#AND for twins being completely badass back to back

[romanoffsbish]

Carved With Love

Natasha Romanoff x Wife!R

Yelena Belova x Fem!R (The true love story 🥹)

Yelena’s in town for the holiday season, and who would she be if not wreaking havoc? | WC: 1,986

Warnings: Mentions of Neglectful Past | Siblings

Yelena was a menace; you knew that from the insight your wife gave you before she introduced you to her.

“Y/N, she literally blew herself up and said it was fun,” your wife had reiterated her stance, that being: Yelena was a complete and total maniac. “Sounds like she’d fit right in with you and your band of superheroes,” was all you’d said back while adding pasta to your cart.

The two of you had been together for nearly a decade when they found each other again, and though the blonde was wary of a meeting she quickly agreed after hearing that the two of you were married with kids.

——

You couldn't really blame her for wanting to meet them more, especially your daughter, the eldest, who shared a name with her. They clicked instantly. Then there were your sons that you carried back to back, Andrei and Aleksander, who were bonded like twins. It was like they gained a triplet with their aunt. Then there’s the latest, Flora, who was just turning six months old and who was absolutely in love with the blonde.

The group were nothing but trouble, you adored that.

When you met her, your heart had doubled in size as you realized she was just trying to forget, to be a kid. Something you knew she never got to be, so just like with your own children, you let her get away with it all.

Natasha didn't much appreciate that, well, truthfully she adored just how much you already loved her sister. But, she was a bit jealous that you were so lenient with her, even if she knew you weren’t with her because she needed the structure and redirection you provided her.

As of right now, she thought you were also insane, "Detka, I don't think you thought this through..." Natasha mumbled against your temple from behind, where she stood with you securely in her arms, and you shook your head and softly chuckled. "It's fine baby."

Natasha currently feared for everyone's safety as her sister held one of those little orange carving knives.

"Oh my gosh, Y/N Romanoff, look!" Yelena shrieked, and your wife sighed when she felt your body relax. There was no hope left, you were at her sister's mercy. Yelena held up a stencil and you smiled. "It's cute."

"No, it is badass!" Yelena corrected, only to be met with a glare from her sister. "Watch your language."

"Natasha," you scolded instantaneously, "Lighten up."

"But she —," Natasha went to defend her decisions but quickly cut herself off when you turned with a glare.

Everyone got away with murder, except Natasha. (Well, in this symbolic context that is…)

Yelena smiled smugly at her sister, she even stuck her tongue out to mock her as you weren't looking. The redhead flipped her off, and your daughter gasped. "Mama! That's the bad finger!" Your eyes widened. "Natasha! What are you now? Some sort of hypocrite?"

"Predateli'," Natasha grumbled, making your daughter laugh alongside her aunt who was taping the ghost cat on a zombie dog's head stencil to her large pumpkin.

(Traitors)

"You all behave," you scolded the entire room before leaving to the kitchen to collect the cookies. Natasha tried to follow you, like a hurt puppy, but you made her stay behind to make sure nobody had a carving crisis. 

Which was in vain because when you came back in the room you found Yelena had upgraded to your sharp carving knife, and you nearly dropped your plate.

"Yelena honey, that's too dangerous," you practically shrieked, but not really to avoid her hand slipping. Not that you didn't have faith in her trained hands, but you knew accidents could happen regardless of skillsets. The blonde pouted up at you, and Natasha watched you once again melt into her little sister's charm.

"I can't use the little orange one," she pleaded for your understanding, "It is too tiny and ineffective."

"Okay," you folded instantly and your wife's eyes widened with flashes of shock and betrayal. The one time Natasha had done the same thing years back, before your kids, you'd given her a safety lesson.

“This isn’t fair,” she grumbled to herself, but she also let it go when she saw you sitting with her sister, eyes focused in on the way she carved the pumpkin and mouth at the ready to give her advice or a light scold.

Natasha let her festering resentments go, and shortly after joined you all at the table so that the youngest member of the house could play with the guts. It was a perfect moment of domesticated bliss, and the redhead couldn’t help but to feel at peace in current company.

Then the following morning came, and you learned a few things. Yelena had a new favorite holiday, and in turn a hobby, carving, which piggybacked right off of her other, bugging her older sister as if it was her job.

"Natasha," you tried to calm her, your hands on her tense shoulder as you kept her from lunging at the blonde. "You need to calm down my love, I can..."

"No!" Natasha cut you off, "She will do it, not you."

"She's our guest," you reminder her, but she merely rolled her eyes—something she never did towards you. "More like a pest, Y/N/N, make her leave before I do."

Your eyes narrowed fast, and your wife cowered at the sheer intensity. "Apologize to her, right now Natalia."

The redhead held back a scoff. Yelena had carved a face only a mother could love into her favorite fall leather jacket, yet she was the one who had to apologize here.

"I'm sorry, parshivets," she begrudgingly spat at the grinning blonde across the room. "I accept, cyka."

(Brat / Bitch)

You sighed, and regretfully turned to face the smug blonde. This was partially your fault too for having let the girl get away with murder up until this point.

"Yelena, now it's your turn." Yelena frowned, but then she nodded and relaxed her features. "Sorry sestra," her tone was genuine, "I will buy you another one."

"No, you don't have to," you let the girl off the hook. "Yes she does." Natasha rebuked your words in a flash, then she intelligently rephrased, "No you don't."

You smirked and rewarded her with a kiss that she tried to melt into, but once again Yelena interrupted with a rumbling stomach. "Can we make pancakes?"

Natasha's hands harshly gripped your hips, and you smiled at her in understanding, she missed you. "How about you go get the kids up while we make breakfast?"

The redhead reluctantly let you go with a nod, but before she got too far you pulled her in for another kiss. "I'll be all yours soon, just have some patience."

Yelena was leaving after the holiday's event, and the kids were going to Wanda's for a spooky sleepover. You'd planned accordingly, and your wife smirked at the reminder, chastely pecked your lips then ran up the stairs with a reinvigorated pep in her once glum step.

"Get the chocolate chips," you instructed your sous chef, and she did so with a smile. Yelena was learning to cook from you, you never outright said it, but you worried about her eating habits. All she could make was mac and cheese and that was artery clogging if not met with a balance of other things besides takeout.

Yelena appreciated your concern, it was clear to her that you were the perfect match for Natasha, because you were an even better platonic match for her. The way you let her just be who she was, who she was discovering herself to be with her newfound freedom, meant the absolute world to her. You were a light that she found comfort in, and would never let go of.

Once you showed Yelena how to make the batter you let her ladle it onto the griddle. "Don't flip it yet," you instructed, your back was turned but you were aware of her piqued curiosity and she was enamored by your spy like skills. "You're like a super mom or something."

"It's nice to see my skillset is appreciated," you teased the younger girl as you returned to her side and gently bumped her hip. "I appreciate all of you, sestra."

It took you a second to reel in your emotions, you'd only been hoping that she wouldn't hate you, but it turned out that she actually liked you, and you didn't want to cry and make her reevaluate that judgement.

Instead you settled on hugging her shoulders, giving her a gentle shake as you showed her the indicators for flipping before finally letting her flip the pancake.

Just as you settled a pancake on the plate you heard an obnoxious scraping on the glass. "What the—." There before you was a focused blonde, the tip of her tongue rested on her lower lip as she carved your perfectly round pancake into a ghost cat. You shook your head with a fond smile, "You really love knives, don't you?" Yelena mirrored your expression and nodded as she now carved an eye into a pumpkin. "They are so cool."

"Natasha loves her guns the same." Yelena flinched, "Guns are too rigid, and loud. Knives are fun, you can do flip tricks with them and they're just as lethal."

You noted her clear discomfort with firearms, and filed it away in your mind as a later topic of discussion, and fortunately the kids came barreling into the kitchen. Yelena dropped the knife and, just like every morning, she greeted the little boys with the tickle monster.

Then came your daughter’s greeting, “Yelena Belova!"

Yelena then followed her lead, “Yelena Romanoff!"

You shook your head at their antics, then you returned to your task at hand, and began to set the table. You placed the blondes masterpieces in their designated spots, a pumpkin for each boy, the cat for her parrot, and the torn to bits pieces went to the toothless baby.

You were gifted two perfectly sized hearts, topped with fruit and whipped cream. Natasha got zero change to the shape, but instead, she was gifted icing words.

“I’m not eating that,” Natasha growled, and you bit back a laugh as you saw the script. “What’s it say?”

Natasha shook her head at you, and glared in her sister’s direction as you attempted to read the Russian out loud, “Tvoya zhena lyubit menya bol'she.”

(Your wife loves me more)

“Damn right,” Yelena teased as she sat in front of her own pancake, “Don’t worry sestra, she loves you too.”

“You two, knock it off and eat your breakfast,” your mom voice came out, and everyone was suddenly sat. You nibbled on your food while making sure your baby didn’t choke on hers as she gobbled it down like a cat (Liho and Bob) being fed at the normal time everyday.

Once breakfast was finished you sent the kids to the living room with their aunt to watch cartoons while you and your wife cleaned up the mess left behind.

As you were packing up the fruit you felt two arms snake around your waist, and a kiss placed on your neck that you instantly melted into. You felt her smirk but ignored her smugness as you lazily cleaned up.

"You're spoiling her," Natasha groaned, you shrugged and turned around to face her with a genuine smile. "I'm just giving her the same chances I did you."

Natasha frowned, "I hope it's not exactly the same."

"That’s disgusting!" Yelena groaned from the couch and you giggled into your wife's shoulder. Avoiding the question in your kids eyes, and leaving Natasha to answer it. The redhead smirked, throwing her sister a wink before she completely pulled you out of the room.

Two could play at this game…

—

[youraverageaemondsimp]

Fierce and Bold // Aemond Targaryen x Reader

warnings: none, fluff, reader is a badass, insults, insecurity, comfort, kissing + not proofread

Summary: The ladies at the keep mocked prince aemond for his appearance, what they didn't expect was to be confronted by you, who was known for your fierce behavior.

WC: 1.3k

A/N: just a small fluff one shot before CF&BD drops cause that is uhm yeah

You were known to be fierce since young, always bold and never holding back what you want to say, ready to confront anyone at any given moment. This caused many men who were looking for wives to completely skip you, because apparently according to them you were considered 'unladylike' a woman who does not know 'her place' but it did not bother you, because you did not want to get married anyway, for the life of solitary is better than being a broodmare for a man whomst you do not love.

But you had caught Aemond's eye, he first heard other men talking about you, mostly negative things and that piqued his interest, he wanted to see you, see the 'rebel' as others called you, by himself.

And as if the gods were on his side, his father, Viserys, threw a grand party in the honour of celebrating the fifth nameday of the twins, Jaehaerys and Jaehaera, where your house was also invited.

It was as if the maiden herself entered the room when he saw you stepping in the grand hall, dressed in a beautiful dark blue gown and with it a pearl choker with a sapphire in the middle of it. His breath was caught in his throat as he watched you walk down elegantly, and it was at that moment that he decided that he wanted you all to himself.

“Look at the lady at the corner, the one with the dark blue gown, she reminds me of your sapphire.” Aegon comments dumbly, the wine and ale he had consumed already getting to his head, yet that revelation only made Aemond's desire to claim you further.

You were dancing with a Lord until you stepped backwards and hit a hard surface, you quickly turned back to spot the Prince looking down at you, and you shivered, something about him was so intimidating but also attractive, Aemond gives you his hand to take, asking you to dance in a silent way, and you do. Ditching the poor Lord you were dancing with for him.

And as you both dance, he grabs you by your waist and pulls you close, and for the first time in your life, you felt your heart flutter for a man, “You look amazing, my lady.” he compliments you, and you smile at him, “You too, my prince.” you say it back shyly, “Do you want to accompany me on a walk, my prince?” you did not know where that boldness came from, but you asked, directly looking into his eye, and his mouth dropped slightly in shock at your straightforwardness, he simply smirks and nods and you lead the way.

And soon you both are strolling through the gardens, you're admiring the garden of the red keep, how well it is kept and maintained, you pick up a rose and smell it, smiling contently when the fragrant sweet smell hits your senses.

You both talk quite a bit, it's mostly just you talking to him, enjoying his company more than you thought you would, he is the listener type, while you babble on, perfectly balancing each other out. The path is soon filled with your uncontrolled giggles at his 'jokes' and his face in a wide smile, feeling content and full with you.

But all of that comes crashing down when these three ladies stop in front of you both, greeting Aemond, he simply nods his head and walks past them, and you do the same until you hear them whisper.

“Look at his spoiled attitude, if he wasn't a prince then he wouldn't even be given a shit about.” one of them says.

“Yeah, especially with that hideous scar, and the missing eye, I heard that he looks like a monster without the eyepatch.”

And that's what makes you stop in your tracks and you turn to face them, Aemond had clearly heard them too, and you can tell by the way the huge smile was wiped off his face with those comments, it angered you to no end.

“What did you just say?” you go up to the three and stand in front of them, arms crossed and they scoff while looking at you, “The prince looks hideous?” you question them as you grit your teeth and that's when their expression turns into shock, knowing you both heard them.

“That's not want we-”

“If you have something to say, say it to my face, cowards. And no way you're saying that with such a hideous personality such as yours, spoiled to the core and rotten.” you quip and you watch as the ladies gulp, “Why are you defending him as if he is a lover? Oh my, a scandal?” one of the ladies tried getting back at you, suggesting spreading a rumour that can ruin your reputation but you just raised your eyebrow.

“Really now? That is the best you can do? What did I even expect.” you roll your eyes and uncross your arms. “But to answer the latter question, yes I do like him, in fact I think he is the most attractive man in the entirety of westeros.” you give her a sarcastic smile.

“Apologise to him.” you say sternly and they all look at you confused, “Tell him that you're sorry, and if I were to hear you slandering the prince once again, I will have your tongue, it is my word.” you threaten and they shiver, knowing you, they very well know how you keep your word.

They quickly apologise and scurry off, not wanting to argue against any longer, accepting defeat.

You scoff as you watch them pace back as cowards before you turn to look at Aemond who seemed to be looking at you in a daze,

“And they deem me mannerless, at least i do not go around mocking others for no reason.” you sigh, and go near him, you shake his arm, yet he doesn't budge.

“My prince-? Mhmph!” you're cut off when he slams his lips against yours, pulling you into a deep kiss, and you are confused at first but then you wrap your arms around his neck and kiss him back, and he groans in the kiss, pulling apart and kissing your cheek, and down your neck, nipping at the flesh.

“Marry me.” he doesn't ask, he commands and pulls you into a tight hug, his body leaning down and face buried in the crook of your neck.

“Of course, my prince.” you accept and he pulls back, giving you a smile before kissing you on the lips once again.

“You are different from all the ladies I've met before.” he says and you furrow your brows, “No my prince, I am the same as them, I am not different, a lady's lady, if you will, I only tend to speak out more and voice my opinions, a bad trait the others deem.” you sigh.

“That's not true, I quite like that you speak out more, and confront others, it is a wonderful trait.” he compliments you and you blush.

“You might be the only man in the history of Westeros who is singing praise about me.” you joke and he smiles, tucking a stray hair strand behind your ear, making you look at him.

“Gevie.” he says and you tilt your head in confusion, he chuckles before pressing a kiss to your forehead, “It means beautiful, in the language of my ancestors.” and you give him a shy smile, looking down.

“I shall ask for your hand in marriage once we get back to the hall, how does that sound?” he asks you for your opinion and you nod.

“It's perfect.”

Y/N L/N, Lady wife of Prince Aemond Targaryen, was known to be sharp, fierce, and bold, which was a trait no man liked. It was speculated that she was a witch who bewitched the Prince to fall for her, but later it was disproved by many other scholars as well as modern world scholars, who quoted ‘Historians just hate a woman who has a personality of her own.’

[cattonicdragon]

How about Astrid ruffnut hiccup and heather x a smartass reader who rides a timerjack, because I know the pain of not being able to scratch my back.

Astrid,ruffnut,hiccup and heather x smartass reader who rides a timberjack

*demon noises*👹

My first httyd request!,I love timberjacks they're so cool,I love most the dragons tho so.

Not being able to scratch your back must be a pain in the ass :/

Has been proofread

Astrid

I dont think It would be a surprise that you and her would get along

Your both badasses and smart

However sometimes you do lose her,if you go into particular detail she doesn't always understand

Stormfly and your timberjack get along extremely well,they're both beautiful and magnificent dragons

It's nice to sometimes just go on a night flight together with no one annoying you

She likes to listen to your ideas and rambles,even if she cant understand everything she still listens

On winter nights you both take a walk sometimes and sit under a tree whilst your timberjack sheilds you from the cold

If your ever running low on wood you,her stormfly and your timberjack go to a forest and have a day of chopping wood and having fun.

She likes to watch when you and hiccup or fishlegs play masons and talons agaisnt eachother,obviously cheering you on

If your timberjack ever needs their back scratched pleas do it

During missions Astrid and stormfly will stay close to you and try deflect any arrows that get to close to you since your timberjacks wings are so big

Having date nights when it's raining underneath a timberjacks wing>>

She likes to chip in on your dragon ramblings

If you do any illustrations or make anything she'll ask if she can see it,she likes seeing your work :)

Loves to spar with you

Ruffnut

She loves you so much

Your relationship dynamic is literally,stupid chaotic and smart(chaotic/good/etc)

She likes to give your timberjack back scratches

She loves to listen to your rambles,she wont understand anything but she'll sit there like this (////ó//w//ò////)

Shes head over heels for you

She puts her full trust in the words you say,you could just be saying the stupidest shit ever and she'll completely agree with you

She likes the fact that you have a destructive dragon

She will test how sharp your timberjacks talons are so you might want to supervise her around your timberjack

Will kick tuffnut off belch so you can ride on him

She will have input on many things and openly tells you

Tuffnut is nice to you(mainly so ruffnut dosnt do anything to macey)

Will ask if she can ride your timberjack,if you do say yes just make sure she dosnt end up decimating berks trees

Hiccup

I think it's pretty obvious that you would both get along

Both of you give your own input and ideas/suggestions to eachother

Hes never met someone who rides a timberjack so he will ask if he can study them

If you allow him to he will be very careful and delicate

Toothless and the timberjack get along so well,and they are both so cute,you found your timberjack with its wing on toothless with both of them sleeping once

Hiccup is very supportive of your ideas and constantly asks for your opinion and ideas

During the time when him and viggo where at each others necks he asks you what you think would be the right move,hes especially stressed with the viggo situation so he needs all the help and support he can get.

He and toothless help you and your timberjack improve on dodging and evasive maneuvers

Sometimes if you help with the twins and snotlout hes ever so grateful

He loves how smart you are and if he's ever on a mission with you and one of the twins or snotlout tags along you basically translate what hiccups saying

Heather

She dosnt always understand what you say but she'll try her best

She trys to learn more and read books so she understands you more

She feels bad for not always understanding you but she makes up for it by being affectionate

She loves to spar with you and try improve not only her own skills but your aswell

Windshear and her cover for you alot,windshears scales are very thick and so she can take hits every so often

She finds your timberjack very fascinating

Your timberjack and windshear get along very well

You and heather once had a friendly competition to see whether windshears spines were sharper or your timberjacks talons

Every so often she likes playing masons and talons with you

Although dagur may at first seem stand off-ish and harsh hes not,hes just protective and worried for heather

You are one of the only people who windshear let's ride her

[euphoniumpets]

Triplets | Nikolai Lanstov x Yul Bataar! Reader

Summary: Growing up, you had to work to manipulate water. You weren't talanted like your brother or sister. You had a hard time to controlling the water when you were younger at that point before you became a powerful Tidemaker. After joining the Second Army and seperated your siblings to be a pirate, the three of you joined together again when a certian captain catches your eye.

Requested? Yes: Could i request a nikolai lantsov x yul bataar!reader? perhaps when tolya and tamar joined sturmhond, she went on a separate way choosing to be a pirate who helps the poor or captured & fighting unjust leaders. one day, for a huge mission sturmhond finds that he needs to team up with an able outside crew to succeed smoothly. after initial reluctance out of protectiveness, the twins finally suggest reader. she's a little opposite from the twins, being more quiet, but tough and able to lead her crew. throughout the mission she and sturmhond slowly bond over humor & passion for justice n they fall completely head over heels for each other and stuff.

A/N: so, I made the reader a Tidemaker since I wanted her to be like katara from the Avatar lol because she's so badass but yet so quiet and her wits.

Warnings: none? Just y/n being a badass and her crew too.

After the war, you seperated from your siblings to go into the unknown. You've always longed for the sea and helping others and it has been years since you've saw them. You missed them dearly, but you always got the necklace that you got from them to remind that they were always with you.

Not long after, people got to knew the waterbending pirate throughout the seas. They began to grow afraid and you were the most powerful Grisha that they ever seen.

Your crew was tiny compared to the others, but they always underestimated by the different Grisha powers they held when they fought together.

Tolya and Tamar kept touch with you often as they could and you heard about Sturmhond and his stories and the adventures they had with them. So, when they reached out to you since he needed help to help the Sun Summoner and to find her amplifiers, you didn't waste a second to accept the mission.

Plus it was a win situation since you got to be reunited with them again.

-

Back at the ship when Sturmhond (Nikolai) had suggested that they needed a bigger crew and alliances against the Darkling, Tolya noticed immedietly when his twin looked at him with a knowing look. He knew what Tamar was asking if their younger sister would help them.

However, being the older and the protective one, he argued with Tamar that she could get hurt and the only response he got was that she can take care of herself.

Nikolai cleared his throat and raised his eyebrows toward the twins in front of them. He knew that they were talking through their eyes and he couldn't help but be curious. ''We know one, she's a pirate and she can be trusted,''

''A pirate?'' Alina questioned and narrwowed her eyes before it trailed to Nikolai. ''Or a privateer?''

Tamar chuckled as Nikolai rolled his eyes. ''A pirate,'' Tolya remarked with a smirk on his face. ''Also a Grisha, you might've heard the stories,''

''I might heard of her, she's a powerful tidemaker isn't she?'' Nikolai questioned. ''Yes, and she's our sister,'' Tamar replied. ''Alright, send her a message to meet somewhere and we will go through the plan with the amplifiers,'' Nikolai ordered them as they nodded before dismissing the meeting.

-

After recieving the date and the place, you couldn't grow excited since you was going to reunite with your brother and sister again. You met Sturmhond outside of the East Ravka where you guys settled down low for the night before the mission of finding the Sea Whip.

Tamar and Tolya had talked to you about the captain before gathering everybody around in the meeting room. ''Alright, thanks to our sun summoner's tracking friend over here,'' Sturmhond replied and gestured toward Mal, next to Alina before turning back to you.

He was surprised to finally meet the powerful Tidemaker he had heard stories of, only to realize that she was, well, small. He didn't know what to expect but you were different pirate of what he had seen.

''We've traversed the Bone Road to the island of Jelka,'' He explained as you looked down at the map. He watched you study the map quietly. ''As for the Sea Whip, we have some storybrook drawings, not telling what it looks like, rule of thimb for the unknown!''

-

After preparing the soldiers for finding the Sea Whip, you led your crew down to the caves along with Sturmhond and the sun summoner. Your second hand Natalia, who was a Squaller was next right to you and as your other hand, Ilya who was a Durast.

However, despite him being a Grisha, he carried a sword behind his back. He reminded you of his brother when you met him for the first time when you saved him by the Grisha hunters and would always act that he's older even though he's just eighteen years old.

You knew the captain was uncertian of bringing a child to the mission, but you assured him that he was more capable than he thought Ilya was, who was offended that the captain called him a child.

''There are holes in the cave floor, so, I'd be careful where you step, otherwise, no,'' You remarked after checking the water down below. ‘’No, you can’t tell, or no, there’s nothing in there?’’ Mal asked you.

‘’Whichever makes you feel more comfortable,’’ Tolya remarked. 

‘’Comfort is overrated,’’ Tamar commented, giving you a smirk on her face before turning to the crew. A strange noise appeared and you raised your hands up to prepare if the Sea Whip would charge against you.

With a shocking surprise, one of the crew got snatched by the Sea Whip. ‘’Drop the nets! Aim to kill!’’ One of them spoke. ''And here I thought that we were supposed to follow the Sun Summoners orders, do not harm the Sea whip,'' You demanded with a firm voice and looked around to spot the Sea Whip.

‘’I couldn’t see us, it’s toying with us,’’ Sturmhond replied. ‘’Conserve your ammo, or we’ll be dry by the time we need it,’’ You gasped when the Sea Whip dragged another crew. Through the corner of your eyes, you saw the Sea Whip lunge toward the Sun Summoner. ''Alina!'' You heard Mal exclaim before you used your hands to send a powerful wave against the Sea Whip.

The Sea Whip growled before it tossed to the side and it was about to charge towards you before you raised your hands and made the water knock the Sea Whip away from you. The Sea Whip went back to the water again. ‘’It sounds like it’s everywhere,’’ Sturmhond spoke as you all huddled back together and you accidentally bumped into his shoulder.

You and Sturmhond met each other's eyes before falling back to the water, focusing at the task in front of you. It was a moment of silent before the Sea Whip showed up and began to charge toward Mal against the walls. ''Mal!'' You heard Alina shout as you sent another wave to knock the Sea Whip away from Mal.

However, the Sea Whip turned toward you with a growl and was about to lunge toward you before Alina used her powers against it.

‘’It’s dead,’’ Sturmhond replied and you met his gaze before you looked at the Sea Whip in front of you.

All of you was back on the ship while placing the amplifiers on Alina's wrist and the sky had turned dark. As Alina's powers grew stronger by the minute they placed the amplifiers on her.

‘’Well, then, where to now, Sun Summoner?’’ 

-

Not long after, Alina and her tracker went back to bed, trying to get some rest before you all were going to take down the Fold. You and the rest of Sturmhond's crew stayed awake as they chatted with each other and let out drunken laughs with each other.

You, however, watched your people getting know Sturmhond's people from above the deck. ''Why are you not joining with your crew?'' You heard his voice as he approached you from behind.

''I could ask you the same,'' You retorted with a grin on your face as he stood next to you. ''You know, when I first met you, you threw me off,'' Sturmhond replied, making you look at him. ''Really?''

''Yes, by all the terrifing stories I've heard about a powerful tidemaker, I never thought that you would be so...''

''Small,'' He finished as you let out a laugh at his statement. ''And here I thought, I was making the wrong statement,'' You replied. ''Oh, really? What was your impression of me?'' Sturmhond replied with a smirk on his face. ''That I was handsome?''

''Quite the opposite,'' You replied and letting out a sigh before turning to him. ''I thought you would be one of these nasty pirates,''

''I'm offended by your statement, besides, I'm a privateer,'' Sturmhond retorted, giving you a look. ''Well, not as much you offended Illya today, you know, for someone who's been knowing him long, he won't be keeping his mouth shut,''

''Is he always talkactive?'' Sturmhond replied and looked down at the teenager. ''Believe me, he wouldn't keep his mouth shut sometimes,'' You grunted, remembering the time on how many times Ilya would keep talking during the fights.

Back down at the dock where Tamar looked up and saw you and their captain talk with each other as she heard your laugh and the doe eyes that Nikolai sent you when you wasn't looking at him, Tamar knew that Nikolai was absolutley smitten by you.

''I bet 20 Kruge that they will confess their love by the end of this mission,'' Tolya commented, noticing Tamar's look on the lovebirds above them.

''By the end of the month? please, I bet 20 Kruge that he will confess his love when we fight against the General,'' Ilya commented, making Natalia roll her eyes.

''I'm with Tolya, Y/N's way too stubborn to confess her love so early,'' Natalia remarked.

''Oh, really? You wanna bet on this?'' Ilya challanged them.

''Why not? 20 Kruge goes to the person who had right if our captain will confess his love for y/n,'' Tolya remarked.

''Y/N is definitly going to hate us if she finds out,''

''Oh, definitly,''

[abhorsenkatiel]

I've been making really over-thought TLT character playlists for about a year now as a background program to keep my brain entertained while I'm at work, and I realized that I have kind of a lot now, so I figured I'd share them here if anyone is interested.

Here's the ones I made for Harrow and Gideon. I'm really happy that I was able to get them to have the same number of songs, and also nearly the same run time! If you listen to them in order, they follow each character's emotional narrative.

Song lists below the cut

Harrow

Walk With Fire, Hunter As A Horse:

For when you're a suicidal ten-year-old committing the gravest sin and having complicated feelings about your life's purpose.

REPENT NOW CONFESS NOW, Lingua Ignota:

For when you're a mentally ill teenager leading the congregation of an apocalypse cult while stewing in your own hypocrisy and guilt.

Anti Body, Gazelle Twin:

For when it's your first time away from your home planet and the fate of you and your entire House depends on getting along with your childhood nemesis.

I Walk The Line, Those Poor Bastards:

For when your cavalier is hanging out with another necromancer and you feel weirdly jealous about it. (Fun Fact: There also ended up being a Johnny Cash reference in Gideon's playlist, which was completely unintentional)

True Love, Eivør:

For when the person you love most is with you for eternity, but not in the way you want. (Favorite line for maximum emotional damage: "House of pain, this body is too small a chamber")

Out of Focus, Ioanna Gika:

For when God denies you your only wish, so you decide to take matters into your own hands.

The Time Machine, Hunter As A Horse:

For when you construct an elaborate alternate reality to keep yourself from remembering your ex. (If someone had told me this was written about Harrow in HtN I would've believed them.)

When That Head Splits, Esben and the Witch:

For when you make your worstie give you a back alley lobotomy to save your cavalier's soul.

Oh You Are Not Well, Chloe Foy:

For when you come back wrong from traumatic brain surgery and all you can do is vomit, murder, and follow cryptic instructions from your past self.

MANY HANDS, Lingua Ignota:

For when you beg God for salvation and he tells you to learn how to make soup. (Favorite line for John and Harrow's relationship: "The Lord spat and held me by my neck. 'I wish things could be different', he wept")

God's Dark Heaven, Those Poor Bastards:

For when you're having a crisis of faith while you wait for a cosmic horror eldritch being to show up at God's vacation home.

SOHEAVYSOHOLLOW, Varien, Tori Letzler:

For when your only comfort is the hallucination (?) of your dead monster girlfriend.

I'm Not Done, Fever Ray:

For when you're dead, but it's not the end.

Gideon

Toll, So Below:

For when you're an abused orphan living in an apocalypse cult.

rise, Origa:

For when you're a teenager and you dream of escaping indentured servitude by achieving military glory.

Throne, Saint Mesa:

Dark Room, Foreign Figures, Johnny T:

For when your childhood nemesis foils your 86th escape attempt and you get the depression.

For when you're and epic, badass swordswoman, but your childhood nemesis makes you pretend to be her cavalier at a nerd convention.

Let You In, Marc Straight, Ellen Rose:

For when your childhood nemesis bares her soul to you and you don't know how to feel about it.

Bad Apple!!, RichaadEB, Cristina Vee:

For when you're trapped in a murder house going into a suicidal spiral.

Martyr, Roniit, Saint Mesa:

For when you decide to sacrifice yourself to save your necromancer whether she wants you to or not.

We Are Forever, Hunter As A Horse:

For when you're at peace with your sacrifice. (If someone had told me this was written about Gideon at the end of GtN I would have believed them.)

Lights Out, (DOLCH):

For when it doesn't work and now your still-conscious soul is trapped in her broken mind.

Song for Zula, Phosphorescent:

For when you give her everything you have and she doesn't even want it. (Here's the Johnny Cash reference for Gideon.)

Family Tree (Intro), Ethel Cain:

For when it turns out that your parents actually are super important and powerful, and also they suck.

Exorcise, Gazelle Twin:

For when you get halfway resurrected and it sucks.

Glory Amem, Those Poor Bastards:

For when you're Her Divine Highness, only child of God, and it sucks.

[lovedrunkheadcanons]

WARNINGS: Gojo Satoru x Female OC, tiny bit of smut, fingering, groping, Satoru being horny, fluff, cuteness, comfort, communication, established relationship, marriage, husband+wife, Maki defecting from the Zen'in family and being a badass.

SUMMARY: The timely story of how Zen'in Maki and Satoru's wife met.

Read on AO3

Prequel: Gojo Takes a Wife (also on AO3)

In life, a woman was instructed to follow three obediences; obedience to her father, her husband, and lastly, her son. Maki could recall from an early age when she and her sister were sat down and taught these obediences at their mother’s discretion. “They are to be your fate,” she would repeat. “A virtuous woman is subservient to all three. Without fail.”

Maki scoffed at the notion. Without fail. Even then she knew that to be a load of uncontrived, completely fabricated, bullshit. Why women viewed their own sex as inferior to men never made much sense to Maki. If anything, women were the smarter and level headed of the bunch. They didn’t muck around, drinking booze at inappropriate hours and chasing mini skirts all day. The privilege was free, but none less taken for granted.

Sometimes Maki thought the Zen’in blood was cursed. Her mother and father expected her to become a hallmark of good breeding. She bore the Zen’in name; one of the three Great Sorcerer Families; the bastion of the jujutsu world, holding great influence and power. But such powers were unattainable for women. And with no cursed technique, or cursed energy, Maki would either grow up to be an old maid, living at her male relatives every beck and call, or she’d be married off to some advantageous young suitor with the most money. She was to be a wife and mother. Those were her options.

Maki said no to all of it. She saw the shackled existence her mother had undergone and decided indentured servitude wasn’t for her. She would forge a different path. Her own path, not left to the discretion of pig-headed men like her uncle and chauvinistic cousins. The “failure of the Zen’in clan,” is what they called her, unable to see curses. Well, she’d prove each and every one of them wrong. She would become a great sorcerer, the leader of the Zen’in clan. By her own merit. Just you wait.

And so she departed with nothing but the clothes on her back, a few light items, and her pride, severing all familial ties, including that of her twin sister. Mai chose to stay behind. She chose them. So be it.

Now came the fallout. Maki was on her own for the first time in her fourteen years. With no money. No roof under her head. No game plan. No nothing.

Until she received an anonymous text on her phone (which she later learned was from Inumaki).

Seek Lady Gojo. There was also an address attached.

That’s it. That’s all it read.

Unsure who the sender was, she thought their advice somewhat aggravating. Maki hated asking for help and relations between the Zen’in and Gojo families were not exactly friendly. In fact, the two clans had been at war with each other, murdering and politicking, throughout various points in history. Maki had been told that a Gojo couldn’t be trusted. But then again, neither could a Zen’in.

The enemy of thy enemy was thy friend, so the saying went.

Following the home address on the text, Maki adjusted her glasses, boarded the nearest bus, and found herself waiting outside the Gojo family doorstep four hours later. It was a beautiful home, an old samurai house by the looks of it. Different from the pretentious Osaka style mansion the Zen'in’s dwelled under. Noble without being too overbearing, though it shouldn’t have come as a surprise. All sorcerer families' houses were large and impressive.

Taking a breath, she knocked on the entrance.

A housekeeper wearing a solid navy komon soon answered, introducing herself as Makoto. She bowed cordially with a contented smile and quickly ushered Maki inside, taking the few belongings she kept in a rucksack. The defected Zen’in was given time to take off her shoes and then escorted through the many mulberry-paneled chambers and hallways to a traditional tearoom boarded with ochre colored walls. Plum trees, their white petals falling from their branches, were painted all around them. Maki knelt on the tatami before a small table. A bouquet of dark red roses, freshly cut, added a flash of color to the ochre and plum blossoms. They were vased within a tokonoma, emitting a pleasant scent, calming her nerves. Not that she was nervous.

“My mistress will be with you shortly,” the housekeeper announced. “Shall I fetch you anything? Some refreshment, perhaps, or some sweets?”

“No thank you,” Maki said.

“Very well.” The housekeeper bowed once more and went about her daily business, sliding the fusuma doors behind her.

To be honest, she didn’t know what to expect of this Lady Gojo. She had never seen or met her in person before. Being too young, Maki wasn’t allowed to attend official meetings and ceremonies. Although she knew Gojo Satoru hadn’t been married for very long, but why would his wife want to help?

Maki bit her lower lip. She absolutely loathed this.

A few minutes later, the doors parted and in came an elegantly dressed woman wearing kimono embroidered with red and purple irises. She was more petite than Maki imagined, delicate and serene, her shiny auburn hair crowned in layers of braids. Maki saw the light dusting of freckles around her pale complexion and hazel colored eyes, features practically unheard of in Japan. Lady Gojo was foreign. European by the looks of it, though she wasn’t sure where. Maki found herself weirdly conscientious of her plain white kosode and worn out hakama. They were the only clothes she had at the moment.

“A thousand apologies for being so late,” Lady Gojo began, smile radiant. Her voice held a light, ringing sound to it like crystal bowls. “I had just finished weeding and didn’t want to come in looking a mess.” There was no accent when she spoke either, as though the woman had lived in Japan her whole life. She briskly walked over to Maki and knelt down at the opposite side of the table, smoothing the fabric of her kimono. “I’m Gojo Hannah, co-tenet of the estate. My housekeeper says you wish to see me?”

Maki kept things discreet. She told of the hardship she faced growing up in a hostile family, her lack of cursed energy, storming out of the Zen’in house, which led to the separation of her sister. Hannah did not interrupt, nodding and listening to her life story attentively.

“So you have nowhere else to go?”

“No,” Maki said. “My plan was to take a train to Tokyo and find a capsule hotel somewh — ”

“That won’t be necessary,” Hannah quickly interrupted, raising her hand. “You’ll be staying here until we can get you properly sorted.”

Maki paused, as though she hadn’t heard the woman correctly. She blinked once. Blinked twice.

“You don’t have to do that.”

“Please, I insist.”

“I’d hate to intrude.”

Lady Gojo shook her head. “Intruding would imply you were staying uninvited, which, as of now, is not the case. Plus, you are only fourteen, Maki. It would be highly irresponsible to let a minor out on their own without adult supervision. I wouldn’t forgive myself if something happened. You came here asking for help,” she smiled warmly, “Let help be given.”

Maki was still skeptic of the offer. Help was rare to come by in the jujutsu world. It was either eat, or be eaten, and the last thing she wanted was to become some random lady’s charity case.

“What would your husband say?”

Hannah waved her off like it was no trouble. “Oh, you let me handle him. He’s away right now, but I’m sure he’ll understand once he gets back.” She then lifted a small, hand-held bell near the legs of the table, shaking it daintily three times. Not two minutes later, the housekeeper from earlier appeared bowing gratuitously to her mistress.

“You rang for me, ma’am?”

“Makoto-san,” Hannah smiled, gesturing to the Zen’in girl. “Maki will be staying with us tonight as our honored guest. Would you see about preparing her a room and a warm bath?”

“Will the Mokuren Room do, ma’am?”

Her ladyship nodded. “Yes, the Mokuren Room will do splendidly. Thank you.” She quickly rose from the floor and turned to Maki. “I hate to dash out, but I have somewhere to be. Makoto-san will see to it that you are comfortable. Dinner will be ready at six, so just listen for the gong,” she switched from Japanese to English, “Goodbye now.”

Lady Gojo exited out the ochre walled tearoom, kimono swishing silkily down the hallway as she headed for her next destination. She left in such a hurry, Maki never got to say thank you. Once more the housekeeper, Makoto, guided her through the many rooms and corridors of the samurai house till they entered a suite panoramaed in magnolias and gold leaf. Maki saw that her rucksack sat against the wall next to a flush futon. “Your bath will be ready shortly,” Makoto said cheerfully and pointed to a stack of clothes folded in the corner. “The mistress has also provided you with some clean clothes.” Maki nodded in thanks and waited for the housekeeper to leave before letting her guard down.

She could rest easy for a while.

Satoru returned home that night after supper, a day earlier than originally planned. Hannah wasted little time relaying to him what had happened. It was 11 o’clock. They were just about to retire for bed.

“Did her sister tag along, by chance?”

Hannah watched her husband lean against the wall, taking in the full moon shining above the mountain tops and Japanese pines. They had switched to sleeping in her room for the night and had opened one side of panels to let the summer breeze flow in. Hannah was content admiring him there, relaxed in nothing but a pair of grey sweatpants, arms crossed, hair drying from a hot shower. She liked it when the moonlight reflected off his muscles and sculpted chest. He had such good skin.

“I don’t believe so,” she answered with a weary sigh and came to join him overlooking the moon and pines. “You’re not mad about this are you? I promise she won’t stay long. Just until we can guarantee her safety.”

Satoru draped a bare arm over his wife, rubbing her shoulders in reassurance. “No, I’m not mad. You did the right thing. Naobito is a drunken fool. Letting her go was a big mistake.”

“Really, how come?”

“I’ve seen the way she fights. It’s only a hunch, but I think the reason Maki has low cursed energy is because she possesses Heavenly Restriction, a practically unheard of cursed ability that exchanges low cursed energy for physical strength.”

Hannah blinked. “That’s…rather remarkable. I didn’t know such a thing existed. Are you sure that’s what she has?”

“Oh, I’m sure,” Satoru said darkly. He lifted a finger over his forehead as though feeling for a scar, an old inflicted wound that had long since healed. “Trust me.”

Hannah didn’t know what to make of it, only that the situation made her angry. “And they just let her go off alone? A fourteen year old girl from an important family? What if she had been abducted by some mad lunatic, or assassinated for ransom?”

Satoru clicked his tongue and pulled his wife closer. “I told you, the Zen’in’s aren’t exactly the sharpest tools in the shed,” he growled. “Still, to think they couldn’t see the obvious staring them blue in the face. Kind of fucked up when you think about it.”

Hannah’s anger cooled into sadness, leaning more on her husband for support, breathing in the smell of his body wash. She kissed the skin. “I feel for her. Part of me knows what she’s going through; forced to abandon everything you’ve ever known in the wake of an uncertain future.

“Eh, I dunno. Seemed to have worked out well for you.” Her husband winked with a knowing smirk.

“No.” Hannah giggled and wrapped her arms around his torso in a hug, resting her chin on his bare chest so she could stare up into his heavenly blue eyes. “Worked out well for us,” she corrected.

“Ha, yes, silly me,” he chuckled, rolling his eyes, and lovingly caressed her face in both hands. “For us.” He bent down and brought his lips gently to hers, humming into their reunited kiss. “Speaking of which,” he added huskily, breaking away. Hannah caught the mischievous glint in his eyes, the kind he gave when he was about to do something naughty. She watched him walk over and, one by one, slid the wall panels shut, closing them off from the outside world. The drop in his voice made her heart skip. “Turn around.”

Hannah was wearing one of his black cotton tees. It was way too large for her, closely resembling that of a nightgown. All she had underneath was a skimpy pair of lace panties: exactly how her husband liked it. Obediently, she turned around. A cold shiver ran down her spine as his heated mouth began trailing supplicant, little kisses along her collarbone, shifting the shirt to one side to expose more of her freckled skin, minus the gold chain hanging there. Her nipples went hard from the budding anticipation and like a magic trick, Satoru's hand reached down and disappeared underneath his borrowed shirt. A gasp of pleasure left Hannah’s lips as he took his sweet, sweet time kneading her tender breasts, rimming the nipples with calloused thumbs in slow, circular motions. Her knees buckled.

Ever the multitasker, Satoru commenced to fondling one breast, while his newly empty hand wandered farther south, past the middle of her navel, her hips, brushing back the tawny bed of curls. Then he heard Hannah whimper, arching for him like a nimble cat, when he slipped two long fingers inside her panties, teasing the aroused flesh throbbing between her thighs, plunging them smoothly in and out, in and out.

She responded beautifully, rutting against him, crying out his name as she pressed the back of her head to his chest, begging for more. Satoru chuckled at how erotic she looked for him now, feeling his sweatpants gradually become two sizes too small, knowing he was about to get laid as he ravished his wife’s neck and shoulders in sloppy-tongued kisses, enjoying the full weight of her titties, and his wetted fingers curling and smarting inside her pussy. Man, it felt good to be home.

Really, really good.

Next morning, Maki knelt at the Gojo’s breakfast table, filled with enough food to feed a small army, like she were sitting at an all-you-can-eat buffet and not someone’s home. Makoto started them off with miso soup, sticky rice, steamed vegetables, then introduced saba no shioyaki, salted grilled salmon, and savory Japanese omelet rolls called dashimaki tamago. At the risk of losing her “feminine” physique, Maki hadn’t been allowed to indulge in these foods, but apparently diet restrictions weren’t a concern here. Makoto’s cooking could give the cooks at the Zen’in house a run for their money. Frankly, it was the best meal she ever had.

“Please eat as much as you like,” Hannah encouraged.

Maki intended to, but her meal was cut short when she glanced up from her plate to see possibly the most strikingly handsome dude walk through the door.

She sucked in a breath.

He was quite tall, well above 180 centimeters, and strongly built without appearing too muscular, and shockingly young. His youthful eyes were a penetrating cerulean, the kind that could peer directly into a soul and uncover all its sins, so bright and blue they looked almost artificial like the glow of a neon sign. Were these the fabled Six Eyes everyone talked about, she wondered? The world’s strongest sorcerer was standing before her.

She watched him run a hand over his shaggy hair, white as snow, and yawn widely.

“Ah, there you are,” Hannah greeted happily. “Good morning.”

The Six Eyes landed on the wife, twinkling like two blue stars. A smirk stretched its way up the corners of the handsome man’s mouth. “Good morning,” he rumbled suavely, voice deepened from sleep, bending all the way down to tilt his wife’s chin up for his normal, pre-breakfast kiss.

It held for four seconds. Five seconds. Six. Seven?

Maki’s cheeks unexpectedly grew warm and she felt the need to look away, embarrassed, stuffing as much rice in her mouth as she possibly could. It’s like she wasn’t even there. Showing public affection in front of a house guest was not typical behavior for sorcerer families, or really any Japanese family. Even hugs were a rarity amongst close friends. Maki’s own parents never kissed, held hands, or took turns stealing amorous glances from across dinner tables. Marriage was strictly a duty required to produce offspring. And that’s when it occurred to her.

This was what a loving marriage looked like. These two people loved each other. Possibly even liked each other. It was so bazaar to see it play outside of a romance novel or movie screen.

Satoru slowly broke from the kiss, licking his lips. “Mmm, mangos. Very nice.” He was referring to the fruit his wife was in the middle of eating. Hannah’s own cheeks blushed a rosy pink as she playfully swatted him away.

“You’re horrible,” she admonished, though her small smile told Maki she wasn’t really all that upset.

He laughed, the least apologetic for the gross amount of PDA, and knelt beside the table to pour himself a fresh cup of coffee. Maki froze when those glacial blue eyes raised and fixed themselves upon her, curiously looking up and down. She swallowed her food, keeping quiet. They both stared at each other wordlessly.

Wanting to address the elephant in the room, Hannah put down her eating utensils and cleared her throat. “Maki, this here is my husband, Gojo Satoru,” she turned to her husband, “Satoru, this is our guest, Zen’in Maki.”

The Gojo leader gave a mock salute.

“Yo. Hannah tells me you’ve found yourself in a bit of a pickle,” he placed his coffee on the coaster and frowned, “I’m sorry to hear that.”

A pickle. Was this dude a moron? What clan leader talked that casually in front of guests? A part of her wondered if it was some kind of test.

“Yeah,” she replied, deciding on honesty rather than politeness because she had lost the strength to care. “My family are a bunch of assholes.”

“Assholes?” Satoru snickered and nudged his wife with his elbow. “Hey, this one’s feisty. I like her.”

Hannah rolled her eyes at her husband's antics. “Satoru and I were busy talking last night,” she said. Maki noticed Satoru snort into his coffee mug to mask a laugh. “And we think we may have a solution to the problem — that is, if you’re interested. We wouldn’t want to pressure you into anything, but I remember you mentioning yesterday how the Zen’in’s traditionally attend the Kyoto Technical College. Is that correct?”

Maki’s eyes narrowed. “Yeah, why do you ask?”

“Well, that’s just the thing,” Hannah said. “Instead of attending the Kyoto school, how would you feel about attending the Tokyo branch next year?”

Now Maki was on red alert. No way were they seriously asking her this without wanting something in return. “What’s the catch?” But Hannah shook her head.

“There is no catch. You would live in the Tokyo dorms for the next few months, and begin your freshman year in April like all the others. The school would cover any boarding expenses you may accumulate, including food and training facility access.”

A tempting offer, but Maki was still unsure. “I haven’t finished eighth grade,” she said.

“East Takao Elementary isn’t far from here and summer break hasn’t ended. We would enroll you there for your last semester. You might not make many friends, but you’d at least be able to graduate on time.”

Maki mentally scoffed. It was a sweet sentiment, but she didn’t need friends. Friends were liabilities there to hold you down, although she was curious. “Why would you want me to attend if I can’t even see curses?”

Satoru thought this was his moment to intervene. He had been listening to Hannah explain, lightly rapping his knuckles on the table, pretending to be bored, but felt the question needed to be said.

“You want to be a sorcerer, don’t you?”

Maki held the Six Eyes wielder’s imposing gaze, and her mind instantly went back to her sister. The promise she made so many years ago, that she would stay by her side forever. Her heart panged with resentment and perhaps guilt.

“More than anything.”

“Then that’s it,” Satoru said. “There doesn’t have to be another reason. Don’t listen to the crap your family has told you. What you’re born with, or without, doesn’t matter one iota. Hard work and perseverance will always be better indicators of success than ‘natural born talent’ and ‘giftedness.” It all depends on how desperate you are to want it.”

Hannah rested the cup of tea she was drinking in her lap. “The choice is yours, Maki. Whatever you decide, you’ll receive no judgment from us.”

Judgment, Maki thought. The operative word. She had been nothing but judged from the second she was born, whether it was her sex; Her un-lady-like behavior; Her lack of cursed energy. It was never enough to quell the critics regardless of what she did. “The failure,” they called her. Well no more. The page had turned. A new chapter in her life had begun and she would fight tooth and nail to stick around and beat the odds.

“I’ll do it,” she said proudly. “I’ll attend Jujutsu High.”

The Six Eyes wielder threw up his hands and turned to face his wife, looking a tad smug. “See? What I’d tell ya?”

“Yes, you were right,” Hannah relented, sighing at her husband’s giddiness. He wore a big cheddar grin as he crossed his arms in triumph, singing “ ~ I was right, I was right. My wife was wrong, but I was right. Ha-haha-haha-ha ~ ”

Hannah rolled her eyes once more. “Ignore him,” she whispered, leaning in Maki’s ear.

The defected Zen’in looked down at her untouched bowl of miso soup, husband and wife inadvertently flirting with each other in the background.

A new chapter.

Maybe asking for help every once in a while wasn’t the worst idea imaginable.

[we-will-be-reun1ted]

─── ⋆⋅Personality ⋅⋆ ───

These are my own headcanons for how I think Aether and Lumines personalities are like.

Lumine

Okay starting off with my personal favourite character 🫶🫶 she’s a BITCH

Not the kind of bitch like, constantly insulting and talking shit about someone bitch. The more witty and condescending bitch

Though she would talk shit about you to your face if she was in a particularly bad mood

Morally grey, though a darker shade of grey

The kind of person you don’t see laughing often apart from at other people’s misery (Aether falling down the stairs)

Judgmental, but fair in her judgment. Most of the time anyway. Sometimes she’s petty af

She’s kind of like an extroverted introvert if that makes sense? She’s completely socially confident and can talk to people if she wants to - she just doesn’t want to

Incredibly assertive and confident in herself in general and isn’t afraid to say whatever she’s thinking, no matter how harsh it may come across

Brutally honest

She’s cold and calculating. Doesn’t smile much aside from when it’s just her and her brother

Deffo has a resting bitch face

She gets irritated pretty quickly, but is also quick to calm down after

Very much a forgive but never forget person

Also very much a revenge person

She won’t stay mad at something for too long unless it’s a huge thing. If it is then 😬

One of the worst people to piss off. If she doesn’t like you, you’ll know. It won’t be pretty. If it’s that big of a thing she would most likely go out of her way to make their life a living hell until she gets bored or Aether steps in

Has a little bit of a God complex I’m not gonna lie

In the sense that she sees herself and her brother as a lot more powerful and therefore - important than the average person

Which they are far more powerful dont get me wrong, but it’s led Lumine to the mindset where she sees those below her as weakish

I’ll get more into this in a future post. It links up to quite a few other headcanons I have

Very very brave though. And not a complete asshole, she will go out of her way to help people sometimes

If she sees someone being attacked by hilichurls she will jump in to fight, no questions asked. She may be a little huffy about it if she’s trying to go somewhere but still

It would take a long long time to become friends with her aside from if shes particularly interested in someone, but when she is genuinely someone’s friend she’s incredibly loyal and protective of that person

She’s interested in people who are strong willed and know exactly what they want and aren’t afraid to go for it

Also she admires those who are logical, don’t freak out over the littlest things and are usually calm and co-ordinated

If they know how to fight that’s also a plus

She doesn’t like making friends often as she and Aether never stay in once place. They travel from world to world and she feels horrible leaving them

(Attachment issues)

DTF. She likes pleasure and is quite a sexual person. If she finds someone attractive and they both want it then she will take it

She’s a badass and girlbossing her way through life fr I love her so much

With Aether -

She’s a much different person around her brother than she is with anyone else

First, she’s a lot more active and playful with him. Out with other people she’s usually quiet

Not completely silent at all, she certainly lets her presence be know, but she prefers to sit back and listen

Oh she’s fantastic at reading people that’s something I forgot to mention

Anyway, with Aether she seems a lot more happier and outgoing

Smiles an awful lot more, though still has her resting bitch face

Aether likes to make fun of her for it

They both like to make fun of each other a lot. Nothing serious or mean or anything. Just little things

Okay they are twins so occasionally mean

She trusts him entirely and it’s evident with the way she acts with him, she’s protective. Not Aether level protective but still quite protective

Trusts him to the point which he knows every single weakness of hers. Every struggle she faces, every thought she has

No one else would ever come close to getting her to reveal any of her weaknesses. Including her friends

She’s properly herself around Aether. Not just cold and confident as she is around anyone else

She’s still confident, but she’s very warm around him

Drags him around everywhere she goes. The two are attached one the hip. It’s like they are one whole body sometimes

Teases him ALL THE TIME

Though it’s a ‘I can make fun of my brother but if anyone else does it they will pay’ kinda thing

Same goes for Aeth

As much as she loves him, the two get on each others nerves

While not usually petty around others, Lumine is PETTY around Aether

Aether makes an off handed comment about Lumines hair one time and completely forgets about it afterwards? Okay! Lumine does his braid rough and too tight on on uncomfortable angle for a month. Making offhanded comments about it every day that sound suspiciously like what he said to her three weeks ago

She forgives Aether a lot faster than she does with anyone else though

Aether

Now Aether! He’s somewhere in my top three I don’t know if he’s second or third but probably second??? Idk

Huge golden retriever energy

Usually a pretty polite guy. Opens doors for people, says thank you and that

Pretty much polar opposite of Lumine when it comes to people, he really really enjoys talking and social interaction with almost anyone

Introverted extrovert, loves being around people but he can’t do it 24/7 without feeling a little drained. Needs some time on his own or with just Lumine to charge up

Super social though, the kind of guy who can go up to someone and just strike up a conversation

Has definitely been invited to a wedding in the first ten minutes of meeting someone before

He just likes getting on with people in general. It’s nice talking with people and can benefit him and Lumine

People are interesting to understand and they can benefit them both by giving them food if they need it, shelter etc etc

Like Lumine - he’s socially confident

After being around people for eons he’s learned how they work, interact, how to talk with them etc etc so he’s pretty confident in that regard

He and Lumine never stay in one place for very long so there’s no good in being nervous around people

All this goes out of the window when he’s crushing on someone

The dudes a big romantic unlike Lumine. He likes romance, she likes pleasure

It’s not really often but when he likes someone romantically he usually becomes a bit more nervous and says a few more awkward things

Laughing at unconventional times

He still knows what to say and is pretty confident, just a bit more dorky and such

Hard to piss off but when you do he gets very very snappy and sarcastic

Surprisingly he holds grudges for longer than Lumine

He’s a revenge person but nothing like Lumine. Usually it’s small revenge like saying something back or trying to embarrass the person a little bit

He’s a little bit immature at times, nothing major but just little things. Usually pretty mature in general

In public Lumine seems like the most mature out of the two when really with each other they both have the maturity levels of bloody children

Morally light grey

Can be a bit overly selfless at times

Has the tendency to overwork himself to the point of debilitating

Please he’s so tired he’s been trying to stop Lumine from annihilating someone for looking at her wrong when she accidentally set the stove on fire, give him a break

He’s a really nice and good guy in general don’t get me wrong but he doesn’t really care as much as other people think he does

I mean that in the sense that he doesn’t have a deep and meaningful connection many things when he travels to other worlds

He doesn’t care about being a hero and actively helping people it just happens - though he’s certainly not complaining

He finds it a lot easier letting go of people when he and Lumi leave to other worlds

In his eyes he’s come, made a good impression and now it’s time to go

It’s different to Lumine as he doesn’t have an emotional connection to anyone there apart from his sister so it’s easier to let go. Lumine doesn’t have as deep emotional connections with anyone aside from her brother, but she still has some form of connection to them

Like I said, she makes very few friends but when she does she gets to know them and like them more just because she spends more time with them individually rather than a lot of people as a whole like Aether does

With Lumine -

Surprisingly, Aether is actually the slightly calmer twin when it comes to their personalities with each other

Only slightly. They are both very much a chaotic duo when they are together

That’s why the had to be separated 😔 causing too much mischief

His personality with others isn’t as different as it is with Lumine aside from he likes to tell a lot more jokes and gets really sarcastic

Sometimes his jokes are to try and gross Lumine out as much as possible

One time he ate a raw egg. Absolutely no prompting at all. Lumine had gathered some food for them to eat in a world once and was starting to cook over a fire, when Aether looked her dead in the eyes and took a bite out of a raw egg

He will always say out of all the years they have been travelling together, he has never seen her with a more disgusted expression at that moment

To make it worse he ever tried to grab hold of her face and give her a kiss on the cheek straight after, leading to the both of them wrestling on the floor

Aether will say he won, Lumine will say she will. Either way Lumine now has egg trauma.

The two bounce off each other in both the worst and best ways

Like he does with Lumine, she also knows every weakness of his, struggle and thought

The two know absolutely everything about each other

He’s much more emotional around her than he is with others

Usually he limits himself to the ‘hero’ prototype people see when they think of him, he doesn’t intend to be a hero but it’s what he usually accidentally ends up being

But not with Lumine, with Lumine he’s completely honest about what he’s thinking and feeling

If he’s stressed he will tell her. If he’s upset he will tell her. If he’s mad he will tell her

He knows he doesn’t have to worry about being seen differently around her

His role with her is to try and get them both out of trouble after she gets them into it

6/10 times it backfires and they end up landing themselves in even more trouble

You can just tell they were both an absolute menace together when they were children

Even though he’s only mere milliseconds older than Lumine, he likes to take the self proclaimed role of big brother very very seriously

Fake scolding her when she gets into shit, always keeping an incredibly close eye on anyone who comes near her. Especially men

He’s really protective of her. Usually he plays it off as a joke but it has led to them having arguments before

When they argue Aether gets more sad then angry, while Lumine is more frustrated

Like usual though, they are both quick to forgive each other after

[pain-in-the-butler]

you said you've been a kuro fan since 2009, I have to know what got you into the series and what has made you stay with it for so long?

what about the fandom did you enjoy back in the old days?

Ahahaha, oh wow, these questions feel loaded. Thank you for asking them, though, I haven't fully considered them before...

I'll start with the second question, because it's easier to answer. What did I enjoy about the fandom in the old days? I didn't enjoy the fandom in the old days! Not on the whole, at least. I was just on the outskirts of it, more observer than participant. I wrote fanfiction, but most people didn't read it because it wasn't romantic. The memes weren't funny, the shipping wars were insane, and SebaCiel was completely unavoidable. The current fandom is way better than the old one! (I'm sure there were cool people around back then too, but I didn't go looking for them because I didn't think they existed.)

I kind of started dipping my toes in the fandom water in 2012 in the midst of the Campania arc. But even then, by 2014 I felt a little meh from all the cricket and I varied in my interest during Green Witch, so I really didn't participate much until around 2017. The Blue Cult stuff had me bored, but then when things started ramping up towards the twin reveal, I was back in the game. Or rather, in the game for the first time. The explosion of actual good memes had me hook, line, and sinker.

Now for your first question. My initial exposure to Kuroshitsuji was season 1 of the anime. It had wrapped in Japan less than a year ago, and my sister told me that she sort of liked it after seeing the first few episodes at our high school's anime club. She gave me a brief rundown of the premise and I guess the seventeen-year-old me was interested because I went to anime club for the first and last time next week. It was the episode with the corset scene and I was appalled. I was also appalled by my peers, because the teacher hadn't shown up that day to moderate, so a lot of kids were making out and drawing on each others' bodies with sharpies, and the few people watching the episode were wolf-whistling and clapping. It was a lot for a dweeby little goodie-two-shoes to take in.

But for some reason I persevered and watched the rest of the series on my own time. The first episode also appalled me. I think the whole show did. I don't really know why I watched it, other than perhaps a fascination with historical anime, but I definitely found Sebastian and Ciel worthy of parody, because a few months later, I was writing fanfiction about them. In high school, I wrote solely humor fanfics, and they were always about Sebastian and Ciel trying to make each other's lives worse through japes and antics.

Then in early college, I started reading the manga when I caught wind of Sebastian being "dead" and thought that sounded like an interesting development. I gave the earlier chapters a try and shocker, it was so much better than the anime (though I skipped the curry arc for some reason, only read it for the first time like a year ago). Then I got to the Circus arc scene where Sebastian has to help Ciel with his eyepatch strings and I felt the epiphany grow. Dadbastian is love, Dadbastian is life, etc. It was hard not to feel like a one-man army at the time, but a handful of others enjoyed the concept too.

And then the Campania arc happened and I was absolutely gobsmacked by how good it was. I will never forget what it was like to be there for the badass Lizzie reveal. That day, anime and manga fansites and subgroups across the net were all united in Lizzie love. It was so real 🥹😭

Moments like that kept me going, as well as a hope for small Dadbastian-esque moments and the promise of more Victorian flair. Over time, I've only gained more appreciation for the side characters and the themes, and I love the current fandom to pieces, so even though the story is slow, I'm more invested than ever.

I'm sorry that was such a damn essay, thank you for your interest in my little Kuro journey! 😊 I hope you are enjoying fandom life too!

[misc-obeyme]

So uh... this Princess Rose event, huh??

I don't even know where to start! I wasn't gonna write a post about it 'cause I have too many thoughts, but damn it I couldn't resist so here we are.

SPOILERS & SCREENSHOTS under the cut.

SPOILERS & SCREENSHOTS under the cut.

First of all. I love that Mammon's initial motivation for all of the following shenanigans is "business deals." Like... my man, do you even hear yourself?? And then how his whole pitch is that he's holding up the economy? I wouldn't have accepted that nonsense from anyone else, that's for sure.

And let's be real, Asmo's assertion that his beauty makes other people happy was also something I let slide due to my affection.

What can I say, I love both Mammon and Asmo so very much.

I mean, to be fair, financial security is definitely nice and certainly reduces stress. So he's not wrong.

Oh no! Not a recession! Once again... are you hearing yourself!?!?

I will say that the non key route was once again a complete disappointment. You don't even find out what happens at the end?? It's just them being like, oh yeah? We'll see who wins! And then it ends. So you don't actually see who wins at all unless you play the keyed route. Sometimes the non key route is okay, but for other events it's pretty pointless. This was one of those.

Aside from that, though, I quite enjoyed this event. It was sufficiently hilarious, courtesy of the other brothers being their usual selves.

MAMMON IN THIS EVENT THOUGH.

We already knew that when Mammon wants something, he will work hard for it. This is further evidence of that because he chooses Lucifer to teach him ON PURPOSE knowing full well that Lucifer will not go easy on him. And then he steps up to the challenge!

However, I quite liked how Asmo wasn't a slacker, either. He wasn't like oh I'm pretty so I've got this in the bag. No, he chooses Barbatos and also works hard to get himself ready.

And like despite EVERYBODY expressing how they don't think these guys are gonna get anywhere, they both bust their asses anyway.

Asmo is not having it, guys.

Have some faith, Lucifer.

I'm pretty sure this was the only thing Luke said in this event, but he didn't hold back, huh?

BUT THEN.

That ending.

Sir. I'm going to need you to stop being so cute. My life depends upon it.

I think you could say that while they ended up being twin princesses, neither one of them would have won without the other. I think it was the fact that both of them sacrificed their own chances in order to help the other that caused them to win. Because doing something like that really demonstrated the nobility that they were looking for in the first round.

It's just more proof of how the brothers truly care about each other. Even if they argue all the time, when things get serious they can count on each other.

Can I tell you how excited I was when Asmo was ready to go run down that demon with MC? I liked that he was so badass about it and just kind of kept brushing off MC when they were like aren't you late for the show?! Can't you let me handle this?! And he was just like nope, I won't stand for any demon smearing my brother's reputation like that.

I really think they need to let Asmo be a little more evil. Like yes, he's beautiful and he has perfect skin, but he will absolutely kick your ass and he won't even break a nail doing it.

Overall, I greatly enjoyed this event. I really need to go back and play the other Dame event on Lonely Devil I just haven't gotten to it yet.

Now for some random screenshots that made me lol.

Yes, okay, please go ahead.

I loved that Lucifer said this to MC. He's so done with everything, he's just like please stop trying to make jokes.

At least he's honest.

Beel demonstrating his unusual type of synesthesia - the ability to taste numbers.

New tongue twister just dropped!

Okay and Levi in this event had so many excellent one liners, he gets his own section. I can't deny that I'm on a bit of a Levi-loving kick lately, so maybe that's why, but I just thought he was so funny.

He's so precious.

Okay, I'm done. I always take too many screenshots and then I want to post them all. Because I just think all these guys are so funny. I can't help it.

I realize that I didn't mention anything about the gender aspects of this event, what with the whole Dame situation, but do I really need to? I've seen some excellent posts about that already. And honestly, anyone who thinks that the Devildom doesn't already have completely different ideas on gender hasn't been paying attention.

And also I don't have time to write anymore, this post is already too long. I apologize for the length lol. But thank you for reading!

--

[the-dumpster-fire-of-life]

Hi! I have some ideas I can't decide to write next after I finish the recent request so tell me aht you think of them!

Scratched out = already done and in masterlists

You don't have to request one of these, you have a request that you wanna ask for request it!

Also if you want maybe #2 with Arcane characters but I made it with twdg characters if you request it I will gladly write it with arcane characters

Maybe if on a request you want Vi and Clem or Cait and Jinx but I wrote Ekko and Vi or Marlon and Louis if you request the same one but with other characters I will still make it!

Just request it and I will get to it!

Okay, now Ideas:

1. Reader who was powder's bestfriend and after ep 3 became a firelight, during a fight with jinx is recognized as her mask is knocked off when punched and Jinx takes her

2. Arcane character's with a intimidating, tall reader with tattoos who seems cold until they get to know them.

3. Mylo's twin sister

4. Adventures in the lanes with the younger gang before ep 1

5. Arcane & TWDG characters with a cold reader untik reader is shown love and clings to them

6. Reader with tattoos, piercings, muscles and all around badass

7. Reader who is from Piltover and loves giving gifts

8. Soulmate au for Arcane where reader is the complete opposite of them

9. Meeting your Arcane or TWDG soulmate aburplty

10. Jinx x reader on the bridge fight instead of her and ekko and is a firelight who was her bestfriend/childhood crush, jinx wakes up somehow and sees reader and begs silco to take them to Singed, reader is injected with Shimmer and wakes up, realizes and she and jinx argue with Jinx trying to convince her its okay and you can now be together

11. Twdg or arcane character doing something random and reader just comes up and falls asleep on them

12. Reader who was traded with the Delta with the twins and reuniting with your twdg s/o of your pick

13. Messing with Arcane or TWDG characters hair

14. Bothering your Arcane or TWDG S/o

15. Throwing your TWDG s/o over your shoulder in an argument and they're shocked at your strength because you don't look very strong

16. Forcing your TWDG s/o to hangout with you in the rain

17. Throwing your TWDG S/o over your shoulder in an argument

18. Arcane characters dying your hair at 3 am

19. Giving twdg characters or arcane characters a tattoo while they give you one

20. Stealing their shit

21. Characters of either twdg or arcane with a reader whos very blunt without meaning to be

22. Reader who bites to show their love

23. Reader cooking but cant cook for their life

24. Reader who takes a bit of time to understand stuff, generally just struggles a bit and the character finds it amusing

25. Finding puppies or kittens and surprising your Arcane, TWDG or The Last Of Us S/o with them

26. Sacrificing yourself on the bridge and stopping Minnie (maybe tackling her) causing both of you to be eaten by walkers as your s/o watches

27. Marlon's sister finding out abt the twins the same night he killed Brody and stopping him from hurting Clem, only for AJ to shoot him and him fall into her

28. Jinx bothering you by messing with your stuff, messing with you and hiding your things but you love it and at one point she is energetic and maybe sitting on ur lap as you listen to her rambling

29. Being Powder/Jinx's twin, also a firelight with ekko after he found you after ep 3 and reuniting with Vi at the hideout and on the bridge saving Jinx, bringing her back to the hideout

30. Powder's older brother and her and him reuniting as he is with Vi in ep 6

31. Reader who is like a mother to Powder seeing her again as Jinx and seeing Vi once again

32. Arcane characters x reader who is either a model, actor or a singer

33. Reader reuniting with twdg characters because they used to be at the school before or it all and were close to everyone there, the characters requested had a crush on reader and so relieved their alive

34. Ekko having your face painted on the wall as you had been childhood friends with crushes until he finds you once again, with Vi as you both had been thrown in Stillwater, even if you were only 17

35. Yandere headcannons maybe for arcane? Thought'd it would be fun

36. Reader for twdg characters who has 3 large pitbulls, dobermans or german shepherds...or one of each!

37. Arcane characters with reader who is a rich piltover citizen with a family name and likes giving gifts!

38. Doing Ekko's face paint in the morning

39. Babysitting Scar's daughter with Ekko as it goes horribly wrong

40. Ekko flying past a piltover apartment and stopping as he sees reader focused on something lookin' all pretty and seeing her in the undercity and yk...snatches her-

41. Going to a carnival with arcane characters or an amusement part

42. Arcane or twdg characters seeing their s/o with a child and falling more in love

43.Reader screaming out of nowhere and jumping on their s/o's back bc of a spider

44. Sneaking around Piltover with your s/o or the gang before ep 1

45. You and Jinx are stuck in a room on fire and with no way out you both hug as the flames consume you, dancing as you both hold each other

46. An alternate ending/beginning where Caitlyn caught the gang and you robbing Jayce, she doesnt say anything but ventures down to the Undercity and finds you guys

47. Moments with Vi either Arcane or TWDG that lead up to them knowing they loved you

48. TWDG Louis with moments leading up to him knowing he loved you

49. TWDG Clem with moments leading up to her knowing she loved you

50. Moments with Jinx leading up to her knowing she loved you

51. Sitting with Cat at the party in tlou while she smokes watching Dina and Ellie sadly and you comfort her

52. Graysons daughter x Vi

53. Sevika x reader, reader had a bad experience with love once and became a brothel worker and swore off love. But Sevika is her main client, coming to the brothel often and eventually gaining some feelings for Reader but Reader doesn't know what to do

54. Painting Powder's face on the wall, knowing Jinx is alive while a firelight asks you if you would go back in time and swap places with her

56. Silco's daughter, you x Jinx

57. Instead of Jinx shooting Silco, she shoots you. Silco's daughter who is her girlfriend, she thought she couldn't trust you anymore because of the actions of your father

58. Jinx shooting her brother at the tea party, her twin brother

59. Sally face x reader, Reader is a ghost in the Addison apartments who Larry and Sally find

60. Silos wife/Jinx and Powders mom at the tea party was shot by her instead of Silco, Jinx says sorry and Reader says goodbye. Jinx can't handle it, Vi just wants to leave with her sister but Jinx refuses to leave her mother

61. Being Jinx's childhood friend, also a firelight who she hurt before, meeting her where it all happened at the old cannery. She’s sorry but you have to say goodbye to Powder

62. Being a firelight leader and helping the kids braid Jinxs hair

63. Swooping in to save Jinx who is cornered by enforcers

64. Teaching Jinx how to ride a hoverboard

65. Taking in Ren (Marcus' daughter) with Jinx

66. A Vi x Reader, featuring Aunt Jinx and your daughter Violet

67. Reader with rough hands. (Cracks in them, sorta dry and some eczema, I have it lol)

68. Reader who picks at their skin. (Around their face, making them bleed sorta. And picking at scabs generally.)

69. Placing their hand on your thigh, how often, do they even do it and why?

70. Staying up all night with the gang when everything was okay in the Undercity

71. Ekko taking you on a hoverboard ride at 3 am

72. Modern AU, being scare actors with the Jinx, Vi, Caitlyn, Ekko, Mylo and Claggor

73. Being a protective, sibling like friendship with Tenn, AJ and Willy and being their protector/bodyguard

74. You, Ekko and the firelights raid a shimmer facility under Silco’s nose, and you find a child, who clings to you, so you and Ekko take them in

75. You knew Powder was alive, thought she was being held hostage until she puts a gun to ur head

76. Dancing to songs with Mylo, Claggor, Vi and Powder with your husband, Vander as a family and before everything went wrong, before everything was lost.

[feekins]

ok I read and got the pics for this yesterday but then Depression happened but I'm better now so HERE WE GO. thoughts and things as I re-read ch 2 of Trigun Maximum vol 1.

(NOTE: I'm reading the Dark Horse [physical] and the Overhaul [online] translations side-by-side)

...hrm. after the first two pages of the chapter, the Overhaul is missing 4 consecutive ones. I tried opening them individually in their own tabs, and I kept getting 404 errors. that's annoying...

...but omg. these two. have only known each other for like, maybe 48 hours at this point. and they're bickering like they've been married for 20-30 years.

✨️chem✨️is✨️try✨️

anyway, the Overhaul picks back up when Wolfwood's telling Vash about all the residents of Carcasas just disappearing, and......oh. oh shit, I just realized something. in Trigun vol 1 ch 8 (in the Overhaul translation), BDN specifically says this about Lost July:

"The place was completely destroyed. Everybody gone. But ain't nobody found no corpses."

thinking about it this read-through, that detail of no bodies being found at EITHER of the incidents either twin was involved in brings to mind Hiroshima shadows... 😬

continuing on with Wolfwood's retelling of the incident in Carcasas, I find this translation discrepancy interesting: Dark Horse has Wolfwood saying "The search parties didn't turn up a man, woman, or child." the Overhaul, meanwhile, has "The federation search party didn't find a man, woman, nor child." I don't recall Dark Horse ever mentioning the federation? I'm assuming it's the federation of 7 cities, or some similar governing body like what's mentioned in tristamp. yay manga detail I didn't have before! ty Overhaul! 😁

and here we see that the majestic Millions Knives has found his place among the ranks of Trigun's more dramatic Mad Max-looking motherfuckers...

(/affectionate) (/David Attenborough voice)

(Dark Horse on left, Overhaul on right)

differences in wording, whatever - but "debt to settle" and "score to settle" don't mean the same thing. to settle a debt has to do with paying off something owed. to settle a score is to take revenge.

this next thing, on the other hand, is the same in both translations, but...this re-read, it hits different: in that flashback, Granny tells Eriks "It's okay. As long as you're here, you're safe." as a teenager, what struck me was how they don't know who or what Eriks is at the time. now, as an adult...and considering Fifth Moon's SA allegory (Trigun vol 2)...it's simultaneously a sweeter and more heartbreaking sentiment. thinking about what must've been going through Vash's head when Granny said that... 🥺

(Dark Horse on top, Overhaul on bottom)

...interesting translation discrepancy here...

and then, when Mr. Scrungly McMohawk comes in on the next page...idk, the translation discrepancies there aren't bad, but they amuse me 😆 Dark Horse has him coming in like "Well, well, well! It's the lil' doggy-kun! What a pleasure! Remember me? I'm the badass!" meanwhile, the Overhaul has "Well, well, well! If it ain't the lil' doggy! What a pleasure! Remember me? You better!"

and then Vash kicks the gotdamn cannonball and...

so. fking. married.

Wolfwood's so unsurprised and so unimpressed 🤣

context-altering translation discrepancies. the Overhaul's, once again, is deeper and more heartfelt imo. it also illustrates the way those whom Vash is close to pick up on his other-ness - not in a bad way, just. they notice.

subtle difference here, but still notable to me

...and this entire page - the entire scene of Vash getting his hair cut - is so. heavy. for me. as a Native American. I didn't grow up around my tribe (lmao it's complicated), so I didn't know this on my first read-through, so. that's why it's just hitting me now. this is the first time I've thought about this scene in this way.

when someone close to us dies, a traditional practice for us (and other tribes, I believe) is to cut our hair. in doing so, we're...not necessarily "letting go" of the past or that particular person? but it's a way of processing/coping with the grief. our hair is symbolic of our life, our lived experiences, our memories - so when we cut our hair, it's because it's so painful to live with them. there's more to it than that, and others could prolly explain it better, but that's my understanding of the tradition in a nutshell.

anyway. I read this scene, and I thought...this is Vash laying Eriks to rest and making himself move forward. of course, I don't think you have to be Native American to have that perspective. I'm feeling a deeper, additional piece to it, though, even though it's not part of the memories we're shown: the last time Vash would've gotten his hair cut would've been before Fifth Moon, so in cutting it now, Vash is cutting that off, too. of course he still has trauma from it, but he's grieving and also choosing to move forward from that mental place at that time, as well - which is great, but still so heavy.

so. yeah. 😞

translation discrepancies affecting tone - it rly does make the Overhaul Vash seem softer to me 💕

[dragoncityinteriordesign]

Okay, so because of enthusiastic interest in the last post, I think it may be time to talk about Chu Shuzhi, Comfy Goth Fashion Icon.

There’s a weird lot to say about the clothing choices of a guy who wears the same thing 99% of the time. (His kid-twin outfit, the brown torture pants, his fighting shorts, and his random laundry day outfit are his only costume changes.) Part of it is that it’s a fight-compatible outfit -- his first bout in the MMA arena, he wins in everything but his scarf. But it also is absolutely the look of a man who has reached a point in his life where, you know what, to hell with deciding what to wear every day. He’s Steve Jobsing this shit.

Piece by piece:

The coat: For as much of a coat as it is, it doesn’t look that heavy. It’s probably a kind of heavy cotton or linen, especially given the way it frays white at the hem. We never see him fasten it, but if he did, it appears it would close with large plastic snaps. We also only see him with the hood up once, which is a crying shame, because the resemblance is uncanny.

The not-actually-a-scarf: I, like everyone else, initially thought it was a scarf. Then he took it off in the sub-zero lab, unfurled it, and draped it around his shoulders, and I about lost my damn mind. That man has an entire pashmina wrapped around his neck on a daily basis. I hope we’ve all appreciated the part where it’s sheer and fringed, too.

The shirt: It is not a skinny-strapped undershirt. It’s a sleeveless black knit tank top. As someone who, in my professional life, wears a lot of sleeveless things with blazers over them, I appreciate this approach to thermal regulation.

The pants: They’re not quite black. They’ve got a drawstring and pockets. They would not get in the way if he needed to kick you in the face. The puppet’s pants stop mid-calf, but Lao Chu tucks the bottom hems of his real pants all the way down into his boots. (Actually, Zhao Yunlan does this too. It’s cute.)

The boots: I have accused them of being UGGs, and I’m not entirely sure they’re not. What gets me every time is how not badass they are. They have completely un-rugged tread on the bottom. They have loops on the back that look like they should be bootstraps, except they’re the length of handles on clutch purses; I legitimately cannot tell if they came with the boots or if they’re aftermarket mods. The soles are a charcoal grey; they just look white in some lights. (The tread is also not UGG-standard tread.) They have no zippers or laces on them. Chu Shuzhi does not fuck with zippers or laces. His coat has snaps. His pants have a drawstring. He will go to the barber every week like clockwork to keep his edges crispy, but fuck you if you think that going from naked to fully clothed should take more than thirty seconds.

Maybe my favorite thing about this outfit is that it’s not flattering. You want to see this man in a flattering outfit? He’s got plenty of those. He is an already handsome dude who is smoking hot once you start peeling layers off him. In a cast with some truly spectacularly attractive people, he is holding his own. It’d be easy to dress in a way that highlights that instead of covers it.

But Chu Shuzhi doesn’t have time to be model-gorgeous. He has shit to do, and on top of it all, Zhao Yunlan handed him Guo Changcheng and now he’s like oh great now I gotta be responsible for this water bottle.

[nani-nonny]

Oh, cool, I don’t think I’ve heard that song yet let me look it up

Oh. How. Dare. You.

“I must become the monster, and then we’ll make it home”

Nonny. What’s gonna happen to Donnie? And two for one? WHAT DOES THAT MEAN???

From what I can tell, Donnie was lying to the pink flesh thing in his eye…? Or shell? And not just to Leo? Really smart to catch it off its guard to get rid of it but was it Kraang? Also the way you wrote Leo using pins to use his katana at any time? Chef’s kiss! And the merciless kill of the pink thing? The squeeze in Leo hand? Delicious

The Epic music goes hard, especially the lyrics in my opinion!!!

The pink flesh hiding under Donnie’s shell is definitely the krang! The green hue to Donnie’s eyes were giveaways to the krang infecting Donnie! The purple hue fighting the green in his eyes was a sign that they didn’t completely take over Donnie’s mind and that he was fighting back. Hence the emphasis on “I” which was Donnie’s way of telling Leo to realize that it’s attempting to take over and can be seen from his eye.

And the title Two For One is just a silly take on how lucky or triumphant the krang must’ve felt to get a hold of not only one of the turtles but two, the genius and the master planner. Hehe two for one special!

I love writing the turtles being badasses and showcasing the warrior aspect of their mutation that Draxum intended when creating them! It makes my brain go brrr haha! I just had to write Leo showing lack of mercy to the creature that tried to infect his twin. (Although, was he really successful in stopping it?)

The pin? Mind blown haha! I love the idea that they only need some kind of catalyst or channeler to use their ninpo and temporarily change its form to their weapon of choice! There’s so many possibilities!

[dailydragon08]

Maybe you’ve spoken about this elsewhere but: do you remember the first time you watched Star Wars? Was Luke your guy from the beginning (he certainly was for me!), and what did you initially like about him?

I actually haven’t said before! My dad was actually the one who got me into Star Wars. He loooooves it and constantly talked it up so much when I was a kid. I had the whole Endor tree village play set with all the action figures and remember playing with them before I even watched any of the movies. I knew going in Luke would become a Jedi, so he was already my fav cuz cool powers.

I remember my dad making a whole thing out of watching ANH (idt the prequel trilogy was out yet, but they were in the process of filming TPM?). Like we got comfy on the couch with a million pillows and blankets and made popcorn and everything. I was 10, so I got the Parent Hand slapped over my eyes when they showed Owen and Beru’s bodies lol. But I looooved the movie. Like was just so obsessed with it and then just inhaled everything Star Wars related.

I remember liking Luke and thinking he was cute, and having a massive crush on ROTJ Luke. To this day, I think that’s probably a big part of the reason ROTJ is my favorite. But I don’t think I really fully appreciated who he was as a character till later. I remember having a bit of a crush on Han when I was little too and just loved how badass Leia was.

I think I’ve talked about this before, but now especially as someone who unfortunately has my own trauma, Luke is just so personal to me. He’s been through a lot of trauma and I think people forget that cuz he tends to be very loving and sunshiney. But that’s also WHY I love him so much, cuz that loving, sunshine nature is a conscious choice that is very hard to make and takes a huge level of strength to maintain after all he’s been through. Like in canon, he’s bullied growing up, loses his family in more ways that one (Owen & Beru getting killed, watching Obi-Wan die, Vader knocking down the pedestal Luke put Anakin up on with the dad reveal and just completely changing how Luke sees himself and his family name, even having to rescramble how he sees Leia in his head post-twin reveal if you wanna get really detailed, then watches his dad die right after he gets him back), fights in a LITERAL WAR and is made a commander (which in the radio drama, I think happens because his CO gets killed and they’re just like “congrats, you’re promoted”) by his early twenties. Like he has SO MUCH SHIT happen to him by the end of ROTJ and he’s not even 30. I don’t think anyone would blame him if he had become bitter and angry, but he DIDN’T. Like I had some issues with his characterization in TBOBF, but he’s still the same kind, nurturing, gentle Luke.

Speaking of kind and nurturing, I think I was just always drawn to how he’s such a polar opposite of all the toxic masculinity stuff that’s popular with male characters in the media. We need more male characters who are gentle and kind and sweet and loving and that doesn’t take away from their strength or is pointed at in canon as being “weak” by their peers. Me characterizing him this way is also a big part of why I was not a sequel fan (no shade to anyone who likes it and obviously, this is just my personal opinion; but Luke is just very personal to me cuz he’s a symbol of yes, you CAN make it to the other side of your trauma without being a broken mess).

Sorry this got away from me a bit 😅

[leidensygdom]

1 for Yxala for the asks?

And maybe 25, 41 and 53 for the twins?

OHHHH these are gonna be fun, thank you! I get to develop Sieg and Vyx a bit 💖

1. What’s the lie your character says most often?

Yxala often lies about her status. She'll pretend she's fine, everything is fine, and she's very much not. She's only more open about things with her partners, which isn't the healthiest thing to do when they both were assumed dead.

She will also deny she's compensating at all times (she IS compensating)

25. What subject / topic do they know a lot about that’s completely useless to the direct plot?

Siegmund has a lot of special interests that are rarely of use in the grand scheme of things. Maybe his knowledge on familiars is of use at some point, but his stuff for modelism and gunplas is probably fairly useless. He loves learning and gets obsessed with very specific topics. I'm sure he's the kinda person who got really into something like.... Idk. Jellyfishes. Actually I think he keeps shrimps. Make that Canon now.

Vyxander has a worse attention span, but he's got a lot of love for indie music bands and can probably name hundreds of them by memory. After all, he's a guitar player himself.

41. What phrases, pronunciations, or mannerisms did they pick up from someone / somewhere else?

Siegmund picked much of his vocabulary from his uncle, Mythannae, and later Relent, one of his parents. He's formal and polite. I think he connected more strongly with them both because, well, they share neurodivergencies. Mythannae is mute and communicates with sing language, so Siegmund often does the same when he goes nonverbal or is overwhelmed.

Vyxander picked things from his grandma, Olath'Sol, and when Yxala came back, his admiration for badass mom made him copy her mannerisms HEAVILY. He now curses like a sailor and has so many of her habits.

53. Who would / do they believe without question?

Siegmund will believe their family pretty much without question. This will come in handy for him to accept what happened with Urion being the Onirist (which Uri will explain truthfully). Vyxander refuses to believe that.

However, Vyxander doesn't take that from his family, but is instead very prone to believing friends-' specially if their opinions align with his own. He's prone to seeking echo Chambers.

Both of them will be making friends in college who they'll grow to believe without question, which is gonna be a point of conflict since these people are very opposed to each other!

[moonbearmeliox]

I don’t think it’s talked about enough how much the Chroma Conclave arc involves family and the familial relationships between Vox Machina. I know the Briarwood arc/Season 1 of TLOVM explored Percy and his family and great detail but the Chroma Conclave arc does spend some time exploring the rest of Vox Machina and their relationships with their families and I can’t wait to see this in season 2 and 3: 

Spoilers Under the cut

Keyleth sees her dad, Korrin for the first time after leaving Zephrah when Vox Machina goes to Pyrrha to assess the damage that Thordak caused. Keyleth thought that she wouldn’t see her dad until she completes her Aremente and yet they are reunited together after extreme circumstances. Keyleth doesn’t think she has proven herself to be able to see her father, yet the rest of Vox Machina reassures her and tells Korrin that Keyleth is a badass and is doing amazing. 

To get the Titanstone Knuckles, Grog must face his Uncle Kevdak. The last time he saw Kevdak was when he was beaten and left for dead. Grog is very hesitant to go back to Westtrun, afraid of the confrontation, but holds firm that if he does face Kevdak, he will do so as himself. And Vox Machina is there to back him up.

In Westtrun, Pike is reunited with her great great grandfather Wilhand, who after baricading himself in his house out of fear of the goliaths is over-joyed to see her. Later on, Scanlan will ask Wilhand for his blessing to propose to Pike.

The twins have to go back to Syngorn and meet with their father. Their father who has no interest in them, who made his own family, had another kid. Vex and Vax hated every second of being in Syngorn, but Vox Machina made it bareable. Especially Percy, granting Vex a title that inherently makes her more important than her father

After an almost risque encounter, Scanlan finds out he has a daughter and his whole perception of everything shifts. It’s almost immediate how he changes to wanting to protect Kaylie. From their surprise encounter in Westtrun, to giving Pike a letter to make her promise to look after Kaylie if he dies, Scanlan cares for his daughter so much, even when she just came into his life. Kaylie makes Scanlan promise her that he won’t die. And Scanlan unintentially breaks that promise. And that’s what makes Scanlan break. “What’s my mother’s name?”

The Chroma Conclave arc ends with this

“We’re friends, right?”

“Worse. We’re family”