#a study in bullheadedness

[wardogsong]

[ HEADSHOT!     HEADSHOT! ]

Frank Castle does not believe in vampires. In fact, given a chance, he will steadfastly and stubbornly scoff at and refute the existence of something so ridiculous to him.

This is a man of the belief that those mythical creatures of the night are confined to fiction in all it's many forms-- the silver screen, the written word, the drawn pages of comic books and graphic novels. They're the kind of thing you save for an evening of Netflix and chilling; all the better for wrapping an arm around your significant other and nibbling on their neck a little to get the evening going spicy.

The long and short of it is that he simply has no cause to believe in them as real beings that walk among us, in spite of the fact that he inhabits a very strange world that only seems to get stranger by the day. Mind you, this is a man who has helped to bring two children into the world. That had to include all the usual appointments-- admittedly, because of his service, only some of which he was there for. Still, those check-ups and ultrasounds and blood-test filled days were bound to feature questions around his and his wife's medical history. Neither of them are carriers of the much discussed X-GENE-- something that is endlessly more real to him and easier to parse and accept. That's SCIENCE. It's in the vein of passing down hair and eye colors, bum tickers, and all kinds of other physical family baggage.

As far as he knows, you can't just pass down a case of the sparkles.

Hell-- he'd more seriously consider a case of demonic possession before he ever took seriously a flash of fangs and a confession of being beautifully undying. He's Catholic like that, even when it's been an eon since setting foot inside a church. Both cases would honestly make him suggest psychiatric help first, but the former. . . the former is close to home. He BELIEVES in the former. He KNOWS a thing or two about dark attachments of the soul.

But the Lord Ruthven shit? C'MOOON-- Polidori just had a bitter axe to grind against Byron. None of those dead guys are still prancing among us. Vampires make him think of Halloween, Hot Topic, eyeliner and My Chemical Romance band shirts with striped arm warmers. Scene kids and vampires are the same thing, right??

Now, from where does this bullheaded rejection spring? It's from the smallness of Frank's world. Truth be told, he's never been one for GRAND dreams. His were always local things-- even when they were as absurd as a child's glossy and romanticized desire to be a wiseguy in the style of Michael Corleone. Frank's world used to be Bayside, Queens to Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn. He never really made plans to leave it-- not by further than getting out of his parents' house and someday into his own. Such small sights were never set on the rest of the world beyond or what lived in it. His was a world of old school by-the-slice shops, creeping bodegas, car-fixing garages where he might someday work for the legit side of things.

Enlistment and eventual deployment only narrowed his world even further, despite being responsible for sending him into the cradle of civilzation. In that place all that mattered was putting one foot in front of the next, checking his corners, doing the job and surviving the day and the incompetence of the United States Marine Corps.

There were no vampires for him to meet in Iran, Pakistan, or Afghanistan.

And afterwards? Afterwards there should only have been the smallness of HOME again. Of Maria tucked into his side, of Lisa held in his arms, of Junior at his knee.

Ain't that just the kicker though? After all that-- after all that happened to him, he could BE one of them. Maybe not beautiful, but definitely undying. Except he doesn't know that.

And still doesn't feel like he has any cause to BELIEVE.

                                                                                                               [ Tell ‘em closed case. ]

#ᴀɴᴅ ɴᴏ ʙɪᴛᴄʜ sᴘɪᴛ ɪᴛ ʟɪᴋᴇ ᴛʜɪs sɪɴᴄᴇ '08 #. ( ʜᴇᴀᴅᴄᴀɴᴏɴs ) . #a study in bullheadedness #next you're gonna tell him you believe everything The Bugle prints

[traumxrei-archive]

【 ii. rose petal wounds 】

summary: from the confines of their study, yuu spots riddle doing an odd task— trimming roses in the garden. wait, why was riddle doing gardenwork…? was this another prank by floyd? either way, yuu had to find out.

word count: 1.2k

author’s note: idk if you can tell, but i absolutely love teasing riddle hehehe (also doesn’t dumple’s art of riddle look so cute ?)

[ the perfect debutante series | or read on ao3 (coming soon) ]

Distraction, it seemed, came in many shapes and forms. And for Yuu, it came in the color red. There was a flash of red in the corner of their vision. And they allowed themself to be distracted, their gaze following the color to their window.

Yuu was supposed to be putting together the final expenses list for the butler. But never mind what they were supposed to be doing.

What they saw beyond the window was far more interesting.

"Kalim?"

"Oh! Yes, master?"

"What is Riddle doing in the garden?"

Beyond their window was a view of the estate's garden. Part of the ball would be held there, amidst the rose bushes and fountains. And lo and behold, wading through the rose bushes with a pair of pruning scissors was...Riddle.

Riddle was Riddle. Prim and proper, befitting of the Roseheart name. Always ready to help straighten someone's apron at a moment's notice, with conduct and rules at the tip of his tongue.

He was also a bit naive and a lot stubborn, a combination that made it impossible for Yuu to guess why he was in the garden. Maybe it was another prank by Floyd. Or maybe it was his own bullheadedness leading him down another rabbit hole.

"Well," Kalim seemed to hesitate, his earrings jingling as he tilted his head closer. "Riddle told me not to tell you, but..."

"But...?" They prompted, trying to sound innocent to Kalim's ears. They were sure Kalim would let down his guard soon.

"But well...he wasn't satisfied with the roses in the garden!" Once Kalim started it was hard to get him to stop. "We were on a walk yesterday whilst Master was away— just checking on how the flow of the party would be, because that’s important, Riddle said— when Riddle found the rose bushes needed more...pruning."

They folded their arms, "What about the gardener?"

"The gardener...aha..." Kalim looked even more nervous now. "She stormed off after Riddle's questioning."

Ah. Now that was a problem indeed. Riddle wasn't the most unfriendly person, but his words came across as quite confident at times. Confidence and arrogance tread a thin line in the eyes of others, especially those who aren’t familiar with Riddle’s mannerisms. It was possible that the gardener got fed up with being questioned.

"Alright. I'll be taking a break in the gardens then," They brushed off their slacks, neatening their desk before standing. "When tea time arrives, please tell Ruggie to serve it in the garden."

"A picnic! Yes, Master!" They very gently patted Kalim's head, careful not to disturb the ribbon that they were sure Jamil worked hard to tie.

It wasn't very hard to make their way to the gardens. And it was easier still to find Riddle. The garden was empty save for the single maid wielding the shears with a vice, muttering to himself lightly.

"-unacceptable state," Riddle muttered as he snipped off some overgrown leaves, bending down to get a fallen rose. "Master wouldn't be happy about– ah–!"

Yuu's eyes widened at the sight of blood staining Riddle's glove red, and before they could think about it they had stepped forward, taking Riddle's wrist in their hand.

Riddle blinked, "M-Mas...ter?"

"Ah, it's getting on your apron," They tugged Riddle's hand closer, blood dripping onto the grass. "Does it hurt?"

Bewildered, Riddle shook his head, "It…stings."

"Slowly take off your glove, and sit down," They instructed, turning toward the house. "I'll get some bandages."

"Y-You shouldn’t!" Riddle's uninjured hand grabbed their sleeve. "It would be my failure as a proper maid if I made my Master do such a menial task.” Ah. Riddle's stubbornness tended to pop up at the most inconvenient times, it seemed.

Yuu sighed. When Riddle got like this, there was only one thing to do.

"Maid Rosehearts, I would like to treat your wound personally, as you were injured tending to my gardens," Yuu said with a smile. "I hope that you will listen to your Master's selfish wishes."

Riddle looked torn. There was an adorable frown on his face as he continued to think. His obedience to rules and courtesy made this trick handy for more than one occasion, and the outcome was always the same.

The maid finally opened his mouth, "...Of course, Master. Please do as you wish."

It didn't take Yuu long to get the bandages and disinfectant, especially after they ran into Jamil. (The longhaired maid sighed, "Was it Kalim or Silver this time?" They smiled sheepishly before answering, "Actually, it was Riddle." Even the ineffable Jamil had a hard time keeping his expression neutral when he heard that.) And it only took another moment to get back to the garden.

Riddle was sitting on the grass obediently, his back pin straight as they approached, "Welcome back, Master."

Yuu sat down and took his hand again, "Let's clean your hand first." They carefully used disinfectant to clean off the blood around the wound, before cleaning the wound itself. Riddle flinched slightly. It seemed that they should quicken their pace. They carefully wrapped his hand with the bandages.

"All done," They looked up to see Riddle staring. How long had he been looking this way? The red-haired maid immediately looked away with a cough. His cheeks tinted, and they vaguely wondered if it was due to the heat or embarrassment. Either way, it was a lovely look on the usually stern maid.

"Thank you, Master," Riddle bowed slightly, flexing his hand. "If I may ask, how did you know that I was here?"

"I was working when I saw you from my window," It wasn’t necessarily a lie. It was a white lie. They weren’t going to throw Kalim under the bus, since they did get effectively distracted by Riddle’s hair. "I also got these."

They dropped a pair of gardening gloves onto Riddle's lap, "Gardening...gloves?"

"If you want to keep pruning, I want you to do it safely. And besides," Yuu grinned as they pulled out another pair of gloves and shears. "I'll help you out this time."

"Master!" Riddle looked absolutely horrified at the thought. They almost chuckled. "You are going to inherit the Duke's title soon, you mustn't spend your time doing something so trivial as gardening!"

"Then what if I ask you to teach me?" Yuu said before they stood up, dancing away from where Riddle was trying to take their gloves. "As a way to broaden my horizons?"

Riddle huffed, brushing off his skirts and petticoats, ready to go after them, "A maid cannot teach their Master."

"I give you permission to," They waved over Riddle's shoulder. "Is it tea time already?"

Ruggie looked to be carrying a picnic basket, "We're getting to it, shishishi~"

Ruggie's laughter made Riddle sputter slightly, "T-Tea out here?"

"Riddle! Did you get hurt?" Kalim was also running toward them, his apron flying wildly behind him. It seemed that he had a tray of cakes in his hands. It was a wonder that none of them fell as he was running.

Riddle sighed, clearly defeated, "I am fine now. Master has tasked me with teaching them how to prune roses." Yuu beamed at Riddle’s cooperativeness. It seemed that Riddle had finally given in.

Ruggie spread a picnic blanket over the sunny ground, just as Kalim set down the cakes. And Riddle… He started on the tea. Tea was his specialty after all. They sat on the blanket next to Ruggie as they waited. There was a time for arguing over technicalities, and there was a time to serve. For now, they would look forward to Riddle’s tea.

thank you for reading ^^ if you’d like to read more, check out my masterlist ! like the art ? look at more of dumple's works on insta !

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#/trau writes #riddle rosehearts #twisted wonderland #twst x reader #twisted wonderland x reader #riddle rosehearts x reader #twst

[tenderribcage]

Hey, as someone who's entirely new to your blog, I immediately fell in love with Abel. I didn't understand Cain's name until a bit of stalking and didn't know who the hell Pacino was for the longest time(Yes, I feel stupid for not putting two and two together sooner) I soon started getting tired of stalking so like... Could you info dump on me because I would love that and ALSO I'd like to hear anything new?? I just wanted to understand things more without scrolling into the ether

Here's some info dumping romantic stuff about Cain and Abel's relationships! Not exactly what you were asking for but I hope it's fun to read!

So!! A little about Rex and Cain~!! Cain and Rex have known eachother for a long while, Rex first dropping in on Cain's universe when he was shorter and louder, and a lot more immature (he was like 22 at the time, current year he's 27). There was an instant bond between the pair, Cain was drawn to Rex; his loud mouth, his bullheadedness, his heavy, warm hand on his back. And Rex to Cain's reassurance, his generosity, his gentleness. The pair were best friends instantly, and Cain leaned on Rex for support in his every day. Rex grew close to his counterpart, and often found himself lost without him. Things got outta hand when Rex started developing feelings, strong feelings. Feelings that were overwhelming and domineering, feverish even. Cain was so...in need, so weak compared to those in Rex's mafiafell universe, and Rex was desperate to take care of him. By this time, Cain had gotten to the surface and Rex trusted humans very little, so he opted to start checking in on the older man. It was evening when they kissed for the first time, Rex leaning into Cain's skull, his hand tangled in Cain's shirt, pulling him in. But honestly, he had very little leverage on Cain's actions, and Cain gingerly was pressing back against him. The pair were locked in a battle, a tournament betwixt partners in crime. Rex almost fell over the couch that night, and they kept up most of it watching tv and leaning into each other.

And thus, a blooming romance has formed!! :D About Paciano and Abel~ >B) Abel was working at a diner at the time of Paciano's first appearance, hard working and dedicated to her path in life, she set to earn some extra money part time while she worked full time on her schooling. Her usual schedule of 5pm - 12 am bussing tables was taking place when a slender figure waltzed through the door. Paciano smelled of cigarettes and alcohol, like he had a pound of grease in his hair, and cheap, old cologne. He waltzed into the diner like he owned the place, snatching a paper off the counter top and slipped into a booth. Luckily, Abel was his waitress, carefully stepping over to the man and taking whatever he ordered down as quickly as possible. He was a fast talker, and eyed her as she went to take his menu. In fact, he eyed her the entire time he was there, like a ghoul stalking his victim, he ate slow and studied her as she worked around the diner. After that, he ate exclusively at her place of work, starting off smooth and slick, he'd ask her out. The first time, he was rejected, she stated she was hard at work on her degree, and had little time to date. The next time he asked, she blushed and laughed, waving him off. Surely someone so handsome wasn't interested in someone so...frumpy lookin... The third time was the charm. This time he brought flowers, this time he brought a promise. A check. "If you grace me with one little ol' date, I'll pay your student debt off." This was not something she could easily pass up, and the thought of paying off her brother's debt in one fell swoop was so tempting that she, with a chuckle, snatched the check, tucked it into her shirt, and agreed on a time and place.

#paciano #rex #abel #cain

[suginami-division]

Maki’s Thoughts on Nagasaki Division

Haruto Hirabayashi

“Hirabayashi-san, correct? Philosophy is no easy subject, I can say as much. Simply learning about the history of philosophy for various countries can be pretty puzzling. At the very least, it’s interesting to see how the environment and attitude of a culture can influence the politics and religion of a country. In my years as a student I took several classes on philosophy of history and it was dizzying to read all the concepts and theories behind the study of history and its discipline. As often people may brush the topic aside, I have to remember those concepts when I write my papers nearly every day, so it should not be slept on.”

“Even so, I can’t recall if I’ve seen him before, but I wouldn’t be surprised if I’ve lectured for him, even as an assistant professor. I do wish him luck on getting that PhD.”

“Damien”

“Reprobus? Damien? He doesn’t happen to be Damien the Reprobate, no? If he is, I’m surprised to hear that he is in the D.R.B… But I probably should really feel that way. In my early days of teaching, a foreign student had mentioned his ‘work’ and I looked into his blog out of curiosity. His beliefs are… Wild, I suppose. I’m sure talking with him would be an illuminating experience, but I wouldn’t go out of my way to see him. He sounds like a handful to handle.”

Shirou Sonozaki

“I can confidently say that I’m unfamiliar with this man."

"It is not a surprise that his career with Western-style burials went under. Japan doesn’t exactly have the luxury to bury people like that, which is why family graves are more commonplace. It’s considered to be much more efficient and clean, and it saves a lot of trouble depending on where in Japan you live. So becoming a coroner for the Nagasaki forensics team is a step up in my opinion. Although, this is the second forensics officer we have come across in our reviews, is it not? Right after Kuromiya-san from Edogawa.”

Thirteen

“Personally, I find this team to be the most interesting and unique one we have encountered thus far. However, no matter how bright these men may be, there is something within each person that will make them crack. From Hirabayashi-san’s bullheadedness, to Damien-san’s unapologetic nature, and Sonozaki-san’s tendency to hold grudges, I’ll be sure to tell my teammates about each of their imperfections so that we may win against them… If we ever face them, that is.”

#hypmic #hypnosis mic #hypnosis microphone #hypmic oc #hypnosis mic oc #hypnosis microphone oc #sazanka zombeez #suginami division #maki umemoto #nagasaki division #haruto hirabayashi #damien #shirou sonozaki #thirteen

[coinandcandle]

🪙 Three of Pentacles 🪙

(Card from Astrology.com; Earth is used in place of Coins/Pentacles here)

Upright

Collaboration, Teamwork, Mutual Goals, Hard work, Studying

The Three of Coins upright brings good news. The Three of Coins is all about collaboration, though the coins show us that it’s likely a collaboration involving career or finance. In this way, this could mean an apprenticeship or internship.

This card also reminds you of the importance of teamwork. Rome wasn’t built in a day—and it certainly wasn’t built by one person! Make sure you’re communicating well with the folks you’re collaborating with and things are sure to go smoothly.

This card may also represent mutual goals, you and those around you are likely on the same page right now, something that should be celebrated and yet is often taken for granted. Be grateful for your community, chosen or otherwise.

Reversed

Disharmony, Lack of hard work, Disorganization

When reversed, the Three of Coins can represent issues in your workplace, likely caused by miscommunication or simply misaligned personalities. It could be that either you don’t like a coworker or they don’t like you. Less extreme, this card could simply mean that there is some team-building that needs to happen.

This card reversed could also indicate a lack of hard work or lack of planning. Things may be a bit chaotic right now, causing you to feel off balance. Look at what around you is so disorganized and see what, if anything, is in your control. What can you change to make things run a little smoother?

On the other hand, this Three may be telling you to get a grip. Maybe you’ve been slacking off or ignoring your responsibilities. Often in life, we need to work for what we want, sitting around and waiting for it to happen without taking action is foolish. There is nothing wrong with asking for help to get yourself back on track. Reach out to someone you trust.

Notes

Self-expression, growth, development.

Often indicates the fruition of something, most likely a project or idea you have been nurturing. It can also indicate that you are broadening your horizons.

On the other hand, this can represent something developing too fast, you may be stressing yourself out and need to slow down and take some time to reflect.

The number three can also suggest reaping what you sow (good or bad).

(From my Numbers post)

Element: Earth

Feminine or passive energy

Meanings: Wealth, fertility, finances, work/work-life, external consciousness, creativity, health.

Associated Signs: Virgo, Capricorn, Taurus.

Pentacles are often best associated with money and finances. They could indicate financial gain or struggles. This could also indicate greediness and materialistic, possessive attitudes.

Since they are related to external consciousness or our physical level of consciousness, they could represent self-image; this could also represent self-esteem, self-acceptance, or ego.

Earth is literally a grounded sign, this suit could represent being (or needing to be) grounded or humble. Pentacles could represent support; supporting others or needing support.

The negatives of this suit could be associated with are stubbornness, bullheadedness, or possessiveness.

(From my Suits post)

#Tarot Time #Tarot 101 #Learning tarot #beginner tarot #beginner witchcraft #Suit: Pentacles

[theunrealinsomniac]

wow thank you for your answer! im trying to write too and i realized theres a few things you mentioned that im already doing too so its great that it works for you too! as for the rest, im definitely gonna follow your advices :)

unrelated question! but i think youre a hp fan too so i was wondering, if narusaku were based on that universe, do you have any headcanons for them? for example their houses, favorite classes, date ideas, just things about their lives in hogwarts? i hope this is a fun question for you!!

No probs, hope they work for you as well, if not better, than they do for me lol.

I *was* a HP fan, it was a formative part of my life and writing HP fanfic was how I met my fiancee, but given JK Rowling's behaviour and bigotry in recent years ... I don't feel comfortable calling myself a fan anymore.

It's a shame as I loved those books growing up, but it's the way it is sadly.

I do have some surface level thoughts for Naruto and Sakura in a HP universe though lol. I'll share the ones I remember.

They're both in Gryffindor, easy. There was a little bit of consideration for Ravenclaw for Sakura and Naruto could have easily fit into Hufflepuff if you ask me, but the sheer levels of courage and honestly? Bullheadedness of the two of them kinda screams the lion house lol.

As for classes ... I kinda think Sakura would be the time of nerdy kid who was good at absolutely bloody everything. Like, you know the type of kid who could just consume knowledge? That's Sakura. Except Herbology, I think she'd struggle with it something fierce.

But she would especially excel in Transfiguration, Potions and Charms.

Naruto ... god bless the boy, I think he'd struggle. I think he'd have a natural talent for Herbology and DADA, we're talking top marks, he's just amazing at them. But everything else would be a bit of a struggle to get a passing mark. He'd manage it, but only just.

He'd definitely be on the Quidditch team though, Naruto one hundred percent would be a Beater.

I think they'd kinda be in each other's circles at first but I think what would bring them together would be Sakura having a bit of a chip on her shoulder about struggling with Herbology.

So ever the practical one, she'd approach Naruto with an arrangement. She would help him with his other subjects, to get the necessary marks to get onto the NEWT courses he wants to do for his job as an Auror, cos come on, and he would help her get her missing O.

Don't laugh, they're fifteen at this point, behave xD.

Naruto agrees cos he's still got that crush and he loves helping people and they bond over long, long study sessions in the library. Sakura starts seeing the sweeter side of Naruto, learns a bit about his parents passing when he was just born, and Naruto ... well he just get's his crush upgraded to an honest to god love.

Whether anything happens there I don't know, knowing my opinions and typical practices with them, no nothing happens ... yet xD.

But that would be how the feelings would percolate lol.

But you know, maybe, when Sakura's Healer Haruno and Naruto is Auror Uzumaki and he's regularly getting shipped off to St Mungos for being reckless and getting hurt and Sakura insists on treating the dumbass ... rumours start flying.

And maybe one day another Healer catches Sakura in Naruto's lap kissing ... you know, maybe ... who knows?

But yeah, might have had more thoughts than I thought lol.

Thanks for asking!

#ask theunrealinsomniac #narusaku #harry potter #hp au

[yoimix]

haikyuu!! as types of best friends.

➼ ft. hinata, sugawara, bokuto, osamu+atsumu.

➼ playlist. talk too much - coin, higher - banks, romanticism - mrs green apple, me and my friends - james vincent mcmorrow

➼ a/n. these have light bff2l undertones hhn i love that trope, pls forgive me. </3 + there’s some timeskip spoilers for atsumu & osamu’s part.

❀ hinata :-

i wish the childhood best friends trope a very good evening.

no one’s better than hinata at making friends, even if you met after he spiked a ball into your face. you’re childhood best friends too !! so imagine being a child and having to pick up this goofball by the scruff, who has the audacity to ask you to play with him after giving you a scratched up forehead and teary eyes from a ball to the face. but, like, you were the one who said yes so it’s on you :-)

sometimes you bicker but it’s ok bc he would literally go to the ends of the earth for you if you asked. no kidding. he hates sitting still anyway so he’ll just gravitate towards where you are like you’re the sun. also gets you taiyaki in the evenings but climbs in through your window instead of using the front door like a normal person. (he has too much energy </3) if you hear someone yelling your name outside your window and ranting about volleyball games, you know who it is.

ok when he makes you mad with his bullheadedness, you'll be complaining with kageyama (who agrees vehemently) and hinata gets pissy bc you get along a little too well when you're throwing insults about him. (he's not jealous, no, of course not.) but.. how long can you stay mad at this sunshine child anyway?? you'll be pretending you never got mad at all within a few hours and go back to joking around.

he gets distracted if you're watching a match sometimes (bokuto somehow got it into his head that he needs to show off in front of you) so you got banned from watching. he overcomes it later on so you can cheer him on in his jersey too <3

gives you ALL his attention when you talk or even complain about your life. he reacts a lot to whatever you have to say so you have to pretend there aren’t people behind you glaring at hinata for having the same decibel sound level as a jet engine.

you have matching keychains you bought at a local fair !!! (you got a pochacco one for hinata but it’s super worn out by now so he keeps it in his wallet instead.) 

he has not won a single multiplayer video game against you (*cough cough* mario kart *cough*) and you don’t even have to be good at it. if you call him a loser, he’ll lose even harder. gets unnecessarily mad at just dance and you have to calm him down.

... you’ve probably kissed bc the two of you (mostly him) were too eager for a first kiss and you got fed up with his pubescent ramblings and ended up kissing him. and then had an early mid-life crisis bc you guys are definitely just friends. (unless.. unless he doesn’t think that way.. surprise surprise 😳) also he's.. kind of bad for make out practice... it’s like kissing a month old puppy.. sorry :/. if you happen to make a lot of offhand comments and tease him about his kissing skills, he WILL turn tomato red and argue in gibberish. only do that in private bc the rest of the world thinks you’re sickeningly cute together >:(

overall, your best friend is a ball of sunshine (who occasionally pisses you off) and your #1 motivation to get out of bed. it's mostly bc he's somehow there to get you out of bed though you've repeatedly told him to not climb in through your window. at least the sun is smiling upon you every day <3

❀ sugawara :-

being best friends with him is such a secure relation !! 

he’s your soft place to fall but also would provide gentle (not so gentle) reminders for your wellbeing (STUDY!!! WATER!!!! BREAKFAST!!). doesn’t get mad when you say you skipped breakfast but gives you this look of disappointment which is 100x more effective. still gets a granola bar for you though. also he literally carries bandaids for u and he’s been doing that since second grade bc you fell off the swing ONCE. you know, just in case. if you’re an accident-prone hazard to society, you’re in luck. 

BEST HUGS especially if you had a rough day and want to sob into his shoulder. if u damage his $85 hoodie tho, he will make u do his laundry and also buy snacks for him. but like he is so soft (his skin is SUPER soft bc he actually follows a skincare routine now) and cuddly like a teddy bear, it's a small price to pay for salvation.

he will hype you up for anything you do !!!! new outfit? offers to be your personal photographer. scored an A+? will treat u to your fav ice-cream. new job? will tell everyone just how proud he is. 

ALWAYS shares the last bite with you and smiles to himself when you eat it so contented. also!!! hanging out at cafes and taking cute pictures is a must <3 even though you’re not dating, you’ll have photos together that make you look a real couple which ensue teasing from daichi and asahi and admiration/jealousy from noya and tanaka. also he gets weirdly protective of you around the team (i’m looking at the moron quartet) and you have to pull the “koushi you’re not my mom” card. it really strikes a chord with him when you say that out loud.

will egg your ex's house with you if you say the word. somehow gets more pissed than you at your ex (if they're a shitty one). it's kind of scary when he's mad too so.... good luck calming him down. he's also really good at sarcastic trash talk so if you happen to meet your ex on the street... send prayers for their self-esteem.

you don't really fight often but if you happen to disagree, he'll go about it in a pretty mature way and talk it out. if you pick a fight on purpose, he'll catch on to it and either tickle you (excessively) or flick your forehead as punishment for trying to rile him up. it’s impossible to prank him!!!!! it’s like he’s got a sixth sense or something so you might as well give up on anything of the sort. 

you said you want to get a dog (or cat) with him in the near future and he somehow equated that to having children. turned bright red and started saying it’s too soon to be thinking of that while you had daichi stop you from smacking some sense into your overly imaginative best friend. (i mean, you do need to live together if you want to raise a pet sooo)

his lockscreen is a picture of the two of you so a lot of people who try to hit on him take the hint quick. he says it’s unintentional but you know he can be terribly scheming at times. if you say something like “why don’t you date me for real, coward” he will malfunction and not be able to look you in the eye. (“don’t joke around, y/n” “what if i’m not” “it kind of feels illegal to date you” “what do you mean?!💢”)

anyway you are one lucky mf if you have sugawara koushi as your best friend even if there are both ups and downs (mostly ups). having someone care for you so blatantly certainly makes the question of romance arise but you’re content with the most loving best friend ever.

❀ bokuto :-

you guys are the “two best friends in a room, we might kiss” “yes we will” “what” type of best friends PLS

it doesn’t matter what stage of life you met him, it’ll feel like you’ve been best friends since the beginning of time.

it’s just so easy to make friends with this airhead and by god’s gift, you cannot physically get annoyed at this man. sometimes his friends will complain about him being forgetful or blunt but you’re just there like. yeah. that’s bokuto. love him for it. (you seem to have a lot of patience.)

he probably gets into trouble with authority unwittingly, so save your weekends to sweet talk his way out after accidentally implying the coach has a weak mindset. afterwards, you go get ice cream or something and hang out at the dog park to forget it happened. (the amount of second hand embarrassment bokuto has given you though... you need some hard drugs to forget all of it.) 

you probably make a lot of friends through him in high school/college but at the end of the day, it’s just you and him and sometimes akaashi making sure you guys are alive. if you guys are alone together on a friday night, you’ll still be having fun!! very often, it takes shape as karaoke :-) bokuto thinks he’s really great at rapping for some reason (he’s not) so cue you screaming the lyrics in an attempt to ruin your part of the song equally. also he always sets the key wrong??? although you sing the same songs each time?? sometimes he picks a song neither of you have ever heard and the both of you try to guess the melody. he’s terrible at it but at least he’s funny. there’s not a single song he hasn’t had a voice crack in.

if you go clubbing/partying with him, get prepared to be introduced as the friend of “the guy who did four keg stands in a row before proceeding to do a cartwheel unprompted and somehow not throw up”. is on first name basis with the bartenders/hosts and gets you free drinks. also gets hit on often but is oblivious unless they’re being very straightforward. if he’s not into them... you have to pull the s/o card and save his ass. oh also he barks at anyone that gets near your drink.

will always exaggerate when introducing you to new people. “y/n and i met when i saved them from drowning a terrible death.” “it was the children’s pool and you were the one that was screaming.” “and then y/n didn’t really thank me but it’s not like heroes need thanks to do the right thing.” “kou, i will push you into a pool right now, let’s see how well you swim.” (he learned swimming to impress you so joke’s on you.)

he likes to watch you do stuff at the end of the day, so if you see him go o_o at you doing homework, you can just put your earphones on and focus on your work. even if he’s making.. a strangely.. adorable expression. also LOVES to listen to you talk about your day when he’s tired, he says it helps him sleep better (so expect a lot of nighttime calls). moreover, if you say you had a bad dream, he’ll comfort you with his ridiculously confident tone of voice (unless the dream was about something bad happening to him, then he’ll freak out and you’ll have to comfort him instead </3)

ok one thing that’s annoying about him is that he probably leaves food crumbs over your stuff like laptop, bed sheet, etc. you clean it up but bokuto.. is a bit... distracted to notice the mess he’s making. it’s usually pretty difficult to get him to be more aware, but like your glare is enough to make him at least try to be careful from the next time. (either that or he’s become sensitive to your change in mood/emotions bc you know... you’re best friends after all.)

i’m not gonna lie, he probably catches feelings for you at some point. he wants to, like, keep it lowkey bc akaashi told him to take your feelings into consideration too but?? it’s so hard?? you’re literally so pretty?? everything you say is like music to him??? he reacts reflexively to all the firecracker feelings u give him. he probably says he likes you all the time but you dismiss it with “as a friend right :-)”. there’s no climbing up from that one, sorry bokuto.

to summarize, if a moody golden retriever was your human best friend.exe

❀ miya twins :-

they feel like a set. it would be strange to have one of the twins as a bff and not have the other one around whoops 🤷‍♀️ 

either you and osamu bully atsumu in your free time, or you and atsumu annoy osamu for fun (or both) <3. it’s always a good idea to team up with osamu and prank atsumu for fun btw. (put wasabi in his breakfast pancakes and you’ll get a very pissed off but weirdly cute tsumtsum. you can blame it on osamu if you don’t want to face his wrath.) your alternative is to embarrass osamu in front of strangers with atsumu, have fun with that. (second hand embarrassment also works.)

when you were younger, you pretended to not be able to distinguish the twins bc it would visibly rile atsumu up and then you’d go “ok you’re atsumu”... which would further rile him up. osamu got used to your shenanigans though it ticked him off the first time too LOL. call them the wrong name on purpose and they’ll start a riot; be careful when you’re playing with fire pls.

you guys played a lot of knight and prince/princess/royal when you were a kid and atsumu would always try to make osamu the evil dragon holding you captive. in the end, you were somehow the knight, osamu the prince to be rescued and atsumu the big, bad dragon. (it’s kind of funny in hindsight. your parents have photographs of the three of you fighting like no tomorrow.) also speaking of which, your parents are also friends and have bets on which twin you’ll marry (or if you will at all). it’s tearing your parents’ friendship apart.

these two have DEFINITELY fought over whose jersey number you’re going to wear to the games ( “oi, ‘samu, stop brainwashing my best friend into wearing your stupid double digit number” “you know i’m the best friend, ‘tsumu. they clearly like me better over yer ratty ass.” “what did ya say?!?!? if anything, you’re the one that looks like ratatouille.”) you wore kita's jersey number to games.

imagine sunday picnics with the boys !!! by that, i specifically mean osamu and his perfect bento boxes <3 sometimes the two of you will cook together before your outings while a sulking atsumu stands outside bc you didn’t let him. (let him in, you monsters.) he says he can cook too but the last time the twins’ bickering almost burnt the whole kitchen down. the picnics continue well into adulthood and you get to diss your boss to the twins who will always support your rants. (sometimes atsumu will tell you it’s your fault but you can smack him off. we only need supportive besties here 🙄)

if someone hurts u.... they’re going to need divine intervention to be safe... you have two well-built, physically adept best friends ready to beat the shit out of anyone who deliberately breaks ur heart. 

when the twins get into a physical fight...... oh boy. it kinda pisses you off that they’re spewing profanity at each other and you’re the one getting glares. but at the same time, you don’t really want to step into a fight that has nothing to do with you. people should solve their interpersonal issues on their own. they have never fought over you, this isn’t twilight <3 

but the question did come up once on which twin you like better; it’s not something to seriously fight over though. if you chose osamu, atsumu will complain for six days straight and you’ll start to regret ever answering the question. if you say atsumu, osamu won’t feed you his onigiri anymore for a few days which is just as bad. the safest choice is to say neither bc it will both be funny and you won’t suffer too many consequences. if you say you love the both of them for being your best friends all this time and go all mushy, there’s a slight chance they’ll go soft too. god help you from the bone crushing hug you’re about to receive 🙏

you make sure to not miss any of atsumu’s official games !! sometimes he’ll wave at you and make the reporters give you hell bc he’s a little shit. just push osamu to them and run away if it gets that bad. (he gets free advertising for his shop, he should be grateful.)

osamu is super good at cheering you up!!! whether it’s with food or with pleasant talk, you’ll be feeling much better with a full stomach and a calmer state of mind. as for atsumu, he’s really good at you cheering you up by distracting you. he’ll talk about his team or this new serve he learnt and the world will seem a lot brighter bc he seems so happy about it. whichever twin you go to, it’s win-win. 

in return, the twins take up a good chunk of your time. sometimes atsumu will crash at your place after a game though you’ve told him to not lead the damn reporters here. osamu makes you taste test his experimental onigiri... which are not always good..... no seriously, why’d he put honey and tuna in there ?? but still, your life is ridiculously colorful with them around.

anyway, what can i say except what’s better than one best friend?? two best friends !!!

#haikyuu #haikyuu x reader #atsumu x reader #osamu x reader #bokuto x reader #sugawara x reader #hinata x reader #haikyuu imagines #haikyuu headcanons #haikyuu scenarios #atsumu #osamu #bokuto #sugawara #hinata #rosemi.hcs #kind of all over the place but it's about the vibes thank you #feel free to correct any typos i made im about to pass out gn ;-;

[goodboylupin]

Operation Puppy Love

For my second entry to the Candy Hearts Challenge (which will only hand out hearts for another three days, so get one while you can)! My prompt was PUPPY LOVE. Thanks once again to @bethansfandoms and @kattlupin for beta’ing.

“Ugh,” Sirius grimaced at the leash in James’s hand. “Is this not degrading enough without having to wear such a butt ugly leash?”

James made a harrumphing noise of disagreement. “Red nylon is a classic. And this is exactly what we became Animagi for, remember?”

“It really is outrageous just how raw my end of the deal turned out,” Sirius complained. “You get an adorable puppy to charm all the girls and I end up with a ‘pet' stag? How is that fair?”

“We become what we become, Pads,” James said with a shrug. “I can’t help that I’m such a majestic spirit that it carried over into my other form. You know if it ever manages to come in handy I’ll be there helping you in a heartbeat.”

Sirius did know. Huffing a sigh, he melted into his dog body and let James slide a simple leather collar onto his neck.

“There’s a good grim,” James cooed. “Who’s my good demon dog?”

Padfoot growled.

*~*~*

Fuck, Padfoot thought as he took a detour from the halfhearted game of fetch James had engaged him in to roll down a gentle slope of grass, but this is taking so long.

Truthfully, Sirius had never really believed that he would have to use his Animagus form for this reason.

It had started off as a lark, the decision to learn the transformation, when James and Sirius were in junior high. While attending their own locally elite prep school, they had learned of the great Wizarding school of Uagadou and its world-renowned Transfiguration program, in which students were guided through the Animagus process in their early teens.

It had started off as a lark, but fuelled by hubris and hormones, it became something much more: how impressive would it be for James and Sirius to learn and successfully complete the Animagus transformation entirely on their own, without a helping hand from any adult? (More specifically: James had seen how the pretty scholarship student Lily Evans practically swooned at the video of the tall, handsome boy who grinned toothily at the camera before throwing his head back and morphing into a powerful leopard, and decided he could somehow evoke that reaction himself even if Lily never showed him anything but disdain when he grinned at her.)

A few mere hours of research later, common sense kicked in. To undergo the Animagus process without proper permits and licensing, while underage, was very illegal, and therefore not something they could very well brag about.

But then the hubris and hormones won out, or more accurately, teenage bullheadedness did. James and Sirius had got the idea into their heads, and so it would be done — if for no other reason, then for their own satisfaction. Besides, they reasoned, dogs were by far the most common animal for American wizards, and having a preternaturally smart, friendly dog could never be anything but an asset when trying to win over a pretty girl, right?

Then James had turned out to be a fucking elk, and they had both turned out handsome, smart, funny and charming enough that they didn’t need to rely on any other gimmicks, so it really did end up being something they saw through for solely their own satisfaction.

At least until college, that was.

See, the thing about achieving the absolute pinnacle of practical Transfiguration before you were old enough to vote was that it really took the mystique out of the subject. That was why James Potter and Sirius Black, known prodigies at the subject, had shocked all their classmates and counsellors when they chose not to pursue it in their post-secondary studies.

Granted, James Potter and Sirius Black were brilliant at every subject, but there had always been a special sparkle to their Transfiguration.

They had instead decided to major in Potions, and while it was never the best subject for either of them, they handily gained admission to the most exclusive program in the country for it: the far-flung Stanfield, in sunny California.

Their families had been supportive of the move, because the Potters were supportive of everything James did and because the Blacks, while they would have preferred Sirius continue the family tradition of Ilvermorny for undergrad or at least another Snakewood League school, still agreed Stanfield was sufficiently brag-worthy, even if it was, much to their distaste, on the West coast.

(But make no mistake, his mother had warned, holding his chin so tight her impeccably manicured thumb left a crescent in his skin, you are in for a reckoning if you do not get into Ilvermorny Law. And I’d rather not have to donate another building for you to do it, darling.)

Sirius should have expected Lily Evans. While he’d not kept up with her comings and goings after she and her family moved to Ohio the summer after eighth grade, it was clear even back then that she was a tour de force at Potions. He should have expected that she’d attend Stanfield.

In his defence, however, Sirius did not think anyone would have foreseen James Potter’s regression to the obnoxious, bumbling middle schooler he had once been as soon as he was reintroduced to her presence. Gone was the winsome, popular young man he had been for every other girl he’d dated the last four years, and suddenly James was a gormless fool who could not string together two sentences without inadvertently offending Lily. And perish the thought of James Potter thinking about any girl other than Lily when she was in his proximity!

So it was that Sirius was called upon to fulfil his best friend duties by acting as man’s best friend. Reconnaissance (social media stalking) had revealed to James that Lily worked at a local Magbob coffee shop, so he planned to ‘run into her’ as she took her customary post-work stroll through the park, with Padfoot in hand to act as social lubricant.

“Padfoot,” James called. When Padfoot returned to him, he hooked the ugly red leash back onto the collar and gave him a pat on the head. “I see a redhead in the distance. Operation Puppy Love is a go,” he whispered.

James stood straight and began strutting with his chest puffed out, whistling a jaunty tune.

Padfoot rolled his eyes as best he could in this body and trotted alongside him.

James’s steps faltered for a moment, and Padfoot looked up to see that Lily was not alone.

Padfoot couldn’t really assess human attractiveness the way Sirius could, but even he could tell the other boy was pretty. He was slender, a few inches taller than Lily herself, and had the bluest eyes Padfoot had ever seen, vivid even to dog eyes. He looked down at Padfoot and smiled sunnily, and Padfoot felt his tail begin to wag.

“Lily, my dear!” James greeted, emboldened by the reminder of Sirius’s presence. “Top of the morning to you!”

What the fuck, Sirius thought, Are we British now? Is that what’s happening?

Lily blinked at him. An awkward silence stretched on. “Hello, James,” she finally said, flatly. She looked down at Padfoot and wrinkled her nose.

“Now where are my manners!” James cried, now sounding vaguely Georgian, and pressing the palm of his free hand to his head. “This is my dog, Padfoot! He’s very friendly, aren’t you, boy?”

Padfoot barked once for yes.

“Would you like to pet him?”

“No thank you,” Lily refused. She lifted a cone of ice cream to her lips and gave it a short lick. “I’m more of a cat person.”

“Oh, me too, actually,” James agreed, finally back to his normal crisp Midatlantic accent.

“Then… why did you get a dog?” Lily asked.

“Oh, well, he,” James stuttered, shifting his weight between his feet. “He’s a rescue!” he finally decided. “Yeah, they were gonna put him down. He’s so big, you know? It’s expensive as hell to keep this guy fed and most people were a little terrified of him because he’s sort of monstrous looking in the face.”

Wow. Wow. Fuck you too, James.

“Aww, no! Don’t say that,” the boy protested. He shoved his own ice cream cone into Lily’s hand and squatted down, holding out a closed fist in front of Padfoot’s nose. “You’re the beautifulest boy in the whole world,” he promised.

No, you, Padfoot thought now that he got to see the boy up close. His hair — Padfoot still couldn’t tell the colour — was an artfully messy halo of almost-curls that fell around those big blue eyes, which held an incredible depth of kindness. His thin lips were a perfect cupid’s bow that made Padfoot desperately wish to turn back to Sirius so he could kiss them, Animagus laws (and possibly the International Statute of Secrecy) be damned.

He tamped down on that desire and instead took the affection that was offered, stepping forward to sniff the hand.

Immediately, Padfoot was hit with a wave of what Sirius could only describe as euphoria, and which Padfoot could only describe as GOOD.

This boy’s hand was the most incredible thing Padfoot had ever smelled in his life. The first whiff was simple sugar and vanilla, but when Padfoot breathed again it was something indescribable. It was pine needles and fresh mulch and perfumed darkness and silvery moonlight and something else, something that was at once reassuringly safe and ferociously wild.

The hand moved away to dig into the thick fur of Padfoot’s ruff, and it felt incredible, but Sirius hardly cared. He needed more of that scent.

Padfoot surged forward — and perhaps he was too forceful, if James’s shouts and Lily’s startled cry were anything to go by, but the boy giggled as he was knocked clear on his back, so Sirius figured it was fine — and pushed his snout into the crook of the boy’s neck, skimming up to the corner of his jaw. The scent was even more potent there, and the boy was stroking over Padfoot’s sides in a way he’d never experienced before but now decided was the method he liked best.

“I guess you are a monster,” the boy gasped between laughter. “A great big cuddle monster!”

Oh, he was beautiful and punny. This boy was perfect.

Padfoot gave him a thank you lick, which brought with it the absolute revelation that somehow the boy tasted even better than he smelled. Padfoot decided he was never moving from this spot.

Alas, it was not to be, for James, the traitor, chose that moment to tug at Padfoot’s leash. “All right, boy,” James said, sounding strained. He forced an awkward, breathy laugh. “I think that’s quite enough.”

Padfoot whined but did not resist when James took hold of his collar and gently pulled him away.

“I am so sorry about him,” James apologized. “He’s never done that before.”

Padfoot sat down and gave his friendliest doggie grin, tongue lolling out from the side.

“It’s all right,” the boy assured. He stood back and rather uselessly swept the backs of his thighs with his hands, as if that would do anything for the grass stains on his pants. “I get that a lot,” he said with an odd little smile, like there was some inside joke he didn’t understand.

Padfoot wanted to be in on the joke, on every joke, wanted to share a million new ones with this boy so he could share the secret smiles too.

The boy glanced back at Lily, then did a double take. The smile melted off his face. “My ice cream!” he cried in dismay.

Lily, now holding two mostly eaten cones, shrugged. “It was melting,” she explained, without a spot of shame.

The boy pouted. Padfoot barked at James, trying to communicate that he ought to buy the boy a new ice cream. Then they could all sit together and the boy would probably give ear scritches and let Padfoot rest his head on the boy’s thigh.

“You work at the ice cream parlour, Remus,” Lily insisted. “This was your third cone of the day. You only got it because you insist on eating all the orders you get wrong.”

Remus — his name was Remus! His name was Remus and he worked at the ice cream parlour, of course he worked at the ice cream parlour, he looked exactly like the sort of person to work at an ice cream parlour — heaved a great sigh. “Maybe so,” he conceded.

“I have a cheese croissant in my bag if you want,” Lily offered. “It’s only mostly stale.”

“I’d like that.”

Lily pulled a white paper bag out of the pocket of her bag and tossed it to him. He caught it easily and gave her a two finger salute. “Ah, I’ve got a study group,” he said, looking down at his wristwatch. “See you tomorrow, Lils. It was nice to finally meet you, James!” He bent down to rub a palm over the top of Padfoot’s head. “And I especially hope to see you again, Padfoot!” With that, he left.

“I’ve gotta jet too,” Lily rushed out. “Okay, bye!”

James and Padfoot meandered over the hill to a secluded spot behind some bushes where Sirius immediately shifted back and ripped off the leash.

“Did you see that? Did you hear that!?” James asked, bouncing on the balls of his feet and grinning from ear to ear. “He was so glad to finally meet me! That means she talks about me! And then she blushed!”

“Yeah, yeah, that’s all great,” Sirius agreed. “But can we talk about Remus?”

“Yeah, that was not cool, man,” James scolded, suddenly sobered. “Why were you all over him like that?”

Sirius clapped a hand on James’s shoulder and looked him square in the eye. “Because he smells like a sexy avenging angel, James, and I am going to marry that boy. We’re adding a second leg to Operation Puppy Love.”

#RSCandyHearts #wolfstar #HP #Sirius Black #Remus Lupin #James Potter #Lily Evans #jily #** #**myfic #remus x sirius #james x lily #College/University AU #American AU #magic au

[leefi]

Hi, I noticed you did the MBTI types of the ORV characters, and I was wondering what you think the MBTI types are for the Revue Starlight gals :D

Anon, I want you to know that this google doc is 14 pages single-spaced, and I'm still not done.

WITH THAT BEING SAID, I'm so glad you asked!! I'll be breaking this up into four parts so we don't have to scroll through one massive wall of text. The other schools will take a bit more time to publish as I'm still working on a couple from each (I think I have four girls left!).

But without further ado:

Starira MBTI Part 1 - Seisho

Siegfeld

Frontier

Rinmeikan

I had a lot of help with all of this reading @HalfACape’s wonderful character analyses of so many of the girls on twitter, as well as consulting the Personality Database page for the characters I was less sure about (though there were a few I disagreed with on there - none in Seisho, we'll be discussing the others later). But everyone feel free to discuss if you disagree with anything!

Karen Aijo: ENFP

ENFPs’ dominant function is Ne (extroverted intuition) (that running gag Karen has in the game where she mishears words, spouting off suggestions even if they make absolutely zero sense to the situation at hand - “telescope? telephone? telenovella?” - is such stereotypical Ne). Ne is always running towards any possibility, no matter how unlikely it seems, and I don’t need to spell out for you how much of that we saw from Karen in the anime. Ne-Fi feed each other to create a rebel/free-spirit type of personality (Ne seeks all possibilities, Fi holds strong inner values and selfish desires - what do I want, what do I need? How does this make me feel?). Her Te isn’t too developed yet, which is fine because it’s tertiary and she’s still so young. That tertiary, undeveloped Te shows up in her scatterbrained, lackadaisical, go-with-the-flow attitude (but when dominant Fi gets fired up by something - like an old childhood friend coming home - it kicks Te into high gear). Inferior introverted Sensing shows no respect towards rules or regulations - see her revue with Junna (Si-dominant) and the anger she draws out of Maya for (a child of the system and traditionally hard worker) in their Revue of Pride. Karen is the natural rebel, the forever optimist, the sunshine girl - textbook ENFP.

Mahiru Tsuyuzaki: INFP

If you want to see what leading with an introverted function looks like compared to an extroverted function, compare Mahiru to Karen! They share the exact same functions, just flipped on the I/E axis. So Mahiru is Fi, Ne, Si, Te. Karen is Ne, Fi, Te, Si. And Mahiru is a very clear example of an INFP - such a warm, brilliant, awe-inspiring person, but can also be her own worst enemy and others tend to underestimate her. And it’s hard, I don’t blame her! Leading with Fi and not having that physical/in the moment Se to support it (like ISFPs do, just compare her to Kaoruko--yes--they’re only one letter off from each other) means that it’s extremely hard for INFPs to naturally advocate for themselves...so instead, they retreat into their own imaginations where it’s safer (Ne). BUT THEY’RE SO INCREDIBLE!! THERE’S SO MUCH THERE TO RESPECT AND ADMIRE!! *shakes her like maracas* IF YOU WOULD JUST SHOW US!!!!!!! (and this is her whole arc in the anime i don’t need to tell her lol). It’s actually so interesting how she and Karen’s Fi and Ne escapism manifests in their respective introverted/extroverted personalities. These two really are more similar than most of us think!

I love INFPs so, so much because they’re like sleeping giants. Once they get a hold of and develop that inferior extroverted Thinking it’s over - nobody else can compare. They’re like the characters in video games that start off super weak, and then you blink and suddenly they’ve become the most powerful units near the end of the game.

Kagura Hikari: INTJ

ENFP’s stereotypical partner (I swear every other reserved person A/sunshine person B couple in fiction is this type pairing) and while it’s tropey it works because these two types play off each other so well. I actually originally had her pegged as an ISTJ, but I think that her bullheadedness earlier in the anime is more indicative of Ni being stubborn. Hikari is cagey, reserved (tert Fi/inferior Se), and an incredibly high-achieving individual (dominant Ni sets specific goals, auxiliary Te implements). Her tertiary Fi (which INTJs LOVE to keep locked up, right here, forever, until they die) is so obvious as you slowly learn just how much of a sap/romantic she is. It’s her weaker Fi that holds that sentimentality towards Starlight after all these years, her Fi that struggles to hold on to that childhood promise, her Fi that has her following Karen (and eventually Mahiru as well) around like a duckling (though we initially get the impression that the dynamic is the other way around). She grows to care deeply for all the other girls around her and that’s all her tertiary introverted Feeling getting stronger as the story progresses! Like so many people in the fandom have realized, she isn’t a mean person, she’s just socially awkward. Not too much to say on her inferior Se, that mostly manifests in how she’s a homelier person who would rather stay in than go out, and doesn’t actively try to seek new experiences (this was what had me thinking ISTJ at first).

Junna Hoshimi: ISTJ

Karen’s polar opposite - they actually share the exact same functions, just in reverse! So Junna leads with introverted Sensing where it’s Karen’s weakest, and Karen leads with extroverted Intuition where it’s Junna’s weakest. And we see this play out in their revue!

Junna is one of my favorite characters in the series for a reason and it’s because it’s SO rare to see the ISTJ in a rebellious role. Si is all about following and respecting order, and Junna breaks all of that to create her own! We see that dominant Si show up in literally every other facet of her life, though - from her by-the-book attitude to her stringency with deadlines and tardiness to her respect for the creatives of old - Shakespeare, Nietschze, etc. She’s an incredibly bright and successful student as well (any type can be of course but the “kind of student” she is is very much Te supporting Si - super studious and placing heavy weight on studying and getting straight A’s). And her Fi is SO GOOD. SO SO SO SO GOOD AND SO APPARENT - MUCH stronger than IxTJ’s sibling Hikari’s at the start of the anime. That’s where the rebellious part of her spirit comes from - her values, her strong sense of self and desire for autonomy (EXTREMELY Fi thing - Fi is all about the self, how I feel about something, what I want out of this, not feeling trapped by others’ expectations, etc.). Inferior Ne manifests in how she struggles with improvisation, ends up tunnel visioning (see her revue with Karen), and can sometimes struggle to accept new ideas or ways of doing things (Junna works so hard, but it’s evident in the anime and a lot of her starira bond stories that she can end up getting stuck in her old ways if someone else doesn’t come in to offer a new perspective -- see her Jekyll bond story dialogue with Maya!). Another example we see is when her extroverted xSTJ sibling Akira, who has Ne a step higher than her but understands where she’s coming from with their shared functions, guides her towards using it in the High Priestess bond story!

Nana Daiba: ESFJ

Textbook ESFJ!! Caring, motherly, affable; Fe doms are always looking to appeal to the group and make sure that everybody feels comfortable (and, likewise, are very keen on suppressing their own insecurities/emotions/discomforts). Nana is not ambitious for ambition’s sake, and in fact suppresses her own talents to appeal to the group. As for that Si aux… :) Si aux… :) Si aux… :) Si aux… :) Si aux… :) Si aux… :) Si aux… :) Si aux… :) Si aux… :) Si aux… :) Si aux… :) Si aux… :) Si aux… :) Si aux… :) Si aux… :) Si aux… :) Si aux… :) Si aux… :) Si aux… :) Si aux… :) Si aux… :) Si aux… :) Si aux… :) Si aux… :) Si aux… :) Si aux… :) Si aux… :) Si aux… :) Si aux… :) Si aux… :) Si aux… :) Si aux… :) Si aux… :) Si aux… :) Si aux… :) Si aux… :) Si aux… :) Si aux… :) Si aux… :) Si aux… :) Si aux… :) Si aux… :) Si aux… :) Si aux… :) Si aux… :)

Unhealthy Si can manifest as an extreme fixation on past experiences and a fear of moving on (we’re going to see this later with Si-dom Fumi too). Her poor tertiary Ne had gotten absolutely quashed by her stronger auxiliary Si in the anime - it doesn’t want to change anything! Claudine and Maya can be the leads again. We don’t need to modify the script. The first one was already perfect, why are we risking failure by changing things?! Also, holding herself back for the sake of everyones’ happiness is so Fe dom it hurts. If you want to see the difference between ESFJ and ENFJ (the two Fe-doms of MBTI), compare her to Michiru, who also suppresses her talents -- yes to cultivate the other girls’ (specifically Akira’s) brilliance but also for the sake of her ulterior motives to one day create her own troupe (aux Ni at work vs. Nana’s aux Si). Nana’s is more deferrant, but still just as ferocious - she’ll defeat Maya 60 times over to get what she wants. And the craziest thing is that all of this comes out of love and fear - she’s scared, and all of that is coming from her unhealthy Si aux. Junna is a very good example for her to follow for healthier Si.

Claudine Saijo: ENTJ

“DON’T IGNORE MY LINES!!!” ENTJs LOVE being at the top - the leaders of the pride, the people in charge, the ones you have to answer to (AND she’s a Leo too. Jfc girl pick a struggle LMAOOOOO). You get the picture - except Claudine isn’t in that position. Maya is. Claudine doesn’t even get a revue or her own song, because she’s Maya’s eternal second. This is a really, really uncomfortable spot for an ENTJ to be in, and it’s evident in how hard she pushes herself - and how antsy she gets whenever Maya is around. But Claudine never blames an outside system or factors like Karen (inferior Si) does for her situation - she just gets angry and more driven to succeed, bulldozing her way to the finish line (dominant Te-tertiary Se interacting). The tragedy of her character is that she will never surpass Maya, so we see her Ni begin to reframe achieving the very top to becoming the only star in Maya’s eye (little does she know that she’s already succeeded). That ripping off of her cloak at the end of the revue duet - “the only loser here is me” - is her inferior Fi poking its head out. At the end of the day, Claudine is an interesting character because she’s a walking contradiction. She’s a star denied a spotlight, but she isn’t a failure either, so she’s forced to grapple with this ambiguous, there-but-not-quite-there middle ground. It’s one big identity crisis in the making, and it’s clear to see why so many people relate to her and love her as a character - a lot of us can empathize with never quite being satisfied, and looking up towards heights that can appear insurmountable.

Maya Tendo: INFJ

She seems so normal and established and then you look closer and realize there’s something seriously wrong with her and oh my god where did this massive god complex come from. Typical Ni dom

From her detached, more “mature” personality to her altruistic and often surprisingly keen insight towards people, she has so many key makings of an INFJ. That dominant Ni is strong in Maya - everything is poured into theatre. Everything. From her hobbies to her interests to her personality, everything Maya does in her life is deliberate and all of it is for the sake of theatre. Ni bitches LOVE to fixate on just one thing, and for Maya, that is the stage. “I have no need for those who lack willpower...Come climb up here if you have the resolve...A single step forward is a step closer to my dream” is just...yeah I’m being redundant. Dominant introverted intuition. Ni Ni Ni Ni. This girl embodies it - while Hikari is also a Ni-dom, Maya shows a TON more of it than her (can’t say I blame the writers - Ni is probably the most difficult function to write because it requires thinking so many steps ahead for your character). We can see a marked difference between INFJs and INTJs here in how Maya and Hikari practice solitude - Hikari purposely isolates herself from Karen to avoid hurting her, while Maya purposely isolates and crafts herself into an untouchable God to serve as an inspiration to others (auxiliary extroverted Feeling). Want to see how this looks with the INFJ’s extroverted sibling, the ENFJ? Look at how Michiru crafts Akira’s public image. That’s Ni and Fe at work, just in different priority slots (Maya is Ni dominant, Michiru is Fe dominant - they share the same functions, just flipped on the I/E axis). That tertiary Ti is very prevalent too - Maya mostly keeps her thoughts to herself, and loves to mull over things. She definitely isn’t the first one to shout out an answer, she prefers to think things over.

One interesting comment that really stood out to me on her personality database page was how she’s an INFJ with an INTP persona in the anime, and I think I agree (INFJs and INTPs tend to present similarly and can be easily confused with each other anyway)! But I want to add on to that - I think that INTP presentation is her auxiliary Fe at play crafting a persona that better coincides with Claudine’s, as ENTJ/INTP matchups are extremely compatible (not saying Maya was thinking about MBTI LOL but rather she brought out and exemplified aspects of her personality that would better complement Claudine’s - their partnership is not a one-way street at all! Maya does so much for her!!). Just compare anime Maya to stageplay Maya, where she gives no headway and is absolutely brutal to Claudine.

Futaba Isurigi: ISTP

Futaba is such a great example of what a healthy ISTP can look like! Dominant Ti shows up in how she communicates with others - she's honest, direct, and to the point, but it's never utilized in a way that’s mean-spirited (contrary to how her girlfriend often can be) - it’s just how she communicates. Claudine (a Te dom which works SO well with Ti) actually points out in Starira that this is why they get along so well. Aux Se shows up in her physicality - her love and strength is in stage fights, she's into mechanics with her motorcycle and does all the maintenance herself, etc. Funnily enough, I think that tert Ni, while a slot above Fe, is actually Futaba’s least developed trait (or, at least, the one she's most guarded about) - she went into Seisho to follow Kaoruko, and her aux Se dominates that tert slot and gives her a … little bit of a lackadaisical attitude? Obviously not as much as someone like Karen, but in many senses she doesn't outwardly display a strong fear or anxiety towards the future like the other girls (completely understandably) do - and it’s that tert Ni getting angry when she feels as if Kaoruko is stagnating in her plans. There’s some inklings of her own plan for the future, but Futaba’s own individual plans are mostly kept to herself, so we don’t know how much or little she’s done about them. (I have more to add but will not continue as I’m venturing into movie spoilers territory, but for those that have watched/read them, try to draw your own conclusions based on what I’ve said!). I think that having such a close relationship with Kaoruko is what pushed her to develop that inferior Fe so early to support her girlfriend's dominant Fi. I actually originally had her typed as ESTP for how strong her Fe was (ESTPs have it a slot higher than their introverted siblings), but she really doesn’t strike me as an extrovert, and ISTPs with developed Fe can be very warm, affable people too!

Kaoruko Hanayagi: ISFP

“Kaoruko Hanayagi’s dream is world domination.”

Kaoruko is such a great example of what an unhealthy ISFP can look like! LMAOOO but no, I’m dead serious - if you want to know what unhealthy introverted Feeling looks like, look to Kaoruko. Everything is me me me me me me me, to hell with what anyone else wants (if you want to compare unhealthy Fe to unhealthy Fi, compare Nana and Kaoruko). Tertiary Ni shows up to support Fi in how surprisingly sharp she is towards other people - what makes them tick, exactly where to hurt, their inner thoughts and feelings (see her bathtub conversation with Mahiru).

BUT THAT DOMINANT Fi IS ALSO SUCH A POWERFUL THING. That “me me me me me me” is going to turn into “my vision, and what I want to create, and what I’m going to do” (once that inferior Te finally develops - which Kaoruko is going to be forced to put work into eventually). This is why, like Mahiru, I think that Kaoruko is seriously going to blossom later on in life - ISFPs and INFPs, the Pisces of the MBTI, have this weird penchant for going under the rader and then becoming insanely fucking successful OUT OF NOWHERE??? Like, they aren’t super motivated and driven with a specific plan like Ni-strong xNxJs, or disciplined and hardworking like Te-strong xSTJs, but???? You blink and suddenly they’re millionaires with four creative projects going on simultaneously (but if they get bored with any of them they’ll drop them instantly - you could not pay me all the money in the world to be an IxFP’s manager it must be an absolute nightmare <3). Just...legends out of nowhere? Rihanna is an ISFP Pisces so I have real world evidence to back this up.

#revue starlight #woof #seisho #some are longer than others but i promise it wasn't intentional :( just a matter of when i got to them (i went out of order) #for example Karen and Mahiru were written first so there's a lot less on them. Maya I JUST finished writing 10 minutes ago so I could #publish Seisho and you can tell by the length of hers how much I got into the swing of things LMAO #aijo karen #tsuyuzaki mahiru #kagura hikari #saijo claudine #tendo maya #isurigi futaba #hanayagi kaoruko #daiba nana #hoshimi junna #i love nana so so much but couldn't write enough for her. idk why she was giving me a block...

[problematicfavesareproblematic]

What We Want and What We Can Have

Part Two- My Love, Don’t Fade Away

WHOOPS IT’S A PART TWO THAT NO ONE ASKED FOR (part one lives hither)!

Warnings: cannon-typical violence, angst, unresolved tension encroaching resolution, more of Ron and his big beautiful brain, Ron has like three feelings and you take up two of them, non-edited nonsense bc feelings don’t wait for approval

I listened to Reminder by Mumford and Sons as well as I Don’t Feel It Anymore by William Fitzsimmons. Let me know if any of you crazy kids are interested in my BoB heavy-feels writing playlist bc ya know i’ve got one.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The grey smoke from the burning church stung your eyes, and as you feel your tears trickle down your cheeks you wonder if they are soot-stained as well. 

 Around you, you can hear the screams of bombs whistling through the air- the harmonizing shrieks of the wounded and dying ringing in your ears as you watch Gene running towards the smoldering building, but you can’t seem to do anything other than watch. You know you need to do something, anything to help the medic save the handful of people bursting through the smoke like ashen fireworks.  

Yet all you seem capable of doing is dumbly stare at the ruins of the makeshift hospital you’d just watched explode. 

 The makeshift hospital you had been tasked to watch over.

For weeks, you’d been monitoring intel reports for any sign that the Luftwaffe had been intending to bomb the town of Bastogne. Weeks of pouring over intercepted and forwarded information and maps and citizen chatter that you’d been so sure indicated that the town was safe from harm, that the air attacks would be solely focused on the woods. 

Yet here you were, standing in the heart of a bomb-pocked town with ice in your veins and a terrible hollow in your heart.

 You’d failed. You couldn’t have been more spectacularly wrong.

 The irony of your mistake ending in fire was not lost on you, and as your eyes danced up with the flames and plumes of smoke you were filled with the same helpless feeling that had found you after learning of the fate of your mother, sister, and brother-in-law all those months ago. Only this time, you had no one to blame but yourself.

 You had done this. You’d missed something and now all of those wounded soldiers and brave nurses and innocent people were dead and trapped.

 When Gene grabs your shoulders you nearly jump out of your skin, blinking for the first time in what felt like hours and forcing yourself to focus on the drawn face of your friend. Something in his eyes gives you the impression that he’s been trying to get your attention for a long time.

 “Y/N!” he shouts, using his grip on you to pull you back towards the jeep. “We have to go, we’ve gotta go back—”

 “I-I should stay,” you stammer, limbs feeling like lead as you stumble along stiffly. “I don’t think…”

 Gene, ignoring your quiet mumbling, all but shoves you into the car and takes your previous seat as driver.

 Eyes having drifted back to the smoldering church, you try again to get your fumbling mouth to work enough to speak.

 “Gene, I think—”

 “You’re not staying here, Y/N.”

The way he says it leaves no room for argument.

“Bet you don’t even realize that your face is bleeding like a stuck pig….”

 When you raise your hand to touch your cheek you feel that he’s right, you are bleeding- most likely from the initial blast of debris that had hit you when the bomb hit.

As Gene whips the jeep around to take off down the road, you feel the cool wind sting at your eyes, the air so drastically different from the smoke you’d just been breathing that it makes you lightheaded.

 “I killed them,” you murmur, despite the fact that you know Gene can’t hear you. “I killed them.”

 Gene is crying when you look over at him but you can’t find it in you to offer him any comfort. What would the point be? What could you possibly say when everything you’d just witnessed was a direct consequence of something you’d missed?

 Ron was wrong, you think to yourself as you look back to the rapidly approaching forest. It is better to feel nothing. I want to feel nothing.

 Almost as if all you had to do was think about it- a strange calm settles bitterly in your chest, joining the hollow that had been deepening each day since you’d seen Blithe get shot through the throat.

 Just as you’d wished, you slipped into the numbness of nothing.

 ~

 Ron was worried about you.

 No, he was more than worried. He was concerned...deeply concerned.

He had been for a while now- ever since you’d come back from a scouting mission with Blithe’s blood on your hands and a grim look of defeat marring your pretty face. He’d tried to talk to you about it, going as far as to pull you aside and wash the blood from your hands in hopes of getting you to open up privately- ignoring the confused looks of your superiors and his colleagues as he did so.

You had been, were worth any rumors that could come from his intentionally infrequent sign of humanity.

 But you’d given him nothing more than a weak smile and whisper of thanks before slipping away to find Nixon. It was like that moment in the attic had never happened.

 Seeing you come back from the town of Bastogne had shocked him, too. Not as much in terms of the blood pouring from the cut on your cheek, but in the absolutely dead look in your eyes he’d found when he had begun questioning you as to what had happened.

 “I was wrong,” you’d said emotionlessly, barely flinching when Spina had brought an alcohol-drenched rag to your wound. “I missed something, and now the town is gone.”

 Before he could even begin to think of a reply, Spina had asked him to help get you to CP so the other officers could figure out the next course of action. And once he had, you’d had no more to say.

 That night, Ron had poured over the information you’d been given concerning Bastogne, glaring at Nixon until the other man had relented and reluctantly given him the small wooden box you kept your reports in. You hadn’t ‘missed’ anything- there had been nothing to indicate any sort of attack to the town for you to miss. You had done nothing wrong.

 Not that he’d be able to convince you of that. Ron knew you well enough by now to know that your stubbornness could rival his own if you indulge yourself in it enough. He’d learned that long ago in Georgia upon meeting you, that you had not gotten here by accident or through any sort of familial connection- but rather by sheer determination and steadfastness and unapologetic bullheadedness, not to mention a natural gift for finding patterns in behaviors and translating them into strategy.

Watching you work, then and now, had been nothing short of marvelous. 

 But this wasn’t you. This heartbroken husk of you that he had been seeing now made his already frozen body feel even colder.

 Ron needed you back.

 Unbeknownst to you (and initially to him as well), you’d become the reason he fought. At first, it had been a more practical explanation: you worked tirelessly to secure the information needed to build strategies and he felt the need to reward that hard work with his own successful execution of the plans you’d made. Then, upon completing the task, you would come in and use any of the information you found to build the next strategy. It had been transactional, an exchange of services that helped the both of you work towards the mutual goal of winning the war.

It was simple.

 There was no real event to precede his shift in perspective. One day you’d been Y/N and the next you were Y/N. He’d nearly said as much in the attic, when your eyes had burned him alive with their curious sincerity and your heart had called to him so sweetly he’d nearly kissed you. 

 Seeing you now, blinking slowly in the warm candlelight while the voices of the choir wrapped around everyone like a thick blanket, Ron wondered if he should’ve kissed you.

He wonders if, by doing so, he could’ve somehow stopped you from getting to this point.

 You hadn’t been at the frontlines earlier that day for the siege of Foy, yet you looked just as drained as every other man in the company who had. Even with his heavy jacket wrapped around your shoulders, your fingers still trembled as you picked at the dirt beneath your nails, making him wonder if you were shaking from something else other than the cold.

 You startle slightly as he reaches over and places his hand over yours, head quickly turning to look at him and the tiniest dust of pink coloring your cheeks when you realized how close your face was to his. Almost as if you’d forgotten that he was sitting beside you in the pew, that only an hour ago he’d forced you to accept his coat while he scribbled out the names of the men now under his command onto some paper he’d asked one of the sisters for earlier. He hadn’t bothered writing your name- you were not like all of the others, you weren’t something to oversee and keep in order.

And as far as Ron was concerned, you’d been connected to him since D-Day. 

 He didn’t need a note to remember that.

 A shy, small smile turns your lips up at the corners- the action not seeming to quite reach your eyes but Ron felt the sincerity in it all the same. Flickering your gaze back down to his hand resting over yours, he watches as you hook your thumb over his small finger, pleased at the warmth he feels as you momentarily play with the silver ring he always wore there.  Watching your profile, he only takes his hand away when you return your attention to the young girls in front of the altar, allowing his gaze to linger on you for a few moments before turning back to his list.

 Feeling another set of eyes on him, he looks up and catches Lipton looking over his shoulder at the exchange. The other man quickly turns back upon being caught, and Ron studies the back of the other man’s head for a few moments before making up his mind.

 “Y/N,” Ron says quietly, tilting his head towards the door of the church once your eyes find his again, standing and rolling his sore shoulder. “C’mon, I’ll drop you off at your billet on my way to Battalion.”

 The offer seemed to surprise Lipton, but you take a deep breath and nod shortly.

 “Alright,” you say softly, “let me go return Luz’s lighter and I’ll meet you at the door?”

As he nods, you stand up carefully and side-step in front of Ron out of the pew, meeting Lipton’s smile with a weak one of your own as you give the man’s shoulder a quick squeeze.

 “Night, Car.”

 Lipton pats her hand affectionately and then you’re striding over to the pews where Luz, Liebgott, Randleman, and Heffron have set up camp.

Ron watches you go as he loads his gear back on, once again feeling Lipton staring at him. There’s a familiarity in the way Lipton is looking at him- it’s a look everyone seems to send his way, ever since Donald Malarkey started the rumor on D-Day.

 “You wanna ask me, don’t you?” Ron asks, watching the other man fidget.

 “Ask you what, sir?”

 “You wanna know if they’re true or not,” he clarifies, sizing the other man up. “The stories about me?”

 Lip said nothing, and when Ron looked over his shoulder at the man he saw that Lip was looking away. The man amused him, to say the least. The man’s bravery was starting to show in ways that filled Ron with every confidence in him- glad to have a Lieutenant with a backbone in his newly appointed Company.

 “Ever notice with stories like that, everyone says they hear it from someone who was there, and then when you ask that person they say they heard it from someone who was there?” Ron steps from the pew to stand before Lipton. 

“There’s nothing to ‘em, really. I bet if you went back 2000 years you’d hear a couple Centurions standing around yacking about how Tertius lopped off the heads of some Carthaginian prisoners.”

 Lipton seemed to consider that for a moment before replying. 

“Well, maybe they kept talking about it because they never heard Tertius deny it.”

 Slinging his gun over his shoulder, Ron lets a smirk show on his face and squares his shoulders. “Well, maybe that’s because Tertius knew there was some value in the men thinking he was the meanest, toughest son of a bitch in the whole Roman Legion.” 

 When Ron looks over to where you are, he is glad to see that some of the tension in your posture has lessened. He can hear you mumble something that amuses Luz and Bull to no end, unable to help but feel a tinge of sadness at the fact that you’ve still got that hollow look in your eyes.

 “If I may speak freely, Sir?” Lipton says, breaking Ron from his trance and allowing him to look back to the other man. When he nods, the new Lieutenant dips his head indicatively in your direction.

“I’m worried about her….a lot of us are, Sir.”

 Ron keeps his expression neutral, nodding at the comment.

“Is there a question in there, Lipton?”

 A grimace crosses Lip’s face as he seems to ponder his words carefully. 

“No, Sir. It’s more of an observation, if anything.”

 “Go ahead.”

 “I know that, technically, Captain Nixon is meant to be her immediate supervisor,” Lipton says with a bit more confidence. “But I worry that he’s been, er….neglecting some of his responsibilities in favor of more cathartic activities….”

He cuts himself off, looking from side to side quickly before lowering his voice.

“Captain Nixon has been passing the brunt of the analysis work to Captain Y/L/N, if not ignoring it entirely. And, as great an officer as Y/N is, Sir—”

 “I understand, Lieutenant,” Ron interrupts Lipton just shy of insubordination, giving the confused man a nod before realizing that he’s unintentionally called the other man by his new title. “Thank you for bringing it to my attention. You were right to do so.”

 After informing Lipton of his promotion, Ron quickly turns on his heel and makes eye contact with you once more. As you fall in to step with him through the doorway of the church, Ron processes the new information he’s been given.

 While he’d never really liked Lewis Nixon, this revelation has only solidified his stance on the man. It was one thing to drink on the job and still be productive- whatever arrangement this was was unacceptable. 

 Your hand is soft in his as he takes it, the fumble in your stride telling him that you hadn’t been expecting him to do so. But you still don’t let go, you still follow him past Battalion and you offer no resistance when he guides you inside of the small cottage you’d been assigned to.

 When Ron gently takes your face in his hands, your eyes flicker down to his mouth before he even begins to speak.

 “Do you remember what you asked me in the attic, a few months ago? About what I cared about?”

 You nod slowly, and as your gaze meets his he could swear that you’re about to burn him to ask once more. You seem to lean into his touch, and while there is still caution in your eyes he thinks he may also see a flicker of intrigue in your irises as well.

 “Things you can’t have. Things you shouldn’t care about.”

 You say it as if you didn’t need to think about it very hard to remember- something that makes his heart stutter in his chest.

 “You, you know that I was talking about you.”

 Then, you do something that Ron will never forget.

 You smile.

And this time, it reaches your eyes.

~ ~ ~ (*looks over at all the homework/chores I’ve neglected in favor of writing this* WHOOPS

BUT FOR REAL HERE WE BE AGAIN. HOPE I DIDN’T DEPRESS Y’ALL TOO MUCH BC I KEEP DOING THAT WITHOUT INTENDING TO OK LOVE YOU BYE )

taglist: @mrseasycompany​ @itswormtrain @mrsalwayswrite​ @happyveday​ @sunsetmando​ @ricksmorty​ @liebgotttme​

#band of brothers imagines #band of brothers x reader #ron speirs x reader #ron speirs imagines #ronald speirs x reader #problematicfavesareproblematic

[guqin-and-flute]

I love the Yanli/JGY verse so so much, so in the hopes that a prompt might help there be more of it: JGY, being a very observant genius and all, figures out Something Is Up with WWX's core, and since what A-Li wants is to take care of Her People, and because what A-Li wants, JGY will make sure she gets, he and Yanli work together to deal with it?

[Ahhh thank you so much!! Well, THIS went off in a direction I didn’t expect, but thank you THANK you for the fascinating prompt! TW for: canon-typical alcohol use, mention of an injury, heavily implied offscreen self harm, but for a very specific reason? It’s not for self injury/mental health reasons]

[First post in Yaoli/Peony to Lotus!verse]

Wei Wuxian stared moodily out at the sunset drenched lake, sprawled on one of the docks with a jug of liquor cupped in his hand, listening to the cicadas drone far off in the trees, the crickets sing in the grass, the frogs croak in the reeds, the people far across the lake shout and laugh. Everything was so noisy. The clamor used to be such a comfort--and to most of him, it still was, filling him with the warmth of soup and long days in the sun. But there was a new ball of darkness that had tightened a cage around his heart. That sometimes sang in his veins. Reminded him that, in the Burial Mounds, there were only moments of silence and of screaming and that both were equally dangerous. 

Reminded him of the unnatural quiet that lived at his core, now. Sometimes, the pitch of the insects would rise to such an edge that it would become too human, become something he had once heard in the darkness. Or uttered himself.

He splashed the alcohol into his mouth, reveling in the burn. At least it wasn’t night quite yet, the last vestiges of bruised purple-blue light clinging to the tops of the trees, brightened by the heavy moon. There were footsteps on the dock behind him, approaching light and even and he paused without turning. Then relaxed.

Jin Guangyao stopped next to him at the edge of the pier, clasped his hands behind his back and looked out at the moon that was held in a thousand little cups of the lily pads, tiny silver coins tucked beneath the lotuses. Wei Wuxian glanced up at him, saw the pleasant, directionless neutrality on his face and sat up with a grunt, leaning his elbows on his knees. He liked the man and his presence--had even grown quite fond of him over the many months he’d lived with them, but right now, he’d rather be alone with the frogs and his drink. He opened his mouth to greet him, but Jin Guangyao spoke first. “I was in the kitchen, just now, and,” he clucked his tongue against his teeth despairingly and turned his arm out with a grimace. “I cut myself by accident. I managed to focus some energy to keep it from bleeding too heavily but I have to admit that I don’t have the same schooling as you all do. It isn’t completely….”

Frowning, Wei Wuxian quickly got to his feet, taking the proffered arm in his hands with a sympathetic hiss between his teeth as he studied the wound. It was indeed not very deep, an irregular crescent on the side of his wrist, but his sleeve cuff had bloody blotches on it and the skin around it was stained with more blood than just this would have produced. “Yowch. Jin-xiong, we should get this cleaned. I can wake the doctor--or where’s shijie--”

“Actually, I was hoping that you could help me, Wuxian.”

It was Wei Wuxian’s turn to grimace. “I don’t know all that much about medicine, I wouldn’t leave this to me.”

Jin Guangyao’s smile managed to be at once anxious and reassuring as he looked away from his injury, finally, and up into his face. “I would think all you needed to do was channel some spiritual energy into it, right?”

The bottom dropped out of Wei Wuxian’s stomach, but he managed to hide the sudden queasiness behind a throwaway smile. “Ah, I’ve never been very good at that--Lan Zhan is much better. If only he were here, eh? Listen, I’ll go get--”

Jin Guangyao’s face fell into a gentle pleading. “Please, it’s so embarrassing; I don’t want anyone knowing I can’t handle a knife properly. We can handle this here, can’t we?”

“Look--”

Jin Guangyao sucked in a quick, protesting breath, but only gazed at him imploringly, eyes round and mouth twisted in discomfort. Wei Wuxian groaned and spun on his heel, dropping back to the dock with a thump beside his jug. “Ah, so particular. If you're so picky, you must not really be so close to dying, huh?” His insides writhed like snakes, his skin alive like a storm on the horizon. He wanted to leave. He wanted to dive into the water and let the silk of it swipe away all the restlessness. Stop forcing it, Guangyao….

For a moment, there was silence above him, then the soft rustle of clothing. Then, Jin Guangyao spoke in a voice very unlike the one he had just used, even and conversational and light. “I have not been able to verify any reports that say Baoshan Sanren's mountain is in Yiling. It's miraculous that you were able to recall so faithfully something from so young an age.”

At this, a surge of cold flooded Wei Wuxian, quickening his heart, tightening his chest and his fingers on the neck of the liquor jug as he looked up at him sharply. “Jin-xiong.”

Jin Guangyao looked down at him with a mild smile. Except Wei Wuxian hadn't had anything to say--he had just wanted him to stop. This wide eyed man was slyer than he had ever given him credit for, damn him. Did he…? Was he…? Fuck. Fuck.

“There has also never been a report of someone recovering after being tortured by Core Melting Hand,” he continued in that same friendly, casual tone and the liquor soaked stone that was Wei Wuxian’s stomach officially plummeted with a sick swoop. 

Fuck.

“...Have you told Jiang Cheng?”

“About?”

Wei Wuxian curled a half-scowl and clicked his tongue against his teeth. He was unable to look him in the eye, though he kept him in the corner of his gaze. “You know what.”

“I haven't anything to tell. I'm only mentioning a few interesting details from my studies.”

“Is that so,” Wei Wuxian said, sullenly, flopping back onto his elbows, jaw cocked mulishly even as his fingers flexed and tapped the rough wood beneath him. “So why were you studying it, then?”

Jin Guangyao sighed breezily, rolling his neck once as if to loosen it. “Because you are troubled. Because A-Li worries. Because I have an eye for patterns. Because we are family.” He let that rest a moment before looking down at him once more, eyebrows slightly raised, mouth in the barest of smiles. “Are we not?” 

“We are,” he grunted reluctantly. “Though now I regret letting someone so nosy under my roof.”

Jin Guangyao hummed a single, polite laugh in acknowledgement of the non-truth of the statement and allowed the silence to lie a few moments more. And while Wei Wuxian might be a habitual chatterbox, he surely wasn't going to help the conversation he desperately didn't want to have. “I’ve considered it, you know,” Jin Guangyao continued, suddenly, turning back to look out across the lake. “Telling someone. A-Li, Jiang Wanyin. But I thought it best to not...surprise you. Given the state of things.”

Wei Wuxian found his fingers wrapped around Chenqing stuck through his belt, the edge digging into his palm like the slow bite of an implacable serpent as his racing heart sped dangerously. That seeping ache spreading….“Meaning?”

“Wei Wuxian,” his tone was gentle reproval. “You cannot tell me you don't see how A-Li is affected by all this.” 

With an effort, he peeled his hand away from the flute, batting down the prickling, caged anger. Cornered. Trapped. He heaved a sigh and sprawled further on the deck, propping his head up on his hand, squirming as if to get comfortable--more to allow the restless energy some outlet and trying to convince this man that this was simply...what? A misunderstanding? Not that big of a deal? Jin Guangyao was proving even now, in front of his eyes, that he was not in any way stupid. “I suppose I should be grateful that she has a husband who dotes on her so,” Wei Wuxian grumbled. “But does it have to be at my expense?”

“I don't know,” he countered lightly. “Does it?”

Wei Wuxian scoffed in exaggerated, dismissive disgust, but said nothing, his stomach roiling. As the silence lengthened, the restlessness grew, the nervous energy was crawling through his limbs like bugs. Why now? This was supposed to have lasted for years. No one else had looked that closely. No one else considered that there might be a reason beyond his own arrogance, his own blind bullheadedness that would lead him to dance with corpses and amulets that tore him up inside. Why did he need to look closer? 

Of all the people to see him, why did it have to be him, why couldn’t it have been--? 

He snapped off that line of thinking and leaned over, aggressively swishing his hand through the water, splashing it onto lily pads, up the struts of the dock, soaking his bracers. It was still warm from the heat of the day. “And so what are you going to do, then, Jin Guangyao? Because this feels an awful lot like a threat,” he demanded, all at once flipping over and sitting up with a scowl, staring at his calm face. “I don't appreciate being manipulated. Bad things tend to happen.”

“This also feels an awful lot like a threat.” When Jin Guangyao smiled back down at him, nothing noticeable in his face had changed and by all rights should still be classified as pleasant, dimples and all. But there was something--maybe the eyes--that all at once had a weight that was not there a moment ago. And maybe a warning. “Are we threatening each other? I wasn't under the impression that's what we were doing.” 

For a moment, Wei Wuxian’s hackles fully rose, that restless darkness housed in his chest eagerly shifting to press against the back of his gaze. No one can make you do what you don't wish to, anymore. There is no one who can force you ever again. There is nothing you cannot do. 

As if in response to these private thoughts, Jin Guangyao tilted his head, just so, smile still perfectly affixed, growing no wider and no sharper but now ever so slightly wrong for the length it sustained its unwavering stretch. For the briefest moment, Wei Wuxian’s fingers flexed.

But no. No.

He let out his breath, shoved that darkness back and away, roughly. This wasn't the Burial Mounds where the heat of that rage kept him alive. This wasn't the Sunshot Campaign where such darkness could be harnessed to help. This was wounding. This was danger. 

Those things didn't belong in Lotus Pier. 

Anger always felt better than fear, but that didn't mean that he had to choose it. Nothing made him turn into a fox gnawing off it's own leg in a trap in a panic. Maybe this was a mercy killing. Maybe this was even...a rescue. He rubbed his face with his palms, letting the tension fully seep out of him until he let himself wilt to the side and sprawl across Jin Guangyao's feet. “Jie-fuuuu. Jin-xioooong, why do you torture me with this? Can't you just leave well enough alone?”

Jin Guangyao huffed out a quiet, amused breath above him and the tension bled out of the night, leaving it cool and sticky once more. Crouching down, the edges of his robe brushing over Wei Wuxian's prostrate form, Jin Guangyao laid a hand on his shoulder. "If it was well enough, don't you think I would?"

"Ugh. You’re terrible."

“Mm,” he merely agreed, indulgently.

Wei Wuxian scoffed and closed his eyes, breathing in the wet, green scent of the lake. He did not want to do this. Not tonight and not any night. “Do we have to do this now?”

Jin Guangyao sighed. “I'm telling you this so you have time to prepare and have some control. But I am not going to keep this from A-Li and she will not keep it from Jiang Wanyin.  I wanted to be…considerate.” The mildly thoughtful tone in his voice sort of seemed to imply that there were times he had not been considerate which Wei Wuxian found hard to picture. 

He had never seen Jin Guangyao anything but patient and elegant, courteous and nonthreatening. Though, he corrected, thinking of that tacit warning he had just seen in his gaze, maybe that was not entirely true. Maybe this was something he could watch for. If not directed at him and his own, it might even be fun, this unassuming man that had the presence of someone you could fit into your pocket with ease. Perhaps he was a bit sharper than he seemed, in all respects. “I’m drunk. I don’t want to do it now.”

“You’re not drunk,” Jin Guangyao said, easily, a smile in his voice. “It would take something much stronger to get you drunk. Right now, you are numbing. That is well enough. For now. If not tonight, when?”

“I don’t know, I don’t plan things!”

“Perhaps you should. I think you would find the alternative quite unpleasant.” His tone was nothing but knowing sympathy, but the words were quite firm in their message. 

“Fuck. Fuck fuck fuckity fuck.”

“Mm. If you say so.”

Wei Wuxian opened his eyes to glare up at him, his pale face sideways and framed by the stars winking on overhead. His expression was understanding and benevolent and there was no more hint of darkness in his eyes, this man who was outmaneuvering him with annoying deftness. “Don’t be funny. I’m suffering.”

His polite smile grew real and crinkled his eyes at the corners. “I wouldn’t dare.”

Wei Wuxian heaved a huge sigh, and then again for good measure. “I hate this,” he said, voice smaller than he had intended, staring up past his brother-in-law’s face into the vast darkness of the sky. “I hate this.” The anger and restlessness was gone, leaving his throat to swell and his eyes to prickle with helplessness and the brutal fucking unfairness of it all. 

Jin Guangyao was silent for a while, eyes hooded and face still, before he fully settled himself on the dock arranging his dark purple robes just so around him, allowing his feet to still be Wei Wuxian’s cushion. “I would imagine so.” 

The frogs shrilled their chorus around them as Wei Wuxian sniffed and swiped at the few tears that escaped his eyes, making a run down his cheeks for his ears as he lay, absorbing the thick night air. Jin Guangyao sat beside him, quietly, hands folded in his lap. 

“Jiang Cheng is going to hate me,” Wei Wuxian said, finally, voice rough.

Jin Guangyao shook his head, slowly. “Be incensed; yes. Hurt; yes. Feel inadequate and insecure and violated; yes. But Jiang Wanyin does not hate you. Could not, for this. A-Li and I...we will help.”

“I don’t know what the hell to say.”

“I find, if you forgive my immodesty, that I can be very good with words.”

“...I think I’d like that.”

Jin Guangyao smiled. “Whatever you need, Wei Wuxian.”

After a few minutes of frog and cicada and cricket thick silence, Wei Wuxian all of a sudden looked back up at him. “Did you really slice your damn arm open just to prove a point?”

This seemed to startle a laugh out of him and he shook his sleeve back and glanced down at the wound with mild consideration, turning it this way and that. “To confirm a theory, but I suppose the spirit is the same.”

“You aren’t really bad with knives, are you?”

His eyes still on his arm, that smile grew just a bit more sharp and just a bit more knowing. “No. I’m not.”

#Me @ me always: you can have a little dark!JGY with your soft!JGY. As a treat. #my fic #wwx #jgy #my stuff #yaoli #text #ask #Hope you enjoy! #It's so much fun writing characters that look at JGY and think 'oh. tiny. how cute and polite' #while inside JGY is just like 'i am not to be fucked with :3 ' #sparklespiff #peony to lotus #Also 🐝 anon I think your pier/dock setting was lurking in my brain for this so THANK YOU FOR YOUR FIC

[raffinit]

21. "Don’t worry, I would never touch you.” with fucking tasty Sylvaina

I see you have chosen...useless lesbians

The rules and dynamics that governed their marriage were clear ones. Perhaps it would have been something more than just a necessary evil in another life. More than a compromise between their factions for the sake of peace. Perhaps they wouldn’t have needed a peace treaty at all. 

But like many things, Sylvanas saw no use in dwelling.

Of all the things she had expected out of the marriage, she certainly didn’t expect kindness.

Despite the expected bullheadedness and self-righteous indignation at times, Jaina was friendlier than she could have ever imagined. Wry and quick-witted with a quiet sort of bookishness in the late evenings.

Proudmoore was a tolerable spouse for what she was. Outside of her incessant need for books stacked high on every surface she saw, the multitudes of coffee cups scattered around her study, and the infuriating habit of walking around in little more than her slip — the Lord Admiral was not the most terrible choice of a wife.

If only she’d wear more clothes around Sylvanas.

Though they kept separate studies on opposite ends of the Keep, their private apartments were a shared one. It meant little to Sylvanas at first. Though they shared a bed, they did not touch — only sat some nights, each on their own end. Jaina with a brush in hand to tame the wildness of her mane and she with pen and parchment in hand. They talked of things beyond war room conversations; idle and stilted at first, with gradual ease the more time passed.

She needed no sleep; wanted no proximity between them in the first few months and years of their marriage. Jaina settled comfortably into the space in the meantime but she cared little. Humans had needs. Living beings had needs.

She did not.

Within their apartments, there was a larger, airier room meant for an adjoining living space. They furnished it as something close enough to a shared study and private library; broad desks and tall shelves pressed against the walls and plush chaises in front of the fireplace. It was where Jaina spent most of her time, and before long — inescapably, it seemed — so did Sylvanas.

What galled her the most about having a wife was the general state of undress Jaina seemed to enjoy parading around in front of her in. It didn’t seem malicious; not really. The Lord Admiral, when in the privacy and comfort of their chambers, was almost absent-minded. There were days she would walk into the living room and find Jaina sprawled out on the chaise, bare of her skirts and coat and boots. Unravelled down to her slip or nightgown made of linen that was far too sheer.

“I wonder sometimes if we shouldn’t hang a sock on the door,” she drawled.

Jaina looked up over the top of her book, leant back comfortably against one of the overstuffed pillows of the chaise. Her hair spread out over the pillow in a blanket of white and gold, unbound from its usual braid; a look Sylvanas was quickly becoming accustomed to seeing her with. “I’m allowed to dress how I like in the privacy of my own chambers.”

“Our chambers,” Sylvanas corrected her stiffly. “I imagined you being a little more...conservative with your attire. Especially around me. Whatever will Greymane say?”

Rolling her eyes, Jaina replied dryly, “I didn’t think you cared so much about his opinions of you, Warchief.”

Sylvanas scowled. “I care that your familiarity with me is unbecoming of a woman of your station.”

“We’re both women,” Jaina replied patiently. The patience annoyed her. “But if it makes you so uncomfortable, I’ll put on a robe.”

The thought of Jaina changing to accommodate her sensitivities made Sylvanas’ irritation flare all the more. Her desire for Jaina to be appropriately dressed was now at war with the loathsome thought of being coddled.

“I’m not uncomfortable,” she said, with an unfortunate undertone of petulance. “Wear what you like. Prance about naked for all I care.” 

Jaina dropped her book flat against her chest as she sat up to regard Sylvanas curiously. “I never thought you'd be so shy, Warchief.”

Shyness had very little to do with it, but the tone of her wife’s words was enough to rankle her nerves and boil her temper. “I’m not shy —”

Jaina let out something like an incredulous, if confused laugh. “Then what is it?” she asked. “If you’re upset about something, I’d much rather you tell me instead of having to walk on eggshells around one another all the time. Was it a bad day?”

“Don’t make this about me,” Sylvanas replied indignantly. “This is about you.”

“What about me?”

“You’re practically naked.” Sylvanas wrinkled her nose mildly and gazed at Jaina over it. “The eggshells can stop after you stop prancing around in your linens. I can see parts of you I rightly shouldn’t.”

“My ankles??” Jaina made a show of looking down at herself dramatically. “How dare I expose myself so.” She gave Sylvanas a droll look. “Here I thought elves were a lot more liberal. You do seem to enjoy running around half-naked on the battlefield.”

“That’s entirely different,” she said.

“How??”

“It’s not a question of virtue out in public.”

“I didn’t think I’d have to be worried for my virtue when I decided to dress comfortably in front of my wife,” Jaina retorted snidely. “Does it really bother you so badly to just...tolerate me? Sit by me? Touch me?”

Sylvanas glared frigidly, her tone like shards of ice. “Don't worry. I would never touch you.”

There was a flickering look on Jaina’s face then; hurt that morphed into something like surprise, realisation, then a very shuttered look of self-consciousness. “Oh,” she said quietly, pulling the garment about herself, as if to shield from Sylvanas’ sight. “I’m sorry. I didn’t realise —”

A strange, coiling tension festered in her gut. “Proudmoore, wait —” She stepped forward, then caught herself, rocking back onto her heels as whatever it was that burned in her chest rose further into her throat.

“You should’ve said something sooner,” Jaina said coolly. “I wouldn’t have made you suffer through looking at me for so long.”

“I didn’t mean it like that,” she said, and there was a strange, pleading sort of edge she couldn’t understand. “I spoke without thinking. You’re —” she floundered for a moment. “You’re —”

Jaina rose from the chaise, snatching up her coat and pulling it about her shoulders.

“You’re very beautiful,” Sylvanas blurted.

Jaina froze in place, staring at her dumbly.

Sylvanas found herself equally stunned in place. “I — I just mean —” She clenched her hands into fists and gritted her teeth. “You know what I mean.”

“I really don’t,” Jaina murmured, turning slowly to peer at her. “Sylvanas...do I make you uncomfortable because of how I dress...or do I make you uncomfortable?”

“I’m not uncomfortable,” she insisted.

“That’s not an answer.” Jaina gave her a considering look, hedging carefully. “It’s not...wrong...if we were to be more friendly with each other. We’re married. We can touch each other without being disgusted with one another. Even if it’s just to hug.”

“...I am the Banshee Queen. I do not hug.”

“A pity.” The smile she gave Sylvanas was an indecipherable one, but the bright spark of coyness and challenge in her eyes were clear enough. “I suppose there are other touches we can explore.”

#word vomit #ask #sylvaina #drabble #zellkabellk #what does jaina mean??? #we'll never know #all of these prompts are just becoming little previews of maybe future fics #this is a story of two idiots wives who don't know how to talk about their feelings #sylvanas is top level tsundere

[judecopeart]

MIXTALE, the Undertale AU where everything is, well, mixed up ! Info under the cut because it’s long

     Ark, the great -nibling of Era, who fell down the hole in Mt. Ebott 50 years ago, follows in their grankle’s footsteps (quite literally) and takes a tumble of their own. There, they meet Undyne, a former soldier who has retired to a quiet life in the ruins, under the orders to bring any fallen humans to the capitol. But over the week or so that Ark stays with her, she can’t bring herself to send them off to have their soul reaped, and instead hands them a small spear and offers a small protection charm. With those in hand, Ark is told to find a way home, by any means necessary.      They travel to Snowdin, meeting a pair of ghosts along the snowy paths - an excited pink one named Mettablook (though he insists on just being called Mett), and a chill blue one named Napstablook. Mett is a human fanatic, and continuously tries to get Ark to tell him about human culture while they travel towards town. If he’s not talking about the stuff he finds at the dump, he’s going on and on about his favorite tv personality. Napstablook manages to tell Ark that they make lofi hip hop remixes in their spare time.      Once they get to town, they bump into Asgore, a friendly, kind shopkeeper, with a gaggle of kids behind him. The shopkeep and human head towards Muffet’s Bar and Grill, and Asgore tells Ark about monster history, and how they’ll have to have a monster’s soul by the end of their journey if they want to get past the barrier. Ark is adamant they’ll be fine, and they’ll find another way through.      After leaving Snowdin with Mett in tow, Ark gets their first encounter with Grillby in Waterfall - Grillby’s a hardened soldier with a bullheadedness and a DETERMINATION to stop the human. During a chase, a young goat child named Asriel distracts Grillby long enough for Ark and Mett to hide out on a snail farm, where they meet the owner, Toriel. She takes in the two for the night, and they have a big dinner with Tori, her son, and her wife, Muffet.      Moving through Waterfall, the duo narrowly misses more attacks from Grillby, and only manage to escape when his enchanted armor’s power starts to dwindle from having no cool down time, causing him to become more vulnerable to the moisture in the air. Ark and Mett, in an act of compassion, drag him through to Hotland where he can dry back out and let his armor’s magic recharge.      Now in Hotland, the pair enter a science lab, and get immediately accosted by a tall, boisterous....skeleton ? by the name of Gaster. They’re not all there, and they’re a little drippy, but they’ve heard all kinds of things about the human and they’re begging for the chance to study a human SOUL. Before they get the chance to start inspecting, a shorter skeleton named Sans pushes them out of the way and insists that the human meets his brother Papyrus and do a segment on his talk show to clear up some rumors.      Ark and Mett are confused, but don’t have much time to ask questions as Papyrus himself appears and drags them to another room that’s set up with a desk and some armchairs. Once cameras start to roll, it’s revealed to Ark that many of the monsters they’ve met have been mistaking them for a human from 20 years ago - one named Era. All kinds of crazy theories that Ark was Era’s spirit come to avenge the monsters or whatever have been all over the monster internet, and Papyrus wants them to be able to clear things up.      A picture of Era flashes on a screen behind them, and Ark recognizes them - it’s their great-Ankle who went missing when their grampy was still young. The monsters at home are shocked ! What are the odds 2 humans from the same family would fall down here ? It’s then that the story of the dearly missed Prince Monster Kid and the fallen human Era are told. Much like in canon, Era was taken in by the royal family, this time consisting of Alphys, her cousin Monster Kid, and her right hand guard Undyne. After Era fell gravely ill with a sickness their body couldn’t fight, Monster Kid and Era fused their souls and emerged into the above ground in order to look for a cure, or at least take Era back to their home town to see their loved ones one last time.      Unfortunately, the humans there thought Monster Kid had attacked Era and hurt them, and began to attack Monster Kid in turn. Injured fatally, Monster Kid picked up their siblings body and returned home, barely making it back to Alphys before they turned to dust. Alphys, with both the kids she loved now dead, woefully vowed to avenge their deaths and free monsters from the underground and the plight of humanity. She sent Undyne to the ruins to watch and wait, and so over the decades they have reaped 5 human SOULS.      Determined to make amends to Alphys, the whole of monster kind, and their own family’s lost history, Ark heads towards the castle with Mett, and now Papyrus. Along the way, the other monsters they meet offer help, charms, spells, and anything they can give, heartbroken to know that neither of Era’s families had gotten closure until now about their disappearance.      At the castle, the trio encounters Alphys, sitting and weeping in a flower bed of golden petals. She spoke lowly to someone they couldn’t see, and when she turned to greet them, there was nobody there. She wiped her eyes and gently hugged Ark, voice hoarse as she apologized, but she had a duty to her people.      They enter the next room, and it’s revealed... that Alphys won’t be the one being fought. It’ll, instead, be a teched out Flowey, the lost soul of Monster Kid, who’s powered by the other human souls. Once they claim Ark’s, they plan to blast the barrier to bits and lead the charge against the humans that caused so much damage.      During the fight, Ark keeps getting flashes of the past from the dead human’s memories - a ballet dance here, a cooking lesson there - and finally, memory upon memory that could only belong to the family member they never knew. They appealed to the child inside Flowey, the one who just missed their sibling and wished things could have changed. Ark’s soul glows bright, resonating with the ones surrounding Flowey... and when the flash clears, Monster Kid is standing there, instead. They’re sniffling, ashamed and depressed, and with the last of their power they decimate the barrier.      It won’t be long until they become a flower again, and they’re enveloped in a hug by Ark, Alphys and Papyrus joining not long after. As the Monster Kid leaves, other monsters swarm the entrance to the room, eager to step out into sunlight for the first time in centuries.      Alphys stays behind, hoping to help Monster Kid, and a few others stay to assist, but mostly monsters run out with glee. The main group linger, not wanting to leave their newfound friends behind until they were all ready to go. Ark heads in the direction Monster Kid went, and when they catch up, they promise that Monster Kid will never be alone and sad ever again. The human stays until Monster Kid becomes Flowey once again, before gently digging them up and carrying them all the way back to the castle, and soon, out to the above ground.

#this is so fucking long #judecopeart #undertale #undertale au #Mixtale #Ark #Era #Sans #Papyrus #Gaster #Undyne #Mettaton #Napstablook #Muffet #Asgore #Grillby #Asriel #Toriel #Monster Kid #alphys #flowey #digital art #artists on tumblr #character design

[k-a-r-i-a]

So, I have this Loki fanfic idea I haven’t gotten to writing yet. Basically:

At 1052 years old, Loki dies at the hands of Thanos. 

At 0, he wakes up in a frosted temple.

Loki is revived- given a new chance at life. This time, he decides to leave. He’d tried helping Thor before, and it hadn’t worked; Odin had been there to stop him at every turn. He learn his magic, trains hard, then travels to a distant planet where no one can find him. Without his help, Thor grows even more unruly and arrogant. Odin (though a good king) becomes paranoid with age and restarts the war with Jotunheim. When Thanos arrives, the planet is in shambles. 

He attacks Loki’s planet shortly after, and Loki is crushed in the chaos. At age 1052, he dies again.

The next time Loki wakes up, he decides to stay. This time, he isn’t going to let Thanos kill him. He trains for years, forms secret alliances with outer species. This time, he takes the battle to Thanos before he has any powerful stones. He is strong, he has an army, but his raw power is no match for Thanos’ experience. He manages to take a good chunk out of Thanos’ entire before he is apprehended. Thanos keeps him for a hundred years. He dies at the age of 1052.

This time when he wakes up, he takes more time planning it. It takes patience and effort, but he manages to temper down Thor’s arrogance. He’s spent thousands of years studying Odin now, he understands how his mind works. getting past his bullheadedness is a challenge, but he had thousands of years and little to do. A truce is formed with neighbouring planets, and it is like this they discover Thanos’ existence. He tells them of the stones on earth, and they are quickly recovered- along with the earth’s avengers. This time, they are ready for Thanos. at 1046 years of age, he leads a rebellion against his armies. 

This time they win. At age 1052, he rejoices their triumph against Thanos. They are still in the battlefield and Thor chaps him on the back in celebration. he falls, and lands atop a fallen sword. At age 1052, he dies again.

Loki wakes up in the frozen desolate land of Jotunheim in the body of an infant, and he screams.

He tries again, and again, and again, and again, and again. No matter what he does, what path he takes, he always dies on that same day at 1052 years old. 

He isn’t escape.

#loki #loki is a mess #loki needs a hug #a lot of hugs #loki is amazing #my favourite character #I love tormenting my favourites #loki angst #fanfic idea

[quoteablebooks]

Genre: Science-Fiction, Fantasy, Paranormal, Romance

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars Summary: Alexia Tarabotti is laboring under a great many social tribulations.

First, she has no soul. Second, she’s a spinster whose father is both Italian and dead. Third, she was rudely attacked by a vampire, breaking all standards of social etiquette

Where to go from there? From bad to worse apparently, for Alexia accidentally kills the vampire–and then the appalling Lord Maccon (loud, messy, gorgeous, and werewolf) is sent by Queen Victoria to investigate.

With unexpected vampires appearing and expected vampires disappearing, everyone seems to believe Alexia responsible. Can she figure out what is actually happening to London’s high society? Will her soulless ability to negate supernatural powers prove useful or just plain embarrassing? Finally, who is the real enemy, and do they have treacle tart?

*Opinions*

Soulless is the first novel in the parasol protectorate series that follows Alexia Tarabotti through London’s society as one of the few preternatural’s in the world and the only known of in England. As the condition of preternatural is rare, it is only known to the supernatural set, especially Lord Conall Maccon who is the Chief Minister in Charge of Supernatural-Natural Liaison for the Greater London Area for the Bureau of Unnatural Registration as she continues to aggravate him at every turn. However, when newly made vampires start appearing in London with no Hive association and Alexia seems to be of interest to unknown individuals and waxlike figures, she must work with Lord Maccoon if she is going to be able to continue her peaceful life as a spinster, though that might not be in the cards even if she does survive.

**Spoilers Ahead**

Now, this is my second read-through of this novel and I have to say that I remembered it much differently than what was on the actual page. That isn’t to say that I didn’t enjoy the novel, I enjoyed it a lot, but I forgot that the romance was so central to the plot of what was happening with the newly made vampires and missing supernaturals throughout England. Luckily, I enjoy romance and the relationship between Alexia and Lord Maccon is one of my favorite types of dynamics, but I was also so fascinated by the world that Carriger created that I also wanted to know more about how it all worked. Carriger did a good job at explaining what the reader needed to know, especially if they hadn’t read the Finishing School series, but I’m just one of those people who are extremely fascinated by world-building and the rules of everything in an Urban Fantasy setting.

As romance is one of the central features, we should focus on that first. One of my favorite dynamics is equally matched partners in intelligence, wit, and bullheadedness, which is what we have in Alexia and Lord Maccon. They remind me of another one of my favorite romantic pairings, Amelia and Emerson in the Amelia Peabody Series. While it was a little annoying as a reader to have Alexia continually doubt the Lord’s intentions and affections, that’s because we also get parts of the story from the werewolf’s point of view and therefore aware that he is being genuine. Alexia has been put down all her life for her looks, half Italian lineage, and intelligence and interest in science so for a peer of the realm, who sees herself as only an annoyance to Lord Maccon, so it isn’t too out of the realm that she would deny the Lord’s advances. Speaking of Alexia’s family, I really wanted someone to slap her mother after she attempted to do the same to Alexia on two separate occasions. However, as the reader, when they are in a cell together close to death and the Lord says he wants to marry her, you’d think she wouldn’t need it spelled out for her. Then again, what woman doesn’t want to hear the person that they love to say that they love them out loud?

The plot of the story, the appearance of rove vampires that are not part of a Hive, and the disappearance of all the other roves and lone werewolves in England is an interesting one. How the supernaturals have set up a kind of checks and balance system both within society and the government is a good bit of world-building and then throwing someone as rare as Alexia into the mix sets up an interesting dynamic that I’m excited to see play out. I am terribly interested in the scientific studies that the Hypocras Club, as completely barbaric as they are, and how the mortals are turning toward science to attempt to take some of the control away from the supernaturals. Humans have always feared what they didn’t understand and when what you don’t understand is immortals who could kill indiscriminately if they chose, the desire of a set of the general public to have a weapon against them is understandable if misguided. If there is one thing that humans are good at, it’s trying to kill what scares us and what we don’t understand, supernatural, mortal, flora, and/or fauna. Carriger really doesn’t bring up how religion plays into all this, which is fine, but as that is usually what stands against the supernatural and the Templars are mentioned, I wonder if they will play a part in future novels.

There are also times of real fear and suspense in the story, especially in regards to the waxed-faced man, who turns out to be an automaton. The scene that we see from Alexia’s bedroom window and then the battle in the Hyprcras Club between the creature and Lord Maccon in the laboratory. While the final solution to this problem was slightly anti-climatic in my opinion, there had already been so much excitement it didn’t ruin the pacing or story. As someone who has read the Finishing Series novels, I’m aware of why there aren’t mechanical creatures all over London high society as well as what the octopus means that are seen all over the Hypocras Club and I wonder how that is going to continue to be an issue throughout the series.

I really do enjoy this novel, it’s a fast-paced and entertaining read with witty writing. Alexia is an interesting character, she and Lord Maccon are a fun couple, and the mystery is compelling. If you are not a romance reader, you may approach this novel with a little hesitation, but I think that the story is enough to sway even those who are not interested in romance-heavy novels. I’m excited to see where Alexia’s new job and new social status take her in the next novel.

#soulless #A Parasol Protectorate Novel #Gail Carriger #5 out of 5 stars #reread #book review #booklr

[athanatosora]

for your consideration (or not lol): mob and deku being besties.

i’ve been thinking abt this for a while and this is what i’ve come up with:

izuku gets good grades and helps mob in his studies!

izuku also introduces mob to comics/shows he likes. mob, being a good friend, might not be as into them as izuku is but he supports his interests

mob himself doesn’t exactly have diehard interests like izuku, so when he gets into the body improvement club, izuku supports him whole heartedly

mob is definitely the more philosophical of the two. izuku’s academic intelligence and bullheadedness in contrast to mob’s more levelheaded intuition

mob isn’t comfortable w his powers?? izuku is really curious abt them and wants to figure out How They Work but he also knows his friend is uncomfortable, and that takes precedence over his curiosity

rather than talking about said powers, they talk about the things that happen in their lives. simple things, favorite foods, aspirations, admired idols. mob thinks all might is cool, the number one hero who uses his power to protect.

mob doesn’t really know how to deal with bullying. he didn’t experience it himself (pre-mogami) but he provides support, being There, being willing to listen when izuku needs it. they both know what it’s like being the odd man out, and mob is also working towards a goal that seems far off.

mob wants to be (physically) stronger, and izuku wants to be a hero. neither of them give up. having someone who understands and supports completely… helps

mob sees izuku, so enamored by the smiling hero, determined to help - to be a hero - and he thinks. maybe his powers aren’t something bad to be repressed, ignored, maybe it’s ok to accept it as something part of him. (they’re his powers, an extension of kageyama shigeo, and he decides he doesn’t want to live in fear of himself anymore. and maybe, they can become something more than a reminder of a mistake and his brother’s fear.)

izuku sees mob, struggling with having a dangerous power in a society where it’s seemingly nonexistent. he realizes that it’s more than just refusing to give up on his dream, of wanting to be a hero despite what he doesn’t have - it’s also cherishing what he does have, whether it’s self-value or the relationships he’s let fall to the side. (it’s awkward at first, but he spends more time with his mother.)

(clarifications: mob in bnha world wouldn’t have the same hang ups as “an individual w a strange power” bc it’s common in bnha; izuku in mp100 world wouldn’t have his “quirkless” issue bc he’d be the majority.)

(so, it’s assumed they both grew up in canon scenarios and through some dimension crossing things, they met, i guess?)

izuku after getting ofa reminds mob of ritsu. they’re very different in personality but there are parallels in how they’ve both wanted power for most of their lives, and how reckless they are w it, in the beginning

izuku: (breaks his bones doing sth reckless) mob: “can u… please not do that.” izuku: “..i’ll try?”

they both end up in some pretty sketchy situations which makes them worry for each other

mob: “you were attacked by villains while at a UA facility that was supposed to be secure?? you’re being Targeted by an evil organization headed by an immortal??” izuku: “you dismantled a brainwashing cult founded by an evil spirit?? you fought a megalomaniac and his criminal organization bent on taking over the world??”

on that note they both have control issues albeit in different ways. izuku’s is like trying to wrestle eight firehoses at once w ur bare hands; mob’s is like trying to control a forest fire w only a bucket.

mob’s power can continue until there’s nothing left, and izuku is being pushed and broken in too many directions

(.wow did i rly start to prose abt a kid tryin to wrestle 8 firehoses. wow. wow this is my life now huh. moving on)

prob after separation arc in mp100 and kamino ward arc in bnha, mob tells him about reigen. how he’s someone he’s looked up to, who has lied and done bad things, but is still a good person in his opinion. it probably makes izuku think about bakugou; they’re all changing for the better, he thinks, and mob agrees

mob: “i think… we need adults to deal with this” izuku: “that will take too long, i can fight—“ mob: (holding him back) “please stop”

i’m just underlining it here but if u think izuku is the levelheaded methodical one of the two ur wrong

except in the case of ???%. ???% breaks out and izuku is Terrified, almost as much as he was when he’d first seen all for one at kamino, but ultimately… this is still his friend. a dangerous, scary part, but still part of his friend. he reminds mob that he’s his friend, he’s there for him

but also izuku yelling in his face: “if you (do reckless thing as ???%) i’m taking that as blanket permission to fight all for one with my bare hands!!”

…. also except in the case when mob is trying to defend the ppl he loves. izuku is protective too but it’s like a steady kind of protectiveness; mob goes from “um maybe we should call the police?” to (^^^95%) “you’re not allowed to even think abt hurting my friend? so why this??”

that being said izuku is still the first to materialize on-site w fists flying. or at least, w the intention to Take Down a threat - he sees someone being a villain-ly assclown and moves. (”i saw him being a jerk, blinked, and suddenly my foot was up his ass!”)

(izuku would NEVER say that but. That’s The Energy)

mob will first try talking; he’ll use his powers to keep them still but he won’t go further than that. he’d stay w them as they waited for the police to arrive and… while they’re waiting he’s subtly edging them in that mob-way, a mix of heavy unreadable stares and statements thrown out there that are actually rly earthshattering.

i just rly like how these two showcase two different types of intelligence. two v different kinds of mindsets as a whole rly. they both come from rly different societies too.

mob sees parallels between mogami and afo at first but then it’s like… why??? mogami had a progressing downfall but afo really saw ppl developing powers and went “this is bad. i will now steal quirks and rule the world w an iron fist.” mob figures he has his justifications but it’s almost baffling how blatantly villain-like he is, whether it’s first or second glance.

on this topic, the one thing they Can agree on wholeheartedly is “what is all for one’s deal why is he like that”

(i may be a bit biased; i like taking potshots at afo at any given opportunity, even ones where it doesn’t rly work)

i’ve been thinking abt this for a while bc it’s hard to reconcile the contrasting themes of each series… i think mob would like the Idea of a heroic society but when he sees how his friend is constantly in the middle of things he’s kinda conflicted abt it. especially bc izuku tends to dive in head first, regardless of the fact he Does plan it out and he Is good at thinking on his feet. the fact that he has to be quick to adapt (at the risk of his and his friends’ lives) at all is… uncomfy.

when mob sees something wrong he points it out, and though izuku might want to defend it at first, he also sees that this system isn’t exactly perfect. (stain might also see issues in that world but he thinks killing/permanently injuring is the solution so that’s a Hard No from the both of them!)

overall the main thing is how theyre foils to each other?? and they both try to support the other however they can.

#longpost #Ask #Anonymous #whoops this got Really Fuckin Long #boku no hero academia #mob psycho 100