#luffa stuff

[duhragonball]

Luffa's full power seems to cap out as roughly between SSJ2 and SSJ3. Given this, and given her lack of experience compared to the main cast Sayians, do you think she would have done better or worse in the Buu saga than the original cast, if we subbed them out for her for the mission to Babidi's ship? She'd have wiped the floor with Dabura, and not given into being turned by Babidi, but likely lost to Buu. Do you think that she would have been successful in preventing Buu from escaping?

Thanks for asking, but I think there's a misunderstanding that I need to clarify. Let me cut for spoilers to my own fanfic.

Luffa destroyed Kid Buu in Chapter 200. I mean, it was a Parallel Quest version of him, but she still killed him. I felt a little awkward doing that, since killing any version of Majin Buu one-on-one seems far-fetched, but I needed to establish that she was operating at that level.

Goku fought her as a Super Saiyan 3 and nearly defeated her, but he was a lot stronger in that fight than the SSJ3 form he used against Kid Buu.

How does this all work? It all goes back to the Battle of Gods movie. Goku became a Super Saiyan God to fight Beerus, and he put up a decent fight, even after the form wore off and he reverted to his Super Saiyan 1 form.

As Beerus explained in the movie, Goku's body must have somehow retained the divine power of Super Saiyan God, even after the form wore off. So why use SSJ1 in this battle if he's still operating on that higher level? My guess is that the SSJ1 form helps him tap into that power better than his base form.

To be clear: Goku's fighting Beerus as a Super Saiyan 1, but he's much more powerful than he was when he used this form earlier in the movie. Indeed, he's much more powerful than he was when he used Super Saiyan 3 in the movie, and Beerus defeated him with two hits.

This is reinforced in Resurrection F when Frieza defeats SSJ1 Gohan with a single blow, in his first form, but then he fights in his fourth form against base Goku for a while. It's not just that Gohan fell out of practice. Goku got a lot stronger after his first experience using Super Saiyan God. He's using the same forms from the Buu Saga, but he's getting more out of them.

This is what Super Saiyan Blue is all about. As he explained it to Frieza in the dub: "So let's say I got a taste of something called 'Super Saiyan God', and now I've learned to tap into that power on my own."

The Goku who shows up to help the Time Patrol in Xenoverse 1 (and in Chapters 200-224 of my fic) is from a time period between Battle of Gods and Resurrection F. We know this because when Demigra tries to control Goku's mind, and when it doesn't work, Goku speculates that it might have something to do with him becoming a god himself once. But he never uses Super Saiyan God or Super Saiyan Blue in that battle, indicating that he hasn't learned to do those without the ritual.

So what was Goku's power level like between those two movies? Well, probably something like his power level at the end of Battle of Gods. Goku learned the ritual to become a Super Saiyan God, but he also learned he could tap into the same god power using his Super Saiyan form. So until he figured out how to use the god form at will, he would have focused on using Super Saiyan 1 to get as much god power as he could, like he did against Beerus.

That's what Luffa was fighting when she fought Goku. He started in Super Saiyan 1, but it was the form he used to fight Beerus at the end of Battle of Gods. And when she overwhelmed him, he couldn't switch to Super Saiyan God or Blue, because he didn't know how yet!

So instead, he jumped to Super Saiyan 2, expecting this to tap into even more of the same god power to even the odds. Again, this would be far beyond the Super Saiyan 2 that we saw in the Buu Saga. Still no match for Beerus, but an improvement.

And when Luffa got too strong for even this, Goku pushed his luck and went for Super Saiyan 3. This let him approximate Super Saiyan God even better. But Luffa could still hang in there, and she knew he'd wear himself out this way.

If Goku could have turned into a Super Saiyan God, he would have won, because Luffa wasn't on that level. But he couldn't use God, so he used the next best thing.

So that's the power level we're talking about in that fight. Both Goku and Luffa were just shy of Super Saiyan God. Goku could approximate it using Super Saiyan 1, 2, and 3. Luffa could approximate it by letting her power increase steadily over time. But neither of these approaches would be practical against a Super Saiyan God. Goku would exhaust himself too quickly, and Luffa would get clobbered long before she was strong enough to put up a fight.

But pit them against each other at that "almost Super Saiyan God" level, and you get a decent matchup. At least I hope so. I did my best...

So going back to your original question: If you put Luffa in the Buu Saga, she'd probably do better, simply because she had the raw strength to overwhelm Dabura before he could get any bright ideas about using mind control. Also, she's a mercenary, so if the Supreme Kai recruited her to help against Babidi, she'd be more inclined to follow his instructions and listen to his advice.

But even if Buu escaped, she'd kill him. Kill him dead. At least, if we're talking about Luffa as she was in the last couple dozen chapters of my fic. She was much weaker back in Chapter 50.

I'm not so sure she could just shrug off Babidi's magic. If he had the foresight to take over her mind, and enough time to pull it off, I think she'd succumb to his power. She's not pure of heart like Goku or Gohan, and while she could eventually resist his control like Vegeta did, it would still take her a while. Yeah, she overcame the Black Water Mist, but it took her a month to do it. Babidi could do a lot in a month...

Hmm...

[sucka4pain]

𝑌𝑂𝑈 𝐴𝑅𝐸 𝑀𝐼𝑁𝐸~!♡︎

𝑌𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑒!𝑇𝑜𝑘𝑦𝑜 𝑅𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑥 𝐹𝑒𝑚!𝑅𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑒𝑟

Previous chapter, Chapter 2

wc: 3.9k

𝑊𝑎𝑟𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑠/𝑇𝑟𝑖𝑔𝑔𝑒𝑟𝑠: 𝑐𝑢𝑟𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑔, 𝑎𝑛𝑥𝑖𝑒𝑡𝑦, 𝑝𝑎𝑛𝑖𝑐 𝑎𝑡𝑡𝑎𝑐𝑘, 𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑙𝑚𝑒𝑑 𝑓𝑒𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔, 𝑚𝑒𝑑𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑢𝑠𝑎𝑔𝑒, 𝐹𝑢𝑗𝑖𝑠𝑖𝑘𝑜 𝑏𝑒𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎 𝑓𝑎𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑓𝑖𝑔𝑢𝑟𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑒𝑟 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑠𝑙𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑠𝑜𝑐𝑖𝑎𝑙 𝑎𝑤𝑘𝑤𝑎𝑟𝑑𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑠.

𝑷𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒆 𝒈𝒐 𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒅 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒏𝒐𝒍𝒖𝒈𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒈𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒍𝒖𝒅𝒆𝒅! 𝑩𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒏𝒆𝒅, 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒔𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒅𝒂𝒓𝒌 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒒𝒖𝒊𝒄𝒌!!

The bright sunlight beamed through the white curtains and gazed over Y/n’s sleeping figure. The light hit her in the face making her groan and stuff her face in her pillow.

Her alarm on her phone went off, the loud noise blaring in her ears making her grumble and slam her hand on her phone to turn it off.

‘Why does it have to be so early?..’

She thought before sitting up and rubbing the sleep away from her eyes. Her vision was blurry for a few moments until the room in front of her now became clear.

Her legs shifting out of the warm soft blankets and her feet placing down on the fluffy white carpet. She stretched her body, her arms slightly shaking from the well done stretch and standing up. Her body moved along to the bathroom, stripping off her clothes and getting inside the shower.

The perfect room temperature water gliding down her skin making her sigh in relaxation. She reaches over for her shampoo, squirting some of the white liquid in the palm of her hand and rubbing it in her scalp while bringing some of the product down to the rest of her hair.

Her hands massaging the shampoo into her scalp and hair follicles, making sure it is hydrated and clean. She then takes her luffa, applying some body wash on it as she watched it foam up under the water. Her hands gripped the soft luffa and scrubbed it all around her body, making sure to not miss a single spot on her skin.

The body wash dripping down her body as she started to rinse off the shampoo from her hair. After a relaxation time in the shower, she gently stepped out the shower and dried her body off with the towel that was hung up.

A towel wrapped around her hair to get it dry and the towel wrapped around her body getting every little droplet of water. She takes the towel off of her head after her hair dried up for a bit and starts to do her hair care, making sure that her hair is fully healthy and hydrated.

It took a while but it was a good thing she woke up early since she knew how long it usually took to do her hair. Once her hair was done and finished to her likings, she brushed her teeth, put on some deodorant then walked out the bathroom and went into her bedroom. Making her way to her closet and taking out her school uniform.

‘Today is the first day….I really hope I don’t end up having a panic attack…’

She thought before putting on her undergarments and then her uniform on top.

“The top is a little tight…”

The mumble leaving her lips as she noticed her uniform top was a bit tight but not too tight. She shrugged and put on her socks then grabbing her phone, chapstick, bag, and the key for her apartment door.

She left her bedroom and went to the front door, putting on her shoes and leaving, of course locking the door behind her. She then made her way to the elevator, pressing the button to the main floor.

The ding echoed through the walls of the elevator as the doors opened and she stepped out.

Fujisiko looked up and smiled softly at Y/n’s walking figure to the front door.

“Good morning Y/n!” His voice beamed making Y/n slightly smile.

“Good morning to you too, Fujisiko.” She replied.

Her handed her a bento box that had a black cloth tied on it and white cartoon cat doodles all over it making her slightly smile at it.

“I had a lot left over so I thought I’d give you some!” He said.

“Thank you, you didn’t have to.” She replied.

He waved it off. “Don’t worry, it was the least I could do.”

She paused for a moment before looking up at him again.

“If you don’t mind, can you accompany me to school? I know it sounds childish but-“

He immediately cuts her off. “No no! It’s fine I’ll be glad to accompany you! Plus, it’ll feel like taking my daughter to her first day of school.”

He said with a soft slightly sad tone before standing up and going by her. she raised a brow at his words.

“You have a daughter?” She asked as they started to walk towards the entrance.

He looked down a bit before opening the door, letting her go out first and him behind her.

“I do but…I can’t see her anymore.” His tone was shifted to a different direction, almost a sad tone.

Y/n hummed and curiosity got the best of her.

“If you don’t mind me asking, what happened?”

She felt the atmosphere of the air between them go tense when she asked him.

A small bead of sweat dripped down the side of his cheek as they began walking.

“Well…it was years ago when I was in my early twenties. Me and my girlfriend at the time, we had intercourse. I used protection just in case but, I suspected something. She didn’t take her birth control and she ended up pregnant because she apparently poked holes in the condom.”

Y/n could tell by his body language that he wasn’t comfortable with speaking of the subject from his past. She placed her hand on his bicep which caused him to slightly flinch and look down at her.

“Hey, you don’t have to continue. I won’t force you to. I can tell by your body language that you aren’t comfortable with the topic.” She softly spoke reassuring him.

He felt his eyes slightly water but her quickly wiped away the tears before they could spill.

“Do you think that I’m a good father? Or could be?” The crack in his voice from the overwhelming emotions build up in his throat.

“Of course. You seem like to be an amazing father. A father anyone could ask for, hell…a father even I could ask for.” She said.

He looked at her with slight widen eyes before shifting to a soft expression.

“You’re just like her…” He mumbled making her look at him confused before soon realizing what he meant.

In his eyes, she reminded him of his daughter.

“Well then…is it alright if I call you dad?” The word rolling off her tongue was something he never thought he would hear ever again.

Fujisiko’s bottom lip quivered as he nodded eagerly.

“Yes! Yes you can. I’ll make sure to the best father for you.” He spoke and crossed his heart.

They had made it to the school and he looked at Y/n one more time before patting her head, slightly ruffling up her hair.

“Hey! I spent all morning taking care of my hair dipshit!” She huffed and shook his hand off of her head making him chuckle.

“Sorry sorry! Have a good day at school, sweetie.” He said with a bright smile and turned his back but glanced at her one more time.

“I’ll pick you up, let me know when you’re done.” His last words rang in her ears before he started to walk away.

She nods and looked at the building in front of her. She glanced over and noticed many motorcycles in the school parking lot and saw the flags that were flying in the wind underneath the motors.

Her breath hitched and her grip on the strap of her bag tightened.

‘Baham?…Black Dragons?…Toman?…Tejiku?…Vahallah?…those gangs go here?!’

A panic thought went through her mind, making her breathing her slightly heavy. Suddenly, a female with short pinkish hair and another with medium length blonde hair walked up to her.

“Hi there! Are you new?” The short haired pinkette asked. She was pretty, a sweet smile and a beauty mark by her bottom lip. The blonde had a small pout on her lips and her hands on her hips as she had a pink and white checkered cardigan tied around her waist.

“I’ve never seen you here before, this your first day?” The blonde asked tilting her head.

Y/n felt her social anxiety rising and she started to panic. Her throat went dry and she immediately ran past them without giving them an answer.

“Hey, wait!” The pink haired girl said wanting to stop Y/n but she had already ran.

“Man…that was kinda rude.” The blonde said.

“Maybe she just got nervous? She was shaking a bit.” She replied.

Y/n kept running until she found the girls restroom and went inside. She got into a stall and pressed her back against the cold tile wall, sliding down to the floor as her hands trembled in her hair.

“Stay calm…stay calm…” She mumbled to herself as her heart raced.

‘They were just being nice, why did I have to fucking ruin it?…stupid social anxiety..’

She thought to herself before reaching in her bag, grabbing her water bottle and drinking some while taking her anxiety medication.

After a few minutes, she managed to get her breathing back to normal. She stood up and got out the stall, heading towards a sink and washing her face.

“You got this..it’s fine,” she mumbled to herself before drying her face and grabbing her bag, making her way out of the restroom. She felt everyone staring at her, making her grip tighten on the strap of her bag.

She looked down at her schedule and saw that her first period was algebra II. She looked up and down until she found the room.

‘Deep breath…’

She thought before inhaling deeply and opening the door of the classroom. Many eyes were sent on her making her scream internally.

“Oh! You must be the new student!” The teacher spoke making her nod.

“Go ahead and sit there on the right side in the back behind Shinichiro.” The teacher pointed to a short black haired boy who had an empty seat behind him.

Y/n nods and made her way to the seat, she could practically feel their eyes burning holes into her. Once seated, she kept her head down to avoid eye contact with anyone.

He looked behind him and smiled.

“Hey! My name is Sano Shinichiro, what’s yours?” He introduced.

She looked at him and then remembered that Fujisiko said to pretend to be his daughter. It shouldn’t be that hard, right?

“Kowada Y/n.” She replied quietly but loud enough for him to hear.

“Kowada?! As in the daughter of Kowada Fujisiko?!” He exclaimed with sparkles in his eyes.

“Shinichiro, lower your tone.” The teacher called out sternly making his face red up from embarrassment and his friends laughing at him.

“Chill out Shin..you’re gonna scare the poor girl.” A tall muscular man that had white buzz up like hairstyle spoke. Another man with purple and yellow mixed hair was sucking on a lollipop and just lazily grinned. Another with slicked back hair and a scar going down his left eye chuckled.

Y/n felt her anxiety rising again as she recognized them as the gang, Black Dragons.

‘Just my luck…I have to sit behind the Black Dragons, let alone the damn founders…’

She sighed mentally before hearing the teacher start the lesson and she took out her notebook to take notes.

As her day went on, the first five classes passed by like a fly. They went by so quickly that it was already lunch time. She started to walk in the crowd of students who were heading to the cafeteria.

The cafeteria was enormous, it had many tables mostly full. Her anxiety slightly coming up but she managed to keep her composure. She walked over to a vending machine and bought a drink. Her legs then brought her to an empty table that sat in a far corner, away from everyone else.

It felt like an introverts dream, being alone in a table with no one else. Her fingers untied the cloth on her bento box and opened it up. A small sparkle in her eyes as she looked down at the beautifully variations of protein and grains.

She clasped her hands together, uttering ‘Itadakimasu’ before digging into her bento.

‘This is really good…feels like I’m eating heaven..’

She thought as she savored the flavors and textures of the food. The peace she had alone was cut short when the two girls from the morning walked up to her but they had three more girls with them.

“Hey!” The blonde said with an angry pout and furrowed brows.

Her shoulders tensed up and she looked up at the girls with her leg bouncing which was normal for her anxiety.

“Why did you run away from me and Hina when we talked to you in the morning?” She asked squinting her eyes down at Y/n

“Emma-Chan please…” Hina said with her hands up In defense.

“Uhm…sorry, my social anxiety got to me. I’m not used to talking to people.” Y/n said with her head down but it was loud enough for them to hear.

Emma blinked blankly at her.

“Oh.” She said.

“Hey, how come you’re the only female wearing the boys uniform pants? You’re supposed to be wearing a skirt.” A white haired girl pointed out.

“Yeah, that’s true.” A girl with orange-ish hair spoke and crossing her arms.

“The principal said it was okay for me to wear it. I don’t feel comfortable in skirts after an incident in my past.” Y/n explained.

The girls looked at her with softened eyes and nodded their heads.

“My name is Akashi Senju by the way!” Senju introduced.

“I’m Sano Emma.” Emma spoke up.

“Shiba Yuzuha, pleasure to meet you.” A small smile on Yuzuha’s lips.

“Seishu Akane.” Her yellow lashes batted with her sparkling eyes.

“Tachibana Hinata, but you call me Hina!” She laughed.

Y/n looked at the girls and introduced herself as well.

“Hey, why don’t you come sit with us?” Hina offered since she noticed Y/n was sitting alone.

“O-oh, are you sure?” Y/n asked with her face slightly red since she wasn’t used to people being this nice to her.

“Yeah! Come on!” Senju exclaimed and started to pull on her arm.

“Quit pulling on the poor girl’s arm, Senju!” Yuzuha scolded before pulling her away from Y/n.

Y/n stood up, grabbing her things and walking with the girls to another table.

“Emma! Where’s the dorayaki you promised me?!” A blonde haired boy whines to Emma making the girl roll her eyes at his attitude and toss him a brown bag which he immediately dug into it.

“Hey, who’s that?” A lilac haired boy pointed out as he looked at Y/n.

“This is Y/n! She’s new!” Hina spoke making the whole table look at her.

‘Ughh..I hate stares…’

Y/n thought as she thickly gulped when she noticed their black jackets with gold writing.

‘First, I have to sit behind the first founders of the Black Dragons in class and now I’m here about to sit by Tokyo Manji gang known as Toman?..what the fuck!’

She groaned mentally before the girls pulled her to sit between them causing Y/n to yelp.

“So Y/n, what made you come to this school?” The lilac haired boy from before asked. He had a sweet welcoming smile on his lips making her feel relaxed just for a little.

“Well, it’s really the only one that’s close by to where I live at.” She spoke after finally managing to get the words out of her dry throat.

“That’s cool. My names Mitsuya Takashi.” He introduced.

“Kowada Y/n.” She replied.

“Kowada?!” A short blonde haired boy exclaimed making Y/n flinch at his sudden outburst.

“Takemichi hush! You scared her!” Hina scolded.

“It’s fine, it just caught me off guard.” Y/n defended.

Eventually, everyone introduced themselves which Y/n made mental notes on their appearance so that she doesn’t forget their names or what they look like.

The boys went back to doing what they were doing before. Some of them just chilling and calmly talking to each other while others were fighting over food.

“So Y/n, what do you like to do? Any hobbies?” Akane asked curiously.

“I like to draw and write. I might not be the best at drawing but I’m trying. I mostly write short stories and poems.” Y/n said, for some odd reason she didn’t know why but she felt comfortable already with the girls.

Almost as if she knew them her entire life!

“Poems? I heard that it’s also a way to vent when you don’t have someone to talk to.” Yuzuha mentions.

“Yeah, I actually turn my problems into poems and short stories.” Y/n said.

The girls turned their head towards her.

“Really?” Emma tilted her head.

“That sounds fun! Wait no- not as in fun of your trauma but-!” Hina stumbled on her words making the rest laugh.

“Don’t sweat it, I know what you mean.” Y/n waved off.

“Ken-chin…” Mikey whispered to the taller blonde making him hum.

“I don’t know why, but I feel my stomach tingling.” He said in a hushed tone.

Draken raised a brow at him and glanced over at the girls.

“Why is that?” His deep voice spoke.

“It’s only when I look at Y/n. My stomach gets this weird feeling.” Looking over at Y/n as he talked.

“So you feel it too?” Mitsuya said joining in on their conversation.

“I only get those type of feelings when I look at Emma and Emma only.” Draken said making Mikey playfully push him.

“Cmon’ Ken-chin! It doesn’t hurt to crush on two people.” He teased making Draken shove him.

“I haven’t even known that girl no longer than twenty minutes, I don’t get attached that quick unlike someone.” He huffed and aimed his last sentence to Mikey, making it obvious that it’s aimed.

“Let’s maybe not argue and try to be civilized for once?” Mitsuya said pinching the bridge of his nose.

“Taka-Chan…” Hakkai gulped nervously.

“Yes?” He replied.

“I think you spoke too soon.” The buzz cut boy said pointing to a scene where Baji jumped over the lunch table attacking Chifuyu after he took the last bit of chocolate mushroom shaped biscuits.

Watching the scene unfold made Mitsuya face palm and stand up to go separate the chaos.

“Is that normal?…” Y/n asked seeing Baji on top of Chifuyu as he was holding a box with chocolate mushroom shaped biscuits.

“They’re like cats I swear. If their past life was them as cats I wouldn’t be surprised.” Emma shrugged making the girls giggle.

“Hey! Y/n-Chan!” A voice yelled out making Y/n and some other attention from other tables look over.

It was Shinichiro who had his friends behind him.

They had caught up to the table as the black haired male flashed a smile.

“I have a favor to ask if you don’t mind.” He panted a little out of breath.

Y/n raised a brow at what his favor was.

“So I didn’t quite get the lesson for first period and I saw how good you are at solving the equations! You made it seem easy and I was wondering if you could help me out a bit?”

He asked rubbing the back of his neck nervously with red cheeks and a shaky smile.

‘Me? Seriously? My introverted ass? Dear anyone above please help me…’

She mentally sighed before nodding.

“Sure…” She mumbled.

“Great!” He said and sitting in front in front of her with his friends sitting with them.

“Hey! Hey! You guys know that this is the Tomans table, go to your original table Black Dragons!” Nahoya spoke with a vein slightly popping out of his cheek but he still had a smile on his face.

“Shut it Ice Spice.” The purple and yellow mixed hair boy said making some of the boys laugh.

“Me personally…” Yuzuha mumbled with her jaw slightly dropped.

“The disrespect..” Senju gasped.

“I wouldn’t take that to be honest, but that’s just me.” Emma replied.

“The hell you say?!” Souya said defending his older twin brother.

“Great, here comes Cold flavored water.” The male said while swirling the lollipop in his mouth.

“What?!” Baji said before holding his stomach from laughing.

“It’s not funny, it’s not funny.” Mitsuya said bitting the inside of his cheek to restrain himself from bursting into a laughing fit.

“Alright, that’s way beyond disrespectful.” Y/n said with a flabbergasted expression.

“Sorry about them.” Shinichiro apologized and elbowed the droopy eyed male.

“By the way, I’m Imaushi Wakasa.” He introduced.

“Akashi Takeomi.” The slicked back haired male spoke up with a grin.

“You can just call me Benkei.” The short almost buzzed white haired male said.

“Nice to meet you three, I’m sure you already know my name by now.” Y/n said.

They all nod.

“Okay so, am I still gonna help you with the lesson or?” She asked making Shinichiro to frantically gather his things and stand up.

“R-right! Let’s go?” He spoke as she nodded and gathered her things.

She then stood up, bidding a goodbye to everyone at the Toman table and walked away with Shinichiro to another table that wasn’t too far and was empty.

“Hey, who’s that over there?” A male with two braids spoke and pointing his baton towards the two.

“I’m assuming that’s a new student?” A male with a buzz cut and heterochromia spoke up.

“But Shinichiro isn’t a new student.” A blonde with a half shaved head while licking his brass knuckle.

A male with tan skin, short white hair and violet eyes spoke.

“Of course he isn’t a new student, we’re talking about the girl that’s sitting with him you dumb fuck.” His voice spoke with his long red earrings dangling along his ears.

Now the attention was shifted over to Shinichiro and Y/n who sat alone together. Y/n was helping Shinichiro with the lesson, getting just a little bit frustrated.

“How did you mess that up? It’s one of the simplest formulas in this lesson.” She huffed in frustration.

“It’s not my fault! I can’t remember all of these formulas. It’s too much.” He complained making Y/n pinch the bride of her nose.

“You asked me to help you because once you’re done with high school, you said that you wanna open up a motor shop. In order to get into that type of business, you need to know these!” She groaned making him frantically find a reason.

“Damn, looks like he’s giving her a real hard ass time.” Wakasa chuckled.

“Watch her probably switch schools. I bet $30.” Takeomi betted.

“You guys are seriously betting?” Draken spoke up.

“Hey, it’s only them. I’m not part of this.” Benkei blankly defended.

“I hope he’s not making her uncomfortable by how close he’s sitting with her.” Emma said as she realized how close Shinichiro was sitting next to her.

“Awwe~ Emma-Chan being protective.” Hina coos with a sweet smile.

“Can you blame me? You girls would feel the same too, especially since she’s new!” She exclaimed.

“True.” Yuzuha nodded in agreement along with the others.

Y/n could feel the tension coming from everyone around her. After Shinichiro finally got the concept, she stretched her arms out and turned her head and made eye contact with a tan blonde haired male that had glasses.

She didn’t want to seem rude so she sent him a quick smile before standing up and going back to the table she at with the girls.

“Kisaki is blushing~!” A black haired man with a blonde on front teased, pointing his finger at him.

“Shut up Hanma…” Kisaki grumbled and adjusted his glasses to try and hide his blush.

ᴛᴀɢʟɪsᴛ: @reiners-milkbiddies, @0fftherec0rd, @simpingfor-wakasa, @melou008

(Let me know in the comments if you wanna be added to the tag list!)

[lexa-griffins]

Before they became official, did milf Lexa subconsciously find herself making room for fat butch Clarke's stuff in her house? Like she would set aside a space in her closet or drawer for Clarke's clothes

It started small, before they were even close to start anything. All because Lexa suggested Clarke being a change of clothes since it's easier for her to shower here.

Then a small change of clothes turned into two because Clarke stayed for dinner and helped one time and ended up getting all dirty. Lexa insisted on washing them, and suddenly, there are 2 of Clarke's shirts on her drawer.

And one day, Clarke stays overnight in the living room. And the next week there's a sleeping shirt (which Lexa will later discover is actually for her and her kid's sake because Clarke much prefers to sleep topless) and shorts next to the other 2 shirts. And some sweatpants join in. After a night in the bat downtown where Clarke drives Lexa home, a leather jacket makes it's way to Lexa's closet. There is one sports bra far too big for Lexa in her underwear drawer, alongside a few boxers she never bought.

There are jeans next to her slacks on a hanger. More than a handful of t shirts have taken hold of the one empty drawer in her dresser, and now Clarke no longer asks if she can go and grab one before her shower, knowing well where they are.

There is a third towel and a luffa in Lexa's shower. Her shower gel ends faster and now Clarke also smells like orange flower and jasmin. There's a new kind of shampoo of blonde hair that she adds to her shopping car everytime now.

And somehow, Lexa doesn't fully understand they are dating until she's smackin the head with it 🤣

[anx-box]

Our party as dungeon meshi chars

İts kinda scary how seamless we fit into the roles too

Amara is a magic caster elf, mirus is a half beast person with gender fuckery, solomon is a big stronk guy that loves to eat wierd stuff and bugs, karru is a grown man who gets told hes a child bcux of the age comversion and luffa loves to cook <3

[rjalker]

It's going to get down to freezing temperatures so we had to harvest the luffa, so they are now stacked in front of my fan to dry. Nothing like 1am gardening with only your phone's flashlight lol.

Luffa you're also known as the sponge cord because the insides of these are filled with fiber that, when dry, is great for using as a scrubby sponge in soaps and stuff. A lot of the disks of colored soap with a scrubby thing inside? That's a slice of luffa!

And unlike plastic sponges this is entirely biodegradable, because it's literally a plant.

All of these came from one plant, and we actually said the seeds in spring but they didn't start coming up until September because I guess it was just too hot the rest of the time. Lol.

Luther guards are edible when they are young, the same way as cucumbers, but we are growing them for the natural sponges rather than food.

It might be too early for these to have been ripened properly, but they would have died anyways in the cold, so.

Image description start. Two photos. The first shows a collection of 12 large cucumber-like gourds sitting on a fake wooden floor in front of a fan in three rows.

The first row is elevated on black wire cookie sheets, the second is on a box, and the last is on two cubes of styrofoam, each row is arranged so that air flow from the fan is not blocking the row behind it.

Each gourd is dark green with some lighter mottling, and light green spots, with a stem of about 2 in on the end.

There's a yardstick on the ground next to them showing that all of them are over 12 inches or 30 centimeters long.

The second photo shows one of the guards being held up flat on the hand to show how big it is.

End ID.]

[lumioutdoors]

5 Cheap Ways to Fix Smelly Leather Sandals Fast

When I was a young kid I had this set of leather sandals that I ABSOLUTELY adored. They had denim pads for the feet and the leather strap for the toes had this way cute butterfly on it- the detailed whorls and antenna made me feel like literally the most fashionable youngster to have graced the planet. For real, believe me when I tell all y’all that I wore those shoes until they were utter tatters!

Truly, I had duct-taped the straps back where they were supposed to go (carefully- they were still gorgeous shoes! At least, they were in my lil’ self’s own opinion). The leather was peeling from every rounded edge and corner, then the denim in the center pad of the foot was really rather worn.

I felt so grown-up in those leather sandals- they weren’t glittery or a bright, florid color as most of my previous footwear had been- these leather butterfly sandals were like the shoes my older sisters and mom wore, and I certainly couldn’t have felt any prouder.

1. Freezer

SO, ma’ dear yet stinky reader, it turns out that it’s not actually your feet that are stinking up said funky footwear- it’s really some stinky bacteria that just so happens to live on your feet, in your socks, and on your shoes. Said smelly bacteria eat up the leftover sweat from your feet (mainly just the moisture) and also the dead skin cells that regularly (and naturally) slough off of your feet. Yum, am I right? Literally a 5-star meal, without any kind of doubt.

Basically, when we want to get rid of the bad smells wafting up from our lovely (albeit a bit stinky) leather sandals then we can totally go after the bad-smelling bacteria in order to do so.

Freezers are actually AMAZING at that, as the cool temps inside don’t really agree with the rank bacteria, meaning that once frozen they won’t be able to stink up your (hopefully soon-to-not-be) pungent peds like they used to!

All you have to do in order to use your freezer to deodorize stinky shoes is stuff said shoes straight on into a pillowcase or even just a large ziplock bag- we don’t want the poor ice cream and frozen dino chicken nuggets to start smelling like a funky footlocker, now do we? — and then just make sure to leave the stinky shoes inside of the freezer for at least overnight, although going for longer will really help to slow down the stinky bacteria’s stank production, which will be fabulous (and no longer funky, hopefully!) for us and our fave set of leather sandals.

2. Wash Your Feet EXTRA Thoroughly (and I mean it!)

All of that positively dreadful bacteria? The ones that make your poor peds so pungent? First things first- water and also anything you’re scrubbing with (like a sudsy rag or luffa) can mechanically scrubbing are great at literally pushing things off of your skin (like dirt, paint, you know, basic stuff like that). Think of water as a sort of “shove” for the smelly bacteria.

Scrubbing really thoroughly is solid as well! Now, I don’t just mean a quick pass over the foot- nope, we’re talking between the toes, around the toes, over the arches, etc, etc. All of it! Like, actually! And do it twice, just to be on safe side, when it comes to taking care of the stank!

And trust me, ma’ dear yet dank-smelling reader, with just a wee bit of soap you and your stinky shoes will be even better off! Soap has a sort of superpower where it can burst apart the fatty membrane surrounding one of the tiny lil’ bacterium and BOOM! You see, if there’s no fatty membrane surrounding and protecting said smelly bacteria, then the bad-smelling bacteria can’t exactly go around stinking up your absolutely fabulous set of (soon-to-not-be) funky footwear.

Do all of this consistently too, alright? A wee bit of prevention is totes worth a whole lot of your time (and sanity) later on. Every day, ya’ got it? You’ve got to wash your feet extra thoroughly with soap and water, between the cracks and all over both of your feet.

Deodorize those smelly sandals of yours super quickly by taking REALLY extra good care in scrubbing your feet extra well with all of that sudsy water, and you and your fave set of shoes ought to be golden!

3. Coffee Foot Soak

But maybe you want to try something a bit different than just the regular ol’ method of thoroughly washing your feet to fix your stinky shoes. Something new (we’ll just ignore the freezer shoe deodorizing hack for a moment. That was *totally* a regular stinky shoe deodorizing hack, alright?).

Coffee for sure isn’t just a toasty beverage to kickstart the morning and it isn’t just a fancy, sugary beverage- yeah, sorry not sorry Starbs. Coffee and all of that stank-producing bacteria really just AREN’T two pungent peas that like to chill in the same ol’ pod ya’ know? They’re each other’s worst wafty nightmare, meaning that with just a little bit of coffee we can have ourselves a solid DIY and smell-free spa day to get rid of the dreaded stank.

All it takes to use coffee to get rid of bad smells like those hanging about your much-loved (yet) stinky leather sandals is about two cups of coffee and then one gallon of water (warm or cold for both liquids ought to work just fine, so there’s no need to worry yourself about that). Stir the two together in a small tub that’s at least big enough to hold the liquid and your feet, then submerge your feet for at least 10–15 minutes. Afterward, you can rinse and moisturize your stink-free feet (treat yo’self, alright?), and the next time you put on your leather sandals you won’t be adding to the shoes’ stank!

4. Charcoal Foot Soak

But perhaps you’re just not that much of a coffee drinker (which is totally and most absolutely ok) and you don’t happen to have much of the buzzy beverage in the kitchen. All totally good, because there are for sure other options that we can use to deodorize stinky leather sandals like a charm.

And this next option just so happens to be another foot soak! Really, it’s time for a DIY spa day, don’t you think? I mean, especially if it helps to get rid of that lingering stank in your shoes. Long-lasting shoe odor really just sucks, but don’t you worry ma’ dear (yet dank-smelling reader), a solid charcoal foot soak has got you covered.

Charcoal- oh yeah, it’s just so those toasty burnt, crispy edges from when you barbecue food, right? Summer dinners out in the backyard smell like this stuff because there was someone’s hamburger that got overcooked, right? It’s called caramelization, not “dad forgot that the grill still had food in it and now one of us will be eating a hotdog instead” — of course.

Charcoal, as it so turns out, is actually pretty rad for taking on the rank stank wafting up from your smelly leather sandals. Basically, charcoal is just superheated carbon; think like bamboo, coconut husks, etc, etc- or even your family’s last BBQ or s’mores night, although you can also get charcoal from all of that as well (especially if it’s your lil’ siblings roasting the marshmallows (which apparently make for excellent torches, or so they claim).

After being superheated, charcoal forms these wee lil’ pores which can help to absorb odor (woot woot!). Now, you won’t be using those burnt-up marshmallow leftovers as the charcoal for your foot soak (just a solid piece of advice), BUT you can get the charcoal in these supes convenient tablets at your local grocery store these days.

Just take a couple of those charcoal tablets, and spill them into about a gallon of water (warm or cold ought to work just fine), using a tub that you can fully submerge your feet in. Let everything sit for about 15–30 minutes and then just rinse everything off! Ta-dah! You’re all good to go!

The fifth of our fabulous tricks to get rid of stinky shoes is LUMI’s Citrus Tea Tree Natural Shoe Deodorizer. It’s a super swell shoe spray that’s all-natural and literally works ASAP to get you back to wearing your much-loved leather sandals before you’re forced to go out and find some other summer-worthy shoe (*gasps* not the crocs!). Don’t worry, you and your rather fashionable (and certainly no longer funky) footwear will be back in action sooner rather than later with this literally fantastic shoe spray.

LUMI also just so happens to be a kind of fabulous sort of company. LUMI is a small, family-owned business that sources only the highest quality ingredients that ALSO are all-natural, never ever (and tens kinds of evers) test their products on animals, AND they just so happen to make literally all of their products in the United States. That’s right, cue ALL of the applause, glitter cannons, and confetti because this company really that rad.

And thank goodness, because goodness knows that there’s enough funk that could use a solid solution like fix their stank with that bad smells are just literally everywhere- LUMI. Oh, did I not mention? Yeah, LUMI! Especially in the summer, we all LUMI has got your back. LUMI is good for more funk than just that which lives on your footwear. Got a stinky kitchen sink? Spray LUMI’s Citrus Tea Tree Natural Shoe Deodorizer right on it! Does the bathroom smell bad? It’s time for a lil’ spritz of LUMI, ma’ dear reader. Garbage cans of any kind? We

And totally your feet, as well. Well, your stinky leather sandals, at the very least. LUMI’s Citrus Tea Tree Natural Shoe Deodorizer just needs to be spritzed once or twice for your shoes to be smelling literally better than ever. That’s it! You’ve done it, ma’ dear reader, who’s totally going to be smelling their best with LUMI’s Citrus Tea Tree Natural Shoe Deodorizer!

I don’t know about all y’all but I usually need some kind of summary to round things off- it comes with the territory when you’ve got the memory of half of a guinea pig (that’s me- I’m totes guilty of that). So yay for summaries, and here’s one for you and our five super easy stinky shoe deodorizing hacks you can use to fix your fave set of leather sandals.

It’s super easy for you to use the freezer to deodorize stinky leather sandals. Freezers can totes take on all of the smelly bacteria we’ve been busting in our previous shoe stank-busting hacks, and thank goodness! I mean, our poor singed nose hairs can use all of the help that they can get, after experiencing those whiffy leather sandals, am I right? The low temps of the freezer don’t do the bad-smelling bacteria any favors, so the sooner we can get our smelly leather sandals in there the better, for sure! All you’ve got to do is stuff said stinky shoes into a pillowcase or some sort of sealable bag (keep the food and the funky, not-so-fresh footwear of yours separate, alright?), and then leave the smelly leather sandals inside of the freezer, besties with the Ben and Jerry’s, at least overnight but longer if you happen to have the time for it.

Making sure that wash your feet EXTRA thoroughly is the second option on our list of super quick and easy stinky shoe deodorization hacks, and ok I know that you probs already are well aware of how important it is, but think of this as just the universe’s way of high-fiving you for remembering so well (and if you sometimes forget, that’s totes ok as well, you can just think of this as a solid reminder then). Water and scrubbing are excellent mechanical forces for shoving stuff off of your skin (think grime, visible grease, and the like), and then if we add in a little soap the stinky bacteria totally won’t stand a chance at making your utterly amazing leather sandals so stinky! Ya’ see, that soap is actually what’s really going to end up packing a super pungent punch to the bad-smelling bacteria, as soap helps to pop the fatty membrane which normally guards and protects said stinky bacteria. If we just pop that fatty membrane, then the rank bacteria can’t go about stinking up your shoes, now can it? Consistency is totes also really key, as a little bit of sudsy water and scrubbing every day incorporated into your daily shower routine can definitely help to make your smelly shoes smell like new ASAP. So wash your feet extra well with plenty of soap and water, get between the toes and all around the heel- everywhere! Don’t show that dang smelly bacteria a single (totally sudsy) drop of mercy!

An easy coffee foot soak is up next on our roster of super easy effective things you can do to fix your stinky shoes super quickly. Coffee and the bacteria that stink up your fave set of (sadly funky) footwear just don’t mix, which is utterly for all of us who want to get our shoes back to smelling good enough that we can wear said rank shoes out in public again without having to worry about stinking up whatever space we walk into. All you need is two cups of coffee (and perhaps a third to drink) and one gallon of water (cold or warm works fine, just make sure that you don’t singe yourself with any supes steamy cups of coffee- no burns please and thank you! Mix those two liquids up, and then let your feet soak in there for just about 10–15 minutes. Go on ahead and rinse your feet off, then you can just go on ahead and moisturize after it’s all said and done. You’re all good to go!

The next one of our fast ways to get rid of smelly leather sandals is also a foot soak! A good charcoal foot soak is totally the next thing you’re going to be wanting to add to your regular self-care routine because trust me when I tell you that this stinky shoe deodorization hack is totally worth the effort. Charcoal, which is essentially just superheated carbon, has these tiny lil’ pores on its surface that can help to absorb all kinds of odors (even the ones that totally smell like you’ve gone and left a hunk of old blue cheese just to hang out in your shoes- and thank goodness too!). You can easily find tablets of charcoal at your local grocery store or even just order them online if you should choose to do so. Regardless, just take some of those charcoal-filled tablets, and spill them into about a gallon or so of either cold or warm water (the temperature won’t make too much of a difference) filling a small tub that you can fully submerge your soon-to-be stank-free feet in. Soak your feet for about 15–30 minutes, and you and your lovely set of leather sandals ought to be smelling utterly fabulous soon! The pores from the charcoal will help to absorb the stank, and you’ll have had a solid and hopefully happy lil’ DIY spa day for your lovely self!

LUMI’s Citrus Tea Tree Natural Shoe Deodorizer is an absolutely amazing shoe spray that’s exactly what we need to take on the terrible stank wafting up from your stinky leather sandals. This is a shoe spray that’s all-natural, cruelty-free, high-quality, and honestly it’s also probs made from the tears of the gods and blessings from a couple of unicorns (it’s not, but it really is pretty awesome). Aside from all of that, LUMI’s Citrus Tea Tree Natural Shoe Deodorizer can be used to help deodorize loads of things, from garbage disposals, to bathrooms, kitchen sinks, etc. etc. Fixing your stinky sandals for good literally only takes a spritz or two of LUMI, and then you should be all set to skedaddle, stank-free, smelling like citrus, tea tree, and totally not blessings from unicorns (because why would you need those when you literally have LUMI?).

From shoe sprays to charcoal foot soaks, there is totally a HUGE variety of ways that you can use to take on the terrible stank from your stinky shoes. Learning how to fix smelly leather sandals fast totes couldn’t be any easier! Deodorize those smelly shoes of yours with ten kinds of ease, and do it all successfully!

Originally published at https://lumioutdoors.com on March 5, 2023.

[terrible-chudovysko]

[duhragonball]

Local housewife exposes shocking secret to achieving maximum power level...

The worse the explanation, the better.

[missamyrisa2]

Tell us more about tickle therapy? I want a tickle therapist, it sounds so pain-relieving and relaxing and fun. I have chronic pain and bad tickling in the wrong spots can activate deep seated pain but when I am able to feel pleasure from being tickled I never want it to stop. it fills my body with fuzzies and there's no pain anymore. An hour of that every week with massage if I begin to hurt sounds so nice.

The therapist I use is very good about working with non-conventional massage techniques. I can't tolerate the typical massage because that much pressure on my body makes me sick. Sometimes we do a full hour of nothing but tickles, sometimes it's a light soothing massage followed by tickles and then another massage. The tickles vary a lot too. We've done it with two peacock feathers only, like all tingles. My most recent session was like a creative tool extravaganza with a bunch of household items used for the touch and sound sensations. She brought a luffa, rattle stick, scalp massager, a soft sponge, a fuzzy glove, and I brought paintbrushes, a dust mitt, and a belt. Sometimes we've done a focus on aural sensory tickles, where she used paintbrushes on my ears, did repeating trigger words, and even buzzed in my ears. We've talked about trying a massage gun, but haven't done it yet.

It's a typical sort of massage set up, with me laying on the padded table face down and face up half the time. Usually I'm nude and laying between a soft blanket with a fuzzy heavy blanket over my body which she'll move and fold to expose one tickle zone at a time, until it's only covering my royal area. For music we usually do soothing stuff but occasionally we'll switch to dance pop during the tickles which I really love. She has a very healing, matronly personality and always takes extra care to sooth my spirit. She loves to hear my giggle and often is apologizing because she feels like she's laughing more than me during the tickles. One particularly special bonding moment was towards the end of a session where we both couldn't stop giggling even after the tickles stopped and she held my feet against her tummy and we giggled it out for like ten minutes. I wish my sessions were weekly! Due to our schedules it's very hard to find session times, not to mention how crazy expensive that would get~

I would highly recommend finding one! Tickle therapy is kind of becoming a thing. There's places opening up around the US that specialize in this sort tingle, and I'm sure there's plenty of massage therapists who would be open to the idea.

[clearwillow]

I'm not useless 😭😭😭 things are growing

The first Big Boy tomato, the luffa are starting to climb. I just found the first cucumber today. Starting to get okra. There's cantaloupe blossoms, and I don't think the watermelon are too far off from following. And - AND - I said fuck it the other week and put in a few Cherokee bush pumpkin seeds in that empty place. So that's what those are.

Yall don't understand just how bad I've felt for months. The weather has been against me getting stuff started, and we can't get rain without hail or downed trees. This makes me feel like I'm not hopeless. I literally made this joke the other day. That's how upset I've been, cause I didn't think anything would take this year.

[dorky-crow]

Basement Uncle Chapter 2

Bit shorter this time but yeah, enjoy

Chapter 2. The Duck in the mirror

Jim turned his head to look at the clock, it was 6:30, Drake would probably be taking Gosalyn to school soon so he should probably ask the duck soon. he tightened the bathrobe as he went up the basement steps which creaked under his weight. Luckily for Jim, Drake was standing at the front door.

"ugh, Drake? can I ask you a favor?"

"sure, what do you need?"

"you think we could go buy furniture or something"

"sounds good to me, we can go once I come back from dropping Gosalyn off just make sure you're ready and that means having a shower, Jim"

"yeah, shower got it"

"I mean it! towels are in the closet" 

 loath as he was to wash his body with something that had his own face on it, it was clear he had no other option. he slung it over his shoulder and moved back to the basement, passing Gosalyn on the way

Jim waved at the younger duck as he turned around and went into the hallway "towels, towels, towels..." he muttered to himself as he pull open the closet "what the-" he let the last word die in his throat as he was met with a stack of purple towels.

he'd know these towels from anywhere, the "Darkwing duck towel set", one of several cheap and low quality products Jim had slapped the Darkwing brand on, just to make a quick buck. of course his two super fans had bought multiple.

"see ya, kiddo" he gave her a quick salute "bye, Uncle Jim"

"wait, uncle?"

he stepped back down into the basement to pull a simple red turtleneck from his suitcase. despite the house being empty, Jim still locked the door to the bathroom. he dropped the bathrobe onto the floor and for the first time in a while, got a good look at himself in the mirror.

"gotta call you something!" she said as she ran out the door

Jim was rather surprised, he never expected Gosalyn to call him that, he fully expected her to call him something far more crass but he'll take uncle. 

after taking his head out of the falling water, he opened his eyes and noticed the, naturally, Darkwing duck soap and feather wash that greeted him.

"Jesus Christ" he muttered the duck who looked back at him seemed to be decades older than Jim actually was, heavy bags were under his eyes, his bill was in desperate need of some bill balm, new wrinkles where there weren't any before, in short he looked like a wreak.

he placed the turtleneck on the bathroom counter and turned on the shower. the feeling of the water running over his body felt good, having been a long while since he cleaned himself, the weeks of filth, grime and other things simply fell away. 

"at what point does this become creepy?" he said to himself as he squirted some of the soap onto a luffa and began to give himself a deeper clean.

after cleaning off the soap and giving himself some more time to just enjoy the hot water, he turned off the shower, grabbed the towel and started rubbing himself down, trying to ignore the fact that his own face was on the towel.

 despite being clean and in a flesh piece of clothing, he still looked older than he felt. after leaving the bathroom, he threw the bathrobe into the washing basket, he grabbed some sunglasses from his "room" as he wanted to cover his face, Jim felt that it would traumatize any small child who would see it.

Jim sat himself down at the sofa in the living room, waiting for Drake to get back and do some shopping, no doubt Drake would have some of his own stuff he wanted to do.

[duhragonball]

[FIC] Luffa: The Legendary Super Saiyan (209/?)

Disclaimer: This story features characters and concepts based on Dragon Ball,  which is a trademark of Bird Studio/Shueisha and Toei Animation.   This is an unauthorized work, and no profit is being made  on this work by me. This story is copyright of me. Download if you like, but please don’t archive it without my permission. Don’t be shy.

Continuity Note: This story This story takes place about 1000 years before  66 years after  1000 years before the events of Dragon Ball Z.

[12 March 238 Before Age. Dorlu Prime.]

Luffa had once been the Legendary Super Saiyan, until the Demon God Demigra offered her a chance to do it all over again. She found herself in a new history, where the alien hordes who captured and tortured her were all dead. With the Tikosi's extinction, and Luffa's foreknowledge of events to come, she had a chance to live her life the way she had always wanted. All of the friends, the love, the triumphs, with none of the loss, the regrets, the tragedies.

Or so it had seemed.

She was still trying to decide whether to accept Demigra's truce. His terms were simple. If she agreed to remain in this new reality, he would leave her alone. But if she refused to accept his triumphant ascension to godhood, then Luffa could confront him for one final battle. She only had to take the magic scroll he had left for her, and she would instantly travel from her world to his. Since that path lay open to her, she decided to take her time and see what this new world had to offer.

At first, it had seemed like a dream come true. She was back on Dorlu Prime, where she had spent her teenage years guarding the planet as a mercenary. Her treacherous father had left the planet in a profound despair. His plans for the future had died with the Tikosi, and only Luffa knew just how shaken this had left him. That suited her well, as it meant she could chart her own course without him.

Keda was alive in this world, still a healthy nine-year-old child, unaffected by the terrible conflicts that only Luffa could now remember. The same was true for Zatte, the captain of the Dorlun militia. In this era, she had been Luffa's best friend, although later they would fall in love and marry. However, in this era, Luffa was still married to her first husband, Kandai.

Luffa's plan was fuzzy in places, but the basic goal was to divide her time between the Dorlu Colony and finding mercenary work in the surrounding space sectors. That way, she could still have Zatte and Keda in her life, without taking them away from their home. From there, Luffa could reach out to other close friends she had made in the old reality. It would be a challenge to make contact with them all and befriend them all over again, but Luffa cared for them too much to simply ignore them.

But that part of the plan had ended before it could truly begin. She had contacted Dr. Topsas on Plutark VII, hoping to strike up a friendship with him while he put her in contact with Wampaaan'riix. Instead, he informed her that Wampaaan'riix had been killed in a Deathmatch tournament.

This had been a huge blow to Luffa, who had never even considered the possibility. In the old reality, Wampaaan'riix had survived the tournament, thanks to Luffa's refusal to kill him. This time, she had skipped the tournament, never suspecting that her Yetitan friend might lose his life to some other opponent.

After hearing the news, she was inconsolable for hours. The worst part was that she couldn't even tell anyone what was bothering her. There was no way to explain it.

In the old reality, she might have commiserated with Zatte through her telepathic abilities, which had become much more sophisticated after Luffa became a Super Saiyan. But in this reality, Luffa was still at the power level she had been at the age of nineteen. Telepathy on that level, with an alien, was impossible.

And eventually, after Luffa had neglected enough mealtimes in her despair, it was Kandai who reached out to comfort her. He didn't know why she was upset. Indeed, she had been distant towards him for days without any apparent reason. But he still knew how to charm her, and how to get her to vent her emotions without hearing the context behind them.

The answer was combat.

Their battleground was on the far side of the planet. Dorlu Prime was mostly a primeval wilderness covered in sparse vegetation and inhospitable wastes. The Dorluns had grand dreams for the planet, but their colony was only a tiny speck of civilization on an otherwise uninhabited world. And so it was easy for Luffa and Kandai to find a suitable place to fight without damaging anything important.

It was a one-sided affair. At her present level, Luffa's powers were no match for Kandai's, but that didn't stop her from hitting him with everything she had. As for Kandai, he held back, allowing Luffa to fight to her fullest without shutting her down too quickly. He still fought back, but only to keep her motivated to try harder.

In the end, Luffa put everything she had left into a final assault, charging all of her power into the fingertips of her left hand, and firing a focused beam of ki at his heart. But he was too fast to hit, and before she could react, he was grasping her by the wrist and spoiling her aim. She tried to headbutt him, only for Kandai to use his free hand to deliver a chop to her neck. Luffa collapsed to the ground in a heap. She was still conscious, but too weary to move.

"Not bad, Luffa," he said as he alighted beside her. "I guess training those blue folks really helped you improve."

"Th-thank you," Luffa said between gasps. When she finally found the strength to roll over onto her back, she saw Kandai had lain down beside her.

"Something's got you all riled up," Kandai said. "I don't know what it is, and I guess you're never gonna tell me, but I could sense it in those punches of yours. Oh, and that red laser beam thing you just used a minute ago. Where'd you learn that one?"

"Long... story..." Luffa said.

"Yeah, well your emotions were all over the place," Kandai said. "It's like you wanted revenge for something, and I don't even know what for. If I didn't know better, I'd think you wanted me dead."

"Maybe..." Luffa said with a bitter chuckle.

"Whatever it is, I'm sorry, okay?" Kandai said.

With a loud grunt, Luffa sat upright, and began grabbing at her black, sleeveless shirt.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"The same thing we always do after we spar," Luffa said as she pulled the shirt over her head and tossed it to the side. "Unless you're not up for it."

"Well, yeah, but I didn't think you'd be in the mood," Kandai said. "You haven't been... I mean, for the last month or so..."

Luffa started taking off her boots next. "I know. I've had a lot on my mind, that's all. And... and..."

He kissed her before she had to struggle to find the words that she couldn't say. Luffa returned his embrace, and they continued on in this way, lying in the crater they had made in the dusty wastes.

She was conflicted about making love to him this way. She was married to him in this world, but in the old reality, they had become enemies, and she had pledged herself to Zatte. It felt wrong to pursue her feelings towards either one, but after the news about Wampaaan'riix, she couldn't stand the isolation any longer. She needed to be held, and to be reassured, and Kandai could understand her without the need for words.

Later, as she lay beside him, her head cradled between his chest and his arm, she decided to ask the question. "Did you know my father was negotiating with the Tikosi?"

"What?" he asked, somewhat drowsily.

"I found out," she said. "Don't ask me how. He was plotting something with them. That's why he was so grim after he found out they were all dead."

"You're kidding, right?" Kandai asked. "No... no, you're serious, aren't you? Well, no. He never said anything to me about it. What the hell were we doing during all those patrols then?"

"They wanted a Saiyan specimen," Luffa said. "That's what the Tikosi would do. They wanted the Dorluns to study their abilities, and they wanted to study our zenkai."

"Luffa, why are you telling me this now?" Kandai asked.

"Because I want a straight answer," Luffa replied. "And you're a lousy liar after we've... well, you know."

"No! He never said anything about this," Kandai said. "What, you think he was going to hand me over to them?"

"I don't know," Luffa lied. "He might have had someone else in mind. Maybe even me."

"You're his daughter."

"So tell me," Luffa said. "If it had been me, he would have had say something to you, sooner or later. Would you have gone along with it?"

"The Tikosi are dead," Kandai said. "Your dad's long gone."

"Answer the question," Luffa insisted.

He sighed, then said: "Well yeah, I probably would have. I mean, what else could I do? Fight your dad and take on all the Tikosi all by myself? I'd just get us both killed."

As chilling as the answer was, Luffa found the honesty refreshing. "I see your point," was all she could think of to say.

"I mean, what would you do if they had picked me instead?" Kandai asked. "You're telling me you'd rush off and die in a fight you knew you couldn't win?"

Luffa was about to say that she would, without question. Her pride as a Saiyan would have demanded it, and the example set by the tales of the Old Heroes would have inspired her to fight in spite of the odds. She had proven her convictions time and again during he career as the Legendary Super Saiyan.

But then she thought of Demigra's truce, and how she still hadn't decided whether or not she would accept it. The conflict with Demigra seemed pointless now. The Time Patrol no longer existed, and the history they had fought for was already gone. How would the Old Heroes of Saiyan Legend have dealt with that?

"I think, once, I would have died for you without hesitation," Luffa said. "Now... I'm not so sure."

"So it's this business with your dad that's been bothering you this whole time," Kandai said. "And you were worried that I was in cahoots with him."

"Let's just say I've been rethinking my whole life," Luffa said. "And I'm seeing everyone I know with a new perspective."

"Oh yeah? And what do you see in me?" Kandai asked.

"You're a pushover," Luffa said.

"Hmph. Yeah, I suppose you've got me there."

"You said before you prefer to go with the flow, that you prefer to be a follower. The truth is you're just a doormat. You'll play along with whoever offers you the safest or most profitable path."

"I never pretended otherwise," Kandai said.

"You're probably right," Luffa said. "I just assumed you were more principled than that. I saw something noble in you, but that was only what I wanted to see. I put you on a pedestal because you were so much stronger than me. The ideal man."

"You weren't complaining a few minutes ago, when I was--"

"Yeah, yeah, you do that part just fine," Luffa said with a wry smile. "I guess I let that cloud my perception too.

"So we can call it off here," Kandai said. "If that's what you want. No hard feelings. Strictly business between us from here on out."

"I didn't say I wanted that," Luffa said.

"Then what do you want?" Kandai asked. "You've always had this glint in your eye, Luffa. Like you craved something with all your heart, and you could never put it into words. So how do we get it for you? You always talked about starting a family, but... well, I think we already know how to do that."

Luffa sat up and looked around for her clothes. "I... I think we should head back to the settlement," she said.

"What's the matter?"

"Nothing!" she said, more anxiously than she wanted to sound. "I just... remembered I needed to check on something."

*******

Luffa did not spend long in the settlement, and headed directly for the Saiyans' ship. She fetched the medical scanner, and waved it around herself. She had done this before, but only to investigate the lack of certain scars on her body. Now, she understood that Demigra had somehow transported her into her younger body, that was no longer a mystery. But something Kandai had said to her in the wastes had convinced her to perform a more thorough examination.

The results were as she suspected, but before she could truly react, she heard Zatte and Kandai on board. They were looking for her, and so she stepped out to greet them.

"I just got back from meeting with the Elders," Zatte said. "It's not perfect, but I think I have a way to join your crew, Luffa."

Luffa was confused for a moment. She had completely forgotten Zatte's report to her superiors.

"Wow, you really worked her over, huh?" Zatte said to Kandai as she pointed at several scrapes and bruises on Luffa's arms and head. "I could sense you two going at it all the way from here."

"Whoa whoa! Hey...!" Kandai said. "You could tell we were--?! Oh, wait, you meant fighting. Well, yeah. Sometimes a little spar is the best way to get out of a funk."

"Sure, it's just weird to see Luffa be the one who gets all worn out," Zatte said. "I can come back later."

"No, it's fine," Luffa said. "The Dorlun Elders. What did they say?"

"In principle, they like the idea of a Dorlun operative maintaining a presence in space," Zatte began. "The problem is that I have obligations here, to this place. I'm not at liberty to explain that, but I can't just be re-assigned offworld so easily."

"So they want some other Dorlun to go with us instead?" Kandai asked. "That wasn't the idea. It's you or nobody."

"That's what I told them," Zatte said. "And they agree, I'm the best qualified for the position. The Elders just don't like one Dorlun running off by herself with a pair of aliens. But I've read the Holybook, and I think there's a way to flip this around to satisfy them."

"Holybook?" Kandai asked.

"Their religious text," Luffa said.

"Oh."

"Basically, if there was a familial connection between us, that would clear everything up. A legal relationship-- like adoption or marriage-- can be just as valid as blood." Zatte paused and looked at them both before continuing. "All right, so this might be a little too radical for you Saiyans, but hear me out. If I was married into your family, then I would have sufficient justification to go with you, and the Elders would approve of my transfer."

"What?" Luffa asked.

"Married to who?" Kandai asked.

"Well, Luffa," Zatte said. "I mean, scripturally, it could be to either one of you, but you're not my type, Kandai. No offense."

"Are you out of your mind?" Luffa exclaimed. She pointed at Zatte, then at Kansai. "I can't marry you, I'm already married!"

"No, this could work," Kandai said. He began to rub his hand over his chin as he considered it. "Once we make it official, we're free and clear, aren't we?"

"That's right," Zatte said. "The marriage itself is the thing. Once that's accomplished, well, I can play it any way you'd like."

"Well, this could work, I guess," Kandai said. "Luffa and I had been talking, and maybe things aren't working out between us as well as we thought."

"Oh?" Zatte said. "I don't want to cause any trouble between you..."

"It's fine," Kandai said. "I'm not that thick-headed. If things play out that way, then so be it. Or Luffa can switch back and forth for a while until she makes up her mind. Right, Luffa?"

"I... I need to get some air," Luffa said.

"What's wrong?" Zatte asked. "Look, if this is a problem for you, I apologize. I just thought--"

Luffa ran past them and kept going until she had made it through the entrance hatch. She did not stop until she reached her personal quarters in the settlement.

It was all wrong. So very wrong. Wampaaan'riix was dead, and Dr. Topsas didn't even know him or Luffa well enough to care. Kandai barely seemed to value their marriage at all, and Zatte was willing to exploit that to get a berth on their ship.

Perhaps it would have been simpler to part ways with Kandai and make a clean break, but even that option was muddied by the results of her medical scan. She was pregnant. It was so early into the term that she hadn't noticed it before, but the scanners could tell. He was only a cluster of cells in her uterus, but her only son, Katem, was already beginning to enter this reality.

She could still cut ties with Kandai anyway. His behavior in the old history had already proven that he cared little for their son. He might have been grateful to be excused from the responsibility of fatherhood, but it still rankled her to consider it.

Then there was Zatte. Luffa felt like their relationship in this reality had gotten off to a wrong start. There was something cynical about Zatte's approach, something she couldn't put her finger on. Then it hit her: The Makyans.

In the old history, the Makyans had captured Zatte after the Tikosi massacre. Luffa never learned exactly when that was supposed to have happened, or why the Makyans had been on Dorlu Prime in the first place. Luffa had rescued Zatte from their power, and that had changed the entire dynamic of their romance. Luffa had no intention of letting Zatte fall into their evil clutches again, but that meant her relationship with Zatte would never be quite the same as what Luffa had once known.

And that only raised further questions. Was it right to keep Zatte off Dorlu Prime to protect her from a possible Makyan raid? Would the Makyans even go to Dorlu Prime without the Tikosi attack to precede it? How could Luffa warn the colonists of a threat she wasn't even sure about? And whatever she decided, what would be the effects of those choices?

Her son, Katem, had died in the old reality, betrayed by everyone who claimed to be on his side. She imagined him as a grown man, still calling himself "Xibuyas"-- the name King Rehval had given him. She imagined him dying, abandoned on some nameless battlefield, wondering why his mother had been too weak to spare him from such a fate. Now, she had a second chance to get things right for him, but was it right? Was it worth Wampaaan'riix's life? And even if it was right, how could Luffa be sure that her son wouldn't end up suffering the same fate, or worse?

She couldn't stand it any longer. Every action, every inaction, every decision she made in this new world was fraught with consequences. It filled her with a dread she couldn't describe, and in her haste to be rid of it, she flung open the cabinet in the corner, and reached out for the glowing scroll that lay inside.

Demigra threatened to kill her if she used it, but that no longer mattered. If he had the power he claimed, then she would die in battle and have done with it. And if not...

She had no idea what a victory over Demigra could even be. If he had truly destroyed all of history, then killing him would mean there would be nothing left, except for her. What then?

The thought of drifting alone in the emptiness was enough to stay her hand. Was that her fate? To be the last survivor of a doomed universe?

Her hands began to tremble. She set her teeth and balled her fists, drawing blood from her palms as she tried to force them to be steady. Then, with a defiant snarl, she reached out and took the scroll, moving as fast as she possibly could, faster than her mind could second-guess herself.

The scroll glowed more intensely as she drew it towards her chest . And just as she wondered what was supposed to happen, the world around her went white.

*******

[??????????????????]

Luffa remembered this place, or at least another one just like it. It was a featureless expanse. The ground was smooth and snow white, while the skies roiled with turbulent aurorae. The scroll was still in her left hand.

"I'm back?" she asked. "This is where I was before I ended up on Dorlu Prime. Isn't it?"

"Yes. It's good to see you, Luffa."

The sound of another voice startled Luffa so much that she nearly jumped out of her boots. She spun around, and found a familiar face, one she had never expected to see.

"Dotz?!" Luffa gasped.

She was a fortune-teller Luffa had befriended at the beginning of the war with the Jindan Cult. Much of her appearance was the same as the last time Luffa had seen her. Dotz was tall, dressed in a long purple gown with hood around her face. A mauve shawl was draped across her shoulders, and her thin bony hands were clasped together in a hopeful gesture. The only differences lay in some of the arcane ornaments she wore, and her age. The Dotz Luffa had known was middle-aged. Now, she looked to be much older. Her once-subtle wrinkles now cut deeper lines in her face, and the greying hair under her hood now shone stark white.

"Oh, goodness. You look just like I remembered," Dotz said with a smile.

Luffa stepped toward her and placed her free hand on Dotz's shoulder. "Where are we, Dotz? Did you bring us here? What happened to you?"

She took a deep breath before answering. "It's funny," she said. "I've been wanting to find you for so long, and now that you're here I can't think of what to say. I, uh, well... I didn't bring us here. Let me start with that. This is just where you happened to be when I finally found you."

"You've been looking for me?" Luffa asked.

Dotz nodded solemnly. "Yes," she said. "Ever since you vanished that day on Planet Nagaoka. Everyone believed you had died. I mean... well, the planet exploded and everyone knew you were there when it happened. It made sense that you had perished there. It made sense to everyone, but not to me."

"I survived," Luffa said. "A magic dragon rescued me and took me into the distant future."

"Yes, yes," Dotz said. "I knew it had to be something like that. Shenron."

"You know about Shenron?" Luffa asked. "Then you know the rest? The Dragon Balls? The Time Patrol?"

"No," Dotz said, "but I've seen bits and pieces in my visions. What I meant was that it had to have something to do with you being sent forward in time. That was why I could never get a proper reading whenever I tried to tell your fortune. My psychic abilities improved after we first met, do you remember?"

Luffa nodded. "We couldn't have fought the war without you, Dotz," she said. "Well, we might have, but it would have been a lot bloodier without your ability to predict which planets the Jindan Cultists would attack. And you worked so hard to improve your abilities even further. I... never really got the chance to tell you how much I respected you for that."

She became overcome with emotion, and before she knew it, she dropped the scroll and embraced Dotz with both arms.

"Oh, well, I wasn't expecting this..." Dotz said.

"I've missed you," Luffa said. "You and all the others... I..."

"There now... it's okay," Dotz said as she patted Luffa on the back. "I... forgot how young you were when you disappeared. To tell the truth, I've been trying to find you for so long, it started to feel like an abstraction. Now that you're here, I... well. It's very good to see you."

"How did you find me?" Luffa asked. "I don't even know where this place is."

"After the war, I continued to develop my abilities," Dotz explained. "It always bothered me that I couldn't tell your fortune, even a little. That's why I didn't believe you died on Nagaoka. That should have been easy to foresee, but I had no idea until it happened. Well, over time, I got better at telling fortunes. I learned some new tricks, and improved on some old ones. I found out you were still alive in the far future, but there was still something obstructing my vision. It took me a while to get it right, but I finally managed to get past that obstacle. And uh... here I am."

"You transported yourself through time?" Luffa asked. "You never had that kind of ability before?"

"Well, no, and I don't have it now," Dotz said. "I'm not really here, Luffa. I can talk to you and touch you, but I think that's just because this vision I'm having is so focused, so clear. There's nothing else here in this time and place. So there's nothing to distract me from what I came to find, which is you."

"Then... then there's nothing you can do," Luffa said.

Slowly, she released Dotz from the embrace and stepped back. "When I saw you, I thought you might have had something to do with the scroll, or this place. Or maybe you could take me back with you."

Dotz shook her head. "I'm sorry. I'm not really clear on what's going on. I saw visions of a man, screaming something about making a 'new history.' Is that why there's nothing here? But how did you survive?"

"It's a long story," Luffa said. "A goddess of time needed my help to stop an evil wizard, and I failed. He destroyed... everything." She waved at the emptiness around them, as if Dotz had not already seen it for herself. "He said he made a timeline just for me to live in if I left him alone... but... it's no good, Dotz. I'd just make a mess of that world too."

Luffa pointed at the scroll she had dropped. "He told me that if I changed my mind, I could use that scroll to take me to him for a final battle. But instead it just took me to this place. I don't know why. I don't understand any of it."

"What about the other one?" Dotz asked. "I sensed another presence in this time."

"Who?" Luffa asked. "As far as I know, it's just Demigra and myself at the end of existence. Who else could there be? Wait... you don't mean..."

"That's right. She's referring to me."

The new voice was not one Luffa had heard before. She and Dotz looked around, but found no sign of the speaker.

"Who's there?" Luffa asked, unsure whether she actually wanted answer. She nearly suggested that Dotz should stay close to her, but thought better of it. Even if Dotz were truly here, what could Luffa possibly do to protect her?

At last, she noticed the scroll beginning to glow a brighter shade of purple, and it unfurled all on its own. Luffa watched as something began to emerge from the parchment, like an animal rising up from a murky swamp. The form was indistinct, more like a glowing fog than a person. Then, as it cleared the parchment, it took shape, and Luffa could recognize the vague outline.

"It can't be," Luffa said. "I mean, you're the only one left, but how can you be here?"

Despite Luffa's confusion, there was no mistaking the Divine Tokitoki Bird. He floated there with outstretched wings, and stared intently at Luffa.

"Well then, Luffa," the voice said. "Are you finally ready to fight?"

NEXT: One With Everything.

[theoriginalcarnivorousmuffin]

Why do you think Tomarry would work? I see a lot of people hating on it and the only response I ever see is that they come from similar backgrounds or people just like enemies to lovers. Also which horcrux do you think Harry would go best with (including Voldemort)

So, this is probably a more complicated question than you intended, but that’s because I live in bizarre head canon lands that few ever dare venture towards.

With that, let’s get started.

But What Do You Really Ship, Muffin?

First, it probably bears saying that I’m not really a Tomarry shipper. I know, I’ve written more than one Tomarry story, so if that’s not Tomarry what is? Well, remember that those Tomarry pairing tags are a filthy lie. October I committed the grievous sin of breaking up the Tomarry and throwing Tom at Harry’s mother. Lily and the Art of Being Sisyphus is barely a Harry Potter fic in any capacity, and while the ship is the driving force of the fic, it’s also this nebulous, distant, thing that really shows up only in strange side stories where I try to make people laugh. When Harry Met Tom is probably the closest that I take seriously, but I also intentionally subvert all your typical Tomarry tropes for my own enjoyment. 

The only Tomarry story I’d say I’ve ever actually written is “The Burning Taste of Fire Whisky”. It’s a very popular story, sadly perhaps my most popular on Ao3, but I actually loathe it entirely. 

A lot of the time I feel like I just happen to have a Tomarry shirt on and then I suddenly became a subject matter expert. If you want the Tomarry opinions from real Tomarry people, I’m probably not the best person to ask. In fact, if you want really any standard answer about Harry Potter anything, I’m not the best person to ask.

Now, I’m not just saying this to be a hipster but to sort of give some background for why I’m going to give the answer I’m going to give and why it’s going to be 100% different from everyone else’s and yes, sometimes, I do think I came from Mars.

Will the Real Tomarry Please Stand Up?

So with that, the bottom line is: taking canon as JKR intended, completely at face value, Tomarry doesn’t work at all. This is because JKR fully intends a very flat, one-dimensional, and frankly quite boring Tom Riddle. Tom Riddle’s evil, Tom Riddle was born evil, Tom Riddle was evil in the womb because of rape. He is completely and utterly irredeemable and understands nothing of love.

Well, that sort of sinks the ship right out of the harbor, doesn’t it? A Tom Riddle incapable of love is one incapable of growth, especially in a romantic focused story. If you try to write it you just get weird sociopathic whump porn where Tom probably whips Harry in a closet somewhere.

Added onto this we get that, despite what she put down on paper, Harry is supposed to be a straight man. That aside, he’s also a righteous man whose understanding of things like love and friendship mean he’d never sully himself with gross Tom Riddle. Ew, what are you people thinking?

Well, what if we take canon just mostly as JKR intended? What if we just look at the characters the way she actually wrote them versus what she was trying to do? Still no dice.

Tom might now be capable of love, be a far more engaging character who can go somewhere, and be pulled out of a pit of rage and despair by someone but that someone ain’t Harry.

First, while I firmly believe Harry is gay (gay, not bisexual, compare his descriptions of Cho/Ginny to Tom Riddle/Sirius Balck/Cedric Diggory/Charlie Weasley, that boy pants after Tom Riddle and Cho’s kiss is “wet”) he’s also a much worse person and much dumber character than JKR intended. It’s really the first that damns the pairing.

I have a whole giant post on how Harry’s a little yikes but the long and short of it is that while Harry thinks he understands friendship and love he’s also someone who will cut out his friends at a moment’s notice if he feels remotely slighted, uses and sacrifices them for his own ends, gleefully uses unforgiveable curses when given the opportunity, and is the kind of guy who would cut someone up in the bathroom, leave them to bleed to death, and only really feel bad about it when it seems he might get in trouble for it.

This Harry ending up even with a Tom who could potentially be redeemed would more likely lead to, well, weird psychopathic whump porn where Harry tortures Tom in his basement to make him pay for all the horrible things he’s done while Harry claims he’s the most moral person ever because his mother loved him.

So, yeah, no Tomarry for you.

But Wait, Didn’t You Say You Believed in Tomarry?

What I believe in are archetypes.

Remove what Harry’s supposed to be, remove what I think he actually is (one maladjusted, violent, dude with a whole lot of anger issues), let’s make Harry what perhaps JKR didn’t even know she wanted: one of those rare fundamentally good heroes who warps an entire story with the strength of their inner nobility.

Harry Potter is meant to be a story about love and friendship. Now, it’s not actually, and we sort of end with Harry being Jesus and none of us are sure why. Except that he apparently forgives Dumbledore and Snape for brainwashing him to be a kamikaze agent. They’re the bravest men he knows. But let’s pretend it actually is a story about love and friendship.

To me, the strongest story of love we could possibly have had in this world is the redemption of Tom Riddle. Here is a man who was supposed to have been irredeemable since birth, he has done many horrific and unforgiveable things, grew up in extreme hardship in a society that spits on everything he ever was, and is mired in bitterness, despair, and rage. Beneath all that, Tom Riddle has given up hope in the world and is now content to burn it down himself.

Harry, through the nobility of his spirit and integrity of his character, somehow managing to redeem Tom Riddle is not only a fascinating story but a very good one at its core. The fact that they are tied together by destiny as well as tragedy, that Harry houses a shard of Tom’s soul (and I do so love horcruxes), only makes it more so.

This is the kind of story that carries epics, and that is why I gravitate towards it.

Now, do I change Harry up to do so? Good god, yes. I wouldn’t say any Harry Potter I have written is anything close to the Harry we know from canon. Some are closer than others, but they always in some way deviate. That said, from what I’ve seen almost nobody writes the actual Harry we remember from canon, so this is a very standard practice I can get away with, without too many people calling foul.

Ultimately ending in tragedy or in the full redemption of Tom: either works with these base characterizations and the world is your oyster.

What About All Those Other Arguments?

I’m not going to get into this too much except that I wouldn’t argue Tomarry works for the reasons you list. At all.

On the similar backgrounds, the fact is Harry and Tom don’t have similar backgrounds, JKR just says they do because she likes that trope (and so do many of the readers).

Harry and Tom have dark hair, they both came from abusive homes, but that’s where the similarities start and end. Upon entering the wizarding world Harry is treated very very very differently from Tom Riddle.

Harry, grows up in this weird sort of pseudo poverty where he dresses in rags because the Dursley’s hate him but he never actually has to worry about money. When he gets to the wizarding world he can afford everything he wants. He can buy a new wand, he can buy new supplies, he can buy all the candy off the trolly cart. Money’s not an object to Harry, is barely even a concept.

Tom Riddle is presumably on scholarship and money is everything to him. He buys a new wand but likely all his clothes and books are second hand. He can’t buy whatever candy he wants, probably can’t afford gifts for his peers, Tom is very aware of the haves and have nots.

Harry similarly never has to worry about a career. He never gets that far, fearing for his life so much, but the fact is that Harry has enough money that he doesn’t actually need to work. More, who would turn down the great Harry Potter? He wants to be an auror, is afraid he might not qualify, but it’s not really desperate.

Tom Riddle is to the world an impoverished muggle born. He tries for the Defense position and is turned down mostly because Dumbledore threw shade. Dumbledore tries to make it seem like Tom desperately wanted to work in this weird shop in London’s magical back alley, but probably that was the only position Tom could get (everything Dumbledore ever says, especially in those pensieve lessons, must be taken with a large grain of salt). Everything else goes to friends, family, and purebloods.

Adding to this, Harry has this glowing reputation. Now, Harry might not like it, he might want to be just Harry but the fact is that everyone has heard of him and most people worship the ground he walks on. Doors are open to him everywhere. His first introduction to the wizarding world is from a man who loves him and gushes about Harry as a baby.

Tom Riddle is someone with a muggle last name, who comes from a muggle orphanage, in other words he is nobody from nowhere. (For reasons I won’t get into here I find it very doubtful Tom ever revealed he was the heir of Slytherin until he became Voldemort and let Tom Riddle fade into obscurity). His first introduction to the wizarding world is some asshole lighting all his stuff on fire because the matron talked shit about him.

Harry wants to stay at Hogwarts because the Dursleys are abusive. Yes, this is terrible, but Tom wants to stay because Nazis are bombing London and Dippet says, “So sorry, Tom, no exceptions. Enjoy those luffas!” Harry’s concerns are never treated with the same disdain.

To make a long story short, they do not have similar backgrounds, at all. To say they do is utterly laughable and not much better than saying “they both have dark hair, they have so much in common!”

They both came from abusive homes, yes, but even the nature of those homes were very different and when they went to Hogwarts they were worlds apart.

... So much for not getting into it, eh?

As for Enemies to Lovers, well, it’s a trope and people enjoy it but it’s not my jam. I could go into why, but I think I’ve said enough.

Which Horcrux Do You Think Harry Would Go Best With?

We see so little of the individual horcruxes I’m not sure I can really take a stab at this. I sort of just make up their personalities as it suits me every time I write them.

With that I suppose I’m partial to the one in Harry’s head? Given that he has a front row seat to Harry, has seen Voldemort’s tragic demise, I think he’s in the best position to end up with Harry in a meaningful manner.

Especially as, if you think about it, he could represent the very last of Tom Riddle’s humanity. The single shard of humanity that remained in him until the bitter end.

[deviliciousdev]

MBTI✨Couple Convos in Target

entj (the commander)

x

intp (the logician)

intp: (smells candle puts it in cart) i watched this horror movie with my sister one time, it was like a B movie, but it was actually really good. it was about this like cult leader guy who bought houses where murders occurred and then REMOVED THE CRIME SCENE ROOMS

intp: (smells another candle puts that one in cart too) AND IT TURNED OUT he was building this murder house/demon summoning manor for his cult. i can't remember the name of it though. i just remember it was the french word forrrr something...

entj: (putting the candles back)

can we do that? i want a demon manor house. could you imagine when people come over i could be the most cryptic host "you know, there's an interesting story about EVERY room in this house." 😈

intp: ahahaha! yes. 100%. demon house.

entj: 😉 (keeps shopping)

(several minutes go by, in the bath products isle)

intp: SLAUGHTER HOUSE!

entj: (throws luffa they were holding in the air) 🤨

entj: (picks luffa up and stuffs it in the back of shelf)... what?

intp: the movie, it was called whatever the french word for slaughter house is.

entj: (is from Montreal and is fluent in french) oh, its-

intp: hold on i'll ask siri. hey siri what's the french word for slaughter house?

siri: "the french word for slaughter house is: abattoir"(in perfect french accent)

intp: ooooo siri with the sexy french, ya hear that: ab-ate-twa ooo 😙🤌🏼

entj: 😑😒

intp: mmm siri's got it goin on, knows the answer to all my questions AND speaks sexy french... man what do i need you for? 😎

entj: (super fake high pitch voice) hahaha. 😊🖕🏻 (curses casually in french)

intp: (giggling like an 8 year old) ahaha- what does that mean?

entj: (leaving intp in isle by themselves) ask your new love siri 😘

intp: (waits for entj to round the corner) (whispers) hey siri...

entj: (throws pack of toilet paper over isle, it hits intp on the head)

intp: OW! ahahaha (continues to giggle as they run to the next isle)

entj: (laughing) mhmhmhm- actually i need the tp. go get it.

intp: no.

entj: 🥺

intp: (goes and gets it)

[viatafrumoasa-lifebeautiful]

Most of the "things" in my life are second-hand. There is very little that I own that was purchased new, or maybe even purchased at all! We've been very blessed with extremely generous family and friends. So, second hand wheel barrow (which should last until eternity unless it's mal-treated, that thing is SOLID), second hand dog, and a second-hand knowledge that allowed us to grow yummy food and fun luffa! Here's to family, friends, and, in the case of the dog, strangers, who give us good stuff.

[rjalker]

Success! Searching for "L operculata" and scrolling past all the stuff about regular luffa works.

I got no clue what they're saying but I'm gonna watch the videos anyways!

it looks like people are using them to treat colds maybe???