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haykawas · 10 months

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✩•̩̩͙*˚ THE ART OF (NOT) PULLING YOUR BEST FRIEND

summary : You've always been good at hiding your feelings for your best friend, but when Satoru finally manages to land a date with the girl of his dreams, something seems to shift inside you. But don't worry, you have another best friend there who's more than willing to care for you.

word count : ~ 11K for all routes that are out, ~ 2.8K for this part. tags : best friend!to lovers, modern AU, best friends gojo & geto, fluff, angst, eventual smut, drama, love confessions, multiple choices standalone.

It is known that blue is your favorite color.

Blue like the sea. Like the sky on a particularly hot day. Blue like the feathers of a magnificent peacock, and the flesh of a ripe blueberry.

His eyes are blue. They’re this piercing, icy blue you can’t seem to get away from wherever you are. – It is a coincidence that they are your favorite shade of blue, too.

You don’t know when you started liking the color blue with so much passion, and you think maybe you always have. Yet you don’t do anything about it, you don’t go out of your way to profess your love for it. You don’t seek it out and won’t admit it’s the only color that’ll ever make you feel the way you do when you look at it.

It’s okay. There are many other shades to love. It’s just disheartening that it seems to be the only one that suits you so well.

And it is this same shade of blue that is sparkling in Satoru’s eyes, screaming ‘victory’ as he comes back to your table in a confident stride. The wide grin that is stretching his pink lips is triumphant, and you know what this means.

He actually did it.

He slams the piece of paper on the table, leaning at your level to rub it in your face, his sunglasses threatening to fall off his nose. – He always looks so cute when they do that, his nose slightly scrunching to keep them from doing so.

“Ha! You owe me ten bucks.”

You roll your eyes at him, clicking your tongue in annoyance. “I’m sure she took pity on you. That, or it’s a fake number.”

You hope it is, but you would be a fool to believe that. Just a look at your best friend would be enough to understand the fact that he could get anything he would ever want. Like he loved saying, his face card never declined. – To your dismay.

“Oh I knew you’d say that, so I called the number just in case. And guess what?”

“Ugh, Satoru? That’s fucking insane.” You cringe without waiting for him to finish what he has to say.

His eyes widen comically, pointing at you with accusation. “It’s not!”

Suguru also grimaces, “It is. Creep.”

You grin and silently mouth back the word to your white-haired friend, mocking him.

Satoru rolls his eyes, already exasperated with the both of you, “Whatever you say. While you nerds are gonna be drowning in your video games, I’ll actually be getting some action tonight.” He winks, emphasizing the word action and you feign a gag. And you don’t have to try too hard for it to come out as genuine.

Suguru chimes in, sighing, “Just don’t come crying to us when she ghosts you, man. Again.”

You hum, your chin propped up on your hand, “He sure knows how to pick ‘em, hm, Suguru?”

“She’s different, guys, come on!” He whines.

“Weren’t the three other girls before different too?“

“I believe they were!“ You say, feigning the act of pushing imaginary glasses up your nose. Suguru chuckles, and you grin at him.

“Well, y’know…” He trails off, sighing in defeat because he knows he’s been cornered. “I just really don’t wanna screw this one up.”

You raise an eyebrow, a forced smile on your lips. “We’re just fucking with you, ‘Toru.” You smirk, “But don’t worry, we’ll keep the ice cream ready just in case you come back with your tail between your legs.”

He groans, “I swear you two are perfect for each other. Always teaming up on me like that! What have I done to deserve two mean best friends?”

Suguru looks at you in amusement, and you instantly meet his eyes with a cheeky grin of your own.

“Two pretty best friends.”

At this meaningful exchange, Satoru groans, throwing his hands in the air.

“See? My point exactly!”

You can’t help but let your lips curve into a half-smile at his antics, and you don’t notice how your eyes seem to shine so much brighter when they are laid on your best friend, but Suguru does. He knows you by heart, having spent so many days and so many nights by your side.

At the time, you and Satoru came into a package deal as much as Satoru and him did. Naturally, after spending so many years by your side, he understands the mechanics of your brain. Sometimes, such as now, he even senses something’s wrong before you even do.

Right now, he knows that your heart aches. That it must be clenching painfully in your chest, that you must be punishing yourself for not feeling happy for your best friend when he’s been meaning to ask this girl out for weeks now. But how could you, when the mere thought of him touching and tasting someone else’s skin makes you feel like you can’t breathe? Like always, Suguru can’t help but want to protect you.

So he calls your name, and when you turn to him, he leans in to whisper in your ear, “Hey, you really okay with this?”

You try to muster a grin, though it doesn’t quite reach your eyes, and like always he sees right through you. “Me? Why wouldn’t I be okay? ‘m just worried he’ll get his hopes up for nothing, that’s all.”

He lifts a brow not quite buying your act, but he doesn’t say a thing, and you’re thankful for that.

“What do you say we give him a taste of his own medicine then?”

You arch a brow in confusion, and he waves a hand before explaining himself.

“Remember when you used to date this Nanami guy and Satoru constantly crashed your dates with phone calls and weird texts?”

“And when he actually showed up out of nowhere at the theater and shoved himself between us! I swear I was gonna rip him to shreds.”

“You gave him the silent treatment for a week after that, I thought I was gonna go crazy with his constant blabbering.” He groans, his almond eyes slightly crinkling as he reminisces your high school days.

You scoff, amused, “He always had some lame excuses, too. Nanami ended up breaking up with me 'cause he thought I was cheating on him with that fucker.”

“So what do you think? Up for a little fun?” He says as he looks at you with mirth in his eyes, waiting for you to catch on. When you do, you can’t help but gasp at the implications of his words.

“Are you serious?”

He grins cheekily, “Let’s go to the same place he’s taking his date, but in disguise.”

“That does sound fun…” Suguru looks at you with anticipation. “But it’s very childish.”

“Yep.”

“And he might see us.”

“That’s a possibility.”

“He’ll be pissed, too…”

“Oh, he will.” He smirks and you can’t help but mirror his expression.

“I’m in.”

“Hey! What are you two whispering about?”

“Hm? Just girl talk, you wouldn’t get it.” You answer, and you hear Suguru snicker in the back. You also can’t help the cheeky grin forming on your lips when you notice Satoru’s expression, but you don’t give him time to argue. “Hey, where did you say your date was, again?”

That’s how you find yourself standing before the restaurant. You can’t help but scoff at the sight.

“Papa’s, seriously? It’s like he’s begging to get dumped!”

Your eyes shift to Suguru, and you burst out laughing at the sight. “You look absolutely ridiculous.” You say with a grin, and he mirrors your expression with a raised brow.

“Oh, and you don’t?”

Your eyes meet and you try to hold it in, – you’re smiling so wide it hurts your cheeks. Suguru turns his neck and averts his eyes so he doesn’t laugh, but you can see the grin stretching his lips.

“The mustache is killing me, man, I’m gonna blow our cover!” You laugh, “Take it off.”

“And ruin the vibe I went for?” He shakes his head, “Just say you want to sabotage me.”

“I do! You look way too hot in this, our cover will be blown immediately!” You tease.

He arches a brow, a hint of amusement gleaming in his eyes, “Do I now?”

“Uh uh,” You nod, “I’m this close to calling off the operation just so I can rock your world.” He lets out a deep laugh, hiding his mouth with the back of his hand as his eyes crinkle in amusement.

You return his smile.

What should have been a depressing evening turned into one of the funniest nights of your life. You would try your best to keep yourself from laughing while Suguru would act all serious, without a hint of a smile. He plays his part so well that he makes it even harder for you to keep up your facade. Your laughter echoes through the streets as you try hard not to attract attention, failing spectacularly when you happen to catch a glimpse of Suguru’s costume, – especially his top hat.

He has to be the only person in the world who’d think of dressing up as freaking Abraham Lincoln to spy on someone.

After this night, the bond between you two grows even stronger. Late-night conversations become the norm, and you’ve grown used to hanging out without Satoru.

It’s also due to the fact that Satoru would always find himself too busy to spend time with you, for some reason. He also misses on movie nights, and Satoru usually never misses movie nights.

You suspect it has to be because he’s seeing that girl from the Café.

You don’t want to think about it. Nor do you want to think about the distance that is growing between you. Yet you can’t deny that you miss him.

You miss him terribly, because he’s always been the only constant in your life and now it seems like he isn’t anymore. You’ve always shared everything with him, and him with you, so having him act so cold towards you feels strange. It feels like a knife in your heart.

You exhale, your finger hovering over the send button as you contemplate whether to send the message. Even if you don’t think you’ve done anything wrong, you refuse to let miscommunication come between the two of you.

you SATORU . you still coming tonight???:p

No. Too casual.

you wyd tonight? still on 4 movie night?;)

Ugh, too horny.

you Are you coming tonight or are you still avoiding us?

Hell no. Too truthful.

you you coming tonight?

Sent. As soon as you hit the send button, you throw your phone on the couch and bury it under a mountain of pillows. You sigh, feeling slightly stupid for freaking out over such a simple text.

But you never fight with Satoru, this is something you just don't do.

You’re so lost in your own embarrassment that you don’t see the screen of your phone light up, displaying Satoru’s contact name in bold letters.

satoru yeah i'll be there

The scent of sugar fills the kitchen, and you’re lost in thought as you watch the bag of dried corn turn into sweet treats under the microwave’s heat. You sigh for what feels like the hundredth time tonight, and Suguru groans at the sound.

“My mom used to say sighs brought out the devil.” He lifts a brow. “At this rate I’ll have to incense the whole house when you leave.”

“Your mom’s way too superstitious, and you know that.” You roll your eyes. “But if the devil’s real I hope he takes you first. You’re a pain in my ass.”

He hums with a small smile, “Seems like you’re in a mood to me.”

“Classy. And a bit sexist.”

“You know what else’s classy? Not burning up the only bag of popcorn we have.” He throws with a smirk as he leaves the kitchen.

You curse at him under your breath and make quick work to retrieve what can be saved. When you’re done, you meet him on the sofa, and find him already sprawled out.

He scoots over to make room for you, and you let yourself fall on the cushions, propping your legs on his thighs. You place the bowl between the two of you, and there’s silence before you hear Suguru snort.

“I tried, okay? It was all burnt!”

“You’re so not talented at this.” He bites his lip to avoid laughing, while his gaze keeps flickering from the bowl to your eyes.

“Stop looking at it!” You move the bowl out of his sight, “You won’t have any if you keep making fun of me.” You threaten, and Suguru retreats, his hands raised in mock surrender.

“Alright, alright! Give it back and sit down, the movie’s starting.”

“I wish someone loved me like this.”

You don’t realize you’ve said this out loud until you feel Suguru’s burning gaze on you. You don’t know if it’s because you’ve suddenly blurted out a lame, depressing confession, or because he thinks you’re crazy for saying it when you’re watching Shrek.

“I’m sure there is.”

You scoff, “Yeah, right.”

You turn your gaze back to the TV, but you can’t ignore the look he’s giving you. You try to ignore it, but he doesn’t let it go. And you know he has something to say. Something you won’t like.

“What?” You finally blurt out, appraising him with narrowed eyes.

“When are you going to tell him?”

“Tell who?”

“Don’t play dumb.” He gives you a blank stare, unimpressed by your act. “Everyone and their mother knows you have it bad for Satoru.”

“Suguru…” You groan.

“Go on, tell me I’m wrong.”

Your mouth opens to try and muster up a lie, but you can’t come up with anything. You can’t lie about this, and he knows it.

He smiles, “See? You can’t even deny it.”

“He has a girlfriend.”

“Oh, did he tell you? Or did you just pull this one out of your ass?”

You roll your eyes, pushing him away. He chuckles, enjoying the sheer embarrassment displayed on your face.

“You know he didn’t. But come on! You and I both know he never misses movie night, and he’s been bailing on us for weeks now.” You frown, “What kind of best friend does that?”

Suguru hums. “Yeah, sure. A best friend.”

You look at him with arched brows. He’s testing your limits, and while you’re used to this side of him, you’re not in the mood to play. At this point, you’ve both drowned out the sound of the TV, you glaring at him for forcing you to face the truth, and him just waiting for you to come to terms with your own feelings.

You let out a humorless laugh, throwing your hands in the air, “You know what?”

“Yes, I’m in love with Satoru! So what? Do you expect me to run to his house and confess my undying love for him before it’s ‘too late’?” You exclaim, and you’re too engrossed in your speech to notice Suguru’s panicked expression as he looks over your shoulder, or his hand gestures signaling you to cut the conversation short.

You don’t realise you’re no longer alone until the sound of movement startles you. You turn around with a jump, and what you see makes your blood run cold. Satoru is standing in the doorway, his presence having gone unnoticed until then. You can see the shock on his face, a mixture of surprise and confusion.

You’re paralyzed.

You feel like the sick butt of a joke. And if the fact that your childhood best friend heard you profess your love for him wasn't enough to make you wish you were dead, it’s the look on his face that crushes you the most.

His eyes search for yours in hope you’ll explain yourself, and it makes you want to disappear from the surface of the Earth.

You never wanted him to know. You never wanted him to look at you like this. Like… he pitied you.

Suguru extends an arm to hold you back, but he’s a few seconds too late. You can’t bear this, so much that you don’t let anyone say a single word before you flee the apartment, ducking under Satoru’s arm without sparing him a glance.

You absolutely won’t stand there and listen to him apologize for not feeling the same way you do.

You refuse to feel your best friends’ sorry glances on you as they comfort you. You know it’s cowardly, that you should just stayed and talked about the elephant in the room, or just lied your way out of it.

You didn't, though. You fled, and the shame is eating you alive, but you couldn't stay there.

Not today. Your dignity won’t let you.

Yet, it seems like fate has other plans for you, because you hear quick, familiar, footsteps hurrying towards you.

And you know it’s him.

Him? What do you mean by him? Help a poor writer out!

Suguru Geto, who else?

Of course it's Gojo Satoru.

hello hello, welcome to my standalone first choose your own adventure!! there are three routes to this story (one has two possible branches), two are already out, one is coming soon! i absolutely loved working on this, although this took lots of time. i hope you enjoy it!

rbs are much appreciated <3

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whalesforhands · 3 months

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what’s yours is mine (6/?)

previous masterlist next

pairing: geto suguru x reader x gojo satoru

You don’t know a lot of things, and you readily admit that. What you do know, is that the friends you’ve made aren’t something you will ever regret. Until your physical body weakens and becomes nothing, you’re more than happy to give your all until you wither away.

What’s yours can be theirs, too. They’re your friends, after-all. (Omegaverse AU)

You always thought that there was something off about your dearest friend. Something that you just can never be sure of no matter how much you watch him, no matter how much you scrutinize and prod at his cheek with a deductive finger and a furrow of your brows.

It’s like finding the secret twist like in that one detective show. You gotta look hard, look deep into someone; something to really find what you’re truly looking for.

Because it could be right in front of your very eyes.

“Mhfm?” Geto Suguru is tilting his head at you through a spoonful of ice cream, letting you examine him carefully to the fullest of your ability just as you pinch one of his cheeks in between surveying fingers.

Pinch. Pull. Pinch. Stretch it out lightly. Let go.

He swallows as you grab his nose, squeezing lightly and feeling the cartilage sink under your touch.

Squishy.

“Is… There something on my face?” He blinks at you, squeezes his eyes closed when you start to squeeze a little harder with a cute frown that was teetering on a pout, with his voice amusingly nasally from your actions.

Yet, despite all that, you can’t seem to put a finger on it at all.

“Probably ugliness.” Gojo Satoru’s crude remark is heard from within an impish giggle, his lips smeared with cold ice cream as he licks the remnants away with a nimble tongue. “Ya looked in a mirror lately?”

“Nope,” Geto Suguru replies, irritation evident in his tone as his eyebrow starts to twitch, the smile still holding strong on his face as he feels you twirl a strand of his hair. “You’re around me so much that they all start breaking by themselves.”

And the air tenses, silence permeating before it breaks into yelled insults.

“Ya offended me, so you have to gimme all your ice cream!”

“Haaah?! That doesn’t make any sense at all, you greedy scammer! Y’er gonna lose the rest of your teeth!”

“Kimi-chan said it was just my baby teeth falling out!”

(It’s true. There’s a hole in your mouth right now from where you had spat out your tooth after a pretty bad fall yesterday.)

Such is the relationship between your friends. You guess that it isn’t so bad even when they practically start glaring at each other as Gojo purposely lunges for a jaw-dropping, comically large bite of ice cream that wasn’t his.

Narrowly would he have tackled you had it not been for Suguru pushing you away, the force toppling you over and making you now lay down uselessly upon your back, staring up at the ceiling of your own room and watching the sway of your ceiling lamp as you hear the both of them gasp, a spoon clattering onto the tatami of your floor just as little feet rush over to you.

“(n-name)?!” Worried and panicked as a bandaid covered hand smooths over your face.

“Oi, look what ya did!” Rough and jittery.

“I did it cause you’re dumb and blind!” Irritated and fretful.

These ones are easy to tell, easy to see exactly what they feel. So… You think they’re getting along exceptionally well these days. Especially when your eyes begin to stare up at their worried faces and prodding questions.

It makes you think harder than you did just moments before. Maybe it was a good thing that the back of your head was hit so hard.

“Everyone has their own secrets,” She began, pulling at its sleeves and smoothening out the wrinkles upon the damp shirt as it flutters out, the water having been wrung out thoroughly. “It’s only a matter if you find out or not.”

If you find out, huh? Mama says it’s rude to ask someone outright. Yet, it’s not enough of an answer to deter you.

“But what if I really, really wanna know something, Mama?”

“I suppose…” She glances down at you briefly as another pillowcase is pinned onto the clothing rack, the brand new, softer fabric starting to billow in the soft wind. “They’ll have to decide for themselves on whether or not they want to tell you.”

That’s annoying. Your shoulders slump and you pout, your foot continuously giving light kicks to the basket of clothing pegs as you squeeze the elastane plastic currently in your hand.

“But I’m sure that if you both were close enough,” She begins again just as your hand plops another pin onto her open palm. “They’d tell you outright.”

That gives you hope, you suppose. Only a little.

“Do you have any secrets, Mama?” It’s your curious eyes and small grin of mischief that catch her eye first as you hear her give you an inconclusive hum in reply.

The last of the laundry flutters with the wind, your knees bending and your hand reaching for the final clothespin to hand off to her as she stares off into the sky for a little bit, a certain look in her eye that you can’t exactly put your finger on but swear that you’re just upon the tip of discerning—

Before you feel a hand on your hand ruffling your hair as you blink, breaking you out of your train of investigative thought.

“Not at all.”

(“But I know you snuck a bite of the cream puffs I bought before dinner.” You feel a tap to your nose when she squats down to be eye level with you, a gasp of shock and your hands immediately slapping over your mouth a little too late.

How did she know?! How did she find out?! You even learned how to close that flimsy, silly little cardboard back correctly and as neatly as possible! Is your Mama a mind reader—

“You had cream on your nose all this time, dear.”)

You don’t know how to go about it, so you ask the next person you trust the most in this whole wide world.

Maybe that was your first mistake.

“Hah?” Gojo Satoru is staring up at you through those long eyelashes as he makes you pat his head, your hand smoothening out those rough strands of cloud white as you sit on your legs to better accommodate to his, admittedly, hard to discern whims.

(Mama did say he was ‘clingy’ after all.)

Maybe your pillows are just too cheap for someone so rich like him, too low quality to even be considered acceptable for his standards… Which is why he always has to make do with your lap despite how your legs start to get really tired after being stuck like this right after waking up.

(But if it’s for your friends, you’d do a lot of things for them. Even if you think your legs are gonna go numb and fall off…)

“I don’t know anythin’ about that uggo!” He’s quiet for once, finally learning to keep his voice small in these early mornings when the sky is still trapped in a dim blue and the sun had only started to peek over the horizon to say good morning to the world, his shiny eyes watching you lazily blink your bleary sleepiness away.

It’s one of those early weekend mornings where it would be just the both of you, the whirl of your fan beside your futon, those partially drawn curtains and breakfast that Kimiko-san had brought over sitting upon your kitchen counter downstairs.

(Mama is very grateful for Kimiko-san. You’ve seen her bow so profusely to her as she pushes the nicely packaged bag of tea she bought just yesterday with you into the maidservant’s hands before she left for work the other day.)

“Are you both still fighting?” You hear him whine just that little bit more when you rub against that spot near his ears, palms moulding into his scalp and your fingers scratching against the parts he usually gives in at— The parts that make him much more susceptible to talk even if he was being stubborn and puffing his cheeks at you.

“Hmph…!”

You’re actually… Kind of relieved Suguru isn’t here to retort back. It’s too early in the morning, and you’d feel really bad if he woke up too soon.

He needs to sleep well to keep his prettiness. That much you’re sure of, when you compare him to your cute friend who wakes up too early in the morning to come hang out with you, anyway.

“You shouldn’t be angry, Satoru.” Your thumb pokes at the crease between his brows to make him relax them before your arms shift to be hugging around his head, the soft scent of his expensive shampoo in your nose as you close your eyes and gently relax.

“You’ll make me sad.”

And that has him going limp in your hold, tension leaving his body as he watches your face from the corner of his eye.

You’re stupid. And dumb. And stupid stupid stupid stupid—!

“W-well I’ll forgive him if you don’t invite him over today!” He’s stuttering through his cute cherry cheeks, alight with a red so sweet you think he might actually turn into a cherry himself. “Ya h-have to hang out with only m-me today!”

That does sound a little unfair on Suguru’s end. So you compromise.

“Then can we go to his house later then? Geto-mama said her husband got some souvenirs from Hakone.” And a lot, too.

He stops complaining— Starkly silent as you continue to hug your cute friend. He feels so nice to hug.

You’re using his biggest weaknesses against him and it isn’t fair! So he has to actively contemplate, weighing the pros and cons as your cheek rubs so softly against him…

“How to get your friend to listen to you?” Your Mama blinks at you as she turns away from the TV that was still playing, head inquisitively tilted to the side as you blink back at her.

You think she has an inkling of what— And more specifically, who you’re talking about. She lets out a chuckle when she notices you’re staring at her too intensely, hyper focused on her answer as you waited with bated breath.

You really need to listen to her advice.

“You don’t actually have to try much, sweetie.” She shifts a stray strand of your hair behind your ear, smoothening it down and combing through it slightly. “Just be yourself.”

“F-Fine!” He huffs and puffs and pats your hand, a signal for you to let go, thoroughly embarrassed now that his entire face was ablaze with a hot blush.

You didn’t glean anything about Suguru from him after all, but at least you know he likes your shared pretty friend more than he lets on.

(He wouldn’t have agreed so readily otherwise, even with the promise of snacks.)

So you confide in someone else who would definitely know more than you. Someone who you trust more than you do yourself… Even if he ranked like— 7th on the list after Sailor Moon and Pikachu.

(You tried talking to them through the TV screen. They don’t really seem to be replying… They’re too busy being heroes like you, after all.)

“How to get your friend to tell you somethin’?” He’s raising a brow at you as his legs spread far too wide and take up way too much space, a yawn escaping his too big mouth and making the scar on his lips even more prominent than it already was… All whilst you were the one with his beaten up book bag settled on your lap that you had picked up after he unceremoniously tossed it aside.

“How the hell would I know?”

You’ve resorted to asking him for help as you let the leather of his bag settle upon you, your thighs jutting it up every few moments or so as you play with it. It’s surprisingly light, as if it didn’t have much— Or anything inside of it.

“You look smart.” You blink up at those dull green eyes of his, fingers playing with the metal buckles and watching as he tussled with his own hair when he practically rolled his eyes at your reply. “So I wanna ask you.”

“Well kid, do I look like a fucking—“ He clicks his tongue in realization at his wording, taking a breath in through clenched teeth and glaring down at your curious blinking eyes before averting his gaze, fingers moving to be pinching the skin between his brows as he lets out a deep sigh.

Exasperatedly. As if he gave up.

“Shi— Fine.” A roll of his eyes as they drift off to the side, as if he was thinking for a little bit as you sit beside him with your legs hanging off the ledge of the wooden bench you were both seated on.

You win. He’ll hand down all his secret knowledge to you now to let you gain experience points.

He‘s mostly quiet even when he’s not all that deep in contemplation, only a few grunts here and there when he finds himself staring into the setting orange of the sky.

(Adults must really like doing that. You’re glad you already have one thing in common with them. Can you be an adult now too?)

“Just beat their asses. People are easy and will tell ya anything when they’re on the ground tryin’ not to piss their pants.” He ends with a bit of a deranged chuckle as you watch how his curled up fists began to twitch.

He’s… Definitely scary-ish. If you cared to put enough thought into how frightfully intimidating this almost adult is, anyway.

(For some reason, you aren’t scared of him at all…)

A blink. And another as you try to process his words clearly. You don’t really get it. Violence won’t solve much in the long term, and you’re not exactly open to roughing it up with anyone…

“But what if I don’t wanna beat up my friend?” Now you’re the one frowning, lips turned downwards and brows furrowed together as you clutch his bag closer against your chest.

Oh, how it scares you to even think about messing up Suguru’s pretty face… How would you ever admire it anymore?!

“Oi, I gave ya a solution. Quit whining.” There’s a rumble in his throat, dismissive disdain and annoyance in his tone as he pulls out his cellphone, lifting the cover up to reveal a cracked screen as he mashes on buttons that you don’t really know how to use well.

“If you’re gonna complain, just pry it out of him yourself, you brat.”

Pry… It out yourself? And… If he likes you enough he’ll tell you… He’ll tell you if you tried. Try. Oh. Ohhh. Ohhhh!

And you’ve jumped up onto your feet, carefully making sure his dusty bag didn’t fall to the dustier ground as you hold it above your head in celebration, a wide grin on your face and your eyes sparkling in victory, showing off the bag as if it were a grand prize you had obtained through arduous competition.

“Mister, I always knew you were smarter than you looked!”

(“The fuc— Hell is that s’pposed to mean?”)

——

“Oh hello! How have you been, dear?” Geto-mama is the one that’s greeting you this time around, patting her hands dry on her apron, already squatting down the moment she had spotted you and opening her arms up with that cooing look on her face.

You indulge her, despite that mischievous twinkle in her eye.

“My! You’re always such a sweetheart to me!” You can feel her heartbeat pick up just as she squeezes you to her chest, your cheek resting against the soft fabric of her shirt as you blink. “Gotta thank your Mama for raising you so cutely! I don’t need to make a daughter if I already have someone as adorable as you are, dearie!”

There she goes talking again, with your face pressed inbetween her soft chest no less. It feels really nice though.

Her boobies are so big…

“Gosh, it’s only been a few years but you already look so grown up! I wonder just how many years I have left before I won’t be able to pick you up like this anymore!” You feel her practically swing you around when your feet leave the ground. “Goodness me, you are so cute!”

You tune her out, patting her back lightly as she squeezes you ever impossibly closer. Geto-mama is so strong. You hope to grow up as healthily as her when you get older.

“Are you here alone today? Suguru’s off with his Papa to the market for a bit.” And she has an arm supporting your bottom, cooing at you with a blissed out look on her face as she carries you to the living room.

“Mhm. Satoru can’t come t’day.” He’s busy with extra lessons, learning… Um, you think it was an instrument. You tug at the strings with a stick and put your chin on the tiny guitar.

“Oho~? Then how about having a chat with an old lady while waiting?”

Sounds like a plan. You don’t have anything else to do today anyway. And you can’t exactly play Suguru’s board games by yourself, that’s no fun.

“Okay. And you’re not old, Geto-mama. You look like you could be my older sister.”

(Mama told you any lady would be flattered if you said that.)

“Oh my goodness me! I could faint just by listening to you compliment me!” A hand to her forehead for the added dramatics. “I’ve got some banana teacakes and some senbei! Which would you prefer, darling?”

If Suguru is the only one coming later, then…

“Senbei, please.”

(“Oh, you’re so darling and polite! I simply cannot stop swooning over you!”

Mama did say Geto-mama had her heels over her head for you once. You don’t know what that means, but you assume it must be pretty good if she fusses over you so much. Like one of those kind, but slightly overbearing grandmas in the shows you watch.)

You’re blowing away the steam from the piping cup of warm milk in your hands, a slight mustache from the remnants of the drink upon your upper lip as you poke your tongue out to lick it away.

“And then Suguru helped Kanade-san get up even when he could’ve ran past him.” You pause momentarily to recount the time a little more. “Kanade-san is a super fast runner, and everyone thought Suguru was gonna lose, but then he actually won.”

You take another sip as you let out another relaxed sigh.

“Suguru’s really cool.” And that is a given fact. He’s the coolest. Only Satoru could only come in a close second to be cool-lier. You’re really happy that you can call yourself his— Their friend.

“That… I’m assuming Suguru has been treating everyone well, then?” She’s smiling as she watches you snack on the rice crackers, her elbows on the table as she hums.

As well as he could be anyway, you think.

“Mhm. Suguru’s really polite. But I also told him that he needed to look out for people that will want to wish ill on him due to conflicting interests.” Your legs kick as you miss the way Geto-mama’s eyes nearly bulged out of her head from your nonchalant little advice spiel, taking another hearty sip of your milk before continuing.

“That’s what the zodiac sign lady on TV said about Aquariuses-es.”

A sigh of— Relief? From her.

“Ahaha, more from that astrology column you love so much, huh? You’re quite the attentive one, sweetie.” She smiles as her eyes close, a little chuckle leaving her. “I should be less worried, but I just can’t help it even if you’ve been such a good influence on him, dear.”

And she has every right to be, you’re pretty sure.

Geto Suguru did not get off scot-free after that little incident with your classmate. Disciplinary action was taken, parents were called in, and Suguru couldn’t come to school for a good 3 days.

But you don’t know the details other than that. Only heard those flying rumours that you didn’t pay much attention to as you walked past your chatty tables of your classmates.

“He broke Tachibana-kun’s hand…”

“He’s so violent!”

“My cousin from another town over said there was a really violent boy who looked really similar to him when I showed her my class photo—“

“Ehhh? No way, that couldn’t be Geto-san! When I talked to him he was so nice and polite!”

“Yeah, but! My cousin showed me a kindergarten photo and it looked just like him!”

“My mother did say that you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover…”

You don’t care. You don’t care because ‘Listening to dreadful words that had no substance would lead you down a path that will not converge with what you wanted’. According to your zodiac sign that day, anyway.

But you believe it regardless.

“Geto-mama,” Your eyes watch her carefully, watch how her shoulders slumped and how her eyes shone with that characteristic confidence and how the way she carried that sure air always surrounding her.

“How has living here been?”

And she only smiles at you.

“Oho? Not going to ask why we moved here in the first place?” It has been a good 3 years since they moved in. There’s no use dwelling on the past if it’s all the way back then. “You didn’t ask even when we first moved in here, you know?”

She’s curious why you don’t pry.

You won’t care about such things. The past is the past, and Mama doesn’t like bringing up the past. The past is a secret you have to unlock with time, with careful prying and precision if you truly wanna know.

So you nod, blinking up at her with your eyes that spoke your truth, your now empty plastic cup tapping against the coaster as you settle it down and reach for another rice cracker from the bowl.

(Geto-mama prepared an even number of snacks. She’s so thoughtful.)

“Everybody’s got secrets. It depends on ‘em if they wanna tell or not.”

(Hehe. You sound like your Mama. You’re really proud of yourself for that.)

“Is that so?” She laughs again, an amused glimmer in her eye and a hand over her mouth as she hears the crunch of the senbei you were chewing on.

“Then I hope Suguru lets you know his secrets soon enough.”

The door clacks open, the telltale ring of the bell signalling that it had been unlocked as you hear the shift of those sturdy reusable bags Mama often uses to avoid the ¥10 extra charge on plastic bags, with a couple sets of shoes tappin against the stone genkan floors of the Geto house.

“Mama! We’re back!” His voice calls out with so much familiarity as you hear slippers clacking against hard ground. “Papa bought too many tomatoes cause they were on sale!”

“Already outing me to your mama, huh?”

“Ehehe.” His eyes cast downwards to better kick off the slipper that had accidentally clung to his foot— Ah, it’s getting so annoying to take them… Off?

Strappy sandals. Well-worn, straps undone with fraying ends and certainly, a very familiar set of sandals.

You. Were you already here? When did you come? Did you eat yet? How long have you been alone with his mother?

Regardless of all his thoughts, all his questions. One thing is for certain as he finally gets the stubborn shoe off running past his poor Papa trying to gather the bags as he runs down the hall and into the living room.

He’s excited to see you.

“Mama! Is (name) here?!”

And he spots you, so cheerily chewing on one of the hard rice crackers as his mother watches with a hearty smile that looked a little too smug.

“Oh my? Not going to help me and your Papa with the groceries?” And she’s already pushing back her chair as Suguru pouts at her.

“I can do it— Later.”

“Oh~ And if I don’t have any groceries for you to pack later?”

Hmph…

“I can help.” You’re speaking through the dry senbei you had just swallowed as your eyes lift up and off the table to meet his already staring purple that practically shone so bright. “Then Suguru and I can play together sooner, right?”

You’re so kind. So sweet. So nice to him.

“Ahaha, it’s alright you two. Have fun.” And she leaves. Geto-mama finally leaves as his feet practically start moving by themselves towards you. To be closer to you, to be near you.

“Hi.” He smiles at you, so softly and so sweetly with his eyes upturned into gentle crescents and his cheeks rosy red. “Did my mama talk ya ear off?”

He sounds almost out of breath. Shy.

It’s not the same boy the rumours in your class float around about at all. You’re super sure it isn’t as you let him take your hand to help you off the chair.

He doesn’t let go.

“I like your mama, though.”

And while you were always the one being asked to give hugs to Satoru— You just can’t seem to stop yourself from asking hugs from your Suguru as you squeeze his palm and stare at the sway of his bangs.

Hmph… He didn’t hug you yet.

“Suguru.” You tug at his hand when he’s humming, climbing onto his couch and signalling for you to follow suit as you start to pout.

“Suguru…”

“Hm?” He’s too busy staring down at your intertwined hands, a bit of a dopey smile on his face as he swings it back and forth.

He looks so happy.

So you don’t wanna interrupt him.

“What do you wanna do now?” Even if you’re pouting and sad that you didn’t get a greeting hug. You’ll settle for the handholding, you guess. Sigh.

“Well… Satoru might wanna watch Digimon right now.”

Uh— Huh? He’s not wrong, but… Satoru isn’t here right now. It’s a habit you’ve noticed… A lot actually.

“Satoru won’t like that.”

“You’re going to make me— No, Satoru mad if you talk to that boy.”

“Do you and Satoru like this a lot?”

As much as you’re happy that he likes your clingy friend a lot— It doesn’t help you learn enough about the your pretty neighbour; Geto Suguru.

Geto Suguru who likes to keep his hair long, Geto Suguru who has pretty purple eyes, Geto Suguru who likes to pet the neighbourhood cats, Geto Suguru who likes to eat cold soba…

There could be so much more that you don’t know about him.

Ah. You found it. That’s what’s been poking and prodding at your brain so often about Suguru. The way he tried so hard to please you.

“No.” You’re shaking your head as your eyes look from the cupboard amassing his various board games, to his television and to the unfinished plate of rice crackers and back to those confused; unsure amethyst eyes.

“What do you wanna do?”

“But—“ He sounds uncertain— Unsure and choked and slightly… Afraid?

“Your Papa’s a Beta but your Mama’s an Alpha?” The sandpit felt a little too crowded today after his presentation on his family. A little too many people for his liking as they bombard him with questions.

“My daddy says that your Papa’s so lucky to be able to marry and train an Alpha!”

He doesn’t see what’s wrong with how his family loves and cares for each other. Who cares? They like each other, and that’s enough.

“Ehh? An Alpha who plays mommy to take care of the house? What kind of Alpha is that? My mother says that Alphas are better in the adult job world!”

Who cares? His mama is happy with her life. And that’s enough.

“Right?! Maybe Geto-kun’s mama is defectiv—“

“Shut up!” A blinding fistful of sand, a tackle and two bodies crashing into the dusty sand box as punches fly and tears drop.

“You can’t say that about my mama!”

Geto Suguru who hates others because they just don’t think like he does. They don’t get things the way he does, don’t see things the way he can.

There shouldn’t be a world for those snickering, sneering faces that don’t even deserve to be able to breathe. He knows, learned from such a tender, young age that people are cruel. That you could chase, and chase after their adoration as much as you liked; only to have it crash down within the next moment.

Geto Suguru saw no point in making friends when his parents started packing their bags when the rumours about their violent child started spreading throughout the neighbourhood. Geto Suguru who got in the car and sat so eerily quiet for hours on end.

Geto Suguru who finally started speaking to others again the moment he saw you hiding behind the curtains.

“I wanna listen to what you wanna do. Satoru’s not here so we can play whatever.” Your free hand taps against your still conjoined hands as you shift closer to him.

He describes you as weird, describes you as odd. There was no kid back at his original neighbourhood that would hide from him the moment he laid his ‘gentle’ eyes on them. No kid who would go out of their way to try to be as accommodating as possible whilst being oddly— Awfully silent with pursed lips and an awkward look in their eye.

“…even if you don’t like what I’ll say?” It’s safer to just stick to what he already knows you like. You like Satoru, you like staying at your house, you like your Mama… Don’t dislike him. Don’t hate him.

Your head tilts to the side in confusion. “I like you.” That’s a good response you think, your nose picking up on a change in the air and catching a glimpse of a sheen of wetness in his eyes. “So I’ll definitely like what you wanna say.”

There was no kid out there who was so unabashedly like you. He just can’t help it— Seeing you struggle makes him soft and icky and gooey inside. He thought hanging out with you once would cure that ache to want to talk with you, would rid him of this odd intrigue about you.

But now— All he hopes is that you won’t hate him.

“And what if…” You think his voice is growing smaller and smaller. “You don’t like me anymore because of something I said?”

Hmm…? That’s never happened before though. You think for a little bit as you stare off to the side and let your head loll and rest on his as you feel him shudder.

But you know he’s not recoiling from you. The air feels sour, shaky. It doesn’t feel comforting as usual as you hold his hand tighter and think harder.

“Then I’ll just make friends with you again?” It will be tough on your end, and you’re not sure if he will take you back, but it’s sure worth a shot if it comes to him.

A stifled giggle— And sudden choked laughs.

You think you finally managed to make him smile again.

“Hahah…! What is that even supposed to mean, you dummy? Ahahah!” He’s still holding onto your hand as his head turns away from you, tips of his ears burning red and a quiet sniffle that you almost missed.

“You’re so stupidly kind, (name).”

And you learned that Geto Suguru can be crass, can let loose and say absolutely anything behind that facade of his. That, despite being so soft, can grow so tough and spiky that it was hard to get him to change his mind.

Maybe that’s why your two friends can get along so well.

Because they’re just so alike.

previous masterlist next

#jjk x reader #gojo satoru x reader #gojo x reader #geto suguru x reader #geto x reader #satosugu x reader

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nights-at-crystarium · 2 months

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Fragments - episodes 41-46 author notes

You can find similar breakdown posts on older episodes in my pinned!

Get comfy and reread with me the finale of the Il Mheg arc and the intro of a certain loser.

First off, I wanna emphasize how important this arc’s for Vivi. Had he not liked Il Mheg in general and Feo Ul in particular, the rest of the story would play out very differently, and not in favor of the sundered. His initial positive impression of the First is pretty much the only thing that saves it.

We've reached a high, physically and emotionally. You know what that means, as per the shb rollercoaster rule :>

Pan pride pixie blesses Thancred, ca. 2024, colorized. I accidentally gave them the pan colors but hey it works. ALSO! Stars in his eyes.

Re: distant nightmare, I’ll let you in on a secret, or a third party perspective if you will. Vivi's full of shit, he's too focused on the big picture. He’s narrating this whole story, but his perspective is, well, just that.

Initially this was Vivi's inner monologue, then I thought that I should just let them talk, and it wrote itself.

More under the cut~

Drawing a buncha vivi-lookalikes that act soooooorta but not really like him, just slightly off, was a surprisingly fun exercise.

Luckily for Thancred, though, he sniffs out the pixie magic, and knows better than indulging them.

...Still, what a shitty fucked up day. Sorry, Thancred :’>

This here’s an example of a moment where I’m uncertain if I’m being too subtle and if this flies over some readers’ heads. He refers to Alisaie’s “job” of dragging Vivi back to msq, which she recently started lowkey dreading (episodes 32-33)

...Though she goes back to her “duty” in episode 43.

She's pointedly SILENT throughout the episode, doing her best to hold back.

Thancred's a man who can say no to begging dogs.

Gridania mention! Vivi’s gridanian! He never speaks ill of the elementals, he's wary of them even a world apart.

This pixie's life is something Feo Ul's willing to sacrifice. Episodes 42-43 tell this story in reverse order, yes this’s the pixie that was supposed to agree with Thancred and go with the Scions to the Crystarium.

As to why there’s a dozen of vivis popping up as a backup: they needed just one fake Vivi to go with the Scions, but try organizing the pixies. Their plan’s already failed when this first pixie-Vivi refused to play their part.

“Yeah no, our guy’s special, but not as special as to explode in confetti”

I love his first ingame appearance in that Varis cutscene, this moment has similar energy: barely enters the stage, instantly gets impaled on a long object. This’s not foreshadowing, no, why would you think that-

The “camera” is perfectly still, there’s even some symmetry, demonstrating how calm and prepared Emet is. He didn’t expect much and he’s still disappointed.

This’s a super old comic. I spent the first half of 2022 testing and trying to find a style for Fragments, back then I had no plans, none, zero, absolutely no interest to give Emet a role bigger than a mention. The earliest version of the script had very few Emet scenes, which, looking back on it, was gonna be a disservice to his character. Well, that changed rapidly in late 2023 when I fell for him so hard that I broke my neck, and now I look back on a lot of what I did with Vivi with new eyes. THE EYEROLL. After spending two years developing a guy for a fun wolgraha chemistry (at the same time I was perfectly aware that Exarch and Emet are foils. I made a foil for Exarch, what on earth did I expect-), I’m going through a mindblow after mindblow as I realize HOW GOOD VIVI IS FOR EMET (and vice versa ofc) and how many things they have in common. This wasn’t always the case, Vivi just gradually got more cynical, tired, ✨grey✨ and everything else that makes a guy consider hitting it with The Other Old Man.

They’re off to a great start.

From Emet’s pov, this must really hurt, as in how many other shards of Azem might’ve snarled at him like this. Even though he must be numb to it by now, who says that there isn’t the tiniest flicker of hope when he approaches yet another not-Azem. He may deny and hate and try to snuff out that spark, but the fatal Soulmate Magnet keeps doing its thing.

Parallels to episode 2.

Apparently, Vivi’s first reaction to encountering his to-be-most-prominent boyfriends is to attack them somehow.

This’s really, REALLY dumb of him, and he even comments on it shortly after. But yes, his isekai tale in the First was rather pleasant just until now, and it lulled him into the false sense of security. OF COURSE there are ascians everywhere, not just on the Source. Vivi just forgor.

Emet tests Vivi's reactions to insults/being treated as a lesser, silliness, flirt.

I regret to inform you that both Vivi and Alisaie have been disarmed so easily. The tone quickly shifts, the weapon’s lowered.

Alisaie makes bad puns/jokes in canon, I thought it'd fit if she laughed at that kinda jokes too, and in the least fitting situations, to top it off. Alphinaud’s disappointed, even if he can hardly be called an expert in humor.

“It’s up to you”. Emet stops fooling around, assuming a more serious tone. He may not respect Vivi or his agency here, but he provides him with a choice that's guaranteed to give him some trust points, and uses "we" for an illusion of unity/equality, a not really subtle nudge towards cooperation, it's not me vs you anymore, it's "us".

Whether Vivi picks up on the manipulation or not remains to be seen, but Emet gets his way here.

Forgive me this lil tangent, but I’m so giddy and excited to write Emet. If Exarch’s decently emotionally intelligent but still obtuse at times, Vivi’s a tier or two above him, he’s not a stranger to manipulation, he registers it being used on him, and doesn’t hesitate to use it too when it suits his fancy. He's quite good at people-ing. Emet, though, Emet’s THE emotional intelligence personified. He’s had literal thousands of years to practice, he leaves everyone else in the dust in this regard. It’s daunting but so exciting to write him, I hope to do him justice.

Let’s just talk.

𝓛𝓮𝓽’𝓼 𝓳𝓾𝓼𝓽 𝓽𝓪𝓵𝓴.

Mark this moment, remember this line for meme value. If these last words aren't famous yet, they WILL become that when we see what they talk their way into <w<

Yes I'm going all in on tragic irony of Emet's situation.

Accidental Emet rp, with the hunching over and all. Or maybe Vivi already unwittingly mirrors him. Or maybe he always did- *kicked and dumped in the trash bin*

Man. I'm guilty of enjoying drawing Vivi in genuine distress. He’s so fun when he’s agitated.

Hidden Angst Time! It's all hehe haha until you realize that this might be a product of the hectic wol lifestyle forcing him to speedrun his emotions like this. Either speedrun, or be left with no opportunity to process them at all.

Also, the sandwiches! The framing’s deliberate, they’re on the foreground all the time, and Vivi only notices them in the very last panel.

I! Love! This! Face!!!!!! A rare neutral, relaxed, thoughtful face, he isn't performing for anyone here.

Nevermind Ardbert getting brutally ignored here x’D

The fact that a guy that Vivi had briefly considered as partner material shut himself away in the Crystal Tower for what could be the rest of his life has stuck with Vivi for good. Or should I say for bad. He might not necessarily care about ARRRaha, still it upsets him that he kissed someone who practically killed himself some days later.

I recently talked a lil more about the Bitchless Liar. This’s how Vivi remembers him forever, take it or leave it. But hey, this cool Exarch guy has big balls probably <- in-universe hc \o/

This episode taught me to draw BREAD.

Even though Exarch’s been nothing but sweet so far, one thing’s to acknowledge a fact with your brain, another thing’s to wrestle with your trauma and paranoia that have all rights to exist and fester. Ever since HW Vivi doesn’t accept food and drinks from anyone except the few trusted sources. This isn’t really covered in this episode, but hopefully hinted at just enough.

He takes a leap of faith. Or maybe he’s simply sick and tired of living Like This. Maybe sandwiches kill him, and he doesn’t really mind. And, when they don’t, he goes through a visible shift in attitude towards Exarch, as we’re able to see in the following episodes.

This’s all I’ve got for now, thanks for reading till the end~

#ffxiv #aaaaaa too many characters to tag #i'll just tag the two that matter #vivien rell #emet-selch #emet selch #ffxiv: fragments #fragment ii: new world old friend #fragments talk

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silly-comics · 3 months

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Not to rush or sound like I'm rushing you

But I have a few questions about the blurry photos comic

-when do you think the next pages will be posted?

-how much (if you do have any) have you got done of the next pages are done?

This next one has nothing to do with a ship I like I just generally wanna know if your comfortable telling

-do you have any cannon ships in the comic that might show up later and if so what are they?

And agian I do not want this to seem like I'm not trying to seem like I'm rushing you I just generally love the comic and I have all these questions to ask-

And also

-if you don't ship any ships in general would you explain why you don't? (Just a question sorry if it's annoying)

For your first questions, your Ask actually motivated to get some sketches for the first two pages today. I’ve been super busy and haven’t been able to draw or anything, but these questions made me want to :).

So I guess this ties into your next question, I have gotten very rough sketches for the next two pages.

My sketches are always super messy as well as my handwriting, sorry lol (I have to try so hard on making my writing legible on the final products 😭). I have no idea when I will finish them, but it’s something!

Next question, I’m still not sure if I will include ships but it will definitely be implied. I really like ships like Killer X Cross, Horror X Dust, so that will probably come up soon.

The way I want them to be portrayed in this comic is to have it be like an unacknowledged relationship that’s more based on necessity or desperation/loneliness? In another story it’d be nice for it to eventually turn into healthy relationships but we all know they wouldn’t be 💀.

That being said, ships aren’t really gonna be the main focus of the story, at least for the next chapter.

That’s all I got! Also, please don’t be sorry for asking questions I love answering them and it makes me happy!!! Seriously, I won’t get mad for Asks unless they’re just weird. Even then I won’t be upset just confused lol

#undertale #art #comic #digital art #sans #azresponses #killersans #killer sans #killer #blurry photos

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kaleen-art · 2 months

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Lupin Movie Marathon Analysis #2

The Castle of Cagliostro

I wanna start with my personal history with this movie. A former friend of mine had introduced me to Lupin III around early 2022, and ended up convincing me to watch the first 2 episodes of Part 2. I enjoyed them, but they made no real impressions on me.

Then, he recommended this movie, “The Castle of Cagliostro”. He told me the film was on Netflix, so I made myself a quick breakfast, sat down, and put on the movie. What I saw that day made such a huge impact on me, that I’ve been stuck in Lupin III hell for the past 2 years now.

This essay has taken a long time to write. It’s been really hard for me to accurately summarize my scattered thoughts on this movie, because not only is it genius, but I have such an emotional attachment to it that I wanted to do it as much justice as possible. So join me, as I dive into The Castle of Cagliostro, why it’s great, and why I love it so much.

The Castle of Cagliostro is the quintessential Lupin movie. While the previous film, The Mystery of Mamo is fantastic in its own right, Cagliostro has had the most influence on Lupin, and arguably anime as a whole. But in order to talk about Cagliostro, we have to talk about its director. Hayao Miyazaki. THE anime director. Famed for his works at Studio Ghibli, this is his theatrical debut as a director. However, his first rodeo as a director was actually the first Lupin TV series, which I find necessary to mention when discussing why Cagliostro is such a good Lupin film.

Lupin III Part 1 had a rocky start being directed by Masaaki Ohsumi, who would later go on to direct the fifth Lupin TV Special, Voyage to Danger, a special I hold in high regard. His work on the first Lupin series, however, is subpar. While he is a talented director, his emphasis on the darker aspects of Lupin without the charm that makes the series so endearing to fans leaves me wanting more. Despite already having planned more episodes of Part 1 (leading to an unusual production process), Ohsumi was fired for refusing to tone down the unappealing mature content of the TV series. That’s when A-Productions, the dream team of Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata (of Studio Ghibli fame himself) came into play.

The A-Productions era of Lupin III Part 1, which encompasses episodes 7-8, 10-11, and 13-23 is fantastic and perhaps my favorite interpretation of the Lupin cast. They’re all fun, lovable, and charming with just the right amount of silliness, and from the character writing to the action, this era of Part 1 more than delivers. But this is not a Part 1 essay (despite my prior false promises, sorry), so let me get to the point.

A-Pro, and specifically Miyazaki had the tough task of turning Ohsumi’s Lupin he had already established as a deadly and reckless killer burglar into a charming mischievous thief. And though I have heard some people say the transition between the two was night and day, I rather disagree myself. I think throughout the earlier episodes of Part 1 you can see Lupin’s character slowly morph as A-Pro took more control of the series. The perfect example is Ep. 7, “One Wolf Calls Another”, directed by A-Pro, though originally planned by Ohsumi. This episode was A-Pro’s way of wrapping up the Goemon plot initially presented in the prior episode, “The Coming of Goemon XIII”. In it, we see Lupin slowly but surely warm up to Goemon eventually resulting in the conclusion to the episode, where the two are seen laughing after getting into a comical chase.

So, my point is, throughout Part 1, we as the audience see Lupin transform from the more ruthless Ohsumi-era Lupin to the Lupin we all know and love. But here’s where Cagliostro comes in. Though there was no explicit need for it, Miyazaki wanted to conclude this character arc of Lupin. Using what he had learned during the production of Part 1, Miyazaki wove together a plot with elements of ep. 10, 11, 21, and more, leading us to the 1979 classic, The Castle of Cagliostro.

This is where the essay really starts.

The Castle of Cagliostro subverts your expectations in many ways. Already, we start out with the Green Jacket. Despite the prevailing attitude amongst Lupin directors being Red Jacket, to evoke a more manga-esque feel, Miyazaki deliberately chose the Green Jacket. This will especially become important when talking about Lupin’s characterization in the movie.

The film starts out like a typical Lupin romp, right as Lupin and Jigen complete a typical heist. And up until the car chase, it seems like this is just going to be typical Lupin fare, comparable to that of one of the later Part 1 episodes. That’s until the car chase. The scene starts out pretty abruptly, disturbing the rather peaceful movie up until then. Between Treasure of the Flame (or as it’s usually called, Fire Treasure) and the shot of Jigen changing the tire as Lupin lies in the Fiat, the film has remained pretty calm.

Then, BOOM! The car chase is purposely disruptive, with its bombastic music choice and spectacular animation. It’s tonal whiplash, but in the best way possible.

As the movie continues, we see Lupin’s motivations change as the movie slowly grows farther away from our preconceived notions of what the movie will be. He slowly grows less and less focused on Cagliostro’s counterfeit cash, and more on rescuing Princess Clarisse. Like Mamo, this film is sort of like another character study on Lupin. His partners take a backseat, as in comparison to Mamo, which specifically tested Lupin’s relationships with his comrades, this movie wants to challenge how we perceive Lupin as an individual.

And this is where I get to the meat of this essay. Lupin III. The characterization that either makes or breaks this movie for people. While most people in this fandom do agree that this is an objectively well-made movie, I have heard one too many times the complaint that Lupin’s characterization is not accurate to how he really is, and therefore, it is not a good Lupin III movie. Many find him too kind, not insane enough. But I rather disagree with this. In fact, I think this is a great characterization of him. The problem is that most people don’t view this movie how I believe was meant to be viewed.

Besides the subversion of expectations, Miyazaki specifically picked the Green Jacket not just to evoke feelings of Part 1, but to specifically tie this movie back to it. As I said earlier in the essay, despite it being a byproduct of Part 1’s irregular production, throughout Part 1, we see Lupin embark on a character arc of sorts, becoming more empathetic throughout. Cagliostro is the natural conclusion to this. We can assume Cagliostro takes place at least a good amount of time after Part 1. Part 1 (as confirmed in the show itself) took place when it came out, set in 1971-1972, so in that same vein, I’d place this movie around 1979, almost a decade later.

It’s obvious why Lupin acts more maturely when you view it from this angle, because he’s now in his later years, perhaps even mid-life. He’s simply grown as a person. Miyazaki wasn’t just making another wacky silly Lupin romp, as enjoyable as they can be. He was making a point about the character. And in order to prove that point, he made Clarisse.

Clarisse is an amalgamation of a few side characters from Part 1. Primarily, Lisa (episode 11) and Rie Makita (episode 21). Like Lisa in her respective episode, Clarisse serves as the damsel in distress for Lupin to rescue. But unlike Lisa, who was mostly helpless throughout the episode, Clarisse is able to put up a good fight against the count when it counts, which is comparable to Rie, the so-called “tomboy”. By herself, she’s already a great character. Kind-hearted and strong-willed, she’s just really likable. I have yet to see someone who dislikes Clarisse.

But I think what really makes her such a unique character is her relationship with Lupin. A lot of people (usually unfamiliar with the Lupin character) tend to misread their relationship as a romantic one (and the Streamline dub, I’ll get into that later, does NOT help) but when you take into account Lupin’s supposed age it’s a little gross. But disregarding that, the genuine friendship they develop is adorable and really humanizes Lupin. Once again, this movie serves to show how he’s grown, and Clarisse is the symbol of his growth.

As @lastflunky notes in her analysis of Cagliostro which I really enjoy, Clarisse saves Lupin’s life, and in return, Lupin saves her life. Young Clarisse saves Lupin 10 years prior, and in return, Lupin saves her from the Cagliostro guards pursuing her at the beginning of the film. Then, Clarisse prevents Lupin from being shot by Jodot by guarding him and sacrificing the rings and her freedom. Lupin repays the favors by of course saving her and defeating the Count for good. This not only puts a twist on the whole damsel in distress concept by making Clarisse capable, even in a bad situation, but also just goes to show how much these two genuinely care about each other. It’s beautiful and their relationship is honestly one of the best parts about the movie.

Count Cagliostro is a good villain, in the sense that he's awful. While admittedly not as interesting as Mamo, he's a fierce antagonist and very intimidating, especially to Clarisse. During the scene where he's talking to Clarisse after throwing Lupin in the castle dungeon, the tension is as thick as a knife. He's a well-written villain in that, though you hate him, he keeps you on the edge of your seat. And because of how evil he is, it's even funnier to see Lupin mess around with him. (His death is also incredibly gruesome, but then again, Mamo burnt to death and then got his brain exploded, so what's worse?)

I’m going to discuss the other characters relatively quickly because this movie and therefore my analysis is very Lupin-centered. Jigen follows his Part 1 characterization. He’s cheeky, fun-loving, and always at Lupin’s side. I personally like Jigen when he’s more like this and less like his more cynical Part 2 depiction. Besides that, though he doesn’t have a lot of depth, he serves as a means for Lupin to provide exposition and as Lupin’s partner when needed. And for that, he does a good job. Goemon is much the same way and has incredibly little time in the movie. A lot of people have complained about this and while I do like to see Goemon utilized, personally I’d prefer that they only use him (or any character) for that matter when needed and not just to be there for the sake of being there. Because of that though I don’t have much to say on the subject of him. I like Goemon’s design in this movie though, the skintone is a little darker than how it is in Part 1 which I dig.

Zenigata is GOOD in this movie. Which makes sense if you know anything about Hayao Miyazaki. He’s the perfect mix of serious and silly, as though he is very stern, he also has his comedic moments, such as when he exposes the Cagliostro counterfeit bills to the world, a scene that STILL makes me laugh out loud. His alliance with Lupin makes for a fun dynamic and overall he’s just great. Very rectangular, 10/10.

Fujiko Mine is an odd case in this movie because to a lot of people, she isn’t Fujiko. This movie definitely appeals to a more “All Ages” demographic, which obviously means the more sexy side of Fujiko was toned down. And while another writer may have struggled to make a more typical femme fatale archetype work, because of how good Miyazaki’s Fujiko is (watch Part 1), she’s still just the right amount of petty to make it Fujiko, to me at least. My final note is that her relationship with Lupin is nice. They’re not lovers in the movie (in fact, Fujiko says they were past lovers to Clarisse) but I still find their dynamic fun and cute. Overall, I love Fujiko in this movie. She's great.

This movie has almost the opposite message as Mamo does. While Mamo is about Lupin never changing, this movie is about how Lupin has to change to be the best version of himself. And while I believe the movie isn’t as deep in themes as Mamo is, I still find that a really great message and take on Lupin as a character from Miyazaki. As much as I love insane deranged Mamo Lupin, there’s something to be said about Cagliostro’s sheer earnesty. I love this movie.

Now that I’m done with my plot dissection, it’s time for the part of the analysis where I talk about everything else! The art.

This movie is GORGEOUS. While Mamo uses limited animation to create more interesting angles and shots than this movie, there’s something to be said about the beauty of the smooth animation, detailed character movements, vibrant colors, and beautiful backgrounds. It all comes together to make such a VIVID film. I love it. I love every second of it.

The designs are also great, as they're very Part 1 influenced, and I can't NOT love designs brainstormed by my favorite Lupin artist, Yasuo Ohtsuka.

My favorite scene in the movie, in terms of animation, is definitely the scene where Lupin leaps from the roofs of Cagliostro Castle. I love how it starts, with Lupin fumbling with the string and dropping it. The character animation is so subtle yet so expressive, and when he starts barreling down the roof and makes those grand leaps, in tandem with the music cues… it's awe-inspiring.

As for everything else, the soundtrack is amazing and has the amazing “Treasure of the Flame” as well as my personal favorite Lupin song, Samba Temperado, featuring to this day, my favorite rendition of it. The Japanese voice acting is great too, featuring a standout performance from Yasuo Yamada as he takes a calmer and more mature take on the character that I really enjoy. Sumi Shimamoto’s Clarisse is really cute (and she also voices Nausicaa from Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind which I really like), and Taro Ishida’s Count Cagliostro is very menacing, which fits the character really well. Everyone else provides a great performance as well.

Anyway this is getting long, so dub rapid fire! Streamline dub has pretty good voice acting (Bob Bergen’s Lupin is a personal favorite) but the script is really inaccurate (which isn’t their fault, evidence suggests they received a really awful translation of the JP ver.), and they added a really stupid romance subplot with Lupin and Clarisse. Manga dub is pretty decent, even though I don’t love the VAs as much, and the unnecessary swearing doesn’t really work for this movie. The Family Friendly cut is also pretty okay, but the editing is a little rough.

So, now comes the conclusion. But before I end off this essay, I’d like to say why I personally love Cagliostro so much. Even aside from the actual quality of the film, it just means a lot to me. It was what made me a real Lupin fan, and got me to meet so many wonderful people through this fandom. It’s so accessible, so simple, and yet so rich in depth, that it’s just… the perfect movie.

I had never really considered it until this rewatch, but it was as Lupin and Clarisse looked toward Cagliostro Castle that something clicked in my brain. This is my favorite movie ever made. I’ve heard some people argue this movie is bad or overrated, because it influenced the later Lupin films to be more bland and stale, but personally, I don’t think it’s fair to judge the movie by things completely out of it or its makers’ control. The Castle of Cagliostro is an amazing movie, and it’s a fantastic Lupin III movie.

That’s the end of this essay. My rating? 10/10 movie.

Special thanks to Shmeepy, Curley, Kat, Sapphic, and the others in Caggy for reading this essay as I posted WIPs.

Also thanks to Delaney Jordan and lastflunky for their analyses of Miyazaki's Lupin and Cagliostro respectively, they were big inspirations in writing this essay.

Join Cagliostro Central, my Lupin III server named after this very movie.

Also if you just like seeing stuff from me read my comic, yes I'm a filthy plugger what of it.

Ok bye see you in September for Babylon (hopefully I get it out sooner)

#lupin iii #lupin sansei #lupin the third #lupin the 3rd #the castle of cagliostro #cagliostro #lupin iii the castle of cagliostro #daisuke #daisuke jigen #goemon ishikawa xiii #fujiko mine #inspector zenigata #kal's essays

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kosmicdream · 4 months

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I love manga and comics, but I gotta say. So many of the series i have found most influential to my work either won’t finish, have not finished, or finished in a sort of unsatisfying way. Even if they’re fine, its usually not like.. IT. This is a pretty common experience. I have had a lot more luck watching movies that have endings that felt worth the experience and I’ve started to try to read in hopes to get more exposure to “good endings”.. But i do wish it was more common in my favorite medium to like, have that experience! Even when the endings are pretty good (and there are some, i personally think “paradise kiss” had a great ending that makes me return to the series multiple times over the decades) - I also am like.. I dunno. Its never the highlight of the story, you know. Its not the main reason why you’d read it, is the ending. I would assume most stories across all mediums, the ending isn’t going to be the “best part” anyway. However, after finally finishing watching UTENA earlier this year, I can say that at least for that series (no movie spoilers pls, i still havent seen it ;n;) the ending was in fact, the best part to me and made the entire experience even more memorable and worthwhile to watch. Months later, I’m still kinda amazed that happened! Wish it was not so rare, but also what a treat to get to see something like that felt like what i think an ending to a story should be. Still not a manga/comic ofc, but y’kno. Still good.

Other strong endings for me were: Paradise Kiss (as I said above), There will be blood, Monster, NGE (specifically end of evangelion) … umm! I don’t know.. Is that really it for me? I like the 98’ Trigun end, but i also hated it as a teenager. So its more of a “nostalgic” one to me, same with Princess Mononoke. I’ll include those just for the sake of having more to think of. There’s plenty more i am fine with and enjoy fine enough.. but i guess its a lot harder for me to find ones that last in my head as what i find to be a satisfying & impressive end.. Of course, endings are all based on taste. Maybe i just haven’t seen enough endings. I think this contributes, along with a plethora of other elements, why writing endings are so hard! There’s just a lot you want to say and it is such a long journey to get there anyway. You are filled with doubt with your executions of ideas, or maybe find the ending you thought of less satisfying than you used to think it was. The longer you spend with something, the more you might find issues. Plus, it really is so hard just to get there. You’re usually falling over with exhaustion just to get to the finish line, let alone do the ending of your dreams. I know when i get to the ends of my chapters, i’m usually so desperate just to get there, i end up feeling like they come out poorly vrs my vision for them.

Yes.. i have been thinking about endings a lot. Its just something that’s always on my mind, with NRD nearing its close. It still is going to take time of course, but as I revise the last chapters I’m still like left with a lot of feelings with wondering how it’ll come out, if i can even do it, ect. I know i will, its inevitable. But after that, well, my big struggle with FFAK will continue. I know that NRD has given me more tools to handle a series as long as FFAK, but its still getting older and it can be harder to understand all the things I wanted to say with it, what I still can say with it and what is the most valuable to say with it. I can’t do everything! And i certainly have more ideas for it than I could draw, I’m excited to have the story close too. Before it used to make me too upset to even think it i’d cry.. But now i’m like yeah! I wanna know too. I want to share what I thought of, even if its not what readers might have thought it was going to be like. Honestly, with every choice i make in the story, i always have had at least 1 or 2 other options, and I get attached to the other versions of the story that i dont get to make. They all end up very different ends, but still more or less the same story regardless.

Anyway, just some thoughts on writing and comics today…

#ffak #feast for a king #nasty red dogs #writing thoughts

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mooneln0ne · 6 months

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LUFFY WANTS TO FLY A KITE AU QnA!!! Thank you for supporting my mini comic, as a ty I compiled a bunch of questions below.!

it’s a long one, so beware!

Q (Anonymous): What inspired you to write this comic? Outside the horrors what are you trying to tell?

A: Inspiration would probably be the frequent hallucinations I have and my longing to go back in the fields... I miss my cows 😭 As for the story i’m trying to tell.. It’s a bit hard to explain without spoiling the story….

Q: (@oddity-txt): For your kite au- what do ace and sabo see when they look at luffy?

A: Clearly something that isn't Luffy, but it looks like Luffy

Q: (Anonymous): Since Vivi is introduced would she play a key role or would she appear for like just a few parts, would she have a blog like Sabo?

A: She's important to the story!! She's child of the pastor in this au-- Sabo and Ace used to be Altar servers for his church so they have history of working with her before... As for a blog.. No not really. Though if you look close enough you'll find that you can contact Vivi just before the events of the story to pry information.. But unfortunately whatever happens to her is set in stone •ᴗ• Q: (@washingmachineonfir ): Can you elaborate in religion topic in the city? About the house, why its like this? How many kids disappear?

A: The religion in ASL's neighborhood is simple, you know it already. Now about the house? You don't wanna know. As for the kids... hm.. Depends on how many kids can fill a school bus Q: (@courtroomac3): Hi

A: Get outta here boy Q: White boy Flavor of the month...

A: idk Q: (@humoofsegsual) Is there a possible ending in which everyone dies?

A: nods nods, when that happens everything disappears . Don't forget to say goodbye before it happens!!!! Q: (@plastirk): What kinds of trigger warnings are we gonna see?

A: everything in this list

Q: (Anonymous): Why does Nika go after Ace and Sabo?

A: Because Luffy wants to be with them . But Nika doesn’t want to let go of Luffy.

Q: (Anonymous): Does Nika hate Ace and Sabo?? all their interactions with them are with malice 😭

A: I wouldn’t say malice I suppose… I’d say maybe frustration?

Q: (Anonymous): Where are other characters in this? Like Garp, Dragon, and etc

A: They’re living their normal lives somewhere else!! Koby and Helmeppo are employees at the store Sabo often goes to. Vivi is a librarian, her father is a priest in the town’s church, she met Ace and Sabo a lot because they were altar servers back then! Law is one of the brothers’ neighbors, he frequently leaves though. (Copy pasted from my discord)

Q: (Anonymous): Is it true that one of the brothers might die ☹️

A: . Yes! Im cheering for their downfall! but you guys aren’t 😞

Q: (Anonymous): Are ASL biologically related here?

A: …No

Q: (Anonymous): What does the kite have to do with this au?

A: It’s something Luffy owns!!!! Don’t worry about it too much ;]

Q: (Anonymous): Is there a symbolism with the ghost costume? It makes me wonder what was it for other than to scare A and S

A: It’s by far the biggest hint in the first part 😵‍💫 I wonder if anyone caught it at first

Q: (Anonymous): Are Luffy’s friends going to appear? (Zoro, Nami, Sanji, and Ussop?)

A: mhm! You’ll see one or two of them sooner or later

Q: (Anonymous): What wouldve happened if we chose the other option in the first two parts?

A: The first poll would’ve decided on who runs the ‘blog’ ^w^!!

the one who wasn’t pick was cursed to run a tumblr blog lmao

Last Question:

Q: (Anonymous): Why are Luffy’s friends here if Nika just wanted him?

A: Luffy treasures his friends.!!

Bonus:

Q: (Anonymous): Will Detective Chopper have the same horror elements as the Kite au?

A: Yeah, but I suppose it’s more drama oriented

#luffy wants to go fly a kite #lwtgfk au #qna #moonel.text #long post

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eijirousbestie · 1 year

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Piercings

small headcannon where izuku has his ears pierced

very serious abt cleaning them

pretty boy swag

“Did you clean your piercing yet?”

“Yeah, I got it this morning.”

“Might wanna clean it again.” He doesn’t look from his phone as he rapid fires texts back and forth in the guys’ group chat.

Your head tilts slightly at his tone. It’s not harsh but there’s definitely no room for argument.

“I will, just not right now though.”

“I don’t know. You wouldn’t want it to get infected hun. Piercer said 2-3 times a day yeah?”

“Mhm and I already cleaned it once.”

“M’kay, just make sure you get it again before you fall asleep with it in.”

“What about you?” You cross your arms over your chest loosely.

“What about me?”

“How many times have you cleaned your piercings?”

He looks up from his phone, his eyes so innocently wide it’s almost comical.

Green eyes roll up to the ceiling as he thinks. “Mmh… 3 times I think? Once when I woke up, again after work and I just did it before coming to bed.”

“You’re so cautious it’s cute.”

“Well I have to be. Open wounds are no joke. And keloids are real. Just because there’s no leakage doesn’t mean they’re not there.”

You can’t help but to smile softly as he continues to list off all his knowledge and precautions towards both of your piercings.

“I’ll be sure to consult with you when I pierce my ears myself.”

His head whips to you, eyes even wider than before.

“Please don’t.” His face is set in a neutrally mortified expression, tone even.

“And why not?”

“I mean this in the least offensive way possible but you have no license, no training. What if you hit a nerve? Or a blood vessel? I just think having a professional to do it for you is the best decision safety-wise.”

“I promise I’m not gonna go into cardiac arrest from self-piercing my upper lobes babe.”

“I know you’re gonna go through with it regardless of what I say, but make me a promise? Please?” His body is completely turned to you now, phone abandoned in the sheets of the bed.

“Sure thing.”

“Promise you’ll do proper research. And be as cleanly as possible when you do it. The last thing I want for you is you accidentally injuring yourself.”

You walk over to where he’s sitting on the bed and cup his face in your hands. You scratch lightly at the curls behind his ears, careful to avoid his fresh lobe piercings.

“I promise that I’ll be very very careful and to keep everything properly sanitized. Because I’d hate to disappoint you.” You say, placing a soft peck on the tip of his nose.

“You look really good with these by the way.” You use your pointer finger to trace his earlobe, the small stud shining brightly against the reddened skin. His eyes lock with yours and a small smile graces his lips.

“You think so? It was hard choosing the placement at the shop. I didn’t wanna choose anything too gaudy.”

“Nah they look really good Izuku. Like, really good. They suit your face so well. I’m jealous.” In reality, you couldn’t help staring at him after he got his ears done. It matched up too well with his current look.

His wild afro-esk hair, the thin gold serpentine chain peeking from under his t-shirt and the black Wrangler cargos he sported made your head spin. Not to mention his freckle-kissed skin.

Izuku was already a fairly attractive man, but now? It’s like someone sprinkled diamonds on a bar of gold. The shiny new studs in his ears just made him impossibly more attractive and it was dizzying. Sitting here and staring at him, you wonder why you’d even fought him on cleaning your piercings again in the first place. Should’ve answered ‘yes’ from the get-go.

“Hun?” You’re brought back to reality at the sound of his voice. You take your hands off his face and run a single hand through his hair.

“Yeah?”

“You were staring at me for a bit. Are you okay?”

“Yeah, sorry. It’s hard not to honestly.”

“You’re flattering me.” A lopsided smile finds its home on his lips as he shakes his head.

“I’m so serious. Sometimes I’ll feel the need to just take in your features. It’s insane.” His eyes find yours in a mix of embarrassment and gratitude.

“My fault. Too much?”

“No, no! You’re fine, honest. I’m just not the best at taking compliments still but thank you, really.” The sudden need to reassure him ticks at your brain.

“Izuku, you are an incredibly attractive guy. You’re kind, witty, intelligent, and not to mention fine as hell. You should get used to compliments. You’ve got a lot going for you.”

A slight blush creeps onto his cheeks, tinting the skin under his freckles.

“I don’t think I’d be very successful with anyone else. It just… feels weird taking compliments that aren’t from you.”

This mf-

“And you say you’re not a smooth talker.”

“______, please. I’m already embarrassed.” But it’s too late. You were already coming up with a freestyle in your head.

“Izuku too smoove, hot boy too smoove.” You chant in a sing-song tone, much to the man’s dismay. His face rests in the palm of his hands as you continue your antics.

“______, please.”

“Hot boy too smoove~”

“Oh my god.”

“‘Zuku too smoove.”

“Oh my god.”

“He steal yo bitch too-”

“Please stop spreading these false claims.”

#he’s so fine y’all #Izuku with piercings #my man my man #mha headcanons #mha izuku #izuku midoriya #deku x reader #midoriya x reader #bnha deku #izuku x reader

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cupcakeslushie · 2 years

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@beeisblue Huginn and Muninn try to spoil Three when they can in their own pathetically middle of the road—thanks for trying way. But more often than not, they’re on babysitting duty to make sure Three doesn’t blow up his own lab—which can be pretty dangerous so they’d much rather keep their distance, but they do feel bad about not doing more to help. They’ll make a little appearance along with Shelldon in Donnie’s interlude, which is coming up next, after we conclude Mikey’s rescue arc!

That is definitely not sanctioned, but yes—Draxum is just too exhausted with Three’s antics at this point. The child used to be at least respectful out of fear, but it seems like ever since a few years back when Three hit some kind of mental, pain threshold, Draxum has had a hard time controlling and understanding his thought process.

The boys do change things up by way of casual clothes around the lair, just wearing whatever’s comfortable—pretty close to the show with Mikey and Donnie probably wearing more sweaters and joggers and hoodies than say Leo or Raph. As for missions I might change my mind if I can come up with something else fun for them to wear, but as for now…most of them change pretty quickly to their movie look as soon as they each unlock their ninpo. I’ve put Leo in 2012!Leo’s white vision quest hoodie until his finally moves on to his black and blue ninpo gear just because he’ll struggle with it the most so he’s kind of the only one who takes a while to switch over to his finale look. But I might throw them in something extra if I change my mind!

@artoflittleowlbird Just a little song I made up! 😅 I really struggled with whether I wanted a real song or if I wanted to just make something from scratch. It’ll play a role later on so I hope I didn’t make it too weird sounding! I wanted it to have a non-rhyming feel like it’s something old which Splinter might’ve sung them.

Leo does meet Hueso eventually. He’s super polite when Raph, Mikey, and April first bring him to Run of the Mill, but there’s something so tired in his expression that Hueso can’t put his phalanges on. It makes the man wanna feed him, wrap him in a blanket and plop him on a comfy sofa where he can’t get hurt.

@sskurwysyn I’m sorry I’m so bad at this part. All the names I’m thinking of sound so stupid 🫣 If anyone else has one they’d like to suggest I’m all ears 🤣. And Mikey swapped out his nunchucks once or twice, but would always go back to them as soon as he could. I do like the idea of him wielding a comically huge kanabo like it’s nothing. Little man does not skip arm day.

@little-banjo-frog Leo is a little too high up in the ranking for them to be close friends, but he has gone on missions with her as part of her training. She respects him much like she does Foot Lieutenant and Brute in the show, but once she really meets Raph, Mikey, and April and hears their story and connects the dots of their missing brother being Leo, her conscience takes over and she can’t help but see how screwed up Leo is from what Shredder’s done to him. BUT THAT’S OKAY—cause you can’t get any cooler than being a double agent!! She just needs to find the perfect time to get Leo to meet his brothers, and they can both leave the foot clan behind! Plus once she’d started sneaking out of the compound at night to play vigilante with Raph, she was done for—way too much fun! Good thing she’s so good at being quiet…be a shame if she were followed…..

Aside from accidentally blowing up a Chee-Z ball factory in one of his first times out, Donnie’s gotten away with: taking apart half the tech in the lair and leaving the parts strewn all over for someone to trip on, snapping at his brothers and saying things even he knew at the time he’d regret saying, being an absolute shit to April when he first met her, testing a stimulant on himself and scaring the bejesus out of everyone when he had a tiny case of cardiac arrest…And probably the most glaringly obvious time Splinter was mad at him, but held his tongue—when Donnie needed the wiring in the projector tv and tore the whole thing apart so they were all left without any entertainment for two days while he built them a new one from scratch. Yes, they got something much nicer out of it, but he could’ve at least warned them! Raph thought Splinter’s fur was gonna be dyed perma-red from how much he looked like a tea kettle about to explode.

Raph has to get a handle on Savage Raph pretty soon after Leo and Mikey get taken, just out of necessity, but he doesn’t get rid of the fear of being alone completely. Meeting April helps even more, but once they’re all back together it does become a bigger struggle for him to not panic when they leave his eye-line. It’s not even something that registers as an issue at first cause as long as one of them is with him, he can stay pretty calm, but eventually they do all have to split up for some reason or other, and he goes full Savage Raph for the first time in YEARS. It’s only top-side though, he’s fine being alone in the Hidden City and the sewers. April is always their best bet for calming him down though. They make a joke out of it later like maybe next time she should say something like “Sun’s going down big guy!” But it’s the simple fact that a part of Raph might be scared to lose his brothers again, but April has always been his biggest source of comfort and safety—she’s his big sister.

100% yes April and Raph can totally mind meld 🤣 i love it.

#ask slushie #separated au #rottmnt #rottmnt separated au #sep!au infodump

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save-the-villainous-cat · 1 year

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Cat’s 3K Series

part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5

Part Three

By the end of the week, the hero was an expert in stitching. It was a lot of work.

On the outside, the villain didn’t look that bad but once the hero removed their clothing, the amount of cuts and bruises was scary. Their whole body was full of them and the hero had to use a lot of thread. There were also smaller wounds which the hero covered up with band aids.

Unfortunately, they only had coloured ones with comic animals (their niece had wanted those a while ago) which at first, had made the villain protest again. However, the hero had somehow managed to convince them that the colour of those band aids had absolutely nothing to do with their functionality.

One time, the hero caught them trying to escape again, limping, they’d aimed for the door but the hero had pulled them back, pressing their bodies against each other, hands on the villain’s chest. Handcuffs were useless, the hero had decided. Maybe that was a good excuse but the hero also had seen the marks those handcuffs had left on them.

Slowly, the week passed and slowly, all of the villain’s wounds were stitched and cared for, even those which reopened frequently thanks to their great struggling. The hero placed the last band aid on the villain’s jaw.

“You know,” the hero mumbled. “You’re a fucking pain in my ass.”

The villain’s eyes jumped to the hero’s.

“No dirty joke?” the villain asked.

Yeah, no dirty joke. With the villain around them 24 hours a day, it was more than a little complicated to play a role. Either that and crying themselves to sleep every night or walking around like an exhausted ghost all day. They’d decided on doing the latter.

The agency had urged them to file a report but the hero had called in sick. They knew they couldn’t do this for eternity.

The hero didn’t answer them.

“Your stitches are awful,” the villain said. “They look horrible.”

“You’re mean.” The hero looked at one of the stitches, slightly uneasy now.

“I didn’t ask you to treat my wounds.”

The hero didn’t say anything.

“Still don’t get it why you do all this shit. The agency is bad, I get that. But they’re heroes. Can’t be that bad.”

The hero stared at them, something close to a murder stare.

“You know nothing,” they said. They pushed the flashbacks into the corners of their brain. Deep down so they wouldn’t have to dig them up again. “There are some leftovers in the fridge, take them if you want to.”

The hero stood up and looked down at their shaking fingers. They breathed in, breathed out. But it didn’t go away.

Usually it did but with the agency right behind them, asking for mission reports and more work, psychic evaluations and health check ups and another mission, they couldn’t even fall asleep anymore. Maybe it had been a mistake to bring the villain here. Maybe they were better off alone.

“I don’t wanna eat your trash food.”

“You know what?” The hero turned around with a burning face. “You’re a massive fucking asshole. I saved your life, more than once by now and you do nothing but insult me.”

Anger and exhaustion mixed together, creating a poisonous soup the hero was more than ready to throw in the others face.

“I know my cooking isn’t the fucking best, alright? I know it sucks but I’m trying really hard to keep us both alive.” The hero’s hands formed into fists and they dug their fingernails into the palms of their hands. “Fine. Just leave if you want to. Leave.”

The villain had the audacity to actually look surprised. A little shocked too. What a joke.

“I won’t drag you back into this apartment. Leave. Escape. Whatever. I don’t care. I have better things to do.”

Blinded by overwhelming emotions, they grabbed their suit and walked out of the door. They accepted the mission the agency had given to them on their mobile phone.

Turned out, irrational decisions were the worst. The hero had suspected that with bringing the villain into their home but now, they were certainly sure this was their end.

Apparently their opponent’s evaluation was ridiculously wrong. The information the agency had sent to the hero had described them as “insufficient” and “negligibly violent.” They were anything but.

Within five minutes of the fight, the hero already had a broken rib and a sprained ankle. Ten minutes in and the hero had turned into prey that got hunted. The hero tried desperately to hide, to block where they could but it didn’t get them far. They got hit, could barely escape, got dragged back into the whole mess. Their opponent wasn’t enormous in size but they were quick. Focused. Agile.

The hero wheezed when another strong hit went to their stomach. They felt the crack and the pain, felt how tears formed in their eyes.

They made a noise, a horrible noise and broke down.

“Nothing personal,” their opponent said, voice deep. The hero fought for air but nothing filled up their lungs. Not fair. Not fair.

It wasn’t fucking fair.

Their tears fell to the ground and they gasped for oxygen which eventually found its way into their lungs.

They hadn’t made dinner yet. What if the villain really didn’t like the leftovers? But they’d eaten yesterday…

They squeezed their eyelids together. What were they even thinking about? The villain had probably left the house already, licking their wounds like a hurt dog in their lair.

What a thought. The apartment would be so quiet…

With time, they managed to breathe evenly. But weren’t they tired of fighting? Weren’t they just so, so done with everything?

“Who sent you?” the hero asked.

“I sent myself,” they said. “Wanted to see how strong those little heroes have become. Wanted to experiment a bit with you.”

Experiment.

“Please,” the hero begged.

Their throat went dry. Their breathing changed, breaking, crumbling in their control. They knew they couldn’t afford this right now but god it had never been this bad before. They grasped their suit, gripped the fabric stretching over their chest. It was hot. It was way too hot.

Tears streamed down their face. Experiment.

And then, suddenly, they felt a hand on their shoulder.

“This one is mine.” The hero looked up, finding the villain’s eyes easily. They wanted to cry out of happiness but the building panic attack prohibited it.

The opponent tilted their head, their eyes jumping between the villain and the hero.

“Where have you been?”

“I kidnapped them, they escaped,” the villain lied. Their fingers combed through the hero’s hair and they shushed. “Mistake on my part.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” the opponent asked. Slowly, the hero got a grip on reality. This wasn’t the end. It wasn’t the end, wasn’t the end, wasn’t the end—

“They became attached to me accidentally. I didn’t know if you’d approve,” the villain said. “I wanted them for myself.”

The hero saw the tension in the villain’s jaw, how they swallowed forcefully. They knew each other.

The opponent watched them carefully, suspiciously.

“Fine with me. Make them your puppy.” They looked at the villain intensely. “But don’t forget about my puppy back at home, will you?”

The hero didn’t understand the threat. However, when the villain carried them to the hero’s car, they understood that the villain had come to rescue them.

#Joan going to war is such a mood #some people really make you want to go to war #writing snippet #heroxvillain prompt #heroxvillain snippet #heroes and villains #hero #villain #hero x villain #heroxvillain #request #3K

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draculovemp3 · 8 months

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@revenge-of-the-assbutt @firstaidspray @sachermorte thank u for enabling me NEWAY since I’ve been too dead to do any of my own hobbies here’s some thoughts on House & Co’s physical hobbies/lil crafts & such they do in the comfort of their home<3:

House: canonically does a ton of shit like piano/guitar/cooking/so on but In the spirit of him resisting change (At Times!) I think he’s gotten very good if not makes a fun time out of mending clothes🥺…. Didn’t wanna throw away his favorite shirts so it started w small hems+resizings until he looked up more tips online and get decorative w it. Pretty contrasting colors/patterns now randomly laid on his shirts and pants w only the careful eye(Cuddy+Wilson) to notice. If anyone cares

Wilson: gardening. Well as much one can do within his apartments/pretty nonplant friendly homes. He’s not a super greenthumb expert but it always gives him a lil confidence boost when he’s able to grow out spices and herbs & such to use in his cooking ♥️

Cuddy: she seems like a collage-making kind of girlie💗💗 no specific theme in em or anything but she still holds onto the potential self-aid of making vision boards and it’s relaxing for her to go thru magazines/etc + cut out whatever interests her enough to use. Rachel tries and cutely fails to help 💓💓💓

Chase: ironically enough for the prodigal son lol but . He genuinely seems like someone who enjoys spending time in silence/music doing puzzles w 1000+ pieces & such #DWEEB❤️. House once got him a 5000 piece puzzle of a kangaroo or w/e as a joke and he is Determined to complete it. In due time chase…

Foreman: the thought of Foreman crocheting is so dear to me….. he doesn’t rly tell anyone ab it but there’s a lot of half-finished + worn projects as proof around his home. #angsting it sorry but I think he took it up after his mom started deteriorating bc she crocheted too and it was a fonder reminder + sumn they could do together. One yr he gave the fellow ducklings scarves he made as Xmas gift. Not that he told him he made it tho😅#repressed

Cameron: I think she has a moderately sized zen garden on a table somewhere in her home she takes SERIOUS. Changes the lines/circles in the sand periodically, sees what new arrangement of rocks she can do etc etc. Girl that thing is meant to be relaxing!! also colorcodes/sticker-covers/etc her planner like a CHAMP.

Amber: she has the most well-detailed prettiest most concerning-when-read journal/diary everrrr. Dedicates a specific time in every day to it w specific pens of various colors. Some of the recounting even have lil doodles or if she takes the journal out w her she draws her view wherever she is<3 they’re literal chickenscratch but its still fun and fulfilling. It’s a bibleesque piece to Wilson’s Amber shrine btw

Thirteen: she’s hard to analyze for me soz 13heads I do love her #trust… nonetheless I bet she goes to hella dance classes. Partially for the exercise partially for the fun partially for the need to experience Life partially for the women. Heh. She’s rly into zumba, jazz, contemporary classes to be specific.

Taub: ok ok so remember when he did/bought pottery or w/e to convince his wife he was being faithful. I think he’d do it for real as a joke/alibi then be like wait…. This is kinda fun…? There’s no constraints to what he can make + the sculpting reminds him vaguely of plastic surgery work so he keeps it up.

Kutner: I think he draws + writes his own lil comics/zines 🫶 they’re mostly scifi or superhero and more than a lil inspired by his fave preexisting medias . He likes using the crazy cases he’s experienced w House as story inspo. Also he 4 sure runs dnd campaigns so well and fun. Btw

Masters: she’s a suckerrrr for trivia nights my lil nerd wife<3 but um anyway when she wants to relax she Really doesn’t want sumn that can become info overload so in free time she’ll make friendship bracelets, lil shapes/figures out of string, etc. Will someone please give this woman a full on loom to go cray with!!!!

Park: I can see it so clearly . I can see her lil handpainted warhammer and other tabletop game figures so perfectly in my head. She paints more than she actually plays(but she does !). God save you if you touch or tumble them.

Adams: I kinda DGAF about her sorry women… hmm there’s sumn compelling ab her doing blackout poetry plus occasionally full-on written when the inspo hits! started as a boredom thing in her job in the prison w whatever book she brought in then she kept on doing it w more and more written pieces she comes across.

I put so much time into this. Perhaps too much.😭feel free to gimme y’all’s thoughts on this/ur own ideas :3

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melancholysway · 2 years

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Were you serious about wanting to receive asks for the 2007 movie iteration of the turtles? Because I would die for a caring reader wanting to spoil the boys with a hot, relaxing bath with scented candles and maybe a bit of a massage, they deserve to be pampered!!!

I GOT YOU OMFG I LOVE

IM SPLITTING THIS UP BC I LOVE TMNT 2007 & I WANNA SPACE IT OUT SO PEOPLE CAN SEE A BUNCH OF '07 CONTENT ON THEIR FEED

i also had this done and rly rly wanted to get this out

also i love '07 raph and leo (i know i just said I hated him in a previous post but idc rn i love him)

TMNT 2007! Imagines: Caring S/O [Leo/Raph]

looking for Donnie and Mikey's? Click here !

Leonardo

Imagine surprising Leo with a relaxing bath.

It’s the first time since Leo’s return that you’ve all gone to Casey’s grandma’s farmhouse. Now, the good thing about it is that it’s always available for your use!

So as you all pile up in the shell-raiser while Raph drives his bike with Casey, you’re all ready for a nice relaxing, well-needed vacation

Especially Leonardo.

It’s been hard on him after Winter’s. Sure, he’s rebuilt his relationship with Raph, and they’re cool now- everything was. But…

Something’s been weighing on his mind.

Was he really stronger? He didn’t even see the dart hit him, he was so caught up that he forgot about his own safety, and almost got sacrificed by some 3000-year-old stone guys because of it.

Not only this but, was your relationship still the same with him?

He beats himself over not sending you letters anymore during his training. He knows (thanks to a slightly irritated Donnie,) that you thought he wanted nothing to do with you while on his training; with no distractions. Or worse, that he was dead.

“You should talk to Y/n, your absence has also been hard for them, much like Raphael.” He remembers what his father said when he came back. It rings through his head all the time because he didn’t mean to leave you hanging like that.

You work on rebuilding your relationship after the whole Winters thing because Leo comes home at the perfect time when everything was chaotic.

He starts by apologizing. He should’ve at least told you the reason why he was going to stop, but, he doesn’t remember exactly why.

“I was caught up in my own world, and all of a sudden, I just stopped. I stopped writing.”

This was a double entendre, writing to his brothers, yes, but writing in general for Leo was one of his strong suits. He loved to write. He was great at poetry and had a thing for short narratives.

He has a dream that he can be an author- that’s what he would love to do.

When you forgive him and take him back with open arms, he’s so happy he could scream.

Because he fucked up. He’s lucky that you loved him as much as you did.

As he sits next to you and watches the farmhouse come closer into view, he’s excited. This trip meant that he could spend some overdue quality time with you.

“Please, I’m beggin’ ya, there are kids here. And by kids I mean Mikey,” Raphael says to Leo before retreating to his room with Mikey already whipping out his comic collection for him and his older brother to browse. This innuendo makes Leo blush, but it’s not something on his mind as a priority. Yes, he’s missed you, and yes, he’s missed loving on you, but right now, he wanted to ease back into things.

If it happens, it happens. He was content with anything.

He’s excited, especially when he comes into your shared guest room and it’s dimly lit. Sharing a bed and room with you was something he had been looking forward to. It meant quality time.

Alone time, a romantic time. Something that had been lacking for the year and change of his training.

As you both got the room with a bathroom inside, he sees the candlelight become more prominent under the bathroom door, almost glowing in an enticing manner.

It’s left open a crack, but he doesn’t know where you’re at. It can’t be you in there, so he opens the door slowly, wondering what could be on the other end.

He’s shocked when he sees it. He sees the tub filled with bubbles, as the humidity from the hot water clings to his skin. The smooth music from his favorite indie group playing on the speaker- your speaker. The eucalyptus leaves hang from the showerhead, and the scent fills the room.

“Hey.” Your soft voice tickles his ears, and he’s set.

As he turns around to you, he smiles at your form. You stand in the doorway, laughing softly at how happy he seemed as you explain what the hell this all is.

“It’s…for you. You deserve a night off just relaxing. Some Leo time, if you will.”

He accepts your offer as he could almost cry at how nicely you put this all together, that you thought about him this whole time.

“Join me?” Leo couldn’t help but ask.

You do. You do in fact join.

And…it’s amazing. Leo unwraps his bandages and unties his mask, getting inside and immediately feeling relaxed as soon as the hot water touches his body. Leo’s favorite thing had to be baths, especially when he was younger. He loved to just sit inside and let time pass until the water became cold.

You take off your clothes, walking over to the tub as you sit in front of Leo, his hands immediately wrapping around you.

He feels like home to you, as you do to him.

“I’m sorry.”

He apologizes. Once you both get comfortable and sit in stillness, enjoying each other’s presence, he just says it. He’s apologized for being absent and the letters stopping before, but he can’t help but continue to feel guilty for it.

Your fingers draw circles in his hands, and you look back at him, kissing him gently on the cheek.

“You’re here now, that’s what I care about.”

That just sends him over. Because you truly forgive him after all that. After all that he’s done- or his lack thereof.

You forgive him.

“How did I get so lucky, seriously.” He mutters just loud enough for you to hear. He could die in this position. He was holding you, while you both shared a rather platonic intimate moment with each other. You chose to mix Epsom salt with the tub water, and Leo’s muscles and joints had never felt so relaxed in a bath before. That was your secret ingredient, just for your boyfriend.

So when you both seemingly cuddle in the tub, Leo, for the first time since being taken and having to battle for the curse of Yaotl, is 100% relaxed and calm.

Because that’s how Leo is. He’s cool, calm, and collected. At least, he tries to be. Most of the time he is, depending on the situation.

But right now, with you, he has nothing but positive thoughts running through his mind.

He thanks you with a kiss on your forehead, followed by a tight squeeze around your waist, he’s missed this.

Being so close to you, so happy, so at home.

He can’t thank you enough.

Raphael

Ah Raph

My favorite turtle out of this whole movie

King behavior king energy and he’s getting the king treatment yall!

Leo’s absence had been hard on him, honestly.

He’s around you more, not that he didn’t already spend his time with you, but he seemed to gravitate toward you at any point. Like he HAD to be around you.

You comfort him a lot of the time. Yes, Leo was your friend; yes, you miss him dearly. But, he should have continued to write to everyone.

Raph comes over all the time because the Lair reminds him too much of the memories of Leo.

He thinks his brother is dead at one point.

It crosses his mind while patrolling as the Nightwatcher, after being a few weeks overdue for a letter from Leo

He comes to your window, broken, with a frail state of mind. Because he really doesn’t want his brothers to see him like this, but he can’t deal with the thought of losing his older brother-his mentor-his right-hand man- alone.

You take him in, of course, and it’s the first time Raph has cried in front of anybody other than his Sensei. You just sit there and hold him for hours, eventually falling asleep with his head on your lap once he calms down.

You hoped Leo was okay, and when months go by, April sees him while on a business trip

“Baby, he’s alive, look-“ you show him the text from April, and he gets the same one just a few moments later from the redhead.

He’s relieved but mad at the same time.

So, he begins to resent his older brother. He had no business putting Raph in that headspace.

So when Leo comes back and everything goes down, he’s so glad he has you. He appreciates you so much.

After the fight with the stone generals, he sleeps the whole day, getting up to shower and see you. Because he wants to tell you how much he appreciates you.

He’s cried in front of you, and that’s the ultimate sign of comfort from Raph. He often keeps more fragile emotions inside him. So for him to break down like that in front of you (and Splinter as well,) is a beautiful realization that he feels safe being vulnerable around you.

He comes up to your window, smiling as he watches you brush your hair, admiring your body and facial features. As he knocks on your window and takes you out of your own little world, you welcome him inside, giving him a slew of kisses on his lips, and ending it with a soft peck on his forehead.

He needed that forehead kiss btw

That’s his weakness. He likes loving kisses like that. Though he may not be vocal about it, you can tell by his face that he enjoys it.

“Hello ta ya too, angel.”

And as you sit together, your hands make their way around Raph’s body. Your hands seem to gravitate toward his shoulders, and before you know it, you’re massaging Raph’s arms and shoulders.

“Wha…what are ya doin?” Not that he’s complaining, but he HAS to ask.

Because it feels good, and you’ve never done it before

“Judging by your soreness and tenseness lately, you could use a calming massage.”

He just looks at you for a moment, before he gives in, with a small smile dancing on his lips as he turns around and lets you go back to what you were doing.

He’s all for touching, and this right here was something he needed.

It’s no surprise that he just relaxes under your touch. As you go to work on his (very sexy) muscles, you can feel just how tense they are. Raphael doesn’t like to stretch after a workout, so it’s really not a shock that his sore muscles are enjoying everything that your hands are doing

He just sits there in front of you while his shell is back to you, and you can’t help but feel his shoulders- his biceps- every muscle this turtle has been working on perfecting.

And he loves it. He loves that you find him and his body attractive because it’s something he resented about himself.

“I love you.”

Now, you’ve said I love you to Raph only a handful of times. It wasn’t something that he or you said too much. You didn’t overuse the word. It held meaning, and it wasn’t something he wanted to just throw around. So when you told each other that you loved each other, it was seriously special.

“And…I’m glad that Leo came back alive. For your sake..”

You say that sincerely, seeing Raphael break down as he did was hard for you. He’s always so strong, that it hurt to see him like that. He truly needed you to comfort him that night, and he’s been so glad that you did.

And as he’s sitting there in front of you, eyes staring off into a dark abyss since they’re closed, he thinks that he fell in love with the right one.

“I love ya too Y/n. Really.”

He makes small grunts when you touch particularly tense areas on him, and even lets a quiet moan out when you successfully got a knot out in his neck. It all felt so good. He could just sit with you doing this for hours; days even.

Because honestly, 2007 Raph just needs someone to appreciate and love him. To be there at the rare times he is weak. That’s just how he is.

SELF PROMO: I have a 2007 Raph x Female Reader posted on literally every fanfic site you can think of except for fanfiction.net LMAO, it’s on here as well just go to my masterlist! [its called serendipity!] enjoy!

Taglist:

@bee-1n-space

Masterlist

#tmnt #teenage mutant ninja turtles #tmnt 2007 #tmnt headcanons #tmnt imagines #raphael #leonardo #tmnt x reader #leo x reader #raph x reader #tmnt fanfiction

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inbarfink · 6 months

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Sometimes when fandom discussions come up about how to make the ending of ‘Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog’ less… y'know, treating Penny as an object that Dr. Horrible is punished by losing and not as an actual person with her own emotional arc, a common solution that comes up is that the story should end with Penny becoming LA’s newest superhero and Dr. Horrible’s new nemesis.

And… I do see the internal logic in this. That sort of ending does retain the tragedy of Billy ‘losing’ Penny (and I do think that DHSAB, unless you wanna change it much much more radically than mostly just making it less shit to Penny, should be a tragedy) but without ‘punishing’ Penny purely as a proxy for punishing Billy. And in a way that gives Penny way more agency, and gives more space to condemn Billy for the way he treated her throughout the narrative.

Plus, both DHSAB itself and other canon material constantly reinforce that Penny is the kindest and most altruistic person in the entire cast. And her hinted backstory of being inspired to do activist work as a way of coping with her parents’ death

calls to mind the backstories of many famous superheroes.

The main narrative of her prequel comic is basically about how hard it is to be altruistic as she is, and how it kinda stops her from having a normal life - including a normal dating life. Both in the ‘oh, I’m just too busy for that kind of stuff’ sense

And in the ‘my sense of duty interferes with my ability to have a Normal DateTM’. Which are also very familiar Superhero Struggles. Only that instead of something like ‘oh no, I accidentally stood up Mary Jane because Dr. Octopus is attacking the city and I must stop him!’, it’s ‘oh no, I’m a buzzkill on dates because I only wanna talk about Big Depressing Social Justice Issues.’

So all of this put together, I can understand why some people see Penny turning into a Superhero by the end of the story to be a logical end of her narrative arc. She’s always been the best and most moral person in the cast, and now she can prove that she’s the real hero!

Except… within the logic of DHSAB, Penny is kinda… too good to be a Superhero. Because superheroes in the Horribleverse are good for fighting superpowered bad guys and upholding the status quo and maybe giving an inspirational speech or too - but they can’t actually solve the big societal problems that Penny is working so hard to change, as she herself directly states.

The whole point of the parallels between Penny’s life and more typical superhero narratives is that Penny is already a ‘real hero’. Penny’s activism is the real kind of heroism, with all the self-sacrifice and dedication and kindness that it requires - and the one that can really save the lives of people, even when they’re not almost stepped on by giant robots. Superheroes can talk big game about justice and goodness, but they’re not really changing the system as it is and if anything they only reinforce it. Villains (or at least well-intentioned villains like Dr. Horrible) can talk big game about changing the world, but at the end of the day, they are still fueled by resentment and self-profit more than anything.

And those are the big flashy guys who capture the public attention for good or for ill, while the people making real positive changes in the world just get overlooked and dismissed and ignored and shoved to the side.

That’s the kind of superhero world DHSAB exists in, and that’s kinda dour and cynical but… I don’t think that’s inherently a bad thing - narratively speaking. And I don’t think that Penny gaining superpowers and dedicating her life to punching Dr. Horrible in the face is really a culmination of her life of activism. If anything, it kinda goes against it? Like, even if you do, like, “oh and also Penny finds a way to do a Superhero and Punch Dr. Horrible in the Face while also being an actual activist who’s doing positive change in the world!”I feel like this still kinda weakens the message about the importance of the kind of boring, unglamorous and very realistic work Penny was doing as a ‘civilian’.

But… I also don’t think that necessarily makes ‘Superhero Penny’ a bad choice for an ending. Because ‘Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog’ is still a Tragedy, after all. I think Penny becoming a Superhero can really work for the ending, if you emphasize the idea that becoming a ‘True Hero’ is as much of a tragedy for Penny as becoming a ‘True Villain’ was a tragedy for Billy.

Like, you know, Billy got to defeat Captain Hammer and he gained the respect he always felt he deserved and money and fame… but he lost the emotional connection he had with Penny, which is the thing that could've actually made him happy. Penny finally gets respect and attention and gets people to actually listen to her… but by giving up on her ordinary activism work - whatever it’s because of societal pressures to do Superhero Stuff now that she has superpowers, or because she feels a duty to stop Dr. Horrible specifically, or because she’s just really really pissed at Billy, or because she has lost her faith in the ability of the common man to effect change after the “Everyone’s a Hero” debacle or… any combination of the above - she has actually given up her original strong ideals and the hope of actually doing good in the world.

Maybe for extra symbolism, a fight between Super Penny (Working Title) and Dr. Horrible ends up destroying the Caring Hands shelter Regular Penny worked so hard to secure - just to really drive the point home.

Super Penny (Working Title) can absolutely work as an alternative DHSAB Ending that gives her more agency and more consideration for her character, but… as part of this consideration for Penny’s character, you need to also understand that Penny becoming a superhero is her getting Everything She Ever…

#dr. horrible's sing along blog #dr. horrible #doctor horrible #penny #musical #musicals #musical theatre #musical theater #dr horrible #dr horrible's sing along blog

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