#I considered coloring everyone in and shading them but then I decided I liked it better like this tbh?

[turtleblogatlast]

AU starts here!

Previous |

Here we have just a taste of Path A - also known as “All Together Now.” If you’re confused - good! Things will make sense in time, trust me.

#prison!leo au #path a #rottmnt #rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles #rottmnt au #rottmnt leo #I considered coloring everyone in and shading them but then I decided I liked it better like this tbh? #and also I’m LAZY #but yeah here’s a touch of path a! some things may be apparent now but it’s meant to be a littleeee confusing at this point #odds are I’m gonna see stuff I wanna change when I look back on this so if you see little changes here and there No You Didn’t #I MAY go back and put in values but again I kinda like it just black and white for once #BUT YEAH this path is TECHNICALLY the happiest one #it starts the exact same way as the other two #but ~something~ happens right at the start #turtle art tag #there’s a bunch of little things strewn throughout this if people are feeling detective-y today

[moneypowerglorymiddleofmiami]

— trickentine જ⁀➴♡ ︎

pairing: luke castellan x aphrodite!reader

summary: when eros, the god of love, makes the annual valentine visit to camp half-blood, he conveniently unintentionally leaves his bow and arrow in the capable hands of his younger half-sister.

warnings: nothing i think, except for like one curse word (pls do tell me if i miss any though!)

genre: ...romcom?

part 2

─── ° ᡣ𐭩 . ° . ───

The gods were many things: powerful at their core, benevolent to those who merit it, temperamental when goaded, and mysterious in their methods— but there was one trait that defined them most of all, incandescently littered in their tales and lores: they were tricksters.

You really should’ve known better than to pick up that stray quiver of arrows.

─── ° ᡣ𐭩 . ° . ───

The Aphrodite Cabin consistently made it a point to celebrate Valentine’s Day with much fanfare. Everyone has been busy the entire week preceding it; there were fresh roses to harvest, pink and red deserts to be made, hundreds of paper hearts to be cut, ribbons to be tied and acres to decorate. As one of the older siblings, a huge chunk of the responsibility fell on your shoulders. Needless to say, you spent an entire extra hour in the bathroom trying to put your concealer to good use.

A mere 10 minutes after leaving your cabin on V-Day, you’d managed to snap and glare at nearly everyone who even thought of intercepting your path.

Nearly everyone because you knew better than to direct your ire at the god of love.

“You didn’t even blend.” Eros said, perusing your make-up judgmentally. “Consider your favorite demigod sister card revoked.”

In his current human form, his hair was a deep shade of black and coiffed to perfection, his eyes a brown hue that you could only describe as melodramatic, and his skin beautifully tanned from frolicking in the sunlight.

Gods, how you missed to frolick in the sunlight. These days, you had to slave in it.

“Lord Eros.” You bowed, desperately fighting the urge to roll your eyes and purse your lips.

“I adore what you’ve done with the place.” He waved his hand off dismissively. He trudges ahead of you, officially beginning his annual Valentine inspection. “Although I definitely think it could use a little more sparkle. Perhaps a little more pink, too.”

‘Pink? For Valentines? Groundbreaking.’ You drawled inside your head. “The Hephaestus cabin is tinkering with a smoke machine to make it emit glitter.”

“Wonderful.” He replied passively, his attention drawn towards the dining pavilion where hundreds of glowing hearts hung from mid-air. Eros turned towards you. “Fairy lights on the beams?”

“On it.” You nodded your head tiredly, scribbling messily onto a notepad. “Anything else?”

“Everything’s perfect, except…” He trailed off before raising an eyebrow at you. “Find yourself a boyfriend, maybe? You need to loosen up.”

“Oh my gods,” You muttered under your breath, fighting the urge to physically recoil.

─── ° ᡣ𐭩 . ° . ───

“Don’t think I haven’t noticed you slacking off on training.” Luke chastised with a tut, tugging your arm towards the training areas. Your feet were basically dragging against the dirt, soiling your sneakers and flicking particles of dust against your skirt, but you couldn’t care less.

“Luke, look around you. What do you see?” You asked, your tone too saccharine to be considered serious.

He decided to humor you anyway. “Hearts.”

“10 points to House Hermes. Now,” You leaned in conspiratorially, “Who do you think set this whole place up?”

Luke barely opened his mouth before you answered your own question.

“Me.” You jabbed a finger against your chest. You narrowed your eyes at him. “I set this whole place up. I planned it— the theme, the color scheme, the glitter, the ribbons, the dazzling pink fountain with mini-Cupids who sing at the hour!”

“It looks very pretty!” He said, panicked.

“Yes, I know it looks very pretty.” You kissed your teeth. “Don’t you think I deserve a little break because it looks very pretty?”

He shook his head.

“You are insufferable!” You groaned.

“Hey! In my defense,” He raised both of his arms in the air to plead innocence, “You’re the one who said you wanted to develop a skill by the end of the summer."

His voice was pitched higher by the end in a poor imitation of your’s. You scrunched your nose in distaste.

“Gods, why do I keep digging my own grave?” You mumbled. Luke shook his head in amusement.

He led you into the clearing of the archery field, a line of circle targets dotted around the edge of the forest. A quiver of arrows was hung against the branches, different from the ones in the armory but definitely familiar to you.

“You can use those. Guess one of the kids forgot to return them after practice.” He shrugged. Luke mustn’t have noticed the difference.

You reached up to grab the weapons, still incredulous but definitely not alarmed enough to hesitate. The material thrummed in your hands.

“Go shoot.” He grinned.

“Very helpful instructions.” You muttered.

“Well, it’s pretty straightforward, sweetheart.” He sauntered over to one of the targets, leaning against the wooden frame. “You’ve been taught the basics, you just need the application. Now, shoot.”

“I could literally hit you.” You said blankly as you mounted the arrow against your bow.

“Consider it your challenge to not hit me.” He raised a thumbs-up.

“You’re insane.” You responded, irked and stressed by his casualness. “I’m sleep-deprived!"

Again, Luke just shrugged his shoulders. You huff, but then follow his lead anyway. You close one eye as you raise your weapon to your line of vision, zeroing in on the target.

As soon as the arrow flicked away from your fingers, it changed its course. When it should’ve followed a curved arch towards the red target, it whizzed away and made a beeline straight for Luke. A pink trail of haze followed its path.

“Duck!” You yell.

The arrow pierced through his chest at nearly the same time Luke’s body collided with the ground.

“That’s where those went.” Eros snapped his fingers as he emerged behind you. His glinting eyes were looking intently at the bow and quiver on you, an imperciptible smile on his face.

Your eyes widened in surprise. Shit.

“Lord Eros! I sincerely apologize.” You immediately took off the weaponry, holding them in your hands then kneeling as if to offer them back. You definitely did not want a god to be at odds with you. The two of you might have the same mother, but that didn’t mean you were equal in Aphrodite’s eyes. “I wasn’t-”

“Nah, don’t worry about it, sis.” He said, tapping your shoulder. Was he actually consoling you? “I shouldn’t have left it out in the open anyways.”

He pulled you up by the arm gently, snapping his fingers and getting the remnants of grass off of your knees. He even picked off a stray leaf from your hair. What in Tartarus was this?

For as long as you’ve known Eros and he’s practically coerced you into a dysfunctional sibling relationship, this was the kindest thing he’s ever done. Yes, the bar was low.

Something was wrong. Something was very wrong.

“You didn’t use this on someone, did you?” Eros asked, cradling the quiver and bow against him like a child.

“I think I managed to hit Luke—”

“You didn’t!” He interrupted with a theatrical gasp, a hand covering his mouth. He was such a drama queen.

You narrowed your eyes. He planned this, didn't he?

He smirked wider when he noticed the change in your demeanor, the realization behind your gaze. You swore his pupils changed to hearts for a moment.

“Good luck with lover boy, little sis.” He turned around, showing you the back of his hand as he waved goodbye.

#luke castellan imagine #luke castellan #luke castellan x reader #pjo tv show #pjo series #pjo #percy jackon and the olympians #percy jackson #percy series

[basichextechml]

Details

Wednesday Addams/Fem!Reader

Rating: Teen // 4.7K words // Reader uses she/her pronouns, no looks are described, rated teen bc the jokes are morbid and somewhat graphic, reader is a shapeshifter, reader is a touch insecure but don’t worry guys it’s good I swear, I’m sick w covid rn so if you spot a mistake no you don’t (but actually tell me pls), there’s a playlist at the end of this fic pls check it out love you guys <3

A chain reaction is set off when Wednesday realizes she’s not actually talking to her roommate

Pt. 2

---

     Wednesday wasn’t talking to Enid right now.

     Sure Enid was in front of her, sitting on her bed, in their room, wearing her clothes, and her face- but it had, embarrassingly, taken Wednesday five whole minutes to realize it wasn’t Enid. Her hairline was off, her smile was a bit too big, and her eyeliner wasn’t done with its normal flicked technique. What cracked the bell, however, was the fact that her nails were a different color. Wednesday normally couldn’t care less, but her roommate had been trying to find the perfect shade of green for her nails for the past month and had only repainted them this morning, blabbering on and on about it. A fact that made Wednesday want to open the large decorative window, and fling herself out of it.

     But her nails weren’t green. They were blue with pink polka dots. The same pattern she had last week.

     “You’re a pretty convincing fake,” Wednesday bit, and faux-Enid paused mid-sentence.

     You’d been caught.

     Wednesday continues, tilting her head down to glare at you through her lashes. Other than those minute details- you really could be Enid. Or, at least, someone lesser than her would believe so. “Who are you, and why have you chosen to impersonate my roommate?”

     Faux-Enid sighed, before sticking on her house slippers and stepping towards Wednesday, holding out a hand. After a moment of consideration, Wednesday took it firmly in hers and shook it twice. You clicked your tongue in satisfaction- a decidedly un-Enid thing for you to do. Wednesday never thought she’d see the uncanny implications of someone wearing another’s face so nonchalantly in person.

     “(Y/n),” You said, brows pitching up as you finally looked around freely, “I just wanted to see the great Wednesday Addams that everyone’s been whispering about.”

     “Whispering is for wakes, I prefer it that way, everyone’s been too loud since I’ve arrived.”

     You understood now why everyone was talking- well, maybe for different reasons. They were concerned about the attempted murder charges. You were wondering how someone could be so pretty. She was entirely ignoring you as well, a bold move considering you were a stranger, and you had impersonated her roommate and snuck into her dorm.

     Hm. That made you sound like a creep.

     Oh well.

     The newly occupied side of the room was sparsely decorated- a far cry from Enid’s colorful and cluttered abode. You couldn’t say it was bad, though, everything was organized, in its rightful place- and delightfully macabre, accentuating the architecture that encased it. Her bedsheets had hospital corners. Taking care not to touch anything, you glanced over the few trinkets she had, lingering on the heavy typewriter with a fresh piece of paper stuck inside its hold.

     As you take a step closer to her, she takes one back.

     You rescind your previous step, putting twice the space between you- and you catch a downward twitch in her brow.

     “A murder mystery?” You ask, looking her in the eye. Wednesday isn’t entirely sure you’re asking about her book, even though it is the topic of discussion.

     Wednesday found herself asking a question without thinking. “How could you tell?”

     You turn your back on her, this time. A dangerous decision, she decides, because she can see your neck from here. “Instinct, maybe?” You tease, turning back momentarily to wink. Wednesday’s lips purse tight, perturbed at those words coming from what seems to be Enid’s mouth.

     “If you’re going to act in such a way, I’d be much obliged if you stopped mimicking my roommate.” Her skin prickled as you sighed, rocking back on your feet as if contemplating her words.

     And then you begin to change, right in front of Wednesday’s eyes.

     Wednesday’s ever-present morbid curiosity waits for the cracking of bone or stretching of skin- reminiscent of other transformations she’d bore witness to. This was nothing of the sort- it was smooth. Too smooth. Like a hot knife through the doughy fat of a thigh. It’s disturbing as you take on a new shape, and she can’t blink, because she’ll miss it.

     Or maybe she won’t? How can she miss it when the familiar face staring back at her is her?

     You trot along to Enid’s mirror, fixing your newfound fringe and admiring how Wednesday’s face looks on you. She had dark brown- nearly black eyes, and a smattering of freckles over her soft skin. Her eyelashes are long, too, wisping against her brows and the apples of her cheeks, almost like a doll. “You really are pretty, Wednesday. Great cheekbones,” She sees the way your eyes look down at her lips in the mirror. “Nice-”

     “If you finish that train of thought they’ll find you at the bottom of the lake hog-tied with lead in your pockets.”

     You smile at her- and that’s how others would be able to tell you both apart because the muscles responsible for completing such an expression had died in her face long ago. It was like an out-of-body experience, or a successful trial after her many failed attempts at lucid dreaming. It made her feel something- something she couldn’t put a finger on- something she might not like.

     She wants to end this.

     But then you’d leave.

     She wants you to leave.

     Right?

     It may be too difficult to say no to her own face.

     You can see the twitch next to her lip, and know that maybe you’ve pushed the new girl too far- and thus, you borrow Enid again. “Don’t worry, Wednesday,” the way you say her name sends chills up her spine, like hypothermia setting in. It’s different from the way Enid would say it, like you’re pitching her voice differently, making it your own. “I won’t borrow your face if you don’t want me to.”

     And just as you make peace with plunging Wednesday into the ice-cold uncharted waters of discomposure, the door jiggles and swings open. Enid- the real one- stands in the doorway with shopping bags on her arm, ones that she nearly drops as she squeals over your presence.

     Wednesday takes a step back as the blonde entirely overtakes you, and she’s sure she’ll go blind from the embarrassingly emotional spectacle you both make. Clamoring and chattering as you discuss something undoubtedly trivial. Enid doesn’t seem to mind that you’ve borrowed her complexion. Wednesday doesn’t understand it. Maybe she doesn’t want you to leave. She feels her fingers twitch in the urge to lay you down and cut you open. Shapeshifters must have malleable cells, right? To aid in the transformation process? She wants to see what it would look like under a microscope.

     As if sensing her murderous intent, maybe you can see it in her eyes, you turn to her, a sly little smile. “It was lovely meeting you Wednesday. I’d love to hear more about your novel next time we chat.”

     The next time.

     How bold.

---

     When Enid posted on her blog about Nevermore gaining a new student and the scandal that would undoubtedly follow, you were hooked. The Addams were infamous at Nevermore, and now their oldest would be showing up midway through the quarter, tugging along attempted murder charges?

     You were itching to meet her.

     Heart practically beating out of your chest, you retreated from Enid and Wednesday’s dorm. Riveting. Absolutely riveting. Your fingers and toes were numb in excitement at the prospect of the rest of the quarter. Who knew a flash of braids and a homicidal edge was what this school so desperately needed?

---

     “I’m assuming you know her?” Wednesday asked, not bothering to look at her roommate as she pulled out her desk chair and began setting up her typewriter.

     “Oh, (Y/n)? Yeah of course! We’re like, besties!” Wednesday fought the urge to roll her eyes at Enid’s terminology. “I was wondering when she was gonna come around- when I told her you were coming to Nevermore she totally freaked.” Enid clipped her bangs back, getting ready for her nightly skin routine. “I can’t believe it took her, like, what, a week? to come say hi.”

     Wednesday hummed, barely hearing the words over the clacking of her typewriter keys, her brows furrowed in thought. Enid grabbed her caddy of soaps and prepared to head off into the bathroom. “I feel like you’ll be great friends. Ooooh, we should totally do, like, a group sleepover! I’ll be right back, think about it, okay?”

     The front door slammed shut behind Enid, and Wednesday grumbled, pulling out the used sheet of paper from her typewriter and crumpling it up. Thing looked up from his place on Wednesday’s bed, shutting the magazine he’d been leafing through to see what was troubling her. Wordlessly, she fed another piece of paper into the paper table.

     Perhaps Viper De La Muerte’s mystery would gain another character.

---

     You come to her next as Xavier in their shared botanical sciences class, and she can tell right away based on the doodle you’re scratching into his desk. It’s quite awful. Horrendous, actually- technically speaking.

     “Good morning Wednesday” You chirp, and that warbled tone is there again. Perhaps a side effect? Curiosity is creeping up on her in these spare meetings you both share, getting ready to strangle her in the best way

      Wednesday sets down her bag, and sits precariously on her chair, eyeing the etched drawing on the desk. It’s a raven, and when it doesn’t pop out of the table at her, she’s sure of her conviction.

     “(Y/n)” She states.

     You let out an affronted gasp, eyes crinkling at the recognition, before propping your chin up on your hand. “How could you tell? Was it my magnetic personality?” Wednesday focuses on the way your, Xaviers, fingers tap and fidget against the desk like you think she won’t notice. “Perhaps our first encounter has captured your heart- and you’ve fallen for me?”

     “I’d rather you watch me fall off a cliff.”

     “Sounds like the perfect date idea, how about seven tomorrow night?”

     You watch in excitement as her brows tick up a hairline of an inch and the way her cheeks look a little less dead. She most likely wasn’t used to someone receiving her sardonic personality with open arms.

     In place of answering, she chooses to counter it with another question. “Why are you impersonating Xavier?”

     Dramatically, you pull out a notebook. Not a sketchbook. A real notebook. And begin to take dutiful notes. Another way she would’ve been able to tell the difference between you and Xavier. “If someone doesn’t want to go to class, for whatever reason, they normally pay me to come and make sure they don’t miss an attendance credit, take a test, get homework-”

     “Cheat?”

     “If that’s what you’d like to call it, then yeah, cheat,” You shrug, “It makes me good money, and I get to keep the grade curve up. I’m sure you could appreciate that.” Your pencil nudges against hers, tapping against her meticulous notes.

     She’s not sure where to take this conversation, and that weird feeling is back. Normally, she’s itching to leave a conversation. Any conversation. Maybe it’s the fact that while she’s talking to Xavier, she’s also talking to you. There’s nothing to put to your voice yet, even when it’s masked and warbled by another.

     Wednesday is talking to someone, and she doesn’t really know who. The concept is eldritchtian in nature, that she could look over and not understand something that was right in front of her face. There’s no control. A masterful side eye keeps watch on you throughout the period. If she can’t put a face to a name, she could at least tack onto mannerism. Maybe then she could control that feeling in her gut.

     You liked keeping your hands above the desk and busy. You’d fidget with them often, picking at your nails. Your nose would involuntarily twitch whenever Thornhill pulled out a particularly foul-smelling plant. But was that you or Xavier? Wednesday’s pen taps the edge of her paper, leaving ink blots in the margins. She could argue that it’s you- at the end of the day it’s your brain, but another part says you could be subconsciously mimicking the mannerisms of whoever you’re impersonating. You’re a puzzle with one too many edge pieces that she’s trying to make fit.

      She’s adorable- thinking that you don’t notice she’s watching you. The thing about being different, for good or bad reasons, is that you can feel when someone’s trying to understand you. How their eyes linger. Maybe it’s masochism that runs your brain because you feel good gaining her attention- no matter how depraved it was.

     The game of ignoring and noticing each other continued throughout the period, like a dance you had practiced, making sure not to step on each other’s toes. You wondered if she was curious enough to ask now. You wanted her to ask. To be curious enough to suggest meeting up. To know you better. From what Enid had spilled about her, Wednesday was confident- and unpredictable. The ball was never in your court because she was never even playing her game with you, just hitting it against the wall by your head and waiting for you to flinch.

     You’d flinch if she wanted.

     Miss Thornhill wrapped up the end of class, the volume of the room slowly rising as kids began to talk about their upcoming plans for the weekend. You watched slyly as Wednesday packed up, flipping your notebook closed to give back to Xavier.

      “My room, tonight after dinner,” Wednesday murmured firmly, and your smile pulled taught, an ache in your cheeks. But your victory was short-lived, the lips you’d admired in the mirror spelling your crash.

     “Don’t come as anyone.”

---

     You were stupid to have not thought this far.

     Stupid, stupid, stupid.

     Getting so caught up in just trying to capture her attention, you didn’t even know what you were going to do if you got it. You thought it would take a couple more tries to get her fully into the idea of being around you- but you had underestimated Enid’s words.

     Wednesday knew what she wanted quickly, and she expected to get it.

     It would be hot if you weren’t mentally freaking out.

     She said to meet her after dinner, but that didn’t specify a certain time, right? Hypothetically, you could show up whenever. You could say you had a late dinner- but you know that wasn’t what she met. She’d already be upset at you for disregarding her last request, you couldn’t be late on top of that.

     As you walked through the hallowed halls of Nevermore Academy, you people-watched. There were so many interesting students here. No matter their disposition, they had rich lives that would no doubt continue on and only grow more complex. Intriguing powers that had so many quirks and kickbacks that you could only imagine what it felt like to have them come naturally to you. There were so many compelling people here- so why would you want to be you when you could pretend to be them?

     Shifting from foot to foot, you knocked on the door. Well, Bianca technically knocked on the door, but it was still just you. Enid answers, looking somewhat taken aback before realization dawns on her. “(Y/n)- come on in! I was just about to go meet Ajax, so it’ll just be you and Wednesday.” The way she says it sounds like she’s hinting something, looking at you with wide eyes and a mischievous little smile.

     ‘Subtle’ You mouth to her, nodding your head. Enid does a bashful curtsey, before grabbing her keys. She makes sure it’s loud as she locks the door behind her.

     And then it’s two.

     Wednesday looks positively deadly cut against the low light of the iconic Ophelia Hall window. The way she glares through you emphasizes her distaste for your actions.

     “I see you’ve decided on Bianca today. Odd, considering I asked for you.” You’re nearly prepared to say something, mustering up enough thought to figure out what she’d even want to hear, but it’s her who steps closer. And closer. And closer.

     She’s in your space now, looking up ever so slightly at you. “Take it off.”

     “You could at least buy me dinner first,” You stumble out, voice not nearly as confident as it had to be for that line.

     Wednesday only tilts her head, coy as can be, with a brow slightly raised. “I thought you liked my unconventional… date ideas.”

     You muffled a laugh, “I didn’t even get the first one. I was looking forward to seeing the rocks together-”

     Wednesday wondered if you do it- if you’d teeter into the violence of her earlier statements.

     “-If you’d jump, and if you did, how you’d hit them. Maybe, what it would look like when I followed after you.”

     You’d been lured into her trap. And by the way, Wednesday could feel the corners of her mouth twitching up, she’d been ensnared in yours. But she couldn’t let you win so easily. She couldn’t find herself letting you do it. Turning away, she marched to her desk, pulling out a thin, monogrammed book, and a pen. “I believe I made that commitment to (Y/n), not Bianca.”

     Frozen to the floorboards, you stare wide-eyed, having been put right back into the one spot you didn’t want to be. Wednesday could hear the hitch in your breath, matching it with her own to see how long it would take you to breathe again. The satisfying ache in her lungs proved that she had caught you off guard. “To make it up to me, you’ll be answering a few questions.” She points to her bed, telling you to sit.

     Relief wasn’t the right word to describe your state. Abject happiness? Pure and unbridled repose? Perhaps disappointment- because you wouldn’t be meeting your demise to the cold, small hands of Wednesday Addams. Though, a thorough interrogation will take a close second.

     There was a weird disconnect with the situation. You’d tell Wednesday anything she wanted to know. What you were, how you felt, your deepest fears, your middle name. But the idea of shedding whomever you had borrowed and bearing your face to the world terrified you. The idea that she could know everything about you and know nothing at the same time felt comfortable, but when Wednesday Addams was looking at you with a curious spark in her eyes, you felt it wasn’t the right choice at all.

     Scurrying over to the bed, you hurriedly sat down- only to sit on something soft. Not in the springy way, a bed was soft, but in the way people were soft.

     Wednesday watched in amusement as you yelped, jumping up quickly off of her bed. Thing angrily crawled his way out of the covers, obviously having been woken up from his after-dinner nap. Desperately, you apologized to Thing, seemingly unfazed by the fact that he was only a hand. She doubts he’s the weirdest thing you’ll see while you choose to associate with her. “Thing, this is (Y/n). (Y/n), Thing. Now stop apologizing.” Wednesday demands, grabbing Thing and carrying him over to Enid’s side of the room. Precariously, she tucks him in, before turning her back on him, leaving no room for argument. She pointed to the bed again. “You. Sit.” What were you meant to do? Say no? Perched on the side of the bed, you waited for her to begin her investigation a la (Y/n).

     “You can become anything?” Wednesday started, writing along the printed lines of her notebook.

     “Anything you want.” You tease.

     “I want a real answer.”

     “Anything I want, within reason,” You sigh, leaning back on your hands.

     She stopped writing for a moment, looking over the edge of her book, “And what does that entail?”

     “I can’t get too small,” You emphasize, making a small box with your hands and then gesturing to the rest of yourself, “Or else I feel cramped. And I can’t get too big, because then I’ll be stretched too thin, and everything’ll become unstable.” Wednesday narrows her eyes for a moment, hitting the nib of the pen against the paper before deciding what to write.

     “What about width?”

     “Oooh, that’s a good question- haven’t tried it? I guess? Not many things are wider than they are tall.”

     Wednesday hums in thought, before grabbing her desk chair and propping it up in front of you, sitting down herself. Your knees were knocking together, the only thing separating your skin from hers being her uniform skirts. Bianca always liked to roll her skirt up a bit, so you did too. “Does it hurt?”

     “Did what hurt? When I fell for you- Ow!”

     You rubbed at the skin of your knee where she had stabbed you with her pen, the broken skin healing itself within the blink of an eye. You could feel her gaze watching it.

     “We’re not doing that bit again. Your abilities seem to have a healing aspect.” She mumbles, furiously scribbling something down. You wondered what she was even writing. ‘Initial observation, healing aspect, eternal torture? Must review’. Yeah, no, okay.

     “Not exactly, It’s sort of like healing- but also a bit more complex. When you heal, you make new cells, right?”

     “Of course.”

     “But what I just did wasn’t making new cells- it’s just the same cells remembering what was there, transforming into that, and then moving accordingly.” Tentatively, you grab her hand. It’s cold and rigid against yours, like a corpse, and you move it to the skin of your knee. You’d never be able to tell that there was a hole there in the first place. “Of course, I still produce new cells like everyone else, it’s just if I were to sustain a large injury- a lethal one, being a shapeshifter wouldn’t save me. My cells would transform and move, but that would only be tearing me open in a different way.”

     There’s a smile on Wednesday’s face.

     It’s small, barely even there, like an apparition, but you can see it.

     Wednesday is enamored with you. Your skin was so warm. You were holding her hand so tightly. She had this disgusting, revolting feeling in her chest. One she wanted to keep there forever.

     “So I couldn’t crack your ribs open and crawl inside of you?”

     “If you had to keep warm, of course.”

     You were so close.

     Suddenly, she clapped her notebook shut, the chair screeching as she lurched out of it. Jolting, you leaned back a little, watching with wide eyes as she slammed the notebook into her desk drawer and shut it.

     “We’re going to see the rocks tomorrow.” She demanded, reminiscent of when she asked you to come here. “And I do want you this time.”

     Son of a bitch.

     “I…” Your mouth felt dry. It was amazing how she managed to make you feel so comfortable while trapped. “I’ll think about it.” And within the next moment, you were a mouse scurrying across the floor boards, and ducking right beneath the door frame.

     You didn’t stop running until you were down the stairs and in the main entrance hall- quickly changing back and collapsing against a wall.

     A mouse? Did you become a fucking mouse?

     Silently screaming into the hall, you hit your head against the ground, embarrassment flooding through your every nerve. Because what the fuck. You became a fucking mouse and you ran under the door.

     You knew what you had to do.

     You had to die.

     Life was over at this point- there was no use continuing. Wednesday Addams had (sort of) asked you out, and like a complete and utter loser, you ran away. As a mouse.

---

     You had been avoiding her.

     It had been a week since Wednesday Addams had last seen you. And a single question loomed above them all.

     Who did you think you were?

     You barge into her room, responding to her threats and homicidal tendencies in kind, making her interested, sticking her neck out onto the guillotine. Making her want to hold and touch you. Hold your warm hands. Run her fingers over your skin. And you’re hiding from her?

     To say she was positively murderous at this point was an understatement. Her rage was unconcealable. People avoided her in the halls, well, more so than before. Enid was neglecting to start conversations when they shared their dorm, fearing the wrath she may incur if Wednesday was even a bit more annoyed. She had already stabbed Xavier with her pen twice. He didn’t even have the nerve to treat her to a spectacle such as you did.

     Her cello was bearing the brunt of her bad mood this evening, pulling along the strings and bow to string together a much blunter rendition of Shostakovich’s String Quartet No. 8. The callouses on the tips of her fingers burned as she flew through the piece, a much-needed pain to distract her from her inner turmoil. It felt so right.

     As the last few notes on the page crept up on her, the quartet drawing to a close, there was a glint in the night. Brows furrowed and lips pouted, she closed her music book, setting down her bow and cello to approach the edge of the stoned terrace. A raven- big and beautiful, flapped its wings closer, a chain dangling from its beak with a pendant hanging from the end. Like it recognized her, it stalled in the air, almost waiting for Wednesday to hold out her hand.

     Tentatively, she did so, and the raven dropped the cold, sterling silver amulet into her hand. Ignoring its retreat, she turned the amulet around, peering into the glass class on the other side. Its contents puzzled her.

     “Don’t turn around.”

     Head snapping up, Wednesday felt a tingle run down her spine as she looked onto the horizon. She knew that voice.

     One that was normally distorted with another’s, warbled and lost in a tonal fray, was crystal clear.

     “I… I wanted to apologize.”

     “For ignoring my existence?”

     “Yes, I just…” She could hear your exasperated sigh behind her, and instead of turning around, she channeled her want into running her fingers along the grooves of the amulet. “I want to show you who I am. I do. I just don’t think that I… That I’m prepared for what that means. So I got you that.”

     It was a Victorian mourning locket. Inside its glass prison lay a small, cut stock card. Oil paints had been used to portray a single, lively and bright eye, laid deep into plush skin. Framing it, were strands of hair, glued and staged to look as though it would when hanging naturally. A single braid of the same hair wormed around and enclosed the portrait, snug against the silver. The hair, skin, and eye colors were unfamiliar to her- but Wednesday Addams was a smart girl, she could piece it together.

     She felt as if you had grabbed her heart and pulled it out of her chest, content to watch it slow to a stop in your hand, and all she could muster was- “Who painted this?”

     You muffled a laugh. “My dad, don’t worry.”

     Wednesday could hear your steps, and by the fourth, she could feel how warm you were against her back.

     “This is just my way of saying… that when I’m ready, you’ll be the first person I show. You’ve already seen more of me than anyone else here has.”

     Just like when you first met the infamous Wednesday Addams, your fingers were numb. Though, this time, instead of excitement, you were dreadfully, painfully, nervous. Nervous that the girl standing only a few feet in front of you would reject your declaration. All was silent, and the only sound you could comprehend was the thudding of your pulse in your ears as she held the locket out behind her.

     “Put it on for me.”

     Fingers shaking, you struggled to unclasp the chain, before pulling the chain around her thin neck. Securing the clasp again, you lingered, warm hands smoothing out the baby hairs on the nape of her neck.

     Wednesday watched unfamiliar hands flash in front of her eyes, and she knew that she had you at that very moment. “Sit,” she demands again, settling down on the floor of the terrace. One more moment and your back was entirely pressed against hers, the ridges of your spines kissing through your muscle, skin, and clothes. “Thank you,” Wednesday said quietly into the night air, “I’m… I’m pleased, that I’ll be the first.”

     She took your hand in hers, and the numbness faded.

---

Thank you guys for reading!! If you enjoyed it pls let me know, my inbox and mentions are always open and reblogs are always appreciated <3

This is a playlist I made for Wednesday, it’s got Latin American goth and orchestral pieces (including the one mentioned above), so if that’s your vibe pls check it out!

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1CbNa8jneefleLKCK98HHC?si=0fc47154f345442d

#Wednesday (2022) #Wednesday imagine #Wednesday x Reader #Wednesday Addams x Reader #Wednesday fanfic #reader insert #my fics #my fic

[sassycheesecake]

Based on this video. It’s fluff and a lil' suggestive. Sorry.

Dating the twin of someone sometimes has its perks and downsides.

That of course would be great to know, if your boyfriend of two months even shared with you beforehand that he has a twin.

But it is to be expected that someone like Atsumu would forget to mention that he has a twin.

It seems so naturally, it has always been the two of them. They were attached to the hip for good 19 years of their life, everyone knew them. The famous Miya twins.

Everyone, except you.

So one day, when you came to Atsumu‘s apartment after work, you saw him standing in the kitchen cooking something.

Yes, cooking without actually burning down the kitchen and hearing firetruck sirens in the distance.

Huh, maybe Atsumu picked up cooking lessons online or something like that.

You can’t deny, that it is indeed super hot.

What is also different about your boyfriend is that he has very dark hair now. Like, it’s almost a shade of black.

You do remember Atsumu mentioning that he was going to re-dye his hair soon but you didn’t think it would be THAT color.

Although, the cooking and the new hair color really suit him.

You step closer to your boyfriend, wrapping your arms around his middle frame and you can feel him tense up.

"My, my. First cooking and then a hair change. What else is new? You also quit volleyball?" You mumble against his back, rubbing your face against the back muscles.

Not seeing him for almost three weeks, there was something else you missed.

Your hands wander down to his sweats and two hands stop you from going further.

Without saying anything, Atsumu pulls your arms from his frame and he turns around to look at you.

Now, this is getting a little freaky.

Something else changed.

His eyes.

They’re not the usual warm chocolate brown, they’re gray. Like a dark rain cloud.

Wait a minute.

You back away slowly, getting really freaked out by the complete plastic surgery change of your boyfriend.

"Tsumu, did you get surgery done while you were away in Seoul or something? I mean, don’t get me wrong I uh… like the new look. But your eyes? They were my favourite part about you. Always made me feel like I was drowning in hot chocolate. I didn’t know you can change your eye color. That is very dope. What made you decide to change everything? Did you kill someone? Is this some sort of protection so no one recognizes you in public?" You watch him with big eyes, rambling down your questions because your mind is running wild.

"Ya ask a lot of questions, don‘tcha?" Atsumu quietly laughs. His voice sounds a bit more rough too, not as light as you are used to.

All of sudden, a third voice joins you, coming from Atsumu‘s bathroom.

"Yannow, (Y/N) will be here soon. I think ya should go, thanks for makin' us dinner though." This sounds more like Atsumu. Wait. Then who is this?!

"W-Who are you?" You stammer out, backing away slowly until you feel the counter behind you.

"My brother didn’t tell ya he had a twin? Figured he’d be the one to forget to mention something like that. Nice to meetcha. Name‘s Osamu. I am Atsumu‘s twin brother." He gives you a slight smile as he introduces himself to you.

"Oh, uhm likewise. My name is (Y/N), I am Atsumu's partner." You blush as you introduce yourself back to him, mirroring his smile.

"Oi, did ya not hear me? Can ya leave-" The heavy steps finally come out of the bathroom, Atsumu is only wearing his MSBY training shorts, rubbing a towel across his wet blonde hair.

Atsumu stops in his tracks and looks between you and his brother.

Osamu looks at the blonde Setter, a mischievous grin adorning his face.

"Ya forgot ta mention ya had a twin. They thought I was you. Which I actually should consider offensive. 'm obviously the better lookin' twin."

"Shut yer trap asshole, 'm the one with the significant other remember? Ya've been single since ya were born." Atsumu scowls at first and then grins mischievously, like he just won the round.

Osamu is not done though. He turns to you.

"How long ya been datin'?"

"About to hit the three month mark, why?" You frown in confusion at Osamu, who turns back to look at his brother.

"Did ya hypnotize 'em or somethin'? Most of yer so called relationships lasted max a week or two, after they realized what a complete asshole ya are."

Osamu turns back to you, after seeing his brother‘s jaw open in shock at his remark.

"Do yerself a favor and run, I’ll hold ‘im down." Osamu stretches his arms out, basically forming a little wall to shield you from Atsumu.

Next thing you know, Atsumu tackles his brother from behind, jumping on his back.

Obviously Osamu didn’t see this coming, so he falls forward with a big grunt and tries to get Atsumu off of him.

You watch first in shock, then in amusement as your boyfriend tangles with his brother on the floor.

"Tsumu, I will just come by later on okay? Have fun and love you!"

You grab your bag and leave the boys to it.

Atsumu has his brother in a chokehold, messy hair and an adorable grin adorning his face as he returns your love.

Osamu uses the moment of distraction to knock him down again and that’s really your cue to leave.

You still hear a lot of rumbling, crashing, shouting and cursing from outside Atsumu‘s home but you can’t help but smile at the deep bond between the two brothers.

And you are certainly looking forward to meeting him again.

#haikyuu!! #haikyuu x reader #haikyuu #haikyuu!! x reader #haikyū!! #hq x reader #hq fluff #inarizaki #atsumu miya #haikyuu miya atsumu #atsumu miya x reader #atsumu #atsumu x reader #haikyuu atsumu #hq atsumu #miya atsumu #msby atsumu #atsumu fluff #atsumu x you #osamu miya #miya osamu #miya twins

[moonclade]

Hey! Doing good I hope?

I’ll make this request quick, I was thinking of a Percy x Melinoe!reader? Since her mother is known as a minor goddess of nightmares and ghosts, people are either afraid of her or doesn’t care about her that much. She even hangs out with ghosts more than people, but of course, dear ol’ Percy is curious of her and tries to befriend her? You know, a good strangers to lovers. Is this good? If not, just tell me so I can fix it!

note ― i'm so rusty when it comes to writing about pjo but i really hope i did well with this! (also sorry it took so long, i wasn't able to work on it for a week). i didn't want to make this like 20k words long, so i didn't really include the bridge from acquaintances to lovers

not proofread || lowercase intended & lots of use of the word "you"

1.5k words

the sun smiles as it burns your skin, and you scowl as the blinding rays make it unbearable for you to even stare ahead. as usual, you were wandering around camp, attempting to find something to do.

you really didn't know why you bothered. considering the fact that you always reverted to your normal routine of finding a bench and reading. and if you were lucky enough to find a shaded and secluded spot, you might even have someone to talk to.

that someone being whatever spirit would bother entertaining you. obviously not any of the other demigods, as majority of them never tried befriending you or were simply scared of the fact you were the daughter of such a "dark" goddess. of course, a few of the other campers didn't mind your family and your abilities, such as nico di angelo. the two of you weren't close, but he always acknowledged you whenever you would lock eyes. he was definitely your favorite at camp.

you never understood why people were scarfed of you just because of your mom. it was laughable honestly, and it led you to have a slight resentment for everyone who actively avoided you. daughter of a goddess of nightmares and ghosts, being invisible and feared by everyone. very ironic.

being alone took a while to get used to, but you eventually made it work out, opting for the quiet whispers of the long-passed spirits. they never judged you, although a few definitely make fun of your isolation.

not finding any activity to do, you decided to read a book you were itching to finish instead of conversing with your little clique of ghosts. your eyes lit up as you found the perfect spot to sit, away from prying eyes and the harsh beams of sunlight.

making yourself comfortable, you found your marked page and started where you left off, ready to finally get this book out the way and start a new one.

suddenly, a blocky figure blocks the sparse amount of light you were using to read. you look up to see, surprisingly, percy jackson.

you were confused and a bit intrigued. you've never interacted with him, but you always admired him from afar. he was a role model to you, both socially and when it comes to slaying monsters.

you would never admit you studied him thoroughly, usually in the light of the campfire, watching as he would crack a joke and then burst into a grin and let out a hearty laugh.

you were definitely jealous of him. that's all.

"i've seen you around camp. (name), right?" he questioned.

a nod was all he received. you looked around for the inevitable group of campers laughing at this interaction, but you saw none. relaxing a little, you lock eyes with his striking sea-colored ones.

"i'm bad with words." you respond, shaking your head. you avert your gaze back to the book you were reading. a romance, and an undeniably cliche one at that.

you loved reading about things that weren't commonplace in your life, like fantasy, but especially romance. everyone was too scared of you for you to even imagine about having a relationship or a love life in general. every crush that developed in your heart was quickly stowed away until it eventually died off.

"it's alright. i never see you talking to anyone around camp." he takes a seat on the bench, a reasonable distance away from you that it wouldn't seem he was uncomfortable with you, like most campers, but not close enough to make it awkward for you.

"never have to, everyone too terrified of my "sinister aura" and prowess in war. and also, my mom." you slightly joke, not wanting him to pity you or something along those lines. he tilted his head like he was going to say something in response to your slightly self-deprecating statement.

"you talk like a book." he blurted. you didn't know if you should take that as a compliment, but even with the short time you've talked with percy, you knew he wouldn't mean it as an insult. just a weirdly phrased statement.

"y'know, in a poetic way." he sheepishly rubbed his neck as you stared at him. the corners of your lips upturned, and he calmed down a little knowing that you didn't take offense.

"you talk a lot," you counter. "but in a good way."

he returns a smile and notices the book you had been slowly inching away from his view.

"what's that about?"

oh my gods. you weren't getting out this one.

"it's just a little romance," you rub your wrists awkwardly, hoping he wouldn't ask for a more in-depth answer.

but the gods were not in your favor today.

"but what is it about?" he quirked an eyebrow at your unwillingness to elaborate on the plot.

"it's just about a boy and a girl meeting randomly and they slowly fall in love at a summer camp. really cliche and probably boring to you." the book made it into his hands as he scanned the front cover art, not bothering to open the book and attempt to read it, thankfully. you could guess why though.

"at a summer camp?"

"i like reading about stuff that could be relatable to me," you shrugged.

"well is it relatable?" he seemed interested.

"do you always ask so many questions?" you grumble. "and no, not really. do you think i have a love life here?"

every answer was turning into a question, followed by another question.

he looked you up and down and smirked. "you don't?"

you swipe your book back and roll your eyes. "yes, jackson. you do realize i have more ghost friends than living ones, right?"

"adds on to the charm. now, tell me more about what happens in the book."

you groan outwardly, but on the inside, you were giddy at finally being able to talk to someone, especially percy.

giving in, you begin to go off on the plot and major events in the story, and your opinions on characters.

before the two of you knew it, the sun was already cut in half by the horizon and the sky was a flurry of colors slowly being overtaken by the dark blues and blacks of the evening.

"how about we meet here again tomorrow?" percy asks.

you were already warming up to the son of poseidon. it could be because you haven't talked to another human in a long time, or he had that vibe to him that let you feel safe.

sometimes you would go and hang out with him and his group, but you didn't know for sure if they liked you that much. it took you months to even decide if percy himself considered you a friend or not.

majority of time you'd go back to that same bench you met him at, and if he was free, he'd meet you there and the two of you would talk about how the book you were reading was going or just how life was going.

but the bench wasn't the only place you hung out. percy would invite you to spar with him or walk around camp, or take part in events going around camp. slowly but surely, more people warmed up to you as they noticed the bond you and percy had. you were still wary and apprehensive of those people though, knowing they judged you even though they didn't know you. but it was a welcome change.

it was half past noon, and you make your way over to your and percy's rendezvous point to hang out for the day. the battered wooden bench that was now carved with quotes and drawings that spanned the seat.

you didn't have to even wait a minute, percy jogging up to you with a hand behind his back.

"what're you hiding?" you try and peer over his shoulder but he moves the object out of your sight.

"well," he looks around everywhere but you, before taking in a big breath and finally meeting your gaze. "i really like you!" he shows you the assortment of flowers most likely picked from the forest nearby.

you process his statement. the percy jackson likes you? never in a thousand years would you have thought that someone could have a crush on you, but never ever would you have dreamed of percy liking you.

it was like your life was turned upside down ever since you met him. you managed to finally have someone to talk to, and also get people to stop fearing you. and it was all because of him. he was the saint in your life.

"hey, it's alright if you don't like me bac-" you cut him off quickly by pressing your lips on his. sure you weren't an experienced kisser, but you've read enough to know how to shut him up.

he went from stiff in surprise to leaning into the kiss, the bouquet long forgotten on the ground. you couldn't get enough of him, throwing your arms around his shoulders and bringing him closer. he slipped his hands around your waist, a shiver running down your back at the touch.

he pulled away, and you clung onto him, not wanting his warmth to leave you.

after a moment of bated breath, you piped up.

"i love you too, percy."

#[🌙clade] #i LOWKEY hate this #percy jackson #x reader #percy jackson x reader #demigods #pjo #hoo #pjo x reader #riordanverse #percy jackson and the olympians #heroes of olympus #hoo x reader

[linkemon]

It's gonna be alright (Keith Kogane x Reader)

Friendly reminder that English is not my first language. You can check my Masterlists both in English and Polish here. Consider supporting me on Ko-fi. You can also check out my commissions if you’re interested.

Other oneshots can be found here.

ᴋᴇɪᴛʜ ᴛʀɪᴇꜱ ᴛᴏ ᴄᴏᴘᴇ ᴡɪᴛʜ ꜱʜɪʀᴏ'ꜱ ᴅɪꜱᴀᴘᴘᴇᴀʀᴀɴᴄᴇ. ɪᴛ ɪꜱ ᴄᴏᴍᴍᴏɴ ᴋɴᴏᴡʟᴇᴅɢᴇ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ᴄᴏᴏᴋɪᴇꜱ ʜᴇʟᴘ. ᴏʀ ᴀᴛ ʟᴇᴀꜱᴛ ᴛʜᴀᴛ'ꜱ ᴡʜᴀᴛ [ʀᴇᴀᴅᴇʀ] ꜱᴀʏꜱ…

ᴀᴅᴅɪᴛɪᴏɴᴀʟ ɪɴꜰᴏʀᴍᴀᴛɪᴏɴ:

ᴏɴᴇꜱʜᴏᴛ ᴄᴏɴᴛᴀɪɴꜱ ꜱᴘᴏɪʟᴇʀꜱ ꜰᴏʀ ᴇᴀʀʟʏ ꜱᴇᴀꜱᴏɴꜱ.

ꜰʀɪᴇɴᴅʟʏ ʀᴇᴍɪɴᴅᴇʀ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ᴍʏ ᴡᴏʀᴋꜱ ɪɴ ᴇɴɢʟɪꜱʜ ᴀʀᴇ ᴛʀᴀɴꜱʟᴀᴛɪᴏɴꜱ. ɪ ᴛʀʏ ᴍʏ ʙᴇꜱᴛ ʙᴜᴛ ᴀɴʏ ᴛɪᴘꜱ ᴀʀᴇ ᴡᴇʟᴄᴏᴍᴇᴅ.

It was the final stretch.

I snuck out again. Doing it in the evening would mean that someone would probably catch me but at night it's much easier. If the rest of the team saw me now, I'd probably get scolded but I couldn't help myself. Hunk finally baked some edible cookies!

I grabbed a plate from the nearest shelf and helped myself to a generous amount, then rearranged the cookies that had fallen out of formation back into a pyramid. This way, no one noticed when one or two floors disappeared.

As a medical student, or rather a former student, because on Earth I've probably already been kicked out of school, I always tell my team to eat healthily. I am quite aware of the effects of overeating at night and too many sweets but everyone has smaller or larger deviations. Mine gradually started to increase after Hunk got a new recipe for blueberry cookies.

When we tasted them for the first time, I was skeptical because of their blue color. We chose Coran as the tester because no one else wanted to poison themselves. However, it turned out that we had avoided failure. They tasted like cocoa.

Since then, Hunk has been baking them almost all the time and I've been stealing them on the sly. It quickly turned out that paladins had a habit of getting up often in the middle of the night. At first I ate in the living room and almost got caught when Pidge walked by. However, I managed to find a solution. My place for a snack was the rather narrow roof, which was accessed through a window on the top floor of the castle. Perhaps someone would be able to spot me during the day but at night it was virtually impossible.

I headed there too, thinking only that in a moment I would inhale that cocoa scent again. I crossed the hall, opened the window, and then placed the plate on the tiny windowsill. I had both legs out and was just about to start eating when it turned out I wasn't alone.

Keith was now sitting in my usual seat with wide eyes. He looked ready to jump but visibly relaxed when he saw it was just me.

Well, great.

So I did the only right thing that could be done in such a situation.

— Cookie?

— Excuse me? — He asked.

— I asked if you wanted a cookie. — I sat down and offered him a plate. — Just don't betray to others because I won't have a life.

He ate it, then reached for another one.

We never got along very well, partly because we didn't know each other before I joined the team. It's true that I didn't argue with him like Lance but he had such a heavy personality that I preferred spending time with Hunk or Allura. He always seemed quite cold to me but I admired his skills and courage because he certainly had plenty of that.

The silence was quite uncomfortable, so I decided to break it.

— Nice sky.

No response from Mr. Silent.

It was beautiful. A shade of navy blue completely different than the one on Earth. Constellations unlike any I've seen. Everything was different here. The thought always brought a momentary feeling of nostalgia and longing for my family but I was used to it by now. It hasn't wanted to leave me since I got here.

— Sooo... you came to think? — I said with my mouth full.

— You could say that — he muttered.

What an elaborate statement.

— I came to eat without anyone noticing. I glanced at him. — But it didn't work out as you can see. — What are you thinking about?

I didn't receive any response.

Keith started to stand up but I grabbed his sleeve.

— It's a bit inelegant of you to leave me in the middle of a conversation now.

If this could even be called a conversation...

— Something will attack me here at night when it smells food if I stay alone. — I stuffed the cookie into myself with my free hand. — If you want, we can sit in silence — I added.

I saw his hesitation but he finally sat back down after the last sentence.

I wanted to keep my word, I really wanted to. The problem, however, was the talkativeness. Everyone around me knew perfectly well that I was loud and ubiquitous. I also had trouble keeping my mouth shut. Keith and I were basically opposites, which was one of the reasons we had limited contact.

In short, I could be irritating. No wonder I couldn't last more than a few minutes.

— If you don't want to say what you're thinking, don't say it — I started. — But if you change your mind, you know  — I stabbed him in the arm — you can vent.

— Do I look like someone who wants to talk?

No, you look like an irritated bastard.

— No but you look like someone who needs it. You know, as a pseudo-doctor on this team, I also have to take care of your mental health. I think it's just as important as physical one.

His expression softened slightly. He was clearly wondering whether he should share with me what was on his mind.

The silence grew.

This is how my career as a psychologist dies prematurely.

I actually could have given up but I felt like I wanted to help. Kind of like when I was quite little and put plasters on literally all the kids in my neighbourhood who had bad knees. This feeling turned into a passion — the desire to professionally care for others. I didn't have the opportunity to graduate because I was in the middle of another galaxy but I did my best. I tried to use everything I had at hand to help those who were saving planets and races that we had never known about before.

— It's about my leadership — he began, so quietly that I could barely hear him. — I feel bad about it. Everyone is counting on me, they want me to give them orders but I have the impression that whatever I do, wherever I step, will be wrong. I'm not even sure how to get along with you. After I came back to the team, everyone looks at me differently. I'm not like Shiro. My only hope is to find him and bring him back but I don't even know where to start looking for him.

I'm out of cookies.

— It's obvious — I felt his eyes on me — that you're not Shiro. I'm sure we'll find him but it will take some time. You shouldn't try to replace him because each of you is different — I started. — It'll take you a while to get used to your new role but you're on the right track. Maybe try spending some time with the team? We haven't known each other for very long but I'm not blind. Some people really miss you, Keith. Don't run away from them, try to talk to them, eat some cookies and everything will be fine. — I stood up, took my plate and headed to the window.

It's gonna be alright — the cliché I may have tried to say to myself a lot too but what choice did I have? What else could I tell him?

— [Reader]?

— Hmmm? — I stuck my head out.

— Thank you.

— No problem but it was Hunk who baked them — I said, smiling to myself and then started walking down the dark corridor.

Keith will make a good leader but I might still make a good doctor when I get back to Earth. I should just cut down on the cookies...

#keith kogane x reader #voltron x reader #oneshot x reader #shirogane takashi #cookies #hunk #coran

[meimi-haneoka]

Cardcaptor Sakura Clear Card Chapter 73: Comments + JP-ENG translation differences

Welcome back everyone! We're here once again for another chapter of Cardcaptor Sakura Clear Card, one more that's guiding us towards the grand finale! In this chapter we finally get more things coming full circle, one in particular that I've seen many wondering about (and also many ready to dismiss as a plot hole 😅give them time, people, give them time). To be honest, I needed some time to brainstorm and ponder if I had understood certain parts of this chapter correctly 😅, since the content is quite complex, and each language decided to translate certain pivotal parts in different ways, adding to the confusion (because there doesn't seem to be a version everyone is agreeing on). In one specific case, that's normal (at the very end of the chapter) because the lack in the Japanese text of specific words (subject) to lead the interpretation in one direction or the other allows to get the translation in either way (as we'll see ahead). In other cases, it's just translation mistakes and omissions that make things a bit confusing. We also have to consider that it might totally be normal if we don't seem to get a clear, well connected answer in this chapter, because maybe the rest of the puzzle pieces will be in the following one: in this case we don't have to fret and just have faith that everything will be connected properly and be answered in due time. It's normal, this is a serialization, we should always look at the big picture and not at the single chapters, because in the future the whole story divided in volumes readily available will be all that the future readers will get. The "confusion" that we feel as lasting for a month or more, for future readers will last only some minutes, maybe one hour, the time needed to get to read the right chapter where everything gets solved. Sorry for this long introduction but in light of this chapter that made me sit down and reconsider multiple times how I understood things, I felt like it was worth mentioning it even here. Maybe, who knows, that will help sedate someone's frustrations. Alright, before diving into the chapter, as usual, the gif of the month! This time it's dedicated to Sakura 😂

Let's see what happened this month and if there are translation differences to point out! (spoiler, there are)

The Color Page

AAAAATTTT LAAAASTTTT!! FINALLY! After appearing with her back facing us, and then on the background with her eyes closed, we finally have a nice close up of our dear Lilie! With her eyes open!!! 😆 Predictable as it may sound, her eyes are indeed blue like her daughter! But....wait a second....her hair color changed or what??? 😂

After being consistently drawn with a mix of blonde and grey/dark blonde color for the darker parts of her hair, this time around we have a more uniform coloring that's veering more towards taupe! If I have to be honest, this color looks more similar to the shade they chose for Akiho in the anime! But....I like the ash blonde better ☹️ also it bothers me quite a lot that Mokona sensei changed the color at the end of the manga, after consistently drawing her blonde for 2 color pages, first because it's hard to get used to (at first glance my first thought was "WHO'S THIS? O_O), and then because my fanart is incorrect now 😂 But as you know, I always have to find the positive side to everything so I have to say that, while it'll take a while for me to get used to this change (should we consider it a permanent change or sensei just ran out of yellow copic?? 😂 *winks at her friends on a certain discord server*), I also appreciate it because it helps differentiating Lilie from her daughter even better 😊 especially considering they both have blue eyes now. They really would've looked like one another's clone (UGH O_O) if they kept it like that.... (Unless they want to change AGAIN Akiho's hair color too but then I'll riot). Lilie appears here in all her glory and beauty, with a heavily decorated dress as per CLAMP's tradition, she looks like a goddess 🥹 The color scheme is similar to that of her clan robe: white-light blue-golden. And no wings. Maybe this is from a time when she was still alive (she's got wings in the double spread with Nadeshiko). Sooo finally the mystery of the color of her eyes is solved 😆 (I wonder why they dragged it so long?) The JP text of the color page is simply the last thing she said to Sakura in last chapter before disappearing together with the dream: "I believe...in the two Alice". We also get a big text informing everyone of the decision to produce a sequel to the Clear Card anime! A bit late, but the news finally came for the magazine readers too! 😊

You're Unique

The chapter starts with Sakura going back home from school, in the afternoon of the same day we left her off in chapter 72. Kero and Suppi hear her from her room (are those Nintendo Switch Lite consoles? 😂) and they notice how she goes straight to Akiho's room today, without passing by her own room to drop her stuff first. From Kero and Suppi's words it's easy to infer that Sakura got a very close relationship with Akiho, and she often goes to talk to her after school. It's understandable, after all, they're convinced they have spent many years of their lives apart, and it's like they're really starting to know one another only now, so there's a special attachment between them. Attachment which Kero and Suppi don't miss to comment on, reiterating the "sister complex" comment that's honestly become the recurring joke of this series 😆 This also serves as an opportunity for Kero to comment on Touya, another Kinomoto sibling "plagued" with sister complex. 😆 Our elusive big brother seems to be staying at Yukito's today, and that's really not a weird thing in itself, but the fact that we couldn't see him ever since the forbidden spell was activated and we had the time skip, to see his reaction and whether he noticed something or not, is certainly suspicious. Suppi comments that even Nakuru is still staying at Yukito's home, and argues that it should be really time for them to go back home in England (he's had enough, poor Suppi 😂). Kero tells him that they can always come back as tourists in the future, and he will be their guide - Suppi agrees on one condition: that next time he must take them to a place where he doesn't need to pretend to be a plushie anymore 😆 So this apparently useless comedy skit actually manages to give us two interesting info: that Touya is at Yukito's place, apparently still eluding us (and Akiho??), but also that the forbidden spell didn't change the fact that Nakuru and Suppi came in Tomoeda, it's just that the memory change made them believe they simply came for tourism (of course, without Sakura's powers going berserk and failing to "feed" her creatures correctly, there wouldn't be any other need for them to come). In the meantime, Sakura knocks on Akiho's door and she goes inside, school bag and coat still in her arms. She asks Akiho if she came back early, and she confirms that today there wasn't any choir practice (so confirming also that Akiho is still part of the choir at school - told you, everything is still the same as before!). As soon as she enters, Sakura can't help but point out aloud how this room's plan is exactly the same as hers, but you can tell right away this is Akiho's room: it filled my heart with joy to see how the forbidden spell didn't change anything of Akiho's interests, she's still very much in love with books and got a tall bookcase full of them, and....my heart literally jumped when I saw a moon-shaped lamp on her nightstand!! CLAMP, are you toying with my heart? 😭🥹 Sakura remarks that despite everyone telling them they look very much alike, Akiho is actually her own distinct person.

Thank you, Ohkawa-sensei, for putting these words in Sakura's mouth. Thank you for clarifying to the whole fandom (who worried and in some cases complained about this so much) that no matter how much these two are told by other people how similar they are, each of them still retains their own unique personality, their hobbies, their interests, their dreams. You can really feel that their vibe is different. Not even magic can change that. No two human beings are the same, CLAMP was very adamant on that concept even when they talked about clones in Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles. This is because our soul is unique across the universe(s). And these two are no exception. I always found so wholesome how none of them tries to "imitate" or "wish to have" something the other has. There's no need for jealousy. This is particularly true for Akiho whom, before the forbidden magic was activated, had experienced so much pain in her past and wasn't blessed with many things Sakura had instead. We haven't caught her envying Sakura, not even once, but actually admiring (it's different!) her friend for being able to do the things she didn't think she was capable of doing (remember her comment "Being able to do things by yourself without depending on others is amazing" ?), taking inspiration and even being brave enough to ask for help to improve in those aspects. That's not imitating, that's taking inspiration and strength from your loved ones to become a better person. This crucial theme will be reiterated in just a few pages.

The Pocket Watch

Akiho replies that the same goes for Sakura, she's also unique (JP, lit.: "There's just one Sakura-san in the world!") (I agree very much!) and Sakura bashfully laughs at that, when something catches her eye......a pocket watch, resting on a handkerchief on Akiho's desk, surrounded by certain tools. Kaito's pocket watch. The watch case is still broken, but the glass seem to have been repaired. So, for those who thought that the watch had been inside Akiho due to the exchange with the artifact book, this actually clarifies the doubt at once, and I think it makes perfectly sense. A book inside Akiho -> a book inside Kaito, and a pocket watch in Kaito's hands -> a pocket watch in Akiho's hands. The exchange is even. Sakura seems surprised at the sight of it, and it's apparent it's the first time she sees it ever since Akiho came living with them. Akiho explains that she found the watch back at Masaki's home, and no one knew how old this watch was or whom it belonged to. And yet, it seems Akiho had the urge to have it repaired, she says they tried to bring it to many watch repair shops to make it work again, without any success.

Sakura asks Akiho if she's actually trying to repair it herself (since the tools on the desk seem to suggest she'd been trying to do so), and Akiho replies something that made my heart melt at once:

Akiho, JP: "I don't know why, but the moment I met (this watch), I thought I had to make it work again" Akiho, JP: "Because I had the feeling it was very, very important (to me)"

Go on, CLAMP, keep stabbing my heart! 😭Gaaaah!! OF COURSE! Of course she would be getting that feeling!! Whatever function that watch will have in the finale, it's always been strictly correlated to Kaito, it seems there's a deep connection to him as the weaker he got, the more damage the watch took (randomly breaking on its own at different points of the story). It's as if Kaito literally left a part of him with her, consciously or not. And Akiho saying that is a testament to the strong bond between those two. A bond that not even a powerful, forbidden magic can erase. She might not remember now, but as soon as she found that "part of Kaito", her instinct told her to try to have it repaired at all costs, and in front of the failures of normal watch repair shops, she realized she had to try to make it work on her own. I'd like to think that it's because deep down she felt she was the only one capable to (this is actually what the French translation says, and although it's technically incorrect, it's a nice way to put it).

Akiho excuses herself for saying something weird (she didn't change even in that!), but as usual Sakura is super supportive of her and she tells her that she's absolutely sure she'll manage to make it work again. Foretelling powers, Sakura? 😏😆😆😆 This gives so much courage to Akiho, of course. And taking the chance of "weird talks", Sakura decides it's time for another kind of strange talk.....she finally decides to tell everything to Akiho about her magic and what happened in the years they spent apart, just like she announced in chapter 71!! We skip directly all the details we know all too well and get directly to Akiho's reaction, which is speechless at first (with Sakura fussing and apologizing that she blurted it all out on her and overwhelmed her 😂) but then excitedly thanks her sister for telling her about this, she's delighted because it feels just like a story coming out of one of the books she usually reads, and actually wants to hear more (complete with her usual 'excited flowers' like I usually call them 😂)!! Aaaah, it was so nice to see her reaction because it was exactly what I've been expecting from her. Akiho adds something really, really important: Akiho, JP: I just thought, 'We're twins, and yet so different, and that makes me so happy'. Akiho, JP: I can't use magic, but... If there's something you can't do and I happen to be good at it, then I might be able to help you out, precisely because we're different. The wording the ENG version uses is also very good, I liked how they specified (even if not present in the original text) "It's good we're different". Because it's very important.

And then, in the very next panel, a surprise: Akiho (involuntarily) quotes her own young mother Lilie in chapter 72, expressing herself with the same words, gesture and all, saying "It's what I can do...and what I can't...that makes me who I am". As you can see above, Akiho and Lilie are almost identical, save for Akiho's cowlick and the length of the hair. Little trivia: the line both girls are saying uses the very same words, except for the pronoun 私 / わたし, which is assigned appropriately basing on how it's usually written when the two characters are speaking - 私 for Lilie, and わたし for Akiho. I absolutely loved this line in last chapter and I felt it had even more significance now, coming from Akiho's mouth, in fact it's so important that it's Akiho speaking in this whole scene (and not Sakura). Because ever since she appeared in chapter 7, she's been considered as someone very similar to Sakura, and sometimes perceived by the readers as someone who wanted to steal her spot, her friends, her capabilities, long story short, to steal her identity. But nothing could be farther from the truth. You can be told you're similar to someone else how much you want, but you'll always going to be your own person in the end. Even freaking twins aren't the same person, after all. Each one of us is unique, with our qualities, good sides, bad sides, peculiarities, quirks, personal baggage, no one can take our place in the world. Our identity is the most precious thing we have and it's important we try to do our best to know ourselves the best that we can (heard that, Kaito???), so we don't end up doing just that, trying to live someone else's life, which is always going to be a lie anyway. As I was saying before, Akiho never tried to live Sakura's life and is well aware of her qualities and limits, and is accepting that.

The Magic I've been Preparing

Luckily, this involuntary reenactment of Lilie's scene of last chaper gives the spark to Sakura to remember she had heard those same words before. "The same words...?" "And the same feelings (they gave to me)". And right after that, Sakura also remembers that she has to find the important magic she had been preparing. Akiho says that if this is about magic, she probably won't be able to see it, but Sakura answers that she can't see it either, and wonders why....so, what to do? Akiho thinks. She looks at her books. And they give her an idea. She tells Sakura that she's read a book once where a magician hid his familiar from other magicians so they couldn't find it, and this familiar would show itself only when its magician called its name. Sakura starts having the realization this could be the right track. And here we have our first real translation difference of this chapter, although not particularly serious like the ones that will follow: Akiho, ENG: I'm sure to you, this magic is very important...but to me it'd be like....something out of a book.

Akiho, JP: I'm sure this is a very important magic to you...just like a book would be for me.

As you can see, the meaning is different, quite the opposite actually. Akiho isn't dismissing Sakura's magic as something like a fictional story out of a book, but actually she's telling her she understands that this magic must be very important to her, just like books are to Akiho. And "books" is all Sakura needs to hear to get more recollections of something she heard before, this time even from the facts of Clockland itself! (This is huge! Because it's coming from their life before the forbidden magic was activated! She's defeating the magic that's trying to keep her memories changed, she is JUST THAT AMAZING OKAY) "Books are people's memories...they're RECORDS"

See why it was so important to keep the word "records" in the past chapter, whenever the word 記録 came up in the Japanese text? Because 記録 is also the kanji spelling of a Clear Card we were all waiting to see, in fact....Sakura utters "RECORD"!

The Record Card appears out of nowhere, responding to the call, surprising the two girls when it starts displaying a recorded scene: from what we can see in the blurry "screen" (we can see the couch and the door of Syaoran's living room), this really looks like a scene (that we didn't see depicted in the manga) coming straight after Sakura captured the Dreaming Card and confessed to Syaoran about her recurring dreams in chapter 46. In that occasion, Sakura used the Record Card to show him what she saw, but apparently after that Syaoran proposed to keep the Record Card perpetually turned on to record whatever happened, since Sakura sometimes created Cards without having knowledge of how she did it, and couldn't shake the feeling that someone was making her forget things. In this way, they would've been able to check what happened in case they were made to forget again. From the "video", we see Sakura apologizing to Record and asking to the Card to stay hidden till she would've called the Card's name again. Which is exactly what happened now. Sakura is surprised because she understands that this is a new Card that she's been making on her own. But then, the "video" changes to another scene, that happened later on the story and we probably remember well because it often comes up in the fandom's questions about the unresolved mysteries of this story: the scene of chapter 59, when Momo visited the Kinomoto home, unbeknownst to Kaito. Finally we get to see what happened afterwards.

Momo knows the Record Card is present in the room, so she asks to the Card to be recorded, and addresses Sakura directly. Much to both Sakura and Akiho's surprise, she introduces herself once again as Momo, guardian of a "certain book", telling Sakura that this isn't the first time she meets her in this form, but since time had been rewound, she must have forgotten about it.

With a very painful expression (that made my heart squeeze, I'm weak against Momo's suffering), Momo says that she knows what's going to happen, and she cannot stop it. She also explains why, indirectly addressing other questions from the fandom as to why she never interfered more, if she didn't want Kaito to go on with his plan:

Momo, JP: A guardian cannot show bias towards "white" or "black". We must always stay impartial. So I cannot tell you, nor Akiho, about the core of this matter.

The ENG version is also good, but they translated "white" as "light" and "black" as "darkness" and while I can see why they did that and it could also work well, it ends up hiding the reference to her personal color scheme: on her outfit, but also in the Clockland world that she created on Kaito's request. Everything is black and white. An indication that she's always, constantly reminded of her duty as an impartial guardian, to never lean towards one or the other side (this is something that even Kaito reminded her of precisely in Clockland, becoming irritated that she was giving "hints" to Sakura). And therefore, she's got her hands more tied than ever, unable to tell anything not only to Sakura, but to Akiho too. How many problems we could've avoided if she was able to tell Akiho the truth about this? This is also probably the reason why she had to hide from her and take the guise of a bunny plushie: she needed to protect her, but at the same time she couldn't interact with her. It would've probably been impossible to stay neutral, with Akiho. If Momo's situation wasn't already unfortunate to begin with, having a contract with a boy she ended up caring about, who's literally risked his life to protect his most important person, we also get told to what extent she wasn't allowed to interfere, and get a glimpse of how painful that must be. To be honest, when this will be over, I really hope the Time Book gets destroyed and Momo freed from her duty over it, so she can finally have a normal life, free to interact with her beloved kids as much as she wants.

"The Boy"

Akiho hears Momo calling her name, though she doesn't seem to have any recollection of her beloved plushie (a bit sad for me). It's kinda "ironic" that she gets to "meet" the true form of the one creature who stayed by her side the most in her "old life", and she doesn't even realize it, nor remembers about who this creature is. How could she, her memories not only have been messed up with, but she also just knew her as a plushie, after all!

Momo shows that she isn't stupid. She says that she knows "the boy" is hiding something concerning the "forbidden magic" he wants to activate, but she's sure he won't ever tell her anything about it... So Momo knew Kaito was lying about something (the exchange of the two artifacts), but still wouldn't have had any way to know exactly the details of it.

Upon hearing the word "the boy", Akiho literally lights up, wondering "...The boy?". Her soul responds to it, as if knowing exactly whom Momo is talking about (loved it!! this is the kind of reactions I was waiting for, from her! ❤️). As usual, Kaito gets called "the boy", and when I was checking the Spanish translation I was a bit sad to see that they removed any reference to that word, making Akiho ask "who?" instead. Of course Momo can't mention his name, not even his fake one, because she's bound by a contract.

Momo explains that once the forbidden spell will get activated, the Record Card would disappear too (just like the other Clear Cards).

And here we have one of the biggest translation mistakes of this chapter, of course when there's a major scene!! Momo slowly removes her crown, and with magic she brings it back to its original state: the ring Lilie gave to her long time ago.

Remember? Lilie said she was going to make a request to Momo, and we saw a flashback of her removing the ring her fiancé gave her (a ring enchanted with a protection spell) to put it on the ear of Momo's plushie form. While Momo shrinks it back to its ring form, she says:

Momo, ENG: So that he'll never find you...and so that you'll never go away, no matter what happens...I'm going to cast a spell.

Momo, JP: So, in order to never let him find it (note: the Record Card), and so that it'll stay (note: survive even after the forbidden magic) no matter what happens...I'm going to cast a spell.

As you can see, in the ENG version Momo is saying "you", as if she's talking directly to Sakura, and so, as if she were going to cast a spell to hide her (?) from Kaito, and so that she'll never go away (??). Honestly, you can see by yourself that it doesn't make sense. Maybe with that "you" she was talking directly to the Record Card, in the translator's head? Well, very counterintuitive to translate it like that, of course it's gonna cause confusion because here Momo is addressing Sakura directly. No, the correct interpretation is that Momo is talking about the Record Card, while explaining to Sakura what she's about to do.

And, unfortunately, I'm not done complaining about this month's translation yet (god, they were doing so okay in the first part!).

Momo, ENG: I have held what I need to cast it...since long before I entered into my contract...with the boy.

Momo, JP: And I've already received the price needed to do that, long before I entered into my contract with that boy.

The ENG translation makes it sound like the ring Record is showing was somehow necessary to Momo in order to cast the spell. It isn't exactly like that. The ring was seemingly THE PRICE Lilie paid in advance, in order to make a wish to Momo and have it granted.

Yes, exactly like the customers do with Yuuko. But also what Yukito had to do to obtain the powers from the divinity of the Tsukimine Shrine. Basically it's safe to say that if you have a wish in any CLAMP series, you'll always have to pay something of equal value in exchange. And removing the word price from here, wording it in that misleading way, is honestly really annoying. We're reading a CLAMP manga, we love to see keywords and references to common CLAMP tropes and thematics present in other works too, when they've been put there on purpose by CLAMP. Can you please keep them, K-USA?? Note that here, we shouldn't give 100% for granted that the ring was exactly the price Lilie paid. It could be that, but also something related to the ring, something not physical. Like the fact that Lilie remained unprotected after giving the ring away (for a further purpose in the future). Some people gave away their time, freedom, luck as a price, in other works. Maybe it's something along those lines, and the ring gets to be passed over to those who need it the most now. Or maybe it was really the ring all along, I'm just pointing out that there are multiple options here to take into consideration.

We see Momo holding the ring between two fingers, and on the other side of the screen, Sakura's hand takes the same pose, with some "magic sparkles" around it: did Momo indeed pass the ring to her, magically? It's pretty unclear but it's legit to imagine so. Momo continues saying that there are other Cards that haven't disappeared yet (beware, the Spanish version here seems to be implying that ALL of Sakura's Clear Cards haven't disappeared, but from how it's phrased that's not what the JP text is saying here, and the ENG translation is actually right - wtf is happening, hahahah), and they're waiting for Sakura to call them. Yes, just like she did with Record. Then, Momo finally tells her "(please,) Remember" (and not "find them" like in the ENG version!), and Record turns into a magic crystal, the same that appeared everytime Sakura captured a Clear Card, magically going through Sakura's chest. Yes. Should we say "stabbing" her? 😂😂Good lord was this imagery really necessary?? Moreover, people are also being reminded of how the feathers used to enter Sakura's body in Tsubasa exactly like this 😂😂😂it's a continuous reference-fest, with Tsubasa.... Sooo, as you have guessed, Sakura starts recovering all the memories of her life before the forbidden magic was activated: in this beautiful display of countless film strips we can see many scenes coming from the most disparate chapters, mostly related to Sakura (shots from the Two Alice play are included, but NOT futher than that, so I don't know what's the situation for what concerns what happened in Clockland). We can see many characters in those strips, Momo included (so she recovered also her memories that were erased by the time rewindings - I knew she would!! ) but....there's still one major absentee in those memories: Kaito.

And yet. Sakura opens her eyes, after processing all the memories that came back to her. And her eyes are filled with tears, tears and extreme sadness. Akiho, of course, gets immediately anxious when she sees her like that. Sakura runs to the one whom she probably knows by now is not really her sister, to hug her tight. This is a scene that's very reminiscent of when she hugged Akiho in chapter 35 after witnessing Akiho's past on her skin. She didn't know how or why, but her intuition and empathy told her that she had witnessed something related to Akiho. And that's exactly what's happening here too.

I'm not sure if Sakura saw Kaito, in those memories (while not being shown to us). But I'm fairly sure that what's making her cry, thanks to her awesome intuition and empathy, is the blind awareness that they lost someone along the way. Someone very, very important to Akiho, hence why she runs to hug her tight. And that can't help but breaking Sakura's heart too, because she loves Akiho and she would never want to see her "sister" suffer a loss of that magnitude. She knows what it feels like, she had to scold Syaoran before for that same risk. Therefore, with one of the most determined faces I've ever seen her making, she utters:

Sakura, JP: Let's get it back. The thing/the person you didn't want to lose.

There's a lot to say about this last line of the chapter. First of all, the interpretation: the international translations have interpreted in different ways this line, because there isn't a subject or a clear specification of what they're talking about. Some translations made Sakura say something like "I've got to take back what we should've never have lost", like the ENG and BR-PT versions did, making Kaito's disappearance her matter too... Some others decided to translate in a way that's more personal to Akiho, like "Let's get back what you never wanted to lose", like the FR and ESP did. This is possible because this line uses the word もの, which can both mean "thing" but also the hiragana reading of 者, "person" (as usual, a clever way from Ohkawa to not disclose who she's talking about yet, even though we all know). At the same time, it also doesn't specify who is the subject of the verb "didn't want to lose": it could be Akiho, or Sakura and Akiho together, just as each translation decided to infer. Therefore I'm not inclined to indicate one or the other as the correct one, though I have to say that the idea of Sakura making it a personal matter too despite knowing Kaito very little, just because she's that much empathetic, kind and genuine, is quite endearing. Kaito made Akiho feel loved, the happiest, and that alone is enough for Sakura to put up her warrior queen face (seriously, it's so heartbreaking but also beautiful) and declare war to whatever is keeping him away from them, trying to get him back. Ohkawa did say it, in one of the last Twitter Spaces where she talked about the upcoming events of the finale: "Sakura will take care of it in her own way". One last thing, this line is also a reference to what Touya told Sakura in chapter 58, that night when he prepared the honey milk to her, after his sister asked him "What do you do when you don't know what's true and what's not?" and he told her...."I choose what I don't want to loose".

And that's exactly what Sakura is doing right now. We knew this advice sooner or later would've come useful. Sakura chose to bring back what they shouldn't lose. A precious existence that deserves a second chance. Sakura made her choice. She's on board with this. Will Akiho make the same choice? (don't you dare, it's a rhetoric question!! 😂)

Surprisingly enough, for this chapter we have an editorial text in vertical, on the right side of the last page, which translates to: "A wish entrusted from the past, (what will) Sakura (do)...?"

Aaaaand here we are, we reached the end of the chapter. 31 pages...we're back to longer chapters, as expected from those very close to the grand finale! We're currently 79 pages in for volume 15. It is interesting to note that, as I'm writing this post, no notice of "2 chapters to the end" or anything like that was printed on the Japanese color page (but there still could be something in the usual color ads page - I'd need to check the actual Nakayoshi magazine for that). Aside from the things I have already mentioned in the post above, I have to say I really loved to see Sakura and Akiho collaborating (and so immediately after Sakura revealed everything connected to magic to her sister!), effectively putting at work Akiho's extensive knowledge thanks to all the books she reads! Her suggestion of "calling" the magic Sakura was looking for, because it was hiding, was super useful and put into practice something she just had mentioned a few pages before: if you need me for something I happen to be good at, I'll always help you. That's what's good in us being different. Talking with an user on a Discord server, it was mentioned something that I personally really agree with and I would like to talk more extensively in a separate post (maybe someone can send an ask about it so I have the excuse? 😂), which is the fact that in this chapter Sakura talked honestly and clearly with an open heart to Akiho, trusting her reaction to be strong and positive enough, and that lead to a quick resolution of an immediate problem they had, as opposed to the other characters of the cast (Syaoran, Eriol, Kaito etc) who did things on their own, hiding - and even lying in some cases - to protect their loved ones, leading to unforeseen or terrible consequences (Kaito is the extreme example). I think there's definitely a fil rouge here connecting these situations.

Well, this post unfortunately already turned too long so I guess I'll have to stop here, but I'll be glad to answer to asks, if you want to discuss something else (or get more clarifications!). If you found this post useful, if it helped you clarifying some things, please share it - I'm always told of people being so confused by this finale and if I can help in any way I'd be only happy about that, but my posts need to reach those people first.

Chapter 74 is slated to be released on May 31st on CLAMP's Youtube channel (digital), and on June 2nd on Nakayoshi (digital and paper). The next Nakayoshi magazine will come with Sakura on the cover, the chapter being at the very beginning of the magazine (so it's probably going to be a double color page) and even a furoku - a pretty SyaoSaku foldable fan! I'm not sure how things will be with the release of the new K-Manga app, so for now I'm not gonna include it here.

See you next time!!

#card captor sakura #cardcaptor sakura #ccsakura #clear card arc #ccs spoilers #sakura card captor #kinomoto sakura #akiho shinomoto #chapter 73 #translation differences

[floralcrematorium]

Do you think France's real hair color is blonde, dirty blonde or light brown?

I tend to lean dirty blonde with some golden highlights. Think his hair color anywhere from The Beautiful World to World Stars. I think my favorite way to think about his hair is the way it looks is very dependent on the lighting. If he's outside it'll look like there's some gold woven in there, but when he's inside or in a dimly lit place, the darker parts of his hair appear to be a light brown.

I'm not a fan of anything season 1-4 France, which includes his bright ass yellow hair

I think the appeal of Francis' hair season 5 onwards just comes with the change in style. Seasons 1-4 was all cell-shaded when it came to color; Everyone had a base color for everything in their design with one color for shading and one color for highlight. The clothing is still rendered the same in the anime during and after season 5, but in addition to the cell shading on the hair, there's a gradient. While I'm not a fan of the gradient because it makes color picking harder (and whether or not I decide to do that is debatable), it looks more appealing to me. The image I also selected of Francis above and color picked from also isn't... the best considering he's also in shadow, but that image of him... appeals to me.

I think something the later seasons have going for them is the general color cohesion. While there's still a lot of cell shading in the clothing (because that's just easier to animate), there's more of it. There's more attention to folds in fabric and more attention to where shadows lay on the body, which helps Seasons 5-7 feel less flat in comparison to Seasons 1-4. I also think the colors in the later seasons appear more unified? I mean, considering now that most of the strips we see getting animated put the characters in clothing that aren't their early-mid 20th century uniforms, we don't get the garishly bright colors that are all different and a lot of them wear clothing similar in color palette (more neutrals). Thinking of France specifically with that blue coat/red pants wombo combo. We do still get some vibrant colors, which is nice, but the hues they choose now vs back then feel much more lively.

Here's a Sketch of Francis I started that I don't think I'll ever finish. When I color I tend to start with more muted colors and I work in more vibrant colors at the end so the whole image isn't super saturated.

#hetalia #hws france #francis bonnefoy #my art #floralcrematorium ask box

[goodluckclove]

FINAL BLIND TRUST SNEEK PEEK

The results were close enough that I decided to post something that I think is happy and sad. I also don't think I've posted anything directly about Regina Mustard Kaufner, matriarch of the Kaufner family. This feels like spoilers and kind of is but kind of isn't because even in context it leaves you with more questions than answers.

Enjoy reading the start of the mom I really wish I had. I like her a lot.

Seriously guys I need to stop revealing more of this novel before it comes out. I'm just so fucking excited aaaaaa

“I’m going to take them.”

“What?” Enoch said from the other end of the phone. “Mustard, no. That’s kidnapping.”

Regina leaned back in the car seat and kept her eyes on the doors to the University. “Yes,” she confirmed. “I’m going to kidnap them.”

“Fucking hell – that’s…” Enoch trailed off, and when she spoke again she was much calmer. “We’ll call the police. If we have proof of abuse we can call the police.”

But we don’t have proof, Regina wanted to point out. All we have are the visions of my son and some bruises that’ll be covered up by an organization with authority near to that of the Catholic church.

Enoch clicked her tongue anxiously, as if she were right beside her waiting for class to get out. “I don’t like this,” she said. “You said the parents refused to meet with you. What if they’ve tracked your license plate?”

“I’m being very discreet,” Regina tried to assure her.

“Well if you’re still in the Doctor’s car then no, you aren’t. Regina, you can’t keep taking these kinds of risks. You have children to think about.”

The doors pushed open and released a sea of purple-suited children all around Scott and Tenzin’s age. Regina immediately stopped paying attention to what her love was saying. She shifted the phone into her opposite hand and got out of the car, standing to peer through all the faces and dissect the crowd into parts. Looking for the smaller body. The larger set of eyes.

Because yes, Regina did have children. And right now, one of them needed her help.

Once the crowd started to thin Regina began to worry. Did she miss her chance? She was starting to consider pulling off and circling the surrounding city blocks, but before she went any farther with that line of thought she caught sight of a familiar face she was seeing for the very first time.

They were smaller than the other kids and walked a little slower – not from noticeable depression, just deep in thought. They had a young face that was still slightly older than what made sense for their age, with large, deep-set eyes hued a warm shade of brown.

This child matched Scott’s description of Eddie. What identified them for certain, however, was the feeling that flooded Regina’s system as soon as she caught site of them. Her love for those around her came in varying colors. For Enoch it was a bright emerald green, while Tenzin was more of a comforting blue-gray. It was always different for everyone – always – and yet when she looked at the child absently making his way down the stairs she felt the exact color of love she felt whenever she looked at Scott.

Sunflower yellow. Every single time.

It had to be them. Eddie.

Enoch was in the middle of explaining some kind of Louisiana legality when Regina hung up on her without a word. She got out of the car and fidgeted, unsure how to do this. She had no intention of stealing them if they didn’t want to go with her. It would help to find a way to explain who she was in a way that would make sense to the child – but in a way that didn’t encourage them to strike up conversations with frantic strangers in the future. Everything that made sense before Eddie walked outside now felt just as wrong as everyone had been trying to tell her.

This wasn’t Scott. Regina had to remind herself that. This was the other fragment of the being that ended up developing into her son. Was she truly as responsible for this half of his spirit as she was for him?

Not seeing a gap in the sidewalk, Eddie stumbled and scraped his knee against the concrete. From across the street Regina could see the wound, a grating of skin just deep enough to swell blood. It was the type of thing Scott would proudly show off before washing clean with a hose and bounding back off with his day. Eddie, however, stayed still. They did not move. Staring down at the blood, they broke down immediately in quiet tears.

No one was helping them. A few purple-suited adults looked at them as they passed, but did nothing. Regina bore this sight for maybe ten seconds before she grunted in annoyance and ran over to their aid.

“Oh wow!” She exclaimed. “You really tumbled, didn’t you?”

Eddie shrank even smaller on the ground and turned his face away from her. Horror weighed her heavy in place, and Regina knelt down and adjusted her attitude.

She started by speaking much softer. “Does it hurt?” She asked.

“It – It’s scary.”

“The blood?” Regina glanced down at the trickle of red running down just below the hem of his shorts. “Yes. You don’t like blood,” she smiled vaguely. “It’s kind of spooky isn’t it? Do you think it means that something bad happened?”

The child nodded. They lowered their arm away from their face, though still kept their eyes focused down from Regina’s direct line of sight. A sign of respect from Academy children, she learned some time ago. It disgusted her to think about.

She rifled through her bag and pulled out a few paper packets. “I keep sanitary wipes on me,” she said, tearing the top off of one. “They’re for my son. I don’t think he would mind if I used a few to help clean you up, though. Would that be all right with you?”

At first Eddie didn’t respond. He wiped at his eyes and took a deep breath. Then he nodded.

“The thing about scrapes like this,” Regina told them as she gently wiped away the blood up his leg, “is that they feel a lot worse than they actually are. You’ve really only hurt a few layers of skin – and you have many layers of skin, Eddie – so you haven’t gone deep enough to cause any permanent damage on it’s own. This might sting a little bit, buddy.”

Regina pressed a fresh sanitary wipe over the wound. Eddie’s face scrunched up without making much of a sound, and once again she felt the sunflower yellow of adoration for her child.

“You’re being very brave,” she murmured. “Anyhow, it hurts because under your skin has things called nerves. And that’s how you feel things – most things, at least,” Regina was quickly reaching the borders of her medical knowledge. “You didn’t hurt your body. It’s more like you triggered the alarm system that lets you know that something bad could’ve happened. Does that make sense?”

Somewhere in that explanation Eddie gathered the nerve to look at her. They seemed uncertain, and yet more than a little curious. She got a better look at his eyes, and at the iris coloboma that gave them the quality of something antique and wise.

She supposed that meant they could see hers as well. She wondered if Eddie would ask about them.

“How do you know my name?” They quietly questioned her.

Regina’s eyes widened slightly. Did she call them Eddie? Was she so preoccupied with comforting them that she forgot to make any effort to do things subtly?

She thought about Enoch. She should’ve let Enoch come with her.

“My name is Regina,” she said. “But you can call me Mustard if you’d like. Wouldn’t that be funny? It’s like the flower, but it’s also a sauce.”

Regina stood up and pulled her wallet out of her purse. Eddie followed her lead and got up on their own accord. Still, they didn’t drop the issue. “Do you know my mother?” They asked.

She thought about the cold voice that spoke to her on the phone and shivered. “No,” she said, forcing a smile. “I’m actually...I’m Scott’s mom.”

“...Scott?”

There was a photo in the inner fold of her wallet. It was new, printed by Enoch only a week before Regina drove off on this terrible road trip, but already the creases were well-defined from folding and unfolding. It was of Scott and Tenzin, each only half-visible and under a pillow fort that collapsed over them mid-nap. Regina smiled at the image, then turned it to Edgar and pointed at Scott’s laughing face.

The recognition was stark. For a moment it was frightened. Then that broke away, and Eddie’s brown eyes once again welled with tears.

“He’s real?” They managed weakly.

-

in short, regina's entire perspective towards edgar could be summarized by this old nedroid comic:

if you have shit parents she probably would do the same for you.

#writeblr #writing community #writers on tumblr #writing #authors of tumblr #queer writers #actually writing #blind trust #writing excerpt #novel excerpt #agender #transgender

[runawaymun]

I also have been frothing over the spa center comment.

…would love to hear your pj shade regarding Elrond and Rivendell pretty please though?

I'M GLAD I'M NOT THE ONLY ONE FOAMING AT THE MOUTH

okay so...regarding PJ shade............where the hell do I even begin.

I wanna preface this by saying that I do love the films. Like they're my childhood. They have a very special place in my heart and they remain my favorite films of all time. I also really love Hugo!Rond -- like I should think that's obvious considering my art and characterization are so largely based off of Hugo's portrayal, but that being said the films really did Elrond so dirty and I'll never forgive PJ for some of the choices he made and the things he chose to leave out -- not only because they hurt Elrond's characterization, but because they hurt all lot of other plotlines and characters as well.

So let's just start with the most egregious issue, which is by-and-large a directorial issue and not necessarily a script or acting issue: Elrond is kind as summer. And while we see that peeking through in certain moments (enough that those of us with daddy issues and/or a precursory knowledge of the character latched onto them...), this doesn't define Peter Jackson's Elrond. Peter Jackson's Elrond is cranky and tired and while that is a fundamentally interesting characterization, it isn't Tolkien's. Tolkien's Elrond isn't like this. He laughs with Bilbo! He tries to stop Pippin from going on the quest (but allows it in the end). He offers friendship to Thorin and hospitality to literally everyone. He carries his harp around with him and offers little tidbits about himself (I was the herald of Gil-Galad and marched with his host...). Elrond on the page just exudes warmth and generosity. Maybe he's tired & worn out and maybe he has lost a bit of hope by the time we get to the Third Age. Maybe. But that certainly isn't a defining trait. Tolkien's Elrond enthusiastically supported Aragorn (vs. Men? Men are weak. Etc. Etc. Etc.) -- there are just so many weird choices that were made in line delivery and energy that are directorial choices for the story which PJ wanted to tell. Hugo Weaving is completely capable of carrying the right energy when directed to! It's not a Hugo problem! We see him teasing Bilbo a bit in Unexpected Journey and being kinda snarky with Thorin and having some playful energy there. It's that Peter Jackson decided that wasn't how he wanted to portray Elrond. And so we end up with this weird stiff character that doesn't look anything like Tolkien's Elrond unless you squint and do a lot of mental gymnastics (which I constantly do).

And the thing is, I would like to give the portrayal the benefit of the doubt and say 'well it really isn't THAT bad', because I look at it through the rose-colored glasses of nostalgia and my own love for my blorbo. But people who are casual watchers of the films, or people who are getting introduced to story for the first time (I've had the joy of getting to introduce a lot of people to the films, and have seen a lot of first reactions on Youtube) -- the knee jerk reaction to Peter Jackson's Elrond is what's his problem? if you don't have the context. And that makes me really sad.

And I really do have to put it down to Peter Jackson wanted to tell a certain story. Because it isn't hard to fix this. Most of the lines are fine. You just have to tell Hugo to exude a different kind of energy in them. That scene in the extended edition with Elrond and Aragorn at Gilraen's memorial is awesome, but you never get the sense that Elrond raised Aragorn. There's no warmth to that scene. And that comes down to direction. Viggo and Hugo are amazing actors. If you told them "hey, you guys have a father-son relationship and you're reminiscing over someone that you both cared about" then they could have played it that way and it would have been so good. But you never get that sense.

That comes down to the weird completely contrived conflict Peter Jackson wanted of "Elrond as the antagonist to Beren & Luthien II electric boogaloo" -- which is...such a strange decision. Why make him Thingol 2.0? It's literally just an extra contrived plot point for added conflict and it isn't like we needed it. The films are three hours long each. Aragorn and Arwen didn't need an antagonist to their love story. It's lazy characterization and lazy storytelling and lazy direction. Again, Hugo Weaving is an excellent actor. Masterclass, in fact. And I understand the thought process of "he's afraid to lose his daughter" and I think that's really tasty characterization! I love playing with that characterization! But there is a way to direct and write that without making him an antagonist. You don't even need lines to show that. Maybe just one. Maybe two. But to be honest all you need is a LOT of strong acting on Hugo's part to show the internal conflict as Elrond is outwardly supporting the two of them because he wants them to be happy!

And then there's the uh...nerfing of Elrond.

To be fair, Elrond really is background on purpose in LOTR. He chooses to be a guide. He chooses to be the Dad Everyone Goes To rather than The Big Damn Hero, and that's awesome. That's why I love him! But again there are just the teeniest tiniest changes that could have been made to fix the fact that he's heavily nerfed. SWEET, so "thanks to the skills of Lord Elrond you are beginning to mend!" -- hey can we just, add a bit more weight to the fact that Elrond needed to use Vilya to do that and it pretty much sapped all of his strength? Can we add a bit more weight to how LONG that surgery took and the fact that NO ONE ELSE could have saved Frodo from a Morgul Blade. How about instead of "he needs Elvish medicine", say "we have to get him to Elrond" -- like, I know Arwen says this, but it just takes a few edits to make it abudantly clear that this has less to do with Elves in general and more to do with rings of power.

And then we get to the fjord with the Ringwraiths. I'm not one of those people who is mad that they gave the chase to Arwen rather than Glorfindel. I understand why that decision was made. Do I miss Glorfindel? Hell yeah! But I understand why that decision was made. I just wish that Peter Jackson hadn't also given Arwen the "call the river in fury" superpower. Why not have Elrond be the one to do that? Girlpower, sure. But Arwen's cool enough for having the chase scene against all nine nazgul. Let Elrond have his moment. It takes like one 50% opacity overlay edit to show us he's the one doing it. And this isn't even an Elrond issue so much as a nerfing the worldbuilding issue. We hear about the Three Rings in the prologue and then Peter Jackson promptly never mentions them again save for one deleted scene with Galadriel and Nenya. Until I read the books as an adult I had no idea Elrond and Gandalf had the other two. That's...a pretty egregious thing to leave out.

Peter saves himself somewhat with the faux Silm plot in The Hobbit films. TBH I forgive absolutely everything else about the Hobbit Films for the purpose of that tiny moment where Elrond teases Bilbo and invites him to stay (except it's only in the extended so....again, we see where PJ's priorities lie), and Elrond in that armor saying "you should have stayed dead" like adlkgh--- thank you my crops are watered and my skin is clear.

But it should not have taken Peter six movies to fix how badly he nerfed Elrond, and he didn't even really fix him.

All that to say: so many of my favorite Elrond scenes from the films (the Gilraen memorial, Elrond teasing Bilbo, etc), are scenes from extended cuts, meaning when editing Peter Jackson decided these scenes weren't essential to the story he was trying to tell. And sure, this sure as hell isn't "The Elrond Trilogy" -- but it doesn't have to be. Elrond has so little screentime in the books and Jirt still takes those few moments of screentime to tell us Elrond laughed. Elrond was kind as Summer. Elrond's house was safe and cozy and Evil Things Did Not Enter That Valley. Elrond raised Aragorn as his own son and loved him dearly. Elrond was Kind as Summer. Elrond was kind. Elrond was kind. Elrond was kind.

And that isn't how Peter Jackson chose to portray him. I can't fault the man for not having Elrond as a blorbo. We all have different blorbos and that's okay. The trouble is that Elrond is Jirt's blorbo. And Elrond, at his core -- just like Bilbo and Sam and Frodo -- carries the essential message of Tolkien. It isn't great flashy Acts of Heroism that save the world, but rather quiet courage, and kindness, and gardens and laughter and good food and cheer. Places of safety. Gentle guidance. Healing. Healing. Healing.

So that's why I just will never forgive what Peter Jackson did to Elrond. Elrond is good. He is kind. He is extremely powerful -- but he chooses to use that power to heal and guide. And the reason it makes me so mad is not because he's my blorbo (okay maybe it is a little bit), but because breaking Elrond's character in the films was completely unnecessary and completely avoidable. It's just that Peter Jackson chose to do things his way and tell the story he wanted to tell, rather than taking the time to make some small and easy directorial choices to make sure he got it right. And the end result is there is a depressingly large number of people who live their lives thinking that Elrond's that cranky "MeN aRe WeAk" killjoy dad who hates happiness and runs a glorified hotel, and it just kills me.

#sorry this is SO LONG #cw long post #elrond #the rant you technically asked for #this also comes down to PJ's priorities have always been Men and Hobbits over Dwarves and Elves #which explains a LOT of the choices in the films

[inkrabbit]

Hello! I loved your protective Swiss fic!

Could I request Rain Ghoul x reader where reader sees him without his mask for the first time?

I'm glad you liked the other fic <333 hopefully you'll like this one as well

ngl the first time I saw Rain unmasked, all I could think of was that "oh no he's hot" meme. and I still think about it

It’s against the rules for ghouls to walk around without their masks. Sister Imperator had said she didn’t care what mask they wore so long as their face was covered when in the presence of a non-ghoul. The rest of the clergy had agreed. Everyone except you.

It was a simple enough rule, though you had heard some of the ghouls muttering in passing how the balaclava sometimes made it hard to breathe. You often saw Cirrus tugging at the mask when she thought no one was looking, lips parts as she took in deep breaths. You never told anyone when you would see a ghoul messing with their mask. Really, you thought it was a stupid rule.

But today was one of those unbearably hot days where it felt like the sun was actively trying to melt you. All siblings were ordered to stay inside, only being allowed out if they had to go to another section of the abbey, and they were advised to make their trip quick. All of the windows and doors had been shut, the AC running nonstop since the heat began. And still, it didn’t feel like it was enough.

You had left bottles of water in both the fridge and freezer, and you had carried around an old backpack to store several of them in. You had to go to the library to get some books on upcoming studies and you decided to pass out cold water to the siblings who didn’t already have a drink. You knew how serious this heatwave was when you hadn’t even seen any of the fire ghouls parading around like you had the previous day.

A smell catches you on your way to the library, like water that’s been poured on hot cement. It’s a smell that would occasionally hit you whenever Sodo walked by, providing his scent hadn’t been overpowered by the more familiar campfire smell. But when you look around, you don’t see the lean ghoul. Instead, it’s another ghoul, sitting under a tree. Not only is he missing his shirt, but his balaclava is gone, along with his mask. Dark brown hair is pushed back and away from his sweaty face, and his skin matched the color of a storm cloud. From where you’re standing, you can make out a well-kept beard on his face.

As you get closer, the smell gets more intense. You think back to all of the other water ghouls, but you’re drawing a blank. You’re positive it’s not Mist, and you know it’s not Sodo. Was that… Delta? No, the body type didn’t match. Perhaps River? Wait, didn’t you pass by River earlier? Yeah, and the overwhelming scent of nature-musk and a hint of fish had slapped you in the face.

“Rain?” you call out hesitantly, excitement shooting through you when he turns his head in your direction. At least you had gotten it right, but the sight of his face breaks your heart. His eyes are lidded, lips parted and you can see his forked tongue just barely creeping past his lower lip. His whole body is covered in sweat, chest rising and falling faster than it should be as he pants quietly. You hurry over to him, the shade from the tree taking away the burning sensation of the sun having hit your habit. “Oh, you poor thing.”

“Hot…” His voice is soft and he watches as you unzip your backpack, perking up when you pull out a bottle of cold water. It makes you jump when he snatches the bottle from you in such an uncharacteristic move. Normally he’s so polite and gentle.

He rips the cap off and you watch in amazement as he guzzles the water down. The more you watch him, the worse you feel. You hadn’t considered how this heat would’ve affected the ghouls. You take out another bottle, uncapping it and slowly pouting the water over his shoulder and back. He leans towards you, a sigh of relief escaping his lips. You see his tail finally start to move and it looks like he’s coming back to life.

“Thank you. Thank you.” Though he’s still soft-spoken, he is a little louder. This time, he’s more gentle taking the bottle of water from you, dumping the rest over his head and soaking his hair and face.

“You didn’t look like you were gonna make it much longer,” you say softly. His mask and balaclava sit beside him, along with his shirt and vest.

“Didn’t think I was going to either.” He leans back against the tree, eyes closed as he lets the last few drops of water hit his tongue. That’s when it hits him and he lurches forward, making you jump. “Shit! I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I wasn’t thinking!” He scrambles for his mask, hands shaking as he picks everything up. You grab his bicep to stop him.

“Rain, it’s okay.” He looks back at you, those dark eyes wide.

“B-but… you’re not a ghoul,” he stammers out. “We’re not allowed-”

“It’s okay.” You give him a smile. “It’s too hot for you to be wearing that stuffy thing anyway.”

He’s hesitant but he finally nods, setting the mask back down. “I-I just didn’t want to upset you. You’ve been so nice and I know Sister and the clergy asks we do this one thing and-”

“I’m not the entire clergy, now am I?” You look in your bag, pulling out the last water you had and handing it to him. He gently takes it from you, cradling it against his abdomen. “I’ve seen how uncomfortable you guys can get under it. I’m glad you have it off.”

“Thank you.” The smile he gives you is so sweet and it makes your heart flutter. It was nice seeing him unmasked. After all this time, you finally got the chance to match his voice to a face. His hair is smoothed down now, slicked back from the water and it reaches just a little past his shoulders, the color looking like it got darker ever since he wet it.. You could admit he was attractive, and with his amazing personality, it made him almost irresistible.

“Is there something on my face?” he asks, pulling you out of your trance. “You know, besides the uh… sweat and water.”

“Oh, no!” Your face heats up as you turn your gaze away from him, instead focusing on his mask that’s laying on the ground. “You’re just… really handsome.”

“Oh!” You catch a glimpse of a grin on his face and how his cheeks darken. “Thank you. I… honestly can’t remember the last time anyone’s complimented me.” You’re confused when you hear that. “You know how it is. The others are nice and all but… sometimes it feels like when they say something, we’re just back on stage. Like it’s all an act or they’re just trying to make me feel good.”

“Well, I mean it.” You give him a smile. “You’re really cute, Rain.”

“Thank you.” He seems happy, eyes lit up as he stares at you. Finally, you look around, seeing how still and lifeless everything looks.

“How about we get out of this heat?” you suggest, “We can go hide out in the library until the sun goes down.”

“You see my face once and you’re already asking me on a date.” he teases, pulling a laugh from you. But he nods. “Yeah, let’s go. I can’t take it out here anymore.”

“Why weren’t you in the dens?” You pick up his balaclava and mask as he pulls on his shirt and eventually his vest.

“Way too hot in there,” he tells you, running his hands through his hair. “The fire ghouls aren’t even happy with today and it’s like their heat is making everything worse. I think Mountain even had to go somewhere else because he was burning up.”

“Honestly, I thought you might’ve been Sodo at first.”

“Nah. He’s… not doing as bad, but even he was getting irritated.” When he reaches for his balaclava, you stop him.

“I know a spot in the library,” you tell him, handing over his mask instead. “where no one ever goes. It’ll just be us and you can have your mask off.”

“Are you sure?”

“Positive. It’s where I hang out whenever I don’t want anyone finding me.”

He smiles, letting out a soft laugh. “I swear to Lucifer if you get us in trouble-”

“We’ll be fine. I promise.”

He follows you from out underneath the tree, hissing softly when the sun hits you two. He fixes the mask to his face, grumbling softly as you two hurry for the library. But finally, he looks over at you.

“This isn’t just so you can see my face more, is it?” he asks you, that teasing tone seeping into his voice as he smiles. Your hand flies to your chest.

“Oh no, my master plan has been found out!” you cry playfully and he barks out a laugh. His hand comes up, thoughtfully stroking at his beard.

“Maybe the clergy was right. I should wear a mask at all times,” he continues. “Lest a sweet and gorgeous sibling decides to kidnap me from this horrible heat.”

“Oh, shut up!” You smack his arm, but his words finally sink in. “’Gorgeous sibling’?”

“I’m not blind.” The smile he gives you is genuine and you notice how he slowly gets closer to you. He cracks the seal on the last bottle of water you gave him. “The masks are sometimes hard to see through, but I know what you look like.”

“Well, thank you.” He knocks the water bottle back against his lips, taking a sip before he passes the bottle to you. You take it, mimicking his actions. You suppose the heat wasn’t too bad. At least you were able to get closer to Rain.

#rain #rain ghoul #gn!reader #rain x gn!reader #ghost #ghost band #unmasked ghoul #unmasked rain #request

[mossywriting]

A little Kalluzeb drabble because I can't get these two out of my head

Kallus didn’t believe he was drunk, not really. The beers he had drunk had simply left him with a comfortable buzz, and he enjoyed its company as he tried to make his way through the tapcafe without bumping into anyone. It helped that the late hour had made the crowd grow thin.

His colleagues shouted another cheerful round of goodnights and Kallus waved at them one last time before he resolutely steered his steps toward the exit. He was fairly sure he'd be the only one not sporting a hangover in the morning.

Right before he was about to step outside, he heard his name being called. His steps faltered and he looked over his shoulder toward the voice. A few meters to the side he found Zeb seated by a table along with two Chagrians. Curiously, it wasn’t Zeb who was trying to catch his attention, but it was one of the Chagrians - Wyloth, Kallus believed he was called - who was waving his hand at him. 

Zeb appeared to be resolutely not looking his way as he took a long sip of his beer, his eyes darting around the tapcafe as he did. Anywhere but at Kallus. 

For a second, Kallus considered ignoring them, his bed sounding awfully tempting, but it wasn’t often he would find Zeb looking so flustered. He couldn’t resist it, and he turned around to walk up to their table. 

"Kallus, so glad we found you!" Wyloth exclaimed. It seemed like he had had his fair share of drink tonight as well. "You have to settle something for us."

"I'll do my best, " Kallus said, his eyes drifting between the three before him. Zeb was still not meeting his eyes.

Wyloth jerked his head toward his friend to his right. "Balu here thinks humans are terrible kissers-"

"No offence," Balu grinned up at Kallus.

"- but I say you guys are fine."

Kallus raised an eyebrow. "Okay? I think I'm a bit biased here."

Wyloth waved him off. "Yeah, yeah, of course. But Zeb here," he nudged Zeb with his elbow, "is supposed to be the deciding vote, but he says he's never kissed a human. And we say he's full of shit."

Wyloth and Balu both looked eagerly at Kallus, clearly waiting for him to prove them right.

"Uh, well, not that I know off, " Kallus said, his eyes darting over to Zeb who was taking another sip of his drink, clearly trying to stay out of the whole conversation.

"Really?" Balu piped up with surprise. "Everyone thinks you-"

Wyloth elbowed Balu and gave him a sharp look, effectively cutting him off.

Kallus’ eyes return to Zeb. A look of embarrassment was actually starting to color his features, and the top of his ears had turned a lighter shade than usual. It was a new look on him. Kallus found it surprisingly charming.

"C'me on, Zeb, you must have kissed a human at some point!" Balu exclaimed, clearly refusing to give up.

"I said I haven't, didn't I?" Zeb snapped at his friend. "Stop with the weird-"

"But would you like to?" Balu continued, undeterred.

Wyloth turned his head toward Zeb as well and raised his eyebrows in question.

Under the scrutiny of three sets of eyes, Zeb began to squirm. "I mean, I- Uh, I wouldn't mind it, but..." Zeb's eyes quickly darted over to meet Kallus’, before moving down to his- Zeb resolutely looked away. The tip of his ears turned even lighter.

If Kallus hadn’t drunk as much as he had, he might have stopped things at that. Might have turned around to leave for his bed. But Kallus was a bit drunk, a little bit off his head, and he liked what he saw. 

He leaned in and kissed Zeb.

It was quick, far too brief for Kallus’ liking, but as he leaned back, was he imagining it, or did Zeb chase his lips?

"There you go," Kallus smirked. Now Zeb would have a say in their bet. Kallus turned around to walk away, but he didn't miss the slightly dazed expression on Zeb’s face. 

Kallus didn't even make it out of the tapcafe before he heard Wyloth's cheer.

It seemed like humans weren't so terrible at kissing after all.

#kalluzeb #kalluzeb drabble #mossy writes #star wars rebels #alexandr kallus #garazeb orrelios

[eleanor-bradstreet]

A Brother's Love: Devotion

Characters: Benedict Bridgerton, Daphne Bridgerton Rated: G, angst over grief/loss Word Count: 1.2k GIF by @greengableslover Masterpost

Summary: Benedict gives Daphne a gift

Benedict slammed the drawing room door closed and leaned against it, fuming. Anthony was being entirely unreasonable. He hadn’t expected a row just for offering to help. His brother had already decided to take the upcoming year off from university while Benedict left to start at Cambridge. He hadn’t wanted them both to be away from the family under the new circumstances they found themselves in.

Benedict had thought his alternate plan was far preferable for everyone. Rather than Anthony taking a break halfway through his studies, he himself would delay his start for a year. He could stay behind to watch over the family and learn to act as a steward, sharing as many of the viscount’s duties as he could with his brother. The very notion of ‘sharing’ the role had set Anthony off into a bitter tirade about responsibilities, during which he forbade Benedict from postponing his education. They escalated into shouting at one another over which responsibilities took precedence, culminating in snide insults on both sides, before Benedict stormed out of the study.

He sighed as his anger started to dissipate. Anthony was developing a tone of voice that was very unlike the boy he had always known. Perhaps he shouldn’t have been surprised. He was, in fact, a new person now. Not just Anthony the brother, or Anthony the partner in crime, he was Viscount Lord Anthony Bridgerton, titled landowner and peer of the realm. It made Benedict feel simultaneously small, frustrated and sad.

A nearby whimper startled him. He hadn’t bothered to see if he was alone in the drawing room. One the other side of the sofas near one of the low cabinets stood Daphne, wiping tears from her eyes as she tried to straighten herself.

“Daph?” He walked over to her. “Are you alright?”

If she had wanted to hide that she was crying, she failed entirely. Her chin was trembling, and her eyes were red and swollen as she looked up at him. She gave him an unconvincing little nod.

Benedict saw behind her that the cabinet door was ajar. “What are you up to?” His tone was gentle, not accusatory. 

“I only…” Daphne sniffed, realizing she had been caught. “Will you promise not to be cross with me?”

Now Benedict was very curious. For Daphne to do anything covert, particularly anything that might be considered bad behavior, was exceptionally rare. So rare that this was the first time he was confronted by a secret that she held.

“I promise.”

With another whimper, she bent back to the cabinet, opened it and pulled out a polished wooden box. She set it atop the cabinet and slowly opened the lid.

Inside, Benedict saw three withered stems. Flowers that had browned, curled and shrunk in on themselves, leeched of any color. The spindly dark things looked like little more than twigs, but he knew from their shape that they had once been hyacinths. His heart felt like a stone.

“I kept these,” Daphne sighed, her voice thick with emotion. “Papa had been picking them for Mama and I when…”

She bit her lip and tears started to flow down her cheeks. Benedict wrapped an arm around her shoulders and blinked to hold back his own.

Daphne continued, “I think Mama and Anthony would be angry with me if they knew I had kept them. It’s just that I wanted to keep Papa’s gift, and then I wanted to show them to the baby.”

“What?” Benedict’s brow furrowed.

Daphne looked up at him. Despite her grief, her eyes still shone a bright blue, matching the shade of her dress. “Mama said that if the baby is a girl, she will name her Hyacinth.” Benedict’s stone heart lurched. He hadn’t known that.

“So I wanted to keep the flowers and show the baby where her name came from.” Benedict tightened his arm around his sister and nodded. Such a thoughtful gesture was precisely in her nature. Then her shoulders started to heave with sobs. “But they have all withered. I thought I could dry them like roses but…they have just died.” The last word was a pained whisper as she threw her arms around Benedict’s waist and buried her face against him, weeping freely.

Benedict held her, stroking her hair. In truth, he wanted to break down too. There were too many things to feel all at once. The tenderness of Daphne’s plan, and her anguish at it failing. The reminder, right there in front of him, of precisely why and how his father had died so freakishly. The knowledge that there was no one in the house who would hold him like this if he did break down, not with his mother hiding away as she was. 

And so he just focused on Daphne. Just let her cry herself out, and eventually, an idea struck him.

---

After seeing Daphne back to her room, Benedict spent the rest of the day outside. He knew he would not be disturbed on the front lawn. No one in the family had set foot through the front doors of Aubrey Hall since it had happened. They were all pointedly using other doorways, no matter how inconvenient. But the staff and the gardeners had kept everything beautifully maintained, and Benedict was on a mission.

He expected to feel terrified stepping across the threshold of the front doors. He had braced himself for a surge of nausea as he stepped onto the grass of the lawn. But while he had an initial burst of anxiety, it quickly faded, and he felt surprisingly comforted sitting in the grass near the flowerbeds. It was quiet, the sun was shining, and the blooms were fragrant. He felt close to his father somehow, and it brought him a great sense of ease. 

After a while, he called for a footman to bring him a chair. He took his tea outside while he focused on his task. The light was starting to fade when he heard a small voice calling his name.

“Benedict?” It was Daphne, peering warily out of the open front doors and across the lawn. He jumped up and started walking toward her. He wasn’t going to ask anyone else to join him where he was. Not until they felt ready. He met Daphne in the doorway and she surveyed him, clearly curious about where he had been, but she didn’t comment upon it.

“Anthony wants to speak with you before dinner,” she explained. “He said he wants to apologize, but I don’t know what about.”

A crooked grin crept across Benedict’s face. “Alright, I’ll go see him.” He pulled a sheet of paper out of the portfolio under his arm, the one he had been laboring over all afternoon, and handed it to her. “This is for you.”

Daphne’s eyes sparkled as she took the paper in her delicate fingers. It was a painting, a small watercolor of three perfect, purple hyacinths. She gasped and brought a hand to her mouth, tears starting to well in her eyes again.

“Thank you, Benedict,” she squeaked. 

Still grinning, he planted a kiss on her forehead, and then headed inside to see his brother.

Author's notes: At some point I asked the heartbreaking question: what would the family do with the hyacinths Edmund dropped? Daphne in the show has a lot of lines and story beats centered around flowers, so I gave them to her. Benedict and Daphne don't really have a relationship in the books or show, so it felt good giving them these moments.

Tagging: @angels17324 @bridgertontess @broooookiecrisp @heeyyyou @faye-tale @hopepaigeturner

#bridgerton #bridgerton fanfiction #benedict bridgerton #benedict bridgerton fanfiction #daphne bridgerton #daphne bridgerton fanfiction #bridgerton family #bridgerton siblings #bridgerton prequel #fluff #fluff and feels #family love #family loss

[honey-minded-hivemind]

The results are in for Fusion!Reader's components' colors, and they are:

Sapphire!Reader is a blue sapphire, and Pearl!Reader is a peach pearl!

I think that's kinda perfect, in a way. Cool and warm, cold and hot, ice and fire mixing together to form the perfect temperature and tones. Now, as for shades of their gem color, I'm thinking something like this:

Sapphire!Reader is a velvet-like blue, a swathe of navy and royal, whereas Pearl!Reader is a pale golden peach color, something between pink and orange, not quite one or the other...

(Warning: Mentions of abuse, torture, and possible death/rewrite of characters)

Sapphire!Reader would definitely have a poofy dress at first, with a symbol belonging to a Diamond (for this au, I'm making Logan a Diamond), Black Diamond's symbol, to be exact. Pearl!Reader would be the personal Pearl to Orange Diamond (Victor). Both Sapphire!Reader and Pearl!Reader are broken after being rejected by the two Diamonds, as well as the other pearls and sapphires, not to mention the personal entourage of their Diamonds, and then the entire courts... It's one of the reasons they decided to go where Homeworld hadn't dug their claws in, a little planet far away in a galaxy of untouched planets: Earth...

They (them?)... Their fusion has to pick a name, and what better name than something of immense beauty and perfect luster than... Nacre?

It's a new name, but they're a new gem, and experiencing the wonders of Earth, it's-

Breathtaking.

Inspiring.

Glorious...

This is what the Diamonds, what their courts, what every gem considered ugly? Saw as dirt beneath their feet? This planet is... it's beautiful.

And they're going to do what they can to keep it that way.

Making friends with humans and their civilizations (becoming a deity in some regions), having feasts and dances and lessons (accidentally starting a few cults), building ice sculptures and pressurizing sand into glass, using the particles to sculpt cities on the frozen coasts of tundras (built an entire city into a glacier, as well as making smaller villages on beaches around the different continents). Earth has so much to see! So much to do! And these odd creatures, these "humans", are the key. Are the answer.

Look at how they form families, choosing to love one another and raise new humans and share amongst their communities. The way they try to snuff out disputes, having councils and parliaments and courts, so everyone can have a voice. The food they make, evolving over each century, each eon, new culinary masterpieces and herbs and-! (Earth I Steven Universe might not have had? as many wars or fighting or civil disputes? Plus the contents were a bit weird. And they didn't exactly have, certain states? and countries? So I'm going off of that).

Yet as the decades, centuries, eons pass, they never change. Yet the humans do. They live for barely a blink of an eye in a gem's eye/s, and... It adds a whole new meaning to caring about others. Of showing you love and admire them. Because they won't be there forever, and where they go after their bodies pass, the gems can't follow, can't see... Nacre (Fusion!Reader) does their best to take care of whatever humans they meet, paying visits to many, helping the descendants of some of their first friends on the planet, making new friends with others, helping out those who may need extra hands and future vision...

But all good things can come to an end.

It's only been awhile, about six thousand years... No gems had ever come to Earth... Nacre had lived in peace, always near beaches where they can watch the water, hear the wind and birds, smell the salt and spray. It's on one of those beaches they're poofed.

Waking up, Nacre is- gone. They aren't Nacre at the moment, they're back to Sapphire!Reader and Pearl!Reader, and they're trapped. It looks like a lab, possibly an entire base, and neither one of them can get out from the tube/chamber they're in. Until in walks... a gem?

A gem, one who stares at them with nothing but contempt. Hatred. Who informs them that as they are traitors to the Empire, to the Diamonds, they will not be missed, so are free to be used in their experiments. And so begins the worse decade of their long lives...

Electrical torture until they poof. Testing ice and magma on their gems. Using various gen tools on them, seeing which ones cause the most damage. And that cursed gem is always taking notes, always typing down whatever information they find, muttering about survival rates and organics and how soon they can get off this forsaken rock... One day, it seems they've finally found a final test. One that leaves both Sapphire!Reader and Pearl!Reader scared.

"I've tested everything I could think of on you two clods of mud. From how long you can last until you poof, your withstanding to various elements, the size of your gems, how your light forms react to shards... But I've discovered an odd case- Where a gem can be inserted to an organic. Which makes me rather... curious, what would happen to you. My answers will be logged in and sent to my labs at Homeworld, where I can hopefully show it to the Diamonds one day. It's a shame, really... A Sapphire, running away with a Pearl? HAH! You served the Diamonds directly, yet not even their brilliant, pure light could burn out your disgusting flaws. Well... Perhaps, this will..."

In a flash of light, there's a rejuvenator, and just as fast-

They're gone, poofed into their gems.

And the mad scientist of a gem pulls up the needed formulas and organic matter they need to begin. Honestly, who would have thought one could bond a gem... to an organic vessel? It's almost pebble's play, using the humans bits of DNA to make a small host, nothing more than a small being fit to become a servant to the Homeworld Empire... They even made a gem/organic hybrid before this, kept locked in their private lab back on Homeworld, a creature that they tried giving powers to, forming an imperfect replication of a Diamond (they shudder to think of how blasphemous it was, to do such a thing. But a possible pawn, any new asset to the Empire, is too good to pass up... Even if it's an... imperfect being...)

Soon, after months of incubating the small squishy earthlings, they get to insert the gems of those two traitorous gems into them... And finally... it's done. Their work, their newest creations, done. With the rejuvenation of their gems, thst hopefully got rid of any residual flaws, while with the organic bodies, they're controllable and easy to discipline... If only they weren't so... loud. Why do small oragnics scream so much? The wailing? The need to be warm at all costs? Constant nutrients (because they'd die without it)? It's tedious...

Preparing to go home, they soon find a call from Homeworld, their manager having sent them a message, to call off the project, lest the Diamonds shatter them if they found out... And suddenly- it seems like another project scrapped. Wasted. This was a revelation! A scientific breakthrough! And they had to cancel it?! But... they don't want to scrap these two potential pawns...

"Yes, my Demantoid. Peridot 5XS signing out," they reply, and then they leave the two subjects near a human dwelling... That should suffice, the creatures feed the weaknesses of others. So, if they're lucky, the other earthlings will keep their two newest subjects alive... Hopefully the two will still be alive when they return... They're not done with them yet...

(Surprise, the other gem/human is Laura! Because what better way to introduce her, and have the X-Men and Brotherhood gems learn that fusions are gems, too, and are worthy of respect?)

(Sorry if it was a little intense, but... well, yeah, we now have gem/humans Sapphire!Reader and Pearl!Reader...)

#honeycomb thoughts #platonic yandere marvel #platonic yandere xmen #yandere platonic marvel #platonic yandere x reader #platonic yandere marvel x reader #❤fusion💜 au

[bringingourrealitys2life]

[text transcript: “Hey! My brothers and I aren’t in the competition, but we brought some (totally-not-enchanted) donuts, if you guys wanted any..?”]

The I Hate Fairytales boys weren’t made early enough to have been submitted, but Raph is here to hand out some snacks!

(Don’t worry about the donuts, they’ll just give you some weird freaking dreams ;p )

[@tmntausummit]

“So those are totally cursed.” Raph stated simply once their visitor had walked away. The three of them had politely refused- or in Raph’s case, stared him down until he gave up trying to hand him one- the offerings, but Mikey did not get the memo, hugging the donut to his chest protectively. “Oh, come on! They’re not even running! They’re just some nice dudes with some delish looking donuts! Look at this!”

Mikey brandished the donut as Leo slipped a jean jacket over Donnie’s shoulders. The five-year-old gave Mikey the same deadpan that Raph wore and decided, “When Mikey dies, I get his phone.”

“Still not old enough for phones.”

“Aw.”

Leo lowered his hands. “How’s this?”

Donnie adjusted the fabric uncomfortably. “Scratchy.”

“That’s how it’s supposed to feel.” Leo assured. “Come on, Dee. Don’t you wanna match Raph?”

Raph slipped a thumb into the pocket on his baggy pants, bright red singlet complimented by a large jean jacket and pair of shades in its pocket. He winked and shot a finger gun at his younger brother, clicking out the side of his mouth, before turning his attention to the brother dressed in a striped orange-and-white sweatshirt and jeans, orange sneakers plastered to the floor as he resisted the urge to feast on the likely high enchanted snack.

Donnie considered it. “No.”

“Do you want a shirt underneath?” Leo tried half-heartedly.

“Too many layers.” Donnie shrugged the jacket off and Leo sighed, “You’re not giving us much to work with here.”

“Layers feels weird. And that’s just two things.” Donnie argued with a pout. Leo raised an eye ridge. “No tight pants, no baggy pants, no shorts, no jeans, no jeans jackets, no long sleeve shirts, no polos, no skirts, no ties, no sweaters, no suits- you’ll do t-shirts, but nothing with pictures or memes you don’t understand, or bright colors unless it’s purple, and we have a basically one chance to wear shoes in our size, but all of those are weird or tight.”

“Cut the kid a break, Leo.” Raph chided as he held Mikey’s hand behind his back, earning a pained squawk. “He’s never worn clothes before. You know how he is with different stuff.”

“Routine is fine, but it’s a fashion show.” Leo stood up to the toss the jacket in the large no pile.

Raph released Mikey. “All I’m saying is, he has one of his fits and you can explain to everyone why he’s whining to the high heavens.”

“I don’t get that loud!” Donnie sputtered, his face bright red. “I just get stressed a bit.”

Raph was about to respond when he realized Mikey had swiped the donut back and was shoving it into his mouth. His eyes widened in horror, which was quickly replaced with murderous fury. “I CAN’T BELIEVE YOU ATE THAT!”

With a scream muffled by donut, Mikey took off in a sprint. Raph was not long behind, screaming insults and for him to spit it out.

Leo sat on the floor, looking through their limited options. After a awkward moment of fiddling with his hands, Donnie sat down next to him, bowing his head guiltily. “Sorry I’m difficult.”

“Sorry enough to change your mind?”

Donnie’s face crinkled and Leo chuckled lightly, scooping an arm around his shoulders. “That’s alright. I’m sure we’ll find something you like.”

Donnie smiled and reached for a fedora. “I like hats.”

“And while I’m sure you can pull it off, you can’t exactly expect to beat the competition with just a fedora.”

Donnie adjusted the fedora over his head, throwing his head to the side and running to fingers over the brim. “Watch me.”

Leo laughed and knocked the fedora over his eyes, earning bubbling giggles from his younger brother. Pulling the fedora from his head and into his lap, he suddenly asked, “Hey, what are you gonna wear?”

“Me?” Leo teased in mock thought. “Oh, I dunno. Think there’s a space heroes cosplay around here?”

“I can find one!” Donnie scrambled upright and took off like a shot.

Leo hopped to his feet and considered calling him back, taking in the new excitement in his stance and shaking his head. With a fond smile, he trailed after him, absently hoping that their brothers would be able to find their way back.

#Raising A Tello AU #tmnt 2012 #All of Mikey’s dreams are freakin weird #He’ll be fine #teenage mutant ninja turtles 2012 #tmnt fandom #tmnt donnie 2012 #tmntausummit 2.0 #tmnt leo 2012 #tmnt raph 2012 #tmnt mikey 2012 #tmnt au #tmnt 2k12

[respectthepetty]

Since I decided the best way to make it through Our Skyy 2 with minimal damage is to drink my way through it, welcome to the second round of

CockTails in the Skyy!

This week's drink is Sun & Stars to celebrate my two precious Sunflowers (JOONGDUNK!) in Star in My Mind:

gin & tonic (to balance the bitter and sweet of this pair's dynamic)

pineapple juice (for that beach vibe)

elder flower syrup and vanilla bean sugar on the rim to add to the sickly sugariness I know I'm in for

"You are every shade of yellow for me, Daonuea."

I made it strong because I already know what happens for SeanMaithee, and with no further tears to cry, let's get this wedding party started, so I can be properly upset.

Bottoms up!

That was a very Lana del Rey's "National Anthem" beginning: "I love him. I love him. I love him."

"How many times did you make me cry? How many times did you break my heart?" <- gin & tonic was the right choice

Too much sweetness (pineapple juice), but I think it will sort itself out with the looks Daonuea is giving right now

The water bottles are blurred, so I'm taking that as a sign to only drink alcohol for these episodes.

Sean and Maithee are too hugged up with each other for this to go the way I know it'll go. I'm already bitter <-gin & tonic was the ONLY choice

The dental students stay doing the most. Mork in Fish Upon the Sky was basically a one-man EMT, Ana in Love Mechanics and Future is checking everyone's temp, and now Kluen is saving all the girlies. Where are the future doctors at?! Coasting?

Hold on! Is Typhoon a future medical doctor? I thought he was a dentist too? Still Dr. Typhoon, but why aren't the doctors doing their volunteer hours in any show ever?!

Min's friend is ON THE GROUND and she is trying to flirt. Priorities, my girl.

Hearing Maithee say he has a date WITH A GIRL, just to hear "O Come All Ye Faithful" right afterwards got me effed up. This is chaotic.

Daonuea is still wearing that sunflower bracelet! Thank goodness for the product placement, so I could see it.

Palm and Kluen both telling their men that they are all they need in life is some real water sign bs. Where are my fire signs?!

Oh snaps! The first episode is already done!

More Sun & Stars for episode 2

Since I'm already a Bitter Body, I went heavy-handed with the gin and skipped the pineapple juice for the second episode. Good choice.

The scene going from Daonuea and Kluen being all lovey-dovey immediately to Typhoon looking at them in his feelings felt like a personal attack. Alexa, play Sam Smith's "I'm Not Here to Make Friends" 'cause "I NEED A LOVER!"

I legit stopped the show so I could hear that song, and now Phoon wants to confess he has someone. Another attack!

The friend group being disgusted by these two is the only appropriate response.

Kluen is being a damn water sign again with his response about how he would feel if they never meet again. You are both 10s, sir! Start acting like it! I just need one of these Bl boys to pop off like Cardi B - "I'm a boss bitch! Who you gonna leave me for?"

There is ham and cheese in the spaghetti. Is that a thing?

"Why did you two stop fighting?" - Because they joined the music club and exchanged colors, duh.

I cannot be rational about JoongDunk. I CANNOT!

Prince was too busy talking to his time-traveling boyfriend in Midnight Museum to film a cameo, I see.

Everyone walking away from Pawin is why I'm a captain of the "Pawin's Milkshake Brings All the Boys to the Yard" step team

Daonuea saying Noel is hard to approach is SLANDER!

Kluen is salty like them Lay's chip GMMTV snatched from WinTeam and Between Us with all these boys in his room.

I'm so glad Typhoon and Daonuea can be friends too considering the violence that ensued last time.

God, I miss the (unnecessary) drama.

I noticed this on The Warp Effect, but Joong stays looking soft yet sensual.

Where is King's mom from Bed Friend to dunk on this ring? Because this ain't it, sir. Is the star a sapphire? Is the center of the sunflower a pearl? Diamond? ¿Qué es esto?

Rose petals are romantic and all, but let's stick to the theme. Where are the sunflower petals?!

What in the Blair Witch Project was that tree lantern thing?

Kluen saying he used up all his luck snagging Daonuea is so . . . he is a Cancer? A Pisces?! WHAT IS THIS?! He was not laying it on this thick in the show.

Oh, thank goodness, it ended right when I ran out of gin.

For the rating, the drink and the episodes were too sweet, yet somehow still very bitter because no SeanMaithee. I got JoongDunk, a proposal, and alcohol, so I'll take my wins where I can get them.

7/10 CockTails for doing its job but being bittersweet.

I'm going to have to make my Jack Nasty much stronger than I planned for next week's episodes of The Eclipse considering we are getting that strange teacher/student relationship.

"this is a god damn bitch of an unsatisfactory situation"

#Our Skyy 2 #Star in My Mind #episodes 3 & 4 #kluen x daonuea #Cocktails in the Skyy