#my pov character is like 13 at this point and she has to figure out how to reduce her uncle’s swelling (after getting stamped on by a horse)

[theridgebeyond]

Forget what I said about fluff scenes, medical emergencies are my new favorite thing to write.

[moonlightspencie]

… Angels Roll Their Eyes

Description: A new recruit to the BAU catches Reid’s eye. Unfortunately for the both of them, she has a past with someone very close to him. Are they willing to keep secrets just to keep one another? (TWO-PART MINISERIES)

Pairing: Spencer Reid x fem!Reader

Warnings: alcohol consumption, reader gets a minor injury, sexual references/content (i’ll accept 16+ because its definitely not more than pg-13 material but writing anything sexy makes me feel weird if i know teenagers are reading it)

Word Count: 4.2k

A/N: READER’S POV!! this is where the bridge kicks in teehee. (also savannah is more of a minor character at this point, nobody really knows she and derek are together)

Devils Roll the Dice… (click for part 1)

I walked up to the figure illuminated by vending machine lights. His head was down as he looked through the options, not really intending on buying anything at all. I slowed my steps on the approach, just barely catching his attention before I was right next to him.

“Hey,” he said quietly, giving me a soft smile.

I grinned in full, not bothering to hide my feelings. Nobody was around, anyways.

“Hey. You come here often?”

He laughed. “Only this once. Waiting around for this girl who said she’d meet me here.”

“Sounds like she’s into you.”

He nodded. “I think so.”

I grabbed his hand, attempting to pull him closer. He took the advantage to bring me in instead, my back against the hard plastic of the machine’s display. Rather than kissing me then and there, he leaned in, lips unbearably close to my ear.

“I feel like we’re sneaking around past our parents,” he said quietly.

“You never got that ‘teenage dream’ experience. Maybe this is your second chance.”

He smiled. “Maybe.”

His lips pressed to mine, silencing our whispered words for good.

We were far from teenagers at this point, but he was still a dream. I found myself feeling giddy at every turn, completely ignoring the impending doom that loomed over our relationship.

We both knew we weren’t trying hard enough to hide it. Neither of us knew what would happen when it finally came to light.

Until that happened, we’d pretend it wasn’t in the cards at all. Summer love was still sweet, even being far removed from the romanticism of anything resembling the movie-loves I’d grown accustomed to religiously watching. This was somehow better. Maybe because it was more realistic. Probably because it was always more thrilling to live it out.

I smiled into our kiss, feeling his wandering hands trying to get themselves under my legs to lift me up. Sadly, we never got the chance.

We heard footsteps coming down the hall quickly, breaking apart and trying to look as nonchalant as possible as we mindlessly gazed at the snacks inside the machine.

“I’m thinking M&Ms,” I noted, almost laughing.

Spencer hid a smile. He clicked the right buttons right as our visitor reached us. The little package dropped, our secret still somehow concealed from a slightly-confused Aaron Hotchner as he stood behind us waiting for his turn.

“Night,” I said, giving a slight nod.

“Goodnight.”

Spencer followed behind me, hoping it wouldn’t be obvious that he didn’t have some cheap snack of his own in hand as we walked past. I rationalized that he looked too tired to notice, anyways.

We wound up back in my room, giggling with each other like kids at a sleepover. I made him do a face-mask with me while he made me listen to a lecture on how the hyaluronic acid in the formula provided moisture for our skin. I gladly listened with a smile on my face, and he happily accepted a hundred kisses as I wiped his face clean afterwards.

We laid on my bed, mindlessly talking about whatever came to mind. He took my hand in his, running his thumb across the back of my hand in repeated motions as we talked.

“What do you say we stop hiding us?” I asked at last, staring at the ceiling. “I’ve established myself on the team at this point, I think.”

He was quiet for a moment, still running his thumb over my hand.

“I don’t know. I think it’s better that we keep it quiet.”

I paused, taking in his response. I’d hoped that after a while we wouldn’t be hiding anymore. As much fun as it was to sneak around, it could be utterly exhausting. But, if he still wanted to, I’d agree.

“Okay.”

“Okay?” he questioned, turning his head to look at me.

I looked back at him, giving him a small smile and a nod.

“Yeah. If that’s what you want, it’s fine by me.”

He smiled, pressing a kiss to my forehead. I sprung up a moment after, standing at the foot of the bed. I grabbed my phone, clicking around on the screen as he propped himself up to look at me. I held out a hand to him.

“Dance with me, pretty boy,” I sang out, hitting shuffle on one of my playlists.

He quickly obliged, not wasting a second in worrying about whether or not he could actually dance. He knew I’d be there to guide whatever movements he didn’t know how to do yet.

Whispers of ‘are you sure?’

I smiled at him, admiring the way he payed way too much attention to how he moved. I made it a goal to loosen him up. After a minute, he was letting me guide, leaving his body to its own devices. He was really better off for it.

I can see us lost in the memory

We swayed along to the song, silently praying it wasn’t some kind of sick foreshadowing of how our summer would end. I pretended not to care much about the lyrics. He pretended not to listen to most of them.

August sipped away like a bottle of wine

Cause you were never mine

“Do you think that’ll happen to us?” I asked, still smiling past the gravity of the question.

“Of course not,” he answered with finality.

Wanting was enough

For me it was enough

To live for the hope of it all

I took his hands, the both of us spinning around in circles with smiles on our faces that were real and genuine despite a nagging feeling that something might be wrong.

I knew mine had a lot to do with very real feelings I was scared to talk about. I was too afraid to think about what may have filled his head. It was really none of my business, anyways, so I cleared my head of it all. Wanting was enough. I didn’t have to doubt that. It had been enough for two months so far. That had to count for something.

Weeks later and it was August. That lingering question of “will it last” was ever-present in my head. I just kept pushing it down. Fuck compartmentalization. That question was locked in a dungeon, chained to a wall, and I intended on keeping it there until we were either burning to the ground or eloping in Vegas.

Those seemed like the most viable options, anyway. An extremely-attached, yet no-strings kind of situationship could really only go one of two ways.

I almost wanted him to hate me at that point. It would certainly be a thrilling end if he revealed that he never cared about me and was only doing all of this to screw with my head. Almost like he was a spy, trying to uncover whatever boring substance made up my psyche.

I knew that was… Slightly less realistic, though.

I probably shouldn’t have been thinking about it so thoroughly, especially since it was merely theoretical. It would have caused a lot less mental work. It also might have prevented me from being off my game.

I had a habit of being a bit clumsy when we weren’t in life-threatening situations, but messing up while we were on a case? Unbearably embarrassing.

I looked up as my arm hit the wall to stop me from falling over my own two feet, disgusting to find that an exposed nail head had given me quite the scratch. It looked pretty gnarly, and frankly I was thanking my lucky stars I’d already gotten a tetanus booster after my last injury. However, I probably couldn’t go much further with my arm bleeding. Especially if they didn’t necessarily need me. It was one man they were going after, and we didn’t even know if he was in this house.

I voiced to Hotch what had happened, and he told me to leave if I was safe enough to do so. JJ and three officers occupied the house anyways, so I booked it out of there.

I cleaned myself up as well as I could with the first aid kit in the car, planning on doing a better job when I got back to the precinct. The house we were in turned out to be a bust anyways. Our unsub was still in the wind. He clearly hadn’t even been in the house in weeks. It was wildly frustrating.

Until Miss Penelope Garcia called in to save the day as she always did. She let JJ and I know that the others were currently heading across town to an apartment that she was certain housed the unsub and our most recent victim.

“Finally,” I sighed, leaning my head back in the seat.

JJ was quiet, and I looked away from my driving to see her. She smiled at me when I turned my head.

“What?” I questioned with a laugh.

“Can I ask you something?” she inquired, sitting up a little more straight. “It’s a little personal.”

I quirked a brow. “You can ask, but I reserve my right to remain silent.”

She laughed. “Alright. Fair enough. Uh, I’m just wondering about you and a certain team member.”

I swallowed. Uh oh.

“Okay?”

“I’ve just— I’ve heard rumors, and I wanted to ask you directly about them rather than letting the rumor-mill run.”

I nodded slowly. “What have you heard?”

“Word on the street is that you and Morgan used to be an item.”

Oh.

“Ah,” I replied with a chuckle. “Uh, yeah. Yeah, we were a thing. But that was a while ago, and I’m pretty certain we’ve moved past it.”

“Right, yeah,” she nodded. “You know, he has a secret girlfriend now.”

I smiled, glancing at her. “Really?”

She nodded again. “Yeah. He’s been trying to hide it, but Garcia loves to talk.”

I laughed, thinking of the bubbly, well-meaning woman. She had a hard time with secrets, though she tried her hardest.

“That’s good. He deserves to be happy, he was always a great guy,” I said.

“Just gotta look past all of the mindless flirting and the jock-persona,” JJ noted jokingly.

I hummed in agreement, turning down the road that would lead us to the precinct at last. It was a good thing, too, since my arm was really starting to irritate me now. My discomfort must have been obvious, as JJ looked at me once again.

“You okay?” she questioned. “That cut on your arm looks pretty painful.”

I looked at it, noticing there was some bleed-through on the bandage. I sighed, not looking forward to cleaning it up.

“I’ll live. It just itches pretty bad right now, and it’s fairly sore.”

“I can help you when we’re back at the station. You shouldn’t have to do that alone.”

“Thanks Jayje,” I said, resting a hand on her arm briefly.

She covered my hand with her own, giving me another smile. It felt like she could see through me on occasion. She had quickly become one of my closest friends on the team, which took me a little by surprise. She seemed a little too unironic-girlboss when I first met her, but the second Penelope helped me see her true colors… We were fast friends.

I almost found myself telling her about Spencer and I on multiple occasions, but always ended up thinking better of the idea. That moment was one of the times I almost said something.

Of course, I thought twice about it, but she gave me that look like she knew what I was thinking.

I found an out when we pulled into the precinct, and took up her offer to help me with properly fixing up my arm. We made light conversation as I tried like hell not to focus on the stinging pain that occurred every time she probed at the cut.

We did whatever we could to help after she was finished. At least until the rest of the team showed up. But, to my delight, we rounded out our night by heading home and going straight to the bar.

I didn’t often let myself get well and truly drunk. Especially not when I was around Spencer. I knew I had been staring at him once I downed my sixth shot, but by the third mixed drink he was pulling me out of the bar. He threw out some kind of excuse that he was tired and I needed a ride home.

“What’s up with you?” he asked after bidding a goodnight to everyone else. “You’ve been acting weird, and now you’re getting wasted.”

I was annoyed by the comment, but there was concern in his voice over everything else. I leaned into him as we walked towards my car.

“I just wanted to have some fun, Spencie.”

He sighed, continuing to help me walk until we reached my vehicle.

“Come on,” he muttered under his breath, helping me into the backseat of the car.

I slumped over into the seat as he did, just barely letting him put the seatbelt around me and click it into place. He was fairly quiet as he did so, which really only furthered my concern. Even drunk I knew well enough to see that something was off with him. He shut the door, and I let myself drop against the seat, listening as he opened and closed the driver’s side door.

I glanced up, seeing him adjust the mirror to keep an eye on me in the seat rather than the road. It was dangerous and stupid. And so sweet it made my stomach flip.

I let my mind wander as he turned on the radio, thought he kept it low, and started driving. I thought of him and the summer we’d shared thus far. Three months is nothing in the grand scheme of life, but it felt like everything when I was with him. He felt like everything in that time. I hated keeping him a secret so much.

Maybe I shouldn’t have drank so much.

I let out the tears I was holding back, sniffling as the snot starting trying to weasel its way out of my system. If I was going to cry like a baby, I wasn’t going let myself get all gross and grimy. That’s where I drew the line. I’d make sure at least some of my dignity was preserved.

He looked at me in the rear view mirror, brows furrowing.

“Y/N?”

I sniffled.

“Yeah?” I managed, knowing I sounded absolutely pathetic.

“Are you okay?” he asked, his voice soft. “Why are you crying?”

I met his eyes as he continually glanced at me in the mirror. I had to have looked ridiculous, laying on the backseat with tears streaming down my face for seemingly no reason.

“I’m fine.”

He deadpanned. “You’re sobbing in the backseat of your own car.”

“I’m fine,” I said again through tears, voice coming out much more whiny than I’d intended.

He said my name as a warning, seeing through my… untruth. I felt more happy calling it that than anything else. I looked at him, admiring his pretty face through the mirror as he looked on at the road ahead. Maybe it was a good idea for him to practically drag me out of the bar. I could be a messy drunk, and I definitely would’ve outed us by wanting to be messy with him in front of the team if I’d drank any more.

Keeping secrets sucked. It was stupid and annoying. Especially when he was so hot.

I whined out loud at the though, squeezing my eyes shut.

“What?” he whined back, a laugh on his lips.

“I’m sick of this.”

“Sick of what, baby?”

I sighed, wiping away tears that kept on rolling.

“Keeping secrets. I don’t want to have to keep hiding this just to keep you.”

He sighed to match mine. “I know.”

“I don’t want to do it anymore.”

“Honey, we don’t have much of a choice.”

“But I’m going to explode if I can’t kiss you in public anymore.”

“No, you won’t,” he said, looking at me again.

I pouted. “I will.”

“You’re drunk, baby. We’ll get you into bed and you’ll feel better tomorrow.”

“Will you come to bed with me?”

He smiled softly. “Of course.”

I felt the car starting to slow, and though my vision was a little blurry, I saw the green light ahead turn to yellow. I looked at him again, a small smile coming to my tear-soaked face.

“Spencie?”

He hummed in question, not yet looking at me.

“Can I tell you something really stupid?”

“I’d love nothing more.”

I paused for a moment, letting my inebriated state wipe away any inhibitions I may have had otherwise. The car stopped at the light at last. I smiled softly.

“For what it’s worth, I love you,” I mumbled. “And it’s the worst fucking thing you could hear right now.”

I hoped he’d say it back, though part of me expected him to pretend he hadn’t heard me at all.

I definitely didn’t expect him to look at me through the mirror with a devilish smirk.

“I know you do,” he stated. “And it’s not the worst thing I‘ve heard by a long shot.”

I bit my lip to hold back a smile as he pulled away from the light. We ended up back at my apartment, Spencer still helping me stumble the whole way there. I pushed him back against the door as soon as we were inside, but he held my wrists to stop me from feeling him up. I pouted.

“Ow,” I said, pulling my injured arm from him.

“You okay, princess?”

I nodded, quiet. He simply looked at me, certainly not believing me.

“Why are you doing that?” I questioned.

His eyes widened. “W-why am I stopping you?”

I nodded silently, still pouting.

“Baby— You’re drunk. I’m not doing anything with you while you’re drunk.”

I dropped my hands, whining as I leaned my full body into his. He wrapped his arms around me, walking— more so waddling— with me until we reached my couch.

“I just wanna kiss you,” I grumbled into his chest, letting him drop me onto the cushions.

I stared up at him, trying to look alluring. I probably just looked a little out of my mind.

“I love kissing you, but not while you’re so drunk you can’t even stand up by yourself without almost tipping over,” he said, smiling softly as he crouched between my legs.

He leaned up, softly kissing my forehead. He kept my face in his hands, looking at me. He let one hand drop, running it across my arm. I pulled back again, feeling the discomfort in my arm from my earlier injury.

He furrowed his brow, looking down at my arm as it was covered by my sleeve.

“Are you okay?”

I nodded. “I’m fine.”

“You pulled away twice when I touched your arm.”

“It’s okay.”

He sighed, grabbing my arm and gently moving my sleeve up over the bandage. He let out a sharp breath.

“Why didn’t you tell me about this?” he asked, trying not to be annoyed with my concealment. “When did you get hurt?”

I deflated. “Today.”

“How?”

“I got cut. Fell into a nail in the wall.”

He ran a hand over his face. “You should’ve told me.”

“Why?”

He glanced up, furrowing his brow. He was clearly annoyed with me, but I couldn’t bring myself to feel terribly about it.

“Because I want to know when you’re hurt.”

I swallowed. Okay, that made me feel a little guilty.

“It’s not a big deal.”

“It is. That’s a pretty big bandage.”

I was quiet for a moment. “I’m sorry. I just didn’t want you to worry.”

“It’s my job to worry about you.”

“No, it isn’t.”

He quirked a brow. “Why not?”

“We aren’t even like… A real couple,” I said, closing my eyes. “All we do is sneak around and you don’t ever want to tell anyone and I just don’t think that we can keep acting like it’s gonna last forever if we can’t even tell friends about—”

“It’s not my fault you dated Derek first,” he said, cutting me off.

I scoffed. “He doesn’t even care. That was forever ago and he has his secret girlfriend now anyways.”

“You wanted to keep this secret in the first place.”

“Well I’m sick of it,” I yelled. “I’m sick of keeping secrets and I’m sick of you not caring that I’m in love with you.”

“Not caring?” he asked, voice raising as he leaned back on his knees.

“You didn’t even say it back when I said it.”

“Because you’re drunk! How am I supposed to know if you even mean it?”

“Because I do!”

I groaned, my head dropping back against the cushions. My buzz was starting to wane, and I wished it would hold on a little longer.

“You were crying in the backseat. We said we’d talk about this tomorrow when you were sobered up. Why don’t we stick to that plan?” he said after a moment.

“Why can’t you just tell me how you actually feel about me?”

“I don’t want to say something and have you not remember it.”

“You’re so annoying,” I grumbled.

He rolled his eyes, standing abruptly. I readied myself for him to leave. I knew I was being childish, but I was tired of keeping everything bottled up. I wouldn’t blame him for dropping me then and there.

But, he reached out a hand.

“Come on. Let’s go to bed.”

I looked up at him curiously, not yet taking his hand.

“You’re staying?”

He nodded. “Of course. I don’t want to leave you like this.”

I reached out, letting him help me up. We walked to my room, quietly undressing. I climbed into bed, watching him as he finally tugged off his pants, leaving him in just his undershirt and boxers. He shut my door, turned off the lights, and got under the covers with me.

He reached out for me under the sheets, tugging me against him. I sighed, resting my hand over his arm.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered.

“It’s okay. We’ll talk tomorrow.”

I woke up to a horrible headache, and a nauseous feeling that I was convinced would probably never ever go away. I was 100% certain I would never drink again ever in my life. It was a set rule that I made very quickly.

“How are you feeling?” Spencer asked.

My next rule was that nobody was ever allowed to speak to me again.

I broke it immediately.

“Like crap.”

“Here,” he said, a stupid smile in his voice from the one word.

I opened my eyes to see him offering me a couple of little pills and a glass of water. I took them, grateful, even though I wanted to tell him to leave me alone in the dark for the next few months. Thankfully, he let me lay in his arms until the medication kicked in and took the edge off of my stupid hangover. I was at least thankful we didn’t have work that day.

My head was buried in his chest when I felt his lips against the top of my head. He rubbed my back, coaxing me back to the real world. Unfortunately I’d been a mess in the real world the night prior and did not want to deal with the aftermath.

“Baby,” he said quietly. “Are you alright?”

“Mhm,” I hummed, leaning back a little. Just enough to see him. “Medicine helped.”

“Good,” he smiled. “I was a little worried. You drank a lot more than you usually do last night.”

“I know. I was a mess.”

He smirked. “A little bit.”

“I’m sorry,” I said, brushing hair out of his face. “I’m sorry we argued.”

He was quiet for a second, then perked up a little when his phone dinged.

“You hungry?”

“I really don’t want to go out, love.”

He laughed softly. “I know. I ordered in while you were laying down.”

“You’re a dream, Spencer Reid.”

We tumbled out of bed, Spencer insisting on preparing everything after he thanked the delivery person at the door. He made me sit at the table and wait for him, not allowing me to do anything at all until all of the food was laid out. He delighted in it.

“There,” he said, setting down our drink at last as he sat next to me. “And you tried saying I didn’t love you.”

My eyes widened, not expecting him to say anything, but especially not like that. He looked at me.

“What?” he questioned.

“That’s how you’re going to tell me?” I asked with a laugh.

“I thought you knew anyways,” he shrugged. “I do love you, you know?”

I felt heat in my cheeks at that, a smile on my face that I couldn’t control. He smiled right back at me, pressing a kiss to the back of my hand.

“Do you really think we’ll last past summer?” I asked, hoping he was feeling honest.

He sighed, the smallest grin on his face.

“It’d be a cruel end if we didn’t.”

[aftokrator-official]

some Thoughts on chapter 13 now that i've finished:

I LOVE HOEDERER.... i already did but like. Really enjoyable to get his POV in this event and see more of his inner thoughts and motivations. I'm fond of characters who are so tired and worn down and jaded, but manage to hold onto some scrap of hope regardless, even against their own better judgment. A lot like Mlynar in that way, tbh.

regrettably this chapter sold me on hoederines a little. i'm CONFLICTED because i love wines so much, dammit. (and manhoe, but there's not as much of a conflict with my headcanons there.) But their relationship is so good regardless of whether you read it as romantic or platonic.

speaking of, Ines was a delight in this chapter. Love her role as the resident non-Sarkaz Sarkaz who is completely unaffected by whatever arcane bullshit is getting to Hoederer and W in any given moment, so she can yell at them to snap out of it and save all of their lives lmao. I love her deep loyalty and care for them that she expresses in everything but words. ugh ugh i love her

the little subplot with Vendela and the Sarkaz commander who tried to keep her safe was sweet and sad, I wish he'd gotten a unique sprite at least. I kind of want to see her meet Flamebringer now and her reaction to the friendship between him and Perfumer... I feel like there's some parallels there.

We're starting to see some payoff to the buildup with Siege in this arc, and I'm so glad! I've never really understood the hate her arc gets - I know it's partly that I'm biased, she was my first 6* so I'm rather fond of her, and I just really like the whole concept of the Glasgow Gang. And I think it doesn't help that ch12 was (imo) the weakest part of act 2 so far. But also, it was always really clear to me that we've been just... laying the groundwork with her up til now, I didn't really expect her to have big moments or turning points yet? Idk. i kind of want to write a whole post about her arc and my thoughts on it at some point. BUT, I really liked her in ch13, seeing her start to really come into her own and how all the events of act 2 up until now have shaped her decisions.

I'M REALLY SAD ABOUT GUARD ACTUALLY??? :( Tbh I have not really cared much about New!Reunion until this chapter, except for Talulah, but I'm finally getting invested. And Talulah's confrontation with Eblana was AMAZING. I've always seen her as a foil to Talulah - while Talulah started down her path with good intentions and ideals, Dublinn seems to have been like late-stage Reunion from the very start, because Eblana has always cared more about seeking power than about the oppression of the people around her. SO FUCKING SATISFYING to see Talulah, of all people, calling her out on that, and protecting Reunion from her. I really hope we get more of these two in future, and also more Reed in main story please please pleeeaseee.

This chapter was wonderfully cohesive with the themes of tradition and bloodlines vs forging a new path. Siege, Delphine and Horn, all beginning to break away from their inherited roles in Victoria's hegemony and fight on their own terms instead. The Kazdel flashbacks, the spacetime feranmut, and Hoederer's POV - a character who wants to see a better future for Kazdel, while still remembering and learning from its past. Nine, Guard and Talulah dealing with what Reunion means as a symbol, and figuring out what it should become. Shining and Nightingale, confronting the Confessarii and their own past. Even Vendela, having to let go of the life and traditions she'd grown up in, the townspeople clinging to familiarity and the hope that things would go back to normal to the point that it was literally going to kill them. The confrontation with the Sanguinarch was such a great culmination of all of this, with his fixation on blood purity and the glorious lost past of the Teekaz. And he's defeated by several people who all soundly reject his vision of what the Sarkaz "should" be - Amiya, the outblood King; Logos, who does have a "pure" bloodline by the Sanguinarch's standards but refuses to be defined by the role he inherited; Hoederer and W, two of the mixed-race "commoner" Sarkaz he's so contemptuous of (and Hoederer specifically rejecting the idea that the Sarkaz's destiny must always be soaked in blood); Ines, who isn't a Sarkaz at all, except she is, because her family is Sarkaz, and she's always going to be one of them. It was! So fucking good!

[koalatysleep]

Kuwameshi Play-by-Play: The Chocolate Shake Date Scene!

Folks, I can't even begin to describe how HILARIOUS this canon scene is, coz each character in the scene is in such a different headspace from each other that it's basically a romantic comedy of errors! 🤣🤣🤣

In a nutshell: Yusuke had phoned Kuwabara for a 1-1 date before he bumps into Keiko, Keiko crashes his date with Kuwabara without realizing she's the third wheel from Yusuke's POV, then when Kuwabara thinks he's the third wheel and tries to leave, Yusuke pounces on the excuse of the tailgating thugs to escape from Keiko without having to admit to Kuwabara that Yusuke wants to be with him alone, and when Keiko realizes that Yusuke's trying to shake her off, she persists in sticking with Yusuke until he pulls out his last resort of the porn buying excuse to shake her off so he can finally get Kuwabara alone! 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

It's HILARIOUS!!!

Don't quite follow how the above happened?

Let's break it down!

First we find out that Yusuke didn't contact Keiko at all in the month he's been training with Genkai, and she only bumps into him through sheer chance. This tells us yet again that Yusuke is not in love with Keiko although he obviously cares for her deeply as his found family. (Sidenote: We've already seen this via Yusuke's outraged reaction to Keiko nearly kissing his "unconscious defenseless body" in Episode 4. I also wrote about this in Chapter 4 of The Good Fight if you want more meta in fic form!)

This scene is from Keiko's POV, and since she's in love with Yusuke, we hear a romantic background music when she first spots his figure walking down the street in a bright blue light, before the figure resolves into Yusuke looking heroic and dashing to Keiko's eyes:

Guess what? The last time we saw a similar scene with the SAME BRIGHT BLUE LIGHT and the SAME ROMANTIC BACKGROUND MUSIC, it was from Yusuke's POV in Episode 13, when Kuwabara's spirit saved Yusuke from the demon fish!!!

Do you see what I'm saying here? Yusuke was already in love with Kuwabara back in Episode 13! Look at how heroic and dashing Kuwabara looks to Yusuke's eyes!

OMG I can't contain my glee!! The storytelling through the subtextual cues of lighting and background music is so masterful!

(Sidenote: I've already screamed in my Undercover Love Story meta that Yusuke actually fell in love with Kuwabara in Episode 3 and has been falling deeper in love with Kuwabara since then, so this is yet another proof point of that!)

Back to the Chocolate Shake Date! After Keiko's POV scene, it cuts to the park where we see it's 3.10pm, and Yusuke is now showered and changed and he's slicking his hair back into his usual style on the park bench with Kuwabara.

First of all, this is the 90's where no one has a mobile phone. If you wanted to meet someone, you had to call them at home a few days beforehand to arrange a date/time to meet. You can't just call them on the day itself, because people aren't necessarily at home or they may have made other plans!

The fact that Yusuke and Kuwabara met up on Yusuke's first day back means that even though Yusuke didn't contact Keiko at all in the month he's training with Genkai, Yusuke called Kuwabara while he was still at Genkai's, to arrange a meet-up with Kuwa!!!

Do you see the difference in Yusuke's behavior for Keiko his found family / sibling, versus Kuwabara his romantic love interest?

What's more, he was so eager to meet Kuwabara that he rushed to the park without styling his hair, probably coz he was running a bit late after bumping into Keiko!

No one arranges a meetup at an odd time like 3.10pm, you'd meet at 3pm! The fact that they showed us the 3.10 time on the clock and then Yusuke slicking his hair back tells us Yusuke cared so much about meeting Kuwabara that he rushed there before he was fully ready!

Suddenly we have more context to understand why Yusuke looked so chirpy and spirited when he was walking home earlier on! Yusuke was looking forward to what he thought was his 1-on-1 date with Kuwabara!

And here I just have to scream a bit about their body language! Look at how happy our boys are just catching up with each other! How their bodies are angled towards each other! How they connect with less of their emotional armor when Yusuke indirectly tells Kuwa the real reason he doesn't wanna brawl Kuwa is coz Kuwa's only just recovered from horrific injuries, and Kuwa responds by indirectly admitting to Yusuke the reason he asked for a brawl is coz he really wants to see Yusuke's new moves!

If you listen very closely to the original Japanese audio track, you can hear birds chirping in the background when Kuwabara and Yusuke are talking to each other!!! Birds are our audio / visual analogy for Kuwameshi romance! 🐦🐦🌈🌈❤️❤️

Our boys are connecting emotionally even without life-&-death fights, and I love it so much!

And here's where the hilarity kicks up a notch! Keiko's so happy that Yusuke's back, she doesn't realize that she's the third wheel from Yusuke's POV!

She crashes his conversation with Kuwa, and we see Yusuke make the classic anime hand gesture when characters are peeved at something undesirable happening:

Then we see Yusuke cover up what he and Kuwa were really talking about with the movie excuse, taking the chance to touch Kuwa with his elbow while pointing at Keiko with the peeved anime hand gesture. Here's where Keiko looks surprised that Yusuke is drawing Kuwa back into the conversation, being physical with him, and seems to be saying that he wants to watch a movie with just Kuwabara:

Keiko persists in sticking to Yusuke by joining them for the movie, so Yusuke has no choice but to agree reluctantly, since he doesn't have any legit reason why she can't join them. Yusuke still has his emotional armor on, so he doesn't wanna outright let Kuwabara or anyone else know that he actually wants to be alone with Kuwabara.

Nonetheless, we start to see that our boys are mirror images of each other from this scene onwards (people who are attracted to each other tend to mirror each other)!

Look at how miffed Yusuke looks that Keiko hasn't taken a hint to let him be alone with Kuwabara!

And even though Kuwabara thinks Yusuke and Keiko are together romantically, he can't help sounding out how Yusuke feels by telling him Keiko must have been worried about Yusuke and is happy he's back, coz while Kuwabara's still in denial about his feelings for Yusuke at this point in time (and he also thinks he can't directly express how he feels about Yusuke for various reasons like Keiko having a 'claim' on Yusuke), he is nonetheless deeply in love with Yusuke so he's subconsciously and/or very subtly sounding out how Yusuke feels about Keiko.

Also, coz Kuwabara thinks he can't express his feelings for Yusuke directly, he expresses his feelings for Yusuke through other female characters like Botan and later on Yukina (this deserves another meta of its own another time, in psychology we call this Transference).

In this instance, Kuwa's Transference manifests when he indirectly tells Yusuke how he feels by saying Keiko must have been very worried about Yusuke and is now very happy Yusuke's back. Kuwa's actually telling Yusuke Kuwa himself was very worried about Yusuke and is now over-the-moon Yusuke's back!

Yusuke reacts to this with a blush for the first time ever in the series! Yusuke didn't blush when Botan/Sayaka kept insisting he likes Keiko romantically in Episode 4, he didn't blush when he seemed to be thinking about Keiko resuscitating him with mouth-to-mouth in Episode 5, so why is Yusuke suddenly blushing now? It's certainly not coz he's in love with Keiko, we've already established that. It's coz Yusuke can sense on some level what Kuwa's really telling him! At the same time, Yusuke tries to let Kuwa know equally subtly that he's not romantically interested in Keiko with his super non-committal comment of "Oh, yeah?" to Keiko being worried about him!

My god, there are so many layers of subconscious, semi-conscious and subtextual communication happening between Yusuke and Kuwabara in just this little exchange, underneath what they seem to be talking about on the surface!

And then when Kuwa still thinks he's the third wheel and tries to do the noble thing to leave early so Yusuke and Keiko can watch the movie alone, he nonetheless uses one last excuse to be close to Yusuke with his headlock! It was a very long headlock with both our boys prolonging it as long as they can! They did not want to leave each other's arms even after Keiko calls to Yusuke from ahead!

This is when Yusuke pounces on the excuse of the tailgating thugs to make sure Kuwabara doesn't leave, without having to admit to Kuwabara that he wants him to stay!

He then uses the excuse of urgent shopping to try to escape Keiko so he can be with Kuwabara alone, without having to admit to Keiko that's what he's trying to do!

LOL what can I say, Yusuke's emotional armor is real strong, he's just not comfortable admitting his feelings to anyone at this point in time!

Kuwa initially thought Yusuke was gonna ask him to run his urgent shopping errand for him (thus his split second of peeved look), then he looks so surprised when Yusuke tells him he wants Kuwabara to come with him! This tells us Kuwa just never thought Yusuke would pick him over Keiko!! Kuwa's eyes are on Yusuke 100% of the time throughout!! And look at Yusuke using any excuse to touch Kuwabara, this time with the back of his hand on Kuwa's chest!! Ahhhh these body language tells are CHEF'S KISS!!!

When Keiko realizes that Yusuke's trying to shake her off with the urgent shopping excuse, she persists in following (she is a go-getter after all!), and this is when Yusuke pulls out his last resort of the porn excuse so he can finally get Kuwabara alone to himself!! It's HILARIOUS!!!! Yusuke was so desperate to get Kuwabara alone, he straight out implies he's buying porn!!!

OMG this is such a good romantic comedy of errors!!! Is it any wonder that the entire scene at the Chocolate Shake stand started with such comedic background music??

Who says anime isn't sophisticated in its story-telling? This is a masterclass in Show, Don't Tell subtext!

[prophecydungeon]

:EYES: gimme 1, 3, 10, 12, 16, 18, 22, 23, 24. :3c

How old were you when you started writing fic?

oh man.... it was the summer before 9th grade, so i think i must have been 13 or 14? that's the first time i sat down expressly thinking "i want to write a story about naruto where there's a GIRL with COOL POWERS and-", but then when i think back, i'm sure i probably scribbled down other similar "stories" about [insert media]. fanart For Sure came before fanfic for me.

3. What was your first fandom?

for the purposes of this Q i'm going to define one's first fandom as something i felt, like, Identifiably Fandomy feelings and experiences about (not just "omgggg i love pokemon lugia is my fave"), and that was, unsurprisingly, naruto.

HOWEVER, nart came to me on the heels of FMA, which i also definitely had fandomy feelings and experiences about, but nart was when i really dove into the whole fucking nine yards of early-aughts Fandom: AMVs, googling "cute sasuke pictures", printing shit out to put in my binder, baby's first yaoi (legitimately got a Talking To from a conservative christian friend about this, it was so goddamn funny), those animatics that people posted on deviantart, drawing soooo much fanart, and reading and writing Fan Fiction™ while actually calling it that.

10. Do you read your own fics for fun?

ABSOLUTELY!!!!!!!!! dude i reread my stuff ALL the time. especially when i'm at the point where i can't find anything that scratches the itch. i wrote that shit for me, of course i'm gonna reread it a million times.

12. Post a sentence from your current WIP

ok i lied i guess since we talked about it yesterday i will try to make this an active WIP so:

“If you chop my hands off,” Sanji threatens in Zoro’s low voice, jabbing an accusatory finger towards his own body, “I won’t just kill you. I’ll make you wish you bled out on the Baratie’s deck.”

16. What are your favorite characters to write?

i'm gonna take this as asking for a type of character rather than a list of names, so: i looooove writing POV characters who have every reason to misinterpret/misread what's happening, which is to say, i love an Outside POV character who doesn't catch on because why the fuck would they catch on. i've loved writing every outside POV fic i've written because i get to find ways for the POV character to reasonably not catch onto whatever fuckoffery is actually going on, albeit in different ways: hiyori doesn't like sanji because she's got no reason to believe The Bit is just a bit (girl i get it); the POV chars in the last two ficlets in this bleach collection genuinely have no frame of reference for what the fuck kind of creatures ichigo or grimmjow could be; if someone had told aunor flat-out "yeah shin malphur is also zyre orsa who is also dredgen vale and he's in some kind of situationship with the drifter" she would have laughed and fried them to cinders.

i could do this shit all day! it's all about finding a logical path for the POV char to figure out what is actually going on, at least to some degree, and then letting them deal with the fallout. (sorry, aunor.)

18. Is there some headcanon you've included in more than one fic?

yes, totally! i think Reishi Theory and adjacent bits and bobs is the most salient example; i think everything i've written for bleach has included some facet of our headcanons regarding how it all works. in general, my headcanons and interpretations tend to be pretty stable across fics, so if i've written more than one work for a fandom, there's probably some connecting thread.

22. Pick out a random line from a fic you're really proud of

from the blood of the covenant:

Sanji thinks: this is a ritual like everything Zeff has ever taught me. The purpose is in its existence. There's nothing unpragmatic about that.

this whole bit might be my favorite part of the fic, but this line(...s) in particular i like a lot; there's a lot of things in a lot of different disciplines that boil down to just being ritual, and that's a purpose of its own.

23. What's the most personal fic you've ever written?

ah....... i think in a roundabout way that goes to steam, fill, shape, share in ways that are pretty clear from the first paragraph. i project plenty throughout fics - really, what else is writing for - but this one was definitely personal.

24. What's the cringiest (affectionate) fic you've ever written?

answered!

[nemaliwrites]

Ooh, are you doing separate fics for Angstpril this year instead of one long one? Can we see some of the ideas?

Yup! Figured it would be a good opportunity to finish up some of the ideas in my drafts.

And YES you can indeed see some of the ideas! These are all working summaries btw which is why they're....Like That lol. As always, if any of these appeal to you, I am always happy to provide excerpts and/or expand on these ideas!

Fandoms: Danganronpa (v3 and Thh), Avatar, Persona 5, Miraculous, Paranormasight, Ace Attorney, Persona 4, Vampire Diaries, Wind Waker, Animal Crossing, JJBA, Age of Mythology

Prompts:

1. homesick | danganronpa thh

The survivors take a road trip after the end of the world.

2. frozen | avatar the last airbender

outsider pov, Yue being touched by the moon spirit manifests in strange ways.

3. broken-hearted | persona 5

Akira and Shiho get together. Ryuji and Ann deal the only way they know how (hooking up)

4. longing | miraculous

Zoé is used to loving people who don't love her back.

5. rise from the ashes | paranormasight

Ayame and the men in her life (derogatory)

6. this isn’t going to work | ace attorney

Dahlia is poison. This is not a good thing.

7. bad dreams | miraculous

falling in love with your sleep paralysis demon (mariblanc)

8. lost battle | miraculous

They say snakes can't feel love. Luka wishes this were true.

9. trust issues | ace attorney

Two children visit Lamiroir in the hospital, and they say they are hers. She doesn't believe them.

10. phantom pain | miraculous

Adrien and Marinette are body swapped; but why is she unable to resist any order Gabriel gives her as Adrien? Suspicious....

11. no way out | ace attorney

Mia promises to take Maya away from Aunt Morgan. It's a promise she never fulfills.

12. a little too late | persona 4

Yosuke starts training with Chie after Saki's death. It doesn't help.

13. learning the truth | ace attorney

Godot finds Morgan's letter to Pearl hidden in Kurain.

14. surrender | vampire diaries

Caroline/Tom Avery - they're both never anyone's first choice.

15. confrontation | ace attorney

Miles is a Fey. This changes things.

16. cry for help | new danganronpa v3

Miu doesn't have a soul mark. She definitely doesn't care.

17. last chance | persona 4

The fog's closing in, but they'll save Yukiko in time...right?

18. left behind | wind waker

Grandma's always wanted to be a hero.

19. trembling | miraculous

Masochism as a character study - Claw Noir Cataclysms Shadybug, but only after she asks him to.

20. broken | ace attorney

Phoenix offers poison; Kristoph takes it willingly.

21. faking a smile | animal crossing

Your friend is not the same; you pretend you see nothing.

22. drained | ace attorney

A children’s book author and a blind singer walk into a bar.

23. swept away | vampire diaries

Lexi and Alaric finally meet - but they're trapped together in the 1994 prison world.

24. the ghost of you | jjba

Shinobu and her husband swap bodies - whoever is in her now seems far too used to controlling a body that's not theirs.

25. cold shoulder | age of mythology

Kastor asks Arkantos for help. But the gods do not answer, and Arkantos is a god before he is a father.

26. grief | paranormasight and ace attorney

Harue travels to Kurain Village.

27. panicked | miraculous

Shadybug has the same mark for her soulmate and her greatest enemy.

28. never see you again | danganronpa thh

Outsider POV of the survivors after the killing game - but they think they're not alone.

29. betrayal | vampire diaries

It's far too easy for Jeremy to trust someone with his sister's face.

30. the last time | ace attorney

Thalassa forms a triangle; Zak and Valant are the other two points.

[child-of-hurin]

Fic author interview meme - tagged by @anghraine!

Apologies if you've already done this and I missed it, but tagging @squirrelwrangler @undercat-overdog @chthonic-cassandra @hoeratius @outofangband @seagodofmagic and everyone else who sees this and feels like doing it :)

1- How many works do you have on AO3?

58, more than I thought

2- What's your total AO3 word count?

146,888

3- What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

1. Surrender, 615 words, The Mirror Visitor, 149 kudos 2. Locked, forgotten, 1,6k words, ASOIAF , 91 kudos 3. With imperious hand, Fate turns the wheel,  8,8k words, Queen’s Thief, 85 kudos 4. Simple fix, 2,8k words, Supernatural, 77 kudos 5. Tied: Cupid and Psyche, 742 words, Queen’s Thief, 66 kudos A flower trampled underfoot, 1,9k words, Silmarillion, 66 kudos

I have a couple of anonymous/orphaned works that I can recall that have way more than any of this: one Azula/Zuko that has over 350 kudos and a Wincest fic that’s currently on 289! They’re both pure E-rated kink, so I think it figures hahaah.

4- Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I try to, but sometimes I get a little stumped between a desire to respond in depth vs the conscience that ao3 comments are not really the place for fandom conversation…

5- What's the fic you've written with the angstiest ending?

IMO, either my most recent Vinland Saga fic “Ordeal,” or my first posted fic ever, “Barren”, about Míriel and Pharazôn.

6- What's the fic you've written with the happiest ending?

I’m thinking it’s probably “Washed Ashore”, a short fic that ends with Gil-Galad telling Círdan that Ëarendil is alive and returned with an army in tow.

7- Do you write crossovers?

no

8- Have you ever received hate on a fic?

I know I did but it was in an orphaned work and I can’t recall which, or what fandom it was for? But I think that’s why I switched to just publishing anonymously instead of orphaning it altogether, so I can still delete comments and stuff. Haven't had to, though.

9- Do you write smut?

Occasionally :) 

10- Have you ever had a fic stolen?

No

11- Have you ever had a fic translated?

I THINK so, because I remember someone asking me about it, but I can’t recall which fic or what language…

12- Have you ever co-written a fic before?

I wanna do that with Kate!!! Maybe one day

13- What's your all-time favorite ship?

The ship I’ve written the most for on ao3 is Irene/Gen from Queen’s Thief, and it’s definitely one of my top favorites!

14- What's a WIP that you want to finish but don't think you ever will?

I don’t usually post fics unless they’re finished or very close to. So the answer is something in my fic folder tentatively called "A Mirror, Cracking", which is an AU of Niënor in Brethil, if she remembered who she was! I'm suuuper fond of it and likely never finishing it, I plan to post it unfinished at some point, amnesty-style.

15- What are your writing strengths?

I think I’m good at creating a dramatic scene! Or let’s put it this way: it’s what I enjoy the most when I write

16- What are your writing weaknesses?

I’d like to write longer, more committed stuff sometimes, but I find it very hard! I also think my prose is very commonplace, but it doesn't actually bother me.

17- What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

I avoid doing that at all costs. I either put a descriptive indicating they’re speaking another language, or I say the POV character can’t make it out. I don’t think it’s tacky and I don’t judge it in writing, I just don’t like doing it myself.

18- What was the first fandom you wrote for?

Tolkien <3

19- What's a fandom/ship you haven't written for yet but want to?

My dream is to write a Mediana/Ophélie fic for The Mirror Visitor, simply I think this ship is insanely hot and there was just one meager 155 word ficlet for it last time I checked! I have some notes for a fic but lost steam; maybe reading the English translation of those books will do the trick.

20- What's your favorite fic you've written?

I’m super fond of “A haunting”, one of my fics with the least amount of kudos... which I understand, because it really is one of those “I wrote this for myself but you can read it if you want to” cases—in terms of themes, characterization, style and format, corny quote at the beginning, etc, super indulgent. I really just had a lot of fun with it and it still touches me whenever I reread it, and I think the language and characterization are pretty solid! I like it a lot and I'm super proud of it :)

[selfproclaimedunicorn]

(@queen--kenobi) ⭐️ anything with Ella ⭐️

Thank you @queen--kenobi for your service 🙏🏻 I'm gonna gush about one of my fave Ella POV's: Chapter 9/First Blood

This chapter is the first time we’re in her head again after the events surrounding Aemon’s birth, & when she & Yorick basically nuked a Vale Clan, which were both moments that saw her mentally maturing at the very least. Kind of emotionally maturing, too, but at that point she’s an 11-year-old that actively chooses to be a little bit delusional (my platonic wife @haephestuscrex has called Ella “my copium princess” & if that ain’t her), so she’s only gonna be doing so much on that front. But First Blood has her at 13 & in the beginnings of her adolescence, so we’re finally getting some actual, like, meaty internal narration. Her self-reflection isn’t where it’s gonna wind up in Chapter 11/Be Not A Bed Of Roses, but the difference between 13 & 16 is a lot, so I’m cutting her some slack lmao.

Anyway.

She kind of spends the chapter at least subconsciously convinced that she’s mature, she’s only three years from her majority, after all, but so much keeps happening that just reinforces how young she actually still is in spite of approaching Westerosi Adulthood & having the larval form of her teen FC (Lily-Rose Depp) introduced (at least mentally/in my mind’s eye, since this isn’t a visual medium). She’s possessive & territorial about her dad while wanting his attention even when she’s cognitively aware that she’s being silly or irrational or that she should be concerned with other things. She gossips and giggles with her friends & talks about “grownup topics” while still being mentally in the space of “hunky boys are hypothetical & I never want to get married.”

When she gets reminders of the shortness of life & the fact that the world is seeing her as growing up, and is given proof of that, she retreats into the shelter of how young she is because she’s still allowed.

Her aunt dies & she wants to go back to the made up, fantastical stories she abandoned after the Vale Clan attack in Chapter 7/The Dragon Has Three Heads, because that’s her childhood back when everything was okay & safe & comfortable

She gets her first period and shrieks in terror because she’s a woman now & she doesn’t want to be

Yorick’s betrothal due to his weird positioning in terms of proximity to the throne keeps getting pushed & she's offended. If he’s growing up, that means she is, & like I said, when it gets down to brass tax, she doesn’t want to yet. And then when he is betrothed to Shireen she gets sullen and moody because that combined with the whole “first period” thing is just cementing the fact she’s growing up after figuring out she didn’t actually want to be an adult like she’d convinced herself she did. She puts forward a betrothal test to delay what she sees as the inevitable, because in her mind, everyone is kind of an undesirable right now because being married is what killed Aunt Aemma & is making her parents upset & is what people are trying to use her brother for & when her dad has any say in it, it makes her sick

First Blood is the first time we see a slowly maturing Ella, & the last time we see her as a (Westerosi) child with at least most of the innocence that entails. And, imo, this chapter is kind of the last bit of the foundation needed to build up the final character that Ella will become because she sort of runs the gamut of most of the emotions & grapples with growing up in the midst of the start of HOTD’s first season. She’s complicated & messy & not super internal, & when she is it’s maybe not the most helpfully reflective internal monologue because she’s self-aware, but not enough to really do anything about it/change anything. And, honestly, I don’t think she’d change much.

[izzyspussy]

tell me more about angel wn pls

Angel's character arc is, thematically speaking, primarily about grief. Grief for the community he was denied, grief for the relationship he couldn't have with his maternal figure, grief for Dido/his relationship with Dido, grief over his own failures, grief for the relationship he couldn't have with his children, grief over the potential futures that the past has killed.

His arc basically follows, vaguely, the 5 stages of grief, as well as (even more vaguely) the 12 steps of recovery. (Eddie's arc is similar, but is more about recovery than grief.) The bulk of Angel's story is Denial.

He also is a representative of grief in the other characters' arcs. For Eddie, Angel's narrative presence (but in-universe absence) in Curse The Messenger is used to illustrate her grieving for her lack of childhood as well as her more literal grief for her parents and her guilt and regret over people she perceives herself to have failed to save. For Fred, Angel in CTM also illustrates xyr grief for a lost childhood, as well as xyr grief-driven fear of abandonment.

He's not in Gilded Verdict at all. Incidentally, the main characters in that one either don't have anything they grieve (Evan) or project their feelings externally to such a pathological degree that they don't feel grief so much as things like resentment or unfulfilled entitlement (Lily). A character is a symbol just as much as any blue curtain.

In The Vanishing Point, Angel has only negative character development, spiraling deeper and deeper into avoidance. He can't bear to acknowledge his losses or his mistakes, and makes them immeasurably worse by obsessively denying them. This is the bulk of his on-page character arc, really, and it is entirely in the Denial stage of grief and well out of reach of the "admitting he has a problem" stage of recovery. He ends the book at the lowest low achievable in the witch noir universe, the ultimate and rockiest of rock bottoms.

For Dido in TVP, Angel represents her grief over the life she thought she'd have before her schizophrenia onset. She continues to grieve herself in other ways, with Angel as the narrative proxy for her feelings (just romantic lead things) throughout the book. At the end [SPOILER] more literally, thus making Angel also the proxy for [SPOILER].

In a slightly more literal sense, every single character who interacts with Angel will lose him. Every single relationship he ever has ends.

Then at last in Latchkey Craft, Angel gets to have his own POV. LC is basically Angel speedrunning the 5 stages (because he is still firmly in Denial even at the beginning of this book, 13 years after hitting his rock bottom). There are three other characters in LC that aren't in the rest of the series at all because [SPOILER], and each of them represents a different direction Angel could go from here.

Clara is the possibility of Angel stubbornly - and now consciously, purposely - staying in Denial and never admitting he has a problem, and the consequences thereof, repeating the same mistakes in the same way forever.

Kapua is - er, actually I'm looking at the 12 steps right now and fuck's sake these bitches be Christian as hell lol, we are ignoring like 8 of these steps because they're fucking irrelevant and also frankly antithetical to the other ones?? anyway-

So Kapua is steps 1 (admitting there's a problem), 4 (naming the problem and facing it directly), two thirds of 5 (saying it out loud), and 10 (committing to face up to relapses and other problems in the future). He also to some degree is Bargaining and Depression. As you can see here, there's a reason why he and Wapo are a package deal.

Wapo is steps 3 (deciding to make a change) and 8 (making amends), as well as stages Anger and Acceptance. Where Kapua is a more internal and less outwardly responsible path for Angel, Wapo represents Angel becoming more diligent and proactive in his life.

Clara, Kapua, and Wapo are all [SPOILER], and my goal is to leave it up to reader interpretation whether or not they are [SPOILER]. For this reason, and because the plot is so Man vs Self, I think LC will be the hardest book of the series to write.

witch noir taglist: @haectemporasunt @jezifster @blackhannetandco @fearofahumanplanet @godsleftarmpit @littlehastyhoneydew @rainbowabomination @antihell @isherwoodj @marrowwife @ashen-crest @wildswrites @ceph-the-ghost-writer @garthcelyn @muddshadow @cohldhands @unrealistic-android

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[teecupangel]

I don't think that Hytham was 17 at the start of AC: Vallhalla.

On the wiki it says that Hytham was born c.855 (or approximately around 855 A.D), so it is possible that he is a few years older then 17. Based on his appearance and how he acts in AC: Vallhalla, I've always thought Hytham was around 19-20 when he first met Eivor. There's is also the fact that 855 A.D hasn't been confirmed as his canon birth date.

Also if he was born in 855 A.D, that means he will be 12 years old in the upcoming tie-in novel The Golden City by Jaleigh Johnson. (The events of the novel takes place in 867 A.D)

I don't think that the Alamut Brotherhood would give a 12 year old (who probably hasn't finished learning all the basic skills, all Hidden Ones should know and master) the task of uncovering a Master Assassin's true loyalties, along side trying to stop an Emperor's plot to assassinate his own son.

My guess is that Hytham will be at least around 15 years old during the events of the upcoming novel. (Which would put his birth date somewhere around c.852 A.D)

*I apologize if this duplicate ask. My internet unfortunately cut out when I sent this ask the first time.*

Hi nonny,

This wasn't a duplicate. I think the first one didn't send :(

You raise a good point since Hytham is... strangely a big focus on a few novels (The Golden City and Sword of the White Horse, it's almost like he's a fan favorite, shame he isn't romanceable, eh, Ubisoft...) and the Golden Sword's 852 would mean he's 12 years old.

Unfortunately, unless someone has the novel "Assassin's Creed: Valhalla – Geirmund's Saga" and showed us which part of Chapter 23 says that Hytham is born approximately around 850 CE, we'll have to take AC wiki's word for it.

There's also the possibility that The Golden City would shed more light on his real age as it seemed to be set in his POV.

I mean, I think it would be funny for Hytham to be in his late teens in Valhalla because that makes his character more like a teenager trying to act mature to show his mentor he is ready (and maybe to impress a certain older Viking, hhmmm) but I did think that Hytham was around 19 to 21 years old during the main game when I was playing it. He just has that... 'just graduated' feel to him. XD

Although, Raza Soora looks like he was around 12 - 13 years old during the time of Assassin's Creed: Brahman and Connor left on his own to find Achilles when he was 13 years old so it won't be surprising if Hytham was 12 when the novel happened. The whole 'figure out if Basim is a traitor' is much harder to accept.

Although, considering that people can get married by the age of 14 during that time period, is it really that much of a stretch if the council in Alamut were dumbasses who thought a 12-year-old can sus out if a Master Assassin has turned rogue?

Let's also not forget, this is from the company that keeps saying Altaïr is 25 during AC1 when AC1 is set on June 1191 and Altaïr was born on January 1185 so he was 26 years old when AC1 happen. They don't have a good track of keeping ages and this is Jaleigh Johnson's first novel. I won't be surprised if she wasn't informed of Hytham's birth year in the other novel.

[bagheerita]

2, 13, 22, 24, 37 ❤️️

2. Do you plan each chapter ahead or write as you go?

Kind of a combination... I don't really "plan" chapters, but I usually start a story with a destination in mind and a general idea of the things that need to happen to get the characters to that point. So for each chapter I do tend to start with a list of "items XYZ need to happen here" and then they just sort of unfold in the way that feels best (and I surprise myself when Y takes a chapter and a half lol)

13. What’s a common writing tip that you almost always follow?

I'm not sure I know what writing tips are common... and I'm not sure that I follow anything. But I feel like common advice, that I know I've given, is to write for yourself, and I feel like I've gotten better at that lately. I used to be way more conscientious about making sure I wrote characters IC, or that I adhered to canon events. But lately I've been more indulgent about trying to turn my crazier ideas into actual fics. It's been fun.

 22. Are there certain types of writing you won’t do? (style, pov, genre, tropes, etc)

Not much. If there's something I haven't done, it's probably because I haven't had time or inspiration to try it out yet. More of a "I haven't had an idea worth writing yet" rather than "I won't write this." I like trying new and different things, such as POVs, styles, and tropes. Most of the things that I would not write are things that I don't read, so they are things that I forget exist so I'm not sure what they are, if that makes sense? There are certain kinks that are just YKINMKATOK, so I'm not going to write that. The big thing that would be something I would never write is: I like happy endings, so I'm never going to write a fic with a completely depressing ending.

24. Worst writing advice anyone ever gave you?

I have a really bad memory for things that I don't find useful (i have a bad memory just in general lol), so if I ever got bad advice I think I forgot it... I think the worst "advice" I ever got was a lack of advice/critique when it was asked for. Several years ago I asked a friend for her comments on something I'd written and her only comment was "It was great." I'm glad she enjoyed reading the story, but I was really needing something more eviscerating- I needed someone to point to the thing I already knew was wrong with the story and help me figure out what that thing's name was so I could fix it.

37. How do you choose where to end a chapter?

This is one of those highly subjective things where "its done when I know its done." I tend to prefer shorter chapters both because I feel like it makes the story flow better and because it gets the chapter posted sooner.  But the main thing is that the chapter needs to accomplish what it needs to accomplish, and it only ends when it's done.  What a chapter needs to accomplish can be very subjective too, but if it's a multi pov fic the chapter tends to end when that character has done and said everything they need to do before the next chapter switches to another pov. For a single pov fic a chapter is usually marked by an event or emotional turning point that I feel like I need to achieve, and whenever that's done the rest of the chapter is just whatever window dressing I feel like I want to add. 

Thank you so much for the asks!!! ❤❤

Join the Ask Game!

[pitynostars]

About the "center of the universe" bit that confuse you. What we fight against is the idea that it's a chosen one story, which is different. The chosen one trop rely on the person being destined to be important, and so reading it as such equate being abused to being destined to great thing. That's the part we disagree on. But the doctor is a godlike figure no disagreeing on that. ^^

hmm ok i think i see. 

i agree it doesnt fit the “chosen one” trope angle. 

i think my confusion is i’ve also seen people argue back to back 13 is more down to earth/people have said what they like about her is that she ISN’T this godlike figure (they usually say with the caveat of like, unlike moffats which i think is hilarious because his whole shtick was unpacking all that to make the dr just Some Guy lmao). 

obviously there’s gonna be different interpretations but i feel like a lot of the time i’ll see completely contradictory meta back to back it makes my head hurt XD

from my pov i see TTC as the inverse of what Moffat did but where he presented a a character like the Impossible Girl/DarkTM!12 the whole point was flipping that and have them turn out to be ordinary: clara making the choice to step into his timestream just because she loves him, 11 working at wiping himself from all the databases because he got too big purely through like. his LIFE his actions going about saving people and helping out and whatnot best he could, etc. etc.... 

whereas right off the back of all that, chibnall’s/TTC thing it feels like we’re supposed to take it as like oh the doctor’s just some guy wandering about who HAPPENS to have all this happen in the past but it doesnt define her present but then it SHOWS us yk the Doctor isn’t a TL anymore she actually is the reason behind like them existing, suddenly everyone in the universe seems interested in her not for HER and her actions but for some piece of her biology she has no control over.... she’s not the centre of the universe for any credit of her own (which like... WHY would you INSIST on casting a woman as the doctor just to do this specifically to her?? off the back of an arc about how being the dr is all about being kind and just Trying to do your best chibs centres her specialness all around her biology????)

[grasslandgirl]

2, 15, 16, 26, and 4 + 5 for slasher fic <3

MWAH JADE MWAH

2. Go to your AO3 “Works” page, to the sidebar with all the filters, and click the drop-down arrow for “Additional Tags.” What are your top 3-5 most used tags? Do you think they accurately represent your writing habits?

Mutual Pining (15). Fluff (14). Hurt/Comfort (13). Post-Canon (11). Getting Together (11).

KJFKFJB YEAH. YEAH WELL. YEAH THAT'S PRETTY PAR FOR THE COURSE KJVFSNKBJ.

15. What’s your favorite AU that you’ve written?

Slasher 😵‍💫. i think it's so clean and well executed and also i was insane. honorable mentions go to my figayda coffee shop au, and the as-yet-unposted charlieverse with casey @aberfaeth and the infamous noble pining

16. What’s an AU you would love to read (or have read and loved)?

ooooh i just read a steve/eddie spiderman au a couple days ago that was VERY good and it made me think about a fig/gorgug fig!spiderman au where she was the hero and gorgug was her guy in the headset/in the chair yk ooohoohooo.... 👀 much to think about

26. Would you rather write a fic that had no dialogue or one that was only dialogue?

i actually have written a couple fics with no dialogue!! neither my acoc ruby reflection fic or my duck/minerva taz amnesty fic have any dialogue in them!! they're both just introspective monologue pieces <3

that said i doubt i'd ever write anything- or at least any fic- that's only dialogue, because a big part of the writing process for me is figuring out the internal hook and journey of both the pov character and everyone they talk to so as to write their dialogue, as well as the physical action/behaviors/setting of the scenes, and i can't imagine successfully writing much that was solely dialogue without either of those things

4. What detail in [slasher] are you really proud of?

i think one of the things i like most about slasher is how. clean it is. most of the time i don't plot out or plan fics before or even while im writing them, and so often times i think for better or for worse, my work tends to be a little directionless and meandering. it gets to an end point eventually but the path it takes there usually has some unintended sidepaths, if you'll allow the metaphor. for slasher, i sat down with a really vivid and clear image in my head of the first scene i wanted to write, and while the rest of it flowed really organically from there, i think as a whole it's the tidiest and sharpest thing i've ever written. theres not a lot of additional or unecessary fluff or filler in it, and i think it makes it a really strong and fast read and something i'm alwayys really proud to go back to

i also had a lot of fun kind of discovering the events preceding the fic as i wrote it- how all the other bad kids died, what drove daybreak to do what he did, how did all (most) of them end up in the cabin, how did fig and gorgug get hurt, what were they doing before the rampage, etc- i find all those little details that fig remembers and either pushes away or clings to over the course of the fic really fun and compelling and they help flesh out the whole story in a way that felt really natural to me <3

5. What do you wish someone would ask you about [slasher]? Answer it now!

ooooohhh uhh. it's not really a question but in my head, the fall following the events of slasher fig and gorgug move in together (bc they're codependent and traumabonded) and find and adopt a little kitten and name her aurora (which means dawn) <33 hhehehe i think about that so much

send me numbers from this fic writer's ask list!!

[amplichor]

☾ ·. ⋅ — 𝒂𝒖𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒓 𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒕  !

　 — 　 BASICS.

NAME. ford ( pending change ) AGE. 24 PRONOUNS. she / her YEARS OF WRITING.　oh god uhh i've been writing since middle school ... i think ? i always liked to read and started writing poetry in like 6th grade ... as for roleplaying uhh , i believe i started writing on here when i was 13 or 14 ? so a good 10 or more years .

　 — 　 REFLECTION.

WHY DID YOU PICK UP WRITING? 　 i read A LOT as a kid and was like .. advanced placement in that subject and everything ... but i think the thing that really jumpstarted everything was an assignment in school ... and i ended up loving writing ( poetry mainly ) so much that i picked it up as a hobby !

DO YOU HAVE ANY WRITING ROUTINES? 　 uhh i'm really not a very organized person so no . i will say, i tend to write more when i've been reading more ! and i always have like 4 tabs open just for my writing like.. looking up things, thesaurus, etc. cause i hate using the same words and just having flat writing.

WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE PART ABOUT WRITING? 　 i like the ability to write these unique story lines / plots with other people, and especially here on tumblr where ocs are so prevalent ? it's so fun to see everybody's ocs and what their story is. not to mention the different takes on canon characters were everybody has their own unique portrayal . my favorite part of writing is to see what i can come up with.

　 — 　 THREE THINGS YOU LIKE ABOUT YOUR WRITING.

POV. 　i tend to jump between the 2nd and 3rd POVS, i wasn't sure about it at first but through writing with them both i really like the way it flows at times. i know it can be confusing at times too, but in the end i think it's a nice way to impliemnt a personality .

PROSE.　my writing is VERY poetic, as a poet it only makes sense. i like how i tie in different points of nature , or just general refrences : i use a lot of literary elements like metapors, hyperboles, similies, etc.

CHARACTERISATION. 　 i put A LOT of thought into my muses and their characterizations. for utahime alone , i've found myself researching so much in an attempt to not only be accurate but to make sense in a whole. i very much enjoy being able to play around with my ideas until something sticks, the unique elements i can bring into writing utahime and the takes that i have that could be different from another muns.

　 — 　QUESTIONS FOR THE NEXT PERSON.

HAVE YOU MADE ANY STRONG CONNECTIONS / FRIENDS DURING YOUR TIME WRITING? oh god yeah, i have a few friends around that i've known since i started on tumblr, and keep in contact with regularly. Plus the many i've been close with since rejoining tumblr. one of my favorite things to do while writing and just being in the RPC, is how easy it is to make friends, to form strong connections to people who enjoy the same hobby as you, and being able to bounce ideas off eachother as well as simply being there for one another . i love the friends i've made and in general love to make friends and form bonds !

WHERE DO YOU DRAW THE MOST INSPIRATION FROM WHEN WRITING uh, really just nature and poetic symbolism / imagery. i tend to associate my muse with something in particular, with utahime it's the moon so i pull a lot of inspiration from the moon, astrology as well as more witchy things in general. i listen to music pretty much ?? anytime i write, it helps me find inspiration and figure out my mood and how i want it portrayed through the writing . utahime has her own playlist, as do all my other muses just because i treat each one as it's own entity / personaily.

　 — 　 WHY DO YOU WRITE YOUR CURRENT MUSE(S) ? WHAT PART OF THEIR CHARACTER RESONATES WITH YOU ?

utahime caught my eye the first time i saw her, not enough to write her but enough to like her character and the way she was clearly always trying to present herself as professional and mature all while being goaded by gojo to react, she's a known spitfire and doesnt help her allegations any. i really really liked that she got more of a spotlight during the shibuya arc, with the mole thing and all and truly think she blames herself. We don't know much of anything about her and it makes me so upset that gege doesn't treat her better / come up with more in terms of her family / background / what happened to her ???? but -- i think the biggest part of her that resonates with me is her being extremely tempermental but being extremely nice / sweet when it comes to anybody other than gojo, and even in the right circumstances i think she'd be cordial with him -- if he stopped goading her the way he does.

　 — 　 NEW QUESTION.

alright,  alright my question for all of you !! what kind of aesthetics do you draw from for your muse ? any specific inspirations ?

tagged by, @deathsmaidens

tagging, @waraningyo , @ak4rin , @pontevoix , @article31 + anyone who hasn't done this yet . ♡

[passerine-writes]

Silent Sparks - Volt 13

Warnings: Tsukare has a panic attack, Bakugou being Bakugou in season one, finally done with 3rd person POV Word count: 2707

Notes: Italics - Tsukare signing Bold italics - Family member/friend signing 'Italics with apostrophes' - Thoughts

Masterlist

Volt 12 | Character Profile | Volt 14

"Hey Dad! Did Pops move my meds to the high shelf again? I can't find them!" I anxiously paced the kitchen, not mentally prepared for my first day at UA. Let alone having my dad as my homeroom teacher and All Might as a teacher in general. My dad sent me a cautious glance at my pacing, studying me for a moment before grabbing my meds from the top shelf. I hoisted myself on top of the kitchen counter, ready for a lecture after my medication but it never came.

"It's normal to be nervous for your first day." I looked at my dad while I fidgeted.

"Can we go over everything again? I'm just freaking out. Probably for no reason but I am." He nodded and took a sip of his coffee.

"The school has your educational plan and even if they didn't, I'm your primary teacher and Pops is your english teacher. So you're allowed to have your fidget cube, you're allowed to have your earbuds in during independent work and tests. If you have to go to see Chiyo at any time you just have to tell the teacher and leave. You and Hitoshi will be the first ones there basically everyday. And you won't get docked points for turning in work late as long as it's done in full." I nodded along while he spoke, the reassurance working wonders on my nervous system.

"Okay.."

"Still freaking out about your first day?" I looked at my brother and nodded sheepishly. "It won't be that bad, we just have All Might as a teacher." I groaned and hopped off the counter, trying to force that thought away from my mind.

"Joy." Our dad chuckled at my deadpanned words before finally getting us out the door.

"Okay, I have to go talk to Sunshine and Nemuri in the teachers lounge, so boys, keep an eye on each other and no wandering off." We nodded and found our desks, setting our things there before sitting on the counter next to the windows.

"Do you think he's in our class?" I sighed at my brothers question and nervously watched the door.

"Which he? Bakugou or a certain green haired boy you've been crushing on for over a year now?" Hitoshi bumped his shoulder into mine, joking around at my remark. "I hope Bakugou isn't in here, I don't want to get in another fight." He snorted at my words but knew the truth held to them.

"We only know that the four of us got in, there's another hero class so maybe he didn't get into ours." I nodded along, hoping that's what happened.

We watched students come in one by one. A few of them stopped to talk to us until Bakugou walked in like he owned the place, he sat at his desk and we glared at each other. Hitoshi gave me a look, silently telling me to just leave it be. He kicked his feet up on the desk right as a different student walked in. Another blond trailed in shortly after, a black lightning bolt in his hair.

"Hey, the names Kaminari Denki. Wait weren't you in the same area as me for the exam?" I looked at the blond and nodded, remembering that electric blond hair and bright smile.

"Yeah, you had a few lichtenberg figures on your arms cause uh Recovery Girl had to heal some people and we were stuck waiting outside her office." He sheepishly rubbed his neck, his hair flopping to the side a bit.

"Yeah, didn't she have to patch you up to cause your quirk?" It was my turn to sheepishly nodded.

"Yeah, I uh, strained my vocal cords."

"I didn't even know those could strain!" I chuckled lightly, trying not to nervous ramble because he was cute, and he was talking to me. However we were interrupted by a student yelling and Kaminari excused himself.

"Take your feet off of that desk now!" I hid my smirk as the kid with glasses yelled at Bakugou.

"Oh this is gonna be good." I whispered to Hitoshi, the two of us perking up as Midoriya froze in the doorway.

"Huh?" I grimaced at Bakugou's sarcastic tone.

"It's the first day and you're already disrespecting this academy by scuffing school property, you cretin!" I couldn't control my laughter anymore, officially amused at the new kid trying to put the blond in his place. He clearly went to a private school.

"You're kidding me, right? Your old school put a stick up your ass? Or were you born with it?" I made haste getting across the room to my friend, making sure I could play interference with Bakugou when needed.

"Hey Midoriya." I mumbled as Toshi and I walked over to our friend. He squeaked out of anxiousness.

"H-Hi! I didn't know Kacchan was in this class!" We nodded in sync, about to respond until two students interrupted us.

"Good morning! My name is Iida Tenya from Somei Private Academy!"

"Tsukare Onryo."

"Shinsou Hitoshi."

"I'm Midoriya Izuku. It's super nice to meet you." His voice wavered and I looked at my friend worried.

"Midoriya. You realized that there was something more to the practical exam, didn't you?" Now I was just confused. "You must be very perceptive. And I completely misjudged you, I admit. As a student, you're far superior to me." A girl came up after so Hitoshi and I took that as our cue to leave, I could almost smell his jealousy.

I was sat between Bakugou and Kaminari, I know it wasn't on purpose but it still sucks. Meanwhile Hitoshi sat directly behind Midoriya and because there's an odd number of students, a girl with a black ponytail was placed up front on the far end. Thankfully we sat down when we did because not even a minute later, I saw our dad flop down outside the door in his sleeping bag.

"If you're just here to make friends then you can pack up your stuff now." I tried not to laugh at how ridiculous he looked. "Welcome to UA's hero course." He unzipped his sleeping bag and pulled out one of his protein pouches. I looked at Hitoshi and found him trying not to laugh as well. We watched as he stood up and stepped out of his sleeping bag. "It took eight seconds before you all shut up. That's not gonna work. Time is precious. Rational students would understand that." He looked over and I hoped nobody could put together he was at least one of our fathers. We know how dangerous it could be. "Hello, I'm Aizawa Shouta. Your teacher." The rest of the class gasped in shock except me, Toshi and another student. "Right, let's get to it. Put these on and head outside." He pulled out the gym uniform and I felt my blood run cold. I don't wear short sleeves outside and I don't want to give anyone any ammunition against me.

I followed Hitoshi and rushed to the locker room with him, hoping if I get there soon enough then I can change in a bathroom stall. My skin was starting to crawl at the thought of people seeing and judging. Hitoshi and I were thankfully the first ones there so I booked it to the bathroom and started changing, freezing up when a vicious banging rapped on the door.

"Get the hell outta there already, I gotta use it." My throat welled up and I didn't know what to do.

"There's another stall, use that one." He borderline growled but I heard the door next to me slam and I willed myself not to cry. To not let the flashbacks come back. A light knocking brought me out of my thoughts.

"Onryo, you alright? We have to head out." I heard the door open and shut multiple times, students leaving the locker room. The stall door next to me slammed shut, rattling the walls and making it harder to breathe.

'Why is this happening?'

"T-Tell him I'm going to see Chiyo." There was a heavy pause before I heard him mumble okay and leave.

After a moment I raced to Chiyo's office in my gym uniform, keeping my arms wrapped tightly around my stomach as a form of comfort. Dad might be upset I'm missing the first the lesson but he knows enough about my quirk and if needed I can make it up later.

Chiyo looked up as I stumbled into her office, short, quiet breathes that were labored with tears flowing down my cheeks.

"Oh dear, come sit, come sit. Let me get you some water." I sat on one of the cots, watching closely as she drew the privacy curtain. "Here you go dear, do you want me to call one of your dads? And do you need your medication?" I nodded to both, not really paying attention. Everything was too much. Everything was overwhelming. The memories. The flashbacks.

I swallowed the pill without thinking, my leg bouncing rapidly and I didn't have anything to cope.

"Onryo?" I heard Pops' voice as the door opened. His head popped in between the curtain and he moved to sit down next to me, an arm wrapping around my shoulder. "Panic attack?" I nodded, placing my head on his shoulder. "Do you know what caused it?" I nodded again. "Do you wanna talk about it?" I sniffled and wiped my eyes, the tingling feeling starting to subside.

"Can I talk about it at home or after I talk about it with Chiyo? So I know how to word it better?" He placed a kiss to my forehead and ruffled my hair.

"Okay, we'll talk about it later then, yeah?" I nodded and gave him a hug, holding him tightly for comfort. He hugged me back, rubbing soothing circles on my back. "I have to leave for my next class, little listener, but I'll see you for English. I love you."

"Love you too." He smiled and left the room, exchanging a few pleasantries with Chiyo before the door clicked shut.

"We'll talk about this more tomorrow, you sit and relax here until the next class, dear."

"Is it okay if I go change back into my uniform first?" She nodded and I wasted no time in getting up and rushing back to the locker rooms. It didn't take me long to change thankfully, and before I knew it I was sitting on the cot again. "Chiyo?"

"Yes, dear?" I clicked my fidget a few times as I thought about my words.

"Do you know why I had flashbacks?" She spun around in her seat, looking at me with a sad face.

"It could be an anniversary effect. This is about the time you were with your first foster family." I nodded, puzzle pieces finally clicking together.

"Will I ever get better?" She hopped down and sat next to me, placing a cold hand on top of mine.

"It may not feel like it but you have, time heals wounds. Yes you'll have setbacks, and it may not seem like you've grown, but I remember this small, skittish boy afraid of his own shadow sitting in my office who barely had a taste of love or happiness. Now, he's gotten in a fight to stick up for his friend, has dreams and accomplishments at a young age, and beat some dark times. And I'm very proud of him." I almost cried at her words.

"If I asked you to, would you heal my scars?" She pondered it for a moment but I already knew her answer.

"No, I don't think so. They show where you've been, what you've overcome, how you got to be where you're at today. There may be bad memories tied to them, but if I took them away then you wouldn't be able to find the positive outlook yourself. I can't give you all the answers after all." I sniffled and wiped a stray tear.

"Sometimes you never fail to confuse me Chiyo." She hummed and patted my hand once more before getting off the cot.

"My job isn't to make sense all the time, now is it?" I chuckled slightly, still coming down from the panic attack.

"Uhh, Recovery Girl?" I piped up at the sound of my friends voice. "I hurt my finger using my quirk, Mr. Aizawa sent me here." Something about Midoriya being a late bloomer for a quirk is still sitting odd with me. I suppose it can happen but it shouldn't be putting this much strain on his body. It feels like he's lying about something though and it's giving me a bad feeling. "Tsukare? What are you doing here?"

"Uh, I'll explain later." Midoriya nodded quickly, his green hair flopping everywhere. "I'll see you back at class, yeah?"

"Okay!" I quickly left, saying goodbye to Chiyo and awkwardly walked to the classroom door.

Dad stared at me as I walked in, shooting me a knowing look that would be scary to anyone else as I sat back at my seat. I could practically feel Hitoshi and Bakugou drilling holes into my head with how hard they were staring and glaring. Classes dragged, I couldn't focus, my mind all over the place until the lunch bell rang.

"Onryo, would you mind staying after for a moment?" I nodded, noticing how Hitoshi and Midoriya decided to wait outside the door for me. "Hitoshi told me you had to go to Chiyo's office, is everything okay?" I hesitantly nodded, bouncing my leg where I stood.

"Pops swung down to the nurses office to check in on me, I uh, had a panic attack." His tired eyes shot up to me in concern since I hadn't had one in a while. "I talked to Chiyo about it and I told Pops I would explain more back at home, if that's okay." He nodded softly, his long hair covering most of his face.

"Get to lunch, Hitoshi and I will fill you in later on what you missed during the exercise." I quietly agreed and left the classroom to find not only Midoriya and Hitoshi, but also the girl from earlier. I didn't really catch her name but my brother looked uncomfortable.

"Sorry, he wanted to know why I wasn't at the exercise earlier." The three nodded while Hitoshi just stuck his hands in his pockets.

"I don't think I've introduced myself to you yet. I'm Uraraka Ochaco!" I gave her a smile and waved slightly.

"I'm Tsukare Onryo."

——————

"Onryo? Do you wanna talk about what happened earlier?" Pops asked from the living room. I rubbed the back of my neck as I sat on the couch with my family, already feeling guilty about problems arising again.

"I had flashbacks again." My leg bounced rapidly and I tried to stop the tears that wanted to surface, my voice getting thicker as I tried to speak. "Bakugou was pounding on the door when I was getting changed and then slammed the other one twice. I talked to Chiyo, she said it's probably an anniversary effect. So it should be done soon I guess." All eyes were on me and it made me even more anxious.

"Well, there's only so much we can do. So let's ride this out, it's just another speed bump, little listener." I nodded stiffly, wiping my eyes before any tears could fall.

"So uh, what did I miss during the exercise?"

"Dad restrained Bakugou with his capture weapon and erased his quirk cause he tried to blow up on Midoriya." I couldn't stop the small chortle of amusement from leaving my body.

"I wish I could've seen it."

"Let's just hope tomorrow you don't go against Bakugou in the mock battles for hero training." I groaned and rolled onto the couch, grabbing onto our dark grey house cat Mittens and hugged her close to my chest.

Hopefully Pops didn't design my hero costume horribly.

[serene-victory-77]

Why The Crows Being Teenagers Is Actually Perfectly Realistic

There’s a TL;DR are the end because wow I like to rant.

I lightly discuss the general situations they’re all in to explore how they are frighteningly mature and competent, but it’s not particularly depressing or descriptive, it’s definitely lighter than the books

I thought about this post with a joke first: “People who think that Six of Crows is unrealistic because they’re so young clearly have not spent much time with traumatized honors students.”

It’s a bit of an exaggeration, but the point stands.

But I decided that, hm, actually, I could make a point about this. I totally agree with the aging up of the characters in the Shadow and Bone show, but when people straight up say that the books are wrong or unrealistic for having a young crew, I get annoyed, and here’s why (other than me reading the books for the first time when I was 13 and thinking ‘Huh okay, I see it’ and now being lowkey offended when people say they ignore it for being unrealistic):

On Inej

- At first I thought Inej’s wisdom and general demeanor was one of the most unrealistic things in the book

- When I thought about it longer, I was like “Actually, she’s 16, right? I’ve sent some of the most lyrical philosophy trying to help my friends while in high school. My friends have done the same. It’s valid.”

- Frankly, teenagers love hard-hitting philosophical truths. They love repeating what they’ve read or heard in movies and in books and from family stories. They love sharing little bits of wisdom they have come up with

- Inej’s ability to hear and understand philosophy and wisdom that she was surrounded by for 14 straight years and then sit on it and elaborate it for her friends to understand, or even just to piss them off in Kaz’s case? 

- Teenagers have that. They do it. So, Inej’s Wisdom passes, to me. It’s valid. 

As for her being calm

- You know how everyone jokes that Kaz seems calm on the outside but when you get to his POV he’s like “What the fuck” at the Van Eck house or just straight up “Huh, is this revenge for making tree jokes” at the Djel River thingy in the Ice Court?

- Inej is like that, too. And she gets angry, and she gets confused, or exhausted.

- AKA every quiet kid ever. Like, are you kidding? Have you ever been in a situation in which it’s literally chaos all around you, people are screaming and things are being destroyed (think middle school classroom with bitchy long term substitute and even worse students), and you’re just, calm? You pick up your things, you do what you need to do?

- That’s Inej. Like, what else is she gonna do? She’s smart enough to know that panicking won’t help anyone, and so she just rides it out. Internally she might be like “Why is this happening” but frankly, her being quiet and controlled in most situations is probably a coping mechanism and I respect that

- Pretty sure this is also based on the fact that the Suli have no land for their own and constantly have to keep moving. It might align with generational trauma, I’m sure someone could explain it better than me, but being able to keep your cool while constantly having to change and adapt to new situations, in, say, a country with hellfire politics and no land to call your own? Seems like a hereditary trait that could be useful in Ketterdam, although it’s sad.

On Inej’s abilities

- Simone Biles started training when she was 6 and went to the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships when she was 16, where she qualified in all the events. 

- There are videos of people walking over tightropes as young as three years old. We know Inej didn’t start that young, but not only was she naturally talented at it, but she spent a lot of time practicing. I think it’s valid. Plus, some of her family members do some pretty crazy things in her flashbacks, because that’s the whole point of what they do. 

- Youngest person to beat American Ninja Warrior was 16 year old Vance Walker

- Inej has a variety of of tools that help her wall climb, and while it’s true that she started young and got good really fast, she already had a history of physical work that would help her, and from what we can gleam from the book, a surprising amount of free time in which she was actively encouraged to learn everything she could. 

So that’s Inej! I think her skills are perfectly possible for someone with her history and situation. It’s true that she’s naturally skilled, but that’s not actually all that unusual. And her demeanor and wisdom do fit in with what a lot of teenagers are like and the circumstances she was brought up in

Onto Kaz!

- One thing I hear about is that Kaz is too smart for not having gone to school and also too young to know all that he does

- Do you all KNOW how many self-taught people there have been in this world? The word for people who are self-taught is autodidacts, and honestly a huge amount of famous people apply. Like many, many other people in history (there’s a whole list of them in Wikipedia), he had an vested interest in a field and he learned all he could. Sure, those fields were magic tricks and math, but still.

- Suddenly I have a lot of thoughts

- Okay, think, hyperfixations. That’s essentially what Kaz’s thing with magic tricks was, right? Have any of you ever spent time with an eight year old that clearly really, really loves dinosaurs? Those kids can spout names and facts and identify them by their skeletons and frankly know more than I ever will. Kaz’s was magic tricks. All kids are special.

- Kaz continued working on magic tricks and practicing them for years, so, I think that gets a pass. 

- As for the math! Look, a Fact Of Life is that some kids are just Like That, whether it be possibly from neurodivergence or other factors:

- Flo and Kay Lyman are twins with Autism who basically have the calendar of EVER memorized. Kaz memorizing card decks is sensible, and these ladies don’t need to look up anything to figure it out, so Kaz doing sums inside his head seems plausible. His “photographic memory’ isn’t impossible, although the term itself might be incorrect.

- Katherine Johnson who worked at NASA (yes, the lady from Hidden Figures), was so good at math that she was in high school by age 10 and went to college at age 15. It’s true that she had some teaching, but 1. There’s no evidence Kaz had absolutely no schooling, even if it was just at home with books and 2. Kaz was 9 when he came to Ketterdam, and after Jordie died, when he wasn’t surviving, he was learning. 

- Human calculator is a term that is applied to children a lot and there’s definitely plenty of videos showing how smart these kids are and them doing mental math easily, which he does in the books

- He had a LOT of pressure on him to figure out all he could, and if he wanted to move forward, he was going to have to learn a lot. He spent hours practicing magic tricks, for all we know he spent hours practicing math too. We know Jordie was a bit of a bookworm too, so Kaz from a young age probably already had a reason to learn. Personally, a lot of my love for books was inspired by my older sibling when I was younger

- Young people are adaptable. Kaz is incredibly adaptable. The term prodigy exists because of people like him through history. 

- As for him being rational, there’s no other way to survive. Some of the greatest soldiers in history have been very, very young, and very, very smart. It’s true tacticians are generally considered to be older, but that doesn’t mean there haven’t been very young ones. 

- A lot of the generals I found were like, 19 years old, but Kaz is 1. not a general and 2. in a place where young people take up the mantle really, really quickly, and frankly it’s been like that for a long time. I still think this passes. This isn’t relevant but William the Conqueror was apparently called “The Bastard”?

- Frankly, underground communities of thieves probably don’t go around publishing their escapades so to me it makes sense that I can’t just look up “famous young thieves” and get anything that makes sense, but I did try

- Y’all I tried to do research on youngest escape artists since I think Kaz qualifies and I found myself in what I think is a magicians forum? It’s from 2002-ish and I feel like I’ve just found a relic. I can’t definitely prove they’re all saying the truth, but some of the people there talk about 10-11 year olds at magic camps, so, it’s not impossible for this to be a skill Kaz learned really young, particularly when he made a habit of following around magicians

- I think he passes the realism check overall

For the other Crows:

- Nina being so proficiently multilingual makes sense to me, because she’s been in the Little Palace almost her entire life with all the best teachers they could afford at her disposal. Some people just click with languages. One such would be Timothy Doner, who spoke 23 languages at 16. 

- Nina is a child soldier. She of course can handle the battlefield, although I imagine there’s a degree of trauma that she has to deal with (although it’s true that most of her work was always meant to angle her towards being a spy).

- Jesper was taught to shoot from a young age by Aditi, who was likely incredibly proficient. Plus, there’s mentions of him and his father being on some sort of frontier at one point in the books, so, it’s likely that Jesper got his fair share of ‘being a child soldier” since he would’ve been 15 or younger. Plus, with being a Fabrikator, he gets a leg up

- Jesper’s smart y’all, he just also likes to have fun

- I am a little terrified by the fact that I looked up ‘youngest sharpshooter’ and found out about a 9 year old girl (Addysson “Addy” Soltau) who can indeed shoot guns, but uh, it does prove my point

- Matthias... I haven’t heard anyone really argue about Matthias. He’s the oldest at 18 and again, he’s essentially a religious child soldier. Of course he would be built af and know how to handle himself in a fight, and in a flashback about meeting Trassel, we’re told that he was actually distanced from the other boys and was the biggest and strongest/smartest of the group. Perhaps not compared to Kaz, but still

- We know how Wylan ended up how he is, so I don’t think i have to defend how he’s both a musical prodigy, good at math, and good at chemistry. Plenty of kids who can’t do one thing will immediately gravitate to a different field (think AP math students who can’t write essays, or those kids who could analyse a book and it’s metaphors in class but didn’t understand geometry).

- Granted he took it far but it’s kinda implied that  his father ignored him eventually and what else was Wylan going to do

- I don’t really know how he did chemistry while not being able to read the symbols and stuff, but that’s likely because I’ve never had to learn the way he did and also I really suck at Chemistry, but I refuse to believe that it invalidates his capabilities

Final Thoughts:

- They’re Traumatized Honors Students

- People might say that “it’s unrealistic that all the smart ones somehow ended up together” but again they’re traumatized honors students and those gravitate to each other

- Of course the smart ones ended up together, they’re the ones in those crazy situations precisely because they are prodigies. Nina wouldn’t have met Matthias if she wasn’t skilled and a spy, Kaz wouldn’t have known Inej if she hadn’t been skilled at silence (I can’t explain that one but uh ninjas did/do exist and it IS still a fantasy world). Kaz would have never been a leader of the Dregs in a position to find Jesper if he hadn’t been so determined to rise to the top, and Jesper wouldn’t have been in Ketterdam if his father hadn’t thought that Jesper was smart enough to get that chance.

- You know how those fringe revolutionary artists for new eras end up knowing all knowing each other and even hanging out? That’s them.

- I have decided there is a strong basis for Autistic Kaz, someone who is more studied than me should feel free to explore this.

- I read this book a few years ago, A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah. It’s about this guy’s experiences as a boy soldier and it’s a painful read so I’m not sure I recommend it as a casual read, but he talked about these young kids being able to actually make competent military strategies and handle warfare. It’s an extreme example of what I’m trying to explain when it comes to them being able to handle the brutality of their situation, but it’s true, essentially

- They are definitely serious, but if you think they’re not teenagers I just, disagree so much. They have moments of lighthearted banter, they make light of their situation, they try to support each other Nina covers it so well in her farewell at the end of Crooked Kingdom: The little rescues of laughing at each others jokes or eating together and just supporting each other, is not only a very human thing, but a very teenager thing. 

- Scary experiences that shape us happen all the time, and although for most it’s not the things that the Crows experience, picking each other up is a big part of why they do read as teenagers to me. I’ve seen kids be able to seriously converse about things like being questioned by the police, or being left to their own devices for days at a time, or the general impending doom they all feel, and it’s dark, but they’re also going to joke about silly puns 20 minutes later. 

- Teenagers aren’t exempt from terrifying maturity and competence

- Finally: Despite all I said, it’s a fantasy story and doesn’t have to be realistic

In the end, everyone can believe what they want to believe, but this is my case for my opinion.

TL;DR The Crows are all prodigies and a lot of their achievements and capabilities are based in reality and there are real people who actually achieved things like what they’ve done. Messed up prodigies gravitate to messed up prodigies, hence how they all end up together. When it comes to their mental state, most of them have been brought up their entire lives in situations that required for them to problem solve and keep their cool even when things are going to hell.