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yurimother · 3 years

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The Best Yuri of 2020

2020 was hell in every way, and many of us are looking forward to new possibilities and advances in 2021. However, the year brought us many small moments and gifts worth celebrating. Among these, the explosive growth and change within the Yuri genre are among the most precious and most outstanding achievements. This second century of Yuri opened with a bang, as phenomenal new works, creators, and moments made their mark and helped change the future genre.

This annual list is a celebration of just a handful of the fantastic titles, people, and events in Yuri. There are likely some even greater ones that did not make the list because there is so much content in both English and Japanese that even I cannot keep up. However, among the troves of treasure, these titles stood out as shining examples of Yuri excellence. Some were released this year, others were recently adapted into English, and still, others are established titles that rose to prominence to dominate the conversation and my mind this year, but every one of them is worthy of being on this list and in your heart.

Here is the Best Yuri of 2020!

15: The Curse of Kudan Remastered

Japanese Yuri visual novel developers show no sign of slowing down as they continue to push to new heights and try new ideas. These are the same amazing people who brought us the delightful educational Yuri game The Expression Amrilato and the hilarious and surprisingly queer OshiRabu: Waifus Over Husbando’s. However, this most recent release, The Curse of Kudan Remastered, is their best work yet. Released near Halloween, this game brings a new edge of dark mystery and the occult to Yuri audiences worldwide.

The Curse of Kudan is available on MangaGamer, JAST USA, Denpasoft, and Sekai Project.

14: Adachi and Shimamura

English audiences were finally treated this year to Hitoma Iruma’s long-running and wildly successful Yuri light novel series, Adachi and Shimamura. Although the story struggles to gain traction, dedicated readers’ have their patience rewarded with a sweet tale full of gay pining. Alternatively, you can jump into its stellar anime adaptation, with gorgeous visuals and realized characters you will actually be willing to put up with the annoying Yashiro just to see where the title characters go. The series shows no sign of slowing down either, as the manga adaptation is coming to Western audiences next year.

Adachi and Shimamura is available to stream on Funimation. The light novel series is published by Seven Seas - https://amzn.to/3rTSZTK

Honorable Mention: Happy Go Lucky Days

The OVA adaptation of Fragtime got most of the attention this year. Still, director Takuya Satou and Pony Canyon also gave us this much-overlooked “love is love” anthology movie based on Takako Shimura’s manga (Sweet Blue Flowers, Wandering Son). The first short in the film, “Happy,” is easily the best Yuri anime of the year. It follows the beautiful yet realistic queer love story of two women hooking up at a mutual ex-girlfriend’s wedding, only for the relationship to blossom and warm viewers’ hearts. Sadly, while stylized, the budget demanded the animation cut a few too many corners. Additionally, the subsequent stories are at best tedious and at worst alarmingly problematic, which is why Happy Go Lucky Days only gets an honorable mention.

The OVA is streaming on HIDIVE

13: Mieri Hiranishi

The Yuri scene has many colorful creators with a breadth of different ideas and stories in the genre, yet few have provided as much humor and joy as Mieri. This talented creator spectacularly tumbled into the scene with her manga essay The Moment I Realized I Wasn’t Straight, which embodies the brutal honesty and realism of Nagata Kabi and matches it with exaggerated hilarity. She continues to chronicle her painful struggles of being a butch girl in love with butch girls in the monthly series The Girl that Can’t Get a Girlfriend. Alternatively, you can follow her on Twitter for just as much heart and laughter.

Read The Girl that Can’t get a Girlfriend on Tapas and Webtoon.

12: My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom!

My Next Life as a Villainess has what can only be described as volcanic bisexual energy. Every character protagonist Catarina Claes encounters is entirely enthralled by her. Of course, she is far too preoccupied with her quest to avoid doom flags and change her ultimate fate to notice any romantic interest. The series is rewarding and well structured, as views are just as focused on how Catarina plans to avoid certain doom as they are with the various romantic misses her band of companions cooks up. While the “friendship ending” did not capitalize on its Yuri potential, it was perhaps the most satisfying possibility for this crazy harem, at least until season two comes out, which looks, unfortunately, to be significantly less queer.

My Next Life as a Villainess is streaming on Crunchyroll

11: Love Me for Who I Am

Kata Konayama’s manga series is less Yuri than a general LGBT work, but it has a lesbian character and explores her identity and struggles in great detail. Few titles before have captured the exciting and nervous waves of emotions that young people feel as they explore gender and sexual identities and try to find themselves. This heartfelt and extremely queer series rubberbands between cute moe dress up to tragic and gripping backstory, keeping readers on their toes the whole time.

Love me for Who I Am is published by Seven Seas - https://amzn.to/3rTSZTK

10: A Summer’s End – Hong Kong 1986

Oracle and Bone’s debut visual novel, A Summer’s End, is set in a vibrant and electric 1980’s Hong Kong. Drawing inspiration from classic Asian cinema, music, and fashion. The worlds of Michelle, a young office worker, and a free-spirited woman named Same collide. The two struggle to comprehend and accept each other’s feelings just as they struggle against society’s expectations and prejudices. An incredibly thoughtful and touching adventure, the creators incorporated vital contemporary elements include Asian LGBTQ rights and growing political unrest in Hong Kong, into this illustrious game.

The visual novel is available on Steam.

Honorable Mention: Goodbye, My Rose Garden

In the same vein as A Summer’s End, Goodbye, My Rose Garden is a beautiful period piece that incorporates LGBT views into its shattering narrative. The story follows a bright-eyed immigrant, Hanako, wanting to make a new life in England as an author at the dawn of the twentieth century. She takes a job as a maid to noblewoman Alice, but their relationship takes a turn when Alice asks Hanako to kill her. This poignant tale is beautiful and an honest depiction of love and its conflict with responsibility and society.

Goodbye, My Rose Garden is published by Seven Seas Entertainment - https://amzn.to/3hFSyaG

9: Shio Usui

Usui’s hit Shaikaijin Yuri manga Doughnuts Under a Crescent Moon could easily take this spot even though it is not even out in English until February 2021. The manga is already making waves and receiving constant praise. The characters and their journey to discover love and self-acceptance are as charming as they are relatable and grounded. However, it is the creator, Usui, who really deserves acclaim. Not just for their work on Doughnuts, but having a second serialized story, Onna Tomodachi to Kekkon Shitemita, in monthly Yuri magazine Comic Yuri Hime simultaneously. It is even more remarkable when you consider these two iconic stories are Usui’s first long-running works, as they only contributed one-shots before.

8: Bloom Into You: Regarding Saeki Sayaka

Bloom Into You is possibly the most iconic Yuri series in the past decade, and while the manga deserves its own place on this list, the best thing to come out of the series as a whole is easily the light novels. This trilogy by Adachi and Shimamura creator Hitoma Iruma dives deep into supporting cast member Sayaka. Readers are treated to a delightful journey as she discovers her sexuality, experiences heartbreak, and finally finds herself breaking free and falling in love. With the help of gorgeous illustrations by Nakatani Nio herself, Iruma masterfully captures Sayaka’s unique voice and emotions in this wonderful series. Whether a fan of the originals or not, every Yurijin must check out Regarding Saeki Sayaka.

The light novel series is published by Seven Seas - https://amzn.to/3hFSyaG

7: Our Teachers are Dating

The best a Yuri can get. This workplace romance follows two teachers at the start of a new relationship taking nervous yet enthusiastic first steps, including saying I love you, going on their first date, and even sleeping together. It is so heartfelt and salacious that readers will squeal the whole time. Additionally, our heroines are supported in their relationship by everyone they know, their students, colleagues, and even the principal. It is a perfect world for these two lovebirds! Our Teachers are Dating would easily be number one or two in any other year, but the competition is fierce in 2020. So even though this is only number seven, it is still a master class Yuri manga.

The manga is published by Seven Seas Entertainment - https://amzn.to/38XY3O9

6: Amongst Us

Who would have thought that a comedy alternative universe story spinoff of a fantasy action series would be the single best Yuri webcomic this year? Shilin’s astounding artwork illustrations the hilarious and irresistible journey of girlfriends Blackbird and Veloce. These two eccentric young women get into all kinds of everyday mischief that bounces between tender and touching romance, completely outrageous comedy, and downright thirst-inducing sorcery. Seriously, you should buy the first volume for Veloce’s back muscles alone. The storyline skips between time, but both their established relationship and their meeting as teenagers are adorkable and captivating.

Amongst Us is available online free on Webtoon and the comic’s website. The first volume is in paperback on Shilin’s site.

Honorable Mention: Éclair

There are a lot of Yuri anthologies out there, and they have done some beautiful things. Many focus on themes like Syrup. Others collect a series of stories by an author into one bound work. However, out of all of them, Éclair is the most successful. ASCII Media Works took some of the genre’s most extraordinary creators and let them do whatever they wanted, and the results are spectacular. The incredible talent behind Éclair somehow packs a full volume’s worth of story and character into just a few pages with every chapter. While the first volume came overseas a few years ago, Yen Press gave Yurijin a gift this year by releasing the entire rest of the series in which readers can get lost.

The anthology series is published by Yen Press - https://amzn.to/38XY3O9

5: I’m in Love with the Villainess

A small trend of isekai Yuri with villainesses emerged recently, and I honestly had few hopes of I’m in Love with the Villainess. The series is pretty popular, but I often find that this does not denote quality, and with isekai having some institutional issues, I suspected this would fall flat. Then the volume three cover showcased an incredible accomplishment, allowing for a lesbian relationship to blossom into a family with children, and it blew me away. Finally, I read volume one and realized that the series has incredible character, some of the best world-building I have ever seen in a light novel, thoughtful discussions of inequality and societal issues, and most impressively, open and frank discussion of queer identity and life Yuri has ever seen! This one is something special.

The series is published by Seven Seas Entertainment - https://amzn.to/3nedvdZ

4: The Last of Us Part II

Yes, I know this one is not Yuri and that a portion of the population despises this game and will likely be exceptionally angry at me for including it. However, I maintain that it was an incredibly challenging masterpiece. Naughty Dog did not take the easy route out and delivered one of the most devastating media experiences I have ever seen. As I said in my article about the game, playing it changed me, and it sticks with me to this day. The Last of Us Part II earns its spot on this list because it pushed boundaries more with LGBTQ inclusion than any other AAA game. From brave inclusion of LGBTQ themes to queer characters and storylines at its center, the game changes gaming and it will never go back.

The Last of Us Part II is available on PlayStation 4

3: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power

She-Ra feels like the culmination of all the LGBTQ progress western cartoons have made over the past few years. From The Legend of Korra to Steven Universe, young people are finally seeing more LGBTQ people represented on the small screen. This epic fantasy concluded with an amazing and powerful lesbian romance, delivering on its queer promise and revolutionized representation in a trope-defying crescendo.

She-Ra and the Princesses of Power is streaming on Netflix

2: The Conditions of Paradise

The greatest single Yuri work of all in 2020 was the English release of Akiko Morishima’s breakthrough manga, The Conditions of Paradise. Initially released in 2007, this anthology detailed the love between adult women. It was in every way a manga ahead of its time, and seeing it finally get a small piece of the recognition it deserves overseas is a true gift. The fact that we can own this legendary piece of Yuri history and Morishima’s other anthologies is nothing short of a blessing from the Yuri goddess.

The Conditions of Paradise is published by Seven Seas Entertainment - https://amzn.to/38bh4xq

Honorable Mention: Otherside Picnic

This eerie sci-fi horror series combines the best of pulse-pounding thrillers, complex and intelligent hard science fiction, and exciting Yuri romance. Author Iori Miyazawa spends as much time crafting a well-paced and intriguing narrative about a mysterious world where occult creatures roam as he does establishing two believable and grounded heroes in Sorawo and Toriko. The romance between the two may be slow to start, but their chemistry is undeniable and as the stakes and story build, so too does their relationship. Not only are the light novels incredible, but the series’ manga adaptation is coming soon to the West as well as an upcoming TV anime in early 2021.

Otherside Picnic is streaming on Funimation. The light novels are published by J-Novel Club - https://amzn.to/3niiv1g

1. Yuri subgenres

For a long time, Yuri was not a genre of its own, but elements of romances or bonds between women found in other works. Now, thanks to an increasing library of works, the advent of social media, and a wider audience, Yuri is a genre on its own, with many creators telling different stories in different styles. However, 2020 saw the continued emergence of something extraordinary, subgenres. Yuri is now so vast, we can actually categorize the works within. Depending on their characters, like classic schoolgirl romances or spicy shakaijin office affairs, their world, such as fantasy or isekai series and thrilling science fiction adventures, and even other elements within. One of my personal favorites is the feminist Yuri that emerges from titles like Sexiled, where women celebrate the accomplishments of other women and dismantle power structures stacked against them. Now, no matter what kind of Yurijin you are, there is something for you to love.

I am happy to leave 2020 behind, but I bring with me a renewed love and admiration for Yuri. 2021 looks to be a somehow even better year for the genre, and I am thrilled to experience every minute of it that I can. Yuri has transformed into something far greater than I ever thought it would be, and let us all enjoy its evolution and expansion together in 2021.

#yuri #manga #anime #top 10 #lgbt #lgbtq #lgbtq+#queer #gay #girls love #gl #adachi and shimamura #otherside picnic #lists #2020 #happy new year #2021 #new year

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multifandomfanficss · 3 years

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Perfect

Doctor x Reader (Platonic!Jack x Reader)

Prompt: When on an adventure with the Doctor and Jack the reader is attacked by an alien called a Psyfon, a race with psychic abilities who feed off of emotions. The reader gets stuck in their perfect dream realm and the Doctor has to save them before they die in there.

Warnings: Dead family members.

A/N: Pretty much any Doctor can be used, but I mostly thought of 10 and 11 while writing it. The aliens were inspired by the Djinn from Supernatural. I was also inspired by Doctor Who: The Infinite Quest a little bit so if you’re a fan of the main series you should totally check that out. Also please let me know if I made an error in pronouns. I tried to make the reader gender neutral so everyone could relate.

You had been traveling with the Doctor for a while now and had run into Jack not long after you met him. When you first met Jack, an old friend of the Doctor’s, you didn’t believe him when he said he had known the Doctor for over a century. Judging by his earthly appearance and his age there was no way this could be true, but after watching him die you quickly learned of his immortality.

You met the Doctor when he saved you from the Cybermen. Sadly he couldn’t save your family from such a terrible fate, but he got you out just in time. Ever since then they had been your biggest fear. Jack and the Doctor had lived for so long they both knew what it was like to lose the people they cared for most...nobody knew better than the Doctor. They helped you get through the pain that came after such a big loss. The Doctor would often hear crying coming from your room during your early nights on the TARDIS when he sat up late in the console room and he would be at your side in seconds to comfort you. He was always there for you no matter what. You wouldn’t have gotten to this point without him. By now the nightmares had gone away, mostly, and the scars had stopped bleeding, but they were still there. They would always be there. This history was a part of you forever, your history, and you were just lucky enough to have the Doctor in it. If you’re being completely honest with yourself you had grown a little bit of a crush on the Doctor. I mean who wouldn’t? He’s the Doctor. You loved him, but you would never tell him. You were happy living with his ignorance. Life was better in the bliss of your friendship.

It had been just a normal adventure with your two best friends, Jack and the Doctor, but then again nothing was ever really normal with them. You were separated from your boys as your ran down a long dark corridor. Your shoes slapped against the cold, hard pavement as you rounded the corner. When you looked behind you there seemed to be nothing chasing you anymore. You stopped to catch your breath.

The three of you had been investigating a series of psychic attacks that were leaving people brain dead and full of a strange blue goo. You weren’t sure what kind of alien could do such a thing, but you knew you had to find out.

“(Y/N)?!” I hear Jack yell in a hushed tone. His voice echos throughout the empty building. You turn to look for him when you start to hear ringing in your ears and a giant pounding in your head. You feel your eyes close as your body hits the ground.

THIRD PERSON POV

Jack stood next to (Y/N)’s body with his gun aimed at the monster while the Doctor crouched down to check their pulse.

“You better hope they’re still alive!” Jack said as he shoved his big gun in the monster’s face. Usually the Doctor would object to pointing guns at people, but he was so worried about (Y/N) he didn’t have time to care about Jack’s manners.

“What did you do to them?!” The Doctor asks standing up to look at the alien. They were from a species called Psyfons, a group of aliens who feed off the emotions of other people.

“Don’t worry, they’re only sleeping,” the alien slurred.

“For now,” they added. Jack hit the alien with the butt of his gun and knocked them out. The Doctor gave him a disapproving look.

“You should be happy. Knocking them out was the least I could do” Jack joked. The Doctor rolled his eyes and dropped down to (Y/N)‘s body again. Jack joined him this time. They were sweating. He placed his hand over their forehead.

“They’re burning up” Jack stated the obvious.

“Yes, I know I-I I have to do-do this thing-“ The Doctor starts stuttering.

“Then do it!” Jack cuts him.

“But I can’t! I swore I’d never do it again! Not since-“ He started to get a little choked up.

“Since what?!” Jack questioned.

“Not since Donna” The Doctor finished sadly. Jack put a hand on the Doctor’s shoulder.

“It’s the only way to save them” Jack told him.

“It was the only way to save her too” The Doctor says sadly.

“Maybe it’ll be different this time” Jack suggests.

“We don’t know that” The Doctor says coldly as he puts his hands to (Y/N)’s head and enter’s their mind.

(Y/N)’S POV

You wake up laying in the grass in front of your old house. You hear the sound of birds and the sun is just a little too bright for comfort, but it’s home. You take a deep breath of the fresh air. You smile, but you’re confused. You look over to see the Doctor standing in the TARDIS door. Jack is nowhere to be seen.

“Where’s Jack?” You ask.

“Oh, popped off to see his friends at Torchwood, I suppose” The Doctor tells you. You nod as you look back to your house.

“And we’re home because...” You wonder.

“The Psyfon knocked you out. I figured this would be a nice, safe place to rest for a while” He reminds you.

“And I couldn’t just rest in the TARDIS?” You ask.

“I thought this would be a nice surprise” He says.

“What year is it?” You ask. You doubt he would be able to bring you to a time period where your family is alive, but it never hurts to ask.

“2021” He answers.

“So they’re not here” you say sadly.

“Who’s not here?” He asks.

“My family” You say becoming more sad, but more confused by the second. How could he just forget like that? You know he’s lived for a long time, but surely he wouldn’t forget something this important to you. Would he? He gives you a confused look.

“Doctor, my family is d-“ You’re cut off by the sound of a door opening.

“You didn’t tell us you were coming!” You hear a voice say. You stop dead in your tracks and you go white. It can’t be.

“Mom?” You say as you turn around to see her. You run to her and engulf her in a giant hug.

“Woah, what’s that for?” Your mother asks delighted, as you practically knock her down.

“I just missed you. That’s all” You say as you try to hold back your tears.

“Where is everybody?” You ask, as it suddenly dawns on you that your family is alive.

“Your father went to go pick up your brother and sister from school” She informs you. The Doctor comes up behind you and takes your hand. He squeezes it, giving you a big smile. He is an impossible man, but you never knew he could do something like this for you.

“Why don’t you two come in? It’s almost time for tea” Your mother invites you in. You gladly accept, of course. You watch your mother go into the kitchen as you pull the Doctor aside into the living room and hug him tightly.

“Thank you” You tell him. That’s when you start to let go of a few tears.

“I figured it was time to go home” He says happily. The hug lingers a little longer than usual. He just holds you. Then he places a quick kiss to your cheek, just missing your lips. Your face goes red. This is completely out of character for your relationship with the Doctor. Sure you had always wanted to be something more, but he didn’t need to know that. You didn’t want your relationship with him to change. You figure it’s best to just dance around the subject. You pull away and clear your throat.

“So, um...how did you do it?” You ask.

“Do what?” He asks looking lovingly into your eyes.

“Bring my family back?” You ask with a slight chuckle.

“I didn’t” He says simply. That’s when your head begins to ring again.

“Let me in, (Y/N). That’s it.” You hear the Doctor’s voice, but his lips aren’t moving. Suddenly there is a light and the Doctor shifts uncomfortably. He cracks his neck and stretches out his arms.

“Good thing there was a body here for me to jump into or else that could have been disastrous” He comments. You give him a confused look.

“Oh, yes! I’m sorry (Y/N), but none of this is real” He says plainly.

“What?” You ask. This all certainly looks and feels real. The sound of a kettle whistle comes from the kitchen. The Doctor sniffs the air.

“Is that tea?” He asks.

“Tea’s ready!” Your mom calls from the kitchen.

“Doctor, you need to tell me what’s going on right now” You demand. He looks into the kitchen and makes a face.

“The Psyfon. It put you in a dream state so it could feed off your energy and emotions. You’re dying in the real world. Turning to goo” He held out the last word as he made a face of disgust and interest. He gave you a sad look as he started to put the pieces together, of where you were and who you were with. You started to feel your legs give out from underneath you. The Doctor guided you to a chair.

“I want to stay” You say numbly.

“(Y/N), none of this is real” He starts.

“I don’t care. I want to stay” You repeat.

“You’ll die in here” He begins.

“Time works differently in dreams. I could easily spend my whole life here-“ You try to rationalize it.

“You’ll never see me again” The Doctor tries.

“There’s a version of you here-“ You try, but are cut off again. He crouches down to your level and takes hold of your hands.

“(Y/N), none of this is real. It will never be real. Your pain balances out your beauty. There wouldn’t be one without the other and that’s what makes you human and you are SO human. This is all in your head. You will be alone in here forever. Please just come home with me. There are people there who will miss you. Come back with me, back to the TARDIS, please!” He results to begging as a last ditch effort.

“How can I go back when everything is so perfect here? I’m perfect here. I’m not a mess. I can just be me” You start to cry.

“You’re always perfect to me and that little bit of mess makes you human. It doesn’t lessen your beauty or your creativity or your kindness. It just adds to who you are as a person” He says, wiping away a tear.

“Please. Come home with me” He begs. You nod in response as he gives your hands a squeeze. He gives you a sad smile. You stand together and you hear the doorbell ring.

“That must be your father. He forgot his keys again” Your mother laughs as she walks to the door. The door opens and the Doctor pushes himself in front of your as three Cybermen crash through the door.

“DELETE” One yells, as it kills your mother.

“NO” You scream, as the Doctor tries to keep you from running towards her.

“She isn’t real! Come on!” He yells over the sound of pounding Cybermen feet as he pulls you out the back way to the garden.

“Where’s the TARDIS?” He asks.

“It’s on the other side of the house!” You say as you pull him around the building. You lay your eyes on the beautiful blue box as the Doctor shoves his key inside.

“YOU WILL BE UPGRADED” The Cybermen shout. Once unlocked, you push your way through the doors to find a hollow Police Box.

“Why is this happening?!” You cry. The Doctor places his hands on your shoulders.

“The dream is turning into a nightmare to try to keep you here. (Y/N), come on. You have to think. What’s keeping you here?” He asks.

“My family is dead!” You cry.

“Yes, something else” He tries to think. You look at his thinking face. His beautiful thinking face and it strikes you.

“I’m in love with you” You blurt out.

“What?!” He looks back at you with a confused look.

“The version of you here. I think he felt the same way” You give him an embarrassed look. He lets go of a big breath.

“Well...” He starts as he tilts his head.

“I suppose if admitting the way I feel gets us out of here then the real me doesn’t feel very different” He finishes quickly.

“Wait, what?!” You respond. He gives you his classic Doctor smile before the Cybermen fade. Everything fades. The world goes black.

You wake up crying with a pounding headache in your bed in the TARDIS. The Doctor rushes in just like old times.

“It’s okay. I’m here” The Doctor tells you as he sits on your bed and wraps his arms around you.

“I just had the most insane dream” You start to tell him.

“Well...” His voice fades.

“Doctor, was that real?” You ask him. He pulls back to look at you.

“In a sense, yes” He goes on to explain the effects the Psyfon had on you and how he went into your mind to save you. He explains how you were unconscious when you came out of the dream state and that he brought you back to your room on the TARDIS to rest.

“Where’s Jack?” You ask.

“He’s bringing the Psyfon to the Shadow Proclamation for me where they will be tried for their psychological attacks. They won’t hurt anyone anymore” He promises. After you’ve calmed down somewhat he gets up to leave the room.

“You should get some rest” He says opening the door.

“Wait! Doctor, do you think maybe you could stay with me? Just until I fall asleep?” You ask.

“Of course” He responds as he awkwardly climbs into your bed and wraps his arms around you. You almost forget about your confessions until he kisses you on the cheek.

“Goodnight, (Y/N)” He says sweetly.

“Goodnight, Doctor” You say as you drift off to sleep to the sound of his dual heartbeats.

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ultimatetornshipper · 3 years

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Daminette December Day 1

@daminette-december2019-2020

Hiii, so i guess I’m doing this, so I’m gonna make a few of the prompts part of a series, I’m gonna make between 2 and 3 series, I’ll give each one their own name so everyone can tell the difference because some prompts just won’t work in the medieval au I’m using for the first series, but I’m very excited for this, I mean I might get behind later in the month or post a day late but I’m pretty excited. Anyway I hope you guys enjoy it!!

Princes and Pedestals

Chapter 1 – Inspiration

Marinette walked down the hall, behind Fu, zoning him out for the most part. She’d heard this speech a million times.

‘You represent the Order. You are our Grand Guardian. Appearances are crucial. Be polite, be pretty, be perfect,’ he always said, or well, that’s what it boiled down to in the end. But his personal favorite line was never left out of any of his lectures.

“But above all inspire them to be good, Marinette, that is your purpose,” he said now. She bit back a tired sigh.

He came to a stop and told her to wait in front of the two large wooden doors.

Inspiration. That’s all she was. A symbol of hope, of perfection. It’s been years since she was allowed to just be human.

The doors open and she plastered on her perfected fake smile. She walked in and curtsied to the Royal family of Gotham.

She stared at the floor for a few seconds and kept her head bowed as she gathered herself. Marinette swallowed her tears as she looked up at them.

Since she was also basically Royalty she was allowed to make eye contact after properly greeting.

She looked at them. King Bruce of Gotham sat in the middle. On his left was the empty chair of his wife, Queen Selina. On his right sat his eldest son, Prince Richard Gray. Next to Richard sat the empty chair of Lord Timothy of Drake, he and the Queen were in Gotham, they’d gone back earlier than the rest due to undisclosed circumstances. Next to Timothy’s chair, sat his betrothed, Lady Stephanie of Brown. Next to Queen Selina's open chair sat Prince Jason Todd. And next to Jason sat Princess Cassandra. Finally next to her sat Prince Damian.

While the others didn’t make eye contact, he caught he gaze immediately and she felt her breath catch in her throat.

She could all but see the Destruction radiating off of him. He was a true holder of the Black Cat. The chaos and destruction in him screamed out to her.

But she just barely registered those facts.

Because unlike his family, who had blue eyes...

His were green.

Another eerily similar but completely different green gaze flitted through her mind-

She pulled her eyes away. If she looked any longer she’d remember more. And if she remembered any more she wasn’t sure she’d make it out the door.

She registered Fu speaking and introducing her, he was explaining things, stating the basics of their case.

The Order wanted an alliance with their kingdom, and by extension, the League of Justice.

She zoned out and focused on her breathing. She pushed against the memories of a certain Black Cat. She pushed all thoughts of him away but the more she pushed the more they assaulted her.

Blonde hair and the brightest smile she’d seen in years. Green eyes that shone like grass in a meadow. Her heart clenched.

It was the lack of destruction in him that lead to his death.

But here was a man, their age, with chaos and destruction to spare.

It wasn’t fair, a part of her whispered desperately.

She swallowed the tears and took a few deep breaths. Marinette refocused her attention on the conversation.

They’d stay at their summer castle with the family and depending on negotiations, return with them to Gotham to finalize their alliance in any way King Bruce saw fit.

She felt a few gazes on her as Fu spoke and the King replied. The guards, and some of the brothers and sisters on their thrones. But she didn’t dare look and take the risk of being caught in Prince Damian’s gaze. She knew she wouldn’t be able to stop the memories and the tears a second time.

They were probably curious about her black gown, it indicated that she was in mourning and that always got people curious. She was pretty young after all.

But she and- the two of them had been betrothed for three years when the Destruction stole him from her.

She only had a few days left before her mourning period was officially over.

Marinette, stop it!

She took a deep breath, now was not the time for this.

She came to just in time to notice King Bruce turn his gaze to her, “Well it was an honor to meet you, Grand Guardian. I look forward to discussing the specifics of our alliance. Sir Pennyworth will show you to the rooms you’ll be staying in,” he gestured to an older man who stepped forward and offered her his arm.

She thanked the King and took the man's arm, noticing some of his children’s surprise.

She let Sir Pennyworth escort her to her new chambers.

“I think you will come to quite like it here, Your Majesty,” he said to her, when they were out of earshot, “I can imagine that it is quite lonely up on that pedestal of yours,”

She was so surprised at his blunt disregard for etiquette that it took her a moment to register what he said.

Then she recognized the traces of Duusu's miraculous on him. Ah, an old holder. The kwami of emotion always did leave quite a mark on her holders.

After a few more seconds she realized that she didn’t mind his casualty. She didn’t mind that he had pushed her title aside and treated her... like she was normal.

“You have no idea,” she replied so softly that she didn’t think he heard her, until he squeezed her hand.

They came to a stop in front of the room she realized must be hers, he opened the door and let go of her arm, “If you ever need anything just ask for Alfred, Your Majesty,”

She smiled at him, “Please call me Marinette,”

He smiled back and Marinette had a feeling that he was going to be right about her enjoying her time there.

#daminette december #daminette #medieval au #day 1 #day 1 - inspiration #miraculous #mlb #ml #mlb x dc #damimari #maridami #damian x marinette #marinette x damian #utp writes

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stina-is-a-punk-rocker · 3 years

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books i actually like

A solid 97% of my ‘book reviews’ (for lack of a better term) are bound to be just me bitching about said book for way too long with way too many expletives, because books I genuinely adore rarely invoke the visceral reaction within me that causes so many of my ‘reviews’ of books I don’t like to be so impassioned and long-winded. Here’s to kicking this dumpster fire off with a little positivity, because that will be little and far in between henceforth.

Harry Potter – J. K. Foul Thing I never understood how someone could appreciate the art and not the artist until Harry Potter. JKR’s dead to me, but the seven original (and only, because I refuse to accept the flaming pile of dog shit that was The Cursed Child as canon) books remain i c o n i c. And you’ll probably witness a LOT of Harry Potter-inspired shitposting on my part if you decide to stick around, because Harry Potter trivia makes up a solid chunk of my personality, and I like to shove my fandoms in other people’s faces. Again, I’m cute like that.

The Diary of a Young Girl – Anne Frank By some odd coincidence, my mum got me Anne Frank’s diary for my 13th birthday, and I always felt like a Super Special Snowflake because of that. Obviously, I can’t relate to being Jewish and in hiding during WWII, but there’s a lot of Anne’s views and thoughts that… resonated with me (ain’t that the most basic-ass description of a book, ever). There’s always the lingering sadness while reading because you know how her story comes to an end, but it’s a book that’s still stuck with me six years later, and for the rest of my mortal life.

The Book Thief – Markus Zusak Why Must I Adore Books That Give Me Naught but Pain: An Autobiography.

Freak the Mighty – Rodman Philbrick Ditto.

Bad Alice – Jean Ure When I first saw the cover, I expected a lighthearted, cheery book. I was very much mistaken. Duffy, a self-proclaimed ‘oddball’, and Alice, another self-proclaimed ‘oddball’, are easily two of my favorite fictional characters, ever. The subject matter is pretty damn dark and rereading the book as an adult is actually kind of scary, but it’s so well-written and engaging and this sounds like I’m an elementary school teacher writing a report card so I’m just gonna stop here.

Tiger Eyes – Judy Blume A true Relic of the angst-riddled phase of my adolescence (I say as if I am not still going through said angst-riddled phase). I’ve been a fan of Judy Blume’s work since one of the girls in my third-grade class bestowed upon me Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing; growing up, I’ve become more detached from Blume’s work but Tiger Eyes is a book that’s never gotten old for me. Davey, the angst-riddled adolescent protagonist, is also stubborn and headstrong and angry and scarily relatable to myself at her age, though under wildly different circumstances.

Changeling – Philippa Gregory I’ve read a couple of Goodreads reviews on the Order of Darkness series, and I’ve garnered that Philippa Gregory fans (Philippans? Philipinos?) are not fans of the series. I can’t vouch for that, given that I’ve only ever read the said series, and I’m admittedly not a fan of books two through four (which is basically every book of the series published to date, exempting the first), but Changeling is a book I liked enough to attempt to handwrite it in a notebook back when I was 12 (I gave up after, like, two sentences because my hand started cramping), and also to try and write a ripoff, featuring an angsty young preteen girl with (short) wavy black hair and eyes like limpid tears (gee, I wonder who that could be) (my eyes are brown, though; I dunno why I wrote the self-insert to be blue-eyed).

The Secret History – Donna Tartt My first foray into dark academia; sadly, reading The Secret History before any other books in the (sub?)genre made every other book pale in comparison. What’s so special about The Secret History for me is that I hate every main character, with passion. Each and every one of them; not just Bunny, but Richard and Henry and Charles and Camilla and Francis and Julian can all go fuck themselves for all I care- but I find them so fascinating. The story and the way it’s written is pretty over-the-top dramatic and my struggling bilingual arse had to look up every tenth word or so, but I adore it with every fibre of my being. Well, the leftover fibres of my being that aren’t simping over Kim Seungmin.

A Series of Unfortunate Events – Lemony Snicket Does this count as the first step of my emo phase? Shoutout to the girl in seventh grade I sat next to for, like, two weeks, who lent me The Wide Window and got me hooked on the series.

Alice in Wonderland – Lewis Carroll This entire book feels so trippy.

The Secret Garden – Frances Hodgson Burnett It’s corny and Everything Works Out Swell for the Goody Guys in the End! in period-typical book fashion, but it got me through many a boring class in the spring of my ninth year of personhood, so I’ll always have a soft spot for Mary and Dickon and Colin and the rest of the gang. It also inspired me to Cultivate, and there are two pretty bougainvillea plants in my garden thanks to one Mary Lennox.

The Miseducation of Cameron Post – Emily M. Danforth Cameron Post: the lesbian baddie we all aspire to be.

Vicky Angel – Jacqueline Wilson Yet another shoutout to my seventh-grade seatmate for lending me her copy of Vicky Angel, which I read under my covers like it was a bloody nudie mag.

A Song of Ice and Fire – George R. R. Martin Where’s Winds of Winter, George?

Turtles All the Way Down – John Green Paper Towns used to be my favorite John Green book until I read Turtles All the Way Down last year. I adore John Green’s writing style (maybe not the #deep #woke #sadboi #middleclass #white #male #cisgender #heterosexual #personalityofabreadroll leads in a solid chunk of his books, though) and okay, so maybe Davis fits all of the above, but my true faves are Aza and Daisy and their dynamic.

To Kill a Mockingbird – Harper Lee I keep calling this ‘HOW to Kill a Mockingbird’ in conversations and it gets really fucking inconvenient.

Coraline – Neil Gaiman I just wish I’d read this sooner than I did.

#book review #harry potter #coraline #john green #changeling #turtles all the way down #to kill a mockingbird #game of thrones #cameron post #vicky angel #the secret history #a series of unfortunate events #the book thief #anne frank #lgbt #historical fiction #fantasy #books

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theweekinarrowfic · 3 years

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Completed Arrow Multichapters on AO3, December 20-26, 2020

NOTE: I’m now crossposting to https://theweekinarrowfic.dreamwidth.org. Also, I'm looking for volunteers to test out my fic recommender! Need more Arrow in your life? Why not try one of the multchapter fanfics recently completed by our talented fic writers?

Olicity

Initial Contact by sidhe_faerie (2/2, 21 Dec 2020) - Hacker and Assassin verse

Contac: Hiding: Out by sidhe_faerie (2/2, 21 Dec 2020) - Yahtzee Set 2 Large straight all five connected in one story,

my love had been frozen deep blue (but you painted me golden) by MagusLibera for damnsmoaky (4/4, 22 Dec 2020) - Twenty-five years after Sozin's Comet was used to wipe out the airbenders, the war is making it's way to the Earth Kingdom. After realising that the cause he was fighting for was a lie, Oliver defected from the army to fight against his own people with his team - an earthbender, two former army comrades and a girl from the Southern Water Tribe. But his mission is interrupted when news from the Fire Nation reaches him, forcing him to head home for the first time in five years.; Set during the Hundred Year War from Avatar: The Last Airbender. Knowledge of the show will enhance the story but is not necessary to read it as this is set before the first episode.

all I want for Christmas is a divorce (is you) by thecomebackkids99 (6/6, 24 Dec 2020) - Oliver Queen and Felicity Smoak divorced over a year ago. But just a few days before Christmas, the tabloids dig up a juicy tidbit: the divorce was never finalized. Which causes a few fights, an exasperated friend or two to say something crazy, and an awkward car ride that brings the bitterness, the pain, and the truth to light.; Because Oliver Queen and Felicity Smoak are technically still married.

The Trouble With Tabloids by starrnobella (24/24, 26 Dec 2020) - All that tabloids are good for is to spread rumors.

Other Ships/Characters

As Long as it Takes by mizar24 (Dinah Drake/Earth-2 Laurel, 2/2, 26 Dec 2020) - laurel thinks that if they date, dinah will eventually end up leaving her so dinah's going to prove her wrong - as long as it takes

Dysfunctional Families by KleptoElf (Laurel/Oliver, 3/3, 23 Dec 2020) - Oliver just wants to get away from his life for a few hours. Laurel just wants a distraction from having to spend another Christmas with her dysfunctional family. Maybe they can both get what they want.

Scientific Method by kitkatt0430 (Barry Allen/Oliver, 5/5, 21 Dec 2020) - Barry Allen arrives in Starling City intending to get his foot in the door on a particularly unusual and interesting case. Maybe find out a little more about the Starling City Vigilante if the topic happened to come up.; He did not expect to be saving that Vigilante's life, but the world is a weird place. Barry's known that much for a very long time, after all.

The scientist and the dog by 47652 (Barry Allen/Felicity, 6/6, 22 Dec 2020) - Basically a AU of the scientist where Berry Allen has a service dog.; This Follows the events of the scientist (season two episode eight of arrow)

An Arrow Christmas Carol by Xenia (Laurel/Oliver, 7/7, 24 Dec 2020) - Oliver is trying to make things work with Felicity. Tommy, his parents and Shado think that Felicity isn't right for him. And what better period for some friendly ghost visit?

Crisis on Infinite Earths by IAmMattis (James "Bucky" Barnes/Laurel, 10/10, 26 Dec 2020) - The time has come. Worlds will live, worlds will die and the Universe will never be same. Discontinued. Final chapter and epilogue are now posted.

Byline by Write_To_You (Barry Allen/Caitlin Snow, Oliver listed as character, 11/11, 25 Dec 2020) - “Flash Missing, Vanishes in Crises, by Iris West,” Caitlin repeated. “Thursday, April 25... 2018.” She stumbled a step back, blood draining from her face. “Oh my gosh,” she whispered. “That’s next week.”; OR the third installment in the Flux series, in which Team Flash realizes that Crisis is coming a lot sooner than they ever thought.

Attack on two earths by Stand_with_Ward_and_Queen (Steve Rogers/Caitlin Snow, Sara/Oliver and Thea/Roy among side pairings, 12/12, 21 Dec 2020) - Sequel to 'Torn between two timelines'. Two months after their engagement, Steve and Caitlin's closest friends all gather for their wedding. Unfortunately, ghosts from the past are unwilling to let the happy couple celebrate this moment in peace.

Bird in a Storm by Ray_Writes (Laurel/Oliver, 17/17, 26 Dec 2020) - The confrontation between the Hood and SWAT on the roof of the Winick Building goes differently, altering the course of Laurel's career, relationships and efforts to save her city forever, the shockwaves of such an altered path making themselves felt throughout her family and friends.

The Traveler by Darth_Rainbow_Queen_Of_Coconuts (OFC-centric, Oliver listed as character, 32/32, 25 Dec 2020) - Lucie Aconite ran away from home.; The trained hunter away from past traumas, ran away from dark memories, ran away from a twisted family. She joined the Travelers, an organization that exist outside of any temporal zones and made of people who will never matter. Their purpose? Lend a hand to heroes in need, make sure those are the ones history will remember.; So now, Lucie travels. To very, very, different places. Different universes, different worlds. Along her way, she met Shadowhunters, Demigods, Werewolves, Warlocks, Seelies, Emissaries, Vampires, Passlings, etc. But no matter how far she goes, something will always take her back right where she started...; I own nothing but Lucie and the adventures she will live.; [AU including Shadowhunters, Teen Wolf, The Chronicles of Narnia, TVD, The Originals, Charmed, PJO/HoO/Kane Chronicles, and others. Very freely inspired though.]

Vigilantes' Dawn by Kylia (Laurel/Oliver, 32/32, 20 Dec 2020) - What if Oliver Queen hadn't let his commitment issues sabotage things with Laurel? What if he'd invited Laurel onto the Queen's Gambit, instead of Sara? And what happens in Starling City when, five years later, The Arrow and the Black Canary, together, go after the List and the rest of the City's criminals? And what happens when Detective Sara Lance finds out her sister is one of the two Vigilantes that are bringing on the dawn of a new age?

#arrow #Olicity #lauriver #olivarry #dinahsiren

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dropintomanga · 3 years

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On Kodansha US’s New Tagline

One of the North American manga publishers recently got a new revamp as Kodansha Comics became consolidated into a more centralized Kodansha with a new logo and also a new tagline.

That new tagline is “Inspire Impossible Stories.” I know for most fans, taglines are taglines. But I’m somehow emotionally drawn to it due to my own relationship with Kodansha-published manga series for more than a decade.

Where do I start with this? I think the 1st Kodansha series I ever truly read was Chobits when Tokyopop released it back in the day. But the first actual Kodansha-published series that really drew my interest was Great Teacher Onizuka. After watching all of the anime in the early 2000s’, I jumped in on the Tokyopop volumes. I still consider GTO to be one of the best “high school teacher” anime/manga series of all-time. Now that I think about it, GTO did something very notable and maybe impossible compared to a typical Shonen Jump story. It was a story about a former young adult gangster who decided to be a teacher in a high school class full of troublemakers. GTO went deep into real-life issues plaguing youth in high school. It made caring about the mental health of youth a thing before it really became a thing this past decade.

Also, I just remembered that Initial D (which is another Kodansha title) was a series I loved when I was a young adult. This is starting to sound like a Tokyopop appreciation post, but I know who the real MVP is here.

I remember a famous line in Gintama about Kodansha’s Weekly Shonen Magazine. There’s a code in the Shinsengumi that states all members should read Magazine instead of Jump.

“Shinsengumi Regulation #17: No manga other than (Weekly Shonen) Magazine are allowed to be read within the confines of the station.'”

While it’s a joke poking fun at Magazine for publishing stories about delinquents and appealing more to older youth/young adults, it felt like Jump was for babies.

I browsed issues of Shonen Magazine in the past at a Japanese comfort food restaurant many years ago and it was full of series that I didn’t recognize or couldn’t get into. I did recognize a few titles like Fairy Tail and Air Gear, but the fact that it also had pin-up girls on their covers from time-to-time made me realize that Magazine was different from Jump. I remember one issue had a large fan poll on which AKB48 girl was the best.

A few years ago, Kodansha interviewed Hiroya Oku of GANTZ fame, who drew Inuyashiki for Kodansha’s Evening (a seinen manga magazine). When asked about how he came up with the idea of having a robotic alien superhero in the form of an old man, Oku mentions his former publisher, Shueisha, while describing his initial thought process. He says,

“When I was working on GANTZ on Shueisha’s Young Jump Magazine, I was more concerned about the popularity and sales figures of my manga. In that magazine’s culture, there’s an unspoken rule to make the main characters visually attractive. When I started work for Kodansha’s Evening (the magazine Inuyashiki is published in), there was more freedom. So I suggested going with the not-so-good-looking teenager as a main character. They green-lit the idea, so I started drawing the character in the manga.”

Let me put this out before we go a bit further - I love Shueisha manga series. I grew up on Shonen Jump. Their material always seems to captivate me somehow. They kept me interested in shonen for a long time. But because the fact shonen is the mainstream genre, I might get sick of it when the time comes. It’s why I also started following Young Jump series since they sounded more appealing. However, I do notice that with series like Tokyo Ghoul, Kingdom and Golden Kamuy, to name a few, the magazine is filled with stylish-looking characters that have greater appeal to a younger audience despite whatever mature tones they have.

But when it comes to Kodansha, their manga series are mature from the start and I don’t mean in a fanservice kind of way. Can you see series like A Silent Voice or Your Lie in April published in Shonen Jump or one of Shueisha’s other notable magazines? I'm not sure I can. It’s also noted that Hajime Isayama, creator of Attack on Titan, tried to get his series into Shonen Jump. Shueisha thought the series was a bit too dark for their tastes, and Isayama decided to try out for Kodansha instead and that’s where he’s been ever since as the series is published in Bessatsu Shonen Magazine.

So why appeal to that older shonen demographic? Probably because life isn’t some battle manga with friends that are there for you every step of the way. Hard work doesn’t always get rewarded. The idea of victory can also get very gray. You see more delinquents than overpowered ninjas/pirates in life. While Fairy Tail and The Seven Deadly Sins are two of Kodansha’s popular “battle manga” series ever, both series seem to subvert some of shonen’s popular tropes and/or have a certain edge to them. What’s funny is that both series involve a bar/pub/restaurant location where all the heroes meet up. Many older teens start to hang out in places like restaurants as their after-school hangouts.

There’s a lot of Kodansha series that I feel seemed impossible to tell for other publishers. I can think of titles like Tokyo Revengers, Blue Period, Land of the Lustrous, Witch Hat Atelier, Cells at Work!, Knights of Sidonia, etc. The lineup of shojo and josei titles is also incredible as well (Princess Jellyfish, Wotakoi and Chihayafuru are the best examples I can give here) Hell, Akira is a Kodansha title that’s still groundbreaking and evergreen as ever. Their tagline, “Inspire Impossible Stories,” makes sense as while it applies to their U.S. operations, a lot of job hunting students in Japan really want to work for Kodansha Japan.

While Shueisha does have a good share of its own “impossible” stories (Chainsaw Man was a title that impressed me), Shonen Jump is mainstream-friendly and safe to a certain degree. The stories I discovered through Kodansha made me realize how big the world of manga really was and what kind of stories were possible. While they may not have the biggest fandoms compared to Shonen Jump series, I can feel a certain vibe when I read Kodansha-published manga in that any mangaka working under them has their vision unleashed in a way that pleases both readers and the mangaka themselves. There might be a certain bias though as I’ve gotten to see editors from Kodansha Japan in person when they showed up for manga-related events in my area.

Kodansha showed me that there’s more to the manga world than just Jump. That’s why I love their new tag line of inspiring impossible stories. I think we need more exposure to new kinds of stories that speak to all kinds of people. I know people don’t like different stuff outside of what they usually like, but I believe those differences are beneficial in learning how to appreciate nuances in life when one gets older. Being challenged isn’t as frightening as it sounds. Those differences are trying to tell us something about ourselves. For me, it was “I really want something that isn’t about fighting super-powered villains and rivalries all the time.”

I have ambivalent feelings about my life during my 20s’, but Kodansha-published stories helped me appreciate possibility at the time when I didn’t feel there was anything to keep me going. So go on, Kodansha. Keep putting out impossible stories that are thoughtful and inspiring future generations of manga readers. Tell the world that impossible is nothing.

#Kodansha #manga #psychology #stories #youth #mental health

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allaboutthebooz · 4 years

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Die From A Broken Heart Pt. Three (Epilogue)

Summary: When Steve left, he didn’t know just how much it affected everyone. He didn’t know how much it hurt her. Now, Bucky’s left to pick up the pieces.

Warnings: Angst.

A/N: This is it. The slightly painful ending to this heartbreaking mini-series. I’m sorry that it has taken so long for me to post this part, but as you know life sucks. But I hope you all enjoy. I will say that Halsey was a HUGE inspiration for this series. You can listen to her songs ‘Without Me,’ ‘More,’ ‘Still Learning,’ and ‘Finally//Beautiful Stranger’ to get he right feel for this. I definitely recommend it, but you do not have to. Without further ado, Part Three.

Part Two

Bucky isn’t sure how long he and Steve stood staring at each other. He just knew that it was too long. He should have shoved Steve out of the door, should have rushed him out of the compound. Instead he let him linger as they went back and forth about Y/N. He should have known that Steve would be too stubborn to just give up and go back to Peggy.

Before they could pick up their conversation again, he hears Sam and Wanda step off the elevator, their voices filling the space before dying down.

“Steve?” He hears Wanda question, confusion in her voice.

“What are you doing here man?” Sam’s voice calls from just behind Bucky.

“Hey guys. It’s good to see you again.” Steve greets them as though he had just gotten back from vacation and not a different time period.

“How are you back?” Sam asks. “Has-Did uh-“

“No, and she won’t. He was just leaving.” Bucky bites out.

“Come on, Buck. Just let me see her.”

“You want to see her? Fine, follow me.”

“Bucky do you think that’s a good idea?” Sam asks.

“Don’t worry. I won’t let anything happen to her.” He glances back at Sam, a silent conversation passing between them. Sam nods, signaling his approval.

The two super soldiers stalk out of the room, tension choking both of them. Bucky moves away from the living quarters and guides Steve down a hallway, before opening a door leading into a room full of cameras.

“What are you doing, Bucky? Where’s Y/N?” Steve asks, frustration growing.

Bucky moves to the panel with different controls and monitors, he pushes a few buttons and then Y/N fills the screens. She’s in her room, sitting on her bed, unmoving. She has changed out of her athletic clothes and into some blue jeans that are rolled up at the ankles, a burgundy top and a black cardigan. Bucky’s chest clenches at the sight of her.

She doesn’t move, just staring at the empty wall in front of her. Her mind wandering through the memories that still plague her.

“What is she doing?”

“Remembering.” Bucky whispers.

“Remembering what?”

“You.”

“Me?”

“Yeah, dummy.” Bucky doesn’t tear his gaze from the screen. “This is what she does when she’s by herself. She can’t let go of the pain that she has been feeling since you left.”

“All the more reason for me to see. I can make her happy again.”

“That’s where you’re wrong Steve. You think that if she sees you ten everything will be okay, but it will only make things worse.”

“You don’t know that.” Steve argues.

Bucky sighs moving his hands to the switchboard, he moves through the archived footage. He pulls up the footage of the first day after Steve left. It’s Bucky’s room. There is big lump on the bed, made of blankets and pillows. Bucky hits another button on the switchboard and soft wails fill the room.

They both watch, listening to the lump cry. Steve is about to ask more questions, when he spots his best friend move onto the screen, moving gently over to the pile on the bed. He watches Bucky move around a few of the pillows and shift the blankets down enough so that Y/N’s head in visible.

Bucky kneels next to the bed, putting a hand on top of her head, stroking her hair. “What can I do, Doll? Tell me what to do.” Her head shifts enough to recognize the silent no. “Can you at least come out and try to eat?” Another shake of her head. “You gotta eat.”

“I’m not hungry.” He small voice answers, broken.

“I know, but you have to eat something. You can’t keep yourself locked up in here.”

“I can’t, Buck.”

The Bucky on the screen sighs sadly. “What can I do? What do you need?”

“Him. I need him back, Bucky. I need him.”

“I know you do, but I don’t think he’s going to come back.” Y/N begins to cry harder. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry that he did this to you. I wish I could do something to make it easier.”

“Can you lay with me? Please? I don’t want to be alone.” Y/N pulls the covers over her head, blocking out the world.

On-screen Bucky takes a moment to think before nodding. “Yeah, okay, sweetheart. But then you have to try and eat something.”

The head buried beneath the covers nods and Bucky moves around to the other side of the bed, and climbs in. The bundle shifts as Y/N rolls to face him. He props himself up and resumes stroking her hair, hoping to calm her enough so that she will eat something.

The Bucky standing next to Steve, hits another button and the screen shifts to a different location. It’s dark, but they can tell that it is the kitchen. The elevator dings on the screen and voices fill the speakers as the lights cut on.

“Dammit, Y/N. What the hell were you thinking? You could have gotten yourself killed.” Sam’s angry voice grows louder as he moves into the kitchen, Y/N trailing in front of him, clutching her side.

She opens the fridge and pulls out a bottle of water, opening it, and sucks down half the bottle before closing it. “I got the job done, didn’t I? The mission was to get in and get any information we could. So. what if I punched my way through a few people to get answers.” She grabs a bottle of liquor from island, twists the top off and dumps the contents on her bleeding side.

“You know that wasn’t what was supposed to happen. We don’t kill people. We’re not Hydra.”

“Well, maybe they had the right idea. At least, when they kill people, it gives the others more fear to give them what they wanted.”

“How can you say that? After everything they put Bucky and Steve through?”

“Don’t.” She turns on Sam.

“I’m sorry, but what else can I say. You want to compare yourself to Hydra, then you must have forgotten what they’ve done or have tried to do. You’re benched. You just earned yourself two months’ worth of desk duty and paperwork.”

“Bullshit! You can’t do that.” She argues back.

“I can and I just did. You want to get yourself killed and I’m not going to let that happen. You’ve grown reckless, Y/N. I know you’re still hurting, but I prefer you being buried beneath pillows and blankets than six feet deep covered in dirt and maggots. Go see Cho, get stitched up, and then get some rest. It’s going to be a long time before you see action again.”

Y/N chucks the bottle into the sink, it shatters as she stomps away and out of the frame.

Bucky pauses the frame. “She did everything she could to get herself injured or almost killed on missions. It was a constant battle to get her to stay alive. If she wasn’t fighting with everyone on the team about her survival, then she was starving herself.”

“Why would she do that?”

“Because she thought it would be easier to die than to live without you.”

“That doesn’t sound like YN.”

“She’s not the same girl you left, Steve. She’s changed a lot. She’s almost back to being herself, but if she sees you than that will ruin everything. You need to go back to Peggy. You need to leave and never come back, because I don’t want to think about what will happen if you stay.”

Bucky switches the screens back to its live feed. Y/N is now moving about her room, cleaning up what little mess that she made while getting ready. She asked F.R.I.D.A.Y to play some music while she waited for time to pass before she had to meet Bucky back in the common room.

“You gotta let her go. You have to let her move on and be the person she was meant to be. You had your chance with her and left her, now you need to let her go. Let her go, so that she can finally be happy.”

Steve watches Y/N move on the screen. He longs to touch her again. To feel her soft skin beneath his rough hands. To hear her soft voice, call his name. To look into her eyes and see all the love that she holds for him. To hold her in his arms. Everything he wants, doesn’t matter. Just those two scenes that Bucky showed him, were enough to derail his plan. He thought he could make everything right if he came back. He knows that nothing will ever be the same if he stays. He won’t be able to make her happy again. That’s not his job anymore. It’s Bucky’s, even if he doesn’t realize it himself. He will, eventually.

He turns away from the screens, turning his back towards them and Bucky. “If I go, you have to promise me that you will take care of her.”

“You know I will.”

“No, I mean, take care of her the way that I couldn’t. Make her happy. Make her laugh and smile. I need you to love her, the way that I should have.”

“Steve, I told you-“

“Just promise me, Buck. Because I’m not leaving until you do.”

“Yeah, alright. I promise.”

Steve nods. “I guess this is goodbye.”

“I guess it is.”

Steve pulls the door open to the security room and disappears down the hall. Bucky follows him on the cameras, making sure he actually leaves. When Steve steps through the exit, Bucky puts his hands on the dashboard in front of him, watching YN. He watches her a while longer, watching her check her reflection in the mirror and smiling at herself, before going to get ready.

He prays that Steve truly takes his advice and leaves. Only time will tell, and he is prepared for either situation. He’s prepared to hold her up if she ever sees Steve and he’s prepared to help her keep moving forward.

*Since this is the last part, but you wish to be added to my Marvel tags, please send an ask!

Marvel:

@shreddedparchment @wonderlandfandomkingdom @tfandtws @evanstush @shannon124 @iheartsebastianstan @iconicbabesss @fairlightswiftly @heyiamthatbitch @crist1216 @titty-teetee @marvelbrat @k-wedgeworth @yourmilez @bloodyproudpotterhead @congolife @rynabarnesrogers @anxiousamandapanda @tsofo26 @ladylizzieofdarbyshire @greyeyedsmile14 @lilliannaansalla @caretheunicorn @headmistressofbitchcraft @bangafewgongs @littlebear423 @thefandomzoneisdangerous @marvelita @kallafrench @frenchzodiacgirl @tacohead @lovelylittledevilgirl @believe-all-the-stories @tfandtws @evanstush @shannon124 @iheartsebastianstan @remilupin22 @meaganottiz02 @xnnskwjeheb2j @the-falling-in-danger @mc225g @capstopavenger @marvelfansworld @xalinx @my-soul-is-the-moon @heathens-takeitsl0w @ladybeautiful18 @mjthehbic

Forevers:

@jamielea81 @gh0stgurl @pretty-fortune@psychoredpanda@mrsdeanfuckingwinchester @tmiships4life@babypink224221 @20gayneen @simonsbluee @flamencodiva @captaindorit0 @jerkbitchidjitassbutt @glennacocoa@aomi-nabi @invisibledevour @wayward-river @housav @crystallstaircase@jessieray98 @logical-princey@cookiechipdough @81mysteriouslyme @deans-baby-momma @lilliannaansalla @nea90sweetie

*if your name is crossed through, it is because I am not able to tag you. Please make sure you’re open to being searched, otherwise you will be removed after three tries.

*if I forgot you, please let me know! I always feel like I’m missing someone!

*If you were tagged by mistake, please let me know!

#marvel #marvel series #marvel reader insert #Steve Rogers #steve rogers x reader #steve rogers x reader fic #steve rogers x reader fanfic #Bucky Barnes #bucky x reader #bucky barns x reader #die from a broken heart #die from a broken heart mini series

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kiatheinsomniac · 4 years

Text

G O D S A U

Defluxit Cieux (Faded Heavens)

Realm of the tragic gods, their environments reflect their struggles which have overcome many parts of themselves.

Soul for Sale

Arno: God of the arts (also mourning and justice)

In life, she had been the greatest artist: her pieces were in galleries and noble’s homes all over the world for their photo-like realism. Everyone knew her name, knew at least ten of her works. Her art graced every gallery and inspired millions.

But this came at a price.

(Y/n) had sold her soul to the god of the arts in exchange for five years to become the greatest artist history would ever see. There had been a few rules: no cheating death when it came knocking and she could only dedicate herself to art and art alone — she had sold her soul to him so no one else could have her.

She had once painted canvases but, when she died, she had painted the floor under the crushing weight of a chandelier at a venue.

The artist had been confused, to begin with. She wondered and wondered until the world faded to black, worried that she had become lost.

But, she had found herself standing in a stream of wine among the dark mist of the world between the flesh and the world of the spirit. She followed that stream, staining her skin as her feet sloshed through it, until it led her to a grand door.

Upon crossing the threshold, labouring to push the heady door open, she was greeted by slow clapping.

“Here’s the great artist at last.” A man’s voice called out with a smile.

There, seated on a throne, was the god she had sold her soul to. He wore rich clothing in deep blues and the room seemed to have a midnight glow to it. Everything looked like it had been pulled from the Baroque period and (Y/n) adored it.

She hurried over to the throne and fell to her knees at the steps, bowing her head.

“Thank you.” She whispered, voice trembling in awe, “I’ve made my home among history books.”

“And were you satisfied?” He leaned forwards to capture her chin with his fingers, raising her eyes to meet his.

A series of memories flickered through her head like the flashes of cameras she had known so well in life. Canvas tearing, paint splattering, glasses being smashed, statues’ clay faces being smeared and smothered, soft pillows and wet cheeks, hours spent sitting down in the shower.

“I was.” She replied. The god smiled knowingly and released her chin, leaning back then looking down at her.

“You can’t lie to me, (Y/n). I’ve been watching you since we made that deal.”

“All the time?” Her eyes widened. He tossed his head around playfully as he thought.

“Most of the time.” He reached for a glass of red wine which seemed to have appeared from nowhere. “You’ll be taken away for the next hour or so before we begin.”

“Begin what?” She furrowed her brows.

“We had a deal. Deals are only made when there is a benefit for both parties, non?” A french accent slipped past his lips as he regarded her with a sense of melancholy almost.

“I let you slip past my fingers once and now you’ve come back to me, bound yourself to me. I won’t let you leave again. You’ll be satisfied this time, I promise.” He reached out to cup her face, thumb caressing her cheek affectionately.

Her eyes widened slightly as she was pulled to her feet. Statues of marble, cold as snow and soft as cotton, plucked her up by her arms and began carrying her away.

“What do you mean?” She blurted out, confused.

“Welcome home.” He simply smiled. Her dark brows furrowed over her steel blue eyes, even more confused than before.

—————

The Gods were less divine than they wished to seem. They were immortal, powerful, yes. But they were always victim to their own emotions. Fear that she would leave had devoured him, longing for her to return had tortured him and regret for ever letting her go in the first place had haunted him for nearly three decades.

But she was back now and he wouldn’t lose her again.

So, she sat at his feet. Black silk pooled around her, the dark colour a striking contrast against her pale skin. Sterling painted a thin layer around her ankles and wrists, the thinnest and strongest of chains connecting her to him, phasing through whatever object she may try to break them with.

A silver band, encrusted with glittering garnets decorated her ring finger.

In the flesh that came with new life, she had forgotten who she had been in spirit: the goddess of desire and fixation. She had been married to the god of the arts but, being the divinity of desire, nothing was ever enough. She had snuck away from him to lead a life among living mortals, leaving behind everything in search of more. But she hadn’t been able to change her nature of fixation: art. It was her passion.

In flesh as in spirit, she had been willing to do anything to harness the most beautiful art that the world had to give. To begin with, she had collected it. But it wasn’t enough. She began to create her own art, but it wasn’t good enough. She eventually began to pray to the god of the arts, hoping he would bless her with all the skill she needed to be the very best.

This is how he had found her again. For years, he had been grief stricken by the disappearance of his wife, mourning her and longing for her to return. She had left him as so many others had. However, in finding her, he had come up with a new idea: to trick her into binding herself to him so that she would never leave him again.

Everything had gone to plan and the only catch was the five years in which he had to wait for her. But she was here now. And she wouldn’t leave.

Her head fell against his knee and he reached down to stroke her hair affectionately. She hummed and turned her face to him. Her hair had grown a lot since she had died to be with him again: it now fell to her waist in loose curls and she realised that her new desire was him. Her chin became propped on his knee while she looked at him over the thick book on his lap.

The pages were battered and worn: as old as the first play, the first note of a song, the first sign of art.

“I’m tired.” She mumbled against his leg, feeling him smile, even without looking up. She could hear the pages of the book close before he leaned down to pull her onto his lap, her silk skirts pouring over the both of them like black gold.

She rested her head against his shoulder while her hand went up to gently caress the side of his face. He pushed her hair back behind her ear and smiled softly at her as she nuzzled her face against him.

“I want to start writing plays.” She hummed as he lifted her up bridal style and carried her out of the throne room.

“No you don’t.” He chuckled softly, allowing servants to open any doors that stood in his way while his wife leaned against his chest. He knew that if she started writing, she wouldn’t be able to stop and it would consume her. “Why don’t we get you some more paintings?”

She smiled contentedly at the idea of this, “I want ones with flowers and women in pretty satin dresses.” She mused as he sat her down on the bed and delicately slid the dark dress off her body, the midnight silk slipping over her creamy skin, leaving her in deep burgundy lace.

She sat there patiently, picturing what paintings she could add to her vast collection while Arno undressed himself.

(Y/n) was often mistaken for the goddess of art, leaving people to believe Arno was the god of theatre and music. But this misconception was created by art being the fixation goddess’s very fixation. She sat and pondered over how many people still believed it. She felt the mattress dip and turned over to cuddle up to her lover, feeling his large hands splay down her back soothingly, pressing her against his body.

She laid there, in the comfort of their romantically lit room, thinking. She was adorned in rich fabrics and fine jewels every day but she wanted more, needed more, desired more. Yet she also desired nothing more than him at once. It was a complex balance which she was yet to figure out.

“Arno?” She murmured against his chest. He tilted his head down to show that she had his attention. (Y/n) shifted slightly to prop her chin on his chest in order to meet those dark brown eyes. “Why did I leave? All I want is you but all I want is more? Why did I leave you behind?”

He let out a thoughtful sigh as his eyes closed in order to piece his mind together. They had already established that she could recall nothing of her previous life with him, just the life which she spent as a mortal.

“Because you’re difficult to please, chérie; and it’s not your fault. Your desires and fixations are at war — they go perfectly yet clash at the same time. I failed to give you my attention: I neglected you, failed to show my love to you, failed to even give you more than an hour of my time per week. With your desire gone, your fixation took over and you left to chase a life of art.”

He watched her (e/c) orbs fill with tears and her lower lip tremble. “I’m sorry that I left you for all those years. I didn’t know.”

He pushed her hair behind her ear, coaxing her to lay her head against his chest. His fingers glided down her arm to the silver cuffs that were melted onto her immortal skin — no latch nor key could open them.

“Don’t apologise. It’s ok now because I won’t repeat my mistake. And I’m never letting you out of my sight again.”

—————

The story varies from here: some say that they continued to live happily, others say that he had put her in a trance so that she wouldn’t leave and some even say he killed her after that moment. Only the gods themselves know.

#arno dorian #arno dorian x reader #arno dorian imagine #assassins creed #assassins creed unity #gods au #au #assassins creed au

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joontier · 4 years

Text

“One-Love”

--> Summary: Love translates to zero in the tennis scoring system – the only thing keeping the scoreless player on the court is his love for the game.

--> Pairings: jung hoseok x female reader; kim seokjin x female reader

--> Genre/warnings: tennis player hoseok! au; tennis player seokjin! au; crazy rich asians inspired! au; fluff, humor (as usual), eventual smut; more warnings as the story progresses

--> Words: 2.2k

--> A/N: AAAAAAHHHHH this story really hits home and is inspired by true life events,,, please tell me whatcha think <3 I'll try to update this next week too!!

“One-Love” MASTERLIST

Chapter 1: The First Day

You continue to gawk at all the cars lined along the driveway and those parked in an open area nearby. Each vehicle seemed costlier than the last and… was that a Bentley?! People drive Bentleys to school? You’ve lost count of how many other luxurious cars you have passed by as you watch the other kids get out of their customized vans while their chauffeurs hold the doors open.

These people were rich, rich. In big, bold letters.

Sure, it was a different feeling when you first visited the school a month ago – when no one else was here. Now that you see students in specks of blue, identical to the uniform you’re wearing right now, you suddenly feel out of place. A simple girl from a small town, you, _______, officially a Thames International student? Doesn’t exactly have a nice ring to it.

You shrunk in your seat. How were you supposed to fit in with these people? Truthfully, the only thing that reassured you when you migrated was that you got to study in an international school specially in a country whose language was far from yours and barely spoke any English but the sheer grandness of this school afforded you the least solace.

Your dad speaks up when he notices you’re awfully quiet beside him. “You okay, kiddo?” You give him a small nod in reply and he gives you a short rub on the back to soothe you. “Don’t worry about it. I’m sure there are plenty of nice kids inside,” he assures you, yet you still feel that glint of worry laced in his voice.

How exactly did you end up here again?

Your father had been a tennis coach for the longest time. Life used to be okay, but with the arrival of your younger brother, who’s eleven years younger than you, things were harder to get by. You love your little brother to bits though, no doubt.

With a decreasing number of students wanting to learn tennis with each passing year and your mother giving up her career to take care of Carl, your brother, some sacrifices had to be made. Your family moved a lot (this wasn’t new to you then, the only difference this time was that you moved to a different country) which only meant you transferred schools a lot of time too. Your father made enough for your family to get by every day.

One day, a good friend from his golden days came to visit your father along with the chance to work as an instructor in an international school. Your dad couldn’t pass up the opportunity. He had left a month after he had finalized his work papers. Two years later, he got to petition the whole family to come live with him and that’s how you ended up at Thames International.

One of the many perks that came with being an instructor was that he could have one child study for free at the school, provided that he won’t be having a basic salary like the regular employees but he was given a daily allowance, and he earned extra money from private lessons with the students.

Hence, here you are, sitting in the passenger seat of your family’s Honda CR-V, sticking out like a sore thumb amongst the European cars you’ve passed so far.

You weren’t born into wealth and you are not nearly a hundredth of how much worth these people probably are, but it makes you all the more proud that you’re here right now, just a simple girl from a small town probably ten thousand miles from here and yet your breathing the same air as they are, you’re in the same uniform as they are, and you are just as human as they are.

Truth be told, your father was more concerned about the sudden change in environment you had to cope with. It’s only been a couple of weeks since your family has migrated; there were a few cultural differences that had to be adjusted to, you’re also learning a few phrases here and there to get by your daily living, and now you’re going to be attending a school that not one of you even dared to dream of. To say that he was worried was an understatement.

Back home, your parents had enough to send you and you brother to a private school but Thames International was clearly on a different level. The richest kid you knew in school owned a restaurant. Here at Thames though, you recall your father mentioning that these kids have parents who own and run multinational corporations – so much for a teensy restaurant.

Your dad parks by the tennis court and you give him a quick kiss on the cheek as you head off to the main building with only twenty minutes left before classes start. Although you’ve already had a school tour when you registered your classes, there’s a completely different feel now that the hallways are packed with students.

The school’s corridors seem narrower than usual with students loitering the hallways, talking about their summer vacations. The floor has been polished so well you reckon that a few more waxing will have you staring at your own reflection when you look down. You thought hallways like these only existed in movies, except this one is way better.

There’s a faint chattering as you near the classroom and you take a deep breath before entering through the back door. This is it. When you step in, silence breaks throughout the room and you’re suddenly all too aware of the small squeaks of your sneakers against the polished floor.

Some kids stared at you while the others went on with their own businesses. Fortunately for you, the awkward air didn’t last for long. You take a seat near the back, setting your bag and taking out your binder. A boy with bowl-cut hair approaches you from the front.

“You must be new here,” he starts with an achingly wide smile and his head out for you to shake. “The name’s Jimin. Jimin Park.” You reply with your name as your hand reaches out to return the gesture.

Jimin then proceeds to point out each of the other students’ names and informs you that he’s been elected class president for the school year and wants to make sure that every student, new or old, settles in nicely.

“Like he’s been for the past seven years!” Another guy butts in from the same row where Jimin came from and the rest of the class snickers at the comment.

“Don’t mind Mark, he’s just pissed he had to spend his summer here instead of the skiing trip to Switzerland he’d been talking about non-stop last year,” Jimin shoots back while the class goes into a series of ‘oohs’ and ‘aahs’ at his remark.

“So how was your first day?” your dad takes a seat beside you, removing his cap momentarily to fix his hair underneath. Your first day at Thames went…unexpectedly well. After Jimin introduced himself earlier this morning, the other kids briefly greeted you before your first period started. You had also met Nadia who was thankfully in the same year as you so you shared plenty of classes together.

She had filled you out most of the students complete with family backgrounds, who was dating who, who used to date who, the friend groups. She had also given you a brief tour of the school, definitely more animated this time compared to the monotonous lady who gave you a tour a month ago during registration.

“There’s so much to tell! And I think I’ve made a new friend today.” He smiles at that, relieved that your first day went better than what he’d expected. You continue to tie your shoes on when you see a boy come down from a sleek, black, BMW van, clad in an all-white tennis ensemble, accompanied by a duffel bag on one shoulder and a tennis bag on the other.

Any stranger passing by would’ve mistaken this guy for a professional athlete – complete gear and an outfit to match, however, you recognize the boy, Hoseok Jung, the numerical genius from your Math class. You recall earlier how a seatmate jokingly asked the unsuspecting boy what was the product of 351 and 624 and the latter responded with the correct answer within ten seconds. How he managed to answer that quickly though was beyond you.

However intimidating at first, Hoseok’s athletic aura comes to a quick end as he misses the small gap between the pavement and the court, and almost falls on his knees if he didn’t grab onto the metal fence surrounding the area. Your father sends you a glare from beside you when you fail to hide the snicker that falls from your lips. This day was bound to get interesting.

Once Hoseok has settled down his stuff on a bench, your dad calls him over and introduces you to each other, which was more of a few nods exchanged and in a blink your dad sends you off to the other court to let you warm up on your own. Turns out, the boy has never even touched a racket before, let alone know a single fact about the sport. Hence, your dad had to start from the basics – proper warm-up, the racket and its grip, the rules of the game, and the lines of the court.

You take a break from your warm-ups just as Hoseok starts to head to the court to start practicing so you take a seat on a chair across the court they were staying at. “Okay Hoseok, we’re going to start trying to hit the balls now,” your dad says from across the net and Hoseok gets into position, swinging his racket gently as he stands on the service line opposite your father.

Your dad then throws a ball in his direction, and as Hoseok swings his racket backwards but completely misses the ball as he lets go of the racket. He mutters an apology as he picks up the forlorn instrument. Your dad waves it off, reassuring Hoseok that it was normal for first-timers.

“One more time then.” Your dad throws another ball, Hoseok thankfully hits it this time but now with too much power that he sends the ball flying straight to your father’s head. Your father being the charismatic person that he is, pretends to lose balance and stutters backwards, slapstick comedy at its peak.

Unable to control your amusement as well, you laugh along with the two, glad that Hoseok isn’t the type of person to dwell on embarrassing moments like these. When a few more students arrive for their lessons, your dad tells you both to take a break first so you both head to the water dispenser right outside the court.

The two of you walk in comfortable silence, passing beyond the lines of the courts so as not to disturb the other players. “So, tennis huh? I never thought you’d be one to play the sport.”

“Are you implying I don’t look athletic?” Hoseok asks, holding out the chain fence open for you to get out first. “N-no! Absolutely not! I just- I…” You’re at a loss for words, worried that you might have offended him and moreover, lose a student with potential.

He laughs loudly at your unnecessary worry, assuring you that no offense was taken. You can’t help the smile that etches in your face when you hear his laugh. There is something infectious about how he laughs – pearly whites on full display, his eyes turn into tiny crescent moons as he throws his head back, and the way he claps excitedly all the while.

“Mom thought it would be nice to stretch my limbs more, as if waking up in the morning isn’t enough strain for my muscles…” he sighs dramatically. “Anyways, I’ve been passing by the courts since last year because our driver started parking there. One day, while I was walking by, there was this one guy who was playing, I think his name was Andrew, and he looked so cool hitting the balls like ‘peeeuw’ and then ‘paaang’ and his opponent was hitting it back just as strong. Plus, I used to watch Prince of Tennis so…” You’ve never seen anyone so… for lack of better words, animatedly bright.

This boy could easily render the sun jobless with his charisma and energy.

The short water break ends quicker than you’d expected, your father calling you both to the court so that you could practice together. Much to your dismay though, the rest of the lesson goes by pretty quickly with Hoseok’s determination to learn the sport.

Your dad sees Hoseok’s van around the corner and decides that tennis is over for today. “Hoseok, your driver’s waiting for you.” He looks up from a corner with a frown, still trying to figure out how to pick up balls by slotting it between your shoe and your racket. “Can’t I skip my violin lessons just this once?” He calls out to the chauffeur and the latter shrugs, not wanting to tempt the kid.

Hoseok drags his feet towards the bench, your dad chuckling when he sees the forlorn expression on the boy’s usually bright facial features. “Ah, don’t worry kid, we’ll see each other again on Wednesday.”

“I’ll see you tomorrow too Hoseok!” you add, waving your goodbye.

“You can call me Hobi,” he replies with a smile. ‘I’m looking forward to see you too tomorrow.’

#hyunglinenetwork #btswritersnet #bts fic #jung hoseok #kim seokjin #hoseok x reader #seokjin x reader #hoseok fluff #bts athlete au

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whatshockey · 5 years

Text

lua - w.n.

in which two people find that their worlds aren’t as simple in the morning as they’d left them the night before

song used *loosely* for inspiration: “lua” by bright eyes

warnings: mentions of alcohol, cursing, light smut? is that a thing? pretty angsty, but that’s nothing new.

word count: 2.5k+

a/n: none of my writing has to do with any players’ actual personal lives, so if william’s still with penny (or anyone), this is all completely unrelated! nothing but love and respect here, folks. this is a very ~fake~ concept. [EDIT: fun fact! just found out that the girl in the photo is @madds-hay in case anyone wants to give a follow or ask her what willy’s like in person!]

Tempestuous honey laced in her sighs, with sweet amber dripping down and embracing them in the midst of the setting sun and tangled bedsheets. Her lips bit swollen, drunk off of his heavy exhales upon them, and she found herself swimming in the pale pools of blue and ice that bore into her own line of sight. His smirk drenched her in gasoline while his fingertips held the lighter, and it was no question that her skin was set ablaze. Yet nothing compared to the pain of knowing that this fire would soon be extinguished once again.

The first spark lit on a haunting October evening, a thunderstorm stumbling into their lives and banging on their windows, begging to sweep them away. The season had just begun, and she’d found herself wrapped in the arms of a large cable knit sweater she’d patiently waited to return to as the winds blew without rest. A nature documentary illuminated her apartment’s walls alongside the occasional flash of lightning to blind, and served as background noise as her eyes focused on her phone screen in front of her, mindlessly scrolling through viral videos and gossip threads with a now empty glass of Merlot resting on her coffee table.

A harsh knock at her door broke her from her daze, causing her to scramble to her tiptoes and look through the peephole of her front door. What she saw, however, had sent her stumbling back, clambering to unlock her door to the sight of a man clad in an expensive suit, running his hands through his silky hair and resting a frown across his face.

“She’s been sleeping with someone else this whole time.” He stormed in, throwing himself onto her sectional and resting his head in his hands, bouquet of flowers now a mess on her living room floor, no doubt for the woman he’d been referring to.

It was overwhelming. The two could barely count as friends, meeting by chance at private events here and there. They’d come from two very different worlds, with hers found mostly out of the limelight and his not quite the same.

“And he’s a fucking accountant, probably has the personality of a thumb.”

She hadn’t moved from her spot by her door, still shocked and now closing it quietly, padding her way into her kitchen and leaving him to rub feverish circles at his eyes, but only after punching the throw pillow placed next to him.

The situation was ironic - the two had met in similar situations, with her shedding a few tears of an ex lover and him offering the most comfort that a stranger, or perhaps acquaintances at best, could provide. The party was left roaring behind them, shut away by a sliding door as she perched herself on the balcony of the apartment, wondering why she even attended in the first place. She attempted to distract herself with the skyline surrounding her, but after feeling an unfamiliar presence by her, all that she could focus on were the ocean eyes shining under the city lights, sending her a friendly smile and sheepishly shoving a beer in her direction.

“You look like you could use one.”

The same boy was having a mental breakdown of his own now, except this time it was in her own apartment that did not have the luxury of an attractive view or breeze to cool a hot head down. There was one thing that, however as toxic as it may be, always seemed to numb their pain.

“I can’t believe she did it,” he laughed, and for the first time, she noticed it felt soulless. “More than once too.”

Hearing her return, and she doubted he noticed she was away to begin with, he looked up from his palms, eyebrows furrowed at what she was doing. Wordlessly, she poured him a glass, sat down next to him and crossed her legs, and urged him to go on. And he did.

Eventually their talks had become routine, occurring weekly and topics ranged from everything and anything in between. Yet as alcohol continued to replace their blood and lust covered their conscience, he began punctuating his sentences with his lips on her own. And neither could find it in themselves to stop.

Since then, her mind was constantly clouded with images of his lips grazing her thighs and mouthing promises meant to last solely for the night. However, it had soon become clear that roulette wasn’t a game for the faint at heart. That there was no time to prepare, nor dwell on a past move as another is made. Still she balanced on a tightrope, with her heart in one hand and regret in another, playing into the tiring game of charades and deceit as he continued to pull her strings tight, mercilessly suffocating her. And she never asked him to stop, even when she knew he was going to.

How pitiful it was that she missed things that were never hers to begin with.

She cursed herself for not stopping it all to begin with. Had the two just relied on each other for a sense of escape, and it was her fault that she fell harder than intended? That as he crept out her bed at dawn and dressed for practice, she relished in the warmth that remained after he’d left. Only once her bones had ached and her sheets grew cold could she find the strength to stretch her feet to the hardwood floors beneath her bed, the same she wished to stay in with him.

It had been about a month since they’d started this, well, whatever it was. They’d been laying in bed, his smooth skin blanketing hers, and his palms resting on the swell of her hips. Her phone was connected to the speakers, drowning out the noise of his heartbeat matching her own, and a familiar melody strummed out and echoed across the room. One that she’d attached with many fond memories, but with another man she’d once been equally as fond of.

When she attempted to bring it all up, about how it happened and whether he was genuinely okay, he’d respond with a shrug and a “it gave me an excuse to break up with her, I guess”, sitting up on his elbows and bringing a gentle finger to her face. Once he pushed hair out of her eyes and behind her ear, and she knew that would be the end of the conversation.

She hadn’t known how much time had passed, yet the conversation continued to replay in her mind, although her stomach twisted due to another unwelcome guest. She’d indulged in the only other constant in her life, licking her lips as the poison cascaded down her throat, and her phone rang a familiar tune.

She heard her own voice stammer as he answered her phone, knowing what he’d be calling for at this hour anyways. But her fingers instinctively answered the call, and she could already feel her body crave for his touch.

“Come over?”

She shifted her weight on her feet, biting the inside of her cheek

“I’m busy tonight,” and she knew that he was aware that wasn’t a true statement, as every other week she’d spend her evenings curled in bed binge-watching the latest docu-series she came across.

“I can wait up,” he insisted.

“I seriously can’t.”

“Please.”

“I said I can’t,” She took a deep breath, rubbing her forehead as she grew more irritated. ��I’m on my period, Will.”

“Oh,” he stuttered, couging to clear his throat. “I was actually thinking, um, we could just hang out tonight.”

She could feel her throat run dry as she struggled to form a response. The thought frightened her, and she reached down to her thigh to pinch herself and make sure she wasn’t, in fact, in a strange dream. They’d never just hung out. In fact, there was always a motive behind each of their times spent together, whether that be one comforting the other, or the two of them finding comfort in each other’s bodies.

Perhaps he could sense her hesitation, as he quickly told her that he had already bought snacks and is waiting on his sofa with too much food he could finish on his own, nor should he be allowed to eat it in the midst of the hockey season. And not too long afterwards was she tucked into his side, curling her legs onto his lap and accepting his offer to relieve the pressure that built up during this time of month, his knuckles kneading out her knots and strains.

She wondered what the look he gave her that night, when he’d asked if she was sleeping with anyone else and she immediately shook her head no, had meant. How his eyes flickered with an emotion she never saw before, and how his fingers twitched across her waist before he turned his attention back to the screen before them. She even wondered had he scowled or smiled, but he’d brought his drink up to his own lips before she could see.

It wasn’t long before she was in his apartment again. However, this time in a number he’d cheekily sent to her office with a red ribbon and note that read, “Wear nothing but this tonight.”

What she hadn’t expected was a silk dress to be sitting inside, its expensive material slipping through her hands as she grabbed at it, and silking easily off of her body later that night.

She rolled her eyes as her neck grew warm, and quickly texted to let him know that she received his gift, to which he responded with only one message: “See you at 7.”

He’d picked her up from her apartment, and drove both of them to some high-end restaurant overlooking Lake Ontario, and if he had told her the plans beforehand, she would’ve declined. While he seemed to be keeping his cool, her chest tightened as the realization hit that they were going somewhere outside of the privacy of their own apartments, and somewhere together.

He hadn’t said anything to her as she knelt to pick up her heels, moving to sit down and put them on. He had, however, watched her with an unreadable expression.

“How’d you know my size?” she asked, tilting her head to the size as he drank in her figure.

He smirked, taking her heels from her hands and kneeling before her to slip them on her feet.

“I’d say I know your body pretty well.”

His response had left her cheeks flaming, and his remarks throughout the night continued to. The thought alone that she followed his orders to truly wear nothing but the dress he had given her was enough to cause the temperature to rise. But right now, as she stood bare in between his legs with a shy smile and uneasiness spreading throughout her bones, her skin was left burning under his igniting gaze, and she melted under his fingertips.

The fire grew unmanageable, however, once he uttered three words into the crevice of her neck, outlining her collarbone with hunger, beginning to devour her with every little taste. His voice was low, yet vehement. But she knew she’d heard him loud and clear.

“I love you,” he groaned, and she had no response except to her clenched her thighs and force an even more breathy statement from him. “You’re so fucking perfect.”

Oh my god.

She wanted to push him off and hit him over and over, to scream and tell him that he can’t, and that it was a mistake. He loved her body, how she made him feel. He loved the momentary satisfaction he received wrapped in her, the state of bliss they’d reach together. He loved how easy it was to find this in her, and not worry about what she’d make of it, because she just didn’t know what to make of it.

She’d left his apartment particularly early that morning, before he could even wake up for practice and kiss her forehead as they parted. She hadn’t responded to his texts asking where she was in the morning or if she was okay.

She should’ve known, however, that he’d be back banging on her door as the moon returned, rushing in to embrace her with heavy breaths as she opened the door. She didn’t know what he expected her to look like, maybe he even thought she was dead, because his grip on her was tight and his face was buried in her hair. She moved her hand to run her fingers through his hair before he began to speak.

“Babe,” he sighed, rubbing his palms up and down her spine, causing shivers to follow. “I’m so glad you’re okay, I was so worried.”

Her eyes shot open and she began untangling herself with him, taking a deep breath and turned to look at him directly as she calmly spoke.

“You need to leave.”

Her heart swelled at the confused look on his face, eyebrows furrowed and an anxious lick at his lips.

“What’s wrong?”

She stepped away from him, asking him again although it pained her to no end.

“Let me help you,” he reached towards her, but she jumped even further back.

“You don’t get it, do you?” she raised her voice, rubbing her temples “I don’t want to see you anymore. Now, please, get out.”

“Is this about what I said earlier?” he asked softly, taking a slow step towards her. “Because if it was too early, if you weren’t ready, I-”

“What?” she almost laughed at how big of a deal it was for her, how embarrassing this whole thing was for her. “You don’t just throw around words like that.”

He moved forward again, but she stepped even further back, tailbone coming in contact with her countertop. “I wasn’t throwing them around, I swear. I meant-”

“I’m scared, Willy.” Her voice wavered, and she couldn’t look at him any longer. “I just don’t want this to change anything between us. Things can’t change between us.”

“Why not?” he questioned, grasping her arms in his own and forcing her to look up at him, eyes pooling with more emotion she thought she had towards him. “What’s so wrong about that? What are you scared of?”

He moved to tuck her hair behind her ear like he did before, except this time he brought his hand to rest at the back of her neck and rest his head against hers.

“Please,” she begged, but her body already gave away, “Just go.”

“I’m right here,” he whispered, as if he’d known that she’d run from his grasp before he could stop her. “I promise.”

She wanted to tell him that she knew that wasn’t true, that their lives were too different and far more complex than he made it out to be. That something could change in mere hours from now, and he could edge his feet away, slip from under her nose and never return.

But as their lips molded together and their bodies pressed into one, her own fears were left shattered at their feet. Time was put on hold, and the chaos that surrounded them outside of their homes’ walls seemed so much more simple when they were together.

And sometimes, things don’t look so different in the light.

#toronto maple leafs #william nylander #nhl #hockey #william nylander imagine #team sweden #maple leafs #hockey imagine #nhl imagine #hockey smut #nhl smut #hockey imagines #nhl imagines #hockey fanfic #hockey fanfiction #nhl fanfic #nhl fanfiction

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earth-ambassador-jim · 4 years

Text

Lost Souls: Story One

Of Rainy Nights and Street Lights

Summary: Merlin awakens early from his sleep. He decides that he doesn't want to leaving anything to chance and kidnaps the young James Lake Jr. to began training his Trollhunter as early as possible.

Barbara is determined to hunt down the man who kidnapped her son. In her efforts to get her son back she finds a strange old radio that speaks to her in a woman’s voice. The radio leads her to an underground society of shapeshifters.

Mother and son meet again years later as strangers on opposing sides.

(This is written as a series of oneshots and will not always be chronological.)

AO3 - Fanfiction

~~~~

Barbara leans against the side of the building, watching as the rain falls just outside the shelter of the awning. It’s late, she’s not sure exactly how late. Besides sunrise and sunset, time doesn’t really matter much to her anymore. Once, so very long ago, she would have been wary to be out alone at this hour, but now she’s far more dangerous than any fool she might encounter.

The brick is rough and cool against her fingers. She heaves a sigh and slides to the ground, uncaring that she will get cold. Her mistress’s attention is not on her right now. She just needs a moment… A moment to be herself. Not Morgana’s champion or her voice piece, not the newest head of the Janus Order, not Nemesis… Just Barbara… Whatever that means at this point.

She closes her eyes and leans back, listening to the steady patter of rain against rooftops and cement and the distant hum of cars. The lone light on the street buzzes softly. She draws in a breath and lets it out slowly, taking time to just exist.

A soft sob breaks through the air. Barbara opens her eyes and looks around. There isn’t a soul in sight. After a moment there’s another sob, short and muffled. Whoever it is doesn’t want to be noticed.

Barbara contemplates leaving; finding somewhere else to be, but curiosity gets the best of her. She shifts silently to her feet and waits.

There.

Barbara follows the sound. She doesn’t have to go far, the source of the crying turns out to be the dumpster around the corner. Cautiously she looks over the edge and…

Finds herself staring into a very familiar set of blue eyes. Barbara and the Trollhunter share a moment of frozen shock.

The lanky blue troll is curled in a nest of trash. He’s holding his arm close to him, she can see that there’s an open wound on it through a tear in his dark blue hoodie. More puzzling the blood is red instead of silver blue as trolls generally bleed or purple like a changeling’s. Even though she’s seen him bleed she has never noticed that before.

The Trollhunter breaks out of the trance and growls at her. Barbara tenses, ready to fight, but he doesn’t move.

“What do you want?” He asks instead. “Are you here to kill me?”

She stills at that, unsure.

The troll stares at her for a moment longer before letting a harsh scoff. He turns away, curling away from her and into himself.

“Go ahead, do your worst,” He says in a jaded tone. “I don’t care.”

Barbara is left staring at his back in shock. This is so far outside her normal interactions with him that she doesn’t know what to think. Normally they start fighting on sight. She’s always hated the way he can sound so righteous and noble when working for an abhorrent being like Merlin.

None of that confidence is here right now. Despite being a six foot tall being made of stone, the Trollhunter looks so small and broken and defeated… like her.

Barbara sighs and pushes back her hair. It’s drenched now. The water has worked its way through her clothing as well, she feels even more miserable. She glances back at the awning she had been sitting under.

“I’m getting back under cover,” She says finally. “You can join me if you want.”

The garbage rustles as he turns to stare at her in shock. She ignores it and returns to her shelter, sitting against the wall again. To Barbara’s surprise she hears a rattle and a couple thumps and then a large form settles down beside her. She glances to her right to confirm that, yes, it really is him; she hadn’t expected him to actually join her.

They sit there in awkward silence.

“Let me see your arm,” Barbara says finally. The dark patch of blood on his sleeve is bothering her.

The Trollhunter glares at her and pulls the injured appendage closer to his body. She sighs. That was fair.

“Look,” She says. “I’m not going to hurt you. I’m just…”

She trails off unsure how to finish that thought.

“I used to be a doctor,” She says instead. It feels like such a long time ago. Back before her world was shattered and she lost herself to revenge. “I can help you.”

He snorts at that, lip curling slightly to expose a sharp canine.

“At what price? My soul? Your mistress seems pretty keen on them.”

For a moment she draws herself up to argue, but just as quickly she deflates. There isn’t any fight in her tonight. She’s tired of it all; she wants to be whole again.

“I just want to do something right for once.” God, she sounds tired.

She can practically feel his gaze on her, assessing. For as brash as he often seems, the Trollhunter is not stupid.

“Fine, but no magic.”

She blinks in surprise as he holds out his arm. Slowly she reaches out to touch it. He flinches at the contact, but doesn’t pull away, so she draws it into her lap. She glances at his face out of instinct but he’s looking away. His shoulders are tense.

Moving carefully, so as to not worsen the injury or startle the troll, she begins to examine the wound. It appears to be a slash from a bladed weapon of some form, about a half inch deep and seven inches long. It must have been a pretty hard blow to have cut through his stone skin; even harsher if he had been wearing his armor.

She pulls out the small first aid kit that she carries for herself and picks out the alcohol to clean the cut. Once she’s done with that, she’s left hovering uncertainly. She isn’t sure that she has anything that would be useful in closing a troll’s wounds.

“It will heal on its own in a day or so,” The Trollhunter says indifferently, as if sensing her thoughts.

She doesn’t like that statement.

“It will heal a lot better if it’s closed,” She responds.

He grunts.

After another moment of consideration, she pulls out some superglue and carefully spreads it along the edge of the cut.

“This is going to hurt,” She warns him before pressing the sides together.

He stays tense and silent as she waits for the glue to set, once she’s sure it won’t come apart, she bandages it and then makes a makeshift sling.

“Put this on and then keep it in the sling and dry for your normal healing period,” She tells him, a little bit of her old “doctor voice” slipping back in.

He nods and then they’re back to sitting in silence. The rain continues without ceasing. A truck blows its horn. The Trollhunter pulls his hood lower at the sound.

“So why are you out here?” He asks.

“I needed a break,” She says.

He nods solemnly at that.

“Me too,” he says. “training was…”

He trails off and she figures that’s all she’ll hear of that line of thought. Only a fool divulges their personal issues to their enemy.

“Is it bad to have friends?” He asks suddenly.

She stares at him in surprise.

“I… I know my job is dangerous and that I have a duty, but… but,” His voice wavers. “I just… is it really that selfish?”

There’s a quiet desperation in his eyes as he stares at her, brows furrowed and pointed ears low in his shaggy hair. Her enemy is utterly vulnerable and all she can think is…

“How old are you?”

He blinks looking as caught off guard as she feels. Wariness returns to his expression for a moment and then he shrugs.

“Fifteen,” He says, voice slightly defiant.

Fifteen… Fifteen!

Barbara leans back against the wall, a feeling of shell-shocked numbness and disbelief running though her. She’s been fighting a child.

Wait…

“If I remember correctly fifteen year old trolls are still infants…”

“I’m not a regular troll,” He says giving her a crooked sort of grin.

Of course he’s not. She’s known that. She’d just never thought about what that entailed.

She runs her hand through her hair with a sigh, deciding not to pursue that line of questioning. She doesn’t want to hear more of Merlin’s atrocities right now…

“To answer your question,” She says instead. “I don’t think it matters if you’re being selfish.”

He blinks at this.

“Everyone needs friends, especially someone your age. It’s good to be a little selfish. As someone once told me: ‘Do what's good for you, or you're not good for anybody’.”

“Oh,” He says, he faces forward again seeming to contemplate this idea with a look of wonder and surprise as if no one’s ever suggested that. “Thanks.”

“Of course.”

They sit in silence listening to the rain again, but it doesn’t feel quite as uncomfortable now.

~~~~

Author Notes:

This was inspired by a post @twistedmashup made suggesting an AU where Merlin decided to kidnap Jim as a child (x).

Anyway I have no self control so I figured I’d try to make a series of oneshots with it.

I hope y’all like it. Be sure to tell me what you think!

#trollhunters #tales of arcadia #trollhunters fanfiction #jim lake jr #Child Champion AU #Lost Souls #twistedmashup #James lake Jr #Morgana #implied abuse #kidnapping #TOA morgana #TOA Merlin #AUs #Trollhunters AU #My AUs #My writing #My posts

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duraxxor · 5 years

Text

About The Writer/Mun

– one / NAME / ALIAS. Duraxxor usually these days. Dura or Durax for short or perhaps even Kaos if you remember my elder b.tag.

– two / BIRTHDAY. June 16, 1991

– three / ZODIAC SIGN. Gemini. Has anyone seen my twin?

– four / HEIGHT. 5′ 6″ - 5′ 7″. Depends on the day of the week.

– five / HOBBIES. Drawing with my trusty pencil, writing or roleplaying, light bit of gaming, watching YouTube, anime series, and some television series, and does being a father count as a hobby?

– six / FAVORITE COLORS. Black. Paint it Black. And if it’s not Black, then I suppose the deep reds and blues will work for the color spectrum. Silver is a good color for me too.

– seven / FAVORITE BOOKS. I can’t honestly say that I have a favorite book. I prefer to read mangas and other people’s writing over your average everyday book. I’ve always been more of a imagery person than a word person, something I’ve started to break ever since I started writing my own stories.

– eight / LAST SONG LISTENED TO. End of Heartache by Killswitch Engage ( Bonus Track Version )

– nine / LAST FILM WATCHED. The Evil Dead ( 2013 )

– ten / INSPIRATION FOR MUSE. The concept of Alphus Durand Daevara was originally thought of 10 years ago during my senior year of high school. While I had always been a fan of his work, I had recently reread Bram Stoker’s Dracula for a Book Club assignment. After doing some heavy research on different lore for vampires such as Underworld, Blade trilogy, and Van Helsing, Duraxxor’s original formula was born and the character began to develop in the most interesting manners. It was Two years later that I officially created a San’layn version of A.D.D. known to everyone as Duraxxor Daevara, who is arguably the most popular of the Duraxxor muse group.

– eleven / DREAM JOB. Honestly, any job that involved using my own artistic talents to be applied really. Though, I must confess, for a long time, I saw myself potentially dabbling in the art of graphic design and 3D art, I just never had the funds or courage to pursue it. Despite how the industry may be currently, I would have loved to help develop lore and characters for video games.

– twelve / MEANING BEHIND YOUR URL. Simply put, it’s the main name of the muse. Though if you wish to know where it came from, it was originally a name of my Death Knight from all the way back in the days where I was on a PVP server. Duroxxar was an Orc DK and I forever clung to the 2 handed Frost Spec until Blizzard removed the ability to mix and match weapon types for specs. When I eventually came to Wyrmrest Accord, my Orc was changed to a Blood elf and became the place holder of Alphus Durand Daevara, who would forever be known as Duraxxor Daevara, Duraxxor being a Scourge inspired name along with an Orcish influence because Daevara wasn’t used until Duraxxor regained his memories during the first year of his story, to which, he was known as Duraxxor Deathcleave for a short period.

Tagged by: @safrona-shadowsun

Tagging: @sanguinesorceress @nyyght @sneakybinch @sanasunbringer @nixalegos @hmratking @wonderland-ffxiv and anyone else who is interested

#About the Writer

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spn-j2-blog · 5 years

Text

CW Star Jensen Ackles Invites AD Inside His Family Home in Austin

Danneel, a Tony Duquette superfan, was over the moon when Santini brought the stained glass pendants she’d bought from his estate.

The slightly sunken living room with the deep blue banquette couch, white shag rug, macrame chair, and muscular oak beams is Jensen’s favorite space.

The home’s entry was designed to feel like an outdoor living space according to Santini, who sourced an 1850s English table and unusual Swedish lantern from the 1820s to anchor the room. The woven stools are from Tidelli, and the headless deer with ferns are by Italy’s Imperfetto Lab.

Architect Paul Lamb’s significant removal of walls led to a feel-good expansiveness where there are no boundaries. “It all kind of flows,” says Jensen. “You never feel like you’re in just one room.” In the media room, they did the least amount of work, painting the dark ceiling trusses to lighten the space and putting a German smear on the orange-y fireplace to tone it down.

The most Texas room in the house is the Marfa-imbued dining space, where the couple’s cherished Boyd Elder bull skull hangs. It’s part of a 10-piece series from the ’70s, the most famous of which was on the cover of the Eagles’ Their Greatest Hits album. “Back in the ‘60s and ‘70s bands on tour wanted to have an artist with them, and Boyd was like the muse for the Eagles,” says Danneel, adding of the late artist, “I believe he dated Joni Mitchell, and she has one of the pieces.”

Behind the sofa is a gold birdcage artwork by Austin artist Micky Hoogendijk. It’s an observation on “women who seem to be trapped by money and possessions and they’re OK with it; they like living in that gilded cage,” says Danneel. “It looks intense but when you get close to it they’re all smiling and happy and unaware that they’re in this cage because they’re gold and perfect. For me that’s just somewhere I never want to be, so I was really attracted to that.”

Danneel spends a lot of time in the babies’ room (22-month-old twins Zeppelin and Arrow) and the kitchen, where the kids’ favorite toy is a rolling acrylic table from the ‘50s. (“Fern would have a heart attack,” she laughs.) They tore the space down to nothing and built it back from scratch. “It was a totally different feel, and very kind of country looking, which didn’t blend well with the rest of the house,” Jensen says. Now, to Lamb, “the kitchen’s glossy painted wood boards look like pinstripes, crisp and good-natured, like a happy kitchen in the Hamptons.”

“There’s not a space they don’t use,” says Santini of the house she worked on with Jensen and Danneel. The reimagined pool room taps into their proclivity for spooky oddities with framed tarot cards and a game table that could work for board games or even séances, says Lamb, who added a secondary kitchen for big gatherings with access to a barbecue area on the lawn, and a wine room.

A native Southerner, Danneel fought hard for the addition of a screened-in porch, which Lamb had the vision—inspired by Greenwood Plantation in St. Francisville—to make two stories tall. “I wanted more than anything to be able to sit out there, not get eaten alive by mosquitos, and look at the lake and watch the boats go by,” says the actress. Jensen’s favorite piece in the house is the long table, custom made using a 2,000-year-old cypress log that had sunk and was buried on the West Bank of New Orleans.

The bar—black walnut with black and white veined marble—is on one end of the large living room and is the site of frequent small parties involving music, either live or from the McIntosh turntable. The cabinets were specially made to light prized bourbons, and on the side is a white taxidermy peacock Santini tracked down over months. Flooring throughout the house is hand-scraped Texas post oak with character to spare.

The master bedroom and the adjacent sitting room are clad in reclaimed barn wood, juxtaposing the whimsical wallpaper covered in sections by Japanese-inspired barn door panels that allow for flexible boundaries. Jensen said of the scheme, “You guys are losing me, but it sounds awesome, so knock it out!” Danneel already owned the two petrified wood and resin log tables that sit in front of the vintage ‘50s daybed with Mongolian lamb, though the majority of what’s in the home was selected or made specifically for it.

Inspiration for their master bathroom shower came from an Architectural Digest story featuring a steel and glass shower in the home of Neil Patrick Harris and David Burtka. Lit by Apparatus fixtures, Lamb conceived a simple vaulted space with a white oak board ceiling and fumed and cerused walnut cabinets with a slight Tansu feel. A Kyle Bunting cowhide rug is centered on the room, and Holly Hunt ombre-dyed handkerchief linen window treatments frame the lake view.

The pair’s five-year-old daughter, JJ, helped pick out all her own bedroom decor. “The more color the better,” says Danneel. Santini calls it “hippie in training.” Like in the rest of the home, her walls are plaster.

The ultra-private home looks out at a nature preserve across the water. Durable throw pillows around the house were made of old quilts purchased online. “We bought a lot of them and mixed them all up,” says Santini. “There’s nowhere in the house where you feel like you have to tip toe around or can’t sit. That was definitely intentional.”

Inside and out, Lamb and Santini ensured that the Ackleses’ Austin home “expresses them—young, bold, and irreverent. It had to be full of humorous and endearing eccentricities and it needed to radiate a comforting yet exotic familiarity.”

(c)architecturaldigest

There’s a lot going on inside the Lake Austin home of actors Jensen and Danneel Ackles—a lot of color, a lot of texture, endless elements begging their stories to be told. If you need a quick snapshot: The living room is scattered with guitars and, on the shag rug, Technicolor floor pillows; antique Venetian dioramas of Lilliputian-sized rooms are embedded into the white-oak walls, while a hanging cage traps gilded Barbie dolls by Micky Hoogendijk; on top of a shelf housing a record player, a photograph of Tom Waits sits next to a chicken skeleton; a regal white peacock perches on the side of the mercantile-style bar. There’s the master bedroom swaddled in Trove wall covering bearing vintage photography of 1920s opera boxes. And the two-story screened-in porch holds a table crafted from a 2,000-year-old cypress sinker log, a storied Boyd Elder cow skull, and four-foot glass lanterns from Tony Duquette’s estate.

Indeed, Danneel and Duquette share a similar philosophy. “More is more is more!” Danneel says emphatically. “More is the most.” Still, the Ackleses' five-bedroom, 7,500-square-foot residence isn’t actually an ode to opulence but rather an evocative tribute to key passions at the core of their personalities: the music and aesthetics of the late ’60s, Austin’s art scene, and imaginative oddities and occultist ephemera, perhaps appropriate considering Jensen’s longtime role on the CW’s Supernatural.

After deciding to leave Brentwood, California, and coming this close to putting in an offer on a Lake Austin fixer-upper, the couple set their gaze on a house three doors down, sans “for sale” sign. “As we drove by, Danneel and I both looked at our real estate agent and were like, ‘See, that is the kind of house we’re looking for,’” recalls Jensen. Adds Danneel, “we wanted something less ostentatious.” Fortunately, the owner was willing to sell, but the property was far from turnkey and required an overhaul to go from what Danneel calls the “Texas Tuscan look"—generic stuccoed track mansion—to a wood-clad ranch-style stunner.

Jensen and Danneel enlisted Austin architect Paul Lamb and Abode principal interior designer Fern Santini to kickstart what ended up being a very collaborative renovation—even the Ackleses' eldest child, five-year-old JJ, got into the fun, choosing everything in her Pinterest-worthy bedroom. At their initial meeting with Santini, the potential for partnership was evident when she pulled up in an auspicious 1967 E-Type Jaguar. “I mean, it’s just like the coolest thing ever,” says Jensen of the car, which was made in the same year Danneel had said she wanted to recreate in the Austin home so as to pay tribute to the Laurel Canyon bungalow where the couple once lived. “People like Carly Simon had played guitar there,” Danneel says. “It was a magical little place. So when Fern pulls up in that car ... We just bonded over music and a love of that time period and had our vision right off the bat.”

Executing that vision involved blowing out the majority of the house’s interior, taking it down to the studs, and reconfiguring it. “It was very closed and very ‘90s,” says Santini. Extensive structural work was devised by Lamb, one of Santini's frequent creative conspirator. “Paul is from New Orleans and I’m from Louisiana, and we have the same odd sense of humor and style,” says Danneel, who saw a residential elevator he’d done entirely in red velvet and said, “That’s the guy for me!” The foursome worked beautifully together—that is, after Jensen learned early on to keep his mouth shut if and when he doubted any stylistic choices. When shown the idea for a rich, royal blue sofa, “I was like, ’Y’all are crazy!’” says Jensen. “But then I just thought, I’m not going to get in their way.”

Smart man, considering a highly personalized space began to unspool under Santini and Lamb's direction. “It was imperative that the house express the Ackleses—young, bold, and irreverent,” Lamb says. “It had to be full of humorous and endearing eccentricities and it needed to radiate a comforting yet exotic familiarity.” He simplified and opened spaces, flipped the feel from a masonry house to a wood-framed home—thanks to exposed beams, larger expanses of windows, and rich wooden ceilings—and, perhaps most transformational, added a breezy two-story screened porch that altered the entire profile. “The former house was straight-laced and vaguely Mediterranean,” Lamb says. “Now it is an eclectic, free-spirited, Austin-style lake house.” Santini calls it “a cross between Joni Mitchell and the Serge Gainsbourg–Jane Birkin thing that was going on in Paris at the same time. It’s very hip but it’s low-key.”

Musically, the home is rich with sound, thanks to Jensen’s collection of guitars and the McIntosh turntable Santini says she “has real fetish for, after spending my entire career trying to hide stereo equipment.” There’s also a surfeit of historical and meaningful music-related artwork—think photographs of Yasgur’s Farm in Woodstock and a house where Bob Dylan recorded. “The hand-scraped wood floors undulate quite heavily, and we’ve got these giant beams and wood all around that feel like you’re in the hull of a giant ship,” Jensesn says. “What that does is it creates an amazing acoustic sound. We’ve always had music in our lives, and we wanted to pass on that tradition.”

The parents of three also are active supporters of local art. “We’re not the type who need it to all be the same. That’s criminal to me, almost,” says Danneel of their home full of diverse pieces from Austin and Marfa, including female artists from galleries like Women and Their Work. Santini describes the pair as risk-takers who both led the charge on outside-the-box thinking and let her push the limits. In their third home together, the Ackleses hit their stride, nailing a personally reflective infusion of edge, humor, and spirit.

“It goes to that having a history, having a story,” says Jensen, who, with his wife, selects works based on a gut feeling as opposed to popularity or perceived value. It’s the same way Danneel approached design. “We have so many friends who come into the house and are like, ‘Oh my gosh, I love this—it’s so crazy and unexpected. But man, I would have never picked out all these things, and I wouldn’t have been brave enough to do it!’” she says. “I’ve heard this over and over, and I wish more people would just be brave and go with what makes them happy.”

#jensen ackles #danneel ackles #family

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cutiecrates · 5 years

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Cutie Reviews: Doki Doki April 19

You guys don’t know how long I’ve been waiting for a chance to review this. Right after I got the box, one of my cats got ill... I had to throw the box away, so I’ve been having everything sit in a tightly sealed bag, just waiting to come out!

Today is that day!

Also, I finally got a chance to use my Pikachu mold set I got from a box some months ago:

Unfortunately I wasn’t prepared going into it... so I didn’t have everything I would have liked to have. But I tried, and it still tasted good :P

This months theme: Mythical Mori

“Forest critters awake as the leaves turn green and the flowers begin to bloom, marking the arrival of spring. Ready yourselves with this month’s crate, featuring items around the theme, “Mythical Mori”. We have curated a box of items to enjoy during a spring picnic with some of your favorite forest friends.“

This month, the back page features a description of the Mori Girl fashion style:

Mori means Forest for anyone unfamiliar with the word. The look is very natural and sweet, with nature being its inspiration. I didn’t really know much about Mori fashion outside of it being one of the clothing categories in Love Nikki, so I liked being able to learn a little more about it. I wish they did these more often.

Meanwhile, the prize for the photo contest is an adorable My Melody lunch set.

Suteki Crate

For this month we have a lot of cute goods inspired by the various characters in the box, nature, and things you would take with you outside or on a fun stroll for nature.

I love the totoro nesting dolls, don’t they look like fun~?

Sumikko Gurashi Purse

Our first item is perfect for outdoor travel, an adorable apple-themed Sumikko Gurashi purse. It comes with a pair of straps to connect to the loops, but you could also adjust it to attach the purse to other things if you wanted.

It’s made from smooth material and has a squared piece of Styrofoam in it that I took out, and it’s shape was perfectly fine the whole time, it didn’t smoosh down or anything. But I decided to keep it in there when not in use.

It also has a double-sided image:

Which side is your favorite?

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

In order to test this out, I took it with me to the county fair this past week. I was able to fit a handful of items in it, including a hand-sized/pocket medical kit, my inhaler, lip gloss, a can of foaming hand sanitizer, scrunchies, and a set oil blotting sheets. That pretty much filled it completely, it barely stretches out to allow more inside, but the items I had were decent sized. I would have room for a lot more if they were smaller. But I had pockets for my phone, tissues, money, so it wasn’t an inconvenience.

I really like this ♥ not only is it a cute shape and size and have cute designs on it, but there’s a lot you can do with it and usually a problem I have with purses is that they like sliding down my shoulder- which gets on my nerves when I’m out. I don’t know if its them or if its me; but anyway, I didn’t really have that problem with this. It would shift a teensy bit in comparison to other ones, but it wasn’t bothering me at all.

I can’t wait to use it again, and it’s perfect for the upcoming fall/autumn weather~

Rilakkuma Sakura Cup

Next up is an adorable, clear cup featuring Rilakkuma and friends enjoying the pretty cherry blossoms. The flowers completely cover the cup, and it features two sets of images of the group, Rilakkuma’s name, and the text Drawn out by the spring day, Rilakkuma collects cherry blossoms.

It’s a typical plastic cup but it features a very sunken-in bottom and ridges around the inside.

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

I have a bunch of cups from these boxes, but besides the My Melody glass I got, this is probably my favorite. It’s so pretty to look at, definitely perfect for a spring day, or maybe an early morning. It would be fun to bring out for a picnic~

Totoro Bento Box

To go with the outdoorsy, nature theme what better companion than a bento box? It’s always nice to bring along a snack or meal whenever you’re going to be out for a long period of time, or just for work or school- or you could probably use for food storage too. So for that we have this Totoro colored, inspired box.

It features a single, deep layer with a removable divider piece, and it has a rubbery piece on the lid that can be removed to release steam and heat from the box. It has two clasps on the top and bottom of the lid to securely hold it shut.

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

I haven’t gotten use for this just yet (only because it never really occurred to me until now while I’m looking at it), but I’ve used the other ones I’ve gotten previously so I am very excited for that chance. This will go well with the upcoming season too, so maybe I’ll put something together and go to the backyard and have a picnic.

However, I’m rating it highly because it has a cute design, the quality is there, you get room for a decent amount of food, removable pieces... it seems really well thought out, and now I have enough containers to make a full meal!

Sanrio Ice Pack & Animal Food Picks

Everything kind of has a unified theme here, have you noticed that? Next we have an adorable, rectangular-shaped Sanrio ice pack. I got Cinnamoroll, and in the booklet I can see Pompompurin, so I assume there was a couple different ones?

Anyway, these are mainly for things like packing away with meals or drinks to keep them cool. But I think you could also use this when you’re not feeling well and need to cool down a little, I mean look at it, doesn’t that just look forehead perfect?

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

So with any ice packs... they’re pretty much all the same. So quality wise it’s perfect. I like how it’s the opposite of my previous ice pack I got (it was round), so I can choose them depending on the need or item now :3

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Our last item is an adorable set of animal picks! We get 2 panda, a froggy, and a lion, bunny, and elephant. According to the image in the booklet the coloring of the lion and elephant can differ. As you can see, the elephant also has longer “legs“ than the others do.

Picks are those cute little plastic decorations people put into bento, usually when its based on a series, or for children lunches, or just to add a touch of color. They come in many styles and shapes and are pretty popular, a lot of people use them.

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Again, this is an item I haven’t gotten a chance to use, but I definitely will. They’re so cute and colorful, I’m very excited for an opportunity to make use of them and I think they go great with this theme we have.

♥ Cutie Ranking ♥

Content - 5 out of 5. I know I’m going to use everything, and I don’t feel like anything will go to waste. The items are nicely sized and detailed, the quality is there, I really like them! I did have a minor complaint though, and that’s that I felt like this box didn’t have much variety. Like the only thing different between subscribers would be the Sanrio icepack and maybe the coloring of a few picks?

Theme: 5 out of 5. Okay so initially I wasn’t sure what to rank this, due to not really seeing a mythical sense to the items. I feel like the Mori theme is also a little loose, but as Mori translates to forest, and you see natural things like animals in the forest. I also think the Suteki Crate did a good job, so overall yeah, I see the theme.

Total Rank: 10 out of 10 Cuties. For spring or summer or fall or even winter, these items are great! They’re all practical and very cute, I feel like even if you think you might not use an item, you probably will at some point. As much as I love stuffed animals sometimes I think they go to waste because you don’t do anything with them, so I like that I didn’t feel that way with this box.

♥ Cutie Scale ♥

1. Sumikko Gurashi Purse - Next to the cup this will get used the most, I just know it. The quality and material is amazing, it sits on my shoulder comfortably, and it fits everything I could need while I’m out (give or take). Just looking at it makes me feel happy~

2. Rilakkuma Cup - It’s so pretty, I love looking at it~ I can’t wait to put all sorts of different drinks in it to see how they look. It screams spring too, and it gives me a cooling feeling when I look at it.

3. Sanrio Icepack - It’s a bit plain in comparison to the other items, but I love how clear and pretty it looks :3 I’ll probably use this a lot, since I tend to get sick and get headaches a lot.

4. Totoro Bento - It’s a bit bland in colors to me personally, but I love the drawing on the lid x3 it’s so precious. My favorites in Totoro was always the little white and blue one.

5. Animal Picks - As cute as they are, I know they won’t get as much use as the other items. As much as I love the panda though, I kind of wish they went for a more realistic forest, like... the frog and bunny are okay, but maybe they could have added squirrels, a bird, deer?

#cutie reviews #dokidokicrate #rilakkuma #rilakkuma utensils #cinnamoroll #sanrio #sumikkogurashi

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snknews · 6 years

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Isayama Hajime Holds Autograph & Q&A Session in Oyama, Oita on March 3rd, 2018

As announced on his most recent blog entry, Isayama Hajime held his latest autograph session in his hometown of Oyama, Oita, Japan!

The lucky fans who were able to attend shared various photos of his sketches and signatures, as seen above. Separate sessions were held with different groups of fans within a room in the onsen resort where the event took place. Each group had 30 minutes to ask him questions and receive illustrations. A total of 30 chosen participants were divided up into 6 groups of 5.

Isayama’s answers to various fan questions are as below (Note: These are fan accounts):

About Levi and the other characters’ updated looks: Levi’s cape is a new, black one. However, Levi couldn’t adapt to the other changes, so he kept his uniform and blades. Kawakubo Shintaro (Isayama’s editor) didn’t want any visual changes for the characters - he even wanted Eren to stay clean-shaven. However Isayama decided to not “shave” Eren too much.

On Older Eren: 19-year-old Eren’s height is 183cm - the same as Grisha. However, Isayama states that Eren was more like Carla when he was younger. [T/N: Grisha is actually 182cm, so Isayama may have misremembered here. Zeke however is 183cm.]

On Erwin’s Burial: The Survey Corps had to move on quickly to fight further after Battle of Shiganshina, but Levi later returned and brought back Erwin’s skeletonized body with him/buried him. Though a lot of soldiers perished, there was a special memorial service for Erwin.

On Horoscopes: Neither Eren nor Jean’s birthdays were decided through horoscope characterizations/stereotypes.

On Levi’s Father: Isayama has no plans to draw Levi’s father in the manga. He’s not anyone significant - Isayama thinks he was probably just a short guy.

On Levi’s Cape (Again): The question was what Isayama thought of fans thinking that the cape belonged to Erwin. Isayama states that there is a sense that Levi dyed the green cape into a black color. He doesn’t know whose cape it was, but if it belonged to Erwin, Isayama doesn’t think the size would’ve worked for Levi.

On New Character Designs (Again): Why didn’t Levi’s change much compared to the 104th? Isayama says he wanted to show that the 104th trainees belong to the “Smartphone Generation,” but Levi decided to stay with his “Flip Phone.” Levi doesn’t understand the younger generation, and he is turning into an old man (Literally “Oji-san”).

On Erwin: Will Erwin appear in the manga again, even if just for one panel? Isayama says he thinks there are still chances, such as in flashbacks.

On Levi’s Eyesight: Levi’s vision is measured at 2.0

Hardcore Eren: If Eren goes to karaoke, what type of songs will he sing? Isayama: “Metal.”

General Eren Facts: Besides now standing at 183cm, Eren is also a heavyweight drinker (Doesn’t get drunk easily) and good at cleaning. He is now influenced by a lot of the memories he retained, and he determinedly chopped off his own leg before entering Marley. His irises are a grey-ish color and his bloodtype is B.

Toying with His Editor: "Will you be happy with developing the future plot similar to how you drew the story so far?" Isayama: "Yes! But I want to see the readers anticipating [the upcoming plot].” Kawakubo: "Like he said, I've been saying the same thing! Everyone is looking forward to it." Isayama: "...Then I'll change the story."

Eren & Elysium: When Eren asked Falco "Is that person...a girl?", he was under the influence of other people's memories (Possibly Grisha in that moment). The new Survey Corps uniform was inspired by Matt Damon’s external armor/exoskeleton in Elysium (Below). When asked about the members going to the restroom, Isayama: “It would be better to open a hole in that design...”

Lots More Information: Isayama on Eren’s bloodtype - "Because this is a fantasy series, maybe there are not only 4 blood types. But then again, are they even counted as human...?" [T/N: This somewhat contradicts the earlier fan account where Isayama said outright that Eren’s bloodtype was B...]. “What will Levi think of Eren’s current look?” Isayama (Without hesitation): “Dirty.” [T/N: As in unclean, of course] "Was it Eren's own idea to grow his hair long?" Isayama: "Right now he is in a state where he is no longer paying attention to how people view him, so he just let it grow out." "Did Eren consider the fact that he will be infiltrating Marley when he grew out his hair?" Isayama: “Since he was supposed to be a hospitalized patient, he actually should’ve kept a cleaner hairstyle.” [T/N: A little vague, but this basically sounds like Eren didn’t mean to grow his hair out as a disguise] “Were there any cases of when you let the characters’ behavior and dialogue develop organically?”  Isayama: “In general, I let the characters evolve on their own. I don’t remember things after I draw them. I can’t look at my storyboard calmly right after I finish them, so Bakku-san (Kawakubo) is the one who reads them objectively.” “Following up on that answer: Bakku-san will immediately read your storyboard (In less than one day) after you submit them to him?” Isayama: “Since he has been waiting for the storyboard to arrive, in most cases he will read them in one or two hours after I give them to him.” “Did they (Eren and Levi) resolve the confusion of when Eren said ‘midget old man (chibi oyaji)’? Or did Eren apologize?” Isayama: “Levi is not concerned about being referred to that way. But after Eren said it and Levi thought about the moniker by himself later, he seemed hurt. He probably thought “So Eren sees me like that….” “Any plan to draw the four-year period back on Paradis island?”  Isayama: “That’s something I can’t tell you for now. (Kawakubo also chimed in here and said: “Isayama-sensei won’t tell you anything, but please look forward...”) “Kenny said he will never go to a brothel. Does Levi think the same way?” Isayama: “Because it’s an environment that Levi had been part of since childhood, it seems like he considers prostitution as just another ordinary job.” “What is Eren’s current body weight?” Isayama: “If I have to answer that now - he indeed gained some weight because he has grown taller. However, he has a rather slender body.”

Chef Levi: “When the characters lived in the castle [T/N: Not sure if this meant Utgard or the SC headquarters], who made the meals?”  Isayama: “Everyone. Everyone knows how to cook, because they are soldiers.”  “So it doesn’t matter if someone is a new cadet or not?” Isayama: “Ohhh. In that sense, maybe those who are in higher ranks don’t cook.” “Then can Levi cook?” Isayama: “I think he can.” “Does he hold the knife in a reverse fashion?” Isayama: “He holds it the normal way. If he holds a cooking knife in reverse, he would just seem like a cocky person (Laughs}.”

Bloodtypes (Again): “Please tell me the blood types of Shingashina Trio.”  Isayama: “If we are talking in the sense of normal blood types, then Eren is B, Armin is O, and Mikasa AB.”

Anime Changes: “At the end of Season 1′s OP, Eren’s eyes turned red. Was it an effect of him turning into his titan form?” Isayama: “It’s because the anime was completely at director Araki’s discretion. In the original work, it was not designed like that.”

Eren, Levi, & Cleaning: “I feel that Eren has been together with the Captain for a long time. Will their actions or language be influenced by one another?” Isayama: “For Eren, [the thing that influences him the most is] the cleaning. It is not because he likes cleanliness, but more that he has to do it - otherwise he will get scolded.” “Does Eren have a cleaning skill he is very good at?” Isayama: “It would be that — dusting. [T/N: Isayama’s original word here means “beating/knocking and dusting”. It can mean dusting general objects or dusting a futon, during which you hang the material outside. Judging from his next sentence saying Eren could make a stick for cleaning, Isayama was likely referring to him beating a futon and dusting it that way.] Maybe he would make a stick from tree branch and then wrap it with clothing or cotton.” “Then how will Levi react to it?!” Isayama: “Ohh, wouldn’t Levi want to see it (Laughs)? Although he wouldn’t consider it as good work, he would be quite surprised [T/N: There is a sense of “caught off-guard” in his feeling].”

Another Character Death: “There have been a lot of character deaths up to now. Is anyone going to die in the future?” Isayama: “I don’t even know, but I’ve decided for one person to die. It’s like when I draw the storyboard and I suddenly realize - ‘Huh? [This person] just died?’ But for other characters, I still don’t know.”

High School AU: “The High School AU is very popular among fans. Will you make it into a complete story?” Kawakubo: “Isayama-sensei is very into the idea of doing a spin-off.” Isayama: “I’m very concerned about its quality. I think I can only do that if I have the chance to learn about American culture in-depth, and draw it in a detailed fashion.”

Levi in the High School AU: “What’s the color of janitor Levi’s jumpsuit in SnK High School AU?” Isayama: “Deep blue. I based its model on the game Life is Strange.”

On Fanworks: “Have there been times where you came across ‘secondary creations’ of your work (e.g. Donjinshi and/or fanart)? If so, what perspective do you have of them?”  Isayama: “There are times when I have come across them. That alone has already made me happy. Like, people are creating new types of ‘fun’ out of Shingeki. I don’t mind no matter how you are having fun with it.”

On SnK’s Manga’s Ending Date: “Have you decided on when to finish this series? Have you ever considered timing its completion with the Tokyo Olympics (In 2020) somehow?” Isayama: “I'm now working on the manga without any decision about the ending date. But [Kawakubo and my] shared idea is to finish it quickly. Five years ago, we decided to finish the series in three years (Isayama and Kawakubo laugh together).”

Erwin as a Character: “What’s the role of Erwin in the work Shingeki no Kyojin?” Isayama: “For the protagonists, it is necessary to have a charismatic superior, and that ;person is Erwin. I think he never broke into cold sweat. It would be wrong for him to get that nervous/anxious.”

Revisiting Erwin and Bertholt in Flashbacks: “I find it hard to draw Erwin in flashbacks, because I feel there was already a perfect ending for him. But for Bertholdt, I haven’t finished drawing him…”

Bertholt’s Family: “To be honest, I didn’t think much about his family. If I’m going to consider it right now, he is probably performing his tasks (e.g. Being a child warrior) for the sake of his father.”

Why Bertholt was Chosen for Colossal Titan: “He had his own hidden opinion towards the fact that he was asked to take on the most important responsibility. Well, I think [it’s because] he could do anything [physically], so [he might think] ‘I can also grow mentally stronger in the future [by doing this].’”

On Character Deaths: “But I don’t think the characters literally ‘died.’ Even if they died in the story...well...they still often appear somewhere else. [T/N: We’re not sure if he meant they would appear in the story again or appear in another form, such as in the anime or merch]

Kawakubo is Nervous About these Q&As (LOL): “Things like this… I… I am not remembering all the things Isayama-kun is saying here. There is going to be trouble for me later when we make guidebooks for things like birthdays or other stuff.”

Janitor or Thief?: In the High School AU where Levi entered Eren’s room, he entered through the window.

Eren & Alchol (Again): “Does 19 y/o Eren drink alcohol?” Isayama: “I think he drinks, but how should I put this…there is ‘compliance’ in the manga industry regarding adolescent law [T/N: To prohibit mangaka from drawing illegal situations. In this case, the legal age in Japan to drink alcohol is 20]. Maybe it would be fine to draw alcohol? As long as it is not in the anime.”

On Spin-Offs (Also combining this Tweet): “How should we consider the relationship between SnK spin-offs and the original manga?” Kawakubo: “Kyojin Chuugakkou (Jr. High)’s author had creative freedom.” Isayama: “Regarding ACNWR, I talked roughly in advance with the author about things that could happen in the underground world.” [T/N: OP mentioned her memory was not clear and she could be wrong] Isayama’s own design was that Erwin noticed thug Levi in the underground and decided to draw him into the Survey Corps.

On Levi’s Return: “Recently I haven’t been drawing Levi in the manga. Sorry that I drew a far too smooth/straightforward return for him when I finally made him appear again.”

On Mike’s Death: “What were the feelings of Levi and Erwin and others when they heard of Mike’s death? It was necessary to have their feelings depicted in the manga, right?” (Kawakubo smiled bitterly) Isayama: “Why did I rush that back then and not draw it properly?” Kawakubo: “It was too early for a good person to die.”

Clarifying Erwin’s Burial Further: Levi carried back Erwin’s bones and then everyone buried him together.

On Erwin and Levi Touching Hands: “When entrusting the syringe and serum, was there any meaning behind the scene when Erwin and Levi’s hands touched each other’s?” Kawakubo (Laughing): “Are you asking about Isayama-san’s meaning or Erwin and Levi’s meaning?” Isayama: “There is no particular meaning. In reality, if this were two real people, it would also be normal for them to touch hands…”

On Erwin’s Mom: When asked about Erwin’s mom’s story... Isayama: “I’ll start thinking about it from now on." Kawakubo: “We need to have a memopad here [for him to help Isayama keep track of all his responses/new ideas].”

On Names: “What was your reason to use German names such as Yeager and Ackerman? Because of the words’ feeling?” Isayama: “In most cases, I learned about or searched for their meanings after I found their pronunciations to be captivating. Doesn’t the German language sound cool?”

On the Setting: The model of the SnK anime is Germany, but for the manga, it’s not only Germany but a mix of countries. Isayama also referenced castles in Portugal.

More About Levi: “Levi’s face resembles his mother, but his height is like his father?” Isayama: “Yes. I drew Levi’s great-grandfather with the sense that he would look like Levi with a beard, so Levi resembles his great-grandfather.” “Sometimes Levi’s bangs seem weird. Why is that?” (This was in reference to the sketch she received) Isayama: “That’s…’bed hair’…” “Does the Captain get angry?” Isayama: “I feel that he gets angry… quite often.” “Even in private?” Isayama: “Yah. He can get grumpy for whatever reason…”

Erwin & the New Gear: Erwin has high alcohol tolerance. The new Survey Corps uniform is made of leather. The anti-personnel vertical maneuvering equipment is easier to master than the original 3DMG, so it’s carried by a lot of new soldiers during the Marley battle. Overall, the maneuvering equipment is getting lighter and lighter.

New Gear & Isayama: For Levi and Sasha (Plus others) - characters who have specialties - they choose equipment based on their own preferences. Erwin, Levi and Magath don’t break into cold sweats. The food Isayama likes is Famichiki (See this post for reference). The sightseeing spot Isayama likes is Shimantogawa (In Kochi prefecture)

On Floch: “Will Floch be the ‘cause’ of anything later in the manga?” Isayama: “Are you asking about the meaning of his name?” “Ah…no, I am asking about his mere existence…” Isayama: “Yep, he will have a very important role.” “!!! You mean he will have a ‘wild card’ kind of role?” [T/N: OP was referring to a figurative role, i.e. Floch being a plot device in a literary or theater work; Thanks @darlingpoppet for this tip] Isayama: “Yes.” [T/N: Isayama answered this question without hesitation]

On Chapter 84: “What is the metaphorical meaning of the Chapter 84 title ‘Midnight Sun’?” Isayama: “The basic idea of the title is that ‘[The sky is] bright even in a dark night.’ Bright, like the sun does not set. In other words… Erwin’s death means the sun has set. But in fact, it still feels like the ‘Sun’ never sets. The title sort of contains this message.”

Also on Chapter 84: "What were the 104th thinking at that time [When Bertholt tried to speak to them]?" Isayama: "Hmm, they seemed to just feel “Oh...” about whether Armin could be saved or not. Though Bertholt was confounded and pleaded for help, I think they wished for him to stop."

Erwin’s Burial: “Does Erwin have a tomb?” Isayama: “I think he was buried. Recently I’ve been thinking that I have to draw it…But maybe I didn’t want to draw a mourning scene for a specific character, because I have this problem of not wanting to treat someone too differently from other soldiers...”

Death Scenes: “I think you drew Erwin’s and Armin’s death with great detail. Did you decide how to illustrate those scenes from the beginning?” Isayama: “Yes. I decided on them quite a long time ago. I’ve been drawing just for these moments to come.”

Jean & Bertholt: "Do Jean and Bert have others that they have crushes on?" Isayama: "Ah...I think what I've drawn so far is just how it is...I don't think there are any others..."

PERHAPS MOST IMPORTANT, this was Isayama’s Disclaimer at One of the Sessions: “Ultimately, the story resembles a living creature in the way it evolves. My answers during this autograph event are just some of all the possibilities that can happen. I hope you can ask questions while having this idea in mind.” [T/N: Isayama, forever the King of Vagueness]

Photo sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29

The above contains all the photos/fanaccounts we could find, but if you come across anything that hasn’t been translated yet, please let us know!

Related News: Interviews || Events || Isayama Hajime || Photos: Fantaken || Photos: Isayama Sketches || Translations: Interviews Archival News: Interviews || Isayama Hajime

#snk news #isayama hajime #eruri #mikasa ackerman #eren yeager #levi ackerman #erwin smith #snk events #photos: isayama sketches #translations: interviews #snk interviews #kawakubo shintaro #annie leonhardt #armin arlert #historia reiss #jean kirschtein #photos: fantaken #ereri #bertholt hoover

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