#he's just so resigned to his fate at this point he goes along with whatever | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

paradisecas · 2 years

Text

okay i have to talk about a time loop soulmate au. general premise is there’s a day you’re supposed to meet them and when you dont, you repeat the day over and over again until you get it right.

so for adam, the first go happens just like point of no return except sam and dean manage to get him out of the green room in time. they’re all like phew glad we escaped that time to reconvene and figure out our next moves. dean wants to go get dinner but sam and adam, having been freshly tortured, vote to just go back to bobbys. adam goes to sleep very relieved he’s not possessed by an angel and then—he wakes up covered in dirt, fresh from the grave.

okay. this is a soulmate time loop, he thinks, and he assumes he was supposed to meet someone at a diner after everything went down because when the fuck else, so he resigns himself to torture via zachariah part 2 and just lets things happen like they did before. after everyone escapes, he sides with dean about going out for dinner. at the diner he’s super nervous looking around for who here is his soulmate but he doesn’t see anyone except the older married woman serving them and like, a mom and her kids. so he goes to sleep confused and—wakes up covered in dirt fresh from the grave again.

now he’s annoyed and confused because when the hell else was he supposed to meet someone? this time he decides fuck it and doesn’t even pretend to side with zachariah, avoiding torture part 3 and the green room altogether, and ultimately has a weird bonding day with his brothers during which he meets nobody remarkably special. wakes up covered in dirt AGAIN.

so he plays around with things for a few days trying to figure out what he’s getting wrong, like going along with the original day and demanding to go to a hospital because hey, he’s pre-med, chances are his soulmate could work in the medical field too, or when that doesn’t work he tries different restaurants, makes sam and dean take him other places on avoiding-zachariah-days, runs away (with a better excuse than going out for a beer), just anything he can think of to make the day go differently so he can meet new people that may or may not be his soulmate. but every day, without fail, he wakes up covered in fucking dirt. he’s so sick of washing it all off.

now let’s say that in this au, you’re not really supposed to tell people when you’re in a soulmate time loop, because privacy or whatever. but adam is at his wits end and he eventually caves and tells sam and dean about it all. to his surprise, they’re not weirded out that he’s being open about such a personal matter—they don’t think it’s a soulmate thing at all. their minds jump to archangel magic; gabriel or michael could be controlling it as a way to get dean to say yes. adam is disappointed because he really did want to meet his soulmate but now this time loop seemingly isn't even about him, it’s about dean.

so sam and dean are in the know and they want adam to recreate the first day as much as possible to see where fate originally took him, which means going along with zachariah and the whole torture thing again while everyone keeps an eye out for gabriel or a soulmate (just in case) or any indication that michaels playing them to get what he wants. but there’s nothing. no soulmate, nobody that could be gabriel, nothing to say that michael’s pulling the strings. so it’s back to being covered in dirt again for adam.

he keeps telling sam and dean about the loop because even adam’s convinced it has to be archangel stuff; why else wouldn’t he have met his soulmate yet? soulmate loops don’t go on this long, they just don’t. and eventually, after weeks of the same day, he is so visibly worn down and upset that dean caves. he wasn’t gonna say yes to save adam before, but the kid has lived through this time loop over and over again and now he at least knows enough about the supernatural that him, sam, bobby, and cas could team up to probably figure out a way to get him out of it.

so dean says yes to michael, and he actually lets it happen. he becomes the michael sword. adam feels very guilty (but also kinda pleased that dean did it for him, especially remembering how hostile he’d been to them on the first day). after the beautiful room, he and sam immediately jump on trying to find a way to get dean back, to get michael out of him, but then adam wakes up covered in dirt fresh from the grave and he is so fucking mad.

michael got what he wanted, right? he got his sword, he got the yes, so whyyy is adam still stuck in a loop. adam knows he was always a backup so michael can’t possibly actually want him to say yes, but here he is, showering off grave dirt again. he tells sam and dean everything (again) including dean saying yes and it not working, so they think it has to be gabriel. once again they follow the original day (and many days after that) looking for gabriel (ignoring adam saying they’ve looked for him so many times, why would he come out now? but thus is the manner of a time loop—adam can tell them what happens all he wants but its up to them to believe him and trust in their past selves.) sam seems to think that gabriel would give in if he was caught, and he actually accuses a lot of random strangers of being an archangel which doesn’t go down great, but ultimately they have to give up that train of thought. back to square one. back to dirt.

adam is sick and tired of the loop and he’s sick and tired of explaining everything to sam and dean so he gives up for a day, letting it run exactly like it did that first time, trying to remember what he said and what he did. he’s hoping he’ll notice something new, like a moment it all went wrong, and he’s honestly just hoping for a bit of a break.

except this time, things do change, but not in a good way. adam doesn’t escape the green room. he’s right behind sam and dean, just like he was that first day, but he’s gotten lazy and is just a few too many steps behind and then—the door slams shut, locking him in. he’s freaking out a little because this has never happened before but he makes himself stay calm because hey, even if he does say yes, he’ll wake up at bobbys all covered in dirt again. right? right??

well. michael comes, adam says yes, and he’s waiting for the loop to start up again, but it just… doesn’t. adam is angry. and confused. did michael actually want him? why wouldn’t he want his sword, why would he choose a backup? he literally already had dean, why did he only end the loop after adam said yes?

alas, michael puts him to sleep before adam can think too hard about what happened. the apocalypse goes as it does in the show with everyone ending up in the cage, but for adam? watching sam get rescued twice? it’s sooo much harder, because he remembers when his brothers would have saved him. he remembers dean saying yes just to get him out of the loop. he remembers both of them dropping everything to help him figure it out. he remembers them spouting family at him over and over again and he remembers believing it. but of course it just so happened that the one day he didn’t tell them about the loop it ended and he got stuck in hell.

for a long time adam is 1000% sure that sam and dean will come for him. he’s not even a little worried about it because, once again, dean said yes to michael for adam. they wouldn’t leave him down there. but the years keep going by and he keeps not being rescued and it’s hard to reconcile the sam and dean that abandoned him in hell with the brothers who fought so hard to help him.

a few years down the line, once michael and adam can interact without yelling at each other and have actually become friends, adam talks about the loop and his confusion about it and his frustration at michael for causing it. but then michael confesses that he was in a time loop too. he thought it was about dean, perhaps orchestrated by his father as distant approval of the apocalypse or something. michael remembers all the times he didn’t make it to the room in time, he remembers dean saying yes and having a vessel and then suddenly not. he remembers all the times zachariah couldn’t reach adam even in his dreams, all the times adam fought off the angels. he doesn’t know why he was in the loop; if it wasn’t god, what was it? why was it both of them?

but adam is listening and he is connecting the dots. a time loop involving two people that only ends after they meet? yeah, he’s pissed and also excited and annoyed and awed and really just confused because apparently, apparently, he and Thee Archangel Michael, Prince Of Heaven, are soulmates.

but hey. they’ve got nothing but time to figure it all out.

and now if we wanna pump the midam breaks we can ponder the other time loop in spn as well as other soulmate pairings. bc apparently it works for angels too, so. in mystery spot, did sam wake up that same next tuesday and think, oh god, i meet my soulmate on the day dean dies? are dean and cas soulmates? how many times did dean claw his way out of his grave? how many times did cas pull dean from hell?

and thinking about chuck too. why did he decide on time loops for soulmate meetings? are they drafts of his story? Is it fun watching people relive the same day over and over again? and how are michael and adam soulmates? does chuck decide who’s paired with who? who else could make that decision?

immediately going back to midam, michael, upon being told by adam that uh, dude, i think we’re soulmates, has to deal with the fact that even though dean was his supposed destined vessel, even though the apocalypse was only supposed to happen as michaeldean vs samifer, even though he’d only resurrected adam to use as bait, apparently all that is wrong? he lived that day over and over again and was only set free by adam. he was never meant for dean, the apocalypse was never supposed to happen, he was always gonna end up in the cage, wasn’t he? the loop wasn’t god’s approval; it was actually him being thrown away, erased from the narrative. at the same time, he’s realizing he actually is a bit fond of this human he’s possessing, and it’s horribly jarring to have everything he’s ever believed in completely shattered just as he develops feelings for the first time.

the horrifying realization that god put them in the cage on purpose and wouldn’t be coming for them paired with knowing that sam and dean never got to know or trust adam in the way he knew and trusted them so they wouldn’t be coming either. and then lucifer is freed and it’s maybe, maybe us next? but it takes hundreds of years, and when the cage is opened and the winchesters come calling to tell michael hey, your dad seriously sucks ass, michael can only say that is very old news to us, how can we help beat him?

it’s just a very juicy concept to me. sooo much to work with.

#once again i have gotten carried away #oh and i knowww there's more to this #this is straight up almost 2k #and we can even still have michael going back to dad after all of this #chuck decided he was adams soulmate and he was Right so what if hes right about ending the world too?#or like. u chose to leave me in the cage and now ur gonna pick lucifer over me to help you?? let me show you what i can do for you even now #see how powerful i still am after all you did to me #mine #midam #it’s fun to enjoy soulmate aus without delving into fate and predestination #but it also Is fun to get meta with it #mmm let’s consider the implications of a meddling god who only cares about entertainment and how that intersects with a world #in which everyone has a perfect Other #best of #soulmate aus

33 notes · View notes

alexiethymia · 3 years

Text

snippet (res ipsa loquitur)

“Look who’s here. Professor Yang’s favorites!”

Professor Yang raises an eyebrow at that, as if to say that he didn’t have favorites, but Professor Kim Eun Sook pays him no mind. Dear friend though he may be, and though she would trust him with any case, his hard-ass act didn’t fool her. He could say whatever he wanted, but his subtle actions belied his fondness for his once-students turned professionals. Just the fact that he regularly invited them back to Hankuk to discuss cases was just one example.

“I don’t know about Prosecutor Han here, Professor Yang’s protégé that he is, but I’m certainly no favorite when I had to be Erica Shin just to get him to eat with me.” Lawyer Kang has certainly grown up to become a balanced professional, but Professor Kim is happy to see that she’s kept that refreshing bluntness of hers.

“If being Professor Yang’s favorite means additional work like getting called back to school, then I’d rather be your favorite.” Prosecutor Han for his part hasn’t changed much either. Although he’s settled into himself now, becoming as calm in actuality as he sometimes presented himself back in school, that teasing gaze towards Kang Sol A was still present how many years later.

Professor Yang just stares deadpan at what he deems to be nonsense from his former students. “I never taught the both of you to be lax as students, much less as professionals.”

“We’re just joking, Professor,” Kang Sol A – Lawyer Kang now – can easily look her once-savior in the eye and smile, as Professor Yang just raises an eyebrow, “You know we’re always glad to help with whatever we can.”

“We must have inherited your curse as a workaholic, Professor,” Prosecutor Han jokes. Even when he was just Han Joon Hwi, and not yet Prosecutor Han, he never had that fear towards Yangcrates. Frankly, he admired him, though it had always been a complicated emotion with the way all their fates had been tied.

“Ehem. Who would have thought that when I asked you to come hand-in-hand to my office so many years ago as students, you’d be doing it again and again now that you’ve become professionals.” Professor Kim is only half-serious. Even then she’d had an instinct about these two – one with the sharp mind and logic and the other with the fiery heart and passion. They would balance each other out, though she wouldn’t have picked up on it if not for Joon Hwi’s propensity to be a knight-in-shining armor for his then frazzled seatmate.

Kang Sol A mock-scoffs before smiling prettily, while sharing a gaze with an amused Joon Hwi. It was good to see that they still got along marvelously so many years later.

Professor Yang stares long and hard at them as if they were a crime scene he was investigating, before going on ahead and asking Joon Hwi to follow. Eun Sook’ll poke at his thoughts later though she’d be lucky if he felt like sharing them.

“See, you really are his favorite,” Kang Sol A nudges Joon Hwi playfully, while he only chuckles. “No need to worry Lawyer Kang. You’re my favorite at least.” Both Eun Sook’s eyebrows raise at that. With time and his new position, it seemed as if Joon Hwi had gotten more direct, if at all possible. Ah but perhaps, Eun Sook thinks while observing how Kang Sol A just laughs in response, rather than time it was circumstances that forced him to change his approach.

A slight movement behind Professor Kim’s desk catches all of their attention, and a doting smile appears on Eun Sook’s face.

“Aigoo. Is this your daughter Professor Kim?” Kang Sol positively beams at the small curly haired girl hiding shyly behind the Professor’s desk. She was so adorable! It reminded Sol of Byeol when she was at that age. Looking sideways, she sees Joon Hwi sporting an equally wide and fond smile. It was no wonder. With how he was with her younger sister, first when they’d met and until now, Kang Sol surmised that he must be ridiculously fond of children as well. Distantly she thinks that he’d be a wonderful father someday, although uncharacteristically cynical, she also has to admit that she doesn’t exactly have any good bases for comparisons.

“Yes,” Professor Kim says, proud, like all mothers are, “Say hi to oppa and unnie here. They work with the law just like mommy.”

Funnily, it’s a race between them for the privilege of lifting Professor Kim’s daughter up in their arms, but Joon Hwi lets her win (much like he always does). Kang Sol A openly cooes, while Joon Hwi hovers closely to the both of them, also introducing himself to the young girl.

It’s such a heartwarming sight that Professor Kim almost wants to take a picture of it, even if it would be inadmissible as evidence later on.

They’re momentarily interrupted when someone enters the legal clinic.

“Ah Miss, it’s so wonderful to see you again.”

“Ahjumma!” Kang Sol exclaims happily upon seeing the lady who ran the Bad FaMa website enter the legal clinic. Seamlessly, she adjusts Professor Kim’s daughter on her hip, before transferring her to Joon Hwi who carries her on his arm. “How are you? What are you doing here? It’s not another defamation case is it,” Kang Sol asks worriedly. Of course, she’d defend her properly this time since she was now a full-fledged lawyer, not only giving half-baked assistance and having to rely on Joon Hwi because she wasn’t prepared yet.

“Ah no, no need to worry Miss – ah my mistake, it’s Lawyer Kang now isn’t it? You sure showed them didn’t you.” She smiles warmly, proudly, at Kang Sol, and Kang Sol gets happy flutters in her heart and stomach, “I volunteer here at the legal clinic sometimes. Professor Kim has been helping me out with lobbying for stricter child support laws, and the other lawyer who volunteers here - Lawyer Jeon - has been helping me with cases of single mothers. She’s been telling me all about you. I’m really glad to see you doing so well.” Though it’s been a while since Kang Sol has seen her – since when she was still a law student in fact – the older woman and that case will always hold a special place in her heart. She considers it as her first case, and though it did cause a slight rift between her and Joon Hwi, she had been the first person outside of smug Second Judicial Exam Passers and terrifying law professors who had genuinely thanked her for the legal service she provided. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that Kang Sol owes a lot to her for reigniting her reason for studying law in the first place.

“And Prosecutor Han, I’m delighted to see you’re doing great as well.” Joon Hwi inclines his head at her while responding in kind. Even with a child on his arm, he looks every bit the respectable Prosecutor, and Kang Sol could sometimes shake her head in amused resignation at how flawless her – (Friend? Best friend? Family?), - at how flawless Joon Hwi is. She shakes her head for a different reason this time around, to get rid of that brief interruption in her mind.

Ahjumma smiles, full of maternal care. “What a lovely daughter,” Joon Hwi and Kang Sol exchange wordless glances and smiles, fully agreeing with her assessment – Professor Kim’s daughter with her soft curls, and shy and polite demeanor really was just too cute for words, “the both of you two have,” – before freezing in their tracks.

Ajhumma seems not to notice the slight disturbance in the force, nor Professor Kim’s silent but far from inconspicuous chuckles, since she goes on, “Perhaps I’m just biased, but I’d always thought that the both of you suited each other well, even back then. And to see the both of you with a daughter of your own makes me really happy. We have enough parents who abandon their kids, but I know you would be such loving parents who would do everything and anything in your power to protect your daughter.” She grasps Kang Sol’s hands in her own and says sincerely, “Congratulations to the both of you.”

Prosecutor Han for all of his brilliance in court seems for the first time at a loss for words. It was a misunderstanding yes, but a reasonable one in Eun Sook’s mind. She would have probably thought the same, and yet for all that Eun Sook imagines they’ll just brush this off and regain their easy momentum, the pause lasts far too long this time around, and Professor Kim suddenly worries.

Kang Sol is frozen, and looks to be a million miles away. It’s to the point that the woman grasping her hands finds her smile slowly falling. There are no flustered denials, nor a hint of red anywhere. Kang Sol is blank, and this worries Professor Kim since the younger girl has always been full of life, of emotion, and to see this is disconcerting. Joon Hwi sees her from the corner of his eye, and Professor Kim is suddenly transported back to that Civil Code classroom so many years ago, for he once again saves her from having to answer, as always reliably following-up after her.

He slowly lowers her daughter down who immediately rushes to her. Upon seeing that, realization breaks across their guest’s face. “She’s not our daughter, but Professor Kim’s,” he explains smoothly, although it may be a bit redundant now. That seems to snap Kang Sol from the daze she’s in as she energetically reassures their guest that there was no need to worry regarding the misunderstanding.

Eun Sook picks up her daughter and sends a questioning gaze towards Joon Hwi who seems reluctant to meet it. He smiles that characteristic smile of his, the one that seemed to say that he had everything under control, that there was nothing that could trip him, before politely excusing himself from the room to follow after Professor Yang. “He must be tired of waiting.” He doesn’t rush, nor does he run. Both his voice and gait are measured and paced, and though he catches Kang Sol A’s eye in that form of wordless communication that Professor Kim observed was common to him, her, and even Professor Yang, Kang Sol A seems to break it first to rejoin her conversation with their guest and her.

Joon Hwi stares a little longer at her profile before exiting.

The warm atmosphere the legal clinic had when the two had entered earlier seems to have dissipated.

Professor Kim really cannot help but worry.

#solhwi #jtbc law school #netflix law school #joon hwi #kang sol #kang sol a #yangcrates #professor yang #professor kim #fic #fanfic #I will finish this fic #hopefully #eventually #post canon #fic writing #my writing

79 notes · View notes

blossom-hwa · 4 years

Text

Skipping Stones - KEVIN

This was the second full scenario I ever finished for The Boyz and I think it was pretty nice to start with some soft Kevin :D THANK YOU KAI FOR LETTING ME YELL TO YOU ABOUT THIS ONE I HOPE IT LIVES UP TO YOUR EXPECTATIONS.

Anyway! Happy (slightly early but only by a couple hours??) birthday to one of the best boys in the world, the one and only wonderful beautiful lovely Kevin Moon! I hope you all enjoy this <3 please reblog if you did!

Pairing: Kevin x gender neutral!reader

Genre: fluff, teacher!au

Triggers: cursing, alcohol

Word Count: 7.8k

Falling in love with you, Kevin thinks, is a bit like skipping stones.

Alternatively:

Five times Kevin felt himself falling deeper in love with you, and the one time he knew he was gone.

TBZ Masterlist | Touching Stars | Breathe, and Live

prelude.

Kevin knows he exists to be clowned. His sister says it’s something about his face – there’s something undeniably meme-y about his reactions, apparently, that makes him very clownable. His students tell him it’s in his demeanor – he comes off as pretty chill, according to them, which makes him easy to tease because they know he’ll react in some hilarious way, but it won’t affect him too deeply.

(Changmin just says he’s stupid, which makes him clownable to the highest degree, but Kevin refuses to take information from the teacher who still scares him every other week with whichever horror movie mask has recently caught his fancy.)

So Kevin knows he’s just a clownable human being, and he’s resigned himself to that fate for the rest of his life. But around you? His calm, collected, hilarious, wonderful partner? He expected a little less clownery and a little more loving.

“Oh, come on,” you laugh, trying to get Kevin to turn around. Honestly, he’s already feeling the effects of withdrawal from not seeing your smile for more than a few minutes, but he refuses to budge, lips curved downwards in a semi-permanent pout. He knows he won’t be able to keep this up for long (he’ll miss looking at your face too much, and really, he can’t be mad at you about anything), but he can make a scene. “Kevin!”

“You’re so mean,” he whines, still resisting your efforts to make him look at you. “I just poured out a very embarrassing part of my childhood to you and instead of comforting me, you laugh?” His pout deepens. “I don’t know why we’re dating.”

Your hands leave the back of his shoulders. For a second, Kevin thinks you’ve given up and he’s about to start whining about that too, but then you appear in front of him, fingers clasped placatingly. “All right, all right, Kevin.” Still grinning, you grab his hands. “I won’t tease anymore. But seriously, how could you expect me not to laugh my ass off when you told me you learned to skip stones for the –” you make jazz hands, presumably to emphasize your point – “aesthetic?”

Kevin sticks his lip out childishly. “I didn’t think it was that funny,” he mumbles.

“It’s not, not really.” You squeeze his hands. “But it’s a move that’s got Kevin Moon stamped all over it.” As if to accentuate your point, you snort. “Of course you’d learn to skip stones for the aesthetic.”

“Y/N,” he whines.

“Fine, fine, I’ll stop.” Your teasing grin melts into an eager smile. “Hey, teach me?”

“Right now?”

“Why not?”

It feels like Kevin’s physically crumbling to pieces with the way your hopeful voice and sparkling eyes just attack him from all angles. Grudgingly, the deep pout on his lips stretches into a smile, the starstruck smile that all of his friends like to tease him for. “Fine, let’s go.”

He spends the rest of the afternoon stepping around small children and younger couples, trying to find suitable rocks for skipping and teaching you the right angles, the right stance, the right way to hold the stone in your hand before sending it into the water. You learn fast, something he envies – where it took him at least a couple of weeks to perfect the art, you (mostly) pick it up in a matter of hours – but he can’t feel too jealous or too bad when you look up at him after your stone skips once on the water. “Kevin, I did it!” You shake him slightly. “Did you see that?”

The softest smile spreads across Kevin’s face as he kisses your forehead softly “Yeah, I did.”

When he pulls away, you give him the brightest grin before scrambling away to find more stones to skip. Kevin just watches, taking in the way your figure looks against the setting sun, bright gold and pale pink light streaming over your body, almost making you glow.

This is why he fell in love with you, he thinks. Your character, your tenacity, the way you throw yourself into every task you’ve been assigned so that you can complete it as best as you can. It doesn’t matter if you’re trying to treat a new cancer case at the hospital or trying to skip a stupid rock across the water. You always give it your all.

Idly, Kevin picks up a stone of his own. With a practiced flick of his wrist, it goes sailing onto the lake, skipping three, four, five times before sinking beneath the surface.

Falling in love with you is a bit like skipping stones, he thinks, watching the stone disappear from sight. Someone had to force him into that first blind date with you, much like making the first toss of the stone into the water, but every skip after that was quick, effortless, the way he felt himself falling for you, step by stumbling step, until his heart finally gave in and sank below the waves of your warmth.

It’s hard to imagine a time when he wasn’t in love with you, even though such a time did at one point exist. But the way you make him feel with the smallest things you do – the way you scrunch your eyebrows in confusion, the way you rest your chin on your hand in thought – it feels like he’s known you for an eternity and loved you even longer, loved you before time existed.

Your stone skips twice across the water and you shout with joy, racing up to Kevin to celebrate. He catches you when you leap at him, arms wrapping around your waist automatically, smiling into your shining face. Yes, he thinks, he’s in love.

He’s so in love with you.

. . . . .

Kevin, by all definitions of the word, is panicking.

He’s been dreading this blind date for almost a month now, circling the day on his calendar and marking it D-Day, begging Jacob and Changmin to come along and hide in case he needs to be bailed out, relentlessly praying that he’ll be able to leave the stupid date in one piece.

(Look, as much as he appreciates Mrs. Park’s kindness and her brownies, she can be… a little overbearing. To say the least.)

Just a few hours ago, he was putting on his yellow sweater and bemoaning the existence of his pushy coworker. Just a few hours ago, he was lamenting his fate to his two friends (friends is a term he will use loosely for today – all they did was laugh at him). Just a few hours ago, he was cursing the existence of Mrs. Park and her brownies for getting him locked into this date with her sister’s kid. Wait, was it her sister? Or her brother?

(“Yes, her sister,” Changmin says, rolling his eyes. “Pay more attention, won’t you, Kev?”

Kevin groans. “Why couldn’t either of you be chosen by Mrs. Park, huh? Why me?”

“Because I have a partner and Jacob is good at disappearing.” Changmin grins that evil, evil grin he always has on just before he’s about to execute a prank on someone (usually Kevin).

“More like the two of you are good at leaving me to fend for myself against Mrs. Park, even though you know I can’t say no to shit,” Kevin grumbles.

“Give up her brownies,” Jacob suggests.

Kevin gasps. “No way in hell.”)

But now, he’s actually sitting across from you in a café not too far from his apartment, holding a cup of coffee between his (visibly shaking) hands. And he can’t even think of why he was dreading this date so much because you’re just… really, really perfect.

Why are you so sweet? he’s screaming inside. Why are you so funny? Why are you literally the perfect mix of snark and kindness and just – everything?

“So my aunt told me you work with her,” you say, seemingly oblivious to Kevin’s jitters. The smile on your face is really sending electricity racing through his heart. “I know the children must be fun, but I know she can be a bit… overbearing.” There’s a hint of apology in your eyes, like you know your aunt must have pressured him into this and you’re sorry that he had to come on a date with you.

Kevin’s stomach flip-flops. Okay, so Mrs. Park maybe did severely pressure and sweetly blackmail Kevin into a blind date. But Kevin also doesn’t want you to feel bad for it because it’s not your fault at all, so as usual, when he finds himself in a tight spot, his mouth decides it’s time to run.

“No, your aunt is really nice,” he starts. “I really mean it – she’s always very kind to the kids and to the rest of us teachers. I’m still kind of new compared to the rest of them – I’ve only been at the school for a few years now – but she helped me feel welcome that first year when I was still figuring things out. And she also likes Beyonce! You know, the greatest female artist there is? She let me play my entire playlist of Beyonce songs for her last year and she liked every single one of them!”

Kevin’s babbling now. Rambling. Whatever he wants to call it. His brain is screaming for him to stop talking but his mouth won’t stop running because this is what he does when he’s nervous. He talks. Endlessly.

Out of the corner of his eye, he sees the table where Changmin and Jacob are situated in case they need to rescue him from mental or physical harm. The top of Changmin’s head is barely visible behind a huge menu so Kevin can barely see his friend, but somewhere in his babbling haze, he notices a phone camera poking out from behind the menu.

If he wasn’t blushing before, he definitely is now.

Finally, his mouth listens to his brain and he trails off on his last thought on why Beyonce is the best artist in the entire world. There’s a second of silence.

“Sorry,” Kevin finally squeaks. “I… tend to ramble when I get nervous. Or when I talk about Beyonce.”

Your smile flashes even wider. Kevin is torn between wanting to melt into the ground out of embarrassment and staying upright to keep seeing that grin on your face.

“Don’t be sorry,” you laugh, fiddling with your cup of coffee. “I thought it was cute.”

Kevin’s face burns so much that he misses what you say next. “Sorry?”

You grin. “I’m always interested in hearing about a new artist to add to my playlist.”

Kevin lets out a theatrical gasp. “You don’t have Beyonce in your music library?”

A sheepish look spreads across your face. “… No?”

“Oh my God.” Kevin pulls out his phone. “Okay, I’m about to educate you on the artist of our time.”

The afternoon, then, passes in a flash. Changmin and Jacob eventually just up and exit the café (presumably with enough blackmail to last the rest of Kevin’s life – he knows he was acting like a complete fool, but luckily, you didn’t seem to care), leaving him alone with you. Under any other circumstances, he probably would’ve started crying, but you’re so sweet and so interesting that Kevin thinks he could stay and talk to you in this café forever.

He learns you’re an oncologist at a nearby children’s hospital, that even though the work is hard and tiring and sometimes overwhelmingly depressing, the strength of the children and the families you work with inspire you to keep going every day. He learns that you don’t have too much of a sweet tooth (though you won’t say no to ice cream or cheesecake, both of which he notes in his head), he learns that you love coffee, and he learns that you like to take walks in the park whenever you have a little bit of free time.

He also learns that you’re snarky, intelligent, driven, hardworking. He learns that you’re something far beyond the beauty of your face – that underneath your skin, there’s a heart that’s warmer than the sun.

Kevin understands that this is only the first date and that he maybe shouldn’t be making judgments so quickly. But he’s been told that he’s a relatively good judge of character, and the genuine look in your eyes when you talks speaks volumes about the person deep inside.

Even though you live further away, Kevin takes the bus with you to your home, citing that it’s only polite to walk one’s date to the door (in reality, he just wants to spend a little more time with you). As the bus rattles along the road, Kevin lets you listen to the songs on his phone, delighting in the way your head bobs to the beat of his favorite tracks.

Kevin’s a bit sad when you reach your apartment, sad that your time together is over for the day. He lingers outside the building for a moment, trying to work up the courage to ask about a second date.

Suddenly, you lean forward. Kevin jerks back – he briefly wonders if you’re trying to kiss him – but you just pat a spot on his sweater, frowning slightly at your fingers. “Is that… paint?”

Oh my God.

Kevin tugs the material of his sweater forward so he can see the spot you’re pointing at. Sure enough, there’s a small patch of red paint on the yellow fuzz. He groans. “I didn’t even notice.”

“Well, that’s what people like us get for working with children.” You roll your eyes comically, and Kevin bursts into laughter that’s definitely too loud for the small joke you made. Then silence falls again.

You break it. “Listen, Kevin.”

He perks up. “Hmm?”

“I’ll admit, I wasn’t exactly looking forward to this date because my aunt has been trying to set me up with people my age for several years now.” For the first time today, you look shy. “She was probably really pushy with you too, so I’m sorry about that. But I really enjoyed this afternoon.” You meet Kevin’s eyes. “If you’d like, I’d love to go on a second date.”

Kevin’s heart explodes. It really does. Sheer excitement courses through his veins, and he has to stop himself from smiling widely enough to mimic a god damn clown. “I’d love that,” he says trying to hide how eager he really is. “Um, I’ll say that I wasn’t exactly looking forward to this either, mostly because my experience with blind dates has had… limited success. But I’m really glad I met you. You’re a wonderful person.”

Your smile grows wider at Kevin’s admission. “Thank you, Kevin. You’re wonderful too.”

“Do you kiss on the first date?” he blurts out because his brain has no filter. Then he backtracks. “Um, it’s totally okay if you don’t, I was just asking, please don’t think I’m a creep –”

You briefly press your lips to his. Kevin shuts up.

When you break away, Kevin honestly thinks you’re glowing. “Does that answer your question?” you ask, bravely trying to hide something – is that embarrassment? Whatever it is, he thinks it’s adorable.

Kevin blushes. “Yes.”

People probably think he’s insane with the way he’s smiling on the bus ride back to his apartment. He can’t help it, though – the tingling touch of your lips, gentle against his, plays over and over in his mind, along with memories of your lovely voice and your lovely smile and your lovely, lovely disposition. Some people are giving him weird looks, and Jacob and Changmin are sure to tease him to no end when he comes in to work tomorrow.

But who cares? Kevin’s got a second date in the works with one of the most wonderful people he’s ever met.

In his mind, he’s on top of the world.

. . . . .

ii.

Usually, when Kevin gets lucky and scores a second date or a third, he suggests taking his date somewhere with children to gauge how they feel about small toddlers tearing up the place. Children are a huge part of Kevin’s life – he teaches elementary school and knows he wants kids when he gets a bit older – so one of the silent standards he’s set for potential significant others is that they have to like and be good with children.

You work at a children’s hospital, Kevin knows, so you must at least be good with kids, even if you might not like them (hey, it’s possible – Kevin has known many people who are good at things they hate). That fulfills half of the standard. He just needs to gauge the other half.

There aren’t many events at the school coming up, though – no plays, no art exhibitions, nothing he can really invite you to. He’s racking his brains for a third date somehow involving children when you unexpectedly call him about an event at the hospital.

“I know it’s last minute,” you apologize profusely, “but the guy who was supposed to come today for the kids’ music hour called in sick. I don’t want to cancel the event because they always look forward to it and I know you play the piano – would it be possible for you to fill in?”

It is possible, it turns out. He may not be able to pack his Yamaha upright into the back of your car, but he does have an electronic keyboard that fits into your trunk. The whole way there, you’re apologizing, but between reassurances that it’s totally fine, Kevin can’t help but anticipate how you’ll act around the children once the two of you arrive.

Setting up takes more time than he’d like (the extension cord that comes with his keyboard is too short, so you disappear on a twenty-minute manhunt for a longer one while Kevin just stands there awkwardly), which makes him feel slightly like a burden on the rest of your coworkers. They’re so polite, though, so genuine and kind, that Kevin eventually starts to feel more at ease.

(He’s still endlessly grateful when you return, extension cord clasped victoriously in one hand.)

Then the kids start trickling in, and Kevin’s heart immediately both breaks and melts. Some are in wheelchairs, others have lost their hair, but they’re all smiling with so much excitement, chattering to their parents and the staff around them as they settle on beanbags and pillows on the floor. Several look at him curiously and he smiles at them, prompting several questions about who he is, why there’s a keyboard and not a guitar, and why the normal guy isn’t here.

“The usual guy got sick and couldn’t come,” Kevin says to one sweet girl with chubby cheeks and shining eyes. “I’m just here to replace him for a day.”

“Do you play the piano?” she asks, shyly pointing at the keyboard, which more than a few curious souls are standing around.

Kevin smiles. “Yes, I do.” He would say more, maybe offer to show her the instrument a little, but then you’re walking over, and her eyes brighten. “Dr. L/N!” she cheers.

With a loud laugh, you swoop her up carefully, cradling the girl against your shoulder. “How are you, Daeun?” you ask, lips spread in a smile that Kevin knows can’t be faked.

The girl – Daeun – grins. “I’ve been good!” she announces proudly. “Are we going to start soon?”

You laugh again, settling her back down on the floor. Kevin thinks his heart melts with the way your eyes sparkle. “Yes, we are,” you say. “I see you’ve already met Kevin?”

“Your name is Kevin?” Daeun looks at him curiously. “Your name is strange.”

Kevin has to force himself not to coo. “I was born in Canada,” he says. “My Korean name is Hyungseo.”

Daeun’s nose scrunches. “I like Kevin more,” she decides with finality.

Kevin feels brave enough to pat her on the head. “Then you can call me Kevin.”

“All right, Daeun. Go find your mom, okay? Kevin and I are going to finish setting up, and then we’ll get started.” With a soft kiss on the forehead (Kevin makes a sound he really hopes you don’t hear – the scene is just too adorable), you send the small girl off, turning back to Kevin. “Shall we get started?” you ask, grinning widely.

It may only be the third date, but he’s falling in love, Kevin thinks, falling in love with your shining face and sparkling eyes, with the way you shower love upon the children you’ve placed under your care. Right now, you’re everything he’s ever wanted in a future partner – beautiful in character, kind, gentle, fiercely loving.

His heart pounds a little faster.

Belatedly, Kevin realizes you’re waiting for a response and nods quickly. “Yeah,” he breathes, eyes glancing over the sea of children waiting (somewhat) patiently. A smile to rival yours spreads across his face. “Let’s get started.”

. . . . .

iii.

Kevin loves the last Friday of every month, he really does. It’s been tradition for several years now to go out with Changmin and Jacob on what he calls nights for “the boyz” to eat cheap food and get drunk. And no matter how much the others complain about the stupid name (Kevin will admit it sounds stupid now, but that doesn’t mean he’ll change it), he knows they enjoy the nights all the same.

Sometimes, though, Kevin just wishes he had more of a filter on his mouth. If not that, then maybe his brain could stop remembering every single dumb thing he said or did on drunk nights out. It would make his life a lot easier if he could just forget being stupid.

But no, God decided to be mean when making Kevin Moon. So Kevin, as a result, is an emotional drunk. He cries a lot when he hears about sad or adorable things, he says a lot of stupid stuff to (badly) express his overwhelming feelings, and worst of all, he remembers all of it when he wakes up hungover the next morning.

(None of this stops him from getting drunk anyway. Kevin Moon doesn’t learn lessons when it comes to alcohol. When he falls on his face (sometimes literally), he just gets up again, even if it’s with a bloody nose.)

Luckily, the night doesn’t end in chaos. Even though Jacob, who’s half of Kevin’s impulse control, leaves after an hour (he’s meeting with his family the next day, so Kevin is obligated call him a noob – it’s like a law of physics or something), Changmin doesn’t seem to be in the mood to do weird things without Jacob there to stop him, so the night passes relatively smoothly without Kevin throwing, like, a tantrum or anything.

He gets close, though. Because damn, if Changmin isn’t so fucking adorable when talking about his partner. Buried in his purple hoodie, black hair peeking softly over the top, it’s impossible for Kevin not to tear up when Changmin begins gushing over his beautiful, amazing, wonderful significant other whom he just compared to stardust.

Stardust.

Kevin wants to scream, that’s so romantic.

When you come to pick him and Changmin up, Kevin can’t resist relaying all of this to you as soon as he gets in the car. Vaguely, he thinks he should be worried about Changmin hearing it and hitting him, but the boy is mostly asleep in the back, eyes only fluttering slightly when you go over a bump or something. After Changmin gets dropped off at his apartment, Kevin turns the gushing on full force.

“Y/N, the love of my life, he called her stardust,” he’s still babbling even as you strongarm him up to his own apartment. “He’s so adorable. Changmin is so adorable. Oh my God.”

He thinks you snort. Probably. It would be a normal response. “Didn’t you call him the spawn of Satan just a few days ago?”

Definitely a snort, Kevin thinks, but he’s too invested in Changmin’s loveliness to whine about you making fun of him. “Y/N,” he pouts instead, “listen to meeeeee.”

“I’m listening, I’m listening.” You grunt, catching him just as he misses the next step and almost falls forward. “Hey, be careful.”

“’M trying.” Kevin manfully does his best to stop the world from tilting on its side. “But Changminnie.”

“Yes, yes, Changminnie.” Even drunk, Kevin can make out the playful exasperation in your voice. “Keep going.”

“Thank you, love of my life.” Kevin tries to give you a kiss but his lips hit air instead of your cheek. “Heck.”

You burst into loud laughter. “Kevin Moon, you never told me you were this adorable when drunk.”

“Changminnie,” he says more insistently.

“Okay, yes, I’m listening.” You kiss his cheek instead, and Kevin almost topples over right then and there. “Hey, you can’t fall over whenever I kiss you. Tell me about Changmin.”

Kevin starts flailing his arms around as best he can. “He’s so cute!” he half-yells. “He told me his partner was like stardust because she’s so perfect and warm, but she’s also like stardust because… because…”

His lip juts out.

“Oh, no, don’t cry, Kev.” You stop moving, then Kevin registers you bundling him into a hug, patting his head. “I know you’re a sad emotional drunk, but don’t cry.”

“Not crying,” Kevin protests, visibly crying.

“Mhm.” You pat his head one last time before letting go. “Hey, give me a second, I’m going to unlock your door.”

There’s some fumbling and a quiet snick, then Kevin obediently follows you through the door of his apartment. Once inside, you press a thumb to the side of his face, brushing a tear away. “Tell me what Changmin said to make you sad.”

“Changminnie said he’s afraid she’ll… she’ll… slip away between his fingers. Like stardust.” Kevin feels like he’s going to start sobbing any moment now. “He’s afraid she’s going to leave him eventually because she’s too perfect and he’s not good enough.”

“Oh my God.” You sit down on the couch. Kevin follows suit, albeit a lot more ungracefully as he collapses onto a cushion in a tangle of limbs. “Oh my God, that’s so sad and cute at the same time.”

“I said he should call her his star,” Kevin mumbles, turning slightly so he can burrow into your side. “Because stardust. Texted them about it. Both of them.”

Your laugh sounds like music even to the drunken haze of his brain. “Wonder what they’ll think when they see a drunken keysmash on their phones first thing tomorrow morning.”

The two of you sit in silence for a bit. Kevin feels his eyes beginning to get droopy, and he almost falls asleep before a thought strikes him with lightning force.

“I need to give you a nickname!” he almost yells, sitting bolt upright. The movement makes the room spin, but he doesn’t care. This is urgent. “Changmin’s going to call her his star, but I haven’t given you a nickname yet!”

“Kev, Kev.” You hold him by the shoulders, and he relaxes a little. “You can come up with a nickname for me in the morning. Right now, I think you need to sleep.”

“No,” he whines, shifting in your grip. “This is important. You need a nickname.” He sinks into deep, drunken thoughts, the kinds of thoughts he has when he ignores everything around him in favor of getting philosophical after having drunk too much alcohol.

Then it hits him.

“Oh my God,” he gasps. “Oh my God.” It’s his turn to grab you by the shoulders, now. “Oh my God. You’re the sun. Because I’m the moon. Get it? Kevin Moon?”

Through his drunken haze, Kevin thinks he sees you smile, maybe. It looks like a smile.

Your eyes are sparkling. You look happy.

Probably a smile.

“I’m a genius,” he whispers. A genius for coming up with the nickname and for making you happy.

“Sure, Kevin.” You grunt a little as he shifts his weight. “Come on, get up. We’ll see if you’re still a genius tomorrow if you wake up and remember all of this.”

Kevin doesn’t register much for the rest of the night, just remembers falling into his bed and forcing you to lie down next to him. The next morning, he wakes up with a throbbing headache and the vague, ever-present worry that he said something stupid last night.

You’re not in the bed with him anymore. Kevin blinks once, twice, before trying to sit up so to figure out where you went. Then he remembers you don’t live here. You probably went home.

Which is why he nearly goes into cardiac arrest when you appear in his doorway, holding a mug of coffee and a glass of water.

For a moment, the two of you just stare at each other. Kevin’s not sure what thoughts are running through your head, but he knows he’s trying to piece together what happened last night, and whether or not he should be hiding under the covers out of embarrassment.

Then it hits him.

Sun.

Moon.

Genius.

Oh, God.

Kevin wants to die.

“Morning, sunshine,” he says, using your new nickname in the desperate hope that it’ll distract you from remembering the rest of what he said last night.

A catlike smirk curls your lips as you walk over, pressing the glass of water into his hands. A feeling of dread fills Kevin’s heart as he takes it.

“Morning, genius,” you say with enough evil delight to power Changmin for a year.

Kevin groans. “I was drunk.”

“Yeah, I noticed.” Your teasing smile melts into something gentler as you place your mug on the bedside table, turning to bring the glass of water in his hands to his lips. “Coffee’s mine, don’t touch it or I’ll break a bone. Drink the water. I made some breakfast, so come into the kitchen whenever you feel up to it. After you’ve brushed your teeth.”

Warmth courses through Kevin’s body, and it has nothing to do with the alcohol from last night and everything to do with how you’re here in body and mind, sweetly helping him recover from a stupid hangover even when it’s definitely not your problem to take care of and you probably have better things to do. His heart thumps, loud enough that he thinks you could probably hear it.

In this moment, Kevin doesn’t think he’s ever been more grateful for anything than you coming into his life.

“Got it.” He awkwardly tries to salute, but he does it with the hand holding the glass and the water nearly spills onto the bed. As his cheeks flush, you break into snorting giggles.

Even though it’s at his expense, Kevin thinks he would do anything, anything in the world, to keep that wonderful smile on your face and that musical laughter in the air.

. . . . .

iv.

Only when you move in together does Kevin realize just how taxing your job is. He had an idea from when you sometimes had to cancel or move around dates, but when you did meet up, you were usually energetic and cheerful. Of course, there were the token dates where you just came over to Kevin’s apartment or he came over to yours and you just flopped around for a few hours. Outside, though, you always showed a bright face.

But that was because dates were mostly on your days off or when your hours were short, and as a result, you felt good enough, energized enough to show Kevin your brilliant smile. When you first moved in together, Kevin felt a bit surprised – well, maybe not surprised, but saddened – that you didn’t have the energy to smile as brightly as he saw before.

It’s fine by Kevin, though. You smile often enough, and if your teeth don’t show as much as they used to, there’s something beautiful, something calming and sweet in the slower curve of your lips, the gentle, lethargic way you lean up for a kiss. After all, Kevin has enough energy to compensate for when you might lack some of yours.

(It helps that he can cook, he thinks. Even when the kids at school sometimes wear him out, the brief sparkle in your eye that spreads across your lips when you walk through the door to see him stirring something on the stove is more than enough to make up for it.)

You’re cute, too, when you’re tired. Though Kevin loves it when you’re energetic and ready for whatever the day has decided to throw in your path, there’s something so peaceful, so pleasant about feeling you lying lethargically against his side on the couch, scrolling through your phone or reading a book or just resting, doing nothing but breathing softly. Kevin cherishes those small moments, the soft atmosphere where he kisses your hair and you smile, reach up, and press a kiss of your own to his cheek.

Tonight is one of those nights, a night of soft, comforting silence, words few and far between. It’s been a bit warm lately, so Kevin’s elected to wear one of the tank tops he keeps for the warmer months instead of his usual sweater.

You sit next to him on the couch, back pressed to his side as you send off emails on your phone. Kevin’s working too, inputting grades on his laptop. He hums a little under his breath to take his mind off of the monotony of his task.

At some point, you finish, putting down your phone with a sigh and slumping into his ribs. Kevin starts at the sudden movement. “Sunshine,” he whines, even though he could really care less.

“Moon boy,” you parrot in the same tone of voice.

Kevin’s attention turns back to his laptop, so he barely registers you shifting on the couch to a new position. He does notice it, though, when your fingers start trailing along his skin, exposed by the lack of sleeves on his tank top, because your touch tickles.

You completely ignore his resulting twitch of surprise, only keep tracing the skin of his rib cage. Kevin looks down, confused as to what’s caught your attention.

Oh. His tattoos.

“Sunshine?” he asks softly, watching your fingers shift along his skin.

“Mm,” you hum, eyes still fixated on the ink decorating his side.

“Sleepy?”

Slowly, you shake your head, fingers paused on the image of Mickey Mouse. “Not yet.”

He goes back to inputting grades, all the while still aware of your fingers tracing the lines, the curls, the swirls of black ink along his side. When he finishes, he looks over before closing his laptop to see your eyes still focused on his skin.

Something in his heart explodes, spreading a tingly, comforting warmth throughout his body. It’s a feeling he’s come to associate with your presence, a feeling of absolute security, absolute trust, absolute warmth that comes with falling in love with you.

You look up, noticing his lack of movement. “Finished, moonbeams?”

“First moon boy, now moonbeams?” Kevin teases you lightly, picking up the hand you were using to trace his skin and pressing a soft kiss to your knuckles. Just like every other time he’s ever done it, a wide smile spreads across your face and a shyness sparkles in your eyes, as though you still can’t believe the bliss of the moment.

(At least, that’s what Kevin feels every time you do something to remind him that he’s yours.)

Your voice breaks into his thoughts. “Can’t call you moonshine, that’s an alcohol.” You shrug as best as you can in your stretched-out position. “Moonbeams, moon boy… whatever feels right.”

Kevin puts his laptop on the coffee table. As he leans back into the couch, you curl up into him, one hand still lingering against the Mickey Mouse tattoo on his side. “Tell me about these?” you ask, pressing your fingers a bit more firmly against the ink.

His tattoos are personal, serving as reminders of the past and inspiration to keep moving. Rarely does he share their meanings with anyone (not that people usually ask, because the tattoos are mostly covered by his clothes), and only with those who mean the world to him.

Kevin thinks you qualify as one of them.

Touching your shoulders, he turns you around slightly, just enough to press a short, sweet kiss to the top of your head. “Of course, sunshine.” He smiles, gazing into your eyes, feeling the warmth of your love travel through his limbs. “Which one first?”

. . . . .

Kevin Moon, for the majority of his life, has hovered in between being classified as a morning person or a night owl. Yes, he gets up at six in the morning for a cup of coffee, but he also stays up past midnight doing… stuff. Grading, writing reports, watching cat videos, wasting time.

(When Changmin judges his lifestyle, Kevin just reminds him that he fell in love with his roommate’s hookup and is on a dance team with the parent of one of his students.)

Honestly, if Kevin didn’t remind himself every so often that he’s currently a full adult, his lifestyle would make him think he was still in college. He certainly still acts like it when he isn’t working. Procrastinating? Check. Crying over reports he needs to submit at three a.m.? Check. Flopping around on the floor when life is going badly? Check.

And most importantly: nonexistent sleep schedule? Check.

You put a stop to that real quick when you move in, both directly and indirectly. Directly, you make an appointment for him at a sleep clinic after figuring out his shitty sleep patterns, and Kevin finds out he probably has mild insomnia. The aftermath is horrible – you put him on a strict sleep schedule and all but ban caffeine from his diet (goodbye, morning coffee) – but it helps, after a couple of weeks. He sleeps better. Perks of having a partner who works in medicine.

Indirectly, though, you probably make a bigger difference.

See, the way Kevin thinks about it, he just never had a lot of reasons to stay in bed very long. Even though he appreciates sleep, really appreciates it on long days, it’s just that he can’t really force it if it doesn’t want to come. He’d also rather be doing something productive (or not productive, depends on the asker’s perspective) than lying awake for hours, anyway.

But now that he’s waking up to a face he loves?

Well, even if you sometimes disappear before he wakes (hospital hours are whack as hell, but sadly, you can’t ignore your job), Kevin will just say your warmth is a powerful incentive to stay huddled under the covers, even if he can’t fall back asleep.

He still wakes up every morning to grey light beginning to peek through the window. No matter how hard he tries to sleep in just a little longer, his body can’t seem to stay unconscious past six in the morning, so both of you have just resigned yourselves to the fact that Kevin will always be an early riser.

Before you walked into his life, he would’ve rolled out of bed almost immediately, stumbled to the bathroom (and maybe knocked his knee against the doorframe, who knows), then started brewing coffee in the kitchen to start the day.

Now?

A drowsy smile begins to make its way across Kevin’s face, soft as the morning light, when his brain catches up to the present and he registers your warmth under the covers. Sleepily, he blinks, taking in the sight of your peaceful face buried halfway in the sheets.

You shouldn’t look this beautiful, Kevin thinks, not with your hair strewn all over the pillow, blankets rumpled around your shoulders, arms outstretched so that one sort of curls over his body while the other is held up to your chest. It’s the morning – no one should look pretty and put-together. That isn’t natural.

(Unless you happy to be Kim Younghoon, but that’s another story.)

Yet you somehow look like a sleeping deity in Kevin’s mind, even with your hair a mess and drool drying on the pillowcase. As the drowsiness clears from his eyes, as the light from the window grows brighter, Kevin can barely even think of moving, of disturbing your peace.

He dislikes your alarm. It’s loud, annoying, and hits him with a jolt when he’s just trying to take these stolen morning moments to admire your beauty. When he complains about it the first time, you tell him to serve as the alarm, to wake you up himself.

Kevin counters that he’s an artist, that he needs peace and quiet to give beauty of such a degree the respect it deserves. You just roll your eyes, telling him that if he isn’t going to wake you up, the alarm’s going to have to take that job. The smile on your face, though, and the brief kiss you press to his lips right after, speaks volumes for the emotions Kevin’s words make you feel.

(He loves flustering you like this, even if you pretend his words don’t make you feel some sort of way.)

So eventually, you wake, eyes fluttering as the alarm brings you back to the conscious plane. Kevin’s heart feels like it’s bursting when your eyes fully open, blearily blinking at the world.

“Morning, sunshine,” he whispers, running one hand through your hair.

You lean slightly into the touch, the corners of your lips twitching up. And every day, as he stares into your sleepy eyes, lips curling as you whisper a quiet “Morning, moon boy” in reply, Kevin knows he’s falling, falling in love with every part of you.

. . . . .

+i.

Kevin’s waiting in front of the school when you pull up at the curb. Smiling apologetically, he gives you a quick kiss on the cheek as you step out of the car. “Sorry, sunshine.” He gestures at the two small boys standing beside him, absorbed in their own world. “Their uncle’s running late and Changmin and Jacob have things to do, so I need to wait for Sangyeon to pick them up before we can go.”

“No worries.” You return the kiss, smiling as bright as the sun. Kevin feels a flash of pride for coming up with a nickname that fits you so well. “We have the whole afternoon, don’t we?”

“That, we do.” He grins, squeezing your hand.

“Mr. Moon, who’s that?” a small voice asks closer to the ground. The two of you turn to see Sunwoo and Eric trotting over, curious looks on their faces.

Kevin looks over at you, but you’re already bending down to get to eye level with the two boys. “Oh, hello!” Your grin, if possible, grows wider. “I’m Y/N, Kevin’s significant other. What are your names?”

“I’m Eric,” Eric pipes up. “This is my brother, Sunwoo.”

Sunwoo just stares with round eyes. Well, he’s always been the shyer of the two.

“Those are lovely names,” you reply smoothly, giving Sunwoo an encouraging smile. Kevin feels his heart melt completely at how well you interact with the kids. “I’m just going to be waiting with Kevin until your uncle picks you up, is that okay?”

The two kids nod and immediately go back to babbling in their own little world. Kevin notices the fond smile on your face, and his heart melts even more.

“They’re so cute,” you whisper to him.

“I know, right?” Kevin clutches his heart dramatically. “Can you imagine teaching them every day?”

Just as you’re shaking your head in comic disbelief, another car pulls up behind yours. A harried-looking young man quickly exits and Eric and Sunwoo cheer, distracted by the arrival of their uncle.

“Sorry about this,” Sangyeon says, absentmindedly patting Eric’s head as the boy hugs his leg. Sunwoo seems to be attempting to climb onto his uncle’s back. “Traffic wasn’t the kindest when I was getting out of work.” Then he notices you. “Oh, hello. Are you Kevin’s partner?”

“That I am.” You stick out a hand. “I’m Y/N, and I’ve been told you’re Sangyeon?”

Sangyeon nods, smiling. “Nice to meet you. And to see that Kevin’s found someone to deal with his antics.”

Kevin blushes as you laugh. “Hey,” he complains. “No jokes at my expense, please.”

“Sure, moonbeams.” You roll your eyes, then turn back to Sangyeon. “It’s nice to meet you. Your nephews are adorable.”

The smile that Sangyeon gives the two boys clambering around him says it all. “They are, aren’t they?” He checks his watch. “I’m sorry, I have to go now. My sister’s expecting us back soon, and I’m already a bit late.”

Kevin breathes a sigh of relief. No more teasing at his expense from Sangyeon, at least, though there’s no guarantee from you. “Nice seeing you, Sangyeon. And have a good day, kids.”

A small chorus of “You too, Mr. Moon!” sounds, and Kevin expects that to be the end. Sangyeon will herd the boys into the car, Kevin will follow you into yours, and then you’ll go your separate ways. What he doesn’t expect is for Sunwoo to look out at you from behind his uncle’s leg, round eyes cautiously curious, and ask you a question.

“Y/N?”

Immediately, you turn around, teasing smirk melting into a gentle smile for the small boy. “Yes, Sunwoo?”

Sunwoo’s eyes dart between you and Kevin. Then, softly, shyly – “Do you love Mr. Moon?”

Time seems to stop as Kevin’s breath hitches in his throat at the sudden question, but you only look back at him, eyes soft and sparkling in the sunlight.

Your answer glitters in your gaze.

Though you’re supposed to be talking to Sunwoo, your eyes stay fixed on Kevin, strong and unyielding, yet gentle and affectionate, as you answer. Your voice is soft when you reply. “Yes, Sunwoo. I do love him.” The smile on your face grows wider as you turn back to the child. “I love him very much.”

Indescribable warmth floods Kevin’s chest and tears prick his eyes. And as Sangyeon hurries his nephews away, as you turn around to unlock your car, one truth burns with absolute, crystal-clear certainty in his mind.

He isn’t falling in love with you, not anymore. No, he’s far past that stage.

Kevin Moon is completely, wholly, irrevocably in love with you.

“Kevin?” You look at him from the other side of the car. “You coming?”

A wide grin spreads across his face as he meets your sparkling eyes. Love blooms in his chest.

“Coming, sunshine.”

If you enjoyed, please don’t forget to reblog and leave a comment to tell me what you thought! Thank you for reading and have a lovely day <3

(1 reblog = 1 prayer for kevin’s whipped ass ksjdkgsdhjk)

210 notes · View notes

thecrownnet · 3 years

Link

Congratulations to Adriano Goldman , ASC, BSC, ABC, Director Of Photography, for his Creative Arts Emmy win OUTSTANDING CINEMATOGRAPHY FOR A SINGLE-CAMERA SERIES (ONE HOUR) for season 4 episode 3 ‘Fairytale’ on September 11, 2021. Here are his insights on filming the episode with director Benjamin Caron.

‘The Crown’ Used Lighting and Composition to Trap Its Characters Inside a ‘Fairytale’

Director Benjamin Caron and cinematographer Adriano Goldman discuss how they destroyed Diana and Charles’ marriage before it even began.

Behind the Scenes of “The Crown” Season 4, Episode 3 Photo: Netflix

Over “The Crown’s” four seasons, the halls of Buckingham Palace have become familiar visual signifiers for both the grandeur and the pressure placed upon the royal family. But in the third episode of this most recent season, “Fairytale,” cinematographer Adriano Goldman and director Benjamin Caron stretched the limits of the show’s visual language to create — and then to destroy — Princess Diana’s (Emma Corrin) fairytale fantasies.

Much of the episode is given over to Diana slowly realizing that, like many princesses stuck in a castle before her, she has fallen into a trap. But Goldman and Caron opened up the ways they shoot their Buckingham Palace sets to show how the demands of the Crown consume everyone on the eve of the fateful marriage.

They force the jaws of the trap open wide with a pre-credits sequence of Diana’s night out with her friends after Charles (Josh O’Connor) proposes to her. The scene is a departure in every sense, not just to the swank ’80s members’ club that Diana frequents.

“You try to deliver something that is more romantic, a little bit more colorful, fun to start,” Goldman said of the sequence in an interview with IndieWire. “We wanted to not change the style too much, but there should be a transition from a very colorful pre-title sequence, a very interesting and more romantic beginning.”

That romance is on full display, most noticeably in the brighter, guadier colors of the club and much warmer tones of Diana’s Earl’s Court flat. But Goldman’s camera also interposes itself almost as a fourth (slightly intoxicated) friend, swinging around inside the girls’ cab to get a look at both Diana and Buckingham Palace, or flinging itself down onto the bed with the girls at the end of the night. The look of the sequence stands in contrast to the stately shots and slow tracks which are the show’s normal rhythm for everyone in the royal family. Well, for everyone in the royal family except maybe Princess Margaret (Helena Bonham-Carter), who gets to dance by a pool every now and again.

“We really considered how we could reverse [that fairytale opening] and be very present with her, and [how we could] make her feel young, actually. Part of this is she’s a young girl going into the palace,” Caron said.

Caron and Goldman gave the audience several visual signifiers that are easy to clock in this sequence, as well as Diana’s goodbyes to her friends that follows: the gold and neon hues of the night out, the warm, eye-level close-ups of Diana dancing in the club, and a signature spiral staircase Diana descends to begin her life as a princess.

Over the course of the episode, these colors will fade. The close-ups inch slightly above Diana’s eyeline, so that it feels like the camera, along with the rest of the Royals, is looking down on her. And when a spiral staircase reappears, it will lead to Diana’s lowest point.

“The Crown” Season 4, Ep. 3 “The Fairytale” Screenshot

With Diana ushered inside Buckingham Palace to shield her from the press in the run-up to her and Charles’ wedding, Caron and Goldman emphasized how small and vulnerable Diana looks inside the palace walls. The opening of “Fairytale” had a long shot of the club, and Diana fit snugly within it. Once inside Buckingham Palace, the negative space often overwhelms Diana, and the camera backs away to show just how alone she truly is, perhaps best exemplified in the scene of her grandmother (Georgie Glen) physically tying her up while instructing her in how to speak like a royal.

Caron and Goldman deliberately call back to the romance of the opening to twist the knife, having Diana dance ballet inside the palace and then try to break out of the regimented structure of it as the pressure on her mounts. “I remember sort of holding the frame and I remember the camera operator was trying to follow us, but [I said no,] just hold the frame static and let her move in and around it,” Caron said. “So it really felt like someone trying to break out [of] somewhere.”

But of course, the camera never does let her leave the frame. Unlike the quick, fun cuts of Diana dancing in the club, there is no pressure release here. There is nowhere for Diana to go.

“The Crown” Season 4, Ep. 3 “The Fairytale” Screenshot

Caron wanted to use visual features that would feel right at home in a Disney princess story to their most punishing effect and perhaps the most powerful one of these motifs reoccurs when “The Crown” has Diana descend another spiral staircase. “[Ben] was very specific about this spiral because she’s going down on a spiral emotionally,” Goldman said of the shot that leads Diana down to the kitchen, a moment of late night desperation that kicks off her eating disorder. “He didn’t want to follow her on the steps, like on a steadicam. He wanted [the camera to be] facing down and going down with her to the very bottom of her feelings and her emotions.”

Caron described it as going to the “bottom of a well,” once Diana enters the kitchens and becomes enveloped in darkness — except for the fluorescent blues of the refrigerator lights, which makes the space feel like a morgue. This strong use of color, like all the changes in the episode, is grounded in the reality of whatever space Diana finds herself in. But the emotion and, indeed, the foreshadowing that Caron and Goldman are able to imbue those spaces with give Diana’s spiral real visual potency and a visceral sadness.

“The Crown” Season 4, Ep. 3 “The Fairytale” Screenshot

What is so thrilling about “Fairytale” is that it spares no one. Two striking scenes toward the end of the episode don’t have Diana in them at all, and yet push the series’ visual language to show how the palace and this marriage will swallow the characters who have been there all along.

In the first of these, Margaret tries to persuade Elizabeth, the Queen Mother (Marion Bailey), and Philip (Tobias Menzies) to call off the wedding. Caron wanted the scene to have a “conspiratorial, almost a Jacobian feel” to highlight the cold, businesslike calculations these four people are making for the happiness of two others.

“I remember saying to Adriano,’no no no, let’s go darker,” Caron said of this sequence and the next one. Goldman also recalled the desire to push the scene even further visually, lighting characters at harsh, dynamic angles or in almost complete shadow, so that the scene would feel spiritually closer to “The Godfather” than to the show’s usual style. The comparison is apt, given the mahogany browns and greens of the sitting room and the firelight that Goldman and Caron used to emphasize shadows falling into the crags on the characters’ faces. Vito Corleone could easily be sitting in a corner of one of those frames.

“The Crown” Season 4, Ep. 3 “The Fairytale” Screenshot

The next scene — when Elizabeth goes to find Charles and offer him a final few words on his marriage — Caron and Goldman viewed as a way to visually crystalize their relationship and how it is marred by their obligations to the monarchy. “Wouldn’t it be painful if you had Charles looking out the window and he felt the reflections of the fireworks and the noise and the celebrations outside?” Caron said about how he started conceiving of the blocking and framing of the exchange between mother and son. Each cinematic choice builds from a sense of what would be more painful, what would put more strain on the relationship.

“The Crown” Season 4, Ep. 3 “The Fairytale” Screenshot

The filmmakers created this visual strain between Queen and Crown Prince not just by keeping them at opposite sides in the composition, but by keeping one of the pair always just out of focus in the shots with the two of them — they can’t even occupy the same level of detail in the frame. Color plays a role, too, with bright blues and reds from the fireworks, reflections of the Union Jack, always being part of the light through which the audience sees the resigned sadness on Colman’s face and the abject misery on O’Connor’s. Goldman said this is the scene where he realizes he will never escape the system of the monarchy. “He realizes it’s too late. It’s a trap. He’s been trapped.”

“It always comes back to the Crown,” Caron said, and it is really from the perspective of the Crown itself that we watch the characters prepare to head to church on the day of the wedding. When the audience finally sees Diana in her dress, she faces away from the camera and moves into that oppressive cavernous space which has put so much pressure on her throughout the episode. It’s a slow, almost funereal march toward the fate the audience already knows awaits her. Charles, on the other hand, gets the close-up this time. But the camera, with equal grimness, tracks slightly down and in, so that his face begins to loom over the frame, making him look monstrous.

“The Crown” Season 4, Ep. 3 “The Fairytale” Screenshot

Of course by now, the visual choices that Caron and Goldman made for “Fairytale” have taught the viewer that there is another monster, a much more powerful one, looming over the episode’s final frame: The Crown is the monster that always gets you in the end.

#emma corrin #josh o'connor #princess diana #the crown netflix #the crown #emmy awards 2021 #cinematography #adriano goldman #the crown season 4 #thecrownnet

39 notes · View notes

yostresswritinggirl · 4 years

Note

I like Venti so much. Best boy.

How would Venti feel about an S/O with synesthasia. The ability to hear color. One day she goes to him performing on the street with a sketchpap and shows him what he sounds like.

My, my, look who it is. The person who started it all, and ending it. It's amusing how this came full circle and of course you bring me such an interesting yet difficult prompt *balls fist, shakes at sky*

I had a lot of time to think about this and I feel it was still so hard to make. And there's so many variants and uniqueness to each case so this will be a wild ride. But this marks the end of this special event and on to a new one, and I thank you especially for being with me through it!

This fic made me realize I need a better Venti banner lololol

Ethereal Hues

Venti with a Reader with Synesthesia (Specifically, the ability to see sounds)

The wind-borne bard fancies audiences that sings along, that joins him in his merry tunes. He knows faces, distinguishes them, reads their responses. If it was unorthodox tales he sang, he would laugh at the predicted angry churns. If it were awesome tales of adventures, Venti would bask in the glory of awe and cheers.

And so he finds you to be the most peculiar individual he has ever audienced. You stand in the back far away from the crowd as you carry with you a notebook. Based on the way you steal glances to him whenever he performs out in public and the way your hands moved, you were definitely sketching him, yet you paid no such expression for his songs the same way the others did. And he was sure you were no deaf individual.

He had been intrigued since day one, and he had been so even at the third. When he wishes to come to you, he would always find you packing up immediately after his performances, and he would be swept aside by the task at hand: getting his share of Mora for a fantastic performance.

You were only there for his music, and your interest seem to disappear the moment the music is lost.

So slowly he would adjust his schedule, making it so his songs linger longer, his notes stretching out more just to keep you there in his vision for longer. And yet whenever he privies himself to have caught your attention, it seems as tho you were not really interested at him: even if the distance between you were great, he knows you were looking through him.

This game of cat and mouse had stretched out to seven days.

You managed to attend every tale the bard tells within the walls of Mondstadt but never have you stepped foot inside the tavern of Angel’s Share when he would perform late at night. With this discovery, he doesn’t bother to try lure you out from there, opting to skip performing in the tavern.

Much to Diluc’s surprise. It had gone so that the bartender himself asked if things were not looking great for the bard, but he was met by a smug and conniving smile, that he was quick to smack the shit out of and never bother about again.

Every time the bard wishes to approach you after the last string of his lyre is plucked, he was blocked by the crowd or pulled by a child, enough to render him unmoving, enough of a timeframe for you to disappear. You would think it was you purposely evading the bard’s advances but the way you move and act doesn’t seem like you were running away or in a hurry, more so, you look more disappointed that the festivities had to end every time.

A week of disappointments had led Venti to play his sorrows to his lyre under the tree at Windrise. It was a tune that no one in the public eye has seen him play and he was content in indulging on his own misery.

“Eyes from the fountain bench, of a longing stare had whence.

Slip between thy grasp, even as I call out through a rasp.”

“Ah, a different one this time,” he’d almost fallen out of the branch he was hanging by when a voice suddenly spoke out from beneath the tree’s shade. And there you are in all your glory, an amused expression in your face as you watch the Anemo wielder catch himself before gracefully flying down in front of you in disbelief. “Hello.”

“Hi!” He squeaked out before clearing his throat, adjusting his posture to reflect his usual composed facade with that wide grin.

“The colors brought me here, but I didn’t expect you to be the one producing them.” He watched you fumble with the familiar sketchbook in your hand, his muse in his curiousities right in front of him nonchalantly, as if fate had not been trying its best to separate them for the past week. "With the collection complete, I can finally show you the whole thing!" You practically shoved the pad to his face, forcing him to step back.

And there he saw the most ethereal painting he had seen of himself. His lone form in front of the statue where he usually plays, there in his company were streaks of light blue, reminiscent of Barbara's elemental skill. He clutches the pad for a better look as he notices more blots of complementary colors littered in ecstatic manners. Below, the words 'glee' was written in dark cursive.

Next page had warmer colors, that wrapped around him like silk and satin which would then plunge to the floor like cold white mist. This one was labelled 'Comfort.'

There were four more illustrations that depict numerous vibes of his tunes whenever he had performed, and paired with it comes different colors and patterns. Each one was more detailed than the last and with new vigor he was more than eager to see the next ones—

And then the last one was the latest, where he was once singing his odes and woes from the tree's branches. Yet this one holds a different gesture to it and he sucks in the details with a faraway gaze. Black, gray and navy blue hang like curtain as it seemingly seeps from his flesh, tangling into a weightless form before diverging into a single string of black that casts itself past the borders of the paper. It was like shadows that desperately cling to its owner, ones sadness and desperation taking form into a monster that seeks a vessel.

He looks up to you with eyes once again shining at the brilliance of the illustrations- before he clutched the pad to his chest, a toothy grin and a dangerous glint in his teal eyes, "I'm keeping this~"

To hell with that.

First he takes your sketchpad and rifts through it like there's no tomorrow, and then he lays claim on it?! The audacity of this bard!

With the only arsenal that you had, you started throwing brushes and acrylics at the floating bard until he had to crash land from getting caught by his extravagant cape. What an oversight.

That day, you'd finally sit down with the famous bard and properly got to introduce each other. While you're ecstatic to chat with the person you'd long admired from afar, Venti was more ecstatic at the idea of you and your marvelous power. It's similar to elemental sight, he imagines, and he pried with more inquiries than you had anticipated.

You thought he'd be weirded out by both your colorful sense or the fact that you had stalked him for a week to immortalize his ethereal glow in the shadows.

Yet he was so open-minded about it, wanting to accompany you more on your endeavors and jokingly using you as his marketing manager for more Mora opportunities. You find the idea not so bad.

At one point in time without your knowledge nor acknowledgement, Venti (ever so curious boy) changed his form from his bard friend to copy yours, trying to see if he were able to replicate your vision. Alas it was not as easy as that. Whatever Venti did after that, not even Celestia knows.

Your ability to see the streams of music instead of just projecting associated shapes and colors had made it easy to find Venti, and vice versa.

When he wants to find you specifically, Venti sings your name in a lilting melody as he walks through the stone streets of Mondstadt, the blazing color pouring through your window as you crane your head out and look him down from the second floor.

Venti's invisible aura brightens at the sight of you and he presents the fresh Cecilias in his hand, singing for you to accompany him to another day and you're forced to do so with his cheesiness.

He continues to sing even as you resign to your home to prepare. Unbeknownst to you the people of Mond watched with wonder and awe at the sweetness of the serenading bard that comes by every 9 AM daily to your doorstep.

Nature rarer uses yellow

Than another hue;

Saves she all of that for sunsets, —

Prodigal of blue,

Spending scarlet like a woman,

Yellow she affords

Only scantly and selectly,

Like a lover's words.

You tilt your head at Venti at his lyrics, its lines influencing the color that coats him before his lyre finally calms its strings. He does not expand on his words as the silent conversation ended with a smile. Venti had been making songs with colors incorporated in them and despite the Muse of hues, you have yet to understand what they truly mean. If they mean anything at all.

You wish you could bring about the same flowery words to describe how beautiful Venti is, your current muse, adorned with the colors of a world only you can see. But for now, as you watch him smile past the crowd and lock eyes with yours, the most you can do is immortalize his ethereal hues. Until you finally work up the courage to admit it was not the colors that had drawn you to him.

This is a blessed day as it marks the end of the 50 followers event, and start the 100 followers one! Thank you for joining us in this journey, we still have a long way to go!

#genshin impact #genshin impact oneshots #genshin impact imagines #exile.flower #genshin impact venti #venti #venti x reader #followers special #i feel emotional ending this event #stay strong author stay strong #genshin impact x reader #gender neutral

284 notes · View notes

ireallylikejonouchi · 3 years

Text

𝙽𝚞𝚛𝚊𝚛𝚒𝚑𝚢𝚘𝚗 𝚗𝚘 𝙼𝚊𝚐𝚘 𝚁𝚎𝚟𝚒𝚎𝚠

Written and drawn by Shiibashi Hiroshi, Nurarihyon no Mago is a manga series that ran in Weekly Shonen Jump with 210 chapters, 25 volumes. It’s about a Japan that has a massive Yokai underbelly, consisting mostly of yokai yakuza clans that run certain parts of Japan. The protagonist, Rikuo Nura, is the third heir of the Nura clan, kingpin of Kanto. His grandfather is the legendary Lord of Pandemonium, the yokai Nurarihyon, but Rikuo is only a quarter yokai, having a half-human father and a full human mother. As a child, Rikuo thinks yokai are the coolest thing, but his classmates mock him for this, not believing that they exist, and finding it even weirder that someone could admire them. Rikuo is told that it is his destiny to take on this role, and that he cannot live a human life. Hearing stories about evil yokai who enjoy making humans despair, Rikuo decides that yokai are terrible and he wants nothing to do with them. When Rikuo’s classmates are attacked by some rebellious yokai from the Nura clan, who are unhappy about their new leader being a quarter-human child, Rikuo awakens to his yokai blood and transforms in order to defeat them. He decides here that he will become the third heir in order to subdue yokai that would bring terror to humans with his “Fear,” the power system of the series.

With the synopsis out of the way, from this point on there will be spoilers. Be wary. I’ll try my best to spoil only what’s necessary in order to get my point across.

The beginning of this manga takes its time setting up character dynamics with short story arcs, as well as establishing what the yokai of the world are truly like with various examples of opinionated yokai antagonists. Some consider it boring, and I can understand why, but I think it pays off very well. The characters are incredibly likeable and fun. Even the ones that don’t have very much development are still a joy to see on the page when they show up. Rikuo himself is simultaneously a complicated character and a very easy character to follow. The first chapter takes place a couple of years before the second one, and his childish judgement to go from worshiping yokai to hating them is intentionally so. The story is about his growth. Rikuo is told that he must take on this role, he denies, but eventually accepts under his own terms, and for his own reasons. This ultimately sets up what his character arc will end up becoming, as one of his final conflicts at the end of the story sees him battling against another half-yokai, Abe no Yoshihira, who believes it is his duty to follow his evil father’s plan because of his "cursed” mixed blood. Rikuo doesn’t simply reject this title, but he also doesn’t accept out of obligation. He accepts this as an opportunity to bring about change. The change he wants slowly evolves from protecting humans to bridging the social gap between human and yokai so that they may find peace together. Fate shouldn’t be fought against or ignored, but you must make whatever you can out of it. Rikuo feels that connecting human and yokai is something only he can do as a half-yokai, so he feels a responsibility to carry this out, yet it is also what he truly believes in and wants. He is a leader because he was graced with the opportunity to bring about a better world. Your fate is only what you perceive it as. The final villain Abe no Seimei believes that human and yokai are fated to be at odds forever, and that influences his evil plan to purify the world. Both are believers of fate to some extent, the message isn’t something as simple as “defy fate” or “there is no fate,” which I appreciate. This manga is very good about exploring all facets of the themes it presents, which I will give more examples of shortly.

The power system is an interesting one. To quote the wiki, “ Osore (畏, Fear) is the term that denotes the unique skills and traits of each yōkai. It refers to the "fear" of the unknown, an emotional reaction produced when the yōkai represent themselves as "monsters". As yōkai first existed as creatures who induce fear in humankind, the general concept of "fear" revolves around being feared and respected by humans and making them feel small and weak. It involves exerting a wall of pressure to make one's presence feel larger than the actuality. When done correctly, this also creates a change in the mood and surrounding air - as seen whenever a dense fog appears when a Hyakki Yakō gathers in the series. Itaku states that Osore only applies to scaring humans.“ Fear is an inherently negative word, especially when associated with demons. However, Rikuo is proud of his fear, despite scolding yokai who scare humans. Fear in this manga is not quite so black and white. Rikuo’s form of fear is reverence, admiration. He considers this to be a form of fear, and he is indeed proud of the awe he is able to inspire within his followers as well as his enemies. Rikuo is able to use a power that comes only thanks to his human side, letting a yokai haunt his humanity while keeping control with his yokai half, performing Equip and gaining that yokai’s powers, but only if they entrust themselves to him. It is the ultimate representation of the Fear that Rikuo believes in. For the core power system of the series to have such a double meaning about it speaks to the coming complexities, and it is incredibly fitting for this story, as I hope to convey.

Fate, lineage and connection to history are the main themes of this manga. Many of the characters in the story are tied to tradition before it starts, and have to be brought out of that by Rikuo and his progressive mindset. One’s blood is used to portray this theme in an interesting way. Rikuo’s father, Rihan, describes him as a symbol of hope for the future. Rihan longed for a world where human and yokai could get along, yet he came into constant conflict with both evil yokai and evil humans, as his son Rikuo would soon come to do as well. Rikuo loved his father, and carries on his dreams. However, similar to his “fate” of leading the clan, his respect for his ancestors is well-informed by his individual beliefs, and not from any kind of feeling that he MUST do what his ancestors wished. Abe no Yoshihira failed here, becoming a slave to his perceived fate. Hagoromo-gitsune, the main antagonist of the Kyoto arc as well as Abe no Seimei’s mother, was tied to her blood relations as well. She did everything for her son, who was soon to be reborn again into this age. She had her own image of an ideal world, erasing humans and making a world full of yokai, but she didn’t consider her child’s ideals, which she could have presumed from Seimei’s suffering he received when both human and yokai betrayed him. Seimei is born and casts Hagoromo-gitsune into hell, declaring that he will purify all life from the world, as neither human nor yokai can be trusted. Abe no Seimei is the agent of fate, declaring that all living things on Earth have doomed themselves to a fate of death thanks to their own horrible and greedy nature. Abe no Seimei is a half-yokai himself and he has found solace from neither of those sides. Rikuo, however, does not give up. He equips himself with the true fear of this reality that places him in-between two worlds, unable to fully enjoy life as a human or a yokai, refusing to resign himself as Seimei did, and instead fighting against the fate Seimei enforces by bringing together humans and yokai, including Hagoromo-gitsune, in order to seal the final blow against him.

You may be wondering what it means that Rikuo was able to finish off Seimei by fusing with his mother. Well, you see, Hagoromo-gitsune is sort of, in a way, Rikuo’s mother as well. You see, before Rihan had a child with Rikuo’s mother, he was married to another woman, Yamabuki-otome. For context, Abe no Seimei is a man who reincarnates throughout generations, as does his mother, Hagoromo-gitsune. Some time after Yamabuki-otome’s death, Seimei used her to take revenge on Rihan for disrupting his plans, by reviving her as a child and turning her into the host of the yokai Hagoromo-gitsune, sending her with false memories and subliminal orders to kill the man she loved when she was alive. Once she had killed Rihan, her human self hid itself away in despair and Hagoromo-gitsune was able to take control of her body for good. In modern times, after being cast into hell by Abe no Seimei, she is revived by Nurarihyon in anticipation for the final battle. After encountering Rikuo and his burning feelings in Kyoto, she had regained her human memories before being struck down by Seimei. Upon her most recent revival, she found she had feelings for both Rikuo and Seimei, and considers both to be her children. She regrets that her feelings for Seimei had ended up being met with treachery, and she goes to confront him. When she hears his full plan, she decides to do kill him herself, though she fails. She feels it her duty as a mother to make up for not understanding his suffering earlier, as it’s now too late to reason with him. Hagoromo-gitsune’s progression comes from her ability to find love for her yokai followers, considering them to be her children all the same as Rikuo and Seimei, and learns that she should have seen this love all along rather than being blinded by her obsessions with her blood son. Once again, she values her children and the blood she shares with them, but she is only able to find happiness when she realizes that the feelings she has for them don’t have to be restricted to only them simply because they are her kin, and similarly she does not need to follow Seimei’s plan just because she thinks it’s what a mother “should” do. Fusing with Rikuo is the culmination of this. While Rikuo is technically her kin, as Seimei is, we see through her arc that she has matured and learned to spread her love. So even though without context it would seem that she simply went from one child to the other, we can see the complexities of this and see how it relates to Rikuo’s arc, accepting something not out of obligation, but from your own will.

By coming to a true understanding with the woman that Abe no Seimei had discarded, his mother, and her doing the same, an act that seemingly defies their fates (Rikuo’s fate to be a cold yokai ruler and Hagoromo’s fate to be a slave to her child’s whims), they’re able to defeat him and sever fate itself.

The Hundred Stories Clan Arc is one that I really appreciate for showing me how truly interesting Rikuo was as a character. I hadn’t realized it up to that point, and it’s clear why. His characterization and progression is subtle. The text doesn’t tell you how Rikuo grows, the art and his actions do. When humanity told of Rikuo’s half-yokai status is convinced that he must be killed for the safety of Japan, Rikuo is forced to face the fact that the humans he wants to protect are not perfect, and have as many imperfections as yokai do. Humans can be greedy, they can do horrible things when they’re afraid. In a backstory, the leader of the Hundred Stories Clan is shown to be a despicable human from Japanese history named Sanmoto Gorozaemon, who takes control of yokai to secure his political and social power, and turns himself into a yokai in order to secure that power. When a member of his clan is assaulted by humans who don’t care about the harm they’re causing, some of them even reveling in it, through facial expressions we can see him struggling with the thought of killing these humans to end the conflict, or out of revenge possibly. Shiibashi leaves this to the reader’s interpretation and it works wonders, he has no internal monologue relating to this feeling and nobody points out that he seems crazed or anything. It’s some panels that you could easily miss if you’re reading too fast.

In this panel, we are shown his reaction to a female yokai appearing and tormenting the humans that were tormenting him and his clanmate just moments ago. Even when he showed such rage at the humans, seemingly almost snapping, he decides he needs to stop the yokai from killing them. However, the expression on his face conveys perfectly how complex his emotions are over this. Despite how confidently he’s saying he needs to save them, his face almost looks like he doesn’t want to. Of course, he overcomes this and saves them for the sake of his dream.

It’s clear to see the moral dilemma he’s going through and it’s conveyed entirely through art and subtext. This is confident storytelling, and not to mention incredible artistry. Shiibashi has a certain maturity and respect for the reader that is hard to find in Shonen Jump manga sometimes.

Rikuo’s fight against the yokai artist Kyosai in this arc is notable for being similar to what I just described from the beginning of the arc.

Kyosai has an interest in turning human women into yokai using his painting techniques, including one of Rikuo’s classmates. Enraged, Rikuo engages him in combat with his newly acquired Attack Mode, which switches his Fear from a defensive technique to an offensive one, and changes his hair from white with black underneath it to having half of his hair being black on one side and the other being white. As the fight progresses, Rikuo is continuously injured and decomposed by Kyosai’s abilities, burning his flesh and scarring Rikuo black.

Rikuo’s deteriorating mental state during this arc is conveyed visually through his design, with both the way he is inked as well as his literally evolving design, his new transformation. He’s never had to confront these kinds of humans and yokai before. This leveling of suffering is new to our middle school-aged protagonist. After Kyosai is defeated, his momentary rage subsides but he is still scarred, physically and mentally. Encho, the acting leader of the Hundred Stories Clan, betrays Sanmoto’s reincarnated brain for personal gain, confusing Rikuo who is already in a fragile mental state. He struggles to comprehend the enemy, as he had been forced to face humans that he wanted to protect, yokai that despised those humans, and even his own best friends. Once again, exclusively visually conveyed and up to interpretation.

At the end of this arc, he accepts the help of his friends, his aide Yuki-Onna, and equips with her, washing himself of the stress he’s in and covering him in a beautiful veil of ice. His design goes back to normal in order to show this, and get across just how much his friends mean to him, in a truly impactful way that really strengthens the theme by giving real weight to his connection with both his yokai and human lives.

Every arc is strong in its own way, I simply wanted to discuss the few that best show what I’m trying to say. I hope you now understand why I love this manga so much and why I think you should read it. I promise the things I’ve spoiled here are only a fragment of the whole experience, and your appreciation will only grow as you experience the full context by reading the manga. If I got across what I wanted to, then you understand that this manga cannot be explained as much as it can be experienced. There are probably more things that I never noticed, maybe you’ll discover those before I do.

This manga is an ode to the future, to humanity. We can overcome our differences and coexist. Perhaps all it takes is for one person to take the fear that we as people feel in our daily lives onto themselves. The fear that there can never be change, the fear that our road only ends in sadness. The fear that our history defines us. The fear that we must conform to our duty. The fear that accepting a duty strips us of individuality. The fear that we can never bring these conflicting aspects of our mind together and find inner peace. The fear that we can never bring the conflicting aspects of people together and find true peace amongst ourselves. Not many people can overcome that fear, but he who is truly strong is he who equips that fear. He who takes that uncertainty of the future and uses it to empower himself and push for that change he wishes to see. This review is my ode to the man who was able to understand what makes people who they are and didn’t let that fear consume him. The man who equips true fear. Thank you for reading.

#nurarihyon no mago #nura: rise of the yokai clan #manga analysis #manga review #shonen #shounen #manga #manga art #rikuo nura #hagoromo-gitsune #abe no seimei #weekly shonen jump #review #i hope i didnt ramble too much

19 notes · View notes

saphirered · 3 years

Note

Something to tug at the heartstrings: How about a sequel to Ghost, wherein the reader loses Lucien a second time but, eventually, finally, finds happily ever after with Kingsley? A sorta soulmate AU, where the reader is just meant to be with this soul. Thank you! 💜

Okay, this one turned out a loooooot longer than I intended but I'm happy with the way it turned out. Definitely something to pull on your heartstrings with a good amount of angst and fluff. Hope you enjoy and thank you for requesting! 😘

You knew it was over, the end had come when even across the worlds you felt like a final thread within you had snapped yet you felt nothing, just empty. You knew that moment would come at one point and while you hoped things could have been different… No, things could never have ended differently. Even then, you already knew there was a madness, greed and hunger for power within Lucien he could never escape. Never would it be enough. He’d stop at nothing and would sacrifice everything if that meant he’d achieve his goals. He was willing to do it before, he had done so before and would do it again a thousand times over.

Lucien had been angry, upset, trying to convince you this is not where it had to end between you two. That you could follow him along this path, forever, no longer bound by a fate not your own, a life in the hands of another. You could truly have been free. You could have been like gods among the ants left at the mercy of the whims of circumstance. That’s what he promised you. He promised you greatness, the world, a future of your own making, power, riches, you could have named your price and he’d offered it to you. Lucien had told you no price would be too steep for him but you had found one.

You’d asked him, once faced with the choice, would he choose you or would he risk it all in the pursuit of this damned purpose of his? Lucien didn’t have an immediate answer. Those moments of silence before his honeyed words were enough for you to know the real answer and deflecting, dancing around the truth like he had, all of it was just a dead give away. Nevertheless he tried to keep you at his side because if you know one thing, Lucien is a selfish man and he’d do anything and everything in his power to keep you at his side unless you’d leave of your own volition.

Lavish gifts, romantic gestures, luxuries he’d bestow upon no other, no expense was too great, no time wasted and no love spared. Lucien really went all out to show you just how much you mean to him, how much he needs you, needs you at his side. But nothing could make up for the fact that in the end he wasn’t sure wether he’d choose you or power when faced with the ultimatum. He knew that if he asked you, you’d give your life for him but he could not return the favour and his love knew boundaries set by his idealistic purpose. The more time you spent with him, the clearer that became.

When you became more reserved, coming to terms with this truth that did not mean you distanced yourself from Lucien. You still loved him and that wouldn’t change but like before, you refused to be part of his own demise. You’d not stand idly and watch as he went on a suicide mission with some perverted shadow of what was once living. You don’t know whether or not it was something Lucien had planned, if it was a spur of the moment, if he even was aware he was doing it or the Eyes of Nine reaching out to you but you’d seen the visions, you started waking up being faced with the horrors to a red eye marked on your skin, and another, and another.

And the more you were shown, the clearer it became. You could not be part of this. You’d not resign yourself to this fate and watch the others fall for the whims of one man and his own stupid greed, watch the man you loved fall to his own selfish hunger for power. You’d spare yourself the heartbreak of having your lover be torn away from you yet again. So you left. You did what you couldn’t do before; said your goodbyes and left. If this is truly what Lucien wanted then you would not stand in his way. You’d not be an obstacle but you’d also not be watching from the sidelines waiting for a side to win. You’d not interfere because after all this is the man you’d sacrifice the world for but you’d not stand by and watch him sacrifice you for his own visions. Should he find his way back to you you’d embrace him with open arms. Should he not, you’ll have departed on your own terms and made peace with that. You’d have said your goodbyes.

So when that final thread snapped, the eyes disappeared and a quietness hit you, like all sound had been pulled from the world but the wind and the waves you knew it was over. Lucien was dead and gone and Lucien would not be returning this time around. The world was spared and had gone back into tune. The Mighty Nein had returned and truly became the unsung heroes of Exandria. They did what you could never. They’d risked it all for the people they loved and they succeeded. And while your heart warmed at the thought of that love you also felt an emptiness, an emptiness you’d experienced once before when Lucien was first taken from you.

��————

Even now, that feeling of emptiness, a part of you missing still lingered. It’s as if when Lucien finally passed he took a part of you with him and your life would never be as it was before. You still wouldn’t change a thing. You had found purpose not only in your skills but a sense of belonging among the Revelry. Sure they were a rowdy bunch but something about Darktow and it’s people reminded you of the early days of the Tombtakers. Call it sentimental. But you made yourself useful, proved your usefulness, resourcefulness and connections across Wildemount and beyond to benefit you and ended up with a ship of your own, a respected Captain among Darktow with the favour of the Plank King himself. Though the latter is mainly to do with the copious amount of gold you’ve brought him. You and your crew alone have given the man a private fortune that must have made him richer than the kings of the mainland. Not that you cared. Gold did little to fill that void left in your heart. You had no use for it save for the upkeep of your ship, the payment of your crew and the copious amounts of booze and gambling you and your crew partook in simply because you could.

Life in Darktow and as a member of the Revelry is anything but uneventful but that’s exactly what you need to keep you on your toes. The day you resign yourself to a quiet and restful life is the day you die. You’d been in port for a week and a half and things have been going smoothly. Too smoothly in your opinion because if you know anything it is the gods like messing with your threads of fate a little too much. Perhaps your next voyage will be all storms, or you’ll get stranded somewhere? Maybe the Concord will be on the hunt for you again? A naval battle or a few could be fun? What will the gods throw at you next?

Maybe you shouldn’t have tempted the gods like so because the next thing you see is a tiefling of lavender skin, intricate tattoos all over, and a charming grin on his face attempt to barter with one of your deckhands for something. Your stomach drops, shivers running down your spine and conflicting emotions of joy and pain rush through you all at once. Your bosun shakes your shoulder after seeing you so shellshocked and checks in to see if you’re alright. You shake it off and take a minute to breathe studying the interaction with the tiefling.

Right from the get go you know it’s not Lucien. It couldn’t be and wouldn’t be. Yet it’s also not Mollymauk. However brief your knowing him may have been, you knew well enough this was also not the circus man you’d grown to admire. So who is this? Curious by nature and unrestrained, unbound by the knowledge you probably shouldn’t against all better judgement, you step over to the gangplank on the other end of which your deckhand and the tiefling are conversing. You stand there, crossed arms and just watch. Neither seem to notice you as of now but you’re sure they will if you stay long enough.

As Kingsley goes on, trying to convince this deckhand he just needs to speak to the captain for a brief moment because the Plank King has told him he is to deliver an urgent message, all lies of course, he catches the glimpse of someone that seems familiar to him in some way. He hasn’t ever encountered this person standing at the top of the gangplank before. This isn’t a face he’d forget. He’s never one to forget a pretty face and well, this one’s the prettiest of them all. Okay, he may have seen people as pretty before, so he’ll blame it on attraction then because the moment his eyes fall upon this figure the world just fades for an instant, the words of the deckhand falling on deaf ears but he’s good enough to not let it be noticed.

“You wish to see the captain? Well here I am.” Finally you make your way down the gangplank with a walk that expresses authority and grace but there’s something Kingsley can’t quite put his finger on. You turn to the deckhand.

“I’ll deal with this. Back to work.” The deckhand with a nod to you and not so much as a goodbye to him scurries up the gangplank and goes back to whatever task Kingsley had kept him from.

“My my, captain, I must say your ship is magnificent…” The tiefling tries to sweet talk but the expression you give him shows you’re not buying it. That doesn’t mean he’ll stop trying. He’ll just have to up his charm a little. Kingsley wants a ship and this is a great ship. He meant that part.

“Cut the crap and get to the point. I don’t have all day.” You give the man a wink for some reason feeling yourself slip into that back and forth game of wit and charm you’d had with Lucien. Gods be damned for pulling on those strings again, your heartstrings no less. And damn your own weakness for not being able to resist that charming grin of this man.

“Perhaps this is a conversation better had in private?” Kingsley, as promised picks it up a notch and walks up the gangplank like he already owned the ship but gestures for you to lead the way. Deciding to humour him and yourself you lead the way to your cabin, the door falling shut behind you two.

—————

The events that followed were the beginning of the end and the more time you spent with this man, this new version of the face you’d been so familiar with, the more you felt that emptiness begin to fade. At first Kingsley had tried to persuade you to go to the Plank King to give himself the opportunity to get the ship’s papers and convince the crew that you’d done something terrible and face judgement while he’d offer to vouch for the crew to be spared if they accepted him as captain. When that didn’t work he tried to coax you in sharing a drink with him, one he had spiked with a strong sedative so he could leave you at the docks and sail away. When that didn’t work he tried to sleep with you. Maybe a few days or weeks in your company wouldn’t be so bad. Have you seen you? He could spent hours just getting lost in your eyes.

But he didn’t manage to charm his way into your bed either. You’d caught him on all accounts, somehow figured out all his attempts and called them out exactly how he planned them. It’s like you could read his mind, or at the very least calculate his every move before he’d even done so. He isn’t anything if not persistent. He wanted your ship and he’d work for it. What he didn’t expect was the need to literally work for it when you offered him a job as a second mate since the last one had fallen to the jaws of a dragon turtle.

Over the weeks on your ship you’d eased him into fact that you had a very intimate relationship with Lucien and had met Mollymauk. You knew who he used to be, you knew his story up until a certain point. In turn Kingsley filled in the gaps, though even his knowledge felt more like second hand too. While you both tried keeping your distance when it came to the undeniable attraction between the two of you it was difficult. That pull remained, be it from your own memories of the past, the ghosts that still plagued you sometimes, or his phantom visions and feelings from a life he never lived himself.

You had to come to terms with it but the more you got to know Kingsley and the more he got to know you, why should you keep fighting something you both felt? Why put up walls, put in time and effort in something so… so stupid? So you had a good and honest talk. Set some boundaries and drew a line. You’d see where this would take you and won’t put any pressure or expectations on the other but you certainly wouldn’t spent a moment more trying to fight this stupid pull between the two of you. Those days were over.

The threads of fate could be a twisted thing but at times could be so in a humorous way. Kingsley had ended up with the ship he wanted after all. Not be leaving you stranded, poisoning or even killing you. Instead his secret message from the Plank King did come. Though his had been a lie when you first met, this one wasn’t. With the discourse on the high seas, the tensions between Xhorhas and the Empire on the low and the Concord’s opportunity to look towards the Revelry, you were needed as more than just a captain in a fleet. You’d be a commander instead and your captaincy would have to move to someone else so who else could you have handed it to? Both of you had been laughing like idiots when you finalised the deal and signed over the deed of the ship to Kingsley Tealeaf.

Despite this new promotion you’d still find yourself back on your old ship with Kingsley going on adventures of your own. He made a good captain save for the mornings he’d be preoccupied and slacking leaving his first mate to take over his duties. Coincidentally those were the days you’d spend on the ship and of course the captain could not let you sleep among the crew. No, you deserved a place more suitable of your station; the captain’s cabin. Part of that arrangement neglected to mention to the others was that the captain would be sharing his cabin with you.

So you’d wake up in each other’s arms like plenty of times before, fingers brushing through your hair, gently dancing over your shoulder and arm up and down as the light bleeds through the curtains signalling the afternoon’s approach. And as per usual with a groan, you’d shift and readjust yourself into a more comfortable position and allow your sleeping limbs to wake. A kiss would be pressed to your cheek, forehead, crown, shoulder, neck, wherever was most convenient pulling you from the final clutches of sleep and easing you into the day.

These moments would be spent embracing the quiet sounds of the waves rocking the ship gently and the shanties of the working crew, until one of you decided to break that silence.

“You are the most truthful and up front person I’ve come across in a long time.” Kingsley speaks as he presses a kiss to the top of your head as you wrap your arms a little tighter around him. You look up to him with an amused half smile, final hints of exhaustion still remaining on your features.

“I am a liar, a thief and a killer. I live a life of piracy and plague the seas.” You deadpan and earn a ‘you know what I mean’ look from the tiefling as you flick his chin. He catches your hand before you can do it again and instead kisses your knuckles, holding on tightly with an amused grin as you try to retaliate.

“And yet you stand out among the masses like a beacon. I could be faced with the promises of the world and my eye would still fall to you. I don’t pretend to understand why or how but it’s true.” Kingsley might have given the words a bit more flare but they’re true no less. He doesn’t understand why but the two of you, or whatever version of him, seem to be entwined wherever you go always bound to end up meeting over and over again like you can’t escape. It’s not like he minds because the two of you meeting back up in unpredictable spaces and situations has been rather enjoyable. Especially once you’d gotten a moment to yourselves.

“Are you trying to charm me, captain Tealeaf?” You tilt your head slightly giving him the same look you’d done when you first met; innocent disbelief.

“I don’t know. Is it working? Because if so, I will lie and say it’s intentional.” At this comment you sit up, pulling yourself free and leaning on your elbow to allow your lips to meet in a sweet but quickly heated kiss. There’s a knock at the door and you pull away making move to get out of bed but Kingsley holds you there. He’s got no intention of leaving this bed just yet and neither are you if he can persuade you to stay. Let the outside world stay that; outside.

“You’re a good man, Kingsley.” You stroke his cheek tracing along the peacock feathers crawling up his neck and jaw. Kingsley raises an eyebrow but when you see that half grin crawl up his face you know you might just have said the wrong thing. Not bad but more akin to provoking the devil.

“I am a liar, a thief and a killer. I live a life of piracy and plague the seas.” Your own words are turned against you and you scoff. The knocking on the door doesn’t go away and Kingsley rolls his eyes childishly clearly not wanting to be bothered by the whines and responsibilities of the day just yet.

“Yes. Yes. I head the first time.” He shouts annoyed with the interruption and the knocking stops but instead of making any move of getting up he pulls you into his lap. A surprised giggle escapes your lips as playful kisses are peppered all over your shoulders and neck.

“Did you have to deal with their constant antics or could they figuring things out themselves?” Kingsley asks between kisses.

“Always.” You pull yourself out of Kingsley’s grasp and get off the bed reaching for a shirt and pulling it over your head earning a groan of disappointment from the man. You shake your head in amusement.

“I suggest you get dressed before you have a mutiny on your hands for neglecting your crew, Captain Tealeaf.” You put on your pants and sit down on the edge of the bed to slip on your shoes, tying the laces as you go. You feel the tiefling slip up behind you arms wrapping around your waist.

“Is that an order, commander?” Kingsley whispers into your ear. You smile turning your head to face him, waiting to see who will lean in first and close the gap. The knocking on the door returns and you take this moment to gently flick Kingsley’s chin again as you slip from his grasp and step over towards the door. Kingsley grumbles a collective of rather colourful words making you grin.

“It is, captain. Back to work.”

#critical role x reader #critrole x reader #mighty nein x reader #kingsley x reader #critical role #mighty nein

38 notes · View notes

out-of-control · 2 years

Text

KIRA

words: 1528

warnings: animal neglect

summary: Jim rescues a kitten.

Jim pulls up to his spot in front of the building and steps out of the car, loitering while he finishes his cigarette. He stubs it out on the ground, and just as he goes to put his front door keys in the lock, some rustling around the corner makes him freeze. “The fuck?” he mumbles, pausing to listen. More rustling. He follows the noise to the gap along the side of the building, crouching down to peek between the garbage cans, when he sees a small shadow behind them and hears a tiny, unmistakable, Meow.

Oh Christ, Jim thinks, as a dirty, malnourished little kitten moves closer to him, just barely into the light, and meows at him. It looks like a raggedy pom-pom perched on four toothpicks. Before his brain even processes, he reaches out, and snatches it up by the scruff before it has a chance to run. He cups it in his hand, looking it right in the eyes. It weakly hisses at him, before seeming to accept this fate and meowing again, staring back at him while it shivers in his hands. Suddenly, Jim feels a kinship.

He can’t. Can he? Well, he can’t not. Especially now that it’s getting colder out.

Gently, he adjusts his hands to hold it up from underneath, and looks down again to see if there are any others. Nothing. Jim holds the kitten up to look it in the eyes again. “Are you fucking alone out here?” he asks it, incredulously, and he’s met with another meow. He stares at it for another minute.

He might be about to do something stupid.

Jim, more delicately than he’s ever handled anything, hides the kitten in the front flap of his jacket, muffling another meow against his chest, and he brings it inside.

He unlocks the apartment door, walks through backwards, and just starts talking before he even gets through the threshold. “Now I know I said I was just going out to buy more picks and I’m trying not to be that boyfriend, but,” Jim shoulders the door closed and looks over at Jax lying on the couch for a moment, with one hand tucked into his jacket. Then, ever so carefully, he pulls the kitten out, cradling it in both hands. “I’m super being that boyfriend right now.”

“Fuck is that thing,” Jax says immediately, getting up on his elbows and staring.

The kitten hisses, as if to say, Fuck do you think, asshole.

"Hey," Jim chides the cat, turning it back to look at him. "Be nice to him, he’s my boyfriend," he says, pouting.

Jax looks between Jim, the cat, and Jim again, before putting his face in his hands. “Where did you even get that.”

“Hiding out behind the garbage cans,” Jim says, brows knitting together. “I couldn’t just leave it there. It’s getting fucking freezing out.”

“You softhearted bastard,” Jax says dismally, removing his hands and glaring at Jim. “I can’t believe this. Now we have to take it to the vet and get fucking kitty litter or baby formula or whatever.” He stands, steps closer and peers at the kitten, who hisses at him again. “Jim,” he says, looking up and raising his eyebrows. “You better pray you don’t get fleas.”

“Wouldn’t be the first time,” Jim mumbles, bringing the kitten against himself, cradling it like a baby. It gladly sucks up Jim’s body heat. He looks back up at Jax. “Babyyy, can we keep it?” he pleads.

“Landlord’s gonna fuck us if he finds out,” Jax says darkly, but he’s already grabbing his keys and jacket. “It’s not sleeping in the bed.”

“You fucking hate the landlord,” Jim points out, grinning a little. The kitten tries to bite his jacket’s zipper.

“I do,” Jax says, resigned. “I really do.”

Jim opens the door for Jax. "We can train it to hunt cockroaches, then he'll have to like it."

–

By the time they reach the veterinary office’s waiting room, the cat already has a name.

“Kira,” Jax tells the lady at the counter, while Jim hovers over his shoulder, stroking one thumb over the kitten’s tiny head. Thankfully, the waiting room is pretty sparse, and it isn’t long before Jim has reluctantly surrendered newly christened Kira to the vet’s capable, nitrile-gloved hands.

“She’s a little over three weeks old–” The vet starts, after looking the kitten over and cleaning her off a little, white fur now much more apparent contrasted against her black splotches. The vet holds her still and gives her an injection of some fluids. “--Dehydrated and starving, fleas… she’s probably been alone since last night. I’ll be honest, there’s a pretty big chance she won’t make it.”

“Fuck that,” Jax and Jim blurt out at the same time, and the vet gives them a look.

“Just try not to get too attached this early,” she says slowly, carefully. “And don’t blame yourself if you lose her.”

A little late for that. “Well, I’m not just gonna give up, so,” Jim says determinedly, attentively watching the vet switch to bottle feeding her some formula.

“You’ll have to spray her for the fleas as soon as possible, that’s your biggest concern,” she says, warily looking up at Jim and putting the bottle down. Jax snorts, elbows him. “You’ll have to feed her a little bit to begin with and then gradually increase to avoid refeeding syndrome. Socialize with her a lot– play with her, cuddle her, get her used to people. Keep a close eye, even through the night. Make sure she’s warm, hydrated, fed, all that.”

“I don’t sleep much to begin with,” Jim shrugs. “Not a problem for me. I can handle it.”

The vet looks at him for a moment, and Kira meows. The vet looks back down at the tiny little creature on the metal table. Then, she reaches out, and carefully pets her. The vet continues to give them an extensive care rundown, Jim paying studious attention to every word.

–

“I sent Anna a pic and she’s just replied with a bunch of exclamation points,” Jax says, walking back over to the couch, looking at his phone. “Dude, is that my shoelace?”

Jim looks up, a little guiltily, from where he has indeed been dangling one of Jax’s shoelaces over the kitten in an attempt to trigger her predatory instincts. “We don’t have cat toys.”

Jax sighs. “We’ll get some.” They got formula and flea spray from the vet, at least, but the pet store closed before they could make a proper supply run. But she's fed, de-flead, and has a cozy little box set up next to the couch to sleep in. Jax pockets his phone and simply lies down on the floor, observing both Jim and Kira. “Where the fuck are we gonna put a litter box, man?”

“The bathroom?” Jim suggests.

“Yeah. True,” Jax says, resting his head against the floor. Kira seems to notice him for the first time, and takes little wobbly kitten-steps over to his head. Jim watches Jax’s body stiffen a little as he tries not to spook her. After a few seconds of deliberation, Kira pounces, and starts biting Jax’s hair. His eyes meet Jim’s, and he says, “This cat is so fucking weird,” as his hair is chewed upon.

Jim snorts, and lies down on his stomach. He reaches out towards Kira and taps his fingers on the floor as a distraction. “At least she’s already livelier,” he says, as her head snaps towards Jim’s hand and leaps for it instead, chewing on one of his fingers.

“You’re gonna raise a maneater,” Jax says, and yawns. “You wanna take first watch for not-letting-the-cat-die?”

“Yeah, sure. Go get your beauty sleep, sunshine.” Jim grins a little, and scoops Kira up, who continues to lightly maul his fingers.

“Fuck you,” Jax says politely, standing up and flipping Jim off. His insult is immediately nullified by how he leans into peck Jim on the lips, careful not to jostle the kitten. “I’ll relieve you in a few hours, shithead.”

“Goodnight, baby,” Jim says, and blows him an extra kiss when he pulls away.

“You’re so embarrassing,” Jax calls, and then he leaves Jim with the cat.

–

It’s about four hours later when the bedroom door creaks open again, casting a mellow shaft of light into the adjoining room. Jax carefully pads through, blanket wrapped around his shoulders and gaze locked on the floor, incredibly paranoid about stepping on the cat by accident. He needn’t have worried, though, because as he ventures further into the room, he can see that the cat is safely out of the way. It’s curled up on Jim’s chest, like a cherry on top of an ice cream sundae, if cherries were fuzzy and black-and-white, and if sundaes were pale and gangly and snored, just a little.

Jax finds he doesn’t quite have the heart to wake either of them. Instead, he quietly pulls up a chair across from the couch and sits down. Bundled up in his blanket, he carefully watches over the two creatures who have, improbably, both ended up on his couch tonight.

—

#words

6 notes · View notes

lizzie-tempest · 4 years

Note

I can make a slightly different request, which would be Papyrus' point of view and opinion.

What would be the reaction of the papyrus (Undertale, Underswap, Underfell, Horrortale and Swapfell) to the relationship of his brother Yandere with his companion. How do they find out what he (Au! Sans) does when the reader isn’t seeing and how the relationship is a little toxic and controlling.

{ Example: they find out that they killed people for “love”, or invaded the reader's home to see when she is sleeping, or has an altar where there are objects that the reader thought she had lost or thrown away... }

Ooh this is a good one. I hope this is okay.

Undertale

Papyrus is surprisingly not as shocked as he should’ve been. At least, he wasn’t at first. Sans has tried to control him for his entire life, under the guise of “protecting him”. Papyrus doesn’t need protecting, and he’s nowhere near as naive as people think he is. He’s not stupid, he knew when Sans got into a relationship with you, that his brother would be possessive.

He just didn’t realize how far Sans would go in order to keep you to himself.

The first incident is when Sans puts something in your drink while you’re looking at something else. Papyrus frowns at this. He knows something isn’t right when he sees Sans’ guilty look and he’s about to say something to you.

But while you’re still distracted, Sans signs to him. He explains that you’ve been stressed at work, that you’re burning out and he’s concerned that you’re going to get sick. Sans insists that he’s only slipped a sleeping pill into your drink and that you’ll just get upset and more stressed if you find out.

So despite what he wants, Papyrus says nothing.

Weeks later, he walks into the house and finds Sans desperately scrubbing at...everything. The reason? Well, it probably has to do with the body lying on the floor.

Papyrus’ first thought is that this human broke into the house and attacked Sans, causing his brother to defend himself. Sans himself seems pretty shaken up when he realizes he’s there. So Papyrus, being the great brother that he is, helps him clean up. He helps dispose of the body and by the next morning, the house is completely spotless. It’s only then that Papyrus asks Sans what happened.

“he tried to take her from me. i had to do it. he was gonna take her!” Sans stammers out.

There’s a growing feeling of dread in the pit of his soul as Sans continues to make excuses. He realizes then that the house is silent. Where are you?

“Where is (y/n)?”

“the basement. but - “

Papyrus has already headed down the stairs before Sans can carry on. That’s where he finds you. You’re chained by the ankle, completely terrified and you start screaming when Sans comes in after you, begging Papyrus to save you.

The cogs turn quicker than he thought possible. He remembers the sleeping pills. The way Sans isolated you from your old friends.

He doesn’t waste a second.

Before Sans can act, Papyrus uses his blue magic on his own brother. He breaks the chain and scoops you up. He knows you’re not safe here. He loves his brother, but he can’t allow him to cause any more harm.

Papyrus is able to get you a fair distance before his magic finally releases its hold on Sans. Of course, by that time it’s too late. Papyrus has already alerted Undyne and the Royal Guard.

It doesn’t take long for him to be captured. But it’s alright! Even if Sans has done horrible things, Papyrus is more than happy to visit him in prison!

Underswap

The first that Stretch hears about you is when Blue comes home one day, all excited and simply gushing about you. His eyelights have turned into baby blue hearts as he speaks and Stretch has to admit that it’s adorable. How can he NOT think it’s cute? His lil bro has a crush! He teases Blue a bit but leaves it when the smaller skeleton’s grin becomes strained and his eyelights all but vanish.

Okay. It’s a touchy subject. He makes a note of it and thinks it’s just due to puppy love. He doesn’t think much more of it.

Until he goes into Blue’s room not long after. He’s looking for a video game that his brother borrowed and he knows he shouldn’t be in Blue’s room, but it wasn’t exactly forbidden, so he presumes it’s okay.

That’s when he finds it.

It’s some kind of intricately constructed altar. Stretch is almost impressed at the sheer detail and work that’s gone into it. Until he realizes what the altar is for.

There’s numerous pictures of a human, you, placed on the altar. They were obviously taken when you weren’t looking, some taken from far away. There’s one picture that seems to be a picture of you and what looks to be your boyfriend. Stretch immediately thinks of how crushed Blue will be. And then he looks closer at the picture. You have been surrounded by hearts and stars. Your partner on the other hand has had their head cut off. What’s even more disturbing is that Blue seems to have glued a picture of his own head in its place.

This is enough to unnerve him, but for some reason Stretch can’t bring himself to look away.

There’s socks and underwear. A lock of hair. The more he looks, the more that he starts to think that you could be in danger.

He takes a good look at your photo, memorizing your features so that he can find you and warn you of what Blue is doing. He loves his brother. But this isn’t okay.

Stretch turns to leave.

Blue is standing right behind him.

Underfell

Unsurprisingly, Edge doesn’t really care much. In fact, he’s downright proud of Red! His brother is actually putting in the effort!

Edge doesn’t really find out about Red’s yandere tendencies. Red just doesn’t bother to hide it. There have been plenty of times where Red has kidnapped a human that tried to get close to you and has beaten the shit out of them before killing them.

Edge finds he’s especially proud during those moments. He watches his brother torture these humans and he has to admit that he’s constantly surprised. In a pleasant way. Red always seems to have a new way of torturing them and it’s so wonderfully creative.

He hates that it had to take coming to the surface before Red put in some effort to hunt humans, but he’s still grateful to you for getting his brother out of whatever depression he was in.

So needless to say, he helps keep Red’s secret. He helps to clean up the blood and dispose of the bodies.

When Edge finally meets you, he’s surprised again at your manners and how you seem to be the complete opposite of his brother. Oh no, his brother was right! You are too precious for this world!

Edge is more involved with Red’s “activities” after that.

Horrortale

“Sigh. Again, brother?”

This isn’t the first time that Axe has acted this way towards a human, so Crooks is able to spot the signs early on. Luckily, Axe has only managed to kill one human who’s managed to piss him off this time. Maybe this time will be different?

Okay maybe not.

Crooks isn’t surprised to find that you are just like the other girls who Axe has pursued (and killed when things didn’t go his way). The only difference is your soul. He wants to believe that it could be the turning point. Crooks is still a Papyrus after all, and he wants to believe that his brother could still be better. He’s tired of cleaning up the blood and storing the bodies in the freezer so that they can eat them later. There’s no need to continue with that now that they are on the surface and Crooks wants to be able to move on.

But as long as Axe continues to be a yandere, Crooks knows it won’t be possible.

He’s resigned himself to this fate. He’s tried again and again to convince his brother that this isn’t the way to do things. Axe never listens.

So he’s forced to watch as Axe does the same routine. Painting the picture of a big, misunderstood scary looking monster who is as lovable as a teddy bear. And to you, he is exactly that.

But Crooks sees the dangerous look in his brother’s gaze when you laugh at some guy’s joke. He doesn’t know who will endure Axe’s wrath: you or the poor guy who tried to flirt with you.

He tries to avoid your accusing, hateful gaze when Axe finally caves and traps you in the shed.

Swapfell

Mutt’s not gonna lie, he raises a brow bone when he figures it out. He didn’t exactly expect Black to be a yandere, but at the same time he’s not exactly surprised.

And of course, he’s roped into going along with it.

Black has him stalking you, finding out your likes and dislikes and everything about you under the sun. Mutt doesn’t really like it, but he doesn’t want to go against his brother. Black deserves the best after all. If he has to do a few bad things in order to make that happen, then he will.

So he obeys Black’s orders and does what he wants. Any information that Mutt gathers is immediately passed on to his brother, who then uses it to his advantage on any date he goes on with you.

One day he’s cleaning out his room, at Black’s request. He’s got some stuff in boxes and is taking them up to the attic. But when he tries to open the door, he finds it locked tight. Huh, the door’s never been locked before. And he’s pretty sure he can hear something on the other side. Some kind of whimpering?

He takes the boxes to the basement instead.

At dinner Mutt brings up the locked attic and the noises. It doesn’t escape his notice how Black stiffens slightly. His brother has never been good at lying so when he says it’s nothing to worry about, Mutt can’t help but be curious.

When he’s sure that Black is asleep, he heads back to the attic and takes a shortcut inside. He wasn’t expecting you to be there, huddled in the corner and absolutely terrified.

Oh shit. What has his brother done?

You’re shaking, but something in you must see how scared he is, because you ask him to get you out. You promise you won’t say anything. You’ll leave and he’ll never see you again.

...

Mutt knows that if you suddenly disappeared, Black would know that it would be him who did it. He doesn’t know how far his brother’s temper will go. He’s been lucky in the past. But he doesn’t want to die, and he knows that if he helps you then Black would kill him for sure.

He refuses to help you.

He’s confident in his decision.

That doesn’t mean your screams and the way you beg for help doesn’t haunt his dreams at night.

#anon ask #ask #imagine #yandere sans #papyrus #undertale #underswap #underfell #horrortale #swapfell #lizzie writes #lizzie imagines

58 notes · View notes

melancholydreadfuldream · 4 years

Text

find my way back to you

Fandom: Doctor Who

Pairing: 11th Doctor x Reader & 12th Doctor x Reader

Summary: A visit from the Twelfth Doctor turned your life upside down.

Warning: ooc, angst, plot holes, etc

You giggled at something the Eleventh Doctor said. He beamed at you adorably.

"So, this is me." You said as they arrived on the front porch of where you lived. You smiled at him. "Thank you, Doctor, I have fun today."

He smiled. "T-that's great. I, there is still so much I can show you." He said.

You smiled and kissed one of his cheek. "See you next Tuesday, Doctor." You whispered and then with a giggle, you turned and hopped inside. You turned again and waved him goodbye.

The Doctor is touching the cheek where you kissed him. He has this adorable look on his face. He waved back at you before he too burst into a giggle and left.

7777

You entered the house and covered your mouth to stop the burst of squealing out of you. You can't wait to call Clara and tell her all about it. You moved to turn the lamp near the door and screamed when you saw a figure seated comfortably on one of your sofa.

You quickly tried to pull open the door to run and maybe called out the Doctor but to your horror, you realized the door somehow locked by itself. In your panic, you didn't noticed the figure had pulled out a sonic screwdriver which is the reason why you are trapped with him.

You screamed for the Doctor as you tried to get the door to open but it was futile.

"Don't bother screaming. I have put a soundproof barrier within the house." He said.

Resigned to your fate that you're trapped, you turned around to face him. "W-who are you? What do you want with me?"

He raised an eyebrow. "Really?" He gestured on the sonic screwdriver on his hand.

You blinked at him. You observed him. The man is a bit old but still handsome in his own way. He was dressed in black with a hoodie. You turned my gaze at the sonic screwdriver on his hand. "D-Doctor?" Clara told you about regeneration. She only knew because she jumped into his timeline and saw his many past incarnations' faces. You can hardly believe it but here he was.

"I'm sure Clara has told you all about regeneration, correct? And I'm sure, if I remember correctly, my past self has also told you some about it."

You nodded mutely.

"Good, then you can relax now, I'm not going to harm you." He said.

"When?"

"Pardon?"

"When will he regenerate into you?" You asked. "What happened?"

He stared at you with a look that you can't decipher. "Spoiler."

You sighed at his word. "Why are you here?"

"I need your help."

"Me?"

"Yes, the future of the universe depends on it."

You stared at him in disbelief. "Are you sure you need my help, not Clara?"

He rolled his eyes at you. "Right, I forgot that this you are still filled with insecurities."

You glared at him.

"This does involve Clara. But, you are the only one who can fix this." He said.

"How do you mean?"

"Next Tuesday, he...me...your doctor is going to come and ask you out for a date. You will reject him and break his hearts."

You are stunned. "W-what? Why would I do that?"

He didn't reply for a second. He gave you a look that tell you he's trying to be patient.

Your mouth dropped open when you realized what he meant. "You're kidding me. The future of the universe depend on me breaking your...his hearts?"

He didn't say anything, just shrugged.

"Why?" You asked.

"Does it matter?"

"Yes, because you're asking me to hurt him...and I never would do that to him, to you!" You demanded.

His eyes softened at what you said. "I didn't take this decision lightly, you know. But I have calculate everything within my timeline and this point in time is where the changes must be made."

"I don't understand."

"Of course you don't."

"Doctor! Stop being vague and tell me!" You demanded.

"So bossy. Clara taught you well." His expression is torn between annoyance and fondness.

"Doctor, just tell me. You...you are crossing your own timestream and it is all to make sure that we would never get together? Do you hate me that much?"

"I don't hate you, (name), in fact it was the opposite." He said with a solemn look. "But this is what needed to happen now. Your future-self agreed to it."

"My what?"

He rolled his eyes at you. "Keep up with me, (name), I know you can do it."

"But..." You are confused and you hated it. "No."

"No?"

"No. I won't do it. I don't care my future self agreed to whatever this is. I'm not going to break his hearts. Because that would meant I have to break my own too. Why would I do that? And don't tell me the future of the universe depend on it. I need more reason than that!"

"That wasn't enough?" He asked almost mockingly.

"Stop that! You are trying to hurt me. You are trying to make me hate you. Why would you do that?"

He sighed. "It wasn't my intention." He walked toward you. His hand moved to reach your hair but he only hovers over it. "You're making this really hard, (name)."

"Well, if you are asking me to sacrifice my feeling for you then I deserve a thorough explanation as to why that is." You pleaded.

He shook his head. "Your future self did warn me you will be difficult about this."

"Well, you should have listen to her." You said petulantly.

He chuckled. "I am." He sighed and he put his hands over your face. "Let me show you." He told you to close your eyes and you did. He put his forehead over yours and a series of images beamed directly inside your mind.

You gasped as you felt overwhelmed with the images, no, memories and the emotion that came along with it. You blacked out.

7777

You sat in front of the huge windows in your room. Tears falling on your cheeks. You understand now...somewhat. You didn't want to but now that you know, it would be selfish of you to pursue a relationship with the Doctor with what's at stake. But what you still have a hard time of accepting is the fact the Doctor has to have a romantic relationship with Clara.

You and Clara are best friend since childhood. You and her almost always share the same love interest time and time again. Of course you know Clara also fancy the Doctor. Who wouldn't? But the thing is your love interest always choose Clara over you time and time again...until the Doctor. You can hardly believe it when the Doctor choose you over Clara despite her being his impossible girl. You and Clara had agreed to remain friend regardless who the Doctor choose. And so far, Clara has been very supportive of the two of you.

And now, the future Doctor is telling you to give up on the Doctor and make it so his past-self divert his feeling toward Clara. How is that fair? Why does it have to be her? You know, of course you know, Clara is the Doctor's best match, more than you. It still hurts though.

The Doctor need Clara to be by his side. But she won't be if you are the one the Doctor choose. She still traveled with the Doctor apparently but she won't make the right choice when the time come, not without her strong feeling for the Doctor. And that was when everything spiraled out of control which led the future Doctor and your future self agreed to change their past for the sake of the world. You wanted to call bullshit on that but you know you won't.

The future Doctor were also there in your room but he made no move to console you, choosing to give you some space to sort your cluttering thoughts.

"So, what do we do now?" You finally asked with a hoarse voice as you turned to him still with glassy eyes.

The Doctor took a breathe of relief which made you blinked, realizing that he must have worried for you and how you will cope with it.

You forced yourself to smile weakly at him.

He started explaining what you will have to do to break his past-self hearts and ensure he won't try to pursue you.

"Are you saying I should make him hate me and stop travelling with him?"

"Hate is too much a strong word. You just have to make yourself less desirable to him." He said.

"By purposely making a mistake that will make him think less of me?"

He didn't reply. "I know this is hard."

"Do you?"

"You think this is easy for me? I love you, (name)." He said. "In the future where I came from, we are married. We are happy but we agreed to save Clara. She was our best friend."

You hitched a breath at his confession. You also felt ashamed because he is right, Clara is your best friend. Doing this will also save her from her fate. Why are you hesitating? Are you really this selfish? You took a deep breathe. "What do I have to do?"

7777

The next few days are hard for you. The future Doctor made a lot of plan in order to ensure the break up is permanent. He has blackboard where he wrote his plan and explained it over and over to you until you can't get it wrong.

On Tuesday, the Doctor come for you and you turned him down quite cruelly, telling him you don't have time for him right now. He looked like a kicked puppy. And then you and the future Doctor made plan to make sure Clara will stay with the Doctor and have adventure together.

The future Doctor took you to go wherever the Doctor and Clara goes with his vortex manipulator to plot a series of events making sure that it will drive them closer and intimate.

You hated every second of it as you watched the manipulated scene unfold just as the future Doctor predicted. He is quite the match-maker. You could see it, the undeniable attraction between the Doctor and Clara.

But to her credit, Clara refused to fall into temptation knowing full well that the Doctor is currently interested in you.

Then, come the part that you hated. The future Doctor instructed you to travel with the Doctor and Clara to a planet where he has designed a fake conflict. That will be the place where you will make your Doctor see your 'true color'. You will have to act still in character to avoid suspicion and that you are not under duress. The future Doctor did indeed know you well. The mistake you are supposed to make is actually something that you can see committed based on your own flaw.

And the Doctor is disappointed in you so much he dropped you home immediately. Clara can only stared at you with pity but she made no move to defend you.

You got inside your home and broke down crying. The future Doctor stared at you with a look of pain. You rushed into his arms without thinking and hugged him tight. He hugged you back, rubbing your back to console you.

7777

"Were you really happy with the other me?" You asked suddenly as you both sat cuddled together on the floor.

"I am. We are." He replied.

"You said we are married."

"We are. We got a ring and everything. Clara is my best man."

"You mean she is my maid of honor, don't you?"

"No, she is my best man."

"She is a woman."

"So?"

You chuckled. "I wish I could see it."

"You can...if you want. I can share you my memory of that day."

You eagerly accepted his offering.

He hesitated. "I don't think this is a good idea. Why torture yourself with things that will never happen now?"

You sniffed. "Just call it my payment or whatever. Please. I need to see it, our would-be future together."

He sighed. "As you wish." He said as he pulled you closer to him.

You closed your eyes, preparing to see a lifetime worth of memories of your would-be future with the Doctor.

"I become immortal?" You asked in shock.

"Yes, you were dying and I had to save you. I wasn't prepared to lose you. And the Mire technology is there to be taken advantage of so I did."

"We could have forever."

He didn't respond. Eventually, he said, "Now you can have a normal life, meeting a man that can properly love you, have a bunch of kid and grow old together."

"I never wanted that. I only ever want you." You said, clutching his face in your hands.

He sighed. "Don't, (name), you will only make yourself suffer more."

"And you...?"

He shrugged. "I will vanish, cease to exist."

"And you are fine with that?"

He didn't reply.

We are interrupted by the sound of wheezing Tardis which made you panic.

"What do we do?" You asked him as they both stand up, staring from the living room window the sight of the Eleventh Doctor and Clara walking toward your house. He was mumbling to himself while Clara pushes him toward your house. "Doctor, what do we do?" You asked again.

The Twelfth Doctor glanced at you with a look you can't decipher and then he suddenly pulled you close to him. He kissed you hard and you instinctively responded to the passionate kiss as if your life depend on it.

He broke the kiss and you both turned to see the look of brokenhearted look on the other Doctor's face. Without a word, he turned and went back on the Tardis. Clara stared at you with disapproval before she, too, turned to chase after the Doctor.

So, this is it. Tears started to fall from your cheeks. It finally is done. You lost the both of them.

7777

It was midnight.

You both are waiting.

"It worked." The future Doctor suddenly said.

Your heart almost jumped into your throat, choking you good. You glanced at him.

"My memory is changing..." He said almost in awe before he turned to you with a sad look. "I'm sorry, (name)."

"Doctor..." You whispered brokenly. You stood up and reached out toward him, nearly falling as you did so.

He caught you in his arms.

"No." You whispered. "Don't go. Please don't leave me."

He looked sad. He kissed your forehead. "Hang in there, (name) (last name), you will be fine. In fact, I know you will be amazing. Even without the Doctor."

You clutched his arms, unwilling to let him go.

He remained in your arms until he vanished without a trace, leaving you on your own.

You cried even wailing as you cry your heart out.

7777

The Doctor never come back for you.

Clara did come to you and demanded explanation about the old man she saw kissed you that night.

You told her you had come to your sense and realized that you and the Doctor are not compatible. "He's an alien. It will never work for us."

"That man you are with is too old for you. Where did you even met him?" Clara asked.

You snorted. "The Doctor is a thousand more older than him."

Eventually, Clara admitted to start having relationship with the Doctor and asked you how you feel about that.

You forced an ignorant smile and told her to go for it.

She look disappointed in you and she left.

She only contacted you via phone or chat after that. You never saw the Doctor again.

7777

Years passed by, you think. You have your up and down in coping against the loss of the Doctor and Clara but you make do. The memory of the would-be future of you and the Doctor still lives inside you, comforting you on the most loneliest night. You tried to move on from the Doctor a few times, dating someone but it never worked out.

One day though Clara appeared in your front porch, angry at you.

"The Doctor has regenerated." She said. "Guess who he regenerated into?" She glared at you angrily.

You flinched.

"He has the face of that old man you kissed that night years ago!!" She yelled. "Explain that to me, (name)! That man, he was the Doctor, wasn't he? What was he doing there?"

You weren't prepared for this confrontation at all. "Did he realize it?" You asked instead.

Clara stiffened and shook her head. "I think he blocked that night out of his mind. I don't think he gets a good look on that man that night. But I did." She turned to you furiously. "What was going on that night? Tell me! The truth!" She demanded.

You sighed as you sat down. You told her everything.

Clara shook her head in disbelief. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"He said not to. For this to worked out, you must never know. He said you would be unwilling otherwise."

"He would be right." Clara said. She turned to you. "The Doctor and I broke up."

You stared at her in shock. "What?! Why?"

"He is the one who break it up. He said he's too old for me."

"And you didn't fight for him?"

"You didn't either!"

"I had no choice!"

"Well, now you do. You can have him back."

"Clara Oswald, I can't believe you would say that to me."

"Well, he is yours in the first place."

"But he choose you."

"No, he was manipulated to choose me. By you! And by the other Doctor!" Clara said angrily. "He never love me. Not as much as he loves you."

You flinched. "That is not true." You said firmly. "I don't know what happened between you and the Doctor but he loves you. I know he does."

"Well, how do you know that? You haven't met us for so long! You didn't know what was it like!"

"Were you happy with him?"

She didn't reply for a second before she nodded.

"Then, what's went wrong?"

"He regenerated and he's changed. He doesn't want me anymore." She said. "And frankly, after what I know now, I don't know what to feel."

"Just give him time, Clara. You did say he just regenerated. Maybe he still need to sort thing out in his mind." You consoled her. "He did choose you. And he never once come for me. That should be enough for you to hold on to."

"How can you be okay with this?"

"I wasn't okay at first. But it's been years, Clara, I moved on."

Clara stared at you. "I'm so sorry. I should have known. I should have been there for you."

"The Doctor needs you more."

She sighed. "I have to come back to sort thing out with him."

"Okay."

"You are lying, aren't you?"

"W-what?"

"You still have feeling for him."

"Your arrival just make me nostalgic, that's all." You lied.

She hummed. "I'm gonna tell him the truth."

Your eyes widened. "You can't!"

"Why not?"

"What was the point?" You asked. "You are just going to make him feel guilty. Why would you do that to him? You know how he is. Don't add this burden on him." You pleaded.

Clara eventually agreed to keep it a secret.

7777

You can't believe this is happening. You were kidnapped on your way to work. They blindfolded you and pushed you into a room and forced you to sit in a chair as they tied you up.

Someone is yapping sarcastically at your kidnapper. You frowned as you felt like you recognized the voice. Your blindfold is lifted and your eyes widened as you saw the Twelfth Doctor sitting in front of you, also tied up.

He look as surprised as you. He didn't seem to recognize you at first. "Why is she here?"

"According to our record..." The robotic voice of your kidnapper sounded above you making you flinched. "...(name) (last name) is your companion."

The Doctor snorted. "You need to updated your record. She is no longer my companion. I disown her."

You flinched at the disdain in his voice.

"If you are trying to make me comply with you using her, you have taken the wrong person." He said nonchalantly.

You felt like crying but you bite your lips to stop yourself. "He's right. I didn't even know who he is." You said.

"He is the Doctor." Your kidnapper said.

You stared at the Doctor.

He shrugged, thinking you didn't believe that he is the Doctor. "I regenerated."

Your kidnapper designed a twisted game where the both of you have to tell the truth or risk electrocution. He called the Doctor bluff about not caring for you.

The Doctor, not wanting to hurt you, answered as best and as flat as he can be. He was good at telling lies. You know this. But you are not. So, when asked whether you have feeling for him, you tried to lie but that caused the Doctor a pain of electrocution.

"Okay, you won. I still have feeling for the Doctor, okay?!" You screamed. You turned to the Doctor with tears in your eyes. "You. It is always you. I never stop loving you."

The Doctor's mouth dropped open as he glanced at you with confusion and disbelief. "But you are with another man. I saw him that night."

"You stupid Doctor. Remember that night! See him! Really see him!" You shouted.

He frowned. He was silent for a long while. His eyes widened as he finally pieced it together. "W-what? That man...that was me? B-but..."

"I'm so sorry. I didn't want to hurt you. But I have no choice. You told me to, future you." You said, finally letting the worm out of the can and once you do, you can't stop revealing everything.

He look like he wanted to throw up. He desperately trying to comprehend what you are telling him.

7777

Once you and the Doctor are able to get out of the hostage situation, he grabbed you aside, demanding explanation.

"And you believe him?" He asked in anger.

"He showed me what happened!" You yelled, defending your action.

He frowned. He stalked toward you, grabbing you harshly. "Show me." He demanded.

You stared at him before slowly nodded your consent.

He closed his eyes as he put his hands to cup your face.

You closed your eyes and brought out the memories of the days of the future Doctor was with you. You accidentally showed him your would-be future with him.

He gasped as he released you. He took a few step back away from you. He looked at loss at what to do.

"Doctor?"

"You should have told me." He said brokenly.

"But you told me not to."

"How can you trust him over me?!" He yelled at you.

"He is you!" You yelled back.

He shook his head and left you behind...again.

You took a deep breathe trying to calm yourself despite the tears.

7777

"Clara Oswald, I hate you." You said as you glared at her. You found out she is the one who staged the kidnapping of you and the Doctor with the help of the Doctor's former companion, Jack Harkness.

"Now you know how it feel to be manipulated." She said petulantly.

"You are going to ruin him." You said.

"He will be fine. He will come to his sense eventually."

"He might never forgive me."

"Then he is very foolish." She said. "I just want to fix us, our friendship. No more secret."

"No more secret." You agreed.

"So, the threat that alternate Doctor has passed by, there is nothing stopping you to be with him again, (name)."

"Not this again. What about you, Clara? You love him."

She hummed. "I think you loves him more." She said.

"That's not true. You saved the Doctor over and over again. You even died for him again and again. If that's not love..."

"Alright enough, let's not start comparing who love who more, yeah?"

"You started it."

7777

You sat on your front porch staring at the night sky on your own.

The Doctor suddenly appeared and walked toward you slowly, almost hesitantly.

You glanced at him cautiously. You slowly stood up and met him half-way. "Doctor...?"

He glanced down at you with a look you can't decipher. Suddenly he pulled you to him and hugged you tight.

You were surprised. But you hugged him back. "I thought Clara said you are not a hugging person anymore."

"Shut up." He said.

You smiled and hugged him tight. You closed your eyes in content.

"one step closer

closer to the light

no matter where we're going

i'll be by your side

and everything we used to know

crashed into the great unknown

one step closer

we're gonna be alright."

find my way back - eric arjes

a/n: this is very mushy and probably cringe-worthy too. not original ideas but i still enjoy writing it so i hope you enjoy reading it too. please drop comments if you like it.

also, i wanna says thank you to those who follow my blog and has dropped like/comment/reblog on my past stories. thank you so much, dears.

#11th doctor x reader #12th doctor x reader #eleventh doctor x reader #twelfth doctor x reader #doctor who fanfiction #doctor who x reader #shiefenwrites

264 notes · View notes

phoenix-downer · 5 years

Text

Sora/Kairi in KH3 - Conversation with Chirithy Scene

This is the fourth in a series of translation posts I’ve done about Sora and Kairi’s scenes in KH3. The first post about the paopu fruit sharing scene can be found here, the second post about the light in the darkness scene can be found here, and the third post about Sora’s speech before he saves Kairi can be found here.

Here’s a general key for the kind of analysis I like to do:

JP: Official Japanese Dialogue

EN: Official English Dialogue

TR: My Translation (usually more literal and thus more stilted than the official English version. I’m not using natural-sounding English in order to stick as close to the Japanese versions of the lines as possible for the purpose of analysis)

Notes: things I found interesting, grammatical points, extra thoughts, etc.

One last note: media doesn’t exist in a vacuum. Every work of art is influenced by other art and by the cultural background of the people who made it. Kingdom Hearts, for all its ties to Disney, is still very much a Japanese game, so it should be analyzed in light of that.

With that in mind, let’s continue.

Sora and Kairi arrive at the Final World, which earlier Sora described as the world of ocean and sky. One possible reading of the kai part of Kairi’s name, as many of you know, can mean ocean/sea, 海, and Sora’s name can be read as sky, 空. They’re visiting a world that has a lot of symbolic significance for their names, and they’re here together, which perhaps Sora’s words hinted at all along.

Notice how Sora carefully holds onto Kairi as they land, and she likewise has her hand resting on his side. At first they seem surprised/unsure...

...and then their expressions change to joy as they admire the view around them:

They look at each other as if to share this moment together. Sora offers Kairi his hand, and she takes it as they float to the ground:

Then they land, though there is no ground here, just water. It is the world of ocean and sky, after all. The camera focuses on their feet to draw attention to the fact that this isn’t a normal world; only water and sky exist as far as the eye can see. Notice how Kairi positions her feet with her toes pointed slightly inward. This is considered cute and ladylike in Japan, and Kairi poses like this to give hints about her character to the audience. Notice how Sora’s toes point outwards to indicate a more masculine stance:

The medium close-up shot here frames Kairi’s reaction to the Final World, allowing the audience to empathize with her and take in her reaction to her surroundings:

Note the look of joy and wonder on her face:

Next, we get this long shot/wide shot of the two of them, still holding hands, to emphasize the vastness of the Final World and how amazed they are by the sheer size of the place:

The camera even zooms out to emphasize how small they are compared to how big the Final World is:

We go back to a medium shot of Kairi as she continues to admire the view. Again, this experience is framed in terms of her wonder and joy:

And then Sora enters the frame...

...but the focus is still on Kairi...

...as he gazes at her in a way that can best be described as adoring:

JP きれいー

EN It’s so pretty...

TR It’s so prettyー

Notes: The Japanese version has Kairi drop the copula da after “pretty,” probably so that she will sound more feminine. The English version picks up on this and has Kairi say “so,” which is more common in feminine speech than in masculine speech.

Sora continues to admire Kairi, even though he’s in such a beautiful place. Kairi is what draws his attention despite the stunning view around them. She’s more beautiful to him than anything else, and everything else fades away in importance for him:

His eyebrows even relax a little and his eyes do this affectionate squint almost, just to show how comfortable he feels around her and to indicate his feelings for her:

The camera focuses more on him in this shot, a clue that we’re supposed to pay attention to what he’ll do next:

We see the same eyebrow relaxing and eye squinting that happened earlier:

And then something else catches his attention, and his expression sobers considerably. There is sadness in his eyes, even at a happy time like this:

The camera cuts to his hand, which, as we can see, is starting to fade out of existence. The shot is from his POV here, indicating we’re experiencing what’s happening through his eyes:

He spreads his palm out as his entire hand goes translucent:

But only temporarily, as it becomes solid again as he watches:

Next we get this low angle shot of Sora reacting to the change, probably to include both his hand and his face in the shot. Still, it’s interesting that this choice of shot was used, because usually it’s used to emphasize power dynamics. Perhaps it is done here to make Sora seem larger-than-life? His breath catches here as well in both the English and the Japanese versions:

Sora curls his fingers here...

...and makes a fist. Note the look of resignation/determination on his face:

Then he turns to Kairi:

He doesn’t dwell on what’s happening and doesn’t feel sorry for himself. No, his concern is with Kairi and with getting her home:

JP カイリ

EN Kairi.

TR Kairi

Notes: Nothing really to note here, Sora just says her name to get her attention. He says her name frequently in Re:Mind, almost as if he’s waiting for every possible excuse to say it.

This next frame shows the two of them about equally, to indicate the focus is on both of them now:

JP 帰ろう　みんなが待ってる

EN Come on. Everyone’s waiting.

TR Let’s go home. Everyone’s waiting.

Notes: The intonation for both the English and Japanese versions are pretty similar here. Sora’s voice falls on both sentences to indicate he isn’t asking a question, he’s suggesting what they do next. He uses casual forms of the verbs because he and Kairi are comfortable with each other and know each other well. The verb for “go home,” kaeru, is often used to indicate returning to one’s home, so it’s clear he wants to take her back to Destiny Islands like he promised he would.

Next, we get a shot focusing on Kairi’s face and reaction:

JP うん

EN (Kairi just makes an affirmative noise in the English version)

TR Okay

Notes: Kairi agrees to Sora’s suggestion and nods.

Her eyes also do the same affectionate squint that Sora’s did earlier when he looked at her. They’re mirroring each other’s body language:

Then we get this shot to show Sora’s reaction to her, and look at the love in his eyes:

Then he smiles this precious smile that also strikes me as deeply sad, in a way. I don’t know if that was intentional, but considering how his fate must be weighing on his mind and how hard he’s trying to make sure Kairi’s having a good time, it might very well be on purpose. It’s also a very brief smile in comparison to some of his other smiles and strikes me as a little forced for that reason:

Notice again how his smile isn’t really reaching his eyes. They’re open too wide in comparison to his earlier, genuine smiles:

Though his expression here does seem happier/more content, now that he’s smiling more naturally:

Then he remembers Chirithy:

JP あっ！

EN (Sora just makes a surprised noise in the English version, like he’s suddenly remembering something)

TR Oh!

Notes: Pretty similar in both versions; Sora’s expressing that he just remembered Chirithy.

He looks around...

...and the camera cuts to a shot of Kairi watching him look around:

She even leans forward a little to try to meet his gaze...

...and asks him a question:

JP どうしたの？

EN What’s wrong?

TR What’s wrong?

Notes: Sora murmurs ええと to himself right before Kairi asks him what’s wrong, and he says “uh” in the English version. Pretty similar in meaning to one another, and it shows the localization team’s attention to detail.

Kairi uses the particle no at the end of her statement in Japanese along with rising intonation to indicate she’s asking a question. In the English version, she just uses rising intonation and the fronting of the wh-word “what” to do so. She asks the same thing in both languages, just uses slightly different linguistic tools to do so.

We get this full shot of the two of them to show that Chirithy is nowhere to be found:

JP うん　友達がいるはずなんだけどー

EN Well... My friend should be here, but...

TR Well, (my) friend is supposed to be here, butー

Notes: The Japanese and English versions are pretty similar here. Sora uses hazu to indicate that he expected Chirithy to be here, that Chirithy was supposed to be here, but for whatever reason, his friend isn’t showing up. Note though how “my” is assumed from context in the Japanese version and explicitly spelled out in the English version. Japanese can drop pronouns in a lot of instances where they are obligatory in English.

Sora looks around with a hand to his forehead:

In multiple directions:

And then calls out to Chirithy as Kairi calmly watches, heightening the humor of the scene:

JP おーい　チリシィー！

EN Heeey! Chirithy!

TR Heeey! Chirithyー!

Notes: Again, the English and Japanese versions are pretty much the same. Sora drags out the vowel in both languages as he calls out to Chirithy.

Then we get this odd shot of part of Sora’s leg. Our brains work slightly ahead of the scene...

...and poof, Chirithy shows up right by Sora, again heightening the humor of the scene because we expected this to happen a split second before it did. Chirithy’s incredibly unimpressed expression likewise adds to the humor:

The scene cuts to a long shot of the three of them, Kairi and Chirithy calm while Sora is shocked, which once again adds to the humor of the scene:

Note Sora’s defensive stance here, because his body quickly reacted to his surprise:

JP 何だよ　そばにいたのか

EN Whoa! Hey, why didn’t you say something?

TR What the heck? (You) were here (this whole time)?

Notes: In the English version, Sora sounds more surprised in the first sentence, but in the Japanese version, he just sounds irritated, haha. Granted, he also shows some irritation in the second sentence in the English version, so the overall gist is the same. In the Japanese version, he also uses ~dayo after nan to emphasize his irritation, and ~noka at the end of the second sentence to ask a question and make it clear he wants an explanation from Chirithy.

Notice how in this shot his hands change position to emphasize his desire for an explanation:

Next we get a shot of Chirithy at a bit of a high angle, probably to emphasize Chirithy’s cuteness and vulnerability:

JP ボクだって一応気つかってるんだから

EN I was just trying to give you some privacy.

TR I was just trying to be considerate (lit. Because even I’m [a little] aware/Because even I can be [a little] considerate/thoughtful).

Notes: Chirithy uses an interesting variation of the pronoun boku here. Normally, boku is written in kanji, but here it’s written in katakana, and I’m not entirely sure why. Maybe to make Chirithy sound different or unique?

Anyway, since Sora wanted answers, Chirithy uses the ~ndakara pattern to provide an explanation. Chirithy’s answer is also snarky as all get out in both languages, and it’s really emphasized by the tone of voice and grammar Chirithy uses. I had a little trouble translating Chirithy’s words here and maintaining a balance between a more literal reading and a more “basic gist” meaning. Part of it is because I still have trouble parsing certain formulaic expressions, which is what I’m gathering this one is. But the basic idea is that Chirithy is saying “Yeah okay, even I know when to give you some space, I can be considerate and thoughtful when I need to be, you know.”

Sora and Kairi look at each other and chuckle, but note how they are not denying what Chirithy said. They’re not all that embarrassed, either. This is a huge change from Sora turning bright red and denying Donald and Goofy when they teased him about his crush on Kairi in KH2. Now, he’s comfortable with the idea of the two of them being seen as a couple, with other people giving them privacy, because that’s the sort of thing couples want:

If anything, the way Sora scratches his head screams “Haha oops, guilty as charged, I was definitely enjoying being alone with you, Kairi”:

Kairi, as polite and friendly as always, moves to introduce herself to Chirithy. Note how the angle is low to highlight the size difference between Sora and Kairi vs. Chirithy:

But Kairi bends down so she’s closer to Chirithy’s level and offers her hand. This is really similar to what Sora does to show empathy to his smaller friends, and it’s adorable that Kairi does it too. They share a lot in common, and it really shows, even in the little things. It also shows how kind and caring Kairi is, because she’s treating Chirithy like an equal. True Disney Princess right here, befriending all the critters she runs across:

JP はじめまして

EN Nice to meet you.

TR Nice to meet you

Notes: Kairi initiates the set expression used to start an introduction in Japanese, hajimemashite. This phrase also often gets translated as “How do you do?”, but interestingly enough, it’s a conjugation of the verb for “to begin.” It’s just one of those set phrases that has a different everyday meaning than its literal meaning.

The camera shot changes, and we see a full shot with Kairi reaching out to Chirithy as Chirithy tentatively offers its paw:

They shake hands, and Chirithy returns the greeting:

JP あっ　はじめまして　無事でよかった

EN Oh, likewise! I’m glad you’re okay.

TR Oh, nice to meet you too! I’m glad you’re safe.

Notes: Chirithy lets out a little expression of surprise, then returns Kairi’s hajimemashite. Chirithy also expresses relief that Kairi is okay using bujideyokatta. Buji can mean several things, which is why I translated it as “safe” and why the official English version went with “okay.”

The next shot is of Sora and Kairi, emphasizing how Sora is about to speak:

Sora bends down a little in the same empathetic gesture he’s used before and Kairi used in this scene to help Chirithy feel more at ease:

JP でさ　俺たち帰るんだけど　チリシィもいっしょに来なよ

EN Chirithy, we’re heading home. You should come with us.

TR So, we’re heading home, but you (lit. Chirithy) should come with us.

Notes: Main thing to note here is that Japanese tends to use names when English would use pronouns. Sora uses ore to refer to himself, so it’s no surprise he uses the plural form oretachi to refer to both him and Kairi. His suggestion is worded a bit more strongly than a regular request with the use of the particle yo.

Chirithy is shocked by the proposition, and we get a shot to its reaction that’s almost at eye level to put the focus on Chirithy’s feelings:

Chirithy staggers back slightly and expresses its incredulity:

JP えええー！

EN Whaaat...?

TR Huuuh?!

Notes: Much like with Sora’s “heeey,” the vowels here are also elongated for emphasis in both Japanese and English.

We get a shot of Sora talking to Chirithy here that includes Kairi as well:

JP やっぱりさ　会いたい人を待つだけじゃダメなんだ

EN Take it from me, it’s not enough to wait for someone you care about.

TR All the same, just waiting for the person you want to meet is no good.

Notes: “All the same” isn’t necessarily the best translation here, and I much prefer the English version’s “Take it from me.” Yappari just has a lot of possible meanings, and the best way to translate it depends on context, and I’m struggling a bit here.

“Someone you care about” is literally “(the) person (you) want to meet” in Japanese. Rendering it literally would sound awkward in English, though, so the translators went with something that sounds much more natural in English.

We get a medium shot of Sora here to emphasize his next words, which are about the heart:

JP 離れていても確かに心は繋がってる

EN It’s true that hearts are connected wherever you are.

TR Even when (they)’re separated, hearts are absolutely connected.

Notes: “Connecting hearts is my power,” is Sora’s motto in Japanese, so it’s not a surprise that he reference heart connections here. And the “even when hearts are separated” language is very, very similar to things Sora has said to Kairi in the past. This scene in KH1 comes to mind:

JP カイリ　離れても僕らはもうひとりじゃない

EN Kairi, even if we’re apart, we’re not alone anymore.

TR Kairi, even if we’re separated, we’re not alone.

Before, Sora was okay with being apart from Kairi, because it was enough that their hearts were connected.

Well, that’s changed. Being apart from her isn’t acceptable to him anymore. It’s not enough that their hearts are connected; he actually wants to be by her side. That’s his priority now.

He makes a fist to indicate he truly believes what he’s saying:

Look at his expression of peace and confidence:

We get this shot of Kairi listening intently to his words as he continues. It’s clear she thinks highly of his opinions, and much like he admired her earlier, she admires him here:

JP どうしてもそばにいられないなら　その時を待つのも仕方ない

EN If it’s impossible to be together, then all you can do is wait.

TR If you can’t be together at all, then all you can do is wait (for that time).

Notes: I’m a little shaky on the “for that time” bit, because I think it’s supposed to mean “all you can do is wait for when you can be together again,” but I’m not 100% sure. Anyway, “be together,” sobaniiru, is more literally “be by (each other’s) sides, but “be together” sounds more natural in English.

Sora also uses the common expression shikatanai to indicate sometimes it can’t be helped, all you can do is wait. Shikatanai is a very common phrase that’s useful in a wide variety of situations, so if you’re learning Japanese, that’s a good one to remember.

The next shot is a high angle centered on Chirithy. We saw Kairi’s reaction to Sora’s words, and now we get to watch Chirithy’s:

JP でも　もし　そばにいられるなら　そばにいたほうがいい

EN But, if it is possible for you to be together, then that’s how it should be.

TR But, if you can be together, it’s better to be together.

Notes: Sora uses the ~hōgaii construction to give Chirithy advice here.

JP ソラー

EN Sora...

TR Soraー

Notes: No differences really, Chirithy just says Sora’s name.

Then we get this full shot of the three of them again to draw our attention to the beauty of the Final World:

JP ここはさ　確かにきれいな場所だけど　一人で見るより大事な人といっしに見たほうがいい

EN You know, this really is a beautiful place. But you’d enjoy it so much more with someone you care about.

TR This place really is beautiful. But it’s better to see it with someone important to you (lit. an important person) than it is to see it alone.

Notes: To avoid having my translation be really choppy, I reordered the words a bit. But in the Japanese version, Sora says something more like “Here (emphasis), is a really pretty place but,” if I were to transcribe it more literally. He also contrasts seeing this place alone (which is nice enough, and which he has done) to seeing it with someone you care about (which he has also done), literally daijinahito in Japanese. The latter is far preferable in his eyes, and he once again gives Chirithy advice using ~hōgaii.

Next, we get this shot of Sora to draw attention to what he does next...

...which is look at Kairi. He says these words, he talks about how important it is to spend time with someone who is precious to you, and it’s clear from his body language who he considers important:

He smiles as Kairi turns her head to look at him:

JP さっき　カイリといっしょに見て思った

EN Before, when I was looking around with Kairi,

TR Earlier, when I was looking around with Kairi, I thought

Notes: We get a better idea of what was going through Sora’s head earlier as he gazed lovingly at Kairi and only briefly looked at the scenery.

Kairi looks at him...

...they share a moment...

...and then Sora explains to Chirithy what he thought about:

JP 何かを共有しあうのも時には大事なことなんだ

EN I remembered how important it is... to share moments with friends.

TR Sometimes it’s important to share some things (with someone else/with each other).

Notes: When Sora looked at Kairi earlier, he realized how important it is (again, the word daiji is used here, paralleling the use of daiji earlier) to share things with her. He is, by extension, generalizing that advice to Chirithy to get Chirithy to agree to go home to Ven.

And because it has to be said... (insert deep sigh here...) there is no mention of “friends” in the Japanese version. The English version probably added it in because the sentence would’ve sounded too vague and unnatural in English, which you can see by my more literal “sometimes it’s important to share some things (with each other).” Do you know anyone who talks that vaguely? Exactly.

This is not “proof” Sora friendzoned Kairi in the English version either. He is taking an empathetic stance and is relating his situation with Kairi to Chirithy’s situation with Ven. Obviously, Sora’s bond with Kairi is different from Chirithy’s with Ven, but what they share in common is that they consider the other person important. And of course Sora would consider Kairi his friend; that’s the foundation of any good romantic relationship. Just because he calls her his friend in the English version does not mean that’s all he sees her as (clearly, as he keeps looking at her lovingly throughout this whole scene). Besides, either the English version of the games gets priority in terms of interpretation, or the Japanese version does (or you take a third option and use both to interpret scenes). Consistency is key here, and all I ask is that other people translating and interpreting these scenes give a fair shake to both versions instead of cherry picking which one suits their narrative better.

Anyway, continuing on.

Sora finishes his speech, and the focus is once again on Chirithy:

JP だから　いっしょにここを出て　チリシィの友達のところに連れて行くよ

EN That’s why you’re coming with us. I’m taking you to see your friend, Chirithy.

TR That’s why (you)’re leaving this place with us. We’ll take you to your (lit. Chirithy’s) friend.

Notes: “Friend” pops up here in the English version, but only in reference to Chirithy’s friend, aka Ven. The Japanese version uses “Chirithy’s friend” because again, names are more commonly used than pronouns, whereas in English, the opposite is true. Also, Sora ends his statement with the particle yo to give it a little more emphasis.

Chirithy is so touched that it starts crying over Sora’s kind offer:

And then Chirithy agrees and bows:

JP うん

EN (Sobbing noises)

TR Okay

Kairi likewise nods to show her agreement:

And then we get this shot of Sora and Kairi from Chirithy’s POV:

They smile at Chirithy, and Sora offers his hand, just like he did to Aqua earlier in the game. Notice how they both bend down a little to once again bring themselves closer to Chirithy’s level:

JP よし　行こう！

EN Okay! Let’s go!

TR Okay, let’s go!

Notes: Pretty straightforward meaning, no additional comments here.

And that’s a wrap! The scene fades to white:

Thank you for taking the time to read! Screenshots are from here. General disclaimer about how my Japanese abilities are a work in progress, same with my translation abilities, and I’m working on learning how to do more film analysis type things. The guides here and here were excellent references for different types of camera angles and shots.

#sokai #re:mind #re:mind spoilers #kh3 #kh3 spoilers #kingdom hearts #kingdom hearts 3 #kingdom hearts 3 spoilers #kh translation #kh analysis #phoenix plays kh3 #sora #kairi #chirithy #phoenix downer #phoenix translates #long post

209 notes · View notes

calliecat93 · 4 years

Text

Top 15 Star Trek TOS Episodes (Part Two)

(Part One)

Continuing from the last post, here are the remaining seven episodes~! Also picking Number One was SUPER hard. I was stuck between it and two for a long while. But I finally picked, so here we go!

#7. The Trouble With Tribbles

Up to this point, I hadn’t been crazy over some of the goofier episodes of Star Trek. Shore Leave was a mindscrew that left me uncertain about what was even happening by the end, though my opinion has lightened up upon looking back. The Squire of Gothos had a villain that I found far more annoying than entertaining and it remains one of my least favorite episodes. The only more silly one I did like was I, Mudd which remains an utter laugh riot once everyone acts as illogical as possible, including Spock. But then this episode came along, and Dear Lord it is hilarious. Our heroes stop at a space station, but it’s also occupied by Klingons. But wait, it gets better! A sleezy guy convinces Uhura to buy a Tribble, these little puff ball things that are kind of cute... until they begin to reproduce so rapidly that they infest the ship and base. To put it simply, it’s not a good time for Kirk. Honestly Kirk is the best part just because of how much he LOATHES every single thing about this episode. The scene where a whole bunch of Tribbles just topple over him and he just resigns himself to his fate and later his epic death glare at Bones when he orders him to figure out what killed the things. And then there’s what makes him come aorund to them, their shared hatred of Klingons. Seriosuly, Kirk is just So Done in this episode and it is amazing~

But seriously, it’s a very entertianing episode. Far more than I thought it was going to be when I read the description. It’s not an episode taken seriosuly, but not in the ‘they just gave up’ kind of way like in certain S3 episodes. The cast seem to be legit having a fun time with this one. The brawl between Scotty, Chekov, and a few other guys against the Klingons was super fun as was Kirk sulking when Scotty revelas that he got provoked over the Enteprise being insulted and not the captain. Poor Jim XD Cyrano Jones was also just a fun delight with how scummy yet amusing he is. The scene with him and the drinks during the brawl had me laughing so much XD Seriosuly there’s just so many good moments. Spock not being immune to the Tribble’s comforting effect and being embarassed at this revelaiton, Spock and McCoy’s snark, the Klingons utter horror at the tiny little furballs, it’s just an entertaining ride from beginning to end.

Not anything to really note flaws wise to justify the ranking. It doesn’t have that emotional or philosophical umph that I normally seek out in shows like this, so it’s here at seven. But that ain’t a bad thing at all. Not every episode has to have deep meanings or complex stories. Sometimes it can just be something fun and amusing, and the effort was still there to make it entertaining. It’s one of those episodes that I would watch above the others on a bad day just so I can laugh. Probably the most fun episode I have on this list, and that’s nothing to snuff at~!

#6. The Doomsday Machine

Our heroes find a Starship where the only survivor is Commadore Decker, his crew having all been killed when he beamed them to a planet that a planet destroyer... well, destroyed shortly after. The destroyer is still active and now the Enterprise is in danger. As Kirk remains on that ship, Decker is determined to destroyt he doomsday machine once and for all, including taking command of the Enteprrise and risking their lives to do so. Yeah, this is a pretty intense one. Decker, while his sucicdal actions were wrong, is VERY sympathetic. His crew was killed through no fault of his own, the machine that did it is still loose, and the losses have left him utterly broken. He’s very much traumatized but as he is the highest ranking officer and they can’t officially prove that he’s too mentlaly unfit to be relieved (which imo is idiotic cause even someone who isn’t a psycologist can tell he’s mentally unfit, but whatever), they can’t do much to stop him. Spock DOES finally manage to do so, and it leads to Decker’s ultimate choice that leads to his tragic end.

This one really gripped me. There’s this tension throughout. We have an unstable, suicidal man taking control of the Enterprise and willing to get them all killed to stop the doomsday machine. It’s scary to see how broken the man is. Again, he’s wrong to be willing to sacrifice everyone on The Enterprise to destroy the thing even though none of them want to die, but you understand why. I mean imagine if that happened to Kirk, he’d probably snap too if his actions in Obsession is any indication of how he handles major losses like that. Then we have Decker’s final act. Once relieved of command, he steals a shuttle and goes at the machine himself. He knows that he’s going to die and accepts that fact if it means some chance, any chance of destroying the machine once and for all. While he fails to destory it, he DOES give Kirk the opprotunity needed to do so with the ruined ship. A move that almost gets Kirk killed, but still Decker’s act was not in vain. It’s a very interesting character study with themes of guilt, trauma, and desperation. Kind of like in Obsession in a way, only Kirk manages to survive and pull himself together before it was too late. Decker’s only goal was to take down the machine that took his crew’s lives, even if that meant losing his own.

As I said, these are the kinds of episodes I live for. I guess self-sacrifice is also genetic consideirng what happened with his son in The Motion Picture, haha. Flaws... ugh... I guess McCoy disappeairng after the first half sucked? But that’s a me thing that doesn’t affect anything. I just remember watching it wide-eyed despite fully well knowing that everyone I cared about were going to be perfectly fine. It really gripped me! A great episode with great character exploration and themes which for a one off character, is pretty dang impressive!

#5. Journey to Babel

Meet the parents epidsode! Yay! The Enteprise is transporting various ambassadors of various planets to the Babel Conference. This includes the Vulcan Ambassador Sarek and his human wife Amanda, aka Spock’s parents. Yep, it’s time for some good ol’ fashioned family issues! Sarek wasn’t exactly happy with Spock choosing Starfleet and their relationship has been strained ever since. But when Sarek has severe heart problems, the only way to save him is via blood transfusion with Spock the only one compatible. But to make it worse, Kirk gets stabbed and put out of comission, forcing Spock to take command... at the same time that his father needs the surgery. Yeah... it sucks to be Spock in this episode. I know that Sarek is a bit divisive, but I like Spock’s parents. Sarek comes off as good at his job, but not great as a parent. He’s far fromt he worst and we do see that he does seem to still care about his son, he’s just God awful at admitting it and his previous mistakes. Like father, like son I guess. Amanda was a delight, especially when she tells McCoy about the sehlat aka giant teddy bear. Anyone who can make Bones smile that big deserves our thanks. Spock trying to make it less embarassing only made it funnier XD But back on topic, they come off as interesitng characters. They ain’t ideal, but they seem to genuinely be in love, which is nice.

Spock was just great here as we see him in one of the roughest spots he’s been in. He’s naturally not happy about being around the father that cast him aside again, though after his heart issues it’s clear that he IS concerned. Leonard Nimoy once again does such a fantastic job at having Spock express so much but without breaking character. It’s all in the eyes and the strained tone of voice. Then when Spock is more than willing to go through with the tranfusion, Kirk is injured. He has no choice but to take command, knowing that in doing so his father will die. While he COULD give command to Scotty, with the VERY intense circumstances of an assaliant on board and a ship ready to attack wit a number of ambassadors on board, he’s the best bet in handling it. Amanda is of course upset and even smacks him which IS overly harsh, but she’s about to lose her husband and her son, despite clealry hating the fact, has to place his duty above all else. Sarek dying is the least worst outcome to everyone else being killed. It’s the most logical route. Fortunately Kirk is able to pull himself together long enough to take over and the transfusion goes through perfectly despite the fight making it more difficult. Which again, McCoy is the true MVP here for managing to pull that off successfully under those conditions and Thank God that the episode rewarded him by letting him finally get the last word. He earned that one!

It’s such a great episode for me. Family drama, Spock conflict, political tensions, and just some relaly fun bits. Seriosuly, the teddy bear bit will NEVER stop being funny. Hoenstly these last five were all pretty tight and this ende dup here cause the other four had just a little bit mroe to keep me invested for reasons. Spock and Sarek don’t really reach a resolution but we do see that it has the chance to improve, and the movies do show that Sarek DOES truly care about his son and even admits that he had been wrong. It takes a lot for a man, even a Vulcan man, to do that. Although I DID double take when I realized that Sarek is played by the same guy who did the Romulan Captain in Balance of Terror. Guess he was that good XD. But yeah, a really great episode and very much my favorite Spock-centric episode.

#4. The Empath

TRIUMVIRATE FEELS BABY~! Our heroes end up trapped by a duo of aliens and encounter a mute empath woman that McCoy names Gem. They try to figure out how to escape as the aliens known as Vians plan to use them for an experiment as they have others. Shenanigains happen while elad to Kirk getting totured p, and then given the ultimate sadistic choice in having to decide if either Spock or McCoy get tortured to the point of either death (McCoy) or permenant brain damage (Spock). Now the episode has it’s issues, like why the Vians needed to do this to decide that Gem’s people were worth saivng is..l really baffling. But I’m also not a Vian so what do I know anout their mindset? But due to those kinds of plot holes, it landed here at four. It also kind of reads like a hurt/comfort fanfic, which isn’t a surprise when you find out that this was written and submitted by a fan. Which is freakin’ awesome and I can’t complain tbh cause it’s a good hurt/comfort fic. What it fails in some plot tightning it succeeds at in emphasizing the relationship between the main trio and it’s themes of emotion and self-sacrifice. Because OF COURSE that would be relevant for these three numbskulls at some point!

The second half is really what sells it. Kirk of course can’t make a choice like that, so Bones hypos him so that he’ll be spared of it. But that means that Spock is in command and he fully intends to hand himself over to the Vians to spare the two. Just the scene where he looks at Kirk, knowing that it’ll likely be the last time he sees him and Gem touching him to feel his emotions. Her smile sums it sll up. Which sidenote, the actress for Gem was freakin’ fantastic in how she displayed so much emotion and character without saying one word. Excellent acting. Anyways, Spock’s plan seems full-proof... except that he forgot that he’s dealing with McCoy, who promptly hypos him as well and sacrifices himself to the Vians. That was when McCoy became my favorite character, the moment he chose to be tortured to near death to save his two best friends and an innocent woman and even took the time to try and comfort her before being taken away. When we see the ifnal result and are greeted to DeForest Kelley looking at the camera with the most dead expression that he can muster... yeah the image STILL haunts me. Then Bones is dying with the two unable to do anything but try to give him some comfort and Gem is just so distraught and... heah this episode mad eit this high simply because it hit the emotional beats perfectly. That’s not even going into Gem trying to heal him to drive home the themes of the episode, also done VERY well.

This episode really shows how much the three care for one another. They’re all willing to be tortured and die to spare the other two. Ultimately McCoy gets the ‘honor’, but Kirk and Spock were absolutely ready to throw themselves to the fire. The characterization, interactions, and dynamic are just done so well that it’s why I can forgive the plot issues. I’m a sucker for feelings okay?! So yeah it’s not perfect but what it got right it got right. As such, it managed to land here at Number Four with only those plot holes keeping it from Number One. And trust me, I was tempted.

#3. The Tholian Web

Season 3 hadn’t been doing it for me with only one or two episodes really getitng my attention up to that point. This one though? This was the best episode in the seaosn bar none. Our heroes end up in a subspace where they find a starship and it’s crew all dead. Whien they teleport back to The Enterprise, it disappears... and takes Kirk with it. Okay, doesn’t sound liek anythignt hat new right? Kirk goes missing, the crew have to deal without him and find him as quickly as posisble. But this one has a bit of a twist... they cut Kirk out completely. Yeah, from the moment he vanishes in the first act to the very end he is out of the episode. Not only does the crew not know what happened to him, but neither does the audience, this ramps up the fear and emotional weight big time as the longer the crew is int hat space, the influence of it drives them to insanity. Bones wants to get out because of this, while Spock is unwilling to leave Kirk if he is alive. Needles to say, things go off the rails quickly.

With Kirk out of the equation, we keep our focus on Spock and McCoy. Their arguing is probably at the most personal it’s ever been with Kirk seming dead, the crew losing their minds, and it looking more and more uncertain that they can both treat the crew and ge tout alive. While one can say that McCoy may be too harsh here, I think along with the space affecting him in a less intense way, he’s also stressed from all the patients as well as his grief about Jim. Spock is the only one that he can take it out on, especially since his chocie to not leave is why they’re now int he mess that they’re in. Spock is trying to perform his duties despite the hostilities and his own grief that he’s trying to keep a grip on with all the responsibility of the crew and whatever happens due to his choice firmly sititng on his shoulders. What finally starts to get them to resolve this? A tape that Kirk made for them in the event of his death. He gives them his confidence that they can perform their duties withiut him, but that they need to lsiten to and support each other. They CAN go on without him. It’ll hurt but they’re now all that they each have and they need to work together now more than ever. It’s a sobering moment for both with McCoy realizng how ovelry harsh he had been and Spock expressing genuine grief. They do still bicke rone more time, but McCoy catches himself before it goes too far, apologizes, and Spock simply says what Jim would: “Forget it, Bones”. Cue Bones fainting like the Southern Bell that he is, haha!

Now of course Kirk is alive and they manage to save him and get out of the situation fine. But I just loved this because of the focus on Spock and McCoy without Kirk. Why? Because Kirk is the one thing that can unite them. It’s not the only thing, but if anything can make them get over their disagreements quickly, it’s Kirk. So what happens when it looks like he’s gone and never coming back? How will the two deal with it now that that balance is gone? They don’t deal with it well, being at each other’s throats until they see that tape. But it DOES show that if they did lose Kirk, they CAN work together and go on. Like I said, I adore these two’s relationship and while not as slashy as All Our Yesterdays, this is such an excellent one for that relationship as we see that yes, they will bicker but they will also be there for each other when it all comes down to it. It’s such a great episode for that reason and the plot was just well done. Like I said, casitng out Jim and leaving us unsure of what happened to him was an excellent move for this one and I enjoyed the exploration that it allowed.

#2. The Immunity Syndrome

Out heroes are scent to investigate what caused a whole solar system to disappear just as they also receive a message from a Vulcan science vessel. Unfortunately, Spock senses he vessel’s destruction and the Enterprise finds itself against a giant space amoeba that will devour everything unless stopped. That may not sound like much, but it leads into what I think was the most intense situation that the Enterprise has been in. Everything, and I mean everything, is pushed to their limits here. This amoeba can outright destroy galaxies and utterly mindless, so there’s no reasoning with it. But it gets especially tense when, in order to understand exactly what’s going on, Kirk has to send someone in the space shuttle to observe, but in doing so, he’s sending someone to most likely die. And his choices? Either Spock or Bones... yeah.

This is what makes this episode great. Spock and Bones are already on rockier than usual terms due to McCoy treating the Vulcan deaths more like a statistic while Spock sensed all of it outright. That itself is an interesting observation on how we treat these kinds of things, not really understanding how horrific it is unless we’re involved in it outright, otherwise it’s sad and unfortunate but just another number. But then we have the suicide mission. Bones originally volunteers himself, after all he’s a doctor and would have the knowledge to make the necessary observaitons and likely the most fit for it. But Spock is not only also perfectly capable even if not specialized in medical science, but he’s also more fit physically and emotionally to undergo the risk and come out alive. In the end, Kirk picks Spock and McCoy ain’t happy about it. The scene with Spock about ready to go with McCoy still unhappy even when Spock asks him to wish him luck. He does... once the doors have shut and Spock can’t hear him anymore. It’s a very strong scene and it only gets more painful when it looks like Spock is truly going to die and his final words are that McCoy should have wished him luck. Bones’ face says everything.

The episode is just excellent. Great character moments. Great emotional weight. Great stakes that keep going up and up and it truly feels like the darkest hour for the crew. Kirk and Spock outright begin to record their respective final words. Even they’re convinced that this is most likely the end, which is just... dang man. I couldn’t look away during this one. They hit everything perfectly with pretty much everything. If I have any issues, none of them come to mind. It’s just an excellent episode and the best of Season 2. I had a REALLY hard time picking between this and my Number One for the top slot. The top one just had a little bit more emotional impact to get it, but it just barely topped this one. Regardless, it is still an excellent episode and one of the best by far. But what is Number One? Well...

#1. The City on the Edge of Forever

Yeah, yeah, obvious pick I know. I normally don’t go wth popular opinion... but sometimes it’s that way for a reason, and this one I can’t argue about. When McCoy gets badly drugged on accident, he goes into a derranged state and beams onto a planet. The crew is unable to stop him from entering a portal known as the Guardian of Forever that sends him into the distant past where he does something to change histry. In order to figure out what changed and to stop McCoy, Kirk and Spock travel into the 1930’s a few days earlier to cut him off and must now navigate their way though the time period where they end up at a soup kitchen run by a woman named Edith Keller. Which Edith is an excellent character. She’s kind, optimistic, charming, hard-working, ad caring towards those who need it. Kirk ends up falling for her, and... it’s legit really cute. Kirk isn’t being forced to make out with a woman or doing so for information. We see how Kirk is when he genunely likes someone, having been drawn to Edith’s optimism and hopes for a better future. A future that he is from and knows will be reality. He’s really sweet and it’s just cute... which makes what happens at the end all the more tragic.

The 1930’s were fun with Kirk trying to come up with an excuse for Spock’s ears having me dying from laughter. The acting was excellent with DeForest Kelley as drugged!Bones especially being both crazy and scary. I quit doubting that he played villains in Westerns after this episode, haha. But of course Spock soon discovers that the change that McCoy is to make is saving Edith form death, and in doing so she leads a pacifist campaign that delays America’s entry into World War II and... well, things go badly. They are in a time where sadly optimism and peace are simply not options, which is even crueler. In order for time to be restored, they have to let Edith die. Kirk is horrified by this and when the time comes (sidenote, the Triumvirate reunion is utterly adorable), he just grabs Bones, keeps his back turned, and can only listen as Edith screams and is killed via car colission. Whatever grievances I have about William Shatner, he absoluteley nailed Kirk’s utter heartbreak and pain as Kirk just looks utterly boken. His final wordds after they return to the 23rd Century simply being a bitter “Let’s get the Hell out of here” sums it all up perfectly. Bones’ horror at it, especially since he DID have to watch it and him being upset at Kirk is also heartbreaking as he asks him if he knows what he just did. Spock can only somberly inform him that yes, he does.

It’s one of those cases where I wish serialization was more of a thign cause DAMN this is some major emotional baggage for everyone but as per usual. It happens and they go on from there with no lingering development. I guess if I had to complain, that would be it but that’s jut the nature of these shows at the time. Kind of feel like Bones getting as bady overdosed as he did pretty much got forgotten after they enter the 1930’s, but I also know nothing about 23rd Century drugs so... ah well. But the rest of the episode is so good that I can forgive those issues and they clealry did nothing to impact the placing. It had a storgn story, great emotion, great acting, great pacing, and a heartbreaking but fitting ending. The episode has a LOT of history behind it’s making that could be a post all it’s own, but no mater how this episode came to be, it is very much the best of Star Trek TOS. It was fun yet sad and had me gripped form beginning to ed and just htinkign about it now still makes me sad. Thus, it earns it’s place as my favorite episode of Star Trek TOS.

And we are done! There were a lot of really good episodes and some i REALLY did consider. A Piece of the Action, The Enemy Within (that was skipped for... certian reasons), Is There in Truth No Beauty?, This Side of Paradise, and plenty of others that I enjoyed. There were others I.. well, didn’t, but I can’t recall outright hating anything. Regardless I came in apathetic at best, and I left a fan for it’s characters, interesting ideas, and I just had a lot of fun. It’s outdated in many ways, but still relevant in others. Overall, I’m glad to have finally watched it, and I hope that I enjoy TNG just as much. But if not, I’ll always have this~!

(Image Source: TrekCore TOS Gallery)

#star trek tos #callie reviews

2 notes · View notes