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#as for the chameleon I was kinda right about her when I said it seemed like she had a lot of potential but wasn’t explorer enough
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Watched kfp 4 and it’s definitely the weakest of the kfp movies but I still liked it.
#I’m a very visual person so even though the writing in many ways was Not The Best the visual storytelling like the first 3 movies …#…was on point#as for the negatives I mostly agree with the overall consensus#but there are a lot of things about it that were really good#and I think that outweighs the bad by quite a bit#as for the chameleon I was kinda right about her when I said it seemed like she had a lot of potential but wasn’t explorer enough#*explored#but yeah like I said before I even watched it everything about her visually was incredible#in any other animated movie I think she would be a great villain#but in this franchise she doesn’t live up to the standard#there were interesting paralels between her story and pos journey in the movie but it’s never expanded on#I think there was a big missed opportunity with her whole rules of the streets thing to explore her backstory and worldview#but it wasn’t taken#and I think with the whole villains from the previous movies returning thing they sort of set themselves up for disappointment#bc they used tagt to market the movie so heavily#fortunately I had already gone in accepting that they wouldn’t actually play an active role in the story#so I enjoyed their appearances for what they were#same with the furious 5#still unhappy with the decision to take the story in a direction that didn’t include them but I had accepted that they wouldn’t be in it…#…and I had come to peace with that#and I liked Zhens arc#it was extremely predictable but so are these movies in general#I don’t watch these movies to be surprised I watch them to see the characters grow#but I like that she was inspired by Pos kindness#no one had ever really shown her true kindness before#and I thought the significance of that was conveyed well#anyways I have a lot of thoughts on the movie but basically it was very imperfect but I think we got a lot of good stuff out of it
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zukadiary · 6 months
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Oshidori Utagassen / GRAND MIRAGE! ~ Flower 2023
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Ft. one of my ticket cases :D
If seeing Tsukigumi was like stepping through a portal, seeing Hanagumi was like seeing Takarazuka for the first time. My last live Hanagumi was (checks notes) uhhh... Casanova. And with the exception of a Nice Work stream that I half paid attention to, Casanova is kinda also the last Hanagumi I saw, period. Oshidori had exactly one person in common with the visible cast of Casanova, and it was Rei. So here's my unbelievably fresh eyes take!
OSHIDORI SPOILERS:
No one is evil and no one dies!! 😭 This is a rakugo-inspired comedy based on an old movie that is readily available with English subs on YouTube, and I'd recommend watching it!
Oharu (Hoshikaze Madoka) is the daughter of Shimura Kyousai (Kazumi Shou), a rōnin turned umbrella maker. She is in love with another rōnin, Asai Reisaburou (Yuzuka Rei), who lives next door and teaches sword work to the local children, but he is being pursued by two of the town beauties, Otomi (Hoshizora Misaki) and Fujio (Mihane Ai). To make things even more difficult for Oharu, her father is obsessed with antiques, buying them even though he has little money and even when most of them eventually turn out to be fakes. A mistake puts him deeply in debt to the local lord, Minezawa Tanba-no-kami (Towaki Sea), and he is confronted with having to sell Oharu in order to pay it off. It turns out that Reisaburou, who prefers Oharu to the other two, is in possession of an extremely valuable antique; he was found with it in his basket when he was abandoned as an infant, and this means he's also the long lost oldest son of the Minezawa noble family. Everyone lives happily ever after!
Koyanagi-sensei is really the holy grail of Takarazuka in-house directors right now, in my humble opinion. This was such a good choice of adaptation, and her nihonmono comedy are always so fun and accessible. I was, frankly, jealous watching this; since I'm currently the least familiar with Hanagumi, I coveted it for my faves. But poor Rei has had quite a marred top star run (mostly due to COVID), and I'm glad she got a nearly complete run of such a fun show.
That said, Asai was unfortunately the least exciting character. This is definitely personal preference, but I don't really get fired up by the cool, quiet, aloof, handsome type in a lighthearted show, unless he's also the butt of jokes a la Daimon in Bakumatsu Taiyouden. I find Rei the most appealing in dynamic, dance-heavy performances, and Asai as a character was just too one-note for me.
OHARU, on the other hand...
Madoka will retire from Takarazuka, probably into a prolific stage career (if she wants it), and be remembered for/cast based on her high profile roles like Tess Ocean, Anastasia, and Elisabeth (shinko but still). If I were queen of the world I'd insist she be remembered for Oharu. Sometimes you watch so much Takarazuka you get the performance equivalent of nose blindness, and then out of nowhere, something like a Western guest director will jolt you awake and make you ask yourself, "What's different about this??" Madoka made an atypical acting choice! She did a weird voice! She was funny! She was adorable and charming! She stole the whole show, honestly.
Hitoko, my love. Last time I was in Japan, PRxPrince was in bow hall while On the 20th Century was in Shibuya, and I opted for OTTC, thus missing out on Hitoko entirely during that trip. That makes the last time I saw her live on stage friggin' Gaisenmon. That seems SO IMPROBABLE, but it's true. In that time, we went from MUCH too long-awaited first solo bow lead to ripe and ready for top stardom. Hitoko has a chameleon power that I think is pretty unique in Takarazuka; not only does she disappear into roles (positive), but also I truly think she could thrive in any troupe with little difficulty, and seem like she was there forever. As salty as I still am that she was stolen out from under me, she's the weft to Hanagumi's warp. Tanba-no-Kami was so fun and silly. I love finding out which new and different Hitoko I'm going to get each time, and I hope there are many many more variations to come (can't wait for Gekijou).
Other highlights:
VERY juicy (albeit old man) taidan role for Kazumi Shou. Dad is a big supporting character and she has a lot of stage time.
Shimon's presence is healing
Last time I saw Hanagumi, Mihane Ai was an unnamed ken-2 and Hoshizora Misaki was an unsorted rockette in Ocean's 11. It was funny to see the two apparent contenders for next top musumeyaku competing with the current top musumeyaku for the top star's heart. Since Hoshizora snagged the tour lead it sure seems like she's the front runner, but I have to say I personally preferred Mihane!
GRAND MIRAGE SPOILERS
The curtain went up on those pastel dresses and oversized bonnets and I just giggled to myself. It was Okada-sensei alright! Especially after the fresh delight that was Kaleidoscope, it was disappointing to go back to yet another pandemic-era revue that left me struggling to remember what any of the scenes were. It was classic, and if you're both into that style and a Hanagumi fan I'm sure there were memorable moments. To me it felt like Citrus Breeze if you sucked all the nostalgia out of it.
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chenfordsource · 1 year
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How do you feel about lucy doing undercover work? I'm kinda torn because she likes it and we've had some amazing chenford moments because of it but it definitely changes a person (and a relationship). If she would do this full-time, she would have a whole seperate life from tim, it would be so weird. Especially given his history
I've been so fascinated with Lucy's UC journey, and Tim's part in it (as well as how intentional the parts he hasn't been in are) so far so I'm actually very curious at the can of worms they opened back up in this episode!!
Especially at the implication that Lucy could potentially be off patrol right now but is choosing to be there instead of currently doing undercover work.
The idea that Lucy's dragging her feet getting back into it even a little because of how it would affect her relationship with Tim (she'd be undercover who knows how often, maybe working at a different station – which this episode touched on again as something both of them definitely don't want) is so interesting to me.
I don't think Tim necessarily has hang-ups about how UC ended for Isabel in relation to Lucy, but I do think the other things – working at different precincts, only barely being able to coordinate their schedules – are still such prevalent things for him. He'd never hold Lucy back (like she felt she did in 5x13, and he felt like he would've in 5x12), but him knowing how UC can affect a relationship is so rife with potential!!!
In terms of Lucy herself, I do love her UC. Although, separate from Tim, they've been hinting for a little while at her heart maybe not being in it? Like, maybe it's one of those things she's good at but doesn't necessarily love wholeheartedly. She felt really isolated in 3x14, apathetic about the UC training when she got back in 5x03, and then felt hesitant to get onboard with the op in 5x07. She seems to like the quick thinking involved, and the blending in portion of it, but the waiting and isolation seems to get to her.
I think, in 5x07 especially, seeing Lucy be more interested in what the gang task force was doing (and wasn't doing) was telling!! I think Lucy is such a chameleon, which obviously benefits her in UC, but also means she could go any route if she worked hard enough at it. It's just a matter of what she wants, at the end of the day.
My main thing is I'd never want Lucy to give up a career choice because of Tim, and I don't think he'd want that either. So if Lucy ultimately decides against UC I hope it's because of what I said above, that her heart – career wise – isn't in it and is somewhere else.
I think it's something they need to actually talk about. Tim didn't talk about taking court liaison until he did it, Lucy didn't tell him about organizing his position in Metro, and she's clearly dragging her feet about the will-I-won't-I decision for UC... So they've just got to talk it out before one of them tries to fix it behind the other's back to avoid resentment breeding. Either way, I hope whatever call she makes is for her, and isn't only for their relationship (though I do think that can be a factor!)
TL;DR I definitely think they could make UC work for their relationship, and I like it for Lucy, but I don't think she loves it. Is that just because of how she fears it'd affect her relationship with Tim, I don't know, but I'd like to see them explore that and figure it out!
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whoblewboobear · 2 years
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Okay so I haven’t been watching the season, just kinda getting info about what’s happening via the tag and one things always confused me. I thought Turner was problematic according to preseason tea? Whatever happened to that? Did it get proven false? Cause so many people ended up liking him on here and Twitter so I was always wondering if everything negative his sister said was just a lie.
A lot of people ended up just disregarding it bc his sister turned out to be a racist clout chaser (myself included.) But it flipped back to hating him when the Dyre Fest fiasco and Balloongate went down bc it seemed like his sister was right. Like the stuff about him being a manipulative snake started to make a lot more sense.
Personally I think Turner is shady and competitive on a game level and very petty in general. But I still like him as a person bc he hasn’t shown himself to be some racist monster like he was made out to be pre-season. I still don’t trust his sister as far as I can throw her and what ever animosity they have is their own business. It seems like family drama more than anything.
I still think it was foul as shit for him to be nasty towards Jasmine about her dad’s balloon. That’s what made me start to like him a lot less because holy shit it was so insensitive and just unnecessary to say in the first place. I think he says things without being empathetic at all. He’s very smart and calculated so I doubt it’s him just not picking up on social cues and shit; he just doesn’t care. He’s like a really fascinating person to watch bc he’s such a chameleon and that works as a both an advantage in the house but a disadvantage to viewers. That being said I think because he had experience with YouTube he knows what to say and what not to say so it could all be bullshit but keeping up that act 24/7 would be exhausting unless he’s just THAT good at manipulating people.
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womanexile · 1 year
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Just some thoughts...
Labyrinth "You know how much I hate that everybody just expects me to bounce back/Just like that" "You know how scared I am of elevators/Never trust it if it rises fast/It can't last" Ours "Elevator buttons and morning air/Strangers' silence makes me wanna take the stairs/If you were here we'd laugh about their vacant stares/But right now my time is theirs/Seems like there's always someone who disapproves/They'll judge it like they know about me and you" [Most likely she would rather rally platonic relationships around her vs. romantic right now- especially with the public eyes on her.]
You Are in Love "Buttons on a coat""The light reflects the chain on your neck" [Style references?] "He says, "Look up"/And your shoulders brush/No proof, one touch, but you felt enough""One night he wakes/Strange look on his face/Pauses, then says/You're my best friend/And you knew what it was/He is in love [Comfortable/comfort/confide]
End Game "Reputation precedes me, they told you I'm crazy/I swear I don't love the drama, it loves me/And I can't let you go, your handprint's on my soul" [Sound like she appreciates the mundane things in life-btw, reminded me of Eros & Psych mythology] "It's like your eyes are liquor, it's like your body is gold/You've been calling my bluff on all my usual tricks" Mastermind "I'm the wind in our free-flowing sails/And the liquor in our cocktails""I laid the groundwork and then saw a wide smirk/On your face, you knew the entire time/You knew that I'm a mastermind" [But her life can never be normal- like a superhero or villain]
So it Goes..."Gold cage, hostage to my feelings""Met you in a bar/All eyes on me, your illusionist/All eyes on us/I make all your gray days clear and/Wear you like a necklace" [Made me think of Harry Houdini- magician/illusionist] Call it what you want "… I want to wear his initial/On a chain 'round my neck, chain 'round my neck/Not because he owns me/But 'cause he really knows me" [Proud in public, not kept like a dirty secret?]
Stockholm Syndrome "Who's that shadow holding me hostage?""Oh, baby, look what you've done to me" [Line is like LWYMMD] Kiwi "She sits beside me like a silhouette/Hard candy drippin' on me 'til my feet are wet" [Style music video visuals?] "And now she's all over me, it's like I paid for it (cha-ching)/It's like I paid for it, I'm gonna pay for this" Cowboy Like Me "Only if they pay for it/You're a bandit like me" Mastermind ""No one wanted to play with me as a little kid/So I've been scheming like a criminal ever since/To make them love me and make it seem effortless'This this the first time I've felt the need to confess/And I swear/I'm only cryptic and Machiavellian 'cause I care'"
All too well "And you call me up again just to break me like a promise""And there we are again when nobody had to know/You kept me like a secret, but I kept you like an oath/Sacred prayer and we'd swear""The idea you had of me, who was she?/A never-needy, ever-lovely jewel whose shine reflects on you" [Mirrorball & Blank space ref- chameleon?] You are in love "You keep his shirt, he keeps his word/And for once, you let go/Of your fears and your ghosts/One step, not much, but it said enough" [Trust & belonging/home]
I'm not familiar with their whole catalogue or others around them (or their influences). Kinda wondered if HS listened to Def Leppard? I remember TS did a CMT crossover episode with them. Their bootleg album Rare Gems, Vol. 6 had one of the songs she covered w/ them- Pour some sugar on me. Mutt Lange produced DL & (his ex-wife) Shania Twain's albums also.
I enjoyed all your thoughts on these. Thank you 😊
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bigskydreaming · 3 years
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Doing some writing today off and on between errands and work, and jumping around various Kings of the Sky installments, specifically Dick, Jason and Cass stuff, so probably gonna post snippets from a bunch of them as I go. 
(Kings of the Sky is an AU that goes canon divergent from the point of Jason calling Dick for advice for dealing with Bruce after the Garzonas case and where things end up going dramatically different from that point on. Including Jason not dying, being part of his own lineup of Titans between Dick and Tim’s, Dick being adopted not long after the Church of Blood incident, Cass being the third Wayne kid to be taken in and adopted and with Tim and Duke being next and then Damian coming along later once they find out about him. This is basically my ‘the family’s alright’ AU with largely ‘Good Dad Bruce’ except for Dick and then Jason yelling some sense into him about the other, respectively, in the first two installments, just FYI).
Anyway, this bit is from a story called “In Their Shadows Grow Trees Of Good and Evil,” set about a year after Cass has been adopted, when she and Jason are both sixteen and Dick’s twenty-one. Also just FYI, because canon has never been specific about what ways Cass is neurodivergent due to the comic-book style ‘rewiring’ of her brain so that she could learn to speak later in life, I tend to go with her being dyslexic and having aphasia. She sticks exclusively to sign language and being a silent presence in her costumed personas, so that there’s no chance of people connecting the dots between Black Bat and Cassandra Wayne, as she mostly speaks verbally in her civilian persona and doesn’t hide her aphasia. The reason there’s not likely to be any obvious signs of aphasia in the snippets of her I post is because I wait until I complete something to choose words at random to replace with aphasia-born mixups, so its more realistic and I’m not gearing her dialogue towards deliberately placed moments. Just in case you were wondering.
In Their Shadows Grow Trees of Good and Evil
“Hey Todd,” sneered an exquisitely obnoxious voice. “Why’s your sister so fucking weird?”
Jason sighed the sigh of a soul a mere century into its eternity of damnation as he rose from the lunch table he’d been studying at and crammed the rest of his books into his backpack. Then he pasted a cheerfully bland smile on his face and turned around, geared for academia warfare (teenage prep school edition).
“Hey Craig,” he said brightly. “Why’d you come out of the womb so ugly your parents had to tie a piece of steak around your neck just to get the family dog to go near you? Mysteries abound.”
The advancing junior slowed a step, momentarily rocked by his truly impressive return volley. The grimace Craig’s already gargoyle-esque features twisted into made his face even more unpleasant to look at than usual, which was quite the feat. Jason would have applauded if just looking at it hadn’t already turned him to stone.
But the bargain basement basilisk kept on towards him rather than turn tail and skulk off to pop his emotional blisters, so Jason sighed a sequel to his first one. Looked like it was one of those days where Craig felt up to powering through. Guess someone had eaten their self-esteem Wheaties that morning. Joy.
“You think you’re pretty hot shit, don’t you, Todd?”
Jason shrugged. “I mean, to be honest I kinda have a one track mind, so right now I’m mostly just thinking about punching you in your mistake.”
“My what?”
“Your face,” Jason elaborated with exaggerated patience.
“Huh?”
“Oh my god, I’m saying your face is a mistake. See, its not as fun when I have to stop and explain it to you. Ugh, you ruin everything.”
He neatly sidestepped the older boy as R2-Dumbass stayed frozen, smoke coming off of his internal CPU while trying to catch up. For a second Jason thought he was home free, but then he remembered the universe fucking hated him so haha, sucks to suck. Also, a small crowd had gathered to witness the verbal jousting match, and nothing invigorated an asshole like Craig more than an audience of like-minded peers. So there was that too.
“Whatever. Laugh it up all you want, you little shit,” the junior rallied. “But just remember, mocking your betters will never change the fact that you were born street trash and you’ll be street trash until the day you die.”
Honestly? Not his best effort. Jason almost felt bad using any of his good material. Seemed like overkill at this point. But he did have a strict Scorched Earth policy to maintain, so.....
“Yeah but my dad could buy out and ruin your dad so that means I still win, right?”
He smirked as the barb landed and Craig’s face set into a sunset vista of strangled purple and furious red. Bam. Direct hit.
“Listen, you - “
“Oh for fuck’s sake, it was rhetorical,” Jason interrupted. “I don’t actually care what you think even a little bit. Nobody does. You don’t matter. Please go be irrelevant elsewhere, you’re fucking dismissed, you loser.”
“Speak for yourself, charity case.” Oh goodie, Craig’s backup singers had finally arrived. Now if only he could remember to care enough to learn their names in the first place. Seriously, who told the extras they could have lines? “All the jokes in the world can’t change who and what you are.”
Jason shrugged and continued nonchalantly up the hill to where his sister was standing with arms crossed, staring down at something on the other side.
“True genius is never appreciated in its own time,” he tossed back over his shoulder. “I’m sure I’ll be immortalized in song eventually.”
The mob of morons deigned to let him go without further incident. Though he suspected that had less to do with his scathing wit and more to do with him being headed towards Cass. She was immaculately presented as always, wearing the Gotham Academy uniform like she was born to it despite hating its uncomfortable stiffness every bit as much as he did. But that was just Cass for you. 
For all that she still struggled at times to engage verbally or speak up in social settings, her mastery of body language remained without peer. She could chameleon-camouflage her way into matching poise and posture with anyone - a skill that had allowed her to walk into school on her very first day with her head held high as though she owned everything in her sight. Exuding so much Queen Bee Intimidation Factor even the other hive queens were afraid to approach her  themselves. Sending forth their drones to try and woo her into an alliance, only to see her remain oh-so-casually above it all, a slightly contemptuous smile adorning her lips.
Basically, she scared the shit out of their classmates without them having anywhere close to a true understanding of why, and Jason was outrageously jealous. Rude. Unfair. Why did his siblings always get all the cool toys when all he had was his rakish charm, scintillating intellect and debonair.....nah, who was he kidding. He was fucking awesome. 
“Sup, sis,” he said, cresting the hill to stand beside Cass. “Just FYI, I just took a popularity bullet for you, which means you owe me your dessert tonight. Its a family rule that’s totally a real thing and definitely not something I just made up right now because Alf is making chocolate soufflé.”
She made no acknowledgment and remained stock still, a Colossus at Rhodes peering down into the shifting shadows of the parking lot below.
He peered down as well, though with absolutely no idea what they were looking at. Solidarity, yo.
“So are we staring fixedly at anything in particular, or should I just pick my own spot and commit?”
His humor was totally wasted on her as always. Instead of laughing and telling him what a lovable goof he was, she just inclined her head in the direction of a blonde girl where she was standing next to the driver’s side door of a Mercedes-Benz, dictating final commandments to her peons before departing. Well, probably. Jason was just guessing, based on his own body language reads, and like, general disdain for literally everyone at this school that wasn’t related to him.
He made a face. An extra special one reserved just for this classmate in particular. “Ugh, Madison Dunleavy? She’s the worst.”
Cass raised a cool eyebrow. “I thought Craig Hendricks was the worst.”
“He is. They’re both the worst. Its a hotly contested position here at Gotham Academy.”
She rolled her eyes and nodded back down at the Queen of Air and Darkness. “So. You know her?”
“Nope,” Jason said. “Come to think of it, I’ve actually never seen her in my life. No idea who that is. Can’t help you, sorry. Shall we go home?”
The Eyebrow of Inquisition speared him with clear intent. Who the fuck needed words when you could pack the Encyclopedia Britannica into a single facial expression?
Jason sighed gustily. 
“I had a slight altercation with her freshman year that led to her declaring her undying enmity for me until the end of time. The word nemesis may or may not have been thrown around once or twice. I can’t recall.”
The Eyebrow of Inquisition lowered nary an inch. Ugh, she wanted more? Why did everyone in his family hate privacy, with the obvious exclusion of himself when snooping through Cass and Dick’s rooms for blackmail material, which was actually intel-gathering and thus another matter entirely.
“Okay so basically what happened was my first week here I overheard her talking shit about me and not even twenty minutes later she was pretending to kiss my ass in homeroom, like probably because of Bruce, y’know? So I just busted out laughing and told her to fuck off and die and she has inexplicably loathed me ever since.”
Avoiding further Eyebrow Inquisition-ing, he made a show of peering around aimlessly. When the silence extended and it was clear Cass was absolutely not going to break first, Jason waved a hand in dismissal and took to peering oh so casually at his fingernails. "I suppose I was less tactful back in those days.”
He chanced a look up, finally, and saw his sister’s eyebrow had somehow managed to mighty morphin power ranger its way into a configuration evoking both judgment and disbelief, with the latter perhaps aimed at the idea he was significantly differing in the tact department these days either.
“I don’t love the implications your face is making right now,” he told her.
She ignored him, because of course she did. 
“Does she know Dick?” She asked instead. Jason shrugged.
“I mean, maybe? She’s probably seen him around at one of those stupid galas we have to go to, and actually I think maybe she has an older brother who was either in Dick’s grade or like, one above or below it? I don’t know.”
Now both eyebrows were doing the dance of disbelief. Okay, so maybe that was poor situational awareness on his part, since it wasn’t like Gotham Academy was a big school with a ton of other kids and also he’d only been in the same class as Madison for like over two whole years, but whatever. There were extingent circumstances.
“Look, she’s a total snob who’s always looked down on me and in return I willfully ignore both her existence and that of everyone and everything even tangentially related to her. Its called equality, Cass.”
She pursed her lips and went back to the peering, because of course in the mind of Cass it made total sense that the Grand Inquisition didn’t need to be followed up by any explanation on her part, what the hell. Like was he supposed to have inferred it?
“What’s this all about anyway?”
“I heard her talking about Dick earlier,” she said without peeling her eyes away from her personal recon mission. “I don’t know what she said though, I just heard her say Grayson, and then I was busy looking at what her body was saying. I know it was about Dick because she shut down when she saw me. And I didn’t like the way she....looked....before that happened. The way she was talking. It was.....”
Jason frowned but held back any follow-up questions while he waited - with total patience because he wasn’t an absolute cad, thank you very much - for his sister to find the word she was hunting for. It was a major source of frustration for her, that whatever neural map her brain followed put body language and spoken language in totally different regions of her brain, separated by a fairly great divide. Meaning she usually had to make a conscious choice to focus on body language or conventional languages - whether verbal or sign. But it tended to be one or the other; she’d yet to master taking in and comprehending both forms of ‘language’ at the same time. And none of them had quite figured out how to convince her that she wasn’t actually missing anything when she chose to focus on one specific form of communication - that she was still observing far more than most people ever would.
“Proprietary,” Cass settled on at last. She nodded her satisfaction with her choice of word, and Jason waited a whole two point five seconds before sticking  his whole foot in his mouth.
“Proprietary?” He asked with a scrunched nose as he weighed that for possible context and implications. “You sure?”
She glared. He winced. It was a whole thing.
“Yeah, I know, sorry, sorry, I heard it the second it was out of my mouth. We don’t actually have to experiment with the legitimacy of if looks could kill.”
Cass rolled her eyes, but eh. That could’ve gone worse.
Jason swiftly redirected attention anyway. Discretion is the better part of valor, after all.
“So. The Queen of Air and Darkness was talking about our big bro, and her mood was.....proprietary, huh?” He recapped while digesting the info like a boss. “Well. Definitely not loving that, I gotta say. Hold please.”
Pulling out his phone and pulling up his most recent texts, he began typing furiously.
“What are you doing?” Cass asked.
“Texting Tom,” he replied, because duh. Hah, now it was his chance to have the answers that should be patently obvious and thus make with the ‘are you kidding me’ when she asked obvious questions she should know the answer to! How do you like them apples, sis?
“Why are you texting your boyfriend right now?”
Jason rolled his eyes, because fair is fair, but never ceased texting for a moment. Time was of the essence here, probably. Well, maybe. Okay probably not. But it’d still been like half an hour since he and Tom had last texted and that’s a very fucking long time in teenage years.
“To be our getaway driver tonight, obviously.”
She stared at him. He didn’t look up, but he could feel it anyway. He was very intuitive like that.
“What?”
Jason heaved another sigh, one keyed to tones of ‘oh my god, do I really have to spell this out,” exasperation. He was just racking up the bonus points here. It was really too bad this wasn’t an actual competition he could actually win and this was all just pettiness taking place wholly in his own head. Lame. 
“Well, clearly we now have to go snoop in Madison’s house aka lair to see if its actually a house or a full on lair. Because she’s either a creeper or like, legit evil, and its important to know which one before we proceed, because obviously we can only bust her for being a weird creeper about our brother as Jason and Cass, whereas if she’s legit evil, that’s gotta go down as Robin and Black Bat. I’ll handle the snooping, you’ll take look-out, but we still need a wheelman and that’s why I’m texting Tom. This is all very mission-oriented, okay. I’m a professional.”
“Right,” she affirmed, while sounding anything but convinced. “Why don’t we just tell Bruce?”
Without looking up or breaking stride, he said: “I’m going to give you til I finish typing this sentence to figure out what was wrong with what you just said. Remember that we are talking about hypothetical danger to our brother, and also Bruce’s idea of a proportionate response to any of his children being in even hypothetical danger. And also our brother’s idea of a proportionate response to Bruce’s idea of a proportionate response. Look, you’re still new so I’m gonna need you to just trust me on this one. Its gonna be a no on telling Bruce without further intel.”
Cass said nothing in response to that, which meant that she was conceding the point and recognized the wisdom of his words. Or maybe that she was just gonna go ahead and do what she wanted anyway and just wasn’t bothering to fight about it, but it was probably that first thing.
“Well you better not just make out with your boyfriend all night,” is what she said at last, and that got his attention reeeeeal quick like.
“Umm. Wow. Okay. So, first off, you’re not the boss of me and who I make out with and when, so jot that down. And second, now I’m definitely going to make out with my boyfriend extra hard, with the exception of when we are actually on our recon mission because as previously established, I am a professional. And also, again, you’re not the boss of me.”
Jason ignored her Eye Roll With Extra Emphasis, and instead just held up his phone to Text With Extra Emphasis, as he read along with what he was typing.
“By the way babe, we have to make out extra hard tonight,” he said, tongue sticking out of the corner of his mouth while he dragged out his dictation with the kind of focus that usually led to Bruce asking why he couldn’t apply as much intensity to training as he did to pettiness. “Cass has suddenly decided she can dictate terms to me and I need to shut that shit down ASAP, so thank you in advance for your assistance in this matter. Smoochies and other gay stuff to the best boyfriend ever.”
Jason frowned as a response pinged back seconds later. 
TheCatsMeow: ....the things I put up with for the sake of your weird family dynamics.
TheOnlyRobinThatRocks: Yeah, yeah. You’re a saint among were-panthers. Must you mock? Why can’t you just tell me I’m pretty instead?
TheCatsMeow: Sorry. Let me try again. OMG you’re so pretty Jase how did I get so lucky xoxo.
TheOnlyRobinThatRocks: No. Its too late. It feels forced and unbelievable now. You’ve ruined it forever.
TheCatsMeow: Got it. From now on I will only tell you that you’re repulsive and hideous.
TheOnlyRobinThatRocks: I’m breaking up with you.
TheCatsMeow: But after I help you with your mission tonight.
TheOnlyRobinThatRocks: Obvsly. I’m a professional. Why do people keep forgetting this?
TheCatsMeow: And also the making out to spite your sister.
TheOnlyRobinThatRocks: Yeah we should do that first too. I mean we already penciled it in.
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erazonpo3 · 3 years
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Lost Legends
Okay so I read Lost Legends: The Rise of Flynn Rider and general thoughts? It was cute and fun, and I have gripes here and there but I can still recommend it. I don't want to compare it to WOWM because it's like apples and oranges but Lost Legends wins points for me by actually acknowledging the TTS storyline and characters, even though it's kinda brief and not quite as... entertaining.
And before I go into the in-depth spoiler review I'll jot down a few thoughts here: there's a lot to be said about tie-in media and 'canon', but where I think it becomes contentious is where two pieces contradict each other, and whether those contradictions necessitate a canonical hierarchy or cancel something out completely. And the reason I'm bringing this up is because while LL borrows TTS lore it also contradicts it? which is. ironic.
but i'll get into that. Spoilers ahead
Basic Summary of The Plot
Our story starts at the Dark Kingdom, with a short prologue. It's all stuff we already know from the series: King Edmund tries to grab the moonstone, his wife dies, Eugene gets sent away for his own safety. What's funny is that Ms Queen still doesn't get a name, but her Lady in Waiting/Handmaiden gets a name (Maeve), and it's Maeve who really drops the ball on dropping Eugene off at an orphanage instead of raising him as Prince Horace. Go girl give us nothing
And from here the LL timeline begins, as Eugene and Arnie are now twelve year olds (I think?) in an orphanage in Corona. Which is the first contradiction to 'canon' but shelve that thought for now. Eugene and Arnie are good little boys but they're getting too old to keep hanging around and the orphanage needs money for the evil Tax Man, so they decide they'll go off into the world and send some money back when they're rich off their famous adventuring. What happens instead is that The Baron's circus rolls into town (yes that Baron) and Eugene and Arnie decide to try their luck signing up for that gig.
To prove themselves to the Baron, Flynn and Lance have to perform a hazing ritual a heist. The heist is literally just to buy a key from the Weasel but it plays out as this huge dramatic thing with a guard chase which is eternally funny to me because two kids walk into a bar, buy a key and then leave, and it's treated like fucking ocean's eleven. The Stabbingtons try to betray them (those guys are here too) but Flynn and Lance outsmart them, beginning a rivalry for the ages. Also, the pub thugs are all part of the Baron's circus crew. Don't think about it too much.
Anyway, as this has all been going down, Eugene is really interested in getting to talk to this guy with a tattoo of (what we as the audience know is) the brotherhood symbol, which Eugene recognises from the note left with him as a baby. He wants to talk to this dude in the hopes he'll get a clue about who his parents are, but this dude keeps eluding him. He also hasn't had a chance to tell Lance about this yet, so when Lance finds out about it he assumes Eugene only tried to rope him into the circus so he could find his parents and ditch him. Cue an ongoing silent treatment.
Eugene eventually does talk to this guy and he learns that the Brotherhood symbol is from the Dark Kingdom but the Dark Kingdom is gone so he shouldn't bother looking for it. Bummer. And now the Baron is planning a huge heist of the reward money for the Lost Princess' return, and Eugene is getting cold feet. He's been okay with a little bit of thievery so far but this feels like too much for him, and he's not okay with pulling it off but Lance still won't talk to him.
As the plan unfolds, Lance and Eugene reconcile and then they work together to betray the Baron and return the stolen treasure that they stole back to the King and Queen. They get caught by the Baron, escape, then get caught by the guards, but it's okay because they're presented to the King and Queen and when Eugene explains that they felt really sorry about it and promise not to do it again they're let go. And so the story ends on a high note.
My Thots™
Okay so here are the thoughts
Canon Compliance?
The obvious takeaway here is that this story offers you a beautiful pie in the form of the characters you know and love and the established lore, then shoves the pie in your face with things like "Eugene already knows the Dark Kingdom and the Moonstone exist but he never brings this up" and "Eugene betrays the Baron in a very significant way but somehow they'll make up and he and Stalyan will get engaged". Which means that if the integrity of the series is important to you, you'll probably just mentally cross out Eugene knowing about the Brohood/DK/Moonstone.
And imo that's fine! My own approach to this story is a kind of general 'if it works it works, if it doesn't I'll leave it' thing to work my own headcanons around. Because there's a lot of fun things to pluck from, like a new ex-Brotherhood member and other characters that could pop up from Eugene's past and other worldbuilding details.
The Story
The story was pretty short and obviously very tailored towards a younger audience, but it still felt kind of... slow? Mostly because nothing particularly exciting is happening until the big heist and even that feels pretty underwhelming. And of course I don't expect a story like this to be particularly complex and can appreciate its simplicity, but I felt like if it had been longer there could have been more twists to keep things interesting.
For example, the Baron is set up as a character not unlike Gothel, who lavishes praise upon the boys and goes on about how they're 'family' but is obviously just manipulating them and would throw them to the wolves in a heartbeat. Eugene underestimates just how criminal the Baron is, but at no point in the story does the doubt we have in the Baron's sincerity ever amount to anything- Eugene only turns against him because he has a morality crisis, which I'll get to in a minute.
Misc. Thoughts
Okay so one thing I thought was really cute was that each chapter has a little 'quote' from a Flynnigan Rider book, and I wrote them all down so if you've read this far and want me to post those separately lemme know. Anyway I just thought it was a very cute touch.
An honourable mention goes to every time Stalyan shows up, she doesn't really do anything in the story yet still is somehow the only character holding the brain cell. Rapunzel gets an indirect cameo by Lance and Eugene stumbling upon her tower and going "Whoa that's Crazy. Anyway. " which is amazing, and Cassandra even gets a little mention by the Captain! And to answer the question nobody asked, there's a chameleon running around Corona because she's an escapee from the circus, and Pascal's mom's name is Amélie!
Characters - okay really just Eugene
Eugene/Flynn is the title character of the book and we get the story exclusively from his POV, so there isn't a lot to say about Lance. On the one hand while I can acknowledge that this is a story about Flynn, not Lance, there's a few choices that feel like a missed opportunity at best given that this book really was an opportunity to explore Lance's character in a way the series never really does.
And it feels extra egregious when the plot demands conflict between Eugene and Lance, because while the emotion between them is engaging when it's happening, at other times it just feels like a convenient way to shove Lance offscreen again. (As a side note, as contrived as the conflict is these are also two twelve year old boys so. Can't blame em too much).
Also, Eugene coming up with the name "Lance Strongbow" on Lance's behalf while he's unconscious is one of those backstory things I'm not going to be acknowledging, thank you.
The Robin Hood Dilemma
Something I touched on after reading What Once Was Mine is that Eugene's characterisation prior to the movie isn't something writers seem to really like... dealing with. And it kind of makes sense that the author received a lot of characterisation notes from Chris Sonnenburg, because little Flynn does feel very similar to the Eugene we know; only the Eugene we know is an adult man who has since grown out of his Flynn Rider persona. But the Flynn Rider persona he needed to grow out of isn't something that ought to be cast aside entirely!! Stop being cowards!!
Taking a step back, the whole premise of the book is kind of a paradox- because Eugene needs to become Flynn Rider before he can learn to embrace his authentic self, but Flynn Rider isn't hero material, he isn't a good guy, he's not the right protagonist for a story for kids. So what we get isn't Flynn Rider, it's really just Eugene trying on a new name. That works for the beginning of the story, because he is just Eugene trying on a new name, but he doesn't grow into it.
At the beginning of the story, Eugene is an orphan in a poor but still functional orphanage run by a kind old lady, and he is surrounded by nice little boys. Eugene is motivated to leave and get a job by a desire to send funds back to the orphanage, and when he joins the Baron's circus he's taken aback to learn he's among thieves. Here's where I thought: okay, this might get interesting. We might be getting a G-rated 'angel falls from heaven' story about Eugene being morally corrupted by the Baron, of learning that the world outside is tough and he needs to look out for himself first and foremost-
but no. The Baron shares his plan to steal the reward money for the Lost Princess, because all the people he's surrounded himself with are already criminals who don't give a shit, but Eugene thinks that this is going too far! What about that poor lost princess who people need an incentive to search for? (he's like, projecting about his own parent issues which is fair, but still). And so the story ends with Eugene turning on the Baron to return the money to the "right" people (aka the king and queen of a kingdom?? okay) but he takes a single golden egg for himself so he can send it to the orphanage.
Which is all sweet and nice but. He still has to become Flynn Rider, asshole extraordinaire. He still has to lose his morals to the point where he'd take an inexperienced young woman to a pub that he, in this book, recognises is a dangerous place in the hopes that he can ditch her. He still has to go and become a wanted thief and rejoin the Baron and then ditch Stalyan on their wedding night.
The reason I'm going on about this so much is that the appeal of Eugene to me is that he is this good guy who wants to be a better person for the people he loves, but that means recognising that he has behaviour he needs to change, and his development is meaningful for that. Watering him down to a righteous Robin Hood hero does him a disservice.
The Real Villain Was Capitalism All Along
I will not elaborate nor should I
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lycorogue · 3 years
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Thoughts about episode “Lie”
Okay. Here we are. This is back to the better writing I was talking about the other day. I love me parallel stories, so this was just *chef kiss* in that department. 
Before I delve into my thoughts on the episode itself, I want to take a step back and talk about my views of the non-love-square ships Lukanette and Adrigami. (Feel free to skip ahead; I have a header for when I start talking about this episode again)
Lukanette and Adrigami
For me, Marinette and Luka had romantic chemistry from the word go. As much of a Marichat shipper as I am, I knew that if anyone could make Marinette forget about Adrien, it wouldn’t have been Chat Noir. It would be Luka. Chat Noir would then come in at a close 3rd (a bit ironically) when it comes to Marinette’s heart. Meanwhile, Kagami slowly grew to have a crush on Adrien post-Riposte, and then charged forward knowing exactly who she wanted. On the flipside, though, I stand firm that there wasn’t really much romantic interest coming from Adrien. If anyone was going to make Adrien forget about Ladybug, it would be Marinette; not Kagami.
The episode “Frozer” - the one where Kagami makes her crush known for the first time, and Adrien first attempts dating her - practically gives us some foreshadowing of their entire relationship. Aside from clearly finding Kagami attractive (as showcased by the pink-bubbles-vision when Adrien first sees her sans-helmet in “Riposte”), he doesn’t seem to have any romantic inclination towards Kagami until after she cups his cheek and lets him know, in not so many words, that she likes him. Even so, it isn’t until Marinette basically gives the thumbs up that he should pursue this relationship does he give it a try. He’s still very uncomfortable around her, and only gets a bit more comfortable in “Animaestro”; probably because he’s seen his father around Kagami’s mom and just mimics that (as seen in “Backwarder”). Going back to “Frozer” though, Adrien spends most of his time with Kagami watching Marinette, and even abandons Kagami in favor of checking in on Marinette - something Luka could have easily done and probably doesn’t because he sees Adrien already on it and knows Marinette would prefer Adrien’s comfort. So Luka doesn’t push the issue. That whole ice rink interaction shows that, while Luka trumps Chat Noir as a potential alternative love interest for Marinette, Marinette still surpasses Kagami as a potential alternative love interest for Adrien. This, for me, is again hinted at in the episode Heart Hunter where, while enjoying himself seemingly equally with both girls, there’s just these little hints - complimenting Marinette more than Kagami, asking Marinette to choose the ice cream - that, at least subconsciously, Adrien is leaning a touch more towards Marinette over Kagami. His heart just isn’t all that into this relationship. This is again showcased in the New York special when Adrien (at least in the English dub; I haven’t watched it in other languages) asks Marinette to dance with him with an almost pleading tone in his voice. (To be fair, clearly Marinette isn’t thinking of Luka at all during that trip either...)
I think the final Foreshadowing nail in the Adrigami coffin is this dialogue from “Frozer”:
Kagami: “You still keep doing what other people want you to do.” Adrien: “No, I just want him to be happy.”
In the end, Adrien did the same thing with Kagami: he did what he thought would make her happy because he’s a people pleaser to his core.
Adrien of course found Kagami attractive and fun to hang out with. She was a fantastic companion, and I love their companionship so much. However, I feel like he dated her mostly because he knew he had to find some way of getting over Ladybug, and here’s this pretty girl who clearly has a thing for him, so why not???? Their parents were practically setting them up as a couple anyway, between the trip to the royal wedding and the movie premiere. Plus, this “approved” friend meant he could spend more time outside of his father’s house while genuinely enjoying the company. Win-win. He then did all the pseudo-dating stuff he’s clearly witnessed in media; kind of following a play-book as it were. 
However, he never did anything even remotely romantic or flirty towards Kagami that was on par with his romantic gestures and flirtations towards Ladybug (or even Marinette, for that matter). His love language is obvious after watching him with Ladybug, and he uses some of that same language (albeit subconsciously... probably...) while interacting with Marinette. Things like leaning in playfully (ending of “Troublemaker” and when asking Marinette for a macaron in “Despair Bear”), sharing a romantic picnic (“Glaciator”) even if it was just to cheer Marinette up, winking (the endless winking in too many episodes to list here), whispering in her ear (“Despair Bear” and one other that I can’t recall right now), Soft SmilesTM (“Chameleon”, pretty much all of the NY special, tons of season 3 episodes), confessing insecurities or secrets (“Gamer” and “Gorizilla”), or asking her to dance (“Despair Bear” and “NY Special”). I’m sure there’s tons more and each example has more episodes it’s showcased in, but you get the idea. Alternatively, Adrien just never used that same love language with Kagami. With her it all felt like calculated moves; it was expected of him to lean in for the kiss in “Heart Hunter” and “Miracle Queen”, or wipe away the smudge of ice cream by Kagami’s mouth, so he did it. Aside from his protectiveness and care for Kagami in “Onichan”, Adrien never really treated Kagami any different than his other friends.
Marinette, on the other hand, does show some of her love language towards Luka. She blushes around him and does that bashful little shoulder shrug. She makes excuses to touch his arms, hands, chest, or back. She literally leans on him. She has an interest in his interests and even goes above and beyond for gifts, such as the necklace (yay; Luka looks so good in a necklace!) and, unofficially, the contract with Bob Roth for Kitty Section. 
Granted, she doesn’t flirt with Luka like she does with Chat Noir, but, as someone who also used to flirt with my guy friends without truly realizing the romantic implications (I was a disaster as a teen, okay?), I don’t know if Marinette has truly realized how flirting is part of her love language. If she is anything like I was, flirting is more a fun past-time to see if you could get a rise out of someone in some sort of sextual-tension game of chicken or something. It’s not something you do with someone you have serious feelings for. 😝
Back to Kagami though. I want to stress that, while I didn’t see any romantic future for Adrigami, I do still very much like Kagami and appreciated the character development the writers gave her. I love her as one of Marinette’s potential friends and, as I mentioned, a companion for Adrien. I just never saw any romantic interest coming from Adrien towards Kagami. He never even truly seemed himself around her the way he is around Ladybug or Marinette. I don’t think he’s comfortable enough to not be Textbook BoyfriendTM around Kagami. He even mentions in this episode that him being a clown IS the real him and she calls bullshit (although @gale-gentlepenguin​ does have some nice commentary on how even that wasn’t exactly truthful and Kagami was right to call him out). Point being, Adrien loves to be nerdy and goofy and playful, and she just doesn’t get that????? A lot of what Adrien likes she seems to dismiss.
I’m sorry, Adrigami shippers. There could have been potential there as these two grew, but as it stood? I just didn’t see it.
The Episode “Lie”
Going back to my thoughts on “Lie” though with all of that above commentary for context. I just feel a bit cheated that Clearly-There’s-Mutual-Pining Lukanette gets ONE kiss lean-in for the whole “love rival” arc they’ve had set up for 1.5 seasons before the relationship implodes, but Clearly-Only-One-Has-Feelings-And-The-Other-Is-Just-Kinda-Going-Along-With-It-Because-Hey-He-Likes-Hanging-Out-With-Her-And-She’s-Cute-So-Why-Not Adrigami has THREE kiss lean-ins in THIS ONE EPISODE ALONE (not to mention the 2 from Heart Hunter/Miracle Queen)!? Like I said, I feel a bit robbed, but... well fed, Adrigami shippers, I guess...
Anyway, my heart hurts so much because yes, Kagami deserves someone who will take the time to be with her (just like how Luka deserves the same), but also, it’s not like Adrien WANTED to abandon her (much like Marinette not wanting to abandon Luka). These poor kids. All four of them. My heart breaks. 😢
I did feel a much stronger emotional gut-punch with this episode, which is surprising because a) we already saw a good 5-10 min of it in “Truth” so this episode was essentially shorter than the premiere, and b) I’m a much stronger Lukanette shipper than an Adrigami shipper (see above). So, bravo to the writers on this episode. I hate that this team broke so many hearts, but this is the caliber of writing I was hoping for. 
(I know Marinette is the Guardian, but can we agree to have more Adrien-centric stories, please? They’re just so good).
My final thoughts though: WHY ON EARTH DID THE WRITERS EVEN BOTHER WITH THE “LOVE SQUARE RIVALS” STORY LINE IF THEY WEREN’T GOING TO FOLLOW THROUGH!? ADRIGAMI AND LUKANETTE FINALLY GET TOGETHER AFTER 1.5 SEASONS ONLY FOR THE RELATIONSHIPS TO BE DOA BASICALLY THE NEXT EPISODE!? WHY!? TO RESET THE STATUS QUO THEY WORKED SO HARD TO SHAKE UP!? I already talked Friday about the lost story potential with Lukanette, but there’s also a lot Adrien could have learned from his relationship with Kagami. 
Adrien is still VERY vocal about his love, and, while he has learned a lot, matured a lot, and has eased up a lot, Adrien does still semi-burden Ladybug with his feelings; something Luka never did to Marinette. Adrien, possibly due to witnessing his parents - I have theories about the romance dynamic between Emilie and Gabriel - seems to have this view of love being okay even if unbalanced. Ladybug is far more powerful and crucial to the protection of Paris, but they are still partners and equals in their eyes. So maybe he feels the same about love; he may be more romantically devoted to her, but as long as Ladybug loves him even a little, it’s like they’re equals in romance... right???? So... yeah, a more balanced relationship with Kagami could have taught him how important a romantic balance is as well. Plus, if I am right in my assumption that he just kind of went along with the relationship because he thought it was expected, then he could have also learned something about being a people-pleaser. There was a lot of growth potential for both Marinette and Adrien in these non-love-square relationships, and it just feels squandered.
Also, as I mentioned with my review of “Truth”, I’m fearing that the writers are kind of railroading the Ladynoir ship. First, there’s Marinette realizing that she can’t have a boyfriend because he wouldn’t be safe, nor could she be truthful to him about why their time was so limited. The exception being Chat Noir, who can very much protect himself (except for when he’s shielding Ladybug, but she yelled at him for that in “Lie”), and she can be fully honest with him as long as it doesn’t involve their identities, and he very much knows and understands their time restrictions. In fact, he even goes so far as to state that ANY time with her is a gift he cherishes. He’s basically the perfect boyfriend for her in her situation; she just needs to be lonely enough to “realize” it. >3> On the Adrien side of things, Kagami tells him that she can’t trust someone who isn’t honest with her, but there’s Ladybug: fully understanding and completely trusts him even when she knows he’s lying. She also doesn’t fault him for their lack of time together and understands if he needs to run away without a moment’s notice. He’s already in love with her, but this whole situation just paints her even more as the perfect romantic partner for him. I get it, but I also hate it. I hate this feeling of this one corner of the love square being railroaded. It basically dismisses the other 3 corners as possibilities right alongside the Lukanette and Adrigami ships.
All that grumbling aside, I would like to give some applause to how the episode ended. I very much enjoyed that Kagami was like, “nope. You lied to me, and I can’t trust you, so we can’t be friends. I need time away from you. I’ll let you know if we’re ever okay again.” It shows the consequences of playing with someone’s emotions, even if under the best intentions. It also shows that it’s perfectly okay to cut out toxic relationships, even if the other person didn’t intend any harm. Well-intentioned people can still cause toxic relationships, and if you need to step away from them (as Kagami did), then you are completely valid in that decision. It’s an important lesson for kids to learn, I think. I’m just worried that Kagami brushing off even being Adrien’s friend (while justified) might mean not really seeing her in the show anymore, and that would be a shame. 😟 I do enjoy her as a character, and would love to see more of her growth. Plus, she is so limited in social interactions as-is, so I hope we see more Kagami and Marinette friendship growth.
I am also interested in how Adrien reacts to the knowledge that he can indeed ruin his friendships with people if they aren’t in the same emotional space. This is most likely what’s preventing Marinette from confessing: fear that Adrien will reject her so severely that he might not even want to be her friend anymore. So having Adrien now possibly have that fear as well has some interesting story potential (if the writers don’t drop the ball like they did with the Lukanette/Adrigami ships). Meanwhile, having a dejected Luka still offering friendship and support to Marinette - something clearly Adrien assumed would happen with Kagami; once a friend, always a friend - might give her the confidence to confess to Adrien, now trusting that they are good enough friends and he’s a kind enough person that they can still remain friends even if he doesn’t return her feelings.
There’s a lot of potential birthed from these opening episodes, but especially from “Lie” and I’m interested to see what the rest of the season is going to look like now.
Also... ARE WE SURE THAT LUCKY CHARM BRACELET IS ACTUALLY LUCKY!? IT’S BEEN THE HIDING SPOT FOR AN AKUMA TWICE NOW!
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purrincess-chat · 3 years
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Cat’s Not-All-Encompassing Character Ranking
Okay, so I have to admit that I omitted a lot of characters I don't have strong opinions on. Most of them were one-off akumas, so don't get your panties in a twist, your faves are probably still on here (and ranked lower than you think).
As a preface again, these are just my personal opinions. They can't hurt you. You can still like characters more or less than me. And I don't care how you feel about them. This list is for me. And the person that asked for it. So shut up. Go make your own rank list if you’re so butthurt. 
We're going in reverse order this time, starting from the bottom:
84. Gabriel Agreste- I mean, is anyone surprised? I am not private about how I think Gabriel should go to jail. Or fall off a cliff. Or be erased from existence. Rip to those that like him, but I’m different.
83. Thomas Astruc- Honestly, he’s down here on principle. Self-inserts are generally a no-no, and I just laugh every time I see him on screen because he really put himself in this show and said boohoo no one appreciates me XD
82. Bob Roth- I feel like this one should also be obvious. He’s just a dick. Terrible human. I give him 0 stars.
81. Tomoe Tsurugi- We all collectively hate her, right? It’s not just me?
80. Su Han- This mans has small peepee energy. And he bad mouthed Fu, so get FUCKED, my dude.
79. Rolland Dupain- Listen, I get it, he liked Marinette in the end, but I could do without the racism.
78. Nathalie Sancoeur- My opinion of Nathalie took a nosedive after the s2 finale. I just do not care that she is in love with her boss. Don’t care that she’s dying. Just do not have it in me.
77. XY- Justin Bieber ass wannabe.
76. Nora Cesiare- I didn’t care for Nora. I know Thomas loves her, but the overbearing sibling trope is tired.
75. Anarka Couffaine- I underestimated how much I don’t really like her. Like, it’s not full-on hate, but I just do not care for her.
74. Otis Cesaire- Got akumatized because a kid said he could outrun a panther. I’m still not over it, Otis.
73. Andre Bourgeois- No love for the crooked mayor. I hope your wife divorces you. 
72. Alec Cataldi- The real villain of Stormy Weather. Like fr why is he such an asshole?
71. Roger Raincomprix- Is Officer Roger just doing his best? Sometimes. But like sometimes this mans just needs to take a chill pill.
70. M. D'Argencourt- Please get out of the 1600s
69. Ella/Etta- These two are basically the same character, and I am indifferent to both of them.
68. KnightOwl/Barbara- Listen, I would have liked you more if you were less controlling.
67. Majestia- Same as above, but like I guess I like you more
66. Theo- *Mean Girls principal voice* Stay away from underaged girls!
65. Andre the ice cream man- I just want a scoop of chocolate, Andre. Is that too much to ask??
64. Amelie Graham de Vanily- We haven’t seen much of her, but she seems like a snake bitch.
63. M. Kubdel- I mean, if my son wanted to resurrect an ancient mummy and believed in aliens, I’d give the family heirloom to my daughter too.
62. Jalil Kubdel- Lolol, buddy, pal, dude, my guy. Chill.
61. Vincent (Adrien's photographer)- Head empty. Mom’s spaghetti. Idk he’s alright.
60. Manon- I don’t hate Manon. She just gets on my nerves every time she talks.
59. M. Ramier- This mans got akumatized a billion times because he gets emotional about pigeons. I mean, honestly mood.
58. Mme. Mendeleiev- She doesn’t put up with Chloe’s shit, and we respect her for this.
57. Baby August- Someone just give this mans some food. He’s a growing boy.
56. Santa Claus- If I were Santa, I too would list Ladybug as the best kid in the world.
55. Art Teacher- He doesn’t even have a name, but I vibe with him. He seems like he likes to paint scenes of nature with his pet squirrels.
54. Prince Ali- Lil mans just wanted to have a good time. I can respect that.
53. Duusu- Duusu, I get that your Miraculous was broken, but get with the program, girl. You is a hostage.
52. Other Kwamis- Idk, all the ones we haven’t seen as much. I don’t have real opinions on them yet. Just neutral.
51. Sass- He gives me dad vibes.
50. M. Damocles- You go, you funky owl man
49. Jean (Chloe's Butler)- He deserves a raise. What is your name, sir? We may never know.
48. Mireille Caquet- She’s pretty cute. No complaints.
47. Aurore Beaureal- Baby’s first akuma. I love her design. She’s a cutie.
46. Claudie Kante (Max’s mom)- This womans just wanted to go to space and live her dream. We stan a hardworking queen.
45. Hot Dog Dan- I like him more than Andre the ice cream fraud. Sure, my hotdog might turn me purple, but if I ask for chili on it, I bet he’d oblige.
44. Nadja Chamack- I mean, she’s doing her best.
43. Audrey Bourgeois- So, as I said in the episode ranking, I have a love-hate relationship with Audrey. She’s the worst, but that’s why I love her. I love her ironically. Like, yeah she’s atrocious, but I just want to watch her burn the world.
42. Luka Couffaine- Directly in the middle, like he’s always been.
41. Nathaniel Kurtzberg- My opinion of Nath improved after Reverser surprisingly. I ship it.
40. Chris Lahiffe- I like Chris better than Ella/Etta. He’s just a little mans out here living life wanting to grow up. Don’t believe it, Chris. Stay little forever. Being an adult suuuuucks.
39. Fang the Crocodile- The goodest boy.
38. Nooroo- I just want to give him a hug.
37. Mlle. Bustier- She’s doing her best, but I mean, when ya whole class keeps getting turned into supervillains, I’m surprised she’s not an alcoholic.
36. Penny Rolling- I just like her. I think she’s neat.
35. Ondine- Mermaid queen! She’s so sweet, and I love her with Kim. I hope we see more of her in the future.
34. Marc Anciel- Marc is a little cutie bean. Idc if he’s based off one of Thomas’s irl friends. He can stay.
33. Wayzz- He loves Master Fu so much I cry.
32. Felix Graham de Vanily- I know everyone hates canon Felix, but tbh he exudes massive chaotic neutral gremlin energy, and I actually kinda vibe with that. And he pisses with his uncle which is a whole ass mood.
31. Tikki- Tikki is very cute, but bby please work on the preaching. You don’t always know what’s right, babe.
30. Sabrina Raincomprix- Sabrina deserves better. I hope we see good things happen for her.
29. Lila Rossi- Surprised? I actually like Lila. The first fic I ever wrote for this fandom was a Lila redemption. I think she is a good antagonist and foil to Marinette. I absolutely want to see her get dunked on in canon, but that doesn’t mean I hate her.
28. Wayhem- I don’t know why, but Wayhem makes me laugh. I love him XD
27. Uncle Cheng- He’s just a good mans with a birb who wants to make you tasty food. What’s not to like?
26. Trixx- Trixx shot up after GoS. Chaotic bean make Eiffel Tower go bendy
25. Jess- She’s pretty cool. She’s a vibe.
24. Aeon- The cutest bean!!! She saw Adrien and Marinette and said yep. Those two are meant to be together. Jess, we gotta make it happen.
23. Ivan Bruel- Ivan is such a gentle bean. We love him.
22. Mylene Haprele- Smol
21. Fei Wu- I still have not watched the Shanghai special with subs, but I liked her.
20. Gina Dupain- The grandma I aspire to be.
19. Marianne Lenoir- I love her. She is good. She and Fu are so cute. And she seems like she would have kicked le ass back in the day. (and even now)
18. Rose Lavillant- I am so excited for Pigella!! Rose is too cute. We love her. 
17. Gorilla- aka Adrien’s real dad. If the series doesn’t end with Gabriel getting yeeted into the stratosphere and Gorilla adopting Adrien, I don’t want it.
16. Clara Nightingale- She’s in love with Marinette. You can’t change my mind. 16 is also how old I hc her to be, so don’t nobody come for me.
15. Tom Dupain- Most. Supportive. Dad. Soft bean. Just wants to make you fresh bread.
14. Sabine Cheng- Good mom vibes. We love to see her.
13. Juleka Couffaine- Shy goth bean. Just wants to have her picture taken. Definitely a lesbian. We stan.
12. Nino Lahiffe- The goodest boy. He’s just out here doing his best, loving his friends.
11. Chloe Bourgeois- Chloe is another one I have a love-hate relationship with. Her brattiness is funny to me. We had high hopes for her. Honestly, she ranks this high because I like to play with her in fic.
10. Max Kante- He smol and smort. And I adore his friendship with Kim and the fact that he made an AI himself at 14. What a legend.
9. Alya Cesaire- Rip to Alya salters, but I’m different. Outside of Chameleon, Alya is fine. She’s a supportive bff. All yall people that are mad she doesn’t kiss Marinette’s ass all the time need to go out and make real friends. I said what I said.
8. Alix Kubdel- I love Alix. I love how she is always so done with all the lovey-dovey bullshit. She is tiny queen, and Bunnix, while OP af, is still super cool. We love to see her.
7. Kagami Tsurugi- I will fight anyone who shits on Kagami. She has done nothing wrong, you guys are just haters. All she did was exist, and yall said, wow what a toxic bitch?? Disgraceful.
6. Jagged Stone- We are going to ignore the deadbeat dad trope that canon thrust upon him. He is a Marinette stan, and we love that.
5. Kim Le Chien- I really love Kim, you guys. Does that surprise you? Listen, my favorite male character types are sweet beans and himbos. Kim is both of these.
4. Master Fu- If you didn’t pick up on how much I love Fu from the episodes ranking, then idk what to tell you. I want him to be my grandpa. I would trust this mans with my life. He did his best. You paint those pictures, you funky little man. I love you.
3. Plagg- My galaxy trash man. Love him. 10/10 chefs kisses all around.
2. Adrien Agreste- The biggest Marinette stan there is. I just want him to kiss her on the face. And marry her. Idk, I just think that would be neat if he could do that. I just want good things for them.
1. Marinette Dupain-Cheng- Honestly, are you surprised? I have always been and always will be a Marinette stan. If you expected anyone else to be in this spot, then clown suit rentals are off to the left.
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bunnyinthestars · 3 years
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Adrien is definitely gonna take Emilie’s place in a coma (A Theory)
Yeah so I mean the title of this is exactly what I’m pretty sure is gonna happen. This is because there has been a huge load of foreshadowing and some other subtler reasons I will be going over in this post. Of course, there’s always a chance it won’t happen, but if it didn’t I think I’d be pretty surprised considering just the amount of evidence thats going into this.
(Also sorry ahead of time for the structure of this, I tried to structure this based on my specific reasons for this theory but I kind of went off on tangents in some places and in others I use ideas that I assume come with the theory and don’t necessarily fit into any specific reason (like Emilie coming back to life and what would happen there, why Adrien and not Nathalie, and loosely how theyd get Adrien out of the coma), although I mosty stick to the structure I still want to add this disclaimer just so you’re aware that I wrote this in one go at midnight (also wait right now its 12:10am it is now ten minutes into my birthday??? ok ignoring that))
I dont know man. Just consider what I have to say. Or dont. I will be listing my reasons starting now.
1. Imagery of Adrien being in comatose state/ in a coffin-like thing.
This is surprisingly common??? Off the top of my head I can think of Style Queen and Riposte (I believe) which involve this. In Style Queen, Audrey in the form of her akumatized self had essentially kidnapped Adrien and put him in this gold/glass coffin thing that disintegrated the longer it remained untouched. The other one is Riposte, where Ladybug hides Adrien in that big sarcophogus in the Louvre (he didn’t stay in it but still the imagery is there.)
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I also just remembered in Chameleon when Lila took Adrien’s form he was asleep/in a comatose state in that locker and Plagg was like “aw man am I gonna have to kiss him.....” but then Adrien wakes up because Lila stole someone else’s form
EDIT: another instance of Adrien/Chat Noir being shoved into a sarcophagus (besides Riposte) is in Pharaoh in season 1
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So yes there is definitely a good number of foreshadowing for this. I might take this further and say if Adrien were to go comatose and be in the coffin Emilie was in then Felix might replace him for some amount of time?? Like impersonate him amd stuff?? Just because there’s lots of stuff in the show with impersonation I feel like it could work aNYWAY BACK TO THE EVIDENCE I KNOW ITS A TANGENT
2. Possible evidence foreshadowing Emilie *inadvertantly* killing (not killing but making comatose you get it) Adrien
This one is not as strong as the first but its worth considering. I was googling the word “mayura” just out of curiosity a while back and basically its a peacock in Hindu stories (like peacocks are a kinda revered animal) and I just initially found a couple websites that said that the mayura has been depicted eating a snake as a symbol of the cycle of time (you dont have to read this part in parenthesis, its just kind of a tangent: the cycle of time as known in Hinduism is another aspect of Hinduism directly referenced in the show: the horse/space miraculous kwami Kaalki’s name is a reference to the prophecied tenth avatar/reincarnation of the god Vishnu, and he is referenced in the Kalachakra tantra which is basically a Hindu book about the cycle of time. Keep in mind I got all this from wikipedia and other internet websites, I do not practice Hinduism and I dont directly know anybody who does, so if any of this is wrong pls lmk because there is surprisingly not a lot of information on the internet about it from what I could tell)
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So anyways yes peacock (mayura) eating snake representing the cycle of time. Both Luka and Adrien are represented in the show as the snake, but ultimately I think the snake here represents Adrien just because it makes more sense (Snake Noir, future Alix’s tattoo depicts a snake to be Adrien and is meant to represent Adrinette, Adrien just has some shifty stuff going on with the snake in general etc) and thus, if Gabriel manages to actually get the ladybug and black cat miraculouses and make the wish to bring Emilie to life, then this “mayura” analogy (assuming Emilie as the mayura in this scenario) would make sense if her life brought upon Adrien losing his.
The reason I dont think it would refer to Nathalie even though her official name is Mayura is for pretty much two sub-reasons. The first is that I think she is going to die before this wish happens. I know, its a kids show, whatever, but consider it. The Agreste/Graham de Vanily family has a trend of having opposite names [I am so sorry I literally first heard this from a tumblr user but I cannot remember who I just remember they had made a string of theories on why Emilie Agreste will not be who she seems to be so credit to them I did not discover that] for example the name Gabriel means hero/angel, Felix means happy/fortunate, Adrien means dark, etc, and Nathalie Sancoeur means “birthday (of Christ)” and “heartless” respectively. We already know she is not heartless but rather full of heart because she has fallen in love with Gabriel. So then,,,,,,,,,, the opposite of birth is death. She’s already shown to be pretty sick too despite the peacock miraculous having been “fixed” (as of the New York special being the most recent piece of content). I’m sorry guys I do not make the rules
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stop why his face look like that though
The second part of why I think this is a little stupid but. The original art released by Jeremy Zag for Mayura does not look like Nathalie. Plus this art was only released under the name of “the Peacock” (originally Le Paon in French) so it might not actually be the Mayura we know as of now. Now, theoretically, it could be that they had made this art before they knew they wanted Nathalie to be Mayura or just as art depicting what Emilie would have been like as the peacock miraculous holder, and it could literally just be Nathalie. When you compare the images, though, the original Mayura art looks far more like Emilie and a lot less like Nathalie. Yes I am aware this is stupid just know this is only a minor point
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I dont know man those faces do not look the same to me and the original Mayura definitely had Emilie’s eye shape and face shape in mind. They might’ve changed it after making the concept art but my point still stands
Ok next reasoning
Again not a very strong point but sometimes dialogue just implies things in Miraculous and I can think of a very specific quote that would fit this happening, and there are probably more that I just dont know to look for since I dont have this whole show memorized
So the quote is from Startrain after Gabriel loses control of the akuma then learns about the Startrain having been akumatized with Adrien on board, and he says “hoping that my enemies will save my son..... how ironic.” When I first heard this quote I really, really felt like it was foreshadowing something just based on his tone and the way this new idea was being introduced of him having to be on the same side as Ladynug and Chat Noir for once, even if it was just temporary. This quote absolutely is indicative to me of a future event in which he’ll have to work with his “enemies” to save his son. A situation in which Adrien is in comatose would perfectly align with this. At least for how I would predict the show would make it, Gabriel would have to turn away from Emilie (who represents the past for him, and this action would therefore represent moving on) and join forces with Ladybug/Marinette, his “enemy”, to save Adrien.
Onto the last reason!
Emilie is probably definitely coming back. Which means someone’s going into a coma in her place.
I mean come on it would be so anticlimactic if they just caught Gabe before he fulfilled his wish. Plus with the way they are outlining Emilie to be this perfect golden being is definitely because its going to far contrast with how she will actually turn out. This doesnt really support the Adrien thing in particular but honestly it would also be anticlimactic of the coma was for anyone else. If it was Nathalie, then yeah itd suck for Adrien I guess but like???? Doesn’t really connect the plots as much. Whereas if its Adrien, that brings Marinette into it, that gives her a powerful as heck conflict. Im guessing they would also somehow resolve his coma with “the power of love” mentioned in the theme song, just because of the foreshadowing with like waking someone up with a true love’s kiss (think Plagg in Chameleon, I guess the rose in Style Queen, maybe Alya’s story to Manom in Stormy Weather if we’re strecthing it....)
TL;DR: Adrien is probably gonna go comatose (like Emilie did) at some point because its been pretty foreshadowed (think Style Queen, Riposte, and even Chameleon), because of the legend surrounding the Hindu “mayura” peacock eating a snake representing time (wow that was not a sentence ok then), because Gabriel has previously foreshadowed having to work with his enemies to save his son, and also just because it would be super awesome and allow each character involved to have a pretty fulfilling conflict and arc.
(all images from the miraculous ladybug wiki excluding the piece of art depicting the mayura which is from murugan.org)
I hope however took the time to read this post enjoyed this theory, sometimes I have really random yet detailed theories regarding this show and I wanted to share this one because if I’m right then this will be proof I had predicted it, also you guys could possibly elaborate on it. I’m all for friendly discussions folks fr
If this doesn’t end up happening the theory is still awesome and they should have done it, and if it does my ego will probably expand and hopefully they will make it as awesome as it seems like it would be. Sorry if the structure of this post is not great, but thank you for reading. I appreciate you, have a wonderful week :)
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atomic-taco-muffin · 3 years
Text
KH x Danganronpa Part 6
Warnings: IDEK
Rating: SFW
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(Look at him!)
Sora, Donald, and Goofy walked through a picturesque forest. Goofy put his hand up to block the sun.
"It sure is a pretty day," he said.
"Yeah, the weather is great. It'd be perfect for a picnic," Sora stretched.
"Why do you think we came HERE?" Donald asked.
"Got me, Donald."
"We'll figure it out as we go," Goofy said.
"Okay," Donald sighed.
"I'm sure we were brought to this world for SOME good reason, but can't we sweat it later?" Sora said.
"Fine with me, as long as there's no Heartless. Or Monokumas." They heard a scream and stopped in their tracks, looking around for the source of it. Then with grunting and a final slide, a man fell down the hill behind them. He groaned, massaging his back, then looked back where he came from, where a troop of Heartless and Monokumas flew down after him. The man got up and scampered away, the satchel on his hip flapping with every step. He ran toward the trio with the Heartless on his tail, flailing his arms wildly.
"Make way! Make way! Make way!" he said. Sora, Donald, and Goofy parted so he could pass them, then summoned their weapons.
"Heartless!" Sora said.
"And Monokumas!" Donald said. The man found a rock to hide behind, catching his breath and peering out at the group.
"You see? Soon as you mention 'em, they show up!" Sora said.
"There goes our picnic," Goofy said.
"I didn't do it!" Donald said.
"S'okay. Let's send these guys packing," Sora said.
"Say, since you three seem to know what you're doing, mind if I leave this one to you?" the man asked.
"Yup. We'll take care of them. Go on, skedaddle!"
"You have my thanks." The man gave out a sigh. "The horse was enough. Don't need any monsters or weird looking bears on my trail."
"The WHAT was enough?" Donald asked.
"Oh, nothing, nothing. Name's Flynn. Flynn Rider. Flynn pointed to one of the Heartless. "Ohh! Watch out, they look mad!" Donald turned around again and Flynn started creeping away.
"Slowly... Slowly... Outta here!" he said. He dashed away as fast as he can while Sora, Donald, and Goofy took out the multitude of Heartless and Monokumas. After the fight, they saw no sign of Flynn Rider.
"Huh? Where'd Flynn go?" Sora asked.
"He skedaddled," Donald said.
"I think I saw him go thataway," Goofy said. He pointed toward a spot between the trees that veered into a small clearing with rocky hills on each side.
"Huh? But 'thataway' is...just a dead end," Sora said.
"Yeah. That's puzzling," Goofy said.
"Well, did he?" Donald said. Goofy crossed his arms, thinking.
"I say we investigate," Sora said. They searched the area for Flynn and approach the rocky hillside ahead.
"He couldn't have come this way," Donald said. Sora saw no exit nearby and turned to face Donald & Goofy, his back to a patch of leafy vines.
"Well, at least he got away safe. Right?" he said. He tried to lean against the vines but stumbled right through them. Goofy turned at the rustling sound, but Sora had disappeared.
"Hey! Now Sora's gone, too!" he said. Goofy walked over to the vines and heard Sora's voice through them.
"This way, guys! It's a secret passage!" he said. Sora stood up as Goofy and Donald pulled the vines apart to find a small hollow in the mountain. They ran through the cave until emerging into a small valley with a lone tower standing in its center. Made mostly of brick, the tower had vines running along its side indicating it must have been there for years. Behind the tower, a waterfall ran over the mountainside into a small pond that glistened in the sunlight.
"Look at that. A tower! Let's check it out!" Sora said. As they neared the base of the tower, they saw Flynn climbing down the stones on the outside with a pair of arrows. He paused, resting for a moment, when Rapunzel flung her hair down out the window, rappelling herself down the tower. She stopped before she hit the ground and slowly extended a barefoot to the warm grass beneath. She took in the feeling of her first taste of earth and knelt down, feeling the ground under her hands.
"It's so soft!" she said. Several dandelion seeds flew into the wind before her and she stood. "I'm free... I'm really free!"
She started running, not even noticing the trio as she passed them. Sora, Donald, and Goofy ran over to Flynn as he reached the bottom of the tower.
"Flynn, good to see you in one piece!" Sora said.
"Guys! You're here, and just in time," Flynn said. Rapunzel stepped into the pond, laughing as she stepped over the small stones lining the bottom.
"Oh... Who's she?" Sora asked.
"Uh, that would be Rapunzel," Flynn said. She took a handful of water and splashed it upwards with a shout of glee and loud laughter. "Something tells me this could be her first time outdoors. Give her a few minutes to get used to it."
"First time EVER?" Sora asked, wide-eyed. The sun beat down on her golden hair as she took in her decision and she grabbed her face.
"I can't believe I did this!" she said, happily. She grabbed her head.
"I can't believe I did this," She said, shocked as she spun around. "I can't believe I DID this!"
She gasped.
"Mother would be so furious if she knew I disobeyed her and left the tower..." she said, worriedly.
She sat on a rock holding a flower.
"But that's okay--I mean, what she doesn't know won't kill her... Right?" she said, carefree.
She cried in the hollow cave.
"Oh my gosh. This would kill her," she said, sadly.
She ran through the grass, kicking up leaves. Donald laughed while Flynn rolled his eyes.
"This is so fuuuuuun!" she shouted.
She leaned her head against a tree.
"I am a horrible daughter. I'm going back," she said, devastated.
She did cartwheels through the flowers, wrapping herself in her hair.
"I am never going back!" she said, exuberantly.
She lied facedown on the ground.
"I am a despicable human being," she said, in grief.
She swung around a large tree by her hair where Flynn and Sora waited for her to even out.
"Best. Day. Ever!" she said, exhilarated.
She sobbed into her hands at the base of the tree. Flynn walked over to her, with the trio following.
"I notice you seem a little at war with yourself here," Flynn said.
"A little MORE than a little," Goofy said.
"More like a lot," Donald said.
"Yeah..." Sora said. She stopped crying and turned to see them. She gasped and held out the frying pan toward Sora, Donald, and Goofy.
"Stop right there! Who are you?" she said. Flynn stepped in between them.
"I told you before: my sidekicks," he said.
"Sidekicks?" Sora asked.
"May I introduce, ehh..."
"Oh, uh... My name's Sora."
"Donald!"
"And I'm Goofy. Pleasure, ma'am." The chameleon appeared from under her hair, skeptical of them.
"Sora, Donald, and...Goofy," she said as she lowered her frying pan. "It's...nice to meet you, too. I'm Rapunzel."
"Yep. My sidekicks," Flynn said. Sora grabbed Flynn's arm and spun him around.
"Since when is THAT?" he whispered.
"Look, she really wants to see the lantern show tomorrow night. Now, I'm a nice guy, so I've decided to help her. Only problem is those monsters might show up again. I can get her to the Kingdom--but you guys are clearly more cut out for combat," Flynn whispered back.
"That's cause we're heroes!" Donald said.
"Uh-huh!"
"And we're Heartless experts. And we know a little bit about those Monokumas," Goofy said.
"Yeah, yeah!" They posed together and Sora gave a small laugh.
"Just leave it to us!" he said.
"Done," Flynn said. He motioned to Rapunzel and led her forward.
"Rapunzel is interesting..." Donald said. The trio walked behind them as Rapunzel admired her surroundings.
"Yeah, her heart's pulling her all kinda ways," Goofy said.
"The outside world must seem so big and scary. I know how she feels. Lucky for me you two came along at just the right time--and the rest has been unforgettable," Sora said.
"Awww..." Donald said. Sora realized he was getting sentimental.
"Yep, unforgettable...just like your face!" he smiled, pointing to Donald.
"Oh yeah?!" Donald asked. Sora laughed as Donald burst out in anger. Sora ran to catch up to Rapunzel and Flynn, putting his hands behind his head. Goofy chuckled as Donald seethed.
"C'mon, now," Goofy said. He ran after Sora, and Donald followed.
"All for one, and one for all," Sora said.
~~~~
Back at the tower, Mother Gothel had returned to find Rapunzel missing. She scrambled through the house in desperation.
"Rapunzel?" she asked as she ran to her room.
"Rapunzel?!" she shrieked. She frantically tore down the curtain covering the window but found no one there. She clutched her face in terror before a glint of light caught her eye from beneath the stairs. She opened the bottom step and pulled out a satchel. Reaching into the satchel, she removed a sparkling tiara and at the sight of it, dropped it in fear. Terrified, she looked further in the bag, taking out a Wanted poster for one Flynn Rider.
"Missing someone?" someone asked. She whirled around.
"Who's there?" she asked. Stepping out from a portal was a man in a black coat with long rose-colored hair and a woman in a beautiful white gown with blonde hair styled up to make her crown fit. The abrupt entrance caused the frightened woman to drop the poster as Marluxia and Remnant Sonia stepped closer.
"She's such a precious gift. Allow us to assist you in getting her back," Sonia said as Mother Gothel's eyes slowly turned pink.
~~~~
Sora and the others left the lake and continued through the forest, Rapunzel's long hair trailing behind her as they came upon a strange plant stuck in the ground in a clearing alone.
"Okay, that's suspicious," Flynn said.
"Rapunzel..." Sora said.
"Don't worry. I know to be careful around flowers now," Rapunzel winked.
"Whatever it is, it's not normal. I'll take a look." Sora walked closer to the weird-looking plant.
"Watch it," Donald said. Sora approached the odd vegetation and examined it while everyone waited with bated breath. After seeing no imminent threat from the flower, he turned to the group.
"We're all clear," he said. They sighed with relief, but too late, as the flower's petals opened, folding downward as its form changed to that of a creature holding a scythe with a familiar symbol on its face, along with a few Monokumas as well.
"Sora!" Donald said, alarmed. He pointed behind Sora, who turned just in time as the pink and white creature swung its immense scythe at him while the Monokumas attacked him with their claws. Sora dodged away and summoned his Keyblade with gritted teeth, joined by Donald and Goofy.
"These guys?" Sora asked as more appeared.
"They're Nobodies! And there's more Monokumas!" Goofy said.
"Mother said the outside world would be full of ruffians and thugs," Rapunzel said.
"Those aren't ruffians. Those are...uhh, I dunno..." Donald said.
"Rapunzel, Flynn, stay back!" Sora said.
"No. I want to help you fight," Rapunzel said.
"I know. But I'm afraid you can't hurt these guys with a frying pan, plus these bears are really dangerous. Trust me on this. Flynn, could you explain?"
"No problem. Knowing when to flee is one of my specialties," Flynn said as he rushed over to Rapunzel. "C'mon, Rapunzel. Gotta go."
"But--"
"Look, I wanna stay and slug it out too, but my sidekicks have it covered." Sora nodded with a smile.
"All right. Please be careful, Sora," Rapunzel said. They nodded and left them to it. Sora, Donald, and Goofy took out all the Reaper Nobodies and Monokumas and regrouped.
"You know who uses Nobodies..." Goofy said.
"The Organization!" Donald said.
"Yeah. And Mukuro warned us about Junko and the Remnants of Despair. They must be working for them. I'm surprised we haven't seen 'em," Sora said. He cupped and started calling out. "I know you're there! Come out, you has-beens! And you despair loving freaks!"
They looked around and a corridor of darkness appeared behind them.
"'Has-beens'? Now why would you say that?" someone asked.
"And how dare you call a queen a freak!" a woman said. A tall man with long pink hair emerged from the portal, peering at them through yellow eyes while a woman with blonde hair glared at them with glowing red eyes.
"Because bossing around Nobodies? That's the old Organization," Sora chuckled. "Why? Are you in the 'real' one too? Good for you. And you must be one of the so-called 'Remnants of Despair'."
"My name is Marluxia and this is my beloved queen, Sonia." Marluxia kissed her knuckles making her blush.
"Oh, stop! You're making me blush!" Sonia swooned.
"And yes, that is correct. How interesting it is to see you again, Sora," Marluxia said.
"'Again'?" Sora asked. He turned to Donald and Goofy, confused. "YOU know 'im?"
Donald and Goofy shook their heads.
"A shame you've no memory of me, because I remember you exceedingly well. Although...it's THOSE memories I'd soon erase. And you obviously wouldn't know Sonia. She's new but she is very powerful," Marluxia said. Sonia giggled insanely and looked at the trio.
"I don't know what you're saying," Sora said.
"Nor should you. Nor will you ever, for that matter," Sonia said. The trio glanced at them with confused faces.
"Now, if you'll permit me, I've come to ask a favor," Marluxia said.
"Favor? You have got to be kidding me," Sora said. Donald & Goofy nodded in agreement.
"Please hear what we have to say. I'm sure you've noticed..." Sonia said. She mused on this for a moment and Sora raised his eyebrows for her or Marluxia to continue.
"Well, perhaps not. But you should know that maiden with you, Rapunzel, is the very light of this world. I would see you guard her from its dark horrors," Marluxia said.
"Huh?" the trio asked as they took defensive stances.
"Starting with you two, right?" Sora asked.
"All the Organization seeks is balance. You must understand, our ultimate objective is not to clash with the light. We seek to complement it. Use that Keyblade...to keep Rapunzel safe," Sonia said as she and Marluxia vanished into a dark corridor.
"Rapunzel's light..." Sora said. Goofy scratched his face and Sora looked around. "Hey. Where did they go?"
"I guess they musta run on ahead," Goofy said.
"Then we'd better go find them." They continued through the forest in search of Flynn and Rapunzel. Soon the forest turned into marshland and the fog obscured their view ahead. Still no sign of them, Sora sighed.
"I wonder where they went," he said.
"Don't worry. They couldn't have gotten too far," Goofy said. A hooded figure quickly hid behind a tree.
"You just had to stop and talk," Donald said. Mother Gothel peered at them from beneath her cloak.
"Hey! Blame the has-been and the freak, not me," Sora said.
"I think you mean Marluxia and Sonia. I bet that's the name the has-been and the freak would prefer," Goofy said. Mother Gothel averted her gaze and began to leave.
"Hellooo? Rapunzel? Flynn?" Sora called out. She stopped at Rapunzel's name and turned back, lowering her hood.
"Excuse me, good travelers. Do you know Rapunzel?" she said. They turned to her as she walked toward them and exchanged glances.
"Uh, yeah... Sort of," Sora said.
"Why?" Donald asked.
"My apologies. I'm Rapunzel's mother. The poor child left home without a word, and I've just been worried sick. Please tell me: where is my dear, sweet girl?"
"We'd tell ya, but we lost her," Goofy said.
"By accident," Donald said.
"We could look together," Sora said.
"Lost her?" Mother Gothel scoffed. "You're of no use to me."
She waved them off and continued walking.
"I'll find her myself," she said.
"She ran away from home?" Donald asked.
"What if Marluxia and Sonia were onto something back there?" Sora asked.
"You trust Organization XIII?"
"What? No! Of course not. But...what if?"
"I agree. Why is Rapunzel in danger, and what darkness is after her?" Goofy said.
"Well, guys, the first step is to find her." They searched for Rapunzel and Flynn, eventually exiting the marshland into a more bright forest. Soon, they heard a voice.
"Wh-wh-whoa! Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Easy, boy, easy! Settle down. Whoa, whoa!" Rapunzel said.
"That voice!" Sora said.
"It's Rapunzel!" Goofy said. Ahead, a terrified Flynn had his back pressed against a rock while Rapunzel attempted to calm down a large white horse. The angry-looking horse peered at the chameleon atop Rapunzel's head. Pascal motioned with his three-toed front feet to settle down. The horse, wide-eyed, raised an ear and set his rump down on the ground with a dispirited whinny.
"You are such a good boy! Yes you are," Rapunzel said as she pet the bridge of his nose and his tail started to wag. "Are you all tired from chasing this bad man all over the place?"
The horse nodded sadly.
"Excuse me?"Flynn asked.
"Nobody appreciates you, do they?" Rapunzel asked. Rapunzel moved closer to give him a hug. "Do they?"
The horse shook his head.
"Oh, come on. He's a bad horse!" Flynn said.
"Ohhh. He's nothing but a big sweetheart," Rapunzel said as the horse nuzzled against her. "Isn't that right...Maximus?"
Maximus stamped his foot and whinnied at the attentive petting as Flynn griped on the forest floor.
"Wha... You've got to be kidding me," he said. Maximus glared at him.
"Look, today is kind of the biggest day of my life, and the thing is, I need you NOT to get him arrested," Rapunzel said. She helped Flynn up and Maximus narrowed his eyes at her. "Just for twenty-four hours, and then you can chase each other to your hearts' content. Okay?"
Flynn begrudgingly offered a hand, but Maximus refused, looking away.
"And it's also my birthday. Just so you know," Rapunzel said. Maximus grumbled softly and offered his hoof. They shook, their scowls unbroken. Rapunzel looked ahead, seeing the trio running toward them.
"Rapunzel!" Sora said.
"You're here. And you're okay!" Rapunzel said. From behind her back, Maximus punched Flynn in the side and smirked.
"Yeah! You too," Sora said.
"And look! I made a friend," Rapunzel said as Maximus walked over. "Meet Maximus. You could say Flynn introduced us. And where one goes, the other follows."
Maximus inspected them dubiously.
"This is Sora, Goofy, and Donald. They've been helping me," Rapunzel said. Maximus nodded and Flynn got up, clutching his side and pointing onward.
"Come on, the Kingdom's not far," he said.
~~~~
They crossed the bridge and entered the castle town, Rapunzel giggling to herself all the way.
"Rapunzel sure looks happy," Sora said.
"She does," Donald said.
"Well, her dream's gonna come true. They're sendin' the lanterns up after dark," Goofy said.
"Cool! We don't wanna miss that!" Sora said. After dancing at the town center, a man shouted for everyone to head to the boats for the lanterns. The sunset and the trio watched from one of the docks, Maximus from another, as Rapunzel and Flynn took a boat to the middle of the lake. They gazed up at the castle against the darkly lit sky.
"I've been looking out a window for eighteen years, dreaming about what it might feel like when those lights rise in the sky. What if it's not everything I dreamed it would be?" Rapunzel said.
"It will be," Flynn said, calmly.
"And what if it is? What do I do then?"
"Well, that's the good part, I guess. You get to go find a new dream." They look up as a solitary lantern peeked out from behind the castle, floating slowly up into the sky. Rapunzel hastily stood up, rocking the boat and grasping at the stern, as multitudes of floating lanterns pooled out of the castle gates. Soon the entire kingdom was enveloped in a flock of lights floating softly into the air. Rapunzel leaned her head on the wood as she gazed longingly at the magical sight. She turned back to Flynn holding two of his own in his hands. She happily sat back down.
"I have something for you, too," she said. She pulled out his satchel and he stared at it. "I should have given it to you before, but I was just scared. And the thing is, I'm not scared anymore. You know what I mean?"
He placed a hand on the satchel and moved for her to put it down.
"I'm starting to," he said. They set free their lanterns and they joined the swirling bunch in the sky. Flynn gazed at Rapunzel, seeing the happiness on her face, then looked toward the satchel, thinking to himself. When the festival died down, they docked the boat on the edge of the lake and Flynn got out.
"I'm sorry. Everything is fine. There's...just something I have to take care of," he said. He grabbed the satchel and she looked back and forth between it and him.
"Okay," she said.
"I'll be right back." He turned to leave and Pascal climbed onto her shoulder.
"It's all right, Pascal," she said. They both sadly watched him go. From Sora's place at the dock, they watched the lights in the sky.
"Wow!" he gasped. They sensed a disturbance from behind as Reaper Nobodies and Monokumas appeared on the wharf. They got up and turned around, irked.
"Could you guys have possibly picked a worse time?" Sora asked.
"I don't think they appreciate the moment, Sora," Goofy said.
"Not one bit!" Donald said.
"It's time for these wet blankets to go!" Sora said as the three of them summoned their weapons.
"Yeah!" Donald and Goofy said. They took care of the Nobodies and Monokumas plaguing the wharf as Rapunzel waited by the shore with Pascal. Out of the fog over the water emerged a small sailboat.
"Eugene?" she asked. From shore, she saw what looked like Flynn steering the sailboat with the stolen tiara in his hand. "Eugene!"
Unknown to Rapunzel, he was out cold and tied to the mast and helm.
"Oh dear... He's run off with the crown and forgotten you," Marluxia said as he and Sonia appeared behind her.
"No. He wouldn't. Who are you?" Rapunzel said. They didn't answer and she looked back at the boat, still drifting away.
"Forget Flynn Rider. You know where you belong, and it's not with him. And I wish I had your pretty tiara. Now..." Sonia said. She and Marluxia motioned with their hands and two Reaper Nobodies and two Monokumas appeared in front of Rapunzel. She ran away in fear and Marluxia and Sonia smiled. She ran toward an opening between two large rocks, trying not to stumble when her braided hair caught on a fallen log. She pulled on it, trying to free it from the branch when she heard a voice.
"Rapunzel!" Mother Gothel said.
"Mother?" Rapunzel asked. She walked back to the shoreline, where the Nobodies and Monokumas had disintegrated and torn into pieces and Mother Gothel stood with a tree branch in her arms, out of breath. She perked up at the sight of Rapunzel.
"Oh, my precious girl!" she said.
"Mother..." Rapunzel said as she ran into her arms.
"Are you all right? Are you hurt?" Mother Gothel asked as she touched Rapunzel's face.
"M-Mother, how did you--"
"I was so worried about you, dear. So I followed you. And I saw them attack you, and--" Mother Gothel hugged her tightly. "Oh my. Let's go. Let's go, before they come to."
Rapunzel stopped and looked back at the boat on the lake. She slowly turned back to Mother Gothel, holding a green lantern in her hand. Rapunzel paused as Mother Gothel set the lantern down and opened her arms, beckoning her. Rapunzel's lip quivered and she started to cry, running into her mother's embrace. Mother Gothel stroked her hair as she sobbed. Sora, Donald, and Goofy entered and saw the two leaving.
"Hey, isn't that Rapunzel?" Sora asked. He cupped his hands to his face. "Wait! Rapunz--"
A dark corridor opened and Marluxia and Sonia appeared.
"Show some decorum," Marluxia said.
"You again!" Donald said.
"Marluxia! Sonia!" Sora said.
"The girl has found her dear mother. You should let them be," Sonia said.
"And why is that?"
"Because Rapunzel is far too important. Atop her tower, she must remain out of sight, and live out her days with Mother Gothel," Marluxia said.
"And never see anyone else?" Goofy said.
"But that's like...locking her in some prison!" Sora said.
"That is EXACTLY what it's like. Rapunzel's hair holds the powerful magic of healing. And yes, Mother Gothel wants it for herself. As do others. And, if Mother Gothel's actions will protect Rapunzel, preserve her...then she is doing the Organization a favor," Sonia said.
"What favor?"
"Let's say she's keeping Rapunzel on the shelf for us. An extra pawn in case you fail to find the remaining guardians of light, and we have occasion to call on other hearts of light instead. A New Seven Hearts to fill out the ranks," Marluxia said.
"'New Seven Hearts'?"
"Yes. Seven who inherited the princesses' light after their role was fulfilled," Sonia said.
"So, you don't care about her. You guys just want Rapunzel for your own purposes! Well, you're done here!" Sora said as he summoned his Keyblade.
"Hmph. I just knew you would go and make a scene. Very well, then it's lights out for you," Marluxia said. He extended a hand, blowing a pink wind toward Sora. He dropped the Keyblade, his eyes drooping.
"Sora!" Donald and Goofy exclaimed. They ran towards him as his vision got hazy, his ears muffled.
"You always were such a sound sleeper," Marluxia said. Sonia giggled and wrapped her arms around Marluxia's arm as Sora fell to the ground. Meanwhile, a recently escaped Flynn dashed on Maximus over the bridge away from the city. The morning sun brightened the sky as he rode toward the forest, encountering Donald and Goofy hovering over a still-sleeping Sora.
"Whoa, Max! Whoa, boy," Flynn said. They slid just short of them.
"Flynn!" Goofy said.
"Is Sora okay?" Flynn asked.
"We don't know," Donald said.
"We keep callin' his name and shakin' him, but he won't open his eyes," Goofy said.
"Sora!"
"Wake up!"
"Hmm... Unresponsive sidekick... Wait a minute. I know how to fix this! Max, give him a wash!" Flynn said. Maximus licked Sora's face with his long tongue, rousing him from his sleep. Sora opened his eyes seeing Flynn and Maximus looking down at him. Donald and Goofy peeked into view.
"Sora!" Donald and Goofy said as he sat up.
"Well, that did the trick. Nice work, Max!" Flynn said. Maximus smiled haughtily. Sora stood and held his head.
"Huh? How did I end up..." he asked as the events came back to him. "Oh no! Flynn, Rapunzel's being held prisoner!"
Donald and Goofy nodded.
"That's right. In her mother's tower," Flynn said. They trotted forward.
"This calls for a rescue," Flynn said. He smiled down at Sora and extended a hand. "Are you with me?"
Sora gave a small laugh.
"Yeah," he said. Flynn pulled Sora up onto the horse with a proud cackle. Donald jumped up onto Sora's shoulders and Goofy tagged along on Maximus. Suddenly, they lost height.
"Uh-oh!" Goofy said. Maximus's legs buckled, struggling to hold them up, but his face changed to one of determination. He let out a whinny and stood straight up.
"Let's go, Max," Flynn said. Maximus reared back and charged forward. They raced through the forest in the direction of the tower when they were intercepted by a group of Nobodies and Monokumas.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, Max!" Flynn said. Sora, Donald, and Goofy nodded to each other and jumped off Maximus, summoning their weapons.
"We'll take it from here, Flynn. Go help Rapunzel," Sora said.
"Thanks!" Flynn said. He took off with Maximus, leaving the Nobodies and Monokumas to them. As they followed along through the forest, their path was filled with Heartless and more Monokumas. They defeated each wave in turn. By the time they arrived, Flynn had climbed up and entered the tower.
"Rapunzel! I thought I'd never see you again," Flynn said. He looked up, seeing Rapunzel chained and gagged. Her eyes widen as Mother Gothel sneaked behind him, striking a hidden dagger into his side. Rapunzel struggled to get free, crying out as Flynn fell over onto the floor. Mother Gothel looked down at him, squirming in pain on the stone floor. She tugged on Rapunzel's chains trying to lead her deeper into the tower, the girl desperate to get free.
"Rapunzel, really! Enough already! Stop fighting me!" she said. Rapunzel, pulling back, lost her balance and fell over, the gag slipping from her mouth.
"No! I won't stop! For every minute of the rest of my life, I will fight! I will never stop trying to get away from you! But...if you let me save him, I will go with you," she said. Mother Gothel raised an eyebrow.
"No! No, Rapunzel..." Flynn grunted. He attempted to crawl on the floor but the pain was too great. Pascal looked on helplessly.
"I'll never run... I'll never try to escape. Just let me heal him...and you and I will be together--forever, just like you want. Every- thing will be the way it was. I promise. Just like you want. Just...let me heal him," Rapunzel said. Mother Gothel released Rapunzel and shackled Flynn.
"In case you get any ideas about following us," she said to him. Rapunzel rushed to his side.
"Eu...Eugene!" she said. She brushed the hair out of his eyes and he clutched his side, struggling to sit up against the wall. She checked at his wound, obviously bleeding.
"Oh, I'm so sorry. Everything is gonna be okay, though," she said as she gathered her hair into her arms.
"No...Rapunzel..." Flynn groaned.
"I promise. You have to trust me." She placed her hair over his wound.
"No! I can't let you do this," he said. They stared into each other's eyes.
"And I can't let you die," she said.
"But if you do this...but if you do this, then you will die."
"Hey. It's gonna be all right," she whispered. He gave the very smallest of smiles.
"Rapunzel... Wait," he said. He began to stroke her hair, his face moving closer to hers, and with a swift motion cut off her hair with a shard of the broken mirror. His hand fell to the floor, dropping the glass, as her hair turned brown, its healing ability lost. She looked down at him in shock.
"Eugene, what--" she gasped. Absolute terror erupted from Mother Gothel's face.
"No!" she screamed. From the strand in Rapunzel's hands, the once golden locks of hair turned a deep brown. Mother Gothel tried to gather them up in her arms before the magic was lost.
"Oh no. No..." she said. Unable to stop the transformation, she grabbed her hand, watching it become wrinkled and withered.
"What have you done? What have you DONE?!" she yelled. The aging spread across her body like a weed, her skin turning pale and her hair a pallid gray. She screamed out in sudden shrieks, her body moving feebly, as she covered her decrepit face with her hood. She writhed about the room, crossing closer to the window, where Pascal pulled on the long bunch of hair, causing her to spill out of the tower. She screamed as she fell, aging out of existence, the shroud flying down through the air as Sora, Donald and Goofy reached the base of the tower. Marluxia and Sonia watched from the hill.
"Fallen to darkness... We can't allow her near our pure light now. Her presence would only cast a pall over it," Sonia said. Marluxia motioned with his arm, suspending the cloak in midair surrounded by petals of pink. An orb of darkness burst forth and branch-like limbs erupted from within, followed by a tail. Another set of limbs and the creature crashed to the ground, the darkness pulling back, revealing a large tree-like Heartless, the Grim Guardianess. It growled down at Sora, Donald, and Goofy, who summoned their weapons.
"What happened up there?" Sora asked.
"I don't know, but we have to stop that Heartless," Donald said. The Grim Guardianess flew toward them, its tail moving like a serpent, as its large mane of leaves crashed to the ground, sending pollen everywhere. Donald and Goofy were sent into a sneezing fit as thorns surrounded Sora. He struggled to get free of the thorns' grip before the Heartless slithered around the tower, spiraling to the top. Sora broke free from the thorny tether as cherries fell from the sky. Sora, Donald, and Goofy raced across the hill avoiding the cages of vines that blocked their way, as the cherry bombs exploded on impact with the ground. Dodging the torrent of bombs, Sora reached the tower and ran up its stone exterior. The Heartless was soon no match for Sora and his Keyblade and was knocked from the tower. Inside, Rapunzel clutched Flynn.
"Don't go. Stay with me, Eugene," she said. Sora, Donald, and Goofy ascended the tower, seeing Rapunzel over Flynn's body. She grabbed his arm and placed it against her hair.
"🎵Flower, gleam and glow. Let your power shine. Make the clock reverse🎵," she sang through her tears.
"Rapunzel," Flynn said as he opened his eyes.
"🎵Bring back what once was mine.🎵"
"Hey. Rapunzel."
"What?"
"Rapunzel... You were my new dream." Tears welled up in her eyes.
"And you were mine," she said. Flynn blinked once more and his eyes closed, his body falling limp. The trio looked on sadly as she moved her hand toward his face.
"🎵Heal what has been hurt. Change the Fates' design. Save what has been lost. Bring back what once was mine🎵," she sang. She moved her hand over his heart and leaned in closer, her face nearly touching his, her song nearly a whisper. "What once was mine."
She sobbed, a tear falling onto the rogue's skin. It settled there, glowing into the shape of a flower. A light burst forth from Flynn's wound, wresting Rapunzel from her sorrow. Sora, Donald, and Goofy stared open-mouthed at this sight. The healing magic swirled into the air like strands of hair, wisping around Rapunzel, her eyes wide. A six-pointed flower magically bloomed from the wound, before the light disappeared inside of him. She moved closer to his face, brushing the hair out of her eyes as Flynn slowly took a breath and opened his eyes.
"Rapunzel..." he said.
"Eugene." she gasped.
"Did I ever tell you...I've got a thing for brunettes?" He smiled and Rapunzel was overcome by joy.
"Eugene!" she said. She threw her arms around him and he leaned on his side to embrace her. Sora, Donald, and Goofy smiled with glee, and Sora threw his arms around the other two, grinning from ear to ear and Flynn tightened his hold on Rapunzel. Later, they all stood at the base of the tower, the warm sunlight bathing over them.
"Wow, Rapunzel! You're finally gonna get to see your real home," Sora said.
"I know! I mean...I can't believe it. I can finally be with my real family! I couldn't have done it without your help," Rapunzel said.
"You're welcome," Donald said. She giggled.
"Well, from where I'm standing, the Kingdom couldn't ask for a better princess. And I couldn't have asked for better sidekicks!" Flynn said. Sora brushed a knuckle across his nose. "Thanks."
"Yes, thank you so much," Rapunzel said.
"Happily ever after," Donald said. Sora crossed his arms.
"Mh-hm," he said.
"Now, Flynn, you and Maximus play nice," Goofy said. Maximus and Flynn exchanged glances.
"Huh?" Flynn asked. Maximus whinnied with laughter. "Fine."
Rapunzel took Flynn's hand and they stared into each other's eyes.
"You're gonna be great," Sora said.
"Huh?" Rapunzel and Flynn asked.
"We haven't seen the guy controlling the monsters in a while, so that's one less worry."
"But there's still a chance that he might be around here somewhere," Goofy said.
"Well, if he comes back and tries to bother Rapunzel again, then Flynn will keep her safe. And we three won't be far behind."
"Come on. Rapunzel's the tough one, if you ask me," Donald said.
"True. But nevertheless, I won't let her out of my sight," Flynn said.
"Oh... Eugene," Rapunzel smiled.
"'Eugene'?" Sora asked.
"Oh! That's my real name. Eugene Fitzherbert. That's right. I never told you guys," Flynn chuckled.
"That's different," Donald said.
"I think it's a great name!" Goofy said.
"Me too. Nice to re-meet you, Eugene," Sora said.
"Hey! I thought I was the only one you were going to tell," Rapunzel said to Eugene.
"Don't worry. I've saved plenty of Fitzherbert-y secrets just for you," Eugene replied.
"Really?"
"Hey! What are you two lovebirds talking about?" Sora asked, pointing at them.
"Nothing!" Eugene said.
"Nothing," Rapunzel giggled.
"Hey, you can tell us!" Donald said.
"Yeah, it's not nice to keep secrets," Goofy said.
"This one is none of your business," Eugene said.
"Maximus, get him!" Sora chuckled.
"Huh?" Maximus glared at Eugene, an inch from his face, and Eugene stopped, unsure of what to anticipate. Pascal crawled onto Rapunzel's shoulder with a determined look and jumped over to Eugene's, sending his long sticky tongue into his ear. Eugene reeled back and clutched his ear, Pascal jumping off with a squeal of glee.
"You have got to be kidding me!" Eugene said. Rapunzel and the rest burst out laughing. Maximus smiled at Eugene, waggling his eyebrows as Pascal chilled on Eugene's head. Soon after, the trio left the Kingdom of Corona.
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unmanageable-day · 4 years
Text
Come to me
previous chapter. 1
PART 2 - next
Summary. After what happened in a relationship in the past, you found  it difficult to trust someone with the gentleman image.  'Gentleman' seems like merely a concept and it was probably impossible  for someone to be a genuine one. Now that you're stuck with the number one gentleman at campus for a  group project, how would you cope with the one and only Joshua Hong?
Genre. College!au, non-idol!au / friends to lover
Pairing. Joshua x y/n x a little bit of S.Coups, and a sprinkle of Wonwoo
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A few days later, you and your groups gathered again to discuss more for the project assignment. You and Joshua came early to a secluded spot in the library. You were worried if things were going to be awkward, but unexpectedly he was always the first one to talk to you. While waiting for Suhyun and Johnny, both of you managed to look over your schedule to find out which time should work without disturbing each other's activities. You almost dropped your jaw when you realized he almost always matched all gaps between classes, which was because you were in the same class most of the time yet you had no idea.
"I didn't know that we're in the same class like almost for all subjects," you uttered. Again, the mixed feelings of guilt, nervous and awkward made you unable to directly look at him.
He slightly smiled at your obliviousness. "Because you always sit in the front row and don't even bother to look around."
"Really?" You nervously faked a chuckle. Not even your friends had called you out like that despite what he said was actually true.
"But anyway, it's easier for us, don't you think?"
"That's right." Another nervous chuckle slipped out of your mouth. This was the time you vigorously typed a message to Johnny and Suhyun to come quickly. However you can't even be on your phone for too long since this guy literally kept talking to you, which you found it odd. This guy should hate you if he remembered the first encounter. Suddenly you were reminded of Johnny once saying one of Joshua's nickname that made him even more famous than just a 'gentleman'. The holy Jisoo.
Neither you did believe nor care about that. Sometimes you had to beg Johnny to stop talking about him as if there was nothing else to talk about. Now that you think about it, probably being forgiving could be one of the trait of 'the holy Jisoo'. But still, it was not that you care.
"Hey, now that we're classmates for almost every class, is it okay if I ask you to study together sometimes? Especially for Professor Kwon's class. I mean, I heard that even getting B from his class is already considered good."
"I know right. I don't even know why I take that class." Wait, does this mean I agree to study together with him? Wait, what?
"How about this weekend? We can finish this one quickly and proceed to discuss for other subject."
"This weekend is no good," you quickly answered. Secretly you were relieved you had other stuff to do. "Got essay due Monday and another group project assignment too before finals."
"Oh, okay. No problem. Which class though?"
"Professor Kim Jooyong it is. I believe you don't go to this class, right?"
"Yeah, no. But I think I know someone there."
"Yeah?" You raises both of your eyebrows, slightly showing curiosity.
"You know Jeon Wonwoo?"
An excited gasp slipped off before you spoke. "You're kidding! He's my partner for the group project."
"Oh, really?"
"Yeah, he's a life saver," you answered enthusiastically for the first time ever. "I take this class unintentionally. This guy thankfully makes it more bearable."
Without words, Joshua smiled. It was a different smile from earlier before the topic of Jeon Wonwoo arose. Of course, you wouldn't notice. The way you talked about Jeon Wonwoo definitely made him feel something. It just made him wonder if someone asked you about him, would you look that cheerful and excitedly say something good about being his classmate?
--- after hours working on the group project
"This doesn't look like we're able to finish any sooner. Should we continue tomorrow?" Suhyun stretched her arms and tilted her neck.
"You're right. I still have my essay to do," Johnny complained to himself. "I don't think I will sleep tonight."
"I told you you should have started as soon as Professor Jung gave it," you scoffed.
Suhyun and Johnny quickly packed their stuff and left. Meanwhile Joshua was a bit slow for unclear reasons. Basically he came the earliest and left the latest, which you found it odd. Again. Yes, you got a bit closer within such a short time when waiting for Johnny and Suhyun. But you still felt uncomfortable being with only him. And you can't confront him and ask 'what take you so long?', can you?
"Tomorrow we finish the class at 4, right?" Again, he was the one to break the silence when he was about to depart. "Want to continue our discussion tomorrow?"
"Yeah, sure." This was a scenario which it would turn out weird if you say no. "Library?"
He paused. His face showed that he was thinking of something. "Sometimes it's crowded in the library. We got lucky today. Do you know a small cafe near the campus gym?"
"There's a cafe?"
"Yeah, it's not very popular. But it's quiet. I usually study there."
"Okay, sure. We can be more focused then," you said, nodding your head although you had no idea where the place he suggested. The last thing you wouldn't even want to imagine was this gentleman turned out to be a psycho who would abduct you in an unknown, quiet place at campus.
"Anyway, can I sit next to you tomorrow in class?"
Again, a scenario that would turn out more awkward than it already was if you say no. "Well, yeah, sure.." This dude must know that many people avoided sitting in front row seat, so your side was empty most of the time.
"Okay, cool. I'll see you tomorrow?" He flashed you a smile.
That was the first time you noticed the way he smiled. You had no idea he looked like that. Now you know why everyone always calls him a gentleman. That smile and the way he talks softly explained his nickname perfectly. That smile made you look away because suddenly you got too shy to look at him.
"Yeah. See you."
--- the next day
Joshua was right. The small cafe near the campus gym was quiet, as if it was located outside the campus. You wondered what makes this cafe underrated. Was it new that no one knew? Was it that secluded? Was it too far? Well, Joshua and you had to spend at least 10 minutes of walk from your building to this place. Honestly that was the most awkward walk you've ever had. You kept your distance, but he kept going closer every time you took a step away. You were nervous most of the time. You were really worried if he would try to do something funny you wouldn't even want to imagine. You actually had Johnny's number ready to be dialed if there was a sudden emergency.
"This place is not so bad, right?" As always, he started conversation while you prepared your notebook and laptop.
Flashing your smile with your best effort, you nodded.
"Oh! It's Shua!" An excited exclaim filled the quiet place. "And it's Park Y/n!"
"Seok-Soon, is that you?" You got excited too as two guys, a black haired one with a well-built tall body and the other one with dark blonde hair, paler skin and slimmer figure proceed to your seat. The three of you hugged and cheered loudly, happy to reunite again. "I miss you guys. What are you doing here, Soonyoung? Seokmin?"
"We should ask you the same." Seokmin broke your group hug.
Soonyoung darted his eyes to you, then to Joshua. "I didn't know you're close with Shua hyung," he said, flashing his hamster teeth.
"’Shua’?" you asked back in confusion. Soonyoung nodded, gesturing at Joshua with his head and his expressive eyes. That was a clear hint that the guys were close friends.
"I didn't know you guys know her." Joshua managed to stay calm, totally contrast with the rest of you.
"Yeah, we met during the orientation week," you explained happily without looking at him. Your attention was now fully on the other guys. Your linking arms with the Seok-Soon duo proved how close you were with them.
"And after that the class schedule always separates us," Soonyoung responded dramatically, faking a sniffle.
In Joshua's eyes, this was the brightest version of you and your smile. He noticed the drastic change of your expression when Soonyoung and Seokmin entered the cafe and called them. To him, you were like a chameleon. Your expression, the way you talk, and even your behavior kept changing as if you were adapting to who you were with. Soonyoung and Seokmin were famous to be the mood maker, they barely can keep quiet or stay still. You kept giggling at whatever they said since they joined your table, kinda forgetting that you were supposed to get your work done with Joshua. It didn't look like he minded though. In fact, he could use this time to quietly observe the new side of you. He remembered even when with Johnny, you never looked this cheerful and hyped up. No wonder you always became much more quiet when it was only him. Compared to Johnny, Soonyoung and Seokmin, he was indeed the calmest.
Soon, another guy came in. Soonyoung called his name and the new guy joined you immediately. With a big, mischievous smile, you stood up and bowed, singing his name, "Kim Mingyu sunbaenim."
"Oh, hi, Park hoobaenim." He raised a hand waving at you with his smug smiley face, trying to give more of the sunbae vibe, which always made you and the others almost lose it. "Long time no see," he spoke in English with his strong Korean accent.
Soonyoung and Seokmin still laughed at how you and Mingyu addressed each other, leaving Joshua puzzled by himself. Basically it was their inside jokes within the guys only, so it surprised him how you had any idea about it. It also confused him how you got to know his bestfriends.
"Mingyu repeated the history with Jeonghan hyung. He thought she was a freshman at the first day of school after spring break. So he was like, 'Oh, are you lost? Let me help. Oh, by the way, my name is Kim Mingyu. You can call me Mingyu sunbaenim.' when she was standing in front of Communication 101 class."
"She really looked like she was lost though?" Mingyu defended himself when the others recalled that dark memory.
You blended very well with the boys that it felt strangely nice for Joshua. It was kind of odd to feel alienated when the guys were his best friends, yet they seemed closer with you. But again, he didn't really mind that. It was just for him, to click with someone new was never easy. Moreover, his instinct could tell easily that you were not comfortable with him. That was why he always tried to speak first. Seeing you obviously close with his best buddies made him want to know more about you. Now he needed to boost his confidence to be more open up. Starting from you as a groupmate.
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5-seconds-of-bucky · 4 years
Text
Letters To A Boy Who’ll Never Read Them
A/N: Kinda inspired by To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before. Anyone who knows me will see how much I projected on this but oh well. Also, this is the longest fic I’ve ever written! (Which is kinda sad I guess but oh well)
Summery: The letters to Peter were never supposed to leave that box 
Word count: 2.6k+
Warnings: I like half proof read this so probably some typos
Peter Parker was a boy you liked to admire from afar. You’ve gone to school with him for the past three years and were yet to feel the courage to talk to him. The first time you laid eyes on the curly haired boy, you were a goner. Everything about him was perfect to you, even if he was considered a nerd by most others. You liked to imagine that he felt the same towards you, but you were sure he never took a second to register your face among the hundreds at Midtown. 
And maybe you owed that to how perfectly average you were. Sure, you were fairly smart, but so was everyone else at the school. You were pretty enough, but it wasn’t something that set you apart from everyone else. You blended into a crowd like a chameleon on a green wall. 
Your one special talent, if it could even be called that, was your writing. Your teachers always commented on the eloquence of your essays and your friends liked to ask you to come up with witty captions from their Instagram posts. You were even on a competitive writing team.
 Writing was the one thing that set you apart, but it was something that went unnoticed by the majority. 
Unbeknownst to you, Peter Parker was very aware of your presence in a room. Your “average” beauty was more than average to him. He wasn’t sure how long he’d known that he liked you, but he guessed that it started around the first time he read one of your essays. Your way with words was something he would never stop admiring. He was a science kid, through and through but he could see your passion for writing even in the simple essay you had to write about symbolism in Lord of the Flies. 
He wanted to talk to you and ask you just how you did it, but there was always something holding him back. You were either hanging out with your small group of friends and he didn’t want to interrupt or you were studying quietly in the library and he was sure you wanted to be alone. He never seemed to have the courage to talk to you and he wasn’t entirely sure why. 
So he never approached you. In the three years he had known your face he never spoke a word to it. Every class that you had together never required a group project and assigned seats that were never next to each other. Sometimes, it felt like fate was keeping you apart. 
~
You kept a container under your bed. There wasn’t anything that special about it originally. You put some stickers on there when you were a little younger. There was no reason in particular that you did it, you just had some stickers and wanted to put them to use. You ended up sticking it under the bed eventually and left it there for a while. 
There was a day when you got sick of keeping your crush at bay. It wasn’t all that long after you “met” Peter. Who knew that staring at the back of someone’s head could make you like them so much? 
So you did the thing you knew best; write. 
You wrote him a letter. A letter you hoped he would never read because it was too embarrassing for him to see. 
Dear Peter, 
How does one tell you they love you? Perhaps I could tell you in this letter, but a letter alone could not capture the raging feelings I have for you. The butterflies I feel when you walk in a room, the sense of calmness I feel when I see you smile, the giddiness when you shoot your hand up to answer a question. Not a day goes by that I fear I won’t see that smile again. But that doesn’t come close to the fear that you’ll never see me. For I am little more than another face in the crowd. I’m average and you are anything but. I wish this letter could make you see me, but I doubt anything really can. I hope this is a letter you’ll never read, but fate has ways of changing the things we want. Maybe, some day, you can be mine. 
With love, 
                 The girl I wished you’d see
You read the letter once over and weren’t sure what to do with it. You obviously couldn’t give it to Peter but you didn’t want to get rid of it. 
Your eyes caught sight of the container under your bed and you grabbed it, folding the note and putting it in there. You placed the container back under the bed and worked on more homework, hoping that somehow, the letter would rid you of your feelings. 
Over time, the container accumulated more letters. From little notes to full length letters describing how you felt, they never left that container. You even wrote “Dear Peter” in sharpie on the side. There were things you hoped you could mention in the hallway as you passed him and things you could only hope he would never know. 
From
Dear Peter, 
Your smile makes me happier than One Direction. 
To
Dear Peter, 
Sometimes, I fear that you’ll realize that you’re too smart and kind for the people at Midtown to treat you like they do and that you’ll leave. Sometimes, I wish I could be the one to make it better. 
You never told anyone about the container. It was something you felt was too personal to share. Even if your friends knew all about your crush on Peter, you weren’t sure you trusted them with the things you wrote to him. 
“Alright, I’m gonna get changed,” you said to your friend, Becca, as you grabbed your pajamas and headed to the bathroom across the hallway. The two of you were having a sleepover and you didn’t want to be in jeans while you watched movies. 
Becca twisted the ring on her finger as she waited for you when it accidentally came out of her grasp and rolled under your bed. 
“Oops,” she said to herself as she kneeled on the ground to get it. She swiped her hand under the bed before she found it, curiosity striking when she felt the box it was resting against. She looked down and was met with the container, the “Dear Peter” in your handwriting facing her. 
“What’s this?” She pulled the container out enough to see the folded letters sitting in it. She pulled one out and read part of it.
Dear Peter,
I love you. There, I said it. Well, wrote it, I guess. But that’s as bold as I can be right now. I’m still the girl you’ve never seen; the girl you’ll never see. 
The sounds of your footsteps interrupted her reading and she quickly put the letter back, shoving the container under your bed. 
“What are you doing?” You asked, seeing her kneeling on the ground. 
“Oh, my ring dropped.” 
You smiled. “You need to stop dropping that thing, my gosh, Becca.” 
“I know, I know,” she chuckled. 
Later that night, when you were asleep, Becca took some of the letters and shoved them in her bag. There were tons of notes in there. Surely, you wouldn’t notice if five of them were gone. Maybe she could get these to Peter. It wasn’t the nicest thing to do behind you back, but she was sick of hearing you swoon over the boy. Just because you were oblivious to the yearning looks Peter gave didn’t mean she didn’t see them. 
The next Monday at school, Becca didn’t hang out at your locker for long, claiming that she needed to go to the bathroom before class. While you went to class early, she pushed the letters in through the crack of Peter’s locker. All she could do now is hope that Peter knew what to do next and that you wouldn’t kill her. 
“Dude, did you even read the chapter last night?” Peter asked Ned as they walked to his locker. 
“Of course not. Why do you think I’m asking you about it now?” 
Peter scoffed as he put the combination to his locker in. “What if everything I just old you wasn’t true?” 
“You would never-”
Ned was cut off by a few pieces of folded paper flying out of Peter’s locker. Peter picked one up, reading the short message written in small handwriting. 
Dear Peter, 
Your eyes are like the midnight sky. Dark and mysterious yet beautiful. 
“What is that?” Ned asked, reading it before Peter could move it out of eyesight. 
“I don’t know. Maybe someone’s putting notes in people’s lockers or something.” 
“Then why do you have four others in there?” Peter closed his locker, leaving the rest of the notes in there. 
“Aren’t you going to read them? What if Y/N finally confessed her love to you?” 
Peter rolled his eyes. “She is not in love with me. And I’ll read them later.” 
Little did Peter know that Ned was right. As he read the notes later, he couldn’t help but wonder what led you to put such personal and deep notes in there. 
Dear Peter, 
It’s me again. I know I’ve written a million notes for you, but I don’t know what else to do. I am helplessly and completely head over heels for you. You and your cute sweaters, your genius brain, that little smile you get when you know all the answers to a test. I’ll probably be stuck writing letters to you ‘till the day I die, but oh well. You are the sun and I am a small blade of grass in the middle of a field. You are the ocean and I am one of the thousands of fish. You are you and I am just me. Maybe one day I’ll gain the courage to tell you that to your face, but until then, I remain the little fish in the big pond. 
Sincerely, 
                The little fish, 
                                      Y/N 
Dear Peter,
Yeah, you’re Peter Parker and I’m Y/F/N Y/L/N but what if you were Peter Pan and I was Wendy Darling? (That sucked, I’m sorry but not really)
Love, 
         Someone who wishes they were your darling
He couldn’t believe his eyes. He had been dreaming about you for years and all of a sudden you just threw some love letters in his locker? 
Of course, it could be fake. It was a little elaborate to be fake though. Ned couldn’t write like that and nobody else knew about his crush on you. Maybe it was an actual dream come true. 
“Hey, Y/N!” Peter called when he saw you standing at your locker the next day. He didn’t know what you were doing there since it was a lunch period but it didn’t matter. He walked towards you quickly, one of the letters subtly stuck to his side. 
You gave him a confused look. He knew who you were? Since when? 
“Hey, I uh . . . I got your letter.” 
“What letter? I never gave you a letter.” You closed your locker and turned to face him fully, arms crossed as you leaned onto it. 
“Well this letter says it’s from you. Unless there’s another Y/F/N Y/L/N in this school I don’t know about.” He held the letter up and your eyes widened. You snatched it out of his hands and scanned over the message. Yup, it was definitely yours. 
Dear Peter,
I love you. There, I said it. Well, wrote it, I guess. But that’s as bold as I can be right now. I’m still the girl you’ve never seen; the girl you’ll never see. I keep telling myself that if I can confess these stupid feelings behind the pen, then I can do it in person too. But that day hasn’t come yet. I guess it’s like liquid courage but with ink. Ink courage? That’s weird. 
That wasn’t even the end of it. There was a lot more on the page, things that even if you were to tell him how you felt, you would never want him to know. And you were absolutely mortified. 
“How did you get this?” 
“I don’t know. I was in my locker the other day. There were like four others with it.” 
“Four?” You stared at him like you had just seen a ghost. 
“Yeah four. This was the deepest though.” He had a shy smile, but you couldn’t even look at him. 
“You were never supposed to see this.” You leaned your head on the locker and brought a hand up to cover your face. “I don’t know how it made it to you.” You’ve never told anyone about the box of letters. 
“Well-”
“I’m so sorry you had to read that, Peter. It must be so weird. You don’t even know me. I’m really really sorry. You were never supposed to read it.” 
You looked like you were about to burst into tears in the middle of the hallway. Thank goodness nobody else was around to witness it. 
“Hey, no. It’s okay. I thought it was really sweet.” He placed a hand on your shoulder, rubbing it softly. He didn’t want to make you uncomfortable but he had an urge to comfort you somehow. 
“You don’t think it’s weird that some girl you’ve never talked to is writing love letters to you?” You finally let your hand fall and glanced up at him quickly, reverting your eyes to the ground when he made eye contact. 
“No, it’s really cute actually. Just because we’ve never talked doesn’t mean I don’t know who you are.” He looked sincere, but that did little to relax fear and embarrassment swirling inside of you. 
“You know, Y/N, I’ve always thought you were cute too.”
Your head snapped up quickly, banging on the locker and causing you to grimace. 
“You okay?” He immediately stepped closer and took your head in his hands, checking to make sure you hadn’t really hurt yourself. 
Warmth spread through your body like a fire. The feeling of his hands was a little more comforting than you cared to admit. “Yeah, it’s just a locker. I’m a little tougher than that,” you laughed softly. 
“Just making sure.” He smiled sheepishly and pulled his hands away. 
You stood there, staring awkwardly staring at each other's shoes until you spoke up.  
“So can we agree to just forget about this and never speak of it again?”  
“Only if you will go on a date with me.” 
Your head shot up and you hit it on the locker again. Peter laughed and you sighed as you took a step away from it.
“I really need to stay away from lockers apparently.” Peter smiled a little wider and you swore your whole word was on fire. “But yeah, I’d really like to go on a date with you,” you said shyly, scratching your neck as a surge of nerves pulsed through your body. Peter Parker actually just asked you on a date. 
“I’ll make sure to go somewhere without lockers.” 
“Oh, how considerate of you.” 
“We should probably get to lunch.” 
“I’ll walk you there.” 
“To the cafeteria?” 
“Where else? Unless you want me to follow two steps behind you like some creepy stalker.”
“No, no, that’s okay. I guess you can walk me.” 
“What a privilege.” 
“It is actually. You get to walk with the Y/F/N Y/L/N.” 
“True, true.” You both turned and walked in the direction of the cafeteria, smiles on your faces. 
“Happen to have any more of those letters?”
“Oh you have no idea.” 
~
Please reblog and leave some feedback! :)
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nctsjaemin · 2 years
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for the ask game: shinee nct dream and red velvet 💕
[ if i stan ] // red velvet
favourite member / bias line ~ seulgi!!!!!!! 🥺
which member I’d fight (& why) ~ i'm a lover not a fighter 😔
favourite song(s) ~ kingdom come, one of these nights, campfire, timeslip, somethin kinda crazy, time to love, in & out ... ok no i'm going to end up listing their entire discography 😭 (i'll admit i prefer their velvet side more to their red, that being said, their red tts and b-sides are still amazing!)
favourite thing about the group ~ vocal queens! concept chameleons! immaculate discography! they always deliver!
something i’d like to see from them ~ a comeback 😭 ... actually tbh, i'm really looking forward to their solo projects/music. i can feel ks1 coming 🥺 a joyri subunit would be beautiful as well. and ik yeri's been focusing on acting but i'd love for her to be able to release some solo music as well. she's such a talented songwriter and her soft angelic vocals deserve more attention 👏 i think it'd be nice to get more yt or variety content as well!
[ if i stan ] // nct dream
favourite member / bias line ~ jaemin, jeno and renjun! but tbh i have a soft spot for all the dream members, they’re just so talented and charming
which member I’d fight (& why) ~ chenle 😂 idk why it just feels right to?
favourite song(s) ~ beautiful time, dear dream, 7 days, bungee, love again, bye my first, be there for you ... there’s too many :(
favourite thing about the group ~ i really like their group dynamic (on and off stage). their songs are so different to the other nct units and i think it’s really refreshing!
something i’d like to see from them ~ i think a chenle x renjun subunit would be so good, i loved their graduation song and both of them deserve more recognition!!! it’d be nice to hear what else they’d come up with, if all members had more opportunities to compose their songs too.
[ if i’m familiar ] // shinee
favourite member if I have one ~ i don’t think i know them well enough but i love onew’s voice.
favourite song(s) ~ sherlock <3, kind, good evening, tonight, countless
why I don’t stan (yet) / if I want to ~ when i first got into kpop i only really listened to exo and then i got into nct. i have loved all the songs i’ve heard from them. their solo songs and sm station songs are so good too! i’ve always heard really good things from people about their discography but i never found the time to get into them properly. from the videos i’ve watched, they seem like such a fun group. even though i don’t know them well, i’ve always had a lot of respect for them and appreciated their vocals.
question for veteran fans ~ song recs from each album?
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cookiehusky799 · 4 years
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This takes place in Rapunzel’s Return after “We need him.” before stopping the Saporians. Hope you enjoy!
                                Trust and a Quick Snack
              Varian walked with Rapunzel who was holding his hand. He was so happy their friends again. The alchemist realize how much he missed her cheerful fiery personality. Rapunzel gave him a second chance. Eugene, Lance and Maximus….not so much yet. Varian can feel them glaring skeptically as they made their way through one of the castle halls to stop the Saporians.
No one appears to be in the castle, not even the maids. Varian knows their probably hiding from him and the Saporians, But he was not on their side anymore. Varian chose to go back on the right side of history.
       And very glad he did.
Suddenly, a loud growling noise broke the silence. Varian gasped, clutching at his stomach. He hadn’t been eating ever since him and the Saporians took over the kingdom. Rapunzel looked at him confused to which Varian grinned sheepishly at her.
“Whoa.” Lance said, glancing around the hall. “What’s that?” Eugene rolled his eyes. “You.” he said like it’s obvious.
“It wasn’t me.” Rapunzel spoke up. “He’s right. It wasn’t him.” The two ex thieves plus horse turned their attention to her. She placed her hand on Varian’s shoulder.
“It was Varian’s stomach.” she told them. As if to prove it, his stomach rumbled again. The alchemist groaned in embarrassment.
Eugene stared at Varian concern written on his face. “Oh…are you hungry, kid?” The alchemist averted his gaze. “Yeah.” he sighed. “I uh, haven’t been eating much lately.”
Rapunzel gasped. “Really? Why?”
“I don’t know. I-I was so shut down. Didn’t have much of an appetite anyway.”
The princess felt very sorry for him. She wanted to do something to make him feel better. “Varian,” Rapunzel gave a warm smile. “I’m getting you something to eat.” The alchemist looked at her surprised. “Now? But we don’t have time! Besides, I-I can wait.”
“It won’t take long.” insisted Rapunzel.
“Yeah, I have to agree with the kid on this one, Sunshine.” Eugene said.
The princess glanced at him sadly before returning back to Varian. “Please, Varian. Your starving.” Varian sighed again. “Okay.”
Rapunzel made to leave, but felt the alchemist grab her arm. Varian didn’t say anything, only gave a pleading look. He doesn’t want to be left alone with…..
Rapunzel got the message. “Pascal,” she turned to the chameleon who is back on her shoulder. “Can you stay with Varian while I go get a quick snack for him?” Pascal chirped. He crawled from Rapunzel to Varian. The alchemist let out a tiny squeak of surprise before calming back down.
The chameleon sat on his shoulder then patted his face gently with a claw. Varian smiled at him. He missed Ruddiger so much. The princess went off to the royal kitchen.
The alchemist suddenly felt eyes staring at him. He knew Eugene, Lance and Maximus still don’t trust him. Varian gulped, turning to face them. They seem to loom over him and never felt so small.
Eugene stepped forward. He opened his mouth but was cut off by Varian. “Look, I’m not up to something, I swear!” he cried, raising his hands up defensively.  The two ex thieves exchanged surprised looks. Max huffed, raising an eyebrow.
“Relax, kid. We’re not gonna hurt you.” Eugene said gently.
Lance butt in. “But your right about us thinking that.”
The alchemist felt tears welling up his eyes. He looked away, his hand rubbing his left arm. “I’m n-not.”
“Are you sure?”
The alchemist let out a choked sob, causing Eugene and Lance to reel back caught off guard. Varian looked up at them, tears rolled down his cheeks. “Does it look like I’m lying?!” With that, collapsed on his knees, sobbing. Pascal comfort him the same way he did to Rapunzel.
As he was doing it, he glared at Eugene and Lance. The two ex thieves plus horse glanced at one another. Eugene trusted Rapunzel and her decisions. So if she can trust Varian, then he’ll trust him as well. He reminded himself that Varian is still a child.
Eugene got down on his knee. He gently put his hand on Varian’s shoulder. “Hey…Varian?” The alchemist flinched slightly when he felt Eugene touching him. “It’s okay. We’re sorry for being too hard on you.” he said.
Varian wipes his eyes. “H-Huh? But….you have every right to not trust me.”
“That is true, but me and my friend here also did bad things. It all started when we was about your age.” Varian didn’t get what Eugene was implying. “You stealing doesn’t compare to what I’ve done.” he countered.
Eugene gave a warm smile. “What we have is a fresh start. To become a better person.” He looked into the alchemist’s blue eyes. “And you choose to redeem yourself.” Varian glanced at Lance and Max who nodded, smiling at him. He shift his gaze over to Pascal. The chameleon squeaked in approval. With a small smile, Varian looked at Eugene and said, “Thanks.”
Eugene helped him up. Varian cocked his head at Lance. “Um. I-I don’t think we met…before.” Lance puffed himself up with pride. “I’m Lance Strongbow!” he said, rolling the “r” in Strongbow.
“Oh, uh, n-nice to meet you. Heh, you already know my name.” Varian responded nervously.
Lance chuckled. “Yeah, Eugene told me about you.” Eugene clears his throat to get his attention. “I-I mean the good things about you.” Lance rephrased. Varian didn’t get upset this time. He turned to Maximus. “I’m sorry for blinding you with my light bomb by the way.” he apologized to the horse. Varian lift his hand up silently asking Max to pet him to which the horse accepted, lowering his head for the alchemist.
Varian petted Maximus with a calm smile on his face. He was starting to feel less nervous around them now. His stomach growled, Varian stopped petting Maximus to clutch his belly.
Lance noticed how upset he is. “Hang in there, Varian. I’m sure Rapunzel has gotten something to settle your stomach.”
Varian realized something. “You know, if we sneak on the Saporians now, I’ll give us away. So yeah, better to eat first, heh.”
“Yeah, your right about that.” Lance laughed.
Eugene saw Rapunzel walking back to them carrying something. “She’s back, Varian.”
Varian turned to see her, relieved. He couldn’t make out what she had so he squinted. When she got closer, Varian can see what she has.
A ham sandwich.
The alchemist’s eyes widened. He didn’t expect her to make his favorite food. “Oh…my.” he breathed out, holding his stomach tightly.
“What’s wrong, Varian? Is it the food?” Rapunzel asked when she made it to him. “No, it’s just…well, heh.” Varian rubbed the back of his head. “Ham sandwiches are my favorite.”
Rapunzel was amused. “Well, I’m glad I made it for you.” She handed Varian the sandwich. “Eat up. We don’t have much time.”
Varian licked his lips as he was about to eat but stopped, hearing his stomach growling again. The alchemist raised an eyebrow. “Alright, alright. Quiet down. I’m eating, ok?” Varian said to it.
Rapunzel giggled.
Eugene walked over to her. “What took so long?” he asked as Varian eat his sandwich. Rapunzel chuckled sheepishly. “I did say it won’t take long and….uh. Let’s just say there wasn’t any choices in the kitchen so I went with a sandwich.” she explained.
Eugene smiled at her. “So what happened while I was gone? ”Rapunzel asked. “Oh. We….decided we’re going to trust Varian.” he told her. The princess hugged him. “Thank you, Eugene.”
Just then, they heard Varian burp. The alchemist covered his mouth. “E-Excuse me. That was a good sandwich.”
Rapunzel went back to the alchemist. “Do you feel better?”Varian nodded.
“Alright. Now let’s stop the Saporians and save the kingdom!” With that, they moved out.  
I’m kinda disappointed we never got to see him eat a ham sandwich on screen. He only mentions it in Queen for a Day. Oh well.
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palmett-hoes · 4 years
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Hi, I really loved your post with the monsters as Birds of Prey! Was wondering if you had any thoughts on the Foxes as Marvel or Mcu characters? I feel like I could see Dan as Carol Danvers and Andrew for sure is Jessica Jones, idk about the rest.
oh wow old post!!
haha unfortunately i’m not really a comics person so i don’t feel like i can really give the best analysis possible, but i have seen most of the mcu movies and bits and pieces of the netflix show so i’ll try my best. also im using dc characters too bc i want to
1. Dan: I think your instinct with Dan as Captain Marvel is spot-on (at least uhhh,, based on the movie lol sorry comics ppl). Her direct, forceful powers and fighting style are definitely reminiscent of dan’s no-nonsense leadership approach. similarly the themes of overcoming sexism and acceling in a male-dominated industry in the captain marvel movie is pretty much the same as dan’s story establishing herself as the first female exy captain (tho sports is way more valid than the military). plus there’s a lot of emphasis on love and friendship between women that dan is ALL about. also lashana lynch would be a god tier dan wilds fc. Dan could also def have that lawful good Okoye from Black Panther energy. Loyal, disciplined, no-nonsense leader. no powers except discipline. no hair. also danai gurira in 2012 with the dreads and the sword and the cape on TWD was definitely part of my middle school sexual awakening
2. Kevin: Aquaman. this is based pretty much exclusively on the fact that jason momoa is my #1 kevin fc and also that Pasifika kevin is phenomenal and mandatory, actually. otherwise i think he has a decent amount of stick-up-the-ass cyclops energy. or dick grayson nightwing energy but i don’t have any evidence for why. kinda looks like him tho
3. Andrew: andrew gets the most characters bc he’s my favorite. i think ur jessica jones instincts are absolutely correct, both in her storyline (i only watched the first season) and her powers. i’ve seen some powers au and the tendency seems to be giving andrew like,, psychic powers or the like, and i don’t really agree. andrew is a very direct character. he’s pragmatic, he confronts problems head on, and he doesn’t muck about in details. to me this really translates best into physical powers like super strength that help u big punch straight thru all ur problems. also i def think andrew would be not just a solo hero but a mercenary (or a detective) because he’s not altruistic enough to be a standard vigilante. he doesn’t care enough about other people to hang out on rooftops all night waiting for Crime to occur. there’s a price for that.  which brings us to the NEXT andrew hero: deadpool. maybe in personality more of a drugged andrew but the superpowered mercenary is really a perfect fit for andrew. also, healing powers have a decidedly tragic poetry to them on andrew. already he’s self-destructive, if he had a healing factor his concern for his own well-being would be so beyond rock bottom it’d be in the earth’s core. even worse when you remember that with a healing factor, as opposed to indestructibility, you still feel all the pain. which brings us to Wolverine and X-23, who have the same thematic points as deadpool but are much more of a personality match and they have knife hands, which i really think andrew would appreciate. ending that sadness train and onto another tho, andrew’s aesthetic and Vibes fit the Winter Soldier just SO well (just that movie tho, not really civil war or anything past that) and a reinterpretation of the captain america story using the twinyards would be incredibly interesting. and finally, one last hero that would work really well for andrew: rogue, only remove the angst around not being able to touch people, andrew would love that. one touch and their comatose? baller. don't fucking touch him.
4. Matt: Shazam. I didn’t see the shazam movie but my dad and brother did and they said it was very funny and all the trailors looked like it had a lot of fun himbo energy and i really think that fits. in terms of matching himbo disaster energy i think i’ve heard good things about comics hawkeye (not mcu). thor?
5. Aaron: Mr. Fantastic. now this might be a stretch but aaron is a character who uses a skin-deep veneer of anger to cover the fact that he’s actually quite pliant and bends to other people’s wills. and he’s a doctor or w/e. he could alse be like,, antman. he’s smart right? hank pym not paul rudd. katelyn can be wasp
6. Seth: Arm Fall Off Boy. no i will not elaborate.             ..... ugh fine, but i'm using my favorite piece of superhero media of all time: x-men evolution, the one where they're all teenagers in public high school. seth can be lance alvers/avalanche who’s a bit of a jerk and has a lot of issues with authority and has a rivalry with cyclops very reminiscent of seth with kevin, but still there’s the recurring theme that he’s lashing out because of low self-esteem and a bad situation and he’s a surprisingly sympathetic character who i’m very fond of. his power is earthquakes but i think the name makes that pretty self-explanatory
7. Allison: Iron Man. cocky, bitchy, and rich rich rich. sounds like allison to me. then to elevate it a level higher: emma frost, rich bitch extraordinaire. also if allison had telepathic powers she would be unstoppable. plus one more bitchy, morally-gray blonde (but chaotic this time): Harley Quinn
8. Nicky: Okay so I do wanna give a quick shout-out to Northstar, the first openly gay comicbook superhero, who’s a speedster which I’d actually say fits Nicky pretty well. However, if i had to choose a superhero to represent nicky in presence and powers it would have to be Jubilee from x-men (... from what i’ve heard lol. i’ve never actually consumed any of her Media hahaha anyway) she’s a joyful, energetic presence and her powers are setting off fireworks which i think is a good balance of nicky being a supportive cousin-parent AND a chaotic train wreck garbage trash man. also gonna throw in johnny storm for a cheap 'flaming' joke
9. Renee: Thunder/Blackbird from Black Lightning bc she’s a fufkin lesbian lol. (i don’t watch the show but i do follow nafessa williams’s tag). now the fr ones i’m gonna do together because to me they have the same Vibes so i chose them for the same reasons. Wonder Woman and Storm who to me have the same  reserved, impartial, regal energy. honestly ethereal and somewhat otherwordly, and quite literally goddesses. also op as hell.  black widow and her “red in my leger” looking for redemption story also fits thematically.
10. Neil: okay lazy answer first: the flash or quicksilver. get it? because they run fast? and neil run too? yea i like to think i've proven myself to be better than such a surface level interpretation but worth the mention ig. so for srs now, mystique and her shape changing powers would be an interesting interpretation of neil's identity issues, but i wanna push it a step further. nightcrawler would actually be possibly the MOST interesting hero to apply to neil 1. because powers still very movement go fast place to place 2. because of the thematic focus on neil's unusual looks and the lengths he goes to hide them, very much in line with the way nightcrawler will use a hologram-projector in order to look human, yet in both cases it's only a surface-level illusion, and 3. his parentage. here, mary would be mystique, which i also think works very well considering mary seemed to be the far more effective chameleon on the run than neil, and also fits with her place as a morally grey character, as mystique herself is often a villain or an antagonist, with her own agenda and shadowy motives. then nathan matches well with nightcrawler's father: azazel, a literal demon, and also where kurt gets his appearance. it's a shockingly coherent narrative between the three of them. then, to also give neil some powers that aren't contingent on his fucked up geneology and rather on his own merit and abilities, Black Canary and her sonic voice parallel the way that neil began to anchor his identity and take ownership over himself through his voice and his sick roasts
and 1 extra, wymack: batman, on account of his altruism, his dedication to second chances, and his many, many adopted children
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anon, ik it's been a sec since you sent this, so i hope it gets back to you. i had a fun time with it and it prompted like,,, 7 different au s that i'll never write
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