#same person i just use green than leaf

[a-tale-of-legends]

Green's Clefable is very much like her in personality. Uses her charm to get an advantage only to Moonblast her foes into oblivion. Very much like messing with people with Green.

Meanwhile, kinda ironically, Green's Gengar is painfully shy. Often hides in Green's shadow when out in public. Still likes pranks, but doesn't like loud noises and gets spooked easily ( again, ironically).

[inkskinned]

it is the first snow today. i think we should all have off work, even though it didn't stick. i think there should be 4 national holidays, one for each season. happy first snow, go home and make cookies. for spring it can be the first crocus. for summer the first lightning bug. for autumn, the first golden leaf. go home, kiss your dog, feed your cat (who is absolutely already-fed but somehow still starving.)

i think we should all take more showers together, but i mean that in the soft way. i mean it like taking a nap. two years ago i had 5 adult friends in my queen bed, all of us laying across each other, head over belly over thigh over hand. any time one of us would giggle, it would ripple over each of us, like pulling on a spiderweb. kim actually needed to nap and didn't get to sleep and i am still sorry for it even though this is one of my most precious memories.

i think we should all wash each other's hair, i mean. i walk my dog and i watch someone put up twinkle lights around their front porch. alex and i just moved, and i love the neighborhood. already so many of our new neighbors have stopped by to say hello. the nice lady downstairs also collects plants, like me. she gave us her number on a pink post-it note. i am trying to decide whether to make her cookies or brownies.

i am going through a very hard time. something bad happened this weekend that i do not wish to discuss. it is hanging over me. i think of the green ribbon, and the woman who had her throat cut. it feels like that sometimes, inside of my body. like i am walking and talking despite being half-corpsed. like i am hanging on by a ribbon, standing on some kind of cusp. i keep saying - at least it wasn't worse. we are so lucky it wasn't worse. the idea is river-rock smooth now, all the edges worried off.

in this very dark night - the sun sets by 3 now - people don't need to, but they try anyway. they paint the missing light into things. i have an embarrassing number of missed calls and texts, but i feel the love from them nevertheless - hey. if you need something, i'm here. i will bring you food/puzzles/anything. i got you.

i think we should all have a big group chat where we do errands with strangers. this week i got lost in a home depot, which is wild because i'm a lesbian and we are actually hatched in a lowe's lumber section. there were two other women in the whole store. we ended up shopping together, at first by accident (we all needed things in the same aisle), and then because, well, why not. one of the ladies was taller than me, so she pulled down the screws i needed. i am agile and have the personality of a raccoon, so they sent me after anything below 3 feet. we talked about holiday plans and never learned each other's names, but did learn all the drama about each other's families.

i am making you cupcakes, because i have so much affection i want to pour it into batter. you ask me if i am eating enough per meal. i wrap your gift twice, trying to do it prettily. i get excited to give it to you, just because i hope you'll be excited too.

my parents drive an hour just to see the new apartment and to do the parent thing; standing in the kitchen saying things like "oh you'll get so much use from this dishwasher" and "well, you could paint that" and "when your mother and i moved it was uphill both ways and in a snowstorm and of course your brother was an infant." my mother brought me a plant for housewarming. i always say i love you before she leaves.

i play dnd on tuesdays still, after all these years. we all keep that night free. at one point, between grad school and marriage and all of it, we had to have a serious discussion about how to keep it running. we will keep going, we decided eventually. just to see each other, even if we don't play - you are all important to me. sebastian is not prone to affection but last night he stole my usual sign off - i love you all, be good, he said. he was laughing.

i don't love the winter, actually. i like snow in theory, but i grew up in the north, and am too-familiar with the season of "mud and sludge". i don't like being cold. but i do love something kind of soft and rare: every year around this time, people remember oh yes. you and i are human together. and i have love to spare.

it is the first snow, and something in my heart is finally warm again. i have spent what felt like the last 18 months just going-through-the-motions. it has felt blank and immediate, like i would never actually feel again. that sounds extremely trite and stupid - but that is the boring and familiar experience of depression. life just washes up against your windows, and you watch it happening. you see things that should be lovely and affecting, and it just whispers too-thin. i was desperately uncreative. uninterested in my hobbies. unimpressed by my writing. i told my therapist, often, i don't know how to find hope again.

almost sheepishly, something strange and lovely is burning in my chest. i keep not-looking at it, worried it will scamper back into the shadows again. it is skittish and wild, but it is so warm i want to sink my hands into its fur and feel it breathing. i love-hate it: if it's real, it can hurt me when it leaves again. but i am icarus-born, sun-lover and poet: i can't help myself. despite my best intentions, i am falling in love with life again.

i am planning to make cookies for my friends. alex and i are going to go christmas tree shopping. we picked out matching dish towels last night, and they have little mushrooms on them.

i love you. it does come back. yes, even after a long time. even for you. i promise. keep trying. you will wake up and it will be a day you can smile about.

write me when you get there. we will take the day off of work, and i will wash your hair, and we will both be laughing.

[theoriginalkaminari]

Izuku Midoriya x reader with a quirk like Toge Inumaki's cursed technique!

(Do not repost or reblog pls)

So basically you posses the "Snake Eyes and Fangs" quirk! You have little black spirals on your tongue and around both sides of your mouth. Your quirk allows you to infuse your words with cursed energy to improve the spirit of your commands, forcing all who hear it to obey.

However, you choose not to speak in a conventional manner in order to protect people from your quirk. Speaking in rice ball ingredients makes it difficult to understand you, and people usually don't have the patience to learn to communicate with you. Which means you don't have friends. Sorry.

You've gotten used people giving you weird looks and side glances. All throughout your childhood, you were constantly teased or bullied. It was even hard for your parents to understand you. Most of the time they dismissed your wants and needs because it was hard for you to communicate them.

So decided to push your feelings aside and focus on becoming a hero. And the person you wanted to be like was none other than Present Mic. He used his voice to fight bad guys! And he had funny hair, so that was a plus to you. He was everything you wanted to be. Confident, loud, and accepted.

When you were around thirteen years old, you moved away from Shibuya and to Musutafu, where you began to attend Aldera Middle School. It was pretty much the same as all schools, only there were rumors of a quirkless boy attending the school.

You assumed these were rumors because you had never seen the quirkless boy. You thought he was a myth. Until one day, you saw a blonde kid standing over a green haired boy. The blonde kid seemed angry, and was shouting hurtful things at him.

This bothered you. So you lowered the scarf that covered the lower half of your mouth, and spoke a command.

"Leave."

The blonde boy had no choice, and suddenly left. The green boy looked over at you in surprise. He quickly got to his feet dusting off his uniform.

The boy had messy green hair, soft green eyes, and a few freckles on his cheeks. He wears a nervous expression as he looks at you. You simply cover the lower half of your face with your scarf, and turn to leave.

Until the boy calls back to you. "U-uhm!" He calls, stepping forward a bit. "Wait, please!" You're a bit surprised, but turn back to him, tilting your head to the side.

"Thank you." He smiles softly. "I didn't expect Kacchan to just leave like that.." the green haired boy says, looking back to the place where the blonde kid was. Was Kacchan his name? Then he looks back at you, his green eyes sparkling with curiosity.

"Was that your quirk that you used on him?" He asks, stepping closer to you. You nod, a bit confused. Why was he so eager? Weird.

"That was amazing! What is your quirk, exactly?" He beams, stepping closer. This was a bit of an awkward situation. You couldn't really answer him, but at this point, you carried a paper with you that says everything you know about your quirk on it. So you decide to give him that.

He seems a bit confused, but takes it and reads it. You can see the curiosity and wonder sparkle in his green eyes. He finishes reading and looks at you. "Your quirk is amazing!" He proceeds to ramble about how amazing it is for three minutes.

Eventually, you put up a hand to stop him, and he silences. "Sorry." He smiles nervously, scratching the back of his neck. "So...you can only speak in...rice ball ingredients?" He asks. You nod again. "Salmon." You reply. His eyes sparkle and he beams. "Does that mean yes?" He asks, and you nod again.

He suddenly pulls out a notebook and begins to write in it. You both spend at least an hour making translations for your speech.

Salmon was yes, Bonito Flakes was a negative response or just no, Kelp is used as a greeting. Mustard leaf is used to express concern. Tuna is as to say: look! And Tuna Mayo is used to say to do something.

Ever since that day, you and Izuku Midoriya have been bestfriends. You often defended him from this..'Kacchan' character. And he brought you over at his home a few times. His mother, Inko, did her best to try and communicate with you, and she treated you like her own kid.

Izuku eventually developed feelings for you. Everything about you made him happy, and he found himself wanting to be near you at all times.

So, he gathered up the courage to tell you his feelings. He waited until you both had a moment alone, and took his shot. He quickly confessed, rambling nervously about how much he cared and loved you, and wanted to become heros with you.

To silence his ramble, you leaned forward, pulling your scarf down, and connected you lips with his in a sweet and gentle kiss.

Izuku felt his face heat up quickly. It took him a few seconds to realize what was happening, but then slowly leaned into the kiss. He cupped your cheeks with his hands and your hands rested on his shoulders.

The kiss lasted for a few seconds, beforw you both pulled away slowly. Izuku smiles softly. "I'm in love with you..." He says in a soft voice, as if he didn't say it enough. You chuckle softly and look him in the eyes. The two of you kiss for a bit longer.

Izuku's favorite part of yoir relationship together is how you enjoy listening to him ramble. Izuku enjoys holding hands, and when you press gentle kisses to his scars or freckles. Izuku likes to kiss the black spirals on your cheeks, and sometimes when you guys makeout, he does his best to trace the outline of the black spiral on your tongue.

Izuku has definitely become happier and more confident since the two of you started dating. After all, you mean everything to him.

Until one day, his whole world fell apart.

The League of Villains found put you were important to Izuku, and took you away from him. They tore your vocal cords out. Then burnt your body. And sent it to U.A as a threat.

Izuku never felt so sad and alone.

You ment everything to him. He loved you.

Why did you have to die?

So he took Bakugou's old advice, and took a swan dive off the building, wanting nothing more but to reunite with you.

To his disappointment, his friends saved him.

Izuku kept the scarf you used to wear on him at all times. It still smelled like you. And it was the only thing he had left of you.

Izuku could never forget you. Never.

And he got his revenge. Dabi was the one who burnt you, so his head now stands on a spike as a warning to the rest of the villains.

Izuku loved you. And he shows his love by killing every villain that crosses his path without a single thought.

He was eventually expelled from U.A for his actions, and he became a villain himself. He became the very thing he swore to destroy.

And he didn't regret a thing.

[prismarts]

I REDESIGNED THE MANE SIX PONIES!!!

I had so much fun doing these and I really wanna ramble so if you wanna hear about my thought process, click below!

✨️Twilight Sparkle✨️

Twilight was the simplest and arguably the closest to her canon design with a few differences, she is tad taller as an alicorn, while she was a medium height as a unicorn before this

I REALLY wanted to change her colour palette into one of an actual twilight sky and skew darker in terms of colours for that almost dark academia feel.

I added some silver glasses and a collar and some sort of tie for that fantasy almost witch apprentice look as almost a nod to Twilight being Celestia's apprentice.

Her mane is up in a bun to keep it tidy while she studies and her tail is kept short so she doesn't get caught in anything as she runs around looking for books.

I thought it'd be cute for her to have sparkle like freckles to match the sparkles on her wings.

Finally, her cutie mark is all around the same but with more of the twilight colours instead.

🧁Pinkie Pie🧁

Pinkie Pie is now EXTRA fluffy to just fit her extra bubbly personality while also being the second shortest pony.

I decided to give Pinkie heterochromia, I just feel like it suits her really really well! Alongside the lighter rounded patches of fur and darkening the rest of her pink coat.

She got hoof-icures of sprinkles on her light pink hooves!

Her mane and tail are extra fluffy and shorter, making it look a lot more puffed up like the canon mane and tail she has as a filly in canon! She has sprinkles all over her mane and tail and a bow on her tail.

Finally, her cutie mark now has different coloured and shaped balloons as well as a cupcake and party hat, the cupcake referencing her baking talents as well as her party talents!

🦋Fluttershy🦋

Fluttershy has a few changes to her design, she is the third tallest pony of the group.

I gave Fluttershy, dark forest green eyes to contrast with all the pastels in her design.

She has significantly longer mane and tail with a gradient from pastel pink to a pastel leaf green.

I really wanted Fluttershy to have smaller wings, like Scootaloo in canon, she has this disability now and is unable to really fly. I wanted to explore just how much animals and the nature impacted her as a filly by making her a lot more connected to it. An example being the leaves and flowers in Fluttershy's mane and tail is from her climbing trees to help critters, something she LEARNED from her critter friends.

Her smaller wings have a small feather pattern that resembles a butterfly's wings in the inner of her wings and the fluff on her hooves also resemble leaves and butterfly wings.

💎Rarity💎

Rarity has a few changes, mainly to her mane and tail, she is also the fourth tallest among the group.

Rarity has piercing dark blue eyes, I made her eyes a more striking colour than in her canon design.

Her mane and tail now have small curls and waves, decorated with pearls and up in a half bun. With a gradient colours of dark purple to a pastel indigo. I really wanted to give her a very fashionable mane and tail style without it just being a single giant curl.

Rarity's hooves have a gradient into an ice blue.

I gave Rarity so many accessories and jewelry, I really wanted to dress her up in diamonds and pearls and gold.

Rarity's cutie mark is now a big single diamond with a dark purple thread spool and needle. The diamond representing her backstory where she found all those gems and got her cutie mark after using them in her design and the heart shape the dark purple thread makes, represents her big and generous heart.

🍎Applejack🍎

Applejack's coat is now a darker brown with patches of light brown and the orange from her canon design. She is also the second tallest of the group.

Her eyes are now a brighter leafy green.

Her mane and tail are now significantly shorter, in a more orangey tone of blonde as her tail is tied in a braid to help keep it neat and tidy during her farm work.

I added a red ribbon to her hat, which is now a darker shade of brown as well as gave her a handkerchief tied around her neck that has red and green plaid.

Applejack has a slightly bulkier body from all the apple bucking she's done around the farm.

Her cutie mark is now a heart shaped picnic mat with her three apples that are now three different colours to represent Apple Bloom, Big Mac and Granny Smith.

⚡️Rainbow Dash⚡️

Rainbow Dash is the shortest of the group, but of course is absolutely the fastest.

She now has a darker greyish blue coat with a lighter grey blue patches as well as light blue lightning and cloud patches all over.

Her wings are now bigger, this being something that has hindered her flying as a filly and made it hard for her to control her flying and crashing into things as a filly, being given the nickname 'Rainbow Crash'. But now her bigger wings help her fly faster than ever before, even helping her do the impossible Sonic Rainboom.

Her hooves are now a gradient from light blue to white to represent clouds.

She now wears goggles around her neck all of the time.

Her mane and tail are significantly shorter and in a cool swoopy sharp style, the rainbow in her mane and tail are a lot brighter now to make her stand out a lot more.

Her eyes are now a stormy grey to show off her aggressive nature while also being a perfect contrast to the rainbows in her designs.

Her cutie mark is now a giant rainbow lightning bolt in the middle of a ring of clouds and smaller rainbow coloured lightning bolts. This is to represent her ability to create a Sonic Rainboom.

[those-late-night-feels]

Choke

Summary: Loki almost killed you during the Battle of New York. You struggle when he returns.

Warnings: If the title didn't give it away, choking. Also, Loki being an ass. Smut. 18+

AN: I'm a slut for comments and reposts!

*****

Why wouldn't he just leave? That irritating smirk, as if something was so damn amusing, lingered on Loki's face, his eyes on you like prey. He was that constant itch that you couldn’t scratch away, the ever looming ache in your side that you couldn’t ignore. While the rest of the team discussed their next mission, you sat at the far end of the table incessantly tapping your foot while he reclined in a chair. It was bad enough that after all the destruction he had caused in New York that he decided to show his face again on Earth, in tow with his brother. But the fact that you had to see him every day, breathe the same air, act like everything was water under the bridge, felt almost impossible. Thor had framed Loki's return in the brightest of lights–that he'd changed, that he had been brainwashed and tortured and wasn't the same person anymore. The rest of the team was willing to be cautiously accepting for Thor's sake, and perhaps were starting to buy into the idea that Loki had turned over a new leaf. But the rest of the team hadn't looked into Loki's eyes, seen that possessive evil, when he had lifted you by your throat while smiling, slowly closing your windpipe as you struggled to break free.

That fateful day had been permanently etched in your memory. New York was under attack and you had been focused on surveillance for the team in Stark Tower when he had shown up, strolling proudly with his scepter in hand. Standing abruptly, your heart pounded as you sized up this towering giant and watched his movements; your combat and defense skills were good, but they'd never been put to the test by a god. "Are you going to attempt to appeal to my humanity?"

His demeanor was so high and mighty, like this was all so far beneath him. "And why would I do that? Clearly you have none."

Your legs mimicked his movements, circling each other around the open loft. He paused and cocked his head, an amused smirk pulling on his face. "Don't tell me you intend to fight me, girl. Adorable, but I can assure you I am no match for you."

"We'll see about that."

"And why would I waste my time fighting you? You could be quite useful to me." He aimed the tip of the scepter at your chest, but you were quicker than he’d anticipated and swiped the staff to the side before kicking him in the chest. It didn't do much, he was as solid as a tree, but it was enough to catch him slightly off guard to kick the scepter out of his hand and you both watched as it slid across the room. Adrenaline pumping, you attempted to lurch at the fallen weapon, but he was faster and grabbed your wrist, spinning you around.

"And where do you think you're going?" His tone was sinister and his large hand wrapped around your neck, lifting you off the ground as your legs flailed. Long fingers slowly squeezed on your windpipe and you struggled to pry them off. Tears blurred your vision and started to stream down your face. "Such pathetic floundering bottom feeders you Midgardians are. I should put you out of your misery."

He smiled while watching you struggle in his one hand, prolonging your agony. Squeezing tighter, the world moving out of focus into black. And then a window shattered and the Hulk emerged, ultimately saving you and smashing Loki in the process.

For three weeks, every time you looked in the mirror you were reminded of what he did to you. Your neck turned black and blue, then purple, then green, then brown and yellow. But even as the bruises faded, it was still raw in your mind.

So when Thor had pulled you aside to convince you why his brother deserved another chance, you screamed internally while plastering a smile on your face. He had to have known the trauma Loki had put you through. "Are you okay with this, y/n?"

The pleading in his eyes confirmed that if you said no, it would break his heart. Thor was like a brother to you, and while his brother was the spawn of Satan, you pushed your feelings aside and lied straight to his face. "If you say he's changed, then I believe you."

*****

Loki knew who you were, what he had done to you. The recognition on his face when you first walked into the room and stopped short was evident. His eyes lingered as you leaned against the far wall, keeping a significant distance between you and him. Absentmindedly, you nibbled at your lip and fiddled with the hem of your shirt.

"Lady y/n!" The bellowing voice made you freeze as you watched the large blonde man stride over, dragging his darker haired brother behind him with a perturbed look. He wasn't actually bringing his brother over to you, was he? "I'm glad you are here," he smiled, like this was a family reunion, "Y/n, my brother Loki."

The expression on your face was blank as you tried to hold it together. "We've met," you deadpanned at the same time Loki said, "I don't believe she cares to meet me, Thor."

The oblivious blonde shook his head at your responses. "Nonsense! The last time you met was a misunderstanding. This is a chance to start anew."

Loki watched the vein in your neck as you clenched your jaw together, your nostrils flaring slightly at the thought of your near death being a "misunderstanding." The way your hand shook by your side. He knew you were not ready for this.

"Please excuse my brother. Y/n, it is a pleasure to meet you formally.”

You studied the carpet as he spoke, noticing a burn mark on the rug you'd never seen before. He turned to leave, pulling Thor with him.

“Is that it?” The words were so quiet you barely heard them yourself. But Loki paused and turned toward you. You didn’t want to look at him, didn’t want to be near him, didn’t want to be on the same planet as him, but you also didn’t want to be the weak girl that he clearly thought you were, so you pulled your eyes from the floor to look directly at him, your eyes blazing with anger. “Is that all you have to say to me?”

“I… No. I am sorry for any pain that I caused you. It is inexcusable, I know that.”

You willed yourself not to bring your hand to your neck, remembering how the person in front of you toyed with attempting to snuff out your existence without blinking an eye.

It's an act. It's just for show.

Glaring at him, you didn’t want to believe his words. If he was expecting forgiveness, he wouldn’t find it from you. "You're right," you replied. "It is inexcusable."

Pushing past him, you hated the feeling that perhaps he had been sincere.

*****

The constant stress of being cooped up in a tower with him was weighing on you. The need to leave rooms, change directions, hide out in your apartment; was it childish? You didn't know. But every time you saw him, your pulse started racing, your throat turned to sandpaper, and your stomach tensed.

When Natasha announced it was time they all went out for a night, you were all in, needing to literally let your hair down and dance your cares away.

Stark paid an exorbitant amount of money to have access to an exclusive club that he and his friends could access at any time. You showed up in a little black number with a mission to let your cares go.

Dancing for hours had left you parched and you made your way to the bar. He was already there, arms crossed as he watched others with a judgmental look of disapproval. You ordered a rum and coke, telling the bartender to put it on his tab, causing Loki to roll his eyes but nod all the same. He turned his attention to you, the hairs on the back of your neck prickling. "Having fun?"

"I was," you snided, sipping your drink. "I thought you enjoyed this type of thing. Thor said you had your fair share of banquets and masquerades."

"Yes, well, my tastes are…a little more…refined."

You rolled your eyes at his snobbery. He was truly the worst. "When are you planning to leave Earth? I'm sure there are other planets just waiting to be conquered."

Hesitating at your remark, he studied you, no longer shaking from nerves and a more bold tongue, chalking it up to liquid courage. Leaning in closer to you, he could smell a mix of your vanilla body wash, sweat, and alcohol. "Why would I leave when my presence is clearly torturing you?"

The sinister smile on his face made the lump in your throat return and you quickly sipped at your drink again, the alcohol pushing your nerves back down. "Look at you. I don't even have to lay a finger on you and you whither in front of me."

Your cheeks went hot under his intense gaze, feeling small as he hovered over you. Swallowing, you looked up at him, butterflies erupting inside you.

"Fuck you, Loki," you breathed. Storming off, you could only imagine that arrogant smirk on his face as he watched you walk away. Heart pounding, blood boiling, you grabbed the first man you saw on the dance floor, gyrating with him under the strobe lights, trying to remove the image of him hovering over you from memory. When you looked up toward the bar, Loki was still watching you, a smile pulling on his lips like he knew exactly what he was doing.

*****

Combat training with various team members was grueling but necessary work, dripping sweat and lungs burning. You and Natasha went at each other, you landing a blow to her ribs, her landing a kick which resulted in an armbar. A few rounds and the two of you had called it a night, her leaving to shower while you stretched weary muscles.

"Your combat skills have seemed to improve since the last time I saw them." You heard him before you saw him. Narrowing your eyes and putting on a braver face than you felt inside, you groaned, crossing your arms.

"You're like an annoying gnat. What do you want?"

"I'm curious, when the team goes on missions, who is the one that babysits you? Do they take turns or is it the same person?"

He was trying to goad you, trying to get a rise out of you, you knew that. Well two could play this game. "How exactly did you convince Thor that you changed? All that talk of torture, did you make that up? Is there even a, what was his name? Thanos?"

His face dropped for the quickest of moments and a part of you regretted your words. But when he recovered, the look on his face made you take a step back.

"Tell me, how many nights have you been kept up at night thinking about my hand around your throat."

Your hand reacted before your brain could and the crack of your palm against his cheek was heard before it was felt. He smiled when he turned his face back to you, taking another step in your direction. Fist clenched, your arm swung up toward him, but he grabbed it and held it in place. Another step, your knee came up to his stomach, and he grabbed that too. You felt the wall behind you, a shallow breath released as you tried to hold yourself together, his chest centimeters from yours. When you looked up at those blue-green eyes though, it wasn't the same look as last time. There was no darkness, no evil, no possession. His smile was covering something else. Slowly, your eyes locked on his, you guided his other hand to your neck. His breath hitched as he watched you wrap his slender digits around your throat.

"Wha–" but you silenced his question with your lips. What started as a desperate need to shut him up turned to lips hovering near each other, tongues dancing together, breaths being shared. He pulled away to look at you, a question playing on his face, his silver tongue clearly tied. Your eyes dropped down, embarrassment starting to flood your mind, and his hand flicked your face back up to his and kissed you again, hand gliding from your neck to the back of your head, gripping onto your hair. Your fist was dropped as he glided his palm down your side, wrapping around your ass, bringing you wanting core to him. A whimper left your lips and he pressed into you with need.

Brains turned off, hands scrambled to pull at clothes and feel every inch of one another. His fingers slipped inside your pants, running his long digits along your silky crevices and you shook as the tip of his finger circled your clit, smiling into your mouth. "Seems like you've thought of this multiple times, pet."

"Shut up,” you demanded, greedily scrambling to free his throbbing erection from its enclosure, pulling at zippers and buttons, a relieved sigh escaping from him when it was freed.

He was quick with his movements and flipped you around, hands pressed against the wall, pants yanked down with a swift jerk, fingertips drawing lines up your thigh, up your hip, up your spine, causing shivers. His hand came to rest on your neck, tilting your head back to him. His warm throbbing cock slid between your ass cheeks and through your thighs, playing with your anxious opening.

"Beg me," he whispered into your ear. A strained cry left your throat as he rubbed his hot erection up your slit.

“Please,” you breathed, then moaned loudly as he stretched your tight opening, flexing his fingers under your jaw.

“Is this what you want, pet?” You wondered that yourself as he smoothly pulled and pressed into you, but as he hit your cervix while locked against him, you knew this was exactly what you wanted all along. A secret desire you wouldn’t even admit to yourself. The noises you made were sloppy, no longer able to make sense. He pulled your head toward him again, gripping down a little harder while pounding into you. “I asked you a question girl.”

“Y…ye…yes…” you wailed. You were close, but if it were to coming or passing out, you didn’t know. His cock hit in places you didn’t know were inside of you, and as he reached down to circle your clit, your body shook violently. The world went black for a moment and you collapsed into him, but vaguely you could hear his words. “I got you. I got you. Good girl.”

Pressing yourself into him on the floor, your lungs burned. He rubbed your neck, your arms, your back, while you came back to full recognition. Looking up at him, he pressed his lips together while you bit at yours. “Do not tell anyone about this.”

He cocked his head, raising an eyebrow. “I doubt they would believe me even if I did, pet,” and kissed your hand. "Do you still want me to leave Midgard?"

Lowering your face into his shoulder, you hid your reddened cheeks. Your lips pressed together, unable to answer, but knowing you didn't want him to go.

Buy me a coffee: https://ko-fi.com/thoselatenightfeels

[haggishlyhagging]

[Note: Long but extremely instructive quote about a group of indigenous women who fought back against European colonization and lost.]

The [Igbo] women's war began in 1929 in a place called Oloko. The British had recently introduced a system of taxing men and had decided that in order to assess the taxable wealth of all the people, it would be necessary to count women, children, and domestic animals. When Okugo, the chief of Oloko, attempted, under instructions from the local British officer, to count the goats and sheep belonging to Nwanyeruwa, an important woman in the village, she yelled, "Was your mother counted?" at which point they seized each other by the throat. A meeting of women was called, where it was decided to send a palm leaf, the symbol of trouble and a call for help, to all the women in the area. Women poured into Okugo's compound from around the countryside and proceeded to "sit" upon him. To "sit" upon a man is a pidgin English term referring to the punishment inflicted by women on any man who has broken their laws. It has the same meaning as "spoiling" a person's property. The crowd mobbed the chief, damaged his house, demanded his cap of office, and forced the district officer to arrest him and charge him with assault. "The women," said this officer with some embellishment, "numbering over ten thousand, were shouting and yelling round the office in a frenzy. They demanded his cap of office, which I threw to them, and it met the same fate as a fox's carcase thrown to a pack of hounds. The station between the office and the prison ... resembled Epsom Downs on Derby Day."

Despite assurances from chiefs and administrative officers that women were being counted for purposes other than taxation, the trouble spread to Aba, an important trading center. There some 10,000 women, calling themselves "the trees which bear fruit" and "scantily clothed, girdled with green leaves, carrying sticks," converged upon the town. They attacked and looted the European trading stores and the bank, broke into the prison, and released prisoners. After 2 days of rioting, troops arrived and dispersed the crowds without serious casualties.

In another part of Igbo land crowds of women gathered, bedecked in the symbols of war. "Dressed in sackcloth, their faces smeared with charcoal, sticks wreathed with young palms in their hands, while their heads were bound with young ferns," they burned the Native Court and sacked and looted the European store and other property. They declared that the district officer "was born of a woman, and as they were women they were going to see him." When the women mobbed police and military troops, 18 were killed and 19 wounded. In another incident, elsewhere, 32 women were killed and 31 wounded after a mob of women made threatening and obscene gestures against the troops, calling them sons of pigs, and striking at the district officer with their sticks.

The trouble that broke out in early December was under control by the twentieth day of that month. Igbo men did not participate in the rioting. With a few exceptions, they acted as passive but consenting parties to the behavior of their wives. Children were nowhere in evidence during the riots. The rioting was carried out solely by adult women, who sent round the palm leaves to rally their comrades and beat the drums to convey the message of war, just as the drums are sounded to announce a council meeting. Unwilling women were forced to join. One woman, whose daughter-in-law was killed during the rioting, testified as follows:

We met a crowd of women heading to Utu-Etim-Ekpo. The women stopped us. There were plenty too much women, a very large crowd. They were coming along the road and beating their laps and lifting their heads towards the sky and waving their sticks. All had sticks; big sticks. I was afraid of them. They took away my basket and forced me to join them . . . "You are a woman, you must join us." They looked quite different from any other crowd of women I have ever seen. They had nkpatat (wild fern) round their heads. There were no children with them. As they had no children with them that also made me afraid. I do not know where any of the women came from. I was very much afraid of them and did not look at their faces.

The riots were a testimony to the vigor and solidarity of Igbo women. Although the threat of taxation was the immediate cause, they were really fighting to preserve "the spirit of womanhood." Speaking to the subsequent Commission of Inquiry, the women said, "We are not so happy as we were before . . . Our grievance is that the land is changed — we are all dying." Taking these words literally, the British did not understand their meaning. In fact, the women were right — their way was dying, their spirit and ties to the land were slowly being crushed by the new ways brought by the Europeans. The power of the women's councils had been eroded by the institution of a Native Court system composed solely of Igbo men. During the riots these courts were sacked and burned in 16 Native Administration centers. When giving evidence, the women "uttered a flood of criticism against the corruption and injustice of the chiefs and courts." The commission promised that the Native Courts would be reorganized to reflect more faithfully the Igbo system of justice, and that women would sit as judges.

In 1934 this promise had not been fulfilled. The women's councils had lost more power because the government forbade the women to "war," which had been their major means of enforcing their rulings. In rising to defend what they called the "women's world," Igbo women lost the women's war. Believing themselves to be inviolable, the women were shocked at the carnage leveled against them. Despite their assertions of being prepared to die, they firmly believed that the soldiers would not fire on women, that they had no bullets, and that women were never killed in war. As rioters, they compared themselves to vultures, which in Ibibio (a neighboring tribe) means the "messengers of God." One woman said to the commission:

I was surprised to see the soldiers fire as we were women we call ourselves vultures as we did not think soldiers would fire at us. Vultures go to market and eat food there and nobody molests them nobody will kill vultures even in the market, even if it kills fowls. We only fling sticks at them if they take our chop and so we thought soldiers will not harm us what we may do.

European education, Christianity, and the desire for European goods also contributed to the end of the "women's world." A fitting epilogue is delivered by Sylvia Leith-Ross, a concerned British woman, who wonders how long it will be before education can "give the girls something as important, as satisfying, as pervasive, as the land gave to their mothers." And so a new sex-role plan is imposed by the conquerors on the conquered.

-Peggy Reeves Sanday, Female Power and Male Dominance: On the Origins of Sexual Inequality

[sheenashifts1217]

Pick A Pile #3

9/19/24

Message From Your DR Self

Take a breath and pick the image you’re drawn to first. Take what resonates, leave what doesn’t. This is a collective reading so some may resonate with this more than others. For a personal reading, check my pined post <3

Pile 1: Beach heart, Pile 2: Lightning Heart, Pile 3: Cloud Heart

Pile 1

Lyrics standing out:

“They say that we’re no good together and it’s never gonna work out

Everything you do is magic

Let em take pictures

Spread it all across the world now

I don’t know what to believe

Everything you do is magic”

Hi beautiful angels of Pile 1. Your DR self wants you to trust yourself more. You are your DR self. Your DR self is your CR self. Are you stressed about shifting? Don’t be because you’ve already shifted. Your DR self is telling you to take shifting and your DR off of such a high pedestal. There is nothing holding you back from your desires except for yourself. Get out of your own way. This I your sign to embrace all that you are and to on your power. You don’t need some outside cosmic force to make you shift. YOU ARE A COSMIC FORCE. Allow your reality to flow, it doesn’t have to be follow any rules. Magic is normal, normalize it to yourself because “everything you do is magic”. Every choice you make is shifting your reality, it’s that simple.

Your DR may include a lot of magic ad your DR self wants you to know that your s/o loves you like breathing.

Signs of confirmation, but not limited to: 444, blue bird, green leaf, dew drop, glass of water, blue, Billie Eillish, older women, dance

Pile 2

Lyrics standing out:

“Haven’t seen my mother in a long, long time

Do you really think I give a damn

I say I live in Rosemead, really, I’m at the Ramada

So many other things you can’t believe

Puts the shower on while he calls me

Your mom called, I told her you’re fucking up big time”

Hi beauties, Pile 2! Your DR self is telling you that you are having the time of your life. You may be a person who shifts pretty frequently, but to different DRs, or you may have a lot of DRs, but struggle to focus on one. Your ability to go with the flow is rewarding you greatly. If you’re shifting for an s/o, your relationship couldn’t be better. Marriage is in the near future for a few of you. Basically, your DR self is saying to sit back and enjoy the ride. Everything is going your way because you’re allowing it. Keep doing whatever you’re doing because it’s working. You’re on a path of healing and your inner child is shining. You are finally learning to give up on the thought of needing external validation and people pleasing. Keep it up because your hard work is paying off!

Signs of confirmation, but not limited to: “J”, red, crayon, curve, back road, country, serve, slay, boots, 24, 2, Taylor Swift, Willow, 90’s

Pile 3

Lyrics standing out:

“Now he’s just a shadow

My boy loves his friends like I love my split ends

My boy don’t love me like he promised

He ain’t a man, he sure as hell ain’t honest

Who are you?

He said he’d change

You want me to be yours, then you’ve got to be mine”

Hello lovely Pile 3! Why are you still doing things and allowing things in your life that don’t serve you? I know that was harsh right off the bat, but seriously, why? You know what you need and you know what hurts you. You’ve become comfortable in your cycle instead of actually speaking growth. Your DR self is telling you to stand the fuck up because you could be doing literally anything else, yet you’re self destructing. A lot of you began shifting to heal your inner child, but you began to use it to sulk and self destruct. Your DR self is you RN. You are in your CR because it is where you are desiring to be. Change your mindset to be in your “DR”, because right now, you’re making your CR be you DR by choosing to remain in the loop and keeping the same mentality. You always say you’re gonna change but don’t follow through. Actually do it, you won’t regret it. Your DR self says that things are great in your DR right now and they’re tired of you complaining about not being there when you’re not even actually intending to be there. A lot of things will lighten up once you face your shadow self and actually take that leap of faith.

Signs of confirmation, but not limited to: purple, cream, sparkles, glitter, candy, green, jeans, eagles, pen, fun, 888, 9, 23, trees, flowers

[quietly-sleeping]

part 2

Liu Qingge might be bad with faces, he can admit that, at least to himself. Never to anyone else, though. Being called an uneducated brute, and the most feral of the feral child colony was enough for him. 

However, as bad as Liu Qingge was with faces, he’s almost certain he’s seen this one before. It could just be the fact that the man was covered in blood and monster entrails, but Liu Qingge swears he’d seen this person before. 

“Do I know you?” Liu Qingge asked, still standing atop the Iron Flecked Mole Rat. The man that Liu Qingge swears he’d met gaped at him for a moment, his dark green eyes wide as Liu Qingge flicked off the last of the monster's blood from his sword. “No?” The man dragged out the word oddly, Liu Qingge squinted at him. 

“Are you sure?” Liu Qingge jumped down from the back of the monster, barely making a noise as his feet hit the leaf-covered ground. “Yes?” The man scrambled to stand, grimacing slightly as blood dripped from his hair down his face. “You do not sound sure.” Liu Qingge got closer to him, frowning as he tried to examine the man’s face closer. 

“Where would we even meet? You look like you belong to a big sect, I’m just a wandering cultivator.” Liu Qingge frowned down at the man, just barely shorter than him, the man smiled, almost, nervous? Liu Qingge needed to add the ability to read people’s emotions to his list of weaknesses, directly below recognizing faces. 

“Could have met during a hunt. Like we have now. What is your name.” The man’s eyes slide from him glancing back at the dead Iron Flecked Mole Rat, “I’m pretty sure neither of us would be on the same job.” He said, his shoulders relaxing slightly. “We are now, what is your name.”

The man hummed, glancing around the empty trees around them, most of the other animals long scared off by the rampaging mole rat. “Sha….Yan. My name is Sha Yan.” Liu Qingge turned that around in his mind for a moment, he was pretty sure he’d never met a Sha Yan before.

However, the man could be lying to him, he was shifting quite a lot, or maybe that was the monster blood he was drenched in. “Alright.” The man, Sha Yan, perked up, “You believe me?” Not as much anymore. “Enough. I will bring you to an inn, it’s my fault you are dirty.” 

Sha Yan blinked at him, “You don’t have to? I know the way back to the village,” Liu Qingge shook his head, “I caused you to be covered in blood, I will fix it.” Sha Yan went to open his mouth but Liu Qingge picked up the Iron Flecked Mole Rat and nodded to Sha Yan to start moving.

Shen Qingqiu sipped at his tea, the silence between the three people was tense but Shen Qingqiu had experience ignoring it. Qi Qingqi set her cup down, much gentler than she would have had her wife not been in the room, “So, who is it?” Shen Qingqiu hummed for a moment, “I’m afraid I don’t know what you are talking about Qi-shimei.” 

Qi Qingqi’s face warped slightly before she restrained herself, “Shen-shixiong,” The honorific left her mouth reluctantly, “Most of Cang Qiong knows shixiong is ah, looking for someone. This shimei would be delighted to help, but she cannot without a name.” 

Shen Qingqiu simply stared at her for a moment before Lai Xiulan broke the silence, “Thank you for accepting our request for tea, Lord Shen. This one has heard some interesting theories from the disciples.” Shen Qingqiu nodded at the other woman, he typically preferred speaking with her rather than her wife. 

Usually. “I understand you must be worried Lady Lai, but I intend to keep information from anyone who may tip off my…wayward quarry.” Qi Qingqi frowned at him, leaning back slightly, “And you believe us to be able to tip your target off?” Lai Xiulan frowned slightly at her wife before turning back to the other Peak Lord with a small smile, “This one believes that Lord Shen does not have harmful intentions with this search, and we intend to offer our help with the search, if we may?” 

The true issue with speaking to Lai Xiulan was she was such a stickler to formalities and so genuine that even Shen Qingqiu and his cold dead heart, felt a flicker of something when he attempted to cut her with his words. Guilt was a disgusting emotion, even the brief flickers. 

“This shixiong does not intend to turn away his shimei’s earnest help. However, this shixiong must be certain that shimei will not tell any of our martial siblings until the Peak Lord Meeting next week.” If Shen Qingqiu didn’t know his shimei’s personality he would have said she almost pouted at being denied the ability to gossip. “Fine,” She grumbled, Lai Xiulan patted her hands consolingly before directing a bright smile at Shen Qingqiu. 

Despicable woman, Shen Qingqiu huffed, “The subject of this hunt is Shen Yuan of Ling You.” Qi Qingqiu perked up, leaning forward with a glint in her eye, “Little Yuan-shidi? Who knew you had it in you Shen Qingqiu.” Lai Xiulan glanced between her wife and Shen Qingqiu with curiosity plain on her face. 

“Maybe my little disciples were right, did Yuan-shidi scorn you? You should apologize if you made a mistake, shixiong.” Her smile was sharp, a sharp-eyed predator who’d spotted a juicy morsel. Shen Qingqiu restrained his impulse to simply demand she leave, her wife was still here, and despite how manipulative Lai Xiulan was, she was simply too nice to turn a cold shoulder to. 

“You consume too many cheap novels shimei.” Was all he deigned to say to the gossip mongrel. Her sharp laughter rang in the small bamboo house. 

Liu Qingge had left the body of the Iron Flecked Mole Rat in one of the larger qiankun bags he had left in the only inn in the village. He knew none other than another cultivator could walk off with the body but he needed multiple parts of the mole rat in good condition for the other peaks. 

Liu QIngge went into the inn and quickly bought both a room and a tub, Sha Yan was waiting outside, the blood still dripping from his robes. Liu Qingge went out to stand with Sha Yan, unwilling to let him out of sight for very long. It didn’t take long for a worker to poke their head out and tell him the bath was waiting up in his room. 

Sha Yan was quiet as they walked into the inn and down the narrow hallway, he had spoken most of the walk back, informing Liu QIngge of the habits, behaviors, and habitats of Iron Flecked Mole Rats, he’d spoken about the different ways Iron Flecked Mole Rats developed depending on region for most of the walk. 

It was interesting to be sure; Liu Qingge had never had the patience to sit and memorize the different irrelevant details of different monsters or beasts. He’d only learned how to kill them and which could be edible. Sha Yan’s memory of the different beasts around was deeply impressive to him, he almost wanted to drag Sha Yan back to Cang Qiong and place him on Ling You. 

The Peak was without a Peak Lord anyway, being run solely by Hall Masters and spontaneous visits from Peak Lords who had less to do than they claimed. It could do with an actual Peak Lord to watch over it, and Sha Yan seemed around his age. 

They stepped into the inn room, two beds tucked up against each wall with a divider separating the room from the wooden tub. Sha Yan shuffled over to the bathtub, peering in at the water before glancing back at Liu Qingge. “Are you sure you want me to bathe first?” 

Liu Qingge stared at him for a moment, flicking his eyes down at where the blood was dripping onto the floor, “Yes.” Sha Yan followed his eyes and grimaced before fully shuffling behind the divider. 

All in all the inn was very well kept for such a small village, the village was named, though Liu Qingge had already forgotten the name, but it hadn’t seen much in terms of coin. The roads were all dirt, many houses had holes in their roofs that were awkwardly patched and it was easy to spot where buildings had been repaired after the recent rainy season. 

Liu Qingge unsheathed Cheng Luan and quietly began to maintain the sword, cycling his qi through it as he carefully cleaned the hilt and blade. Weapon maintenance was an important part of a cultivator's life, something Wei Qingwei and his peak made a point to force into the rest of the sect’s heads.  

Liu Qingge huffed, remembering all of the times he’d had to resort to biting Wei Qingwei when they were disciples to continue training with his sword. Wei Qingwei was larger than him, in height and breadth, and knew how to weaponize his size. 

It didn’t matter that he’d just broken his wrist or that Mu-shidi said you need to be resting, not working with your sword! Wei Qingwei never brought up those incidents after they happened, but Liu Qingge knew that Wei Qingwei just needed an introduction to how fights work on Bai Zhan, at least among younger disciples. 

Sha Yan was done with his bath once Liu Qingge had finished cleaning his sword. The bath had to be dumped and refilled, with Sha Yan awkwardly hidden behind the moved divider so the worker could get to the tub. But Liu Qingge was more inclined to find a stream somewhere since the worker already dumped and refilled the bath once. 

The only thing that kept him from leaving and finding a stream was Sha Yan, who had begun to look increasingly more nervous the longer he spent with Liu Qingge in the inn. His chatter had started up once more, moving from Iron Flecked Mole Rats to the Starry Night Dogs, talking about how they’d adapted to the various weather conditions that may impede their ability to channel the stars. 

His words only grew quicker, and he pulled out a notebook from inside a qiankun pouch Liu Qingge previously hadn’t spotted, flopping down onto the other bed in the room. Sha Yan flipped through the notebook, gesturing at various pages as he spoke. Eventually, Liu Qingge had enough of it, “Why are you nervous?” his voice was flat, but his eyebrows were drawn together, Sha Yan stared at the Peak Lord, opening and closing his mouth. 

“I…Well, I suppose I wasn’t expecting you to stay here with me?” Sha Yan squeezed out, the tops of his ears beginning to color as he fidgeted. Liu Qingge tilted his head slightly, “Why? It is honorable to fix my wrongs.” Sha Yan laughed a little, tucking his legs up onto his bed as well, “You don’t have to? I mean, you didn’t commit any wrongs against me.” 

Liu Qingge shook his head at the younger man, at least he thought he was younger, “You were drenched in the blood of the Iron Flecked Mole Rat because of my carelessness.” Sha Yan smiled a little at that, “I’m clean now? I kind of expected to you leave once we got to the inn.” 

Liu Qingge simply shrugged and removed his hair crown before tossing it onto the bed. The thing was extremely uncomfortable during sleep and he wanted at least some sleep, even the frustrating light sleep he was bound to get. 

Shang Qinghua wished he let Mu-shidi sedate him. Inquires were flooding in, both from his fellow Peak Lords and from disciples, poking their noses into his peak, distracting his disciples. He had deadlines to meet, please!

Mu-shidi had visited earlier in the morning, concern politely plastered on his face, as though Shang Qinghua couldn’t see the glint in his eyes. The same glint he had when he used his needles to subdue someone. Shang Qinghue didn’t need to be sedated, he needed to get everything handled. 

Maybe he hadn’t slept in a few days, working through a report from Liu-shidi, sorting through budget reports, tracking down where the HELL his lumbar supplier disappeared to. He had things to do, and while being sedated sounded nicer the longer he stared down at a report from Liu-shidi, detailing a cultivator that was currently being hunted by their shixiong, he had to get through it. 

Finish the report, send it to Zhangmen-shixiong, who will deal with it, deal with Shen-shixiong, and then get sedated. A good plan, but unfortunately derailed by Qi Qingqi barging into his office as he continued to stare down at the piece of paper he was certain held the answer to his life’s problems. 

“Shang Qinghua?” Qi Qingqi called out, never Shang-shixiong, always Shang Qinghua, “I’m going to have a nervous breakdown.” Was all he replied with. Qi Qingqi nodded slowly, “Is this a conversation for Mu-shixiong?” Shang Qinghua didn’t respond but grabbed the devilish piece of paper from his desk and held it aloft to her. 

“If you are going to have me sedated, give this to Zhangmen-shixiong. I’m not dealing with this.” Qi Qingqi frowned but took the paper, scanning over it, her sharp eyebrows raising as she read, “Sounds fair, Shang-shixiong. I’ll call for Mu-shixiong.”

ao3

[platonicreaderinsertfanfic]

Was Your Friend About to Quietly Go Rogue?

Word count: 820 “You’re going with Naruto?” you asked, searching Kakashi’s one visible eye for how much trouble this would cause. He nodded. “Yamato is coming as well. If anyone asks about us, can you help cover for our absence?” “Sure, although I’m far from a brilliant liar.” "I know." Kakashi almost chuckled as he stood casually in front of the card table you were using to chop vegetables. Hands shoved into his pockets, partially silhouetted in the opening of the sturdy military tent, he may as well have been talking about visiting your family for a game night, instead of a personal mission which sounded dangerously like insubordination. Even with his headband covering his left eye, and his cloth mask covering the lower half of his face, it was easy enough to read his smile. Perhaps he was about to do something uncharacteristically stupid, but he looked the same as always, wearing a green flak vest and holster pouch. With the village destroyed and construction constantly ongoing, you had been assigned to peel and chop a sizable pile of potatoes, each of which you dropped into provided buckets of water once it was in quarters for easy boiling later. “Why all the secrecy?” He shrugged. “I doubt Danzo would approve of our journey.” “The new Hokage?” Usually Kakashi was more aware of the political ramifications of people’s actions than you were, but this seemed unwise. Although, you obviously didn’t know all the facts about the situation. Civilians rarely did. “The temporary, unconfirmed Hokage, yes.” 

While you knew almost nothing of the man, it was clear Kakashi didn’t approve of this arrangement, so it seemed likely you would not care for the new Leaf Village leader either. Resuming peeling a potato, you wondered how serious this self-appointed mission of Kakashi’s was? The problem was, even if he was setting out on a suicide operation, he would likely be talking to you with his hands in his pockets and ever-calm demeanor, just like he was now. You knew that from personal experience. Sighing, your shoulders slumped as you planted your hands on the tabletop and leaned forward. “If you’re doing something the new Hokage doesn’t like, how many rules are you breaking?” “I’m not sure of the exact number. Maybe I’m technically not breaking any.” You stared at the tip of your knife, which rested on the cutting board. “Worst case scenario?” “You used to be an optimist.”  “I’m a realist who hopes Providence has my back. Answer the question.” After a long, slow exhale, Kakashi rocked back on his heels. “Danzo gets back from his trip, discovers Yamato and I left the village with Naruto, and decides to make an example of me. So I might be facing a demotion. Maybe a short prison sentence, if he’s feeling particularly harsh.” Your stomach twisted at his words, but your face didn't flinch as you continued staring down the tabletop. “Very well.” Leaning forward into your line of sight, Kakashi gave you a thumbs up, his right eye squinting almost closed as he smiled at you. “I hope you’ll visit me in prison if it comes to that, right?” He teased. Still clutching your vegetable peeler, you raised your fist and brought it down on top of his head playfully, squashing his spiky silver hair. “Idiot.” Pulling your hand away, you grinned back. “You’re my friend. Of course I’d visit.” Better than him not coming back at all, which was how you assumed your friendship would end one day. Of course, he had died right here in the village not long ago, so there really wasn’t anywhere safe, for either of you. “Don’t worry.” Your friend’s voice was quiet but reassuring.  “Kakashi?” Captain Yamato stuck his head into the tent. “I’ll be seeing you.” Your friend raised a hand in a wave, and then he was gone. Picking up another potato, you muttered. “I hope so. I really hope so.” Ever since Kakashi had rescued you nineteen years ago, back when both of you were still children, you’d always known his ninja world was dangerous. Heck, your younger brother had commented that he didn’t know how you had the courage to befriend ninjas when you knew how likely they were to one day shatter the friendship by dying. You thought you had grown accustomed to the knowledge, accepted the future pain in exchange for a handful of interesting friends who could manage feats a civilian like you could only dream of. But this felt different. Political problems at home couldn’t be solved with force. If Kakashi got himself in trouble with the Hokage, there would be little to do but watch it unfold. You snorted as you quickly quartered a potato with two violent strikes of your knife. Honestly, why worry about this? Nothing you could do to change events, only try to alleviate the pain of bad outcomes if they came to pass…

Author's note: This is my first attempt at writing anything for a Naruto character. So if you've got feedback, then I'm interested to hear it. (But you don't have to say anything.)

[stagefoureddiediaz]

Costume meta 6x10

Costume metas are back baby!!!! I’m so happy to be back writing these - you have no idea how much i missed writing them. This one is not quite as full on as my normal metas and has taken me far longer than I’d intended - if you’ve been following my posts over the last couple of days you will be fully aware of my insanity spiral over the Eddie of it all (as well as poker Buddie!) so I hope you’ll forgive me - I’ve not had the mental capacity I normally do to dedicate to costume spiralling!

No Eddie this week as he only appeared in uniform 😭 

A couple of more general things to point out - the use of Check - we see it on Nathaniel Greene and Phillip Buckley - which I think is a very interesting and loud choice considering this episode was all about fathers and fatherhood and the two fathers who are not all that (Mr Han is also in that number but his grey on grey suit was a deliberate choice that I will talk about in a minute) are the ones wearing check and tapping right on into my check theory!!! So Nathaniel is going to find himself in hot water very soon so the check is foreshadowing this for him. Philip (and Margaret as well actually!) in check is also foreshadowing whatever is about to go down with the Buckley parents (that happy family facade they’ve been putting on is about to crack big time!).

Grey is one of those colours that can be either warm grey (like we often see on Buck) or cool grey (which we have here on Mr Han) and that affects which meanings you attribute to it. Mr Han in double grey just about sums him up as a person - cold, conservative and controlling. Its also a colour that conveys gloom and frustration when worn in multiple like this, there is also the fact that ill people are often described as looking grey - which leads me to think that Mr Han being terminally ill is actually very likely!

The other thing I want to point out is the red harnesses - I know I don’t talk about the uniforms all that much except when there is something important an interesting in relation to them and this is very much that! Chim, Buck and Eddie are the ones we see in the red belt harnesses. Chimney removes his after Buck stakes his claim on it being his turn to go up the ladder and Chimney steps back from ladder detail. The reason I point this out is because its a very bright visual way of identifying and connecting both the fact that Chimney also has a red string of fate connected to Buck (I’m talking about family here and I know that technically all the firefam have strings of fate connecting them, but in this specific incidence its about the brotherly connection - the parallel to Kevin and Albert) which is relevant at that first moment but then the focus needs to shift. Eddie and Buck become the only ones distinguishable in the pouring rain - the only ones tied by that red string of fate - even when (and especially) when Buck is on the gurney.

over to our mains - below the cut to save your dashes!

Athena and May

I’m doing the two of them together this week because they are the costume version of yin and yang!

The silk blouse has a monstera leaf print - monstera symbolises suffocation in western culture which is a perfect symbol for this story arc - suppressing of evidence or information because of money etc. the use of navy red and white is also interesting - its very much a hint towards patriotism - a deliberate choice to play into the upperclass America vibe they’re claiming to be part of! 

Mays two main costumes are costumes themselves - they aren’t representative of who May is or her character, the are the clothes of the character she’s playing - Jada. As outfits for Jada - they are very much playing to type - teenager with issues who’s rebelling against straight laced parents - Both Athenas and Mays outfits work perfectly in sync with each other as the anthesis of the other. Mays are both in the same tonal range - burnt dusty reds, washed out blue greys and beiges - all in the same colour spectrum as Athenas ‘costume’ but tonally at the oposite end - where mays are dark and muted, Ahtenas are bright and bold

in the middle of the undercover work we get a reminder of who they really are - Athenas generally more muted palette - her comfort colour choices of black and olive khaki green, while May is back in her bold and bright blocks of colour. Perfectly summing up that while Athena is playing a role that is not a million miles away from who she is (and channeling a bit of Beatrice in the process because that blouse is a Beatrice blouse in every way!), Athena also tends to wear the olive khaki colour on top when she’s investigating something outside of work - and by this I don’t just mean full blown investigating, I also mean low key - clocking something is going on with a member of the extended firefam and she’s paying attention. May is at the opposite end of the spectrum from Jada! I’ve talked about May wearing this sugary bright pink before in season 5 and the scene here is somewhat of a parallel to the one in 5x15- youthful and considered feminine but also compassionate and caring. It is sensitive and intuitive. All things we see in this scene - May is using her intuition about Tamara and her being a ‘weak link’ that will get some information. We also see her showing compassion for Bobby in this scene.

Bobby

keeping it simple for Bobby this week - just the one outfit and its supposed to essentially blend in with his uniform - we see him working on things related to the wildfire that Wendell died in both at the station while in actual uniform, and then at home with Athena and May (as an aside the fact that we see bobby with his family esp his stepdaughter and then with Buck and no other members of the fire fam is very telling!!) - it’s all signalling Bobby is in work mode even when he’s at home.

Hen

If there was ever a cardigan to signal the fact that Hen is puzzled by Denny’s behaviour and new interests - this one is very definitely it - it literally has neutral face emojis all over it 😐😐😐 which are often used to convey mild irritation and concern - both things Hen is clearly feeling in this scene. Red is also a colour associated with both anger and and love - we know Hen loves Denny, but its very likely that there will be anger down the line when she discovers what Denny has been up to. This jumper also fits with my check theory - it is a big checkerboard - so its foreshadowing for the upcoming Denny issues!

I’m going to say something here which is being used as a narrative device - Hen is wearing maroon, because she is in the ‘male’ or ‘father’ parent role at this moment - I don’t prescribe to the concept of queer parents fitting into gender stereotypes of parenting (that theres a fatherly one and a motherly one!) nor do I believe sport is a fathers domain but in this particular instance the wardrobe team are playing into a costume theme they’ve developed - namely that maroon is the colour worn when (mostly male) characters are being fatherly in someway. It is implied in this scene and the one in the firehouse, that Hen is the one who has been the one mostly supporting Denny in his sporting interests - football (sorry soccer - Im British its football 😂) initially and now she wants to be supportive in his baseball interest. 

Not a costume thing, but I think its interesting and its costume adjacent, but I love the fact they’ve chosen two very different sports - one played with hands, the other with feet and the one Denny is taking up is the one where curveballs are a thing!

Denny

Or should I be calling him ‘D’?? 

we have this blue and black shirt - I have to confess my brain went off in 6 different directions on this one. Firstly there is the fact that its not that disimilar to what Christopher is wearing when Eddie catches him talking to his friends online late at night - the colours are different but the use of patterning is similar and the fact that Chris and Denny have paralleling story arcs is very 👀👀 It also ties Denny in with Hen as she also wears a lot of patterning similar to this. then there is the fact its black and blue - what is the first thing you think of when you say black and blue - being beaten up - potentially foreshadowing - not necessarily for a physical beating, more likely for the psychological bruising ahead. there is also the Rorschach test and camouflage elements as well. All in all its a shirt that speaks of secrecy pyschological trauma and trouble ahead!

This tee has me feeling all levels of insane. We have green for growth and renewal- its a bright green too, so its really reenforcing that idea. Then there is the design - a leopard in a jungle setting which is so many metaphors all rolled into one - the obvious ones of the jungle being dangerous, leopards not changing their spots and hiding in pain sight. But there are a few others - camouflage, the fact that leopards are nocturnal and solitary, they are also opportunistic. Then theres the jungle - jungles as well as being dangerous places, are also dense and in places impenetrable, they are overgrown and tangled. All of these things speaks volumes about what is going on with Denny right now, and the fact that he’s getting himself deeper and deeper into the jungle where opportunistic animals are waiting to strike. It a really clever use of imagery in graphic tee design to convey information and its something the show does a lot with the kids clothing!

Chimney

some really interesting stuff going on with Chimney in this episode - namely the fact that he’s wearing check - all the time, as well as the fact we get him in this lovely burnt orange colour!

Starting with the check - I’ve said it a million times and I’ll probably say it a million more, but the check is foreshadowing trouble ahead - in this instance its the unexpected arrival of the Han’s. The button down shirt under the jumper is maroon and burnt orange check - maroon is the colour of fatherhood in 911 verse so the maroon is a nod to that, both the fact that Chimney is a father (and a good one), but also that his father is the trouble ahead! While the orange - well orange is the colour of optimism, enthusiasm and emotional strength - the perfect colour for Chim in this scene - he’s being optimistic about what having the Buckleys to visit will be like - that together he and Maddie can get through anything. This opening outfit for 6b also shows us that Chim is in a much stronger place - things are going well for him - life is good and that has given him confidence and placed him in a better place emotionally.

then we get this blue check button down shirt - its light blue and a darker blue, and again the check is portending doom. I don’t want to make this all about Buck, (becasue it isn’t) but, the fact we see Chim in a blue check specifically while the Buckleys and Hans argue over Bucks sperm donation is super interesting. Its not only foreshadowing that Buck - who is also in blue, is about to come to harm in the place that was very nearly chimneys (as inBuck going up the ladder instead of Chim). It is also hinting at the fact that Chimney and his father (who is incidentally also in a blue shirt) are on a collision course. This check is about foreshadowing the two opposite disasters/ issues heading Chimneys way - the fact that he is about to potentially lose a brother - and one that has taken the place he was supposed to be in. That Chimney is going to have to reckon with the guilt and grief that causes - making this shirt about Chim’s connection to Buck but also connected to the idea of another man raising a child - much of Chimneys trauma stems from that very issue - he was raised by Mr Lee, had Kevin who was a brother in all but blood - who died in a work related accident and now he’s going to go through the same thing with Buck. the whole thing is setting up for Chimneys trauma to come and hit pretty hard - which all goes back to his own blood father - which is why we see Buck and Sang in the two very different blues and chimney in the check of both of them.

Maddie & Jee-Yun

Maddie going for full on black is such a choice! Black is a power colour, its sophisticated and mysterious, while also being authoritative and protective. It is also a colour of rebirth which is really important here for Maddie. This is a Maddie who is in the best possible place right now, but her choice to wear all black for the arrival of her parents is all about her wanting to but on a display of power while at the same time protecting herself and her family (Chim, Jee and Buck) its very much fake it till you make it - its not necessarily about her having power/control (which she does), but about the appearance of it.

This is about her rebirth as a person and as a mum and her showing that rebirth to those who have judged her in her life. 

the purple suit and bright blue top are an interesting choice. The jewel tones exude happiness and contentment. I’ve spoken before about how we often see characters in these brighter versions of colours when they’re in a good place or having fun (think of the times we’ve seen Athena in bright jewel colours, or even Buck) and here we see Maddie embracing that her daughter is having fun with her grandparents and her family is all together and not fighting or distant from one another - don’t forget this is likely the fist time she has experienced this ever. The purple blazer is in line with other things we’ve seen on Maddie this season - we’ve seen her in bright purple before. Purple is a really interesting choice to me because so much of its meaning is connected to mystery, but also the understanding of ones self better, building and strengthening emotional connections to our deepest thoughts and desires. its such a choice for this scene - the happy family Maddie wants, has wanted all her life and hasn’t had in her grasp until now, but also the Daniel of it all - that she is now free to talk about her brother, to share her knowledge of him and that she has been able to actually sit in her grief and come to terms with it. It’s a really powerful choice for her and speaks so much about how far Maddie has come.

Look I love love love what the show does with the kids clothes - its always so on point for the scene - and this Baby Jee tee is no exception. ‘Shapes I know’ - a literal point at the fact that families can look different - they come in different shapes and thats something Jee ‘knows’ and is experiencing. It’s literally one of the cornerstones of he show - that families look different and come in a multitude of shapes and sizes and in this scene the show is very much pointing out that the Buckley parents and Han parents don’t really understand that in any great depth. The Buckleys are only being supportive and nice when it suits them - when they’re in front of others and can be judged - creating a fantasy of a loving and supportive family to the outside world - while behind closed doors - they’re not really interested and are in fact the complete opposite. The Han’s have a very rigid view on family and that there is only one type of family (I’m expecting Sang Han to make some comment about Jee being born outside of marriage etc at some point) and anything that doesn’t conform to that isn’t acceptable.  

Buck

I so desperately wan to quiz the wardrobe department on the choice to have Buck in trousers that sit two inches above his ankle. 

You can’t see them in either of these pictures, but Buck is still wearing trousers far too short for his legs and its making me insane. I know Oliver has stupidly long legs, but its not like they don’t have the budget to get trousers made and tailored to fit him. I mean its been this way since season 2 and everything is intentional so they must have decided on it as a character thing but I for one cannot figure out what its supposed to tell us about him - the only thinking I’ve managed to come up with is that he’s stuck in this liminal space between child and adult - not really one or the other (because of the saviour baby and not knowing about it of it all) so its a play on the historic idea of breeching and short trousers! It’s literally the only reason I can think of as to why they would do this. Especially because the outfit he is wearing in his coma dream he’s wearing trousers that fit his leg length which only proves to me that its intentional!

If we see Buck figure things out this season and we then see him start wearing longer trousers going forwards - ones that are actually the right length for his legs I might actually ascend to the astral plane!!!

This green top continues the theme of seeing Buck in either blues or this light green shade - it echoes both the polo shirt from 6x07 when he made his donation, and the one he wore to the Ren Faire in 6x08 and continues to prove my theory about the use of these green shirts on Buck - the colour might not have gotten darker, but the fact its still the same light shade and we’ve had no further progress (in terms of where Buck is at mentally - the pregnancy is obviously progressing!) at this point in time - we know he’s wearing gree ni the coma - and its a darker/brighter shade - hinting that progress- growth etc is happening and that the coma will be the catalyst for that growth to start - I fully expect to see Buck in more green as the season progresses and to see it getting deeper and brighter as we go along.

I have so many thoughts about this dark navy blue shirt we see Buck wearing for the Buckley-Han showdown. Its yet more Buck in shades of blue - forget 50 shades of grey Buck is all about 50 shades of blue (I think were up to 12 blue tops now for him this season and the next highest colour he wears is green with 3)!!  theres the uniform aspect of it all - a bit like Bobby in this episode as well, but for Buck its almost like wearing the uniform gives him confidence and strength - superhero style - something he feels he needs to go through another experience with his parents. 

There is something to be said about the use of blues at opposite ends of the spectrum on Buck - from the light pastel blues to this dark navy almost black blue, almost like Buck is oscillating between where he’s at mentally - projecting confidence, reliability, loyalty and trustworthiness, while also suggesting that internally he is struggling - blue is also a colour depression and suppression. We have to remember that Buck is still trying to figure out who he is, what he wants and how to be at ease with himself and so the use of both dark and light blues speaks of the duality of Buck right now. I bring this up because looking back through my costume plots for each character its become obvious that this season its very much deliberate - all his blue outfits in previous seasons have been within a much smaller spectrum of colour - wearing blue but all similar in shade - tending toward bright blue or navies!

If you’ve made it to the end then I thank you - have a cookie on me 🍪🍪🍪 we all deserve them after that episode and we’re going to need out strength for next weeks!!

I hope you’ve enjoyed my deep dive ramblings on costume for 6x09 - drop me a reblog or a comment to let me see your thoughts - I love reading them!!

As always tagged people below - if anyone wants to be added (or removed from) to the list please let me know in the comments!

Until next week (when I have a feeling I might be being set up for a very very long meta post 😬😬😬) 

@mistmarauder @theladyyavilee @loveyourownsmiilee @leothil @girldadbuddie @kitkatpancakestack  @buckscurls @lemotmo @trashendence @elishareads  @clipboardsandstethoscopes @comfortbuddie @fiona-fififi  @callanee @calyssmarviss @pbandjeremiah @batgrldes  @spotsandsocks  @livingwherethesidewalkends  @idontshitpostbuttheolympicpark @diazboysbuckley @sweettsubaki @shortsighted-owl @sherlocking-out-loud @dickley-buddie  @favouritealias @hearteyesdiaz  @ktinastrikesback  @princesschez75 @bucksbuddie @oneawkwardcookie  @leatherat @moniquekatie @wanderingwomanwondering  @trickster-archangel @outrunningthedark @asharadaine @ajunerose  @talespinner230 @pop-kam @swiftiebuckleys @xxfiction-is-my-realityxx @butchjerry @mandzuking17 @yelenasbuddie​ @copyninjabuckley​ @name-code-black-widow​​ @rogerzsteven​

[fanfoolishness]

starlight + hunter? :)

Please enjoy! This ended up being a little longer. Hunter walks beneath the stars of Pabu, set in season 2. :)

The Soldier

He isn’t sleeping well.

It doesn’t make much sense, objectively.  Pabu is the safest world they’ve been on in months, maybe in their lives.  It’s a paradise here.  The people are genuinely kind, grateful to them for all of their help during the sea surge.  Omega runs and plays and laughs, and he keeps losing her in crowds of dozens of other children, all unique.  Hunter knows he should be sleeping better than ever in a place of such security.

But night after night he wakes up after a few hours of uneasy, broken sleep, and eventually gets up, going on walks alone.

He lets the night-voice of this world wash over him as he walks the mountainside.  He’s used to the blending of a place’s scents, sounds, light spectrum, gravity, weather all combining into a particular signature.  Pabu is painted in a rich new palette, and he walks through it in the dark, memorizing it on his own.

There’s the ever-present lap of the waves on the shore; during the day he’d have to go to Lower Pabu to pick out the sounds in the maze of the village’s ambient noise, but here in the quiet it’s easy for him to hear, even hundreds of feet from the shore.  It mingles with the songs of tree-crickets and the chatter of sea-bats.

There’s the scents of the large shade-trees, green vines bearing lush fruits on the sides of homes, the smells of sand and surf and leaf.  He breathes deep of all of it, marveling at the lack of oil, exhaust, ozone.

There’s the mercurial breeze, sometimes sweet and gentle from the south-southwest, sometimes a bold blast from the wild north seas, sometimes a constant gust from the utter west.  It dances over his face, flutters his hair against his neck and cheeks.  

There’s the low-pitched hum of tectonic plates deep in the stone, the deep and vital shift just barely palpable when he lays his hand on stone.  It always makes him pause; he stops, digs his palm against the stone wall, prays for the sake of the people here that there will not be another quake.

There’s the starlight.  It’s still so strange to see a starfield unmarred by the steady stream of ships, the lights of landing fields.  Countless constellations smatter the darkness in white and twinkling gold.  He wonders if Tech knows their names already, if Crosshair could see them in incredible detail.

One night he turns at the top of the stairs.  The wind has shifted; someone is coming up behind him, though they exercise no attempt at stealth.  Hunter takes a pace forward and pauses as the person steps beneath a string of glowing lights on the veranda above.  It’s only Shep.

“Can’t sleep?” Shep asks kindly.  “This isn’t the first time I’ve seen you making the rounds.”

Hunter shrugs.  “I’m just not used to it here.  It’s so…”  Peaceful.  “Quiet.”

“And you seem restless.  A tough combination,” Shep observes.  “Do you ever watch the stars?”

“Sometimes.  More to scan for any potential threats than for the stars themselves, I suppose.”

“That’s about what I thought,” says Shep.  He points up to the sky, to an arc of bright white points loosely near each other.  “You see that up there?”

He squints.  “Sort of.  Is it supposed to be something?”

“That’s the Soldier,” says Shep.  

“Really now.” 

Shep gives him a rueful smile.  “Hey, I didn’t name them.”  He gestures, drawing a hint of an outline.  Hunter studies the stars above them.  If he tilts his head to the side, he supposes he can see something like a figure up above, holding a sword, or maybe a rifle.  

“If you say so,” he says.

“In the stories, the Soldier is a tragic figure,” Shep says.  “Doomed to wander the skies.  It’s one of the easiest constellations you can see shift with the seasons.  Sometimes it seems like he’s never in the same place twice.”  He turns to Hunter.  “It must be hard to settle down after seeing so much.”

The stars glitter above them.  The Soldier’s rifle swings high; his feet march onward.  Hunter lets out a long breath.  “Yeah.  I guess it is.”

Shep reaches out, squeezes his shoulder before letting his hand fall.  “I hope it gets easier.  You and your family deserve it.”  He nods to him.  “Try to get some sleep, Hunter.”  He heads back the way he came, and Hunter’s left alone beneath the stars.

He slowly makes his way back to the ship.  For a moment, he thinks about asking Tech in the morning if there really is a constellation here called the Soldier.  But the more he thinks about it, the more he decides he doesn’t need to know. 

He climbs back into bed, the sounds of night-crickets and waves in his ears.  He falls into a deep and dreamless sleep, and when he finally wakes again, the sun is high and the stars are long forgotten.

[gardening-is-punk]

Lunarpunk gardens

Okay, I'll admit I'm not on top of the whole aesthetics of the various -punk genres, but looks imo should be considered after function and ethics. SO...

I was inspired by this post and got to thinking about what a Lunarpunk garden would mean on my site.

I decided the most important part of the post was "Let me propose lunarpunk being more than just witchy aesthetics. It should be about reducing light pollution, protecting all endangered species including the ugly ones, and most of all seeing darkness as a coexisting counterpart and not something to conquer." So, that's three ideas that I can work with.

reducing light pollution: Working through this idea the same way I would evaluating an established garden in terms of layers and scale of objects in the space, at a site-level the only exterior lights are those at the front and back door. Various flying insects are very attracted to the back light, which is a normal incandescent bulb, and less are attracted to the front ones, which are green. In both cases, we never leave them on all night, but working off what several websites say about bulb color and warmth, I can swap all the bulbs for a warmer-tone LED bulbs and that would cause less issue when they are on at night. Scaling up, I'm not sure what I can do about the huge streetlight on our road, which has the most hideous white-light. Before I DO anything, I probably should dig into the city's files, since I know the bulbs were changed into those LEDs a few years ago, and maybe there was some thought put into that decision.

protecting all endangered species including the ugly ones: Given I'm looking at Lunarpunk, an obvious connection here was moths, the 'ugly' relatives of butterflies. Personally, I love moths and understand their greater ecological role compared to butterflies from a video presentation I watched a few months ago (I'll post that later). Focusing in on the "endangered" aspect, I used Xerces Society's 'Species Profile' tool to look at my state and see what moths are endangered in my area. (Side-note: I also looked at the other categories, like Bees, Beetles, etc. and nothing was specifically noted for my area, so I'm putting those categories on the backburner for ideas rn.) I identified three species of moth as endangered for my area: Diana Fritillary, Dukes' Skipper, and Early Hairstreak. The idea to then ID what plants the eggs and larvae need as host plants, what adults need for sustenance, and what mirco-climates I can make to support their life cycles.

Diana Fritillary (Speyeria diana) "As a forest-dependent species, threats to the Diana fritillary come mainly from forest management: logging operations and pest control... There is one flight from June to September. Males emerge before females and patrol within the forest. Females lay eggs later in the flight period, mainly August, walking along the ground and attaching eggs singly to twigs and dead leaves. As with other Speyeria species, the caterpillars hatch and hibernate without feeding. They emerge in spring to feed on the leaves and flowers of various species of violets. Adults feed on nectar from a variety of plants, including milkweeds (Asclepias sp.), ironweed (Vernonia sp.), and red clover (Trifolium pratense). Males will also drink fluids from dung...Habitats for the Diana fritillary are the edges and openings in moist, rich mountain forests. They will also use pastures, shrublands, and fields for nectaring but will only breed if there is a suitable forest margin. Larval hostplants are various species of violets (Viola sp.)" (quotes from Xerces Society).

So, this species wants a forest edge, which my neighborhood is certainly not; however, I have a decent handful of trees which I mulch using unprocessed leaf litter and stems over the winter, and this provides a decent base for supporting any number of species in my site. I also have lots of self-sown viola in the lawn and beds, which I greatly enjoy not only for their tiny and delicate looking flowers, but also the fulsome heart-shaped leaves the rest of the summer and autumn. I have two Swamp Milkweeds planted, and I'll consider more species as space and needs arise. So far, off to a good start.

Dukes' Skipper (Euphyes dukesi) "It can be found in a variety of moist habitats with long grass, such as marshes or ditches, but the primary habitat is patches of sedge—its main larval host plant—in forested swamps. Dukes’ skipper deserves conservation efforts wherever it is found. Its forested wetland habitat should be protected from drainage, logging, and spraying...In the mid-south, there are two between June and September... Adults visit open wetlands to drink nectar from flowers such as pickerelweed (Pontederia sp.), sneezeweed (Helenium sp.), hibiscus (Hibiscus sp.), and blue mistflower (Conoclinium sp.)...Dukes’ skipper can be found in a variety of moist habitats with long grass, such as marshes or ditches, but the primary habitat is sedge patches in forested swamps. Larval hostplants are sedges, including hairy sedge (Carex lacustris) and shoreline sedge (Carex hyalinolepis)" (Xerces Society).

Again, not a habitat that is immediate to my site. The good news is that I'm already starting several Swamp Hibiscus from seed this year for various spots, and I've been looking more into sedges for a couple wet spots. In particular, I want to run an open pipe from the AC drip into a spot where I removed a non-native 'hibiscus' this winter after some damage. I could feasibly do a few sedges around the Swamp Hibiscus. I doubt I would get a breeding population on my own, but if it becomes an effective use of the water, this might be a technique that I can demonstrate to others in the neighborhood - and again, it's a good habit for several species besides the Skipper.

Early Hairstreak (Erora laeta) "The habitat is mature deciduous and mixed woods containing its host plants, American beech and beaked hazelnut. As a forest-dependent species, both logging activities and pest control spraying are possible threats...There are usually one flight (May – mid-June) in the north and two flights (mid-April – mid-May and late- June – July) in the east. Rarely, a partial third flight (late-August – early-September) in the southern Appalachians. Males perch in treetops on ridges and hilltops to watch for females. Adults nectar on fleabane (Erigeron sp.), oxeye daisy (Leucanthemum vulgare), and steeplebush (Spiraea tomentosa) Early Hairstreaks spend a considerable part of their life in the canopy. Some observers note that adults visit moist ground in the morning (for example, along dirt roads) before returning to the canopy in the afternoon. Eggs are laid singly on the hostplant fruit. Caterpillars feed on nuts, initially the husk in early instars and later boring inside. Most of the year is spent as pupae, probably in the leaf litter" (Xerces Society).

I'm realizing now that the reason these three species are threatened so much is that their habitat is decidedly not urban or adaptable to the swathes of monocultures that have swallowed my area. I don't have any Beech or Hazel nut yet, but I do have some beechnuts sown in a pot, that I picked off the path in a local park. If those germinate, I can probably keep some in pots and maybe get one in the ground depending on the circumstances this summer. I don't have any of the nectar plants, except the fleabane which randomly pops as a volunteer ( a "weed" to those more judgmental about pioneer-recovery species), and I can look into Steeplebush seeds, since they do look gorgeous and I can probably sell the more reluctant in my household on that factor.

seeing darkness as a coexisting counterpart and not something to conquer

This one is a bit tougher to work with outside of my own praxis, specifically in convincing others visually through my site. Honestly, I think the best way to suggest this visually is in using plants that are either dark foliaged (I have a ninebark and planning on some corn that fit this bill) or silver foliaged/white flowering ( a garden sage I have in a pot and the sown buttonbush, maybe). In daytime, I'm hoping to focus a lot on bright masses of color paired with bright hardscape, like the existing white accents and planned turquoise painted pots. The dark foliage are native plants; the ninebark is a replacement for the awful barberries I spent hours hacking out, and the corn is "Flor de Rio" a burgundy-colored popcorn variety. Those alone I hope are visually different enough to catch people's interest, but I know a lot of people take walks in my neighborhood in the evening, at dusk or after dark. The white flowers and silver foliage might actually benefit from the harsh streetlight, here, shining out from the muted greens and darker foliage.

The easiest way to try and further this point is naturally to talk to people about the idea, but I think this visual communication/demonstration could serve as the backbone of those potential conversations.

further thoughts

Lunarpunk isn't a genre I've really worked with before, but I hope this interpretation of the idea (a dark/hidden counterpart to the more well known Solarpunk ethos) can meaningfully help people reconsider their biases about visibility and usefulness, and of course provide support to various critters in the area.

[silvernyxchariot]

Deidara x GN!Reader

Synopsis: Mercenaries try to attack Deidara and Sasori to turn in their bounties to the Hidden Leaf, but one of them falls for their target.

Word Count: 2,897

⚠️Warning: FLUFF!! Slow burn. Did I unintentionally write enemies-to-lovers when I was a kid? Ohonhonhon~ Inspired by “I didn’t Know That I Could Feel This Way” – performed by Roger Bart and Susan Egan.⚠️

I Didn't Know that I Could Feel This Way

Premature Burial

My team and I consist of a five-person squad. I didn’t get along much with any of my teammates, but I guess it’s better to stay in a pack, rather than to die alone. We were a small group, obviously, and very few thought much of us; we weren’t hired for many jobs or looked at as a threat to other groups. I wandered the halls of our small abode trying to think of something. Something that would make these losers a little better known and therefore making me a little better known. You’d think that being noticed is a bad thing for a group of Missing ninja, but that doesn’t pay for our living necessities.

The sunlight shone through the window to my bedroom, I came in and leaned against the railing looking up at the clear sky. “Hmm… Am I the only one that thinks around here; everyone else is lazily moping around. Screw this,” I jumped out the window of our two story building and began walking around the small town we were located in. It’s not like our group is seen as a threat. No, we’re a sorry excuse for a mercenary group; we’re not like… like… the Akatsuki.

Hours passed and I probably circled the village about sixty times by now the ground seemed to have a miniature ditch etched into it. The sun began to set, and something slapped me in the face. The Akatsuki work in pairs and there are five of us, if we can at least capture one that’d be perfect! But something like that isn’t exactly easy. We’ll have to start planning immediately.

I ran for our building; this would be splendid. Not caring what the hell everyone was doing I slammed the front door open and called a meeting. Third in command means nothing to me if I’m oh-so–smarter than these imbeciles. Hehehe~ “Alright everyone, I’ve got an idea to make us not just mercenary group for hire but some group that’s worth their salt! Since we’re not great “villains,” let’s change it all up to being Anti-Heroes. Okay, just listen! We’re going to kidnap an Akatsuki member and…” Crap… I didn’t think further than that did I… “We’ll just capture them and… turn them into a ransom or- or a bounty. For the Leaf to pay us. See we’ll just help the big dogs,” I grumbled, “Since we’re just small fry…”

“That kinda sucks,” says Renka, the leader of our group. He’s not the brightest but he does have the balls to try and help me pull off something like this “But I like it. Let’s go for it, we don’t have too much to live for. So, what the hell.”

“They work in pairs, all of us are about jonin level or up; if we all work on grabbing the same one in perfect unison we could do it!” Then it was decided we would take on an Akatsuki member. It was my decision to pick one out; the only known members in public are: Itachi Uchiha from Konoha, Kisame Hoshigaki from Kiri, Deidara a blonde girl, Sasori an angry looking man that’s covering his face, a silver haired man, and another man with green irises and red sclera. Hmmm, since it’s my choice to pick… I’ll go with… the blond woman.

Confrontation

Okay, the past couple of weeks we’ve all done this research on that one member of Akatsuki. “Wow, I didn’t realize he was a guy…” It turns out his name is Deidara from Iwagakure, he’s a bombing expert previously from Iwa’s Explosion Corps, and his partner is Akasuna no Sasori, the poison and puppeteer master from Sunagakure. We were all gathered at our kitchen table, our group work flowed nearly flawless, and everyone works with one another, watching what everyone else does to make sure of our next move. I don’t want to have any doubt in this group anymore. This will be one of our most amazing feats. Some may say we’re desperate, insane, lame, or just plain stupid, but it doesn’t matter at least we’re getting our asses in gear and doing something. We’ll head out now, as far as the information we’ve received, this Akatsuki duo is in the Land of Rivers in the Village Hidden in Valleys. From our destination to the village, I would estimate a day’s travel if we kept going. The sun passed slowly with each leap through the trees, it was boring traveling with these twits. I couldn’t make a conversation with their shoes for all that they were worth.

Night fall never needed to come, 25 meters ahead of us the Akatsuki duo was walking in our direction. If it was our lucky day, it must have been today. Renka as leader of the group launched an Earth jutsu using a crater to block the Akatsuki’s path in return he received a metallic tail. The tail didn’t kill him and while in the air it’s nearly impossible to dodge but he spun and it only cut the epidermis of his arm, not enough to draw blood, so he was still combat worthy. Mai and Hiroshi, more of my teammates, shot a "Water Style: Tornado Spear" and "Lightning Style: Electric Raid" to stall Sasori, the shorter looking teammate. He seemed to scowl like this was a simple chore he didn’t want to deal with. He looked down on us, clearly.

“Looks like we’ve got an ambush set for us. Huh, Sasori, my man.”

“They’re weak, finish it quick,” The shorter man said with a deep a coarse voice.

I would refuse failure but if I died at least I died in battle… And I’d like to put up a fight! Deidara released several white spiders from a ball he tossed into the air. If I remember correctly, Deidara is an explosives expert. Although small his little creatures tore the ground wide open to reveal a cavern of sorts and blew up one of the men on the team. Some of us got sent falling to our death.

Into the Abyss

The small battle was brief but to be honest… I was glad to be rid of that “mercenary group” I was a part of. Before that… On the battlefield above I had enough distractions pulling Deidara and Sasori’s attention that I was able to assassinate Deidara from behind. At least that’s how it should have happened.

Instead, I was knocked into the cavern with him and entered into a fist fight. I got the last blow to his face before he released a weird looking bird to kill me.

I woke up in the dark. My fall shouldn’t have been so hard but that cavern was deep. “GAH! Get off my crotch hn!” What… he’s not dead? I did as he asked but I wish I knew where we were. There were make-shift lanterns in my pouch, I used one to lighten the area. The little flame made a fizzling noise. The little illumination had shown a dull yellow on his face and mine. His eyes were strange… as if he were seeing things in detail… “Well, don’t you have fine lips hn.” There weren’t any deep gashes to either of us but I’m sure we’ll be sore for the next week or so with a little head trauma.

“You’ve got a deep voice. And here I thought you looked a little girl-ish,” I stated to him apologizing for the mistake. This was perhaps the best chance to take him out right now but… I’d rather get out of here first besides he wouldn’t be dumb enough to stumble in the darkness of a small cave against an opponent who’s been attacking him in close combat.

“You thought I was a woman? Yeah, like I don’t get that a lot.” He rolled his only visible eye sarcastically.

“Well, you are of average height for woman and have long blonde hair, what else should I have thought. That’s besides the point right now,” I scowled at him. “Help me get out of here? If you try an explosion on the ceiling, we’ll BOTH get crushed…” Although he should resent me, he agreed to my request and so we began walking in the direction we believed was west.

I hated small spaces. The width of the valley was barely wide enough for a fettle position and only taller than both of us standing on one another. My breathing was a little uneven that posed a problem. We’re underground and the air supply is limited. “Hey, you’ve got a problem or something?” I heard him say to me.

My chest felt like it was constricting, “I’m fine; we’re going to get out of here right?”

“Un.” He knows something’s wrong with me; I can’t stand these walls. “Look if you’re going to start heaving, we’re stopping ok!” I do as he says and sit down in the cramped space with my head between my knees. Deidara sits across from me crossing his legs and staring at me bored-like.

“You don’t have to stare!” I grabbed a handful of dirt and toss it at him.

“Geez, emotional much?” He’s mocking me.

“My name is [ ]…”

“Alright, [ ]; what did you think of my art earlier, huh?” What…? Art?

I raised my head and stared at him. “Those weird contraption animals that got us here in the first place!?” Our voices became louder and resonated through the cavern.

“They’re not weird, they’re beautiful! Or would you like to see them again.”

“Are you trying to get us killed down here!?”

“I have to kill you for attacking me and Sasori, hn!” He had this funny habit of grunting, I noticed. If it weren’t for the situation we were in. I’d have found it adorable.

“Well, apparently, we failed! How’s that?!”

“Pitiful! Your friends up there are probably dead by now.”

“Yeah, that matters,” I said sarcastically. It obviously should have, but it didn’t to me.

Deidara’s one eye opened wide as he stared back at me. “You don’t care about them?”

“They’re dimwits…” I shuffled up to my feet. “Get up, start moving…” The walk towards an exit that may never be found seemed endless… and I couldn’t help myself. I grabbed Deidara’s hair from behind.

“Hey! Knock it off…” I didn’t let go…

“We’re stuck down here; I’m making the most of it…” Our confrontation during our descent started physically, but it escalated verbally. Repeatedly, I guess… I’m having fun.

This is the Wrong Place for That

The walk wasn’t depressing as it should have been; I started talking to the blonde artist. I told him how I was blamed for the death of a feudal lords’ family… mistresses more like it… I helped found the mercenary group that I was a part of and how pathetic they really were… The more time spent down here and where I’m forced to stick with this one person, I started to smile. My heart flutters that stupid feeling like a schoolgirl genin but I can’t help it. I want to see him smile too.

The cave started to become narrower, my claustrophobia pulling up back to the surface… A dead end… the cavern stops here. “Great,” I wheezed. “What now?” Deidara started pounding on the wall, tapping it…

“It sounds pretty hollow on the other side; maybe I should blow the wall open.” Hmmm, he doesn’t seem wrong, I’d rather not have my skin seared off, but I don’t want to die down here either. I nod in agreement to this, and we stand back when he summons a clay cricket from the palm of his hand. Small but effective in his hands.

{Deidara’s View}

I blew open the wall and the sound vibrated through the hollow. The opening revealed a dimly lit hallway of swirls. It sure was dreary. I wonder who this place belongs to? Hm, undergrou- I didn’t finish my thought, [ ] scrambled over me through the opening shoving in my face into the wall. “You could say “Excuse me,” you know?!”

“You were taking too long and there’s no point in arguing with me since… We’re still underground!”

“And it’s my fault…?” I looked at her with an incredulous expression and they began to pout. What a cutie. Huh, awkward feeling I’m getting in my stomach… whatever. I hop out of the opening I created and started walking, this might be someone else’s territory and I’d rather not stay put to find out.

“Do you even know where you’re going!?” They screamed behind me.

“No, not really but see ya later!” We’re out of the cavern now, what use do I have for ‘em now.

I guess they didn’t think the way I did; [ ] followed me through the endless maze of hallways with wondering eyes. I’m thinking they were checking me out, I mean why not.

They caught me off guard, “That’s a smug look you have on your face…”

I looked back at them, “What do you mean, this is my face get used to it.” Our little arguments continued from conversations that were supposed to be “friendly” but that never seemed to work out. In the next corridor we turn to, I get a strange surprise, caged people. They all look up with terror as if expecting something. It looked like they’ve been here for a while.

Someone from inside a cage rushes up to me, “Can you help us?”

“Really…? Where are we?” [ ] asks while pushing up against my back.

“I don’t know ask them.” I turned to the prisoners. “Why are you all caged up?”

“Orochimaru… He performs experiments on his prisoners.” Orochimaru… My lips curl into a smirk.

“So, this Orochimaru’s place huh... Do you happen to know if he’s in the den right now?”

A murmur erupts from the crowd of prisoners and someone one the other end of the hall replied, “He’s at the eastern base right now… in the Land of Fire.”

Hmmm, that’s pretty for from here, but “Where is this base?” I kneeled to their eye level.

“On the border of the Land of Wind and Land of Rivers, huh.” My shoulders slumped in disappointment. “Well, if it gets him irritated when he comes back here, I’ll let you all free hn.” They all looked up at me now not with terror but with hope. So, I blew off the hinges and locks of the cages with a little centipede. [ ] looked at me with a face of admiration and confusion. “What… I’m not heartless, geez. Orochimaru’s gonna get a kick out of losing some of his prisoners anyway.”

We followed the prisoners to where they thought the exit is. They’re like rats; they go in the direction of least danger.

{Normal View}

Deidara was confident and had a strange humor to him. He made me feel like I’m dreaming and the stress from before blew away. I don’t think I want this feeling to go away. He smiled and I’d get a little dizzy. I wanted power and, at first, I was hoping his corpse could help my reputation. But we just meet, and as enemies to boot, I didn’t think I’d feel…

{Deidara’s View}

My first impression of [ ]? Oblivious, short-tempered, and tough. Well, at least they acted tough. The face they made towards one of the children prisoners though made me stop and stare a little. For someone so tough and vigilant, they’re just… a sweet person overall. I never dreamed that I could feel…

Love

{Normal View}

The bright sunlight burned my pupils nearly shut. All the prisoners ran from the exit and scattered, a few of them looked back to wave goodbye, and one woman hugged Deidara before running off. He doesn’t seem to be one for gratitude as I noticed the discomfort on his face. “Hmmm, you know I think I’ll just blow this place sky high hn.”

That’s the one thing that always came up in a conversation with him; he called his explosions art. I let him do as he pleased, an stepped back from the entrance of the base. He didn’t argue with me when we took off on one of his clay birds. It’s strange he would let me travel with him but he hasn’t tried killing me since the cave. So, I hoped, we’d be friends. But that thought was pushed aside when he grabbed me over the shoulders and I could barely mutter out a word. “You were shaking. It’s cold up here for you?” It’s not like a big sweater would be useful for an assassin type like me but yes, I was a little chilly. My nose felt like it was freezing and I nuzzled it into the crook of his neck and cloak and he squeezed my head.

“Hmm, ticklish much?” I purred.

“Uh, that usually doesn’t happen to me since I fly solo and all.”

{Third POV}

The trip to their destination where they were supposed to have a mission with Sasori was quiet in the wind and sky. The two of them couldn’t speak properly even their minds as they rehearsed what to say to each other. But instead, each took side wards glances at the other. All of the feelings from their first meeting to the cavern until now: anger, embarrassment, irritation, bliss… Made them question themselves at least three times since they started talking… “Could I possibly love you?”

A/N: Once upon a time I said in the author’s note, “I'm most proud of this one-shot. It makes me feel all tingly inside and I don't even "have a thang" for Deidara.” Aka, I wasn’t horny for Deidara then and I'm atill not now, which was really beneficial for some fluff. 🤗 Tbh, this wasn't as bad as the Kakashi one-shot; I could actually read through this one without a grimace.

Up next is Envy (FMA/FMA:B) for my revisited one-shots.

[mariegolddoesthings]

I can't show y'all art but I'd like to introduce y'all to my MHA ocs.

Koriya Makinari: A hotheaded girl that applied to UA alongside her cousin, Denki Kaminari.

Hero Name: Shockstorm

Quirk: Electrification - She can release electron energy from her fingers! She can get lightheaded if she overuses it.

"Don't try to get near me and my cousin. When protons and electrons collide, you're in for a voltapalooza!"

So I have a theory that Kaminari's family has different electrical energies based off who they're born from. Kaminari definitely seems like a protons guy, while his cousin has electrons! I'll explain the energy properties sometime later maybe.

Koriya Makinari was born with an uncontrollable negative energy property apart of her quirk, born from her neutron filled mother and her negativity filled father, presumed quirkless, or so she thought...her quirk, unlike Kaminari's, can seriously go out of control if not trained to restrain enough. If she uses too much power, she'll get lightheaded.

Her personality is quite like Bakugo's, except she has less of a temper and more competitive spirit. She has shorter than shoulder length black hair sticking out to her left and right sides, with a yellow lightning symbol on her right. Her eyes and skin are just like her cousin's Her first hero suit is a yellow jacket with multiple black lightning symbols adorned on it, with a radio communicator on her ear. Her pants are also yellow, with an open hole on her knee...for flair. She also wears white sneakers.

_

Jiya Jeoru: The only known nonbinary pro hero in Japan.

Hero Name: Twilight Tabby

Quirk: Perfect balance - No matter how far they lean or tilt, they'll always stay on their feet!

"I don't care what people say about me. I am a hero, and I fight for everyone. Women, men, even the ones that don't identify as either."

Jeoru has a short brown ponytail with dark square eyes and a stoic expression, their skin dull and almost completely between light and dark. Their hero suit is based off a gray Scottish Fold Cat, with the ears, a tight suit, and of course, a tail.

Pride...wasn't always something accepted in Japan. When they first arrived at UA, despite their excellent performance in the sports festival, many agencies rejected them because of who they wanted to be. But Jeoru pushed forward, no matter how much they got turned down. They became a hero. Now Jeoru's an icon across Yokohama, a role model to many worldwide.

With their quirk, they can perform impossible combat moves against villains. This helps them fight against multiple opponents with ease.

Their personality is quite calm and devoted to being a hero. And they don't let anyone tell them who they have to be. That's the balance they want to settle.

_

Mika Kaitesse: A rude, villainous girl who will always get a laugh out of someone when they use their quirk.

Villain Name: Withered clover

Quirk: Jinx Manipulation - Whoever she makes eye contact with will have bad luck fall upon them for an hour!

"Slipping on a banana peel? HA! That's too bad...and comedic!"

Kaitesse has wild, curly pigtails that are so yellow, you couldn't even call them blonde. She has narrow eyes adorned with a baby blue. Her hero suit contains a cropped tanktop with a dull green, a three leaf clover symbol revealing part of her ivory chest. She also wears shorts of the same color with black boots. She has a white glove on her right hand and a pink bracelet on her left wrist.

Life wasn't always good for Kaitesse. Her family abandoned her when she was twelve, after bad luck fell upon them too many times. Seems they couldn't handle it anymore. A shame...

Left in the rain, Kaitesse became a rebellious villain, using her quirk to have citizens' luck go down to zero, as she laughed in the shadows.

After her abandoning, Kaitesse turned out to be extremely rude and laughs at people when she gets the chance. You can't blame her, honestly.

_

I do have one more oc, but I'm still trying to develop her. For now, have these three!

[the-total-drama-world]

I like him - A NoCo fanfic: pt 2

Noah's pov:

I can't believe it only took me 2 minutes and 48 seconds to fall in love here; I hate it so much, it makes me weaker than I already am. Soon as this guys boat shows up my brain switches to hyper-focus mode. He has pale skin, His hair-short and messy, eyes like my golden lab, short and scrawny all complete with an inlet nose. Uh, why does love target me now when there's serious cash on the line. I was subtly happy to be on the same team as him. Walking to the cabins I was already bored. I was only doing this for the money. On the boys half of our cabin - wait, cabin is an exaggeration; its more like a pile of wood with a door. Anyways it had 6 beds, 3 sets of bunks. Regardless of the beds the people were... well there's this self absorbed male model named Justin, Then there's also a big guy with a blue maple leaf on his shirt and scruffy blond hair they call "Owen". Also a musical lovesick random "Trent", He's got black hair, tea skin, and a concerningly large forehead. Then there's ...him. It turns out his name is Cody. Everyone except for me and Cody scrambled for a decent bed. "I'll take the top bed" Cody said while pointing to the only set of beds left. His voice was childish and wavery. I honestly hated my deep half cracked voice. As an attempt to reach out I said "Yay, stuck in a crappy hell for a whole week at least" with a sarcastic tone. Sarcasm, it's my gift... and my curse. Cody chuckled and stared at me for a while. Good, I haven't screwed up. I wanted the moment to last but then he just put his stuff away. Uh, I was so stupid to think he could ever like someone like me but how could I expect others to love me when not even I love myself. I went outside to observe the scenery of this dumpy island. There was this huge cliff-I planned to never go anywhere near that. "Campers meet me at the top of the cliff for your very first challenge!" This Chris guy really sucks. When I finally got up there I met the female side of our team. The first person to catch my eye was an emo punk wannabe-Gwen. Then I saw a silver haired pale girl they were calling Heather, she looked...evil. There was also a dark skinned curvy girl with a pony tail- LeShawna, a blonde idiot with boobs bigger than a brain and a blue bandanna named Lindsay (i think i saw Chris eyeing her up) with a nerdy brunette (Beth) right by her side. Last and probably psychotic, a bubbly red head green eyed girl named Izzy. When she got off her boat at the start she tripped and her head smashed sickly on the dock. As Chris walked past our team I muttered "narcissist" to him. Cody must have heard me because he started to giggle. "For your challenge today you will jump into the lake below, There are two rings- one provides safety so you don't get too injured for part two" Chris said. He continued with " and the outer ring is...SHARK INFESTED." Chris cant really kill us-right?

--------------------------------

Another fairly long one but We're getting there...Slowley Thanks for making it here Don't die anytime soon Byeeee

void

[imkazz]

Pink and Green Hair (trendy in the taisho era)

We all know that Mitsuri ate a crazy amount of it to get her signature pink-green hair, but just how many would she have theoretically eaten?

To start, we have to look at the numbers. She ate 170 mochis per day for 8 months straight.

It's already crazy enough of a number, but imagine just how much that the Kanroji family would've spent on that mochi even before Mitsuri was a part of the Corps with her own salary, not to mention the fact that hashira can choose how much money they recieve. We can prove this fact by Mitsuri having her hair at a pre-pubescent age, when she beat that sumo wrestler at arm-wrestling.

First, since all months but one (mumbleaugustusmumble) have 30 days, we multiply it by eight for the eight months she spent eating the mochi. Then, I estimate by adding 4 for half of the months having 31 days. Since this is a bare estimate, these numbers can't be perfect.

244 days. This is, according to Mitsuri/Gotuge, how long it took until the Kanroji family started to notice Mitsuri's hair turning pink OR when her full transformation ended.

Now. We can multiply those days by how many sakura mochi she would eat in one of those days.

41,480.

If you wanted anime hair from eating a sweet, that's an estimated amount of how many sakura mochi you would have to eat.

Since this is unreliable information because there's not enough data given about this, and Mitsuri herself wasn't keeping track of this specifically, there's not much of a way to tell how many sakura mochi to actually eat, and this is also really unhealthy because duh it's a dessert that any normal person who isn't a girlboss like Mitsuri should eat more than three.

We also have to think about the actual sakura mochi. This sweet is made with pickled sakura leafs, which are edible, along with anko (red bean paste) and glutinous rice coloured pink, the same as sakura blossoms. Sakura are already notorious for only blooming for a week or two before fading for the rest of the year. This is why this wagashi (sakura mochi) is only designated as a spring treat.

Of course, it can still be eaten year-round. It's simply customary to eat in springtime, late March. You would just have to have loads of ingredients all the time in order to make it. Since, as I talked about Japanese tradition of only eating this in spring, it's probably that the Kanroji family would pickle their own sakura leaves, in the same way that they also make their own honey. Yet another way of telling us how well-off they are.

Other than that, anko (the filling) and glutinous rice (along with the pink colouring) is relatively easy to find because other types of wagashi are served year-round, and I believe that many of them have those two core ingredients (such as ohagi or manjuu). The main thing that makes sakura mochi special is the pickled leaf that can only be harvested in springtime, hence why it's only really served in the time that there are blossoms.

And finally, it also happens to be that I'm currently in Japan in middle-late March. I got to visit a (romantic) love temple nearby, prayed that I would find a Mitsuri gachapon before I leave Japan (because that's what you do when you go to a love temple, pray to see the love hashira), then it so happened that three doors down, there was a wagashi store!!

They also happened to serve ohagi (despite that being an autumn wagashi, in spring ohagi would usually be called botamochi), mitarashi dango (which will totally calm Haganezuka-san down), and of course, the reason for this post, sakura mochi!! Three character's favourite foods, so we obviously got some!!!

Taste test.

Mitarashi dango, as per usual, is amazing. I love warm mochi and the sauce is always great, especially when it's served fresh or you can watch the storeperson dunk the mochi into the sauce. I also got to have a huge version whilst exploring Odawara-jou, and before that too.

Ohagi, I was very excited to try some, but surprisingly, out of these three, it was my least favourite. That's not to say it wasn't good, but I don't think I really liked the anko being on the outside. Thinking back, it's probably unhealthy for Giyuu to hold it out to Sanemi with his bare hand.

Finally, sakura mochi. The leaves are edible, and they don't give any sort of taste or reliable texture, they seem to more be there as an ornamental piece, it was just the stem that could be a little pokey. The glutinous rice is light pink and on the outside, wrapped in the leaf. It's sweet! A bit sticky too, which is probably the reason for the leaf-holder. The anko on the inside is also very sweet, and this sweet was my favourite out of the three types of wagashi that we got. They are relatively small, maybe 10cm from a rough estimate, but they have a lot of density from being packed tight. While I really enjoyed this, I don't think I could ever eat 170 in a single day, much less for eight months.

I also forgot to mention, but there's two types of sakura mochi. First is the type with glutinous rice, the type Mitsuri is shown to be eating in the manga and anime, and the one I just tried. Second type is made with a pink pancake wrapping the anko, which is also wrapped in the sakura leaf. I think maybe two or three days after the first type's taste test, I got my hands on the pancake ones, but I was so tired that it got stuck in the fridge overnight. Let me tell you. Those pancakes were solid. If anyone has a taste of the pancake sakura mochi, feel free to give your actual impression!

Since, as I've already said, sakura mochi is the main type of wagashi served in spring, in the sakura season, there's loads of shops selling it nearby. I even got to try this taiyaki with sakura mochi filling instead of anko, which was... interesting, I suppose, but not terrible.

So try some sakura mochi if you're ever in Japan for the March season! I'm pretty sure that people sell this wagashi for the entire month, for more sales. (unfortunately, the sakura will only bloom in the week after i leave japan) (talk about a letdown, i always have to leave japan the week before they bloom for school)

Unfortunately no photos, but I did get to go on a train called the RomanceCar!! I immediately thought of Mitsuri with this, and I did get photos of that! Then, I searched up why it's called that, and the only reason is that there's two seats side-by-side with no armrest between, which gives room for couples to cuddle. Imagine modern Mitsuri with Iguro or Shinobu on one of these!!