#but also because i had to give the students surnames

[martilyongabo]

EO3 (partial) lineup - November-December 2022

Peak MAbo is collaborating with your best friend for a(n admittedly unfair) final project (for web development!!!! an elective!!!), saying you would post it, forgetting about it for a year, posting it on Artstation and forgetting about it again.

As always, AC drew the lineart, and I colored. Designs were more of a collaborative effort between the two of us!

Probably should have shared this when the HD collection came out... anyway it's here now!

Some design ramblings under the cut :0! There's a lot i wanna share especially given that we recently did a soft rewrite that departed from the guild system entirely ^^" and EO3's cast was actually one of the first that we had, surprisingly!

Micah is quite clearly alt gladiator 3, but in an entirely different profession. instead of going into the labyrinth, he works in what i imagine would be an analogue to the forge in Tharsis (aka helping people make things busted af). It probably works best for his character, since he was always a gizmo freak even in his first iteration! geomagnetic (or submagnetic, ugh) gizmo is AC's idea!

Micah's brother, Eva, is a very loose spin on zodiac 3, but with a wayyyy lighter colour palette. Admittedly, i did steal a little bit of the spiritmaster's coat from bravely default, but AC managed to spin it back to resembling the original coat that the class had. Eva works as an astronomer, hence the little telescope he always has on him.

Next up we have Eva's protégé, Miri (who was imported from AC's stories)! Theoretically, Miri would be a second zodiac, and, after watching some EO3 speedruns, would probably be really strong in the earlygame when working with Eva in an actual playthrough. AC's design heavily borrows from Patho II's Grace, hence the coat + dress combo.

Following Miri in this lineup would be Noa, her admittedly very lazy but clingy sibling. I think it's apparently here that we didn't have much time to filter what a believable design would be in an EO setting, given that Noa's clothes were translated directly from our designs of them in school attire. It's actually funny how for we diverged from their original portrait (buccaneer 3) to the point that she is literally unrecognizable. Truly a pipeline from good sea boy to j-horror twist character.

Last in the OC section would be Masaru, who recently found work for the Senatus. Admittedly he does have another example of "incongruent time period" clothing (the jacket), though it's a lot more reworkable than Noa. We also made his design a lot less poofy and rugged compared to the original, and I mixed the base and alt color palettes as well to make him less, well, glaringly red. Probably one of the funnier things is that his clothing palette made him blend in more with the likes of Kujura, but given that they work for the same place, it'll probably work out fine.

Now we go onto NPCs, and who better to start than with Flowdia! Admittedly, her art was one of the last ones that we did, hence why her design looks relatively plain (sorry lola). Probably one of the things I would like to add would be more ornate patterns, perhaps of butterflies to tie her closer to Gutrune!

Before we get to the Princess, we gotta get through her bodyguard first! >:0 I honestly don't like Kujura because I answered honestly in his first question, and he said that I was prideful, but AC likes him so he looks really good here. He isn't as rendered here as he is in his portrait, since he was also one of the last characters we made, and I didn't really get to notice that he doesn't have as much value contrast in his clothing as Masaru does. Probably something to think about next time I color him >:0

Next up we have Gutrune!! We decided to make her look more jellyfish-like, while still keeping it a bit uncanny and unsettling. We tried to give her a more traditionally Filipiniana look (mostly on the Maria Clara gown), but we haven't yet made a poncho design that mixes well with butterfly sleeves without looking cluttered. As such, she has a more nightdress-y look here. AC drew in a few tentacles, and I couldn't help but make them look squishy.

Last but not least is Olympia! We wanted to align her appearance more with her background, hence her altered design :0 Having rips of the artbook easily accesible online also helped us flesh out her hair in particular, since we didn't want to just transplant Gutrune's hairstyle onto her.

And that's all of them!!! I'm honestly hoping to draw more EO characters, though Seyfried's design scares me (honestly the reason why I couldn't make a Reversed Emperor comic).

Currently, I've made a lot of progress on the EO4 game, and I'm excited to draw up the three N-turned-PCs + Xiuan >:'0!!! I don't think I can ever get as cool as Morika tho. If you've come this far and aren't into EO, please check out their blog!! Their art is stunning and has come a really long way :")

[lovettesgem]

miles e1610! hcs bc y not

I feel like miles is the “love at first sight” kind of person but subconsciously?, and only realizes it / accepts it consciously the more time he spends around the person he fell for. 

that being said, i feel like when yall first met and were starting to get to know each other, he was pretty awkward and nervous, and you noticing it makes him think that he’s blowing his chance to get closer to you bUT it actually makes him so much cuter and charming 

would 100% try the shoulder thing w you at some point in the beginning bUT !! IT’S SO MUCH BETTER THIS TIME BC HE ACTUALLY HAS SOME RIZZ AND HE MAYBE MANAGES TO MAKE YOU FEEL SOMETHING DESPITE BEING A PUDDLE OF AWKWARDNESS (his uncle would be so proud omg) 

I feel like he likes being friends with the person he’s into before he jumps into dating them, regardless of whether he knows you reciprocate his feelings or not. He likes the idea of 1) getting to know you gradually and having a solid foundation for a relationship if you two do decide to date later on, and 2) if you don’t like him back or if things don’t work out, he can still be friends with you and have fun with you if you’re okay with it. 

He’s very giving. He doesn’t need to spend a lot of money to spoil you or make you feel special. He always gives you little gifts like cute doodles of the things you like, going out to eat at that place you mentioned you wanted to try out, setting you as his wallpaper, making you playlists for every possible scenario and mood, etc. these things seem so simple, but it’s his way of showing you that you mean the world to him and he’s thinking about you every second of every day. 

I feel like he’s a more simple person. The things that give him butterflies are the things that seem so small to you. He’s a sucker for sharing earphones and listening to a shared playlist you both created, holding hands while strolling down the street, having matching denim patches or enamel pins, etc. 

He wants to get into whatever you’re into. Even if he was completely uninterested prior to meeting (and later dating) you, the fact that it’s YOU who likes it makes it worthy of a (borderline) hyperfixation. He tries to learn everything he can about the things you like, because every time he starts a conversation about it with you, the way your eyes light up is so precious that he can’t help but get addicted to doing it. 

Being spiderman and a full-time student at a boarding school makes it fairly difficult to carve out a chunk of time to spend with you. So, he proposed that you guys could just study together, finish some assignments for your classes, and then help each other with the subjects the other person struggles with. Most of your study sessions just result in you two talking about random things and being less productive than you usually would individually, but yall have such a good time together and your grades stay high so if it ain’t broken don’t fix it ig. 

ALSO !! you’re canonically good at spanish, you have to be for his sake. Though, he tutors you with physics so it’s a win-win situation. 

trust me though, Rio’s thrilled that you brought his spanish grade up, you speak a decent amount of spanish yourself, and refer to her by her surname and not her first name. In some ways, it really does look like she’s a bigger fan of you than her son 💀

since miles’ is spiderman in earth 1610, he spends half his time doing night patrol and ensuring that the city is safe. I feel like he’s fairly trusting of his partner? even though he was absolutely petrified of revealing himself, he sat you down on a friday night and told you he was spiderman. you were shocked at first but thinking back to all the times he came in through the window into his dorm room, the barely comprehensible texts, and the number of times he was late to class because he was either tired or had some shady excuse – you were surprised you didn’t piece it together sooner. 

you assured him that you still love him regardless and you’ll try to be more understanding from that point forward, so all in all it went great 

[tfyoulookingatgiuxs]

Hello! I’ve read a bit of your stuff and really like it. Could you do a cute secret relationship story with Billy Hargrove x fem reader pls.

Thank you!

• Hmm...why not? It would be interesting. Worth a try! (I'm not a big fan of Billy but I'm happy to be able to satisfy your requests).

Together Forever

Billy Hargrove x Reader

𝐒𝐔𝐌𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐘: You and Billy have been engaged for more than two years in secret, without the knowledge of the citizens of Hawkins but also without the knowledge of the boy's father. You both want only one thing, to live together. And staying in Hawkins is not part of your plans.

𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐒: Fluff, fem!reader, bad language, use of Y/N, you're surname is Williams, daddy issues, abuse, sigarettes, secret relationship.

𝐀/𝐍: Here it is! This is the first request, I really hope I exceeded @unamused-boss expectations Sorry for my English, this is not my native language. Please support new writers and reblog. Hope you enjoy! (DIVIDER NOT MINE)

In Hawkins the air was cold and this week the forecast said it would bring down the flood. You savored the air which made you smile. You never hated rain or gloomy weather, in fact you found them relaxing and perfect for drinking a nice cup of milk or hot chocolate, as if you were back in winter close to the Christmas period.

You moved some leaves as you crept further towards the house, a classic house and welcoming and tidy on the outside. You were in the garden, but hey, let's calm down, you're not going to rob! But you are looking for the window to the room of Billy Hargrove, your boyfriend. Yes exactly. You Y/N Williams, an ordinary student at Hawkins High, engaged to the big and strong Billy Hargrove! You didn't believe it either, to tell the truth. You were not popular, much less well-regarded by most of your classmates, you were silent and perhaps even mysterious, you were good at school, sure, but you had a temper that perhaps half the students at school envied, and that is precisely what triggered a connection in you and Billy the day you met.

In his eyes you were normal, nothing that Billy cared about, you were just like all the other girls, but he changed his mind as soon as you won a verbal battle with him, leaving him breathless. No one dared to challenge him and especially with such confidence, but you, you were the first girl to do so, and it left the students shocked for at least two weeks. You seemed like sworn enemies, after that spat neither of you tried to annoy the other so as not to start a war, but in reality you realized that in the end you weren't that far apart, in fact you could even say they were quite similar.

You remembered when you and Billy attended Mrs. Davis's classes, which were really boring. The boy wouldn't stop giving you glances and giggling every now and then, only to both get scolded and sent to the principal. The students were tired of this, you were seriously cat and dog! Unbearable! But what people didn't know was that both of you weren't teasing each other to cause anger or annoyance to the other, but it was totally the opposite, they were pure and true digs. At first you didn't notice, you thought it was normal, something for friends. But apparently this was not the case. From secret friends you have become secret lovers.

Wow...

You seriously didn't expect this...you had to be honest about this. After you both got together you saw a side of Billy you never thought you'd seen. From the obnoxious, arrogant, vulgar and popular boy he was, he had finally revealed himself: kind, loving, difficult and sweet.

In short, never judge a book by its cover, right? The same thing apparently goes for people.

But now you're wondering... why in secret? Why were you two secret friends and now secretly engaged?

This was because Billy had a great reputation at school and was afraid of being criticized by others. You felt very sorry for him and you understood it. In Hawkins High, gossip is the fruit of its existence and if there wasn't anyone to criticize or make fun of, what would the students of this fucking school do? Exact. Just nothing. This is why you understood that your school was perhaps the shittiest of all. They would torment not only Billy but you too. You showed such confidence and superiority towards Billy that day and now you are friends? In short, something that cannot be heard!

You have therefore decided to keep the matter in secret so as to be left alone.

As for the relationship, well, both of you were actually ready to no longer hide and face those dick faces, but you immediately backed out when you found out that Billy's father strictly forbade going out with you and doing anything. something more productive in his life. The boy had never told you about his family until that point and when he told you about his father you were horrified by it. His father was a violent and aggressive man, he hurt him while demanding respect from his son who he threatened or even beat if he disobeyed, a father that no one would like to have...

The night you and Billy got ready to go out on a date, he called you and canceled without telling you why. Then when you met and talked about it you became calm again and consoled him. Billy vented and it hurt, you couldn't know what it meant to live in that hell. For your boyfriend, however, it was fine, especially when he met you, for him you were an angel, one of the most beautiful and sweetest girls he had ever seen, for him, you were a divine salvation from his torment, and if he had to suffer all this to stay with you then he would have tolerated it.

Seriously, this guy turned out to be more amazing than you thought.

For his father you were just an adventure, a simple whore with whom Billy would be satisfied and therefore he ordered him to leave you alone and look for something to earn, since Billy recently left school.

In short...a beautiful but complicated relationship.

You arrived in front of his closed window and as soon as you saw his figure from behind while he was lifting some weights through the glass, you knocked and he turned around. He smiled at you showing his docile face and opened the door for you. Most of the time it was you who barged into his room to visit him, unlike him, other than part-time work, you had nothing to do.

“My bad girl barges into my room again, I should start worrying” He said teasingly as he helped you up. You smiled "Nah, you don't need it, I'm used to it by now" you both gave each other a kiss on the lips as a greeting. That afternoon, all members of Billy's family were out: Max was with his friends, Susan was shopping and his father was at work.

"How are you?" You asked as you eyed his weights. It was now a legitimate question to ask every time you saw him training. An outside observer might think he did it to maintain his beautiful physique, true. But he also does it to let off steam...Billy does nothing but lift weights to vent an enormous anger that he is holding back. He smiled sweetly at you "Good darling, don't worry. Training doesn't hurt me" with this the boy winked at you and moved a lock of hair from his face and then placed his palm on your cheek "And what about you? How is my girl?" He smiled one of his own and you couldn't help but giggle, he loved teasing you with these silly nicknames and you couldn't help but blush and flatter yourself.

"Very good, today I received my pay at work and I got an excellent grade in biology!" You said as you ran a hand down his chest. "But didn't you hate biology?" He said as he invited you to sit on his bed. His room was tidier than you remembered it from two years ago. Billy was messy, and let's say he put his things in plain sight, thank goodness that since he got engaged to you he started hiding inappropriate things to make you feel at ease.

You sat on his bed with your back against the beige wall of his room, he stood next to you.

"Yes, it's true, but I wanted to improve myself, I have to be good in all subjects to improve my future" You said taking his hand "Aren't you tired of all that studying?" Billy said taking a cigarette and placing it between his thin lips "To be honest yes, I really fucking can't stand the thought of opening another literature book or something" You laughed at the idea. Despite being a studious girl, you have never loved studying. So many things, so many poems, so many equations and bullshit like that, in short, enough! Too much! "But, you know, I'm doing it to do better in the future, so I'll have more job opportunities" Billy let out smoke from his mouth and you smelled the smell of tobacco in your nostrils "What would you like to do in the future? In short, it seems that you already know what you want to do with your life, sweet girl" he said looking at a fixed point "Actually, no, I don't know, there are many things and I couldn't decide" He seemed surprised by your answer but then it took him a while to answer you.

"Well there aren't many things you can find here in this shitty town, God, I wish I could get out of here" He finally said almost whispering as more smoke spread into the room. This statement of his made you think...

You never really thought about staying in Hawkins, the city, as welcoming as it was, was also a bad place that you really wanted to escape from, you don't like the people, much less the mayor who runs it. Thinking of wanting to move to have other opportunities and change your life seemed like an impossible dream. You looked at Billy and you looked at him "I share your thoughts, if it were up to me I would leave here too, maybe to New York, or I don't know, to Boston, there are many places outside of here where I would like to spend my life. Instead you Billy, where would you go?" He looked back at his fixed point in front of him. He remained silent for a while and then answered you with a smile "California...I would like to go back there" he said it with a note of sadness and your heart melted. You knew how much he wanted to return to California, after all it was one of the most beautiful places for him, because of his precious memories with his mother.

“Maybe then we would go together…” You said resting your head on his shoulder feeling his sweaty skin “Together?” He seemed paralyzed by your proposal and you nodded “That's impossible darling…” he gave a light chuckle but his tone didn't seem joking, it was as if he wished that proposal had come true. "Why do you think it's impossible?" He shook your hand as he placed his cigarette in the nearby ashtray "Because that's how it is. Look at us, I work as a lifeguard and earn little anyway, you on the other hand are still studying, moreover my father wouldn't allow me to go back to California, he says that he hates it and that neither Max nor I should go back, and also because he wouldn't approve of me going with you" True. He wasn't wrong and this made you stay silent for several minutes thinking about how to find a solution.

You knew it was absurd, in short, Billy was now an adult, if he wanted to leave and move somewhere else it wasn't his father's business, but by now the man seemed to have taken control of his life too and this had taken you by surprise. . The father wanted Billy, like Max, to stay close to them so as not to worry Susan, who unlike the man was worried about the two and certainly knowing that one of the two was too far away worried her, so much so that she asked her husband to order both him and Max to stay in Hawkins in the future. But that didn't mean you would have given up.

"You know, in California there are many chances of finding a job and someone like yours earns well there. Then if I managed to graduate here I could very well walk away with the money I earn from part-time work" He smiled "You planned the your life plan?" You looked at him with a grin "our life plan, you are part of my life, Billy" she immediately smiled so much that he blushed but shook his head "No. With me your future will only be turbulent and then as I said before, it's impossible"

"Nothing is impossible Billy. Together if we want we can do it, obviously if you want to do it" you raised your head and he took a deep breath and kissed you. You laughed in the sweet kiss "Of course I want" You smiled again "Only, my father worries me"

“Don't worry about him, I actually already have an idea for this” you smirked evilly as you stroked his golden locks. Billy looked at you for a while to then understand what was going on in your little head "My smart girl" He said as he approached hungry for another kiss, you laughed "Have I always been or am I wrong?" You both gave each other more kisses.

Exactly two more years passed. It was a rainy night. Midnight. The streets of Hawkins were deserted as the rain got heavier and heavier. A wonderful night, especially for the two of you. You had recently graduated and had saved money, and Billy had done the same thing with the little he earned.

You headed towards the boy's window only to see him land on the ground and take out his bags trying to make as little noise as possible. You on the other hand, had brought yours too and helped Billy by trying not to get him and his bags wet thanks to your umbrella. You gave each other a kiss while the adrenaline was rising. It was the big day and you were as anxious as you were excited. You both headed to the boy's car putting down your bags and stuff and got into the car.

“Are you sure Y/N?” He said holding the steering wheel tightly, you nodded "Yes, remember that together we can do it" you reassured him and he nodded happily. He seemed reborn, new and fresh, a different person. He was about to leave that old life full of suffering to start a new one with the love of his life, you and for you he would also trigger his father's wrath. In the meantime you took a cigarette and started lighting it with the lighter "Ok, together forever, darling" he told you and then put on his sunglasses, you laughed since the sun wasn't out, but he was ready to leave and to adjust to the place “California, we are coming” You said in a confident tone as smoke spread through the car.

[poisonlove]

Miss Ortega | j.o

Part 1 part 2 part 3

Part 4

With boredom, I tapped my fingers on the wooden surface of the teachers' lounge desk. The only sound in the room was the ticking of the wall clock.

I must say, this place wasn't bad.

The walls were white, there was a huge desk with a dozen chairs around it, a cabinet with several lockers labeled with the names of the professors, and in one corner of the room, there stood a lonely coffee machine. I wrinkled my nose in disgust when my eyes caught sight of the color scheme of the curtains, a sad plant as decoration on the shelf near the clock.

Meanwhile, I had retrieved my backpack thanks to Enid, as I had forgotten it in the cafeteria. The blonde had asked me what to do, but I simply took the object from her hands and left, leaving her with a surprised look on her face.

"Here I am, sorry for being late," I lifted my head and looked at Jenna. Professor Ortega looked exhausted, and her breathing was heavy from running to make it on time.

"Don't worry, you're on time," I smiled, and she leaned against the wooden door, catching her breath.

In reality, she was five minutes late, but I wasn't going to make a big deal out of it.

"How was it?" I asked. Jenna sighed, raising her hands to convey the gravity of the situation.

"A disaster. I had to remove at least a couple of students from the class who were flirting with me," she rolled her eyes with irritation, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

"I remember... you didn't have much luck, did you?" I asked rhetorically. Jenna looked at me unfriendlily. I raised my hands in surrender.

"Before we leave... can you do me a favor?" Jenna leaned on the doorframe, looking at me with a clear intention of making me understand that I needed to move.

"Leave?'" I looked at her curiously.

"Never mind. See those lockers? Go to mine and take the stack of papers. They're in a yellow folder," Jenna pointed me in the direction to go, ignoring my question. I walked towards the lockers, reading the surnames before finding "J.Ortega."

"Um... how do I open it?" I looked at the padlock, biting my lip nervously.

"Oh, how silly of me..." she laughed and started rummaging in her backpack. The tip of her tongue was slightly sticking out, as if she was focused on finding something in her bag. She smiled triumphantly when she pulled out a set of keys.

She raised them and proudly showed them to me.

"Here you go." Jenna threw the keyring to me from the other side of the room, and I almost dropped it. I turned my back to Professor Ortega, starting to organize the keys in my hands. There were at least five of them, and one of them was definitely the key to her car.

"The one with the tape," Jenna tiptoed, trying to figure out why it was taking me so long.

I inserted the key with the tape into the lock and smiled when I heard the sound of the locker opening. I opened it and saw a stack of folders. I blinked in surprise and realized that one of these folders seemed to be from our class.

In fact, the yellow folder was our test papers.

I guess she had just put them in her locker because she had them in her backpack a few hours ago. Without thinking too much, I grabbed the stack of papers. I closed the locker and put the keys in my pocket.

I turned around and saw Jenna, who had not only her backpack but also mine on her shoulder.

"Well, now follow me," Jenna gave me a playful smile and took my wrist, dragging me behind her. With flushed cheeks, I tried not to think about the fact that Jenna was holding my hand, focusing instead on not dropping the folder.

We took a few steps before reaching an empty classroom. Sandy, the janitor, looked at us with consternation because he had just finished cleaning. "Don't worry, we won't touch anything," Jenna assured him, giving him a friendly smile.

We entered the room.

Jenna let go of my wrist and sat on the teacher's desk, picking up a forgotten pen between her fingers.

"Can you help me? In the meantime, we can discuss what we're going to do" Jenna reached out her hand, asking me to hand over the yellow folder. A strange sensation buzzed in my veins, excited by the request.

Correcting my classmates' exams? A dream come true.

I nodded several times and sat down next to Jenna, accepting the stack of papers she had given me. Along with them was a pen.

"So... when could you stop by in the afternoon?" Jenna focused her attention on the test in her hands, absentmindedly biting the pen. She raised an eyebrow as she began scribbling some calculations with the red pen.

"On Tuesday?" I looked at the exam in horror. Shaking my head, I started writing the corrections on the side. "And on Friday, I think," I finished the sentence, lifting the corner of my lips sadly.

"I don't have to put the grades, right?" I asked, looking at the paper.

Jenna stopped writing, leaning in my direction to see what I had done. Her hand rested on my knee, putting weight on my leg. She analyzed the test with her gaze and then shook her head. She gave my leg a comforting squeeze before breaking the contact.

My heart raced.

"No, don't worry, I'll take care of the grades" she gave me a shy smile before starting to correct another test.

"Oh my goodness," I exclaimed, placing the test I had taken in my hands on top of the others.

"Her name is Sinclair... the blonde next to you? Your friend?" she asked absentmindedly. Suddenly, I nodded, feeling anxiety grow. She gave me a shy smile.

"For now, it's the only passing grade I've given," she smiled at the great news.

Amidst the chatter and the murmurs of disapproval from some truly unpleasant exams, Jenna and I finished correcting. I looked at the clock and realized that almost an hour had passed.

"Well... that was fun," she exclaimed playfully, rubbing my eyes from tiredness.

"Now I should go, it's getting late," she yawned, and she smiled, nodding timidly.

"Thank you... see you on Friday then? I don't think you need to stop by tomorrow since you're already late today," she stepped down from the desk and took the corrected papers.

I left the keys on the desk.

"Then see you on Friday... no, on Wednesday for the lesson," I smiled, and she winked at me. I picked up my backpack from the floor and started walking towards the school exit.

When I stepped out of the school, I looked up and saw an unfriendly cloud over our city. I started walking since it would be a long walk before I reached home. I tightened the strap of my backpack and sighed from exhaustion.

I wanted to go home and sleep until tomorrow.

A single drop of water fell on the tip of my nose, then another landed on my lips before the rain increased. I didn't even have an umbrella, and the rain was soaking me. I started walking faster, trying to avoid catching a cold from the excessive rain.

A lightning bolt tore through the sky.

I closed my eyes at the loud noise and shivered at the sensation of wet clothes. The sound of a horn made me look towards the street. I squinted my eyes and looked with surprise at the person honking insistently. The passenger window rolled down, and I could see Jenna Ortega sitting on the driver's side.

Professor Ortega, holding the steering wheel with one hand, looked at me with a smile. She leaned over and opened the door.

"How about I give you a ride?" she offered.

I smiled and started seriously considering whether Jenna was an angel.

(...)

The car journey is quite silent.

My eyes were looking out the window, relaxed by the sound of rain falling against the ground. Another shiver ran down my spine from the sensation of wet clothes against my skin. I crossed my arms against my chest, trying to generate as much warmth as possible.

Jenna slows down as she sees the traffic light turn red in the distance.

Occasionally, I could feel her eyes on me, but I was too embarrassed by the situation to think of what to say. I settle back into my seat, tilting my head towards the driver's side.

Did I mention she has a perfect profile? Well... because she has a perfect profile. Her eyes slightly gleamed as she looked at the street, and her lips formed a shy smile. Our gazes met, holding for a couple of seconds.

The traffic light turned green.

"Straight ahead, right?" she asked absentmindedly, shifting gears by moving the lever upward. I mumble in response, tucking a completely wet strand of hair away from my face.

Professor Ortega sighs and leans forward with her free hand to click the radio button, almost as if to break the silent atmosphere. The sweet and melancholic notes of "Golden Hour" resonate in the car.

"I like this song," she admits, turning the knob to increase the volume. I looked at her with an open mouth, surprised that she knows this song.

"Do you know it?" the question sounded more aggressive than I intended, and she glances at me, raising an eyebrow.

"I'm only 23, I'm not that old," she says, with a tone as natural as if it were the least strange thing in the world. I open my eyes, incredulous at her words.

"We're only 5 years apart?!" I exclaim, and Jenna, seeing my reaction, bursts into laughter.

It was the second time I heard her laugh, even if it happened on the same day, but despite that, it seemed like the most beautiful thing in the world. Her eyes narrowed almost as if she were squinting, and the dimples on her face formed perfectly. Her nose twitched slightly, and her head leaned forward almost reflexively, her shoulders vibrating with the deafening and angelic laughter. Jenna looked at me, thoroughly amused.

I almost felt satisfied to be the cause of this harmonious sound.

I clear my throat, looking out the window, embarrassed by the intensity.

"To the left..." I whisper, still in shock. I could see in the distance the row of houses, and among them, mine. A red roof, completely restored. Jenna stops on the side of the street, turning off the car.

I grab the backpack that was resting on my feet, turning towards Jenna.

"Thanks for the ride," I affirm, and she raises her lower lip as a hint of a smile, shaking her head reassuringly.

"Don't worry, it's been a pleasure."

I look at Jenna in confusion as she unfastens her seatbelt. The dark-haired woman turns towards me, leaning slowly towards my body. The beats of my heart increase recklessly, surprised by the sudden gesture. Her brown eyes almost fervently gaze at the lower part of my face, precisely my lips. Our noses brush against each other, and my breath gets stuck in my throat. A mischievous smile spreads across her lips, immediately capturing the attention of my eyes.

Full and perfect lips.

One of her hands moves in my direction, to the side of my head. I close my eyes, relaxing and anticipating the contact between our mouths.

My first kiss.

The click of the door opening behind me makes me open my eyes in confusion.

I open my eyes with a sudden realization.

Jenna returned to her seat, looking at me with confusion. She most likely saw my cheeks completely red.

Oh my god, how could I think she would kiss me? She's my damn calculus teacher!

My lungs suddenly need as much oxygen as possible, and it felt impossible. I felt trapped in this car.

I had to get out of here.

I unbuckled my seatbelt and instinctively leaned forward, thanking Jenna with a kiss on the cheek. The professor opens her eyes in surprise. The contact of my lips on her cheek lasted only a few seconds, so brief that I almost doubted if I had kissed her.

I immediately regret it, seeing her eyes looking at me with a mix of confusion and amusement, her gaze softening. With difficulty, I get out of the car, with the clear intention of leaving before doing something completely stupid.

I reach the door of my house and ring the bell. While I wait for someone to open, Jenna's BMW starts and drives away.

This is bullshit.

***

Before I knew it, Wednesday had already arrived. With my backpack on my back and walking sadly towards school, I listened to "death bed coffee for your head" playing in my headphones.

Let's just say I wasn't very excited about going to school today... because I was going to see Jenna in the last period. I had a clear feeling that I had messed everything up the other day, and I was embarrassed at the thought of crossing her wonderful brown eyes.

Damn it, another compliment.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, clutching my backpack. The production of the song was interrupted when I saw Enid approaching in the distance, full of energy.

"Hey..." I said sadly, taking off my headphones. The blonde looked at me with confusion.

"Is something wrong?" she asked, immediately noticing my mood.

And what if something is wrong? The thing is, in just two damn days, I've developed feelings for my Calculus teacher... I had the illusion that she would kiss me... I kissed her on the cheek, and I was terrified to see her.

Of course, I wasn't going to tell her that.

"Nothing... I haven't slept very well... you know... nightmares," I shrugged indifferently, adjusting my school uniform collar. Not only did I have to wear a stupid, horribly striped black and purple uniform, but I also had an annoying knot that prevented me from breathing.

Damn tie.

It was also about two degrees or so... in other words, freezing cold.

"Did this nightmare have brown eyes and a charming smile?" Enid asked absentmindedly, putting an arm around my shoulders.

I tensed up at her words but tried not to show it. I had forgotten that Enid was very perceptive when it came to reading people. I glanced at her out of the corner of my eye and slowly shook my head.

"No, actually, I lost count of how many eyes the monster had," I said hastily, inventing an unbelievable excuse.

"Sure..." she looked at me with narrowed eyes, pushing a strand of hair away from her face.

"Hey, girls!" someone shouted.

We turned towards the sound of the voice and saw Ajax and Xavier. The guy with the beret approached Enid, putting an arm around her waist. The blonde got distracted and turned towards her boyfriend, their lips meeting in a sweet kiss.

Xavier and I made a disgusted sound.

The misunderstood and artistic guy from Nevermore stood by my side, greeting me with a nod.

I managed to avoid Enid's interrogation.

"Mind if I steal her, T/N?" Ajax asked, smiling at Enid. I pretended to gag when I saw the blonde's eyes shine with love and mischief. I removed Enid's hand from my shoulder, and the oldest of the group took the blonde's free hand, interlacing their fingers, and ran off laughing through the school gardens.

"Well... it's just you and me," Xavier blushed, covering his cheeks with his long hair. I laughed nervously, walking through the gates of Nevermore. I knew Xavier had feelings for me, but I only saw him as a friend... a little brother, and I didn't want to disappoint him.

"Do we have Art now?" I swallowed nervously. Xavier nodded.

I took a few steps, and my eyes widened when I saw Jenna in the distance.

My cheeks turned red, and I stood frozen in place. Jenna Ortega was talking animatedly with her coworker. My heart raced with nervousness and, at the same time, captivated by the sight of her.

Today, Professor Ortega was dressed casually.

She wore a simple oversized pink hoodie, ripped jeans at the knees, and white Air Force sneakers.Her hair was tied up in a messy ponytail.

The absence of heels accentuated her height.

I grabbed Xavier's arm and started walking down the hallway when I saw Jenna turning in our direction. I relaxed, knowing that I had avoided the dark-haired woman, and let out a sigh of relief as I walked towards our class.

(...)

I managed to avoid Jenna in various ways, but I couldn't avoid her in the last class. I sighed and entered the classroom, bowing my head when I saw Jenna sitting in the chair in front of the desk.

I felt extremely guilty when I saw a smile spreading across her lips. Damn, that oversized sweatshirt made her so adorable.

"Hey..." she said, almost nervously.

I remained silent, avoiding her gaze. I focused on looking towards the back of the class, and disappointment washed over me when I saw Enid and Spenser sitting together, occupying my usual spot. The girl still had a red nose as a symbol of her cold, and Enid was enthusiastically talking with her friend.

I felt so betrayed.

Impatiently, I took the only available seat, right in front of the lectern. I placed my backpack on the floor and felt a bit frustrated. Jenna looked at me with a raised eyebrow, seemingly trying to figure out what was going on.

"Are you okay?" she asked, standing up and putting her hands in the pockets of her sweatshirt. I held back a smile as I found her adorable and nodded my head. Jenna made a face of concern when I didn't respond. She looked at me with stern eyes, her jaw clenched, almost annoyed.

If I acted cold, maybe I could avoid talking to Jenna.

"I'm fine," I replied coldly, avoiding eye contact. I grabbed my pencil case and notebook, ready for the lesson.

Jenna huffed and made a strange sound in her throat.

In my peripheral vision, I saw her hand dangerously approaching, and my eyes widened when I saw her target. Jenna's hand grabbed mine and made me stand up from the chair. I tried to remain calm as I followed Jenna walking towards the classroom exit, our hands intertwined. A pleasant sensation fluttered in my stomach, and I ignored the soft touch of her palm against mine.

Before crossing the door, I saw Enid getting up from her seat, looking at me with concern.

"Excuse us," Jenna's request sounded stern as she tried to pass through the students who were rushing to their classes.

I looked at Jenna and unintentionally smiled when I realized she was slightly taller than me.

The Professor Ortega reached a closet and opened the door. She forcefully closed it, seeking privacy, and let go of our intertwined hands, crossing her arms over her chest.

"What's going on?" she looked at me seriously, her jaw clenched.

"Nothing... Can we go back to class? We have a lesson," I glanced distractedly at the door, feeling the need to escape from that cramped space.

"Otherwise, I'm the teacher... so you'll stay here," she stared at me, her irises filled with anger. "Why have you been avoiding me since this morning? And don't say you haven't been, because I know you have been avoiding me." Her gaze softened, her brown eyes shining with sadness.

"I...," I took a deep breath.

If I want to get out of here, I have to tell the truth.

"I don't know... I was afraid I made you feel uncomfortable the other day," I confessed, feeling a weight lifted off my chest.

Jenna relaxed, giving me a shy smile. "You didn't make me feel uncomfortable... if that was the problem... well, you can rest assured," she shrugged, smiling again.

"Okay," I smiled, relieved.

"T/N... Next time, speak instead of running away, okay? After all, I'm your teacher... I can help you with anything," she looked at me with doe eyes, absentmindedly biting her lower lip.

And that was the problem... that you're my teacher... Jenna.

"Now... Shall we go back to class? I think the others must be wondering where we've been," I affirm, swallowing nervously.

Jenna nods timidly, and we leave the closet, walking back to the classroom, this time feeling a weight lifted off our shoulders.

Or maybe not entirely.

(...)

"So... a line integral or path integral is an integral where the function being integrated is evaluated along a path or curve," I repeat, glancing at Jenna across the room.

It had been three weeks since the last turbulent encounter with Professor Ortega in the closet, and since then, we had been maintaining a practically perfect relationship without any misunderstandings. Twice a week, we would meet in the empty classroom, studying advanced mathematics for the upcoming end-of-year exam. It seemed that this competition was going to take place in late March, right on the eve of graduation.

I place the bottom of the pen between my lips, feeling both exhausted and satisfied with my work.

Jenna walks in my direction. Her black boots come into view, and I slowly examine her with my gaze. Today, Jenna is wearing a green-and-white plaid skirt that reaches just above mid-thigh, matching her green polo. I almost feel like crying under her attentive and intimidating gaze.

She playfully taps my cheek, smiling with all 32 teeth.

"You see, after two hours, you finally figured it out," she asks rhetorically, and I look away from her inappropriate comment. I gently remove her hand from my face and stand up from the chair, completely tired.

I glance at the clock and sigh, realizing once again that it's gotten late.

"We should meet somewhere else... I practically live in this school," I mutter to myself, clenching my jaw to hide my displeasure.

"You're right," Jenna comments, and I turn towards her direction. I didn't think she would hear me. Professor Ortega puts the book in her backpack and looks at me with a slight smile on her lips.

"If it's not too... strange," she begins, pausing briefly, almost regretting what she said. "We can meet at my place," she concludes, putting the backpack on her back.

My eyes widen, and my cheeks turn red. A pleasant sensation spreads down my spine at the mere thought of staying at Jenna's house. Professor Ortega shakes her head, somewhat disappointed that I didn't give an immediate response.

"Well... I just... should know the address," I scratch the back of my neck nervously.

Jenna lets out a sigh of relief and smiles. She takes her phone from her bag and walks towards me, looking at her device. "How about I give you my number?" Her fingers tap something on the screen, most likely responding to a message.

"So, I'll send it to you on WhatsApp," she concludes, looking at me through her long lashes.

I nod my head, still speechless.

Jenna hands me her phone, a beautiful iPhone 14. I see that she has already opened the contact. Glancing at Jenna, I enter my number, feeling a bit surprised. I hand the phone back to the brunette, and she puts it in her bag.

"Well... then we'll catch up," she gives me a smile, revealing her dimples. Walking past me and always tilting her head with a smile on her lips, she exits the room.

Jenna... she asked for my number.

(...)

When I left school, I saw Enid leaning against the door of her new car. The blonde waved at me and walked in my direction, wrapping her arms around my neck.

I returned the hug, relaxing under her touch. Enid breaks the hug, jumping with happiness.

"Are you ready?" Enid takes my backpack from my hands, opens the trunk, and carelessly throws it in. She squeals and takes my hand, making me get into the passenger side.

"Ready? Ready for what?" I look at the blonde with confusion and fasten my seatbelt.

"For a party, of course." She inserts the key into the lock and starts the car. I widen my eyes and shake my head.

"At... 8 PM?" I said incredulously.

"No, I want to go home," I admit, and Enid mutters, bored. She shifts gears and drives towards the exit of Nevermore, crossing the iron gates.

"It's Friday... T/N, it's been ages since we went to a party together... lately, you've been studying too much, really too much," she absentmindedly bites her lower lip.

She turns towards me, looking at me with pleading eyes.

"Alright... but we'll stay for a couple of hours, and then we go home... but... WATCH OUT!" I grip the seatbelt tightly when I see Enid running the red light.

Who the hell gave her a license?

"So, party?" she smiled, exhilarated by the victory. "Where are we going?" I catch my breath, relieved that I'm still alive. Enid turns back towards me.

"Look at the road," I add, still scared. Enid grips the steering wheel tightly, showing me her new nail polish combination.

"At Edward's house," she says, shrugging indifferently. Her eyes sparkle with excitement. "Edward?" I ask, sighing in frustration.

"He's an idiot... but he throws good parties," the blonde admits, and I fall silent, not knowing what else to add.

In the distance, we see Edward Smith's huge house, and despite the late hour of the party, people can already be seen entering his house. Extravagant lights invade the neighborhood, and deafening music resonates from meters away.

Enid parks, and we get out of the car, walking towards the entrance of the house. A notification on my phone prompts me to take it out of my pocket, and I furrow my brow when I see that I have received a phone number from an unknown sender.

*Unknown*

"Hi! It's Jenna, well... this is my number."

I smile and save her number, amused that she felt the need to specify whose number it was.

"Hi Jenna, I'm T/N."

A few seconds later, I receive a message from her.

Jenna*: Really? Don't tell me :/

Silly :3

I put my phone back in my pocket and enter the house, ready to let loose but with a smile on my lips.

[just-another-star-47]

Thoughts on the Sallow family:

I hope they aren't too confusing..😅

Through the conversation after the Imperio incident with Sebastian, we learn that he and Anne had to pack things up and leave them behind when they moved to Solomon.

It didn't sound to me like they were moving from one house in Feldcroft to another, so I'm leaning towards them not having lived in Feldcroft (at least for a while).

Also, they probably owned a much larger house that had a basement and enough storage space for things that were unnecessary enough to leave behind. I therefore toy with the idea that they lived in a larger village, where their parents had better access to new books and research materials.

In the conversation, we also learn that Anne gives Sebastian a handmade crest as a good luck charm. It is not clearly stated that it is a family crest, but there definitely seems to be a close connection between the parents and it, as Anne kept it as a keepsake.

However, if it is indeed a family crest, it could indicate social status.

Crests were worn as a sign of belonging to a clan and were later made for individual families, for example to differentiate families with the same surname. They belonged not only to royalty and nobility (which in the wizarding world would probably be the pure-blooded families), but also middle-class families (craftsmen, merchants etc. who were able to accumulate material possessions). As far as I know, peasants (such as farmers etc) did not have crests.

This would also fit with a comment made by a student who suggested that he thought Sebastian came from a more 'upmarket' area than Feldcroft. Personally, I found it interesting, as I had kind of assumed that Sebastian came from a farming family and only rose through the social ranks because of his parents and his desire to learn. But the family crest would suggest that his family had been wealthier than simple peasants for longer.

(But perhaps they had their origins in Feldcroft and then 'worked their way up'?)

In my further confusion of thoughts, I also thought about Anne and Sebastian's parents. Personally, I don't think they taught as professors at Hogwarts, as Ominis statement that they spent every minute in the basement studying sounds more like research than teaching to me.

If they did teach, I can well imagine that Anne and Sebastian were already at Hogwarts as small children because their parents were busy at the castle for several days, for example. I could therefore imagine that they lived directly in the castle with their parents, or in one of the villages nearby (Hogsmeade or Lower Hogsfield).

Either way, I think the family travelled a lot, as Sebastian is incredibly knowledgeable about the whole area. Personally, I can understand these journeys as research trips by the parents, but either way it shows that the family could afford it.

I also found it interesting that Sebastian mentioned that the souvenirs of their parents included photos. Photographs only became more or less suitable for everyday use between 1840 and 1860 and were therefore a relatively new invention, which was also made by Muggles. Apparently, the parents' thirst for knowledge also extended beyond the wizarding world, which to me means that Anne and Sebastian have no (or few) reservations about Muggles, Muggle-born wizards, etc.

There are more thoughts buzzing around in my head, but I think that's enough for now. 😅

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

“Crowley is Malleus’s long lost father” theory is popping off right now in like every twst social media community so I wanted to know what your thoughts on it were?

I briefly discussed this theory in the final paragraph of this post (although it is full of spoilers, so please be cautious of that). To reiterate (and to add more details), the main pieces of evidence that come up when discussing this idea are:

Malleus’s dad is confirmed missing, but we never saw a body or have confirmation of his death so we can’t 100% trust that.

Crowley’s past and motives remain a total mystery. (The crow mask he wears is also highly suspicious; why does he never remove it? Why does it resemble the masks worn by Briar Country soldiers? Because Malleus would recognize his father? Because Lilia might recognize his old friend?)

The name of Malleus’s dad may be romanized as Levan/Revan (we don’t have an official English localization for book 7 yet, so we don’t know for sure how it would be written). The former looks like the word “raven”, just with the vowels swapped around. And you know who else is a black bird?? Diablo, Maleficent’s crow and right-hand man, similar to how Levan/Revan was Mallenoa’s right-hand man. Who else do we know that’s a crow? Crowley.

Levan/Revan is described by Lilia as someone who “always dumped their work onto others/him”, which is something that Crowley also does to his own students.

So I guess the conclusion is that Malleus’s dad went into hiding to protect himself (especially if we assumed that his wife got killed off shortly after his disappearance; his own life may be in danger as well)?

I think the idea is definitely… interesting??? It would also be a big rug pull since players have been joking since day 1 that Crowley gives the vibes of a deadbeat/absentee dad or someone who went off to buy milk and never came back 😂 But in terms of how likely I think it is to become a reality??? I think it’s definitely kind of shaky if we’re going with only what we know right now.

The problem I have with this theory is twofold. Firstly, it’s counting a lot of omission of information as proof rather than details present as proof (which really could be spun any which way you like if you tried hard enough). Secondly, the main thread of logic here is basically the same as “Ace traitor” theory. We’re drawing conclusions from… a name (in Ace’s case, the fact that his surname isn’t “Heart” like the other card soldiers but is “Trappola”), which isn’t a lot of solid evidence in of itself.

I don’t know if I totally buy that Malleus’s dad would go MIA for literally 400ish years either? Like… he was the princess’s confidant, right? So he must have cared for her very much. Why would he up and abandon his wife (rather than coming to her rescue), his friend (Lilia), his country, AND his unborn child who NEEDS his love magic to be hatched? Why wouldn’t he return once the war was over?? Why would he run off to Sage’s Island and become the headmaster there??? If he doesn’t want to be a present father figure, why have a child at all or put himself in a position where he now has to monitor several hundreds of children every year instead of the one child that is actually his? (I know that Lilia started off not wanting kids and then became more open to the idea over time (ie people can change), but I don't think we can conclude the same happened to Crowley given how dismissive he still is in present day and how little we really know about Malleus's dad's true personality.) And surely if Crowley was Malleus’s dad, he’s not so ignorant as to not know Malleus is his son, right…? But then why forget about his existence 90% of the time and forget to invite him when he knows Malleus is on campus and he had not been there for him all his life???? Why actively be such an asshole???

The mask thing on Crowley is suspicious as heck, yes, but I don’t know if Malleus would be able to identify his father on sight since he never saw him or got to know him before hatching. On the flip side, how would Lilia not immediately notice his friend by voice??? Or by the mask if it is, indeed, his friend’s trademark or a custom from Briar Country? Are we arguing “characters made dumb for the sake of plot”? 😭 (Believe it or not, this is actually the most credible piece of evidence to me just because of how often TWST has employed cases of mistaken identity for the sake of convenience; I wouldn’t put it past them.)

Lilia does describe Levan/Revan as someone who dumps work on others, but he says Mallenoa does the same thing. Yet there are other aspects to Mallenoa which we also learn about. Shirking work is not the entire personality of Malleus’s dad and while his overall character may be inclusive of that, there are tons of traits unaccounted for; we barely know the guy. The Crowley = Levan theory feels like taking a conclusion and working backwards/retroactively changing the interpretation of other details to prove the conclusion we began with, instead of taking suspicious details and synthesizing a conclusion from it.

Anyway! You can see that I’m hesitant about this theory. I’d like more concrete details before I get on board with it because there isn't enough to implicate Crowley specifically—but hey, that’s not to say the idea isn’t interesting or funny 🤔 I’d personally love to see Malleus’s reaction to Crowley Darth Vader-ing him, haha 😂

Side note: It’s also sort of funny how people don’t believe Crowley is Malleus’s dad simply because they think Mallenoa is “too good/hot” for a man as bumbling as Crowley www

[killergirlfuria]

So I may or may not be working on a tiny little very self-indulgent crossover thingy. Will this go anywhere past this pic? We'll see.

The gist of this AU; year is 2029. Prototype and AC1-3 took place in 2012, Resident Evil Village in 2015. Alex and Desmond have been together for 17 years. Through legally sound and morally questionable means, Alex and Desmond ended up as legal caregivers of Elijah, Pariah/Michael, and Rosemary Winters.

From left to right; Desmond, Alex, Elijah, Pariah/Michael, Rosemary, Dana.

Stuff about it under the cut.

While they are messing with Abstergo and Brotherhood in Europe, they befriend one Ethan Winters and, after his death, Mia entrusts them with Rose as she can't take care of her in her deteriorating mental state. And, realistically, they're probably best equipped to giving Rose as normal life as someone as her could get. She grows up happy, aware and accepting of her powers. Hard not to, when out of her two dads one is effectively a demigod and the other is eldritch sentient plague. Being a sentient mold isn't so weird in this setting.

Later when raiding Abstergo bases they find Elijah held there. Desmond, now aware that he has a kid obviously refuses to leave him. They kill Juno as a father-son bonding activity, visit Elijah's mother grave. Cry a bit, argue a bit (he is a traumatized tween) but figure it out. It forces Alex and Desmond to slow down a bit; they do want to give their kids a stable childhood, after all. They thought they had more time, since Rose was barely a toddler, but with Elijah on board they reevaluate. Somehow, Alex ends up being his favorite dad. Desmond is only a little jealous, but he gets it. He likes Alex a whole lot, too.

They have a little break, a little wedding, they wrap up the Templar mess as well as they can for the time being. Desmond takes the Mercer surname and so does Elijah, because Bill does not deserve his name to be carried on.

Desmond becomes a Mentor somewhere in the middle. He's determined to drag the Brotherhood back into functionality whether it likes that or not; no more Bill sending people to die for nothing but his ego. Bill doesn't take it well, of course, but who'd care about him at this point? Desmond has three lifetimes worth of Mentor memories and the scariest dog on the block for a husband.

Alex does science, because he likes it. He's the kind of person to find writing dissertations fun. He may become an university professor; college students tend to be the most agreeable and most entertaining breed of a student. He does photography too. It's a memory-making thing.

They tackle Blacklight properly; find Pariah. Pariah, as it turns out, is actually somewhat unstable, hibernating most of the time, and stuck physically and mentally at 8 years old. Alex offers Blacklight to stabilize him; Pariah accepts. Purges his DNA of irregularities, replaces what's missing with Alex' DNA and the Blacklight. It's a little weird, to retroactively make him Alex' child when he was born before Alex, but that's what they're dealing with now. Pariah is still 8 in every way that matters. Greene named him Michael, which he gladly accepts (he never had a name before), and then he's a Mercer too.

It's 2020 by then, so plague jokes abound.

Dana in the meantime does what any girlboss does, gets her journalist career going, writes a book or two. Is instrumental in orchestrating the public downfall of Abstergo and Blackwatch. Adopts two cats. Struggles to find a girlfriend because things are never boring with the Mercers, but their kind of excitement oft comes with threat of bodily harm, cults, and shady corporations being hunted for sport. She's also kinda sorta infected with a dormant strain of Blacklight because it was either that or dying to whatever Greene infected her with.

In 2029 Desmond is 42 years old, Alex is 46, Elijah is 24, Michael/Pariah is 17 (chronologically 60), Rosemary is 15, and Dana is 38.

[coochiequeens]

Men having kids through surrogacy to fulfill selfish wants without thinking of the impact on the kids would be reduced if surrogacy agencies has a screening process

Wife returns from work one day, sees strange woman at home holding infant

Husband hires surrogate to have longed-for child, furious wife threatens divorce

By Alice Yan in Shanghai Published: 9:00am, 29 Mar 2024

A woman in China has told how her husband resorted to secret surrogacy to acquire a baby because the couple’s 29-year-old daughter refused to give him a grandchild.

The 53-year-old woman, surnamed Guo, said when she returned from work one day in September 2022, she saw a strange woman in her home holding an infant, according to Henan Television.

The stranger told Guo the child belonged to her and her husband, and she had been hired as a maid.

A shocked Guo later learned that the baby was born via surrogacy after her husband paid an agency.

The child was carried by a university student, the report said.

Guo and her husband, who live in Yiyang, Hunan province in central China, have one daughter – their only child, who told them she does not want to marry or have children.

“My husband said, ‘Your choice means I will never be a grandfather. What’s the point of raising you? Not having a baby means you are not filial, according to Chinese traditional culture’,” Guo said.

The man, whose age was not included in the report, said because the infant girl was so cute and healthy, he might ask the surrogacy institute for a boy next time.

“I flared up into a fury. I am going to divorce him,” said Guo.

The husband stole his wife’s identity card to apply for the infant’s birth certificate which states that he is her father and Guo is her mother.

“I flared up into a fury. I am going to divorce him,” said Guo.

The husband stole his wife’s identity card to apply for the infant’s birth certificate which states that he is her father and Guo is her mother.

The news report told the story of another man, aged 62, from Henan province in central China who also hired a surrogacy company without telling his family, so he could have a baby boy.

The man’s daughter said her father had wanted a son for a long time.

“After the one-child policy was abandoned, my father asked my mother to have another child for him. But my mother was nearly 50 and she did not want to have another child,” said the daughter.

She said the surrogacy company charged her father 540,000 yuan (US$75,000) and guaranteed the baby would be a boy.

Surrogacy is illegal in China. In 2023, the authorities issued a directive to crack down on the activity.

The story caused a heated discussion on mainland social media.

“I support surrogacy being illegal. Otherwise, women will just be used for their wombs,” one online observer said on Douyin.

“Maybe in the future, dating couples will need to check their DNA to see if they are siblings,” wrote another.

[karisworldofwords]

Because I can't keep quiet anymore, I'm just gonna tell what I have planned.

A domestic AU in which they all work everyday jobs or go to school in Hamburg. The main characters will be Jere, Bojan and Chris - especially Chris though. Some things I got planned already in terms of who works as what:

Chris - He's a music label owner coming from and living in Hamburg who specializes in bands and solo artists in the Rock, Metal and Alternative genre. Chris is very laid back, enjoys having a coffee on his balcony during the weekends whenever the weather is warm and sunny and occasionally writes and produces some songs himself.

Jere - He works as a tattooist and owns his own shop called "Sunrise parlor". The shop's motto is "It's crazy, it's party" which fits well with how Jere lives his life. People normally call him by his Finnish tattoo artist name Käärijä, his trademark is the Rammstein tattoo on the left side of his chest that he likes to show others as much as he can - he's very proud of it.

Bojan - He's a Slovenian barista working in the café Ljubljana. A bright and always smiling guy who's one of the four owners of the café he works in. His work days are usually Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday from 6 AM to 2 PM. Sometimes, he manages the café's bar in the evenings, but that almost only happens on Sundays.

Fatima - A well-known sommelier from Canada who's always on the lookout for the best wine and thus travels around the world a lot. Very fashionable and doesn't allow anyone to tell her what to do. Her commonly used name outside of home is La Zarra.

Marco - He's an Italian voice actor who usually synchronizes children's cartoon characters. Very kind and loving, and cares a lot about his friends and family. He sometimes babysits for a friend whenever he has the time - he doesn't mind doing it either, since he knows he's good with kids, and kids love him simply for existing.

Pavel - A therapist from Moldova who decided to go to Germany to see more of the world - what he also left in Moldova was his birth name Pavel, as he now normally goes by Pasha. He's a bit of a hippie and loves traveling more than anything, preferably to a new place every time he travels. His office hours are 8 AM to 4 PM Monday to Thursday with the exception of Friday, the only day that he works until 1 PM.

Alessandra - She's a college student majoring in music who frequently travels between her campus home and her actual home in Norway. It's easy to excite her and she loves adventures more than anything. Often times, she's seen singing to herself while doing school work.

Luka - An actor from Serbia who does modeling on the side. Because his non-Serbian manager often had trouble pronouncing his surname, Luka quickly adopted the name Luke Black and now goes by this name most of the time. Only his closest friends and family now call him Luka. Due to his perpetual baby face, he still has to give out his ID often enough that it's become almost embarrassing to him, but nobody knows that. He's a little mysterious and very focused on his work but still great at always being there for his loved ones, no matter what.

Remo - Another music major who shares some classes with Alessandra. He loves working with kids and singing to them the most, knowing it makes them smile which always makes him just as happy. Whenever he has a break from school that's long enough, he fetches himself a train ticket from Germany to Switzerland and goes straight back home to his family, staying there for as long as he can every time.

Maria - She's a dance teacher from Portugal who wanted to bring some Iberoromanic passion into "the dreary Hamburg only zombies can half-assedly enjoy", so she mainly focuses on dances such as salsa, tango and sometimes samba, with Alessandra and Remo being two of her students. Her bright attitude and dazzling smile are often times so infective, even the grumpiest grandpas can't help but smile at the sight of her. Her students lovingly call her Miss Mimicat.

Teodora (Teya) and Selina-Maria (Salena) - These two run a podcast together - after having been competitors for a good while - about all kinds of things they usually talk about called "The Teya & Salena Chronicles". They're especially popular in their home country Austria though their popularity amongst especially German and Swiss people has risen drastically as of late. The two love snickering about inside jokes to each other here or there and often crack jokes whenever things are too boring for their liking.

I think twelve characters should be enough for now, lol. I'll post a small teaser soon, if my upcoming finals don't kill me first, that is.

- 🔮

[pcssionfrt]

hi hello! name's juve and it's been idk how long since i've been on tumblr so Pardon Me if i make any mistakes. anyway here's riye, your new student representative for evolution! movement. pls see below the cut for a brief tldr on her among other things! also plsplspls smash that like for plots 🤩 !! my ims no longer work(?) so until tumblr decides to respond to my ticket please add me on disc it's @ obiiive

bounced from home to home since young, stability was not a concept known till the age of 10, where she was adopted (this time, for good), packed up and moved to seoul. suddenly—new kid on the block.

objectively, she should feel glad, should be grateful, blessed to have a home to call her own, allowed to keep her own identity, her surname, her things. subjectively, riye hated the neighborhood. hated her classmates. her teacher. elderly neighbor. nosy woman at the register in the local grocers. just about everybody—give or take two (specifically, her parents). though even that gradually morphed when her anomaly started rearing its head.

the kwons were ordinary. human. religion leaning. simple. dash of impulsiveness that had them adopting a child twenty years into their marriage. did they realize that they were signing on for more than they could handle? no. did they regret it? maybe no. when their adopted daughter showed signs of an anomaly, what else was there to do but to accept her? yeah. live in fear.

fractures begins somewhere in her teens, squeezed in between the conflicts of hormones and a growing body. her parents are different now. riye is different now. but the three live under pretenses all the same. that nothing’s changed, that mom’s hand doesn’t tremble when she braids her hair. it wasn’t as if they weren't nice either—so what is there for her to say? what else was she to do except loathe them and herself and the sanctified marble face of dear lord and father of mankind, i pray you help our daughter every friday evening and sunday morning.

sua was the obvious choice. riye doesn't bat an eye when they pitch it to her. when mom cries, overjoyed at the sight of nullivi. when dad hands her pamphlets to the neighborhood church. when they leave, she crumbles; the feeling in her chest full and hollow at the same time.

CAMPUS LIFE: ????? grossly wip sorry

PERSONALITY

chronic self-hating people pleaser. help me help you help her by not getting Too involved. very prone to switching up on people (i.e. saying yes then gaslighting you for making her say yes). has unaddressed anger issues but also bad abandonment issues, overall her parents raised her to be a sweet christian girl and riye will do everything in her power to emulate it till she implodes or smth. in short: nice but not very sincere.

WANTED

“the friends she shows her parents” — essentially nice looking non-threatening people that she hangs out with, documents in photos and name drops to show her parents. preferably with normie anomalies as to not spook them. riye has nothing against them, but there’s underlying disgust for anything associated to her parents (even if she’s the one putting them in the situation). note: often leaves group hangouts w/o saying bye. walks right by you on campus like she’s never seen you before. doesn’t bother remembering the big things but will remember little things (food preferences, allergies) so you’re ? does she or doesn’t she care /:

“the (ex) boyfriend she shows her parents” — the first and only boy she’s introduced to her parents. idk yall probably broke up a while back because of how much her parents loved you (and she did, also, some kind of l word you) and it gave her the ick. v likely did not tell her parents yall broke up. note: constantly, and i mean constantly, gaslighted you. Did apologize when she realized but yk, damage done is damage done.

overall: friends she actually likes, former friend/exes who thinks she’s fake af, exes/fwbs/the works. i preference deeper connects over shallow surface relationships and i’m down to write anything from dark and saucy to crack!

[stridingseer]

Throwing my brainrot/general notes for the two Krauser fights in the CN dub. It is, some really interesting material to dig into and I can’t stop thinking about it. Everything under the cut

First fight in Chapter 11 (start at 32:07): https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1rx4y1A7rX?p=11 Second fight in Chapter 14 (starts at 38:21): https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1rx4y1A7rX?p=14

FIRST FIGHT (Mines)

- Rookie is not directly brought over as instead Leon is known as a new soldier (xinbing) compared to Marvin's new guy (xinren). Which means it's NOT a double meaning word to drive the knife in further. If anything, calling him a new soldier is more or less just his title and how he's technically below Krauser station wise, completely different energy than 'rookie' which can be read as an insult. - Instead of calling Krauser by Major, Leon uses the much more respectful and admired 'shaoxiao' for rank. It is even more respect than simply calling him Major (his title) and in a way implies that Leon looks UP to Krauser. Gets compounded by the fact that Krauser calls him a little kid and only by 'rookie', he never gives an opportunity to be closer and highlights this difference in rank. - 1:1 translation of the ENG fight for the most part though it's neat to see how CN Krauser doesn't sound like he's scolding Leon when he says 'didn't I teach you that knives are faster?' it sounds more like an actual observation than anything in CN and really a request that Leon to USE that knife. He sounds like a teacher I had in chinese school when he's disappointed. - Instead of the 'major! you're not thinking straight!' we get 'major! is your brain broken?!' Also it's MIDWAY into the fight that Leon calls Krauser by his last name, prior to this it is only the title. Regardless of which title is being used, it's not until Leon is PUSHED that he uses Krauser's name (kinda like how you don't call a teacher by their name unless it's told to you or if you're close enough to know it. Strangely enough because of how rare Krauser's name shows up, it's as if the fight gets MORE personal once Leon says 'Krauser') prior to this point, Krauser is 'Major' and 'Major' only.  - Krauser instead of saying that what he taught Leon was 'a waste' implies instead that this entire match they just had? A waste of time. Like straight up, he just wasted his time on all of this and maybe on Leon too (which considering how Leon is the student is oof) - Everything else is a 1:1 of the ENG fight for the most part. Krauser does a LOT of scolding.  SECOND FIGHT (Ruins)

- When Krauser says 'you can't save her, you can't save Anyone', Leon does the rough equivalent of 'shut up/stop' rather than a strong 'give it up Krauser!' from English. Also worth noting is how Leon turns this around retorts with basically 'and this can't save your men!' Highlight on how they both focus on the word 'saving' in CN rather than ENG's choice to use 'bring your men BACK' (from the dead) - Also, from this point onwards, Leon uses Krauser's surname. Meanwhile Krauser maintains the colder standpoint of only using new soldier (rookie) to Leon which gives them some distance.  - what IS interesting is how Leon uses brothers (xiongdi) which basically implies that yeah, he knew them too. Also quite normal since they would be battle brothers in a sense. It's not 'men', it's people that Krauser specifically worked with as if it were going for something more distanced/colder, you would be using soldiers (bing) instead of xiongdi.  - Krauser, before letting out fire at Leon, isn't saying to move out and draw fire. instead it's to metaphorically become his torch from a direct translation. - Leon's 'if I'd be dead if I listened to people like you' becomes one of those cheeky lines instead of a comeback in ENG through sheer tone. If anything he just wants Krauser to stop talking and he wants to press some buttons. - Krauser's 'anything to make the pretty boy feel special' literally becomes 'I prepared this just for the little handsome boy!' which is like, christ.  Prior to this, Leon says ‘you did all this for me? you didn’t have to!’ rather than ‘well, you’ve really gone all out for me. you shouldn’t have!’  - Leon, of course (you can hear bits of Kaeya in there), chooses to snark about how the arm must be hurting so much and maybe Krauser should get a break. - Now small difference but Leon's 'oh that's your true power? Oh I'd ask for a refund' becomes about how HE would get a refund. He's straight up returning the ticket over Krauser's true power. - Wanting to see Leon writhe is now about him begging for mercy - Leon's 'the way you're going, there won't be anything to protect! You'd have known that once!' the latter sentence becomes 'you STILL know that!' which is oh boy, loaded. Krauser is still the same man despite everything that has changed to Leon and to Leon, this change still means nothing because to HIM, he's talking to the same man as the one that trained him/worked with him - Krauser's 'do.... what you have to do.' becomes 'you KNOW what to do' - FINAL 'I trained you well... Leon' is now 'I didn't teach you for nothing.. Leon' which is like BOY. Mind you their first fight implies that Krauser wasted his time training Leon and to have this be the bookend to that is... certainly a thing. Leon then agrees with Krauser's final statement about how 'you didn't teach me for nothing' 

[aliusworld]

Flowers of Insanity / LAS / EFoT ✶

Aqua Hoshino x Reader

This is PART TWO, check out the other parts below!

REQUIEM: Sixth New Genesis

What's to come: [Lovenow], [Aqua Hoshino x Reader], [Akane Kurokawa plot points], [Reader likes both genders], & [mentions of suicide (Akane)]

[Songs of the chapter: "Marshmary" by MIMI, "Nonbreath Oblige" by PinnocchioP, "I hope you can be an adult someday" by TUYU]

[5,937 words]

˚⋆୨ ✶ ୧⋆˚

All the time you spent with Eruru Osawa made her remind you more of Hanae, but soon you realized they were nothing alike. They were both kind to you, but that was pretty much it. You soon found out that her family business was one in the entertainment industry, if you squint. Her family owns a somewhat-famous original amusement park here in Japan. You'd really like to go there with her one day.

Aquamarine Hoshino on the other hand was a lot harder to grasp because unlike Eruru, he doesn't speak as much, and he doesn't say what's on his mind either. What you find special about him though are his eyes, it's one just like Ai's... he must be really special. You don't think you've ever gotten close to anyone like him before, so you don't know what to expect from him.

You heard that he's an actor, he appeared in a Drama, an adaptation for a hit manga. Not that you've read it before though, romance never tingled your brain as much as an action pact filled one did. However, you kept seeing horrible reviews about the Drama on social media, so you decided to give it a watch.

Yeah, it sucked ass. Though, the last episode really shot the ratings up. That was the episode Aqua was in, it was kind of hot. The girl was quite a good actor as well, you felt bad for her throughout the entire Drama because you felt like her talent was being wasted away. Come to think of it, you saw that girl talking to Aqua before, so she might also be attending this school, interesting.

No matter what happens though, whenever you see Aqua, or hear anyone mention him, images of Ai flash into your brain. You know it's not probable for him to be anywhat related to her, but it's fun to see that her life still lives on in your head years after she passed away. You did wish for her eyes after all.

This year, you've already made two whole friends, maybe you'd have more if you considered people your friends other than acquaintances more easily, not that that's ever going to happen.

You spend most of my time at school on your phone, which sounds bad and anti-social, and it is. Most of Eruru's time is spent socializing with every person imaginable, and if she's talking to everyone, she's talking to everyone but you. Aqua on the other hand barely shows up to class, you saw him hanging around a girl who looked exactly like him though. A sibling relationship in school, that's cute.

That's okay with you, you don't need friends to survive until March 9th or find Hanae— Well, maybe you do need connections to find her again, but you doubt anyone here would know her, but then...

That's when you met someone special!

Matsuyo Mochizuki. He has the same last name as Hanae, so you should get closer to him to get more information out of him. Then again, the surnames of this world don't mean that they are inherently related but... you could still try. After all, Hanae did live in Tokyo back then, and we're in Tokyo right now. Maybe Matusyo is her... cousin?

He's really quiet, he first entered Yoto High School a few weeks later than the average student, he skips school all the time, and when he does show up, he's never on time. His hair is dark and short, but at some points, it's long... how strange, almost like he cuts his own hair. His eyes were like the opposite of mine, dark and darker. Not a single shine of light was seen in them. Oh, and his teeth. They're quite special too, he had sharp teeth all over, not just his canines.

He's not ugly though, you could most definitely use him to find her. Your stars darkened as you hid your smile with your right hand, your eyes shut as you started planning. You could feel Aqua staring again. Awkward. You opened them soon after, giving the boy next to you a quick glance, you locked eyes. He looked away quickly, do you have that kind of power with these eyes now? Your smile widens as you quietly giggle to yourself.

*"★Hi there, my name is [name] [last-name]. What's yours?" You ask as you smile, giving him a hand. He didn't respond. "Hehe, that's okay. I'll just stay here until you talk to me!" The anxiety that usually grew in my stomach has gotten smaller and smaller throughout your experience in high school. You guess that Eruru is really starting to rub off on you.

"C'mon, Matsuyo Mochizuki, I totally just lied. I already know your name, just talk to me! You look lonely.★" I lean on my hand, "You can't be silent forever!~"

*Aqua's eyes widened, he's staring at you again. 'Have you always acted this way?' His eyes didn't make you feel uncomfortable this time, you kind of felt like a star, Matsuyo on the other hand still hasn't said anything to you.

"...What do you want from me?" Matsuyo sighed, his dark eyes glaring deep into your soul. You close your eyes to get away, but keep a smile on your face. He's going to be a hard one to crack.

˚⋆୨ ✶ ୧⋆˚

You really do want to sound cool and everything, but you don't really know what to expect from anyone. That's why you were a shut-in. So, when you were invited to do a reality TV show, you were shocked.

Why would they need a faceless internet celebrity? Then the thoughts connected. Ah yes, your follower count. That would boost their ratings, wouldn't it? However, this show doesn't suit you at all.

Lovenow?

Another romance show? What would you even gain from this other than maybe a slip of the unwanted reveal of your face? You went over it all with the managers you hired for yourself to discuss the pros and cons. They came to the conclusion of 'If you join, it may boost your views by growing connections with the other members and their fans.'

Therefore, you sent the producers a message that reads something along the lines of "I'll join your show if and only if you sign this contract stating that you will never release my true identity to the public and blur my face in all the scenes I'm in."

It took a while for them to read the full contract, but they allowed it, making himself and all the other workers sign as well. You were happy with the product, but took extra precautions by *wearing a mask at all times.

˚⋆୨ ✶ ୧⋆˚

Today is the first day of filming for 'Lovenow', you wouldn't have guessed who showed up on set, Aquamarine Hoshino. Of course he didn't know it was you behind this cute [animal] mask of yours, and there's no way he'd know it's you from your voice since you haven't spoken yet... you decided to change your voice and tone to how you usually do when you stream.

Not to mention that you came extra early on set for someone on the makeup team to style your hair in a way you could never do on your own, plus you requested they add colorful highlights to show off the person you are on the inside! You've never felt prettier. You gave yourself so much personality with the way you looked, even your mask had colorful stickers on it.

The school uniform you were wearing was a lot more dull than the ones they had you wear in Yoto High School, but it still looked quite cute on you. Your new coworkers are all really cute as well!

The hit internet celebrity Memcho, 18, the new star Yuki Sumi, 16, the special dancer Nobuyuki Kumano, 17, the guitarist of a band Kengo Morimoto, 17, Aqua Hoshino, 16, and this other really pretty girl... Akane Kurokawa, 17.

Out of everyone in the cast, Akane was the girl who caught your eye. She's beautiful. Her hair falls to her shoulders, you think that if you wanted to get a partner out of this show, you'd choose her. Your plan for this is that you'll play along with the rest of the cast for entertainment, and then sit on the sidelines when people start confessing their 'feelings' for one another.

You watch as the first scene starts playing out, people walk into an empty classroom and start introducing themselves to each other, but most importantly, they're introducing themselves to the cameras set all over the classroom. Aqua goes right before you, from the way you're seeing this, he's acting like a more piped up version of the one you interact with at school.

You took a deep breath as you walked into the classroom, all eyes were on you, including the crews. With a slightly higher tone than you usually speak in, words start to leave your mouth, *"✧Hi everyone, my name is [alias], it's a pleasure to meet you!" you clap your hands together as you smile behind your mask.

"Woah! [alias]? Really?" Memcho bursts out, "I didn't know you were a highschooler!" She grinned as she put a finger to her chin, "We should totally collab together on my channel sometime!"

"Hmm... I've heard of you before," The band member pulled his phone out, "W-Wait..! You have over a-"

"A million!?" Yoto screamed out, "What in the world?! That's so cool!! I can't believe that I'm sitting next to a real celebrity!"

"Woah, calm down! You all are celebrities too!✧" You laugh as you sit down in a chair next to the rest of them, I rest my head on my hand, "Well, I saw that you played someone in 'I'll have it Sweet Today', Aqua!"

"Yeah, I sure did. It was only for one episode though." Aqua stared straight into your masks eyes, you sweat, does he know that you're...??

"Well because of that one episode, you single handedly lifted up that show to success!" Nouyuki grinned, you could tell that he's going to be a popular fan choice.

-End of Flowers_of_Insanity

After a few weeks of filming, you noticed the cast's quirks. Akane spends more of her time with the crew than the actual people on the screen, and she always has a notepad with her. Yoto and Nouyuki are the actual romance in Lovenow, and it really looks like they have something going on together. You and Memcho are more of the comedy relief of the show, it must be something about hanging around on the internet for so long. Last but not least, Kengo and Aqua tend to hang out on their own. You felt bad that you didn't talk to Aqua more often since the two of you were friends in real life, but you suppose it's better to keep a low profile.

It's so nice to meet all these people. To your suprise, they're all genuine and kind, even if some of it's an act. Even though it's only been a month of recording, you feel that you've really grown to connect with these people. Each episode focuses on one person in particular, so when it landed on you for the second time, you dropped the mask for the first time in front of the cast and the cast only, but the camera didn't know that you were wearing another mask underneath.

The reactions from the cast were nothing to laugh at, compliments were thrown at you, words couldn't describe it other than a little phony, but in a good way. Honestly, you didn't feel much for it, but after that episode aired, the fans seemed to have loved it. Though, there were a lot of people on Twitter and a few blogs asking your co-stars to reveal your face to them, but they had nothing to say to those people, you felt really grateful for that.

There were a lot of events that happened during the show to keep things spicy, you think that the producers really want you to end up with someone here because they made you and Kengo play together for a mini concert. It was one of your original songs, but they still had to make a deal and pay you to use it, oh, and Kengo had to learn the music in very a short amount of time. It really made you look up to him, so whatever the producers are trying to do is working, but Akane still owns your heart.

Speaking of, you've been trying to talk to her, but she's been so focused on other things. Almost like she's been having a tough time, "Hey Akane, are you feeling alright?"

"Hm! Oh... [alias], I'm doing okay... I just..." Akane sighed, sitting down at the table next to her, "I need to stand out more, I've been on the sidelines for this entire show and... I think that people are starting to forget who I am." She hid her face in her arms.

"No way!! No one would forget a face as beautiful as yours!" You shout unexpectedly, a little too loud, cameras start rolling, "I- What I mean is... all you have to do is apply yourself some more, let loose!☆" You grab her hands and hold them warmly, "And whatever you do, I swear I'll follow."

"W-wha... [alias]..." Akane's face grew red, "t-thank you."

˚⋆୨ ✶ ୧⋆˚

Akane acted differently today while on set, she was putting herself out there more often, but it didn't really scream at her. It was an awful experience to watch, but you didn't want to pop her bubble by pushing yourself too far into her business.

She was trying to make a role for herself by trying to separate Yuki from Kengo and that dancer guy, but of course, Yuki was still fighting back.

"Oh? Looks like Akane's finally playing her cards!" Memcho said, leaning against the rooftops railing, "I saw her talking to you the other day, [alias], d'ya know anything about it?"

"Hm? Oh, well I did hear her talk about needing to stick out to the fans more, but I don't know if this is the best suit for her. I mean, maybe if she started a other side love story it'd be cute but...★" You mumble, you didn't know what you were really talking about. 'Side love story', what a joke! The only other people available were you and Aqua.

"Hmmm? What does that mean, [alias-nickname]?~ Do you like Akane Kurokawa?~" Memcho giggles, as she smirks and punches my arms gently, "What about you, Aqua, do you think that [alias] and Aka-nene would end up looking good together?"

"Ah well, I wouldn't say I'm against it in any way... I suppose the two of you would end up looking cute together." Aqua forced out a chuckle as you stare at the both of them, deadpanned, though they couldn't see it, "But if that did happen, there wouldn't be anyone left for me."

"Hey! I'm still here ya know!" Memcho screeched out, grabbing Aqua's shoulders in a playful manner, you point and laugh for the camera you just noticed.

"★Me and Akane..." you turn around to look at Akane talking to Kengo and sigh, "Well if she likes me then I guess I'll like her back." You turned back around to Memcho and Aqua, you don't think they actually listened to what you said, but you're sure that the camera did. "☆What about you, Aqua? Who do you like?"

"Oh." Memcho stops attacking Aqua to listen for his answer, Aqua looks around before opening his mouth again, "I guess you could say that I like..." Aqua looked at you before smiling again, "Nah, it's a secret."

"WHAAAT!!? No way! You can't just say that! You have to tell us!! Or at least, you should come and tell me! Whisper it into my ear!!" Memcho whined as she began pulling at Aqua's uniform begging him to spill his secret, "Please please please please! [alias] told us!"

"[alias] barely said anything, all you did was mention Akane. They didn't even say anything about liking her back" Aqua sighed, his hand on Memcho's face, trying his best to push her away, "Plus, you haven't told us who you like either."

"Well all of you are too young for me! I'm 18, and all you younglings are just too much like babies compared to me! Especially you two, y'all are 16 still, aren't you?" Memcho asked. You and Aqua agree simultaneously, "See! Ah, and if I were to get into a relationship, it would totally mess up my streams, I think."

"Well I'm with you there, being an internet celebrity does have its downsides." You laugh, "But Aqua, you should totally tell me who you like! Don't worry, ☆I'm great at keeping secrets~"

"No way." Aqua sighed, keeping both me and Memcho away from him simultaneously, I laughed some more. I guess Aqua can be more cute and chill when he's outside of school, though it's probably not genuine at all.

˚⋆୨ ✶ ୧⋆˚

Last night, Yuki did your nails. She made yours really pretty, they had two colors, [color] and black with these shiny gems or what not. While Yuki was working on your nails you had a talk with Akane. You gave her your suggestion of trying to make a side plot love story instead of trying to push herself into one that already existed. You tried my best to convince her, even Yuki chimed in at some point, but to no avail. She was dead set on doing it this way.

"Well, it's game on then." Yuki smiled, focusing her attention on Akane's nails this time, "Give it your all, Akane. 'Cuz I won't be holding back at all!"

"Yeah." Akane smiled back, "Let's make this fair."

Fair, what a fun word. The world is never fair, and it shows. You saw it with your very own two eyes, the scene was set, Akane didn't mean to hurt Yuki at all-

So why was this happening to her?

Akane accidentally scraped Yuki's cheek with the nails that Yuki made her the other night. The media started to swarm against her. You saw that too, you even got questions from strangers on the internet yelling at you, asking for more information on it, though as per contract, you weren't allowed to say anything. Not a word, not even in her defense.

Akane didn't show up for the next few days of filming, you couldn't feel anything but dread for the days she didn't talk to the group. Even during school, you couldn't focus on anything else. Aqua looked fine, you really hoped he didn't notice your paranoia.

Then the calendar marked a faithful day other than March 9th, the day when a hurricane warning popped up on everyone's screens. The day Akane sent a message for the first time in days in the Lovenow group chat.

'I'm going to go out to get a few snacks from the convenience store.'

Yuki: 'Right now?? Akane! Don't go!'

Memcho: 'Akane there's a hurricane coming out.'

Kengo: 'Akane pick up your phone'

Nobuyuki: 'Akane are you home?'

Aqua: 'Akane?'

You audibly wince as you grab a thin jacket from your closet and run out of your apartment. Even though Akane wasn't answering any text messages or calls, she still had her location finder on her phone. You followed it as fast and as accurately as you could. Luckily for you, it wasn't too far away from where your apartment was.

It led you to a bridge... a bridge?

Then you saw the figure, you weren't sure if it was Akane, all you knew was that they were standing on the ledge, arms spread. You couldn't think, you ran as fast as you could. It was later than what you would've wanted to though, the figure had already jumped. You grabbed them, their body was still in the air, a little heavier than what you'd normally be able to carry, but the thrill was driving you on.

"No! No! Let go of me, please, just let me die!" The voice screamed, squirming her body around to get away from my grasp. It was Akane. Your eyes widened as the rain continued to pour down on the two of you.

"Akane! Listen to me! It's me, it's me, [alias]!" You yell out, grabbing her tighter, trying your best to pull her back onto the bridge.

"[alias]..? Just listen to me, let go... save yourself. You don't want to be seen with someone like me." Akane sobs out some more, "Let go [alias]!"

"No! Akane, stop fighting me! J-Just let me pull you up!" You start to tear up as well, your grip loosens as you get pulled over the edge. The only thing holding you up was the ledge Akane had just recently just jumped off from and your horrible back strength which was slowly dying out.

Before you could fall, however, someone from behind pulled both you and Akane back. You winced, the force of your body falling onto the concrete floor with Akane on top of you filled your body with a sharp and stinging pain. Though, it probably didn't hurt as much as the pain as the person underneath the two of you felt.

Akane turned around into your chest, sobbing. You comfort her to the best of your ability but start sobbing with her at some point. You didn't bother to look at the person sitting next to you, from the slight tone of his huffs you could tell that it was Aqua. The fact that you weren't wearing your mask formed a bubble of worry in your head, yet you hoped it was too dark so that nobody could make out who you were. 

Your vision was blurry from the tears you were shedding. You stroke her head as you whisper to her about how everything'll be alright.

"...Who?" You were right, it was Aqua.

You try to cover your face with your hand as you quickly look away. Pulling the collar of your top over your nose, you then even tried to position Akane to cover yourself, even though you knew it was incredibly uncomfortable for the both of you

"[name], is that you?" Aqua repeats himself, this time, he gets closer.

"What? [name]? N-never heard of whoever that is before, nope! Not at all..." You stutter out, it's of no use anyway, he knew you were there. All you could hope was that no one else would find out.

"[alias], you got here before me?" Aqua asked.

"..." You couldn't say anything, not anything you'd admit to at least. Aqua should have never found out.

Another loud pair of footsteps ran over towards us, before they fully got to the three of you, Aqua covered you and Akane with his rain jacket. Your face grew red.

-End of Looking_All_Sad

It wasn't long before the rest of Lovenow's cast showed up, however, the first person to show up was Akane's mother. Aqua caught her all up on what happened as you sat back and watched as everything unfolded before you. The last people to show up was, who you guessed were, Aqua's mom and mother.

No one came for you though, not that you minded too much—

"Aqua! Isn't that your rain jacket?" A girl with sparkling red eyes asked as she pointed directly at you.

"Ah that's..."

"Is that the person you're going to end up with at the end of Lovenow?!" She giggled as she punched his arm, Aqua let out a disgruntled curse in response. You laugh at their antics.

Soon Akane left the room, walking out with her mother. She looked at you with her puffy eyes as she left the building. Not before Yuki ran her way towards Akane and slapped her directly across the face, you gasp and you clench your hands that lie on your lap. She was crying too, crying as she rested her head against Akane's shoulders sobbing as her yells turned into quiet murmurs.

The room fell silent when Akane officially left the building. Aqua's mom sighed and patted his back as she left with her daughter, telling him to "stay safe", how cute!

Right, Akane. This is a problem. You and the rest of the cast know that she really didn't mean any harm, however, people online don't. How could you fix this? A million thoughts ran around in your head. Aqua suggested that for Akane's safety she could leave Lovenow as a whole. Which is a viable option, but she shouldn't have to quit something she enjoys just because of strangers on the internet.

One by one, the people crowded in the hallway slipped out and went back home. Again, leaving only you and Aqua together. You thought about giving him his raincoat back, you wouldn't really need it anymore if he was the only one left. You were already found out. You bit your bottom lip before you spoke, but no words slipped past your lips.

"So you're [name]?" Aqua asked, turning back to look at your sweating figure, he didn't need to say your name out load again.

"Don't say it so loud! And... yeah. I am, uhm. Sorry you had to find out this way..?" You murmur, the hood was still covering your face, you liked that. It made you feel like you still had a barrier between your persona and the real you, even if you still felt phony

"Were you ever going to tell me?" Aqua slowly got closer to you. Weird.

"Why would I do that? It's totally unprofessional..! And... and...!" Why was he so close?? "You shouldn't even focus on this at all, what you— what we should be focusing on is to help Akane!"

"Right. Akane. The internet is horrible, not to mention that this show is just..." Aqua continued to mutter on and on about the recent news and the media's reactions. You zoned out for the most of it, "Reality TV... Ah, what about this?"

"Huh?"

"We're going to make a video to save her, real reality TV."

The media caught onto Akane's attempt at taking her life and went on a roll with it, word spread around like wildfire. Whether it be people talking about how this was just a sleazy attempt to get attention, people feeling sorry and making apologies, or what their opinions are about the situation. People just didn't shut up. Not to mention, Akane's taking a break from Lovenow until who knows when. There isn't anyone else to really look at other than her, Aqua's there but it's just uncomfortable now that he knows who you really are.

On the bright side, the video's production is going well. All of the cast members opted to help. For example: Memcho tried teaching Aqua more about Social Media and how to get people's attention quickly and Kengo offered background music with his guitar. You also offered music from a band you had connections with, 2You, and your voice as vocals. Aqua didn't mind, in fact, he appreciated it. To what you could tell at least.

The last, and more important, part of the plan is getting unused recordings from Lovenow's staff members. There wasn't anything you could do, it was all Aqua. He had the brains to figure something out, weasel his way to get the information out of the producer.

You kept trying to contact Akane, half of the time she didn't respond, she hasn't been going to school either. You threw your phone across the room and groaned into your bedsheets. All the pent up worry hasn't been doing too good for you, you barely show up to your classes either. Which as a consequence means your *relationship points with your classmates have slowly been decreasing ever so slightly, besides Aqua.

Eruru texts you ever so often about school events, you respond fairly quickly, but that's as far as it gets. You miss being around people again, not to mention you've been on hiatus for all streaming activities until you say otherwise. Matsuyo doesn't even try to reach out to you, which is a major bummer. You wonder how he's doing, you wonder how Hanae is doing. At this point, that's the only thing keeping you going besides Akane's well being.

Matsuyo Mochizuki, there's this slight chance that they could be related. You will stand strong and make sure you see her again in this life, even if you don't have much time left—

Beep!

"Hm...?" You wander to your phone, a new notification, this time it was from Aqua. You sigh as you open your phone. He's the only one who's actively talking to you. The other members in Lovenow didn't know you haven't been showing up to your classes, you're really grateful for that. Though whenever he does text you, it never brings you any joy. It's usually about something negative. Maybe it'll be different this time?

The text read: "Get ready and come to my place, everyone else is already here." You thought it was funny how Aqua talks all professionally even when it's through a text.

Quickly putting a hoodie on with sunglasses and a mask to hide your identity, you rush over to Aqua's place...

His place... where does he live again?

˚⋆୨ ✶ ୧⋆˚

You rushed over to find that all the other cast members of Lovenow were huddled in front of a screen with, you can only assume, Aqua in the middle. They didn't notice your entrance so you carefully walked over to see what it was all about. The video. Right, that's what this was all about. Aqua looked as if he was on the verge of death as he compiled pictures and videos of all of Lovenow's time together. The video, so far, was very nice. Like eye candy!

"Hm? Oh! [name] is here!!" Memcho brightly said after turning around, "Your aura reminds me of Aqutan! Dead! What have you been up to?"

"Nothing other than worrying to death about Akane." You sigh, putting your hand to your face, "Why did you call me here, Aqua?"

"Because I'm worried about you too. Everyone else here can tell that you look horrible" Aqua murmured, not looking away from his screen. That pissed you off, how could he say you looked horrible if he hadn't even glanced in your direction?? Before you could verbally react, Yuki had already punched him in the back, causing Aqua to bite his tongue, "And the plan is almost done."

"What Aqua's trying to say is that he wants everyone from Lovenow to be here when the video is all done!" Memcho says, clasping her hands together and smiling. You smile back under your mask, Akane will finally be free!

"Well? When are you gonna be finished, Aqua?" One of the boys asked.

"I'll finish quicker if you guys stop bothering me." Aqua murmured, to giggle to yourself about Aqua's comment.

"Well you heard him! Get out.★" You took your sunglasses off and glared at them, "I know he wants you here when he's all done, but saving Akane faster means no distractions!" You placed your sunglasses in your pocket as you watched all four of them slowly leave the office. You turned your head to look at Aqua's screen. He's so close... just a little more and Akane will get to show her face to the public again.

Half an hour of silence and hard clicks on the mouse, Aqua was still glued onto the screen. A few more dragging from his mouth passed by before he opened his mouth again, "Bring the others in."

You ran over and hugged him tight, "Thank you so much for doing this for her." You let go just as quickly as you latched onto him and skipped out the the room to go and get the others back. As you re-opened the door, Yuki rushed in before you could say anything.

"So?! Are you ready to post it??" She asks impatiently, holding onto her sweater tight.

"It's prime time to post it right now actually, my data shows that tons of people are online right now!" Memcho chimes in, pointing to a poorly drawn graph on her phone.

"Mm, yeah." Aqua mutters, "This has to work..."

"It better!" You say, bouncing on the back of Aqua's chair, waiting for him to finally click the export button.

"C'mon man, don't keep us waiting!" One of the boys said, putting their hand on Yuki's shoulder. With an annoyed sigh, Aqua clicked the export button while you hovered over him. When the final pixel reached the end of the loading bar, Aqua switched tabs and opened a popular blog site.

"Let's go Aqua! When I said it was prime time, I meant it! It only lasts a little white, so post it already!!" Memcho shouted, hurling herself on top of you, which consequently meant she hurled herself on top of Aqua. With one glance towards your masked face, Aqua added the professionally made video with a caption and finally clicked post.

With impatient eyes, everyone stared at the screen before them, waiting for the numbers to roll in. Did it not work? Why isn't anything happening? Aqua worked so hard— before another cruel thought entered your head, Aqua refreshed and the likes and comments started to bombard his inbox.

A few minutes passed as the cast watched in shock as everyone's opinions started to morph something in the favor of Akane. You were ecstatic that it worked, rushing over to grab your phone off the desk to check the post itself and to message Akane about it. The girls started jumping around with joy, the boys joined them after some time for the celebration while Aqua's head hit his desk in exhaustion. You slowly put your phone back down and laid your jacket on Aqua just as he did for you. Crouching down to be at eye level with him, you tell him thank you right before you call it a night and go back home.

You slipped past the *crowd of people with a smile on your face and went down the stairwell, but before you could make it out, you saw the same girl as you did the other day. The one that looked exactly like Aqua, she seemed to be in her pajamas and was quite caught off guard when she saw you.

"Ah!! You! It's you! [alias]!" The blonde, in what seemed like a millisecond, ran towards you, her face barely an inch away from yours. *"Ohmigosh, what's it like in Lovenow?! What do you think of my brother? Are you guys going to become a couple?!! How is Akane!?"

"☆Oh, uhm... Akane is... she's going to be okay. And Aqua is a really nice guy! He's done a lot for Akane and I'm really grateful for that." The girl in front of you asked a few more questions before you got the chance to slip off and excuse yourself to go back home. 

-End of Eyes_Full_of_Tears

Check out the other chapters! {CLICK ME}

[hpowellsmith]

Hi! First of all, I absolutely love your work. Your writing is so fun and immersive!!

Second, I wanted to ask why many characters in your books go by their last name. I think I heard somewhere that that is was customary to do in the past, and I was wondering if that was a reason.

I hope you have a great day/night!

I have a fondness for it!

In some cases it's related to them having a job in which characters often call each other by surnames (Pereira, Korzha).

In the case of Ferro in Blood Money, it's because I wanted to add more formality by mostly calling him Mayor Ferro. Mostly people don't call him Tomas.

In the case of Karson or Danelak, it's a way of senior characters like the Gallatin staff or Countess Iravan showing dominance. In Westerlind or Jezhani culture, servants will either usually be called by just their first names by their employees (Marian/Tati/Petronela/Simeon) or just by their surnames; someone like a senior housekeeper who is high in the hierarchy will have an honorific. (Someone in Danelak's position would be expected to be addressed with an honorific, but they don't have as much respect as that.)

In the case of student characters, I decided to go for surnames sometimes for a variety of reasons:

- to mean I could have consistent names with gender-selectable characters, because I didn't want to give everyone names that varied when I was writing. This has generally been the case with characters like Freddie, Max, or Raffi who have shortened names also

- to add to a boarding-school-familiarity atmosphere; I didn't want to always do surnames but I did want to show it a bit, given how common it is in that sort of environment

- my headcanon is that Hartmann and Gonzalez had classes with other people with the same first name at some point, so their surnames ended up sticking

- for Trevelyan and Delacroix they have some ambivalence about their first names so have used their surnames during their school years

- for Beaumont, they associate their first name with their family; it feels more intimate to them than they tend to want until they know someone a lot better

[danjaley]

Jo's school, the war, those Germans and how to write a good character purely by accident.

A literary essay that came to my mind yesterday, through the conversation with @nocturnalazure

Originally I wanted to include this in the favourite characters tag, but it required so much background information: It's easy to find good characters in well-written books. One of my favourite characters in a badly written book is Frieda Mensch from the Chalet school series (the blonde girl, in the back on both images)

I discovered the Chalet School series at a jumble sale a few years ago, and I enjoy reading it because I like to imagine what could have been done with some good plotting skills. Also it's full of motifs that only made sense in the mid 20th century (the chain-smoking lung specialist) and the German spoken by the characters is simply hilarious. (Onkel Reise - a very tall man.)

Interestingly, the series is heavily inspired by Little Women and its sequels, especially Jo's school. It's about the English sisters Josephine (Joey) and Madge (not Meg!) Bettany who set up an international school in Austria around 1930. There's also an unrelated little Amy around.

Frieda Mensch is an Austrian girl who goes to that school and becomes a friend of Joey's. So far that's nothing special, the series is literally about Joey being everyone's supportive friend. In volume two the sisters spend Christmas with Frieda's family in Innsbruck, which makes her stand out a little. Then, because her first name means "peace" and her surname means "human", the author assigned her the role of the peacemaker in her class. She's portrayed as a serious, law-abiding girl, but of course schoolgirls must also be good sports and know when to break the rules. Even if it's possibly an accidental contradiction, this gives her an implicit conflict. Gradually she becomes the main loyal friend who supports Joey if needs be (like on nightly ice-skating-rescue-missions ^).

When the girls in the books are around 19 and just left school, in real life the annexation of Austria by Nazi Germany hit. By the time the school could be fictionally evacuated, war had begun too. Suddenly this Austrian girl whose name means "peace" and "human" becomes hugely symbolic. Frieda has to flee to England, one of her friends' father is tortured to death, her fiancée is also shortly imprisoned and suddenly she's a girl with a fate. She also helps Joey, who is married by then and has recently given birth, to cross the Channel. At the end of that volume Frieda gives a speech to what's left of the school, about peace and acting humanely despite political conflicts. Wars change many lives and reveal unknown strength in some people - sometimes this is even true for fictional characters.

(If I were set the task to write a novel in which an international school defies the Nazis, my first thought would be that they might have some Jewish students they must protect. Interestingly, this thought never crossed the author's mind. The Nazis turn their full force on this English school because the girls privately vowed to always keep up their girl guide ideals, even the Germans and Austrians from whom they're about to be separated. While violence against Jews is mentioned in the story, it shows how little the threat to them was taken seriously abroad. It also shows the hope that the decent-minded Germans might get the upper hand again after a while. It's strongly biased in its own way, but it's a perspective one doesn't find in books that were written with the whole history in mind. That's why I enjoy historic fiction so much.)

If I ever get so far with the McCarrics, I'm going to steal a lot from Highland Twins go to Chalet School. In fact I've already named Shiena after a character from that book.

[tickledpink31]

Continuing off of my first introduction of my LMK/JTTW oc, I realize that I should give her a second introduction expanding on her character as well as a summary of a story concept I had in mind. It still won't leave my head. Forgive me as I tend to ramble a lot.

Inspired by @skittlescripts and @theweepingegg,

(Omg, I just noticed that I forgot to draw her freckles)

I changed her robes because I ended not liking the silhouette of the first one. And I gave her a butterfly brooch too instead of a pendant

She goes by many names depending on who is addressing her. She’s born as Marisol Orozco-Leong, although her obsession with butterflies earned her the affectionate nickname, Mariposa, by her relatives. Historians refer to her as the Butterfly Lady, Queen of Butterflies, or Butterfly Maiden… or just Sun Wukong’s wife.

Guanyin gave her the name Liang Xiaodie after she rescued and revived her. We’ll get to that in a bit.

Her farsightedness being used as an advantage in long ranges was an idea I got from Black Butler who has the gunslinging Mey-Rin, a maid who can see from miles away.

By the end of the journey she was rewarded with a pair of functional butterfly wings to symbolize her growth in character, or more so her metamorphosis.

Her wings are based off of the Asian Swallowtail. During her time as an unwilling host to Lady Bone Demon, her wings closely resemble that of a zebra swallowtail or a tree nymph butterfly

(Yes, you read that right: LBD chose her instead of the little girl. You know, to hit Wukong where it hurts.)

I’ve been researching a lot on butterflies in Chinese culture, and I hope my resources are correct. If not, please correct me:

One thing that often comes up is that butterflies denote romantic love. There’s also the Chinese folktale of Romeo and Juliet, “The Butterfly Lovers” (this loosely alludes to Wukong and Xiaodie’s relationship)

They can even signify longevity, rebirth, and good fortune

There were also a few articles that say there are legends that depict the Bodhisattva Guanyin as a butterfly.

Here are just some illustrations of Mariposa/Xiaodie. The goal was to depict her change throughout the journey, being sent back to her time right after, and her plan to reunite with Wukong going awry when LBD interferes.

Now, for the plot. Watch me ramble even more.

The whole concept is pretty much a time loop that circles back to LMK’s modern era, and Mari experiencing the 14-year journey that was actually condensed within her 2-week coma. That's the most coherent way I could word the situation.

In an ironic twist, Mariposa is not much of a social butterfly and is more of a shrinking violet, a cocooned caterpillar if you will.

Being born and raised in Singapore and her mother having Han Chinese ancestry, Mari and her siblings all grew up on the stories of Journey to the West.

Given the fact that demons roam around freely among humans, I like to think that the events of JTTW are treated like actual historical events in LMK and not just a legend.

Now, here’s where the time loop begins:

What kicks everything off was a college program that Mari joins where students get to spend learning for a semester at sea and travelling the world

By the end of the semester, however, the ship gets caught in the storm and Mari drowns in the event.

I don’t want to explain how she got sent back to the Tang Dynasty. I mostly just want to keep that ambiguous.

While Guanyin and her disciple are out looking for the scripture pilgrim, they came across a girl who was half-dead and washed up on a shore. They revive her and nurse her back to health and find out that she has no memories.

How she got the name Liang Xiaodie, Guanyin found her surname (or one of them), Leong or 梁, stitched into her bag, but to the Bodhisattva, it read to her as Liang. (It's Mari's mother's surname. Leong is the Singaporean transliteration of Liang)

Xiaodie was chosen as her given name for her butterfly brooch and the several butterfly embroideries on her clothes.

Xiaodie slowly begins to regain her memories, mostly for basic things on surviving in the wilderness and gaining muscle memory on how to use her bow and arrows again like a master, but not enough to remember her real name or her life before.

Like with the other Pilgrims, Guanyin suggests that Xiaodie should join the scripture pilgrim. Before Guanyin leaves, she gives Xiaodie's bow the ability to summon arrows of her own will so that she may never run out of ammo.

She ends up meeting Tripitaka and Sun Wukong a little bit before Ao Lie is introduced.

Xiaodie is a bit of an odd addition to the group mostly because of her amnesia. The rest of the disciples were sent on this journey to gain redemption and enlightenment. Xiaodie doesn't have a story about her past sins as far as she knew. She went on this journey because she didn't know what else to do. She's the only other mortal of the pilgrimage and the sole woman to boot.

Xiaodie did not physically age at all during the journey. At first, she believed that it was because of the manfruit from the Ginseng Tree that Wukong fed her, but it was actually because her actual physical body was in her time healing in a hospital. Each year that passed by during the journey, only a day passes by in the modern era.

That isn't to say that the manfruit didn't affect her. Her lifespan was still extended even after waking up

Her memories came back at a snail's pace. She has dreams of being in a hospital bed and people watching over (her parents and the doctors).

In spite of her amnesia though, Xiaodie was seen as the brains of the group. Bits of amnesiac resonance come to her that are often useful when it comes to survival, such as knowing how to filter water of bacteria to drink, making soap or shampoos for hygiene, and even remembering bits of Journey to the West whenever she gets a bad feeling about their environment that they're in.

Another thing about her amnesia is how much her dialect differs from everyone else.

As Marisol/Mariposa, Xiaodie grew up speaking and writing Singaporean Mandarin and Modern Mainland Mandarin while everyone else around her uses Middle Chinese. So, it's a bit of a struggle for Xiaodie to communicate with others properly and vice versa.

On top of that, Xiaodie was not aware that she was sent centuries back for the longest time. She doesn't get why her companions don't know what cars or airplanes are or why they don't understand the slang she uses

It wasn't until near the end of the journey did she regain all of her memories and finally understands her time travel situation. It ended making her more reluctant to stay in the past much to Wukong's dismay.

At the end of the journey, Xiaodie and Wukong planned to get married, but with Xiaodie's reluctance and homesickness lingering, a swarm of butterflies takes her away, and she disappears in front of the pilgrims' eyes.

Wukong, devastated, was quickly informed that Xiaodie did not belong to this century, and had to be sent back to her family. The best thing Wukong could do for now is wait for her correct era to come around, which will roughly be 1400 years give or take.

Back in the modern era, Mari wakes up from her coma thinking everything was just a dream, but something feels off...

Everything she felt—the pain, the joys, and the experiences she went through felt real. She feels as if she actually hadn't spoken to her family in 14 years, and she feels like an older person stuck in a younger body.

Most of all, she feels as if she's lost something, or someone.

It wasn't until the butterfly wings appeared on her back that gave her the confirmation that she really did go on the journey for the scriptures and that her feelings for Wukong were indeed real

So, off we go. Mari makes a plan to go to China and find Wukong herself, and she lands herself in the coastal city of Megapolis. There she finds out that the Monkey King has a successor.

However, life sure loves to throw a wrench in her plans when the Lady Bone Demon escapes her prison and takes Mari's body as a host

She was the perfect host. How could the Monkey King ever want to hurt someone he's waited for so long?

Will Sun Wukong go through with the pain of possibly losing his beloved? Will the Mari find a way to break free of her possession? Find out next time on whatever shit I post next.

[myfixationacademia]

SO! a few days ago i decided to start drawing Bakugou and maybe do a series where i make my own versions of some of the MHA characters in my style along with a couple of headcanons i have.

The headcanons are under "read more" along with a surprise >w>

-Katsuki was named by his dad as a homage to Mitsuki, who had to go through emergency surgery after birth while Masaru rocked lil baby Kacchan in his arms trying to calm him down, eventually the newborn falls asleep when Masaru hums some lullabies to him, the moment he was no longer in his father's arms, Kacchan woke up with one of the loudest cries in the hospital, his mom still remembers the migraines;

-Katsuki met Izuku after the boys met on a sidewalk and they talked about heroes and all of that, unknowingly introducing All Might to Deku, but neither tell each other their names until they meet again with their moms, both women shocked that their sons have met already;

-After the incident in the river, Kacchan forced Deku to walk far from him, claiming that he did not need his help, however, years later he confessed that not only he regrets knocking his hand away due to pride, but also because he actually sprained his ankle in the fall, so he was walking weird on the way home and had to put on a cast and a gel for his muscles that smelled really bad, the blonde does not get angry when Izuku bursts out laughing when he said that "the gel smelled just like my grandma";

-Speaking of grandma, Masaru's mother had accused Mitsuki of cheating on him because, in that family, every one of her sisters had granddaughters, Masaru was quick to cut ties with her but she came back when she heard her grandson was now the number one hero, she said that he was honoring the family name, only Because Masaru did not want his mom to argue with Mitsuki and that was the compromise they got cause otherwise he would have taken her name, and that it was natural cause they were a family of winners and victory was in their blood. Mitsuki argues that Katsuki did everything on his own, sometimes in a pool of his own blood, but the old lady is persistent that SHE had something to do with this success, only for Katsuki to drop the bomb and also announce his and Izuku's wedding and that he would take Deku's surname, the woman starts yelling at Katsuki before Deku promptly picks her up along with her luggage wheel bag and puts her outside, asking her to not bother them, she still tried to show up to the wedding but thankfully she didn't;

-One of the reasons for Bakugou to give his 1-A classmates weird nicknames is because Bakugou has a certain difficulty in remembering names, he can remember faces really well, hence the nicknames being based mostly on physical features like Mina having dark scleras, Iida is the only student with glasses, Todoroki's split hair, but not names, it can take a long time for Kacchan to memorize the name of someone he just met, also hence why Izuku's nickname is one based on the kanjis forming his name, not his appearance;

-Katsuki develops poor eyesight like his father once he grows up a bit, by his second year at UA, he started to wear glasses and contacts;

-Masaru was the one at home most of the time to take care of Katsuki while Mitsuki went out to work, and while father and son were there, Masaru taught Katsuki how to cook, clean his own room, take out the trash and other domestic activities around the house that needed to be done, leading to Bakugou being the one responsible at the dorms in assigning the activities of each student in his class as well as teaching how to do them the proper way;

-Katsuki starts wearing hearing aids after the war, as his hearing was compromised a bit during combat, and his...nap, it helps that he was already learning sign language;

And now the surprise, i think you all remember the healer Deku drawing i made, well, out of curiosity i decided to see if there were any differences in their height and...I was not disappointed in the slightest

LOOK HOW SMALL DEKU IS XD