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hidden-poet · 3 months

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Hello!

I just want to say that every 'version' of your Coryo is amazing, but somehow Commander Snow is the best for me.

Maybe the reader doesn't have such a strong character and may seem the least developed compared to him and others, but....

It seems to me that this version of Coryo has a more motivated desire/desire/obsession with the reader. Somehow I see his need to be with her, her warmth, and to have control over her as a 'natural thing' that could happen to him. Because that's what Coryo might have been missing. Yes, he had Tigirs (who is a wonderful angel), but I think that even in front of her, he tried to play strong; he did not let himself feel her tenderness and care so much, because it was reminding him that he was weak, that his family is poor, and he can't take care of them himself.

So when he sees a reader—so similar to his cousin—who spreads this kindness and warmth, he wants it for himself, and with her he can afford to do more than with Tigirs. He does everything to get what he wants from her, because while Tigris herself gave him this warmth, the reader is afraid of him, and as you wrote, men like the chase. At the beginning, he was also making sure that she wouldn't be starving or something—a thing he couldn't do to his family—another act of having some kind control over her.

So, I just want to say that the reader may not be the strongest character here, but if such an amazing written Coryo I think that people simply don't care/see it as a minus or anything bad or less interesting. Quite opposite it's keeping us curious about what will happen next, what he may do to make sure he will keep her around for himself.

I will just stop my mumbling here... I'm so sorry I made it that long.

Thank you for your work, and I wish you the most inspiration to keep writing and feeding us with Coryo content. Have a happy day/night!! 💙

Hello! thank you so much for this.

You are 100% correct. As i said Coriolanus was looking a lot for comfort and safety which fueled his desire for control.

When I said that I preferred Mabel to the reader, i meant in a story telling way and not as a insult.

I just meant that the dynamic was different. In commander Snow she will always have to be submissive, not only due to her nature but also because he controls her entire community.

Where's in Snow lands on top we see Mabel who isn't shy and still holds power in the relationship. She can challenge Coriolanus which i think is a fun dynamic for a man who loves control. He has to earn it rather then it just being expected.

I've tried to flesh out the reader as much as I could we can see she is a shy, friendly girl who is naturally very motherly. She is well liked within her community, and has been well protected by her mother and brother. She's not a total victim. She can think for herself and has a high endurance level.

She has often shown to be capable of manipulating Coriolanus and finding ways through his punishments.

I think it would be cannon that he would gravitate to a girl like this.

In Snow lands on top, the attraction is purely physical. Mabel is a beautiful women and Snow likes pretty things.

Where's in Commander Snow it's the softness that attracts Snow.

The linkage between her and Tigress is spot on and something i've worked very hard to get across. He is head of the Snow household and yet the women in his life are looking after him. It would make sense that he holds a lot of guilt that he failed to provide them a life that the name of Snow should carry.

And when he finally gets back to watch himself provided for his family, he is torn away and thrown back to the district. Only to come across a girl that could heal the past for him.

Not only could he make amens with Tigress in a symbolic way. But also offer the hurt boy in him comfort. re-writting history a bit.

He wanted to hurt the small school boy so she could comfort because no one came to help small boy Coriolanus.

He wanted her to be a mother because his mother was ripped from him.

He wanted her to wash his clothes and cook his food because for so long he rarely had food to cook or clothes to wash, but when he did his cousin did it for him. His cousin who is now miles from him.

I think Tigress words, "people can be good. People are good" is something that he hold on to but see's very little. So he grabs it before it can be destroyed.

I also disagree that Coriolanus is loving the chase. He is very much wanting to skip that part and fall into the ten years married part.

He is ready to be looked after. He got the grades. He won the hunger games. Betrayed and killed people to get to the top. Now he is ready to be rewarded for it.

He is just a mummy's boy without a mummy, and he is taking it out on the poor reader.

So yes you are 110% right about the dynamic of the relationship and i LOVE that you got it so right. I am so sorry if I came across to be disrespectful to the Commander Snow story. I also love it.

💕💕💕💕💕💕

#coriolanus snow #the ballad of songbirds and snakes #coriolanus x reader #dark!coriolanus snow

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lyramundana · 6 months

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lyra I finally had a thought I think you might appreciate 😈 this is not a request or anything, and if it doesn't vibe, leave it in your inbox BUT

I was building ikea furniture the other day and got thinking about how weird idol's lives are and how many basic life skills they probably lack. like we know most kpop idols at least finish school, but we've also all heard about hollywood actors being dumb as bricks.

so what basic shit do we think our skz boys, and especially our minsung boys, are just absolutely incapable of doing? we know minho can cook, but you can't tell me they didn't all have trouble figuring out laundry in their mojo dojo casa house of a dorm.

also can you imagine reader or your OC literally shaking their head at them hahahah

or would they get turned on by the weirdest shit because reader or your OC is competent and confident in small moments? like she makes really good coffee because she used to be a barista, or whatevs

just thoughts being thunk, do what you will 💓

-May, @skzms

omfg, this is actually one of my favourite scenarios💀 you read my mind or smh??

I totally know what you mean. While I think Stray Kids have learnt more than most after living by themselves in that dirty hole, I feel that after a while they grow used to the chaos and they barely got time to improve, considering their careers. Now they're more famous and probably richer, I feel they have other people doing these stuff for them. Also, most idols have shown in variety shows that they can barely fry eggs without guidance, so yeah

This got long, so beware

It's funny you mention my OC because this scenario fits her perfectly and her story. Vivi comes from a big family and due to her upbringing, she has grown up learning a lot of skills to be completely self-sufficient at a young age. And because pursuing a dance career isn't exactly cheap unless you're a kpop trainee, of course she has worked in some jobs to earn extra money. Shop assistant, waitress, babysitter, and even a bartender at some point, although this one was more like a hobby rather than a job, since she loves anything related to alcohol. It's very important for her to be independent and not rely on people.

Part of being a competitive dancer implies moving around a lot for tournaments, so she's used to live without external support and having no option but do things herself. Assemble furniture, cook food, house chores, handling the bills, you name it. After all, the more she can do by herself, the less money she has to spend.

I believe that most of the boys can do basic stuff, as long as they have the instructions in front of their eyes and can ask for help. Otherwise, they're lost. They know how to cook because they need to feed themselves and do some cleaning for hygiene, but that's it. They're clueless about anything else.

So it'll be like this. Imagine that, for some reason, Vivi and MinSung have to live together for a while, maybe for a show or a dare, or because they have out of necessity, I don't know. The apartment is big and cozy, but there's a tiny problem: There's no furniture, functional electricity or food. This isn't new for Vivi, so she simply accepts it and gets to work, while MinSung stand there like "wait, aren't they supposed to provide these stuff for us?"

So you have this girl acting as a babysitter and provider for two grown ass man, older than her, that can't even start the washing machine.

"So, how do we do this?"

"By pressing the big button with Start written on top..😑"

Going to buy the furniture is a mess, because while Vivi is carefully picking up the options based on what they need and knows where to look, the boys treat it as a fun trip. They're basically her children she has to look after, trying the beds and almost getting lost for going after something that caught their eyes.

"Hey Vivi, what is that? Can we take it? It looks so cool!"

"...that's a drill, Jisung"

They get confused when she leads them to the warehouse underneath and buys some boxes.

"Wait, weren't we going to buy the furniture?"

"Yes, duh, I have it all right here. We'll arrange them later at home"

"Wait, what? do you mean arrange them?!"

Vivi soon realizes she's going to have an extra load of work she didn't anticipate. Lots of face palming and taking deep breaths because seriously, how are they still alive??

She's casually arranging her wardrove like it's second nature to her, quickly and precise, knowing exactly where everything goes. She throws a glance at the boys and finds, well, complete disaster. They're nowhere half done, the instructions a mess of papers around them and none are holding the right tools for it. She's exasperated and shoos them away, taking care of everything as they watch.

And you're absolutely right, they find all of this sexy as fuck.

They stare at her in awe and admiration as she leads them through the different shops, keeping mental lists of everything they need and knowing stuff unknown to their ears. Their eyes sparkle as she speaks with terms they never heard before and takes all the stuff she claims they need. They follow her like lost puppies, eagerly waiting for her next orders. They specially stick to her hips in crowded zones, since she gives zero fucks about pushing people out of her way and telling them to move (their introvert asses could never)

They might have needed some cold showers after witnessing her arranging everything in the house. The furniture, the electricity cables, the pipes, acting like it's all stuff she does everyday. She needs to watch some tutorials for some of those chores, but she quickly gets the hang of it. Her figure all sweaty and red and her light clothing already clinging to her body from all the effort. Her strong arms on display with her tank top, her hair in a messy bun with some wet strands near her cheeks, some dirt on her face and holding a tool that looks like a murder weapon, and...ops, they're hard, time for another shower..

Jisung feels he might nut his pants when she lifts a fucking couch to check something underneath, holding it still with one hand while relying some of the weight on her shoulder. Minho once sat on it to annoy her, thinking she wouldn't be able to lift it with him there...turns out she did it anyway. And now there's two people wanting to nut in their pants.

She gives some easy chores to keep them busy. Minho is in charge of cooking and Jisung bring the ingredients. So after exhausting hours of working around, Vivi comes back to a full cooked meal as a "reward".

She's a professional hunter of discounts, bargains and anything that implies saving as much money as possible. She doesn't have the budget of an entire company supporting her, so she's used to tracking down the best offers and making sellers sweat to give her the price she wants. It's a battle of rhetoric and sheer determination, and the boys are once more in awe.

She discusses with the landlord about the apartment's issues and is ready to argue with anyone about her rights. She handles the bills and most of the financial matters.

Bonus: She once used a whole drill to fix the bed and closets instead of a screwdriver ("this is better, guys, my mother taught me"), headphones on to mute out the noise and the veins in her arms pecking out with the force of holding it, mindlessly doing the task.

Yeah, lots of the money is going down the cold water

@skzms here. I'll love to hear your input

#Vivi actually enjoys their admiration #to her these are all basic life skills and never thought much about them #most people she knows have the same skills #so the sudden validation makes her feel very smug #mutual asks #minsung x reader #skz scenarios

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mackjlee9 · 2 years

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Bokuto Koutaro x Male!Reader [Fluff]

Warning; reader has social anxiety, the plot of this one is based on komi-san.

Masterlist.

Haikyuu!!

Bokuto and (M/n) had known each other practically since birth. Their mothers had been best friends since childhood and the illusion of their children being friends warmed their hearts.

Since little, (M/n) has always had trouble speaking to people, seemingly coming off as rude and cold towards the girls and boys in his class, even the teachers thought the little boy had no manners. But the moment (M/n) got to be with such a happy boy as Bokuto was it was clear that (M/n) had trouble talking to others.

That never changed, it only seemed like it got worse. By the time they were in middle school, (M/n) was known as the 'Ice Prince' always silent, stoic, and seemingly voiceless. The boy never spoke, he couldn't speak, his body froze and his mind went numb every time he had to speak out loud, but with Bokuto was different, it has always been.

Bokuto never made fun of him or forced him to talk to others or make friends, he knew (M/n) wanted to but simply couldn't. It was clear when, during the last week of their last year as middle schoolers, (M/n) and Bokuto were talking like usual. Well, Bokuto was the one doing most of the talking while (M/n) listened attentively, a soft look in his eyes as he observed every move Bokuto did with his hands as he explained his story.

But after a while, Bokuto remembered a small talk he had with his classmates a few hours before, they were talking about what their dreams were, and of course, Bokuto wanted to be a professional Volleyball player and represent Japan in the Olympics. He felt curious about what (M/n)'s dream may be, so he showed a bright smile the male's way and asked.

"What's your dream, (M/n)?"

With wide open eyes, (M/n) thought for a second about what his dream actually was, and he opened his mouth to say it but couldn't, Bokuto noticed that and reached inside his bag, grabbing a notebook and a pen, handing them to the (h/c) haired, who scribbled with (messy/neat) handwriting on the blank paper. Bokuto waited patiently, at least physically, his mind was impatiently wondering what (M/n)'s dream may be and holding his breath when the pen was placed on the desk, Bokuto's yellow eyes read the written words.

'I want to have 100 friends, you're the first one, Koutaro, I just need 99 more :)'

Bokuto wasn't sure what made his heart race so fast, whether it was the cuteness of (M/n)'s dream, being referred to as his friends, or being called by his first name, he didn't know, but that day was the day where Bokuto started looking at (M/n) with different eyes, eyes that were now filled with love and adoration.

///////

Ever since then, Bokuto has realized that his heart always beat a little faster whenever he saw (M/n) or was alone with him, a blush would show on his face during the rare occasions he got to hear his voice.

Now in their third and last year at Fukudorani, most of Bokuto's time was taken by the volleyball team, spending hours every day training and practicing, which made him get easily distracted and he would usually leave something behind.

(M/n) and Bokuto were still in the same class, somehow they always were, so (M/n) was quick to notice anything the cheerful male left behind due to his rush. As he walked through the school halls on his way to the gym, people turned to look at him, the 'Ice Prince' looked as handsome as ever, making girls and boys sigh whenever he walked past them or simply glanced at them.

There wasn't much (M/n) could do about the state except ignore them and keep going his way, which is what he always did.

Usually, whenever he got to the gym, the door would be open all the way or just a little bit, the net preventing the volleyball from bouncing out, and he stood there, peeking inside with a cold glare until someone noticed him. The players that made eye contact with him would flinch, starting to feel like they were being judged by God itself, of course, Akaashi would realize the mood change and look around so he could find the cause, only to see him by the door, looking inside and straight at Bokuto.

His hair cast a shadow on his face and the sun coming in behind him made it seem even eviler, so Akaashi would call out for his senpai so he could take care of the situation.

"Bokuto-san," the male would look at him with questioning eyes, "Someone's looking for you."

And with curiosity, Bokuto would look at the door where Akaashi glanced at, only to start running at the male standing outside, jumping to hug him.

"(M/n)! What are you doing here?" Getting off from him, Bokuto waited patiently, it surprised his teammates how calm he could become with (M/n) around.

The (h/c) haired male lifted his arm, showing what he was holding out of sight. Bokuto's jacket.

This kept happening pretty much every day the volleyball team had practice, it could be Bokuto's backpack, bento, his sports bag, or anything he left behind in the classroom. And some players began looking at them suspiciously, observing how they interacted.

But there was one time when (M/n) came to the gym with Bokuto, well, (M/n) didn't come by his will, Bokuto was dragging him with him, his loud, vociferous voice audible from outside, and as they walked in, the rest of the team stopped what they were doing to stare at them.

Already there, every single pair of eyes was placed on them, especially (M/n) who was shaking due to the attention, his mouth open to say something, but he was stuttering to a point where Bokuto decided to talk instead.

He held (M/n)'s hand and everyone saw how he visibly calmed down, but he was now slightly hiding behind their captain.

"Guys, this is (L/n) (M/n), my best friend!" He said proudly, everyone observed how said male bowed as a greeting before being dragged by Bokuto further into the gym.

Glances were sent in their captain's direction, watching them talk, but soon their coach called to start practice, and (M/n) was left by himself in a corner.

This kept happening, and eventually, some players approached (M/n), who struggled to talk back to them, but instead, he wrote down what he wanted to say. With that, they understood that (M/n) wasn't cold or stoic by choice, he was just bad at talking to people, and when they understood his circumstances, he was soon surrounded by people that saw him like a friend.

Watching (M/n) interact with people he was close to made Bokuto's heart beat faster, seeing him finally get comfortable around people he didn't know. A smile grew on his face, a look of love and adoration in his eyes, the same look he had the first time he saw (M/n) with other eyes.

"They may not be 99 but... we're getting close," he mumbled to himself, unable to tear his eyes away from (M/n)'s smile.

#haikyuu #bokuto koutaro x reader #haikyuu x reader #male reader #reader insert #x reader #fluff #one shot #.mackjlee9 writes

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limeade-l3sbian · 4 months

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I think the socialization part shows itself a lot more since most romance manga(and in cases of manhua and manwha, the chinese and korean equivalents) are written by east asian women, whom obviously live in a place even more patriarchal than the west. not to say the things these women learn to accept from “love” makes them less or even unusual, i simply want to reiterate that it’s more pronounced there due to how even more constricted their societies are in regards to the treatment of their women.

anyway. now that the disclaimer is out of the way!

i’ve grown up reading a lot of manga of many different genres but i’ve especially used to have had some intense shoujo phases. shoujo is basically manga created for the demographic of girls and young women. not to say others can’t read it, but it’s simply where they tend to be marketed.

shoujo romance especially shows this issue a lot that i wanna talk about. the male leads will 9 times out of 10 be rich, extremely emotionally stunted(this can show in the form of intense rudeness, complete lack of emotional depth, no expressions, stoic to the extreme, downright abusive) and handsome. Those are the three traits they almost all have. Now obviously I get the want for a handsome or beautiful lead, whether it’s female or male, it is after all just fantasy fulfillment to an extent. The same with wealth. But i think the emotionally stunted side speaks of the women and girls’ who read the mangas socialization a lot. We have these male leads who often make the female leads go through hell, whether it’s due to his own actions or inactions. Sexual assaults have gotten less common in more modern manga, but it was only like ten years ago where sexual assaults in manga by the male lead towards the female MC would be a common place for him to show his desire for her and despite it often being portrayed as bad on the MC’s end, she always did end up forgiving him. The same with however else he treated her.

Made her to all the heavy lifting emotionally of the relationship? He’s forgiven, because suddenly he’s gotten a “tragic” backstory of a lonely, lonely boy being neglected in his massive mansion from childhood. He’s absolutely vile towards women? His mom was probably a horrid woman who either cheated on his poor dad and left or maybe she was simply so overbearing he now feel suffocated and dates new women every week like it’s some kind of game to dangle others feelings at his fingertips. Way into the romantic relationship having started with the MC he’s suddenly revealed to have a arranged fiancée or a very mean spirited but extremely beautiful childhood friend who the main character now how to basically fight off him with a stick while the male lead does not much else in most of these stories besides being useless. if we are lucky we get him talking the fiancée/childhood friend that he actually liked this new girl(MC), but extremely rarely will he actually go out of his way to truly set boundaries. he will passively essentially invite scorn towards his current gf. and these are just SOME of the examples of repeat patterns in behavior in the romantic male leads.

time and time again in shoujo romance male leads will make life much harder for the female main character. she will often be put down to her face for scoring such a rich hottie(even though we are at times 50+ chapters in and feelings on his end still seem finicky), she will have to bear the emotional heavy lifting and basically mother him/be a teacher to him on how to express himself, despite the fact that he usually changes very little. she will forgive any and all transgression he commits, even if it breaks her heart, because he is the main male lead and therefore he can do nothing truly wrong to not end up with her. and in the end of the mangas it’s usually somehow made clear in some way that SHES the lucky one. despite her carrying the relationship on her back. She should be grateful. And women and girls in east asia, and obviously also very much outside of it, eats it up. Yes! Give us a borderline abusive or at least emotionally neglectful man! We can forgive! We can forget! Let us be his doormat!

Not manga but it’s also so obviously in most romance kdramas i’ve seen. It’s such a common trope, these handsome, rich, utter asshole male leads and then these utter angel for a female lead who absolutely tolerates getting walked all over.

And while i’ve not read any of those books, it’s not like it’s not visible in the west. When authors like Coleen Hoover has basically built a career off of emotionally stunted but hot guys treated their gf/wife like utter garbage but it’s okay!!!! so romantic!!!!

women all over the world have such bottom of the barrel standards when it comes to emotional maturity in men. in some mediums it’s certainly more apparent than others, but it’s visible all over.

I do wanna be 100% clear that not all romance manga is obviously as I described. I’m simply talked about popular tropes, and i mean EXTREMELY popular, as in its more common to see at least one of them than it isn’t. That’s all.

!!!

#ask

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scruffyplayssonic · 11 months

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Are the ArchieSonic comics actually an 80's/90's syndicated cartoon? Episode 45: Boys vs. girls

Welcome back to my look at the ArchieSonic comic series, and how it shared a lot of the same story tropes as a typical ‘80s or ‘90s syndicated cartoon! Today’s episode is the Battle of the Sexes, so ring that bell and let’s fight! Ding ding!

Episode 45: Boys vs. girls

There’s only been a handful of these “episodes” that I’ve covered so far that didn’t actually happen in the ArchieSonic comics - the hiccups episode, the stuck in slow motion episode, the time travel to medieval times episode, and the characters being de-aged episode are about the only ones, I think. But this episode is another one where there’s not really any good examples of this, so let’s instead look at a few that only loosely fall under the umbrella of boys vs. girls.

The most obvious example I can think of is the story, “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun!” from Sonic #14.

In this story Robotnik and Snively decided that the best way to get to Sonic was by taking Sally and Bunnie hostage, and so they lured them into a trap with a fake mall.

But Sally and Bunnie easily turned the tables on their abductors and showed them how cool GIRL POWER is, or something like that.

They also had a laugh at Sonic’s expense because haha boys are dumb.

I guess this story is technically boys vs girls, but I feel like the trope is supposed to be more about the people of opposite genders on the same team turning against each other, rather than it being heroes of one gender vs villains of the opposite gender. A good example of this is the “Into the Wilderness,” episode of Sonic Boom, where Sonic and Knuckles compete against Amy and Sticks in a jungle survival race.

All I know is that this story of Robotnik in full sexism mode makes me uncomfortable. I think even the title is insulting. Eggman from the games feels a lot more genuine in his self-proclaimed feminism, in that he despises all genders equally. xD

I’m sure it won’t come as any surprise that this story was written by self-proclaimed feminist Ken Penders, and compared to some of his later material you could almost consider this empowering. This is the same man who dedicated a 48-page “Girls Rule!” special to the female protagonists that featured a naked Sally submersing herself in cosmic goo that told her that her misogynist father was always right because he had the power of God and Anime on his side, even when he was ordering her to marry Antoine or telling her off for having emotions.

Girls Rule! also featured Bunnie asking her boyfriend for validation on her appearance when she had to decide whether or not to get a necessary hardware upgrade that she would likely die without, Lupe being roboticised and considered dead by her pack because “Even a female can make the ultimate sacrifice on behalf of those dear to her,” (that’s a direct quote from Penders, BTW), and Julie-Su finding out her mind had been violated previously when her evil half-siblings had erased her memories not once but twice. Unrelated to the Girls Rule special, Penders also tried to kill off Sally simply because she “cramped Sonic’s style.” Such feminism. Much wow.

Bringing it back to the topic of boys vs girls, we can also see a lot of Penders’ so-called feminist writing on display in the way he wrote other characters’ interactions with Julie-Su. Vector was the main culprit here.

His mistrust of her for being a former Dark Legionnaire was initially justified, but it just kept dragging on and on and felt pretty sexist at times. But of course we shouldn’t forget Knuckles’ incel behaviour when he first met Julie-Su either.

I really want to take a shower now.

While that’s all I have for material that actually appeared in the comic, former ArchieSonic writer, colourer, and cool person extraordinaire Aleah Baker also reminded me of some boys vs girls-ish stories that Ken Penders had pitched but never written due to his departure from Archie. These are in Ken Penders’ own words on his fan forum, accessible via the Wayback Machine (http://web.archive.org/web/20160324034614/http://www.kenpenders.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=122)

“SONIC: GIRLS NIGHT OUT (SONIC #163) - Some teasing from Ash results in Mina and Amy Rose making their way into Robotnik’s stronghold to prove they’re just as capable on their own as any Freedom Fighter (re: Sonic). When Sally hears what they’re up to, she and Sonic head out after them, only to discover Rouge and Nic the Weasel are on the scene, each looking to abscond with the rare gem that will power Robotnik’s latest weapon. (16 pages if 1 issue or 2 11-page stories if spread over two issues)”

So once again not a full boys vs girls story, more of a girls trying to prove they’re just as capable as boys deal. It’s strange that Ken Penders kept on writing Mina going on Freedom Fighter missions (such as in the infamous Sonic #152) long after she had come to terms with not being comfortable in that position and happier as a pop singer instead. But then again Ken Penders famously didn’t read other writers’ stories or even consider them canon. Or maybe he thought he was getting back at Karl Bollers somehow by writing Mina that way? Who knows? Okay, what else have we got?

“SONIC: NEW WORLD ORDER (SONIC #167) - Sonic finally is informed of the duties of his new rank: Gentleman-At-Arms. His first task: accompany Princess Sally to Station Square as she sets up Knothole’s first embassy in a foreign land. Naturally, there’s some trouble before the group departs, including Sally’s displeasure when Sonic’s new rank means he can overrule her when it comes to security, as Antoine’s duties as head of the Royal Guard conflict with his proposal to Bunnie. (16 pages)”

Oh great, another story where Sally’s authority is being trampled all over. It was bad enough when it was coming from King Max the boomer, but this feels even more awkward coming from Sonic (and presumably her brother the newly crowned King Elias, as he’s the one who slapped that stupid title on Sonic in the first place). I’m glad Ian kind of just abandoned that whole Gentleman-At-Arms thing.

Sigh, another post that turned into a rant about Penders. Well, it’s bound to happen every now and then. Are there any other boys vs. girls stories I missed? Let me know in the comments! Next time… A Very Special Episode. I’m sure you guys all know where this one is going.

#archiesonic syndicated

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harrison-abbott · 1 month

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Robbie Loves Amanda

Robbie fancied this girl called Amanda in his class. He was only eight. Boys and girls usually start to fancy each other around that age, right? In a kind of half-observed way: they just like the other’s face. And, well, it was nearing Valentine’s Day. … The kids in the class knew Valentine’s Day from their parents and to them it was innocent and linked in with gifts. They weren’t thinking about sex. So on the 13th February Robbie thought he would send Amanda a Valentine’s card. Other boys had already done that with the girls. And he could hear the girls behind him on the tables whispering about the boys they admired. The 14th was a Friday, when the children had a half day. A sunny Friday morning. Robbie had made the card for Amanda last night. With Crayola pens, and glitter. And it got to snack time. The teacher gave the kids a snack time at 10:30, where they would munch Walkers crisps – and the audacious ones would try some fruit. Robbie got up. With his card. Amanda sat at the table in front of him. That was part of the reason why he had gotten to admire her so: because she was frequently in his line of vision and he had the chance to gaze at her. The kids looked at him. And at the card that he was holding. Like watching a film they all glued to him as he walked up, smiled, and gave Amanda the card. … Amanda looked down at it and she blushed. … Next to Amanda was her friend Lauren. Lauren took the card with glee. [Lauren was a loud girl who often spoke out in class, not realising how stupid she often appeared to be. She was one of those extroverts who will get by in life solely due to being loud, or the loudest, without needing to be intelligent.] “Oh, what’s this!” she proclaimed. “A Valentine’s, from Robbie to Amanda. Wow.” The children began to cackle. Lauren then read out the message inside the card that Robbie had written to Amanda. Robbie was still standing there in front of everybody – whilst they all listened with glee. Amanda’s blush remained. That’s what happens when you blush, right? You really want the redness to evaporate in your face: for the blood to go away: but it stays there, occupies your visage, when the least thing you want is for everybody to be staring at you. But, Amanda felt more sorry for Robbie. Amanda didn’t fancy Robbie. She just didn’t. He wasn’t a cute boy. Simply didn’t like him in such a way: she’d never really thought about that kind of thing before. She was the only person in the class feeling sorry for Robbie. He stood there. Robbie wasn’t able to blush. He was only stunned and trying to scowl. His scowl wasn’t so terrifying and the children only laughed harder that he got so cross. And, thus, Robbie would go on to think about this memory for most of his life. It took a long time for the pain to subside. He would tell the story to other people, in later life, when he was in his 20s and 30s, when the groups were talking about first crushes, first loves in school, etc. They would chuckle it off. Even though it still wasn’t so funny to him. Then when he was in his 40s the memory began to dim and he didn’t think of it so poignantly. But from then on he would think about it now and then. There would still be a little stab at the incident. Some folks, Robbie thought, don’t survive childhood, and all of the cruel moments intwined. He was still here. That Valentine’s Card, to Amanda? That was the first and last one he ever made. He certainly never tried another card again.

#writeblr #creative writing #writers on tumblr #prose #stories #tumblr writers #short fiction #fiction #short story #spilled ink

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vintagegeekculture · 3 years

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The Chinese Cultural Inspirations for Dragon Ball Z and Super

Journey to the West was only the beginning.

A lot of people are vaguely aware that Dragon Ball was inspired by Chinese culture and Hong Kong Kung Fu movies and novels, but are unaware of how deep and long lasting it goes. The Japanese spent the 1980s fascinated by China, which opened up from being a closed society for decades in 1978; the most famous human being in Japan in the 80s was either Michael Jackson or Jackie Chan.

In fact, a lot of people commonly believe that the Chinese action movie and Kung Fu novel cultural and media influence on Dragon Ball ended very early on. This is untrue. Sure, we started to see qipaos and cheongsams less frequently when they headed to West City, but it absolutely did not finish, because there’s tons of influence to see even as impossibly late as Dragon Ball Super. Interestingly, I don’t think any of these point of inspirations have been pointed out before, mainly because a lot of Chinese adventure novels are simply not available in English.

The Piccolo/Gohan plot was inspired by the Chinese action novel “Heavenly Sword and Dragon Sabre.”

Okay, tell me if you’ve heard this story before: a truly demonic, weird looking monster villain is defeated by a martial arts hero, but by circumstance, is forced into training his greatest enemy’s young son. The villain trains the young boy, the son of his enemy, in martial arts and over time, becomes like a second father or uncle to him and his family, putting the boy in his “evil” sect, and thanks to his love of his rival’s son, this baddie turns over a new leaf and goes from evil to just…grumpy, and becomes a loyal, though gruff, ally of the boy.

Of course, the events of Heavenly Sword and Dragon Sabre are a bit different from Dragon Ball in details. The Lion King becomes Wuji’s teacher because they are both stranded together on an island after a shipwreck, for instance, and he is blinded and made vulnerable. Also, the Lion King wasn’t so much evil so much as he was misunderstood by the orthodox martial world. However, in broad outlines, this trajectory for a face turn (becomes friends with his greatest enemy’s son, and becomes like a second father to him as he trains him, causing the villain to become a gruff good guy and ally) is essentially from one of the most famous Chinese novels ever written in the 1960s.

Oh, and while we’re at it, Gohan is likewise inspired by another character from a Louis Cha novel: the Prince of Dali Duan Yu in the Kung Fu novel Demigods and Semi-Devils. The Prince in that novel is a naïve, pacifistic scholar who prefers books to fighting, and who was raised to be timid and avoid combat, absolutely out of step with his family, all of whom are martial artists and warriors. In fact, the beginning of the story is the prince gets incredibly lost in the wilderness, where the hopelessly naïve prince is utterly out of his depth, with all the robbers and scary beasts, and needs to be saved by real martial artists that protect him like fairy godparents. He spends the first part of the story running away from everything, scared as hell. However, by circumstance, he has naturally high power he cannot fully initially control, and eventually realizes that even scholars and others who hate fighting have to sometimes become fighters to protect those they love.

The Duan Yu part of Demigods and Semi-Devils was made into a film, the Battle Wizard, which was reviewed by PewDiePie. The Dragonball similarities went over his head because, honestly, PewDiePie does not strike me as a perceptive person.

Hit was based on the screen persona of Chow Yun Fat.

Chow Yun Fat was a Hong Kong cinema superstar who was to director John Woo what Robert de Niro was to Martin Scorsese. There are three giveaways that Hit was based on Chow Yun Fat. One, he’s an assassin, same as Chow Yun Fat’s character in the Killer, and is even given a sequence that’s a John Woo homage with an assassination in an office building with guns pulled on an empty elevator in an act of misdirection. Second, he’s wearing the single piece of clothing Chow Yun Fat is associated with, a black trenchcoat (fun fact: in Hong Kong today, trenchcoats are called Brother Mark Coats, after Chow Yun Fat’s character in John Woo’s A Better Tomorrow). Third, his power is essentially bullet time, a visual technique refined by John Woo in Hong Kong in the 80s and 90s in his gunplay triad movies starring Chow Yun Fat (what, you think the Wachowskis invented it?).

The Goku/Vegeta relationship is from “Legend of the Condor Heroes.”

Here’s a story you might have heard before. It’s about two rivals, but by circumstance, one is raised in the wilderness beyond civilization, where he becomes an honest and goodhearted, though overly naive bumpkin, martial arts prodigy. The other is raised a wealthy prince by a conquering enemy, who grows up to also become an armor wearing martial arts expert, but also a cunning, arrogant, emotionally distant sociopath.

The similarities go into their love lives, too. The unsophisticated bumpkin hero is betrothed to a daughter of a powerful bearded barbarian king against his will, while the one hint of vulnerability and loss of emotional detachment in the otherwise sociopathic prince, the crack in his smirky arrogance, is that he loves a girl he otherwise pretends to hate, and even fathers a child with her who becomes a main character later.

This is Guo Jing and Yang Kang from Legend of the Condor Heroes. The most fascinating similarity, and proof that female psychology is the same all over the world, is that the fangirls love the emotionally distant, arrogant, and sexy/evil prince (remember when Rhonda Rousey said her first crush was Vegeta?). Girls everywhere love bad boys and sexy villains, and oh boy, do they love Prince Yang Kang. I think you can probably guess who all the fan art is about for Legend of the Condor Heroes, and what ship is the most popular.

I have to emphasize that Legend of the Condor Heroes, which came out in the 1950s-60s, is possibly the most widely read novel by the most widely read novelist on earth - the sales on that dwarf Twilight and Harry Potter. It’s probably not an exaggeration to say nearly every Chinese person, even if they never read it, knows who these characters are. In fact, Yang Kang and Guo Jing from Condor Heroes are basically repeated over and over in Asian, Chinese, and Japanese culture. Does the unsophisticated but gifted martial arts prodigy bumpkin hero, and the glib, arrogant wealthy prince rival remind you of….another duo of rivals?

Gohan/Videl comes from Little Dragon Maiden

One of the most important and influential Martial Arts novels of all time is “Return of the Condor Heroes.” A sequel to Condor Heroes, this time, the main character is the teenage son of one of the main characters from the first novel. It gets even more familiar from there.

“Return of the Condor Heroes” was about a martial arts couple who are also master and student, the same age but vastly different in experience and skill so one somehow seems “older,” and they fall in love because the circumstances of training together requires they spend lots of time together and become intimate. The training story and the love story are exactly the same in “Return of the Condor Heroes.” The dead giveaway one story inspired the other is that in both, the most significant training sequence is one where the master teaches the student how to fly (though Return used a chamber of sparrows for lightness Kung Fu).

There are some differences of course – obviously in Return of the Condor Heroes, the genders of teacher and student are flipped from Gohan and Videl (it’s the Little Dragon Maiden who is a powerful teacher, and the boy who is the student). It was the girl (Videl) who was a rebellious delinquent in Dragon Ball Z, when it was the opposite in the novel, true. But it was obvious this story was in the back of the creator’s mind as a way to combine Kung Fu with the love story, by making teacher and student lovers.

Addendum: hey, remember that awesome movie Kung Fu Hustle, the one Hong Kong movies normies have seen? Well, remember the landlord and landlady? The landlady was named Xiao Lung Nu, or Little Dragon Maiden, and her husband was named Yang Guo – the same as the main characters in Return of the Condor Heroes. It was a joke that went over the heads of Westerners, by giving these names of attractive and naïve young people in love with each other to a surly, bitter, arguing and chain smoking middle aged couple who don’t give a damn.

Going Super Saiyan comes from “Reincarnated” aka “Bastard Swordsman.”

Stop me if this sounds familiar: a terrifying warlord tyrant prone to killing underlings who displease him has achieved a level of skill and cultivation so tremendous nobody can stop him. But there is one, and only one, thing he fears and that can defeat him: a long-lost legendary skill that nobody has achieved in recent memory, that includes a supernatural combat power transformation that turns the hair light to indicate it worked.

This is “Silkworm Skill” from Reincarnated aka Bastard Swordsman, a novel and TV series from Hong Kong in the early 1980s. Of course, there are differences. To get the power boost and new hair color, the hero has to jump in a cocoon he weaves himself. In fact, the scene is so well known that they actually have it on the poster.

(To those saying “Super Saiyan turns your hair blonde, not white” my response is that it turns hair white, or uncolored, in the comic book.)

The idea of your hair turning white to indicate a new supernatural combat transformation or martial state wasn’t created by Bastard Swordsman, though – though it is the best example and probably the one most familiar to a 1980s audience due to the hugely popular books and TV series. For an older example, a famous Chinese movie based on a folktale is “Bride With the White Hair,” about a bride who’s hair turns white when she is betrayed, in her anger, she becomes less a woman and more a supernatural creature of vengeance (interesting that anger should be the means to unlock it).

#dragon ball z #china #kung fu #martial arts #anime

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captnjacksparrow · 2 years

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hi, so i’ve wondered what you think about kishimoto and his take on women. do you think he doesn’t know how to write strong, independent women? and how do you think did the fact it’s a shounen influence him on writing women? are there any women in naruto who had potential but were ignored due to the very fact they’re women? and what female characters do you personally wish you saw more about? love your blog!!

Okay.... I think people who follow my blog almost consider me to be the 'Defender of Kishimoto'.... And that's why I am receiving Asks based on his Misogyny or Treatment of Women.

KISHIMOTO & HIS “SO-CALLED” MISOGYNY - MY TAKE

Can I simply say "Yes, Despite me being an Independent Tomboyish Girl who always picked fight with Misogynistic Boys on a Regular basis, I liked Kishimoto's work and I am completely satisfied with Naruto, the Series without any resentment" ???....

That’s because I never approach any media by wearing GENDER LENS OR SEXUALITY LENS..... I don’t desperately look for any female characters to get inspiration or motivation from.... If I like a Character... I will love them and get inspired from them.. I don’t care what’s between the ‘said’ Character’s legs. It’s Simple. I got motivated by few male characters in this series and they DEFINITELY CHANGED ME IN GOOD WAYS.

This doesn’t mean I am slandering everyone who looks for female representation in any media. It’s just that this Series never hinted at anytime that this was going to be about Girls kicking Ass or something. So, it’s pointless to expect something from nothing and criticizing the Author for it.

But I just couldn’t understand one thing from SNS Fandom, especially. We all scream to other shippers that “Remove your Hetero Normative Lens to understand SNS”..... Yes, I whole-heartedly agree... Which means, we all acknowledge the fact that we are supporting a ship where 2 Boys Love each other and we want people to remove their Hetero Lens. Fine. Agreed.

But why expect 50-50 representation for Women in a Gay Media??? I seriously don’t understand this logic. AT ALL.... Which Gay media had a strong women portrayal???? Why are we still wearing our Gender Lens and criticize something pointless???? Male Characters are also Humans, you know...

You may now ask “Why can’t a Gay media have strong and independent women Characters?”

Ummm... It’s very similar to asking a Gay Boy, “Why can’t you like a Girl?”

And this is not a Joke.... If you have some time, you can visit [this link]... It’s a list of Highly Rated Yaoi Novels from China with respective links to the Novels which is translated in English. Among the top 20 novels in that list, I’ve so far read 4.... All 4 of them were written by Women... And one of the Writer actually became insanely rich because her Novels were adapted into Anime, Live Action, Manga, Merchandise, International Broadcast and what not....

In all those 4 novels I’ve read so far, I’ve never found a single women Character to have made an impact to the story in a big way and to be honest I don’t even remember most of their names except for 1 or 2... And the joke is that they were all written by Women. So, Can we call all those Women writers to be misogynistic???

There is pattern for Women Characters in those BL novels.... A Girl who lust for the body of a Main Character... Her purpose is to show the readers how Handsome he is...

Handsome Main Character who rejects girls like some annoying pest because he only has eyes on the other Main Character...

A Girl who is there to create some stupid Love Triangle between 2 Main Characters... [[Usually Chinese women readers hates these girls... And begs the author to kill this Character because they don’t want anyone to come between their OTP]]...

Don’t you think all these patterns conform to Naruto Manga as well????

I wonder if only Naruto loved Hinata & Sasuke loved Sakura passionately.... Will this claim that “Kishimoto being Sexist” arise????

I don’t think so.

My Point is, we, SNS fans know the nature of the relationship between the main characters and yet why are we expecting A Strong, Independent Women Characters from this piece of Media???? Have we ever found any importance for Sakura in those SNS fanfictions???? Fic Writers change her into somewhat pleasant girl with no Assholery and THAT’S ALL.... She won’t be playing any important role in any of those fictions... Because it’s all about how N and S love each other and their struggles.... No body gives 2 fucks about how Sakura kicks Ass in SNS Fictions. Kishimoto also employed the same logic.

If Fanfic writers treats Sakura into a Marriage broker for SNS, then that’s fine... But if Kishimoto does the same in his Manga but in a despicable way, then it is called Misogyny, eh???? I find this claim to be Extremely hypocritical.

Anyways, Let me tell you what attributes I want from a Woman Character to consider her as strong....

A Woman Who

Can make her own life choices without having to be subservient under any Man

Fight for the same respect as a Man....

Has her own dreams to pursue...

Has the Ability to be intelligent and diplomatic rather than acting foolish before Boys in order to attract them... (Eeeshh.... I just hate them)

Has the Ability to hold a Leadership position

Can be Kind and Empathetic or can be a vile bitch who could screw up other people by making clever plans..... I don’t care which side she falls into.... All I need is a personality with a strong Conviction...

Possess strong Emotional Strength

Has the Ability to endure severe harsh life circumstances because women are damn fucking strong enough to endure a lot......

Has weakness and how she overcomes it...

And there are many more which I possibly can’t list here... But all these attributes are applicable to Married, Unmarried, Housewives and Working women too....

If I find three or four of these attributes in any Women Characters.... Then I consider her as Strong.

Now just look at these basic Attributes, I repeat Basic.... A Complex woman Character has even more attributes to portray but I think this is enough considering Shonen... and see how many points Tsunade, Kushina, Konan checks as compared to Sakura & Hinata... [[Konoha is where the story revolves around and Tsunade is a fucking Hokage for God’s Sake!!!!]]

i’ve wondered what you think about kishimoto and his take on women. do you think he doesn’t know how to write strong, independent women?

Many girls in this fandom don’t even know What is mean by an Independent and Strong Women and start to write some stupid post that Kishimoto is a Misogynist....

Because Majority of Girls in this fandom believes.... Punching Stuffs and Bossing around subservient men is a measure of Strength... They don’t care about her emotional development and all they care about is her physical strength which is not needed at all, you know. What they want is a Mary Fucking Sue....

If Kishimoto can able to write Tsunade.... Can’t he give the same tropes for his ‘supposed’ Main Female Character????

He can.

But he simply chose not to.

And Here’s the thing.... If Someone is not a Feminist Icon..... It doesn’t mean they are sexist or misogynist... There is something called INBETWEEN...

I consider Kishimoto to be INBETWEEN..... or maybe by the end of this post.... You might be have a differing opinion.....

But before that let me answer your Questions....

What female characters do you personally wish you saw more about?

Konan and Tsunade.

Konan had a wonderful fight with Obito... But her name was never mentioned again.... Naruto could’ve referenced her & Nagato in Chapter 700 and give a closure for Amegakure... But it was abandoned entirely....

Tsunade... I wish I could see her even more.... Can’t specifically say where... But I loved her.

Are there any women in Naruto who had potential but were ignored due to the very fact they’re women?

For sure, I won’t be saying Sakura’s and Hinata’s name here..... He would never make them into anything other than some despicable dolls... That’s a given.

But Why nobody was talking about Choji, Neji, Kiba, Lee who had no development since forever????

Neji was in Kazekage retrieval Arc.... And.... That’s all... He died as a Love Broker...

Choji... He got his Butterfly wings when fighting with Edo Tensei Asuma... And that’s all.... I don’t remember him doing anything since Sasuke retrieval Arc...in Part 1...Same with Kiba and Lee....

So, Male characters also had potential but were ignored mercilessly... So... If Kishimoto was a Misogynist... Then those fake feminists are called Misandrist.... Because they don’t care about any male characters and they are okay with them being ignored.

how do you think did the fact it’s a shounen influence him on writing women?

I haven’t watched any other Shounen other than Naruto (Currently watching JJK)... So, I couldn’t comment on this.

But I am sure about one thing....

Kishimoto wants his Heroine to be Strong. Even stronger than his Hero. I had this feeling when I was re-watching Naruto.... And I became 100% sure after reading his other One-Shot Manga named Mario.... [Link]

Let’s see....

This is a quote from Naruto’s Official Data Book named Meigenshu Kizuna ‘Bonds’ where Kishi explains about Sasuke.

“Since Naruto is to be considered the “hero”, from the beginning he’s receiving growing popularity as the protagonist, while Sasuke; who is usually being chased by numerous characters (in a romantic sense), even if he’s a guy, roughly speaking, Sasuke has the heroine status in this story.”

[[Am not bring this NaruSasu/SasuNaru thing in this post... Am just pointing what Kishi said about Sasuke]]

With all this being said....

KISHI LIKES HIS HEROINE WITH A SPECIFIC LOOK

I can’t find any difference other than the hair style.... Can you able to????

KISHI LIKES HIS HEROINE TO FIGHT HIS HERO BACK

Even today people are crying that, “Kishimoto is a Misogynist because he made Sakura into a Doormat for Sasuke.... He probably wants his woman to be like Sakura...”

But this comparison proves otherwise....

Saori is just someone who will shoot your Brains if you touch her... And here, Saori is not a Doormat to Mario.... She is just like Sasuke. I wonder, How come Kishimoto can be a Misogynist in one Manga whereas he becomes a Normal person in his other Manga???? Is this some split-personality disorder????

Well... Both pairs starts their ‘thing’ with Hate!!!!

KISHI LIKES HIS HEROINE TO BE STRONGER THAN HIS HERO

LOL.... No explanation need, eh???

KISHI LIKES HIS HEROINE TO SNEAK ATTACK WHILE HIS HERO ACTS AS THE DECOY

Naruto usually attacks his enemy with his Shadow Clones and Sasuke analyze the battle from behind using his Sharingan. If the enemy attacks Naruto, Sasuke always saves him. This is the dynamics that was established in Land of the Waves, Forest of the Death and even against the battle with Jigen.

Similarly Mario acts as the decoy and if someone attacks him, Saori analyze it very carefully and blast them off from behind... Like she does in this panel.... Both Naruto and Mario looks back to see their Heroine...LOL

(I promise you all, I never intended to make this into an SNS post.. I only wanted to talk about Saori. Like I was sort of joking when I started this section, but I’m convincing myself now... Saori is Sasuke and viceversa.)

KISHI LIKES HIS HEROINE’S LOVE TO BE UNCONDITIONAL & PURE....

Now... Just because I bring the word ‘Love’.... Don’t even imagine it’s something Romantic. It’s just not.

Mario, the Hero is a Money minded A-Class Asshole and a sell out... (which he himself agrees...)

Here, They both come to meet this fat guy for some job... But that Old-Fatty wants to spend some ‘lonely’ times with Saori.... His assistant even offers Mario some money, for him to leave this girl alone with them....

As expected he leaves her alone... Poor Saori got horrified... But Saori is not very innocent... She escaped her way out somehow but it was implied that she killed that old-fart when in reality his Assistant killed him and put the blame on Saori.... She is not some damsel in distress, you know.

And because Saori ‘seemingly’ killed those Old fart, She carries a bounty on her head worth of $500,000.... To which Mario, the Asshole, agrees half-heartedly and concocts a plan with his friend to finish her off....

As it happens.... Mario distracts her and his friend shot her from behind... Asshole!!!

Now, his friend turns the tables and pointing the Gun towards Mario’s head in order to steal all the money for himself....

But then,

SAORI’S BODY MOVED ON IT’S OWN.... To protect this worthless betraying jerk.... Even Mario himself was surprised...

This is a clear parallel to this Land of the Waves scene

Naruto, unlike Mario, is not a jerk here... But he never did anything profound for Sasuke for him to give up his life easily.... At this point, they are not even acquainted with each other.... Sasuke just loved Naruto and did what he did without expecting anything back....

Similarly Saori also worked with Mario on many missions and ended up liking him because he never tried to flirt with her or make any ‘unusual’ advances on her unlike other men... (this is her childhood trauma which you will know if you read that manga)... She liked him to the point of saving him even though he betrayed her 2 times for money.

In both the cases, I really want to scream at Saori and Sasuke, “Why are you going so far for this betraying/useless jerk??”.

KISHI LIKES HIS HEROINE TO RESEMBLE HERO’S MOTHER

Uhhh.... ???

I’ve made a post about how Sasuke resembles Kushina in many ways.... [Link]. And Mario openly confesses that Saori resembles his mother!!!!

Anyways.... You can read the manga and understand Saori’s character even better.

Kishimoto saying Sasuke holds the heroine status in Naruto Manga and giving Sasuke’s character attributes to Saori is not coincidental. It’s very clear that he want his heroine to be like Sasuke which explains that Accidental Kiss and that Femme Fatale scene in Orochimaru Lair. LOL. Mario is just a 52 page Manga and his characterization of Saori is very impressive. He drew her in a very dignified manner... Meaning, he didn’t sexualize her.

She is the definition of Independent, Strong, Vulnerable “Don’t mess with me, you MF!!”, “Touch me, I’ll Shoot you right **there**” kind of badass and Motherly woman.... She has every potential to be developed into a complex character and is very capable of having her own arcs, if this Manga was developed further.

There is no way an author can be an Asshole in one Manga and becomes a Saint in Another one... Not to mention that Mario manga was conceptualized in 1998, that is way before he started drawing Naruto in 1999... So, all these proves that Kishimoto can write wonderful woman Characters like Saori, Tsunade, Konan, Kushina. He simply didn’t want to give any scope for Sakura or Hinata.

He gave all the tropes he envisioned for Saori (in 1998) to Sasuke in Naruto Manga.... by officially calling him as Heroine.

To finish off,

I seriously don’t understand the logic behind the expectation of Independent, Strong Women characters in a media where the story is all about how 2 boys finds love in each other... But still, the author went on to give us Tsunade, Temari, Konan, Kushina, Granny Chiyo...

People getting petty about female side characters getting ignored whereas Kishi ignored many male characters equally. But no one bothers about that. This blatantly shows their hypocrisy in consuming this media.

Female Characters getting knocked down by male characters using a Jutsu doesn’t qualify under Misogyny or Sexism. Writing despicable female characters also doesn’t come under Misogyny. I am saying this for the Umpteenth time, Sakura and Hinata were intentionally designed to be mocked and ridiculed. Don’t consider their portrayal as a sample for Kishimoto’s take on Women characters. Honestly, those kind of characters does exist in real world.

I have to appreciate the way Kishimoto characterize his Heroines in both the Manga (Sasuke & Saori). They both are really layered and complex... And definitely not some Mary fucking Sue at all.... If this is not the proof for his wonderful take on Women, then what is???

I think it’s about time we have to start removing our Gender Spectacles and see the characters as Human First rather than what’s between their legs. In that way, we can able to enjoy this series very much. This is applicable to any media. Or atleast for Gay media.

Kishimoto might not be the Flag Bearer for feminism. But he is definitely not a Misogynist or Sexist... That’s what I felt after watching Naruto and reading Mario.

#sns #sasunaru #narusasu #sasunarusasu #mario #saori

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skelswritingcorner · 3 years

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Savanaclaw + Autistic!MC

The actual content of this is directly copied and pasted from the Wattpad post; the author’s note and content warnings are paraphrased but still keep the general message.

A/N: This involves some stuff like having an autistic sibling, and some other things that weren’t mentioned in the first part.

Content Warnings: Menstruation, injury that happens in the canonical story.

Leona Kingscholar (this dude’s so hard to write ;-;)

The first time he met her was when she stepped on his tail. He was surprised at how much she apologised and insisting on checking his tail for any bruises or broken bones. Who does this herbivore think she is? He often thinks to himself, denying his appreciation of her concern because of his pride.

Unlike the women of the Afterglow Savanna, Leona noticed that MC was rather timid in comparison. Is this normal for herbivores? He felt like something was wrong, but it was simply an afterthought that nagged at him sometimes at night.

Sometimes, after taking a nap, he occasionally sees her nearby minding her own business. When asked, she replied that she found his silence calming. He found this strange but okay. Eventually, sometimes he’d notice a strange change in scent on her end but was too prideful to bring it up.

Before the Magift tournament, he noticed how she was somewhat irritated in general. When he asked her about it, she told him about her brother who often wouldn’t shut up about sports if given the chance. “I’m not even a sporty person,” she grumbled, “please don’t take it personally. I just can’t stand my brother since he’s super loud and an ass.” Well, Leona can’t relate to her struggle exactly but they both mutually hate their older brothers, that’s adequate enough for him.

During his overblot, MC again shows no fear (y’all sense the pattern here). This time it’s his tail and ears that she wants to pet. Ruggie and Jack panic, but it’s simply deja vu for Heartslabyul.

After getting knocked out by Grim during the exhibition match, Jack noticed the changed smell, but accompanied by the smell of blood and told the nurses along with Leona and Ruggie. After being brought to the infirmary, the nurses deduced that she started her period. He grumbled that she should’ve told them and proceeded to prepare for the official game to begin.

When Cheka came to visit them, his loudness scared MC half to death so Leona had to tell Cheka to stop shouting. Did Leona ever find out MC’s autistic? He found out through Ace. Did he change much, if at all? Definitely not, why does that matter anyways to him?

Ruggie Bucchi (also hard to write as well) He paid for his mischief and tomfoolery with an irritated lassie (this is the most powerful sentence I’ve ever written tbh). He stole Riddle and Cater’s magic pens and proceeded to be chased first by an enraged girl acting on sheer impulse and revenge followed by two other first years and a demon cat.

Okay, now this dude’s pretty laid back so he’s going to be tolerant, but after she chases him to an inch of his life he’s going to be terrified. He’s going to be confused when MC doesn’t get his jokes or her fury at the pranks he pulls at first, but when explained by Deuce that she usually doesn’t understand jokes (he gon get smacked) unless she herself makes them and tells him don’t pull these pranks again (everyone’s traumatized, -1000/10 won’t want to experience again). When Ruggie told her that she’s terrifying, she simply replied with, “You say that but my mom’s scarier.”

Poor dude’s gonna think her mom’s this super tall buff woman that can knock someone out with little to no effort but he’s thinking completely wrong. When he asks her how she is terrifying she replies with, “Well...mom fought the school board where I’m from because my brother was bullied heavily in middle school. He’s so traumatized that he won’t go near the campus. I hated that school anyways, too loud for my liking.”

He likely doesn’t realise the hormonal changes until Leona mentions it. “I thought she was quite docile,” he says, “maybe she’s just having an off day.” Ruggie usually doesn’t take anything seriously, but this was getting into weird territory and can’t take it lightly.

When Leona overblotted, Ruggie and Jack were terrified at the fact that she seemingly didn’t register that, y’know, this is a dangerous situation and you really shouldn’t be petting his ears. “She did something similar when Riddle overblotted,” Deuce tells them, “it’s just deja vu for us.” And then she kicked him in the balls and scurried off...nobody expected that.

After the fight, Ruggie and Jack noticed that she was slightly fatigued (they didn’t smell the blood yet). When Crowley told her to sit on the sidelines she just shrugged, telling him that she’s been getting some cramps anyways and is likely in no shape to play anyways.

Grim chucks disc at MC, Jack notices the smell of blood, brings her to infirmary and finds out she started her period right after the overblot fight, yadda yadda (it’s 5 AM and I only got three hours of sleep please bear with me).

Eventually, he finds out after asking Deuce that she’s autistic. Nothing really changes, he just makes sure to watch his mouth and try not to pull pranks on her (he’s permanently traumatized y’all).

Jack Howl (he’s a very good boy...a tsundere one but still) He first met MC when she and the Heartslabyul boys (excluding Trey because…y’know) were scoping out who was most likely to be the next victim of the strange injuries. She insisted on doing it herself (bad idea when your period starts soon and there’s a bunch of humanoid students who can smell the pheromones).

She ended up getting hit on by some of the upperclassmen, she didn’t say she was uncomfortable due to self advocacy issues. Luckily Jack is a very good boy with a sense of justice so he drove them off and made sure she was okay.

After thanking him and explaining what was happening, he told MC that he didn’t need any protection. He muttered that he likely wouldn’t be targeted under his breath under the assumption it was too quiet for her to hear. He was oh so wrong.

She asked if she heard him correctly, that he would likely not be targeted. He realised at this point that he shouldn’t have underestimated her. He gave in and whispered into her ear that he had an idea of who was behind it, but couldn’t tell her yet. He wasn’t expecting to get ear scritches and a reminder to be safe just in case. Did he like it? He didn’t like to admit it, but he did. Did he expect it? Definitely not.

When he turned into his beast form before Leona overblotted, he didn’t realise that MC’s pupils widened. She wanted to pet him and squish his toe beans, okay? He was too angry at Leona to notice though.

When Leona did overblot, he panicked when she casually approached him and started petting his ears. He was trying his best not to lunge forward to grab her and take her somewhere far away, but she kicked Leona in the groin before scurrying off far enough to not be attacked. After the fight, he noticed that she smelled like she was bleeding but didn’t bring it up.

Skipping to the exhibition match after Grim knocked her unconscious with the disc, Jack rushed to her side to check for any injuries. Luckily she didn’t get too severe of brain damage, but the smell of blood and pheromones was overly strong, especially near her pelvis. He told this to the nurses before they brought her to the infirmary, and also told this to Leona and Ruggie.

After being told by Ace and Deuce that MC’s autistic, he’s gonna try his best to research it (dude’s intelligent, I admire that). He’s also going to research menstruation so he’ll be better prepared the next time it happens.

#twisted wonderland fanfiction #twisted wonderland x reader #twisted wonderland savanaclaw #leona kingscholar #twst ruggie #ruggie bucchi #jack howl #menstruation cw #injury cw

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ryukyuan-sunflower · 3 years

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Romance in Samurai Champloo: The Mirror Reflection of Jin and Shino and Mugen and Fuu

Upon re-watching Episode 11, I was utterly shocked by how many parallels exist between Mugen and Jin as characters, in regards to their relationship with the most important women of their journey. The interactions and concepts are near identical. These specific themes and interactions were only exhibited with two specific women, and no other characters in the series.

In episode 11, Jin falls in love with Shino: a courtesan who was forced into prostitution due to her lousy, abusive husband's gambling debt. Jin later saves Shino from this brothel, and helps her escape to a divorce temple.

Canonically, it was stated in the Samurai Champloo Roman Album by Shino’s character designer that Jin does indeed "fall for" her, so it was not simply chivalry that led him to help her. This echoes his actual dialogue in episode 11:

Fuu: I understand why you pity her but-

Jin: It’s not pity.

It is not pity, because it is love.

So, here is the INSANE number of ways Jin's confirmed romantic dynamic with Shino is an uncanny mirror to Mugen's subtle romantic dynamic with Fuu.

Warning: There is a LOT of comparisons. I was honestly so surprised and have a whole new level of respect for this anime now, and specifically Episode 11.

Enjoy the read!

The First Meeting: Saving the Girl and Reading Her Mind

Both Mugen and Jin save a woman’s life at their first encounter. Both also know the girl is in trouble without ever being told.

Both Fuu and Shino reject the notion that they need help. But it is revealed later that they do.

Jin meets Shino on a bridge and saves her life. She confesses much later, that she had been contemplating suicide, but because he stopped to talk with her, she did not go through with it.

Never did Shino ever show any indication she wanted to drown herself, other than looking at the canal. Jin just knew the moment he walked by.

Mugen meets Fuu in the tea house and saves her life. The magistrate's son was going to have her mutilated and killed. But because Mugen talked with her, she was able to strike a deal of killing them for 100 dumplings.

Never did Fuu tell Mugen that the guys were giving her trouble. Mugen just knew the moment he walked in.

In addition to this first meeting, Jin also stops Shino’s husband from beating her. Mugen also stops Umanousuke from beating Fuu in Episode 25.

Thinking in the Rain: Love Interest Trapped in a Brothel

Previously, in Episodes 3+4, Fuu was thrown into a brothel, just like Shino's predicament in episode 11.

After Mugen skips town and ditches the Yakuza, the thought of Fuu stuck in the brothel invades his mind, and compels him to turn back.

Note: Jin never thinks about Fuu stuck in the brothel.

After being unable to afford Shino, Jin is beaten by bouncers and trudges away, thinking about how Shino is sleeping with another man.

Both of these incidences occur during heavy rain.

Both think about their love interests trapped in the brothel which leads them to return to save them.

The Brothel Escape.

Both Mugen and Jin attempt to break their love interests out of a brothel.

On the second night they spend together, Jin concocts a plan to sneak Shino out of the brothel.

Never one to be discrete, Mugen’s plan to save Fuu involves breaking into the brothel, kicking open the cage doors, and pulling her out. However, to keep the MugenxFuu romance subtle and to have shippers rip their hair out Fuu escapes alone, and she never finds out about Mugen’s wild attempt to get her back. So, we never get the obviously romantic scene of him grabbing her arm and whisking her away. We just know that poor Mugen tried.

There is evident blood on his sword. He killed a person or multiple people to get back to her.

Mugen could have taken and freed any of these lovely ladies. But no.

Note: Jin is seen putting no effort into saving Fuu at all. When Jin initially sneaks into the brothel of Episode 3+4 disguised as a woman, he had no idea Fuu was there at the time. He was just helping the boy Sousuke save Osuzu. Later, even when he sees Fuu there, Jin never is shown putting in any effort to rescue her, nor thinking about it. If we assume he intended to, with his roundabout way of being involved with the Kawara gang, (who he was already helping anyway), Fuu would have already been bought by a client, because she was. (luckily the client did not have sex with her).

If this isn't enough of a mirror, Fuu and Shino escape the brothel in the exact same way: tying a series of clothes to the porch and sliding out the window.

Giving Up One’s Sword For a Woman

Shown in both episodes 6 and 8, Jin is extremely protective of his katana, saying that his swords are the equivalent of his soul as a samurai.

He adamantly refuses to part with them for any reason. He is also shown in episodes 14, 16 and 20 diligently polishing them.

On a different note, Mugen is not shown taking care of his swords as meticulously as Jin, nor as protectively. He is willing to pawn them off if it means being able to eat: shown in episode 6 and episode 8.

But his sword is no less important to Mugen, as he is shown carrying the same sai handled tsurugi in his flashbacks in the Ryukyuan Islands, implying he had carried it for a long time. For Mugen, the sword has nothing to do with some code of bushido, or philosophy. It serves the fundamental purpose of keeping him alive, which is something Mugen constantly struggles with.

In a brothel, swords are not allowed, as it is unsafe for the courtesans if there happened to be a violent client.

In Episode 25, Umanousuke is about to kill Fuu when Mugen arrives.

To spend time with Shino and free her, Jin willingly gives up his swords.

To save Fuu’s life and free her, Mugen gives up his sword in Episode 25.

Note: The only other example we have of Jin “giving up his swords” is comedy when Mugen and Fuu confiscates his swords against his will, so they can enter an eating contest in Episode 6.

Interestingly, the two men gave up their swords under reversed circumstances, yet with the same intentions.

Jin, who has always cherished his katana, ends up giving them up in a moment that he logically "shouldn't". He does what could be considered a frivolous activity of spending time with a prostitute, which completely goes against his personal code as a samurai.

Mugen, who had always been willing to give up his sword for the sake of survival, finally needs to keep his sword, or he will be brutally tortured and killed by Umanousuke. But instead, he gives it up anyway in this extremely critical moment, to save Fuu's life.

In the end, both men resorted to giving up their swords for one simple reason: love.

Red and Pink Color Composition

This one was very surprising for me, and the reason I ended up writing this entire post. The other examples until now are more obvious. But this? Mugen and Fuu's main colors are obviously red and pink. But...Jin and Shino?

Shino’s kimono color is light green, with a dark green collar. Jin’s color is dark blue.

However, when Shino is put in the brothel and takes on the name “Kohana”, she is seen throughout the majority of the episode wearing pink, with a burgundy collar. This is exactly Fuu’s kimono colors, and no other character in the series wears these colors that I can recall.

More interesting, is Shino’s brothel name becomes “Kohana”.

Kohana means “Flower Child”.

Fuu is the child of the “Sunflower Samurai”.

For the first time, I was suddenly faced with a serious question of "Was this name choice and kimono color put as a symbolism of Jin choosing to buy a woman that resembled Fuu?" And in turn, would this be one solid way to disprove so much that I've always thought and written about Jin being the father figure to Fuu?

But, then I noticed something else.

Shino only wears this pink and burgundy kimono in the brothel. It is not her true outfit.

And it is not only her who gets a "change" in appearance. Jin does too, in a sense. He gets an addition to his ensemble, only for this particular episode.

Every time Jin visits Shino in pink, he carries a bright red umbrella. Whenever she is in green, he does not have the umbrella. He visits her on four separate occasions when she’s a courtesan, always with the umbrella in tow.

The red umbrella is visually striking, as the atmosphere of this episode is particularly drab due to the rainfall.

The red umbrella becomes the connection between Jin and Shino during her stay in the brothel. It is significant, because it was initially hers, and was a gift to him since she had no use for it in the brothel anymore.

One can argue, “It’s raining and he just needed an umbrella.” But during his depressing walk, he carries it, but doesn't even use it, and we don’t even get to see it or its striking red color. (Which I will explain my interpretation as to why shortly).

We only know he’s holding it, because he continues to have it afterwards.

It is far more a symbol of his connection to her, than for practical use. Watching the episode, everyone else has drab brown and gray umbrellas. Even in Episode 4, Jin donned a drab brown umbrella.

In Japanese culture, red is famously the color that represents the “main character”. This is extremely common in many anime and video games, and particularly shown in the Super Sentai genre, in which every season since 1975 to present, the main character always dons red.

In the case of Samurai Champloo as well, Mugen is confirmed to be the “main character”, first developed by Shinichiro Watanabe, with Jin created later as his foil so the story did not become “one dimensional”, as he said. This is why most episodes focus on Mugen.

Episode 11 is the very first episode that focuses on Jin. Up until this point, Jin was never a rescuer. (He doesn’t even rescue Fuu until Episode 26).

With Shino, he finally fulfills the "noble hero saving the maiden" role.

More interesting, is the scene where the brothel bouncers attack Jin, who intentionally decides not to fight back. Jin loses his grip on the umbrella. This is my personal interpretation, but I think this could be a representation that Jin could not protect Shino, as she is forced to have sex moments later.

If it were Mugen being attacked, he would kill the men, repercussions or not, just as he did to the Yakuza in Episode 4. Mugen will always embody the “passionate red” that he wears.

But it does not suit Jin. He has chosen the lawful path, unlike Mugen’s chaotic nature of killing whoever stands in his way. Jin does not kill these men, since he has no reasonable cause, and does not risk the repercussions. It is his own fault, not theirs, that he can’t purchase or protect Shino.

In this scene, he not only drops the red umbrella, but Shino also drops her pink robes when she is undressed. They are not red and pink: they are not Mugen and Fuu. They are back to the cruel reality of being a different, more tragic tale of love in which he can’t protect her.

One of the attackers even picks up the umbrella, and throws it at him, as if to add more injury to insult in his failure.

In the ending of the episode, Shino no longer wears pink and burgundy, and is back in her original green kimono. Interestingly, Jin stops using this red umbrella at the exact same point she is back in green.

Since Shino is no longer a “maiden in distress in pink”, Jin no longer needs to be the “hero in red”. They no longer have to play this role. Their episode is at its close. The anime will return to Mugen and Fuu carrying out the dynamic of “hero and maiden”.

Jin will once again, play the role as the cool and collected “rival in blue” that foils the main protagonist.

One could still argue these color choices of red and pink were random and thoughtless. They very well could be. But, this is a Watanabe work, and colors often hold surprising symbolism in the anime he directs.

As a more solid example of color symbolism: here is a link to a fascinating video that reveals just how intentional the color palette is in Samurai Champloo's Episode 14. The choice of Mukuro's yellow versus Mugen's red and the episode ending on Koza in gray was all deliberate and was repeatedly shown in the episode's composition through various means, to subtly convey the story.

Flashing the Coin and “Buying”a Woman

Jin is shown to be the character who makes/finds money for the group the most. Even in this episode, he was working for the eel stand. Mugen meanwhile, makes money and spends it selfishly. But in this episode, it is Mugen making the money and Jin demanding it for a selfish purpose, reversing their roles once again. Jin is the main character now, and Mugen the foil.

Mugen flaunts the coin he made to impress Fuu, demanding her validation by tapping her head.

Jin flaunts the same exact coin (Mugen gave it to him), in a very similar way, to show he’s buying Shino.

Both men, in essence, are "buying time with a woman".

While Jin is, in a literal sense, using the money to purchase a prostitute, Mugen's is more figurative.

Mugen gives the money to Jin, causing him to go away, and leaving him and Fuu alone. Once Jin is back, they will once again be a trio, and the “pairing dynamic” between them will be shattered. But for that brief night, Mugen got time with Fuu.

Mugen, despite acting like he detests Fuu's company, does some very strange and completely uncharacteristic things in this episode. For one...he is the one to bring Fuu to the beetle wrestling match. Her dialogue implies she didn't want to go and Mugen dragged her along.

Then, despite being all stingy about the money with Fuu, he willingly gives the money to Jin to send him away to go to a brothel. For a man Mugen claims to despise, this is a remarkably thoughtful act. Especially when he said he was going to use the money to buy seeds to make more in beetle wrestling. Strangest of all, Mugen doesn't use the money himself for a prostitute. He chooses to stay at an inn, alone with Fuu, rather than the prospect of going to the brothel in town, even when he’s repeatedly shown being a womanizer.

I think this act shows both his selfish desire to spend time with Fuu alone, but also his selfless care for Jin as a friend. He killed two birds with one stone. In both cases, these are things Mugen would never admit to his companions.

With the exchange of that on koban coin between them, both Mugen and Jin have "bought time" with their respective love interests.

Helping to Save Each Other's Love Interest.

In every episode Fuu gets into trouble, Mugen is the one who saves Fuu, if she isn’t saving herself. Jin does not. But there is one exception to this: Episode 26. Jin saves Fuu for the first time, in the one moment Mugen can't, while also simultaneously avenging his father figure Mariya Enshirou.

In episode 11, Jin does not have his swords on him. But Mugen and Fuu arrive. Mugen cuts down many men to help them escape. And in addition, he knocks down a man right in front of Shino that Jin failed to incapacitate, before telling Jin “You’re pathetic!”

The Windowsill and the Mirror in the Same Room

This one is a very, VERY minor comparison, so don’t take this one seriously. I just thought the imagery was similar.

In Episode 18, where Mugen attempts to win Fuu in a tagging contest (yes, that was actually the plot: Here's a Post About It), Mugen and Fuu spend a small moment in the inn room alone.

In this inn room, Fuu is looking at herself in the mirror, when Mugen appears behind her.

Their faces are wonderful.

In the brothel room, Shino also looks in the mirror, when Jin is shown behind her.

Alone with their love interests, they sit on windowsills.

Again, very, very minor and I highly doubt it was intentional. But there is no other moment of window sill sitting that I can recall.

There is one other gazing into a mirror though: the end credits of Fuu and her mother. This relates her mother to Shino, aside from the fact that they have the same exact hair and wear green kimonos, and who are in love with a poor samurai who ends up wearing gray.

Parting Ways

In the defining moment of Jin and Shino parting, there is a distance of water separating them. But Jin must let her go to the temple to be free of the marriage: her final goal.

In the defining moment of Mugen and Fuu parting, a distance of the Church with Umanousuke is in the way, separating them. But Mugen tells her to go see her Sunflower Samurai: her final goal.

Neither Jin and Shino or Mugen and Fuu are allowed to touch or to embrace before this forced goodbye.

Jin is the one to push the boat away, even when Shino tries to reach out to him.

Mugen is the one who urges Fuu to run, even when Fuu hesitates and wants to stay.

Both Shino and Fuu are reluctant to leave Jin and Mugen behind.

Mugen and Jin remain stoic, even when their emotions must be running wild.

Fuu and Shino’s eyes well up, until they are unable to hold in the tears.

“The Love Triangle” Dilemma: A Lousy Gambler, A Noble Samurai and a Pure Maiden

Now, I am not saying that Mugen, Fuu and Jin is an actual love triangle. I firmly believe it isn't, as I have shown the evidence of the two romances above.

But I believe in Mugen's mind, there is a love triangle, and he’s the odd one out.

Yes, there is a sense that Fuu has insecurity about Jin's abandonment and is jealous of his attention to Shino. Personally though, I think this is in more relation to her father's abandonment, as Jin and Shino strikingly resemble Fuu's father and mother. Jin even gets Fuu’s father’s kimono in Episode 26, and likely his katana too, as his were broken.

But that aside, the relationship dynamics going on in Episode 11 are painfully satirical.

Shino, her husband, and Jin are an ugly representation of Fuu, Mugen, and Jin.

Jin is interfering with both of these "couples".

Shino's husband is an avid gambler, who fell into debt, causing her to be thrown into prostitution. It is no coincidence that Mugen is avidly gambling throughout this episode, and being chastised by Fuu.

Fuu’s words to Mugen are Shino’s words to her husband.

Mugen is being portrayed as the "lesser man", lacking in morals, while Jin takes on the mantle of the “gallant knight”. This again relates to the earlier concept that Jin has for the first time assumed the position as the “main character”.

This is likely why they chose “Gamblers and Gallantry” as the English title for Episode 11. Note that Gamblers is plural. (Also, the original Japanese title is Fallen Angel).

Fuu’s “jealousy” in this episode is used in the narrative to make Mugen believe she loves Jin, and not him. We see this again, in Episode 20. The one and only time Fuu cries for Jin is comical, compared to her over five emotional times for Mugen, still causes Mugen to stomp off with jealousy and annoyance.

Our first indicator of Mugen harboring jealousy of Jin stems from Episode 11 and piles up more as the show goes on.

There is three separate implied occasions in this specific episode 11.

1. Mugen states that Fuu is jealous that Jin is seeing Shino. But when he says this, it is him to roll over away from her. It is almost a blatant indicator that he is sulking. Then, he feigns sleeping and snoring.

We know his sleeping is fake because upon closer inspection....

His eyes are open and his eyebrows are furled angrily. This “faking sleep” is a trick he repeats three times total in the anime, always concerning Jin and Fuu.

2. When Fuu gets upset at Jin about leaving the group for good, Mugen pretends to sleep yet again, but was listening to the whole thing.

His facial expression is almost sad looking here. Very uncharacteristic indeed.

Note: The very last time Mugen pretends to sleep, is Episode 24, when Fuu hugs Jin on the riverbank. It appears here, that Mugen didn't hear or understand what they were talking quietly about. The dialogue is hard to interpret but it seems Fuu rejected Jin’s dutiful offer to stay with her after the journey close. She seems to confide her feelings for Mugen to Jin in this extremely subtle scene, by mentioning him out of the blue, crying, and then apologizing to Jin for it. Rather than embrace Fuu romantically, Jin comforts her with a hand upon her shoulder, in an understanding that is, by my interpretation, very fatherly.

3. Back to Episode 11, when Fuu decides to help Jin, despite being angry at him for abandoning them, Mugen says some telling dialogue. This scene, Mugen and Fuu are running through town together, just as Jin and Shino are.

If Mugen only stuck around solely to kill Jin, then this exchange makes one question why is he still hanging around Fuu. We also know Mugen was listening the whole time when Jin states "If I don’t return, I want you two to continue your journey without me." It is as if he's trying to convince Fuu to be "over" with Jin.

But this isn't the only time Mugen is fine with taking Fuu to find the sunflower samurai alone. Mugen also agrees to travel with Fuu in ep 21 alone, when they think Jin is leaving for good with Sara, and makes no indication of leaving her to do battle with Jin.

Despite all the jealousy of Jin, and all the intentional comparison that Mugen bears with Shino's husband, we know Mugen is not actually like Shino's husband at all.

On the surface, perhaps, he seemed like an irresponsible, lawless lecher who frivolously wastes money. But in actuality, he is honorable and deeply cares about Fuu, saving her and worrying about her in every single episode something bad befalls her.. Mugen does more noble deeds for Fuu than Jin ever does.

While “Gamblers” apply to Mugen and Shino’s husband, the “Gallantry” applies to Mugen and Jin just as much.

That is why, unlike Shino’s husband, Mugen wins in gambling. And that is why, despite making money gambling, he generously gave it all to Jin.

The secretly gallant character of this episode was Mugen. Had he not given/borrowed this money to Jin, Jin would have never been able to save Shino at all.

How the Relationships Differ

While these comparisons highlight that Jin and Shino is equivalent to Mugen and Fuu, there are some directly opposite characteristics as well. Just as Mugen and Jin are opposite.

Jin and Shino are calm and quiet. Mugen and Fuu are passionate and loud.

Jin and Shino wear cold colors of green and blue, while Mugen and Fuu don warm colors of red and pink.

Shino is older than Jin. Fuu is younger than Mugen.

While Shino is forced to give herself to men and Jin can’t save her, Fuu is saved from this fate many times by Mugen.

Mugen and Fuu spend an entire, long journey together. Jin and Shino’s time together is fleeting. Mugen and Fuu appear together every episode. Jin and Shino only get one.

Ironically, Jin and Shino consummate their love in this short time, while Mugen and Fuu do not.

The relationships are remarkably the same story but from opposite ends of a spectrum.

Conclusion

Mugen and Jin may be opposites, but they are also like Yin and Yang. Both characters are a duality of one another, possessing opposite traits in their appearances and attitudes, and yet bearing similar beliefs and morals. In the love department, it turns out that they are also two sides of the very same coin.

After discovering the parallels between these two romances, I was utterly blown away. This concept of duality is the entire point of Mugen and Jin’s dynamic in every other sense.

The love they bore for Fuu and Shino highlighted this concept in another new, astonishing way.

Mugen and Jin both bear something else in common. Even though Jin and Shino is far more an obvious romance due to the sexual consummation of the coupling, Jin and Mugen still relate in one way: they never directly express their love for Shino or Fuu words.

Jin comes off as “old fashioned” with his “I hope that the rain will never stop so I can stay here forever.”, Mugen comes off as “unromantic” by never saying kind and romantic words to Fuu. Their love was wholly expressed through action. Words are unneeded.

Finally, even though Jin and Shino part ways, and even though Mugen and Fuu (and Jin) part in the finale, hope still exists that they will meet again someday.

Both tales of love do not have tragic endings, but neither does either obtain closure. Their hopeful future is left up to you, the viewer, to determine.

Perhaps, their reunions with their loved one, will be a mirror too.

#samurai champloo #fuugen #jin samurai champloo #mugen samurai champloo #fuu samurai champloo

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thickenmyblood · 3 years

Note

hey maca :)) I have sth that I’d love to hear your input on! (wall of text incoming so beware- I’m absolutely not mad if you don’t want to answer lmao). Basically it’s about how you portray women in your works and to what extent you see that portrayal mirrored in the canon books. I have noticed that a lot of writers tend to go a traditional route with for example daughters not being heirs like you also mentioned in an answer for a wtsioa ask on here. Considering the cultures Vere and Akielos are based on that’s obviously very logical and a lot of authors (including you) make it work fantastically! Yet personally I never got the vibe of Vere and Akielos being as patriarchal in canon, mostly because the Information we get is kind of confusing. On one hand damen is a walking manosphere (and. all of Akielos in general as well) without any prominent female figures in his life but on the other hand damen only ever speaks appreciatively of for example the female vaskian warriors. Both countries seem to ban women from the army yet Damen also refers to a warrior queen. The regent is a total misogynist but with the wording Laurent uses it almost seems like that is more the exception and not the general rule of veretian court life. Both countries also have ties to Vask, an exclusive matriarchy and Akielos is said to be similar to Patras which Pacat has stated is also partly a strong matriarchy due to vaskian occupations in the past. I could go on for a lot longer but I guess that damens overall positive attitude towards women and especially stereotypically spoken masculine women is what sticks out the most to me. It just seems kind of misplaced in a world that supposedly is as sexist as the original cultures from our world. Which is why I’d say both countries do have gender roles but are overall a lot more egalitarian than their respective real world og cultures. But that’s only my take and I’d love to hear more on what others think about the portrayal of women in canon and how they chose to portray it in fanfiction. Love you and your new work, hope you’re doing well❤️

HELLO!!! Thank you for asking me interesting stuff :, ) you always have the best questions and my sad little inbox is open to you any time, friend. I divided this into parts, so:

My portrayal of women: I need to work on this a lot lmao. I’m not proud of any female character I have ever written for this fandom, and I’m also not proud to say I struggle horribly when it comes to writing female OCs, especially if the story is not about a female character that is a literal projection of me. Or Bella Swan (yes, Twilight literally shaped my sad little brain and the way I write and consume fiction).

Authors writing female characters in a “traditional” way (for fantasy settings): I can’t speak for other authors but I definitely think, in my case, that using the “it’s a patriarchal society, women have no rights, women can’t be heirs, etc.” blueprint is a matter of being lazy. It’s quick, and easy, and it’s been done before so we all know how it works and a) it’s unlikely that you’ll mess it up (in the plot hole kind of way) and b) it’s obvious that most readers know how the usual system works and so you don’t have to spend paragraphs or even chapters explaining it to them. I am very lazy when it comes to world-building for fics. Why? Because when I’m writing fanfiction I don’t give two shits about the world, I just care about the characters doing Things and having Feelings. The moment you start to question these issues (a society where women can join the army, where they can be heirs, where maybe they can have multiple husbands, etc.) a billion issues arise because it’s not the “usual way” and so you’ll have to deal with “unusual problems”. See: plot holes, info-dumping, etc.

Vere and Akielos in canon: I think the books get very, very confusing at times when it comes to gender roles in that specific world. They also get very confusing about how royalty works, in my opinion. So:

Damen never mentions female influences in his life, not even nannies or wetnurses or anything. He mentions past queens and his mother, but even then… It’s always struck me as “what the actual fuck” that we get no information on Egeria. In TSP, he doesn’t even read as curious to me, especially when I think of that line that goes something like “oh, well, he’d never asked how tall she was”.

Then you have Jokaste, who is highborn and also… perhaps trained in politics? It’s unclear to me if she’s ever been directly involved in meetings or been an active member of the Council or even been allowed to study these issues. Clearly, she’s smart and capable and cunning, but like… how? Did she have private tutors? Is she a self-made woman? Like, what’s up with that? Are women allowed to engage in public politics? Are they allowed to be kyroi?

IMO, Damen complimenting the female warriors in Vask has to do with how appreciative he is of war-related stuff. Like, he thinks people with his own qualities are neat. We see this time and time again in the books—having honor, being brave, respecting one’s family, protecting those who need protecting… He compliments these things when he sees them in others, especially in Laurent. Obviously one of the big changes in Damen as a character is that he goes from being daddy’s boy to being like “well, actually… maybe war isn’t always the answer, and maybe war isn’t always honorable”. The Vaskian warriors prove themselves worthy of praise in a “manly” way, if that makes sense. (In the same way, Laurent proves himself in the Okton, not so much to Damen but to other Akielons). So, in essence, War > Any issues he may have about women doing Stuff.

Don’t judge me for this but I can’t remember the Regent talking about women. Do you have any quotes about that? I feel like Book 1 is super rich when it comes to world-building stuff and yet it’s the book I remember the least. I know he obviously has a preference for boys and not girls, but I don’t recall him having interactions with Vannes or ladies at court? I’M SORRY I’M SO STUPID but I don’t own the book so I can’t exactly word search my way out of this one, and so instead of saying stupid stuff, I’m asking anyone reading this (lol, you and my mom probably) to please tell me what canon says on this issue.

Ties to Vask: Er, yeah, I mean… They’re clearly not at war with Vask and have some sort of economic deal (there are Vaskian pets in Arles? Which makes me wonder if they, like, buy them from Vask? Or if the pets are Vaskian and turn into pets in Vere? Slaves are not like pets so I don’t know?), BUT just because they have deals with this kingdom/are on good terms with the ruler does not mean they necessarily approve? Like, maybe they’re like “yeah, it’s weird they give women so much power, but also I need that silk/leather/WHATEVER, so I’ll shut up about that”.

“Akielos is said to be similar to Patras which Pacat has stated is also partly a strong matriarchy due to Vaskian occupations in the past.” Is this in the books or is this something she said in an interview/post-releasing the trilogy? I know in the books there’s a quote that Akielos and Patras are similar because they both have slaves, but other than that I can’t quite remember anything about Patras? Like, I don’t recall Pacat giving us extensive and thorough world-building on either nation, at all. Once again, I am asking you for more explanations on this because I literally don’t remember.

4. My opinion and a Stupidity Disclaimer: As I’ve said above, there’s a lot of stuff I don’t remember and so I’m not trying to preach to anyone reading this or even saying that I hold the truth about… anything. I’m answering questions as I see fit and asking more questions when I run out of answers.

I believe world-building is not one of Captive Prince’s strong points. I will not elaborate on this because this is already long enough but there is simply, in my opinion, not enough material to reach any solid conclusions when it comes to world-building questions such as the role of women in Vere and Akielos, how compulsory homosexuality affects the development of highborn men and women in Vere, exactly what makes Akielos’ view on women different from Vere’s (if there’s any difference at all), the history of gender roles in this world and how it’s evolved up until canon, how Lamen can solve the heir issue without recurring to, once again, “the usual stuff” (concubines, bastards, marriage to women, etc.). It’s clear from what I’ve read that Pacat has come a long way as a writer and that her new trilogy has a lot more in-depth explanations to world-building questions, but this is not the case with CP, and so I’m afraid my answer to most of this is “I don’t know, and I don’t think anyone can know for sure”.

Lastly, I think I struggle a lot with understanding the role of women in this universe because I simply did not see enough women doing stuff, so I don’t know what’s permitted, what’s unacceptable, what’s illegal, what is straight-up execution worthy, etc. This is not me complaining about the lack of female characters in CP, at all, which I know is contradictory to stuff I’ve said in the past (I answered a couple asks a year ago about how I’d wished we’d gotten Vannes’ POV or Jokaste’s POV in the short stories). I’ve changed my mind, and so I think Pacat is entitled to write whatever she wants, just like I’m entitled to talk shit about KR with any living soul who will listen lmao.

To end this on a spicy note, I think sometimes we consume the wrong media and then complain because it doesn’t have what we wanted. If you’re looking for a trilogy with strong, fleshed-out female characters, Captive Prince is not for you. If you’re looking for a trilogy on female struggles and, I don’t know, defying… the male gaze… Captive Prince is not for you. There are plenty of books out there that focus exclusively on female characters, featuring sapphic relationships, and dealing with gender issues. WHICH IS NOT TO SAY WE SHOULDN’T BE HAVING THESE DISCUSSIONS. This is not about this particular question, but more about a lot of posts I’ve seen floating around… complaining about Pacat’s writing and the themes she didn’t explore.

If anyone has made it this far, thank you for reading, and know this is NOT me telling you what to think. This post is an open question that anyone can engage with, although I hope people will engage with this directly and on this platform, instead of… taking it somewhere else where I sadly can’t engage back! Unlike what happened with our awesome fat Laurent discussion, I will be replying to any questions I get on this (Note: I did not reply to most of those questions because a long time had passed and they were sort of repetitive).

#caramellaurent #captive prince #i'm using the main tag because i think... maybe someone has answers?#also lol melli i see what u did here... u're distracting me from writing for the bang #i see how it is #discourse #is this discourse tho?#it's just me asking stuff #discourse (questioned)

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bullworthdrabbles · 3 years

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Women in Bullworth: Zoe Taylor

TW: discussions of sexual abuse, trauma, CSA, Mr. Burton's ped* bullshit, self-harm, and other not-great stuff.

This one is super long and full of hard stuff to talk about don't read if you are not in the right headspace.

Oh boy, this one is going to be one of the hardest to write for me because I love Zoe and I know so many who love her as well. Then, there’s also a lot of triggering content in her story that needs to be discussed but hits me very close to my chest. This will likely be very long and particularly scathing due to just how frustrating Zoe’s story (or lack thereof) is to me. As a victim of CSA, this particular post is going to be very hard for me to discuss and will take me a long time to fully articulate. I’m sorry for how long it has taken me to write this, but I needed many breaks and to rant to several friends in order not to type all of this in all caps and through various curses.

Before I really discuss the tropes and stereotypes like I usually do I need to discuss the fact that as I write this series I’m seeing the unfortunate pattern arise of Rockstar sloppily using sexual violence against women in their stories without doing their research, taking the time to consider the consequence that happening would have in someone’s life, and just what message they are sending with how they tackle these kinds of stories. Sexual abuse and teachers using their power to take advantage of teens and minors is an unfortunate reality that does happen in high schools. I can understand the idea of wanting to discuss this issue when your game is set in high school where these things can happen, but this type of story is horrific and to do it justice requires a sensitivity Rockstar simply didn’t deliver.

The bully wiki and the game itself states that Zoe was expelled from the school for reporting Mr. Burton's sexual harassment and based on the previous missions involving this disgusting man we know Zoe isn’t the only victim. Does he ever get held accountable? Does he face any sort of punishment despite Jimmy quite literally being a witness and having evidence thumbtacked to his wall of Mr. Burton's disgusting behavior that he made Jimmy also take part in? No, not really, he only gets “fired” at the end of the game, and by “fired” I mean you still see him walking around the school like nothing happened, still saying the same shit and having access to underage girls. If it was just the lack of accountability I could interpret this as Rockstar taking a very bleak but realistic look at the situation. I could maybe think they were trying to show the disgusting truth that victims are almost never believed even with a mountain of evidence stacked against the perpetrator. They could be showing that it takes so much traumatizing bullshit just to try to get justice only for nothing to happen.

However, they messed up this story almost comically which makes me think it was just a cheap way to get her out of the school because they clearly didn't think about how abuse and a violation of someone’s bodily autonomy would impact an actual victim. I’m sorry, but I wouldn’t simply flip a portapotty onto the person who harassed and violated my bodily autonomy. I'm not a generally violent person, but I do think about harming my abuser in incredibly violent ways because of how much bullshit he has put me through. Rockstar never has her dealing with the side-effects and real mental toll this kind of abuse does to a person unless it’s time to make it a funny mission. Turning real horrific trauma into nothing more than a motive for a prank. Then there’s the dialogue of her talking about liking older guys, which I want desperately to believe is Rockstar trying to insinuate that Zoe is coping with her trauma via hypersexuality. Hypersexuality is a common unhealthy coping mechanism for survivors of sexual trauma, they purposely seek out sexual encounters as a way of reclaiming power and bodily autonomy sexually. It can also be seen as self-harm behavior if the survivor is having lots of purposely unprotected sex. But Rockstar clearly didn’t do enough research into sexual trauma responses, much less the basic realities of surviving sexual trauma, so I highly doubt that they even considered this when writing these lines.

Unfortunately, Rockstar was just trying to make her a “not like other girls” stereotype, I bet you thought I wasn’t going to bring it up but sadly I am. Zoe is one of the better-written female characters, but that isn’t really saying much when all the other girls are just cardboard cheap conflict and plot devices. We actually know a lot more about her background than we do the other girls, does it really change that she doesn’t serve much of a plot-significant role? Nope. Does this change the fact that Rockstar once again used sexual trauma as a cheap mission fodder? Nope? Is she allowed to be more than just a health pack, quest giver, and reward? If you think her being the “girl the protagonist gets with at the end” counts maybe, but to me, nope.

This was hard for me to say as it was a hard pill for me to swallow, but literally, all of her traits that separate her from the other girls are just so they could make her a “Tom-boy” and “not like other girls” stereotype. They don’t make her a fully formed unique person where her past, experiences, and traumas actually impact who she is as a person. No, they needed a final love interest for their protagonist so they just took his character traits and story and made some similar dialogue as the dialogue for Gary ( we can all admit there was something going on before the betrayal between those two) then slapped it onto another ginger, now with boobs. The funny thing is she doesn’t even seem that interested with Jimmy until the very end, their whole relationship seems forced and rushed so Rockstar fucked even that up. They clearly had a lot of ideas they wanted to touch on but because of their own unwillingness to take the time to flesh her out instead, we got...well everything I said before.

I’ve said it a thousand times and I will say it again, a lot of these problems could have been avoided. Rockstar could have taken their female characters seriously, could have written them well if that was one of their focuses, but it wasn’t. I love this game and I love a lot of these characters but I feel that even if this game provided me years' worth of comfort and entertainment, it should still be called out for its issues and how it mishandles very serious and sensitive issues. I hope this series and my thoughts on these characters made you think about your own writing and works you see making similar mistakes. I can tell that none of these errors came from a place of malice, but deep ignorance and works that perpetuate said ignorance can send harmful messages to people. I hope by shedding light on this I may make you re-examine the messages you see surrounding female characters in media and their stereotypes. Thank you for reading my incredibly long rants.

#sa tw #csa tw #cce discussion #bully canis canem edit #canis canem edit #women of bullworth #bully anniversary edition #bully brain rot time #bullworth academy #bully scholarship edition #bully game #cce bully #bully cce #cas speaks

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didsomeonesaydaddydraco · 3 years

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My Oh My | Draco Malfoy one shot

Request: yes! @leydileyla (I would like to request a Draco Malfoy fic, with a Female Hufflepuff Reader (you don't need to specify Hufflepuff if you don't feel like it goes with the story) with the prompt,2. Take another step, and I can’t be responsible for my actions.Maybe it could be something like, they could have been flirting for a while and both sides feel like they are hitting their boiling point )

Word count: 3,205 words

Warning: drinking (just a tiny)

Pairing: Draco Malfoy x Hufflepuff!reader

Note: This was a requests from the prompt list. Used prompt: “Take another step, and I can’t be responsible for my actions”

They say he likes a good time

He comes alive at midnight

My mama doesn't trust him

He's only here for one thing

But (so am I)

The dungeons. The Slytherin Common Room was located there. A place for the cunning, ambitious, determined and resourceful wizards and witches. And of course the kingdom of the Slytherin Prince, Draco Lucius Malfoy. He was mysterious as the night, but oh Merlin, he was the most alive during the dark hours of the day. He really knew how to have fun and how to throw the best Common Room Parties without the professors or Filch founding out. Those parties were the topic of every conversation. Students were talking about how the Slytherins managed to sneak snacks and alcohol to their Common Room, and how clever they were to use the Muffliato Charm, so the loud music wouldn’t be heard from outside. But the most interesting and exciting part of those parties was the way students from other Houses were invited. Not so many people had the privilege to be good friends with a Slytherin, due to their struggles with trust, but that didn’t mean they refused to have some fun time with their fellow school mates. You could only enter the party, if a Slytherin invited you. They would leave a note in your book, on your desk before class or sneak it into your bag with the exact details and the password. That’s how Y/N was invited. Hufflepuffs and Slytherins were at the same Transfiguration class, and one Monday, when Draco Malfoy passed her desk, he dropped a piece of parchment. She bent down to pick up the folded note and give it back to him, but she saw her name on the middle of it, written in neat handwriting.

Beautiful, come to our party this Friday, 10 at night. Bring only one FEMALE friend if you want. The password is serpent. I’ll be expecting you - Malfoy

That was the beginning of a beautiful flirtationship with the Slytherin bad boy. That night, Draco never approached Y/N, but he was always around her, glancing at her while I was talking to our school mates, staring at her while she was dancing with Pansy on the tables. After that party, it was hot glances at each other during class. Draco couldn’t kept his eyes off her, and after a while, it wasn’t enough for him. For some strange reasons, he wanted to be as close to the Hufflepuff girl as possible, so he made her House mate move from next to her and sat by her side during classes. Draco would greet her with a compliment, and Y/N would wink at him in response. The small nice gestures and words soon turned into more. She would stroke her hand along his back as she passed him in the corridors. Draco would touch her hand secretly while they were chatting with friends. He never hid how he was feeling about her, and wasn’t afraid to threaten anyone who tried to approach the subject of his admiration. The flirting between the youngsters was something that couldn’t stay unnoticed by anyone.

“Who is the boy?” Her mother would ask when she was back at home for Christmas. She kept receiving owls with litters and small parcels with her name on top of them. Same neat handwriting. She would smile brightly and even blush while reading the shorter or longer notes attached to her gifts from Malfoy.

“It’s probably still Draco” Y/N’s sister groaned and with an annoyed expression on her face, she shoo away the owl. She didn’t like the idea of her sister being involved with someone who was mostly famous for his jerk behaviour and the idea he was brought up in. In her eyes, Draco Malfoy was the devil himself. She wanted to hex him just because he would breathe around her. Of course she didn’t want Y/N to get hurt or being used by him.

“Draco? As in Narcissa and Lucius Malfoy’s son?” Their mother looked up from her book and her kind eyes focused on her youngest child. She knew that family and heard enough about their shady businesses and arrogant behaviour “I don’t trust him, darling” she shook her head disapprovingly.

“You know he likes to sleep around and mess with girls, right?” Her sister asked, but Y/N shut their voices out. Of course she heard about his reputation, and even saw him throwing girls away from one day to another, but that was what pulled her in. She wanted his taste. Maybe he wanted only one thing, but so did she.

A little bit older

A black leather jacket

A bad reputation

Draco Lucius Malfoy. Everyone knew who he was. Everyone knew about his reputation at Hogwarts. And of course, everyone warned her about him. He had everything that a girl could wish for in a guy. He was tall and strong. He was hard to get and a total twat. He bullied everyone who wasn’t good enough in his eyes and he never regret it. But he had the most beautiful pair of stormy blue eyes with the slightest hint of baby blue in them. And that damn smirk that could make a girl faint. He was just a few months older, but his features made him look much mature. Y/N always found herself staring at him when he wasn’t by her side, just admiring the man he was. After a while, Draco would feel someone watching him, and would look for the person, secretly hoping it was the girl who he wanted so badly. He could have made her his fully, but they loved and lived for their little cat and mouth game. The bickering and flirting entertained not only the two of them, but everyone around them.

“Bite me” Y/N said to the blonde bloke towering over her body. She couldn’t tell anymore what they were arguing about, she just wanted to push his bottoms and see when he would snap. Her remark made Draco smile at her darkly, and leaned in, dangerously close to her face.

“Where, princess?” His was deepened and he bit his bottom lip. A tiny gasp left her lips and he knew he won this round “You thought you were so badass, but then you met me”

“You think too highly of yourself” she rolled her eyes and pushed him away. Draco sat back next to her on the bench and put his hand on her thigh, softly stroking her soft skin with his thumb.

“Am I not everything you wanted?” He asked with raised eyebrows, and he sneaked his hand up a little higher. They crossed the line of innocent flirting a long time ago. Y/N and Draco were basically on fire when they were just simply in the same room, yet alone sitting next to each other.

“I wanted a little less arrogance” she pushed his hand away and stood up, grabbing her back from the ground and walking away with a huge smile on her face. She loved the affect she had on the Slytherin boy, and enjoyed teasing him too much to end it anytime soon.

“You can’t resist me, Y/L/N” Draco yelled after her and watched how her hips swayed as she walked further and further away. That girl really knew how to ignite the fire inside him over and over again, but never stayed long enough to let it warm her. Draco smiled at the thought of chasing after her in the corridors and throwing her over his shoulder to her back to his room.

Insatiable habits

He was onto me, one look and I couldn't breathe

Yeah, I said, "If you kiss me

I might let it happen”

I swear on my life that I've been a good girl

Tonight, I don't wanna be her

Y/N was a good girl, always the first to submit her homework and the one who volunteered to tutor the younger witches and wizards when they had troubles with any of their classes. She liked to know all her assignments were complete and outstanding, searching for new information about the topics of their lessons to add to her essay and show her professors how determined she was about her studies. She was nice with everyone, she was the shoulder you could cry on even if you didn’t know her that well. She liked to help people and loved to make new friends. But she had a side that only a few people knew. She wasn’t that innocent little Hufflepuff girl like so many students would have thought. She was always up for a good party and flirt with boys. They were young after all. It was their time to live, to experiment, to fall in love and to make mistakes. She loved her life and wanted to live it fully. That was what Draco admired her. Her essence and the way she saw life. She was fun to be around, and hot to stare at. And he liked to watch every move she took.

“Like alchemy, Kabbalah isn’t one generalised study either, but several different branches. The two beaches that specifically have the most influence” she was trying to teach Draco everything about their Alchemy class before their midterm test, but she rudely interrupted her.

“You gotta stop doing that” he said with a teasing tone. He was laying on his side on the bed, keeping himself up by his elbow while he was playing with the rings on his long fingers.

“What?” she asked with a confused expression and looked up from her notes. Draco wasn’t paying attention to her words, but the way her lips moved.

“Saying things that make me wanna kiss you” she annoyedly rolled her eyes and pushed Draco of her bed. She might tried to act cool, but she couldn’t hide the smile dancing on her lips and her eyes brightening up by the thought of kissing him.

——-

“See you tonight, Y/N?” Pansy Parkinson asked as she passed by in the corridor. It was Friday afternoon, and they just get out of their last class. The usual Friday Night Party was the topic of every conversation, which made Y/N rather annoyed. She found it weird that she wasn’t invited. The last four months, she was there. Draco always made sure she was invited and had her by his side the whole night. But this week, she wasn’t. She kept checking for little notes in her books where Draco doodled during classes or Study Halls, she reorganised her bag to see if he had slipped a piece of paper, but nothing. Maybe he didn’t want her there.

“I wasn’t invited” she shrugged and tried to hide her disappointment with a smile. The Parkinson girl laughed and hugged her by the side. They weren’t the best of friends, but it felt good for Pansy so have another girl in their group of friends, who was actually a lot like them. It was a nice change to be able to have girly chit chats with someone, who wouldn’t make gagging noises by topics like skin care, menstruation or clothes.

“Oh, bunny” she shook her head in amusement. Pansy found it funny how a bright witch like Y/L/N could be so stupid sometimes “You don’t need to be invited anymore. You’re one of us now, so when you hear about a party, just know that it’s your party too”

“Then I’ll see you tonight” Y/N smiled happily and quickly kissed Pansy on the cheek before she hurried back to the Hufflepuff tower to take a nap before the party. Her afternoon was a blur. After she woke up, she found Parkinson sitting on the floor beside her bed, drawing little butterflies and birds on a parchment. Pansy insisted that they get ready together to the party, because she needed some girly time and she was fed up with Enzo and Blaise making fun of her for taking too long to get ready. So the girls went to her dorm room and took a few shots of Fire Whiskey while they were doing each others hair and makeup. Y/N had a plan for the night. She was done with their little game, and wanted Draco to finally make the first move. She had been trying to make him do something that would move their relationship forward, but it seemed like the Slytherin Prince was more than happy with their current status. If Draco wasn’t man enough to make a move, then she will do it.

Her dress was perfect for her plan, and even Pansy drooled over her a bit when she saw Y/N coming out of the bathroom. The dress she chose was a simple black dress with think straps made out of diamonds and reached only down to the middle of her naked thighs. The fine satin fabric hugged her feminizing curves perfectly, the light fall of it on her chest and the slit of the dress on her thigh gave the whole look a slightly innocent, but teasing vibe. And everyone in the Slytherin Common Room agreed on that. Boys turned their head after her and tried to talk to Y/N, but the Hufflepuff had eyes only for a certain Slytherin, who was nowhere to be seen at the beginning of the night. She was tipsy and waited for the two more shots she took with Theo and Adrian to kick in and push her into another stage of drunk. All her insecurities, worries and boundaries were long gone, all thanks to the Fire Whiskey burning in her system. She was determined, she felt irresistible and she knew she had the boy in her palms. He just needed a little nudge, to finally make a move.

Draco Malfoy wasn’t the one who was easy to be amazed, but when he finally spot Y/N walking towards him, he almost choked on his drink. He had seen her in a jogger and sweater, with absolutely no makeup on and with messy hair, and he thought she was the cutest little thing ever. He had seen her in leggings and a workout top, with sweaty hair and face, and Draco felt motivated to go and workout too. He had seen her with a high pony tail and her school uniform, and he thought she was someone who could easily beat Granger at studying. But this was new. She never dolled up like this for a party. Her dress, the way her corrugated, tied up hair swung from left to right in perfect harmony with her hips made Draco to think about a lot of unholy things. She was a goddess in his eyes and he wanted to be the man by her side. His whole body, his heart and soul had been burning for Y/N for months, and he was getting impatient with their little game. He desperately wanted to take the next step, but he wasn’t completely sure if she was feeling the same way. Of course she flirted with him. They had their heated moments, where both of them were seconds away from crossing the line and kissing the other, but somehow, they managed to control themselves. Draco loved to replay their playful fights, their bickering that turned into heavy flirting and the secret glances and touches when he was in bed and tried to sleep. He loved to see the light blush in her cheeks when he complimented her hair, makeup or just her beauty or brain in general. He absolutely lived for the flame igniting in her beautiful eyes when he said something dirty and naughty to her during class or Study Hall. But he wasn’t brave enough to actually man up and ask her on a date. Or maybe to be his girlfriend. They were far too deep for basic things like first date, first kiss or anything like that bullshit. Their relationship was on a different kind of level, and he knew she was someone you just don’t want to lose.

“Hey, handsome” she greeted him from a few feet away. Draco knew Y/L/N and Parkinson were getting ready together, and the two witches pre gamed a little before they came downstairs. He also saw her taking shots with their friends, so he was sure she wasn’t completely sober anymore. Not drunk enough, to not know what she was doing or saying, but definitely not sober anymore to be shy “Haven’t seen you all almost all night. Here I thought you were ignoring me” she smirked at him and twirled the end of her hair around her finger, looking at Draco with tilted head to the side. She wanted to take a step forward, but he held out his hand to stop her.

“Take another step, and I can’t be responsible for my actions” he warned her, his blue eyes never leaving hers. He couldn’t take this anymore. They were playing a very dangerous game, and they were so close to hit their boiling spot. Y/N straightened up and started the play with the ring on her necklace. Draco gifted her his ring two weeks ago, after he got enough of her always stealing it from him while they studied together. Little did she knew, Draco meant it as a sign, that she was all his. He wanted the boys at Hogwarts to see she was wearing his ring and she only belong to him.

“Than maybe you should take a step” her voice was teasing but serious at the same time. She bit her bottom lip and pushed her hip to the side a little bit, showing Draco that she was waiting. It was all up to him. And he did. The sassy look on her face, the way she was biting her bottom lip and everything that had been building up in him for long weeks, gave him a final push and he said fuck it. He grabbed her and pulled her to his body. Their chests were pressed together, he could almost feel her heartbeat. She looked up at him, fire burning in her eyes “If you kiss me, I might let it happen”

Draco kissed her. He kissed her like he had never kissed anybody before. It was exactly like it was written in romance books and said in the films. They had butterflies raving in their stomachs. Fireworks behind closed eyes. Hands holding onto the other like their lives depended on it. Lips moving in perfect harmony. She was his. He was hers. After months of flirting, it was good to finally burn in their love.

“Just for the record, you’re mine” Draco said and rested his forehead on her. They were both breathing heavily, trying to catch breathe after the kiss. She giggled at his possessiveness and rolled her eyes at him. Of course he had to show who was the alpha “Oh, and this dress is coming off at the end of the night” he winked at her and pulled her face into another passionate kiss.

#Draco Malfoy #Draco #daddy draco #draco fanfiction #draco x reader #Draco Malfoy one shot #Draco Malfoy imagine stories #Draco Malfoy imagine #Draco Malfoy x reader #Draco Malfoy x Hufflepuff reader #Harry Potter imagines #prompt list

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sashi-ya · 3 years

Text

{+18} – Cherry Blossom & Tangerines – Trafalgar Law x Y/n – Part 5

Modern AU. Trip to Jeju Island, SK. No spoilers.

Female reader. No physical descriptions. Everybody is +18, canon ages. Chopper is human.

Tw: NSFW, blindfolding, soft sub/dom, unprotected sex (this is just fiction, pls wear protection). Fluff. A little bit of ZoSan

A/N: I haven’t had the chance to visit South Korea due to Covid, so everything included is pure research. Excuse me in advance if there is something that’s not 100% accurate! Keep in mind is purely inspired ♥

AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/31059467

Word Count: 4.5 K

» List of parts: {P1} {P2} {P3} {P4} {P5} {P6}«

Chapter 5

“Y/n it's our turn, let’s sing!!” Vivi told me, while pulling me from my arm. “Vivi, wait”, I said. I kept watching how Law was still hugging the girl. “What is it?... Oi!”, Nami said, also witnessing the scene.

“Don’t go, just… wait”, I begged my redhead friend who was ready to kill him. I saw how the mysterious woman and Law laughed together. Zoro didn’t even care, he was more drunk than anything else.

The girl was ruffling his hair, pinching his cheeks. Law didn’t even look at me. I didn’t know if he was just simply so amused about the girl that he simply forgot about me, or, he was doing this on purpose, knowing that I’ll be watching, maybe to let me know he wasn’t going to commit to me in any way.

“That’s it. I’m leaving”, I stated. Vivi, Robin and Nami insisted on me shouting at Torao, but I couldn’t. I was so hurt, and, besides that, I wasn’t even his girlfriend, so I had no right to reproach anything to him.

The girls came with me, and we drove home. The boys didn’t realize we had left until long after we weren’t at the karaoke bar, when Sanji texted Nami asking what the hell had just happened. “Sanji, you should ask your stupid ass friend Torao, what the hell is he doing with a bitch?, plus, go get your boyfriend too, she is right next to him”, Nami said via audio.

Sanji sent an audio back, “Nami-swan! Zoro is not my boyfriend… wait, you were talking about him, right?, whatever, Torao is still with her, I’m gonna see who the hell is she and kick the hell out of stupid Law for hurting Y/n-chwan”.

I drove as fast as I could, at that point I only wanted to bury myself in bed and cry my eyes out. I was silent all the way. My friends knew there was no point in saying anything else, so they just strung along with me.

We got home, and Robin offered me some tea, yet, I politely turned the offering down and headed almost running to my bed. I covered myself up to my face, and pitiful tears sprouted from my eyes.

I heard my cell phone ring several times, I knew it was probably my friends asking if I was all right. But I didn’t have the strength to even see the screen.

“Why did you choose to hurt me like this, Law?” ... I whispered to myself, unable to understand why I was in that position, why after all the romantic stuff he has done for me he didn’t even care I was there…

I reached my phone and simply turned it off, I was fed up with it ringing. Some minutes, perhaps half an hour passed until I fell asleep, crying.

Suddenly, Nami’s loud screams woke me up. “TORAO, WHAT THE FUCK? WHY ARE YOU BRINGING THIS SLUT HOME?”.

I didn’t hear Law’s voice, but I did hear someone climbing the stairs, quickly, almost running.

The door opened suddenly with a loud sound, like someone kicking on it. I was still in bed, and the bang of the door made me take an upright position instantly.

There he was, the villain of my story with tears on his eyes, hopeless, shaking. “Y/n-ya!!! it’s not what you think, let me explain…” “STOP, what type of lie are you going to spit out from your stupid mouth?, plus, what the hell? I heard Nami saying you brought that girl home. Have you been drinking? Are you drunk? what the fuck?” I shouted at him, also crying.

Suddenly, before Law could say anything else, I saw a brunette, tanned, tall girl, with big eyes that resemble Law’s ones. She looked at me, smiling and peacefully said, “Hello Y/n, my name is Lami. Trafalgar, Lami”.

I opened my eyes, and mouth… “Trafalgar?”.

“That’s right! I’m Law 's sister! Nice to meet you! I’m sorry if you got things wrong!” she said to my stunned me. “Oi, brother, she is so pretty!! Even more than in the pictures!”.

“Oh God…”. I was somehow relieved that Law wasn’t flirting with a girl, yet mortified because not only me, but all my friends had called Law’s sister a slut… a bitch.

“I am… I am really sorry… And, uhm, N-nice to meet you…”, I said, wiping the tears on my eyes. “It’s ok, darling! I’m leaving you alone so you can talk in peace, I’ll be downstairs!”. “O-ok”, I said sniffing.

Law slowly approached to the left side of my bed and sat there, next to me, in silence. I wasn’t capable of saying anything to him, either. I had put up a show, he probably thought I was a toxic girl, jealous or even worse things. I had mistrusted him. It was probably the end of something that hadn’t even started.

Suddenly, Law hurled himself on me, hugged me and nuzzled on my lap. “I thought you wouldn’t believe me, I’m sorry, I really do. Lami lives in Jeju and I wanted her to meet you because she is not traveling to Seoul any sooner, we just decided that we will be meeting at the bar so… so you could get to know her”. He said, still with his head buried onto my legs.

“Law…”, I began to cry again. I petted his hair and told him “I am the one who should be sorry. I- I thought you were a bad guy, a typical man that doesn’t care about the girls. I am sorry…”. I felt horrible.

I could hear downstairs my friends laughing, Sanji and Zoro fighting, Luffy shouting. Luckily everybody would make Lami feel comfortable, after all. Law was still sobbing over my lap.

After several minutes I decided to speak up. “Law, stop, you are not the one who should be crying asking me for forgiveness. You did nothing wrong. I was completely mistaken. I hope you will be able to forgive me someday”, I said, gaining composure in order to make things clear.

He sat back, looked at me with teary eyes and asked, “someday? There is nothing to forgive. I want to be with you, I … L…”

“Oi, you two, stop crying, Lami is leaving”, said Nami leaning on the door frame, smiling at us. As she left, and Law wiped the tears off my cheeks, we stood up from bed. I was still dressed so we headed downstairs right away.

“Sis, let’s go, I don’t quite remember how to get your home from here, so you tell me”, said Law. Lami looked at him with loving eyes, and said, “My big brother is always taking care of me, I missed you doc”. Law’s cheeks became red, and he hid under the white with black spots cap he was wearing.

Lami said goodbye to everybody, except me, “she probably hates me”, I thought.

I was going to wish her a good night, when Lami held my hand and pulled from me. “Let’s go sister-in-law, come with us!”. I followed them into the car unsure if Law wanted me there, because he was still embarrassed as hell.

I let Law’s sister sit on the passenger seat, and I sat on the back seat behind Lami. A few seconds after Law started the car Lami said, “Oi, Y/n! did you know that Law has never ever introduced a girlfriend to the family before?”. I choked a little when I heard her say “girlfriend”, and simply chuckled. Law told her to stop, but Lami continued telling me how “emo” he was when he was an adolescent, making fun of his sibling.

We finally arrived at Lami's house. It was a traditional Jeju stone house, with big windows and a typical korean roof construction. On the entrance was a tall guy wearing a cap with “PENGUIN” written on it, waving at us. Law parked the car next to a black Hyundai Ioniq.

“Oi!! brother-in-law!!! How are you? It’s been a year my dear friend!” the guy at the door told Law. We descended the car, and the guy hugged Law in a way “man” do. Lami introduced me to the man, he was his boyfriend, and they had been living together for a few years, and apparently before dating Lami, Penguin knew Law since they were little.

We went inside, and had coffee while chatting about everything. I didn’t feel uncomfortable at any moment, Lami and Penguin were really warm people.

Law’s sister and I headed to the kitchen. It was a perfect opportunity to ask her about their parents so I thought of the best way to bring up the subject. I didn’t need to, because it was the first thing that Lami mentioned.

“Y/n, I’m sure my cold brother didn’t tell you anything about our parents… right?”, she said. I was helping her putting some mochi onto a plate, so I looked at her and said “Not really… At first I thought Rosinante was his father, but then I realized that his surname was Trafalgar, not Donquixote”.

“That’s right, Rosinante is something like Law’s dad. When my brother was 10 years old, my parents passed away in a car accident. They were both doctors, the best ones of this city. Law looks exactly like my dad when he was younger…”, she stopped for a little, and continued, “We stayed with our grandparents at the moment. After two years, Law became really ill and had to be taken to Seoul for some doctors to cure him. Luckily, Rosinante was a volunteer at the children’s hospital where Law was being treated. After six months of intense treatment, he recovered and forged a friendship with “Corasan” who took care of him… Oh sorry, I meant, Rosinante. Corasan it’s just a nickname Law gave him during… the chemotherapy...”, she concluded.

“Oh… poor baby…I’m sorry for your loss too, Lami” I said, feeling a lump in my throat. “Don’t worry, we are all right now, time has passed”, she said, grabbing my hand softly and smiling. She continued, “but let me tell you something, I’ve never seen Law with that type of twinkle in his eyes in the 24 years I’ve known him. He loves you; I can sense that. Plus, when you left the bar earlier, he became so desperate, he was truly worried about losing you”.

I blushed instantly, yet, I was so happy of hearing how he probably loves me that I giggled. And Lami, too.

From the living room we heard Law calling me, “Bab… Y/n-ya, let’s go home it is pretty late”. “Ah… my sweet loving brother and his ways…”, Lami said with a sarcastic tone, rolling back eyes. We both laughed and headed where the boys were.

“Oi Penguin, do you have a bottle of cold water? I tend to get thirsty when I drive”, Law asked Penguin and looked at me with some sort of look I can only label as… horny?. “Right, bro, let me get you one”, said the cool cap guy and headed to the kitchen. “He gets thirsty?” I said to myself a little confused, but dismissed the thought as my attention went to Lami who was showing me a photo of his brother when he was a little baby.

The happy couple invited us to the lantern festival that was taking place the next night at the historical center of the city. They told us to bring all of our friends too. We were excited about it, so we accepted the invitation and left the house.

During the ride along a road by the sea, Law asked me, “Babe, can you please turn the GPS on?, I don’t really know where I am going…”. I searched for my phone in my pockets, but realized I’ve left it at home. “I didn’t bring my phone… give me yours”, I told him. He grabbed his from the black jeans pocket and gave it to me. “Law, your phone is dead…”, I said, trying to turn it on.

“Yeah, my battery died after calling you twenty times when you left the bar…”, he said, kinda joking. “Oh…”, I gasped, and continued, “Well, let me enter the address on the car sat nav”.

I approached my hand to the little screen when Law stopped my hand and smirked. “It would be a shame if the computer wouldn’t work and we ended up lost…”.

“You clearly had this planned, right?” I said arching a brow. “Me, planning things? that’s not something I usually do…”, he said in a sarcastic way, but with a sexy tone that made me somehow fidget on my seat.

I came closer to his face and almost talking next to his ear I said, “Let’s get lost”. Law licked his lips, placed his right hand over my lap and said “Heh, sure… I can’t resist myself anymore”.

He suddenly turned the wheel and took a little road that took us to the beach. Finally, my lover parked the car, luckily it was a deserted zone, a cliff area, and there weren’t any houses or places nearer.

The beach ahead of us was lightened by an intense moonshine, the sea was choppy so the waves hit hard on the cliffs.

Law threw his seat back and patted his lap, “Strip for me, and come here, baby”. “Ah, so we are fucking on the car, nice…” I thought and began to take my clothes off.

“Don’t take that off, yet. You know that little bandanna you have on your head could help us…”, he said to me after I jumped over his lap. I felt a rock hard bulge under my core, he was already so ablaze for me.

He then untied the cloth that was holding my hair, smirked at me, and said “may I?” while covering my eyes with it.

“Lay you back on the steering wheel, baby girl”, he ordered me. I remember instantly how he likes to dominate me, so I followed his order to a “Yes, sir”.

His fingers ran from my mouth to my neck. He kept lowering them softly caressing my flesh. I could barely feel the touch of his fingers over my skin. He wasn’t talking, and I was unaware of what was coming next, I was blindfolded, but surrendered completely to this man.

All of a sudden I felt a cold sensation over one of my nipples, “Uhg…” I moaned, throwing my head back. Then the chilly stinging feeling moved to my other nipple. God, what is that?... and suddenly remember Law asking Penguin the cold water bottle. “Damn you, Law”, I said to myself but only being able to verbalize moans and grunts.

He began to trail an icy path from my breasts to my lower stomach. My heated skin mixed with the cold water that began to melt over my flesh, felt like a sweet torture.

“Your hot body is making the icy water melt and wet my jeans… or is it perhaps your own arousal for your Master, baby girl?”, he said to me, while running a thumb over my clit.

He then penetrated me with two fingers as he only knew how to, took them off and asked me to open my mouth. “Taste yourself, baby girl”, he commanded me, and I opened my mouth and sucked.

I heard - and felt- how he unzipped his jeans, and slowly took his member out. I could feel how he began to softly hit his manhood over my sex. He was playing with it, but my body couldn’t wait for it to be inside of me.

“Is it getting hot in here, huh?” he said and unbuttoned his black shirt. I knew it because he then grabbed my hands making me caress his skin. My hands wandered along his chest, but my mind was only focusing on how much I wanted to be penetrated by this man.

I was drowning in lust, I needed him to do something, but he didn’t. “Law… Sir… What are you doing?... fuck me, I want you to fuck me…”. He laughed, and violently but gently enough he pinched and twisted one of my erect nipples. A strike of intense pleasure hit my center, and it was so unexpected that I only purred at it.

He then ran his inked fingers through my hair and pulled me closer to his face, this time he wasn’t being gentle, he was being rough… and I loved it. “What do you think you are doing? I am the one who gives you orders in here, are we clear?” he said, whispering with a grunt in my ear.

“Y-yes sir, I- am sorry…”, I said, stuttering. “Good”, he said and kissed me. We made out, hard, feverishly. I could feel over my entrance how his sex became even harder.

He suddenly put his hands on each side of my waist and lifted me up a little bit, so I could place my knees on each side of the seat. He used his right hand to guide his pennis inside of me. It was just the tip of it, he was enjoying how I was probably miming the words “fuck me” repeatedly. After a few seconds of torture, he grabbing me again from my waist, pushed me down against his lap. “Ugh..” I said, opening my mouth, throwing my back to the steering wheel, so hard that I made the car horn sound.

I wanted to be penetrated, and he did it so roughly, yet so pleasantly.

I began to ride him, back, forward, up, down, tracing circles with my pelvis. My left knee hit the emergency brake handle, it hurt but I didn’t care. I placed my hands over his strong abs, letting all of my senses focus on the pleasure, imagining the expression he had on his face when I heard him groan.

Law pulled my hair and threw my neck back, again making me hit my back on the wheel, and used his hips to bang me, hard, burying himself into me. Every thrust made my body react with little spams; I was being sent to heaven.

Law untied the bandanna that was covering my eyes, and said in between the thrusts and an agitated voice, “I want to see your precious face when I make you cum”. My eyes slowly returned to its functions, admiring the sweaty thorax of Law, the way his stomach would go up and down picturing his rapid breathing. His face showed a red glowing, he was more than aroused. I was too, and as I reached for climax, placing my right hand over the steamy glass of the car window, Law did too with a hard “Huh”.

He bathed my insides once again. I remained still enjoying the warming sensation inside of me, trying to erase any worry at the time.

Law placed a hand on my back and pulled me closer to his chest, while lying his neck over the headrest of the yellow Sonata.

I rested my whole tired body over his, enjoying the touch of our warm skins, the scent of his body, with my lips wandering along his neck, leaving soft kisses over its skin.

“We should go back home; they might get a little bit concerned…” I told Law, still over him. “Yeah, you are right, let’s go back…”.

It was 4 am so once we got home and opened the door, we entered stealthily. I walked behind Law when he suddenly stopped, and I fell over him. “What is it, Law?!” I whispered, “I don’t know, this is kind of a slumber party…”, he whispered back at me.

Suddenly all the lights turned on. Everybody was sleeping on bare mattresses on the floor of the living room.

Little by little our friends but Zoro and Sanji woke up.

“Oh my god, finally…” said Nami and everyone began to laugh. They weren’t laughing at us, but at Sanji and Zoro who were sleeping cuddled.

Law looked at them and looked at everybody else and said, “Excuse me, is this something new to you? Oi Mugiwara-ya, tell them every time you three get to sleep at home they do the same”. Luffy nodded, still laughing.

No matter how much noise they made, nor Zoro or Sanji woke up, they seemed to be happily enjoying sleeping like this, so we didn’t want to bother them anymore.

“Let’s go back to sleep, guys. Y/n and Law you can sleep upstairs, we left Law’s bed intact”, said Franky winking at us. “Thank you!!” I said, and we went upstairs jumping through the multiple legs of our friends.

We climbed up the stairs, and went into the boy’s room. I was undressing when suddenly Law offered me a big loose t-shirt. “Don’t get me wrong I love your naked body, but what if the boys enter the room and see you naked?”, he said. “Oh, Law, are you jealous? hahaha”, I mocked him. “Well, let's not discuss jealousy…”, he said frowning.

I grabbed his white loose t-shirt with some kind of black power ranger called “Stealth Black” printed on it and put it on, giggling. I could have sworn he was a geeky nerd, and that was the proof.

Law and I jumped into his bed and muffled up with the bedding. He hugged me, kissing my head. “Thank you for making this the best holiday of my whole life…”, he said. “Thank you for paying the bus ticket that time…”, I whispered with my face pressed up against his chest. We both laughed and soon after fell asleep.

I woke up with the sounds of some birds chirping on the window. Law was still asleep beside me, with his ruffled hair, his cheek pressed against the pillow with his mouth open, snoring softly. I couldn’t help but drool over that image, so handsome even like that, the intimacy, the person I wanted to wake up to each morning.

I placed my head over the tattoos of his chest, following with my index finger the lines of ink on his skin. I remained there for a few minutes hearing his heartbeat, drunk of his skin scent.

Softly he began caressing my cheek, still without opening his eyes. He was probably half asleep yet.

I felt a million butterflies trapped on my stomach, I was so in love, I had fallen for this guy, hard. I felt a little guilty, I mean, how was I supposed to fall in love so quickly with a man?... I guess it was just love at first sight…

Law’s hand stopped moving, and suddenly I heard him mumble something like, “Mmmm- hum - I-I- love you Y/n-ya”. I widened my eyes, “did he just say he loves me? “I was completely surprised and even unsure if that was what he said or if it was just my imagination.

Some minutes later, he opened his eyes, slowly. “Good morning, baby girl”, he said, kissing my forehead. I was immobile, watching his face still trying to process what he had just said. “What is it?, are you sleeping with your eyes open? you are gorgeous but that would be a little creepy”, he said, surprised.

“N-No, uhm, I am awake, yes. Good morning”, I uttered. “Are you ok, Y/n-ya?”, he asked with a confused expression. “Yeah, uhm… Law… Do you sleep talk?”, I inquired him. “Oh… did I? I’m sorry... I do, yes. Sometimes. What did I say?”, he said this time with a worried expression. “Oh, no, nothing, I thought I heard something but I don’t know. It’s nothing”, I said, trying to settle the matter.

We remained cuddling up a little bit more, until we heard movements downstairs. They were probably waking up, so I decided to go to my room and get ready for the day.

“New pajamas”, I thought while taking off Law’s shirt. I folded and put it on my suitcase, I wasn’t willing to give it back to him.

I went ahead and showered. I let the warm water bathe my skin while thinking about Law saying “I love you” while he was asleep. Was he really? Did he really feel that or was it just a dream?... I guess I should wait…

After the bath, which clearly made me more anxious than relaxed, I went downstairs to the kitchen where Sanji was already preparing breakfast. I decided to help him with setting the table while chatting about the lantern festival of that night. Nami, Vivi and Robin joined us and were pleased that Lami and Penguin invited us to such a pretty event.

Our last day in Jeju passed with us visiting the Samseonghyeol Shrine, which is the oldest historic site in Korea. That place is considered as the birthplace of three demigods of the island, founders of the Tanma Kingdom that governed Jeju Island before the Joseon dynasty took over.

At noon we came back from the city and began to get ready for the festival that night. I received a message from Lami, “@TraffLami.06 > hello Sis! How is the day going? Is my brother treating you right?. Listen, we usually wear “hanbok” to the festival. If you want to too, you can rent them from a friend's shop. I send the location. See you tonight! ♥”. I got super excited for it, I loved cultural clothing and I wanted to see Law wearing those clothes too. I told my friends and we all agreed on renting one. Law, being the warm boy he was, wasn't so sure about it, but with a little kiss and a little begging I could convince him.

The night came and we all drove to the historical centre of Jeju. The place was all garnished with paper lanterns, string lights hanging from some bridges, lit inflatable displays, food courts, typical music being played that mixed with the buzz of hundreds of attendants that were enjoying the night.

I was wearing a hanbok in yellow and orange tones, while Law used a green and black one. He looked like a typical groom; I couldn’t help but fantasize a little about us getting married someday.

Luffy of course ran to the food stalls followed by everybody else, Zoro went ahead and attacked the stall where they were offering some kind of soju and Law and I waited for his sister and Penguin to arrive at where we were.

Law was more silent than usual and his face showed concerned. I thought at first about him missing his parents or family, maybe the festival triggered some memories, so I held his hand without saying anything. He squeezed my hand, and began to sweat.

“Are you ok, doc?”, I asked. He looked at me, I could sense he got really nervous and finally mumbled, “Y/n-ya we need to talk…” …

Part 6, FINAL

63 notes · View notes

miraculouscontent · 3 years

Text

Asks I got about the “Marinette makes mistakes” tweet:

i-would-rather-be-a-fairy said:

I’m starting to think that the writers don’t particularly like Marinette.

Did Marinette spill coffee on the laps of the writers and they’ve been salty ever since? Because that’s all I can imagine.

Anonymous said:

Is there ANY episode where Marinette doesn't make a mistake and has to learn a lesson? There has to be right?

I feel like there must be? Like, “Silencer” at minimum, but I guess maybe they thought that her trying to combat Roth was her mistake and it got Luka akumatized? It wasn’t portrayed as a mistake though exactly?? (If anything, it just looked like her being awesome, and Luka being akumatized ultimately led to Roth being outed on some level, so it all worked out.)

Even episodes like “Stormy Weather” that really don’t need to be about her mistakes shoehorn in a line about “I should never have left Manon” (if she had, she would’ve been in the ice dome instead of Alya, but okay I guess; dialog choices in this show are so weird).

It really puts episodes into perspective knowing that they have to force Marinette screwing up/learning/apologizing in every episode.

Anonymous said:

Just curious about that Shanghai tweet: were you the one who sent it? I know there are other people who notice Marinette's unfair treatment, but I just wanted to know if you've ever reached out to Thomas Astruc personally.

Nah, that wasn’t me, I don’t use Twitter.

Plus, if that had been me calling Astruc out, I wouldn’t have blurred the name. I’d want full credit.

Anonymous said:

I am so irritated by Thomas Astruc's tweet. Do they even realize they're sacrificing Marinette's character and positive Chinese representation to make her chase after a boy and THEN get blamed for it? Yes, you read that right, a bunch of white men in a room decided that a Chinese heroine doesn't deserve to celebrate or learn more about her culture because she's in love with a white boy(who knows more about her own culture than her) and they need to use her as a punching bag. Ugh. At this point?

I am just completely done with the show. Yes, you heard me. DONE! Because the writers have admitted that their entire show is based around their main protagonist suffering, when it SHOULD be about "girl power". I'm not saying Marinette is NEVER allowed to make mistakes, be clumsy, or learn a lesson, but when the writers will literally REFUSE to let her develop and force her to always be in the wrong against ALL LOGIC, that's where I draw the line. As it stands, I can't recommend this show to any one.

I'm pretty much only watching because I don't like to leave shows unfinished(although there are shows I've simply stopped watching, this is the only one I've seriously been following to this extent since it started), and for the few Lukanette moments/other rare moments of Marinette being happy. Because the writers have NO RESPECT for their main character, have ADMITTED as much, and don't see a problem with it, or why everyone is upset. Oh, and they'll block you if you disagree with them.

I really wish I could’ve been in the writing room the day they said, “Hey, let’s make it so our biracial representation is always the one that screws up and has to learn a lesson/apologize for it!

Anonymous said:

I know comparison is not the best way to say why something is good or bad, but I think "Miraculous Ladybug" is as controversial as it is because "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic" (a show I watched almost religiously for the first 4 Seasons) did the Lesson Of The Week so much better and came first.

I watched that show for a little over four seasons and I can confirm that the lessons were way more spaced out and balanced (though personally I feel like Dashie got the shaft on most of hers).

Keeping its rules like Miraculous would be like if Twilight was the only one allowed to screw up.

Anonymous said:

Disney's baby tv show "Sofia the First" genuinely deals with the "mc makes mistakes" so well. Initially, the main character is more prone to making mistakes (even if she’s generally well-meaning and kind), but she actually consistently applies her lessons and grows with them. At some point clearly the writers saw that this character’s development is complete; there is nothing more they can do with her because, due to applying her lessons, she is emotionally mature enough to handle anything they throw her way. Then they made a genuinely smart choice to commit latter seasons to having the mc become a literal guardian of the realm who travels to help other people solve their issues by applying the lessons she has already learned.

The show has a big cast of characters and distributes the lessons equally amongst all of them, as well as having many episodes, even in earlier seasons, where the main character actually /is/ in the right, and the lesson acknowledges that. TBH the show’s ability to consistently develop characters in an episodic format, as well as not disrespecting any of them and being written w/ heart, is impressive. Freaking Thomas Astruc wishes.

THAT WAS BASICALLY EXACTLY WHAT I WANTED; MARINETTE LEARNING LESSONS AND THEN BEING A “GUARDIAN” TO HER FRIENDS AND HELPING THEM LEARN TOO.

ugh, and instead it’s just--nope, she always screws up because it’s the rule

Anonymous said:

WAIT WHAT WAS MARINETTE'S MISTAKE IN NEW YORK?? WANTING ADRIEN TO GO??

APPARENTLY???

Or arguing with him mid-battle but can you honestly blame her after he betrayed her trust like that??

Anonymous said:

“It’s the rules of the show she makes a mistake and learns” SIR it’s season FOUR

I think we were meant to read it as, “a season 4 making Marinette screw up again even if she didn’t actually screw up.”

elflynns-horde-of-stuff said:

So the rule of 'Marinette must always make a mistake and learn something' inspired a little rant. I hope you're okay with this! Because it's usually a good thing for tv shows to have a rulebook for their stories, but they have to be GOOD rules. And this (awful) rule is easily fixed! Which makes it even more frustrating to me!

First. Replace 'Marinette' with 'A character' that way multiple characters get focus and development throughout the series. (At least the would if status quo wasn't God.)

Second. Why does all if Marinette's mistakes have to be huge? Why can't she use the wrong fabric for a design, research, and correct it? Or pronounce a Chinese word wrong and learn more about the language? Or use the wrong ingredient for Guardian related magic? If she has to be learning something every episode, why not allow her to develop skills and hobbies? Why make her miserable, anxious and guilty all the time? What purpose does it serve?

It is moments like this, where I am reminded how much potential this show has in better hands. Marinette deserves so much better it breaks my heart!

It breaks my heart too and I agree!

I dunno, the rule is so restrictive. It’s not that all restrictions are bad but this one specifically is crippling.

#category: salt #character: Marinette Dupain Cheng #other: ask and answer

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