#(two guardians falling in love with each other while they protect their summoner story anyone?)

[liroyalty]

@akumanoken said: Souji and Ayato: all the more reason we will dedicate ourselves to your protection

"I'm flattered, really. But it's a future without Sin is what I want, not a future without Souji & Ayato~"

#akumanoken #ann yang li fiorenobila {heavenly holy maiden} #『v!ffx』 #(two guardians falling in love with each other while they protect their summoner story anyone?) #(because bonding through shit situations & circstances are these twos strong suit)

[dennou-translations]

Violet Evergarden Gaiden: Chapter 5

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“The Military School of Leidenschaftlich’s Army does not inquire people’s social ranks. The gates are open to all youths, and anyone at least fourteen years old can devote themselves to it regardless of their gender. National defense means protecting everything you love.”

Where had I seen a bulletin with these contents again? If I was certain, it had been in front of our business partner wholesale store, when I entered and exited it on an errand for my family. One particular sheet had been standing out on a board where the townsfolk stuck anything they felt like, from job hunts to searches for people. While biting into an apple that I had received from the store’s owner as recompense for the errand, my thirteen-year-old self had gazed at it intently. It was a good-quality paper rendered perfectly straight, firmly nailed by thumbtacks in all four corners. Pushed into the paper at the end of the text was a gold screw, as well as red sealing wax, bearing the emblem of Leidenschaftlich’s army.

As a child, I had thought that was a pretty cool life choice. How stupid. Even I would want to laugh at myself for being so naïve. Back then, I had not yet come to know the meaning of granting and taking away lives. Truth be told, once I tried becoming a soldier, reality ended up crushing many delusions of mine, but that’s a tale for later.

Let’s go back to my current story.

There were many reasons why I had decided that “yeah, I’ll become a soldier”. One was that I’m the second son of a merchant household, and since my older brother was the one who would take over the inheritances, I wasn’t needed there. Another one was that, as I had been raised in a big family, I wanted to hurry and become independent so that I could have my own space. Yet another was that the name my parents had given me was “Claudia”, which had made me think of wishing to become manly. Lastly, well... my older brother’s fiancée was a beautiful woman just my type, so I had wanted to keep a distance from her. The most important was that I desired to protect the family I loved but wanted to depart from, I guess.

The war had been progressively intensifying back then. A resources conflict between North and South. It was that one messy Continental War of a few years ago, where a religious confrontation between the West and the East became involved.

Leidenschaftlich was the continent’s southernmost extremity. If we had been attacked at that point, our defeat would have been certain and my family would likely have lost their lives. Because I was fond of my town and my people, and because I was fond of Leidenschaftlich, enlisting had been an inclination from my spontaneous feelings. The many things that had happened to me at the time boosted them... and so, I decided to become a soldier. I applied without telling my parents, and as for the entrance exam, I took it after lying that I was going to hang out with friends.

When a letter of acceptance was suddenly delivered by a postman to my home, my Pops beat the hell out of me. I hit him back, though. Pops was surprised at that. So was I. Like, “Pops is surprisingly weak”. During childhood, people think that their guardians are damn huge existences...

Yup. My parents had probably been worried. Choosing soldier as profession earns you a higher mortality rate than from leading a normal life.

In the Military School, all officers living inside the dorms was something enforced, so no one had a choice but let go of their parents. Still, I was stubborn, so I took a photo of my family with me as I left.

Two years after that, I guess, was when it happened. I met Gilbert.

   Gilbert Bougainvillea and Claudia Hodgins

   Do you know the true meaning of that flowering tree’s name?

They bloom every year. They’re planted all over the country as roadside trees, and when spring comes, lovely white buds sprout on them. When the petals fall, they form a pure-white carpet that never melts away. During that time, the colors of the city disappear like in a snowy country. People who go abroad have their mouths agape when coming back. You don’t see that sight anywhere else. No matter where I go, I remember that scenery whenever spring comes about. It’s like an extraordinarily fine woman that you get to spend only a single night with. If you listened to the music playing while the two of you were sleeping together, you’d remember her. Just like that, I’d reminisce to it. Whenever spring arrives, my memories summon the past along with the white of those flowers.

Gem-like emerald-green eyes hidden under a deeply burrowed military cap. Lifeless fingertips from pale hands that would not move after reaching out to the person walking away on him. Whispered words not conveyed.

I’d recall over and over again the Gilbert Bougainvillea of that time.

Gilbert... Gilbert Bougainvillea. Right, I started this story in order to talk about him. I spoke too much about myself. Let’s discuss him.

Bougainvillea, Bougainvillea. A clan named after a flower. If you live in this country and ask about the Bougainvillea family name, you’d know that it’s a famous family of military descent.

Didn’t you know? Statues and things like that of his ancestors are all over the city. After all, Leidenschaftlich has a history of having fought other nations that attacked and invaded it since the distant past. It’s easy for brilliant soldiers to be treated like legendary existences. It went to the point where it could be said that a soldier come from the Bougainvillea family was someone sure to take up employment. Even at present, this hasn’t changed.

He’s the young master of a well-off house. Actually, his bloodline is a high-class one. It also had matrimonial ties with the royal family of the monarchy period from before the country was administered by the military. The royal family is used as a symbol nowadays, though.

If times were better, he’s a person who we would not be allowed to talk about so casually. Yup, right on. This is why you exist now. They have that much power. Why I became friends with Gilbert, you ask?

It all began in early spring at the Military Service School of Leidenschaftlich.

The Military School was located near the national border. So that it could become a shield at the very front in case something happened, you see. The way it started from an all-seeing tower surrounded by a sturdy fort was just like a fortress city. If you went inside, you’d be sandwiched by narrow stone walls in a pathway that went on for long, and after passing through it, you’d finally be able to get out at the square. The city of Leiden was made like that too, right? If there was an attack, we’d defend it at the entrance, and then engage in confront at an open space.

Did you know that there’s a height limit to the buildings of Leiden? Most buildings were erected to the same height. But public institutions built inside the country were pretty big. Yup, that’s right. High-rise buildings were intentionally constructed in fixed intervals. For the sake of long-distance snipers. That’s the kind of country we live in. Hearing it that way, you might imagine it as some ostentatious building, but it’d turn into a beautiful thing when spring came. The roadside trees in our country will bud with white flowers every year, right? Yes, that kind. Strangely enough, its name is “bougainvillea”.

I don’t know why his household has that surname, but surely it’s got something to do with the fact that those vines were planted all over the country.

The completely white carpet that can be made out of those tiny flowers falling little by little is a gentle beauty. That sight is enough to be sometimes praised as the “residence of angel feathers”. Those vines surrounded the Military School in rows.

A few years after having enrolled into it, my hobby was going on idle strolls during that time of the year, so I was taking a walk. I got greeted by a passing freshman. “The place you’re about to enter is hell~,” I thought to myself while greeting back with a smile.

It was warm and pleasant under the lively sunlight, and just as it was about to melt the insides of my head, I found an eye-opening person. What kind of person was it? He was a beauty. Yep, he was... the kind of beauty that you don’t see around so often.

It was about as lengthy as yours. His long black hair formed a lenient curve and his eyes were a deep green. He had handsome facial features that gave off an androgynous impression, but the long limbs that he was gifted with and his well-trained body looked pretty cool in the white naval uniform he was dressed in. That’s what people would say. He was the kind of man that other men would fall for on sight, so to speak. That was the kind of person he was.

He was arguing with someone. As the two were side-by-side, I could soon tell they were siblings. The big discrepancy was that the boy who was presumably the younger brother was the one with a more awe-inspiring look. The two had not noticed that a passerby like me was walking their way.

It was weird for a guy wearing a naval uniform to be in front of the army’s Military School in the first place. They piqued my interest, so I couldn’t help standing there to eavesdrop. I could hear what they were talking about in bits.

“Brother, you’re selfish.”

“It’s for your sake; understand it, Gil.”

“Why do you never tell me anything?”

“Then cut off our ties as brothers.”

“All I ever do is say yes.”

When the younger brother said so, I got sad and felt like siding with him. I was at loss, so I stayed as a spectator.

After a while, the two stopped yelling at each other, and the older brother deliberately took off the military cap that the younger one was wearing, reached a hand toward his head and patted it messily. The younger brother was making a face that seemed like he was frustrated from the bottom of his heart. As if to hide that face, the older brother buried the cap deep onto the other’s head, turned his back to him and left. He didn’t even turn to look at the younger brother, who was probably crying.

I felt bad for the boy and tried to go talk to him. But when I saw him raising his lowered head, I stopped. He wasn’t crying. As if none of the emotions that were there until just then had ever existed, his expression became cold and he went through the gates of the Military School.

That was the first instant I saw Gilbert. I had never seen a boy make a face like that before, so I just continued staring at his back as if I had grown senile.

It became the topic that a son of the family of national heroes had enrolled as the top student among the freshmen that year. I had skipped the freshmen’s entrance ceremony and didn’t see anything, so I had no idea, but thinking back about it now, that was him.

Despite all of us being fellow students, we didn’t get to interact with each other if our school years were different. Even if we had joined training, it was impossible to make a distinction since it was just men. What caused the occasion for us to properly meet face-to-face was a small incident.

The ratio of enrollment in the Army Service School of Leidenschaftlich was of seven men to every three women. The women’s duties were normally of telegraph soldiers or replenishment troops, so our curriculums were different, and of course, our dorms were separate too. Our curriculum? Running, running, running. Building muscle. Firing guns, firing, firing, running, running, running. A repetition of that. The rest was classroom lectures. We’d learn how to form strategies, set up camps and use communication equipment. There were also the subjects learned at ordinary schools like normal. The girls had it easier than us, but it didn’t change that it was hard for everyone.

Guys and girls who devoted themselves to national defense day and night getting into relationships away from the eyes of our demon-like instructors was something, well, natural. After all, we didn’t have any other form of amusement. Romance was an amusement.

I’d also played around with countless people myself, but I never had a love that went as far as making my body burn. In that point, I’m sure I might’ve never had a true love. I never stuck to only one person. I like all women, so loving just one feels weird.

No biggie for me. Romance was a diversion anyhow. But diversions can cause some pretty dangerous stuff to follow you around. There were times when it was just pleasure for me but the other person was betting their life on it.

Maybe due to that attitude of mine being the one to blame, one of the girls I had fooled around with pushed a letter of challenge onto me. A letter of challenge. Do you know them? Letters with contents like, “I hate you very much”, “I’ll send you flying”, “Be here on X day of X month”. That’s right. There are letters like those in the world too.

It seemed she was going out with me with the intention of getting married. I had no idea. No, really. I didn’t even lay a hand on her, y’know? Did we ever go as far as kissing? I’m serious, I tell you. Kissing is a greeting to me.

“I’ve got no choice but to apologize wholeheartedly for this in my own way.” Just as I thought so, when I went to the place I had been called over to, there he was. Who?

Gilbert Bougainvillea.

That boy I had seen on the day of the entrance ceremony, standing fleetingly in the middle of those white flowers with his head hanging down, was there. From the very start, he had been piercing me with a scornful emerald-green gaze as I walked over. He was fourteen, I was sixteen.

“Are you Claudia Hodgins?” was the first thing he said. Just like his face, his voice was gallant.

At fourteen years of age, Gilbert somewhat gave off the feeling of a small adult. His black hair was settled down in a way that not a single thread would dishevel. He had dignified facial traits even though he was young. From his voice tone to his gestures, the man named Gilbert Bougainvillea was already pre-made. He had come from a family of soldiers, so from his point of view, maybe the Military School was just an extension of his home.

Surrounded by trees under the shadow of the school building, those training barracks were a place that didn’t have any popularity, but other than Gilbert, the girl who had sent me the letter of challenge and quite a number of onlookers were there too.

“Don’t say ‘Claudia’ ever again. If I get called by this name, it’ll turn into a chronic toothache for me. And you are…?”

“I’m Gilbert Bougainvillea. I’m your junior, but in this situation, I’m in a position equal to yours as her representative in the duel that she requested. Therefore, I will be omitting honorifics and protect her dignity as just a man. I shall be your opponent in her stead.”

He was a kid with way of talking that quite reeked of seriousness, I thought. I was also a child with not too big a difference in age from him, but if a fourteen-year-old boy talked like that, you’d be surprised, right? More than anything, I was surprised at that fateful chance meeting. I had only seen him for a moment, but the Gilbert of that time and that scenery of white flowering trees had stayed seared into my heart, and he was a person remarkable enough to make you remember him unintentionally out of the blue.

I beckoned him with a, “C’mere, c’mere” and whispered into his ear, “Gilbert – can I call you Gilbert? Why’s an underclassman like you getting involved in the fight between me and that girl? Are you her new boyfriend and got mad after she told you about me?”

“I don’t mind being called Gilbert. You’re wrong about that. I’m not her lover. I just happened to come across her when she was crying by coincidence, and after I heard about her circumstances, I was put in charge of representing her in the duel. I’m also not willing to fight an upperclassman... one that I don’t hold a personal grudge against, to boot... but I have no choice. If she will be at ease with this, I mean. It seems you’re a pretty terrible man.”

I looked at the girl who was the source of that comedy-rather-than-tragedy over Gilbert’s shoulder. I didn’t have any memory of our relationship being anything other than drinking tea together a number of times.

“What’d she say I’ve done to her?”

“The kind of indecent things that I can’t say aloud at all.”

I was so embarrassed at being called “indecent” by that boy that I couldn’t bear it.

“I didn’t do it; I definitely didn’t do it. There’re girls who’ve slept by my side, but I haven’t slept with that one. We’ve dated. But I haven’t laid a hand on her. I guess I’ve so much as kissed her on the cheek. But relatives do that too, right?”

“Then, why would she lie to me?”

“‘Cause she wants to catch my attention, doesn’t she?”

“And probably yours too,” I added in my mind.

“If she tried to catch your attention with ill intent, it wouldn’t be effective, would it?”

At that statement, I felt the cleverness of the young Gilbert, but at the same time, I thought he was a child who still didn’t know what the crudeness of the world was like.

“Gilbert, you’ve never gone out with a woman before, have you? There’re two paths that guys and girls broken by love go through most of the times: to get attached or to hate each other. When one hates the other, they try to push the other down both social and materially.”

“Even though it’s someone they fell for?”

“It’s exactly because it’s someone they fell for.”

Gilbert furrowed his brows, looking troubled, and then turned his back to me, saying he was going to properly ask the girl once again about her story. He was a serious guy.

I grabbed his arm and prevented him from doing it. “Listen, Gilbert-boy, this is a fight that you got involved in because of some boring sense of justice. Act out your role until the end. If you don’t, you won’t get to protect her dignity, right?”

“It’s not ‘boy’. Are you... okay with this? If what you said is true, you’d be accusing yourself of a wrongdoing that you didn’t commit and fighting for no reason. And it’d mean that I’m being lied to and used by her. Seems so foolish...”

“With all due respect, Young Master, but there’s a limit to how much of a goody-two-shoes you can be to accept being someone’s duel representative in itself, and I think it’s also a foolish action, y’know?”

“It seems I’ll have to shoot your words back at you as well and I’m sorry for that, but there’s no way anyone could not listen to a lady’s story if they saw her crying along the way... even if the result of it weren’t something good.”

Gilbert had whispered coldly with a bitter expression, but I mostly got a positive impression from that reply. He was a young man with a will that you’d rarely see in recent years.

I took the hand of the arm that I had been holding and forcefully shook it. Perhaps because I swung it too broadly, his body rocked along with the swaying of the handshake.

“I agree with that. What, so you’re an appreciator too? A women praiser?”

“I was merely educated like that by my parents.”

He was just a high-pedigree dog. I felt let down.

“That so? Well, it’s fine. Anyway, from your words just now, the points that our interests have in common became clear. What’s important here isn’t the face-saving of guys who got rounded up for a fight, but the feelings of a girl broken by love. She wants to feel better by giving me a blow, right? Why don’t we do that?”

“You’re saying you’ll lose on purpose?”

“I committed the sin of making a girl cry. I can do as much as let my face lie on the ground and get some mud on it.”

The shade of disdain in his eyes of a rare emerald-green color disappeared and I could see a bit of admiration sprout in them. “By the looks of it, I’ve misunderstood you. My deepest apologies for speaking impolitely to you, my senior.”

“No problem at all. We’re the ones who got you involved in the conflict.”

“It’s my first time in a duel like this and I don’t know how it goes, so it’d be helpful if you could tell me.”

“We can hit each other however we see fit and I’ll fall down after they watch us roll over, so twist my arm or something and end it there. I’ll act in a way that the onlookers will know it’s your win.”

“Speaking of which, do you know who those spectators are?”

“Gambling customers I called over. I’ll get twenty percent of the earnings from the leader of the gamblers, so it’s half of that for you and me.”

“I take back everything I said before. I’ll knock you down.” I didn’t understand very well why, but Gilbert started referring rudely to me and clearly ruined the mood.

Then, the gong of the fight resounded with a “clang, clang, clang”. Having grown tired of waiting for us since we wouldn’t stop talking, the boss of the gamblers played a battle-start tune with a pot and ladle. My relationship with Gilbert began originally from that fistfight.

“You’d better regret starting this stupid wager,” Gilbert cursed upon me, letting go of the stand-up collar of his school uniform’s jacket onto the ground.

We both measured a chance for the first blow. In contrast to me, who firmly kept my arms glued to my sides and balled my fists, Gilbert shook his arms as if adapting them.

——What? I’ve never seen this stance before.

Since my older brother and Pops used to throw fists with me and I to throw back by way of playing around, and since there was also a time when I would do nothing but get into fights in the city, that type of fistfight was part of my lifework. I was totally thinking that my opponent would come at me with Leidenschaftlich army-style martial arts. After all, he was the son of a family of soldiers. If you were to talk about martial arts learned by men who lived in Leiden, that was it. But Gilbert’s stance was different.

My principle in fights was to first observe the other’s attitude with non-aggressive defense. Following that principle, I waited for my opponent’s move. Yet it seemed that the same applied to Gilbert, so we just sluggishly watched each other’s battle preparation. When the audience jeered at us to “hurry and start beating each other”, I clicked my tongue.

The performance was important for the gambling. Left without a choice, I struck him with a big kick after drawing my leg to behind my back as a test. He dodged once. I hit his tight the second time, but he acted as if nothing had happened. The third time, he grabbed my foot and knocked me down face-up just like that. He dealt me a series of consecutive straight punches to the stomach after dropping onto me. It wasn’t a heavy attack, given that he was a boy who still weighted light, but it could make even my eight-pack abs scream.

It’d be boring if I lost in that way, right?

Taking advantage of my flexibility, which had a favorable reputation with the girls, I squeezed his neck with my legs and twisted him upturned to the side. He was light, you see. Being light also means being astute. He escaped from my leg technique smooth and quickly. We both stood back up to readying ourselves once again.

“Hodgins, don’t play around! We’re betting on you!”

“You two, don’t get injured because of me!”

“That’s the spot! Do it, do it, do it!”

The spectators were loud, but even as I heard them, it all only came in from one ear and left from the other. That was because my senses of sight, smell and many others were directed at Gilbert Bougainvillea.

Maybe having finished studying my way of fighting, Gilbert started actively hitting me. Of course, I also counter-attacked and hit him back. Nothing to be proud of, but my fists are heavy and they hurt. An attack where I socked with all of the weight in my body, which was a congregation of muscles that I had polished, would usually cause my opponents to collapse after I hit them three times, but I didn’t manage to settle it on him straight away.

Gilbert had converted his battle style into one of simultaneous offense and defense. I hit him. While Gilbert covered with one hand, he at the same time shoved his other fist into my stomach. It wasn’t just that his movements were agile. His fighting method was something you couldn’t manage unless you had trained a lot. To top it off, even though that guy was getting hit, he had a face like he wasn’t feeling a thing.

“Gilbert, where’d you learn that stuff?”

Gilbert sleekly avoided both my kick and my question, “Well, where was it again?”

——You really fourteen?

Just as those words had come up to my throat, Gilbert said, “Let’s end this already.”

Gilbert’s fists suddenly became heavy. Annoyingly enough, it seemed he had been holding back until then. He came aiming accurately for my body’s vitals with a calm expression – so dirty of him. I became defensive-only and eventually fell on my ass. Gilbert looked down at me from above with a face that said, “Now, lose just like you wanted”.

“Gilbert, you’d better review your attitude towards your elders.”

By then, I’d forgotten that I had to lose on purpose. I surrendered my body to the blood going up my head, raised it from my position of having collapsed onto the ground, placed my hands on the soil, and rammed his beautiful face hard with a lateral kick using as much strength as possible. That was my favorite stunt. A tactic I didn’t use for just anything.

The one who had rolled onto the ground now was Gilbert. I merrily mounted him and punched his body. Enveloped in a swirl of excitement, the onlookers rose in whispers. It was also a pleasure for me to hold down the guy that had been scorning at me until just a few seconds before.

No, wait a minute. Stop judging me with those big eyes of yours! This is the past. A story about the past! Yep, yep, listen closely to the continuation, ‘kay?

While I became absorbed with self-satisfaction and beat the crap out of Gilbert, with no regard for appearances, Gilbert grabbed a handful of dirt from nearby and smacked it into my eyes. It also got in my mouth. Tasted of earth. I spat it together with saliva.

“Bastard, that was unfair!”

“Tell that to yourself.”

Unexpected, quite unexpected. Apparently, he’d do anything to win. I thought he had seemed like a more scrupulous guy.

He pushed me aside and made an escape, and after taking a large distance, he swiftly did an approach run and came back my way. What I could see with my field of vision clouded by the dirt were the shoe soles of his military boots.

First of all, his right foot sent a blow to my chest, and as my body rotated midair, his left leg kicked for the second and third times, then his right leg attacked me again after I had rotated once. Having received three kicks in a row in the span of an instant, I collapsed onto my back.

——What kinda attack is this?!

Above thinking of it as terrifying, irritating or anything like that, I honestly thought it was “cool”. Nowadays, I know there are people of superhuman fighting races such as you and Benedict, so I wouldn’t be too shocked if I were shown a feat like that. But back then, it was impactful for me. Yeah, it was impactful.

Gilbert Bougainvillea was to me a new type of human being who had suddenly revealed himself. His rotational kicks hadn’t overwhelmed just my body. He took my heart too.

What we did after that? Beat each other muddily without paying any mind to the observers. Tired of waiting for the outcome of the match, everyone gradually left.

It seemed the girl who was the center of the whirlpool at that time had attempted playing tragic heroine at the beginning, but one of the onlookers came to talk to her midway, and she hit it off with him and vanished. The only ones watching in the end were a friend of mine who the head of the gamblers had trusted with the task and people with too much free time.

“Hey, when are they gonna settle it?”

We didn’t settle it.

At last, it was decided that we were at a tie and both of us were sent to the infirmary. Our fight was found out too, so the two of us had to take penal regulations on cordial terms with each other from our group of instructors. As to prioritize the medical treatment of our injuries, the disciplinary measures were the light punishment of ordering us clean up the bathrooms of every facility.

I had done something bad to him. It would’ve been fine if I had just lost right away, yet I got serious... Well, he’d gotten serious too, so it wasn’t just my fault in that point. No, I’m sorry. It was my fault.

In a way, I apologized, but Gilbert said with a look of disdain that he never again wanted to be involved with me when we were cleaning the bathrooms. There was no helping that, since his brilliant school history, which had been about to start from there, ended up being tainted by the fight that he had with a senior as soon as he enrolled. We were of different ages and had different personalities too. The truth was that we were supposed to be alienated from each other.

You’re here now because this didn’t happen.

   Ever since the fight had ended, I stalked Gilbert. Calling it “stalking” is heavy-handed, but thinking back about how I was at the time, no matter how you look at it, there’s no way of wording it other than that.

“Gilbert, I’ll treat you. See, as an apology for back then.”

“Not necessary.”

“You’re reserved with others, huh. We both took the same punishment, right? No need for formal language. You using that at this stage of the game makes me feel itchy. I’ll introduce you to a girl, then. What’s your type? And the breast size?”

“I’m begging you, don’t follow me.”

I’d invite him for meals despite his unwillingness, have him learn the taste of adulthood through alcohol that I had managed to get my hands on in secret, and occasionally bicker with him. I was also the one who taught him how to smoke. He didn’t know most of the general forms of amusement, so even when I taught him card games, the reactions he’d show were entertaining. Soon enough, the guys from my year that I hung out with started doting on him too.

Gilbert was the type that older people got attached to. But what I’m talking about is a different way of showing affection. I mean, he wasn’t affectionate. I guess the right way to put it is that he piqued my interest.

From the get-go, I had been so, so interested in him that I couldn’t help myself.

About that, the same could be said of you. I’m not hitting on you, though. Huhu, not hitting on you.

It was different from that... In retrospect, ours might’ve been a relationship where I did nothing but chase after him. He was kind of... a hard-to-figure person. Though he had a strong sense of justice, he was rather cold-blooded, and if he had a reason that compelled him to gain victory in a given situation even if through an unfair move, he’d do it just fine. He had a man-of-character side to him, but he was also self-interested and prideful. He had a charm that drew people to him, but he himself didn’t have much interest in others. He was a man who only ever thought about how he’d tread the pure-white path towards his own future that had been laid out to him.

I once asked what had been best out of the things that I taught him. “Smoking. It’s not bad as a means of exchanging information,” was what he said.

I found out why he had turned out like that later on. It feels awkward to tell you about this, but it’s an episode that can’t be left out if we’re talking about his past.

Gilbert Bougainvillea had a fiancée.

He told me that when I was about to graduate. At the time, we were in a state where the two of us hanging out with each other was something that looked extremely normal to the people around us.

What happened? Well, nothing. Just a repetition of the same stuff. I’d follow Gilbert around, tease him, give in most of the time, occasionally apologize to Gilbert... We became normal friends.

The instructions had told me severely, “Don’t pay mind to the Bougainvillea heir” and things like that, but I didn’t listen to them. Gilbert had also seemed to warn me with a “don’t get involved with me”, but I didn’t listen to him either. In that point, I wasn’t a good kid. I probably knew him better than his buddies of the same age as him did. That’s exactly why learning such new information when I was already going to graduate had been so shocking to me.

He came to talk to me during a recess day in the Military School. Said he had a favor to ask.

“I’m going to eat out with my fiancée right now... Can’t you come too? We’re in a slightly complicated situation, so I want to request the help of a third party.”

“I’ll go. Of course I’ll go. Hah? Speaking of which, you up and got a fiancée behind my back? Since when? ‘Since six years ago’? You—How old were you back then? ‘Ten’? Why didn’t you tell me?! Could it be you’ve been going on dates with her or something during the holidays without me knowing? You have? Gilbert, you bastard!” I followed him while saying stuff like that.

We properly took written permission to leave campus, making meticulous arrangements. Even though he had intended to take me along from the beginning, the part of earning consent was just like him.

The meeting spot was a small café located halfway the road from the Military School to Leiden. I’d also gone there sometimes to have tea. The shop had a nice feeling to it.

Well, we met her there. Skip. All right, next topic.

Eh? What kind of person was she, you ask? Hm~, I don’t wanna talk about that. If I were forced to say it, she gave off the feeling of a Young Mistress from a fine household. Didn’t seem like she went out... I really don’t want to talk about her. Why...? Because I feel Gilbert would definitely get mad at me.

As for why he had called me... just like he had said, they were in a slightly complicated situation.

At the beginning, the fiancée wasn’t Gilbert’s. There’s that older brother of his, and the brother was the one supposed to take over the family inheritances, but – who knows what he was thinking – he had enrolled into the navy’s Military School as practically a runaway. That even though the men of their family are set to join the army.

Since you’re an ex-soldier, you know about it, right? Though both are national defense organs, there’s this unseen ditch between the army and the navy. Like in the ratio of defense expenditures and stuff. It’s an adults’ problem.

Yeah. Looks like the Big Bro didn’t get along well with his family. I heard he had a spontaneous personality. With that, it was doubtlessly painful for him to have grown up in an authoritarian household. Thinking about it now, the man that had been with Gilbert when I first saw him had been that very brother. And the Big Bro had run away from home, so everything was pushed onto the ten-year-old Gilbert, because both his parents had decided he was going to be the family head and made Gilbert take over the fiancée too.

This is rude to both of them, but they gave off a feeling of keeping a distance from each other. Unlike his brother, Gilbert was the kind of guy who wouldn’t suffer if pressured to live as the role model of the Bougainvilleas... so everyone around him naturally chose to place their expectations on him instead of rectifying his brother. It seemed that Gilbert was also cherishing the fiancée, in his own Gilbert way. But the fiancée had a wish, and Gilbert decided to fulfill it.

Eloping. The thing that men and women would do to oppose the flow of the world and escape from their status in the social ladder to satisfy their love.

Not with Gilbert. You see, the fiancée... had tried to fall for Gilbert, but hadn’t managed to. And then she fell for another guy. A butler from her house, she had said. It was romance, after all.

Making him listen with ridiculous earnestness while his own fiancée confessed this to him and then going as far as requesting him to help her elope had been insensitive of her. But Gilbert had acknowledged it with a two-worded response and summoned me for an assistance plan.

When listening to the story, I wondered if he actually had the function called emotions running inside his body.

I wanted to scold his fiancée. Like, “You go do as you please on your own”, “Don’t get Gilbert involved”. But Gilbert started studying escape routes into other countries with shit-eating seriousness.

“The access from the border is monitored strictly. Hodgins, your home was a store that also deals with imported goods, right? Of course, it probably also has permission from the government to ship them. Couldn’t you have them mixed in and get them out of the country? If it’s possible, we could change the migration route to water transportation afterward... and avoid the conflict zones, no matter how much of a detour it is,” he said, dispassionate and business-like. “How much can you spend? It’s better for you to convert into money every possession that you can manage freely while there’s time. This or you can make wheat into products of your preference... That won’t be enough. It’s uncertain whether you’ll be able to set up a basis for your livelihood right away. I understand. I’ll provide aid too. No, this much is just... There’s the whole matter with my brother, after all.”

The more level-headed Gilbert remained, the more rage bubbled up and erupted inside me.

The conversation that had my help as prerequisite came to an end. On the way back, I asked Gilbert if he didn’t like her. If he didn’t feel even just a little bit of sadness or irritation at those circumstances – they had been engaged for several years, after all, no matter whether it was something that their parents had decided.

Gilbert, who had been walking silently, looked my way. The flowering trees that painted the roads white in early spring had lost their petals and were dyed green. Yet even though we were in a world with a different scenery, as expected, Gilbert was reflected in my eyes as a remarkably exceptional existence.

With the corners of his lips curling up just a little, Gilbert said, “The fact that there’s no meaning in chasing someone who’s departing has been drilled into my body with my brother’s case.” Again, he was aloof. His mouth moved as if being made to speak borrowed words. “I can’t say I don’t have empathy for her, but... if I were asked whether I have attachment, I don’t. That person wasn’t mine from the very start.”

“‘Yours’, you say... You...”

“Bad way of wording it, huh. It’s not like I’m referring to her as a property because she’s a woman or anything.”

“No, that’s not it... You...”

Aah, so this is it, I thought.

——Since it’s you, you’re always...

I felt for the first time right then that I’d come in contact with the essence of the person named Gilbert Bougainvillea.

——That’s why, even if you’re surrounded by a big number of people, you’re always...

That guy didn’t have a sense of attachment.

——No matter how much positivity you get or how praised you are...

It’s possible that his brother who had left was the one he had some sort of attachment towards. But even if it weren’t just that, he was surely...

——You look alone.

...a person who had gotten used to giving up on things. That’s why he treated all sorts of matters and people in a measured way. Even if his true intentions weren’t so.

“To begin with, we’ve caused trouble for their daughter thanks to my brother. Doing this much is nothing.”

——But where do your feelings go?

“Our parents will certainly have something to say about it, but mine will just match me with someone new to become my wife.”

——Aren’t you disturbed by having the person that will accompany you for the rest of your life decided for you like a board game piece?

“The eldest son of her household is the one who will take over the inheritances, so there’ll be no problem for them other than their reputation. If they can continue being related to us through my generation, it’ll be solved with that.”

No matter how much Gilbert talked in order to convince me, I never said, “That’s right”.

The one by my side was a young man still in his teens. He was a child who, as a result of being demanded reasonability, didn’t look for meaning in his own existence other than just as something “convenient” for people. He saw himself and others as nothing but assets.

“I was... happy that you had a fiancée, still. I did get pissed at you for hiding it from me, though.” For some reason, I was the one who’d gotten sad and my voice broke into falsetto because of suppressed tears. Gilbert asked what was wrong, but I deceived him by pretending to cough.

You know, I had... seen Gilbert’s future. No matter how much glory he achieved, or how long he walked through a brilliant path without deviating from it, there’d be hardly anything left in the palm of his hands. Throwing things and people away when he had no business with them and not caring if he himself were thrown away, he would merely continue treading the narrow, risky, pure-white path that had been laid out to him in a world of complete darkness. But he’d likely cross it in an extremely beautiful way, more skillfully than anyone.

What his hands were holding onto was already nothing but guns.

I’m a selfish person. Which is why I was simply sad at the truth that, even though I thought of Gilbert as my number one friend, it was probably not the same for him.

   Yeah, the eloping was a success.

I have no idea where those two are or what they’re doing now, but they trampled over my friend’s dignity, so I hope they’re happy. The aftermath was full of trouble, but the problem with the Bougainvillea heir’s fiancée running away soon wiped out.

Gilbert’s Old Man had died all of a sudden.

Just as we pushed the rude lovebirds into my family’s business truck and the two of us came back with nonchalant faces like, “My, my, it’s over”, an instructor called Gilbert to stop him, his facial expression altered.

“Where have you been? What were you doing? We were looking for you. He passed away. You didn’t make it to his last moments.”

The instructor must’ve been panicking too. He bombarded the stunned Gilbert with a hail of words mayhem. Gilbert did get agitated, but not confused. He’s the kind of guy who can cut off his emotions and do what he’s supposed to do. He said he understood and immediately went back to his home.

I wasn’t allowed to accompany him, leaving the campus only with permission to go to the funeral. My relatives were mostly healthy people, so my first time attending someone’s burial was the one of Gilbert’s Old Man. As I nervously went to it, there he was before me, performing the role of chief mourner with a grounded appearance... Gilbert, who had become the head of the Bougainvilleas in both name and substance, was discreetly clearing his throat.

“Why, if I knew this would happen, they wouldn’t have had to elope... Now that their main obstacle is gone, I could have pulled out of it... I’ve done that person wrong,” he said.

He called his father an “obstacle”.

That was surely because of the way Gilbert had been raised, as a “tool” of the Bougainvillea family who would give continuation to the household. He had been treated in a way so that he’d live as a strategic arrangement for the prosperity of the clan. It had swerved him. People give back what others do to them.

The closer you are to him, the better you understand. He’s a kind-hearted but lonely guy. Even though he’s got a cute face when he laughs, he hardly does so. He knows it’s not something suitable of his role.

I thought that when I... when I... died... either this, or if I ever disappeared from before him... the only thing I didn’t want was for him to treat me like an object. I couldn’t take it.

Whenever the dices of fate rolled in his emerald-green eyes, he didn’t see anything other than a windingly stretched future. He’d just earnestly stare at a path that wasn’t the one of a human being.

Was there ever gonna come a day that a man like him would chase after someone? Somebody – anyone would do. Someone, someone. A person that he wouldn’t be able not to be affectionate with.

Would he ever get to have that?

   Hodgins cut the words short at that point, reaching out his hand. His fingertips touched the hair of Violet, who was tucked in her bed. He slowly ripped off a thread that had become sticky due to sweat.

“Then, President Hodgins, after you graduated... when... did you reunite with that person?”

Upon being requested a continuation of the story with long wheezy breaths typical of those whose bronchi were suffering, Hodgins gave a strained smile. He stood up from the chair he had been sitting on, placing the blanked that stopped at Violet’s chest securely up to her neck. “Let’s continue this after you’re cured from your cold,” he whispered with utmost tenderness and a soft gaze. The ends of his statement overflowed with an affection similar to paternity.

They were inside a room large enough for two people to live in. It had light blue flowery wallpaper and a chandelier decorated with violas. On a round table sitting at the center of the room, there were boxes, bags and fruits baskets wrapped in ways that made clear they were get-well gifts. The interior of the bedroom was not too cold, yet wood burned in the fireplace, popping into sparks with a snap. The windows, which had its curtains closed, shook clatteringly due to the wind. The needles of the room’s clock pointed an hour just before evening.

“This surprises even me. I wonder if it is because I have distanced myself from the battlefields... To think I would grow this weak. My apologies for not managing to keep control of my health.”

“What’re you saying? The reason why you had a fever was that the difference in temperature got to you, right? The place you were commissioned to was a northernmost land, after all... Sorry for making you push yourself. Don’t mind it and go to sleep, ‘kay?” while speaking, he gently caressed the slightly dark circles under Violet’s blue eyes with his index finger. It was not as if they would disappear with that at all, but it was a display of his wish for them to do so. “We’re keeping in touch with the clients that booked you, and most of them want to rely on you even if you’re late, so there weren’t any cancellations to the requests. Don’t worry about anything and take your time, Little Violet. You look pretty tired.”

“I shall cure myself soon. By tomorrow even.”

“No can do, no can do. Take at least three days to rest from work counting with today. ‘Cause I’ll come over after these three days to decide whether or not you’ll be in condition to go back. Sorry for forbidding visits from the others.”

“No, it would be terrible if they caught this. President Hodgins, you too... My apologies for having you talk about so many things in addition to making you come here... I have caused you to stay too long.”

“I’m fine. If catching it would cure you, Little Violet, then I’d rather catch it. After all... I was something like your foster parent, though for a short while. Isn’t that right?”

“Yes.”

At that response, Hodgins smiled with his whole face. “The book that Little Lux asked me to give you is in the brown package. I ended up seeing the contents, and turns out it’s a popular romance novel. If your eyes get tired, make sure to stop reading immediately.”

“Yes.”

“The rest is from the members of the company. Benedict told me to say ‘take care’. Cattleya’s scheduled to be back tomorrow, but even if she comes here on her own accord, you shouldn’t keep her company.”

“Yes.”

“Tell the people here at home if there’s anything you want me to do. I’ll leave work and rush over.”

“No, Lux would cry, so please do your job.”

Hodgins bid his farewells and attempted giving her a kiss on the cheek, but his lips were blocked by the palm of a hand burning with heat. As he asked with a sad voice if she did not want it, Violet replied that he could catch her cold, so it was dangerous.

Intentionally making a noise, he kissed the palm covering his lips. “G’night, Little Violet.”

“Good night, President Hodgins.”

Silently leaving the room, Hodgins walked through the broad corridor with a quick pace. On the way, he informed a passing servant of his intention to take his leave. His aspect of haste also showed after that in the way he drove his car.

Perhaps because the residence he had visited was located away from the capital Leiden, the Sun was about to set when he arrived to the city. The madder red sky was gradually starting to envelop itself in dark colors.

By the looks of it, today was a day of strong winds. Hodgins’s classic car swayed unsteadily during the fear-inspiring journey.

The place Hodgins headed to was a lodging facilities district in a place a little out of the townscape of Leidenschaftlich’s capital, Leiden. Inside it, there were not only the types of inn that one could stop by unexpectedly without reservations but also inns that one could not pass through the gates into the site unless an inviter let them. The kind of inn that he rang the bell of was exactly the latter.

The first floor was the entrance for the residents, as well as the level of employees who carried out the administration of everything. There were five floors above it. Despite the single-storied buildings being tall and three-floor ones being mainstream, the building could be considered quite a high-rise amongst them. Only contractors could live in each floor. It was a high-class one-floor-rent inn, where the bedrooms, bathrooms, kitchens, etc. had all been designed in a luxurious fashion. Even just a one-night stay required quite a sum. Incidentally, the residents were chosen ones.

As he rang the bell of the top floor’s apartment, there were footsteps from the inside.

“Who might it be?”

Hodgins grinned at the well-mannered words. “It’s me. The little fox who saved you on that day.”

“I don’t have a fox for acquaintance.” The voice of the residence’s owner suddenly grew lower as he recognized the other person.

“Then, the one who threw fists with you in our first meeting on that day, Hodgins.”

“Wait there. I’ll open now.”

The chosen resident who opened the oak door with a gun at hand was a man past his twenties at the prime of his working life, as well as the head of a family that no one knew not of within Leidenschaftlich’s army. Despite it being the middle of the night, he was dressed in his military uniform. Only his collar was loose, unbuttoned at the neck. Perhaps due to him having no time to rest, his hair, usually combed down flatly over his forehead, lay disheveled and he had grown a stubble. He had also removed his eyepatch, displaying his lacerated eye.

“How’s Violet?”

Hodgins shrugged at the words said to him the instant their gazes met. “‘Hodgins, you’ve worked hard late into the night. Good evening.’ – Can’t you ask after you tell me that?”

“Hodgins, you’ve worked hard late into the night. Good evening... I’m exhausted.”

Unable to bear the look that said, “Just tell me the situation already”, he answered, “It’s just a cold. I told you not to worry, didn’t I? If you’re gonna visit her tomorrow, isn’t it useless getting a report from me?”

“I was concerned...”

Maybe because he had been reminiscing to the past, he felt that the current Gilbert had become quite amicable. To think that he, who used to be so prickly during his boyhood, now loved somebody. Hodgins bit down a laughter that suddenly came out of him.

“Hey, what was that? Why did you laugh?”

“I didn’t. By the way, it seems so expensive here... Did you finish paying for the place you were living in a while ago?”

“I’m renting it for a cheap price thanks to my household’s connections. I’m in the middle of looking for an apartment... so this is a temporary residence. I was... moving houses periodically so that Violet wouldn’t find me before, but the need for that is gone...”

After the train hijacking incident, Gilbert apologized to Hodgins and the Evergarden family, stopped hiding himself and continued interacting with Violet. The two were working things out with each other.

As one was a colonel of the army and one was a demanded Auto-Memories Doll, they had little time to meet. The moments and places where they could be alone with each other were valuable.

“Aah, no wonder you wouldn’t want to go back to the main residence where your honorable mother and sisters are.”

Gilbert nodded. “I don’t want to call her over there... Hodgins, you telling me about her situation directly has helped me out. Come in.”

He probably was truly tired. The words he uttered had frequent pauses.

Hodgins was let into the largest room. Perhaps because the lights inside said room were not properly lit, it was dark. Only a lamp sitting on a chest in a corner of the room illuminated the area around it.

“Don’t open the window. The papers will fly.”

The desk in front of the chair that Hodgins silently sat on had an awl, binding rope and piled-up documents. There were also other things, such as sealing wax, a fountain pen and stationery left half-written. A heap of letters tied with rope lay next to the stationary.

Showing a face of surprise, Hodgins quietly reached a hand toward the stationary. Gilbert had left him and gone to the kitchen. While reading the stationary, Hodgins asked with a placid expression, “Were you sleeping?”

The sound of a clock’s corkscrew ensued.

“Yeah, until just a bit ago. Hodgins, I’m going to make dinner, but will you eat it?”

“Huun, you were pretty worn-out, huh. It’s gonna be a feast. Gilbert, you gonna be having a drink while you cook?”

A sweet scent had suddenly drifted towards him.

“I’m not you... I’ll put it in the food.”

“So you do stuff like cooking.”

“I do it when my friend comes over at least.”

The eyes that had been reading stopped completely and Hodgins turned his head to the direction of the kitchen. Gilbert was not visible from that room.

“Liar. You’re simply hungry ‘cause you just woke up, aren’t you?” Hodgins spoke with a smile in his voice, yet he was by no means smiling.

“Then I’ll eat all this by myself.”

“Y’know, you’ve been calling me ‘friend’ out of the blue lately. What kinda service is that?”

“‘Lately’...? Is that so? But what other definition should I use? We’ve had this relationship for over a decade. Why is calling you my friend a service?”

The words smoothly replied to him pierced his chest.

“No, I mean, you... treat nice people like tools. You don’t show respect for me even though I’m older than you.”

“About the matters regarding Violet, I’m sorry. About not showing respect for you, why would I have to show respect due to age difference at this point?”

Silence.

“Hodgins?”

Despite being called, Hodgins wordlessly returned his gaze to the letter for a moment. It was his first time reading one of those, but Hodgins knew about them. After all, whenever Hodgins visited his room, there would be a sealed letter with no addressee somewhere. Hodgins knew one more person who used to accumulate letters without sending them.

“You’re an idiot.”

Just as Gilbert said, they had had that relationship for over a decade. They had also had a period of breaking contact. Within the letter that he was finally seeing again after those years, the feelings towards a certain girl that Gilbert had been unable to back from writing down were registered. He probably intended to throw away the old ones and hand over new responses. Written in them were his repeated apologies for what he had done until that point, as well as his words of gratitude thanking her for sending him countless letters.

Hodgins twisted his neck, observing Gilbert’s back as he stood in the kitchen. The same was valid for him, but Hodgins thought that both of them had aged quite some.

——To think that those two who had parted ways would meet again.

It was a common love story, which seemed like it could happen anywhere. But that was precisely why...

——...I think I want them to be happy enough to make up for their detours.

He and she. Both of them were irreplaceable people for Hodgins.

“Gilbert.”

“What?”

“Back to the topic... Y’know, I believe that friendships can also be unrequited.”

“Yeah.” Gilbert did not negate the exorbitant statement.

Hodgins felt he was giving an empty answer without actually listening to the talk. His feeling of discontentment accidentally seeped into his manner of speaking. “You say ‘yeah’, but do you really get it? I think you don’t... I’ve felt that way with you for many years. Gilbert, you can definitely make do without friends. But I’m not like that. Yet I really didn’t want us to be like... like this, with me being the only one... who wishes for you to stay that way, doing fine. Or who wants to see you every now and then to talk about trivial stuff. Like, ‘Is it just me who likes you?’... You’re a cold one, after all. That’s why I’ve been surprised with you lately. You... You probably don’t get these feelings of mine, though.”

Both knew of each other’s temperament and comprehended that their friendship existed. They also certainly trusted one another. The proof of it was that Gilbert entrusted Hodgins with the person he was currently attempting to protect by putting his life at stake. However, Hodgins nevertheless thought that, to Gilbert, he was not in the position that he had in mind. He had not once voiced it, for such attachments seemed foolish in male friendships.

After having said that, Hodgins soon regretted it. He regretted it, and yet...

“No, I understand. I don’t have any friends except for you.”

Perhaps because he had been holding the paper in his hands with force, it wrinkled a little. Hodgins desperately placed it on the desk and carefully stretched it. Still, he heard Gilbert’s footsteps approaching while he was at it and returned the letter to its previous spot.

The two remained silent once they faced each other.

Maybe finally having noticed the half-written letter, he mixed it together with his documents and quickly cleared it away from Hodgins’s eyes. Hodgins followed the letter’s trajectory from the corners of his eyes.

Upon sorting them out thoroughly, Gilbert exhaled a long breath that sounded like a sigh. “You said I probably didn’t get it, but even I understand,” little by little, his voice trailed off into silence. “You were always surrounded by a large number of companions. But you’re my only friend.”

——That’s a lie.

Even without companions that he had a relationship of associating himself with in the way he did with Hodgins, Gilbert was already a person who attracted those around him. He was not the type to act like a lone wolf. He would attend the class reunions and socialization banquets during their days in the Military School. He could flawlessly hold a conversation with anyone.

But before Hodgins was able to deny it with words, Gilbert spoke, “I have many acquaintances but you’re my only true friend. After you graduated... I thought it would’ve been great if I’d been born two years earlier for my student days.” His way of speaking seemed sulky.

The illusion of a fourteen-year-old boy overlapped with the figure of a battered man in his thirties. Hodgins felt that he himself had returned to when he was sixteen as well. Back then, he was always chasing after Gilbert and fooling around with him.

——We were always together.

The pain that had pierced his chest gradually tinged with warmth. A smile crept in his egoistic heart, unable to help itself.

——Gilbert, you...

The man named Gilbert Bougainvillea was not the kind to say such things at all. Over a long time, he had become able to show a side of himself other than being an “asset” that served for smoothly administrating himself and his surroundings.

——That side of you is unfair.

And strangely enough, the girl who Gilbert loved had also been a “tool” for his sake. Yet that “tool” was becoming able to gently undo the ropes firmly tied around her and show a humane face. Just who had been the one responsible for the biggest part of those achievements?

Claudia Hodgins, indifferent to his own deeds, merely rejoiced and smiled broadly at his friend’s bashful face. “Hu—Ahah, ahahahaha!”

“Hey, don’t laugh. You made me say something embarrassing. As if I’ll ever say that again in my life.”

“Ahahah, no... you’ve got it wrong. It’s not like I’m making fun of... Ah, Gilbert. Is the stuff you left in the oven okay? It’s kinda making a weird noise.”

“It’s not okay.”

Hodgins stood up and followed Gilbert as he clatteringly returned to the kitchen. A familiar quarrel flowed comfortably throughout the apartment, turning into a nightly tune.

And the same applied to time, no matter how much of it flowed. For two people who had a relation called friendship, it would go back to their bosom days regardless of there being a period where they had not seen each other.

“Move over, I’m gonna sprinkle the seasoning.”

“Fool, you’re mistaken, that’s not salt.”

“You’ve got no spices at all. D’you live off just salt and sugar?”

“I’ve had a long-standing habit of eating out. Hodgins, let’s stop it already. This isn’t food.”

“Don’t spout nonsense. There’s nothing that can’t be recovered.”

“Is that so?”

“That’s so. Don’t give up.”

No matter how many hundreds, thousands of years they lived, the two would go back to the versions of themselves from that time.

To the fourteen-year-old Gilbert and the sixteen-year-old Hodgins.

#violet evergarden #fyeahvioletevergarden #violet evergarden gaiden #gilbert bougainvillea #claudia hogdins #kyoani #kyoto animation #novel #akatsuki kana #takase akiko #my translation

[kanene-yaaay-o-retorno]

HTCAF - Curiosities

Kanene’s Notes: Hey hey hey! What a hellooo! So, I spent some months thinking and wondering about the fanfic How To Catch A Friend and I must say I wasn’t able to fit everything on the oneshot, and since I don’t really plan on writting another one of it, I wanted to share some little details and stories that were partly mentioned on the oneshot. Feel free to send questions or any other headcanon you have! I would be honoured!

[~.~]

Logan

~ Logan is around 11/12/13 years old. He loves astronomy and languages. His vocabulary is heavily advanced, partly because of Emile and part because he likes to read dictionaries and memorize his favorite words.

 ~ He has vocal stimming (not only humming, but whistling as well), tactile stimming (he especially likes the texture of his notebook’s cover) and vestibular stimming too (swinging his arms and rocking).

 ~ Logan is autistic and heavily inspired by the character Collin Fischer (from the book: Collin Fischer) but not only him.

 ~ Logan will repeat Movies or TV show’s lines when the situation he is in seems like the one he watched, Virgil didn’t realize it yet and gets confused of why he feels those random deja-vu. Patton doesn’t watch humans Tv shows so he mostly doesn’t notice.

 ~ He loves routines and loves to remind his close friends and Emile of their own routines.

 ~ Logan wasn’t aware he had magic.

 [~.~]

 Emile

~ Emile is Logan’s mom! Her pronouns are they/she.

 ~ She is a haunting ghost, which basically means her after-life was supposed to be spent haunting the room where she died. This changed when she adopted Logan and started her daily fight of trying to disconnect her soul from her initial purpose.

 ~ When Logan comes and announces that his mother is not only in the yard but will be also waiting for him to come back home is actually a very huge achievement because not only Emile managed to release herself from the room she was suppose to stay forever but also to get almost completely out from the entire house and stay firm on her decision because of her own feelings and thoughts and not her initial instincts.

 ~ They can be seen by everyone and can touch/move/hold material things without any problem. She can also be felt and heard like a normal living human, the only really difference is that she is already dead.

 ~ Remy is an eldritch being summoned by accident (she wanted something more simple like a little demon or guardian) by Emile because she knew since she was trapped in the house she couldn’t properly take care of Logan when he was outside (or even take him to school). Emile wasn’t really comfortable with the idea of having a kind of “servant” obeying her due the pact she would have to do. However, she was much more uncomfortable with Logan getting hurt.

 ~ After some years Remy and Emile fell in love.

 ~ Remy was the one who created Logan’s coat of arms. It’s a kind of amulet that not only protects the boy with a piece of his magic and Emile’s maternal love, but also kind of intertwine his feelings with Emile’s. It’s not very powerful so she can only feel when Logan has a very strong emotion (like distress or fear) and send him calming waves and/or talk to him (like they did during the Aqua Flowers and Waterfall Tears episode), together with also warning Remy so he can immediately check on the boy.

 ~ They love cartoons and will shamelessly spend hours and hours of her day listening to their songs while making any small or big task.~

 ~ Helpless romantic.

 [~.~]

 Remy

 ~ Remy tends to disappear for some periods of time wandering around partly because he doesn’t get the meaning of time and part because he likes to compare how Earth changes as the years go by.

 ~ He is Remus and Roman’s friend, which is a very strange thing to Roman because Remy was supposed to not be able to get out from Earth but the eldritch being just... ignores that.

 ~ Remy will sometimes check on Logan by randomly appearing from nowhere next to him but most of the time the boy doesn’t notice and everyone else around them is *scared*.

 ~ Says he is very tough but every time Emile smiles, he blushes and internally cries from adoration.

 ~ Can and will pick Logan to a piggyback ride after a hard day at school and show him beautiful views he discovers during his mindless wandering.

 ~ His encounter with Virgil was something like “I understand you’re the bitch who casted innumerous protection spells here to keep those two safe and that is the only reason why I don’t fist fight you right now.”; They have no idea of why they don’t like each other, it’s just a mutual thing :v.

Their relationship will probably grow up to be something extremely sarcastic but with some drops of fondness veeery deep down.

 ~ Refuses to call anyone by their names, only nicknames are allowed on his land.

 ~ Can and will magic-battle Roman at any chance he can. They think it’s fun.

 [~.~]

 Roman

~ Sometimes he feels quite bad for wasting Logan, Virgil and Patton’s wish but like, sorry, he would NOT have another thousands of years in space just waiting to be claimed again.

 ~ Even though Virgil’s comparison (Roman = geniuses) has its credit there are some differences between them. Genius’ power is quite tricky on its own nature, since they work with the equivalent exchange. For example, if you wish for a mountain of gold, that same amount of gold will have to disappear from somewhere. Maybe from a country? Some lost gold on the bottom of the sea? A cavern from a very angry dragon? Ask for it and find out! :D

Roman, on the other hand, has the literal power of creation.

 ~ Can and will make fun of Remy for falling in love and very much be almost murdered every time he dares to do that. What a cute friendship! :3

 ~ He and Remus are auto-proclaimed brothers. It started as a joke, but then they got attached.

 ~ Roman has a very special feeling about Earth because it was the first planet where its population saw him crossing the atmosphere. This is a huge deal to a shooting star and, yes, Roman was claimed by other planets and has some friends and acquaintances on Space, but going to Earth? Seeing all its habitants and nature? Interacting with them? It has been his dream since he was a kid.

 [~.~]

 Virgil

~ He is in his thirties.

 ~ He is the son of a cat hybrid! That is why he has some feline habits. (Yes, one of them is acting like a mama cat adopting random kittens on the street and taking care of them/j)

 ~ Has a soft spot for the kids and you can pry that confession from his dead, cold hands.

 ~ Likes to cook and often brings everyone snacks.

 ~ Need a knife? Maybe band aid? Wig? Virgil probably has it. He carries all sorts of things.

 ~ He will eventually stop being wary around Roman and they will have a friendship built on fake dramatic arguments (they will start to laugh in the middle of it and never finish them), protecting Logan and Patton, sarcasm, nicknames and just being dumb.

 [~.~]

Patton

~ Very litol, very energetic, lots of vestibular stimming and vocal stimming (mostly his clicks) too.

 ~ One day Logan said he thinks that ‘Your existence is a rather enjoyable event’ and Patton still tears up about it every single time he remembers it.

 ~ One day Virgil tells him he also has The Mean Thoughts and I headcanon him having two reactions:

Cute: Patton will bonk their foreheads together so he can 'poke the mean thoughts away'

or

Crack: Patton will grab a stick thrice his side and squeak his battle scream with 'I WILL PHYSICALLY FIGHT THEM!!'

Don’t ask me to choose, I can’t.

 ~ Patton didn’t realize Logan has magic because he thought all the power involving him was from the Coat of arms.

 ~ Can and will ask to be tossed in the air and to nap on his friend’s hair.

[~.~] 

#Kanene's Art #Kanene's AU #They're all precious and dumb I love them #HTCAF #Alternative Universe #Patton #Logan #Roman #Remy #Emile #Virgil #Fun facts #Curiosities #Just my daydreams about this AU #Fairy!Patton #Witch!Virgil #Magical!Logan #Magical!Roman #Remus mention #No I have no idea of which magical being Logan is #xDD #Elderitch!Remy #Ghost!Emile #Fluff #Cute

[moved-to-void-kissed]

= my selfship AUs =

Although I don’t talk about them too much, I do have a number of different AUs for each of my selfships! This post gives a little overview of each of them in turn, sorted by the selfship that they concern, as well as some of the “overarching AUs” which are the ones where all of my romantic selfship are canon at once. ..Not all of them have very much to them, but hopefully that’s okay.

The actual list is under the readmore because otherwise this post would be about five miles long, but hopefully all this works well! If anyone has any questions or wants to ask me anything about any of these AUs, you’re always more than welcome to do that! ^-^

==========

overarching AUs:

mythical AU - a generic fantasy universe where all of my F/Os and their corresponding self-inserts exist as different mythical creatures, and all of my romantic selfships exist in tandem (apart from my one with Anti-Aqua - she only exists if Aqua doesn’t). The specific information regarding what sort of creature everyone is is written in the section for ecah individual selfship.

==========

void-kissed (Luna/Adriana) AUs:

void spirit AU - Luna is lost to the Void at the end of Episode 18, instead of escaping with Adriana. She is able to carry on existing in the world as a spirit, but only Anna is left able to properly perceive her, with Adriana needing to wear one of Reborn’s four seals in order to be able to see her.

mythical AU - in the mythical AU, Luna is a ghost tied to the Emerald Brooch while Adriana is a witch who is able to communicate with and summon her. She goes on a journey to try and save Luna from being destroyed when Elias and the rest of Team Meteor try to acquire all four of the seals.

==========

survivors of the dark (Aqua/Aria) AUs:

vampire AU - Aria is a powerful vampire (one of those classic “rich and alone and lives in a mansion and has dark powers”-types), whereas Aqua is a vampire hunter sent to destroy her. However, a rival vampire faction (i.e. Xehanort and his allies) attacks Aria’s mansion while she is hosting a ball, and Aqua ends up having to fight alongside her to both stay alive and rescue her fellow vampire hunters Terra and Ven, who had been turned and captured respectively by the rival vampires.

PAFL AU - the selfship is set in the world of Parties Are For Losers, a series created by the Vocaloid producer Ferry. Aqua and Terra live as siblings with Eraqus, who adopted them both; Terra wants to become a stalker of the Zone and Aqua is trying to stop him because it’s such a dangerous career path. Aria is a mutant who escapes the Zone facility when KT and Dima do, bringing fellow mutant Ventus with her, and the two of them end up running into the Wayfinders.

dual wayfinder AU - instead of going into the realm of darkness, Aria is transported into the future alongside Ventus, losing her memories of her true nature in the process. They both become Master Xehanort’s apprentices, and he tries to use Ven’s light and Aria’s darkness to forge the X-Blade, but it doesn’t work so he sends them off to Eraqus. Vanitas and Ves are then split from Ventus and Aria at Terra and Aqua’s Mark of Mastery exams, prompting a world-spanning chase to find answers.

mythical AU - in the mythical AU, Aqua is an angel whereas Aria is a vampire. I don’t have any story for it yet, though.

========== 

to our own Elysium (Pyra/Sapphire) AUs:

driver Sapphire AU - Sapphire takes Rex’s place as Pyra’s Driver - she is a wanderer from Gormott who was hired by Torna to open the door on the already-raised Ancient Ship (which in this AU needs a light-element Blade to open instead of a Leftherian, and Sapphire was already Avalon’s Driver which is why they needed someone like her). Rex appears as Vandham’s biological son from canon who didn’t die, but he doesn’t join the party.

DQIX AU - essentially the story of Dragon Quest IX but told using the XC2 characters. Mythra is a Celestrian and acts as the Guardian of the volcanic town of Upover, but falls down to the Protectorate in the form of a mortal armamentalist called Pyra when the Observatory is attacked. Pyra enlists the help of Sapphire and her father Vandham (who are residents of Upover) to travel across the world and regain her divine abilities. The Indoline Praetorium replace the Gittish Empire, except Torna are the Triumgorate who betray them, and Malos replaces Corvus.

mythical AU - in the mythical AU, Pyra is a dragon stuck in a mostly human form (unlike her siblings Mythra and Malos, who are also dragons except they can choose to take human form if they wish to), while Sapphire is a werecat who ends up stumbling across Pyra in the forest and tries to help her get her powers back.

==========

love, trust and diamond dust (Perun/Sapphire) AUs:

driver Sapphire AU - Perun resonates with Sapphire to become one of her Blades during the story, taking Pyra’s place as Sapphire’s main damage dealer during most of Chapter 7. She is also good friends with Avalon, who is alive in this AU.

DQIX AU - Perun is a paladin from Gleeba who ends up joining Sapphire, Vandham and Pyra on their quest across the Protectorate because she wants to help protect justice and figures that aiding a Celestrian is the best way to do that. Her weapon is a spear, and in battle she tends to intercept attacks meant for the others a lot.

mythical AU - in the mythical AU, Perun is a yet-to-be-determined creature who had initially set out to slay the Aegis dragons, whereas Sapphire is a werecat who tries to dissuade her from doing so because their presence is important for the world’s balance.

==========

dark hearts corrupted (Anti-Aqua/Aria) AUs:

fallen light AU - all normal content of my selfship with Anti-Aqua technically takes place within the context of this AU. It’s an alternate version of events in KH where Aqua ends up falling to darkness shortly after BBS as a result of her light fading and her anguish at being abandoned by the light. Anti-Aqua and Aria become rulers of the realm of darkness, wishing to get revenge on the light for abandoning them both (Aqua also wants revenge on Xehanort, whereas Aria seeks to reach the Final World).

mythical AU - in the mythical AU, Anti-Aqua is a fallen angel and Aria is the vampire that corrupted her. I don’t have any story for it yet, though.

==========

a dance of endeavours (Camellia/Telanthera) AUs:

mythical AU - I haven’t put this selfship in the mythical AU yet, but I do intend to - I’m just having trouble thinking of mythical creatures that fit the characters.

==========

our own kind of heroes (N/Noire) AUs:

reversed heroes AU - the “reverse AU” for this selfship. N is a kind Unovan Pokémon Ranger with the inborn ability to communicate with Pokémon, whereas Noire is the cold sheltered princess of Team Plasma who hates humanity for mistreating Pokémon. She is chosen by Zekrom for her belief in her misguided ideals for separating people and Pokémon, whereas N is chosen by Reshiram for his ability to understand the truth of how Pokémon are and wish to be.

mythical AU - in the mythical AU, N is a forest spirit and guardian of twin dragons Reshiram and Zekrom, who are sealed away within his forest. Noire is a fire elemental who was originally summoned by malevolent humans to help destroy the forest that N protects in order to reach and wake up the dragons, only to promptly decide “no thanks” and go off to do her own thing. which incidentally led to her learning to appreciate nature and helping N.

==========

a farmer and a thief (Skye/Emily) AUs:

Elsewhere University AU - Emily is a biology student studying at Elsewhere University (created by charminglyantiquated on Tumblr) who uses Mimi as a safe name, and Skye is a mischevious changeling known on campus as the Phantom Prince who ends up becoming infatuated with her quite by accident.

mythical AU - I haven’t put this selfship in the mythical AU yet, but I do intend to - I’m just having trouble thinking of mythical creatures that fit the characters.

==========

under a bloodcursed sun (Serana/Cansen) AUs:

Dawnguard AU - the “reverse AU” for this selfship. Serana is the daughter of Harkon, leader of the Dawnguard, a renowned group of vampire hunters. He seeks to use the Tyranny of the Sun prophecy to create a relentless eternal day and destroy all vampires, not realising how disruptive this would be to the natural order of the world. Camille is a scholar from the First Era who was sealed away with an Elder Scroll containing part of this prophecy, which stopped her aging, while Isran and the rest of the normal Dawnguard make up the Volkihar vampire clan. After Serana accidentally frees Camille from where she was sealed away, the two of them go on a quest to complete the prophecy, so that Harkon or Isran’s vampires don’t get to it first.

mythical AU - I haven’t put this selfship in the mythical AU yet, but I do intend to - I’m just having trouble thinking of mythical creatures that fit the characters.

==========

#a call from the void #selfship #selfshipping #everyone is here! #selfship AUs #something to keep track of #I can't help but feel like I had more than this. but these are all the ones that were on my carrd back when I kept them on there #this very much feels like an instance of ''spot the main romantic F/Os'' haha #albeit perhaps not in this case since I don't have that many for my selfship with luna. maybe that's something to do with reborn's obscurity #since I have friends I talk about KH to. I have friends I talk about XC2 to. I don't have anyone I can talk about reborn to. #because nobody else has played it =P #but anyway here this'll go out at midnight on the 1st probably #waiting in the wings #AU april 2021 #selfship events #sort of

[evelyn-foresis]

Second edition redraw of Artemis in fairy robes, with her familiar Aries. Let it be known, red is my least favourite colour.

Tale 11: Artemis Craweleoth & The Griminthrope (chapter 1 - Child of Autumn 1/5) part 3. Stories of Fey

none

Artemis was the third Daughter of King Mage Morgan Cynedom, and his wife, magician Emilia Loket.  As prophesized, Artemis was born on the autumnal equinox, in the third quadrant of the table of fours, red; and was thus the child of fall. Each of the four siblings belonged to one quadrant; which had a one season, element, colour, direction, metal, and two to three beast kingdoms of fey. Each of Morgan’s children were to be named by a beat king whose fey kingdom was in the child’s quadrant. For Artemis, this meant one of the two Beast Kings of the red quadrant, had the privilege of naming her. The Beast King’s, being of fey, found names important, and considered Morgan their brother; It was a high honor the ten fey kings quarreled about. In the end, The Raven King had won the bid of bestowing a name on Artemis, and houseing her in the raven magic house of Craweleoth, or Ravensong.

Magic House aside, Artemis was like a bird in many ways. Loud and feisty, a trickster, hung around in trees; and had a lovely singing voice she paired with the oddest dances. Her Fairy robes were red and ebony like fall, and collared with black feathers. A sheer skirt clipped about her waist was red, and embroidered in the pattern of a phoenix’s tail. Artemis had tall boots and gloves with coins sewed along them, to match her collar and belt. She could blend into a maple orchard in October. These fairy robes were a gift from the Fairy King; who makes them to protect beloved mages safe from spell or sword. Keeping these human guardians of magic and fey, clean and safe. To give each of Morgan’s children lovely magic clothes to match their naming, gave her great joy. On most days, she avoided her fairy robes, and Artemis wore turtle neck sweaters, leggings, boots, and denim jumper or overalls on top.

Before the end of magic school, there was no spell Artemis couldn’t cast with music, or balled she could not perform. The trick was finding her in the thick of her father’s magic forest. When it came to hiding in the trees, she blended in unlike her siblings; Her hair was bronze like her fathers, and was medium length and wavy, tied in a knot. She moved about so much; Emilia didn’t want her hair catching on things. She knew a thing or two about long hair inconvenience. To match the wood of the trees, Artemis also had her mother’s ebony eyes. Even after she had gone dark in school, the magic moving through her didn’t changed her colours like other magic users. Her hair simply went a little redder. As a rebellious untamable problem, Artemis was short, freckled, sturdy, and fearless; and as ethereal as her siblings, but in an eerie sort of way, instead a radiant sort.

As a gifted mage, more attached to magic then reality, she picked up skills quickly. One of Artemis’s first spells was summoning her familiar Aries, a black raven she adorned with beading; and whom which Artemis flew on occasion.  She learned this from her father, who whose familiar Icarus, was a golden eagle he liked to ride as well. Sometimes they would play sky tag, infuriating Emilia; It terrified Artemis’s mother. As far as they were concerned, who needs, trains, bikes or vehicles, when you have a trusty wingman. Artemis always had the intent of staying where she was born, on Tiberius Gate, with her father and family forever. She loved specking with the fey children of the raven and tree kingdoms; serenading the gate’s vast forest, with ballads written by mages long ago. Morgan and his daughter would sing to the gate together; He had taught Artemis more songs from his library of mages, then any of the charmers she would meet in magic school. When she left the gate for school, or ran errands, Artemis would sing to the fey in town; as the magic forest of her father’s gate extended down into the small town of Pepperidge. Even when her siblings grew up and left, Artemis was reliably there to charm them.

Artemis went through magic school, made no friends, and preferred the company of her familiar and family. Not to different form her brother and sisters; which was something their parents didn’t prepare for, though should have expected. They were a loving magic family every day, when personalities didn’t flare up. The problem with Morgan and Emilia’s overly enchanted brood, was they were neglecting other aspects of life, for magic. They only wanted to pry their children away from mythical symbiosis, to make them functional members of society. However, if their father and his friends weren’t evidence enough; Stopping this behavior in humans born with a greater affinity for magic, is fundamentally pointless. But at least everyone was happy. Including every fey. One big happy magic forest school village. With lots of blooming little magic hermits.

That said, perhaps someone might now prefer not to go looking for her at all; As a bird on a branch, seen only for a second, Artemis was better left to her own unorthodox ways. To anyone who knew Artemis, her presence was intrusive, unrelenting, and loud. In spite of her energetic antics, Artemis was still a good sister. For each prank Artemis pulled, she gave a hand when her family needed it. Artemis was very handy and clever; fixing plumbing and fur nature without duct tape, in new and exciting ways. Artemis stood a proud cheerer of her siblings, and magic home. She was not a paladin, but it is said that mage charmers are more powerful; A charmer can manipulate anything they want for miles round, without lifting a finger.

Artemis’s unsettling birdlike mannerisms, and personality, turned many people away before they had the chance to bully her. It followed her even after graduation. Her attraction to shinny things alone was good material for immature adolescents, or adults. But she was Teflon against any insult; Artemis’s secret was not caring. Aside from her wild spirit, Artemis passed through events in her life like a bird migrating on a mystical journey; undeterred from a desired destination. From up high, and far away, Artemis could see everything, everyone, and do as she please.  Artemis was light, untouchable, and lively; and she knew it.

After graduation, Artemis remained on Tiberius Gate, in Pepperidge, with her parents and community. Mockery would not pry her from her dream of quaint homey living. Even when Morgan and Emilia’s youngest, her little brother Patrick, moved out to be a paladin, Artemis still stayed. Her parents were happy to have her; at least one child to wake up too every day, when all others flew the coop. No longer a child, Artemis was still singing and flying around town, helping any fey or people who wanted it, for shinny coins. She made a meaningful living off small jobs. Artemis spent her time singing, beading, dancing, and showing around tourists. Artemis came home each night, after a day’s adventure, to help her parents make dinner and care for they fey on Tiberius Gate itself. She loved her simple life. A meaningful life.

One day, while Morgan was off at the academy substituting, he got an urgent call. But he wasn’t at home to answer. It was from a radio phone in the Westlands; Emilia answered it in the kitchen. She didn’t want to worry Morgan, so Emilia got Bandrel, their hearths fire wilding, to hold the call. He smiled, cooled down, crawled out of the tower’s oven furnace, which was his duty, and held the phone. Fairies never get to hold phones; he felt more special than normal.

“Bandie, would you take this? I don’t care if it gets bit cold in the tower from the fall air. It’s Patrick. Have a nice talk with him while I find Artemis. I don’t want to make my husband an anxious mess while he’s at work…” Emilia said casually to the small fairy boy. Bandril nodded excitedly and took the phone in his little hands.

“Hello, Tiberius Gate, Bandie speaking,” Bandrel said smiling. He turned to Emilia, and covered the talking piece. “I always wanted to say that!” he wiggled. Emilia smiled and left the main tower, to whistle into the forest. Not any whistle, as some whistles summoned fey; This was a sound to summon her daughter. Emilia made a perfectly medium range whistle, that tapered like a bird’s song, into the thick old magic growth. The tree’s whispered, as Emilia stared into the woods waiting for Artemis to whistle back. Artemis was in a tree right above her.

“What’s up mom.” Artemis said, hopping down and scaring Emilia. She jumped back, scared for her life. She hated when her family snuck up on her like that. Emilia could bend reality just by believing, but the magic here seemed to catch her off guard. She never got used to it; her children and husband were too stealthy.

“After all these years, you’d think I’d be used to it. Your twenty now. Am I getting old…” Emilia gasped. “Come inside, and sit by Bandrel’s warm fire with me; Your little brother called form Grand Snow. He wanted to speak with your father, but you’re the next best mage.” Emilia said rapping her arm around her daughter.

“Patrick only left six months ago…” Artemis said under her breath. “He didn’t even get an apprenticeship, yet got a post. Of course, it’s Patrick calling. Always Patrick!” She scoffed. Emilia elbowed Artemis in the side. A young lady should not throw her sibling under the bus. That is what older ladies do. Artemis had a little middle child syndrome. Emilia always wanted a boy, unlike their father Morgan, who was a grade-A girl dad. A father’s love evened things out, adding plausible deniability to parental favouratism. Children can smell inequality like sulfur. Every time mother mentioned Artemis’s little brother’s name, she winced.

Once inside, Emilia and Artemis headed to the kitchen. Artemis arranged the fire wood into a cradle inside the large hearth, for Bandrel to sleep in. Then Bandrel handed her the phone, and crawled back in the oven. Emilia set up some chairs and mugs of tea, for some cuddling by the warmth of Fairy fire. Emilia knew Artemis well enough to know providing some reassuring love would calm her down; Artemis needed to be calm to talk on a phone; and play nice to her little brother. Artemis plopped down in a chair, kicked back, and answered the phone. The long-distance charges must have been astounding.

“Hey Patrick, dad gone, mom miss you, me here. What’s up bro. What can I do you for?” Artemis said, sipping from her mug of tea. She spat up a little; it wasn’t steeped yet.

#art #tales of ealden cynedom #fantasy #short stories #story 11 #artemis #aries #morgan #emilia #patrick #icarus

[oveliagirlhaditright]

https://archiveofourown.org/works/18888907/chapters/44835670

Heroine - Chapter Seven of “Night Light”: a RokuNami Story. Story summary: n a future, where the Master of Masters has already been dealt with by Sora-and Kairi dies once more, making Sora lose it for a while-Roxas and Naminé must now contend with the similar to Roxas, Gula, going bad.

Naminé’s PoV It was Naminé who confronted Simba and told him that she thought there was too much circumstantial evidence against Kovu, and he actually listened to her some. But before that, when Naminé had told Roxas of her suspicions, he'd wanted to go to Simba on himself… but Naminé was tired of being behind closed doors, so she declined his offer of protection. And it turned out that she’d been right to go at it herself, because here she was getting through to him! "And on a side note," Naminé said, as she tried to dig a pretty flower out of the dirt it was stuck in. "If you tell Kiara, 'no' about being with Kovu, just because you think Kovu is a spy of this Zira’s, she's more likely to defy you. People long for what they don't have, I mean. In fact… I wouldn't be surprised if she was meeting with Kovu right now... but if you give her freedom, your daughter will always come back to you." After all, wasn't this how she'd somehow become friends with Ansem the Wise in the end? Naminé thought ...Perhaps that wasn't the best example, but it still showed that relationships needed to have an open door with them. "'Naminé', was it?" Simba asked, as he turned around to face her now and successfully freed the flower for her himself. "Thank you. And I- I think you may be right… even in this mess of a situation we’re in. It’s hard for me to admit as a father… but there’s truth to your words. Like, I knew Sora had to let you go a few times… and yet you always returned to him and found your love again… So, thank you for reminding me of that.” 'Except that you're thinking of Kairi, and not me. And while I guess, even now, I'm somewhat the same as she was... I'll still never reach her light. Especially now. But thank you," Naminé thought. And at first she thought about not saying any of that to Simba… but in deciding that she was done being self-conscious, and that maybe she should, Naminé opened her mouth to say something… but at that exact moment, Naminé heard what she would have described as an explosion if she didn't know any better. But, no: it was just lions roaring in their anger. Suddenly, Naminé was terrified. Was Roxas involved in whatever was going on?! Near instantly, Naminé headed off towards the savanna where she had heard these noises and Simba was hot on her heels. But once they got there, Naminé saw the situation wasn't as bad as it could have been. When she’d first seen what looked like even Xion and Isa being involved in the lion drama (of which Roxas, Kovu, Kiara, Simba, Nala, and Zira’s pack were now in), Naminé’s first thought was that Zira had done something drastic. But Xion and Isa were actually focused on how Lea, while hanging partly out of a Corridor of Light, was pushing cougars their way and trying to get his two friends to put the other cats into their hammer-space? "I can't," Lea tried to explain it, as Isa, Xion, and Naminé each gave him a look. "I don't have access to mine anymore... I can't seem to be able to summon my Keyblade at the moment, and only have my chakrams." And so Xion and Isa agreed with a sigh, as they let the animals appear in this world for just a second and then "disappear". Lea disappeared then, too. Thankfully, none of the lions had noticed the cougars—with as wrapped up as they were in their war—which was a good thing, because Naminé didn’t know what they would have done if Zira in particular had thought that Simba had somehow summoned them to help aid him in this fight. "Forget about your plan for revenge, !" Kovu shouted now, as he circled his surrogate mother. "It was always in the wrong spirit, Zira. I- I believe Simba will let us be a part of his pack now. And I won't hurt Kiara." For just a second, Naminé had really thought that love had won the day: that Zira had seen the errors of her ways and was giving up on her endeavors, as she began walking away. But of course it was a fake-out, Naminé thought as she growled. Of course it was! And though she hated using her memory powers to hurt people, she was very tempted to try and do that to alter Zira’s ways. At the last minute, Zira had gone for Nala and Roxas had pushed her out of the way just in time. And then Kiara was there, trying to avenge the attempt on her mother’s life. And as they of course would be, the Heartless were drawn to all the darkness here. Little bird-like ones, that Naminé had never seen before, were easily getting past her friends' defenses to hurt them... everyone was getting hurt except for Isa, who was now going berserk on a number of the “birds” with his claymore. Naminé was currently trying to write "poison" into the Heartless' memories now—so they would then be poisoned—as Xion yelled to her friends. "Get these guys as fast as you can! Otherwise, they'll make you pass out before you can even blink!" And the Heartless were certainly trying that: while Isa was making light appear as he leapt into the air and then brought his weapon down with so much force, that it literally shook Naminé… and as Roxas used his circle of light power. And even during Naminé poisoning many of the enemies, so that they would fall on their own... but when a few somehow didn’t, Xion gave those a good whack. But during the chaos of the Guardians of Light fighting the Heartless and the two lion armies baiting each other, Zira had taken the moment to try and use some of said beasts on Nala! And Naminé was running to the older lionesses’ aid as fast as she could, but as she started to... the real problem unfolded. A Corridor of Darkness appeared before Naminé’s very eyes and… Gula stepped out of it. And faster than any of the friends could blink—had Gula teleported?—he had both Kiara and Zira in his hands, as he held knives to their necks. "Everyone calmly let me take these two Princesses of Heart with me," he said icily, "or I slit their throats." And both armies did. And it became so quiet, that Naminé knew she could have heard one of her crayons drop if she had had one with her. As Gula snapped his fingers, all the Heartless disappeared and it then became clear to everyone that Gula had been the one to summon them to begin with. And Naminé’s dear Roxas seemed particularly angry with himself, that he hadn’t figured that out, as he said in a very deadpan way: “Bastard.” "You're bluffing, bastard." Isa continued Roxas’ thought. And in any other situation, Naminé would have been happy about how close they’d become. But this situation was nothing short of horrifying. If Gula was able to kidnap all the new Seven Lights and open Kingdom Hearts-. "I've kidnapped Princesses of Heart before myself. And yet—even while I threatened it—I would have never hurt someone as important as- as Kairi. And I'm sure it's the same for you, too." “Except… that he isn’t,” Naminé figured out, as she looked into Gula’s memories. And Gula very swiftly showed that she was right about the kind of man he was, as he buried his knife in Kiara's heart and she roared in pain… and Roxas had to summon a barrier in order to keep Simba and Nala from running towards Kiara then, and to even keep Zira’s fellow “outcasts” away from her.  "I'll admit that these two are Princesses of Heart now... but with all the changes in that group lately, they might not always be. So, them dying wouldslow down my hand... but I don't need them. So try me." And it was just as Gula explained himself, that Naminé knew what needed to be done in order to save everyone here. "Take me instead," the blonde insisted, as she held out her paws for Gula. And naturally, this caused quite a reaction in all of her friends. Roxas was running towards Naminé now... Xion and Isa were begging her not to do it—and even seemed willing to try and fight Gula—and Simba and Nala were selflessly telling her not to do this for them… And Zira was, of course, telling her to make the sacrifice. But Naminé listened to nothing but her heart. "I know that you are bluffing about one thing," Naminé said, as she sent a Cure spell both Kiara and Roxas’ way—Kiara’s, so that it healed her and Roxas’ way, so it would knock him down for a second and he wouldn’t be able to get to her--"You say Zira is a dark person, who may go the Princess of Heart way like Elsa did. But I know she isn’t, and you do, too. The other one is really Nala here, but you couldn’t get to her—and still can’t—so you grabbed Zira to create a show. Well… I say, take me instead of anyone else here. I'm the former Nobody of the most impressive Princess of Heart of all time, who was both a Pure Light and a Guardian. And I have my own powers, too. So do it, Gula, and you’ll get way more than you bargained for here.” And as soon as Naminé had finished speaking, Gula had let both Kiara and Zira go—and Zira ran away with her tail between her leg, and Naminé knew she’d never trouble Simba again—and Gula grabbed her. Roxas had already jumped into the air above Gula’s head, though, and was about to decapitate him… but Gula stepped back into another Corridor of Darkness just in time… and pulled Naminé with him. And when she realized what he was planning to do to the World, via his memories, she passed out. Author’s Note: I’m sorry that it took me so very long to post this. I swear I haven’t abandoned this story; I’m just working on a million things with it… So, updates will probably be super slow. I apologize.

#night light #rokunami #namixas #my work #my writing #Shanna writes #mine #fanfiction

[matrixaffiliate]

Quarry

Chapter Update! FFN and AO3

And we're back, with four chapters as promised! I'm working hard to make sure that everything goes up when it's supposed to, but I recently became a multi-grade school teacher for the rest of the school year on top of everything else, so be warned that I might not be balancing my plates as well as I think I am. Next chapters should go up on April 25th.

Chapter 61

Marlene:

This was a dream. It had to be. Having her mum here after everything that happened to get them to Godric's Hollow made Marlene's emotions spin around themselves in her heart.

"Are you sure you don't want your own rooms?" James frowned.

"I've been deprived of my daughters for months. I'd just end up in their rooms anyway, your Majesty. Marlene's bed is plenty big enough for two people."

Marlene almost choked on her mother's words and Sirius winked at her.

"If you're sure," James looked at all the chests that had been brought in and Sirius chuckled.

"You'll have plenty to do with all of these. His Majesty and I will see you all at dinner then."

Sirius brushed his hand along the back of her waist before he pulled a reluctant James away from kissing Lily's hand and out the door.

"Now," her mum took a seat and opened one of Lily's chests, "Tell your dear mother what in the world has happened."

"It's a long story," Marlene hedged.

"It'll pass the time," Marlene heard the no-nonsense edge in her mother's voice.

"It'll be fun, Marly," Lily opened another chest and smiled when she found one of her favorite gowns.

Fun for Lily maybe, but Marlene didn't necessarily want her mother to know how poorly she'd done as Lily's guardian.

"Why don't you start at the beginning?" Elspeth smiled at Marlene.

Thankfully, Lily did just that. Marlene was never so grateful that Lily had been more or less oblivious to much of what had gone on between Sirius and herself. But that didn't make Lily's description of the attack at the Ottery border or the one in Enid any easier to hear. Especially with what happened yesterday. The whole telling seemed only to solidify in Marlene's mind how much she failed as Lily's guardian. How selfish she was and how it had put her charge in mortal danger more than once.

"So, now that James knows I love him," Lily continued, "I think he'll go back to the way things were before Enid. Though we might have to discuss what happens next."

Marlene smirked, "If the man can't figure out what happens next then I might smack him upside the head."

"Please," Lily rolled her eyes, "With you and Sirius practically modeling it for him when we walk out of his study it's not going to be a hard jump. But I'm talking about the politics of it."

Marlene felt her face get hot and she kept her gaze focused on the gown she was hanging in Lily's wardrobe. Up until that moment, Lily had left out the fact that Marlene and Sirius were far more than traveling companions.

"I think that does it for all of your things, Lily," Marlene heard her mum close the other wardrobe. "Why don't you rest while Marlene and I take care of her things."

Lily yawned and Marlene turned to see her rubbing her eyes. "I am a bit worn down now that you mention it. Must be from all the excitement of yesterday. I'll take a quick kip and then help the two of you with the rest."

"Of course, dear. Let her rest, Marlene." Elspeth strode out the door and Marlene watched Lily curl up under her covers before she slipped out the door and shut it quietly.

"You made her tired." Marlene faced her mum.

"Yes, I wanted to talk to you and this won't hurt her feelings nor put you in a spot of trying to decide if she's safe or not while we talk privately." She sat on Marlene's bed and patted the space next to her. "Come, sit with me."

Marlene wanted to groan. It was like she was ten-years-old again. But she did move to sit next to her mother.

To Marlene's surprise, her mum wrapped her in a hug and held her close for several quiet moments.

"I have missed you, so very much," Were her mum's whispered words that broke the silence.

"I've missed you too." Marlene bit back the threatening tears. "Back when I moved into the palace with Lily, I hated not being with you and Dad and Catherine."

"I'm proud of you," Elspeth pulled back, "You've done more than anyone had the right to ask of you. You've become an amazing woman, my Marly."

Marlene shook her head, "I've all but failed, Mum. I've let my selfishness put her in danger. I've been careless and left myself incapable of protecting her, and when I wasn't incapacitated I was the reason why others were suffering. I was the wrong choice for her guardian."

Her mum blinked at her before shaking her head. "Oh, Marly, you've got it all wrong."

"You weren't there," Marlene protested, "I came dangerously close to leaving Lily unprotected in Ottery. Lily tells a pretty story but the fact is that without Sirius and James she would have been without protection for days, maybe weeks, maybe forever. And at Enid, she would have died if not for Sirius taking the hit for her. And yesterday..."

"Marlene," her mum put her hands on her shoulders, "I need you to listen very closely. Making you Lily's guardian was a political move that your father had to keep me from killing people for even suggesting it. The magic users wanted to protect Lily from Petunia, they weren't worried about anyone else. The noblemen who came up with the idea thought it would give us an inside view of the changes Petunia was making while also tying Petunia's hands with Lily's fate. None of them thought you'd ever need to actually uphold your oath. They badgered your father and me for months over it and when we continued to refuse they made a move to approach you directly but your dad intercepted them. That's when he took you aside and explained what that option looked like." Her mum smiled, "We didn't count on you being for the idea."

Marlene stared at her mum in shock. "You and Dad didn't want me to become Lily's guardian?"

"We didn't realize how loyal you were to our little princess." Elspeth smiled at her fondly. "When your dad explained the sacrifices you'd make, everything you'd lose, we thought you'd say no. But you agreed to it all if it kept Lily safe. And before we could really try and talk you out of it, Petunia demanded Lily's return. If I could go back I'd have fought for more time from Petunia. I would have pushed for all of us to lie and say we'd made you her guardian when we hadn't. I'd change so much if I could, my Marly."

Marlene stared at her mother as the words washed over her.

"I'm so sorry, Marlene. If anyone has failed, it's me. I failed you."

"No," Marlene shook her head, "you didn't fail me! You and Dad, you're the reason I thought I could do this in the first place."

Elspeth gave Marlene a watery smile and pulled her into a hug. For a long time, they held each other, and Marlene let herself bask in the feeling of being ten-years-old wrapped in her mother's embrace.

"On to happier things then," Her mum said when they finally pulled back, "tell me about Sirius,"

Marlene sighed, "I'm a fool."

Her mum shook her head, "I don't think so. He looks at you like you're the brightest star in the sky."

"I let myself fall in love with him and that's why I almost froze to death yesterday, and why he almost died in Enid, and why I killed a man at the Ottery border."

"That's a very different story from what Lily told me just moments ago."

"Well, Lily doesn't seem to be able to see me as I actually am." Marlene summoned a chest to her feet and started sorting through her things.

"Or maybe you're being too hard on yourself."

Marlene felt those words hit her square in the chest, but she pushed them away and focused on her point.

"Sirius is wonderful. I love him. I want to be with him. But we don't get that unless James and Lily end up married, and yesterday I let Lily wanting to tell James she loved him be my excuse for putting us in danger. What if it had been Lily who started to freeze? What if James had broken his neck when his horse kicked him off? What if we hadn't been able to build a shelter? I wanted so much to have Sirius that I risked our lives for it, Mum!"

"And what about the rest of your little group? James and Sirius knew the risks better than you did. They grew up here. Wouldn't this be their fault?"

Marlene bristled. "They had no way of knowing the storm would engulf us."

"Just like you?" Her mum smiled at her and Marlene looked down at the little dagger in her hand.

"Please, Marlene, give yourself some credit. Believe that you are good. Believe you are capable. Believe that not everything is your fault. And most important," her mother's hands wrapped around her own, "believe that it's good for you to be happy. If that happiness is with Sirius, don't give up on it. And most importantly, don't talk yourself out of it."

Marlene felt the tears threatening and squeezed the small sheathed dagger.

"What if it all falls apart? What if it gets us both killed? What if it kills Lily and James?"

"What if you got to live happily ever after?" Her mum slipped the dagger from her hands. "What if it gave you the happiness your father and I failed to protect for you?"

Marlene felt the first tear slide down her cheek.

"You are worth your own happiness, my Marly."

Her hold on her emotions broke and Marlene willingly curled into her mother's arms. For the first time in her short twenty years, Marlene chose to believe that she had worth outside of her abilities and that she could have happiness. Even if it didn't look the way she might have thought it would originally, even if it wasn't what the world around her thought she should have, even if it made the history books in the worst way, she was going to choose her own happiness.

#Quarry #blackinnon #jily #blackinnon au #jily au #sirius x marlene #james x lily #sirius black x marlene mckinnon #james potter x lily evans #king james #princess lily #guardian sirius #guardian marlene #royal fantasy au #royal au #adventure #romance #fluff #maruaders fic #marauders au #marauders #fantasy #harry potter fanfiction

[egotheplanet]

Stories Over Burgers (Happy Hogan and Morgan Stark)

Summary: for some reason I cant stop picturing Morgan as an outcast in school. Like Lilo from Lilo and Stitch. The line from the movie where Lilos talking to Nani and she says “they’re afraid of me” and Nani says “They just don’t know what to say.” BC HER PARENTS ALSO DIED. I mean, can’t you just imagine ? her dad was fucking iron man and she has so many stories she wants to share bc she loved her daddy 3,000 but a mean kid shows her Mysterios ‘evidence’ about tony being a bad guy. Happy ‘Protective Dad’ Hogan drives to pick her up after school only to see her in the courtyard fighting with one of the kids. I kind of changed the FFH mid credits scene to be a little more detailed about Tony’s part in Spider-Man’s inheritance of the tech. roll with it and be sad with me.

Warnings: spoilers to SM:FFH and Endgame

Word Count: 1.7k

•••••••••••••••••

Happy enviously scans the sidewalk where plenty of timely children sit waiting for their guardians to pick them up.

‘You’d think after 6 hours in a chair the kid would be brimming with pent up energy she could spend running to the car. Maybe I should get her a watch that beeps when it’s time to head to the car loop.’ He thought to himself.

Releasing a long slow exhale through his nose, he unbuckled his seat belt and stepped out of the car. He’s come to learn that if you ask politely, the administrative office will summon your student over the loud speakers.

‘What’s holding her up?’

His walk to the office came to slow down when he heard childish yells and taunts. He grumbled at the association the sound held in his mind. ‘Kids probably fighting in the courtyard over a pudding cup.’

As he continued towards the yard in question, the administrative office nestled at the end of it, he narrowed his eyes and listened closer. ‘That kind of sounds like... Morgan?’

His walking pace hastened into a speed walk as the classic ring of students watching a fight came into view.

Just as he suspected, a little girl consisting mostly of long brown hair could be seen and heard yelling and stomping in anguish. Definitely Morgan. The kids started chanting ‘fight’ and Happy knew it was about to get physical. He quickly jumped in to stop it all together. The sight of an adult/ authoritative figure made the bystanders scatter.

“Alright, now what’s goin on here? Break it up!”

His large adult hand wraps around Morgans minuscule arm gently yet firmly to pull her away. The girls purposefully avoid eye contact.

He lets a huff out of his chest in annoyance at the silence.

“You two had a lot to say a couple seconds ago, why so quiet now? What. Happened?” At this point the principal was standing by and taking in the scene quietly.

Morgan whispers, “She said he was a bad guy.”

Happys brows crease together in confusion as he bends down at the knee so he’s eye level with her, “Who was a bad guy?”

Her voice trembles and her hair, previously pinned back with pink clips which were now lost in the mess of grass beneath them, hides her teary eyes as she can only make a sound of frustration. Being young meant articulating the world with a fraction of functioning vocabulary. It was frustrating, Happy knew that. He and Pepper always took their time with Morgan. Especially after all she’s been through.

“Morgan? Who was a bad guy?” His voice is much softer now.

She continues to refuse to make eye contact.

He sighs and his eye level falls to his shoes upon realizing who was awarded the title ‘bad guy’.

Morgan ripped her arm out of his grasp and backed up about a foot. Her eyes stayed low. She needed a little space to think and breathe through it. Just like he taught her.

Her mother always said ‘You’ve got your fathers looks and brain. It’s fitting you get his temper to top it off.” It was never maliciously spoken. Only... melancholic.

Happy resumed standing and exchanged words with the principal.

It felt like an eternity to Morgan. Her tummy felt upset at the thought of getting into trouble. But it felt even more upset when the girl began to preach about someone she didn’t know.

“Morgan? Did you hear me?” He remained standing tall this time as he spoke to her. “Your principal said you have to stay home tomorrow.” He’s seen her enough to know when she’s about to explode with emotion. “You caused a scene and almost broke into a fight. Your mom is gonna discipline you accordingly. It’s gonna be fine.”

Morgan’s breathing slightly quickened and her throat felt tight. Her eyes were burning hot as she looked up at him and the oceans began pouring out of her tear ducts.

“I’m sorry, Happy.”

He believed her wholeheartedly.

“Let’s just... Let’s head home, okay?” He held his hand out. Open and inviting.

She graciously accepted.

They walked side by side all the way to the car.

Holding open the door, he felt both sad and proud as she buckled herself in.

——————

“Two cheeseburgers, one without onions or pickles and the other with extra onions and pickles. One large fry, one small HI-C and one large Diet Coke. That’ll be all, thank you.”

She played with her hands as he ordered.

The backseat wasn’t very eventful when you lose your iPad for causing a ‘ruckus’ as her mother put it. Happy of course called Pepper as soon as they got into the car. The iPad was the only thing around at the moment that would suffice as a good punishment till they got home. Then she’d get a whole other talk and loss of privilege.

The smell of the car quickly turned from clean leather to hot French fries and ketchup as the bags came in through the window.

Happy put them in the empty passengers seat and rolled into a parking spot on the other side of the building. He turned the car off and passed back her order.

“Don’t forget to use a napkin this time.” He spoke after taking a chunk out of his burger. “Your last ketchup stain was a pain.”

Her lips perked up for the first time in a half hour. A long time for a child like Morgan not to smile.

“That rhymed, Happy!”

He felt a rush of relief pass through him. She wasn’t too upset to enjoy his Seuss-like antics.

“Yeah, I guess it did.” They looked at each other through the rear view window. After a considerable amount of time passed he spoke. “Do you want to talk about what happened?”

The rustling of her burger wrapper ceased.

“No.”

Happy ate a few more bites, finishing the rest of his sandwich. He didn’t want to pry but he needed to make sure this wouldn’t happen again.

He didn’t care about her defending herself. It was the right thing to do. He cared about her feelings being hurt in a place she’s supposed to be happy and learning.

“Can you at least tell me how it started?”

The car was deathly silent for a few seconds straight. The air was loud, louder than they were. Just when he thought the entire subject was a lost cause, he heard a meek voice.

“My teacher was talking about rockets. The space ones.” She paused to recollect, glancing in the mirror and noticing him offer his full attention. “So I told him about daddy’s rockets. I told him how he used them to fly and save people.”

She had to pause between a few words to take audible breaths. It was a hard subject to cover.

“And then I had to go potty so he excused me and when I came back, my table buddies were talking.” She stopped for a couple seconds to take a sip of her juice. “They said their parents watch the news and that it said daddy was a bad guy. That he didn’t really save people and he tried to hurt them.” Her voice was soft and held a confused tone.

Happys heart sank as he tried to think up a way to steer her out of his information hole. He didn’t want her only memories of her father to be tarnished by the bored pieces of crazed writers and an insane super villain. He paused before speaking with a hopeful tone.

“Morgan, do you know how well I knew your dad?” She shook her head. “Well, I started as just a driver. Taking him from spot to spot.”

She perked up. “Like how you drive me to school?”

He smiled slightly. “That’s right. And then he promoted me to head of security.”

“He said you were forehead of secur-”

“See, he always got those words a little fumbled. Th-That wasn’t my title. The point is— Let’s get back on track— the point is: your dad trusted me.” He spoke quickly and jumbled while attempting to get the conversation back on course as she giggled out loud. “We weren’t just people who worked together. We were friends. Close friends. I knew a lot about your dad. I knew stuff about him before he did sometimes.” He thought back to the start of Tony and Peppers relationship. “So believe me when I say this.. are you listening?”

Sensing the change in pace at the end of his speech, she nodded, fully captivated by his words.

“Good, okay.” He locked eyes with her in the mirror. “Your dad loved you so much, kiddo. He loved you. He loved your mom too.” He took a moment to unbuckle his seatbelt and turn around so he could look at her formally. “He loved people. He protected you, your mom and everyone in the world until the very end.”

She was too young to grasp the levity of his words but he continued. She needed to hear this so her father could remain the hero he was in her little mind.

“He never once hurt anyone intentionally without the protection of everyone else he loved in mind. Your table buddies didn’t know him the way I did. So you can trust me and ignore them, okay? Your dad was a good man, not a bad guy. I would know.” She was quiet. Not the bad quiet but the thinking to herself quiet.

“Okay.”

He chuckled softly at her graceful lack of words. His were definitely too much for an eight year old.

“You know what? I’m gonna tell you something.” He held a joking tone which was barely above a whisper.

“What?” She matched his tone with a small smile.

“Your dads rockets didn’t always work. Sometimes they knocked him onto his butt.” He smiled fondly at the memories as she laughed.

“That’s funny, Happy.” She munched on a French fry and sipped the rest of her juice. Her feet kicked and swayed the whole drive home. Her mood had significantly increased.

As Happy drove himself home later that night, he reflected on how much Tony gave to others. The muddy and wrong picture Mysterio painted of him wasn’t right and wasn’t fair.

It was then and there he decided that for every bad story Morgan heard about Tony that made her cry, he would tell her two more that would make her laugh. Happy meal included.

And boy, did he have enough stories to last a lifetime.

#Morgan Stark #Happy Hogan #Tony Stark #Pepper Potts #Tony Stark x Pepper Potts #Tony x Pepper #Happy x Tony #Spiderman #Peter Parker #Mysterio #quentin beck #Happy Hogan x Morgan Stark #marvel #Iron Man #avengers infinity war #avengers endgame #spiderman far from home #far from home #FFH #MCU #fic #imagine #fanfiction #sad fic #angst #promising ending #Avengers #Lilo and Stitch #i love you 3000

[sssuperbartola]

Excalibur - A Quest for Camelot: Inukag AU headcanon

Recently I’ve been drawn back to probably my favorite animated movie of all time (and when I say recently I mean literally last night at 3 am on a Saturday night) and from that moment on I just couldn’t help myself from rewatching it and relistening the beautiful soundtracks. Whilst I deeply appreciate the movie, I can not help myself but imagine my also favorite OTP in this setting. 

SO I decided to make some headcanons inspired by this story which holds a special place in my heart since my childhood. Here we go!

For anyone who is not familiar with this animated film, I first suggest you check it out, so as to have a better understanding of this AU and to enjoy it at its best!

Protagonists:

Kayley: Kagome

Garret: Inuyasha

Kayley’s mother: Mama Higurashi

Kayley’s father: Kagome’s Father ( I understand he never makes an official appearance in the series, tho if you check the movie, Kayley’s father’s own appearance last shortly)

Ruber: Naraku duh

the Griffin: Ah-Uhn or Juromaru ( by shaping the latter one into a more beast-like creature, similar to the griffin)

Devon and Cornwall: Hachi and Totosai ( I know that just one of them is an animal, and also that none of them resembles a dragon, but, again, they could be the results of a symbiotic union)

Garret’s falcon, Ayden: Kirara ( i was thinking about changing her powers; instead of turning into a bigger version of herself, she is able to deceive the enemy with her fur made of reflective material, just like the falcon in the original movie, tho I am not fully convinced)

King Arthur: Hojo 

Merlin: Kaede

NOTE: this is a scratch; I have created this headcanon characters based on my own representation; if anyone decides to make a fic or a fanart out of it, you have all the liberty to adjust/change/erase whichever detail/character you want.

With that being established, let’s move to the plot!

Kagome is the young daughter of Lord Higurashi, a knight who lives within the countryside of Camelot, the city where it’s told that King Hojo lives, together whit his allied the mage Kaede. Hojo was the only one man capable of extracting the mighty sword of Tenseiga from its rock pedestal, thus the only one worthy enough to wield the sword of Heavenly Rebirth and become King. Lord Higurashi is one of the Knights of the Round Table, the chosen group of the most trustworthy and chivalrous knights of the whole Kingdom. Kagome’s father loves to tell her all about the legend of the mythical sword and the birth of their home, as well as explaining to her the morals and ideals of being a knight.

King Hojo rallies all of his knights, so Lord Higurashi has to leave to Camelot, and so says goodbye to Mama Higurashi and his daughter. Kagome, being the curious and adventurous child she is, wants to come along but her father says he will take her with him when she will be younger (typical lie of a parent, but the tears couldn’t stop)

As soon as the meeting begins, one of the knights, Naraku, an outrageously greedy and evil man, angrily demands to be given more properties and more wealth because of his knight status. The king refuses and his other knights support him and accuse Naraku of being unworthy of his position. Naraku then proceeds to attack the King but Lord Higurashi and other knights go to the rescue; the knights are defeated but only one hit of the King’s sword defeats Naraku. Then Naraku decides to flee with the threat of coming back to be the new king of Camelot; unfortunately, Lord Higurashi is badly wounded and does not make it.

Kagome awaits the return of her father at home while training on her own with her wooden sword. As soon as she hears the calls of the knights, she immediately runs to them to greet her father, only to find out he has passed away. The funeral is held by the king himself, and Kagome is deeply hurt by the loss of his father.

Years pass, Kagome has become a young woman who still dreams of becoming a great knight despite being a woman, and follow the path of her father, but is stuck at home helping her mother with the household and the land.

One day,  the knights have gathered once again at Camelot’s castle, only to be attacked by a strange winged creature who takes Tenseiga from Hojo and flies away. The alarm is sent to all the Kingdom; Kagome hears the alarm too and tells her mother that she wants to go find the sword.

The same night, their home is attacked by some bandits, who later on turn out to be Naraku’s henchmen. Naraku has built up an army of magical mutant soldiers to conquer Tenseiga and so all Camelot. He sent his mythical charger, Ah-Uhn/Juromaru, to Hojo’s castle to steal Tenseiga, but before he could reach his owner, Kaede’s helper intercepts him and wound him so as to make him drop the sword into the Forbidden Forest.

Naraku planned on attacking Kagome’s family since he is still resentful of the day Kagome’s father stood his ground to protect the king and he wants revenge.

He starts to summon creatures in exchange for human sacrifices to build the immortal army he desires. While he’s busy, Mama Higurashi helps Kagome flee to Camelot where she would be safe. Kagome sneaks away from Naraku, when suddenly his winged charger, arrives with the news that he lost the sword into the Forbidden Forest.

Kagome, upon hearing this information, makes up her mind to go find Tenseiga by herself, but Naraku finds her fleeing and sends his soldiers to capture her.

She manages to escape them in the Forbidden Forest, where she encounters a man, who looks like a half-dog creature who fights the enemies and saves her.

His name is Inuyasha, he’s a half-demon who lives in the Forbidden Forest with his friend, Kirara, a magical cat demon able to fly and with a reflective fur which can blind the enemy. Since Inuyasha is blind, she helps him out the most when fighting, using her calls to warn him.

Kagome tells him about Tenseiga and asks for his help, but Inuyasha is a lone wolf, he lives as an outcast and he travels only by himself. Kagome is stubborn and keeps following him and eventually, Inuyasha gives in. 

Naraku finds out where Kagome is directed and follows her so that she can take him to the sword.

Kagome and Inuyasha stumble into the Dragon Kingdom and meet a strange creature, a two-headed dragon named Hachi and Totosai. They were born attached to each other and cannot stand one another, but overall, they’re friendly dragons who help Kagome and Inu to escape both the dragons and Naraku’s army. They, later on, join the group and became friends (sort of, lol)

While setting the camp for the night, Inuyasha and Kagome bicker about each other and Kagome mentions her father to Inuyasha, who then tells her that he knew her father when he was alive. When he was younger, Inuyasha was a stable boy in Camelot who wanted so bad to become a knight of the Round Table. However, the night Naraku stole Tenseiga, a fire broke in the stable sìand Inuyasha got hurt and lost his sight. Lord Higurashi was the one who found Inuyasha and helped him fighting on his own even if blind and taught him all he knew to help the boy. He is grateful for Kagome’s father’s help because if it wasn’t for him, he couldn’t be able to stand by himself in the Forest. But upon losing him, he couldn’t keep living in Camelot and fled to the Forest.

Kagome encourages him to still try and to never give up because that’s what her father would have wanted both for her and for Inuyasha, and that his valor is equal to the one of a true knight.

Inuyasha is taken aback from this girl: so stubborn and naive to the dangers outside, but so courageous and strong and determined.

Kagome, on the other hand, starts to see a kinder side in this gruff man

Inuyasha then tells her about his life in the woods, about Kirara, who protects him like a guardian from the sky, and all the techniques he learned by living like this. He teaches Kagome how fighting is not only a matter of seeing the enemy but is also about relying on what surrounds you all. Kagome is a bit of a klutz but she’s grateful for Inuyasha’s help and soon starts to realize she’s feeling more for the half-demon than what she thinks.

After the night, they proceed with their quest and finds some clues on where Tenseiga could be. They stumble upon an orc’s lair, which is where the sword might be. However, while Kagome still fights with Inu about how they have lost time by stopping from the night, they get tracked down by Naraku and Inuyasha gets hurt.

They manage to escape and find shelter in a cave; Inuyasha is badly wounded and Kagome is heartbroken at the sight because she thinks it’s all her fault for not having been too careful and a source of problems for him.

Inuyasha reassures her by saying that what’s a burden to him it’s not her, but his sight, and that she is very useful to him because, since she’s arrived in his life, she has been his light to his darkness, and that he’s been able to “see” thanks to her. He discovered more all around him with her by his side than by being alone.

Kagome is struck by his words and starts to fall more in love with him and finally shakes herself to find a cure for his wound, determined to help him no matter what

After Inu’s recover, they continue the journey and finally, they find the orc's lair: he has the sword. While the heroes try to take the sword from the dormant giant, Naraku appears to attack them by surprise, but the orc wakes up and Kagome and co. manages to flee. They leave behind Naraku and begin to go back to Camelot.

Kagome is enthusiastic but Inuyasha is heavy-hearted because he knows he has to let her go to save Camelot since he doesn’t have a place there like her. Kagome insists that he has to come with her, but Inu angrily refuses and turns back to the forest, heartbroken, because he thinks there would never be a place for him with Kagome.

Kagome is devastated but proceeds with her mission. As soon as she arrives in town, she gets kidnapped by Naraku’s soldiers; Naraku finally gets the sword and insert it in a mechanic arm he made to be able to wield it. There are explosions and the sky darkens, as the forces of evil start to gather upon Camelot, but Naraku manages to gain its power and goes to find Hojo.

Meanwhile, Hachi and Totosai try to make Inuyasha resonate with himself and encourage him to go to Kagome. While they do that, they see the explosions coming from the town, and Inuyasha runs.

Naraku reaches Hojo, still wounded by his last encounter with Ah-Uhn/Juromaru and is almost killed when Kagome find them and knock over Naraku. She manages to help Hojo, but she’s unarmed and face to face with a furious Naraku. Before he can strike a hit, Inuyasha appears and saves her, but Naraku is too powerful with the sword.

While trying to flee, they find themselves in the ancient yard of the Castel where the Tenseiga’s pedestal originally was. Kagome sees the pedestal pulsating as Naraku approaches and understands that the pedestal might help them. Naraku tries to kill them with the sword but they dash at the very last second and the sword collides in the sheat of the pedestal and Naraku is stuck. Tenseiga unleashes its true power and eliminates Naraku’s magic and kills him. 

With Naraku’s gone, everything goes back to its place: Hojo is not hurt anymore, the soldiers turn back to their human form, Mama Higurashi (who’s been held captive by Naraku’s men), is set free and the evil forces flee away. Hojo then sees Tenseiga and unleash the sword again, this time in the right hands.

Everyone goes back to their life and Hojo reward Kagome and Inuyasha by making them Knights of the Round table. It’s a huge celebration and they get married as official Knights and live happily ever after. THE END.

Hope you enjoy this hc as much as I do! Again, you have permission to change details if you like. ^-^

#excalibur: a quest for Camelot #inuyasha #inukag #AU #inukag Au #headcanon

[lilprincegoo]

updating my ficrec with some more fanfictions i've read lately!

baekyeol

A Streetcar Named Desire (M,  How did Baekhyun feel about having a one night stand with the cute junior from college? Terrible. How did he feel being Chanyeol’s rebound guy? Terrib-ler. Will Baekhyun stop himself from further digging his own grave? Not a chance.)

Angels Wear Pink (PG,  Rilakkuma designer Chanyeol’s main source of inspiration is the popular idol Byun Baekhyun. To express his gratitude, Chanyeol has anonymously sent his designs to Baekhyun for years, never intending for them to actually meet. Fate (and Kim Junmyeon) have other plans.)

All I Have To Do Is Find You (Among All The Noise In The World) (G, People dream about a recognizable, defining feature of their soulmate, something that will stand out to them only. For Kyungsoo, it is the most obnoxious scream-laugh and it haunts his dreams until he finally hears it in person at a soccer game and he discovers that Kim Jongin, their high school’s bear mascot, is his soulmate.)

Behind Blue Eyes (NC-17,  Baekhyun is, among many things, blind in love with Chanyeol. Chanyeol is, among many things, an asshole in love with Baekhyun. It only takes them a few years to understand how a relationship works.)

Close ain't close enough (NC-17,  Borrowing a shirt shouldn’t start a pack war. Chanyeol being unlucky, though, it kind of does.)

Come In, Stay A While (R,  Baekhyun is a workaholic forced to go on vacation. There, he meets a little boy and his dad.)

I was So Sure (PG,  There’s nothing left but the noises—nothing left but the explosion inside him, his heart breaking to the tiniest pieces as guilt showers him with the realization of what he just ruined.)

I'm ready for the fall (ready for the colors to burn to gold and crumble away) (NC-17,   Baekhyun is a vampire who hates humans for good reasons and Chanyeol is a human who hates vampires for bad reasons. While vampires get killed and beheaded and the culprit is nowhere to be found, Chanyeol meets Baekhyun again and suddenly everything he's always believed about monsters doesn't matter anymore.)

Let Me Down Gently (NC-17,  Chanyeol’s dog might be a little too in love with Baekhyun, and Chanyeol is too.)

On the Booze With Brahms (PG,  Chanyeol has never heard someone say puppy like the asshole violinist next door does.)

Plumeria (NC-17,  Chanyeol is not what you expect in a flower shop owner; covered in tattoos and red hair. Baekhyun is his new favourite customer.)

Puppy in Love (PG,  As weird as it may seem, Chanyeol is convinced that his dog, Toben, is in love with the Welsh corgi next door. Unfortunately for Toben, the small dog seems uninterested and snobs him every time. Just like his grumpy owner.)

The faults in Byun Baekhyun (M, Baekhyun and Chanyeol hate each other's guts. It's the start of a new college year, with hormones flying and emotions sinking, with idiots roaming and jerks slinkering. Chanyeol prays that he will survive the year, hopes that he can get closer with a certain guy he's had a crush on since forever. But what he wishes above anything else is that he doesn't get roomed with Baekhyun. However, scenarios can appear deceiving amd things never go as planned. What happens when Chanyeol finds a centain Byun Baekhyun stumbling on his door, horny drunk and smelling of sex? Why, nothing, of course) + sequel >The flaws in Park Chanyeol 

without you to hold i'd be freezing (M, Everyone around Chanyeol talks about how love hides behind every corner, but they are all wrong. The only thing that hides behind a corner is a short asshole who bumps into Chanyeol on a particularly busy morning and spills Chanyeol's coffee when he needs it the most.)

chankai

if your heart was a house, i'd be home (PG-13, to rewrite a story, you have to reach the end first)

'Til The Morning Sun You're Mine (M, Jongin had expected a boring summer helping out at his parents' guest house that they rent out to tourists from all over the world. His mother forgets to tell him about the tall, gangly guy who doesn't like to wear sleeves.)

kaisoo

Alpha Male (NC-17, High school is pretty dull according to Kim Jongin. Yet almost anyone would sell their mother to be able to live his life. He’s popular, outgoing and good at sports. Love letters are hidden in his locker constantly and every boy is jealous of him. Jongin is tired of the same monochrome life every day, so when a transfer student enters the class during second year, he sees an opportunity for his life to change. Except he never expected the quiet boy with globe like eyes to be so mysterious and intimidating at the same time. The new student seems to enjoy lurking around at night, which wouldn’t be weird for a teenager really. Except he doesn’t attend parties. He doesn’t make friends either. What a loser. Jongin will eat this boy alive, that’s the plan. So how come Jongin is the one who suddenly feels like a prey?)

Days In the Sun (M,  A tale of small town love between a daydreaming beauty and a lonely beast.)

electric heart (PG-13, Kyungsoo finds a Persocom in the trash and, against his better judgement, takes it home (because Jongdae is a bad friend and a terrible enabler)) it's discontinued, but definitelly worth reading

Et Lire Entre Les Lignes (M, Kim Jongin, stressed-out student by day and fanfiction author by night, is here to give you two very helpful tips about college student life. First: Let coffee become your best friend. Second: Don't accidentally sent your smut fic to your tutor. Except maybe if his name is Do Kyungsoo..)

Event Horizon (PG-13,  Kyungsoo is a space enthusiast and Jongin meets him and falls in love with the galaxies in his eyes.)

Get to Know Me (M, Do Kyungsoo and Kim Jongin despise each other.... at least that's what everyone in the school likes to think. After all, Kyungsoo is the school's top student and Jongin is the school's biggest problem. But no one knows that Kim Jongin has a math tutor. And no one knows the real Do Kyungsoo.)

Gridiron Love (M, Rule number one of talking to your hot, football-playing crush is not to pretend to be someone you aren't. Jongin breaks that rule anyway.)

marriage is the best form of friendship (PG-13, Jongin will never get tired of proposing to Kyungsoo)

Moonlight Love (NC-17, When Kyungsoo hates werewolves, but Jongin doesn’t know how to quit loving him.)

My Muse (PG, In which Kyungsoo wants to summon his ghosts in peace but a certain somebody keeps distracting him.)

pets are the best matchmakers (PG, It was the best job in the world yet in the Saturday evening, alone at the small clinic with a bunch of cats and dogs to groom, the tanned male felt a bit lonely)

royal (let me be your ruler) (G, In which Prince Jongin is determined to make Kyungsoo his princess and love rules kingdoms)

variations on a love song (NC-17, Kyungsoo is kind of, sort of, slightly, probably, mostly, head over heels in love)

No buts, just beauty (PG, Kyungsoo's always been told that he's ugly. Jongin takes the time to convince him otherwise)

Blind but not Oblivious (M,  Jongin is the school's bear mascot who always cheers and watches on as his hopeless crush dazzles on the football pitch. Too bad he's got social anxiety and is too much of a wimp to take off his mascot head whenever Kyungsoo so much as approaches him.)

Smells Like Teen Spirit (M, side!baekyeol,  “All kids our age want is freedom, and when they get it they do stupid things with it, but god, it feels better than anything." Kyungsoo looked down at Jongin’s beautiful face. He could imagine how good he would look with white smoke curling from his full lips, with wind whipping through his hair as gold light bathed his tan skin. Such careless, glamourous freedom. Kyungsoo felt like Nick from Gatsby, if Nick had ever cradled Gatsby’s head in his lap while Gatsby pulled him headfirst into his careless, glamourous world. “Soo, will you go to the party with me?”

Storm in a Teacup (M,  Ever since supernatural creatures gained access to earth, humans are provided with their personal Guardians to protect them from all sorts of monsters. Jongin is a vampire and is put in charge of Do Kyungsoo’s protection. But see, Kyungsoo really doesn’t want to be protected. He also has a passionate dislike for vampires. It’s less-than-ideal.)

Time Goes By [So Slowly] (M,  Jongin, leader of his pack and protector of his territory in the city, finds himself with a human bodyguard when a bounty is put on his head.)

Treacherous (NC-17, side!Baekyeol,  Kyungsoo and Jongin know they are quickly journeying into dangerous territory, because Jongin's best friend is Park Chanyeol, openly homophobic and sworn enemy of Kyungsoo's best friend, Byun Baekhyun. They go there anyway.)

Trust You The Most (M, Do Kyungsoo ran a shelter for hybrids, but had never really considered keeping one of his own. Kai was left chained to Kyungsoo's front doors, abused so badly that he wouldn't let anyone get near him. It's a slow process, learning how to trust someone again.)

sekai

Give You Everything You Want (Everything You Need) (R, When Sehun moved to a little town far from everything he'd ever known, he wasn't expecting get feelings for anyone. Even less for his daughter's annoyingly perfect kindergarten teacher)

way back into love (M, It’s been six years. It’s not healthy to count, he knows, but he does it without noticing, does it as though it’s his default function. It’s as natural as breathing. It’s been six years since they parted. Sehun’s just turned twenty-six, now. There had been a party, and he spent it with bandmates and fellow artists who drank more than they could bear; and, for the first time in six years, Sehun wasn’t a part of them. While he could hear Chanyeol’s voice, among many others’, shouting “shots!” repeatedly, he’d sought silence in the further balcony of Baekhyun’s penthouse, closed the door behind him and welcomed the quiet sound of the cold wind that reached the highest spot of the building. It’d been six years since his birthday had last truly felt like a celebration of his life.)

Where Your Heart Belongs (M, Sehun doesn't know where he belongs to. Jongin will show him.)

sesoo

Take My Hand (And My Heart Too) (PG-13, Slytherin Sehun Oh gets conned by his best friend, a certain Jongin Kim, into signing up for extra Potions lessons, accidentally blows a cauldron and gets himself bound by the hand to Ravenclaw’s Prefect, Kyungsoo Do, aka his long-time crush. Chaos ensues, and feelings, of course.)

OT-12

Spare the rod, and spoil the child!  (R, Chanyeol begins his fifth year at Hogwarts on the wrong foot; Baekhyun is an elitist prefect who cannot stay out of trouble for better or for worse (though mostly for worse, unsurprisingly); Yifan has one huge Hufflepuff problem and Kyungsoo is bored out of his mind. Meanwhile, Luhan despairs about Quidditch and life; yes indeed, the year is treating everyone well. However, something seems to be off, lately. Hogwarts is not in its usual state and it would take a little more than just curiosity for the inquisitive student to find out why.)

#baekyeol #kaisoo #sekai #chankai #ficrec #exo ficrec

[thebibliomancer]

Essential Avengers: Avengers #170: “... Though Hell Should Bar The Way!”

April, 1978

Oh, hey, Jocasta is back! Good ol’ unfortunately named Jocasta!

And this is a very good DC Silver Age-esque comic cover. Heroes acting inexplicably only to be sort of explained kinda on the inside. I can’t wait to see how this scenario does not even come about.

Remember the cover where Mantis was protecting Libra from the rest of the Avengers but inside she tried to beat him up for pulling a Vader on her?

Also, “The Return of the Bride of Ultron” is a very Hammer Horror-esque title. Drop the definite article and its basically one.

But enough admiring the cover. Lets get into it.

Last time: Back in issues 161-162, Ultron gave Hank Pym amnesia as part of a weird plan to trick him into turning the Wasp into a robot for Ultron to marry. It was foiled when the robot wife summoned the Avengers with ants and Iron Man threatened to destroy her, forcing Ultron to back off.

But also recently, there’s some unrest in the house of avenge. A series of overpowered foes have been battering the Avengers esteem and as a result one stalwart chums are at each other’s throats. Cap blamed Iron Man for his absentee leadership but then Scarlet Witch went OFF on Cap’s own performance recently.

The Avengers consist mostly of hurt feelings and bruised egos at this point, basically.

So we start with Cap taking his frustration to the gym.

Beast also tries to cheer him up, in his own inimitable way.

Problem: I don’t think Cap has ever been a fan of Beast’s sense of humor. There’s been several instances since Beast has joined the team where Cap has told him to stop clowning.

And he once again does so here.

So Beast tries a different strategy. He offers to tell him about some sexual escapades.

Because in the past, Cap seemed into it. It’s the closest they’ve come to bonding as teammates.

But Cap is in a Mood so he fakes a fall to freak out Beast before catching himself on the uneven bars.

Not cool, Cap.

He then angrily pumps some iron.

Because as someone pointed out to him, he’s been useless lately. And he doesn’t have superpowers unlike some people he could mention so he’s got to keep his few skills sharp.

Beast: “You know, Cap, you’re a lot like Witchy in a way -- you both take everything way too seriously! Now, me, I never take --”

Cap: “Get lost, Beast!”

Rude.

And then Iron Man shows up which just gets Cap more tightly wound.

Iron Man just wants to have a word with Cap in private.

So Beast, in his own display of pettiness, effortlessly picks up the 500 pound weight that Cap was working out with to put it away.

Savage.

Anyway, as soon as Beast is gone, Iron Man tries to start the word in private with Cap but Cap claims to be busy and passive-aggressively starts working out with the mobile stunblaster while Iron Man is trying to talk.

The mobile stunblaster is, of course, a work out machine that follows you around and tries to shoot you with punch beams while you have to block it with special gloves.

I expect that all gyms have one. Its basic workout equipment.

Cap isn’t really receptive but Iron Man manages to get out what he wanted to say.

Iron Man: “Look, Cap, what I came to say --”

Cap: “Let me guess, Tin Man -- you want to tell me I was way off base criticizing your leadership -- since I haven’t been earning my keep lately!”

Iron Man: “No. I came to apologize for myself and for Wanda! None of us have been setting the world on fire lately! She had no right to judge you!”

Cap: “It doesn’t matter! I’ve judged myself... and in my own eyes, I’ve fallen short! Maybe I’ve been lax lately --! It won’t happen again, Tin Man! Never again!”

Iron Man: “Fine! I want you to know Cap... I feel the same way about the job I’ve done as chairman! I’ve made some bad decisions... let other matters occupy time I owed the Avengers... and when I was around, I tried to do it all myself! I guess I felt guilty... and I kept trying to prove my worth! Just wanted you to know -- I’m aware of my failings! I -- I’ll try harder, Cap... or, if you think I should, I’ll step down! You can take over!”

Cap: “Wait! Iron Man, I guess my problem is that I’ve seen too many friends die in battle -- and when it seemed as if your job with Stark outweighed your Avengers’ duties -- as if you were taking your responsibilities lightly --!”

Iron Man: “I wasn’t! But... about Stark. Cap -- I should have told you long ago that --”

Cap: “No... keep your secrets, Iron Man! You lead... I’ll follow -- that’s enough!”

MmmMMMM. That is some good open and honest communication.

I love it. The me who first read this a couple years back was a fool to come off this run with the impression that it was just the Avengers getting their asses kicked and yelling at each other.

Its the Avengers getting their asses kicked, yelling at each other, and then having productive, emotionally honest conversations. It is my JAM.

Canonically, the first Civil War wouldn’t even have happened if Cap and Iron Man had set their feelings out like this.

I like that Cap passive-aggressively working out during this conversation keeps it from being talking heads because we get a bunch of unnecessary ACTION POSES as Cap works out.

But while Cap and Iron Man SOCIAL LINK GO or perhaps SUPPORT CONVERSATION depending on where your interests lie, out in the living room some other Avengers have less dramatic bonding.

Vision and Wonder Man play a game of chess together, Jarvis and Scarlet Witch admiring what good friends they’ve become off-screen. Much improved from existential angst causing Vision to try to punch him a lot and then they have to fight a gravity jerk.

They do, after all, have a lot in common. Like a brain.

But they get a phone call from Hawkeye who reveals that Two-Gun Kid has vanished. Disappeared even!

He tells Scarlet Witch not to bother coming. There’s nothing to find at the scene of the crime. So he’ll come to them.

Meanwhile, in Attilan, the Inhuman city in the Himalayas, Quicksilver is moody. But that’s nothing new, he was like that before.

He’s sitting on a balcony gazing beyond the city.

His wife Crystal asks if Attilan confines his spirit, having to stay in a secret city after all the glory and daring of being an Avenger. The battles, the thrills, the running full speed into a wall and breaking every bit of your skeleton bone.

But just as Quicksilver is saying he would never leave her, he vanishes mid-reassurance.

No, he didn’t run away in the most supremely dickish way ever. Like Two-Gun, he’s been disappeared.

What is going on here?

A story for later.

But for meanwhile we’re back to the Avengers Mansion where the Wasp shows off her new costume.

I don’t know what to say about it. Its not the worst she’s had. You don’t see as many superhero costumes that are orange and yellow. And Jan knows that branding is important because she put W for Wasp all over herself. Her gloves are cut to suggest Ws as are her boots. She’s got cleavage W and an abdomen W too.

Yellowjacket actually warns Wonder Man that if Wasp notices him in civvies, she’ll get him in a new costume so fast!

Wonder Man defers. He’s decided he’s not the costume type.

The thing about the Wasp is even if she makes a costume for someone else, she often makes it to appeal to her own tastes. Like when she made a costume for Angelica Jones, Firestar, with a pluuuuuuuuunging neckline. To Firestar’s lament.

So what I’m saying is that if Wonder Man let Wasp dress him, he’d definitely end up in thigh boots and with W’s all over his clothes.

Although, Wonder Man does become an actor later on who plays oiled up big muscles tiny shorts roles. So he’d probably rock it.

And then some colorful comic relief blue collar characters show up.

Wasp put her foot down and told Hank that she would not live with a Real Doll version of herself in the house so Hank hired Meyer and Mack to move her into his lab in the mansion.

Meyer is a real ‘seen it all’ type. Nothing impresses him. Avengers? Pssh. He moved Neil Sendaka’s ‘pianer’ once. Yellowjacket starts monologuing “[Jocasta] was conceived in evil, and yet while Ultron was transfering Jan’s life into her metal body, she unselfishly gave up her own existence by summoning us in time to stop the process and save Jan!” and Meyer all but taps his watch and reminds Yellowjacket that he’s on a flat rate.

Now Mack on the other hand? Mack is sure impressed.

And possibly discovering he has a new fetish.

Elsewhere in Saugerties, New York, the Guardians of the Galaxy secretly watch over a young Vance Astrovik. They’re sure that any day now evil cyborg from the future Korvac is going to try to knock off Vance to prevent the Guardians of the Galaxy from ever forming.

That is, if young Vance doesn’t manage to get himself killed first.

Since he’s playing baseball in the middle of a dark street and if Charlie-27 hadn’t been there, a truck would have run him over.

How he survived in the original timeline without future people being his guardian angels is a bit of a mystery.

Charlie-27: “It’s a wonder anyone reaches maturity in this idiotic backward era!”

An era where people toss spheroids in the middle of the road and where strange pieces of paper can be exchanged for food items. What strange customs.

The takeaway here is that, yes, the Guardians are busy guardianing Vance Astrovik and even though Korvac actually has bigger fish to fry and their vigil over Vance is misguided, its not pointless.

But meanwhile, back at the plot, Meyer and Mack finish carting the Jocasta crate into Hank Pym’s lab.

And just as Mack is marveling at how ‘real’ Jocasta looks (presumably for someone made entirely of metal with silly metal hair tentacles and also robot eyelashes) the robot girl awakens and OH YEAHS through the crate.

Jocasta: “He has awakened me! He calls! I must go to him! Let nothing stop me!”

Meyer and Mack flee the lab and run into an unhappy Yellowjacket who heard the crash of the OH YEAH and assumes that they fucked something up.

Which is probably not the case.

After escorting the movers out, the Avengers (Vision, Scarlet Witch, Wonder Man, Yellowjacket, and Wasp) run towards the lab.

But listening to the voice in her head, Jocasta finds the button that locks down the lab and then obviously locks down the lab.

Yellowjacket and Wasp managed to slip through the door before it closed. Doors never really bothered Vision anyway. But that leaves Wonder Man and Scarlet Witch locked out.

And the door is really tough! Its made of a special alloy almost as impenetrable as adamantium. Although the fact that it doesn’t get a name here sort of implies its going to be back to the drawing board.

But either way, the whole lab has been reinforced with it. For security reasons.

Scarlet Witch is sure that if she concentrates her probability altering powers, she can get the door to crumble but in the meantime, Wonder Man is going to keep punching like it personally insulted him.

Inside the lab, the three Avengers discover Jocasta up and about and creepy. She talks with Jan’s voice except cold and metallic. (Its never discussed whether Vision sounds like Wonder Man but since his body was the Human Torch’s I think probably not).

Vision isn’t creeped out. Somehow Ultron activated the Jocasta robot from afar and makes her speak like Jan hoping the Avengers will hesitate. But Vision won’t.

Drama is passed down in the family and as Ultron loves breaking Hank Pym’s things, so too will Vision break Ultron’s.

Except apparently Ultron planned for this. When he does the thing he always does and tries to intangible inside the robot to disrupt her circuits, he discovers an anti-matter booby trap.

It fills him with deadly energies and also copious amounts of pain.

Meanwhile, Beast has arrived at the door. He’s been looking for Thor but Thorry no Thor to be found.

That’s not one of his jokes. I just couldn’t resist.

Scarlet Witch is finally ready to do the thing she do and make probability weep but apparently the door has personally insulted Wonder Man by now. He proclaims a grudge match and finally punches it down.

Maybe its because it didn’t initially fall when he reminded everyone that his punches are approximately on the level of Thor’s hammer.

He says that a lot. That and the fact that he was created to fight the whole original Avengers roster.

I think its to remind the audience what Wonder Man’s deal is. But it also fits in with him being insecure, especially since nearly every time he talks about his fists being on the level of Mjolnir, the fight goes bad for him.

Inside the lab, Wonder Man, Beast, and Scarlet Witch find the Vision who tells them not to touch him because of the deadly energies. But that they need to pursue Jocasta.

Who has left the lab and is in the courtyard.

...

So all that effort to punch down the really expensive door was for naught? Did they really have no one guarding the other exit from that room?

Geez.

In the courtyard, Wasp and Yellowjacket fail to do anything to prevent Jocasta from strolling away, punching random plants.

Wasp: “Hank, I’m afraid Ultron’s strategy is working. I can’t bring myself to hurt her! It’d be like hurting myself!”

Yellowjacket: “I -- I know what you mean!”

Lets ignore, for once, the obvious and terrible irony involving future events. Lets go right in and focus on Jan not being able to hurt anything bearing an image of her.

Her one weakness. She just loves what she sees in the mirror too much to ever raise a hand to it.

The two heroes try to use their respective ranged attacks at low power to drive Jocasta back into the mansion but then Yellowjacket makes the mistake these two heroes always make and flies in too close.

She nabs him out of thin air and starts squeeeezing

Then Beast do what Beast do. DYNAMIC ENTRANCE, BOOT TO THE HEAD!

Then because Yellowjacket distracts Beast asking him not to smash Jocasta if he can help it, Jocasta shoots him in the face with eye lasers.

Because, of course, Ultron built her with eye lasers.

The family that slays together, right?

Wonder Man goes to punch her to scrap but she has a force field. Of course she does.

And even though he could punch through it eventually, in the here and now she shoots him in the face with eye lasers.

Scarlet Witch uses her power over nature (I guess she does just have both skillsets interchangably. Neat) to wrap Jocasta up in a tree in much the way a tree does not and cannot do.

Jocasta just flexes her way free. Because she has robot super strength.

Ultron, your wife is too powerful. You’re shaming the rest of us with your unstoppable killing machine wife.

The Avengers regroup and think about this. Maybe if they use teamwork and work as a team, assemble if you will, maybe if they strike as one they can overcome this robot lady.

Before they can, Iron Man comes in blasting.

Not at her, at them.

Iron Man: “Leave her alone! The first Avenger who harms her answers to me!”

And then Thor appears out of nowhere, calling it a long-delayed return (weird time stuff is still going on with him). Instantly deduces a battle is happening and decides that it would be a really cool way to enter the battle if he smashes this mysterious robot woman with his hammer.

I’m not saying that Thor always goes for the move that will fit best on an album cover but I’m sure that it runs through his mind sometimes.

Captain America is confused that Thor doesn’t recognize Jocasta since he was there when they stopped Ultron from putting Jan’s soul in her. And he’s not sure where he’s flying in from since he was just in the mansion minutes ago.

BUT HE HAS TO SAVE ROBOT GIRL!

And he throws his mighty shield and even Mjolnir must yield.

Also, after their little talk, Iron Man and Cap are back in the whole friendly pal/chum kind of thing. Like. Almost exaggeratedly so. Like Cap is making a real effort.

-Iron Man catches Cap after he jumps off the roof to throw his mighty shield-

Cap: “Thanks, Iron Man!”

Iron Man: “Good work, Cap! Took a heck of a chance, though!”

Cap: “Not really. I figured someone would catch me! After all, teamwork’s the name of the game!”

It practically screams I’M GOING TO BE POSITIVE!!

The other Avengers criticize Iron Man and Cap for letting Jocasta go. Which she does by literally walking through the wall. Geez. Ultron your wife is so strong.

Anyway. Iron Man explains the obvious thing. His armor sensors have locked on to Jocasta’s electrical patterns. Obviously they’re going to follow her and she’s going to lead them to Ultron!

Hot damn! Avengers being proactive! Kinda! I mean, Jocasta waking up was on Ultron but instead of just letting the killer robot lurk around somewhere and make a new plan to be murdery and oedipal, Iron Man is going to do something about it!

Unless this is a trap!

But that’s just the hazards of the job.

Also, I guess the cover was more or less accurate. The exact scene didn’t exactly happen but the spirit of it basically. Although Iron Man never blasted Wonder Man. In fact, he apologized that he had to blast near him to stop him.

So this is my second read through this run on Avengers. So like the brown bear I know ALL. But the first time around, I’m pretty sure I didn’t see Jocasta coming back.

I mean, it was only eight issues back. But that’s over half a year. Generally a loose end like Jocasta either comes back in the next issue or is teased throughout to remind the readers that its totally going to be a plot device.

If not, usually the loose end doesn’t come back so soon. And just gets brought back by the first writer who remembers it was a thing.

Apparently Jocasta has just been propped up in Hank Pym’s living room the whole time with Jan growing more and more disgruntled with it.

There’s not much to say about Jocasta herself. She’s kind of like the Wonder Man zuvembie. More plot device than character right now. But an intriguing one.

So next time: more of this. The Revenge of the Return of the Bride of Ultron. But it won’t be called that, alas.

#Avengers #Korvac Saga #Jocasta #Captain America #Iron Man #Scarlet Witch #the Vision #Yellowjacket #the Wasp #Beast #Thor #Guardians of the Galaxy #reminding us that they're here #Essential Avengers #angry exercising #open and honest communication #rampage of the real doll #this one is weirdly paced in that it has really good pacing #the Wasp's only weakness #feels very part one of a story which it is #Essential marvel liveblogging

[recentanimenews]

You Are My Brother's Keeper: Blood & Love in Tekkonkinkreet

In the beginning, there was darkness. And then light. Two boys–Kuro and Shiro—must save their city, Treasure Town, on the verge of massive reconstruction and change at the hands of the Yakuza. Directed by Michael Arias, the 2006 film Tekkonkinkreet is adapted from artist Taiyō Matsumoto’s manga of the same name. Tekkonkinkreet is both parts a coming-of-age story and a gritty crime tale of moral reckoning. These stories messily intermingle and form the backbone that makes Tekkonkinkreet such a compelling picture.

  Blood—the carnage that is the result of violence and also symbolic of family ties—is what flows freely in Tekkonkinkreet’s setting and between its two protagonists. Violence is the world of Kuro, the older of the two boys who fiercely protects the younger, Shiro, who lives in a world of fantasy escapism. Like two sides of a scale, Shiro and Kuro compliment each other and in their pursuit of justice for their beloved Treasure Town. However, both must also find moral balance between violence and innocence in an unforgiving adult world of crime and punishment.

    Sins of the Father

  The first scene of Tekkonkinkreet depicts Shiro and Kuro hunting down their doppelgangers, the brothers Dawn and Dusk across Treasure Town. This scene is the viewer’s first taste of the city’s elaborate pan-Asian aesthetics and busy architecture. Treasure Town is itself a major character in Tekkonkinkreet, one that commands its citizens to navigate it like an elaborate maze as though they were a drunken minotaur. After this chase sequence resolves, it isn’t long before Treasure Town’s crime-fueled underbelly is revealed in the form of Nezumi’s gang, an aging man who for better or worst, also acts as a guardian for Shiro and Kuro.

  Known as the Stray Cats, Shiro and Kuro’s positions in Treasure Town is constantly being challenge by the Yakuza, who seek to refurbish and gentrify the town as an urban “Kiddie Palace” with a pro-capitalist bent. This decision doesn’t sit well with Kuro, and thus begins a series of close-encounters with Nezumi and his underlings, who must carefully work around Kuro’s and Shiro’s fierce commitment to keeping Treasure Town the way it’s always been.

  The boys, Shiro and Kuro, aren’t inherently violent—children are ultimately depicted not as victims, but as adoptees into a life of necessary crime and delinquency in Tekkonkinkreet. This is never argued, but merely accepted as a fact of life in Treasure Town. Children aren't casualties, but just another cog in a well-oiled machine. This is exemplified during a Yakuza-led meeting as Kuro crashes through a window in the middle of the night–striking like a supernatural vigilante as a swarm of crows surround him. Kuro wastes no time brutally attacking the men with a pipe, thus beginning a downward spiral into bloodshed, and some serious moral questioning for a teen.

    Blood is the unspoken language of Treasure Town. It's what Kuro uses to warn the Yakuza in bold letters that he’s serious about keeping the status-quo. The first time we see Kuro bleed in combat is also first time we’re exposed to a wickedness in Kuro that isn’t merely playful, but rooted in a brutal, hungry lust of violence. Yet, it isn’t only Kuro who has such a revealing moment. In a fight between a purple-skinned henchman and Kuro, Shiro pours gasoline and lights the baddie aflame, without any care for his gasoline-soaked brother below. Despite the spectacle and glamour of Tekkonkinkreet's design, this beautiful film still cannot escape brutal and visceral moments like these.

  No gesture goes unexplored in these scenes; Shiro's laughing is unforgettable as he lights a match, and nor is Kuro's ominous grin as he breaks window glass across a Yakuza's face. Human blood and man-made materials are easily accessible to the boys and are disposal, as though they were summoned from a cartoonish dimensional pocket rather than reality. But the consequences of their actions are felt nonetheless, in severe injury, in death, regardless of how free and escapist Shiro and Kuro believe their lives may be. These boys are intimately aware of violence's role in their ecosystem, and Tekkonkinkreet wastes no time in its first arc to use blood, flammable liquid, and the destruction of bodies as a means to convey this with destructive, childlike fascination.

  For The Sake of Love

  For a movie about two deviant kids, there is also a strong adult presence seen in the Yakuza. As mentioned earlier, Nezumi and his right-hand Kimura, seek to change Treasure Town in a capitalist boom city. However, Kimura is promptly dismissed "on vacation" by Nezumi–leaving him vulnerable to the grasps of Tekkonkinkreet's second-act villain, the campy Snake. Ironically, it's a twisted sense of  brotherly love that ties the boys and men of Treasure Town together. And this camaraderie between Yakuza members is what Snake takes advantage of, and unfortunately was separates Shiro and Kuro after Snake's henchmen become more persist in hunting them down. Snake’s purple-skinned henchmen, which resemble jiangshi—Chinese vampires—are drone-like in their bloodlust, bringing with them a strong contrast to the paternal theme of family carrying Tekkonkinkreet’s second arc.

    Love—it’s inevitably Kuro's love for Shiro is what pulls him further away from Shiro's childlike wonder with the world. After being taken into police custody as Snake’s conflict with Kuro escalates, Shiro becomes further entrenched into the world of fantasy and his hyperactive imagination. Shiro is preoccupied with drawing an entire room full of messy crayon pictures while Kuro threatens anyone in town who questions his authority.

  Kuro embraces the maze-like mess that is Treasure Town has become since Shiro’s departure, and consequently must confront his doppleganger known as "the Minotaur,” a demonic green-skinned boy who wears Kuro’s likeness. Appearing human is no longer the point for the Minotaur, the embodiment of everything Shiro helped Kuro repressed. All that matters is expressing another child-like desire—the desire for endless destruction. A desire that Shiro inverts in his desire to create, rather than destroy—to draw pictures of dolphins and bright blue oceans while Kuro’s world visually becomes ashen, representing the underworld where a shinigami or Hades might snatch him away.

  The Minotaur and Kuro are parallels in every way Shiro and Kuro aren’t—while Kuro is constantly giving to Shiro, Shiro only receives. For Kuro and his dark Minotaur doppelganger, this relationship is inverted and alluring. If Kuro fully embraces his violent urges and slaughters everyone out to get him, he’ll never see Shiro again. As Kuro falls into a deep depression, only the Minotaur is there to embrace him, hold him tight like the lost child he is, and for a moment allow him to show vulnerability. But vulnerability isn’t what Kuro needs—it’s Shiro, someone to mentor and protect, someone who will always be a beacon on optimism despite their vagrant lifestyle. Someone who creates rather than destroys. In a startling moment of lucidity, Kuro says no, and takes a literal leap of faith away from the Minotaur’s clutches to re-join Shiro. The scene climaxes with the two brothers diving into the ocean, back to enjoying their lives as children without responsibility, without the false promise of violence for violence’s sake.

    Blood spilled in Tekkonkinkreet is the same blood spilled between brothers and Yakuza, evil henchmen, and nasty ghouls. The blood of violence is red all across—it pours despite a wicked viscosity with every swing of a makeshift weapon and sword. But Tenkkonkinkreet emphasizes that there is another blood that flows between brothers, which springs forth from found-family, maze-like cities that raises lost children, and escapist fantasies that give siblings hope for the future. Tekkonkinkreet doesn’t play into the myth of a child’s lost innocence, but instead, relishes in that fact that everyone is capable of bloodshed, that the urges for violence is innate in everyone, and in the end no one is completely innocent after the trial-by-fire that is urban adolescence.

  Are you a fan of Tekkonkinkreet? Let us know in the comments what this film means to you!

    ---

Blake Planty is a writer who loves his cat. He likes old mecha anime, computer games, books, and black coffee. His twitter is @_dispossessed. He's a major Pisces.

By: [email protected]

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