a little Christmas spirit at times. Dean tries for you, he really does, but with his past and the life he leads he doesn’t really see the point in celebrating anymore. There’s always more important things on his mind. The last proper Christmas he celebrated was before he went to hell.

The three of you had been hunting what you thought was Krampus but really ended up being a Pagan anti-Santa that was killing people in Michigan. All the festivities got Dean in a festive mood, and with it being his supposed last Christmas topside he wanted to make the most of it. Sam was skeptical at first, but you finally convinced him to do it for his brother. It was a quiet affair: a tiny twiggy tree with cheap lights, cheap eggnog, some last minute gifts from the Gas N Sip, and the game on TV in an old motel room. But all of that is what made it perfect; it was a clear representation of your lives and most importantly it made Dean happy.

With Dean now back and you two agreeing to stop wasting time silently crushing on each other and actually give dating a chance, you wanted to feel and give him some of that Christmas cheer again. That’s how you ended up at the store buying all the ingredients for gingerbread as well as heaps of icing and lollies for decorating.

You lay down the biggest of the freshly cooked and cooled gingerbread cookies you made on a tray. Then you pipe some icing in a square near the edges to stand the four walls. Once all four walls are carefully balanced and iced in place you add more icing to the top of each cookie to add the roof panels. Then it’s time to decorate. Just as you’re looking at it trying to decide how you want it to look, a pair of arms wrap around you from behind and a kiss is placed on the top of your head.

“That looks great, Sweetheart.”’

“Wanna help me decorate it?”

“I’d love to, but uh, Sam found a case just a few hours over. Hopefully it’ll be a simple salt and burn and we’ll be back for dinner. I’ll let you know either way.”

“You want me to come? I can be ready in ten.”

“No, it’s okay. We can handle it. You enjoy your free time. Make sure you call me if anything goes wrong.”

“I should be the one saying that to you. I’ll be safe here in the Bunker.”

“I’ll call you when we get into town and then let you know what we find. I’ll see you later, hopefully.”

“I love you, Dean. Be safe!”

“Yeah, love you too Y/N.”

He kisses you on the lips before walking down the hall. You say a silent prayer to your angel friend to keep Dean and Sam safe. Then you return to the task at hand. You pipe decorative shapes of icing over the cookie house and then strategically place the rainbow candies in the icing. Once you're happy with your design you place it in the fridge to cool and set. Then you start to pull out some other decorations you picked up and place them around the bunker for a more festive feel.

─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───

A few days later the boys finally return from their hunt. What was meant to be a simple salt and burn ended up being a lot more complicated when they found out the body was already cremated, leaving them to track down other family members who had taken some of the possessions after the funeral.

They’re both surprised as they walk into the war room. They take in the tinsel lining the tables, the decorated fir tree sitting atop one of them and your gingerbread house and carefully wrapped presents sitting under it. Dean quickly comes over to you and wraps you in his arms, kissing you passionately.

“This looks wonderful, Sweetheart. This must’ve been a lot of work by yourself,” he says once he pulls back for air.

“You’re worth it. You both deserve to enjoy Christmas. You work so hard.”

“You do too. I wish I had’ve gotten you something.”

“Coming home safe is enough. You’re all I need.”

He looks over at your handiwork again, smiling. “So when can I try your creation here?”

“It’s a decoration! You can’t eat it!”

After a while you separate to let them unpack while you cook dinner and serve it on the tables under the tree.

─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───

The three of you fall into rhythm just doing research and enjoying the decorations. They even let you play Christmas music sometimes. You love the more relaxed nature that it all brings, if only for a few days.

But one night as you’re all sitting there reading massive books Dean reaches over and snaps a piece of the cookie of the overhanging part of the gingerbread house. You cringe internally as you watch him place it in his mouth. The house had been sitting out on the table for days, you couldn’t begin to imagine how terribly stale and disgusting it would be by now.

He instantly spits it in the bin beside him and chases it with a long swig of beer. “No offense, Babe. But that is absolutely disgusting.”

“Everyone knows you’re not actually supposed to eat the gingerbread house. Those things are stale as hell.” You laugh.

#dean winchester x reader #dean x you #dean winchester #supernatural #spn #dean winchester fanfiction #dean winchester imagine #dean winchester fic #dean winchester fluff

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reimenaashelyee · 1 year

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The World in Deeper Inspection UPDATE Read: (Chapter 1: Pages 1 to 4)

About the comic

TWIDI IS BACK! To celebrate its 10th anniversary since launch, I'm remaking the first chapter and posting pages every Friday, accompanied by my thoughts on the original pages and a breakdown of what I've changed or improved.

Analysis under the cut.

PAGE 1 and 2

It’s March 31st, 2023… exactly 10 years since I posted the very first page of TWIDI!! I haven’t done much to celebrate TWIDI’s anniversaries the past few years (due to general Busyness – yes, yes, check out the forever “TWIDI isn’t dead” sign up on the front page), but the official 10th anniversary is a special unignorable event.

Initially I wanted to make a simple remaster of Chapter 1 – better copyediting, fixing egregious lettering and art errors, alongside a retrospective author’s note… then long-time reader Caracan suggested, why not do a full remake? That’d be fun to see. And I agree – it would be fun to see! I’ve grown my craft and sensibility as comics artist since TWIDI’s debut, and I was so curious to see how 28 Year Old Me would interpret the material that 18 Year Old me produced.

So yep!

This first page used to be so cool-looking to my 18 Year Old eyes… I can definitely see what I was trying to go for, but wasn’t quite able to reach then.

A thumbnail from 2013, with notes to myself regarding the composition. In my mind I wanted the wolves to have a James Jeanesque rendering – I was really into his Fables covers back then (still am tbh).

For the remake, I leaned further into the graphic-designiness of the composition: every element had to sweep the reader’s gaze down onto our protagonist. The wolves are expanded to actually take up half the spread and simplified down to only white lines. The trees and sky are shaped like teeth pointing down to Grimsley. The intent was to evoke a sense of claustrophobia, of the wolves catching up to Grims and driving him into a corner.

Small improvements: the energy and line of action are clearer with the new running pose. Definitely a better silhouette. And a lot more angularity with the limbs which adds to the sense of movement.

PAGE 3 and 4

This spread is one of the most drastic rehauls in the remake. Here’s the original for comparison

It’s not very good! (Sorry @ 18 Year Old Me) I remember struggling real hard with the dynamicism required out of this sequence…

Fortunately after 1000s of double-page compositions and 10 years of practice, I’ve finally cracked this once-difficult composition.

This new page does away with the concept of grids or caring about whether anything is read linearly. The sequence is supposed to evoke chaos and panic as everything is happening everywhere all at once, so it doesn’t really matter if everything can be read or arranged in a neat grid. That was the problem with the original spread: it was too beholden to the grid.

(You can see how in the original, each page was (top row: left to right; bottom row: left to right))

The new page is like this:

The page is horizontally railroaded. The main action sweeps from top left to bottom right.

The AWOOO sfx is the anchor which leads the eye from left to right. As the eye travels it may glance up or down at the panels – there’s no real need to pay attention to them; hopefully the improved clarity of Grimsley’s emotional and body acting + me actually depicting the wolf biting his neck + the spiky graphic design elements instantly conveys that he’s in trouble without much or any processing.

The newest panel – the pink grass and canine paws – is a call back for later when we catch up to this in media res.

#the world in deeper inspection #comics #webcomic #GOSH HAS IT BEEN THAT LONG #anyway yall who like reading up on process will enjoy this

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chzdavmpr · 6 months

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Ok so I have read all of the manga Versus (The one by the author of One Punch Man) that is currently out, and this post will just be a collection of thoughts I have about it. Btw, if you haven't read it, I would definitely recommend reading it, or at least the first 2-3 chapters to see if it's your cup of tea. Go in completely blind tho. Trust me. Spoilers below for chapters up to 10a.

Firstly I gotta say, the concept is a very enjoyable one. One might say it's a little close to the multiverse concept, which many people are tired of at this point. But for me the idea is different enough here in execution that I feel it's still nice and fresh.

The worldbuilding is very fun. The way each of the 13 worlds (that we know of so far, I don't think they'll introduce more but who knows) look different visually, to where you can easily tell which one a character is from just by their clothes, or which world a location is from just based off looks, is just super satisfying.

I love how the concept is almost an inverse of One Punch Man and Mob Psycho. Where instead of the protagonists being overpowered beyond belief, it's every single enemy that's OP. It makes for a really fun dynamic, especially when written by One.

That being said, as of writing this, the most recent chapter is released is 10a, where Hallow is just about to fight Kiva, and I really really hope that they do not just have Hallow become strong enough to beat him. I feel that would defeat the point of the whole story. We saw a bit of that when Alio was able to somewhat hold his own against the giants and new humanity using a super ultra final technique, admittedly he still lost after like 20 seconds, but I think that for this story that's 20 seconds too long.

It takes a few chapters to just kinda introduce the premise, but once it got that out of the way I really liked the characters. They have very expressive designs, unique character traits, and work off each other very well even the nobodies just introduced in the giant mission to die have so much character (except the machine world ones, since they all have identical armor) it really makes you invested in them, and ups the stakes when the story shows that they do not have any plot armor and all of them can die.

Kayla is especially great. So far giving big neurodivergent vibes. Zaybi is another standout character.

The Natural Enemies are all pretty fun. Some of them seem pretty simple, like the giants, but others I want to know more about so much. Like what's the deal with Recreation Hell World? Couldn't they just go in there and start shooting the games? Do they like hypnotise you to force you to play? Or Misfortune World, do they just have kaiju or do they just have a lot of natural disasters? If it's the later how are they suppose to fight bad luck? Aren't the bandits of Lawless World definitely like the least of a threat since they are just humans? How is Mad God World going to fit into any of this, cause that one seems like a big deal? All of these questions and more are the kinds of things that keep me wanting to read more the most, it's such a fun setting.

Small note: WHERE ARE THE GAMERS? They literally appear in 2 panels (seen below). They are in the war room, they accidentally explain what their natural enemy is, and then they just aren't even in the background of any of the other panels of that room, or anywhere for that matter. Did they just walk home and no one stopped them?

I love the fashion of New Humanity.

I do not like PanePane.

#versus manga

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internetgremlin-writes · 2 years

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We need no. 8 and 143 for Sebastian Vettel x reader 😍

8 - "Looks like we'll be trapped for a while,"

143 - "Are you trying to turn me on or are you really just that oblivious?"

SEB REQ SEB REQ SEB REQ!! Very excited about this one because I ADORE Seb and I was secretly worried no one would want to hear about him. Entirely based on Seb's flirting with anything that moves era

Also, this is my 100th post on this blog woo

Warnings: Yeah this is getting smutty. NSFW!

Prompt night info and list for requesting your own ficlet/HCs here!

Also entered an entire crisis over picking a gif because Seb is a YES for me in all of his eras

"Looks like we'll be trapped for a while," you sighed, slumping back against the elevator and sinking to the floor.

Only you could get yourself stuck in an elevator in the middle of the track stadium with Sebastian fucking Vettel. Sebastian was very calm about the whole thing. Thank god, you thought, that the race had finished and it was only post-race interviews left. If you'd held up the race you would have had to change your identity and move to Peru out of embarrassment.

"I'm so sorry," you apologised again, because it was the only thing you could think of doing. Sebastian gave you a fairly blank look from where he was examining the control panel, trying to kick start the buttons to life.

"Not your fault," it wasn't the first time he'd said that either.

"I shouldn't have jammed the buttons," you were running late. You were still new to the whole journalism thing, and if you were being honest you'd been late because you'd gotten stuck in your tech belt with a wire crossed where it definitely shouldn't and you couldn't get it undone alone. You'd rushed into the elevator and repeatedly stabbed the button for the floor you were supposed to be on in your rush. He shrugged simply, giving the blank buttons another slap.

"I don't think it's the buttons, we called for help before they died," he was right; the elevator had started moving before it had ground to a halt, and you'd been able to get through to the help desk, which was entirely unhelpful and had promised help wouldn't be able to get to you until after the interviews when security would be able to safely clear the mechanics for entry.

"In an arena full of mechanics?" Sebastian had questioned, sounding almost amused at the situation. But apparently being able to build a supercar and fix an elevator required two entirely different skillsets.

Sebastian, as it turned out, was an incredibly nice person. You'd crossed paths with him twice before, both for interviews lasting only a couple of minutes long. He'd remembered you, and the second the elevator had shuddered he was more concerned about making sure that you didn't start to panic than anything else. He gave up trying to spark some life into the button panel and sank down opposite you.

"I knew I should have brought my flask," you mumbled because not being sober in this situation sounded a whole lot better. Sebastian raised an eyebrow at you, a little smirk tugging at his lips.

"Do you normally drink before interviewing us? Are we that scary?" He was teasing you, but you could see there was a genuine interest in the way his blue eyes held yours.

"No, but a shot or two for dutch courage sometimes helps," he broke out into a toothy grin, nodding along in understanding.

"Yes well, some of these young drivers are very attractive. It must be distracting," was he teasing you?

"Not really my type," you said without thinking, your response bluntly honest. Sebastian didn't miss a trick, a gleam in his eye letting you know he was keeping hold of that piece of information.

"So you like the older guys?" There was nothing but simple curiosity in his tone, even so, you couldn't quite look him in the eye when you gave your next answer.

"Well, not total grandpas," you said. Your age you meant. More experienced, sensible, mature, but still young enough to have a sense of humour, to know how to show you a good time. You liked gentlemen. "Aren't I supposed to be interviewing you anyway?"

"Ha, please," he opened his hand in invitation and you mimed a microphone in the air, asking him a few stupid questions about the race and his performance, to which he answered with equally silly responses.

Seb, as you learnt he liked to be called by friends, was fascinating. Even his silly answers gave a little bit of himself to you. Every look he gave you was charged, every raise of his eyebrow or quirk of his lips perfectly calculated. And it was working, because you knew it wasn't just the confined space that was making the German increasingly more attractive.

An hour had passed. There was no phone service, you still couldn't get through to the help desk, and even your pocket radio wouldn't tune in. It was like you were stuck in a void. You groaned in frustration as the batteries on your radio stuttered out.

"This stupid thing," you grumbled as you pulled at the random straps and attachments in attempt to free yourself from the equipment. How Ted Kravitz was happy to walk around all day in his was beyond you. Seb was watching you struggle and slowly got to his feet, stepping closer to you.

"Hey, let me," he was very softly spoken as he stilled you.

His deft hands made short work of your belt. He carefully unplugged wires and removed clips and placed them slowly, one by one onto the floor beside you. Your mic and radio pack were the last things removed, so you thought Seb would step away but his hands were back on your waist. His hands were constantly brushing at the skin of your waist, only covered by the thin fabric of the summery dress you'd decided to wear that day. He undid the final buckle, his hands feather-light as he leant around behind you and you could feel his fingers drag across every centimetre of your skin as he finally pulled the belt off you.

Sebastian dropped the belt, but his blue eyes were fixed on yours as he rolled his bottom lip between his teeth. You weren't sure if you were breathing or not.

"Are you trying to turn me on, or are you really that oblivious?" The words rushed from you in a breathless whisper. You froze for a moment, the fear that you'd made a mistake and were about to make the next god-knows-how-long incredibly awkward. Sebastian was painfully neutral in his expression as he regarded you, but he still hadn't stepped back and the smell of his cologne was fogging your mind,

"Oh, I'm trying," how he sounded so casual, just a hint of playfulness about him. You had no idea how to respond, was he teasing you? This man was a world champion, he could do whatever he wanted. There was an edge to that, the idea of the power he held, he was almost untouchable in the paddock. And it wasn't like he was a golden boy who kept himself out of trouble, Vettel had been handed his fair share of fines over the years.

"Right," you could see his back in the mirror opposite you, he was taller than you, shoulders stretching the fabric of his own polo. You looked helpless, backed up against the wall by him. He was looking at you now, eyes a little darker, trained more on your chest than your face.

"Do you want me to stop?"

"No,"

The second the word left your lips Seb stepped forward, his body pressing against yours as he pinned you against the second mirrored wall. One hand was gripping your hip, with enough pressure to hold you in place. His other hand was already tangled in your hair, pulling you towards him as he captured you in a searing kiss.

Whatever kind, sweet, gentle nature you thought Seb had when he was interviewed had completely vanished. The man in front of you was kissing you like the world was ending. There was nothing gentle about him as he caught your bottom lip between his teeth and bit down. The was nothing gentle about the way his hands were roaming and grabbing at your body as if he was trying to mould you to his shape. There was certainly nothing gentle about the way he was rolling his hips against your thigh.

"Jesus," he managed to hiss as your mouth fell off his and you started attacking his neck, careful to toe the line just before you'd leave a mark on his skin. You decided to throw caution to the wind, because how many times do you find yourself stuck in a lift with a sporting legend, let alone such a handsome one? And besides, part of you wanted to be in that special club of people who'd known him like this.

You dropped to your knees in front of him, your dress providing a perfect view of your cleavage as you made quick work of unbuttoning the shorts he was wearing.

Sebastian groaned loudly as you took him in your mouth, the feeling alone enough to go straight through you. His hand tangled through your hair again, but he let you control the rhythm as he simply watched you bob your head through the mirror. The noises he made were addictive, and hearing him cursing in German was enough to make you want to finish him off like this.

But he was calling your name and asking you to wait so you pulled back oh so slowly, earning yourself another heavy hiss as you released him.

"I have to fuck you in that dress,"

It wasn't a request. But you didn't mind, you liked being told what to do. He pushed you back against the mirror again, lifting your legs and encouraging you to wrap them around his waist. Seb wasn't particularly tall but you always forgot just how strong the drivers were. He held you like you didn't weigh a thing.

His pace was bruising, and you were actually glad you were trapped in the elevator because there was nothing you could do to stop the near-constant stream of noise slipping from you, and he was equally loud. It was almost, almost, embarrassing at how quickly you were approaching your orgasm, but when Seb, oh so confident, let go of you with one hand and slipped it between you to start toying with your clit you were done.

"Seb-" you whined, his name so natural in your mouth. He was moving at a relentless pace, the pleasure almost overwhelming.

"You can do it," he forced the words out through gritted teeth as he watched you scream, your head falling back against the glass as your hips moved forcefully with him, your walls clenching deliciously around him as wave after wave of pleasure shot through you. You felt him twitch and he bit down on your shoulder as he came with a shudder of his own.

You stayed in his arms for a second, the pair of you breathing raggedly and trying to recover when something crackled behind you making you jump. The buttons on the panel were glowing again.

"Hi, it's reception, can you guys hear me? We're sending someone up now,"

#1.3k prompt night #sebastian vettel #seb vettel #sebastian vettel x reader #sebastian vettel imagine #stuck in an elevator #a classic for a reason hehe #formula one #F1 #sebastian vettel smut

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tired-biscuit · 8 months

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hi biscuit!! i apologize if this is a stupid question but what does farmer life look like in the winter?

not a stupid question at all, no worries!!

i suppose it depends on what kind of crops you grow and where you grow them. we mainly work for a lettuce-based market and since lettuce can’t grow on the fields during winter due to the low temperatures over here, we basically just chill during the winter months and basically do nothing, lol. we rest!!!! it’s why i write a lot more during that time period.

so from november to january, i’m mostly free (with the exception of some lumber work in the woods.)

to keep it reallyyy simple; we start planting the seeds in february in these styrofoam panels where they grow in a greenhouse until they’re ready to be replanted onto a field sometime in march when the weather warms up a bit. we tend to the fields while everything grows and then the work gradually starts to build up again and the official season starts in may, when the first harvest happens.

and then i’m busy, busy, busy all over again until november.

here’s a couple of pics so that you can see what i mean!!

#the first pic is the greenhouse and the second one is the baby lettuce that gets planted onto the fields :))))#biscuit mail

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eschergirls · 7 months

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Hi everybody!

It's now October, so that means it's time for another monthly site update and to thank EG's amazing Patreon supporters!

This month, as I mentioned in the previous She-Hulk post, I fixed and merged the She-Hulk tag because it was previously split between "She-Hulk" and "She Hulk" (due to Tumblr's older behaviour putting dashes instead of spaces in tags and therefore using a dash in a tag made it unreachable, so a lot of older tags don't have dashes, like "X Men" instead of "X-Men" but I've tried to fix those when I find them now). I also fixed the subject titles of the posts, and I'm working on adding image descriptions for every post.

I also restored two amazing Avengelyne redraws and the post of the original panel they're re-imagining. I added image descriptions for all 3 posts. You can see a preview of the posts above. The redraw on the left is by Marshy-tan, and the one on the right is by Overeducatedhillbilly, and I was excited to fix up those posts because they're some of my favourite redraws I've received on this blog because of how they tried to capture the emotion of the scene despite using different drawing styles, and I love seeing different people try to reinterpret the same panel/scene. :) It's also a big contrast to the original's weird bored expression on the other woman's face when she's supposed to be worried about Avengelyne.

The restored posts are here:

Original Avengelyne post (now sourced and in higher definition)

Marshy-tan's redraw

Overeducatedhillbilly's redraw

I'm still working on unflagging posts on Tumblr, and if you notice any missing content or empty tags here, please let me know! I'd like to appeal everything I can or just fix anything I'm able to. And if you notice anything that I should fix on the main site, I'd like to know as well!

Also, as a reminder, you can follow Escher Girls using RSS. (For newbies, RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication and is basically a feed you can read using an RSS reader. Simply copy and paste https://eschergirls.com/rss.xml into an RSS reader and it will keep you up to date on Escher Girls!)

And as usual, if you have any suggestions for upgrades to the site that would make it more readable and usable to you, please let me know!

And now, I want to give a huge thank you to our September Patreon supporters, your support helps us pay for domain and hosting costs, as well as allowing us to make upgrades to the site. Being able to self-host EG means that the site can exist without worrying about Tumblr rule changes or posts being flagged and deleted suddenly.

So thank you so so much to:

Anne Adler Cat Mara Chris McKenzie Em Bardon First Time Trek Greg Sepelak Ian Cameron Ken Trosaurus Kevin Carson Kim Wincen Kristoffer Illern Holmén Leak Manuel Dalton Mary Kuhner Max Schwarz Michael Mazur Michael Norton Miriam Pody Morgan McEvoy mors_d randomisedmongoose Rebecca Breu Ringoko Ryan Gerber Sam Mikes Sean Sea SnigePippi SpecialRandomCast Thomas Thomas Key

Also, there's another caption contest coming this Saturday, and I think it's going to be a really good one, so look out for it if you're interested in participating!

And again, I want to thank everybody for reading, interacting, commenting, and submitting things to EG in general because you're all so cool! :D

Thank you all so much,

Ami

(If you wish to support Escher Girls, you can subscribe to our Patreon at: https://www.patreon.com/ami_angelwings or donate through Ko-Fi at: https://ko-fi.com/amiangelwings.)

#patreon #update #note

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supervillain-smut · 27 days

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Nick Valentine WIP

This WIP is based off of a certain piece of fanart I saw a little while back... If you know, you know. It'll be directly referenced and linked when it's done, so if you don't know, no worries.

“You sure you’re good with this? I could just wait until we’re back at the Railroad HQ...” Nick sighed as you set aside the panel on his abdomen that covered all of Nick’s inner workings. Some wires had been jostled in your last scuffle, and Nick could tell something was off, and you’d offered to help fix it if it was simple enough.

“Nonsense. I can do this, just tell me what not to touch.” “... That would be a lot of things.” Nick chuckled at your glare as you looked up at him from your knelt position as he leaned back in the steel chair, attempting to relax even as you were wrist deep in his torso.

“Whatever you do, don’t reach for anything past where your own ribcage would be. That’s where all the important stuff is. You’ll be looking for a smaller wire, none of the tubing’s dislodged.” You nodded as he instructed you, and your hands felt a frayed wire. Nick winced when you grabbed one end to find the other, and you quickly let go. “You alright, Nick? I didn’t hurt you, did I?” “Wh-what? No, no you didn’t hurt me. I think you found the problem, though. That’s not supposed to be disconnected like that.”

You nodded and tried to find it again, starting with the other side. It connected just behind where his pelvis was, so you’d have to pull the side you found first and connect it. Thankfully you had electrical tape in your toolbox. It wasn’t easy to come by and was kept almost strictly for Nick and other essential things around Sanctuary like the water pumps. It took you a bit, but you finally had both ends in each hand. You put them in one hand to grab the electrical tape, and as they brushed together, Nick suddenly jolted in his chair and moaned, swiftly covering his mouth and looking around embarrassed. You raised a brow at him with a smirk, and Nick could barely look you in the eyes. The electrical tape could wait. You carefully grabbed both ends and brushed them against each other again, and Nick groaned into his hand, his head lolling backwards.

“You want me to stop, Nick?” Nick looked down at you for a moment. “No.” You chuckled at his response as you continued brushing the wires together, figuring out what movements of the wires corresponded with certain actions you would have done if he had the external parts. Nick was more than happy to experiment. You slowly figured out if you circled one wire over the other, it got about the same reaction as if you were bringing your hand up and down his shaft; doing it repeatedly got you results you’d expected.

#nick valentine #wip reveal #writing wip

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animehouse-moe · 9 months

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Mr. Villain's Day Off Volume 1: Surprising Heart Hiding Behind Humor

A story about a villain enjoying his days off from attempting to conquer the earth. Pretty simple, right? This first volume would agree with you, truthfully. It doesn't pretend to be something it's not, but rather looks to hone its edge into a fine point, keeping its scope narrow and adjusting only as needed to keep the reader engaged and interested. Makes it seem like there's not a lot to talk about, no? Well, you'd be really surprised as you get into it.

So, lets start off with the easy stuff: the art and such. It's pretty, relatively well detailed, and comfortably flexible. It checks all the boxes required for a story like this and then maybe a few more (the animals are drawn so well). My only real complaint in regards to it are: I'd love to see more background art used (it's really quite good when it's apparent), and I really want to see more shading in regards to the art as well. There's bits and pieces of shading to help emphasize certain moments, and I just think it's really pretty and nice in comparison to the default flatness. Just look at how the shading brings out the depth in Mr. Villain's back in this panel, and how much the background adds to it.

Another complaint that's somewhat separate from the art though is the paneling. The storyboarding, that is to say the flow of the story, is really solid. The paneling however can leave a bit to be desired sometimes. There's places where it's really solid and understands perfectly what it should do, like this stretch of plain rectangular panels that emphasize Mr. Villain's character acting, but there's also pieces that can feel rather standard. It's a shame as well because there's undeniable potential and ability with the storyboarding, but it just seems like the paneling hasn't quite caught up yet. In that regard I feel like I should comment on the fact that quite a bit of the paneling feels experimental. There's not any sense of consistency or discernable style in regards to it, as things like the chapter that the image is taken from is entirely comprised of rectangular panels.

Following up my (sort of) complaint with the art though, I really want to praise the character designs and acting in this volume. Simple yet unique and identifiable, they work really well in motion and with both smaller pieces of acting and exaggeration. Specifically in regards to that latter remark, the balance between realistic and exaggerated is really nice, with plenty of subtle and simple acting that can help accentuate the more ridiculous and comical pieces.

And does it ever get comical. Most of it is based off of the personalities of the characters and the seriousness with which Mr. Villain tackles his days off, but quite a bit of it stems from the character acting in the first place. It's not visual gags or puns or anything like that, but rather it's just exploring the range of emotions through all of his days off. Like this one.

Because of its focus on drawing out the simple and more benign comedic moments of daily life, and maybe just a little of the excessive, it maintains a balance in humor that I think is one that can last. It doesn't try to get you rolling around on the floor with every joke, but rather just a bit of a chuckle out of his daily experiences with a knee-slapper or two here and there. Keeping the bar low leaves plenty of potential in regards to the sort of humor you can play with, so I think it's a solid decision to leave it as a secondary element to this series.

So if humor's not the primary focus of this story, what would it be? Well, there's a few things really, with none quite taking priority over the other. First and foremost, we're following Mr. Villain on his days off, so I supposed you could call it a slice of life primarily, but I personally feel like it's more than that.

As this story goes on you notice something, the prevalence of children. It's not a "kids are cute so they should be shown" (though they are), but something a bit more than that. Mr. Villain is an evil alien hellbent (during his work days) on taking over the Earth, so his exposure to kids and the worlds they interact with is a core piece to this experience. It's all about Mr. Villain learning and experiencing the best parts of the world alongside children, as it's always said they look at things with such excitement and awe.

I think it's a super cute aspect to this story, that much like the setup of the comedy, provides confidence in its ability to last. It explores more than Mr. Villain's Day Off as the title may suggest, but how he interacts with and learns from children, how he helps and encourages them to grow, and how he falls more and more in love with the world that he's trying to conquer.

And just keeping the ball rolling on longevity, the idea of additional characters. We keep our recurring cast in this first volume somewhat light, but the idea behind teasing new and recurring ones pops up rather frequently. We have the Red Ranger, and two kids related to him, but we also see Blue mentioned rather frequently as well. Similarly, we slowly get more and more exposed to Mr. Villain's workplace and the group of people that inhabit it. The person that will continually question him about what he's doing on his days off, and the other high ranking generals within the organization are just two examples of characters that are consistently teased to play roles further into the future of this story.

So we reach the end. For people wanting a lighter series, but one that still has substance, direction, and desire, I don't think you can really do any wrong with Mr. Villain's Day Off. Everything it does speaks to a desire to provide the ability to stick around for a good while, but it doesn't trade off any sort of significance or purpose to achieve that. At the end of this first volume, my only complaint is the potential that the author is leaving on the table. They have some great art and work within, but it feels like some of it is limited by aspects like the paneling and whatnot. Regardless of my minor gripe however, I've thoroughly enjoyed it, and really cannot wait to see how the anime approaches this wonderfully warm and silly story.

#mr villain's day off #mr. villain's day off #休日のわるものさん #manga recommendation #manga reccs #manga review #anime and manga #manga #shoujo manga #shojo manga #shojosei manga #shojosei #shojo #shoujosei #shoujo

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datusaguy · 8 months

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All TMNT Shredder’s Revenge Color References - Karai

Been playing Shredder’s Revenge recently due to the new dlc and since I haven’t seen much discussion in terms of references the new dlc, I decided to look into a lot of it myself. This is just Karai’s colors for now and definitely isn’t complete (updated: I have done all the characters by now, check out the bottom of my post for links to all the other posts), but feel free to give me any additional info you might know and I hope you enjoy checking this out.

I wanted to add numerous move references as well, but I don’t think I’d be able to put enough pictures for that and colors so it’ll probably be a different post.

# 1 - Default - AFAIK, Karai hasn’t actually appeared in the 1987 show nor related media (besides Tournament Fighters), so I think this is a new design.

# 2 - Mirage Shredder Outfit - In the mirage run, Karai at one point did don the Shredder outfit which shares a similar color scheme in colored depictions of Mirage characters. Since practically every version of Karai also having some heavy links to the Shredder story wise, it makes a lot of sense that she would have a Shredder pallet.

# 3 - 2007 Movie? - There’s a lot of different things I think this could be a reference to, including Foot Soldiers in general, the IDW design, the 2014/2016 movie Karai, the older 2003 design etc. Slot 3 seems to be for the 1990 movie designs for most of the cast, so as the 2007 movie debatably shares the same universe as the 90’s movies, I think that would make a lot of sense, although she has even less red on her than this in-game color.

# 4 - 2003 Show - This slot seems to be universally for the 03 show and it appears to also be the case for Karai. The blue is quite pronounced compared to Karai in most of the earlier seasons she appeared in, so either it’s supposed to be based on the S7 design or they just wanted to make it more visually distinct.

# 5 - 2012 Show (Mutant) - This one was confusing me for a while as I haven’t actually watched all of 2012 yet, but I have seen enough to recognize her standard design which this almost definitely isn’t. Slot 5 seems to be mostly for the 2012 designs however, so I looked more into it and found out she did turn into a purple and white snake which seems to fit.

# 6 - Tournament Fighters Genesis - This slot seems to generally be reserved for the Rise variations of characters (specifically the turtles, Splinter and Casey), but Karai’s surprisingly isn’t (nor does that color seem to be anywhere in this game). I do like this color variant though.

Also worth noting that I don’t think any of her colors reference the alternate pallet for the Genesis Karai. While an alternate pallet exists, from what I know, she wasn’t playable in the original release of the Genesis version so I don’t think there was any way to see the alternate pallet legitimately (it is available in the Cowabunga Collection however).

# 7 - Tournament Fighters SNES (Alt) - Don’t know why her Alt is listed first when you have all the colors, but it seems to be.

# 8 - Tournament Fighters SNES

# 9 - Aska? - This is by far what I’m most stumped on. The red and gold seems close enough and I can kinda see the blue/purple on Aska as white for her gameplay sprites, but a lot of other art involving Aska tends to display that clothing as a clear purple or blue. I haven’t been able to figure out any other potential reference for this however.

# 10 - Mirage Comics - The original TMNT Comics produced by Mirage were produced in black and white, which this design reflects.

If you have the dlc, this is quite clear given that the survival mode included a “Mirage” dimension which is black-and-white, alongside many waves having comic book panels.

# 11 - NES (General) - AFAIK, Karai never actually appeared in a NES TMNT game, but the simple color pallet and the fact that other characters have actual NES color pallets they’ve used before in their 2nd-to-last color slot.

12 - Gameboy - Essentially the same situation as the NES color.

All other (currently made) Color References posts:

1. Karai

2. Leonardo

3. Michelangelo

4. Raphael

5. Donatello

6. April O’Neil

7. Master Splinter

8. Casey Jones

9. Usagi

#TMNT #teenage mutant ninja turtles #Karai #oroku karai #shredder’s revenge #TMNT shredder’s revenge

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canonicallysoulmates · 1 year

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J2 Gold Panel ATLCon 2023

The boys are looking handsome wearing blue, and red 🥰

Jared brings up the Saturday night concert and asks the crowd if it was thumbs up or thumbs down, then he shares a quick story about how when he was in High School the movie, Gladiator, came out and his Latin teacher was pissed off because in the movie the Emperor gives a thumbs up to mean mercy and thumbs down to mean death but according to Jared's teacher realistically it would be the opposite thumbs up for death and thumbs down for mercy because it's supposed to be a representation of the sword.

Out of curiosity, I did look this up and while some kind of hand gesture involving the thumb was used scholars can't say definitively what this looked like because writers at the time didn't really describe it, and if they did we seemingly have yet to find their writings. So there's a lot of scholarly debate as to what these gestures actually looked like and meant in Roman times. The popular idea that thumbs down was involved and meant death is attributed to an 1872 painting by French artist, Jean-Léon Gérôme, called Pollice Verso which depicts a gladiator asking for his life while the crowd gives a thumbs down. And that's your history lesson for today now back to our scheduled programming! 😅

Getting back to the panel, Jared mentions that there were times that were never printed where Dean would do an exorcism and Jensen would fumble on purpose, and Jared knew he did this on purpose and he would tell Jensen so and Jensen's reply would basically be 'yeah, but if I do it good they'll make me do it more, if i make it look like I can't do it they'll have Sam do it'.

And Jensen mentions what he called "his senior moment" which is that during the Saturday night concert he was singing Simple Man, and it's been so long since he sang it that he forgot the lyrics to the last verse. Backstage, prior to singing, he had the feeling this might happen because, again, it's been so long since he's sang it so the lyrics were printed out for him and placed in front of him on the floor but the font was too small for him to see them so when Jason Mann went over to him, he took his glasses and he said it was like the Matrix 😂

Getting into the questions, not gonna lie the first one is a weird one, but does Jensen remember the color of the belt and shoes he was wearing with the blue suit in his Man About Town UK photoshoot? He answers that he doesn’t think he had a belt on which gives us fangirl!Jared saying "easy access"...sir!

Anyways, Jensen thinks they were brown dress shoes. He says that in those photoshoots you walk in and there’s racks of clothing and generally a stylist and an assistant who will ask what you like, and he'll tell them that he doesn't know that they're the professionals so they just had him try stuff on and he wasn't really paying attention also he had like 12 outfit changes that afternoon which makes Jared mutter 'Jesus'. Jensen says that yeah, it was a lot that photoshoots are not their (his and Jared's) favorite thing to do, they're a necessary thing for their industry but he did have fun on that shoot. x

Out of all the famous horror movie villains which would be the hardest for Sam and Dean to face? Jared says it’s a name he can’t say aka Voldemort. Jensen says the easiest would be Michael cause he just stands there, that he's never understood how he catches people like does he get on like a segway. Jared mentions any villain Walking Dead, I wouldn't be too confident in that answer cause Negan but also I don't watch that show but I do know they've made some changes to the Walkers and they can open doors and climb shit now.

Jensen is still trying to figure out who would be the toughest, Jared tells him he'd go Star Wars or Harry Potter but those aren't horror movies. Someone in the crowd yells out Jason to which Jared replies he already beat Jason. The crowd also yells out Freddy Krueger but Jensen thinks Sam and Dean would have figured it out although he would be a tough one. x

Can they share any aspects of strain that their characters experienced that might have thought them something? Jared says that in his 15 and a half years on SPN he learned a lot, that it's hard for him to parse out what he learned with the help of Sam and what he learned with the help of Dean, and what he learned from the help of whomever. What he learned is that he went from being 22 to being 38 but he certainly learned that we are more capable than we understand, than we believe. That he loves stories of ultra marathon runners, or the one he was listening to recently on a podcast of a guy who trecked across Antartica. That those stories really inspire him cause sometimes when you're stressed about something and you go 'there's no way I'll figure this out' there's a little reminder in him to keep at it, and that as much as it is a cliche every thousand mile journey began with a single step. He felt that with Sam, and with Dean, and with the show so no matter how tired he is, no matter how emotionally or physically beat down he feels he just tries to keep on going forward.

Jensen says he'll echo what Jared said just slightly different view point. That both Dean and Sam, as his grandfather would say, when the good Lord made them he forgot to put the quit in them. They don't quit. And he can 100% be sure that Jared also has that in him as well and he feels confident he has some of that as well but it's because now they represent these characters that don't have quit in them that that he thinks drives them in their personal lives a little more than it would have had they never played these characters. x

How are the kids? Jared answers that theirs are good, that they finish school in May. That Shep just did a PSIA which is similar to the mathletes Jared did and he got like 4th on the district so he's a chip of the block, that Odette is still queen of the world as far as she knows, and Tom is kicking ass he's in sports and is doing well, that they're all safe and sound. Jensen says his are currently gallivanting around Europe with D, that they were at a museum today and she told him it was a total disaster. JJ is great, the twins however are 6 and very opinionated and if they don't like something- it reminds him of a story Ryan Gosling told about his little girl about how he took her to the Louvre and his little girl gave the museum a thumbs down that Arrow is like that, and that makes Jared share a story about when they were all in the Austin airport together last week on their way to Rome. They were supposed to have a 2hr layover in Atlanta but it ended up being around 5hrs so Jensen and D were trying to keep the kids awake and trying to think positive that maybe this is good cause they'll be more tired - at which point Jensen says that it was nice to have Uncle Jared stuck there with them (💕) - and when they were set to board Jared is standing with his rolling carry on and his backpack and he feels something push his carry on forward, when he looks behind him there's Arrow with her roller bag giggling evilly at him cause she wanted to play so he started to play with her. And then, at another point, he and Jensen had a little race with Arrow and Zep sitting on their carry on's, so Jensen has one of those aluminum rolling carry on's, the ones that you can sit on, and he was walking Arrow up and down on it but Zeppelin started complaining that it wasn't fair even though Jensen had spend a couple minutes already walking him up and down on the carry on too so Jensen looked at Jared and started signaling towards the kid, and Jared was like 'come here buddy' and put him on his bag and they had a little race through the airport. This is so cuuuute!!! I need y'all to go watch this moment for yourself cause it's an adorable story but also so you can see what the look was that Jensen gave Jared when he was asking for help with Zeppelin because it's such a help me with our kids look. x

Jensen had mentioned Lonesome Dove a while back but who would be Woodrow and who would be Augustus? Jensen feels like it's obvious, he would be Augustus and Jared would be Woodrow. Also, Jared mentions that the key makeup artist on Walker won the Emmy for makeup on Lonesome Dove! x

If they got a 60 sec ad in the Super Bowl what would it be about? Jensen goes "ha! you know how much money I just lost buying a 60 second ad?" Jared says that it would just be them crying, and Jensen says it would be an ad about how to stupidly spend your money 😂

Jared jokes his would be herpexia 🤣

The next fan read an article a couple years about how people think, some think in full sentences like a running monologue while others think in pictures and concepts, how do the boys think? Jared says he is absolutely the former. That he's either thinking solving the problems of the world in his head, or meow mix jingle, which he does part of, Jensen asks him if he sees things in text to which Jared replies yes, that he's thinking of the description of the visual more than the visual. Jensen also asks him what the recall looks like in his head when it comes to scripts, Jared replies that it flips in that case that when he's doing a scene he can see the script where the page turns, he doesn't have a photographic memory but he has a visual memory but that's for memorization if he's thinking about what he's gonna do later that day when he gets home he's not thinking about how it looks necessarily he's like making lists in his head.

Jensen says he would probably lean the other way, that when he memorizes a script at first he literally sees the page in his head and is reading lines which is largely why he can memorize lines that he's not even saying like he'll know what Jared's lines are he's basically reading the text in his head. And when talking about daily life if he's thinking about what he has to do when he gets home, he's visualising so if he's thinking about opening the door he sees that door and the dog going out, or thinking about getting the groceries he visualizes the grocery store and the aisle he has to go down.

Jared adds that a big day on Walker or SPN, a one hour episodic tv show, is like 8 pages, if you have an 8 page day you have a full day he thinks the most they've ever had was an 11 page day and that's kind of undoable unless you absolutely trust your director or is a lot of dialogue. He asks Jensen what's the most pages he's done in one day, Jensen answers 24 when he was on Days Of Our Lives that they usually shoot 60 pages a day. x

When the boys had a home ie the bunker was there anything they had to take with them from home or that they kept as a comfort thing when they had to go back on the road? Jared quips a flask. He also says he thinks they probably still had the cooler, he asks Jensen if he got legos or army men Jensen says he got all the weapons in the back. Jared says that when the show ended they had said the things they would love to have so their props department send them some things like motel cards, samulet, an army man and some legos so those are in safe keeping in his house.

The fan asks if Sam and Dean have any favorite driving games, someone in the crowd mentions punch buggies which Jensen says he calls slug bug which is when you slug someone when you see a bug car, and that that's probably what they played Jared says probably while the other one was asleep. Jensen also adds that there a couple of other things that they got from the set which they're not at liberty to talk about but the one thing he really wanted was Dean's two weapons of choice: his pistol and his sawed off shotgun. And that's a little trickier of a prop to take home and across the border because it's not a prop it's a firearm so instead what he did was he got a 1911 Colt .45, and he comissioned the craftsman in Van who had done the filigree engraving in Dean's gun to come out of retirement to do that filigree on the firearm that he bought, and he actually ended up using it in an episode just so he could say it was on tv. Then he did all the paperwork and sent it back home but the shotgun is ilegal if it's sawed off so he didn't think he'd be able to get it until he talked to his dad who told him that he tought his uncle had one and he did, he left it to Jensen when he passed so now his collection is complete. x

J2 Gold Panel Atlanta 2023

#j2 tinhat #jared almost fully send me down a rabbit hole with that whole thumbs up thumbs down thing #i was this close 🤏 to writing about how we might have gotten the thumbs up from europeans but also the involvement of the war #because pilots would give the thumbs up as a signal that they were ready for take off #noniwtv #mine

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theelvenhaven · 10 months

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Bonding

Vanifinwe x Reader Caranthir x Reader Relationship

2.9k words

Request: Hi , could I request for Vanifinwe bonding time with Caranthir's s/o? I lowkey have this idea of Vani being skeptical or unsure of the reader is perfect for Caranthir and then after spending time with them she warms up to them and knows they are the one for Caranthir because they are kind, patient and understanding? Caranthir can lool over the while thing? Thank you.

A/N: Honestly anon I don’t think you’re far off the mark at all about her being skeptical. I was happy to write this! I hope you enjoy! :)

* * *

Your hands ran along the ball of clay that Vanifinwë had left on the table that was before you, with her clay sitting across from you while she milled about the room. This was the first time you were spending time with Vanifinwë that was not in passing or at a family even that you were invited too.

When you two did spend any time together at those events and dinners, Vanifinwë, while she was never cold, was clearly skeptical of you. Not as warm and invested in you as she had been with the significant others amongst your partners brothers. Though she was still very kind and polite, and not in a honeyed venom kind of way. So that much was a relief to know that you were somewhat in her good graces.

“Have you ever sculpted before?” Her soft and lilt voice suddenly spoke up, pulling you from your thoughts as a basin of water was set next to you, and her rose perfume wafted into your face. You looked up at the Princess who held a neutral look on her face, hard to tell if she was pleased to be here or not. Or what it was she felt for you, but slowly you began to shake your head.

“No I can’t say that I have, this would be a first for me.” You answered her in earnest, and you watched this time as a faint smile found her lips and she nodded her head. Walking around the table to sit across from you as she set her basin of water down next to the clay, rolling up her sleeves to her stained tunic and you began to mirror her seeing if the professional artist was doing it… well there must be some basis for why.

“Perfect, hopefully you will find enjoyment in it.” She smiled to you, and you gave her a half-hearted smile in return, feeling a little nervous now. As you wanted to make a good and last impression on Vanifinwë as she seemed to be the only Fëanorian whose approval you didn’t know you had or not.

“What are we going to do exactly with it?” You asked her, referring to the lump of clay,

“Sculpt anything you like, it can be a figure or an object if you wish it. I would’ve done pottery wheels… But I think this would be much easier for you to do. My only I suppose rule for this is try and add lots of detail.” She explained to you, still with that more charming smile, one that almost nerve-wracking reminded you of Feanaro and even Curufinwe. She was certainly her father’s daughter, and you suspected there was an ulterior motive to why you two were spending time together. Though you hoped it was because she wanted to get to know you personally.

“Alright I think I can do that.” You answered her with some confidence, and without another word the two of you began to dive into your lumps of clay and began to sculpt away. A silence falling over the two of you, and you couldn’t tell if it was just your nerves getting the best of you, creating an imaginary tension or if there was a tension there between the two of you.

Quietly you began to mull over what you wanted to make as you manipulated the clay between your fingers and hands, deciding that something simple would be more ideal. Perhaps a holder of some kind where spare quills or charcoal pencils could be stored, for Carnistir on his desk. With lots of little detail, but you honestly hadn’t the slightest clue how you’d put it together.

But you weren’t going to let that stop you as you began to roll out some of your clay hoping to create a panel for the bottom. Then hoping to move on to create sides… Though you would need help for sure on putting it together. You were in your own world, focused on the clay panels you were creating that you forgot that Vanifinwë was even there in the room with you.

She didn’t seem to be paying you any mind either, at least that was what you could assume until she finally opened her mouth to speak.

“Y/N,” Her soft voice spoke up suddenly pulling you from your thoughts and you peered up to look at her, seeing how she was focused on the indiscernible object before her

“How is it you and my brother came to court one another? I’m afraid I don’t remember or wasn’t present when it was told.” Being the last and youngest Fëanorian did have it’s drawbacks in the fact that sometimes she was forgotten or assumed to be present for all things in family matters or private speakings. Carnistir had never told her, and she assumed that he would’ve done so when he was ready, but he never did. Meaning everyone else but her knew and everyone assumed she knew.

Piercing blue eyes peered up from the clay and looked over at you, and you could see the sparkle of curiosity in her eyes as she looked at you. Letting some of that impenetrable wall down in front of you, putting you a little more at ease to see her so relaxed with you.

“Well…” You began with a fond sigh, picking up one of the clay tools in front of you that was to be shared between the two of you.

“It came after one of the festivals that King Finwe hosted, we were out in the gardens when Carnistir pulled us somewhere secluded,” You began to smile as you worked, “He gently held my hand and asked me if I would court him. It was so sweet and endearing in the way he asked.” You tried not to gush and giving her the straightforward answer, you watched the way Vanifinwë seemed to smile some at your words.

“Was it romantic? Or was he just his straightforward self?” She asked with more curiosity in her tone, and it certainly soothed you to hear her so curious in what it was you were talking about. Let alone about you as well,

“It was more romantic, he… held my hands and brought them up to kiss. His voice was really soft and he stood really close and then he kissed me when I said yes. I was so nervous in that moment, but everything just felt so right and perfect.” You continued to gush more, and you watched as Vanifinwë seemed to wear some surprise at your description.

“You are surprised?” You asked with your own confusion, wondering why it was she would be when Carnistir was a perfect gentleman with you. Romantic too especially when you two were in private with one another. Vanifinwë released a soft breath of amusement, as she paused in her work for a moment, leaning back on the stool and shifting to get more comfortable on it.

“Yes, I am.” She answered you honestly, “Carnistir is usually so guarded and protective over how he feels, it is honestly hard for me to imagine him having such low walls with anyone else. Even with a romantic partner.” Now that was hard for you to imagine him being so guarded and protective in front of you, granted he wasn’t always the most forthcoming verbally, but he didn’t hide his emotions from you when you were present with him.

“It is strange for me to hear you say that as I feel like he is always open with me about how he feels.” You said, your fingers gently cutting out square panels to be able to put on the bottom piece of clay to form your little miscellaneous holder. You watched as a fond smile found Vanifinwë’s lips at your words, unbeknownst to you Vanifinwë felt some relief to know that Carnistir trusted you so immensely.

In truth she feared that you were just out to use Carnistir like many other elves had tried to do with before. Though he had thwarted them all, part of her could see what you meant to him and feared that you were no better than everyone else, she still had questions though before she’d make her final decision in how it was she felt about you.

Nonetheless she already felt reassured by the words you were telling her, it was good to know her most guarded yet sensitive brother felt so good to be with you. She only hoped that you too felt the same way about him. Let alone the biggest trial which was dealing with his anger. As it ran off most other elves who finally got a taste of his wrath even if it wasn’t directed at them.

“That is good that he trusts you so immensely to share his feelings with you, Y/N.” She said, offering you another smile as she began to continue working on her little sculpture before her.

“Do you feel the same way? Like you can trust him with your feelings?”

“If I am being honest, yes I do. I know if I tell him how I am feeling Carnistir will listen to me and support me in however I need it.” Your answer was reassuring to Vanifinwë, to know that it was reciprocal. She kept it to herself how many potential suitors couldn’t even answer that honestly, or how they’d immediately laugh out how they wouldn’t share such things with him. Or that it was foolish to attempt to do so.

“I am relieved to hear it, if I am being honest with you.” Vanifinwë said to you as she continued to sculpt away, with another comfortable silence falling over the two of you for a moment while you two worked. But it didn’t last long as Vanifinwë opened her mouth to speak again.

“What do you think of my brother?” She asked you, again there was a note of curiosity in her voice and for this you were excited to answer her, as you loved Carnistir and you loved being able to gush over him. You smiled widely as you looked to Vanifinwë and you watched as she seemed to soften tremendously at your expression.

“I think he is wonderful, he is kind to me and such a gentleman.” You began, “I appreciate his kindness, I enjoy hearing his thoughts about things and he’s quite creative with some of the things he says. I think he is clever and I love to find a topic that gets him really passionate when he speaks.” You grinned widely with a fond sigh falling off your lips.

“I love the way his face lights up when he gets to speaking about his favorite subjects. Though if I am being honest, I love the way his face reddens when he does something sweet and romantic.” Vanifinwë began to chuckle at your words, enthused to hear you speak so highly of Carnistir and that he had such a loving and adoring partner. It helped put her mind a lot at ease knowing that he had you.

Vanifinwë was starting to feel silly that she had been so skeptical as Carnistir had always been so good at vetting those that didn’t care much about him. She should’ve trusted her brother on the matter, then again it was good to have confirmation for herself and having this talk and time to spend with one another. Though she had one final and important question for you:

“His temper, what do you think of it?” You were silent as her question, almost afraid to give your honest answer, it was becoming clear to you that Vanifinwë wanted to know what it was you thought of her brother. And if you were good enough for him and this question she posed made you concerned with the fact that it was hard not to be scared by Carnistir’s anger. Especially at its worst, you’d be lying if you said that it didn’t scare you.

“It… intimidates me.” That was putting it lightly, “I have heard how bad it can get and I have seen it on occasion.” You answered her truthfully, you didn’t see a point in trying to hide it from her. There was the possibility that one day you could be siblings and you didn’t want to lie to her. It just wasn’t in your nature either.

Vanifinwë nodded her head as she paused again in her work, and honestly you did too as the two of you looked at one another. There was a look of sympathy on her face as she hummed,

“I understand entirely that his anger is intimidating.” She said to you in earnest and it brought relief that she too understood what that was like. If anything it surprised you too, because shouldn’t she be used to it? Vanifinwë did live with him and should be accustomed to all of his habits and outbursts.

“Forgive me for asking… But shouldn’t you be used to it?” You asked with hesitation, but you watched as she began to chuckle at your question. Shaking her head no, making her long black ponytail swish at the motion,

“Believe it or not no, I’ve never really… gotten used to his anger and wrath, and I don’t blame you for being intimidated by it. Though it says much that you would stay despite how intense it can be. But I hope he never aims it at you.” She said to you, and quickly you shook your head, holding your hands out as you did the motion, frantic to clear any of that up.

“No! Eru no! Carnistir never aims it at me, it mostly seems to be at your brothers or other people who have gotten under his skin.” You answered her, and again Vanifinwë began to laugh softly at your reaction, with another sigh of relief leaving her lips. Nodding her head at what you told her, good she was glad that he didn’t direct his anger at you.

“Good, I am glad for it. I am glad Carnistir cares so much about you Y/N and that you care about him.” Vanifinwë paused for a moment, and you didn’t speak, seeing as it appeared she might have something else to add. Your suspicions were confirmed a moment later,

“I must confess, and must ask for your forgiveness, but I was… skeptical of you Y/N.” Her honesty surprised you and you couldn’t help but wear it on your face as you stared back at her. Vanifinwë gave you a more sheepish look, but she kept going.

“It is just, Carnistir has had so many others view him for just his status or what he can do for them. Granted he has run them all off himself, I feared when he felt so strongly about you that he might be… blinded by his feelings for you I didn’t want him to get hurt. But I can see that is clearly not the case.” You were silent, and you felt an ache in your chest to know that Carnistir had been used before you.

That so many had overlooked just how wonderful of a ner he was, and how gentle and loving he could be. Part of you, of course, grateful that none of it worked out, but you knew it must have hurt for him to have gone through those trials.

“I can understand why you were skeptical hearing you say that… Poor Carnistir. That must have been difficult and painful for him to have gone through.” You watched Vanifinwë nod again with a more solemn and serious expression, her hands coming across the table to reach for yours that was sitting there.

“Yes it was, but he has you. I shouldn’t have doubted you or his judgment. I hope that you are not upset with me, though I would understand if you were.” Gently you took her hand in yours to hold, and you watched as Vanifinwë gave you a warm smile at the returned platonic affection. You shook your head,

“No, I am not upset, I understand. I would do the same for any of my siblings.” You said to her honestly and you felt her slender hand give yours a squeeze, and you smiled back at her.

“I am relieved to hear you say that, Y/N-” As she spoke both of your eyes went to the square container you were making, only watching as the top began to cave in at the top of it and fold in on itself. The two of you snorted at the sight, interrupting Vanifinwë.

“Now, let me help you with your project.” She laughed out, and you grinned nervously pulling your hand away to rub the back of your neck.

“That would.. Be nice. I am pretty bad at this.” You mused to her, as Vanifinwë picked up her stool and walked it around the table to sit next to you. You scooted your stool some out of the way as she took her place next to you.

“That is alright, I will help you.” Vanifinwë smiled at you, more warmly and friendlier,

“Now here’s how we can fix this.” She began starting to show you what to do, and you couldn’t help but be relieved all that weird tension was gone. That she understood you better, so you tuned back into what she was telling you. Happy to spend this time with Vanifinwë, bonding with one another.

* * *

Tags: @saviorsong @lilmelily @dicksoutformtl @fandomhoe101 @celebrimbor-telperinquar @red-riding @miriel-estelwen @ta-ka-shi-ma @nerdysimpy @thegirlwithoutaname87 @anunexpectedsideblog @spidergirla5 @eunoiaastralwings @eternalabysss @noldorinpainter

#Vanifinwe #Anamartinde #Failendis #Eluneth #Vanifinwe x Reader #the silm #the silmarillion #silm #silmarillion #writing #fanfic #fanfiction #imagine #imagines #one shot #one shots #headcanon #headcanons

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kikokus · 1 year

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Sanji Since the Time-Skip, Part Eight (Chapters 810-813)

…So it’s been almost nine years. I’ve recently gotten back into One Piece and am caught up with the manga again, and since I’ve had some requests to continue this series (and there’s obviously been a lot of Sanji content in that time!) I thought I might as well go and do that!

This covers the few chapters of Zou but there’s actually a lot of great Sanji character moments within those four chapters so it seemed to make sense to keep it as its own section. As before, standard disclaimers apply.

[Part One] // [Part Two] // [Part Three] // [Part Four] // [Part Five] // [Part Six] // [Part Seven]

Let’s see if I still remember how to do this...

So not only does everyone seemingly accept that Sanji’s the obvious choice to fill the position of captain in Luffy’s absence, there’s actually an entire chapter named after ‘his’ crew which really emphasizes the point that we’re supposed to look at him as taking that leadership role for the time being.

And, because of that, most of the examples in this part have something to do with Sanji stepping into said leadership role, and that starts here once they can clearly see the city’s been destroyed and Sanji’s first reaction is to leave the others behind where it’s at least relatively safe and go off by himself to make sure he doesn’t put them in any danger.

Chopper threatens Caesar a lot during this part as well but with Sanji here you can tell how much emotion there is behind his words and how angry he is because at this point it’s not even a request anymore, it’s just an order. I really do like how this is set up because the reveal with Sanji’s new wanted poster being ‘only alive’ is before this, but there’s really no other indication as to what that means and once you find out more about his birth family it makes sense why he’s able to take charge as easily as he does.

But for as emotional as he’d been with Caesar, he recovers very quickly here and is the only one to point out that they shouldn’t let their guards down just because it seems like the enemy's gone. Caesar also tries to deter him from deciding to help the Minks by painting them as hostile towards humans and really, all Sanji has to go on right now is Law’s word that his crew is there so he has to make a decision on the spot as to whether trying to save them is a good idea.

Sanji being observant is nothing new but at least in this case we really don’t see what Wanda’s holding until he warns Nami so it’s revealing it to us as readers, too.

I like that this is stated so plainly because the last time we saw Sanji he was very adamant about escaping with Caesar and not letting Big Mom get her hands on him since that was the promise he made to Law, but now that Doflamingo’s been taken care of he sees that as going along with the fulfillment of said promise. He’s also obviously weighing the option of whether or not Caesar’s worth all of the potential trouble both to his crew and to the Minks (and being snarky while doing it, which I always appreciate.)

Though I think he quickly realizes that it’s not quite that simple as just handing Caesar over and being left in peace, and I feel like by this point it’s probably hard to keep track of all the people Luffy’s picked a fight with but Big Mom’s obviously a significant one and Sanji’s not ignoring that.

This is about the most authoritative we see him when it comes to giving orders and it’s very brusque while also keeping Nami and Chopper safe and shutting down any sort of wild ideas Caesar might have. The focus on the panel of him looking down at Bege and giving that little cocky nod is also some pretty great foreshadowing but has another purpose in showing us how easily he can slip into that sort of role when it’s needed.

Sanji doesn’t really have to say this because conceivably this negotiation doesn’t involve the Minks outside of Pekoms being there but once again it speaks to his inherent kindness that he doesn’t want to cause them any more trouble after what they’ve already been through.

This is more just about how well Sanji knows Luffy and knows that he would never agree to becoming a subordinate of one of the Yonko, but at this point I think he’s still trying to find a way for all of them (except Caesar) to get out of there safely. It’s also interesting that earlier we get Brook talking about vaguely about the Vinsmoke family and Nami remembering that Sanji had told them before he was born in the North Blue so it wasn’t as if he was afraid to share that part of his past, but that was as much as he was willing to divulge.

Sanji’s expressions in this chapter are so telling, and I think it’s very effective considering that we don’t know exactly what’s happening but we can tell from his reactions how serious it is and because he’s not saying anything one way or the other that’s all we have to go on. But this is where it turns from him wanting to escape with everyone to him realizing that, now that he’s been told Zeff’s in danger, that’s no longer an option and it’s more about getting the others out instead. There’s a panel directly after where he lights a cigarette which is a very classic ‘I need some time to think’ move from him as well.

That little sad smile says so much…he’s accepted his fate and is saying goodbye in the only way he knows how, and I think he’s being honest here: he never intended to hide anything because, for him, he’s left that part of his past behind and cut all ties with his family so he didn’t consider it a factor or something to dwell on but now circumstances have made it impossible to ignore.

His dialogue goes with what I was saying earlier but I really put this here because it shows him using Observation Haki again and while he can’t say for sure that it’s the Minks, he knows they’re likely the most powerful beings left on the island and he’s willing to take that chance if it means getting the others to safety. I’ll also point out that through this entire section he never even tries to frame it as just ‘getting Nami out’; he wants all of them out of there and goes so far as to hug them (even if it’s with the excuse of making it easier to toss them all out at once).

Sanji’s definitely taking a chance here but even with the little he’s been told about the current situation it’s one he can afford to take because it’s not as if he doesn’t know what Judge is like and he can already infer that Big Mom has some sort of use for Caesar so threatening him is about the easiest way to make his point and gain the upper hand for just long enough to do what he needs to.

And I think Sanji’s also banking on Bege being smart enough to realize that, too (which he does) so while there was a lot that could have gone wrong he’s managed to accomplish his goal of making sure the rest of the crew is safe. If you look closely at some of the panels in this section there’s these little double curved lines around Sanji which are usually an indication of trembling/shivering but even though he’s obviously emotional he’s still holding it together enough to at least make it seem like he’s in control.

I’ve seen some comments that after so long Sanji should know the crew would back him up regardless of what trouble he’s in but Sanji’s nothing if not consistently self-sacrificial and this time, because it’s dealing with a part of his life that’s existed since long before he met any of them, I think he truly does see it as something he needs to do on his own. His smile still hurts me, though.

…And that’s the end of this section! That…probably went on longer than it needed to but I guess it proves that almost a decade later I still have a lot to say about Sanji so please feel free to like/reblog if you found this interesting at all and we’ll…see about working on the next part…

#one piece #sanji #sstts #nobody remembers this series but...it's back...

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shoujomangathoughts · 10 months

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Chihayafuru Thoughts - Dissecting Ch.138 (Spoilers)

I’m gonna do my best to share my observations about this chapter, but there are a couple moments before and after that connect to it so I’ll bring them up as well.

This is actually the post that turned into me talking about Chihaya and Taichi over larger chapter ranges but I decided to bring it out of my drafts and finish it. Others have already broke Taichi’s confession down and this probably won’t contribute all that much to the conversation, but I wanted to share my interpretation anyway. I touched on these chapters a bit in previous posts, but I’ll try not to be redundant.

Spurred on by the fact that Taichi has been struggling with himself for a while, his 18th birthday and the Taichi cup, and Hyoro’s question about change, Taichi seems to be reflecting. This is why prior to confessing to her, Taichi admits he took Arata’s glasses. Even if it is many years later and it’s something that doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of things, he tells her something that he specifically hid from her out of fear that she’d hate him for it. I always find it interesting how serious and almost bewildered Chihaya looks here because it’s clear that even though they’re so close, she knows his private nature (”He’s Taichi. Of course he couldn’t tell me.”) and thus isn’t used to Taichi being vulnerable like this. It makes everything quite tense even before the actual confession.

Then we get Taichi saying his line about wanting to shed his cowardice and the moment comes where he’s finally honest with Chihaya about his feelings. When he says it, he’s not looking at her (at first) and it’s clear that he’s still afraid of going through with it, as after he looks at her and sees her stunned expression, he immediately has thoughts of saying it was a joke. Instead however, he continues and fights through his own anxiety to clearly tell her how he feels. It’s quite a personal confession too, listing some of her physical attributes that coincide with her personality and interests; it’s clear that he’s watched her a lot and has always had a special interest in her.

The part where he thinks about how he can’t love the part of her that thinks of Arata is a raw admission (to himself) addressing his jealousy and insecurity in regards to her relationship with him. Part of his complicated relationship with Arata has always involved Chihaya and that only became more prominent as they got older. The panels here shift into Chihaya considering Arata’s confession again and seemingly coming to realize that there may have been more to Arata’s simple confession than she’d previously understood, the same way Taichi had more to say right after confessing. Between this and Taichi’s confession, she’s confused and probably feeling guilt over many things - never noticing, causing hurt inadvertently, not knowing how she herself feels, etc.

Next is Chihaya’s response, “I’m sorry”. She seems to say it multiple times (the anime depicted it this way too), which is interesting to me. I’ve talked about repeating certain phrases before (Taichi’s apology and Chihaya’s ‘thank you’), so it’s possible that she’s apologizing for many things. I’ve always seen this part as her saying sorry for what she didn’t know or understand and how that may have hurt him (recall that she thought of the “Why does Taichi always go off alone” question after he confesses). I also think she may be apologizing for not knowing how she feels. Confused and overwhelmed as she was, I’m not sure she’d so immediately reject her best friend and then react the way she does when he needs space away from her but that’s just how I see it I suppose. Though it’s also clear that even if it’s just a matter of not knowing her own feelings, she doesn’t seem to reciprocate at this point.

Either way, it doesn’t matter what she said or how she meant it because Taichi himself didn’t even hear it. Her expression and body language is enough for him to take it as utter rejection. You can see the moment where his facial expression changes and it seems like he knows he may have just destroyed a very important relationship. As he walks out he thinks a couple things. The first is that he’s never accepted any confessions he’s received. While I understand what he means, I do think the emotional pain of rejection by your best friend that you’ve known for a long time is greater than being rejected by someone you barely know (not counting Sumire I guess). Not trying to negate others’ feelings, but I think it’s worth mentioning that the emotional stakes in the former are more fragile. Taichi also makes a comment about her being uncharacteristically quiet (I believe there’s a translation where he calls that ‘creepy’ because it’s clearly out of character for her), and attacks himself and his “sense” or talent because of his inability to hear her over the bell. It’s obvious that this was the last straw before he’d entirely burned out.

Another moment and specific pages that have always stuck out to me is this part right after Taichi's rejection (or at least what he takes as such). Here we see the cards all blacked out, and most have already fallen in a pile by his feet. He's been on the way down for a while at this point and reached his limit before emotionally breaking. Meanwhile the next page shows black cards falling all around Chihaya while she very clearly looks distressed. For all the thinking she's been doing about Taichi and trying to figure him out, she never quite placed why he was acting the way he was. These two pages also point to why they act the way they do in the following days; Taichi is at the end of his rope and is emotionally spent (all the cards already on the ground), meanwhile Chihaya is overwhelmed and confused because of this new information (the cards just now surrounding her).

At this point, it’s presented that the atmosphere between them is entirely different, one of the reasons why it seems like Taichi didn’t want to confront Chihaya about his feelings in the first place. They’re not talking, they can’t even seem to look at each other, Taichi is very clearly faking smiles, but things have certainly changed and eventually something’s got to give. Between everything that happened prior, the aftermath of the confession, and finally his dropping grades, Taichi decides it’s time for him to step away from Chihaya and the club. I’ve seen discussion about how this decision is proof that he’s still “cowardly”, but I actually see it as the opposite. He finally put his feelings out in the open (and isn’t taking it back or pretending things can go back to what was normal) and now he’s deciding to leave a place and group of people he really loves because he needs time to work on himself. If he’s emotionally not present, it wouldn’t be fair to the rest of the team or to himself.

I’ve always seen Chihaya’s inability to communicate anything to him during this time as being a result of her turning inward a bit. As previously mentioned, she looked overwhelmed by his confession and she seems to be trying to sort things out in her head. I say this because when he’s not showing up to the club introduction ceremony and she thinks “Where’s Taichi?”, it sincerely feels like she’d never even considered that he might leave after what happened between them, even if it was only temporary. It comes across as though she hasn't fully thought through how hard this could have hit him. Whether she understood or not, by the time she’s running after him, it does seem as though she’s prioritizing her own feelings of fear rather than considering how he feels. In my opinion it’s not really her fault and she’s very clearly panicking, but it does read as a bit cruel to beg somebody to stay after turning them down and not respecting that they may need space for a while (though this also makes me think Chihaya herself doesn’t view what happened as her flat out rejecting him).

Then we get the kiss. I know some people hate it, but it’s clear to me that Taichi does this out of desperation. It’s not depicted as romantic or sexual, nothing about it feels rewarding for either party (or really the audience for that matter). It appears as though he barely even kisses her and it’s used more so to communicate how hard it is for him to be around her right now. It almost feels like an “actions speak louder than words” situation, where if his confession and his words weren’t enough for her to get it, then this would be undeniable proof of how he feels. Was it necessarily the best avenue? Certainly not, however this, combined with his “made of stone” line and describing the cards as black effectively get his feelings across to Chihaya. His face as he says this again shocks Chihaya because this isn’t usually how he acts. She’s seeing how someone she relied on for emotional support crumbled and it’s an eye opener for her. I’ve always loved the overlay of their memories over the line about the cards because it shows how much of their karuta journeys have been spent together, and it sets up the next step for them nicely.

With this, Chihaya now understands why he’s walking away and how broken he is at the moment. This is seen not long after when she compares herself to the rock in the ‘kaze wo itami’ poem and is able to recognize how much emotional baggage Taichi had that she was never able to see. Her seeing the cards as black in the next chapter seems to be visualization of her empathizing with him. Her being afraid of karuta is also due to these events as she becomes afraid to confront the thing that she was always so focused on and how that contributed to the absence of someone she thought would always be there.

I talked about it a bit in a previous post, but ultimately it’s a good thing that they spend some time apart. Chihaya was reliant on Taichi in many ways that she sees far more in his absence and is able to work on aspects of herself that align with her future. Taichi, on the other hand, has to start working though his feelings and finding some sense of self worth, as well as identifying why he continues playing karuta. A relationship between them at this point probably wouldn’t work because Chihaya was focused on other things and not always emotionally present and Taichi’s self loathing wasn’t something that Chihaya’s potential love could fix.

I also really like the timing of the story here and how it fits into the structure of the narrative as a whole. There were moments with Kana and Sumire before this that were about making the most of the time the third years had left and fear about the end of that, and instead we get a huge change even before they graduate. It’s a great way to show unpredictability, and considering the difference in the club going forward and Chihaya passing out when they were first years, really allows the nationals when they were second years to live as a significant moment for them. Change isn’t going to wait until you reach the end of an ideal time, it really can appear at any point.

// Sidenote // Whenever I see these chapters or the episode that covers them (which is amazing), I’m always reminded of the song All We Are by OneRepublic, especially in considering where the series goes. Lyrics about not understanding each other, taking time away from each other and remaining in someone’s life despite going through change. One of the lines is “You’re an island and my ship has run aground” which always makes me think of the poem Chihaya compares herself to. Random insight into where my brain goes lol.

Mostly talked about one chapter and it still ended up long. As always, thanks for reading if you got to the end!

#chihayafuru #ayase chihaya #mashima taichi #taichi x chihaya #manga

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