#I had fun with this segment as a kid

[emily-mooon]

Hopping on the swap AU train with my personal favourite swap I’ve seen: Young Neil and Stacey.

[sunnycantaloupe]

"Since when was this marriage valid?!" Piece 2

Malleus's segment

This with Malleus, who as a young child was able to evade his caretakers and find himself in the forest near the palace. Hood over his head, he explored the area, admiring the wildflowers and trees. He was saddened when the small woodland creatures would run from him, but he didn't let it dampen his mood.

As he walked, he eventually came across a semi small clearing. In the middle of it, sat you as a child, making flower crowns and trying (along with failing) to climb trees in order to get to the birds on them. He wasn't sure if he should approach, thinking back to the times earlier when the animals evaded him. Before he could make a decision, you spotted him.

Instead of running, you eagerly approached him. You talked about how you couldn't see his face, but that you didn't care and asked him to join you. He nodded, very happy that you didn't run away out of fear.

For the next hour or so, you taught him how to make flower crowns, how to get the birds to come to him (which did not work), and other trivial stuff. Eventually, he took off his hood, expecting you to run away in fear or embarrassment because of his status. Your actual reaction made him so, so happy.

You stared wide eyed before excitedly going on about how "pretty" he was. How he must be a prince (you didn't recognize him????) for him to look so cool. How you were so glad to have him as a new friend now. Malleus was awestruck as he watched you flutter around him excitedly.

At one point, you claimed that you wanted him to marry you. When Malleus asked why, you said it was because you were never going to let him forget you, and that marriage was the only way to ensure that (you were a kid, give yourself some slack). That made sense to him, so he agreed.

You both picked a wild flower that you liked best and used some magic to preserve it. Then, you exchanged it with each other, you giving him a smile.

You two had been playing for hours, and it began to get dark. You heard your mother call out for you to come home, along with Malleus hearing footsteps coming from behind him. You both said goodbye, you telling him that "you'll know I'm home if the chimney is on!".

The week that followed was a very happy week for the both of you. You told your parents about your new "husband", which they laughed off and joked that you would have to bring him home eventually. Malleus told his caretaker about you, who seemed to already know and cheekily asked if he had fun. You would meet everyday, you bringing him snacks for him to try and him bringing his favorite book for you to read.

All was well, until one day you came to him in tears. You told him about how your parents were going to take you far away, and that you wouldn't be able to see him anymore. You confessed that they talked about how you had a "bad memory", and that you were scared you were going to wake up one day and not remember him. He comforted you as best he could, and assured you that it was ok. "I can remember for the both of us." he said, which cheered you up a bit.

With that, you waved him goodbye for the last time, promising him that you would come back. As your family packed up, you gave the preserved flower a hug before putting it away in your luggage. By the time night fell, your family was gone.

...

Many, many years have passed since then, and Malleus was newly appointed as the king of Briar Valley, after his grandmother stepped down. He was prepared all his life for this, and his grandmother deemed him ready.

Growing up, he always looked out his window. He was keeping an eye out for smoke in the forest near his castle, looking for any sign that you came back. He kept his flower preserved over the years, keeping it on his bedside table next to him while he slept every night.

One day, after his duties, he retired to his chambers. It wasn't quite late in the day, but he was still tired. At that moment, his advisor (the cheeky one that used to be one of his caretakers) suggested that he looked out his window. As he did, his eyes widened. There was smoke.

You had come back, albeit a few weeks ago. Many years have gone by and your parents let you have the small cottage that you grew up in, after you expressed interest in returning to Briar Valley. Soon after, you packed up your stuff and moved back. Nostalgia flooded your mind as you walked through that forest, through the small clearing, and up the steps to the cottage door.

You placed the preserved flower on your bedside table, in the same spot where you put it as a kid. Due to your now diagnosed memory problem, you couldn't remember exactly why you had it, just that it was given to you by someone you cared about. In fact, this mystery person was the reason you even came back. You were always someone that trusted your gut, so you went with that assumption.

The first weeks you were back home were spent cleaning up the place. It had been unoccupied for a really long time (by human standards at least), so it needed a little tidying up. By the time you had finished, a few weeks went by and you decided to enjoy the newly cleaned space by lighting up the old chimney and sipping some tea you bought in town.

Life went by peacefully...until one day when you were trying to make bread yourself, there was loud knocking at the door. You had half the mind to give the visitor hell, and you were ready to do that until you opened the door and came face to face with two royal guards.

At first, you freaked out. You thought you were in trouble somehow, because why else would the royal guard be at your doorstep. Before you could freak out further, the louder of the two guards opened a scroll, loudly proclaiming that your attendance was urgently requested by the newly appointed king, so that you may be formally crowned as his spouse.

See? He told you that he could remember for the both of you.

A/N: Here's Mal's piece! Funfact, his, Leona's, and Idia's segments are the only ones that take place in the original twst universe. Happy reading!

[kindsail]

NE T'EN VA PAS. BEATLE GIRL INTRO!

SWEET LITTLE LASS, YOU'RE MY LONG HAIRED LADY!

I. THE GREAT VISIONARY BEHIND THE CAMERA LENS!

JANE: "don’t wait for someone to hand you a pen, pick it up yourself. and when you do, write the world the way you see it, not the way you’re told it should look. if your voice shakes, use it anyway."

a creative mind since birth, jane was brought into the world on the day of love 1943. she was a bright student. intelligent and quick-witted, always knowing the answer to everything and when to raise her hand. she knew not to raise it too often, to avoid being seen as a bootlicker, but every time she did, she was always correct. her favourite subject was always english, which was taught by an affectionate woman in her late-fifties.

not in terms of shakespeare, oh god. never in terms of shakespeare. but being able to make up her own creative stories, flesh out the insides of her mind and lay them out for the world to see. she was talented at it too, creative writing. then, one day, her class was told to write about something they were interested in.

in all honesty, jane wasn't sure why she chose music at the time. perhaps it's because her mother had recently purchased a radio and she didn't need to succumb to her father's horrific piano skills (who is she kidding, of course it's because of that). jane poured her heart and soul into that assignment, and her efforts payed off. her teacher spoke highly of her writing. she called it something natural and special, something she had never seen in her thirty years of teaching!

jane, a bit bashful and unsure of what to do with all of that praise, thanked her and expected to just go about with her day as usual. but her teacher encouraged her to begin writing for the school newspaper. a special segment titled "jamming with jane," that would kickstart jane's life as a prolific photojournalist.

that small opportunity quickly escalated, growing into something far bigger than jane, or anyone, had expected.

her segment in the newspaper, made up entirely of her own photography and opinions on her favourite rising music acts, became beloved by students and teachers alike. soon, it became the talk of all merseyside. parents would even ask their children to bring home copies of the school newspaper just to read her section.

by spring time 1958, the local paper had reached out to jane. she was offered her very own segment, continuing with the title "jamming with jane," which quickly became a front-page regular.

up-and-coming bands from across the merseyside began contacting her, hoping she'd write about them. it became common knowledge that any band jane featured would gain attention, because her writing was honest, vivid, and full of excitement. people trusted her eye, her voice, and the way she could make music feel like something you could hold in your hands.

II. FROM DARKROOM, TO DRESSING ROOM!

JANE: "i think style should be fun, not a burden. besides, a smudge of lipstick or a wrinkle in my skirt just shows i’m human, no? the world’s changing, and there’s room for every kind of beauty out there."

by the early sixties, jamming with jane had taken over the world! her success wasn't a shock to those who had known her as a young child. i mean, even her parents had known she'd grow up to become something great from the moment she took her first breath.

and her entertaining reads weren't the only things people loved. jane's natural beauty and charm also swept the world, and modelling became a side hustle she dipped into from time to time. y'know, nothing serious. . . it was only vogue!

by the mid-sixties, jane had slowly begun branching out from music. she launched her newest segment, "through the eyes of jane," a far more personal project where she photographed and documented the mundane, fleeting moments of life in 1968.

a lot of this included intimate glimpses into her own life: late mornings wrapped in soft sunlight, messy baking accidents that left flour on every surface, and even her children’s milestones—their first christmas, first lost tooth, first holiday abroad. there were even silly self-portraits, playful and unpolished, showing a side of jane that the public longed for.

[clanwarrior-tumbly]

Hello again! This time with a request(although you can skip it if you want :p), could you write something about Tenna with a lightener that suffers from stage fright, but he didn't know and ends up having to halt a show to comfort them?

Feel free to tweak the story around whoever you want! Have a nice day :]

Thank you!

........

If there's one thing Tenna wanted more than anything else on his show, it's for the audience and contestants alike to have a good time! If someone isn't, then the "Fun-O-Meter" isn't going up or down, and he can't allow that.

But when you end up in the TV World and get thrown into one of his gameshows unexpectedly...he gets a bit too caught-up in his excitement over having a Lightner on the stage. The first one who's watched him in a long, long time.

Unknowingly, he chose to put you--who has crippling stage fright--under the spotlight as the sole contestant.

You weren't even good at doing class presentations. How could you do this without looking like a fool???

As he's introducing you to the crowd, you see so many demonic-looking creatures, their claws black as the night and their sharp teeth gleaming under the bright lights, shouting and cheering incomprehensibly.

You don't know any of them.

You don't see any familiar faces.

Just a sea of strangers.

This was like a dream rapidly turning into your worst nightmare-

"Now! Please give us your name."

"H-Huh?" You focus back on Tenna, who's now looking at you.

"Your name, of course! Just type it in and it'll show up on the podium. We only have a small selection of letters, so pick carefully!"

"Oh! Right..um..okay......ah shoot. I think I messed up.." Immediately, you picked the wrong first letter.

You could feel the stares of everyone there, thinking: 'What a bumbling idiot...can't even spell their own name right...'

Tenna was ready to make a joke about your "identity crisis", but in that moment he notices how genuinely upset you seemed. So he pretends to cough, and the screen resets, allowing you to input your name again.

Still, though, you don't feel any better.

During Round 1, you were terrified to pick the wrong answer on a quiz, and embarrassment creeps over you regardless of the outcome.

He was about to introduce a "physical challenge", but he has a hard time keeping up the act and funny quips as he realizes what's going on with you. Judging from your shaking hands, nervous gaze, the stammers in your voice...

So he cuts to a commercial break and leaves the stage, gesturing for you to follow him to the green room, where there's only a few employees and calm music.

At first, you think you're in trouble...until he speaks.

"I'm sorry, I should have realized it sooner..."

"What..?"

"You weren't having any fun." His antennae droop. "Tell me, what can I do to help you feel more comfortable onstage?"

"Huh?? I..uh...I-I promise I'm fine, Mr. Tenna." You're thrown off by his worry. "I just..get nervous being put on the spot sometimes. That's all."

"Those weren't just nerves, kid. You were trembling. I know stage fright when I see it!" He huffs, before pointing to the couch, his voice calmer now. "Please rest. Enjoy our amenities. I'll call you back once I make some...minor adjustments to the games so they're more enjoyable for you."

You had no chance to argue, as he runs off and doesn't allow you to follow him.

RAMB, who overheard everything, explains that while he might be harsh to his employees, he values your feelings more and wanted you to be comfortable on his show. The happiness of Lightners is all he lived for, so he's gonna do everything he can to ensure you're happy and not terrified.

It makes you feel a little better, knowing he's not some crazy overlord of this Dark World who wanted you to play his games until the end of time.

So you rest and relax, managing to calm your racing heart and overwhelmed brain, until Tenna calls you back to the stage--and you're suddenly nervous again.

But for this "episode", there's only one segment: You and him playing a retro-styled video game that reminds you of one you've beaten back in the Light World. He mentions your delight in overcoming the most difficult challenges, beating the hardest bosses, and finding all the easter eggs--he has full faith in your ability to reenact those accomplishments in this "condensed" version.

Your backs are to the audience, and they aren't as loud as before. In fact, you hardly ever notice them as you play through the game, while Tenna commentates.

Even when you're hit with quizzes based on the lore, you weren't nervous and answered them all correctly.

Suddenly it feels like less of a live televised gameshow and more like a casual hangout with a friend.

You get an S-Rank at the end, and earn lots of points to spend back in the green room's prize machine.

You always felt like you should've gotten over your stage fright by now, with people surrounding you saying "you'll grow out of it" or "don't be a scaredy cat". But now that you knew Tenna was willing to be accommodating, you realize he's not all that bad.

He made you feel comfortable enough to be on his show, and he still got a lot of praises/views from the audience due to your stellar performance. So it's a win-win!

[lair-of-platonic-yanderes]

hi!!! Idk if you take requests!! But if you do can you MAYBE do Yandere platonic harbingers x Shy!Child!Reader? If not then ignore this!!^^

After the festival

Platonic! Yandere! Harbingers x GN! Shy! Child! Reader (+ Slight! Platonic! Yandere! Tsaritsa)

Description: Festival is over. Now it's time for a clean up. What... What's the kid are doing here?

Warning: English is my second language. OOC. Platonic Yandere. Took place before events of the game.

________

Snezhnaya was a cold nation. But, sometimes, something happens, that makes people feel warm.

Today, something like that was happening. First, from multiple festivals for kids' from the villages were was in the capital city. Tasty food, sweet beverages, games, performances, prizes and lots of people. A nice celebration to lift children's spirits.

Childe looked around an empty hall. Festival ended few hours ago, all invited kids were on their way home. The festival was a blast! Childe even managed to have fun with Anthon, Tonya and Teucer, who came from Morepesok to the capital city. Childe was happy. But now, it was time to have some rest.

Childe was ready to leave for his chamber, when he heard a quiet sneeze. He immediately perked up, and slowly moved where the sound came from.

Someone was hiding behind the giant colorful cube with cat faces painted on it (someone from House of Heath helped with decorations). Childe looked behind the cube.

Blue eyes met with [e/c] ones.

A quiet, shy voice filled the room.

"Mister... Can you, please, help me?"

____________

"So, let me get that straight... You were too shy to ask where one of the carriages, that will bring you back to your village, are?" normally, Childe would deal with the scared lost kid by himself, but the situation quickly got complicated, and he had to tell about the kid to other harbingers. Right now, he and some of his colleagues (Arlecchino and Pulcinella were called by Childe, Dottore and Columbina invited themselves) gather in one of the cabinets (one of the cozy ones). Right now, [Y/N] were sitting on the couch, with Columbina's coat wrapped around them, while Arlecchino was questioning them.

Kid gave a tiny nod, hiding their face in coat's fluff.

That moment, Fatui Harbingers, for the first time since they started to work together, have one similar thought.

'CUTE'

Columbina, who sat between Childe, and Dottore, leaned closer to Doctor, and whispered.

"If you ever thought about laying a finger on [Y/N], I will kill all of your segments."

Childe, who also heard her whisper, shivered. Arlecchino sighs.

"So, you were waiting in the corner. You tried to gather all your courage and ask for help, but you can't do it. Right?"

[Y/N] nodded again and hide even more behind the coat. The sounds of the roaring winds were muffled by the window.

That was The Complication. The snowstorm started. And, it seems, that storm will last for a few days. That, plus, the time to clean up the roads...

Kid will stuck in Zapolyarny Palace for a week at least. Childe can't just keep kid in his chambers for that duration! They will be found, and both them and Childe will get into trouble.

Arlecchino spoke again.

"And you stayed in the corner for a few hours, until you sneeze and were found by Childe." It wasn't a question, but kid nodded.

"Yes... I am sorry for describing him." [Y/N] looked down in shame, and hide deeper in the coat.

On second thought, Childe could simply bring kid to his chambers and said them not to leave it. Kid would probably stay there for a month.

Arlecchino rubbed her eyes. The situation was... Something. Still, they need to think what to do with the kid, if Pierro, who was updating Tsaritsa about them, won't be able to convince Cryo Archon to let [Y/N] stay in the palace.

Pulcinella tapped his fingers against the table. He cast a quick glance at the kid, who, at that point, were in a coat cacoon. Only a pair of eyes and small nose were visible from under the hood. An encouraging smile appeared on Pulcinella's face.

"Don't be nervous, young one. You aren't in trouble."

[Y/N] mumbled something, but, otherwise, stay quiet.

The door opened. Pierro and Capitano walked into the room. Number Fist of Fatui Harbingers walked straight to the couch, where [Y/N] were sitting. He was towering over the kid.

Capitano looked straight into the kid's eyes. Suddenly, he slowly and carefully, pressed his finger against their nose.

The room were silent. Did Capitano just... Booped kid's nose?

Capitano nodded, hummed and stepped aside. He glance over his shoulder to Pierro.

"They aren't dangerous."

Pierro cleared his throat. Detector's voice was calm.

"Her Majesty allowed them to stay."

And The Stay begun.

_________

Day 1 - Childe and Arlecchino

_______

[Y/N] tilted their head, looking at the food, that was put before them. Steak Tartare, or, as Arlecchino called it, at Hearthfire's Trail and at Calla Lily Seafood Soup, or, as Childe called it, at A Prize Catch.

Kid didn't know what to do. They weren't picky and were fine with eating the soup. But to eat tartare... [Y/N] didn't want to eat it, but they also didn't want to offend Arlecchino.

A pair of harbingers were sitting not far away, casting glances at the kid.

"Is it me, or thet looked like a sad kitten?" Childe whispered to Arlecchino, without looking away from [Y/N]. Arlecchino nodded. She can understand kid's dilemma. With a quiet chuckle, she stood up, went to the [Y/N]'s table, and picked up a plate with Hearthfire's Trail. Immediately, kid spoke.

"Miss Arlecchino, I will eat it, I pro-" she gently pressed a finger against their lips. A rare smile appeared on her face.

"Don't worry, child. It's on me. I should have realized, that not everyone is found of raw meat. I will simply cook it, so you can enjoy your Hearthfire's Trail."

Without another word, she left for the kitchen.

[Y/N] bit their lip, put soup closer and start eating it. It was tasty. [Y/N] hummed in delight.

Kid didn't notice Childe's proud gaze.

After a few more moments of observation, Childe stand up from his seat and walked to [Y/N]'s table.

"You like it?" he asked with a grin. Childe waited for the kid to nod, before asking the next question. "By the way, what is your favorite dish?"

[Y/N] chewed their lip, before mumbling.

"Pancakes..."

Kid answered right when Arlecchino returned with cooked Hearthfire's Trail.

[Y/N] ended up enjoying it.

~~~~~~~~~

Arlecchino and Childe spend half of the night baking pancakes for [Y/N].

Meanwhile, agents from House of Hearth and Childe's subordinates investigated the village, where [Y/N] lived.

_________

Day 2 - Sandrone and Scaramoushe

________

[Y/N] looked at the plush otter with big sparkling eyes.

"Wow! So cool." whispered kid, trying not to disturb the silence of the room. They looked at Scaramoushe, who tried to keep a neutral expression on his face. "Thank you, Mister Scaramoushe."

Scaramoushe just waved his hand.

"Yeah, don't mention it. Just, go to your room and play with your new toy."

[Y/N] nodded, thank him again and leave the room.

In a few minutes, Sandrone looked inside the room. With an amused expression, she asked.

"So, our great Number Six has a soft spot for kids?"

Scaramoushe growled.

"I did it, so brat won't bother me, that's all!"

Sandrone raised an eyebrow.

"So, instead of buying a toy, you sewed one?"

Scaramoushe clench his teeth, but, before he can say something, Arlecchino's loud yell echoes through the corridor.

"[Y/N]! Get down from Sandrone's robot! You will get hurt!"

Scaramoushe immediately ran past Sandrone. Boy could get hurt! Sandrone followed after him, loudly proclaiming.

"Don't worry, Arlecchino! I let them do it, they are safe!"

Next second, Childe's voice joined the screaming match.

"Well, others didn't allow [Y/N] to take a piggyback ride on your robot!"

Scaramoushe barked over his shoulder.

"So, you are trying to win over a kid with your robot? Back off, I will be their favorite!"

Sandrone gave him a nasty glance.

"We will see, puppet!"

~~~~~~~~~

The next morning [Y/N] get a bunch of handmade plush toys a mechanical toys.

Meanwhile, Sandrone, with help from Scaramoushe's subordinates, through Katherine and [Y/N]'s neighbors, collected information about the kid.

_________

Day 3 - Dottore and Pantalone

_________

"Hmm..." Dottore has been examined kid's finger through the magnifying glass. "Are you sure, that they have been hurt?"

Pantalone stopped going from one corner to another and modded.

"Yes! I saw a drop of blood on their finger, after they touched the mechanical toy."

Dottore rolled his eyes under his mask and looked at [Y/N]. As usual, they were quiet, looking at the floor.

Dottore sighed. The kid probably slightly pricked their finger. Nothing happened, but, here we are, Pantalone is fussing over that like a worried mother hen.

Dottore tutted and asked kid.

"Is it true? Were you hurt?"

"Mmmmm...!" kid hide their face behind their hands.

This again... Kid, when they were really frightened, made that sound. Like a cat trilling. Corners of Dottore's mouth go up.

"I will take it as a 'yes'."

Dottore picked up one of the band-aids he kept on his table, and put it around "hurt" finger.

"Here we go. You can continue playing."

Pantalone already was next to the kid, holding a lollipop towards them.

"Here, it will make the pain go away."

Kid shyly took the treat.

"Thank you, Mister Pantalone. Thank you, Mister Dottore."

[Y/N] then quickly left Dottore's office, not wanting to disturb grown-ups even more.

Dottore and Pantalone looked at each other.

"Adorkable." said a pair of harbingers in unison.

~~~~~~~~~~~

That evening, Pantalone bought a lot of child clothes.

Meanwhile, Dottore's segments picked up all necessary adoption documents.

___________

Day 4 - Pulcinella and La Signora

___________

"And that's how you solve that math problem." Signora circled the right answer, while talking to [Y/N]. The kid nodded with a thoughtful expression on their face.

Pulcinella quietly chuckled at the scene. For some reason, Signora decided to tutor the kid. She shut down Dottore's attempts in teaching kid something new. 

It was an endearing sight. Signora looked happy, while she spent time with the kid.

"Did I do it right?" asked kid, solving the next exercise. Signora nodded, ruffling their hair.

"Great job, [Y/N]."

They smile shyly. Pulcinella chucked again. He should bring some pantries to the child's room later.

~~~~~~~~

That day, [Y/N] had a whole cake for a dessert.

Meanwhile, La Signora was talking to Tsaritsa, trying to get her permission to remake one of the palace rooms into a classroom.

_________ 

Day 5 - Columbina and Capitano

_________

"Miss Columbina, are you sure, that it's okay?" whispered [Y/N]. Columbina nodded, while trying to get into a more comfortable position.

"Yes. Don't worry. It will be just a little interesting trip!"

Harbinger and child were hiding in one of the big travel carts among tents. Earlier today, Columbina offered [Y/N] to take a secret trip to Natlan. Her plan was to hide in one of the carts, that Capitano and his subordinates will take with them.

Suddenly, the tent cloth, that Columbina and [Y/N] were hiding under, was removed. A big hand carefully grabbed [Y/N] by the collar of their sweater.

In a second, Capitano hold [Y/N] and Columbina by their colors. Duo looked like a pair of kittens.

But, while Columbina just smiled, [Y/N] looked extremely guilty.

Capitano put [Y/N] down, let go of their sweater, and, instead, put their hand on the top of a child's head, ruffling their hair.

"You supposed to be more serious." Capitano nodded flatly, still holding Columbina in the air. She just laughed.

"I was bored."

Capitano breathe in.

"You suppose to be an example for [Y/N]."

Another laugh.

"They already have Signora as a good example. I am a fun one."

Capitano shook his head.

"Okay, go away, you two."

He put Columbina down and gently nudge [Y/N] towards the exit.

Columbia grabbed [Y/N]'s hand and ran away with kid in tow.

~~~~~~~

That night, Columbina sang a lullaby for [Y/N].

Meanwhile, Capitano ordered Fatui solders to keep an eye on the kid.

________

Day 6 - Pierro and Tsaritsa

________

Pierro looked directly into Tsaritsa's eyes. He spoke with a genuine smile.

"It's over. We did it."

A small smile appeared on Tsaritsa's face.

It was easy.

It was easy to get everything they need to make Zapolarny Palace a good place to raise a kid.

There will be no need for [Y/N] to go outside. Everything they need will be delivered in the palace.

They won't be need to go to school. Harbingers will tutor the kid.

[Y/N] will be there. Safe and sound. Under Tsaritsa's protection.

She and her Harbingers will be their family.

Tsaritsa's war with Celestia will start soon.

She will do everything to succeed.

And, if they could keep one child safe... If she could become a mother to [Y/N]... Her future victory will be a real triumph.

[gingerdusk]

You're big on Zelda, so I'm curious. How would you rewrite TOTK, if given the writer's room?

Fun question! *cracks knuckles* Let's answer it.

I've answered about the disconnect between BotW and TotK before, so I'm going to take some of those ideas and run with them here.

I'm taking the intended route, for the sake of keeping coherence rather than just making up an entirely new Hyrule from scratch. Link and Zelda are the same as they are in BotW.

To start off, I like the Zonai.

I like that they're an entirely new race of people in Hyrule. I love how weird-looking they are. I love that they're not human race #87.

I also love their bastard not-Zonai lovechild thing. If we saw more examples of Zonai, I would love for this funky lil dude to be part of them, kind of like how the Zora have a ton of variation between them.

So why don't we do that? Why don't we give them a kingdom?

And why don't we put some meat on the bones of what was already built?

There are Zonai-esque ruins all over the Depths, mostly in mines for Zonaite.

Their color palette matches. Rauru's braids and Sonia's earrings match brightblooms.

And the three dragons, who have Zonai features (segmented, color-edged hair, long ears, blunt muzzles, scale beard mouths), could have been a catalyst.

A catalyst for what, though?

It starts with the Depths themselves, and the dragons breaking free.

See, in TotK, the three elemental dragons all dive in and out of the Depths chasms. There's no explanation as to why, and the only explanation we have for the chasms forming is that it was like...geysers of Gloom.

However, the dragons in BotW are confirmed to have carved these canyons:

So let's go back in time a little.

The Zonai live in the Depths. They're underground, away from all the chaos that Hyrule has ever had to endure. They worship the bargainer statues as gods, they collect the souls of those above that drip down into the world below.

They have a rich mining industry, and coliseums for their greatest warriors to test their mettle against captured monsters.

They have their Secret Stones, and the one who's allowed to hang onto those is their leader.

That'd be young Prince Rauru.

The elemental dragons, Dinraal, Naydra, and Farosh, are testaments to why no one can be allowed to have the Secret Stones. They were consumed by their power, literally.

One day, they break free, as if summoned by an unknown force. They tunnel through the ground and into the sky, connecting the world below to the one above.

The Hylians cautiously venture below, or the Zonai above. Prince Rauru, keeper of the Secret Stones, and Sonia, High Priestess of Hylia, meet.

They fall in love.

They marry.

Their marriage marks a unity between the Surface and the Depths.

(Maybe throw in a lil Skyward Sword continuity, mention that while Hylia sent the humans to the sky, the Zonai fled underground to avoid Demise, to keep the Secret Stones out of his grasp. You don't even have to name drop him, just say they went down to avoid destruction.)

Suddenly, Hyrule (the center part of the map, based around the Great Plateau, not the whole sub-kingdom conglomerate it exists as in BotW) undergoes a technological boom. Ganondorf, neighboring leader of the Gerudo, is interested. He talks trade with now-king Rauru, but there's the sub-plot of trying to get his secrets, which he steadily grows obsessed with.

Meanwhile, the Gerudo make their own expedition into the Depths.

There. The stage is set.

Now Zelda falls into the past.

She's found by Rauru and Sonia. Adopted as their daughter, more or less.

Also, the two of them have a small child. Nintendo, you CAN'T set them up as "they're her ancestors" and then kill them childless, descendants don't work like that. Zelda's immediately endeared to the kid, who reminds her of Link. Lil half-Zonai girl with a wooden sword who swings it at anything that moves. There are memories, it's cute.

In the past, Zelda witnesses, real time, Ganondorf going mad with power. They get along well at first, he's cordial, polite, a model diplomat. But she finds his troops in places they shouldn't be, confronts him about it and gets brushed off.

She tells Rauru, he's unwilling to throw suspicion onto Ganondorf. They're semi-friends and diplomacy is important! He's got to run this kingdom right. He can't fail, this is the biggest thing he's ever done!

(Sprinkle in a parallel to BotW Zel's fear of failure)

Some of the memories fill in gaps about Rauru's power, also. He's got what Link can do, minus Recall. Ultrahand and Fuse mainly, but Rauru's been experimenting with Ascend, excited because it'll make passage between the Depths and the Surface so much easier, and we see where Zel gets her scientific excitement from. Regardless of how different they look, they ARE family.

Ganondorf and Rauru get into a fight one day. A BAD fight. Maybe because Zelda tipped Rauru off, and despite telling her no, Rauru looked into it anyways. Regardless, they march out in opposite directions, and Zelda overheard it in the hallway. As Ganondorf leaves, he gives her the most SCATHING glare.

He then declares war on Hyrule.

Rauru makes a bid for allies, trying to get enough manpower to fight Ganondorf's impressive military. It's a struggle at first, but Zelda steps in, being the leader she's skilled at being and telling the others how crucial it is that they help. Ganondorf, meanwhile, turns to forbidden arts in his rage against Rauru, gets infected by Gloom/Malice, becomes scarily powerful. First Blood Moon. The Gerudo are kind of unnerved by him.

We see Zelda and Sonia helping with the war. Sonia's got light powers, Zelda's are stronger, together they can destroy entire ARMIES of monsters, saving their warriors on the battlefield. A few instances of Little Princess trying to be involved like the grown-ups are, getting huffy when she's told no.

In the aftermath of each fight, Rauru runs around, sealing away the monsters' latent energy with green spirals. That's where the Shrines come from, though in the past, they're Luminous Stones—it's all faded by present day, the light bled out of them.

Sonia is on the battlefield against Ganondorf one fateful night, Little Princess wanders onto the field, both the girls panic about it, and Sonia tries to run away with her while Zelda affords them cover. THAT'S when Ganondorf strikes her—he's fast like a ninja, rushes past Zelda, strikes Sonia.

She falls. Little Princess tumbles.

Zelda races to Little Princess's side, picks her up to run away with her as Ganondorf gets Sonia's stone, and he transforms into the Demon King. He raises his army. Little Princess screams, and we see an uncontrolled blast of Hylia's power, like an erratic attempt at what Zelda did at the end of BotW.

It fritzes, Zelda hugs her tight and ducks down to shield her, and the power cascades across the battlefield, affecting monsters AND people alike. The war is in shambles. Ganondorf stares at the child and her guardian, and retreats in a hurry.

Cue Rauru running to their side.

He grieves his wife. Little Princess is kept safe by Zelda. The Gerudo shun Ganondorf and join Rauru's side, and everyone involved in the war dedicates everything to one final assault against Ganondorf, one trap to finally END him, to force him into the Depths and fight him on the Zonai's own turf. The Secret Stones are distributed. Rauru knows what he has to do, and at the climax of the final battle, he uses his Secret Stone to amplify his sealing magic, knowing it'll kill him in the process and locking Ganondorf away in the Depths.

Except, it's not that simple.

Gloom bursts out of the newly trapped Ganondorf's chest, flooding the Depths, eliminating everyone in its path. That includes the Sages, the assaulting army, and the VAST majority of the Zonai. Its sole purpose is to gather enough strength over time for Ganondorf to break his shackles, because the Gloom wants OUT.

(Subtly implied that the Gloom is the first iteration of Demise's curse of hatred, maybe.)

And Zelda is alone. Trapped in the past, stuck with Little Princess, her Secret Stone, and the last of Mineru's notes.

Gloom continues to fume out of the Depths, so they're sealed off. The Blood Moon keeps spawning new monsters, so Little Princess and the remainders of the construct caretakers are sent up to the sky, for her protection. Zelda's the one that orchestrates it. Her people once hailed from the sky, and it's always been known as a place of safety for them.

Is this self-referential to the history she's building, or a Skyward Sword reference? Who knows.

They go skyward.

Then the Master Sword appears, and Zelda knows what she has to do. It's compounded, of course, by crushing guilt over the fact that Sonia's death happened on her watch. She tells Little Princess to look out for the world ahead, tells her to be strong, and brave, and everything she wishes her dad had told her. Then ends it with a final message.

"I'm leaving you something very important. Take good care of it."

Then she goes off alone to become a dragon.

Present day.

Link's not guided by Rauru, he's guided by a strange, beautiful woman who looks kind of like Zelda (albeit with Zonai hair, eyes, and long claws), who has a deep regret for the world below and who knows the lonely world above like the back of her hand. She teaches him the basics of his powers as he visits the shrines.

The Great Sky Island is otherwise normal.

You go to Hyrule. The Light Dragon's the one that breaks the cloud barrier, and as she does so, she sheds a single tear. By the time you get to the tear's location, it's spread a mural of the memory it contains around it.

Whenever you Recall a tear, the Light Dragon sheds a new one somewhere else, and it's up to you to follow.

You're chasing Zelda, twice over.

Besides that, Hyrule's Surface is...largely unchanged. I'm still upset that the pirates assaulting Lurelin weren't ACTUAL pirates, so guess what, they are now. Splinter faction of Yiga. Also, River Zora take over Lake Hylia, there's a spat between them and the Sea Zora, and Yona is the princess of the Rivers.

Then you've got the Depths.

That's where you find the ruins of the Zonai civilization, and you start piecing together the world it contains on your own. You aren't told, you're SHOWN.

Rauru's ghost finds and guides you here. He has a moment of "hey, isn't that MY arm?", upgrades your abilities or shows you how to use them more efficiently (ups your build limit, shows you how to un-Fuse, teaches you DEscend, gives you Autobuild, things like that), then DIES-dies. You escort his poe soul to a Bargainer statue.

The biggest change to the Depths, though, is that under the Gerudo Desert, you find PEOPLE.

So remember how the Gerudo launched their own expedition into the Depths in the past? How the Gloom killed almost everyone and the world below was sealed off?

There were a sparse few survivors of the Zonai, and some unfortunate Gerudo researchers that also got trapped. The people down there now are descendants of both. They're not Zonai anymore, though.

They're Lomei. They evolved like how the Rito evolved from the Zora in Wind Waker. Their tribe name comes from the Zonai word for "loneliness."

Regardless, they're initially inhospitable to Surfacers, because Surfacers are how they ended up how they did. If you sneak into their city, you're captured, like a few unfortunate Zonai Survey Team members that have wandered in, only YOU can escape via Ascend. OoT Gerudo parallel.

You can earn the Lomei's trust by doing things for them (maybe beating all three labyrinths as a rite of passage?), and then they let you into their cities. They've got their own brand of tech based off of old Zonai designs. One of the Lomei scientists is working on a mechsuit—that'll be the sage that Mineru passes her stone down to. And it fits doubly, both because the Lomei ARE the descendants of the Zonai and because the Lomei technician and Mineru are both scientists.

The Lomei people give you more pieces to the complicated Zonai-Hylian puzzle, and they're the ones that first tell you the legend of the dragons-from-Secret-Stones. So you can either learn it from them OR get it revealed in Zel's later memories.

Besides that, the present plot is pretty much as normal. Still the same bosses. Still the same sages-help-with-everything, though each sage you rescue gives you another piece of what really happened at the final fight (rather than the same cutscene over and over), telling you about how Rauru sacrificed himself and the effect it had on the rest of the Depths.

I will change where the Ganondorf's Army fight takes place, though. It's ACTUALLY very hidden, like the game was trying to imply it to be when you chase around Kohga. You do still have to do that, but he accidentally directs you to a place that's hidden in the tiniest crevice near Hyrule Castle, one that's very easy to miss and sitting in a veritable sea of Gloom. Once you finish the Kohga quest, a poe hovers outside of the crevice, which leads into an even deeper chasm that leads to the Underdepths.

The poe's your help to get through the maze there, and wherever it goes, Sundelions bloom at the corners. If you go early, before getting everything done, you have to navigate that place yourself, and it's a nightmare.

But you do it. You get to where everything started, and you beat the army, then Ganondorf, then he shoves his fist down his throat and goes dragon.

As he breaks through the ground and curls around Hyrule Castle, he SHATTERS it. The building crumbles to smithereens, crashing into the Depths below.

You beat Demon Dragon, Zelda catches you on her nose, it's over. You're in the spirit realm over sleeping Zelda.

The poe appears over your shoulder, drifts away from you, then materializes into Sonia. She says nothing, just activates Recall, turns Zelda back to normal, then cradles her in her arms. She gives her a kiss on the forehead, looks at you, then says the same line Zelda said to Little Princess ages ago, with the single change of one word.

"I'm leaving you something very important. Take good care of her."

She fades, as does the Spirit World.

You're falling.

Zelda's falling.

You catch her.

She wakes up, sees you, then hugs you and sobs into your shoulder.

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.

Roll credits.

Bonus for the memory completionists, the True Ending has Zelda meeting the grown Little Princess up at the Great Sky Island, reconciling with her, both of them saying how proud they are of each other. Then Little Princess turns into a poe, and Zelda promises to take her to the Depths so she can be with her parents again. As they walk away, Sonia's poe tails after them.

And THAT is a way longer post than I expected to write. Whew.

[unsuperingyournatural]

it's the beskar, isn't it?

Pedro Pascal x Actress!Reader

masterlist

You were almost at the end of the press day, and it showed. Hours of cameras, handshakes, soundbites, and smiling just a little wider than you felt. But this last interview felt looser, more relaxed. It was just the three of you—you, Pedro, and the journalist—in a small studio space with two chairs and a crew that had clearly been at it all day too.

Pedro sat beside you, half-sunken into his seat, one leg stretched out comfortably, the other lightly bouncing in place. He looked like he belonged there, like the chair had formed around his body. He was relaxed in that Pedro kind of way—composed but never stiff, warm but not performative. His energy had mellowed, his eyes still bright but softer now, especially whenever he glanced over at you.

The interviewer smiled brightly as she held up a cue card. “Okay, final segment. This is the fun one. Ninety seconds of random questions, no time to overthink, just say whatever comes to mind. You ready?”

You nodded, adjusting slightly in your seat. Pedro gave a mock salute, his grin crooked.

“Alright,” she said. “Who goes first?”

“Ladies first,” Pedro said immediately, turning toward you with a flourish of his hand. “Always.”

You gave him a playful side-eye. “How generous.”

The interviewer glanced at her timer and smiled. “Here we go. What’s your go-to comfort food?”

“French fries,” you said without hesitation.

“Favorite city you’ve ever worked in?”

“Florence.”

“Last song you sang out loud?”

“‘Espresso,’” you said, already cringing with a laugh.

Pedro choked on a breath, visibly trying not to laugh out loud. “You are so real for that.”

The interviewer chuckled, but didn’t slow down. “Alright,” she said, flipping her card, “one a little more playful. If you were into roleplay, which one of Pedro’s characters would you want him to dress up as?”

Without thinking, you blurted, “Din Djarin.”

There was a beat of silence. A pause so perfectly timed it could’ve been scripted.

Pedro turned toward you slowly, brows high and eyes wide. His mouth parted slightly, caught between amusement and disbelief. The interviewer gave a nod of impressed approval, her expression somewhere between amused and intrigued.

Your heart dropped. You blinked, cheeks starting to warm. “Wait. You said cosplay, right?”

The interviewer gave a grin that was all teeth. “Roleplay.”

You groaned softly, your hand flying to cover your face. “Same thing,” you mumbled through your fingers.

Pedro broke into a full, unrestrained laugh beside you, doubling forward in his seat. “Oh my God,” he said between chuckles. “I wasn’t ready.”

You peeked at the interviewer, who was clearly enjoying every second of it. “Great. That’s gonna go viral,” you muttered.

“There are probably at least three different fanfictions being written as we speak,” she teased.

Pedro sat up, still grinning, and reached over to lightly brush his fingers down the center of your back, his touch brief but warm as he shifted in his chair. He leaned toward you just enough to be heard without the mic catching it all.

“Guess I’ll be asking Jon and Dave if I can take the helmet for a weekend,” he said under his breath.

You gave him a warning look and lightly swatted his arm. “Stop.”

He threw his hands up. “Just kidding. That thing is on lockdown. You think they trust me with it unsupervised?”

He was clearly enjoying himself now. The grin on his face was pure trouble. “But good to know. The Mandalorian, huh? So what is it? The beskar? The cape? The mystery? No, wait,” he said, eyes lighting up, “it’s the Vibroblade.”

You groaned and dropped your head into your hands again. “Oh my God. Would you stop?”

Pedro laughed again, one hand patting your shoulder with mock sympathy. “You brought this on yourself. You could have said Oberyn. But no. You said the guy who never takes his helmet off.”

“Because I thought she said cosplay!” you said, muffled behind your hands.

The interviewer was nearly crying with laughter now. “Honestly, this might be my favorite interview of the entire tour.”

You finally looked up, still flushed, your eyes narrowing at Pedro’s smug, delighted expression. He caught your gaze and only grinned wider.

“I’m never living this down, am I?” you said.

“Absolutely not,” he replied cheerfully. “But I will be respectfully obnoxious about it.”

There was nothing left to do but laugh, your cheeks still burning as Pedro leaned back in his chair, practically glowing with amusement. He looked over at you again, a soft warmth behind the teasing.

You knew, deep down, this story would never die.

And somehow, despite everything, you were okay with that.

Even if he brought it up for the rest of your life.

[phoenixblaze1412]

I hope no one has requested this already, but after seeing Dottore with Child! Reader who is a bit too much like Pantalone, and after Child! Reader getting along with Scara, I was wondering about a child! Reader who either is a bit too much like Childe, or hell, gets along veery well with the 11th Harbinger...

I love your writing btw!

Dottore should have known better.

He designed you—engineered you, even—to be a perfectly logical being. Someone who could assist in the lab, perform delicate procedures, absorb knowledge like a sponge. A little protégé to mirror his brilliance.

Instead, he got... you.

You were chaos incarnate. Wild, reckless, and insatiably curious, but not in the way Dottore intended. You tore through the laboratory like a thunderstorm in boots, sticky-fingered and louder than a thousand malfunctioning test tubes.

And then you met Tartaglia.

That was when the real trouble began.

-----------

You bounced up to Childe the first time you saw him in the Citadel’s corridor, wide-eyed and full of energy.

“You look strong,” you declared, tiny fists on your hips. “Wanna fight?”

He blinked, then laughed—a loud, full laugh. “You remind me of my little siblings back home.”

“I’m better than them,” you said proudly. “Bet I could beat you.”

“Oh? You think you can take me?” Childe knelt down, grinning ear to ear. “That’s big talk from someone half my size.”

“Bet,” you shot back, and tried to punch him in the leg.

From then on, the two of you were inseparable.

To Dottore’s everlasting horror.

You and Childe were a whirlwind of pranks, mischief, and poorly timed explosions. Dottore would leave you alone for ten minutes. Ten. And return to find half the lab scorched, Childe clapping you on the back while you grinned with soot on your cheeks.

“You put volatile chemicals in Pantalone’s tea,” Dottore seethed one day.

“Just a little color-changing agent,” Childe said, utterly unbothered. “No permanent damage. He looked better with green teeth, anyway.”

You giggled. “He was so mad!”

“Do you want me to die of a stress aneurysm?” Dottore hissed.

You tilted your head innocently. “Maybe?”

-----------

Even Dottore’s Segments weren’t spared from your antics.

Beta was constantly dragging you back from chaos. “You are not allowed in the weapons vault,” he barked, holding you under one arm like a misbehaving puppy.

“But I wanted to show Childe my bomb!”

“What.”

Theta hovered protectively near you anytime Childe was around, arms crossed like an angry parent. “He’s dangerous,” he warned.

You pouted. “You’re just jealous ‘cause he’s cooler than you.”

Delta walked in on you and Childe mid-prank once, stared blankly, and slowly walked away. “I saw nothing,” he muttered.

And Sigma—poor Sigma—accidentally helped disable security cameras so you two could sneak out to go monster hunting.

“Technically it was an educational field trip,” you argued when caught.

“You brought home a severed hilichurl head,” Sigma said flatly.

“Exactly!”

Omega, meanwhile, gave up entirely. “If you die,” he told Childe, “don’t expect a resurrection.”

----------

It all came to a head when Dottore found you mid-duel with Childe in the training grounds, both of you bruised, laughing, and soaked in rainwater.

“You are not a Harbinger!” Dottore shouted, storming over. “You are not a soldier! You are MY creation! You were meant to study, not fight like a bloodthirsty fool!”

“But fighting is fun,” you said, lifting your chin stubbornly.

Childe rested a hand on your shoulder. “Kid’s got a spark,” he said. “Let ‘em find out what they’re good at.”

“You’re corrupting them.”

Childe chuckled. “You made them with a mind of their own. They’re choosing this.”

Dottore wanted to argue. He wanted to demand you return to the lab, continue your studies, become the tool he had designed.

But when he saw the way you lit up around Childe—how you laughed, how you moved like the world couldn’t touch you—something cracked in his chest.

You were happy.

For all the headaches you caused, all the explosions and pranks and gray hairs… you were thriving.

And it wasn’t Childe’s influence alone. It was your choice.

-----------

From then on, he stopped fighting your nature.

He still lectured you, of course. He still punished you with chores when you caused a mess. But the edge in his voice softened. The anger dimmed.

Sometimes, he even smiled watching you and Childe spar.

Only a little.

Maybe you weren’t the precise, obedient assistant he had imagined.

But you were his.

And somehow, against all odds.. he was proud of you.

-----------

Later that week, Childe arrived to take you out again.

“Back by curfew,” Dottore said, eyes narrowed.

“Sure, sure,” Childe waved.

You bounced beside him, sword strapped to your back, grinning up at Dottore, “Love you, Father!”

Dottore froze. You rarely said that.

“…Try not to die,” he muttered, looking away.

And with a laugh, you ran off with Childe—your big brother in chaos, your partner in crime, and the only person in the Fatui who matched your madness.

Dottore sighed.

One little Harbinger of Chaos was bad enough.

Now he had two.

And strangely…

That was okay.

[cinerins]

2003 Clone Wars is so-so, but I have to admit, it's fun and it has a ton of little scenarios I really appreciate as a former Star Wars kid

Such as the ARC trooper segments, Mace Windu tearing up an entire droid army, and not to mention Jedi wearing full armor for certain battles!! Love that they kept their capes/cloaks to distinguish them, it's all so dramatic

Speaking of—Based on what I remember of later instances, I actually prefer this one's depiction of Ventress and Grievous

Grievous comes closer to a creepy crawly version of Vader, but it honestly works really well for the setup. He actually feels dangerous and somewhat unpredictable, giving multiple Jedi a real struggle despite his lack of any Force talent

For Ventress, I enjoyed the way she acted more ambitious, arrogant and immature—like a mirror to Anakin's character. In that way, I thought she actually would've made a fun counterpart to him, if they had kept that direction in the later show

Also her design?? Shout out to this dramatic little cloak, it's so endearing

There's more I could talk about, but honestly my thoughts just keep coming back to the best Cody moment in the entire franchise. Should've let him use his jetpack more what a goober

[schlattslonghairytoes]

unpaid intern baby fever 🧺 🎀🧸

ok so heres what i got

does anyone remember schlatt in unpaid intern (the kid part)

ok so what if you were also a content creator and were invited to be on the show

and you were genuinely so good with the kids, to the point where you were bairly shown because of how much fun the kids had with you

but the points where you were shown schlatt was swooning the whole time

at this point i imagine yall have been dating for around a year or two (in secret, viewers have no clue)

the clips begin showing of everyone handiling kids, and everyone notices no clips of you have come up yet, but they choose to stay silent

until the first clip of you sitting with the kids in a circle comes up

the little girl is sat in your lap, and the two boys are leaning on either side of you as you read them a book you found laying around (i imagine it is Harry Potter)

all the kids seem relaxed and happy as you dramatically read out different parts of harry potter in different accents

"youre a wizard harry!" you say in a funny scotish accent, and all the kids burst out laughing

ludwig pauses the video and stares at you, "what the fuck?" and everyone starts to laugh but schlatt, he just stares at the paused image if you resting with the kids on screen

"why are you so good with kids?" ludwig asks

your reasoning is that you were a babysitter in high school, aswell as worked at a summer camp for a few years

for the duration of the video schlatt is in awe everytime you come on the screen with the kids

in the span of 15 minutes you managed to get 2 of them to sleep and one of them playing with your hair as you continue to read in a soft tone

when the screen changes you all watch the others failing in intertain the kids and its very apartent of who is winning this section of the video

when the segment comes to an end schlatt is uncharacteristicly quiet watching the screen

when it comes time to announce the winner of the segment ludwig doesnt even need to clarify who it was, everyone knew you won that fair and square

all the kids had pointed to your picture without second thought

and even with schlatts "love" note

you had won

4 points to you

3 points to schlatt

2 points to kyedae‬

1 point to lily

the games continued as sceduled and eventually the day ended.

when you and schlatt returned to your shared home is when you noticed how off he was acting

"jay? baby whats wrong, tired?" you ask, your voice laced with concern

he immediately grabbed you bear hug style and rested his head in the crook of your neck

"schlatt what the hell, are you good?"

he looked up with hooded eyes and stared into your soul

"do you want kids."

it was less of a question and more of a statement, saying i want kids, but im here to confim that you do aswell

and to put it kindly, when you nodded your head you were swept of your feet and carried to your shared bedroom

and a longgggggg night followed.

[slexenskee]

What Moon Songs (Do you sing your babies)

Sorry I've dissappeared off the face of the earth I'm crawling my way out of the abyss 😭 to make up for it here's 10 google doc pages of the GojoxHawks mpreg AU

(this is AU after the first few chapters of FLW)

//

It’s only afterwards— months afterwards, that he realizes the full extent of his own stupid actions. 

So many things had to perfectly align in exactly the wrong way for this to happen. But each and every one of them was his own damn fault, so there’s really no one to blame here but himself. 

It had to have happened when Hawks had been sick and recovering in his hotel room, that’s the only way the timing lines up. Gojo has always been good about practicing safe sex— considering how he sleeps around, he sort of has to— and has never slipped up even once… until Hawks. Multiple times, actually, not even counting the time he was sick. There’d also been that time in Palawan, when he hadn’t brought any condoms with him because he’d honestly thought he wouldn’t need them. That had been rather profoundly short sighted of him, in hindsight. And then of course there were the time(s) when Hawks was staying in his hotel room, when they couldn’t keep their hands off each other and once again Gojo hadn’t thought to go out and buy any condoms because he’d genuinely thought he wouldn’t need any. Hawks had been sick! Basically delirious! How was he supposed to know that the moment he’d recovered enough he’d jump him? And on a related note, how was Gojo supposed to summon up enough willpower to stop him? 

To that point— how was Gojo even supposed to know he should stop him?

That too, though, is entirely his fault.

Apparently it’s a regular part of sex-ed during middle school— except Gojo never went to class in middle school, so he’d entirely missed the memo. With the advent of quirks came a rare genetic mutation that allows for male pregnancies among a small subset of the population. Rare, but not entirely unheard of, either. It was certainly common enough for a segment to be taught in public schools, and testing to be done as part of the gamut of health checks most kids go through around puberty. Most kids aside from Gojo, who was out terrorizing organized crime syndicates just for fun at that age. 

Yeah, he’s a fucking idiot. This entire situation was so laughably avoidable, and yet he’d managed to end up in it anyway. 

Anyway so now he’s having an existential meltdown in the middle of his still unfinished bathroom, staring numbly at the flecks of grout still flaking off the new tile, wondering what the fuck he’s supposed to do now.

“Satoruuu,” a voice whines from the other side of the bathroom door. “I need to pee.”

Gojo scrambles to his feet, binning the evidence of all the pregnancy tests and burying it under a cloud of toilet paper just before he wrenches the door open, smile fixed in place. “Sorry Eri-chan! I was spacing out.”

Eri just takes the excuse at face value, bounding into the only current usable bathroom in the house and shutting the door behind her.

Gojo sighs wearily, slumping against the wall just outside the door.

Alright, first on the agenda is finding a temporary residence for them while he gets an army of contractors to fix the worst of the ‘home improvement’ sins he’s committed upon this house as quickly as possible. He’d originally thought redoing the rooms would be a fun bonding activity for him and Eri, but now he knows all those chemicals will be bad for… for the baby, so that’s probably a bad idea now. He’s also going to need this house in livable condition as fast as he can make it happen, because apparently… there’s going to be a baby here in less than six months. 

He’s also going to need a doctor, and a very good and discreet one at that. From what he’s read in his mad frenzy of online searching, male pregnancies are very high risk. He’s not at all worried for himself, seeing as though he can heal from just about anything, but that same protection doesn’t extend to the other person currently taking up roost inside him. He frowns. Or does it? Wouldn’t his reversed-curse technique still work on them when they’re still a parasite leeching off of his body? When exactly does their cursed energy start to deviate from each others to the point he can no longer heal them as an extension of himself? Man, what he wouldn’t give for a conversation with Shoko right now.

He can worry about things like clothes and furniture and baby food after he’s settled the most immediate concerns on his list. Namely, fixing this house and finding a doctor. And telling Eri, although he doubts that will be much of an issue. The girl will be beyond excited to be an older sibling.

Now as for telling his family and telling Hawks…

Gojo winces.

Yeah, okay. It says a lot that he’d rather tell Endeavor, to his face, that he’s getting another grandchild than fessing up to Hawks about carrying his kid. Even the thought of it is going to give him a stress tumor.

Well, stress is bad for babies, right? So maybe he should just table the thought for later. You know, for his health.

At any rate there are a lot of things he could have done differently to stop himself from getting in this situation, and plenty more he could have done to salvage it had he known about it. 

As it stands, mulling in his own regrets isn’t going to help anyone, least of all himself. 

All he can do now is try to find a viable path forward… whatever that may be. 

“All done,” Eri announces as she closes the bathroom door behind her, sounding inordinately proud of herself. “I washed my hands.” 

Gojo huffs out a laugh under his breath. 

She’s so adorably precocious. With the way she quietly longs for a loving home and family, she’ll be ecstatic to hear she’ll get the chance to be an older sister. She already bosses Meow around like he’s a little brother, and has a troop of stuffed animals she often pretends are her baby siblings. Between living with him and starting a life outside of the traumatic confines of the Shie Hassakai, bringing a new kid into the mix will be a lot on a little girl. But Gojo doesn’t necessarily think that’s a bad thing; the change will be good for her, and help her focus on things to look forward to. 

“Good job, Eri-chan.” He reaches down to ruffle her hair. 

It feels sort of silly to praise someone for using the bathroom and washing their hands properly afterwards, but Fuyumi had told him these kinds of habits are good to ingrain at this age. And at least he never had to worry about teaching her how to use the bathroom in the first place.

He internally winces at the thought. 

At almost six years-old, Eri is fairly self-sufficient. She can’t be left alone in the house, and needs supervision for things like bathtubs and cutting up her own food, but he doesn’t have to worry about her accidentally rolling over and suffocating herself, or falling down the stairs and breaking her neck. She can use words to express herself well enough, and for the most part can be trusted to sleep through the night by herself without incident. 

A baby… can’t do any of that. From what little he remembers of Fuyumi and Natsuo’s births, they can’t even lift their own heads up. 

And he remembers what it was like, having those two toddlers running about the house. Rei tried her best, and she even had housekeepers and maids to help her, but more often than not Gojo ended up having to figure out what the hell to do with these strange babbling creatures that kept trying to follow him around entirely on his own. It was definitely a trial by fire. He remembers dragging Fuyumi and Natsuo to the park by himself, trying to push Fuyumi on a swing while Natsuo wanted to climb on his back. Natsuo had ended up falling off his shoulders while he was attempting to keep Fuyumi from jumping off the swing. The two year-old Natsuo had, shockingly enough, brushed the fall off after a few seconds blinking up at Gojo waiting to see his own reaction; seconds in which Gojo had swore his heart stopped. He’d thought he’d accidentally broken his little brother’s neck. 

He’d refused to come out of his room, let alone spend unsupervised time with them, for weeks after that. 

Eventually he’d had to come to the startling realization that the little brats were more resilient than he thought, but he wasn’t liable to forget how easy they were to kill by accident. 

He didn’t do a… completely terrible job with them, in hindsight. 

He tends to forget about that time in his life, before he’d started sleeping out of the house more often than he did in it, before Rei started locking herself in her room for weeks at a time. But he’d been there for it, even if he didn’t have to care for his siblings in the manner he eventually would once both Rei and Endeavor were out of the picture. And despite his best efforts, there were times when a toddler would be thrust at him and he’d had to figure out what the hell to do with them without making them cry. 

But he hadn’t wanted to be put in that situation, and he’s not sure if he wants it now, either. 

He’s all for owning up to his own mistakes, but there’s more at stake here than just his own sense of responsibility.

He looks down at Eri, who’s blinking up at him with a curious expression. 

“Say, Eri-chan, you wanna go on an adventure today?” 

She tilts her head. “Adventure?” 

//

His very first instinct is denial. 

After that comes a surge of fear. He’s not ready for a baby. He’s not even ready for kids, despite the fact he currently has one. He’s never been ready— not in this life, or his last. He’d always shoved the thought out of his mind before it could take root. 

But standing in the backyard of the Todoroki house, he feels a strange sense of peace and inevitably overcome him. 

Sure, this was unexpected, but is he truly as unprepared as he thinks he is? 

Fuyumi is taking advantage of the unseasonably warm afternoon to spread a picnic blanket out by the pond and pull out a bunch of old picture books for Eri. She wants to start a scrapbook for Eri, now that she’s going to be part of the family, and the first step in that is apparently going through all of their old photos. Fuyumi is a little sad to see the box is mostly full of unused materials, and the books themselves are almost entirely untouched, but rallies admirably and decides to use the afternoon as an opportunity to finish them. 

This wasn’t what Gojo had intended when he’d dropped by the house to see her, but they seem to be having such a good time that he can’t bring himself to interrupt them.

He ends up sitting with them and going through the photos, feeling a bit overwhelmed by how nostalgic they make him. 

As much as he’d tried to run away from it all at the time, he’d been just as much of a parental figure in Fuyumi and Natsuo’s lives as their own two parents. Not because he’d wanted to fill that role, but simply because there was no one else. And at the time, it hadn’t seemed like that monumental of a responsibility. Gojo wasn’t alone in raising them; Endeavor could be counted on to fund their lifestyle, and there had been a vast array of staff to help with various household chores. There were some days when the cook had time off, and the messes around the house became too big to wait for the weekly cleaning service, and Gojo would step in to fill the gap, but for the most part he didn’t have to worry about little tasks like that. Their basic needs had always been taken care of, so it was only the more… personal duties that he ended up shouldering. 

They didn’t have staff for things like walks to school and back, or help with homework, or bedtime schedules. If Fuyumi needed help in the morning with her shoelaces, or Natsuo threw a tantrum because his favorite soccer ball was missing, Gojo had been the one to fill the missing parental role. He was the one who bought them all slip-on shoes just to bypass the hassle of shoelaces entirely, and he was the one who took Natsuo on an adventure to the nearest Donki to placate him with a brand new soccer ball and several other toys on top of that whenever he had a tantrum. 

At the time he’d just brushed all that off as the bare minimum an older brother (who was actually mentally a full grown adult) should do for their younger siblings, but looking back on it, that was parenting. 

The amount of meltdowns he had to endure was enough to make him shudder. Rei was never any good with handling those to begin with, growing anxious and frustrated the longer Fuyumi or Natsuo spent crying, and as the years passed she stopped trying to handle them at all. Gojo wasn’t any better at it, at first, but he’d learned through practice when to distract them and when to just let them cry it out. He’d learned a lot of childrearing tricks through pure trial and error; how to get them out the door for school on time without any whining or tears; how to entertain them on rainy afternoons; how to get them to brush their teeth and comb their hair before bed; how to pick out clothes the night before school so they weren’t scrambling around and wasting time in the morning. 

In hindsight, that was probably why he had very few issues with Eri. Aside from her trauma-related meltdown at the toy store, he very rarely had any problems with tantrums. 

Looking back on all the photos of his youth, he actually comes to realize… he’s more experienced and prepared than he’d originally thought. 

At this point in his lifetime(s), he’s technically raised two sets of kids— three, if he wants to count Eri. And each time he’s ended up in this situation, he’s gotten better and better at handling it. Sure, in all three of these situations he’d never asked to be put in the position of a parental figure, but that didn’t make it any less true.

He’s stunned to realize that at this point… he probably wouldn’t be all that awful at fatherhood. A damn sight better than either of his own fathers, at the very least. 

“So, I’m assuming you didn’t come all the way out here to reminisce on old photos,” Fuyumi says, after they’ve distracted Eri in the yard with an old bouncy ball. 

Gojo sighs, scratching at the back of his neck. He supposes he ought to just rip the bandaid off. “No, I didn’t. I actually… had a bit of a favor to ask you.” 

“Of me?” Fuyumi asks, looking rather mystified and perplexed, as if the thought of Gojo needing anything— let alone help from his little sister— was so surreal she could scarcely believe it. 

“Yeah.” 

He really hates to do this, but he can swallow his pride when he needs to. And right now, there’s really only one person he can entrust with this. 

“... Can you call Endeavor here for me?”

//

Truly, this child… Endeavor is never going to meet with him without having heart palpitations, is he?

“So,” Touya claps his hands, grinning brightly at him. “Remember when I said I couldn’t have kids? I lied.”

Endeavor staggers into the seat behind him, wondering if he’s having an out of body experience. This can’t be happening. This is… he cannot comprehend this. 

The strongest villain— and hero— on the planet, with the spotlight firmly fixed on his every move, with so many viciously hungry enemies waiting to tear him down on all sides of the law, is really trying to tell him that—

“You’re pregnant?” He repeats, voice high with disbelief.

“Surprise!” Touya cheers. “I’ve got… I think six more months until I have a baby? Give or take a few?”

“We have to start shopping,” Fuyumi gushes at his side, already looking effusively giddy at the thought. “We have to come up with a theme for the room! Not to mention all the clothes and the toys… let’s do something matching with Eri-chan! That’ll be so cute!”

Endeavor stares at her like she’s grown a second head. She’s taking this news without breaking stride. She actually looks pleased about it. She’s excited. There’s a new addition to the family, and a new child to dote on. A baby, no less. An excruciatingly helpless, tiny, little baby…

Endeavor cannot share in her joy at all.

He’s absolutely, unequivocally, terrified. He doesn’t think he’s been this afraid in his entire life. 

Despite all the chaos he regularly kicks up on a daily basis, Touya is a hard person to worry about. He’s too powerful, too in control of his own abilities and the world around him, to ever truly worry about him, no matter what life or death situation he finds himself in. 

And right now, at what is undoubtedly the most dangerous time in his life— he’s also at his most vulnerable. 

The fact that he’s here, coming to Endeavor at all, means he’s well aware of this fact. 

Endeavor sighs heavily. 

He wants to be happy for his eldest son. In a way, he thinks he is. Touya is an excellent older brother to his younger siblings, and already a wonderful father to Eri. He’ll be a wonderful father to this new child, too. And he doesn’t hate the thought of grandchildren. The thought of them throws him into a bit of an existential panic, but he’s hardly against the idea. If anything it’s a good thing, that his children are growing up and having families of their own, that he hasn’t ruined that for them in the same way he’s ruined so much of their lives… 

But it’s hard to be happy for him when, at his core, he only feels fear. 

Todoroki Enji has always been a creature full of fear. Fear of his angry drunk of a father, fear of being abandoned by his mother, fear of her new husband that was even worse than her first. As he grew, that fear quickly turned to anger, anger into hatred and, finally, into suffering. It’s a cycle that, in hindsight, he’s shocked he hadn’t pushed onto his own children. Torn of any outlet to feel anger towards, all he can feel now is fear. 

“No,” he finds himself saying, abruptly cutting Fuyumi off.

Both his children turn to look at him.

“It’s too dangerous,” he says. “We’ll have an assistant procure the necessities. No one can find out about this.”

“But, dad…” Fuyumi starts to protest.

He shakes his head adamantly. “This is a very dangerous situation, Fuyumi. You may be a private citizen, but you are well known as my daughter. Even that is worrisome, but if anyone was to connect you to Touya…”

Touya tilts his head at him, expression impossible to read. “You think I’ll be putting her in danger?”

“I think you’re putting yourself in danger.” Endeavor shakes his head. “Touya, this is… your situation is already precarious, and for the next few months, you’ll be at your most vulnerable. The media is already hunting for any information they can find on you, to say nothing of law enforcement and the government. You cannot have word of this getting out.”

Touya just raises a brow. “Are you trying to tell me what to do, old man?”

“No!” Endeavor denies, loudly, scared that his eldest will dismiss his concerns out of hand simply because they’re coming from him. 

He knows he’s never had a good relationship with his eldest son. It’s bold of him to assume he ever even had a relationship with him, at all. Touya has never wanted his advice, even as a child. As an adult, he probably wants it even less. 

“No,” he says, softer this time, closing his eyes. “I know I have no right to tell you what to do— just as you have no reason to ever heed my advice. But if I can offer you any bit of wisdom from my own experience having children in the spotlight, let it be this.”

He all but deflates in his seat, opening his eyes. He’s surprised to see Touya isn’t leaping for his throat at the very thought of his worthless father attempting to lecture him in any capacity. But Touya has always surprised him at every turn, so perhaps he shouldn’t be so shocked. If anything, Touya seems rather willing to hear him out, sitting placidly across from him.

He meets that unyielding, crystalline gaze with a solemn expression. “Your mother went to all her prenatal appointments under a false name,” he starts, slowly. “The doctor was aware of her true identity, but I avoided going there in person.”

That was, in truth, both a precaution and a personal choice. He’s ashamed to say he wouldn’t have wanted to go in the first place, and the security the anonymity gave her was simply a convenient excuse. 

“I can vouch for the security of Mustafu General,” he continues. “Almost every hero in the area uses them, and their discretion is top-notch.” 

He rubs warily at his forehead.

If he’d thought having children as the Number Two Hero was a liability, he cannot even fathom what it will be like for Touya. Rei was a civilian, and the secretive nature of their marriage made her easy to slip under the radar. His face and name may have been known unanimously across the country, but hers had not. But Touya was not only in a physically vulnerable position, he was also the one in the spotlight. And if the father is who he thinks it is…

He clears his throat, awkwardly. “May I ask who the father is?”

Fuyumi looks tentatively towards Touya, brow creasing. Touya doesn’t even bat an eyelash as he says, blandly, “No.” 

Endeavor nods. He’d expected that response. Touya has no reason to confide in him. 

“... Touya,” Fuyumi starts, hesitantly. “Do you think it might be… better to tell him?”

Touya shakes his head. “No, I don’t,” he says. He stares Endeavor down in a way that’s rather pointed as he adds, slowly; “I think, for everyone’s sake, it’s best if that’s left to interpretation. Plausible deniability, and all that.”

Endeavor swallows down the dry lump in his throat. 

Yes, Touya is right. It’s best if he doesn’t have definitive confirmation on who the father is. Nonetheless it’s a damning thing to say. Does Touya not trust Hawks? Perhaps. But more than likely, Touya does not trust who Hawks works for. Even now, the HPSC is maintaining a worrying, awful silence when it comes to International Pro Hero Six Eyes. And Endeavor, as a hero licensed under their jurisdiction, is just as beholden to them. If they come asking, for whatever reason, it’s better for everyone if he has nothing to tell them.

“Touya is right,” he agrees, voice grave. “The less people who know the truth, the better. Myself included.”

Fuyumi purses her lips, but says nothing else.

[srovtl]

(A Smile that Commands My Vision) Figaro SSR Card Story Translation

The future I speak of with you that I found - Chapter 1

Rustica: I thank you all for coming to the public recording of Rustica Ferch's "Amorest Viesse"

Rustica: If you had a good time, then I could not ask for more. Tonight's hosts are me, Rustica, and...

Figaro: And me, Figaro Garcia as the guest. Thank you all for coming today.

Rustica: I hope we can meet again next week, my love. See you again.

Akira: (A whole hour just flew by…)

The moderate tension eases as the public recording of the radio show hosted by Rustica finishes.

On this day, Figaro took me to visit the recording with him.

Figaro: Hi. Sorry to keep you waiting, Akira.

Akira: Figaro! Thank you for your hard work.

Figaro: Now that's what I call a smile. How was it? Did you enjoy the recording?

Akira: Yes, very much. It was very valuable!

Akira: Rustica's calm but unpredictable talk was thrilling, and Figaro's quips were also fun.

Akira: Everyone in the audience seemed to be having a great time. Now that's what professional skills are all about.

Figaro: Haha, good then. You made sure to study, that's very admirable.

Figaro: Even so, I'm glad that only the audio is archived. The talk topics and challenge projects were pretty ambitious.

Rustica: But thanks to that, every segment was a big hit.

Rustica: Apparently, the charm of my radio show is the atmosphere of being unpredictable, both in terms of how things will develop and where they will land.

A little behind, Rustica also came out of the studio. He spoke with a smile as he held the script.

Figaro: Really, every time the conversation suddenly takes a completely unexpected turn. It's hard to imitate that kind of sense.

Akira: Rustica was also very eloquent. Even when the topic jumps around, he speaks smoothly with beautiful words, so it's pleasant to listen to.

Rustica: Hehe. I'm glad you enjoyed it too.

Rustica: Have you gotten used to this industry yet?

Akira: Just a little… Figaro takes me to all the sorts of locations and I learn something new every day.

Rustica: That's wonderful. If you'd like, please come to my dinner show too.

Akira: What! Are you sure?

Rustica: Of course. I'll be playing my favorite instrument, so please enjoy it along with a delicious meal.

Rustica: Oh, and next time, I'd love for you to come and visit our office. Chloe seems to be very fond of you.

Figaro: Hey there, Rustica. Your habit is creeping up again.

Akira: Whoa.

Figaro casually puts his arm around my shoulder, pulling me towards him.

Figaro: I am the one who found this child. Why are you always so quick to recruit the kids you like.

Rustica: Ahaha, my apologies, Akira-san was such a wonderful person, I too fell for them.

Rustica: Akira-san, if you don't mind, could you tell me more about yourself?

The future I speak of with you that I found - Chapter 2

Akira: About me?

Rustica: Yes. Favorite foods, colors, scenery, time…

Rustica: What are you not good at, or what interests you. Anything about you.

Figaro: Come to think of it, I haven't really heard much about that sort of thing from you.

Figaro: Well? Anything that comes to mind?

Akira: Let's see… things I like, things I don't like, I am sure I have those but…

Akira: My memories are hazy so I don't remember much.

Akira: So now, I think I am in the process of searching for it, together with Figaro. 

Rustica: Oh my.

Figaro: With me?

Akira: Yes. We eat at cafes and restaurants in between work, and take photos at photogenic spots.

Akira: Figaro takes me to all kinds of places and tells me all kinds of stories, so I see, hear, and experience a lot...

Akira: It feels like he's helping me search for myself.

As I said that, Figaro and Rustica looked at each other.

And at the same time, they burst out laughing.

Rustica: I guess this means I've been rejected?

Figaro: Ahaha, guess so. That's such a nice thing for you to say.

Figaro: You are truly a brand new child, just like an untrodden snow. Hey Akira, why don't you entrust your body and soul to me a little more?

Akira: Eh….?

Figaro invites me with a voice like a soft cotton blanket. His narrow grey and hazel* eyes stare at me.

*TL note/ it does actually say hazel I am as confused as the rest of you.

Figaro: Then, I'll be able to make you do what I want even more.

Akira: Umm…! T-That's a little bit….

I flinch, my eyes wandering.

Seeing this, Figaro laughs and moves away. He also taps my forehead with the tip of his finger.

Figaro: Just kidding. If you get embarrassed over something like this, you'll never be an actor.

Rustica: As one would expect, you're kind but strict.

Akira: Oh, that was just acting...?! It took me by surprise…

Figaro: My bad sorry, you were being such a good child I just can't help but tease you.

Figaro: But I'm also studying with you too. Didn't we go yesterday to a cafe that has the latest trendy sweets.

Akira: Ah, the one famous for its pudding shaped like a curled up cat.

Akira: It wobbles when you shake it, and is so cute that you almost feel bad for eating it. The peak form of modern dessert!

Rustica: A curled up cat pudding…

Rustica: Perhaps, is it the one Rutile was into last year?

Akira, Figaro: Eh, last year?

Figaro: No way~ It was all the rage recently, wasn't it?

Rustica: It was a while ago that it was a hot topic, but back then all the cafes were full and it was hard to get in.

Rustica: Maybe now is a better time to take your time and enjoy it. You two picked a good time to jump on the trend.

Figaro: Does that even count as jumping on it…

Akira: But it was delicious, and cute. I really like that pudding. 

Figaro: ……

Figaro: Well, alright then. 

The future I speak of with you that I found - Chapter 3

Afterwards, we said goodbye to the staff and returned to the office.

We organized our belongings, took a breather, and prepared tea.

Figaro: I'm glad I was able to buy the last set of these sweets. Now this one is really the cutting edge of fashion.

Akira: Thank you. I'll take a picture and look it up online.

Figaro: Haha, we've gained some really useless wisdom.

We both sit on the sofa, joking around.

Akira: Thank you for the wonderful opportunity today. I learned a lot today.

Figaro: I'm glad I could be of help to you. Rustica also helped a lot.

Akira: Yes. He was very kind and funny, and made sure to be there for me so that I wouldn't feel overwhelmed.

Akira: I heard about their agency and it seemed really lively and fun. There are a lot of unique people there.

Figaro: They're an up-and-coming agency, after all. I think it's a completely different league from ours…

Figaro: Are you perhaps interested in relocating?

Akira: Eh?

Figaro: I stopped it today but if you're really interested, I will respect your wishes. 

Figaro: There's still plenty that I want to teach you though so that would be lonely. 

Figaro laughs, shrugging his shoulders jokingly. I shook my head unequivocally.

Akira: No. Please let me stay here.

Akira: If Figaro hadn't found me that day, I wouldn't have experienced anything like this. I'm really grateful to you.

Akira: Plus, right now learning from Figaro at this office, it's so fun and I'm so happy.

Figaro: ......Yeah, I know.

Wine and grape juice are poured into two glasses placed side by side.

We gently hit the glasses together for a toast, and Figaro takes a sip of wine.

Figaro: But... if you stay by my side, I might eventually paint the brand new you in whatever color I want you know.

Figaro: Make you do whatever I want, and slowly seduce you so that you'll actually entrust your body and soul to me.

Akira: Oh, it's another play, isn't it? I won't be fooled this time...

Figaro: Who knows.

Akira: ...Figaro?

Figaro: I don't mind if you took me seriously. What about you, what do you want to do?

Leaning forward a little, Figaro peers into me.

The eyes before me are as bottomless as the deep sea.

But I know. Figaro is a kind person who won't do anything I don't like.

Akira: ...I'm okay with that too.

Figaro: Eh?

Akira: Just kidding!

Figaro: …….

Akira: Ehehehe. I tried to imitate Figaro in the afternoon, how was it?

Figaro: ...... Ahaha!

Figaro: I've been had. I've thought this before, but you have talent, Akira.

Figaro: In the future, you might become an even bigger shot than my wildest dreams.

Whether in dream or reality - Card Episode

Figaro: Master Sage, it's me, can I come in?

Akira: Figaro. Yes, of course.

Figaro: Good morning, breakfast will be ready soon, so I came to pick you up.

Akira: Thank you, it's rare for Figaro to come all the way to my room.

Figaro: I happened to wake up early today. And then, I happened to remember the dream you told me about before.

Figaro: In Master Sage's dream, I often came to greet you like this in the morning, right?

Akira: Yes. If you didn't have work to do first thing in the morning, you're nearby when I wake up...

Akira: But if the real Figaro did that, I'd get a little nervous.

Figaro: Eh~? But you weren't nervous about me in the dream?

Figaro: To be trusted by you this much, I'm getting a little jealous of myself. 

Akira: Of course I trust the real you too!

Akira: Even in my dreams you were so caring and kind. Strangely enough, it didn't feel like we were meeting for the first time.

Akira: You like drinking alcohol at night after work, and I joined you drinking juice. You told me all kinds of stories.

Figaro: Haha. I'm pretty much the same in my dreams.

Figaro: Well, but… The me in front of you right now is undoubtedly the real Doctor Figaro.

Figaro: Today, I'll escort you to the breakfast area. I'll be as gentlemanly as the me in your dreams.

Homescreen voiceline

You saw a dream where I am a super popular actor? That's a pretty realistic dream, isn't it? I am cool, and good at acting, and talking is my specialty...huh? Could it be, this is my calling? Maybe I should start aiming for it.

[ameliathornromance]

Monster author tag

I was tagged by @regency-monster-love—thank you! The idea is to promote other monster authors and ourselves!

Link 10 of your stories and explain why you choose those particular ones.

Picking ten of my favourites isn't an easy task. I love all my stories... but I guess even parents have their favourite kids huh? Anyway, here are my favourites that I've written (in no particular order.)

Orc Reacts to you bringing back a baby - I really like this one. For a while, all I could think about was how cute it would be to have this massive Orc, all muscle and frowns holding a tiny human baby. Very much 'excuse me he asked for no pickles' energy.

You give your Orc Bf flowers - I don't like to get political when I write but, I'm always thinking about how I can normalise certain things. And I wanted to normalise giving big beefy Orcs flowers.

Monsters with Pets - I'd be lying if I said this wasn't inspired by Jon Snow and his dire wolf, Ghost from Game of Thrones. Especially for my Orc segment of this post. It'd been on my mind for a little while about what kind of pets different Monsters would have and I had a lot of fun writing it. I wanted to add a Dragon segment too, but I couldn't think of what kind of pet a Dragon would keep.

Orc Boyfriend is sad you had to go away for a little while - I think this was my first Orc POV post? I wanted to take a break from writing Y/N for a while and focus on the Orc in this post and how he would behave when you were gone. I really like how this one ended and also the relationship between the Orc and his friends.

Stretch Marks - I've chosen this post because it's really personal to me. I have really sevre stretch marks on my thighs and hips. When my parents saw them they thought I'd had an injury or something lol. Because I have sensory issues, I'm always wearing shorts so the marks are always on show. I just wanted to write some comfort if anyone else had the same insecurity that I did :)

The Other Woman - This was initially meant to be another forbidden love post... but somewhere along the line it became angsty. I had a lot of fun writing this story and the second part of this story. I normally try to avoid writing Fae because I feel like Fae are all over media atm, (nothing wrong if you write or enjoy it, just not my thing :)) but I'm glad I chose to write a Fae character instead. Good writing exercise in case I ever develop a hyperfixation... you'd be surprised how much this happens to me.

Rain, Rain, Rain - An underrated favourite of mine. I was experimenting with my Orcs having accents and I also love the way that this story ended. This was right back when I started my blog, so the writing may not be the best, but I'm still proud of it.

Orc x Gardener!Reader - In my head, I had a cottagecore style reader living in a cottage, with a vegetable garden in the long flowy dresses and the like. I didn't really know how to put that into writing, so I ended up with a gardener reader and a protective Orc who had a huge crush on her.

Travelling Orc Headcanons - I love this one because it's short and easy to read. For me, I've always preferred reading headcanon stories because I can't read paragraphs and my eyes skip over sentences, which is why I enjoyed writing this so much. I also love how the story progressed.

A Whole New World - I think this was my first post that hit over 1000 notes? Again, I like this one because it has headcanons, but also more in depth scenes that really enrich the story. Like no. 7 on this list, it's one of my earlier works, so the writing might not be great, but I'm still really proud of it!

I'd tag people but my blog is sfw :( that being said, any monster romance author who would like to join in on this tag is welcome to!

[macktism]

toff on being a father veteran . transcript under cut . prev segment

jason demers: what- what do you, uh- i just wanna ask you quickly with that, like, you talk about will smith and macklin celebrini asking you all these questions, and, you're also with jack hughes a little bit. but like, how do you feel, kinda as the big veteran there right now in- in giving your insight and your experience to these young kids that, honestly when i'm around you and- and i called some games for the sharks on radio, just how much they're enamored by you and- and wanna know those stories, how cool is that for you?

tyler toffoli: yeah, i mean, like i was saying at the start of the year it was- it was fun, like, having granny around too, he's been around as long as me and, um, he definitely did a lot more work on the ice with them, whereas i feel like i've tried to hang out with them as much as i kinda could, or can, on the road and all that stuff. um, like i said, they're kinda doin' it themselves, 'n' y'know, when i played with jack he already had, y'know, three years under his belt or whatever it was 'n' the only other comparable, kinda, would be, uh, cole, maybe, in montreal. um, yeah, no, it's fun being around them, and like i said, they- they work as hard as- as hard as anybody i see and they're on the ice, y'know, non-stop. it's kinda draining seeing how much they're on the ice to be honest.

[amxrany]

!! CHAPTER 7 / DIASOMNIA ARC SPOILERS !!

I think I'm gonna have fun reading Jamil's segment so you all should read it too (Jamil's Dream):

Meet in a Dream is out here working overtime because we are now in Jamil's Dream. But something's wrong, Kalim, who is their newest addition seems to be fine (he even gushes to Silver how cool dream hopping is) but Vil is out here dying 💀. Like legit he was incredibly unstable that they had no choice but to split into 2 teams while he recovers. Silver and Ortho stay to help Vil while the rest go and find Jamil.

The other group is currently in Camel Bazaar (reference to the scalding sands event). They were planning to look for Jamil but it's really hot so they decided to rest for a bit and get some coconut juice. (Extra part: Sebek wanted to look for Jamil but Grim kept looking at the food so he just gave up and started eating as well) Kalim is the one who gets it for the gang, and when the shopkeeper tells Kalim to pay, he just says put it in the Asim bill. But the shopkeeper doesn't recognize the Asims and thought they were thieves and started calling for the police. But luckily Silver, Ortho and Vil come in just in time for Silver to pay the guy to avoid getting into trouble.

Kalim's confused as to why the shopkeeper doesn't recognize him because he's known since he was a kid, but we find out why by just seeing the images of Kalim's "estate"

This is where we get the Jamil reveal. It turns out in this dream, Jamil's the son of the sultan (this also makes Najma a sultana, which is absolutely slay) and the Vipers bought the Asim's properties due to financial problems

(ngl him in that outfit is making me feel fuzzy inside)

But anyways we see Jamil in a parade similar to that of Kalim in Book 4, thus we have another rhythmic portion

(so this actually says that Jamil does like Kalim's parades, if it was him in the place of Kalim. Kalim also acknowledges that Jamil's having a good time here)

We then see the statue of Jafar, in which everyone recognizes because it's in NRC, except Jafar looks like he's playing golf here lmao. Jamil sees Kalim and tells him to change because he isn't wearing the right uniform

Then Kalim talks to Jamil like always, but Jamil tells him to be more respectful in speaking. But he isn't really mad because Kalim's always like that. The rest instroduce themselves as the NRC Film Club, who are planning to film a video using the estate's facilities. Jamil's salty as always and it seems to be going normal as he tells Kalim to prepare things for the guests and while Kalim tries to, he still messes up.

Jamil thinks as to why his family kept Kalim despite being an idiot. Then Grim is thinking why is Jamil still bitter in his own dream. That's when see the magic carpet again (YAY), this causes Kalim to accidentally slip up and tell Jamil how they got it; it causes Jamil to leave for a moment.

But Kalim doesn't stop, he continues to tell Jamil of their memories together but Jamil keeps denying it. Kalim brings up about how 2 years before going to NRC, Jamil protected him from harm. Then, he spilled the events of Book 4 (as requested from the others). BUT THEN FAKE!KALIM APPEARS AND PROTECTS JAMIL. He's a lot more mature than real life Kalim, this causes the darkness to take Jamil and we're forced to fight Fake!Kalim.

Without thinking, Kalim just straight up jumps in with Jamil and the gang has no choice but to follow him. Similar to Vil's dream, we land back to the events of Book 4 but for some reason Azul is also controlled here like 😭😭😭????

(jamil being azul's no.1 hater fr)

Jamil makes Azul spill all the school's secrets (hey lemme in on it too /j) and is planning to use this information to defeat the other dorm head. He even drags Leona and says he doesn't deserve to be dorm head cuz he's lazy 😭

And after defeating the dorm heads, he's gonna go after the headmage and take over the school (we love a man who dreams big and jamil for headmage fr)

BUT KALIM SUDDENLY COMES IN AND DECKS JAMIL IN THE FACE 😭. HE CALLS HIM AN IDIOT BUT JAMIL IS NOT BUYING IT SO THEY START DUKING IT OUT

(THE GIRLS ARE FIGHTINGGGG)

But yeah Kalim yells at Jamil for being pathetic for just getting what he wants by manipulating everyone, then Jamil butts in by telling him that someone stupid doesn't have a say. They continue to duke it out and in the background Sebek wants to stop them but Silver said "nah let them fight it out" because the best way to say things is by punching ❤️

IT SURPRISINGLY WORKS AND IT WAKES JAMIL UP 😭and Kalim gets really happy and jumps around. But the darkness comes back and tries to swallow Jamil so he pushes Kalim away, but Kalim wouldn't let go so they start fighting again 💀. But in the end, Jamil gets swallowed and meets his overblot self and learns to accept it thus starting the fight between the two

Jamil says he's the genie of the lamp, tired of living in a cramped space and would now dedicate himself to fulfilling his wishes. He returns to the place with Jafar's statue with the Fake!Kalim, who asks what he can do for him. But Jamil tells the Fake to fuck himself 😭 because he finds it weird that Kalim's like that and wishes for the dream to just end

The gang find Jamil and Kalim tries to tackle him but Jamil dodges it, saying that he's easy to read. Kalim asks Jamil to join them, and he accepts. However, Vil has to stay behind because he doesn't feel well and Kalim stays behind as well because of the injuries he got from Jamil (he does summons ice from Kalim's wounds tho). The others will go on ahead and wake the others. Jamil asks where they're going but Ortho says it's a secret, probably because the moment Jamil finds out they're going to Octavinelle he is going to find his way out of there.

But that is all for this chapter, hoo boy that was a lot but I'm glad that I managed to cover it. I'm really excited to see the Octavinelle segment knowing that it's Jamil we have, the biggest Octa hater but I do know it's gonna be funny

So yeah ima knock myself out now bye bye

Previous: Kalim's Dream

[ascendance-bookworm]

Ascendance of a Bookworm Musical

Musical Ascendance of a Bookworm

本好きの下剋上 ～司書になるためには手段を選んでいられません～

The live-action stage musical at Tokyo and Osaka in Fall 2024.

Ascendance of a Bookworm Wiki

Ascendance of a Bookworm Musical Official Website

There were two versions, an A Team and B Team for the double roles for the kids in the play.

Adult Cast is the same for both versions.

Urano Motosu / Myne's inner voice (seiyuu): Yuka Iguchi

Gunther: Yuhi Tanaka, Effa: Yuka Ishibashi, Benno: Tōma Yano, Otto: Yusuke Anazawa

Bezewanst: Koichi Miura, Ferdinand: Kento Tsuji

Ensemble

Sora Fuji, Daiki Saitō, Dai Satō, Kento Tachibana, Chiaki Watanabe, Kana Sakurai, Sakura Nishio, Maisaki Ōkubo, Otowa Koyasu, Yuki Asano, Maho Takemura, Yuhei Iriuchijima

Children

Team A: Aoi Ikemura (Age 8) Matinée Show

Myne: Aoi Ikemura, Lutz: Ayumi Misaki, Tuuli: Sakura Mikami, Freida: Yurika Matsui

Ensemble (children): Otowa Koyasu, Yuki Asano, Mayuka Motoki, Hana Edamura

Team B: Akari Miura (Age 12) Soirée Show

Myne: Akari Miura, Lutz: Seiran Ina, Tuuli: Shimoriha Ikuta, Freida: Seizora Kusumi

Ensemble (children): Maho Takemura, Yuhei Iriuchijima, Kanano Isogawa, Mizuki Konishi

I finally watched both versions of the musical and I thought I would give a little mini-review of my thoughts on both performances. I downloaded the musicals from nyaa.si and I would recommend them to anyone interested, but take note that they clock in at about 3 hours and 15 minutes each, there are about 30 minutes before each play starts and a 15-20 minute intermission in the middle that are simple title markers (this was streamed online and I think that is where the copies were made), but still it is a long watch - and there are two of them! I do recommend both as the different performers brought something a little different to the roles and I think both teams did a great job.

The musical covers part one of the light novels, and the songs and voice overs are often used to speed thru the material and cover large segments of the story. There were no subtitles, but if you know the story it really isn't difficult to follow along, at least it wasn't for me. It was clearly made for kids and families, so the language is simple. I was actually pleased at how much of the story it covered, not all the characters get as much focus, but all the basics are covered pretty well.

This is typical of the anime to Japanese live-action musicals I've seen before, these are not big productions like a broadway show, they tend to stick to the story and try and adapt it pretty closely, but are definitely done on a budget ^_^

The play is structured with Ferdinand learning about Myne's life thru the mind-reading device as she (Adult Urano) tells him the story of her life as a commoner. I can't help but think that if this was the real Ferdinand, Urano choosing to tell her story thru song would be most annoying to him, lol

Yuka Iguchi, the voice actress for Myne in the anime, does the voice over work. I really like how they captured the various moments, and the voice over aspect really worked well, as so much of the time we are in Myne's head, so including it was a smart choice as her original self's feeling and thoughts are a major part of Urano/Myne's story. I also liked how they displayed the mana powers throughout the show.

Gunther and Effa were just as you would imagine, both well performed. I really liked Effa's voice, and Gunther fits the bold and brash Gunther to a tee.

Benno was fun, I think he was captured pretty well, his song is funny. Mark was appropriately Mark, I like how the actor committed to his closed eye look, lol. Otto was is his cheeky self, I missed Corrina though.

Gustav / Bezewanst is played by the same actor, and he really hammed it up, lol. I kinda like how they go all out on his less than scrupulous 'tastes' as the High Bishop, the actor clearly had fun with his dual roles and Ferdinand's frustration with him is funny.

Ferdinand was appropriately stern, didn't like the wig on him though, felt unflattering to the actor, I don't know the wig was a miss, maybe it was the hair behind the ears. The actor did fine, not much for Ferdinand to do in part one. He is basically used as a frame work to ask questions and receive exposition when needed. He has a few numbers at the end that were fine, but well he is Ferdinand, too subtle to be 'entertaining' at least in this part of the series.

The main difference between the two versions are of course the kid performers: Myne, Lutz, Tulli, and Frieda - everyone else is the same. I don't want to compare the kids too much, but I thought it I should give a few thoughts.

Team A was essentially the Matinée Show, or the one with the younger, less experienced kids. Team B was the Soirée Show, which would be the main show, all the kids in the Soirée show are lightly older and give more 'mature' performances. I feel both have their charms, the younger kids feel more like kids, and the older kids feel more seasoned and professional in their performances, definitely stronger, more confident singers all around too. If the quality of the singing is important to you, then you will prefer the Soirée for the singing.

The main character Myne is played by Aoi Ikemura (Team A, Age 8, perhaps 7 when it was filmed) and she is a real cutie! Honestly, she made for a perfect Myne in age and size, she is so tiny and yet full of gremlin energy that she captures Myne really well in her on stage performance. She did a really good job with the dramatic moments too, you could hear the emotion in her voice. I was really moved by her performance overall, she is obviously so happy to be there (on stage, probably her first lead performance) that it rubs off on you. She is very likable.

Aoi Ikemura feels more raw and natural in her performance, especially as a singer - she goes in and out of tune often, doesn't sound bad, but it is noticeable in that it sounds like a regular kid who hasn't mastered their singing voice. I don't mind her singing, but then again I don't mind a raw singer, especially if it fits the characterization, but if you prefer a more professional sound, Akari's voice is much stronger.

Akari Miura (Team B, Age 12) is also very good, she is a better, more consistent performer, and is the far better singer. She is older and it shows in her more seasoned performance overall. If they were to make a recording of this, her voice work and singing is already record quality. It feels like a CD worthy performance, imho. Honestly the only negative I can come up with is that she feels too old by comparison, but that is not really a knock on her or her performance, but just the reality of any child roles. I liked her performance, but I think I liked Aoi's Myne slightly better, simply because she fit my image of the role so perfectly (I also watched it first, so perhaps that's influenced me too). But hands down, Akari is the stronger performer, she never missed a note and is also likable in the role.

Of course Myne has to carry the entire show, there are few moments where she isn't on stage, but Lutz also plays a pretty big secondary role. Ayumi Misak (Team A) plays Lutz more like how I think of him, a kinda quiet, serious kid. Seira Ina (Team B) has a lot of charisma, the boy can't help letting his charming self shine through, he is a little too smilie, lol (Is that too harsh? he always has a smile on his face :) They both give good performances and handle the emotional parts well.

Tulli didn't get much to do, she didn't even get a solo song, or anything. She is mostly included in the group or family numbers. Both actresses are cute and perform their roles well.

Frieda gets a couple of song and scene highlights, I like the outfit they give her, and both actresses do a fine job.

Overall I really enjoyed watching the musical, even if it was a tad long, lol wish it was subtitled, but I know the story so well that I really didn't have any problems following along with the story. Will there be musicals for any of the other parts? I really can't see how they could pull off the other parts, part one is short and a simple and the easiest to adapt in this format.

It does make me wonder if we will ever get a live-action drama for AoB, would it work or would it eventually need too big a budget to pull off, at least for the later parts? Asking too much?

Anyone else watch these?