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yandere-daydreams · 1 year

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tw - mentions of kidnapping, controlling behavior, lyla is both Miguel's number stan and number one hater, and blood.

“Are you sure about this?”

“Hey, show a little faith. Have I ever steered you wrong before?” LYLA whispered, hovering just above your shoulder. You paid her a skeptical look, and she sighed, rolling her eyes. “Okay, whatever, but you know who programmed me! You cannot believe Miguel would be able to give me this shining sense of humor.”

That point, you couldn’t argue – even if you still had your reservations. With a deep, faltering breath, you slipped through the barely cracked door and into Miguel’s shell of a bedroom. It was dark, save for the faint red glow emanating from some half-finished electronic weapon he’d been revising and adjusting for as long as you’d known him, and of course, Miguel was still asleep. It looked like he’d made a half-hearted attempt to pull one of his thin sheets over himself before collapsing face-down on the center of his bed – which was, in all fairness, probably exactly what happened. You’d learned his routine, by now, knew that he’d likely only sleep for another three hours or so before dragging himself out of bed and back to his surveillance room. This might’ve been the first time you’d actually seen him in bed, rather than hunched over one of his many consoles or laid across a bench in one of the lesser-used hallways, having given into his exhaustion before he could make it anywhere more private. You didn’t like it. It reminded you too much of waking up in the middle of the night to Miguel looming over you, silently leering as you pretended not to notice him, even if there was a world of difference between what he’d done to you and what you dreamed of doing to him.

You stepped over the threshold, then paused. “Why am I here again?”

“Blackmail.” Miguel had mentioned off-handedly that LYLA couldn’t feel human emotions, just imitate them, but you could’ve sworn you heard a note of pure zeal in her voice. “You get the picture, I spread it around, and we both benefit.” Your phone buzzed, and you fished it out of your pocket. It was practically a brick (being locked inside Miguel’s spider-fortress meant you were blocked from contacting anyone outside of that fortress, apparently), but you still liked to keep it nearby. In the futile hope that you’d be able to call someone, anyone if you did ever make it out of Miguel’s reach, one day. “He still hasn’t gotten over the 2099-Burger. You’ve seen it, right? That was some of my best work, you should’ve seen—”

You shushed her, and LYLA flickered out of sight before reappearing on the foot of the bed, a polaroid camera now hanging from her neck. Slowly, carefully, you moved forward, only to pause when you actually reached Miguel. He wasn’t wearing anything, because he never wore anything aside from his nanotech and maybe a threadbare pair of sweatpants, if you caught him after a shower. It’d been too long since his last haircut. It was already splitting at the ends, fighting against his half-hearted efforts to comb it back and falling over his face, distorting part of his (relatively) peaceful expression. Even unconscious, he was frowning, but the dark circles under his eyes were less pronounced, his lips contorted into something that was more of a pout than his usual scowl. No wonder LYLA wanted a picture. There had to be more than a few Spider-People who’d want proof that their irritable leader could be something other than angry.

Half stalling for time, half trying to talk that better taste off of your tongue, you turned to LYLA. “Remind me why you can’t just take you own pictures, again?”

“Some of us are just a bunch of flashing light. Hot flashing lights, but y’know, lights.” She held up her miniature camera, and you looked away before the flash could blind you. “C’mon, you can’t say you don’t want to get back at him.”

Right. Getting back at him. This was supposed to be your way of getting back him. He kidnapped you, tore you away from your loved ones, locked you in a case of glass and metal, and you were going to help his AI assistant take a picture of him sleeping. The perfect revenge.

Digging your teeth into the inside of your cheek, you raised your phone, but before you could take LYLA’s picture and retreat back to your own room to sulk, an alarm you hadn’t set went off at full volume. You cursed under your breath, stabbing blindly at the screen in a panicked effort to shut it up before Miguel woke up, but an arm lashed out from Miguel’s heap before you could, catching you by the waist and dragging you into his chest just as the alarm mysteriously when silent. You clenched your eyes shut, bracing yourself for his claws embedded in your skin, for a growled threat, but nothing ever came.

You forced yourself to open your eyes and found that, despite everything, Miguel was still unconscious. You heard a camera shutter behind you – LYLA, her grin too smug not to be genuine. No doubt, you’d be able to see her handiwork on every screen she had access to by tomorrow morning - meaning, of course, every screen in Nueva York. “I thought you said you couldn’t—”

“He’s a deep sleeper. Very reactive, though – did I forget to mention that?” There was a pause, a wink. “Oopsies.”

You grit your grit your teeth. “Are you at least going to make him let me go?”

“Ah – flashing lights, remember?” Again, she flickered, reappearing an inch or so away from your face. “I’ll see you in the morning, lovebirds!”

You opened your mouth, but she was gone before you had the chance to protest. Still, you squirmed against Miguel’s vice-like hold, attempting to shove at his arm only for another to wrap around his midriff, only for him to pin you that much more tightly to his chest. There was a low, heavy grunt, then his nose nudging against the side of your throat, his lips ghosting over your skin. Slowly, instinctually, his fangs pushed into the curve of your neck, drawing out a pained whimper, a thin trail of blood. His teeth lodged in your throat, his body wrapped around yours, he settled against you, his breathing falling back into a steady rhythm. Making sure you’d stay where you were until he woke up – whether that was in one hour or eight.

It was all you could do to take a deep breath, close your eyes, and hope LYLA would lead you to a swifter death, next time.

#yandere #yandere x reader #yandere x you #yandere imagines #yandere drabble #yandere spiderverse #spiderverse x reader #across the spiderverse #miguel o'hara x reader #yandere miguel o'hara #miguel x reader #yanderecore #yancore

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samobservessonic · 12 days

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Next, we move onto a Knuckles story that I’m much more glad has run for six parts than I was the last six part Knuckles story, with the shock(?) reveal from last time that Nack has betrayed the Chaotix to the new Metallix army in exchange for cash. I assume this was arranged prior to the Chaotix getting the jump on Knuckles at the start of this arc? So Knuckles was probably an added bonus for Nack

No one is surprised to learn that the Metallix aren’t keeping their word to Nack. What’s the most interesting here is the hint that Nack is a tech guy in StC. He’s hardly been established beyond “traitor” here, but we will be seeing more of what he can do in future

Even here, while it doesn’t help him, we see that Nack was prepared for a potential betrayal and brought a shrinking gun hidden in his hat. That’s kind of Nack’s thing in StC - he’s got weapons and stuff that he can shrink and grow. We’ll definitely be seeing more of that later

It does paint the picture of how much money means to Nack as well, if he assumed that the Metallix were probably going to betray him, but went along with this on the slim chance that they wouldn’t

Here you go everyone - Knuckles with a gun

Had he not been struck down, Nack could’ve even walked away with a victory today, since his weapon does manage to wipe out all of the Metallixes!

And since the Chaotix are the good guys, they even take him with them as they make their escape

That’s the last we see of them for this story, as on the next page, Knuckles is being dropped off home by the now recovered Omni-Viewer. He rightly assumes that there’s more to the Metallixes’ behaviour than what Robotnik’s ordering them to do and oh boy, we’re coming up to that plot point!

Eh, maybe Nack wouldn’t have been okay after all, since it turns out that the Metallixes were faking it. That’s actually really clever - they’re robots, so a display of bravado means nothing to them. The best way for them to win the fight was to simply pretend they were beaten, so their opponents would leave without causing them unnecessary damage. You don’t normally see this outcome in a comic aimed at young teenagers, since the goal is often to get to the cool fights as quickly as possible. But them wanting to avoid a fight just makes the most sense

Also, they’ve got an evil Omni-Viewer now. They can go anywhere in time and space, easily making them the most dangerous enemies in the comic. I’m also chuckling nervously, because now I have to confess that I’m a casual Doctor Who fan at best (shout out to the Ninth Doctor, love that guy!) and I’m probably not going to pick up on all the Doctor Who inspiration that went into these guys. But trust me when I say that it’s there

To hammer home this point, we end this story on this awesome establishing shot of the Brotherhood of Metallix! Once again, Elson absolutely sells this. You can feel what a massive threat this is and I’m sure there were no shortage of kids writing in asking to see more of this story But for now, it’s over and it looks like next time we’ll be getting that Knuckles & Tails story that was allured to in the main story last issue Well, now that it’s finished, I only have good things to say about this story. Despite being a backup story, it established some very central themes and gave us the biggest threat in this comic so far. If you were wondering how they’d hit the ground running after the S3&K arc, well, this is it! A lot of concepts from the game were brought into the fold in one fell swoop and honestly, for me, it worked really well. While I’d have had no problem with Nack getting a separate introduction arc, I like him as the traitor to the Chaotix and there are a lot of places you can take him from there. The Chaotix themselves are going to become big players in StC from here on out as well. Y’know, I do wonder if SEGA gave a push to StC and Archie to work in the Chaotix after Knuckles Chaotix came out or if both comics just decided having more game characters in the mix was a good idea. Because, I’ll be honest, if not for the Chaotix being in StC, I probably wouldn’t have heard of them prior to Sonic Heroes. Knuckles Chaotix was not a game anyone really talked about when I was a kid and I wasn't online until a lot later But where Archie kept the Chaotix as Knuckles’s support cast, StC actually used them mostly separately to Knuckles, adding another point to their “StC was accidentally right about something to do with the Chaotix” tally. This isn’t to say we’re never going to get more stories with Knuckles interacting with them, but we’re also going to be getting a lot of them doing their own thing. One of the biggest arcs I remember with these guys teams them up with Sonic, not Knuckles, as he gets stuck in the Special Zone for a while

I’m getting ahead of myself there. For now, we have a solid arc that leaves us with a lot of potential in future, as StC refuses to wind down the stakes on their way into the dry period of getting new Sonic games

#sam observes sonic #sonic the comic #stc issue 58 #knuckles the echidna #fang the hunter #metal sonic #vector the crocodile #espio the chameleon #charmy bee #mighty the armadillo

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roturo · 2 years

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saw u asking for reqs n i was thinking if u could do a song fic inspired by mitski for aibb<33 have a nice day angel🫶

I WANT YOU

“And it’s the end of the world, we’re starting over and I love you darling.”

(Okay! So I tried to make this angst since most of Mitski’s songs are really sad 😭 But i’m still learning to write angst! So I hope you like it 💕)

• Chishiya x reader

You were holding one card you just won. You saw plenty of people dying for what? A card that has no use? You swear you could start screaming but you wouldn’t let yourself break that easily. If only that card could bring you back to him.

“How much do you miss him?” A feminine voice said by your left side. Both of you were sitting at the stolen car from The Beach. Parked at an empty street. Not that it matters, everything in tokyo was now empty.

“More than I should.” You murmured still looking at the card.

“Then why you don’t go look for him?”

“Because it was my choice leaving him. I wasn’t good enough for him. And no one will be.” You said, your fists clenching at the thought of him being with someone else.

“You’re wrong y’know? You were more than good enough.”

Maybe she’s right. Maybe you are the best he could get. No one else.

It’s been a long time since you were at The Beach. It looks like nothing changed from the first time you were here.

And he looks so different but at the same time he looks like the first time you met him. His messy blonde hair, dark cold brown eyes, his white jacket with nothing underneath, the typical swim trucks, and his new girl friend, wait, girl friend?…

I found you..

You found me.

Everyone started cheering by your comeback but that didn’t stopped you of locking eyes with him. Then his little new friend. Girl Friend.

He looked at her, not showing any kind of emotion, not even a shocked expression.

This motherfucker. He doesn’t care?! does he?!

Even though everything and everyone were so loud, you felt it like a quiet space. But not a place where you could scream

‘I love you.’

He started slowly approaching you, never breaking eye contact. He didn’t care he leaved his friend behind with no words. That’s a good signal isn’t it? haha, he still loves me. Not you.

You’re coming back. And it’s the end of the world. But you’re still coming back to me.

“Hey.” You said. “How long has it been?”

“Not too much.” He answered. It felt like years passed without him.

“You never know, it’s not like time exists here.”

He chucked at that. Oh, you were the only person that made him smile. The only. “Want to, y’know, get some drinks and talk?” ohyesyesyesyes.

“Okay.” You gave him a little smile.

“Why did you leave?” Oh fuck. Yeah, you thought about this talk, but you didn’t thought of it happening this soon. Shit.

“I needed a new start.”

“And that “new start” was without me?” Damn. Why he’s being so direct now?

“Um… No..? I never wanted things to end.” You were doing this for him.

“Do you think that if we had been in the real world and single at the same time, that we could be something more?” Ouch. Aren’t we something?

“Maybe in another life we could’ve been together.” But we can still be together. Please. “Give us a chance. One chance.” please.. “It’s not my fault we’re on this world, and we met at the wrong time, but ever since we met I felt myself crushing on you, honestly.”

He chuckled. “It’s neither of our faults, but I still feel like I could’ve stopped this from happening if I just didn’t let myself start thinking about us becoming something more”

“But we can still be something! I love you!”

Those three stupid words. Neither of you ever said them. But now? You couldn’t let yourself losing him. You tried to let him go, but it’s like you’re tied up to him.

“I don’t know how to love you.” ouch. okay..

“But you can try… please..”

“I can’t fall in love with you. I don’t want all the pain that comes with. But I do want you.”

“Then you can! I’m all yours… We can try again. We will!”

“Y/N… I can’t lose you. Not again. But please remember that I will love you no matter what universe we’re in. I want you. But we can’t be together. It’s way too dangerous. I’m sorry.”

#chishiya x reader #chishiya angst #aib chishiya #chishiya shuntaro #chishiya smut #kuina alice in borderland #chishiya alice in borderland #alice in borderland x reader #alice in boderland x reader #alice in borderland #aib arisu #aib niragi #aib season 2 #aib

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a-wolfs-bad-moon-rising · 2 years

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Modern Teacher Buddha x Depressed Student Reader

I can’t even remember what day it is. Yes I can, it’s Wednesday. I just don’t care. I don’t really want the weekend to come. I hate school at the same time like being here over home. I had friends, but they didn’t understand. I started feeling bad years ago, so they haven’t noticed I’ve been off for so long. My parents of course just think it’s my age. And maybe it is. Well not mostly that’s for sure. Yeah the anxiety and worsening body image probably didn’t help. But I know it was before that. I am so bubbly at school though.

Sometimes I wanna kick myself for saying ‘I’m fine’ or ‘I’m doing well!’ whenever someone asks me how I’m doing. Like no I’m not. And sometimes I just wanna stop and say ‘You know what I’m not fine’

I just want to cry and get it all out. But I don’t. I just carry on. School, home, some after school or weekend stuff. It all blurs. Sometimes I feel my best in my religions class. It’s an elective I had to take because I waited too long to select my classes and all the other ones were closed. Even if I don’t really care what we’re learning that day, I love my teacher. Buddha we call him but his last name is Mr. Guatama. He’s just such an interesting teacher. He’s so casual and laid back. Sometimes honestly he’s a little lazy about his teaching, but I love his class so much I don’t care. He’s so friendly to me. One time I took some candy off his desk from this bowl he had and he came in and IMMEDIATELY noticed it was gone. He threated to give us a quiz and give us all F’s for it if no one came forward.

I was really surprised the next day I came in and my grade was a lot lower. So after school I went and bought him a bag of candy and kept it in my bag until everyone left. Then I went up to his desk. I can still remember the conversation.

‘M-Mr. Guatama?’ He usually didn’t make me nervous because he was so nice but the fact he actually punished everyone, I thought he was really mad. He looked up at me his eyes a little confused. I kept to myself a lot and didn’t usually talk in class unless he forced me.

‘Yes (Y/N)?’ He asked. I held up the bag and looked away.

‘I b-bought you some new candy, because I took yours yesterday.’ The other part was barely audible.

I think he actually forgot about it because he didn’t get it at first and looked at me up and down. Then it clicked.

‘Ohhhh it was YOU?!’ He said in his loud voice. I nodded

‘I’m sorry I thought it was for everyone. I didn’t mean to’ I said sheepishly. He laughed

‘Oh my dear I forgot about that’ He laughed again ‘You could’ve gone the whole year and I never would have caught on.’

I tilted my head at him.

‘But you said you’d fail us and then our grades were lower today.’ Now he looked confused.

‘Eh?’ He went through his computer and after a few clicks he said ‘Ah here you are.’ He looked for a few seconds and then looked back at me taking his glasses off.

‘Oh you forgot to turn in three assignments’ He said.

I deadpanned. ‘Oh…..’ He erupted again laughing and wiped his eyes.

‘(Y/N) I WISH I could do that.’ He kept on

‘Thank you for the candy I do appreciate it,’ I felt my heart swell, ‘Here y’know what just turn in what you missed and I’ll fix your grade it’ll be like nothing happened.’ He said smiling and I got all flustered.

‘Thank you I’ll do that tonight!’ I told him

‘Alright get on home then’. He said, giving me a wink. I blushed and ran out muttering another goodbye. From that day on, he would target me. Sometimes embarrass me in class but never in a way that humiliated me. And he’d say hi to me in the hall. It felt nice having that.

Whenever he was eating the candy I bought him, he’d give me an ‘angry’ stare and eat carefully.

Yeah his class helped a lot with what I was going though. I needed more of that comfort. Sometimes I wanted to go to him and spill my guts to him.

I just felt so much at ease and my anxiety would dissipate when I was in his class. I wanted a dad like him.

Things were getting worse lately and it made my mood more depressed. I dragged my feet more. My focus was bad and if I did talk it sounded dull. I didn’t think anyone noticed, I barely felt like I was there.

Today was the worst and I couldn’t hide anything. In Buddha’s class, I sat with my head in my hand barely keeping up. I don’t think I heard a word of what he said. Which was surprising. I hadn’t seen it but he kept looking worriedly at me all class long. He also didn’t poke fun at me. No one really noticed because he poked fun at a lot of people. When class dismissed I stood up and trudged towards the door. I was moving slowly, even packing up my bag so everyone was almost out.

A hand clamped on my shoulder. I jumped at the contact and faced Buddha. He looked shocked at my violent reaction and moved to shut the door. He pulled a chair next to his desk.

‘Sit down.’ He said softly. I perked up at this, he usually spoke so boldly, I never heard him sound so…careful.

I sat down and dropped my bag to the floor. I felt awkward looking at him.

‘(Y/N) are you okay?’ I looked at him for a bit, I was shocked he paid that much attention.

‘Just all week you looked so quiet and upset. I always thought you were shy, but you look exhausted.’ He said. I opened and closed my mouth. I felt the tears coming but I held out.

‘And I just touched your shoulder and you looked so frightened I didn’t expect such a bad reaction.’

‘T-There’s just a lot.’ I started. ‘I d-don’t know how to…how to explain it, I’m. I’m just uh, going through a hard time.’ I looked away from him. I turned my head up to stop the tears for a moment. I didn’t know what else to do.

He put his hand on my knee and I jumped again. He pulled back. He looked really upset himself.

Then he put his hand back on my knee and said. ‘I’m sorry’ Right then I felt like he understood.

‘You can always talk to me.’ He said never looking away.

‘Really?’

‘Of course’

‘Even right now?’ He nodded at me and squeezed my knee. And then I began

For a bit I tried dancing around what I really meant, but he connected the dots and asked me the truth. I told him. I told him so much and God the more I said the more my heart felt free and less heavy. I held in so much for God only knows how long and he listened to every word. Every now and then he said he was sorry or squeezed my knee again.

Then I started crying. My voice kept quivering but until the end I held my tears back. Then the shame kicked in and I stopped talking and cried into my hands.

He stood abruptly and pulled me up. I still didn’t look at him as he pulled me into a hug. He held me against him, one hand rubbing my back the other holding my head. After a while I moved my hands from my eyes and hugged him back. I kept crying into his shirt. Then he kissed my head. And I stopped crying. He did it a couple more times until I calmed down. When He pulled away to look at me I could barely look back.

‘(Y/N), you’re a smart, beautiful, young woman. And all that you went through just makes you stronger. Please don’t hold back you can vent to me whenever you need it.’ I nodded at him and wiped my nose. I panicked when I saw the mess I left on his shirt.

‘I’m so sorry!’ I felt so guilty

‘Oh don’t be’ He was trying to reassure me

‘I’ve had worse squirted on me.’ We were both quiet for a second.

‘Okay FUCK that came out wrong.’ And I laughed. Hard. He looked at me surprised.

‘You have such a cute laugh when it’s genuine.’ He commented. I blushed at him.

‘Thank you Buddha.’ I said. Now he really laughed at me.

‘Whaaat?’ He asked. I blushed again.

‘That’s what you call me that’s great.’ I laughed with him. Then I got a little sad.

‘I guess I should go home now.’ I said he looked at me empathetically.

‘I’m always here for you (Y/N).’ He told me hugging me again.

‘Promise?’

‘I promise’

~~~~~Time Skip~~~~~~

‘Omg omg omg omgggg!!!’ I exclaimed running up to Buddha. I jumped onto him and hugged him. He chuckled.

‘Good news?’

‘The best!’ He waited for me to answer.

‘I got into my first choice college!’ I was so excited. He spun me around

‘Ayyyye I knew you could do it.’ It was him though, he helped me boost my grades and with applications and gave me constant reassurance. He had given me his number so I could text him when I needed him.

‘I need to pack, I need to get my books I need to BUY BED CURTAINS.’ I spoke dramatically He laughed at me.

‘(Y/N) it’s not until the fall calm down’ He said ruffling my hair. I smiled up at him.

‘Thank you so much’

‘It was all you.’

‘But I needed your help’ I told him.

‘Promise you’ll come visit me?’ I asked looking up at him.

He smiled.

‘I promise’

#buddha x reader #fiction #modern record or ragnarok #ror #shuumatsu no valkyrie #teacher buddha #student reader #highschool au #buddhaxreader

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flowersforfrancis · 1 year

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Why do people think humans killing each other is a bad thing when animals do the same thing and nobody gives a shit? NOW I'M NOT SAYING I AGREE WITH MURDER, IT'S A GENUINE QUESTION. I will explain. (I will be using lions as an example)

The only known predator for lions are other lions. They have no need to kill each other whatsoever. They don't need to in order to survive(technically) and they don't need to in order to get food.

Lions are warm-blooded mammals and they have feelings and they can learn things, just like humans. If they learn from mistakes and they adapt. They have even made up their own language through sounds that come out of their mouths, just like humans. I think that this kind of shows that they have thoughts and maybe a conscience.

Knowing this, human beings do not give a damn if animals kill each other, whether it be for food or for sport. So why do people get so upset when humans do the same thing? It just doesn't make very much sense to me.

God. To be perfectly honest I do wish that it was also anonymous on my end. But I’m not going to lie and say this isn’t something I’ve thought about quite a lot.

(Also apologies for taking so long- I was unsatisfied with answer-(still am), and then I just completely forgot.)

Yes, I definitely disagree with murder. But it is a funny thing. I feel as though humans have decided that they deserve a life- they deserve to live. We’ll say ‘taking a life’, as though in murdering someone you’ve just stolen from them. Like you’ve stolen an opportunity, a possibility. People will say stuff like, ‘oh they had so much left to do’, -something I often think about: When people are aware of the closeness of their death, often they’ll say they want to do certain things before they die- why? Sorry if it’s insensitive or offensive to any religions, but when you’re dead you simply won’t care. It’s only a sentimental Idea. Perhaps if you want to be remembered in a certain way, or do something like making a significant change. But fearing death is a whole 'nother thing, and of course it does have to do with murder, but I'm not even going to try to go into all that.

Death only affects the mourners. I guess murder is supposed to be unfair to them because, y’know, they want that person in their life. There’s the saying that grief is selfish- yes- selfish, but obviously reasonable, because we can’t help but need others. It’s interesting what you said about lions- that while they form attachments, same as us, they aren’t as affected by loses. I don’t really know why humans are more affected. Yes, we may be more developed and our relationships may be more complex, but it does make me think. Part of it might be because humans have a lot more individuality. We connect with everyone differently, and we are more exclusive in our connections. And humans do have more of capacity for thought- so over time we have thought about morals, and what we consider ‘right’ and ‘wrong’.

In the end I think murder has been labeled as wrong because of the way it makes us feel. And because while death is imminent, we try our best to avoid it for as long as possible. So when someone murders someone, the problem is the choice that was made. The death didn’t need to happen. If it did: the murderer is at fault. The person who died, easily could’ve lived. Again, Humans feel they are owed life and they are owed the people in their lives. -that no one has a right to take that, that it’s unfair. By murdering someone you are willingly bringing unhappiness to others- making it morally wrong.

I'd say we are repulsed by murder because it has been done at the hands of a human being with a consciousness. When someone has, for example been mutated we think of it as worse- out of fear and instinctive disgust. We talk of quick, painless, deaths, and hope that ourselves, and others, will receive them. But why do we care? If someone's death is painful, yes, maybe we don't want to imagine them in pain, but pain or no pain, they died all the same.

We plead and fight for our lives out of instinct, because we have a strange sort of a hope, because we hold a sense of belonging and a fear of the unknown.

But yeah, I don't really know the answer to your question. My general summary would be that the murderer is responsible for the suffering of those left behind. If someone were to be murdered, and they lived in complete isolation and hadn't a single relationship, I wouldn't see the fuss. We would only detest that because we have already been taught that murder is 'bad', whereas animals such as lions, technically, have been taught no such thing.

(Also I know that this was quite repetitive- sorry about that too).

#god idk #thanks for the ask i suppose #sorry for the length #and the time i took #and the rambling #don't mean to offend any religions #hope this actually means anything #idk honestly #philosophy #murder?

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inventors-fair · 1 year

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Levity and Play Commentary: Softer than a Punch-line

Okay so! I’m busy as hell and losing my mind, but there’s no reason why I can’t have fun in the meantime. And you know what? I think that this is a good time to mention that over the last week and a half, we’ve been engaging with creative workshops, and from that, we’re learning a lot about intent and how to give feedback. The small issue, of course, arises from the fact that creativity and gameplay aren’t fundamentally the same at every level. A card that feels like the embodiment of a natural disaster also has to be counterable by a mage’s flick, or an accidental surge, or some manner of inter-gameplay reasoning that means it can’t be as all-powerful as its signifier’s existence wants it to be.

In some ways, that’s the purpose of this contest. You have to find an little ‘in’ in the card world and translate that into gameplay. Or, really, you’re finding the fairness in the gameplay and saying, how can I make metaphor from this objective world meaning?

With so many of these, there was massive and wonderful success, and I’m glad to have laughed and smirked and snorted my was through. With the absurdism of not getting what we want, levity must be made. Let’s get into it, then! If you see a card marked JUDGE PICK, that means that either I was amused by a particular aspect or that it was close in the folders of winners and runners-up—a longlist, if you’ll forgive the literary-ness of it all.

@batatafilosofal — Late to Class (JUDGE PICK)

What struck me about this card was the fundamental funniness of Quintorius as a character. And I’m learning to love him a little, learning how he’s going about in the world, and what this card could’ve been. I mean, an elephant is going to be a little trampley, a little hasty, and an elephant who’s going to be in people’s way is definitely something you have to watch for on campus. Learning is what feels like both a funny aside and the real Strixhaven idiosyncrasy—students learning. He’s not exactly in class, but the world asks that he learns, which is totally fine.

I feel that that’s the power level of learning, because this card’s pretty close to a cantrip! You have to discard, but I mean, either you loot through the deck or you get an extra card in your hand for one mana, and if you super need it you can target an opponent’s creature, which is very helpful, I think. Solid for sure. On the specifics, trample and haste do have to be switched around, but like, if you want a great draftable combat trick, this would be the common to look out for. It’s definitely aggressive, and that’s fine; Lorehold kind of needed that push. Prismari would be in that vein as well, y’know, but that’s the nature of uncontrollable draft. And, last little note, I want to say how much that flavor text is leaning into the storytelling voice, as if this is the start of a narrated journey, and I’m quite amused by that.

@bread-into-toast — Gorge on Hotpot

We’ll still have to talk about food as it comes up, but that’s totally fine, because I like how food becomes more evocative when we think of levity. It’s a place of comfort and a place of connection with magical worlds—everybody has to eat even if sometimes it’s a hobbit in a cocoon. What this world is going for is definitely trying to get that world connection, the Chinese-inspired world of Shenmeng which I have to admit, I haven’t kept up with all of the new planes, so there you go. Flavor text is doing some cute work to contrast with the spicy art, and it’s making the right moves in terms of contest intention to have spicy noodles be the damage source. Maybe ending on “It’s hard to stop at just one bowl” would land the punch that the relationship is already doing between concepts.

With the mechanical introduction of paying for your bowls of noodles, having them be so hot as you come out and (in-world) eat them, I’m getting a tiny bit lost in what this gameplay world is supposed to be. Traditionally, when we’re in the vein of multiple tokens, I lean towards MH2, and it’s really in conversation with that set but not quite getting to the gesture of on-the-table identity. Is this a token sacrifice archetype, is this a Food or a Treasure archetype, tokens in general, artifacts—I’m not entirely sure. As a rare, it’s not really the boardwipe it wants to be either, because it asks so much of the replication with the mana cost and the Treasure. I wish there was a mechanic like Conspire that could exist here? There are ways of playing about with it, but when we’ve reached the “I get it” point of paying for your noodles, I wish this card told me more about what these very specific archetype-gestures want to do in the set.

@curiooftheheart — Unfortunate Spill

I know that this isn’t what you probably want to hear, but the first thing I see when I look at this card is a lot of text. The flavor text is pretty funny, sure, and it’s a fantastic use of the prompt. But, goodness, that’s a LOT of text for a card that’s—well, it’s doing a lot to justify having it but I don’t think it’s necessary. Exact sacrifice is super cool, and I want to point out that that stood out to me as a precise, unique piece of tech. It adds at least two lines to whatever card it’s going on, though. This card could’ve had two paragraphs; the first, the additional cost, and the second: “Choose any target. If one token was sacrificed to cast this spell, it deals 4 damage to that target. If three tokens were sacrificed, it deals 5 damage to that target and...” etc. Hm, hold on.

As I’m typing this out, I’m realizing that damage prevention and uncounterability are a lot to have here. Really, this whole box needed to be pared down. This isn’t to say that your idea of the world isn’t fantastic, and that the ice cream being dropped isn’t a really funny image. Maybe it’s a little odd to have it be that much damage considering it’d only be that much damage for a small creature, but you paint such a portrait that I’m on board. The amount of (what feels like) unnecessary wording frustrates my reading of this card’s strengths. Really think about how much you’d need to make it work in the envisioned environment and what precedent you can use to shape it into a more legible and streamlined card.

@dabudder — You Reach Into the Brush

I put this card into a weird category where it’s less funny and more definitely lighthearted—and also subtly not so? There’s that old adage about, like, the weight of the adventurer, and so reaching into a bush and finding a broken branch—that gives two power, jeez—is a much more lighthearted jaunt, but not as exciting as the holy-crap-factor of finding the sword. But the sword also carries with it that notion of oh no, I have to save the world, which is a lot to handle, a bit. It’s the enormity of fate. But I’m reading too much into it, so whatever, I’ve had a long week of reading into things.

In terms of the card itself, this isn’t going to be crazy broken and will probably be a three-mana tokenmaker that’s sometimes incredible, so you know, as an uncommon, I feel it. The fact that it’s at instant speed is a little odd, because I read it as a pivotal moment of decision and less of a quick reaction. Reading it as a quick reaction is pretty funny, though, especially if your Brushwagg reaches in and finds the sword right in time—although, like, both the abilities are definitively aggressive and would be pretty disappointing if you needed a blocking ability. But like, first strike is a lot for that effect, so I get it. And the abilities are both still good! So, the massive amount of text is still grokable, even if it is a lot, so I’m bearing with this card. D20s and whatever aren’t a me thing, but you have a great sense of adventuring, and I’m willing to meet this card where it needs to be.

@deg99 — Ropework

Mechanically, this card’s pretty great. I like how you can play this as a quick cantrip if you’re desperate, but the ideal usage makes you want to play this card in such a way that you get to get through a blocker and swing in with the team, wham bam and all that. That encouragement is a super cool design technique, e.g. you see this card and you want to build a multicolored deck in order to get your money’s worth. Tapping and haste are always fine, and a cantrip is too, so there’s nothing that’s not known about this card; it’s the togetherness and the little wink to camera that’s what I like.

The mood is pretty sensible, too, although I’m a little taken aback by the choice to have someone sitting down as they’re supposed to be given haste. It’s hard to get across without there being a chase scene, perhaps, or having the adventurer be part of some kind of active and subtle role at the same time—so maybe they’re having a dance-off? That’s the first thing that comes to mind and it’s not, like, the best idea, I know. But the point is that I want there to be a little something that I can point to and go yes, absolutely, I get why this keyword is happening here. Sitting just is a little—not in motion, is the best way I can put it. The flavor text isn’t doing much work for me either, honestly. I get the intent of having rope be like, oh, it doesn’t have to be a lasso, it can just be a lace. We’re already captivated by the art to know that, though, so, what’s the new flavor we’re adding? Think about the scene, or the act of magic, how that’s being transformed, perhaps? What’re you going to do to show us yes, new rope, there’s a joke in here, something about being tied up, knotted, whatever. But it does need to be more playful, I think, to fully emerge.

@dimestoretajic — Kibo’s Japes (JUDGE PICK)

Speaking of bananas. I...am 80% sure there’s a subtype manipulation deal where you get infinite Bananas, but I couldn’t begin to tell you what that might be. Well, just to be clear: this is one of those cards that makes sense, and in any other circumstance I’d be nitpicking, but the seriousness with which I read “are Bananas in addition to their other types” was just sending me. As a build-around-me card, having the red-aligned part be where most of the Treasure comes from (as well as the Peel effect) is pretty well-balanced with how much green likes to make Clues and Food. I also like how it affects all of the tokens on the battlefield, which is reflective of the flavor text.

Not that I’m entirely on board with what the flavor text is getting at, but I’m mostly there. With the “legion” being mentioned, I get the feeling that there was some sort of weapon manipulation happening, but here, you have non-weapon objects being banan-ized. How precisely am I supposed to be reading this in the world of Kibo? Again, on-board, I’m totally down for the gameplay and it makes sense, and it’s kind of silly that Food and Bananas are artifacts all the same but that’s just semantics. I think that the sheer silliness of this card is what’s inspiring me to call it a judge pick. Even if the world isn’t 100% matching up for me and there’s a possible imbalance depending on how fast you can make tokens, there’s a lot I’m willing to overlook in favor of the melee and chaos of bananafication.

@dravidious — Crash Test

The idea of crash test dummies is one of those straddle-the-line questions of how serious or silly they are even in real life. It’s quite a profession, after all. ... I may or may not be writing this before coffee. Anyway. What’s uncertain to me is the notion that there’s any kind of testing of this caliber, or that seat belts and airbags are part of the world. Also, I don’t know why my mind went to dummies, it could just be a test—although there is the part that destroys a tapped creature. No no, backing up: seat belts. The vehicles of Kaladesh aren’t built for that at all, really. There are hovercrafts and monowheels and all sorts of weird things, but airbags? I don’t buy it, honestly, or the fact that they’d use the language of the DMV as presented here.

Card-wise, I will say that that part of the prompt can be checked off quite well. Destroying artifacts is important for vehicle and Aetherworks Marvel-sized removal if need be, and destroying a tapped creature is probably what you’re going to be using this more for anyway. I like how it’s a tapped creature, which is one of white’s no-attacky-me killspell tricks as well as a crewing punishment. That part’s actually really clever, and I hope that it’s all intentional, and I’m just going to assume that it is and you’re flexing some design muscles. Besides the flavor hangup, the card itself seems completely reasonable.

@flightyquinn — Unplanned Adventure

Purple-bordered cards, huh? I won’t take too much stock in it, don’t worry, no imaginary points docked. Exploration! I’m astounded that there were only sixteen cards that actually explored in the whole of Magic, with a couple others that care about payoffs. It’s a wordy mechanic but it’s so fun, and here there’s a wonderful use of it in a context unrelated to Ixalan at all. Without reminder text, there’s a lot to be asked for if you just opened this out of a pack or whatever, but let’s assume design speculation rather than what-do-players-need and printing and all that.

I personally love the combat trick weirdness/protection as needed/ strange removal that comes with blue instants like this. While there might be some confusion with the question of legal targets if XYZ is removed in response and the “then” clause—oof, maybe I’m overthinking it, and/or maybe it’s too early in the day for me to be considering the comprehensive rules. Who knows! I’m sure it’ll be fine, and again, I really do like the exploration. While the flavor is playing into tropes, hey, it’s a good trope! Strixhaven possibly, or another school in the multiverse? Doesn’t matter—kids are gonna get lost in a magical academy that cares not for their safety or well-being around forces beyond the world’s control. But they’re not getting killed or maimed or whatever—an adventure awaits! Yeah, that brings a smile to the face. And a shift+enter to the flavor attribution next time. (And thank you for the set symbol! I love when people have their own custom ones on MSE.)

@halfsilveredmirror — Resolve the Dispute

When I was first playing Legacy back in 201X or whatever, a friend of mine used Mangara of Corondor and the card Karakas to exile whatever he wanted and return Mangara to his hand. As a one-time Magara effect, I’m actually surprised that this hasn’t been done before. And so cutely, too! Right, backing up: I’m going to assume that this card isn’t going to be in the same theoretical format as Karakas, but bouncing or blinking your own creature in response is still really funny since it’d just exile your opponent’s card. And the fact that tokens are easy to generate make this decent as well. In most limited settings, I don’t see this card being played without a strong token build-around, but it’d be easy to do so, and perhaps your early plays getting exiled isn’t so bad.

Cuteness carries the other half of this card in a way that may not be in-depth or story-heavy, but it’s pretty much just what this contest was looking for, right? To take the void of nothingness, that horrible vacuation into which monsters and innocents alike go hurtling never to return, and to apply it to tiny mouse siblings? Heh. Not gonna lie, there’s a little darkly-humored edge to this contest when I actually think about it, but there’s just the gameplay of time-out that could be applied, too. You have to stay in the sideways zone until a new game, little scamp. Love it! Maybe that’s part of what this contest asks for: if Magic had always been flavored differently, what would it looks like, and how would we think of these effects? Anyway, cuteness is worth something, and I’m pleased that this effect was brought up.

@helloijustreadyourpost — Gwart, Aspiring Chef

My brain is the problem here. Now, hold on: I like this card a lot. I think it’s a great limited bomb that is a Commander possibility. But: if there’s any kind of Food generation in the set, then this card essentially becomes a once-a-turn sweeper. Which...is problematic, if true, but we can’t know that. If it’s implied that there are other Food-makers in this set, and Capenna once again has a Masterchef empire (still thinking about that!), then we once again have a potential power level problem. If it was each creature inclusive, or there was a different cost attached, then perhaps it would be more balanced; repeatable sweepers are still somewhat of an issue in any environment.

The funny part is that the levity is dependent on the potential direction. If this guy’s by themself in a home kitchen, then it’s their various pots, pans, and cockroaches that suffer. I can also imagine a light-but-still-serious burning situation in which a goblin literally kills people with their bad cooking techniques. So, I’d say that this card straddles the line of the prompt, but still lands in a funny enough camp. I still, in-world, wouldn’t want to stick around for seconds.

@horsecrash — Science Fair

I’m gonna say that this is legit in poor taste (in-world, anyway). Ambitious, yes, but wow, Zimone should know better than that if she’s a prodigy! Emotionally, the world may never know, and I haven’t read enough about her to understand where she is as a kid/young adult/teenager/I don’t actually know how old she is-person. “Younger than most” seems to be the consensus. Would she be part of that science fair after everything? I might be overthinking the specifics, but the point is that she saw the Phyrexian invasion up close; this flavor feels more Un-set than not, honestly.

As for power level, this is a wonder, isn’t it. Show and Tell is definitely A Card, and I wonder if this is at a power level enough to make it...matter? I’m thinking, like, if you put Omniscience onto the battlefield, your opponents probably can’t do much about it, right? I think that Show and Tell is still really darn good, so the question afterwards is whether or not a standard environment can handle something like that. You know what? I think it might. Elesh Norn, Anti-Harmonicon would be a fun card to have on the battlefield if you throw down an Atraxa. ... Yes, I’m still on New Phyrexia, gimme a break. Are there anti-token generators? One-sided nonsense cards? Obviously S&T is still broken at this cost, but I’d be willing to see how crazy this card’s willing to go.

@i-am-the-one-who-wololoes — Surprise Round

I have read and reread and once again read that art direction and I cannot for the life of me figure out what’s supposed to be happening here. If you’d be able to make a sketch from this, I’d greatly appreciate it. For the moment, I’m just not having the brainpower to solve the placement. Let’s back up to the gameplay side of things. I... Look, this is one where I have to admit, I didn’t play with the initiative, I didn’t like the concept of the initiative, I don’t play D&D or any TTRPGs, and while I get the concept this card, there’s an emotional distance; perhaps it’s the IP adjacency of the trope? Double honestly, I don’t know for sure what a surprise round is. Or who “Mrs Caveat” is. Or what...any of this is supposed to mean, I’m so sorry, I just don’t get it.

And the card’s probably fine! It’s a weird little cost and a damage spell, which...is actually fine considering Kabira Takedown and have-a-dude hit-a-dude part of White’s combat trick. That’s all fine! The initiative is a great thing to take at the end step! I think. There aren’t any instants that have you TAKE the initiative—not “gain,” heh—probably for weird power level reasons of having other effects tacked on, y’know? I wouldn’t know because of Reasons.

I want to stress that this is a “me” issue. This is the problem with a variety of designers and players and tastes: I don’t have that expertise to give you the commentary you deserve here. For that, I do apologize.

@izzet-always-r-versus-u — Spring Break (JUDGE PICK)

It’s versatile, it’s an odd multicolor blink that really digs through the blue, and you have a cool choice of landing. I like it! Is this a Strixhaveny kind of card, or is it still in the vein of doesn’t-have-to-be-specific? ... Wow, I love my hyphenated terms for specificity this week. For this week. I really hope this isn’t going to be a week late, oh cripes. ANYWAY. This card! It’s a good card. Let’s start there. I think this is one of the ones where the only thing that could’ve propelled it would’ve been art direction in conjunction with other cards being Not As Good. Unfortunately, other cards were as good. The blink and stun is super cool, and having to save the creature and buff it tapped is a small price to pay when on the other side you can freeze a creature. I like that effect a lot.

Are there springs in the spring break? For some reason, I imagine a literal spring breaking and someone getting launched into the air, OR like a vernal pool with a magical spigot launching a swimmer above the pond. What would the direction be, really? I want to know, and that wanting is borderline frustrating if the card wasn’t so cool. Some students sleep in, or some teachers sleep in, and some others—oh, I just noticed, Quandrix and +1/+1, that’s definitely a Strixhaven card, isn’t it. Gotcha. Unless I’m wrong. At this point, I don’t think this commentary is helpful, is it. Look, here’s the gist: you had hot competition and you went for something slightly too abstract to be absolutely perfect in envisioning, and I like the card a lot, and you designed well. Hope that helps!

@misterstingyjack — Game Night (JUDGE PICK)

You know, in the end, I wondered why I made this a Judge Pick on the first pass, but then I realized how meta-warmfuzzy it is. We’re here to have a game night. It’s the reactions to the power on the board that really make it. No, I don’t want us to go easy on each other! We should be playing to our best advantages! We should be putting out personable powerful monsters that affect the board! I like affecting the board a lot. And being with old friends. I love losing to the people I love losing to. Does that make sense?

In terms of stacking and effects and specific wording, I think “starting with X” might need to be in there somewhere, but the draw is nice, and this is a card meant to emulate the feeling of being with people on an equal playing field. Great to bring back the rhino and elephant from Late to Dinner; isn’t that what this is all about? How would the elephant roll the dice, though. ... By trusting his friend to make it equal and even. I think I wanted to include this one here not because it was necessarily funny in the laugh-out-loud way, but the emotional impetus brought a smile to my face. That’s worth something. Isn’t it lovely, to capture loveliness in a resonant way?

@nine-effing-hells — Polyattendant

Unlike the initiative, I did end up playing with attractions. Like the initiative, I didn’t enjoy them. Unlike the initiative, I’m amused to see it in Legacy play. Now, with this card and the contest—well, okay, let’s go back over the card itself first. As a draft card, it’s a great bomb to slam to even get a single attraction. Right? The GGG is a bit of a labor-intensive practice but it hardly matters later in the game if you can get to a part where you open a zillion attractions. Sure, that much I get.

This contest wasn’t about the Un-iverse. It wasn’t stated that these cards were meant to be not in that world, because we’re still using “border” to talk about it, but—will Attractions come back to a world that isn’t filled with clowns and tickets and parody? Look: the Un-iverse is meant to be comedic in its own right, its own existence. What’s the challenge in making something meant to be funny, be funny?The world is filled with natural humor and the Magic world can be too. And also, this card implies that the hydra ate and killed its manage. Is there levity in that, or is the humor still in the miasma of darkness? These cards weren’t supposed to engage with death, morbidity, or even much snark. This wasn’t the contest for this kind of card. Thank you for bringing to our attention to our need to change that wording. Genuinely, though, it’s an important distinction to make—the source of where comedy is derived and how. I should have been more specific.

@reaperfromtheabyss — Oops!

The name is what’s making me make the same face as that commander, I imagine. There are so many more Magic-evocative names you could’ve gone for, argh! Maybe it’s a me thing, and I know it’s a me thing, and I have to explain this in an objective manner, but when the expected flavor doesn’t mesh with the establishment (boardwipe and silly goblin), the framing—name, effect, situation—has to have all the alignment a player needs. “Oops!” doesn’t align for me at all. The art direction and the flavor text are impeccable. Maybe this was a moment where I needed to make a compliment sandwich, but I’m growly and moody and you get the brunt of my brain’s darkness. ... Which is just this. I’m not actually pissy, it’s just a lesson about mood and expectations.

Cardwise—gameplay wise, whoof—I wonder about the setup here and how much setup you might need in order to justify having this effect. What if you don’t get the card you need to have the mana value equivalent? Is it worth getting rid of your hand for? Is the “scorched earth” kind of effect (more a pyrrhic victory, perhaps) able to justify the fact that your opponents will have the card advantage in hand, probably, if not board advantage? How much advantage will this give you? It’s variable, and I want to like it, but I don’t think this card is that playable. It’s fun, certainly, even printably fun. Not a constructed card, though. Dredge, though? Heh. Kidding, kidding. Someone would have a victory with it.

@snugz — Papercraft Mule

It took us a little bit to get that this was a pinata. No, I’m not gonna look up the unicode for that, I’m already so far behind and there’s literally a German shepherd eager to jump onto my lap as I’m typing this. Dammit, Frank. AHEM. Mule! Yeah, heh, I’m glad that we got that out in the open and all. Hm, could this even be a Donkey Construct? I love the fact that donkeys are a type that would make sense to be brought back to Multiverse Magic. The flavor lands once we established the emulation. I have no idea why it took so long. Is there a world of mesoamerican culture where this can be done respectfully? Ixalan was...probably not the right one, considering. Actually, I’m remembering, of all things, a Viva Pinata! comic from Penny Arcade and also a Five Second Film where a living creature has its entrails eaten. Is that happening here? Is there a humane way to engage with this humor? Or am I just a crazy person.

I really like this as an annoying blocker, but also, it forces you to decide how you’re gonna play the rest of your hand. It’s cool that you can save this for, like, turn 4 or 5 and then use the next turn to jam two spells, one of them being a big creature. I think there’s gonna be someone who forgets about it, plays a creature with 2-3 power, and gets less food than they hoped for, but they can deal with it. What role would Food play? This card doesn’t make me ask that, thank goodness, but there’s gonna be a LOT of food for later. Hopefully that balances out. This card can be a real pain in the butt with the lifegain later, can’t it. Is that too much? Variable food? Hm... Something to think about.

@stareyedesper — Rake

And now, the Inventor’s Fair One-Time Award for Most Uncreative But Actually Reasonable Like What Else Would You Call It Naming Convention. It’s a rake! And you can scrape or step. There’s no possible other way to make it happen and I think that the obvious answers are all less funny than the result. Comb and splat, eh? Heh heh. Like, if I saw this in a pack, I’d feel amused but also a little worried about who at Wizards allowed that to see print. And then it’s be the only thing that people could talk about in the set, because it’s the most perfect thing to exist. It’s hubris and it’s silliness. It’s useful and it’s dangerous.

I like the mana value clause there; lets you take out the aggro decks pretty easily once you comb with it. The scrying is a curious little case here, isn’t it? I wonder about how many folks would forget it, but it’s something to remind folks of, perhaps. I do like how you’d have to keep it that way in anticipation. End step to prepare, upkeep to prepare in a different way. But you have to use it or lose it, right? Untapping is out of favor a little but—don’t tell anyone—I love it in moderation even if I know it’s never gonna come back. In the end? This card’s super useful and a good curveout for a midrange limited deck. In sealed, ugh, I don’t even wanna think about it...

@stupidstupidratcreatures — Miss the Bus

Sometimes the art direction writes itself. Sometimes the flavor does, too! Except in this case, I wish there had been some flavor text written in that blank space, even just a single “Wait!” down there. You have to run to miss the bus, right? I think I like how that works out. For one mana, this would be such a pain in a controlly and slow draft deck, but not enough to break hearts and minds and tables. I’m glad it’s an uncommon; too strong for common, far from the power of a rare. But power level isn’t what this card is about.

Countermagic’s crazy taxing effects have been flavored in a few handfuls of ways, but in general, countermagic is a mage-y power-y lightning-y dispelling-y affair, not—well, this. Where would one find a bus? I’m thinking Capenna, and honestly, I don’t think anywhere else. Would that be a train, then? A train could link it to either Capenna or Kaladesh. Ravnica, for all its flaws, is a walkable city. ... Oh my god, how have there not been jokes about Ravnica being a walkable city before? Or is that me projecting humor where there is none. This card is pretty upfront about it, and I like it. This is the card about missing the bus, and there can be no other. Just add some flavor/AD/final polish, and hey, all the more power to you.

@wolkemesser — A Kiss for Good Luck

That’s a fantastic name and I love the way that this card works in general. In terms of power level, I’d say that the aggression might be a touch high? There’s no cantrip, but looking at Kiln Fiend, for example, the evasion and cheapness are such that you’re gonna be seeing consistent wins where there wouldn’t be wins otherwise. I’m not sure if that’s the greatest thing an aggro-spellslinging or prowess deck needs in the environments where they’re already pretty powerful and consistent, y’know? Still, concept is solid.

Name is too, as I mentioned, although I can’t make the flavor connection for the life of me. Why does a kiss make you menacing? Does the kiss need to be “blocked” by two others before it can be, uh, shared? There might be something that I’m missing in either the semantics or the intent, but my kisses are slow, private, passionate, and not at all menacing. In my work, I mean. Please do not kiss the judge. Unless your name rhymes with Bajani Boldmane. Huh. I think I want to be menaced before I’m kissed—does that count? ... It’s been a long summer, folks, my brain is shampoo.

@yellowpie — Yoink

YOINK. It’s been yoinked! Lemme start with the few reasons why I’m not sure about this card, starting with: the fact that it can still grab planeswalkers. What’s the yoinking? Lands, that’s just funny. Artifacts and enchantments, well, they’ve been manifested, so I’m going to go with okay and threatening. It doesn’t give haste, so that’s fine to have it in hybrid. Is...is this something that both colors can get? I’m actually not sure. The gameplay side raises questions that I’m not sure I fully understand. If it was just artifacts, then it wouldn’t be as curiously fun, but it would make a little more sense. But that obviously wasn’t your intent. I’m quite curious about this card’s nature and I wonder if it’s...possible for it to be okay!

Flavor-wise, heh, I love it significantly. The flavor text opens so much about the world in conjunction with the art, and the name is so gobliny even if the flavor text is more about the yoinking—two sides of the same city! This card is, in a term, full-bodied. You’ve got the gameplay side, how all the elements are connected either by similarity or contraposition, and it’s silly, fun, and probably more powerful in the right circumstances than I know. Commander certainly would make use of this in an unfun way. Ah, but doesn’t it always? Let’s end with this: the mechanics raise questions about color legitimacy, but the flavor makes me want to know more about the world for sure.

WHEW. Okay, let’s get this posted. And in the meantime, show us your lands!

@abelzumi

#mtg #magic the gathering #custom magic card #inventor's fair #commentary #entries #silly card contest

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abbiedreamer · 1 year

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The miracle of Jesus feeding a group of at least 5,000 people (that number doesn’t include women and children, so it definitely could’ve been about double that number!) is such a big miracle. And that passage has been one that’s spoken to me a lot as this school year started.

It really spoke to me in how this boy had so little with him… heck, it was TWO fishes and FIVE loaves of bread. And they were expecting to feed FIVE THOUSAND people!!! There was no way all that could be accomplished by one boy’s lunch!

But that didn’t stop him or the disciples from bringing what little they did have to Jesus.

They brought the little and gave Him such a small amount… and He was able to do so much more than they could possibly imagine with such a small meal.

It’s in our surrender and bringing our little before God that He’s able to do so much. He’s the one who performs the miracles and does so much work through what we already have✨

That was encouraging to me since I feel like I have so little to bring before Him. All I have is my heart and the talents He’s given me, and I have dreams that are so so big.

Dreams of reaching hundreds for Jesus… but I’m one person with so little.

But God says to bring it to Him anyway.

If there’s anything I can learn from the little lad and his lunch in Matthew 14, it’s that I can trust God to do so much more than I could imagine or ever do on my own.

So y’know what? I’m here to be all in for Jesus✨

#art #my art #digital art #digital drawing #digital illustration #Jesus #Jesus Christ #Bible #God #Christian #christian artist #christian blog #christian faith #Bible verse #Bible verse art

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saltedsnails · 1 year

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I'm just worried as a result of Bumblebee becoming canon; fans of the ship are going to ignore the issues with Adam's portrayal, the complaints from queer critics regarding the build up and the very bigoted company using the ship to handwave all of its bigotry. I don't think BB fans aren't allowed to be happy, hell I was pretty pleased with the confession scene. I really just the fandom could have an open discussion about the ship without it the compalints being seen as homophobia

I’m not a fan of Bumblebee myself, in fact I don’t really ship any characters at all, because RWBY isn’t supposed to be about shipping at all! We’re supposed to be overlooking a journey about saving the world, damn it!

You really just have to love that certain fans disregard the treatment of real-life LGBT+ folks by RT in favor of their ship becoming canon.

At the end of the day, I find that pathetic.

I also didn’t like the confession execution, because they were forced to say their feelings under pressure rather than a true confession where the parties in question didn’t feel pressured. Sorry, but I don’t like when people are forced to do things when they aren’t ready to handle the outcome. Been there, done that, not a fan of it.

Also just because someone criticizes an LGBT+ ship for aspects of the writing, it’s not homophobia. Maybe the execution development sucked. Maybe the characters themselves sucked or didn’t fit well together. This isn’t just for BB by the way. It’s for every ship. Talking about elements of a ship you don’t like that has to do with an LGBT+ couple isn’t automatically homophobia. It’s just criticism, and people need to learn that.

Also a note for in general, and nothing to you specifically, more of an audience awareness PSA: Putting all of your self worth into a fictional relationship and going rabid-feral when people don’t agree isn’t a healthy thing. You desperately need to evaluate how abrasive your shipping mentality effects you and your relationship with others; both on and off the internet. If something exists on the internet, some people aren’t going to like it. And y’know what, big whoop!

Stop going after people not agreeing about a damn ship, because you’ll either a) force people out of the fandom/media-space you’re in because you’re a toxic collective which will —> provide less of an audience for the media you consume which will —> lead to a loss of revenue and eventually cancel the show production or b) make the fandom split apart into smaller sects that either don’t interact or when they do, become knuckle-dragging troglodytes spewing death threats and doxxing each other that makes even wanting to dip a singular cell of your big toes skin to experience the fandom not worth it.

To get back to the Adam and Blake thing, we missed out on so much context and development for both Blake and Adam that would’ve made their final confrontation more satisfying for the end of V5/6. Like yeah, sure it’s a “I’ve changed now and all I see is a monster”, but personally, this isn’t an emotional payoff. It’s a one-dimensional storytelling experience that’s been done a billion and a half times. The characters don’t even have much of a connection anymore because Adam and Blake interacted for like, 2 minutes at Beacon during the fall, and then the confrontation leading to Adam’s death? Like, where’s the payoff?

I don’t see it. Truly, I don’t. Both Adam and Blake had such disservices done to their characters by not providing neither context nor true attachment other than “because I said so”. While yes, it is implied, we never explore the emotional nuances of their relationship. It could’ve paid off so much more if RWBY truly cared about the connections the main girls had.

- 🐌

#snail speaks #rwde #‘nonie time 🕶️#adam taurus #**emotional nuance isn’t a bad thing everyone!

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da-xiao-jie · 2 years

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Pt. 3 of who knows how many! Let’s over analyze Frozen 2 in honor of Frozen 3 being in production!

Alrighty, this one gets into my girl Elsa. Before I get started, please know that I love this character to death and see a lot of myself in her (the anxiety, not the magic) and I just think that, concerning storytelling, the second Frozen movie made some poor creative choices. Let’s get into it.

Let’s review, shall we? First film establishes that Elsa is isolated from her family and from people in general. She runs away when her super secret magic is accidentally revealed, sings a song about letting everything go and embracing that part of herself, does a bunch of stuff and, eventually, is reunited with her sister and they finally get the chance to catch up and make up for lost time. Great! Her arc is complete, she’s established and loved by her people and her family, which now consists of a sentient snowman, a reindeer, and her sister’s fiancé. Nice! Found family!

By this point, Elsa’s story doesn’t need anything, with the very minor point of her magic’s origin, but that’s hardly consequential because her magic isn’t going anywhere so it doesn’t matter. She’s got it now, so there’s nothing to be done.

The opening of Frozen 2 sets up the story similarly to the first film. Elsa is feeling isolated, but not in the same sense. She has responsibilities and family, but she feels like she’s missing out. Then the Voice thing happens and the story kicks off.

It’s dumb. It tries to undo all the progress Elsa made in the previous movie and in trying to make Elsa the focal character, they just rehash everything. Or try to. They make it worse this time.

Because at this point, Elsa has had her little family for three years and they should be growing closer and less inclined to want to go off. Elsa has love and purpose and, by all accounts from the first film, should be in a good spot.

Instead, in order to achieve the same success musically, they need the longing song and the other song that idina menzel sings because let’s be honest, that woman is amazing.

My issues with how Frozen 2 deals with Elsa mainly lie with how they present her once she’s been establish her as The Fifth Spirit. They elevate her to goddess status and remove her from her family, something that she hasn’t really had for more than half her life. And then, what? She moves in with a tribe and visits every now and again for family game night? What? What happened to the importance of family?

Also, what makes her the fifth spirit? She never even comes in contact with the earth spirit(s?) or “tames” them i don’t think. All the other spirits are distinctly not human and though they might have above average intelligence there’s certainly an imbalance because, y’know, Elsa’s human. And it’s pretty much implied that the spirits are eternal and ethereal. Not exactly something you see in a human who was born and struggles with mental health. She’s not a spirit! I got such a weird vibe off her in the end.

HOWEVER Elsa is a dynamite character and honestly I don’t blame them for wanting to put her in the spotlight. But what should they have done instead?

WHAT THE TRAILER ACTUALLY HINTED AT

There’s a line in the trailer that never gets said in the film and i’m pissed about it because it could’ve worked concerning the story and Elsa’s character and here it is:

“Magic can be very alluring.”

(or something like that)

Wouldn’t it make sense for Elsa, having finally learned to embrace her powers, to go the other direction and obsess over them? Wouldn’t that be interesting to watch? Wouldn’t it be cool to see Elsa do dangerous things with her magic, pushing herself to the edge of what would be considered sane or normal which then would lead to a search for the origins of her magic and in turn, more info on Trolls, magic, Kristoff, etc. Elsa, who has learned to love and be loved, might not initially listen to her family’s concerns, but maybe eventually she’ll cave because she doesn’t want them to worry and that works much better at showing how far she’s come over the past three years instead of putting her at square one yet again and then having her find something that traumatizes her yet again (so she can blame herself for her parents death and then “process” it by ditching her sister. Bleh what the heck)

Not only would it satisfy the story and kick it off in a great way, it would be very visually appealing and they could even do a whole sequence with a song and truly be the musical successor to “Let it go” It could even lead into her powers growing so strong and her skill with said strength growing so much but the end of that arc that it could lead into a third movie very easily because, I don’t know about you, but if one of my neighboring kingdoms had a queen with an insane amount of magic, I would either declare war out to protest her position or try to build an alliance and having that kind of storyline could still (eventually) lead to Anna becoming queen of Arendelle Elsa finding her place somewhere else or really just enjoying being by her sister’s side as advisor or general or something.

anyway, frozen 2 seems like it backtracks and almost retcons some of Elsa’s development so they can land her somewhere else and make her even more Special than the super-powered, musically inclined Queen she already was.

#frozen meta #frozen #frozen lore #frozen 2 #frozen 3 #anna #elsa #kristoff #olaf #sven #frozen analysis #character development #storytelling #character arcs #disney #walt disney

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aeoki · 9 months

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New Start GO! - Epilogue 2

Location: Seisou Hall Common Room Characters: Hajime, Tomoya, Mitsuru & Nazuna

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ< The next day. After “Sunny Day Live”. >

Mitsuru: ♪~

Hajime & Nazuna: ……♪

Tomoya: Hey, why did you suddenly say we should meet up, Mitsuru?

I won’t know how to react if you just told me to meet you here,, you know~ Could you at least tell me what we’re doing here?

Mitsuru: Oh, you’re here! I got so tired of waiting, y’know!

Our performance is over so I figured we could watch the rerun of “New Start Go!” together, so I called you guys over on “Hallhands”~♪

Tomoya: Oh, so that’s what this is all about. You could’ve just told us in the message.

We were busy preparing for “Sunny Day Live”, so we didn’t have any time to watch the pre-recording, huh.

I was curious to see how the studio reacted and the scenes we didn’t appear in, so I guess we can relax while we watch it.

Nazuna: This seat’s free, Tomo-chin~

We’ve got leftover fizzy drinks and snacks from yesterday’s wrap-up party too. Let’s have them while we watch ♪

Tomoya: Oh, thank you.

Mitsuru: Whaddya wanna drink? Hajime-chan’s pouring us the drinks right now.

I’m gonna have apple juice, y’know. It’s nice so I recommend it, Tomo-chan~♪

Tomoya: Then I think I’ll have the same.

Hajime: Okay. One apple juice for Tomoya-kun too. Here you go.

Tomoya: Thanks, Hajime.

Man, it’s almost a month since we filmed “New Start Go!”, huh.

It’s still cold outside but it’s gradually turning into spring, so it’s really nearing the time for new beginnings, huh.

Hajime: Hehe. When we filmed the show and when it airs on TV is different, so it messes with our sense of time.

I also can’t believe we’ll be third-year students soon.

Tomoya: Yeah, you’re right… We’ll almost be the same age as Nii-chan when he first formed “Ra*bits”.

I couldn’t be an amazing senior like Nii-chan, but I’ve joined a proper entertainment agency, so I think I’ve done pretty well…?

Nazuna: No no, I’m not that amazing, you know?

I’m just pushing myself and trying not to show how lame I am to my juniors~ I think you’re way more reliable than me, Tomo-chin.

I’m looking forward to seeing you guys as third-year students at Yumenosaki.

Mitsuru: Yup. We’re gonna be fresh new third-years!

Ah! Look at this! The new employee was just on screen!

This was from back then, right? It sure feels nostalgic, y’know~♪

Tomoya: Ahaha… This is the scene where one of the cameramen went with us to the tea room, right? That took me by surprise when I checked the footage afterwards.

I heard he and the other employees gave their permission to be filmed, but it’s a pretty private matter, so I panicked for a moment there.

Hajime: Hehe. I was surprised too. It seems they filmed a portion of it from start to finish.

But that just means the new employee was able to open his heart up to the others. I’m happy things went well for him ♪

Nazuna: But still, “‘Ra*bits’ helped him regain his enthusiasm for work”, huh…

I know it’s part of the editing, but those subtitles seem a little exaggerated.

Hajime: The new employee had more than enough enthusiasm from the very beginning. He was worried about whether or not he was troubling those around him.

After comparing himself to people like us who’re close in age with him, he was able to learn what he was good at and could finally have some confidence in himself.

Tomoya: Not everything’s easy in this day and age~ It can be hard to even find confidence in yourself.

We helped convey the new employee’s enthusiasm to the others around him. In that sense, “New Start Go!” was a huge success, right?

Nazuna: Yeah. Good job, guys!

It’ll almost be three years since “Ra*bits” was formed. Let’s continue to do our best so that we can repay our fans who support us.

Mitsuru: Yeah, I’m gonna work hard too! So that people far and wide know what’s great about “Ra*bits”!

Woo~! I’m starting to get excited, y’know!

We had the wrap-up party yesterday, but I wanna liven things up today too!

Nii-chan, I wanna make a toast!

Nazuna: Ahaha, did you feel like making one after seeing the glass in your hand? Sounds like something you’d do ♪

But it’s not a bad idea. Watching “New Start Go!” has reminded us of our time working at the company…

Let’s have a toast and boost our mood ♪

For “Ra*bits’” growth and activities in the future…!

Cheers!

Mitsuru & Tomoya: Cheers~!

Hajime: Cheers…☆

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ← Previous Chapter

#new start go

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umbrify · 2 years

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So what we’ve learned today is that romantic TNTduo isn’t real and Ghostbur is still very dead. Also apparently there’s an outtake of Purpled’s UFO blowing up that’s really funny and Purpled hopes we see it someday.

#i feel like we could’ve learned more from that but y’know. it is what it is #and somehow Twitter had the best question #dream smp #umbrify talks #edit to say why did so many people jump on this post lol. i just made it as an offhand comment #where did you all come from lmao

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beann-e · 3 years

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Bnha Characters reacting to when you quit your job

bakugou

your steps were quiet as you tried to work up the energy to unlock your front door. Your hands sweating and cold when you finally got the energy to put the key in the lock a deep exhale leaving your lips when you finally walked in.

Your Body only carrying you to your kitchen counter before you dropped your keys and bag on the same counter your body now rested against.

The room heating up and shifting from the ice quiet atmosphere youd created when you felt strong arms wrap around your waist and pull you back to meet a hard chest

Small kisses being planted on the side of your neck as you let out another sigh of relief as you spoke trying not to drown in the comfort being given to you “ baby “

Your body shook as you heard a deep grunt of acknowledgment “ we — we need to talk “

you felt as another set of kisses were placed to your neck before his head snuggled into the spot between your neck and shoulder “ I— I think I made a mistake“

You bit at your lip as you kept going “ I— I was trying my best to stick up for myself y’know like you told me”

“ mm—and did you“

“ I did —I mean I did stick up for myself and I had to I needed to bu—”

“ slowly losing interest y/n “

you let out a shallow cough “ but I think I did it at the wrong time “

his body stood up a bit straighter head still remaining in the same place somehow “ baby I —i lost my job “

You felt as your boyfriends body went hard almost as if he was trying not to slam your own body into the floor in anger his grip around your waist only getting tighter “ like I said I — I wrong time“

“ wrong time? — y/n wrong place “ he screamed as he jolted your soul out of your already shaken figure. His head flying back to look at you conveying all the anger and annoyance he held, “ what the fuck do we do now “

you let out a small laugh to try to ease the tension “ we — we rely on your hero check ? “

You watched as he sucked his teeth and moved out of the kitchen “ I can barely feed a fucking roach with my salary y/n “ his voice getting louder as he walked into the living room you following closely behind “ i — i can barely feed you — us — y/n this is why we don’t have little crumb snatchers running around now “

his voice deep and heavy “ cause we’re broke do you get that babe ? huh no — fuck — you— fuck fuck fuck you gotta go back — you can’t just be chilling around the fucking house while i’m working my ass off that’s not how starting a family works y/n “

“ baby it’s just until I can get a new job “

“ tch— and how long will that take y/n “

“ well I— “

“ huh months ? “

“ well n— “

“ couple weeks “

“ I mean hopefull— “

“ babe you don’t even fucking know “ he sighed as he griped the skin on the bridge of his nose “ so fucking stupid — so so so fucking stupid “

the room went quiet as your eyes dropped to the ground. “ wel— no — I — I don’t know kats” you shook your head “ I— I really don’t“

“ and that’s the problem y/n “ he screamed eyes finally opening to look at you.

God, he loved you but seriously you just didn’t think sometimes

It’s not that he was calling you stupid it’s just that he really really loved you

He loved that you listened to him. That whenever he gave advice you heard it and went with it.

The night he told you to speak up he was honestly just fucking with you. He always forgets that he has someone who loves him now meaning he’s taken seriously. He always forgets he’s not in high school anymore.

He can’t say something crazy and asshole—ish and expect to just be ignored. He has someone that loves him and will truly listen.

Your not the stupid one

nor the one in the wrong he is

and he knows he is because he heard everything you said about your situation. Yet, he knew you were different from him whereas he had been speaking his mind for years regardless of ranks.

You couldn’t.

You had a job where everything relied on ranks and status. You couldn’t just say whatever the fuck you wanted to like he could and yet he convinced you that night to speak up whenever your boss gave you extra work you didn’t wanna do.

His eyes felt heavy and so did his body his brain automatically beating himself up as he stared at you imagining the rough day youd had. If he was pissed off with the current situation he could only imagine how you felt.

Someone who hated to rely on others yet, now having to rely on their boyfriend.

“ come here “ your eyes lit up at the statement as your tired body wobbled over and into bakugous arms. Head hitting his chest as he crushed you “ I love you and i’m proud of you “

your heart sank.

“ fuck those idiots you only have room for one anyways and hes— fuck trust me I know i’m enough “

Shoto

“ so “

You sat on the couch legs splayed out in front of you and hands playing with the tassels of the pillows placed next to you.

God you loved these pillows. You actually remember the day you bought them.

Y’know back when you had money

“ y/n “ you watched as shoto shifted uncomfortably on the couch next to you “ my love what are you doing home “

He shook his head confused at the body placed comfortably next to his own “ your not supposed to be home for “ he looked down at his watch moving his suit jacket up his arm to create space and to make sure he was seeing the time correctly “ for 7 more hours “

you let out a short laugh “ you sound like you just got caught cheating sho “

his eyebrows crinkled together as he stared at you in disgust “ y/n I would never “

His hand moved to be placed on your thigh “my love is that what you think ? — if that’s why your here then I can assure you tha—I mean honestly if so I would never be stupid enough to disrespect you in our home— you could’ve went to my office at least I mea— “

“ I lost my job shoto “

The air shifted as the hand on your thigh suddenly felt colder than before “ I— I lost my job “

you took a deep breath shaking your head “ it’s a long story on why but i’ve been leaving the house — pretending really— to go to work “

You chuckled “ god i’m sucha bad person “ your small chuckle turned into a hearty laugh as you felt your body go slack “ A fucking horrible timekeeper too if I managed to forget my husband gets off before me on weekends “

“ do not say these things about yourself “

“ it’s not like it’s a lie “ your tear filled eyes coming up to look at his. ” right “

“ I will not stand for this y/n “

“ for what — having an unemployed s/o—i mean you already have one so not much to do about that “

you scoffed “ why don’t you want a housewife ? huh“ you smiled “ I can wear the skirts for you y’know with the aprons cook you dinner and maybe we can have kids y’know we can even get —“

“ enough “

your body shook your eyes widened facing the 6 ft male now towering over you “ your always joking about serious things and I — I don’t understand “ his eyebrows creasing in desperate need to understand you. Eyes darting around your face “ how “

his voice going deeper as he got angrier “ y/n you lost your job“ his eyes grew wide “ do you realize how serious this is “

“ wh— “ you shook your head letting out a short scoff “ of course I do —I mean sho i’m the one who qui—lost it “

“ no you clearly don’t “ he scoffed “ not if your sitting here making jokes in my face “

His mouth quirked up in disgust “ it’s almost insulting — disgusting really “

“ wh— sho—“ you felt as a tear fell from your eye “ baby what could be so disgusting huh ? so ‘ insulting ‘ about me choosing to leave huh “

his eyes softened “ because of your reason to leave “

“ my reason ? “

“ my love I know you — I know you didn’t get fired and I know you wouldn’t just leave you loved it there “

your head dropped as your fiddled with your fingers “ so that means something led you to make that life changing decision and it hurts me that you were forced to make it “

Your heart broke, he was right he was always right, for days at work youd been dealing with an overbearing co worker who would tell you to do everything they didn’t feel like doing and when you finally decided to say no to them

They went and told your boss. Who even though you’d been working there longer than your so called coworker still believed everything they were told.

That was the day that you sadly found out your job favored years over hard work.

Due to the other person being there longer you were trumped in telling your story. It was seen as not necessary because , someone who was there for so long would have no reason to lie on someone like you.

A newbie

“ someone made you quit this job “

“ sho no they— I decided “

You felt as the couch shifted from him kicking it. You thinking he was moving to grab his shoes except walking past them and unlocking the door instead.

“ baby where are you going — we need to talk about how we’re going to split the bills now that i— “

“ i’ll handle it “

“ shoto you can’t put everything on your dads card we’re not “ you let out a soft exhale “ we’re not children anymore “

“ i’ll pay for it all myself — and you can be my little housewife “ he scoffed as your expression grew sour “ it was so funny a moment ago right “

“ shoto i’m not gonna ask again where are you going “

“ where else “

your eyebrows came together in a furrow “ wh— “

“ my love you work for my company ? obviously who ever I put in charge “ he shrugged walking barefoot to his car unlocking the door “ isn’t doing a very good job if they fire their bosses s/o ? “

He got into the drivers seat as he turned the car on and reversed the car “ needs to learn respect no ? so i’ll just have them switch places with you“ he smiled softly “ i’ll see you when I get home “

His once furious eyes turning soft at your body hidden in pajamas “ go inside baby —it’s cold —go order us some takeout i’ll be back in a little ok “

“ sho “

“ just let me handle this —i love you and i’ll be right back my love—go “

You shook your head softly “ go y/n “

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junko-and-riri-domain · 3 years

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the right direction | pjs

final chapter of tatts & cupcakes my loves !!

Days turned to weeks which turned to months and ultimately a few years went by. In the past few years you officially became Jay’s girlfriend, Ni-ki learned that he had two dads, and Sunoo and Jungwon were more than happy to call you their mom. But despite this, there was always a lingering worry in the back of your head. What if one day, Jay decided that the trouble of loving you and Ni-ki was no longer worth it to him? What if Sunoo and Jungwon no longer wanted you as their mom or Ni-ki as their younger brother? But today those worries would be put to rest forever. As you looked at yourself in the mirror wearing the dress you had chosen for yourself while holding a bouquet of flowers, the sound of your name being called causes you to turn around to see Heeseung and Jake walking up to you with a grin on their faces.

“Jay’s gonna be a wreck when he sees you,” Heeseung said.

“Ten bucks says he’ll cry,” Jake adds in, nudging the older with his elbow. You can’t help but roll your eyes at the two and ask,

“Is everyone here already?”

“Yeah, they’re all sitting down. Sunghoon’s trying to calm Jay down though, I’ve never seen him this nervous before,” Jake replies. Dressed in their suits, Sunoo and Jungwon run up to you. While planning your wedding, you and Jay decided that Sunoo and Jungwon would walk you down the aisle while Ni-ki stood next to Jay. After Heeseung and Jake jokingly told you that there was still a way out if you wanted to leave, you stood behind the door with Sunoo and Jungwon holding your hand. When the doors opened and you took your first step, you the wedding march played. Despite all the people watching you, the nervousness was washed away and replaced with excitement. The only thing you could focus on was the sight of Jay and the feel of the two hands holding yours. You see Heeseung handing Jake what you can only assume to be a $10 bill, causing you to have to hold back a slight laugh. Step by step, you walked with Sunoo and Jungwon until you finally stood in front of the man who would be your husband. Sunoo and Jungwon head to your side while you see Ni-ki with the biggest smile on his face. You wipe away Jay’s tears, something that he’s done for you more times than you can count but today, the roles were switched.

“I love you.” You had said it in hopes of calming him down but it only seemed to have the opposite effect as he cried even harder. You felt lightheaded, palms sweaty, and the butterflies in your stomach felt as if they were doing cartwheels. Finally,

“You may now kiss the bride.” Not even a full second later you felt Jay pull you close and his lips on yours. He deepened the kiss slightly, but still mindful of the people in the audience watching you both. Jay’s arms settled around your waist while pressing a kiss to the top of your head,

“Thank you for giving us a chance,” you hear him whisper.

While you and Jay were unpacking boxes into the new house the five of you decided on, Sunoo, Jungwon, and Ni-ki were in the living room. The house had more than enough rooms for the boys to have their own but they chose to share one. In the meantime, the other rooms were turned into guest rooms. While watching them chatting and playing amongst each other, Jay’s presence makes itself known to your body with the feel of him behind you and his embrace surrounding you,

“We’re home,” you say as you hold Jay’s hands. You feel him playing with the wedding ring on your left hand and despite not directly looking at him, you just know that he’s smiling. While resting his head on your shoulder,

“Anywhere is home with you and our boys.” You turn around to face him,

“Y’know… our boys have been talking about wanting a cat lately.” Cringe washes over Jay’s face at the thought of a cat in the house,

“I’m allergic to cats.”

“What about a dog instead?” you ask, voice sounding more excited than you meant it to. Jay raises his eyebrow in suspicion,

“Is this something they want or something you want?”

“I’d like to think that this is a family necessity.”

“Dogs are just agents of capitalism,” he replies with a roll of his eyes.

“At least think about it first before saying no.”

“Yeah, yeah, I’ll think about it.”

Jay’s “YAHHHH” in the morning (which the entire neighborhood probably heard) wakes you up and gets you out of bed. Still sleepy, you drag a blanket with you. When you walk to the living room, you’re met with the sight of Ni-ki clinging onto Jay’s leg, Sunoo watching everything while munching on some bread you baked just last night, and Jungwon carrying Maeumi, your recently adopted dog in his arms.

“Jungwon-ah, give me the dog,” Jay says sternly and gritting his teeth. When Jungwon sees you, he immediately runs behind you but on his face, you can see a mischievous smirk. Patting Jungwon’s head and looking at Jay,

“Babe, what happened?”

“The little agent of capitalism chewed on the cables in my office!” You can’t help but laugh, while now petting Maeumi’s head,

“It’s kinda your fault for leaving the door open, isn’t it?” Jay sighs, most likely thinking of ways to find inner peace,

“D-don’t tell me you’re taking the dog’s side right now?”

“Of course I am.”

“You really love the dog more than me?” With a teasing smile,

“Of course I do.”

“I never should’ve agreed to adopting the dog if it was just gonna become number one in your heart,” he muttered.

“Our boys and Maeumi are number one to me, you’re second,” you corrected.

Following the next few weeks, you noticed that Maeumi was closer and clinger to you than normal. Maeumi would settle by your stomach when you sat on the couch or lay on your lap and you couldn’t help but wonder why. But then, it hit you.

You had been slightly moodier.

You felt a little queasy in the mornings.

And you were late.

When you realized what the possibility was, you headed to the bathroom. The morning of the day K came back into your and Ni-ki’s life, you were sick and Jay took care of you. He bought a ton of medicine and somehow, a pregnancy test got added into the mix. You weren’t sure why, but you had kept it after all this time. While waiting for the results of the test, thousands of thoughts were running through your mind as nervousness coursed through your veins. Were you and Jay even ready for a baby? Well... you had three kids already but a newborn? Having another child was a conversation that hadn’t yet come up after getting married, moving into the new house, and adopting Maeumi. After all, Jay was running his company while you were running the bakery. But when the test was finally ready and the two lines set in tears of happiness began to pour from your eyes. That night when Jay came home and you were all eating dinner you wanted to tell them right then and there but decided that it’d be better to tell them after getting confirmation from the doctor. Which was exactly what you did the next day.

“Congratulations!” the doctor said to you as she showed you the screen of the ultrasound. She printed out a couple of pictures for you to keep and you bought some decorations to surprise Jay tonight. After closing the bakery early and picking up the boys from school,

“When we get home, do you guys wanna help Eomma decorate the living room?” you asked after heading into the house.

“Is today a special day?” Jungwon asked, eyes wide and curiously looking up at you. You nodded and took out the picture to show them,

“You guys are going to have a little brother or sister in a few months.”

“Really? I won’t be the maknae anymore?” Ni-ki asked, eyes full of hope.

“Yup, you’ll be an oppa or a hyung now!”

“Wahh, can I eat tteokbeokki with our new dongsaeng?” came from Sunoo.

“When they get older, of course you can! Now, let’s get to decorating so we can surprise Appa, ok?” You were met with a chorus of excited “yes, Eomma!” and with that, decorating and getting ready to surprise Jay when he got home began.

The house was dark when Jay got home, causing him to wonder where you and the boys were.

“Love?” he called out.

No answer.

“Sunoo-ah?”

Nothing.

“Jungwon-ah?”

Nada.

“Ni-ki-ah?”

He swore he could’ve heard crickets chirping. Desperate for any answer,

“Yah! Agent of capitalism, where are you?” That garnered an answer as the light tapping of Maeumi’s feet on the floor met his ears and Maeumi was now in front of him. He picked up Maeumi and walked further into the house. Turning on the light in the living room and suddenly being met with,

“SURPRISE!”

“YAH, YOU SCARED ME!” he yelled as he stumbled back, and fell onto the floor. The boys instantly piled themselves on top of Jay in excitement but he looked at you with slight fear in his eyes,

“It’s not our anniversary, is it? Did I forget?” he asked. You shook your head,

“No, you didn’t forget anything. But we have a surprise for you.”

“And that is?” You handed Jay a small box in which you put a “dad of five kids” mug (Maeumi included even if Jay didn’t want to admit it), a picture of the ultrasound, and your pregnancy test. Jay looked at the cup in confusion but when he looked at the other contents of the box, it finally registered in his head. He held the ultrasound by its corner as if he were scared it’d turn to dust or get wrinkled.

“We’re having a baby?” His eyes were shining when he looked at you, you were unsure if it was because of the tears forming in his eyes or the happiness, maybe it was both.

“Mhm, we’re having a baby.”

“Wait isn’t this the test that I bought like, years ago?”

“I told you it’d come in handy one day.” All of a sudden, Jay was hugging you and practically sobbing in your shoulder,

“I love you. So, so, so much. I don’t think words can do my feelings justice. I just, I love you.” Returning Jay’s hug while rubbing his back,

“What do you want it to be?” you asked curiously. In Jay’s head flashed to the daydreams of a little girl running around a house, that little girl being half-you, half-him. But in this moment, he didn’t care if it was a girl, a boy, or whatever it’d choose to identify as in the future.

“Healthy, as long as it’s healthy I couldn’t care less.” You smiled at Jay’s response, hugging him tighter. You knew that being with Jay, trusting him, loving him, it truly was the right direction.

↬ final tatts & cupcakes a/n:

this is the end of tatts & cupcakes and wow has it been a rollercoaster !! i don’t know how to feel about this series ending since it was by first baby (is it weird to say that? idk but anyways) i'll be honest with yall, this series was a product of my procrastination... it was around 1 am and i just didn’t want to do any of my work so i just thought to myself, “let’s write a fic with jay as a single dad” because why not ?? initially, it was going to be a oneshot but then i realized writing it as a oneshot wasn’t the best option for me because one, i needed to get my work done at some point lmao and two, it’d just be way too long so i ended up writing the first chapter, read it over a bit, posted it, and tatts & cupcakes was born !! i didn’t think that the series would get this far with the storyline and there were a few times when i thought about discontinuing it due to things like school, thinking it wasn’t interesting enough, other responsibilities, etc., but then i started getting notifs related to the series and writing became the better parts of my weeks so thank you everyone !! for those who have read until this part and decided to give my writing a chance and for all the love that this series has received, thank you so much !! i hope that it’s been written well enough to be a series actually worth spending time on to read 🥺

even though this series is ending, i do have some happy news !! i’ve started a new one called cameras & caffeine the pairing for this series is cafe owner!jake x ceo!reader cameras & caffeine is similar to tatts & cupcakes in how reader is also a single mother there so if you’re interested check it out here :)

once again, thank you so so much for taking the time out of your day to read tatts & cupcakes and i hope you’ve enjoyed !!

~ riri 💞

unable to tag: @smileyjimvn | @tubaotter | @babychangmin | @snghnluvr

❦ written by riri ( @enhykkul ) | main blog masterlist | blog navi

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ryouverua · 3 years

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Saimota is a fantastic ship that only improves with age and their respective maturity. Right from the get-go we see this in canon, too! They have a tumultuous first clash at the end of chapter 1 which is immediately turned on its head, and the subsequent growth and development of their in-game relationship really stands out that much more because of it.

This is a long one, so strap in!

Kaito realizes his mistake in his approach after punching him the night before and rectifies it immediately the next morning when he notices Shuichi hasn’t come to breakfast, rightly guessing that he’s stewing in his own grief and misery. And then, being the emotionally intelligent guy he is, he follows up that night and drags him out to exercise (which, y’know, releases endorphins and is scientifically proven to help with mood boosts and even depression) - a move which Shuichi says in chapter 5 saved his life.

A couple days pass and a body drops. Kaito supports him through the investigation knowing that Kaede had been with him last time and that there’s a danger of him relapsing. In the trial, too, Kaito makes every effort to let Shuichi know that he isn’t alone and someone does have his back if he fumbles. This is the real moment that Shuichi chooses to depend on Kaito and is rewarded for it, and while Kaito does get plenty of ego-feed out of it, he believes in Shuichi and his talent wholeheartedly (enough so that it’ll come back to bite him later). But despite it being framed as a ‘hero and sidekick’ relationship, it’s not just for Kaito’s self-worth - it’s to take some of the mental load off of Shuichi, who really, really doesn’t want the pressure of everyone’s lives solely on his shoulders, and is now dealing with the guilt of two cases where uncovering the guilty party hurt him.

(quick chapter 2 interlude! while this is where a lot of the big hero-worship begins for Shuichi and happens to be where I also did his first FTE and got to witness this:

this is also the chapter when these moments happen, post-breakfast and post-casino scene respectively:

and this happens in the very next FTE:

mmm yes, the duality of man. Suffice it to say, while Shuichi has definite rose-coloured glasses on for a lot of the game, Kaito is definitely not an invincible, untouchable hero in his eyes)

Interestingly enough, despite Shuichi still very much leaning into their friendship (and vice versa), they don’t spend a lot of time together in Chapter 3 after he brings Maki out to training that first night! While Chapter 4 is their real ‘break’, Kaito spends a lot of time in his room in the second half while Shuichi gets to know Maki better. And while Maki is a much, uh, meaner investigation partner (love you girl, but that tongue is sharp), they make a great team. Shuichi also starts poking at Kaito’s reason for holing up in his room, incorrectly guess that it’s just related to the occult being brought up. Most importantly, Shuichi is able to do an investigation on his own independent of Kaito just a week after the end of Chapter 1.

Chapter 4 and its immediate aftermath in 5 is great because it showcases Kaito’s flaws and insecurity, and what conflict between the two of them look like. It’s because Kaito respects Shuichi so much that cracks in his own confidence start appearing - and while Shuichi can be obtuse and awkward at times, he shows signs of wanting to broach some more sensitive topics with Kaito; if you do FTEs with Kaito in Ch 4, he even has an inner narrative in which he notes that Kaito had said his stomach hurt before.

He’s not so self-absorbed as to not worry about his friend (but narratively we gotta save that juicy plot point and subsequent reveal for the end of the trial) but hey, Kaito wants to chill and just shoot the shit - so why not have some downtime with his friend in the murder school. Btw, their FTE availability ends here - so if Shuichi has completed them with Kaito, he’s already had his canon-saimota thoughts at this point. While I have given Shuichi the side-eye for his ‘I can rely on Kaito for anything’ spiel, he is fully able and willing to stand up to Kaito in the Chapter 4 trial despite his canon feelings for him at that point. By the way, it’s been a week and a half since the end of Chapter 1 at this point. Shuichi and Kaito have had an arc together where they become fast friends in a pressure-cooker situation and bonding over shared grief for Kaede (even if Kaito’s is less obvious), Shuichi starts as dependent on Kaito’s emotional support but learns to stand on his own two feet, and Kaito is forced to confront his own weakness and hero persona, all while classmates are dropping (including Kaito’s own ex-hero figure, a stark reminder that ‘heroes’ do have flaws).

So the beginning of Chapter 5 is wild to me because of how it’s so often misinterpreted as Kaito immaturely giving Shuichi the silent treatment despite the entirety of the game preceding it explicitly showing that Kaito will tell you, loudly, when he’s angry at you, and that’s purely because we’re in Shuichi’s perspective and he thinks that’s what’s going on - but that’s a bit of a tangent. What I like about it is how we get to see what happens when Kaito (as sick as he is at that point) feels badly and embarrassed with someone he is close to; he withdraws as opposed to lashing out. And while Shuichi is really, really bad at reaching out too without an inciting incident (tunnel escape), he does try and broach the topic when push comes to shove. He’s not lost in hero worship, not even close - he is rightfully upset that the person he’s closest to at the school is upset while still maintaining to himself and the others that his actions were correct. He doesn’t waver on this, despite his attempt to offer an olive branch at the window of the hangar’s bathroom. He truly stands by his own choices in the last class trial and know he won't back down on that if push comes to shove, and that's important - he won't yield the point just to appease Kaito. Shuichi then manages the investigation on his own, leads the trial on his own, faces off with Maki (and who he thinks is Kokichi) on his own, because he has *reached* a point where he can be independent. And to bring it back to how we get a look at ‘saimota in conflict’, Shuichi and Kaito both make amends with each other by the end of the chapter. Even if it’s spurred by it being their final goodbye, Shuichi gets to say his piece, Kaito lays out one of his own vulnerabilities so he can make peace with Shuichi - and even if I’d love to have had them delve into all of Kaito's various issues, there is a very murderous robobear overseeing this which makes time a factor - and I firmly believe that if they had more time, they could’ve resolved even more of the issues that would come up for Saimota. The groundwork wasn’t just there; there was already half the structure in place. And that’s what makes saimota even more appealing to me, tbh. We get to see them build a relationship, run into a big issue, struggle through it and resolve it by the end of the game - and it means that there’s precedent for them to do it again as more interpersonal challenges come up! It’s a goldmine of ship exploration, and they care about each other enough to work through it.

… By the way, at this point they are 2 weeks past the end of Chapter 1.

Imagine if they had more time. Imagine if Shuichi, who is absolutely dogged in pursuing an issue once he catches wind of it (despite how he can get wrapped up in his own head), who cares a lot for other people, who doesn’t just find runaways as part of his detective talent, but follows up with them after because he cares about more than just finishing the job, had the chance to spend years with Kaito and realize he uses his hero persona to protect a much more fragile sense of self. Imagine Shuichi forming that initial friendship with Kaito without the albatross of Kaede’s death hanging around his neck; about how he’ll still look up to Kaito and his fantastic positivity, passion and excellence in his chosen field, and that would only be matched by Kaito’s own admiration of Shuichi’s skills as a detective. Imagine if Kaito, who repeatedly shows the ability to reflect and change his mind when presented with evidence against his viewpoint and was able to express his own insecurity and jealousy to Shuichi in the end, was given the breathing room and space to get more comfortable with doing so. Imagine how difficult and emotionally mature they were to navigate as well as they did in a life-or-death situation that took place over a couple of weeks tops, and how much more they could grow if given the time and space for it.

... And this was nearly going to be where I ended the post, until Ira reminded me of TDP and sent me this wonderful Saimota event (which takes place before the final graduation/training trio event):

Oh hey, Shuichi picked up his catchphrase! It's quite cute how he's finishing Kaito's sentence here - he's spent a couple of years being friends with Kaito at this point, and has even taken up exercising on his own for stress relief. I wonder whose influence that was?

Anyway -

Shuichi has figured out at this point that he does need to firmly extend that helping hand to Kaito rather than worry and keep it to himself. On the other side, Kaito has learned that it is okay to accept that outstretched hand, even if he doesn't need it right now - that he can admit that some day, he might. He's being blase, sure, but it is a far cry from his in-game 'I don't/won't need help'. Good for you, Kaito - you've grown a lot! And that's the most important thing their TDPs show - their capacity for growth not just as individuals, but in a relationship. Of course there will be bumps along the way - it’s very rare that any relationship won’t have them! - but they've proven that they can work these problems in the worst of circumstances. This is by far one of the strongest ships with canon foundation in the entire series, and my goodness do I still love it years later.

#saimota #Kaito Momota #momosai #Shuichi Saihara #Danganronpa v3 #spoilers #drv3 spoilers #saimota.... is good #long drv3 posts in 2021? it's more likely than you think

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beifongsss · 4 years

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life-changing field trip [zuko]

Pairing: Zuko x waterbender!reader (I’m a sl*t for the opposites attract trope I’m so sorry)

Requested?: Yes! I am once again combining two requests that I thought fit together, I’m sorry if that upsets the anons who requested :( The first anon request: “ooh maybe flirty/yn with zuko while in the ember island house or while sparring (or combine the two LMAO)” The second anon request: “Hi! Can we have more simp Zuko plz 🥺 How about that scene where the gAang looks for Aang, and Toph is like “I want to go with Zuko because I have not had a life changing field trip with him yet,” but instead of Toph it’s y/n and Zuko is all blushy and flustered because he has a crush on her 🥺”

Summary: You just want to test the waters and see if Zuko likes you back, after all, Sokka has been telling you that he does indeed like you. However, every time you try to get close to the prince, he either runs away or ignores you.

not as flirty as it could’ve been but i like how it turned out :) short & sweet

.masterlist.

Ember Island was beautiful.

You had all arrived there a few days ago, joining Katara after she had gone off to hunt down the man who had killed her mother. When you heard that she hadn’t ended his life, you had hugged her tightly and quietly told her that you were proud of how strong she was.

Aang had come up behind you soon after and you retreated from the two to give them a bit of privacy, crossing your arms as you stood next to Zuko. The two of you observing the scene that was unfolding in front of you, a smile twitching at the edge of your lips as they embraced.

“I’m glad the two of you came back safely,” you said quietly to the prince, never looking away from Aang and Katara. Zuko didn’t reply and shifted uncomfortably. “Especially you. I don’t know what I’d do if I couldn’t look at your pretty face every day.”

You didn’t have to look at the prince to know that he now wore a scowl on his face, displeased at your words. In reality, Zuko was trying to hold back a blush at your words and instead of replying, he simply rolled his eyes and stormed off.

He burst into his family’s beach house, cheeks still ablaze. Toph and Sokka sat there, looking up at Zuko blankly before going back to their conversation. Slightly disappointed in their lack of response, he threw himself onto the nearby couch, releasing a loud groan.

Toph paused her words for a second before continuing to speak. Sokka glanced at Zuko before focusing on Toph, knowing what he was trying to do. At the sound of his friends’ conversation, Zuko threw his arms over his head and groaned loudly once again. This time, their conversation stopped completely before Sokka turned to face him.

“Yes, Zuko? Is something wrong?”

“No, it’s nothing,” he replied gruffly. Toph couldn’t help but snort.

“Why is your heart beating so fast then, Sparky Pants?” Toph asked. “It can’t be ‘nothing’ if it’s got you all worked up.”

Zuko shot her a glare, forgetting that she couldn’t see it, before burying his face in his arms and mumbling something.

“What was that?” Sokka asked, a smirk on his face.

“(Y/N) was out there,” Zuko repeated, lifting his head up slightly. “Why was she the only one to greet us out there?”

“She wasn’t alone. Aang was with her,” Toph said. “Besides, she said something about making sure that you weren’t injured or anything.”

Zuko’s face went bright red once more. “Why couldn’t one of you be there with her?”

“Because your reaction every time she gets too close to you is hilarious,” Sokka replied. “Just tell her how you feel. The worst she can do is say no.”

The conversation died down as you entered the room with Aang and Katara trailing behind you. You aimed a smile at Zuko, heading over to the couch he was laying on. At the sight of you, Zuko scrambled up and all but sprinted away, a frown on his face as he muttered that if anyone needed him he would be in his room.

The smile melted off your face at Zuko’s actions. Katara noticed and came up behind you. “C’mon, help me with dinner?”

You nodded.

~ “Hey (Y/N/N)!”

You looked up when you felt Sokka sit next to you, drawing your attention from the two boys who were training in the courtyard. He followed your line of sight, smirking when his eyes landed on Zuko. “Enjoying the view?”

You hummed in response, still not facing the Water Tribe boy before replying. “I’m just studying them. It’s not every day you get to see firebenders just casually practicing their moves.”

“Whatever you say,” Sokka replied, leaning back on his elbows. “You don’t have to hide your feelings. He feels the same way y’know.”

The snort that left you was unintentional, but still drew Aang’s attention to you. He perked up immediately, his tiredness leaving his body in a second. “(Y/N/N)! How long have you been there?”

A blush covered your cheeks as Sokka nudged your side and snickered. “O-Oh, a few minutes. I was bored so I came out here to watch your lesson.”

“Great, can you do me a favor?” Aang asked, his eyes sparkling. You groaned internally knowing that you couldn’t deny the young Air Nomad anything. Silently, you nodded. “I promised Toph that I’d learn how to sandbend today but Zuko’s not done training. Can you please spar with him?”

“I’m not a firebender Aang,” you replied, crossing your arms. “Shouldn’t he be training with a firebender?”

“It’s fine, you don’t mind, do you Zuko?” Aang didn’t wait for Zuko’s response before continuing. “Besides, how often does he get to fight waterbenders? This is good practice!”

Before either of you could reply, Aang was already bouncing away. “Thanks (Y/N/N)!”

You stood up slowly and made your way to the middle of the makeshift arena, stretching as quickly as you could. Once you were done, you faced Zuko. “Ready?”

He nodded silently, his eyebrows furrowing in confusion as he realized you didn’t have a water skin near you. Just as he opened his mouth to ask, you lunged at him. He barely had time to duck, dodging your fist but not your leg. His knee buckled under your kick and he ended up on his knees. He glanced up at you to see you smirking.

“Cute. I always thought that I’d end up on my knees for you, not the other way around,” you commented, stepping further away from him. You dropped to a defensive position as he got to his feet, his cheeks burning as he stared you down.

The two of you moved at the same time, Zuko throwing a blast of fire at you as he ran. You slid underneath it, quickly standing and aiming a kick at him. He dodged it gracefully before sending another blast at you. Just when he was about to ask why you weren’t using your bending, you reached out, focusing on the water in the air around you and forming a thin stream of water.

Zuko’s jaw dropped slightly, he had never seen a waterbender pull water out of thin air. He managed to dodge the water whip you had created and sent up a wall of fire, turning it into a wall of steam as he evaporated the whip. You didn’t stop there however and managed to turn the vapor into ice shards which you quickly dropped onto Zuko.

He rolled out of the way, sticking his leg out at the same time. He succeeded in toppling you, and you squeaked as you fell onto your back. He moved to attack and you reacted quickly, drawing water out from nearby plants and sending it at him full force. The fire he had ready was extinguished and he ended up soaked from your attack.

“Nice one (Y/N)!” you heard Sokka yell, reminding you that he was still present. You shot him a look as you stood up before turning to face a now shirtless Zuko.

“Spirits,” you whispered, trying not to stare at him. “How is this fair? Put your shirt back on! Or don’t.”

“You’re the one who got me all wet,” Zuko replied, tossing his shirt to Sokka and walking back to the middle of the arena.

“If only it were the other way around,” you whispered jokingly, causing Sokka to cackle. You joined Zuko once more, having no time to prepare before he attacked. The fight continued on for a few more minutes, the two of you all sweaty and tired. You decided to try and attack with ice again, dodging a punch from Zuko as you accumulated water from around you.

You couldn’t hold yourself back from making another comment as Zuko pushed his hair back from his face. “You know, I can think of a few other activities that can make us equally sweaty, if you’re interested.”

Zuko stumbled at the same time you attacked, allowing some of the ice shards to nip at his skin. He hissed lightly as the cuts began to bleed, silently chastising himself for letting you distract him.

“Oh no. Zuko!” you yelped, running over to the boy. Your face showed nothing but worry as you knelt next to him, taking in his injuries. “Let me get you healed.”

Your face scrunched in concentration as you waved your hand, a globule of water forming around it. Both of you were silent as you healed his cuts, biting your lip as the guilt crawled up on you.

“Stop doing that,” Zuko said suddenly, drawing your attention to him. You looked at him confused before you noticed his gaze was on your lip. Blushing, you looked back down to his wounds. You tried to ignore his gaze as you moved your hands up to his chest, healing the wounds there. Zuko wondered if you could feel his heart racing.

“I’m really sorry Zuko,” you whispered, finally done healing his chest. You glanced up at his face, wincing when you noticed a shallow cut on his cheek. He closed his eyes as you reached up and cupped his cheek, unintentionally nuzzling his cheek into your palm. After a minute, you pulled away. “I’m done.”

Zuko opened his eyes, meeting yours and causing you to stop completely.

“It’s okay,” he whispered back, his voice raspy from speaking so lowly. “It didn’t hurt that much.”

For once you were at a loss for words, no witty or flirty comment on the tip of your tongue as you stared into Zuko’s eyes. Remembering Sokka’s earlier words, you stepped closer to Zuko. He swallowed harshly but didn’t move.

“Zuko,” you whispered, dropping your gaze down to his lips. “Can I-”

“Hey! Aang needs you, Zuko,” Sokka suddenly called out, making the two of you jump apart. You whirled around, eyes narrowed as they landed on the Water Tribe boy. Despite the smug smirk on his face, he couldn’t help but flinch at your reaction, knowing that you were going to bite his head off once the two of you were alone.

Zuko’s eyes widened and he all but sprinted into the house, only pausing when Sokka grabbed his arm. “Forgetting something?”

“Oh, r-right,” Zuko said, taking his shirt from Sokka. He glanced at you briefly one last time before running into the house.

“Sokka,” you growled, stomping over to him. “What was that for?”

“What was what?” Sokka asked innocently, walking backwards to get away from you. A wide grin spread across his face. “The real question is: what was happening between the two of you back there?”

You pushed Sokka up against the porch railing and quickly froze his hand to it. “It might’ve been a kiss if you hadn’t interrupted.”

You stormed away after that, an annoyed expression on your face as you made your way into the house. Behind you, Sokka was trying to get free. He was unsuccessful.

“(Y/N)! Don’t leave me here! I’m sorry! (Y/N)?”

Zuko had managed to avoid talking to you the rest of the day, even when the two of you had been paired up to fight the Melon Lord. Toph had enjoyed that a little too much.

He sat furthest away from you during dinner and went to bed immediately after, giving a mumbled goodnight to the group. Everyone turned to face you after he left, a questioning look in their eyes (well, except for Toph). You had simply glared at Sokka, who had then proceeded to explain what had happened earlier between the two of you. The group couldn’t help but laugh, only annoying you further as they teased you about it.

You had gone to bed early too.

Katara had woken you up early the next morning, panic on her face as she dragged you out into the courtyard. “Aang’s gone!”

That statement woke you up immediately, and you found yourself looking at her with a confused expression. “What do you mean gone?”

“Look,” Sokka said, pointing to the spot next to you. “He left his staff. That’s so strange.”

“Aang’s not in the house,” you heard Zuko say as he joined you all outside.

“Let’s check the beach,” you said, walking away before you finished your sentence. The six of you trekked down to the beach, perking up slightly when you noticed Aang’s footprints. You followed them all the way to the edge of the water where they suddenly disappeared. “The trail ends here.”

“So he went for a midnight swim and never came back?” Suki asked skeptically.

"Maybe he was captured,” Katara said worriedly.

“I don’t think so,” Sokka muttered, looking at the footprints. “There’s no sign of a struggle.”

“I bet he ran away,” Toph said, her voice a little dull.

“No way, he wouldn’t leave behind Appa or his glider,” you countered.

“Then what do you think happened to him, oh sleuthy one?” Toph snarked back.

“It's pretty obvious,” Sokka suddenly said. “Aang mysteriously disappears before an important battle? He's definitely on a Spirit World journey”

“But if he was, wouldn't his body still be here?” Zuko asked.

Sokka bowed his head down in slight embarrassment. “Oh yeah. Forgot about that.”

“Then he's got to be somewhere on Ember Island,” Katara said. “Let's split up and look for him.”

Your eyes widened and you immediately grabbed onto Zuko’s arm, hugging it tightly. “I’m going with Zuko!”

“W-What?” Zuko stuttered, a bright blush coating his cheeks as he tried to ignore the fact that you were hugging his arm. Everyone else stared at you knowingly.

“What?!” you asked. “Everyone else went on a life-changing field trip with Zuko. Now it's my turn.”

“Try not to make it too life-changing,” Sokka muttered as he walked past you, earning a snicker from Suki and Toph. Sokka and Suki left on Appa and Katara and Toph headed into town to see if they could find him there. You kept holding on to Zuko’s arm as the two of you walked further along the beach. It was silent for a few minutes before you finally spoke up.

“Hey pretty boy, why have you been avoiding me?”

Zuko’s eyes widened and he turned to you. “W-What did you just call me?”

“Pretty boy,” you chirped, a smile on your face as you looked up at him. “Because y’know, you’re probably the prettiest boy I’ve ever seen.”

Zuko cleared his throat and dragged his gaze away from you. His eyes didn’t leave the water as you kept walking side-by-side.

“So,” you nudged him softly, sliding one hand down his arm to intertwine your fingers with his. “Why have you been avoiding me?”

“I haven’t been avoiding you,” Zuko replied quickly, shaking you off his arm as he proceeded to walk a bit in front of you. You kept quiet as you caught up to him, biting your lip as you thought about the boy next to you.

“I thought I told you to stop doing that,” Zuko snapped, stealing a glance at you.

“Why?” you asked, releasing your lip. “Does it turn you on?”

“What?! N-No!” Zuko exclaimed. A faint trail of steam escaped his nose, letting you know that he was flustered.

“Relax, Zuko,” you chuckled. “I’m joking. Now, why have you been avoiding me?”

“We should be looking for Aang.”

“You and I both know that Aang isn’t here,” you replied, looking out at the vast ocean. “He’s probably doing some Avatar-related thing right now so why don’t you just tell me why you’ve been avoiding me.”

“I haven’t been avoiding you!”

“Yes you have! Ever since yesterday. Ever since I-” you cut yourself off, a blush appearing on your face as you thought about the almost-kiss between the two of you. Zuko swallowed nervously, also thinking about what had happened between the two of you.

“Ever since you almost kissed me,” Zuko filled in for you, his head hanging low. “That’s why I’ve been avoiding you.”

“Because you didn’t want to kiss me?” you asked, slightly upset. “You could’ve just said so, it doesn’t have to be weird.”

“Because I did want to kiss you,” Zuko replied almost immediately. The two of you came to a stop. “I’ve been avoiding you because I want to kiss you and be with you but I can’t.”

“Why?” you asked, thoroughly puzzled.

“I’ve done so many things,” Zuko whispered. “So many bad things. To Aang, to Katara, to you. I’m from the Fire Nation; I don’t deserve to be with someone like you.”

“That’s absurd,” you whispered back. “Your past doesn’t define you Zuko. You chose to make the right decision and sure, it took you a while but you realized that you were doing more harm than good. You changed, that’s what matters. You made the right choice even though you knew it could mean trouble for you and that’s why I like you.”

Zuko finally looked up at your words, his eyes full of wonder as he looked at you. A small smile appeared on his lips at your words and he found himself approaching you slowly. “Do you?”

You nodded softly.

“Zuko?” you asked quietly. “Hypothetically, if I had gotten the chance to ask if I could kiss you yesterday, what would you have said?”

“I- Hypothetically, I would’ve said yes,” Zuko whispered back. Feeling bold, you walked up to the prince and wrapped your arm around his neck.

“Do you trust me, Zuko?” you breathed, your lips inches away from his. You felt your heart speed up as his golden eyes met yours. Silently, he nodded. You wasted no time as you leaned up and pressed your lips against his. He stumbled back slightly, his back hitting the cliff that surrounded the beach as he grabbed onto your waist.

Almost immediately, he turned around, kissing you roughly and pressing you up against the wall as his body covered yours. Your hands tangled in his soft hair, your heart racing impossibly fast as you realized that you were actually kissing Zuko. You pulled away first, giving him a soft smile as you stared at him. “I take it you like me too?”

Zuko chuckled before nodding. “I do.”

He pressed another kiss to your lips, this one gentle as you enjoyed each other’s presence. The two of you were so distracted that you didn’t hear Appa land on the beach a few yards from you.

“Hey! I could be wrong but I’m pretty sure Aang isn’t in either of your mouths.”

The two of you pulled away from each other to see Sokka looking at you with a wide smirk. Suki sat behind him, giving both of you a suggestive look. Zuko helped you climb onto Appa before joining you and sitting next to you.

“Yip yip,” Sokka said before he turned to you. “So (Y/N), how was that field trip of yours?”

You turned looked at Zuko beore intertwining your hands, making him blush and earning a smile from Suki and Sokka.

“Best field trip ever.”

taglist!

@musicalkeys, @mywigglybaby, @bubblebars, @iguessthefloorislava, @dekahg, @boxofteenageideas, @purifiedbottledwater, @butterflycore

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