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dodo-begone · 3 years

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Beware the Beast

Pairing: Yandere!Philza x Reader

Request: Maybe some yandere!philza headcanons? You don’t have to!

Word Count: 2k

Warning: yandere, swearing, talk about kidnapping, depression (kinda detailed on that aspect)

A/n: I accidentally turned this into a story- i really need to stop doing that. But I just couldn't resist! Also sorry if Phil is OOC. And this isn't proofread. We die like men here. Can be perceived as platonic or romantic.

This man has lived many years, lost so many loved ones. He’s getting tired of this cycle. It’s truly exhausting. You start to care about the world less. After a while, you start to see too many similarities in things, making it hard to look at. So he starts to close his heart to others. It’s just easier that way, for both parties. Saves him from the heartbreak and them from… well, him. He also stops caring for himself. After all, he’s literally immortal. Nothing can kill this man, so neglecting some self care routines every once in a while wouldn’t hurt…

But this becomes such a bad habit of his. He barely cares for himself after a while. It’s hard to find the energy when it isn’t going to matter in the end. Nothing matters anyways. Every action will always prove fruitless in the end. So what’s the point in doing something so... small if it takes this much energy? If a past version of himself saw Phil now, they’d be disgusted. Telling him to just get up and care for himself. Come on, you’re immortal. Nothing can kill you. Just do this.

He’s a mess when you two meet. His platinum-blonde hair was mostly neat, a little shaggy. It was obvious that he just got himself cleaned up a bit. One can only do so much about deep eyebags, dull hair, and lifeless eyes on such short notice.

You were introduced to him through Ghostbur. Phil was overjoyed that Ghostbur was making more friends. Though much less pleased when Ghostbur insisted that he’d bring his new friend over to meet Phil. Oh come on Phil, you’d just love them. They’re so nice! What tortured Philza more than his first interaction with you? His conversations with Ghostbur about you. He’d just prattle on about things you and him did, about how much fun you two had and how nice you were. Always nice.

And you were nice, an absolute sweetheart. But much too perky for Philza’s liking. You two had been chatting for quite a while when Ghostbur silently leaves you two together. Well, you’re chatting. Phil is just listening to you, hoping that you’d leave at any moment. Some topics were brought up; they were mostly some small icebreakers to get acquainted more.

When your past was brought up, you’d always paint this fucking picture-perfect past. So peaceful. God, the envy he had of you, of the peace you experienced in your life- He felt bad for it, honestly, he did. But he just wished he could’ve had even a fraction of the prosperity you spoke about. For someone living in the DSMP, you had a relatively easy and steady life. No war, no major or sudden loss or anything of that sort. A perfect life.

After that, you just kept coming back. Why? Why are you coming back? Are you here to taunt him for the life he lived? For the life he’ll never have? Is some god sending you as a punishment? A living example of everything he gave up, had to leave behind. That’s what he believed, anyways.

That was far from your intentions. You saw how he was in your first meeting; jumpy yet dissociating from reality. An oppressive, glum aura seemed to just emanate him. So downtrodden and dead inside, yet so obviously alive on the outside. It hurt to see him like that, as you went through something similar. You had no idea how long he’d been like that, but you decided that you’d help him in any way that you could.

You tried to make it a daily thing. Everyday you’d go to Phil’s house around midday to afternoon. You two would talk for a bit, but you’d couldn’t help sprinkling your questions in. Have you eaten yet, mr. Philza? Have you had water today, mr. Philza? Have you preened your feathers, mr. Philza? Have you bathed today, mr. Philza?

Your questions irked Phil. Everyday, without fail, you’d come and talk to him. It’d be small talk at first; what the weather was up to that day, some light politics, Tubbo’s new adopted son. Small. Yet you’d always bring up his self care. He was a fcking grown man. He could take care of himself. What’s worse? You’d pester him to care for himself in that instant if he even showed a small sign of negligence. And you’d stay the entire time, making sure he did everything. And then you’d always add “mr. Philza” on the end. It was a sign of respect, yet it upset him so much. But he couldn’t exactly pinpoint what it was.

Though it was annoying, it got him in the habit of caring for himself. It was only to stop your pesting! That’s the reasoning. The only reason. It wasn’t because you’re congratulating and giving him treats when he remembered to care for himself. Or you petting his wings… Those were only bonuses! He swears!

It becomes more steady as time goes on; you go and visit Phil, you talk with Phil and see if he’s caring for himself, and if he was, you’d reveal a delicious treat from within your enderchest. You two would talk while munching on the food, having fun sharing what your pasts were like. Well, more like yours. Phil didn’t really talk about his.

But he still seems so cold, disinterested. Even with how long you’ve been going over for. Like he’s only listening to what you’re telling him. If he’s even listening. And seeing how he interacted with others like Techno and Ranboo, it really disheartened you. He was so much more lively with them, more natural. Loud laughing and silly little antics. It only took a few small, insignificant depression episodes for your self doubt to finally debilitate you. Though it only really affected your contact with Phil; he was a big insecurity of yours.

So you start to distance yourself. You were hurting and saw yourself as a bother to Philza. It would’ve been better if you just didn’t try to talk to him anymore. He’d be so much happier without you bugging him all the time. All of this sudden, open time gives you much more empty hours. There was nothing to do. So you did what you could; you went out to make or strengthen friendships. It was so nice. You never realized how everyone on the smp was so nice. Maybe they weren’t as bad as Phil was making them all out to be…

Philza was upset the first day you weren’t there. You were such a steady element of his day. You were like the very air he breathed; it was extremely hard to live without you. He never noticed before how much he needed you. Yes, he knew that he really enjoyed you, saw that you were a pillar, a constant in his life. He came to enjoy your visits, but hadn’t realized how dependent he became because of them. It was day three when Phil started to worry about you. Why hadn’t you come to talk with him, like usual? He’s taking care of himself, just for you, just like you kept insisting he do. And he made you some cake.

He knew he was acting odd, lovesick even. His love for you was toxic, extremely so. It wasn’t healthy, yet he couldn’t care less anymore. You were like his nicotine to a smoker; he couldn't live without you being in his life. His everyday life. So after some debating, he finally went out to look for you.

Traversing the nether wasn’t too bad, but still a tedious walk. He was stuck in his mind the entire trip there, wondering where you could be and what you could be doing. Maybe you got caught up in making something. A redstone project? That’d be pretty cool. Or maybe moving? No, if you were, you’d have told him. But that didn’t stop him from speeding up just a wee bit. Just to make sure you were actually still on the smp.

His mind was racing, thinking of any possibility of what you were doing. And his mind eventually hit something that absolutely terrified him; you could be sick, injured, or dying. It felt like the world just fucking stopped. This was a sudden loss of contact and you still hadn’t come to talk with him. So that… that means there’s a high probability of you being in danger.

He ran the rest of the way to the main part of the smp. When he came out of the portal, he frantically looked around for any sign of you. For your house. Then it hit him; he had no idea where you lived. You only mentioned it being cold where you lived, just like where he lived. So that most likely meant Snowchester. He started running toward the cold nation

On his way to Snowchester, he observed his surroundings. A little bit. He had to get to you, keep his eye on the prize. And he was glad that he looked around. There you were, on another part of the prime path.

He was overjoyed to see you, especially doing so well. Soon he came to a stop. Just floored by the fact you were there, in front of him. Frantically he tried to view you as best he could, looking for any sign of injury or illness.

Now he couldn’t come across as clingy or desperate. That wasn’t how you knew him. You know him as Philza; the kind but a mild social recluse. Not really going out to others unless he needed something or he was needed.

So he walked over to you, trying his best to look nonchalant. Like he wasn’t just desperately searching for you a moment ago. He called out to you and guess what happened? You started to walk away. He was stunned. Did you just ignore him? No, you must not have heard him. It was kinda windy out at the moment.

Logically he did the best option, following you. He had no clue where your destination could be. You were going to a different area of the smp than he had been. My how the smp changed since the destruction of L’manberg. He knew it changed, but it seemed so much bigger than what you described.

He didn’t exactly pay attention to where you were indirectly leading him. That was until a flash of movement caught his attention. Snapping out of it, he looked to see what could’ve been going on. Who could’ve been there. And what he saw before him was a terrible sight.

Quackity stood by your side, animatedly chatting with you. Phil was confused as to why you were talking to Quackity of all people. You two recently talked about how Quackity was problematic and arrogant. If you knew that, then why were you talking to him?

Awkwardly he watched you. Not within earshot, but where he could keep an eye on you and Quackity. And Quackity was looking at Phil too. His eyes spoke volumes; Quackity wasn’t pleased that Phil was there. Boy was that sentiment shared. It was tense between the two, yet you still seemed oblivious to what was going on.

Then Quackity said something, putting his hand on your shoulder and leading you somewhere else. But gave one last look at Phil, one that just spoke “fuck off”. Phil wished he could’ve told Quackity the same. To get him away for you.

Quackity’s action sparked a thought in him. A reason as to why you hadn’t come to talk to Phil; Quackity must’ve kidnapped you! Yes, that’s why you hadn’t come. It makes so much sense. Quackity knows you and most likely knows you talk to Phil.

With how easily you tell Phil of the people you’re talking to, he doubts that the behavior would just change. But that’s what must’ve gotten you in so much trouble; you were too trusting, too kind-hearted. You gave Quackity a chance and he was stealing you away, imprisoning you. You needn’t worry dear, he’ll rescue you from that foul man.

#tw: yandere #c: phil #dodo writing #mcyt x reader #philza x reader #dream smp x reader #yandere #yandere philza #yandere dream smp #dsmp shipping #tw: swearing #yandere x reader #yandere philza x reader #c: quackity #tw: depression #tw: mental health

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honeybeeadear · 3 years

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RSA’s Dorms & Values (Part 1)

(Just wanted to say upfront that none of this content is or is meant to be portrayed as canon! I simply wanted to do own take on what could be Royal Sword Academy’s “Great Seven” and if any of this proves to be either wrong/right in the future, plz don’t hate on me for it!)

As usual, I ended up building a mountain out of a molehill and decided that I wanted to figure out what the Royal Sword Academy's "Great Seven" would be and what each dorm would value in its student body. To make it easier, we'll call these dorms the *insert protagonist name here* dorm and try to stick as much as possible to the films with our current Great Seven.

First up is the "Alice Dorm"!

Now you might think that the value for this dorm could be curiosity, which I wouldn't blame you for thinking! But as I dug deeper into Alice's character throughout her franchise, I realized that a more proper way to describe her value would be *originality*. Originality, the ability to think independently and creatively, is not only an excellent antithesis to the "severity" of the Queen of Hearts, but it also describes the Wonderland franchise as a whole! As such, I believe this dorm would cherish those that think outside the box, no matter how odd the idea may seem, and that it would be very diverse in terms of talents!

Next is the "Mufasa/Simba Dorm!"!

For this dorm's value, I decided to go with loyalty! Why loyalty, you may ask? Well, I believe that the movie we love so dearly covers a lot of ground in the variations we see in such matters, such as in our nation, family, friends, and what happens when there is a lack of loyalty! As for how it would affect the dorm itself, I'd like to think that most of the students would have strong moral codes and do their best to help keep the peace around RSA! Who knows, maybe a twisted form of Zazu is the Vice Prefect?

Now the "Ariel Dorm"!

I went for "passion" for this dorm, mainly because of Ariel's great enthusiasm for learning and collecting information about anything that interested her, specifically the human world, and her dedication to what she desired most: to be part of Eric's world. I'd imagine this dorm to be rather talented in the musical department, but the students are also intense hobbyists that'd prefer to tend to their trinkets than their grades.

The "Aladdin/Jasmine dorm"!

Hoo boy, this one's tricky. Now, if any of you have read the translations, you'll know that Kalim has already mentioned a hero to which we can assume to be Aladdin, which means that he already has a legacy of sorts in Twisted Wonderland! So it wouldn't be too far-fetched to guess that he would be the main inspiration of this dorm, right? If so, then I would imagine that his value "wit" would leave us with quite a cast of characters! But that's not where this part of the dorm theory ends! If the story of Aladdin is true in Twisted Wonderland, then it must have some description of the royal family he married into, most importantly, the princess! If so, then I believe that this dorm could connect to Princess Jasmine and her value: integrity! In the movie, she shows us how tenacious she is towards her moral standing, refusing to marry for anything less than love, and helping others keep true to themselves! If any of this holds up, then I believe that this dorm would have an "honest thief" theme going on, where there would still be a bit of guile within the student body, but they know when enough is enough and when to think of the greater good!

I’ll talk more about the dorms in the next part, but in the meantime, tell me what you guys think! What is your theory for the RSA “Great Seven”; do any of my ideas stand out; what kind of characters would you want to see at each dorm?

#id love to hear your input #royal sword academy #rsa headcanons #twst headcanons #rsa twst #twst #my stuff #twisted wonderland theories #twisted wonderland

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ahtsumu · 3 years

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HEAVEN (IS A PLACE ON EARTH WITH YOU)

MAJOR SPOILERS FOR CHAPTER 120

pairing: nanami kento x gn!reader

tags: angst, fluff, chicken soup for the soul ; wc: 2k

synopsis: he lives.

Nanami Kento wakes up with the taste of ash in his mouth.

His fingers twitch first–– the ones on his right hand tighten their grip on the handle of his sword when they recognise the familiar object. The ones on his left feel the bumpy ridges on the floor. Tenji blocks. What?

And then his eyes open, blinking rapidly as the fluorescent-lit world comes into focus. Only when they set on the severed arm next to his head does Nanami remember where he is. Why he’s holding his sword. What he was doing before everything went dark.

Meiji-Jingumae Station.

Instantly, the blond sits up–– feeling his spine pop as he does–– and scans the empty subway station for a patchwork doll-looking spirit. The sound of his neck cracking as his razor-sharp gaze rotates left and right echoes through the station. Oddly enough, the popping joints don’t feel like byproducts of time and age. For the first time, his stiff bones feel like evidence of unuse.

Nanami Kento feels like a pair of ballet shoes that need to be broken-in before being worn. New.

He hasn’t felt like this in years.

Mahito isn’t here. Excluding the maimed bodies of ex-humans that surround Nanami’s sitting figure, the subway station is completely empty. Is it over? A sinking feeling unfolds in Nanami’s stomach as he runs through the possible outcomes of the fight. The worst case scenario is that everyone is dead, he thinks as he brushes the dust off his clothes and stands up, still on alert for any unwelcome surprises. Nanami pauses as he considers what the best case would be, then.

It’s so foolishly optimistic he’s afraid to put it in words.

But miracles happen. The fact that he’s alive is proof of that. Well… Nanami hovers a hand over his wrist and pauses. Does he really want to know? This must be how Orpheus felt bringing Eurydice back from the underworld, he muses, letting his hand drop back to his side. Afraid to have been cheated of resurrection, yet even more afraid to check.

A thought, wrapped in hazard red and flashing all over, suddenly pushes itself to the front of Nanami’s whirring mind. It’s not necessarily a question; in fact, he doesn’t even know what he needs to know about you right now.

The whole thought is just two words and it’s your name.

A second thought puts a calming hand on the first one’s shoulder. It’s alright. You’re at home. You’re probably curled up in bed right now, a book in one hand and a steaming mug of chamomile tea in another. Nanami smiles softly and imagines crawling into bed beside you, falling asleep with you in his arms. That’d be nice.

He’s done enough, hasn’t he?

It’s time to go home.

ii.

“Nanami Kento.”

His head jerks up at the sound of his name, but he fails to pinpoint where it’s coming from. Even if he could, it’s not like he’d be able to see who said it.

Everything is black.

“Am I dead?” he rasps. His voice echoes through the space, each morpheme layering over another like an endless canon.

“Yes. But you don’t have to be.”

Regardless of the events that had occurred in Shibuya, it’s still jarring to see the heart of Tokyo–– or at least, one of the hearts of Tokyo–– at a standstill, looking like a ghost town. Nanami’s sharp blue eyes dart around the intersection, noting how much worse the destruction the city has been dealt looks under daylight.

Daylight. He freezes. It was nighttime when he arrived at the station. The fight’s probably over now. How long has he been out? Frantically, Nanami feels for his phone in his trousers' pockets, muttering a string of curses when he realises that the device isn’t in any of them.

Deep in his left pocket, however, his fingers brush against a 10,000 yen note and a thin red card with the words “Pleasure Doing Business with You” engraved in gold.

Nanami hails a taxi back.

iii.

The thing about souls is that they exist before the body does.

So they also die after the body does.

And that means a soul can live without a body. (For how long is another discussion.) But the fact of the matter is that after the human body’s death, the soul remains living for a period of time. And in that time, humans are most connected to the Universe.

Some can even speak to it.

Fewer can bargain with it.

“A binding vow with the Universe itself.”

Nanami nods. “I have…” an image of your face flickers behind his eyes “…unfinished business on Earth.”

“The hero cheats death for love.”

“I’m not a hero,” he replies firmly, “I’m just a regular guy with some irregular abilities. And I’m not cheating death.” He wonders how to phrase his next words without coming off as an ingrate. “The fact that I’m here right now means you planned this all along.”

It’s 8:27 AM on November 1st. That’s the date on your phone. Nanami found it sandwiched in the crack between the sofa cushions after looking around the first floor for your familiar figure. You also have around a hundred missed calls and even more unread texts. “I’m so sorry for your loss”s and “are you okay?”s clutter the screen, all from names he recognises. As he scrolls through the notifications, it becomes clear why you’d left your phone in the sofa.

At some point, the “sorry”s become oppressive.

So you know he’s dead. Or, he quickly corrects, you think he’s still dead. Thankfully, he was only gone for a few hours. Maybe that’ll make his unexpected appearance easier to process. Nanami sets your phone down on the coffee table and silently walks up the stairs, making a beeline for the bedroom. Slowly, he pushes the half-closed door open.

The curtains are shut and messily so, like you’d just yanked the fabric once on each side towards the middle before moving on. The thinnest streams of light peek through the cracks you’d left in your haste, each seeming to stop and pool at the figure curled up on the queen-sized bed in the middle of the room.

Nanami feels something cold reach for his heart and squeeze.

You’re asleep, curled into a ball wearing one of his old sweatshirts, your face buried into a pillow with discoloured streaks everywhere, likely the doing of your tears. Letting out a guilt-laden breath, Nanami treads carefully to your side and places a hand on your shoulder. He gently shakes you.

And your eyes, puffy from crying, flutter open.

They meet a familiar pair of thin blue ones.

For a moment, you just stare at the man in front of you. The sunlight coming through the curtains ricochets off Nanami’s golden hair, forming a soft halo around his head. A small–– slightly apologetic–– smile plays at the corner of his lips as he shoves his hands in his pockets.

“Ken?” you breathe, sitting up instantly.

“Hi, sweetheart.”

That can’t be him, you think as you stare up at Nanami with wide eyes and a hanging jaw.

“But Ieiri said you were burned everywhere. And your eye––” you touch your own, you don’t dare touch his “–– she said it was gone.” Ieiri had also said that there’d been a hole burnt through his chest. That Itadori saw him disintegrate with his own eyes. That he was gone forever. This can’t be Nanami.

“Yeah. I, uh, died,” the blond says, looking down at the ground. “But then I made a binding vow with the Universe and… I came back to life.”

A moment of silence passes.

“If I touch you––”

“I won’t disappear.”

“Promise?”

Nanami feels the red card in his pocket. This, he thinks, must be the reassurance Orpheus needed but never had.

“I promise.”

Your arms around his waist are a little firmer than usual but Nanami doesn’t mind. He’s just glad to be in bed beside you with the curtains drawn (properly this time), holding you closer than close, feeling your steady breath on his neck.

When your hands briefly tighten around his side as if to check that he’s still there for the tenth time that hour, Nanami grins and finally asks, “What?”

“I just… can’t believe that you’re alive,” you murmur into his chest. It’s firm–– always has been–– but the feeling of the muscle and bones pressing back against your face brings you a certain peace you never thought you’d crave. “A binding vow with the Universe… is that even possible?”

Nanami laces your fingers together. You admire how his skin buzzes against yours, each pulse of the blood pumping through his veins a reminder of his still-beating heart.

“I think it’s similar to how reality is composed of layers that show themselves depending on the viewer,” Nanami says slowly, looking up at the ceiling. “For example, humans can’t see cursed spirits. That layer only shows itself to sorcerers.”

You hum in agreement.

“And so whatever it was I made that binding vow with… I think, in that moment, it let me see through another layer of reality.”

His words hang in the air as the two of you dissect them.

“What was the deal you struck?” you ask, peering up Nanami’s face.

The weight of the red card makes itself known in his pocket. “If I tell you,” he says, shifting so that you’re at eye-level, “you can’t give me shit about it.”

You nod.

Quickly, he reveals his end of the bargain. Anticipating your disapproval right afterwards, he shifts so that his chin rests at the top of your head.

“Kento––”

“You can’t give me shit about it.”

“… Fine,” you huff with a roll of your eyes. But you’re not pleased–– and Nanami knows–– and the conversation lulls to a stop.

(Your bodies stay intertwined.)

He waits for you to speak again–– because you always do–– so he’s not surprised when, minutes later in a quiet voice, you ask, “Did you see heaven?”

Nanami pauses. Did he?

“I think I did.”

“What did it look like?”

His eyes flick down at your face before looking back up at the ceiling. And he smiles.

“Like this.”

Mahito’s hand on his charred chest. Haibara. Itadori. Haibara. Itadori. Flowery words that wilt into curses. “You got it from here.” Feeling his body crumble away into dust. Blackness.

All his memories swim past his eyes. He sees his parents talking at the dinner table, his childhood friends crawling over playground equipment, the Jujutsu Tech second-years grinning as he bows in front of them, the first cursed spirit he ever exorcised, the dull-faced employees at Sachs, Itadori’s optimistic grin…

And then, you.

You with that look of concentration on your face as you sit in silence across from each other in the living room, feet propped up on the coffee table and noses buried in your respective reading materials.

You with flushed cheeks and reddened lips as he pulls away from the kiss to quip how it’s completely inappropriate for you to be interrupting him while he’s working, even if it is from home with a small smirk–– despite how he tugged you onto his lap in the first place.

You, sun-drenched and beautiful, laughing your head off in the passenger seat as he drives down the Shuto Expressway with both hands on the steering wheel, complaining again about your shit taste in music and begging you to throw on some Beatles tunes but still humming under his breath when you play another Britney song.

He’ll miss you.

Death is inevitable–– this much he and all sorcerers know–– so dying has never been a big deal to Nanami. And he’s never had a specific idea about how he’d die.

But as each moment flashes by and disappears in the periphery of his mind, Nanami realises that if death is inevitable, then dying like this, with you as the last thing he sees, is the best way to go.

Not everyone gets to die with heaven already in sight.

#nanami kento #nanami x reader #nanami kento x reader #jjk x reader #jujutsu kaisen

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eremiie · 3 years

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tips for planning a multipart fanfic? I’m considering on writing one but I’m not sure how to really plan :/// I only got the general concept as well as the title down but that’s as far as I could get for being an amateur of a writer... orz

i’ll try to help you out!

so i only have one multipart fic (a series) in the works right now, but i’ll tell you what i’ve done :)

planning a series;

determine whether you’re a plotter or a pantser;

a plotter is someone who outlines and plots their whole entire story before they begin it. i am a plotter, i plan out every little thing, and this goes for my series to my oneshots, to sometimes even drabbles LMFAO. a pantser is someone who doesn’t do much planning and kind of just goes with the flow. this is a spectrum— you can be in the middle, you can lean towards plotting, you can lead towards pantsing. i will say take a shot at plotting though because i think it’s really helpful and can really help you lay a basis for your story. there’s a lot of outlining sheets to take from the internet, like “the heros journey”, “the eight c’s”, etc!

know your characters;

for fanfics it’s pretty easier than creating original characters because you already have characters that you’re working with that you just need to characterize to fit the plot. characterizing characters and getting them right can be hard too though. i suggest using wiki websites for these characters to know their personality, research their zodiacs if you think they act like them, research their personality types, etc. since i usually write reader inserts i still characterize my reader but i make it as vague as possible. for example, my reader in my series karma is independent, caring, a tad bit stoic, and much more. knowing your characters doesn’t even stop at the personality though— in my notes for my outline of karma i have things down to how my characters talk! here’s a peek at my notes;

if you can see, the first photo i planned out the characters relation to reader, and in the second photo i planned out how the characters talk. you’re probably like “why does that matter?” but even things like that can really characterize and give way to a character. sasha’s speech style shows that she grew up in the country— because canonically she lived on a farm and i incorporate that into my story. pieck’s speech style (will) shows that she’s clever, and she’s smart and she lets people figure out things on their own. armin’s speech style shows that he’s intelligent and has a lot going on in his brain!! so yeah, know your characters :)

worldbuild;

worldbuilding is as it sounds, build your world, plan out the world you’re gonna create in your story, even if it’s something you’re not gonna mention— knowing your world to the best of your ability helps you know how your characters will move in this world. for example, in my notes i have the plot set in marley, “marley university” if you will, i have the dormmates written down, the couples written down, i have imagery of how the college is set up in my head as well. so worldbuild your story.

character arcs;

so especially for stories with a lot of characters you’ll need to give characters purpose in your stories. don’t just introduce a character in chapter 4 and forget about them. every character introduced needs to come back eventually. the character needs to have some purpose in the story, their relevance needs to be made known. and this character needs to have their own closing for their “arc” as well. for example, in attack on titan isayama closes every single one of the characters arcs by fulfilling what they needed to fulfill, by having them push the plot forth, or come at peace within theirselves or something like that. ymir for example finally got to live for herself and shows hisu how to live for herself. released hisu from the binds of “christa” and helped her discover her true self. this in itself pushed the plot forth because hisu became hisu which is a reiss and took the throne, and so on. that was the closing of ymir’s arc, and that was the blossom for historia’s. so know your characters and build arcs for them that’ll come to a close. write these arcs down in your notes if you need to make it clear for yourself!

plot;

and of course, we’ll dive deep into plotting. so when i plot my story i figure out what the endgame is at first. how is the story gonna end? where is everyone going to end up? if it’s a romance are the 2 characters going to end up together? when you know the end you can work backwards until you get to the beginning. this is optional but also know what you’re trying to tell your reader. do you have a theme in mind?

when i plot i start with big plot points personally, so what are the main events that are going to happen? then i figure out the mini plot points that’ll get us from point A to point B until all the gaps are filled. so once again, for example lets say we’re writing a romance. endgame is that eren and armin end up together.

eren and armin meet in a coffee shop where eren is struggling with his biology class

eren and armin become study buddies

eren and armin realize they like each other after so many study seshs

eren stops studying with armin bc he thinks he’s gonna mess something up

armin gets sad and starts talking to jean about it

eren thinks jean and armin have something going on so he confesses to armin b4 jean does (even tho jean wasn’t)

eren and armin end up together

LMAO so those would be my major plot points, then i’d intertwine these plot points together to create the story as a whole. maybe armin sits down to help eren since he was waiting for his coffee and ended up staying longer than he intended. maybe then armin bumps into eren at school and recognizes him from the coffee shop and asks him how biology is going and eren says terrible so he offers to study with him. (that’d be from point A to B) maybe then they become routine study buddies every wednesday and start pining for each other. and so on, i’ll slowly intertwine all these plot points until i have the story all filled out.

go into detail with it!!! figure out the events in between that will lead to the next event, make it all click :) afterwards you can divide everything into chapters.

i will say though when you’re dividing it into chapters i think what’s gonna make your reader want to turn the page is leaving every chapter on a “cliffhanger” and a cliffhanger doesn’t always mean something big. it just means something left open ended that the reader needs to read more to find out about. for example in karma chapter one, why is eren drunk? who is the unknown number texting his phone? these things need to eventually be answered and the reader has to turn the page to get to the answer to these questions.

try to lace everything in your story together, and make sure that everything mentioned in your story needs to be mentioned. chekhov’s gun; don’t tell us there’s a gun on the wall in chapter 1 if someone’s not gonna fire it in chapter 12. bring everything back and let everything contribute to the story as a whole.

symbolism;

annddd just a little something extra that can really round out a series is symbolism. symbols give this pizazz to your story— but it’s optional of course!! i just think it’s fun to add in. for example, the purple flowers in attack on titan, the tree eren likes to sleep under, attack on titan ending on 139, little things like that are symbolism and can shed more on a story or on a character than you think. be wise with your symbolism and sprinkle it here and there (make sure it makes sense though!!)

#eremie writing tips #writing tips #writing advice

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raevenlywrites · 3 years

Text

A bit of the Twins

Felt really inspired on this scene, so I thought I'd share. If you remember Lawrence Crane (Bird) and his sarcastic demon, then happy day for you cause here it is again, bothering Bird's sons. Well, "happy" is maybe a bit generous :/

1.6k, angst/trauma memories, dark magic, inherited problems

“The cliff is called Lovers’ Last Kiss.”

"How romantic."

A shivering voice came from the darkness, or more specifically, from a patch of darkness that was deeper than the rest, more solid. And vaguely human shaped.

It stepped from the trees but became no less clear, just a shadow extending farther than the tree should be able to cast it. It reminded Orai instantly of how his father's shadow had been Wrong.

"Love has nothing to do with it, my little duckies. Kissing, maybe, but it's the joining that matters, not the emotions or lack thereof."

A wave of revulsion struck Orai and Iaro both, different ends of the same awful moment of their father's history. A girl, chained and struggling, blood and bruises the only things covering her skin. A boy, equally bound and beaten, if that would be more to his taste. And the sour/metallic rage/horror that burned up his throat as the first prickles of magic kissed his skin. He knew that magic, the heady sweet whispering of Cretia's promises of love and devotion--twisted. He had never experienced something so hideous in his life, and he was meant to wield it?

No one said against who, boy.

The voice echoed with the same shivery duality of the too dark shadow's, and both boys broke from the vision/memory with a gasp.

"What the fuck," Orai panted, doubled over on his hands and knees. Spit dribbled from his open mouth, the sickly tang herald of bile yet to come. Beside him, Iaro had not been so lucky. Every bit of dinner came back up and then some.

Damira knelt at Iaro's side, though she kept the shadow in view. She stroked a cool hand over his forehead, brushing away the sick sweat and chasing his hair back.

Khat had instantly put herself between the shadow and the group, a wall of fire hovering midair between them. The flames did nothing to give detail to the dark form.

"Are you alright, Orai?" She called behind her, unwilling to take her eyes from the thing in front of her.

Damira cupped her hands, calling cool water to them as she offered it to Iaro to drink.

"No need to hold onto those nasty memories, my lovelies. Call of your guard mara and I'll eat them back up for you."

If a formless shadow could hold up its hands in a gesture of harmlessness, the one before them did now. It was less seeing and more seeming, and it seemed to be contrite, and a little wistful.

"If I had a prettier way to show you, I would have. But we all have things that Bind us to this world-- well, maybe not this world."

It looked around the dreamscape, shimmering and shifting as it did. The darkness tried to take on a shape, but the two shapes were so opposed they seemed to cancel each other out.

"Its a nice place you've got here. A nice antithesis to its birth. Lovers' First Kiss Island. Cute."

Khat's eyes narrowed, and she called back, "Orai?"

It was Damira who answered. "Draw down the fire, but stand ready."

Clenching her teeth, Khat did so, pulling the fire back into herself, but not fully extinguishing it there.

Orai watched the shadow approach, knowing he knew this spectre from somewhere. It felt like staring into the void, like brushing uncle Naj's power, but different.

"That'd be the Dai bindings, sweets. We all feel a little bit the same, those of us brushed by their evil. Now, may I eat those nasty memories again?"

Orai's eyes widened, as if dilating would make more light bounce off the nothing. But that’s what it was. Not a shadow. An absence of light.

"You're dad's demon."

The being seemed to smile.

"He likes to think so. May I?"

It offered the idea of a hand, and trembling Orai looked to Iaro.

Iaro desperately did not want to scan anymore of the thoughts around him. Not Damira's, not his brother's, and most definitely not the nothing's. But his brother was reaching out. And he would not let his brother down.

He sat up, leaning back into Damira's touch, shielding tighter than he ever had before.

"I don’t want to feel like that ever again."

His voice was low but firm, betraying none of the horror he’d felt.

"I can arrange that," the nothing said.

"I wasn’t talking to you!" Iaro snapped. To Orai, he asked, "Do you trust it?"

Orai was surprised to find the answer was yes.

"Its been with dad for a long time. That's a stupidly long con, if its goal is to harm us now."

Iaro frowned, still not quite ready to unclench.

"Damira? Khat? Any insight?"

Damira smoothed his hair back, feeling her spine straighten as she looked at the darkness.

Her voice low and even, she told Iaro, "If it intended harm to any of us, it would be stupid to intend it on a literal island of our power."

The shadow radiated pleasure and pride.

"Very good, little fish. You should hold onto this one, son of my tether. She's very wise--and very hot."

Iaro grit his teeth so hard they cracked.

"If you speak out of turn one more time I will blast you back into the oblivion from which you first crawled."

Dominion was definitely his brother's gift rather than his own, but Iaro knew his words were not empty. "Son of my tether" was weird, and formal. In it's own way, the nothing was... what? Offering fealty? Trying to sink new tethers? He didn’t care. He would banish this thing and not feel at all bad. He did not like this thing.

Orai reached out, brushing Iaro's arm. Iaro flinched, scales bursting out at the touch. But that action helped soothe him, helped balance out his uncharacteristic display of temper.

"Ia, please. What about dad?"

What about dad indeed. He was mythically old, supposedly. Looking at this darkness, he could believe it. But he also knew if this wretched thing was the only thing keeping his father alive, then better he fall than be sustained by such wrongness.

But it would break Ruby’s heart, and destroy Orai's trust in him. For that, he would let the shadow remain.

But the shadow didn’t need to know that.

"Dad's got plenty of tricks that have nothing to do with this thing." He shot a glare towards the shadow. "Isn’t that right?"

"Exactly so, eijye."

Iaro growled. "Don’t mock me. But thank you for holding your peace. Show us your good faith by taking the memories and nothing more."

"As his father's heir commands."

Orai waited for Iaro to move first. But apparently his suddenly commanding brother was going to watch the shadow for any tricks. Fine then. The sooner Orai was free of this Seeing, the better.

Orai reached for the nothing, and felt a distinct Something, but nothing his mortal mind could name. Still, he was utterly and acutely aware of the thing taking, of a real and quantifiable quality leaving his being. And he was all the better for it. His breath came easier, his body felt lighter, and the air tasted sweeter, almost a tingling quality of delicate starlight kissing his skin. He looked up and saw the stars dancing above him, winking and singing in their endless joy.

"Much better," the shadow murmured. "Such wonderment is more fit this place. I quite approve of your solution for the waste magic, by the way."

"You've said as much," Iaro spit out. More tenderly, he asked his brother, "Rai? You good?"

Orai nodded, feeling the coolness of open tears streaming down his face. He hadn't realized how awful he felt until it was gone. How awful he’d been feeling, for a very, very long time.

He looked to the shadow.

"How far back did you go?"

Iaro's head snapped to the thing, but Orai held out an arm to stop him. The shadow seemed to nod.

"Very shrewd, brother of the heir. I could make the effort to speak plainly, but I have thought in riddles for so long, and it takes much of my attention simply to be here while the father is yet awake."

"Answer the question," Iaro insisted. He didn’t like the nuance of this things phrasing at all.

"Of course. Memory it was named but not memory of the sort called by yellow scales. I lifted the memory of your father's taint, o brother of the heir. And if you so wish it of me, he who speaks with the air of his fathers, I will lift if from you as well."

Iaro was about to order it to speak plainly, but again, Orai bid him hold.

"You mean like a lingering effect, something that ties us to you or the Dai or whatever, inherited from our father's half of the magic."

The shadow nodded. "Just so, my tether's son. It is the greatest thing that connects us, so it has the loudest pull. By your leave, I took the stain of it back into myself, from whence it came. Your magic and person is now free of it."

Iaro gave a soft gasp of understanding.

"That's what drew Damira to me, to us. We shared the magic of Dreaming, and Orai and I shared magic to command the stain."

The shadow clapped in delight. Orai thought he almost saw it do it. Almost.

"Very good, heir of my tether. Well sussed. You have an eye for threads."

Iaro frowned but didn't say anything.

“So what do we do?” Orai asked. Though whether he was asking it of the shadow or his brother, he wasn’t sure.

Iaro’s frown deepened. “What do you mean?”

“Well, I mean…” There was no delicate way to put this. “If that’s what made this all work, what happens when it’s gone?”

#my writing #Iaro and Orai

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commentaryvorg · 3 years

Text

Digimon Data Squad Dub Comparison Episode 6 - The Ultimate Team No More?

This is a companion to my commentary on the original Japanese Digimon Savers! Reading my commentary on the original version of this episode (which you can find here) is recommended before reading this dub comparison.

Original name ~ Dubbed name

Masaru Daimon ~ Marcus Damon

Yoshino Fujieda ~ Yoshino “Yoshi” Fujieda

Tohma H. Norstein ~ Thomas H. Norstein

Sayuri Daimon ~ Sarah Damon

Chika Daimon ~ Kristy Damon

Captain Rentarou Satsuma ~ Commander Richard Sampson

Katsumata ~ Boomer

[Since several characters share the same name between the original and the dub, quotes from the dub will always be in italics, while quotes from the original will not, in order to distinguish them.]

Yoshi: “But does he wait? Of course not! Not Mister Reckless!”

Yoshi has some added exasperation at Marcus in the dub and I approve.

Masaru: “Aw, he’s annoyed at himself.”

Agumon: “Yeah, he’s annoyed.”

~~~~~

Marcus: “What’s wrong, ya jealous?”

Agumon: “Sorry, but no autographs!”

how does Agumon know what an autograph is

Agumon: “As if any Digimon could beat us when we’re fighting together!”

Masaru: “Yeah! Because we’re the strongest combination ever!”

Agumon: “Ever!”

~~~~~

Agumon: “We’ll just win again, of course! There’s no Digimon that can beat the ultimate team!”

Marcus: “Yeah! Agumon and I are the strongest team ever!”

Agumon: “Yeah!”

The original brought in Masaru and Agumon calling themselves the strongest combination ever kind of transparently for the purpose of this episode. However, because Marcus and Agumon have already called themselves “the ultimate team” before in the dub, this works better and doesn’t seem quite so obvious.

Dub-Agumon doesn’t have that quirk original-Agumon has of echoing the last word or so – or maybe a whole sentence as in the previous quote – of Masaru’s lines for emphasis. Not necessarily a bad thing, just that the dub Agumon has different quirks.

Lalamon: “This is the worst…”

Yoshino: “That’s my line.”

~~~~~

Lalamon: “Well, at least they don’t lack confidence.”

Yoshi: “No, they just lack common sense.”

Lalamon doesn’t get to steal Yoshi’s catchphrase, but instead she and Yoshi do some very warranted snarking.

Agumon: “Sarah, you’re a genius chef! Yum!”

Marcus: “Hey! How many times do I have to tell you not to call my mom by her first name!”

In the dub of the earlier episode where original-Agumon started doing this, dub-Agumon actually didn’t happen to use Sarah’s name, so this is the first time he’s done so onscreen. Still, I suppose Marcus’s line implies he’s done it multiple times before now, so this is the dub catching up by implying it’s been happening for a while even if we haven’t seen it.

Agumon: “But Sayuri is Sayuri. Chika is Chika. And Aniki is Aniki.”

Masaru: “That’s not what I mean!”

~~~~~

Agumon: “Kristy is Kristy, Sarah is Sarah, and Boss is Boss.”

Marcus: “‘Boss’ is not my name!”

Agumon: “Oh. Well, still.”

Instead of Masaru failing to articulate why it’s weird for his friend to call his mom by her first name, Marcus shifts to an entirely different argument which almost might be implying he doesn’t really want Agumon to call him Boss? That could be considered relevant to this episode, but it’s almost certainly not deliberate.

Masaru: “It’s manners for the follower to hold back!”

Agumon: “Look who’s talking! Giving things to the follower shows off an aniki’s generosity!”

~~~~~

Marcus: “Whatever happened to me being the boss here?”

Agumon: “Consider this an employee profit-sharing program.”

????? Agumon how on earth do you know what one of those is. I don’t even know what one of those is. Also, way to make this sound 1000% like a small business even though that never made any amount of sense.

This is basically making the same point as the original that Agumon feels Marcus ought to let him have the last fried egg as part of a boss’s generosity, but man does that get kinda lost in the ridiculous small-business joke.

Sayuri: “Oh my, they really know what they’re talking about…”

Chika: “That’s because they saw it on TV yesterday.”

Sayuri: “Still, it’s amazing that they’re studying while watching TV.”

~~~~~

Sarah: “Oh boy. Well, dinner just got a lot more interesting.”

Kristy: “Why do boys always have to act like boys?”

Sarah: “Oh, believe me, Kristy, one day you’ll be glad they do.”

The original exchange between Sayuri and Chika here was very strange – I think the subbers didn’t quite get what was meant to be going on there, because their take on it doesn’t really make sense – so the dub changing it to something else is quite reasonable. But Sarah being heteronormative at her daughter was really not what they needed to change this to.

(Is this implying that Sarah was/is into guys who are this kind of ridiculous idiot? Actually, uh, knowing about the kind of person Marcus’s dad is, that’d make… a good bit of sense. Oh dear.)

There’s some similar bickering about snoring here, but then also, still in the background:

Marcus: “That’s it! You’re fired!”

Agumon: “You don’t even pay me!”

Can we not with the small business jokes! It makes this whole thing so difficult to take seriously as a meaningful bond between fighting partners, which is kind of what this whole episode is meant to be focusing on. Also, as usual, how does Agumon even know that an “employee” is supposed to get paid; his entire experience with the word should be limited to what he is to Marcus. And Marcus saying “you’re fired” really should be taken as him officially breaking off their partnership, but this isn’t the part where that happens yet. (Though honestly I’m glad that when we do, we won’t be doing the small business jokes there.)

Agumon: “Well, I’m not gonna bail you out any more, Aniki! If I wasn’t there for you today, you would’ve been screwed!”

Masaru: “What?! Don’t be so damn egotistical! You can’t even evolve without my Digisoul!”

~~~~~

Agumon: “Fine, don’t count on me to bail you out any more! Face it, you’d be totally lost without me!”

Marcus: “What?! Gimme a break! Without me you couldn’t Digivolve! Without me, this team would be nothing!”

I’m quoting this whole thing even though it’s basically the same as in the original, because this exchange is very important to the entire episode and I’m really glad the dub kept it intact. Boy could they have ruined the whole episode if they messed up this part, but they didn’t.

(I shouldn’t have to bring this up like it’s remotely remarkable, but after the fire-punching fiasco in episode 3, apparently it is.)

Marcus’s “without me this team would be nothing” is a bit harsher and more jerkish than originally, though that’s probably partly because the dub had more lip-flap to fill. It’s making Marcus more of a jerk like usual, but at least in this instance, Masaru being something of a jerk originally was actually the point, so this doesn’t stick out as much as it does sometimes.

The noises Agumon initially makes in reaction to Marcus’s comment here are a lot angrier in the dub, whereas originally it was more like upset floundering at the realisation that that’s true, before he snapped.

Agumon: “Damn it! I can’t do this any more! I’m done being your follower!”

Masaru: “Oh yeah, well, I’m out too! We’re not Aniki and follower any more!”

~~~~~

Agumon: “That’s it! I can’t take this! I don’t want you to be my boss!”

Marcus: “That’s just fine by me! I don’t wanna be your boss, either!”

At least the dubbers had the sense to deliberately avoid using the word “employee” here and keep the small-business nonsense out of the part that really matters.

Tohma: “You’re arguing over something so trivial.”

Masaru: “It’s not my fault!”

~~~~~

Thomas: “You’re being immature, even for you.”

Marcus: “Y-Y-*You’re* immature!”

The joke of Marcus proving how immature he is means that instead he’s snapping at Thomas, somewhat shifting away from the issue with Agumon. Meanwhile, Masaru was more subtly and relevantly showing his immaturity by trying to insist that their argument is totally all Agumon’s fault and not even slightly his.

We also lose the interesting implications of Tohma thinking this whole argument is over something trivial.

Masaru: “Fine! I’m more than enough for one or two Digimon!”

~~~~~

Marcus: “Hah. It’ll probably be *easier* without you, just you wait and see!”

Marcus’s extra jab about it being easier without Agumon shifts this more into an insistence that Agumon was somehow holding him back, rather than focusing on the more relevant point that he simply wants to feel like he can do this without help from anyone.

Agumon: “We’ll see about that, Aniki!”

~~~~

Agumon: “Hmph. Good luck, ‘cause you’re gonna need it!”

By wishing Marcus good luck, even if he means it as an insult, dub-Agumon is implying somewhat more of a sentiment of at least not wanting Marcus to get himself hurt doing this, which original-Agumon didn’t realise until later.

(Dub-Agumon doesn’t happen to call him Boss in this line, but he did so in an earlier line, so he is still doing that in the dub, too.)

The point I made in the original post about how these two scenes feel like one connected scene that ends on the note of Masaru going off to prove himself rather than them falling out doesn’t quite apply as much in the dub. Partly it’s because the dub doesn’t have the opening here, which isn’t its fault, but it also uses different BGM in each scene.

Elecmon: “So many toys to play with!” [evil chuckling]

I’m sure you can tell without me quoting the van driver’s line that this is not Elecmon echoing anything that any human said at all. Apparently it’s coming to the human world just because it genuinely personally likes messing with electronic devices. That is not how this is supposed to work, at all. Not even in the dub’s slightly different version of things!

Masaru: “Now there’ll be peace once again in the Daimon family.”

~~~~~

Marcus: “Finally I have some peace now that Agumon’s not around.”

Marcus not mentioning his family makes this less about the petty eating and snoring concerns that the argument started off about. But this still does very much carry the tone of him trying to insist to himself that he’s totally happier this way when he very obviously isn’t.

Masaru: “I’ll do it all by myself.”

~~~~~

Marcus: “Soon he’ll see! I don’t need *him* around!”

This, though, I don’t really like. The point was never specifically about Masaru proving anything to Agumon, and it wasn’t even specifically about the fact that he needs Agumon in particular. Masaru just wanted to prove, to himself, that he could do this (whatever “this” was) by himself.

Marcus’s intonation here is also quite overly-moody, making this come across a lot more like just a temporary tantrum rather than that this is connected to something that runs deep.

The dub decides to put a commercial break after this scene rather than after the Elecmon scene where the original opening went, even though this scene is short enough that they could probably have just as easily put it before it. I… think I like that choice? The Elecmon scene was always a bit unnecessary, so lingering more closely on the note of Marcus’s moodiness feels better. (Though it specifically lingers on that dub-changed line that I don’t like much, so, eh.)

That said, this next set of scenes cutting between Masaru out on his own stewing in his frustration and the DATS members trying to talk to Agumon in his Digivice does feel like it’s supposed to be one long connected thing in the original. So I dunno.

Megumi: “Look, it’s your favourite! A cheeseburger wrapped in another cheeseburger! With a cheeseburger for dessert!”

Um, that sure is a way to have a cheeseburger. Since she’s holding what looks like a perfectly normal burger, I can only assume she’s lying to try and make it sound more enticing to Agumon. (Also, haven’t you got the memo, Megumi? Agumon’s favourite is Sarah’s fried eggs, obviously.)

Yoshino: “How will they ever make up?”

Tohma: “It’s not something we should interfere with.”

~~~~~

Yoshi: “You think those guys will ever be partners again?”

Thomas: “I have more important things to do than second guess those two.”

Originally the implication from Tohma was definitely that he imagined they would make up sooner or later and just felt it wasn’t any of his business to try and force it to happen. But Thomas sounds like he’s implying he wouldn’t care if they didn’t ever make up at all. That’d have been reasonable for him before he came to respect Marcus, but not now.

Satsuma: “They must learn why they’re important to each other. If they don’t find that answer, this is as far as they go.”

~~~~~

Sampson: “They need each other. But if they can’t see that, there’s no place for them here.”

Sampson is spelling things out a lot more explicitly for us. And it also sounds like he’s only thinking about this in terms of their suitability as DATS agents. The sense I got from Satsuma was that he was thinking more broadly about their growth as individuals and is concerned about that, DATS agents or not.

Masaru: (That little shithead. He was the one who first said he wanted to be my follower.)

~~~~~

Marcus: (I can’t believe him! He was the one who said he wanted me to be his boss in the first place. Then he gets upset when I act like a boss.)

That last dub-added part misses the point a bit. This is supposed to be about Masaru still having room to feel like he doesn’t need anyone, because Agumon initiated their partnership and looked up to him. This isn’t about Marcus acting in any particular way while being in that “boss” role at all.

(Maybe this could be read as Marcus deflecting from the real point here – but that’s not even necessary, since the real point is him being able to tell himself he doesn’t need Agumon. Masaru was also essentially deflecting from that.)

Masaru: “Damn it!”

~~~~~

Marcus: “This day just keeps gettin’ better and better…”

Marcus has more to say as he almost falls over from his missed baseball swing and leaves. I’m not sure I like his comment here, like he’s just thinking about this as one of those Bad Days where everything goes wrong, as if he was playing baseball as a totally unrelated way to pass the time and then this mishap just added to the Bad Things pile. Really, Masaru’s playing baseball because of the initial problem, as a way to physically let off some steam, and then he probably messes up as a result of that frustration of his, which only serves to amplify it.

Maybe it’s just the tone I don’t like as much – Marcus simply sounds fed up and exasperated, rather than actively frustrated about something that isn’t really the baseball at all.

Lalamon: “You always said you hated being in the Digivice because you were alone.”

~~~~~

Lalamon: “You said you hated being in the Digivice because it’s cramped and lonely.”

Ayy, the dub is still consistently sticking with its added emphasis that Agumon doesn’t like cramped spaces. I’m so weirdly pleased at this one bit of extra nuance that they manage to be completely consistent and also not-too-unsubtle about – probably because they’re not usually nearly this good. It’s to the point that I’m starting to have a strong theory that someone on the dub writing team had claustrophobia themselves and was projecting this onto Agumon, making consistently writing it this way personal to them, because they otherwise do not usually care enough to think about and follow through with the implications of minor changes like this.

Agumon: “You two wouldn’t understand.”

Gaomon: “That’s for sure. But that’s why I’m interested.”

~~~~~

Agumon: “Just drop it, you guys, you don’t understand!”

Gaomon: “It’s disgraceful. A member of DATS should take pride in his partnership.”

Original-Gaomon was simply curious here, perhaps showing a side of him that’s similar to his master’s very scientific approach to things. Dub-Gaomon is also showing similarity to Thomas in his strong sense of duty (plus pride in his partnership because he’s a dog)… but he is also kind of being more of a dick in the process.

Gaomon: “Fighting with your master…”

~~~~~

Gaomon: “Arguing with your superior…”

Since dub-Gaomon doesn’t call Thomas “Master”, this had to be changed, and this is a perfectly reasonable change, but it does still give Gaomon more of a sense of being an army grunt rather than a loyal dog.

Gaomon: “Interesting. And why do you argue so often, do you think?”

Gaomon’s tone at the end here is also kind of dickish, like he’s implying that it should be obvious why Lalamon and Yoshi argue a lot. Geez, dub-Gaomon, chill.

Lalamon: “Yoshino’s always really lazy! She doesn’t clean up her room, she doesn’t fold her laundry, she has bad sleeping habits and—”

~~~~~

Lalamon: “Yoshi’s great, but she’s bossy and messy! And you should see what she does with her toenail clippings—”

“Bossy” is a lot more in line with the Yoshi we already know (at least towards Marcus, who kind of deserves it), though the “messy” part is similar to the original in hinting at a side of her we don’t usually see. But overall – no thanks in large part to the toenail clippings joke – there’s much less of a sense in the dub that Yoshi’s an entirely different person at home and that she doesn’t work nearly as hard in her home life as she does at DATS.

Katsumata: “Da… Daimon!”

Masaru: “Katsumata? You’re still hanging ‘round here?” [he turns to walk away]

~~~~~

Boomer: “Huh? Oh… Marcus!”

Marcus: “Hey, Boomer. Uh, sorry I can’t really talk right now. I’ll see ya.” [he turns to walk away, muttering under his breath] “Doof.”

Masaru’s interaction with Katsumata is obviously somewhat unfriendly from the start, based on both their tones and Masaru’s implication of “I thought I drove you out of this turf”. But Marcus and Boomer are both being… polite to each other? I would have assumed they were friends based on this, until Marcus insulted him under his breath.

Which, since they’re evidently not friends – especially given what’s about to happen – just makes it come across as incredibly off that Marcus even pretended to be polite to him in the first place. Masaru would never do that; he never beats around the bush and would never hide it if he had a problem with someone. That straightforward sincerity he has is a really big part of his character and I am sad to see so much less of it there in Marcus.

Since Marcus was enough of a jerk to pretend to be nice and then insult them under his breath, it then also comes across like Boomer and his cronies surround Marcus for a beatdown mostly because of that, rather than that they’ve had a run-in with him before and want revenge.

Masaru: “What bad luck.”

Katsumata: “Cursing your fate won’t do you any good.”

Masaru: “I was talking about you. I’m extremely pissed off right now!”

~~~~~

Marcus: “You *don’t* wanna start a fight with me today.”

Boomer: “Just ‘cause it’s five against one? Hah. We’re callin’ the shots this time around.”

Marcus: “Is that what you think? Back off, Boomer, before I teach you bullies a lesson!”

Boomer: “Yeah, right. Get him, guys!”

On the other hand, Marcus’s “today” does imply that he might have had a fight with this dude sometime before. (Unless he just means “start a fight with me” in the very general sense that people often come to him looking for a fight and not necessarily this guy in particular).

That line is also the only part of this scene that gets across the important sense that Marcus is especially in the mood to give someone a beatdown right now because of everything that’s been going on.

The rest of it… really doesn’t. Bullies? I don’t know if this is trying to say that these guys are known bullies that Marcus has heard of or dealt with before (in which case, why would he bother being nice to them?), or just a comment on the fact that they’re surrounding him five-on-one (though Marcus isn’t entirely innocent in this, since he insulted them first). But either way, this is the dub trying to reassure us that, hey, really, it’s okay that our protagonist beats up these guys, because they’re bullies! They’re bad guys! Marcus is being the good guy here, see!

That is not supposed to be the point of this. Masaru wasn’t beating up unwilling bystanders – he would not do that – and only did this because these dudes were looking for a fight. But this is very much supposed to be Masaru doing something that is kind of not okay, as a result of his frustration with himself set off by his argument with Agumon. That’s the point! It’s good for this to not be a great thing for Masaru to do! Characters – even good characters – are allowed to do bad things. That’s what makes stories more interesting.

Marcus also at least tries to de-escalate the situation by warning Boomer to back off. That makes the resulting beatdown a lot more on Boomer for refusing to listen, and a lot less on Marcus, who is at this point mostly acting in self-defence. Apparently Marcus would have been perfectly happy to walk away from this if they’d had second thoughts and left him alone.

But Masaru never gave them that chance. Once they’d incited aggression first by surrounding him, Masaru took that as a free excuse to start letting loose on these dudes without giving them an opportunity to change their minds. He wanted an excuse to vent his frustration through violence and wasn’t going to back out of it once he’d been given one. Again, that’s the point.

Agumon: (Aniki hurt my pride.)

~~~~~

Agumon: (You really hurt my feelings, Boss…)

This is almost the same, but hurt feelings is a bit more of a general idea that hurt pride. Pride in particular is especially relevant here, since Agumon and Masaru both have a lot of it and that’s a big part of the reason why this is happening.

At least the musical cue as Marcus stands over the beaten dudes is appropriately sinister and painting Marcus as very much not a hero in this situation. The dub soundtrack people have the right idea, even if the dub writers don’t.

Marcus: “See? I don’t need help from anyone.”

Marcus has an added silence-filling line as he walks away, pointing out things that were already implied in the original because who needs subtlety. Also, hey, look, it’s almost like he really did just beat up those guys for his own issuey reasons and not because he was being a good guy defeating the bullies, how about that!

Though I also think this is somewhat missing the point. Yes, a lot of this episode is about Masaru trying to insist he doesn’t need anyone’s help. But this particular part is also here to show that his usual pastime of street fights against other humans isn’t enough for him any more, that he needs something more that fighting Digimon can give him. That’s what’s supposed to be the main thing on his mind as he walks away from this too-easy victory, rather than the more general don’t-need-anyone issue.

This whole part is one of my favourite delightfully-subtle bits of this episode, and the dub watered it down so much.

Old man: “Well, well, my angry young friend.”

Pfft. Not an inappropriate thing to be calling him right now.

Old man: “The things you truly need appear even when you’re not looking for them. That’s because you understand why you need them.”

~~~~~

Old man: “The things you truly need appear even when you’re not looking for them. So look for what’s new in your life and figure out why you might need it.”

Unlike last time the old man showed up to be vague and metaphorical, this time the dub actually translates his speech almost entirely word-for-word! Amazing. This is the one bit that’s slightly different – but if anything, the dub’s version makes more sense at a part where the original was a little bit “???”, so, hey, good job. This does also mean that the old man is somewhat more actively giving Marcus advice in the dub than in the original, but that doesn’t really make a difference anyway (because Marcus is still not listening).

Boomer: “What luck. I can’t believe I lost to Marcus again.”

Okay, so the dub is definitely going with the fact that Boomer is someone Marcus laid a beatdown on before today. They really shouldn’t have thrown doubt on that to begin with by having them sound like they’re being polite to each other in that earlier scene.

Katsumata: “Damn it, the stupid light’s taking too long again! Come on, change!”

Elecmon: “Lights, change!”

~~~~~

Boomer: “Why won’t these stoplights change already?! C’mon, c’mon!”

Elecmon: “More toys to play with!”

…So, yep, Elecmon coming here is totally unrelated to anything Boomer is saying or feeling. And therefore it’s nothing to do with Marcus that this is happening. (Which also makes it a hugely convenient coincidence that he happens to be nearby to this Digimon incident when he doesn’t have DATS to tell him where to find it.)

Agumon: “I decided I wouldn’t come out until Aniki apologises.”

~~~~~

Agumon: “I’m staying here until Boss apologises, so blame him if something goes wrong!”

Dub-Agumon is being more of an immature dick here. If something goes wrong that he could have helped with, it’s totally not his fault for choosing to put his personal issues above the importance of the case, sure.

Bystander: “I still can’t believe that no-one was seriously injured!”

Yeah, sure, dub, you just fill a silence with this to reassure the kids. It’s a huge flaming car crash, but it’s fine! Nobody was even really hurt, let alone killed!

Masaru: “It’s okay. You’re not hurt anywhere.”

~~~~~

Marcus: “It’s okay, kid, you aren’t hurt. Thanks to me, of course!”

Marcus, unlike Masaru, feels the need to make things about himself here, somewhat putting the damper on his selfless moment of heroism. Not completely, but he comes across as slightly less genuinely selflessly good as a result.

(It could be read like that comment is a result of the I-can-do-everything-alone issues he’s having this episode, but it feels like now of all times is when he should stop acting that way at all. That was the idea behind this bit in the original. Marcus’s tone for that part is still quite soft, so it also doesn’t sound like it’s part of his overcompensating.)

Agumon: “Aniki!”

~~~~~

Agumon: “Oh no!”

Because “Aniki” is two lip-flaps, they can’t just replace a lone “Aniki!” with a lone “Boss!”, so instead Agumon says this, coincidentally sounding more worried than he did originally.

Yoshi: “Marcus, where’ve you been? Why didn’t you contact us?”

Marcus: “I’ve been busy doing my job!”

Yeah, sure, doing your job definitely includes playing baseball and beating up some random dudes. (Masaru did not try and make any such claim.)

Yoshino: “You don’t have a partner, so just wait here.”

~~~~~

Yoshi: “Without a partner, you’re useless, so just stay out of the way, Marcus.”

Yikes, Yoshi. Calling him outright useless like this is going to rile him up even more.

With the dub’s insistence on using its evolution music every single time someone evolves, at least these shorter evolution animations mean that the music doesn’t awkwardly loop exactly twice, and instead it plays smoothly through the two animations.

Masaru: “Even if I am [being absurd], I’ll use it to cut through a new path! That’s what a man does!”

~~~~~

Marcus: “An ultimate fighter never quits! Let’s go, you overgrown puppy!”

Even aside from removing the manliness part, they also removed the rest of what was fun about this line. Masaru has a delightful insistence about how he doesn’t care if he’s being absurd, that can be a good thing that’ll help him win! Marcus is just… never quitting, and then trash-talking his opponent. Which is fine, but… simple.

Agumon: “Aniki!”

~~~~~

Agumon: “Oh, Boss!”

More ways for the dub to get around the lip-flap issue with short exclamations like this.

Yoshi: “Chasing something we may not be able to catch, to save someone who doesn’t want to be saved! Marcus must be terrified all alone.”

[cut to Marcus on Garurumon’s back]

Marcus: “Yaaaaa-hooooo!”

Look, I get the joke they’re going for here, but doing so compromises two characters. Why would Yoshi even worry about Marcus being terrified, after she literally just complained that he won’t want to be saved? She knows him, geez.

And then Marcus having great fun riding the Garurumon would normally be perfectly fine – see Drimogemon last episode – but one of the interesting points about this part in the original is that Masaru wasn’t having nearly as much fun with this as he had with Drimogemon before, as a sign that he knows deep down how outmatched he is without Agumon.

Masaru: “Hey, asshole, how far are you gonna go? Stop sometime! Damn, my arms are giving out! Are you trying to see which of us lasts longer?”

~~~~~

Marcus: “Hey, you digital dimwit, give it up! You’re never gonna be able to shake me off you! …Except my arms are starting to get tired. Well, let’s see who gives out first!”

He’s also a lot more openly cocky about being able to hold on, generally, despite that he does admit his arms are getting tired. Masaru’s lines gave more of a subtle sense that he was hoping it would stop so he wouldn’t have to keep holding on, if still not directly admitting that.

Masaru: “Hey. Don’t underestimate me!”

~~~~~

[Garurumon growls]

Marcus: “Woof.” [he lets out a wordless battle cry]

As much as I am kind of amused by Marcus aggressively making fun of his enemy being a big dog, I am sad that this comes in place of that fun original line in which Masaru had decided Garurumon was totally underestimating him, which definitely wasn’t him projecting his own self-doubt onto it.

Masaru: “Damn it, what do I do now?”

~~~~~

Marcus: “Oh, that’s right! I’m on my own here!”

Somewhat less of a sense in the dub line that Marcus is starting to wonder how the hell he’s going to win this now.

Marcus: “…Not fun.”

Marcus has this little comment about how it felt to be slammed into a wall, and I enjoy it.

Masaru: “Am I not… strong enough to beat him…? Is it really only a Digimon that can stop a Digimon…?”

~~~~~

Marcus: “Man, maybe I’m not strong enough to defeat this guy… Maybe it really *does* take a Digimon to defeat a Digimon…”

Despite his “maybe”s, Marcus generally sounds a lot more sure about this here, like he’s not actually having any real difficulty accepting this now, whereas Masaru was still struggling with it to the point of phrasing it as a question.

Marcus: “But still, there’s no way I’m gonna give up even if this turns out to be my last stand…!”

The dub has some extra lip-flap here, so this is also added in. Which I’m not super sold on. In keeping with a dub difference in episode 1 (wow, consistency), Marcus is apparently openly willing to just throw his life away for no good reason. Plus, the fact that he’s explicitly accepting the possibility he might get killed here means he really has accepted that he can’t do this with a lot more willing certainty than Masaru did.

(At least the dub managed to phrase the concept of him dying in a way that sounds natural despite not directly mentioning death.)

Masaru: (I was wrong… I need…)

~~~~~

Marcus: (What was I thinking? I couldn’t have defeated that guy [Tortamon] by myself, and I can’t beat Garurumon either! I need Agumon, and now I’ll never get to tell him I’m sorry!)

These are both lines that take up the same amount of time, believe it or not. Marcus is way more internally-talkative and generally perfectly articulating the problem he was having and the Lesson He’s Learned. Meanwhile, Masaru was coming to this realisation a lot more slowly and gradually, barely able to articulate it to himself beyond the most simple and important part. The original’s writers were happy to leave some silent gaps in between his thoughts to do the rest of the work more subtly.

The dub’s also really doubling down on the idea that Marcus is very consciously aware that he’s probably about to be killed here. Him lamenting not being able to apologise to Agumon is cute, but I still don’t know if I like him having admitted the about-to-die part to himself in the first place.

Sadly, the dub does not have the extra layer of Marcus’s screams of exertion that are what’s physically coming out of his mouth during this part. Regardless, these are definitely internal thoughts, because they have an echoey sort of effect on them to imply that. (The original doesn’t use that effect for its inner monologue lines at all.)

Masaru: (I need… I need Agumon! I want to fight together with Agumon!)

~~~~~

Marcus: (I get it now. I need you, Agumon! What makes us strong isn’t you or me… it’s both of us working as a team!)

Them working together as a team being the reason they’re strong is a cute (and correct) sentiment, don’t get me wrong, but I still like it less how Marcus is able to perfectly articulate this to himself and has just very straightforwardly Learned His Lesson.

Also, the loss of specifically “I want to fight together with Agumon” loses the possibly-unintentional call-forward in that line, which makes me a little sad.

Marcus: “Right. We’re the ultimate team!”

With the dub’s “ultimate team” being a whole Thing that’s in more than just this episode, it has a more impactful effect to bring it back here that the original can’t do. So that’s a plus for the dub, at least.

Marcus: “Never surrender, GeoGreymon!”

The evolution theme, being an instrumental remix of the dub’s opening theme, happened to have the part of its melody which matches with the dub’s opening lyric of “Never surrender!” just a few seconds before this line. Heh. I wonder if that was deliberate.

Masaru: “There’s no way you can lose to a Digimon like that!”

~~~~~

Marcus: “Remember, you’ll never lose as long as we fight together!”

Marcus’s line here is more adorable than Masaru’s, putting the focus on their partnership rather than just implicitly insulting their opponent! (It could be read that Masaru was specifically referencing the fact that Garurumon doesn’t have a partner and that’s why GeoGreymon should win, but if so that’s not all that clear.) I approve.

Masaru: “You did it, Agumon!”

Agumon: “Aniki!”

~~~~~

Marcus: “You did it, Agumon!”

Agumon: “*We* did!”

The dub did indeed go for “you” with the translation of Masaru’s subject-ambiguous Japanese line – and then they had Agumon add in a “we”, for maximum adorableness!

Masaru: “We can beat any Digimon if we’re fighting together!”

Agumon: “Yeah! We’re the strongest combination ever!”

~~~~~

Marcus: “As long as the two of us work together, no Digimon can stand against us!”

Agumon: “Yeah, we’re still the ultimate team, Boss!”

The dub’s version of this is basically the same right here, but what it unfortunately doesn’t do that the original did is directly echo what the two of them said in the beginning of the episode, but with the speakers swapped. Here’s the earlier bits:

Agumon: “As if any Digimon could beat us when we’re fighting together!”

Masaru: “Yeah! Because we’re the strongest combination ever!”

~~~~~

Agumon: “There’s no Digimon that can beat the ultimate team!”

Marcus: “Yeah! Agumon and I are the strongest team ever!”

Alas, apparently the dubbers didn’t realise that was a deliberate callback and make sure the earlier lines were worded so they’d work with this.

Agumon: “Nah, it’s fine. I’m sorry, too.”

~~~~~

Agumon: “No. I should be apologising to *you*.”

The dub’s version of this contains the awkward implication that Agumon isn’t just giving his own apology but also feels like Marcus didn’t even need to apologise in the first place. Which isn’t right, since both of them were equally at fault here. I don’t know if the dub even meant to imply this, but that’s how Agumon’s phrasing reads.

Masaru: “Crap, it’s Yoshino. Run, Agumon!”

~~~~~

Marcus: “Oh man, I’d rather face another Digimon than Yoshi. Run!”

The original reads like Masaru is trying to run because Yoshino is going to force him to clean up his mess. In the dub, it reads like it’s not so much about the clean-up and more like he’s mostly running because Yoshi is scary when she’s mad, which has a vaguely uncomfortably sexist vibe to it.

(Also, why is he acting like facing another Digimon would be a bad thing? Of course he’d rather fight another Digimon than face Yoshi, regardless of her anger or the clean-up, because fighting Digimon is his favourite thing!)

Overall differences

Well, at least they didn’t ruin the overall point of the episode like they could have by changing the reason Marcus and Agumon fall out. I had wondered if the bizarre misconception I’ve seen of “this episode is bad because they fall out over fried eggs!!!” came from the dub, but no, it very much didn’t. That part is perfectly intact. That said, there’s a lot of other changes going on in this episode that I’m not too fond of, especially because a lot of them mess with the fun nuanced bits.

The ridiculous small-business jokes during their argument further highlight how nonsensical it always was to call Agumon Marcus’s “employee”, and they detract from the meaningful points being made there about their respective roles in the relationship.

Elecmon is entirely lucid and simply coming here because it wants to mess around with traffic lights, which is extremely not how things work, not even in the dub’s version of why these Digimon incidents are happening. It also means this incident isn’t indirectly Marcus’s fault, which was a thing I enjoyed in the original.

The scene where Marcus beats up the dudes is probably my least favourite of the changes. The dub completely fails to grasp that Masaru doing something kinda not okay is the whole point of that scene. Instead it scrambles to insist that their kids’ show protagonist is still a 100% squeaky clean good person actually, because look, he’s only beating up bullies! And yet despite that, Marcus also acts weirdly uncharacteristically polite to this person that he has every reason to openly dislike.

Just like in episode 3, Marcus is a lot more articulate and self-aware about admitting exactly what his problem is and the lesson he’s learned in this episode (though at least in this episode he actually learns it), which continues to be less interesting and nuanced than the way Masaru struggles a lot more to fully accept and understand his issues. There’s also a recurrence of the thing from dub episode 1 in which Marcus is fully, consciously aware of the possibility that he might die, which is not something Masaru ever quite lets himself acknowledge even when he’s inches away from being eaten.

At least a few of the lines in the scene where he and Agumon make up are changed to be a little bit more adorable in the dub than they were originally, so there’s that.

#digimon #digimon savers #digimon data squad

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secret-time-is-here · 3 years

Text

An Error's Journey

Chapter 20

Previous - First - Next

Jolting out of bed with a shaky gasp, he regained himself. His strong black bones shaking, scared ribs hurting as he tried to pace his breathing. It seemed as if he was never allowed a peaceful night's sleep, and if those dreams truly are his memories, he hasn’t gotten a good night’s sleep in centuries.

That vague information… at least he knows how he learned to read code now, but still. What enemy could possibly be so strong and smart as to be unseen and need the teamwork of the destroyer of worlds and unknown others to defeat? Although there were more questions in his mind other than this so-called common enemy.

Partners? Could they be those other four? Could they be entirely different people? Who are those other four?

If Core is correct, no matter what four you pair him with, he’ll be the oldest, aside from Core themself and Classic-who’s technically the oldest in the multiverse Sans wise. Those four could be referring to four Gods from Reapertale, or Killer Cross Dust and Horror, or any four of his Charas-yet none of those seemed to match with the clues.

He can’t think of anyone that’d match up with a sketchy world, aside from maybe Core-who built the Omegatimeline, but that wouldn’t match up with the oldest clue. Not a single person could come to mind, he’s seen sketchy worlds, yes. But he’s destroyed those, so the only explanation is one slipped under his fingertips or arrived before he became a destroyer.

He can’t think of what significance a tree on a hill or any dryad’s that he’s ever known-at least from what he remembers. He faintly recalls sitting under a tree, but not with a dryad, and he’s sat under plenty of trees in his time. Waiting for wounds to heal or lounging in the shade.

Funny enough, he can think of three for the final window, yet the window had only shown one figure. He knows and has fought with these three as well. He can’t remember exactly when or how, but he knows that before they became friends Nightmare and he had fought against each other. The same goes for Reaper and his brother Mercy. It also doesn’t help that he’s older than all three of them.

A cautious knock rang through the room thrice, and he threw out a string to open the door, Nightmare stood behind it.

“Dreams again…?” Error nodded, Nightmare closed the door behind him, seeming even more worried. Nightmare carefully sat with Error, extending a hand first before Error pulled him closer, the two cuddling together.

It makes him think back to when he and Nightmare did try for a serious relationship, but in the end, it didn’t work out well. They were both highly mentally unstable at the time, Error unable to give such commitment and Nightmare craving for the commitment.

In the end, they agreed to stay platonic, although both of them enjoyed the cuddles, and continued to sneak those in every now and again. “Did you learn anything new?”

“CORE’s a bitch, but alsO thE OnE whO taught mE hOw tO REad cOdE.” Nightmare let a soft chuckle escape at the beginning, but quieted down for the second half. “...AlthOugh appaREntly, wE havE a cOmmOn EnEmy. CORE wOn’t say whO. I just knOw thEy’RE stROng EnOugh that I nEEd tO tEam up with fOuR OthERs, and thEy havE bEEn hiding fOR a lOng timE.”

“Someone smart and powerful.” Nightmare concluded, “Anything else you feel comfortable with telling me?”

“...CORE gavE mE glimpsEs Of whO thOsE fOuR aRE, but Only shOwEd mE vaguE windOws.”

“Oh?”

“ThE fiRst was a blank dRawn-Out wORld, thE sEcOnd a laRgE tREE On a hill with a DRyad undERnEath-”

“Did I ever tell you about where I came from?”

“Uh… I… dOn’t think sO?”

“I grew up living in a small shabby shack not far from a tree I protected… a tree on a hill.” Error’s breathing stopped, “The village nearby talked about the guardian before me once or twice… how she never left the tree. How she was attached to the tree.”

“LikE a dRyad...” At least he knew one of the four. “...That still lEavEs thREE. ThREE pEOplE yOungER than mE, and that I’vE fOught against at sOmE pOint.”

“We got our work cut out for us.”

“...ThE thiRd windOw was sOmEOnE clOakEd in black.”

“Death’s probably your most likely option, although I don’t know if he’s younger than you.”

“If CORE’s Right, hE is.”

“Do I get to learn more?” Nightmare's tone was teasing, and Error laughed a bit, nodded his head.

“YEah, sO uh… um… in my dREams. I sEEm tO REmEmbER my past, a past whERE I had a timElinE as a nORmal sans, fOR thE mOst paRt.” Error sighed, “A past, I appaREntly happEn tO shaRE with HEaRts, OnE whERE wE had datEd and hE alOng with CORE guidEd mE. I knOw it’s HEaRts bEcausE I cOnfROntEd him, and hE cOnfiRmEd it was him.”

Nightmare nodded, cuddling a little more into him. ThROughOut my past, CORE has givEn mE hints and waRnings, advicE tOO. SOmEtimEs it's mEant fOR my past sElf. SOmEtimEs it’s mEant fOR thE futuRE.” Error pulled back, looking into Nightmare’s questioning eye, “A fEw days agO, whEn I lEft a nOtE? That night I dREamt Of my past, and CORE had tOld mE thEy wOuld sEE mE sOOn, I wOkE up with thEm sitting at thE End Of my bEd, and wE talkEd in thE OmEgatimElinE.”

“The omegatimeline?!”

“WE wERE lOckEd in a mEEting ROOm.” Error calmed Night’s concerns, “...Lust- HEaRts and I had agREEd if a tRuE REsEt happEnEd, that wE wOuld bREak up… and I think a tRuE REsEt just happEnEd in my dREams.”

“...You’re going to wake up panicked again, aren’t you?” Error muttered that it was likely, “You could stay with me again? Until the dreams don’t frighten you so much?”

Error simply nodded, yawning, waking up so scared and talking so much must’ve taken a lot out of him. He leaned back against Nightmare, cuddling up closer against him and falling back asleep.

When he had woken up again it seemed some odd hours had passed, and he lay on a sofa in Nightmare’s study rather than his bed in his room. The room was dim, curtains pulled over the trio of windows that lit up the room. He relaxed, realizing that he was laying on top of Nightmare, the low buzz of his many souls beating and his slow breathing comforting.

Momentarily, his mind flashed to a hill, laying against a smaller figure-just a quiet breathing in their ribs-and a soft voice chuckling at them.

He shook off the vision faster this time.

After spending some more time with Nightmare, he finally got ready for the day, heading off to visit his Chara’s.

“Heya puncle!” Intent called as he walked into the blank world-his memories of his chara fresh in his mind.

“HEy pipsquEak,” He chuckled, rustling their hair, “HOw aRE thE OthER kiddOs?”

“Rude, we both know I’m nearly the oldest of ‘em all. Might as well be old as you Grandpa.”

Could they…?

“Odd quEstiOn, whERE is yOuR timElinE?”

“My timeline?” Intent repeated, “It’s been long gone, I managed to control my Frisk for a time, even reached the surface for some years… until Frisk took control again and killed everyone. Last I checked, my timeline is a dead wasteland. Frisk probably died centuries ago on the surface-or in the barrier, either way. I don’t care.”

“YOuR Sans?”

“Long since dead. Frisk made sure to destroy whatever resolve he had to keep going. Fucking brat.”

“...sORRy, just lil’ cuRiOus.” He had a small hope for a moment, that maybe they were his Chara, but infinite timelines mean infinite possibilities. Including near copies sadly.

“Trying to find your Chara?”

“What… nO… whEn- HOw did...” He stuttered for a moment, Intent merely shrugged.

“Just a guess, you’re easier to read than you like to think, big guy.” Error looked away at that, making a mental note to work on his poker face more, “Your Chara is probably at your timeline or wandering the void. Although unless you want to miss a few years to hundreds of years-I don’t recommend venturing there.”

The void is highly unpredictable, for some, it’s instant death. Others a slow death. For immortals or people with self-healing or sustaining abilities, a way to pass time quicker than normal. The void is also a place for the forgotten, for Gasters and people in place of Gaster.

Intent ventured inside, and he was about to follow when a hand holding his pant leg stopped him.

Core stood behind him, and with a steady look shook their head.

“Unless you want to unleash our enemy upon the multiverse, don’t venture to the void.”

“ThEy’RE in thE vOid??” Core nodded, “Why aRE wE-”

“Error, please don’t. This is the best run we’ve had so far.” Error eyed Core cautiously, “I know Hearts let it slip… You are not strong enough yet. You have only half your team… you still have two to find.”

“SO NightmaRE and DEath…?”

“Are two of the four. Yes. Much like your Chara, keep them close.”

“ThEn whO dO I nEEd tO kEEp clOsER?”

“Sadly, I cannot say… just keep your enemies as close as your friends.”

“NO hints On my paRtnERs?”

“No.” Core smiled, “Admittedly, I was never supposed to tell you, but, in the end, it seems telling you has given you hope… Stay determined, God of Destruction.”

-----

Core’s advice had left some questions, but thankfully, concrete answers as well. Like Nightmare and Reaper being two of the four he’s looking for.

Knowing of Death’s difficult schedule, Error dropped by Ccino’s and picked up black coffee’s for the both of them. The conversation they needed to have would be long, and knowing the God well, he’d probably like a coffee while on this sudden break.

It took some time, but he finally found Reaper flying around his wide realm in Reapertale.

The entire mood of the realm was dark and depressing. The ground a dry dark brown, the dirt stale and dead. Any crops that tried to grow merely twigs. In short, it was a dead wasteland.

The only animals the Crows and Vultures that Reaper fed daily. A small dark marble basin resting in between a creepy thicket of frail trees, rusty old chains holding hovering plates of seed, and some smaller dead critters. All and all, it looked like something from an abandoned map of one of the gang’s shooter games.

He sat down with the few Crows by the ground, waiting for Death to realize he had arrived, which shouldn’t be long. As far as he knew, the Gods of Reapertale were highly tuned with their realms, knowing who arrives and who leaves. It reminds him of the Antivoid, arguably his own realm.

Despite the wasteland, the sky was still a lovely blue, at least to his eyes. A dull slate color that allowed Death to stand out well in his black clothing.

With a few powerful flaps of the Gods wings-which for once were seen-Reaper had hurled himself toward Error, slowing his descent just before the ground. Graciously sitting down in front of him.

“Long time no see, been some time since you’ve visited my realm.”

“YEah, sORRy, wEiRd shit has bEEn happEning.” He sighed and handed Death his coffee, to which the God’s face lit up. “SO, thOsE dREams aRE my mEmORiEs, and sOmE Odd cEntuRiEs agO I had a timElinE.”

Death choked on his coffee, but didn’t interrupt, “Oh yOu havEn’t hEaRd thE staRt Of it, Old fRiEnd… CORE has bEEn talking tO mE thROugh basically all Of timE, giving mE waRnings in thE past and EvEn nOw.”

“Warnings for…?”

“SOmE dangER fROm a cOmmOn EnEmy, an EnEmy sO stROng it’s gOing tO takE mE and fOuR OthERs tO kill thEm OncE and fOR all… I knOw whO twO Of thOsE fOuR aRE sincE CORE cOnfiRmEd thEm EaRliER tOday.

“Oh boy… I’m one of them aren’t I?”

“YEah.” He nodded, sipping his coffee, “I havE nO cluE On thE OthER twO, CORE Only shOwEd mE thREE windOws tOO. OnE Of a skEtchy wORld, anOthER Of a hill with a tREE and a dRyad living On it, and thEn a figuRE dREssEd in black… thE thiRd OnE was ObviOusly yOu, and thE sEcOnd was NightmaRE.”

“...I think I know the first one, but I seriously doubt it.” Error raised a brow, “You know how Ink and I have been kinda getting together outside of work?”

“I still dOn’t knOw what yOu sEE in that shORt asshOlE.”

His mind flashed again to a hill, laying against a smaller figure-just a quiet breathing in their ribs-and a soft voice chuckling at them.

He blinked away the vision even quicker than the first time.

“Well, for one I can touch him without killing him, two he’s actually a great friend and cuddle buddy.”

“Uhuh, yOu REally think hE’s OnE Of thE twO?”

“From what he’s told me about his past… maybe. He just remembers being alone in an uncompleted world. What that fully entails, I don’t know.”

“UnlEss I sEE him in my mEmORiEs, I REfusE tO bEliEvE it OR tRy tO wORk with him.”

All characters belong to their respected creators

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zmassani · 3 years

Text

BURNING AWAY THE PAST MILES RUSSELL x ADRIENNE SCAVO

Miles is hardly in the room when Adrienne already stands up, straight as an arrow. There’s a wilderness behind her eyes, something akin to an animal trapped in a cage. She’s more anxious than she lets on, the evidence of it piled on the floor in the form of whittled wood right next to the chair she’s been sitting in. She tucks her knife away.

“Did you get it?”

He nods, closing the door after him. They’re holed up in an old hunting cabin, deep in the middle of the woods. The nearby QZ had questionable security at best, and with his old uniform on, Miles had managed to infiltrate the walls two times now. First time was for generic supplies, but the second had a specific purpose. At Adrienne’s expectant look, he reaches to the back of his pants and from under his jacket retrieves a bottle that’d become the topic of many conversations over the past few weeks. An industrial grade chemical, sure to corrode dirt (and everything else) on its way.

She holds out a hand and he hands it to her, the bottle dirty and its label barely legible, but whatever is left in the bottle still just as potent. Adrienne turns the bottle in her hand, brows furrowed, before she moves to push it into her backpack.

“Let’s go.”

The trek is quiet, the plan (months in the making) the only occupant of the silence between them. They already scouted ahead a few days before, right after arriving at the cabin, to make sure the surrounding areas were clear. A kilometer’s distance from the cabin the dense woods made way to a clearing, and in the middle of it, a small pond. The waters were dark and leaves covered its surface, but most importantly, there were no signs of diseased bodies in the water. That was good enough.

Adrienne finds the most suitable spot by the pond and settles down with her backpack, starting to unravel its insides around her. Miles kicks away the biggest branches and then spreads the trashed piece of tarp they carry with them to be able to sit on the ground wherever they go. He puts down the vat and bucket they brought with them, and then leaves to go around the pond to secure the area once more. All he finds is the decomposed body of what once had been a person, but no signs of infected anywhere. He comes back to find Adrienne standing next to the tarp, turning her belt in her hands before starting to loop it back to her waist.

“I need your belt. Mine’s trash.”

Without further prompting Miles undoes his belt and pulls it out, handing it over to her expectant hand. He watches as Adrienne braces herself, breathes in deep before she finally finds her spot on top of the tarp and settles down on it. He watches as she pulls open the laces of her right boot and pulls off her sock. She rolls the leg of her pants up as high as it will go, securing it right underneath her knee.

Watching her is like watching a sacred ritual unfold, and he’s once again reminded by how little sanctity is in him. Higher power holds no place in his world, and thus he’s left with what’s on earth. Loss, sadness, uncertainty, the cruelty of man. And her.

“You have to do it.” Pulled out of his thoughts, Miles lifts his eyes up to her, his brows knitting into a line. She must sense he needs more elaboration, as she continues without missing more than a beat or two. “I can’t do it without messing up the whole foot.”

He lets his eyes scan her. She’s holding his belt in one hand and the bottle in the other, her hair tied back into the all-too-familiar ponytail to keep it out of the way. He draws in a breath.

“You’re sure about this?”

She nods, the way she doesn’t bite back somehow drilling in deeper than any of her words ever could. “Has to be done,” she says under her breath, clearly more to herself than to him, and as Miles settles down at her feet, he can hear her breathe in deep. He takes the bottle from her.

“Don’t stop.”

He lifts his eyes to her, immediately meeting her gaze -- she’s dead-set. This is a conversation they’ve had before. “Don’t stop even if I tell you to” and “don’t stop until it’s done” were familiar to them both, from the dozens of hours spent stitching each other together; and that’s the ending she doesn’t need to elaborate now either. Miles nods, and turns around so he’s sitting in between her legs, his back turned to her. With the vat placed between his thighs, he takes a hold of her right foot and brings it up to hold it firmly on top of the vat they’ve brought with them, her ankle over the opening.

He can hear the clatter of his belt’s buckle as Adrienne lifts the leather to bite it between her teeth. Miles breathes in, holds her foot in one hand and starts pouring the liquid onto the bitemark. He keeps his eyes on her leg, watching as the skin starts to react to the liquid.

Behind him, he imagines how her face distorts, teeth digging into the leather of his belt. She breathes in sporadic bursts, all of her fighting against pulling her leg out of his grasp; anything to ease the pain he’s causing her. He needs to remind himself it’s what she wants; it’s what she insisted on for months before they came to this. They have an understanding. He still carries a scar on his face from the time they last had an understanding like this, albeit wordless then. He knows she still blames herself for what she did, even though they both know it was the least of what could’ve happened. It needed to be done for them to make it out alive, and in a way, this was exactly the same. Maybe they’re even now.

The first wail that escapes her lips is shattering, and it makes his skin crawl. Every inch of him wants to put the bottle away and stop the process right there, but he fights against it, just grips her leg tighter and pours until the little left on the bottle has grazed her ankle and poured into the vat underneath it. He can feel Adrienne press her forehead against his back, and just as he sees the scarred flesh of her ankle start to turn, she’s holding on to him, her nails digging into his middle in search of even some steadiness. She’s trembling, but remains just as quiet throughout; only a few desperate, muffled sounds leaving her lips.

It’s the aftermath that’s worse. Miles fills the bucket again and again, pouring water on top of the open wound that’s formed to where the scar of the bitemark used to be. Her skin is raw, fraying at the edges, every bit of it turning an angry red. Her body is desperately trying to fix what was broken, and so far all it’s doing is causing more pain. He rinses the wound until the bright of the day falls into a gloomy afternoon, brief droplets of rain grazing Miles’ skin as he fights against the fatigue. Adrienne’s forehead is glistening, the belt no longer between her teeth but the indents of it still clear on the corners of her mouth, and there’s nothing he’d like more than to ease the pain she’s in.

“We need to get back. It’s getting dark.”

She nods, but the distant look in her eyes gives way to the very real repercussions of what they’ve done. It’s the known price for a life of even little ease, but it doesn’t make it easier to handle. She’ll need to recover, and only time will tell what the wound replacing the bite mark will be like. As she tries to stand up, she falters, and in a flash she’s lurching forward, leaning against her knees with her face hidden from him as she twists her body to get it off the tarp. She throws up, her body desperately heaving even when there’s nothing in her stomach to get rid of.

Miles goes further away from the pond to pour out the liquid in the vat, the chemical seeping deep into the soil as he turns and comes back to Adrienne. He rinses the vat and then watches as she stands up, barely able to keep herself straight. He helps her sit down again.

“Sit. I can do this,” he says, his voice low.

She’s too worn out to argue, and instead pulls her left leg tightly against her body in an effort to keep herself warm and steady. It is his ritual now. He gathers every evidence of the two of them and neatly tucks it all into the safety of their backpacks, gently pulling the tarp from underneath her to be able to pack it away, too. She sits still, and from the corner of his eye Miles can see her watching the undisturbed surface of the pond, focusing on the silent peacefulness of it. Whatever she’s thinking, she’s not letting him know.

Just as the darkness starts to fall, Miles tenderly helps Adrienne up and pulls her to his back. He has both of their backpacks strapped so that they hang on his front, both the bucket and the vat securely tied to their straps. He loops his arms under her thighs and secures her by leaning forward for a moment to help her settle. She hangs on to him with whatever’s left of her strength, her head resting on his shoulder as he starts to make his way back to the cabin. Her fingers grip the front of his shirt, the pads of them stroking the skin right above his collarbone.

The woods around them seem endless, and it’s the sort of endlessness Miles could get used to. He knows their journey is far from over, but for now; here; they have respite. In the middle of the forest they have calm, and even the looming QZ nearby doesn’t feel that heavy of a weight to handle. Miles focuses on keeping his pace slow and steady, making sure every step is calculated and won’t lead them to topple over. She’s silent for the majority of the way, the only sound she makes the breaths that warm his neck and make his skin shiver.

When she finally speaks, her voice is hoarse, and her fingers are still caressing the spot above his collarbone, the touch unexpectedly soothing. He wonders if she knows how little she has to do to help him keep calm.

“Thank you.”

#i have risen from my grave just to birth this and now i will crawl right back ok bye #otp: never trust a survivor #ma: writing #* writing #* mine #* 2021

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jellysharkbat · 4 years

Text

Okay, I have to butt in with this. Because I don’t think I’ve really seen it discussed or explored in any great detail. What is it, you ask?

Cullen’s family. Specifically how they (and Cullen) would react to meeting each other again after spending 17 years apart. The most I’ve seen is something along the lines of Mia basically (aggressively) mothering him. Which isn’t bad, but I don’t think it’s realistic. And I’ve seen next to nothing about Branson and Rosalie. Not to mention that all 3 of them could have families (well, we definitively know that Branson does). I don’t think I’ve seen anything that even comes close to a realistic representation of their relationship with Cullen.

So I kind of want to break this down a bit as I discuss it. Buckle up, because this might be really long.

Edit: This got super long, so if you actually read it all, kudos to you. I’m surprised you stuck around for this insanely long ramble.

Okay. So let’s talk about Mia first, since she seems to be the most popular about of Cullen’s siblings. What do we know about her? Not much. Of course, I’m no expert and I don’t own any texts relating to Dragon Age so I could be wrong, but it seems to me that we only really know two things about Mia: she’s the eldest of the Rutherford brood and that she’s the one who’s been keeping contact with Cullen.

Well, she tries anyways. She always seems to know where Cullen is and I’m assuming that Cullen has informed her about his whereabouts, to an extent. Knowing how reluctant Cullen seems to be to write to his siblings, he probably doesn’t go further than “I’m currently residing in Kirkwall” or “Send your letters to an Inquisition post; it’ll find me.” I don’t believe anyone other than Cullen would tell her that kind of info. I don’t see the Order being particularly helpful, since she’s not a part of it. Likely they’d just send her on her way. And there’s no way she’d think to send a letter to the Inquisition, of all things. She might be able to find a post of theirs on her own, but she wouldn’t be able to assume that her little brother helped form the damn thing. So, Cullen must have informed her of how to contact him. But beyond that, there doesn’t seem to be much interaction. Their relationship exists through letters, and for the most part it appears to be fairly one-sided. I mean, Mia does write to him, sort of scolding him for not even telling her that’s he’s alive and doing alright!

(side note: I think it would be a lot easier to be the ‘big sister’ via letters, but face to face will be very different)

Don’t get me wrong; I don’t think Cullen dislikes his family or anything like that. I’m positive he cares about them a great deal, and I can see him having someone keep an eye on them in South Reach just in case. But he keeps his distance. And we can infer based on Mia’s letters that Cullen rarely writes back to her. As for Branson and Rosalie, we have no evidence that there is any sort of contact between them and Cullen. It seems like anything regarding his younger brother and sister is all relayed through Mia. Cullen himself never writes to them individually, and they don’t seem to write to him. Actually, I don’t think there’s any mention of Rosalie at all? I could be wrong, but I don’t recall seeing anything like that. As far as a sibling bond and relationship....it’s barely there. Cullen is related to Mia, Branson, and Rosalie by blood. But that’s really it. There’s no actual relationship. As far as we know, they haven’t met in 17 years. Since they were children. And young ones, in the case of Branson and Rosalie. Hell, it’s possible that Rosalie barely remembers anything about Cullen! We don’t have an exact date of their age gaps, but it’s possible that Rosalie was too young to actually retain any solid memories of Cullen. After all, I certainly don’t remember most things from when I was a kid. I’m sure you don’t either. It’s a bit of a blur. There’s no reason to assume that it’s any different for Rosalie, in particular. Memories of him are likely to be pretty hazy with maybe a handful of instances that she remembers (mostly) clearly. It’s been a long, long time since Cullen was actually their brother. He’s like that relative that you know exists, but you don’t know anything about and don’t really see any reason to make an effort to form some sort of bond with them.

They are strangers. All three of them are basically strangers to Cullen. They’ve spent more time apart than together. Cullen grew up with them for 13 years. And then he grew up another 17 without them. They were children when they were last together. How you were as a child, and how you are as an adult are pretty different.

Like I said, a lot of people seem to like the idea of Mia barging in and mothering Cullen pretty heavily (ie ordering him around or being able to kick his ass at chess). Irl, I don’t believe she would do that. It’s fun to think about, but I can’t imagine Mia would actually behave in such a manner towards Cullen. Branson and Rosalie? Definitely, after all she’s their older sister. She grew up with them. But not Cullen. And actually being face to face with him would be pretty intimidating. They are effectively meeting a total stranger. You don’t just start bossing a stranger around. And I mean, meeting. They aren’t getting together with Cullen, or reconnecting with him. They are meeting Cullen, the adult for the first time. They know next to nothing about him (and he knows only what Mia told him in her letters).

The more Mia searches for him, the more likely it is that she’ll hear things about him. Rumors about the Ferelden Circle, or his time in Kirkwall. I doubt it very much if she stumbled upon someone who had something kind to say about Cullen Rutherford (which is a big reason why Cullen never contacts his family, I think. He’s far too ashamed of his past actions and doesn’t want to involve his family in the ugliness he helped create. In his mind, he’s not the good person he tried so hard to be, or what his family probably assumes he’d be). So yeah, they’d probably would’ve heard at least a couple of things about Cullen Rutherford by the time they met him. And then there’s the fact that he’s Commander of the fastest growing army in Thedas. He helped create and holds incredibly important positions within the Inquisition. It’s not like any random Joe-Schmo can walk up to Cullen and talk to him like a normal person. His authority alone would be intimidating.

And then there’s Cullen himself. He’s a private person. He’s done his best to keep his family at an arm’s length (otherwise why wait so long to meet them?). I think he’d be pretty damn nervous to have them around, but he’s got enough of a poker face to seem like he’s not bothered. But I can definitely see him wanting to run for the hills just to avoid this whole thing.

The first time they see each other is going to be horribly awkward. They’re family, but they’re not family with Cullen. He’s just a man they’re related to (I really can’t stress that enough, fam). And Cullen is going to see 3 adults who don’t know anything about...anything. As far as we know, aside from the destruction of Honnleath during the Blight, they’d all led relatively peaceful and unimportant lives. They aren’t exactly going to treat him like the long-lost brother he is like they do in the movies. No giant hugs or tears or anything like that.

And I think that with Cullen being who he is, as he;s struggling with his family being in front of him, he might unintentionally give them a bit of a cold reception. Definitely no “OMG HI how are you?? I missed you so much!” from his end!

So yeah, those first few meetings? Super awkward and uncomfortable and quiet (probably) for everyone as they struggle to find a topic of conversation. I’d like to see more of that. I’d like to see how an actual relationship forms between the four of them over time; assuming everyone is willing to put in that effort. I mean, as far as we know, Branson and Rosalie could be totally content with never having Cullen in their lives (again, it’s Mia who has been seeking out and writing to Cullen). They’re used to his absence, after all. He’s more like a distant memory than anything substantial. I don’t think that’d actually be the case, but you know. It’s possible. I also want to see their frustration about how Cullen is so tight-lipped about himself. I think Cullen would be frustrated with himself too, but he’s got good arguments to not share anything (or so he argues with himself). He’s going to be reluctant, if not downright obstinate, about sharing anything about his life thus far. If anything, that Vow of Silence he took when he became a Templar seems to cover his entire life at the Chantry and while he’s no longer a Templar, he has no intention of breaking his Vows. At least not willy-nilly like. I’d like to see how they deal with Cullen’s trauma; if they are able to witness it. After all, he’s a warrior. He’s led a very different life from them and he’ll see the world very differently. For instance, Cullen can run a sword through someone with ease, and kill them. I seriously doubt his siblings would be able to do the same if they were in a position to do so. Think about it: can you actually kill a living, breathing human being? I can’t. Most people can’t actually kill someone. I seriously doubt they would be willing or able to either. While I think that Cullen is inherently a kind and polite man (refer back to how he was before Kinloch Hold fell), he was trained to be a fighter from a young age and he’s very much desensitized to the violence that comes with his lifestyle.

I also want to know how they react to Cullen’s lyrium withdrawal and what it actually means to be addicted to the stuff. And what could happen when someone stops cold turkey. I don’t think the Chantry tells the masses about lyrium. It’s known that Templars take it, but other than that they know nothing about it. They don’t know what happens when you take it and how fatal it is when you stop. I’d also like to see Cullen react to their own families, if he ever gets the chance to. Being in the military for so long, I imagine he didn’t spend a lot of time with kids aside from when he was a recruit himself. Personally, I like to think he’d be a great uncle (and if he had a child he’d certainly be wrapped around their little finger) but again, a bit awkward at first. But at least kids (especially young ones) don’t know or care about the past so. That’s a plus at least.

By the way, I mentioned how people do seem to have Mia kick Cullen’s ass at chess. And I don’t actually think that’s going to happen. At least, maybe it’d be a rare occasion. They were kids the last time they played. We don’t know anything about Mia, or how sharp she’s kept her skills. We have no idea if she improved on them or not. We do know she’s teaching Branson’s son to play, but that doesn’t really mean anything.

Cullen grew up in an elite military organization. He went through the ranks and earned some high positions in it. He’s among the best of the best. He’s led hundreds of Templars and Inquisition soldiers. He’s intelligent. And we know that he does like chess enough to play often. He seems to have played it regularly whenever he could.

Hell, it’s literally his job to come up with all sorts of strategies (he’s almost certainly done that in the mess that is Kirkwall, and now within the Inquisition).

And chess is a game of strategy. So I think it’d be pretty damn hard to win a game against him. He’s going to be thinking several steps ahead and calculating both of their moves to win in his favor. I’m not saying Mia couldn’t do the same, but she hasn’t made a career out of it.

If she wins against Cullen, it’s either because he allowed it, or she got very lucky. He’s not a little boy who can have the wool pulled over his eyes anymore.

So yeah, long story short, I don’t think people actually think about how Cullen and his family are literal strangers. They spent more years apart than together, and with very limited contact between. Being related by blood doesn’t change that. I’d like to see more of that, please. And you know, if I’ve been looking in all the wrong places, let me know that too. XD

#Cullen Rutherford #Long ass post #sorry #I understand if you decide this is way too long and peace out #XD

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seyaryminamoto · 4 years

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I'm still confused as to how Iroh can just chill in Ba Sing Se after trying to burn it to the ground a few years ago?? That's like Bush moving to Iraq lmao. Yet mainstream fandom acts like Iroh is an angel and the citizens of Ba sing se should be grateful while in reality he will be the most wanted by the Earth Kingdom after the war is over.

... Curious analogy about Bush O.o I’d say maybe he’s not outright Bush, since Bush wasn’t the commanding officer on the field... a quick wikipedia search tells me the one who led the invasion in Iraq was Tommy Franks, a now-retired general? :’D yep, sounds more like this guy moving to Iraq, then.

People have made many excuses about Iroh being free to live in Ba Sing Se because he helped liberate it from the Fire Nation in the end, and I’m not going to lie, narratively it’s not even a bad idea for Iroh to have dreamt he’d “take” Ba Sing Se in his youth only for the dream to have a completely different meaning than he thought it did...

... But that would only be genuinely sweet and heartwarming if he hadn’t been responsible for an actual 600-day siege on the city.

It’s not even a matter of headcanon whether Iroh is seen as a war criminal or not: we literally have an episode in Book 1 where he’s captured by Earth Kingdom soldiers who are hellbent on making Iroh face justice for his actions. By Book 2, Iroh and Zuko acknowledge they’re criminals to both Earth Kingdom and Fire Nation authorities: they need alter egos so they can travel the Earth Kingdom freely, otherwise they’ll face obvious consequences. Therefore, Iroh was very much a wanted criminal, and for solid reasons beyond “he’s related to the Fire Lord”. That his later actions helped liberate Ba Sing Se from the Fire Nation can’t be denied, but it doesn’t mean he should have been forgiven automatically for everything he did in the past. Perhaps he could get away with some sort of pardon by the Earth King, but pushing that as far as “he can settle down in the city he had under attack for almost two years and live happily there with zero consequences” can be a little too far in the suspension of disbelief department indeed.

It’s those small things, really, that make Iroh’s situation so very wishful and not as well-written as it could/should be. Featuring him as a wanted criminal in one season, as a runaway living under an alias in another... and then as a welcome tea connoisseur in the next one, who lives perfectly happy in the Earth Kingdom because he helped end the war? I might have felt better about it if maybe the show had the chance to feature Kuei offering him a public, controversial pardon for his past crimes, but as it was, it felt like that ending was meant to whitewash Iroh beyond reason... then again, Book 3 at large whitewashed Iroh constantly, even when they were trying to show him as flawed they merely backtracked right away (in The Firebending Masters).

I guess it’s partly a problem caused by the writing room being so set on indeminizing Iroh and giving him a perfect ending... I mean, recently I’ve been seeing a lot about how Aaron Ehasz inspired Iroh on his stepfather, a man he deeply admired. This may be the biggest writing mistake I’ve ever seen by him, because while you absolutely can love your characters, and you can inspire them on people you love, merging both things together will easily skew your understanding of the character until the character just stops being fiction and becomes a mere stand-in for the person you love IRL. It’s no different a concept from Mary Sues and self-inserts that constitute a completely unrealistic idealization of the author themselves, only, in Iroh’s case it’s the idealization of a loved one through writing. And this, perhaps, can even explain why Iroh goes from goofy-occasionally-wise in Book 1, to generally-wise-but-still-mostly-funny in Book 2, to the absolute paragon and pinnacle of wisdom in Book 3 (despite half his wisdom is contradictory and even hypocritical). These changes in Iroh’s writing wouldn’t necessarily obey character growth and development, but rather, they would answer the Head Writer’s conscious or subconscious merging of the identities of Iroh and his stepfather, to the point where he obviously can’t acknowledge Iroh’s faults because that’d be a disservice to the stepfather he admired deeply... which, in turn, results in a disservice to the writing of the show, for Iroh’s accountability for his past mistakes is relegated to the burning of a flag and nothing else, and that’s beyond hard to buy.

I’ve also talked in other asks about the three facets of Iroh, it might shed extra light on why the fandom treats Iroh as they do, and why they disregard Iroh’s past crimes so easily while focusing only on how nice he is, how wise he is, how funny he is. It’s why they think this isn’t weird in the least, whereas once you detach yourself from the emotional component in the show slightly, Iroh living peacefully in Ba Sing Se ends up feeling like a rather poorly thought-out conclusion for the character.

Imagine I wrote a redemption story for Ozai (... easier said than done, I know xD), where he ends up realizing where he went wrong and devotes his life to correcting his mistakes and help the world on a better path: if I sent Ozai to live happily ever after in a restaurant in Omashu, to say one thing, the place that was renamed for him and that used to bear a monument to his ridiculous ego, no less, people would immediately tell me I’m insane, no matter how well-written the story could be. And they wouldn’t be wrong to do so: it’s simply not reasonable to give a character who committed HUGE war crimes a simplistic happy ending without considering how much backlash and how many complications can arise from it.

Seriously, imagine how many Earth Kingdom people will want to barge into Iroh’s teashop to yell at him because his actions got a relative of theirs, or a loved one, killed during the war? Imagine people outright sabotaging his teashop, even setting it on fire or something radical like that... it could happen! There’s seriously no reason to assume otherwise. We saw, in the Promise, a group of angry Earth Kingdom people yelling outside Yu Dao in protest to Zuko’s decision to keep the city as a Fire Nation colony: how many people would want to charge into the Upper Ring of Ba Sing Se to protest that Iroh has no right to live in this city, let alone to serve people tea carelessly when he’s responsible for so many awful deeds?

And there’s the other side of the coin: Zuko faces backlash on that same comic trilogy from the Fire Nation people, who see him as a traitor who’s selling out his people to the Avatar and the Earth Kingdom. Who’s to say some Fire Nation occupants of the city haven’t been lying low in wait to attack Iroh for his perceived treason of the Fire Nation, too?

In real life, usually tyrants and big war criminals run away someplace neutral and live their remaining days in relative peace while keeping as low a profile as possible, while knowing that if they step out of their safety zone they’ll probably be captured and held accountable for their crimes. In ATLA, they can open teashops in the very city they attacked for 600 days without a care in the world, and nothing comes of it :’)

Again, I blame the writing room’s unreasonable bias towards Iroh. Liking a character =/= giving them everything they could ever want without considering the character’s actual circumstances and the reactions this can elicit in the people around them. Hell, having Iroh setting up a teashop in the Fire Nation, close to the Palace or something, would make a bit more sense than doing it in Ba Sing Se + it offers him chances to advise Zuko properly, which Zuko DIRELY needs. But nope, instead we get what we got, and most people don’t even find it slightly strange because of Iroh’s three-faced nature :’)

#anon #more controversy 'bout Iroh #I honestly hadn't even known about the Ehasz thing until recently #but as soon as I saw him talking about Iroh that fondly #and likening him to his stepfather #I said 'ah... that basically explains everything'#honestly I've outright inspired characters in my friends #in people around me #from the very get-go #and they usually take a life of their own to the point where I end up forgetting they were inspired by real people in the first place #I'm 100% convinced the opposite happened with Iroh

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doctor-bus · 3 years

Note

You've been visited by the random OC question fairy! :D ~☆

If your character had to choose one favorite memory, what would it be? How about their worst memory? Why would they pick these two memories?

Aw, what a sweet ask! Thank you for the visit, OC fairy. Here's a little drink for you before you continue on your way 🌺

As for the answer (keeping it semi-vague since I mainly use them in different aus with my delightful friends, and also under the cut for length lol):

Lou:

I feel like her best memory would probably be something sweet and simple. She didn't get a lot of simple pleasures in her early life, and would probably relish in the firsts. Getting a fun girls day out with her friends, maybe post-plot, where she's not on edge and looking over her shoulders constantly?? That'd be a great memory. A fun day where they got to just goof off and unwind, maybe hitting up a bakery and trading bites of the pastries they got, maybe doing some window shopping. One of those simple days that you never forget.

BUT if we're talking strictly within canon, not including friend's ocs (Hi @randomhatthief hi @d4zed-dre4mer ily) I'd say her best memory is probably her first night of real freedom, fresh air on her tongue, starry sky stretching out into infinity above, a never-ending tapestry of brand new possibilities she never dreamed she'd have. Moonlight shining off Virgil’s hair as he tells her in urgent, hushed tones to keep her voice down, his hand shaking in hers even as the beginnings of what could, maybe, possibly be a smile tug at the corners of his lips. From anxiety? From exhilaration? From hope? A twisted concoction of all of the above?? And Darwin trailing behind (assuming this isn’t a Junebug au, in which he usually fares far better), hands sturdy and stable in all the ways Virgil’s aren’t, seeming like he’s really a part of this new world to explore with his moonlight hair. Normally still as stone in body and mind, but now moved quite easily, the hope of home overcoming him, or so she’d assume. It was hard not to be enamored with his tales of a home worth having. It’s a very intense moment all around, for sure. She never quite gets over the image of the sky that night.

As for her worst memory? The starry sky may never truly leave her, but even more pervasive is the smell of ash, the overwhelming suffocating heat, the sizzle of flesh, the desperate helplessness of knowing exactly what’s coming and knowing she can’t even react-- she can’t let it get to her, it’ll just be worse if she shows she’s afraid, she can’t, she can’t make it worse, but it’s already so bad-- no, it’s fine, it’s fine it’s fine she’s fine she’s fine she’s fine--

She doesn’t have a gas range or a tea kettle in her home, once everything is over. Never.

Virgil:

HM. I honestly might have to think about this more, but for now I’m going to say best memory is probably something similar to Lou in the sense of being post-canon once everything is settled and he’s got some peace in his heart? A house full of mechanical projects and plants and cats, and good friends if he’s lucky. Acts of mischief pulled off most expertly, escape artistry without the burden of life-or-death danger.

Sticking to canon-only, my-ocs-only though: I think it’d again be similar, but the relief and awe would set in later than Lou. I think it’d only really sink in once they’re somewhere secluded and quiet and can take their first real break from running for a while. Sliding down the wall, exhaustion battling the adrenaline battling the need to keep his head, but finally getting the rush of holy shit, I did it, we did it, we’re all here-- and the absolute giddy pride it’d bring. A bubble of high-strung laughter now that it’s safe netting him fretting from Lou, advice that he should really be resting now-- but holy shit. Holy SHIT. They pulled it off. Verifiable Houdinis, free and clear. Having gone through the thistles and found home in the briar. I don’t think there’d be a greater high. Of course, they can’t let their guards down yet. The story has just begun, there’s far to go and dangers innumerable ahead. But for that one fleeting moment??? Sweeter than he ever dared to dream.

As for his worst memory, it’s not something he can remember well. That’s probably for the best, the wavering soap-bubble moments he can recall haunt him. His arm never really recovered, not all the way. Marred and aching and, in his eyes, ugly. Faint flashes-- sharp nails digging into his wrist-- thrashing, the strain of his shoulders yanking, desperate-- the burning, the godawful burning, each moment feeling uniquely unbearable, absolutely unendurable, spreading out from a pinpoint to submerging his entire elbow in a furious smolder-- the endless din splitting his head in two, throat raw-- vague shapes, familiar colors, mixed up voices, all swirled around and swirled around again. It still gives him trouble, and no less as time goes on. Still, for as much trouble as time brings, it also carries with it some consolation. It’s done now. It’s over. And he’s never, never going back.

Darwin:

All of his best memories are of home. He’s a simple man, he’s never wanted the chaos and excitement that has always seemed to- literally- haunt his every step. He just wants his family. His grandmother’s old kitchen table, dark sturdy wood with its decorative swirls, a bit scratched up after years of use but so inviting. The sunflowers in her garden, and slow afternoons pulling weeds wordlessly side by side. He’s never felt safer, more loved, than when he was under her roof. While he always knew he’d grow up and leave home, in nearly every scenario he’s yanked away far too soon. He can’t ever regain the time lost, but he can still find his family, make sure they’re well. Have another long, lazy summer afternoon, the kind where the air clings close to skin and brings a general dampness with it, the smell of dirt and the promise of future rains. Tying baby saplings to twigs, a gentle nudge to help them grow strong, not unlike his grandmother did for him when she adopted him.

His best memory, his sweetest moment, would be returning to that. It’s not really over for him until he’s home, and his grandmother (so much older, so much smaller than he remembers, or maybe it’s that he’s so much taller now?) in his arms.

Before that moment though, it’d just be the collective memories of home he yearns so desperately for. He wants to go back. He has to go back. He will go back.

His worst memories? One would think, based on the above, it’d be the sudden departure. Being yanked away by people you don’t know to an unknown location, not even knowing if your family is safe, not even knowing if they’re still looking for you or if they’ve accepted the rumors of your demise. And certainly, that memory is bad.

But some things? Some things are worse.

Having your body hijacked by a malicious stranger? Being a danger to others through no will of your own, a mere marionette in the hands of a being who should have passed on in peace but instead is determined to drag your life down with theirs? That carries a more visceral fear. His grandmother always seemed to have good sense about these things-- keep him safe, keep those around him safe, know her baby would come back sooner or later. This is the sort of thing you have to prepare for when adopting the posterchild for creepy horror movie kids everywhere and deciding to alter that fate. But I’m sure it didn’t make it any easier for her, to see a stranger with a familiar face. The possessions would never last too long, but they were always the worst. The ache after, bone-deep and throbbing, as he came back into himself. The disorientation of lingering ectoplasm in his system. The chafe from restraints on the unfortunate off chance they became necessary. And worse, the first time it happened away from home, in a new place with new people who don’t understand and don’t know to stop him. Sure, it usually isn’t bad-- a lost and confused soul who simply needs a little help getting to their ultimate destination. Some encounters downright sweet. But the evil souls would leave an impression. His catholic upbringing already had him wary, but nothing teaches as well as first hand experience.

#levi.txt #thanks for the ask!!!#Lou #Darwin #Virgil #this was fun to write #I might have to tweak it as I think of more but this is the gist

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shaydeoffical · 4 years

Text

Bright as a Diamond. Shinso Hitoshi x Fem Reader: Chapter Eleven

Chapter Summary:(Y/n) struggles with the idea of having a friend and where to draw a line. It's been years since she was close to anyone, and now she's in his bed?

Series Summary: When (Y/N)’s co-worker decided to send a picture of her making a diamond to the paper, her life was over. Gemstone based quirks weren’t all that rare, but being able to make a diamond put a target on her back. After years of hiding in the city, it’s time to hide in the countryside with her Uncle Shota Aizawa and his more than ‘roommate’ Hizashi Yamada. With the promise of training her to be self-sufficient, she’s ready to learn.

Author Note: Enjoy this softer update!

Warnings: Nightmares, flashback, cuddles

Last Chapter: Ten

Next Chapter: Twelve

Good Friends

It hadn’t been but a few days, and I was already back in bandages. Resting in my bed, tucked away safely from the world… I couldn’t stop glancing from my closet to the window and back to the door. It had been a while since the ambush, but I couldn't close my eyes for two seconds.

My ribs and stomach were so sore. I grabbed my favorite pillow, but it didn’t smell the same. Nothing did. Tide or gain? Someone washed all my sheets. Damn it all. When I was at the doctor, I said Hizashi tried to clean everything up. The group had torn my room apart. Even if I had hidden in the bathroom, waiting inside while I was sparing. Nothing was safe.

Holding my aching body, I stood using my bedside table as a crutch. A dizzy spell washed over me, and I tumbled out of the room and in the silent kitchen. It was four in the morning, and all three men had to work in the morning.

When I scavenged the fridge, I found a casserole and some leftover chicken. I didn’t bother heating it up, I barely got it on a plate before sitting on the couch and pounding it down. I hadn’t been so depleted since I was a captive in Russia… I guess it was a good thing I practiced making gems every morning.

The bandages around my hands were from the coals I made. Back when I was a hero student, I had special gloves. Of course, I overdid it during the fight, because it counted. If dad were still around, he would have gone without a struggle, but he also wouldn’t be sitting on our sofa eating in the middle of the night.

I washed my dishes and moseyed around the home. The window was patched up with garbage bags, and for the most part, that was all that was displaced in the main room.

Remembering my interview in the ER, I’m sure the police already on the trail to the bad guys. They questioned Shinso and Hizashi, too, and they even got the info from Sho. This just needed to end sooner than later. They even took my phone. Of course, it had been the root of a lot of my problems. An early warning system and a ''steal me" beacon. So I couldn't distract myself with music or pictures, or stress over pictures that would be sent to me, of me.

Going back to bed, I just laid there. Everywhere I looked, I expected to be jumped, photographed, or tracked. The unease slowly turned to an anxiety attack, that turned to a panic attack when Hisoka pawed at my window. There was no way I was going to open it… I loved petting him, but I couldn't do it. It hurt so much.

Grabbing my pillow and blanket, I slowly approached the hallway. Pacing the hall, I took shaky breaths and tried to get my courage. Trying Hizashi and Shota’s door, I turned the nob, but it was locked to my surprise. The first door in the hall caught my eye, the one I never dared to open. Maybe if I was super quiet, I could just sleep in there and not disturb Lint ball. Yea that'd be a good plan. We were almost friends now...it was okay.

Tiptoeing, I very slowly turned the handle. It wasn’t locked thankfully, so I sauntered in holding my breath. Shinso’s back was to me, the blanket wrapped around him like a cocoon. The moonlight was shining through the window, lighting up his hair. He looked like he was out cold.

My shoulder’s relaxed, and I laid my blanket at the foot of the bed, dropping my pillow down. Quietly lowering myself, I got comfy. The floor was hard and stressed my back, but it was easier than being anxious all night. Closing my eyes for the first time in two days, I started to drift off.

“You want to explain why you’re in my room?” I jumped, sitting up and peering at him over the mattress. He was perched on one elbow, phone lazily in his hand, his light pointed on me.

“Hu- I-. Good morning. You see, I was afraid. So, I just thought ,since Hizashi had the door locked, that I could just sneak in here and sleep without bothering you.” I played with my fingers and made small hand motions. Putting on a happy tone and trying not to be a creep.

“You don’t have to sneak in.” He crawled out of bed, lazily yawning. “Hop up, Kitten. I’m not planning on sleeping for the rest of the night.” Hitoshi patted the mattress, and I didn’t even fight it.

“Thank you. I would argue with you, but I’m too tired.” I rolled into the large bed, and my eyes went wide. Gasping, I grabbed a pillow and buried my head in the fabric. Inhaling the with deep breaths, a wave of joy washed over me.

“What are you doing?” Hitoshi sat in his armchair and put his phone to the side. Leaning forward on his knees, he raised a brow.

“Lemongrass and lavender… that was all you?” I sat up, and cocked my head to the side. "You were the one smelling like this the whole time?"

“I use a pillow mist.” He held up a small bottle, and I blinked a few times, biting my lips.

“This is going to be weird…but I have been sleeping so much better ever since Hizashi gave me a pillow that smelled like this. You have good taste.” I curled back down, closing my eyes and holding the pillow closer.

“It helps me too.” He mused, leaned back, scrolling through his phone again. “You were cool the other day. That cork move, you used in the blizzard biome. It was amazing.”

“Thank you. It drained me, but it is a flashy move.” I popped my fingers, still filled with energy from being spoked.

“It's a hero move. Why didn’t you pursue it?” I knew he was faking being interested in the phone at this point. The screen was dark, but his eyes were glued to the screen.

“I got my license using only my coal quirk…but then I kind of got kidnapped, and then I just moved back in with my mother, didn’t leave the house for six months, and switched to an online university. Things just all changed after that. Just to do a painless summary.” I swallowed, trying to relax my shoulders. "Why'd you ask?"

“I would have given anything for a heroic quirk when I was younger.” He sat the phone down, closing his eyes.

“What, your quirk is so awesome. Like you literally saved my life multiple times. If younger you could see you now, he wouldn’t have any doubt that you are an amazing hero.” I got too loud, and I lowered my tone.

“Aren’t you afraid I’ll use my quirk to hurt you?” He grabbed the back of his neck and closed his eyes. He did that way to often... has he just been nervous the whole time?

“No. Why would you hurt me?” I blinked the sleep from my eyes and yawned. “Hitoshi Shinso, I am about to fall asleep in your bed, because I know you will protect me while I sleep. It’s very obvious to me that you are an amazing person.”

“Tolerable to amazing so quickly?” He smiled, genuine, bright, and oh so handsome. “You really believe all that stuff.”

“Of course I do.” I got comfortable and inhaled the aroma. “Good night.”

“Night.”

Finally, at peace, I drifted off. There were no nightmares or underlining anxiety. It was just me in the middle of a prewarmed bed that made me want to sleep forever.

I dreamed of Shota, Hizashi, Hitoshi, mom, and I at a picnic on the beach. Hizashi had brought a watermelon, and we all took turns smashing it open and enjoying all the juices. Then Hitoshi, Hizashi, and I went swimming and found lots of seashells I could use to decorate the house for summer.

Hitoshi started to breathe jaggedly in my dreams and mumbled that he wasn’t a villain. I looked at his toned chest and felt my body being pulled up—mind swirling back to reality.

The dream was disrupted, and I saw Hitoshi crying. He was slumped backward, struggling in a nightmare. I had been tucked into the covers at some point and struggled to free my arms. He pulled his hair and tenses his feet. Once I was out of the cocoon, I tumbled to the floor and then grabbed Hitoshi’s hands.

“You’re safe. It’s okay.” I rubbed his knuckles, shaking him slightly. “Hitoshi, you are in your bedroom, and it’s a cold fall morning. There is an annoying girl in your room, and she wants you to relax.” He struggled against my grasp, but his eyes shot open, pushing forward and butting my forehead. Falling back on my ass, I rubbed my temple, mumbling.

“Shit,” he breathed heavily, pressing his hands to his face. “I’m sorry.” Catching his breath, he wiped his eyes quickly.

“Don’t be, it sounded like a rough nightmare.” Sighing, I knew what Dad would do in the situation. “Come on,” I tugged him from the chair and sat him on the bed. I got behind him and leaned him back, so he was resting on my chest. Running my fingers up and down his head, I hummed a gentle tune. “You can talk about it if you want.”

“I was bullied for my quirk when I was younger…even now sometimes.” He sat up, pulling the cover over both of us. His lips quivering with each word, as he gave up laying back on me. “I think I’m over it, but then it just comes back..”

“Sounds traumatic. Of course, it would haunt you, it probably didn’t help I hyped you up before you passed out.” I massaged his forehead, and neck, then upper arms. The pressure on my chest hurt, but he needed this. I had several days to heal up, it was just a slight twinge, but I wanted to do this.

“I just don’t know when I’ll be good enough for myself.” He growled, pulling his hair again. I grabbed his hands and laced our fingers, sliding him to the side so I could spoon him. “(Y/n).”

“You are a hero. Hitoshi, you proved everyone wrong. You did it.” I reaffirmed, snuggling his back. “That was all with your power.”

“Yea,” he swallowed, letting my hands go, and turning to face me. I wrapped arms back around him, clutching his shirt. “I never would have thought you’d be so clingy.”

“Are you trying to change the subject, or are you trying to get me to leave?” I raised my brow, but when his hand wrapped around my hips, I knew.

“Don’t go.” He looked so innocent, “I just never thought you'd do something like this for me."

“So from tolerable to desired. What a drastic change.” I pressed my forehead to him, just to comfort him in his time of need. Someone owed me a BFF award for this...

“It shocked me too, Kitten,” he yawned, eyes dropping, drifting off to sleep.

The whole point of my coming here was to feel safe, but I was the protector now. If being close meant I could guard his dreams even for a moment, I wanted to do that. Surely I owed him more then a couple. Even if this looked wrong, it felt right. Running my fingers through his hair, I too slowly drifted back off.

I heard a bunch of shutter sounds and feet bouncing around the room. Instead of getting up, I snuggled deeper into the bed, an arm wrapping tighter around my waist. More shutters and an ‘aww’ bounced off the walls.

“Mic, can you please just let her sleep.” Hitoshi pulled the cover over my head. Sitting up, he rested his hand on my back getting me a gentle pat.

“I’ve been caught. You two are just so cute.” Hizashi gushed, and I stirred up at his voice. Hitoshi’s hand kept me down, so I stayed put, yawning.

“Go get ready for work Mic,” Hitoshi mumbled, laying back down, tossing his arm around my shoulders. "We'll be there in a minute."

“But my babies-“ Hizashi’s quirk activated booming in the room. Hitoshi quickly shoved a pillow over my head. Mic continued to cry and babble about how cute we were, there was no use trying to sleep any longer.

“Hizashi, please calm down.” I freed myself from the pillows protecting me and yelled over him.

“You-“ Hizashi started, but then he blushed. I looked at my shirt, in the night, the string on my slip has snapped.

“We’ll be in there in five minutes,” Hitoshi promised and removed the pillow from his ears.

“It was a weird night. We didn’t go anything, pinkie promise.” I assured him and rubbed my neck. Of course, this old slip would give out when I was cuddling a dude.

“Okay, I’ll see you at the table.” He took a few more pictures and filed out of the room, shutting the door. Covering his eyes as he left.

Hitoshi stood up, stretching to the point his shirt rose up to show his stomach. He was so handsome...but the bed was colder without him. Instinctively I reach to pull him back down, but I stopped short.

He turned and quirked his brow, seeing my outstretched hand. I brought it back to my chest and looked at the window. “Thank you for last night.” He sat back on the bed and laid on top of the cover.

“Where did you learn to do that.” He hummed, stretching his limbs even again. We had been tangled like sardines.

“My boyfriend.” He stiffened, frozen to the spot. I twirled over and wrapped my finger’s in his hair. “I’m kidding, the look on your face, though." I giggled. "But I've been single since birth, which means I learned it all from my dad. He was a master cuddlier, he tended to me when I was a baby and never sat me down." I thought about stopping myself, but he has been open the night before. "I never knew what it meant to be touch starved till he died. Mom isn’t very big on being touched. So, I just take long showers and hug pillows and bears.” I let his hair go and held myself instinctively. “He was a lot like Hizashi, so bright and loud. The brightest soul in the room. If I could be half of that, I’d be the happiest person alive.” I grabbed a pillow and buried my head in the scent.

“We said, five minutes.” He pulled the pillow from between us, wrapped his arm around me, and guided my head on his chest. If I thought his pillows were nice, his actual body smelled intoxicating. I had been so consumed with comforting him last night I didn't notice. He was so warm and gentle, and the way he hummed so soothing. "But, I don't think Mic set a timer."

“This is so nice,” I purred, drifting off again. “Do you have to go to work, Hitoshi?” He ran his fingers under my dress and scratched my back in small circles. This was inappropriate. Maybe sexual. Indecent. and yet…. “A little lower, ahh, that’s the spot.”

“I have to go." He gently tapped my skin while ghosting his nails up and down.

“Can we do this again?” I propped myself up my chin, offering him puppy dog eyes.

“Whenever you want,” he patted my back a few times and got up. “Let’s get ready.”

“I don’t have anywhere to be?” I sat up and closed my eyes when he took his shirt off.

“We don’t think anyone else knows this location, but we need to be cautious.” Shinso was fumbling with a belt, and I tried not to think of him pulling on his pants.

“Is there a reason you’re changing in front of me?” I blurted, using a pillow to cover my face.

“I’m running late, thanks to you.” He pulled the pillow away and hovered inches from my lips. The space between us was shrinking. Of course, he looked so handsome in his bright purple scrubs.....

“What did you buckle?” Shinso pressed his forehead to mine and head-butted me gently.

“You really wanna know pervert?” He towered over me and lifted his shirt. There was his scarf wrapped around his waist and a holster with a small recording device. “It’s intel. You never know what someone might slip that you can catch on recording later.”

I poked his side, then curled my fingers around his scarf tugging. He didn't budge, and I nodded in thought. “Is that too tight? You might pass out if it’s constricting you, or bruise.” I tugged harder and he actually lost his balance. I took this opportunity to shove him to the floor. There I rested my knee on his chest and restricted his arms. “I did it.” Seeing him pinned fully was so satisfying. In an instant, he flipped me over and straddled my lap. “Aww, that’s so not cool.”

“You didn’t balance your stance.” Shinso let my wrists go, and I tried aimlessly to toss him off.

“I thought you were running late?” I gave up, out of breath and flushed.

“This is worth it.” He stood and pulled me up with him, he dusted off my back, and I knew it was his subtle form of gloating.

“So I can’t stay home today, what do I need to do?” We went into the kitchen and started to eat breakfast with Hizashi, who was on an important phone call with Shota.

“It would be dangerous for you to hang around the day care. I assumed you’d go to the radio station with Mic.” Shinso nudged my foot, and nodded towards Hizashi, he was starting to use his heated voice. A fight was about to break out….

“Hizashi, tell Shota I pinned Shinso this morning,” I hollered over the island separating the space. If they were about to fight, they needed to know we were in ear shot.

“I had you pinned.” Shinso shot back, munching into an apple.

“As if I let you.” I crossed my arms, and Shinso offered me a small thumbs-up under the table. Shota and Hizashi had been in turbulent water after Hisoka got sick. We had taken it upon ourselves to buy them enough time for Shota to return home and have a real conversation about their issues. So until then, we were staying around the phone and offering them distractions.

“I got to go, the kids are fighting. No. No, I do love you.” Hizashi hung up and paced back to the table. "Both of you look me." We sat to face him, and he cupped both of our faces. “ You both know I'm not going to get in your business. But are you two using protection? I can get you whatever you need. How long has this been going on?“

“Ahh, no nono-we ain’t. Not like that.” Blood rushed to my brain, and I ran my hands across the table to find a knife to cut out my ears. "That's so gross. The hokey pokey, no way." Shinso gripped my shoulder and looked a little hurt. Did he want me to play along? Would this help distract Hizashi from his fight with uncle Sho?

"Hizashi, nothing happened." Shinso keeps his gaze locked on me, the panic seeping out of me.

"I'm sorry I was so brash jus than. Hizashi, it's just not- not like that." I put my hand on Shinso's smiling.

Snap. “So cute, I'm glad it's just you two bonding. I'd support you no matter what, but I'm just glad you're not fighting anymore.” Hizashi had his phone out again and cooed. “Anyway, So (Y/n)’s going to work with me?”

“Actually, I want to go home.” I popped my fingers, going to the fridge. “Mom asked me to visit last week, and I haven’t had the time.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea today,” Hizashi smoothed his hair that was up in the air. “We’re all working and can’t go with you.”

“I want to go alone. To be honest, I haven’t had a second alone outside in months, which I am thankful for, it’s been scary. But I just want to blend in today and be normal.” I looked at myself, reflected in my water. “I’ve gotten braver than ever before, I want to make this trip. Superman could hide his identity with glasses, then so can I.” They neither one looked super convinced, but Hizashi finally nodded.

“We can’t stop you, so I’m going to encourage it.” Hizashi pushed his phone to me. “Take it and use it to call Shota if something happens.”

“Yes sir,” I nodded. “I’ll go get ready. Can one of you drop me off at the station?”

“Sure thing,” Hizashi offered a charming smile.

“Thank you.” I rushed off to get ready.

Filling a bag with my Shinso snack stash (he had made it a habit to bring me goodies when he came home from work), and a good book. Then I pulled on a grey hoodie and put my hair into a tight bun to mask all the curls. Once I looked as nondescript as I could, I rejoined the boys and hopped in the car with Hizashi.

Rock blasted through the speakers, and we both jammed out. Singing along and dancing in our seats. Hizashi and I vibed, and that was the best thing about living with Uncle Sho. I never would have met this fantastic person without moving into their house and getting to live out their closeted daydream. I wished they could be open and share their love with the family.

Hizashi turned the music off, and I nearly fainted. He never turned it down, let alone off. “Hey, (Y/n).”

“Yes,” I turned to observe him. His brow creased, and his lips went lax. Slowing down as we took a curve.

“Do you like Shinso? You two could hardly look at each other a month ago.” He gripped the wheel tighter and swallowed. "I mean, you like him, but is there something I should know?"

“I like him as a person. Like I told him, I rarely judge someone incorrectly on the first meeting.” Hizashi snickered, holding his voice down. “He’s a fine gentleman, with a smug attitude.”

“You were in bed with him.” Hizashi couldn't hold back, whacking the back of my seat.

“Shut up. I was afraid, and your door was locked.” The car hit a bump, and I nearly knocked my head against the windshield.

“I knew you two would be good for each other,” Hizashi patted my knee.

“You didn’t know me,” I argued, twisting the seat belt over my chest. "I mean, I just showed up and boom. An extra person to feed."

“From what Shota said, I knew you two would hit it off. I just didn’t see you hating his guts right off the bat.” Hizashi pulled into the station, turning the music back up.

“Well, he didn’t like me either. He was so rough and rude.” I unbuckled and wrapped my bag across my body. "I didn't think he'd change at all."

“You think so,” Hizashi smiled, patting my knee, “he’s been smitten from the start.”

“You’re a hopeless romantic, Hizashi.” I rolled my eyes, getting out of the car. “He barely tolerates me now. There is nothing between us.”

“(Y/n), you should reevaluate that statement.” Hizashi drove after me as I walked. “I love you, be safe and text me.”

“I will.”

#cuddles #shinsou hitoshi #shinsou x reader #hitoshi shinso x reader #present mic #nightmares #enimies to lovers #enemies to friends to lovers #bright as a diamond #ambershaydeoffical #my hero academia #fanfiction #chubby reader #bnha x reader

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