#someone comes to these pirates and says hey. I've got a job for you. and it includes money. and the pirates are like HECK YEAH MONEY

[undying-lilies]

trying real hard to ignore the new story concept that just popped into my head but man am I failing

[foreversecrets]

Episode 2 - The Law of the Jungle

UPDATED! I've been through episode 2 five times now and this is what I found. I'm also going to go back and do episode 1, I just kinda speed through it.

Roy/Jason/Devon

Amanda/Thomas

Jason: The New Palace isn’t open in the morning. And most of all, not before next month…

(I didn’t say anything. He’ll end up leaving eventually, right?) (-)

Hello. Are you the owner…? (/)

Hahaha! Yes, thank you. I know. (+)

Jason: …

Maybe we shouldn’t play his game…? (+ with Jason, - Roy and Devon) 

After your little ditty when I got here, I think I believe them, Jason… (+ Roy and Devon, / with Jason)

(I didn’t say anything. Clearly, I don’t have all the information…) (- with Jason, / Roy and Devon)

Jason: …

Don’t mind them, Sir. I apologize, they don’t know how to behave. (-)

Don’t listen to him, Sir. We know very well what we’re doing. (+ with Devon, / with Jason)

Jason, maybe you can calm down with the cutting remarks? (+)

Jason: I’ll apologize in advance for inflicting a defeat on you for your first mission, but it’s not personal. 

It is for me, now. We’re going to crush you. (+ with Roy and Devon, - with Jason)

Don’t speak too soon, and may the best win! (- with Roy and Devon, + with Jason)

As long as everyone follows the rules… (-)

Jason: You “won”, but it’s a semi-victory…

It seems to me that’s still better than having lost. (+)

It doesn’t matter, it’s still a win…

I see that someone’s a sore loser.

Jason: …

(And I did the same, resuming the evening with my new colleagues and friends)

(Perhaps it’s up to me to be smarter for all of us, and hold out a hand to him) (for Jason illustraion)

(I restrained myself from hurling a few colorful insults at his back)

Jason: …

(But I swallowed my pride to better focus on the evening.)

(You pay for everything sooner or later … his turn will come.)

(No way am I going to leave things there.) (for Jason illustration)

Amanda: Nope, I’m here. And you too now…

Would you rather I come back at another time? (+)

Which is good since I was looking for you! (/)

Just say it, if I’m boring you … (-)

Amanda: You can write that down: when you need to tell a client that their choices are vulgar, say “baroque.” 

(I diligently took notes) (/)

I think that the baroque can be charming. (-)

Okay, cool. I’ll remember that. (+)

Amanda: Where do you think I buy all of my dishes?

I confess that I hadn’t asked myself the question. (/)

That’s very frugal of you. (-)

Now that you say it, it makes sense …(+)

Amanda: Any questions?

No, I don’t have any questions. That seems very solid. (+)

Can I do something to help you? (/)

What do you think about Goldreamz? And Jason? (-)

Amanda: Yeah, it’s getting late. You can go home, if you’re tired.

Not without having another drink (/)

Are you kidding? I’m having so much fun (+)

Yes, I think I’m going to do that (-)

Thomas: Actually, that’s not entirely true: I’ve already hacked their system. Just as a precaution.

You have such little trust in your own talents? (+)

Even if that doesn’t interest Devon, we’d be wrong not to take a look…(-)

You…You mean that you can read all their emails, their intranet? (/)

Thomas: That was cool right?

It was okay, but I don’t think I’ll try it again any time soon.

Yeah, it was … Really cool, like you said.

Are you kidding?! It was completely wild! (+)

Roy: So, you’ve made it? Your drive into the deep end!

At the same time, he didn’t hire me to twiddle my thumbs! (+)

Yes, it’s very nice of him not to leave me on the sidelines. (/)

Yes… I would have preferred him to ask me directly if I had any ideas, but hey…(-)

Roy: And word of mouth often works well, and allows me to make new, original or little-known contacts. 

So really, your job is to be nice? That’s cool! (/)

Cool! I hope you’ll help me meet lots of people! (+)

It’s funny, I thought you’d have a much more aggressive approach.(-)

Roy: Don’t you think?

Totally! Now I can imagine a pirate ship coming in the distance. (+)

Yeah, I agree, like an imaginary creature from the depths. (-)

I don’t know, I never really thought about it. (/)

Devon: And what do you think? About what we do… about the mood?

I think I could get used to this! (+)

It’s great! It’s nice here. (/)

Seeing that you pay me… (-)

Devon: I understand. You’d prefer to make a name for yourself in your domain…

Exactly. (+)

Yes, or not even. I don’t need to make a name for myself, that’d be okay too.(/) 

Exactly: one day, people will say that you gave Luna a leg up.(-)

Brune: Nothing. Elenda is talking nonsense. 

Very well, if you’re being secretive. (+Elenda)

Come on, you don’t want to tell me? (+Elenda)

(I didn’t insist. It’s none of my business) (+Brune)

Archibald: Well, I’m having a break. This is a break area, after all…

If someone sees you here, I could get in trouble…

Yes, but … nevermind. Are you okay? (+)

A break area for employees.

[izzy-b-hands]

Get your bittersweet, severely horny, and NSFW cjizzy here, with references to both ed/jack and jack/izzy being on again, off again in nature. Trans Izzy bc im love trans Izzy.

---

He can never just ask Izzy.

He can with anyone else. Even Ed! Hell, the two of them occasionally communicated wanting to fuck entirely via casual dick grabs (at their own and each other's.)

But Izzy breaks his brain, and he shouldn't like it and he doesn't like it, but he does.

"Hey," Jack slides up by Izzy along the back wall of the bar. "How goes it?"

Izzy glares at him. "What in the fuck sort of question is that?"

He panics. "I missed you."

Izzy's gaze softens a hint. "It's been awhile. Ed was enjoying his time-"

"I heard about how much he enjoyed his time away from his usual shores," Jack grins. "Is that story about him doing a shot off someone's-"

Izzy blushes bright red, and his eyes dart to the floor.

"No," Jack chuckles. "Off of your...Izzy!"

He slaps Izzy's arm. "You still got it; the stick up your ass can be temporarily removed!"

"Thank you for announcing it to everyone," Izzy says wryly. "Anything else I can help you with, or are you just here to catch up?"

It dawns on Jack that Izzy is On The Job right now, and he peeks out around the crowd.

Ed, sitting at a table with an older man, sharing his pipe.

He watches them lazily hand the long pipe back and forth, one of the man's hands hidden in the shadows under the table. However, it only takes one glance at Ed's face to know exactly where that hand is.

"Does he know where you are in here?" Jack asks.

"He does. We've got the usual signal if he wants out in a hurry," Izzy sighs. "You should see the tattoos that man has. I know that's what Ed likes on him, and I can't blame him. Intricate and everywhere, Jack, all interconnected and flowing, and-"

He pushes Izzy against the wall and shoves a leg between his thighs. He doesn't know if Ed is watching, but he hopes he is. Normally jealousy isn't his thing, but Ed's always been different for him.

That, and this is easier than doing what he had envisioned before:

Taking Izzy aside and out of the bar, admitting he wants something slow and soft and he really hates admitting that even though he knows there's no shame in it, but Izzy he doesn't trust anyone else for it except for Ed and Ed doesn't seem likely to say yes-

To wait to kiss him until his words trip over one another and he's nearly out of breath, gasping and begging Izzy to take him to any inn near him, he'll pay for it and anything else Izzy wants (even though he knows Izzy will never take him up on that extra offer.)

He can't say they'd actually make it to said room, because even thinking about it (and more than once jacking off to it) leaves him panting and needy and struggling not to come like it's his first make out session.

"Hang on, we can go somewhere else for this," Izzy says softly. "I've got to find Fang or Ivan or...god what was the name of the new one to replace...oh fuck, I don't remember their names anymore. They die so quickly now."

Jack drops his head into Izzy's shoulder and grinds as best he can against him. He'll have to play this off as being drunk to the other pirates here, even though he's stone cold sober. It's like Izzy heard his thoughts.

"Just go with me over to Ed," Jack says as he forces himself to lift his head. "And tell him something's come up."

"He'll be well aware of 'what's come up' if we walk over there together," Izzy says. "Have you lost your mind?"

"Maybe," Jack whimpers. "Can we fuckin' go already?"

He hangs back while Izzy goes to Ed's table and spins some tale about a scuffle going on outside that needs extra hands to break up (at least that's what Izzy said he'd tell Ed.) His heart is pounding out of his chest, and he can feel everyone's eyes scanning then stopping squarely on his now impossible to hide hard on.

This, he thinks, is what emotions get you. Trying not to come in your pants in a bar, waiting for your on again off again frenemy with benefits to finish lying to his boss/your on again off again friend with benefits. No wonder so many songs about love end in heartbreak.

"We'll sneak out the kitchen," Izzy takes Jack's hand and leads him into the back hall of the bar. "Ed's fine here with his new friend, and Fang is actually on a date himself the next table over, so they're just having a group date now."

"In other words they're deciding which of their two rooms all four of them are going back to later?"

Izzy nods.

"Where were you thinking for us?" Jack asks, resisting the urge to squeeze Izzy's hand as they reach the back door of the bar.

"Behind here, some alley, or we can get a room," Izzy shrugs, and loosens his hand in Jack's grip.

Jack doesn't let go.

Izzy sighs and tries to turn back around to him. "Oh god, Jack..."

"I don't like it anymore than you do!" Jack hisses as he drops Izzy's hand. He doesn't mean it. "Do you know what I did the first month y'all were late getting back around here? I cried! Thinking about Ed, but mostly-"

His words freeze in his throat.

There's confusion on Izzy's face, but it's quickly replaced by...

Fuck. Tears.

There's an apology on his tongue when Izzy pulls him in for a kiss and wraps it in his tongue instead.

"Room?" Jack asks hesitantly when they finally come up for air.

"Room."

--

"Has anyone ever told you your tits are gorgeous?"

"Yeah," Izzy smirks as he tosses his underwear to join Jack's on the floor. "You, many times."

"Well, let me remind you anyway," Jack says and palms Izzy's tits as Izzy straddles his lap. "Fuck, I missed you."

Izzy's eyes flutter shut. "Say that again."

"I missed you," Jack sits up and holds Izzy in his lap, arms around him and head bent to kiss his collarbone. "I hated every second of it. Thinking about you, or Ed, or both of you, fuck-"

One of Izzy's hands rests at the back of his neck, occasionally grasping at the hair there, and there's the sting of nails being dug into skin at the mention of them both.

"But so often it came back to you, and no one does that to me," Jack continues. "Other than Ed, but that works out for all of us, really."

Izzy grinds down on him hard, then takes Jack's face in his hands. "I...There's something I want to say so badly, but I think this might be over quickly if I do."

"It's gonna be over quick anyway," Jack admits. He's been able to feel his heartbeat in his cock since their kiss in the bar. "But I'm up to chill in here together until we're ready to go again. And maybe once more after that."

"How young do you think we are?" Izzy jokes. "But I think that works. We have the room for the night anyway."

He thinks of anything but how it feels as Izzy lifts up enough then immediately sinks down on his cock. Wet enough for him to slip in without anything else, at least for now, and just as it had been when they'd first fucked as twenty-one things both trying to make Ed jealous.

"You gonna let me in on the secret of what you were burning to say?" Jack asks as he holds Izzy's hips, helping him grind and ride.

Izzy smiles and kisses him, entirely too sweetly for a man that knows how to nearly gut someone with as few as three strokes of his sword.

"Come in me."

He can admit that there are times he's a better follower than a leader, and this is one of them as he shudders and obeys.

"Good to stay in for a minute?" Izzy asks as he gently rocks on Jack's cock.

"I'll stay in as long as I can," Jack pants. "We can just keep fucking then. Plus I really don't want to be anywhere else right now."

Izzy moans and whimpers and clenches around his cock, and he sees stars.

"You aren't allowed to go away for that long ever again," Jack sighs. "I can't go that long without you. I know it's sappy as fuck and I ha-"

"Do you hate it?" Izzy asks, pressing soft kisses all over his face.

"Do you?"

Izzy pauses. "Fucker."

"I certainly am, and I intend to continue to be."

He tries to flip them over without slipping out of Izzy, and celebrates it by burying himself balls deep as soon as Izzy's settled on the bed.

"They said the room would be available for another few nights," Izzy murmurs against his neck, legs wrapped around Jack's waist. "If we find we need more time to make up for the last few months."

"Soon as I can bear to be out of you," Jack replies. "Then I'll go down to the desk and pay to extend it. And if that isn't enough, then I'm coming with y'all for a bit. Ed can deal with hearing us fuck."

"Fuck," Izzy whispers. "Jack-"

"I know, I know, give me another moment or two."

He's just hard enough again to start thrusting, and he can't focus on anything other than that and leaving hickeys all over every inch of Izzy's skin.

He wonders what Izzy would think if he just came with, if Ed does want to be away for a longer time again.

But that's one emotion too much for one night.

[rphelperblog]

Bloodlines Book Quote Rp Meme

book one in the series of the same name by Richelle Mead- feel free to edit or change any pronouns for rp purposes- inspired by @ivashkinator​  

“Takes a lot of tries before you hit perfection. Well, except for my parents. They got it on the first try."

Your eyes. How have I never noticed them?"

"The color, when you stand in the light. They're amazing... like molten gold. I could paint those... they're beautiful. You're beautiful.

“You should've just gotten a kids' meal. You could've saved me a lot of money. And gotten a toy.” 

“You are an exceptional, talented, and brilliant young woman. Do not ever let anyone make you feel like you're less. Do not ever let anyone make you feel invisible.” 

“You look too pretty to be useful." 

"I'm serious. She asked me what my greatest strength was. I said getting along with people."

"Then she asked what my greatest weakness was. And I said, 'Where should I start?'"

“I want her to be happy. It's worth sacrificing myself."

“But I can say you’re okay for an irreverent party boy with occasional moments of brilliance.”

“I used to think you were weak and just didn't fight back ... but now, honestly, I think you're actually pretty tough. It takes a hell of a lot of strength to not complain and lash out.” 

"These hands don't sully themselves with fighting.” 

“Everything's about my personal entertainment. The world is my stage. Keep it up- you're becoming a star performer in the show.” 

“Being charming is my hobby.” 

“So. Are you guys here to convert me or sell me siding?” 

“I can pick a lock. How do you think I got into my parents' liquor cabinet in middle school?” 

"And that's been more than enough. The only thing keeping me alive is that he keeps a hefty supply of liquor on hand. But at the rate I'm going, that'll be gone by the weekend. Jesus Christ, I'm climbing the walls.Oh. Sorry. No offense to Jesus.” 

"Am I interrupting your social calender?" I made a big show of glancing around the empty room. “

"You're a saint. A goddess, even.” 

"I don't think I've ever heard her laugh,"

“My name's Jet Steele.” 

iggest cheerleader would be someone who thought I was evil and unnatural.” 

I like Latin. It's fun.”

“History is important because it teaches us about the past. And bylearning about the past, you come to understand the present, so that you may make educated decisions about the future.” 

 I can't believe you think we're the strange ones.”

"When you said he was looking for a job, I pictured a male version of you. I figured he'd want to color code the cups or something." 

All guys mean the same thing when they want to ‘get to know a girl better.’ You’re a wellbred young lady, so I understand why you’d be too innocent to understand. Good thing you’ve got me here to interpret.” 

“I don't suppose that she just gave you the job based on looks alone?" 

"I don't want to keep you from the mob of fans beating down your door."

"Hey, a guy can hope. I mean, it's not impossible that a car full of scantily clad sorority girls might break down outside and need my help.”

“I don't suppose that she gave you the job based on looks alone?"

“I just rely on natural talent, when you have such a wealth of it to draw from, the danger comes from having too much.” 

“Yeah? Can you draw a skeleton riding a motorcycle with flames coming out of it? And I want a pirate hat on the skeleton. And a parrot on his shoulder. A skeleton parrot. Or maybe a ninja skeleton parrot? No, that would be overkill. But it'd be cool if the biker skeleton could be shooting some ninja throwing stars. That are on fire.” 

“Do you know anything about silent films?”

“Oh. Okay. Well, um, there’s a silent film festival downtown next week. Do you think you’d want to go?”

“What is it with you and frozen desserts Why do you always want them?"

"Because we live in a dessert.” 

“You’re a solid person. You’re easy on the eyes, if a little skinny, and your ability to memorize useless information is going to totally hook in some guy.” 

“They're waiting for you. Go on in.If. You. Dare.”

“These hands don’t do manual labor.” 

He became about one percent less tense.”

“It's like living in a retirement home! Clarence is taking a nap right now, and he eats at five. It's so boring."

"Yup. What I did was tantamount to treason in their eyes."

"I don't know what 'tantamount' means, but it sounds pretty serious.”

have you ever dated a human girl at your school?"

“I changed my mind,I'll take you up on helping me get a job."

I almost swerved into oncoming traffic.” 

“But maybe fun wasn’t so bad once in a while.” 

"But . . . it's complicated. I've been taught certain things my entire life. Those are hard to shake."

"The greatest changes in history have come because people were able to shake off what others told them to do.” 

She's all he sees when he closes his eyes. Flashing dark eyes and a body full of fire and energy. No matter how much he tries to forget her, no matter how much he drinks . . . she's always there. He can't escape her.” 

“It wasn't the kind of touch that said, Hey, I've got a plan, so hang in there because we're going to get out of this. It was more like the kind of touch that simply said, You aren't alone. It was really the only thing he could offer. And in that moment, it was enough.” 

Last I checked, you aren’t an expert in social matters..."

“Besides, I already knew you didn't have any moral qualms about breaking and entering.” 

“Also, I didn’t trust any guy who used more styling products than I did.”

"At least I take action. You? You let the world go by without you. You have no spine. You don’t fight back."

"It was irresponsible! Why can't anyone see that?"

"But that bitch had it coming.” 

“You don’t know what it’s like to love someone like that, then to have that love thrown back in your face—” 

She was like a tropical flower in this dark, stuffy room. One that could kill you.”

“I went to bed feeling melancholy, wishing I could have poured out all my fears and insecurities to my mom. Wasn’t that what normal mothers and daughters did?” 

"You already have, and that's why i've got the advantage. You've done your worst but you haven't seen what i can do yet.” 

“I smell the paint, and . . . wait . . . is that pine?”

“Damn straight. Pine-scented cleaner. As in, I cleaned. With these hands, these hands that don’t do manual labor.” 

“As much as I hated to admit it, I kind of looked forward to seeing him. It made no sense, but something about his infuriating nature made me forget about my other worries. Weirdly, I felt like I could relax around him.” 

“Along with not knowing what it felt like to be in love, I also didn’t know how long it took to recover from love.” 

“No good deed goes unpunished, I guess.”

“Bad enough,but everyone’s okay now; that’s what matters.” 

“I really don't care what you do, but maybe it'll keep you busy enough that you'll stop coming over here unannunced and throwing yourself at creatures of darkness.” 

“You've deprived yourself of enjoyment for most of your life. You're aloof from others. You've never let yourself be selfish, and look where it's got you. Your 'morals' have left you with a short, strict life. Can you tell me now, just before you're about to die, that you don't wish you'd maybe allowed yourself an little more fun?” 

“...I can say you’re okay for an irreverent party boy with occasional moments of brilliance.”

aren't you guys supposed to have uniforms? This looks like what you usually wear.” 

“Is it really so terrible being around us?"

“Not sure I would’ve been alive for their rescue if you hadn’t set that bitch on fire. How did you do that?” 

[hootcifer]

talking about toh | season two, episode eight: "knock knock knockin' on hooty's door"

holy shit

sorry this was a few days late, i was equal parts busy and lazy.

previous | first | next spoilers under the cut, as always

the beginning

awww hooty’s writing to lilith! like he promised!

btw, just so you guys know, i’ll be referring to hooty with he/they pronouns, because it makes sense to me. also i use he/they and i’m a hooty stan so it works.

I realize now that i spelled “hootsifer” wrong in my url. oh well, i like “hootcifer” better anyway. (also the url “hootsifer” is taken anyway)

oh no, hooty feels unimportant! i’m sure the large majority of the fandom is okay with this, but i’m not! poor thing.

i found it adorable that luz wants to find a way into amity's heart (even though she's had a place there since grom). how she would use the echo mouse for that, i don't know.

luz saying "we have to go" was almost a direct parallel to amity saying "I GOTTA GO" in "wing it like witches".

king's plot

i love how king is going through his angsty teen phase. that's hilarious.

why the fuck does hooty just eat people?! and then just act like that's an okay thing to do?!

i think it's a fun detail that hooty is wearing king's teacher hat from "the intruder". i love little things like that.

i like how this episode gave us some lore as to how demons on the isles work. they emerged from the muck of a decomposing titan? that's dope! it's also cool how there's three main types of demons.

hooty is a worm?!

on the board with all the bug demons, i recognized the butterfly alador kept chasing in "escaping expulsion", as well as adagast from "witches before wizards", the bear trap demon from "the intruder", and the kindergarten teacher from "i was a teenage abomination".

it was neat to see the fairy from "a lying witch and a warden" and the butterfly... thing from "witches before wizards". more neat continuity stuff!

what did king say with his dance? i'm very curious.

maybe king didn't want to talk about the cocoon, but i certainly do! what the hell happened?!

because of some of the images in the background when hooty was talking about demons, we can infer that some students of hexside are demons and not witches. i wonder if witches are more powerful than demons, or if they're on the same level.

other biped demons i recognize are the bounty hunter, tibbles, one of the pirates, warden wrath, and braxus.

i also saw a cat-person. are catgirls and catboys a thing on the isles?

i like how tiny nose and hooty are friends. somehow, it makes sense.

was tiny nose playing on a nintendo switch? that's cool.

we got to see even more past demons from the section about beasts, such as the ratworms, the echo mouse, the trash slug, the selikdomus, the slitherbeast, and the snaggleback.

has tiny nose's voice changed, or is that just me?

i'm really curious as to what the heck king is. is he a unique kind of demon? a hybrid, maybe?

i thought it was sweet that hooty and tiny nose tried to celebrate king for who he is, even though it just made him sad. they're trying.

eda's plot

hooty had a good point in wanting eda to sleep. sleep is important! says the guy who regularly stays up until at least midnight.

i completely understand hooty's fear of the owl beast. remember what happened last time?

the cookies hooty made were very cute. i loved that.

hey, the sleeping nettles are back! the same thing luz and hunter used a few episodes back to put kikimora's steed to sleep.

we got to see eda's dad! we know very little about him, but we did see him. also, did he look like nigel thornberry to anyone else? no? just me? okay then.

it broke my heart seeing raine and eda breaking up. it was neat that we got confirmation that they were together!

eda clearly regrets pushing raine away. poor thing.

who is the cloaked figure? i've seen a lot of theories that it's amity, but that makes no sense. i don't think she was even alive at this point. it could be odalia, though. that would be a cool twist.

the little owl beast was so cute. i want a plush of that.

HARPY EDA! holy shit, she's so cool. top tier character design.

luz (and amity)'s plot

you better bet your ass i have a lot to say about this! plot! okay, let's start from the beginning.

i was really hoping we would get some mutual pining lumity this season, and by god did it deliver! luz referring to her as a "cotton-candy-haired goddess" was too cute.

from what she said, it sounds like this isn't the first time luz has tried to ask someone out. she's so afraid of getting rejected. wait a minute, amity was afraid of getting rejected too! that's a parallel i didn't even realize!

i wasn't expecting to see amity this episode! it looks like her parents let her keep her purple hair. that, or the twins are using illusions to hide her hair from their parents.

i love how hooty's solution to getting amity to the owl house is to straight-up eat her. that's one way to do things.

i really want to know more about house demons. are there more than one? are they all bird-like? are they born as houses or do they just inhabit houses? so many questions and not enough lore!

the way luz interrupted amity when she suggested "forgetting" about what happened in front of blight manor reminded me of how eda kept interrupting king last episode when she thought he was going to tell her he was planning on leaving.

i'm not gonna lie, i skipped through the majority of the tunnel of love scene. that kind of thing gives me second-hand embarrassment like you wouldn't believe.

my heart shattered into pieces when amity said that the idea of her adting luz was stupid. she obviously doesn't believe it, but she's probably been trying to convince herself of it.

this part had me terrified that the lumity plot for the episode would end there. thank goodness it didn't, eh?

the ending

AAAAAAAAAAAA

okay, okay, let's start from when hooty freaks out for a third time, after the tunnel of love.

i thought it was funny how hooty ripped himself out of the door in order to run (?) away. at least we didn't have to hear all the sounds this time.

wait, "things always get weird when hooty's upset"? has this kind of thing happened before?

gosh, the part where king's voice powers saved luz and amity was so cool. i saw somewhere that the animator wanted to reflect the lesbian and bi flags and they did a great job.

eda encouraging luz to ask amity out was so cute. we stan a supportive mom, always.

and then comes the scene everyone's been talking about. oh my gosh, this was done so beautifully! it was equally awkward and cute, the way it should have been, and the fact that they both asked each other was perfect!

LOOK AT HOW HAPPY AMITY IS WHEN SHE SAYS YES!!! this is the happiest we have ever seen her, and it's adorable.

something i really love about this scene is the fact that they didn't say "i love you" or even kiss, like what seems to happen in a lot of confession scenes. they just held hands. it was probably one of the most realistic confession scenes i've ever seen. it kind of reminded me of when my gf and i got together.

oh yeah, that's right! they're officially together!!!!!!! FINALLY!!! i was not expecting anything that happened in this episode, but out of everything this one was the most surprising. holy SHIT! we have a canonically sapphic couple! in a disney cartoon! a disney cartoon!

honestly, i hope everyone has gained more respect for hooty after this. they've helped further the plot more in one episode than anyone else has done throughout the rest of the show.

we got to see king's dad properly for the first time! i don't think we'll see him in "eclipse lake", but maybe we will in the episode after that? i hope so.

everyone's freaking out about hooty eating the letter but... can't they just... throw it back up? like they did at the beginning of "really small problems"?

predictions

to my knowledge, the next episode is going to be about amity looking for an ingredient for the new portal. i also know that eda, king, and hunter will be there too. i don't know what to expect, but i am very excited. until next time!

[a-simp-20]

「桜の葉」 ||Dori Sakurada X Indonesian! Reader||

"I Will Always Promise that you are the Leaf to my Cherry Blossom"

AIB cast Masterlist

Summary: Y/n is an Indonesian Girl that just moved to Japan because his father has a job there. And it is her second year of high school. One day she was jogging until she met him..Her Cherry Blossom.

Warning!: none

Genre: Fluff,Angst,Comfort

Chapter list: Ch.1 | Ch.2 | Ch.3 | Ch.4 (coming soon)

Word count: 2K

Tags: none

A/N: in Japan when you text someone and want to type "hahaha" You have to type "wwww" Because that's how they write "hahaha" While messaging someone <3 (also the image is what a Japanese school bag looks like)

🌸🍃🌸🍃🌸🍃🌸🍃🌸🍃🌸🍃🌸🍃

AUTHOR'S P.O.V

After Dori showed you around the neighborhood he walked you back home since it was getting late.

Both of you chatted about the things you two love like Pokemon and Anime's. Dori said he's watching an ongoing Anime that's called One Piece that you actually already know "One Piece?, i haven't watched it yet, but I've heard of it before and they say it's a about pirates??"You asked and he nodded his head eagerly "Yup!, it's my favourite anime ever since when i was a kid!" He said smiling

"I thought one piece wasn't for kids??, like the boob's..and ya know. I thought it would be disturbing for a kid to watch it" You say quirking one of your eye brows up "Well, dunno..i just watched it and it's really funny!" He says.

The two of you talked so much that the both of you didn't even realized that you guys already made it to your house and that the sun was about to set "Well I guess this is my stop" "Yeah..Oh! I forgot to tell you that I'm in my third year of high school, and that I go to the high school that's nearby here" He say's while rubbing the back of his neck "Oh you mean the high school that's like close to this neighborhood that's nearby the cherry blossom trees?" You asked and he smiles "Yeah! That high school" He says and you smiled widely at him "I'm going to be attending that school like on Monday!..so maybe we could talk more at school tomorrow?" You asked and he nods "いいよ!(okay!) I'm looking forward to it Himawari-san". Both of you said your good byes as he walked away from your house and you going inside.

As you got inside, you are greeted by your 1st eldest sister Tasya " So who was that kid?" She asked smirking "Hey! Don't get the wrong thing we just met!..and his Name is Dori" You said and walked pass by her as you got upstairs and changed into your Pajama's. You walked down stairs and sat on the couch as you took out your flip phone to see some new messages.

You check who was chatting you and you saw a text that say's:

[Unknown number]

???: Hey it's Dori!, save me number!

You chuckled at his message remembering that you gave him your number while he was touring you around the neighborhood.

[Dori Dodo]

Dori Dodo: Hey! It's Dori!, save me number!

Y/n: Ah yes! I forgot that I gave you my number..for a second there I thought your some kind of stranger that's stalking me when I noticed the unknown number wwww

Dori Dodo: ええー！？(ee!?) You forgot!?..shame on you Y/n Chan now I'm sad :'(

Y/n: :0!! Don't be sad Dori I'm sorry :'((...forgive me???

Dori Dodo: hmmmm...

Y/n: ??

Dori Dodo: Okay! I forgive you wwwwww.

"KIDS! DINNER!" Your mom yelled from the kitchen "Coming mom!" You yelled back at her.

Dori Dodo: Okay! I forgive you wwwwww.

Y/n: Hey Dori we could talk later on, I need to get my tummy filled up with food first

Dori Dodo: Same! And おやすになさい (good night!)

Y/n: Okay! おやすみなさい！Dori.

Dori Dodo: (TwT)/~~~

You smiled at his last text. You closed your flip phone and got up to go eat with your family at the dining area. Guess Japan isn't that bad after all is what you said before sitting down enjoying the meal with your family.

[THE NEXT DAY]

It's the day where you go to school. You woke up with a groan remembering what day it is "School...why??" You mumbled as you got up and went inside the bathroom to take a bath.

After that you got out of the bathroom and got dressed in your new school uniform and grabbed your back pack that is filled with New school books and some not book's "Why do the skirts have to be so short..". You got down to see your sisters eating breakfast with you dad "Morning" You said as you sat right next to your 2nd big sister Sheila "Morning!, well look at you! All cute with that new Uniform!..what's up with the short skirts they have.." Sheila say's looking at your new uniform's skirt "Dunno, I hate them but manage to actually put on some long black leggings" You said as your mom put your food right in front of you "Eat first then you'll go to school, Also here's your Bento" She say's handing you a small black box and you opened it up to see rice,sausages, two boiled eggs and some carrot and cucumber sticks "Thanks mom" You smiled at her.

You began to eat your breakfast and after finishing it you got up, put on your white shoes and said good bye to Everyone and left the house. You walked to school peacefully and calmly when you heard someone ring the bell of their bicycle. You looked back to see Dori in his school uniform with his school bag over his right shoulder and a wide smile plastered on his face as he stops his bike right next to you "Need a ride?" He asked you "Oh, that's okay! I could just walk since it's near by-" "It's still far away and it's like 7:30 in the morning" He says "Well it is close from our neighborhood-" "Ah ah ah, you are getting on this bike cause our school isn't THAT close from here, you'll waste your energy so hop on!" You sighed and hopped on to the back seat of his bike, your bag now sitting on your lap as he began to move the bike.

On the way to school was silent until he breaks it "So, what year are you in?" He asked "Oh,I'm on my second year..a year below from you" You said

"えええー!？本当!?" (Eh!? really!?) He says a bit shocked and the bike wobbles a bit "Woah!,we're gonna fall if you keep that up!" You said and hit his left shoulder "Hey! いたい! Stop it!" (いたい!=Ouch!) He say's as he laughed.

After how many minutes later you two made it to your school he parked his bike and you and Dori got off of it "Well..hoe about at lunch you'll tour me?" You asked and he frowned a bit "Ah! Sorry Y/n but I have Basketball club at lunch so maybe make some friends first and let them tour you??" He asked "Oh sure no problem!" You said smiling and he smiled back "Great!, now do you have a key to your shoe locker?" He asked and you nodded as you opened up your school and showed him the key "Yup! Here it is..how do you do it though..i never used a locker before since in my high school there are no lockers so.." You ribbed your neck awkwardly "Oh no! It's okay!, c'mon! I'll teach you Y/n Chan!" He says and grabbed your hand as he pulled you inside the school with a smile on his face.

You two made it inside and there you were at the second year shoe lockers area that's in front of the entrance "Here we are!, now let me see what number uoir kocker is by your key" He say's as you gave your key, he looks at it "Okay your locker number is 024!,....hmm...ah! Found it right here!" He say's as he points to the locker thats infront of the bothe of you "now all you gotta do is open it up and put on your school shoes and ppace tye shoes that you're wearing right now inside this locker and then lock it" He explains as he hands you your key back "Oh, uh..thanks Sakurada" You said and he smiles "No problem, just take care of yourself okay? I'll be in class 3-B if you need me"  After that ge walks away to the third year shoe lockers. You sighed to yourself and unlocked the locker that is in front of you.

You found inside the small square locker some pair of white shoes that are just your size. You looked at the people around you and paid at what their doing, they took out the shoes from their lockers and and took off the shoes they were wearing previously as wore the shoes that were inside the locker and putted their other shoes inside the locker and locked it. After you did the same thing as the others, you started to look for your class that you're in "2-D..2-D.." You mumbled as you went up the second floor of the school to be meet with signs of classes that had the number '2' on them "So this is where the 2nd year classes are" You say to yourself as you tug on your bag that's hanging on your right shoulder. You were nervous that someone would look at you weirdly cause you can't even find your own class..wbd turns out you ended up asking a random person where the class '2-D' was "あ、すみません!" (Ah, Excuse me!) You said to a random student that was a boy, he was taller than you so you had to look up "Do you know where class 2-D is??..i'm actually new to this school" You said, with the best Japanese accent that you could do "Ah!, sure..i'm in that class too, Let me show you where" He says as he mentions you to follow him, you sighed in relief that he could understand you as you followed him to class.

"Here we are" He says sliding the door of the class open "Are there any assigned seats here?" You asked him and he mentions you to the teaching board in front of the class where the teacher is going to sit at. You walked into the class and saw some girls chatting with each other with smiling faces and guys goofing around with each other, you smiled at the scenery already knowing that people in this class will accept you. You looked at the big board in front of you to see names of the students in the class with their numbers of their assigned seats. You looked for yours and saw that you were in the second front on desk number.3.

You went to your desk that was behind the first front seat number 3. You hanged you bag on the chair and just sat there in silence until someone tapped you on the shoulder. You flinched and looked up to see the boy that helped you find the class the both of you are in "Oh! Uh..hi!" You said and he nodded and sat right beside your desk "So, is that where you sit?" You asked him "Yes, this is where I sit..you seem to be a foreigner aren't you?" He asked you nodded your head while smiling "Yup, I'm from Indonesia" You exclaimed "Ah i see..by the way my names Hiroto Watanabe, but everyone calls me Wata kun..or Nabe or by my first name" He says bowed a bit "Nice to meet you Watanabe kun, the names F/n Himawari, but you could just call me Y/n" You said and bowed a bit too.

A/N: Welp, that's the end for chapter 2!. And hey a new friend! Watanabe kun!, stay tuned for chapter 3~ bye bye! (TwT)/~~

[lovlydovlyjaycie]

Ævi - Frontlines

Hey again! This will be a continued series. The first Ævi series is in my masterlist and is only four parts. This is going to be a ongoing series, so there is going to be a lot more of Ævi to come. :)

Summary: Y/n or also known as Ævi has lived through varies of world events. Now it is 1941, she has excepted that some things cannot be changed so Loki has convinced Y/n to go to New York and live a normal life, a life Y/n always wanted. Or as normal it can be, because new introductions lead to events that didn’t go down in the history books.

Characters: Bucky Barnes x reader, Steve Rogers, Peggy, Loki, OC Vera

Warnings: Fluff, Violence, Angst, Me being sad writing this, we’re officially in Captain America the First Avenger now… So I guess spoilers? :( :( :(

Note: Omg.. When I tell you I have been dreading writing this part.. But like actually dreading.. Before I started writing this series I wanted it to be no more than 8 parts.. That obviously didn't work out

When I am writing and particularly writing about Bucky and y/n meeting again or them just being in love I always listen to Pirates of the Caribbean to the theme or Will and Elizabeth and I thought it would be good to share that with you guys. To get in the feels. Right now it jumps from POTC One day and the last minute or so from Drink up me hearties yo ho. I know it is so random, but I cannot get it out of my head.

Series masterlist

Part 13

It took me a minute to get here, but I was now in the Swiss Alps. I got word that this would be the next place the Howling commandos would go to. They think I'm dead, rightfully so, I fell off a train. Thinking about falling off that train with Bucky hurt, like someone was squishing my heart and I couldn't breathe. How was I gonna explain all of this. I should be dead. What are they gonna think of me being here, but Bucky is not. I sighed and brushed away a tear I felt rolling down my cheek.

I came here to help Steve, so that's what I'm gonna do. Ignore the pain for a second and help out.

I was hiding between the trees with a good out look on the headquarters. Nothing was going on yet. I knew Steve was gonna come soon, I just don't know when. I would need to tell him the truth about me. He's gonna hate me. I couldn't safe his best friend, but I'm alive.

These are times I really wished I was not immortal. Even Loki and Thor are not. They aged since I've met them, but me I'm still the exact same as I first was when I touched the stone. That stupid Life stone, but all I've seen is death. Sometimes I wished I never followed that man that gave me the box or I just had never opened the box.

I sat down against a tree and sighed again. What if all of that never happened? I would be with my friends and family. I have not seen them in almost a thousand years. I am not sure if I even remember their faces. I know I look like my mom, but now I can't imagine what she looks like anymore. It is awful. I am not even sure if I would recognize my own mom if I walked past her.

And the worst part of it all, the most selfish part. It hasn't even happened yet. Nobody is worrying about me being gone. Nobody is looking for me. Nobody is sad that I'm gone. Nobody even knows that I'm gone. I got blasted to the past in 2010 and it's 1945 now. In the mean time I have lived for a thousand years, but no one knows, No one human.

I'm not even sure if I want to go back to Sweden in 2010. Because I know I am not the same person I once was. I know I am not the same person they saw on my last day with them. Maybe one day I will go back to them, but certainly not the same day I had left them.

I shook my head. This was absolutely ridiculous. Of all people why me? Why let me be the protector of Life, yet I am always surrounded by death. Maybe it was time to fully use the Life stone. It has been under a protection spell from Frigga for hundreds of years so I won't be a beacon of power that attracts the wrong people. But because of that spell I never really found out what I could do exactly with my power. Sure I am still strong and I can heal wounds, but what is the extend of my full power? What if I could've helped Bucky... "These Hydra people." I scoffed to myself. Another thing that made me angry. Hydra. Before I got zapped back in time I studied history and never once was there anything mentioned about Hydra. But why? They have done all these horrible things, yet I have never heard anybody say a word about it. How is that even possible..-

My thoughts were interrupted by a loud explosion. I looked up and saw Steve zoom by on his motorcycle. Immediately the bunker started blasting at Steve as soon as they saw him. I kept looking at Steve ready to jump in any moment, but he pressed a button on his motorcycle and made the canon of the bunker explode and he got in with ease.

Steve was doing an amazing job fighting everybody off. He made men go down with ease until he was outnumbered. "Shit." I muttered to myself. I made a move to stand up hand grabbed my shoulder. I swiftly turned around ready to hit whoever grabbed my shoulder, until I realized it was Peggy.

"Y/n?" She said with shock in her eyes. Behind her I could see the colonel and soldiers. This was part of the plan. "How.. How are you alive?" Peggy stammered. I wasn't sure if now was the right time to explain everything to them if they were in the middle of their plan. So I decided to leap forward and embrace her.

"I'll explain everything later, but right now tell me what to do." Peggy let go of me and started to quickly explain that they had caught Dr. Zola and he told them that they were going to drop bombs and we needed to prevent that from happening.

"Move out!" Colonel Philips yelled. He gave me a gun indicating I was gonna fight with them. I followed after them and left and right people were being shot at by Hydra and vaporizing into tin air. Peggy was running next to me. We were both trying to shoot anybody that was a threat and they were trying to shoot us. The closer we got the bigger of a target we were. One Hydra agent got a little too close to Peggy and tried to shoot her, but I quickly moved my arm in the way and my bracelets that covered my lower arms caught the blast. I quickly looked up at Peggy who was looking at me in utter shock. But I turned back to the Hydra agent and ran towards him. I leaped forward and kicked him in his chest, knocking him out.

Peggy came running next to me. "You'll explain later?" She said with a smirk. "I'll explain later." I told her as I grabbed the gun from the soldier.

We both ran inside the facility taking out other Hydra agents while also losing some of our soldiers. The Hydra agents that were blocking our way were almost taken out when one spoke up. "Cut of one head, two-.." And I shot him. "Sorry? What was that? You didn't finish." I said with a smirk.

"Alright this way y/n." Peggy told me. "No, you go. There are more of them here and I'll make sure nobody will surprise you from behind. Now go!" I yelled as I ran the other direction.

And on que more agents emerged. I shot at them and one by one they were all turning into dust. For a second I looked down at the gun. I was amazed that this gun was powered basically by a grain of sand that was from the Tesserect. Only gives me more reason to find the full Tesserect. I shook my thoughts away and started looking for it. The Tesserect might be in a lab and if that ugly red skull is there as well it would just be a bonus. As I started running I realized something.

"SHIT!" It's not gonna be in some lab. Hydra is gonna bomb cities in a plane. He and the Tesserect are on the Goddammed plane. "FUCK!" I yelled to myself as I turned around and started running into the direction Peggy went.

How could I not have thought of that? My mind is so distracted I need to focus. As I ran through the hall I saw soldiers laying on the ground. It pained my heart seeing them. But I will not let their lives be waisted. They can't win, Hydra can't win.

I ran though a big door and ended up in a enormous hallway. This is probably where the plane was, but it was gone. People were still fighting.

"Y/n?" I heard Gabe yell from behind me. I turned around and saw him fighting off a Hydra agent. I ran towards him and kicked the agent off and he slammed into the wall. I put my hand up for Gabe to grab and he did that. "I thought.. Steve and I both thought you and Buck-.." I looked down and shook my head.

"Your ok I see." He said as he gave me a quick hug.

"We still got some things to do. The hugging can wait." Colonel Phillips said as he stepped out of a car with Peggy. I let go of Gabe and walked over to Peggy following her. "Where's Steve? I thought he was gonna be with you." I asked her, my mind running with all the things that could have happened to him.

"He is on the plane. He is going to stop it." She told me while having a quick pace.

We all went to the control tower waiting for a response from Steve. It was all nerve wrecking. Steve was up against someone alone in a plane. And in the mean time more Hydra agents had showed up. Colonel Phillips had ordered the soldiers to fight them off while we waited for a response from Steve.

All the wile I could only think that we could not lose. So many people have lost their lives. Because of this stupid war, because of Hydra. So many innocents. They need to be avenged. And Steve has the power to do that. He needs to stop that plane and prevent more people from losing their lives.

"Come in this is Captain Rogers. Do you read me?" We heard over the radio. Peggy immediately went over to the speakers.

"Steve is that you? Are you alright?" Peggy asked in concern. "Peggy, Schmidt's dead!" Steve said over the coms. Relief washed over me. It is done then, we won.

"What about the plane?" Peggy asked Steve. "That's a bit tougher to explain." Steve answered back. There has got the be some place where he can safely land.

"Give me your coordinates, I'll give you a safe landing site." She pressed on. My heart was pounding. We won right? I was a bit unsure now. I didn't like the way this was going.

"That's not gonna be a safe landing, but I can try and force it down." Steve explained. Colonel Phillips tapped my shoulder and pointed to the door. I closed my eyes. I knew where this was going.

We walked out of the room and everything started to blur. We had to win. Steve coming back alive is us winning. We had to win. Everyone in the hall was quiet, besides the gunshots you could still hear from outside. I think we were all trying to listen to what the conversation was with Peggy and Steve.

In just three days time I can not lose.. I can not lose two people I care about. "Please live Steve." I whispered to myself as I looked down.

"This is my choice." I heard Steve say faintly over the coms. "No." I whispered as I shook my head. My heart was pounding so fast I could feel it in my ears. I felt so powerless. Please live. I thought to myself again and again. "Please live, you're a good man Steve." I said quietly to myself again. Anticipating what would come next.

I heard them talk about a dance. Scheduling a date.

"I'll show you how. Just be there." Peggy said her voice wavering.

"We'll have the band play something slow. I'd hate to step on your..." Silence.

I took a few steps back until I was leaning against the wall and closed my eyes for a second. We won, but what did we lose? I let out a wavering breath. I felt myself turn hot. Again I thought of why this was not in any of the history books. I never learned about Hydra, Captain America or the Howling commandos. Was this all for nothing.

My anger was boiling inside of me. All these lives lost.. and for what? I failed, I failed to do the one thing I was supposed to do.

Then something clicked in my mind. If all of this was not important enough to be written down and remembered in books, I'll make sure there is nothing to remember. I am going to kill all the Hydra agents, every last one of them.

I took a deep breath and stood up right and started to head towards the gunshots that were still going on outside.

"Where are you going Ironside?" Colonel Phillips asked.

"To do something I should've done right from the beginning." i yelled back as I went for the door.

As I came to the entrance our soldiers were taking cover. We had the facility. But the Hydra agents were still shooting trying to get through and there were a lot more than I initially expected.

"What are you doing here?! Take cover!" Gabe yelled from his hiding spot at me. I gave him one look before ignoring him and walking straight into the line of fire.

My hands started to glow and I put them in front of me to catch all the blasts that were coming my way. Their guns were strong but I was stronger. Soon everybody from Hydra was shooting at me while I still walked forward. I wanted to be far enough away from my soldiers.

"Y/n!" Gabe yelled after me.

The magic glow started to slowly surround me doing it's job of protecting me.

When I was far enough I closed my hands making fists. "You get what you deserve." I said quietly. I closed my eyes, trying to focus on my power. Where it was coming from and where I wanted it to go. I felt it the power all over my body, but it was the strongest by my heart. I felt it was contained, caged almost. I took a deep breath.

And in one swift motion I opened my hands and put my arms up to my side.

Gold and white glow blasted out and swirled all around me, it made me slowly float in the air. It became bigger and bigger quickly and as soon as it hit the agents it vaporized, leaving nothing behind. In seconds the Hydra agents the were attacking us were completely gone.

This power felt great. Finally it was being let out after so long. They were getting what they deserved. All of them.

"Y/N! Y/N!" I heard someone yelling from behind me. I turned around. It was Peggy with fear written all over her face.

...

..

1972

"Love, you are losing yourself with all this power. You need to control it or it will control you." Loki told me with seriousness in his eyes. "Look around you. Look what it is destroying." I looked up at him. His eyes looked full of sorrow. He was right.

I turned around. Kattegat. All the memories I had here. It was all gone now.

..

.

To be continued

Next: Ævi - The Battles That Are Fought

Let me know what you think :)

Sorry it took so long with this one, I had a busy few weeks :(

Let me know if you wanna be tagged!!

@darkdragonphoenix

@toribentleyva

@witchinpractice

@cat-astrophe4

@bluemoon-icecream

[drshojo]

The World, My Childhood And My Hero Academia: Vigilantes

Hello friends!  

Its Dr. Shojo coming at you with a post that will be divided into three parts!

Part One: The world as we know it! 

The world has changed a lot since we last connected. For starters, TOILET BOUND HANAKO KUN HAS NOT ONLY A PHYSICAL RELEASE BUT A GORGEOUS ANIME! And not only that, but MY NEXT LIFE AS A VILLAINESS: ALL ROUTES LEAD TO DOOM! IS GETTING AN ANIME AS WELL! The last time I wrote about Katerina there wasn’t even an official English translation of that long-ass light-novel-title. And now?

A WHOLE ANIME. A BISEXUAL HAREM AWAITS! I am JAZZED!

Do you think it’s my fault? No matter, I’ll take all the credit. All the manga I talk about are getting anime adaptations. I’LL DO MY DUTY AND TALK ABOUT SOME MORE!

But first. Let us address the Covid-19 shaped elephant in the room

I deeply regret that it took a whole-ass pandemic to get me back to writing. In my defense, I bought an iPad and started drawing like 900 kokichi oumas. I was really busy with that. And then I started reading fanfiction. Then that got me thinking about how fanfiction such an interesting look into how people interpret fandom, use it for wish fulfillment and escapism, and good god is everyone OK cause that bulimia fan fic was super detailed....and I am officially on a tangent. Off track. Ahem.

We are all staying inside a whole lot more which means y’all probably need some reading material and Dr. Shojo has your back! Go read “Horimiya”! It’s amazing! Ahhhh, my work here is done! I'm serious, if you’re here for a Shojo rec, that’s it! There's also like 8 million more Otome Isekais to check out now. It’s like they’re multiplying like rabbits..............

As a Doctor, I must advise you to stay inside and read some manga and practice social distancing. Embrace your inner hikikomori. 

Allright? All good? Okay now one final disclaimer:

This post is going to be talking about something a little different than usual and I want to start by giving you some context about who Dr. Shojo is in real life. 

Part Two: Dr. Shojo Exposed 

You see, when I was little I was obsessed with Japanese media. This doesn't surprise you at all I can tell. Probably because I walk around calling myself Dr. Shojo and shout about manga that you should read.

Anyways, the reason why I was obsessed wasn’t because of the big eyes or the spikey hair or the interesting new culture. It was because it tended to have more character development and overarching plotlines than the media I was used to in Canada. Dexter’s Lab, Magic School Bus, pretty much everything I saw on TV was episodic in nature, so imagine how much my mind was blown when I saw Naruto and Card Captor Sakura, heck, even Pokémon had the Indigo Plateau! Here were kids that were learning more and more each day and got to see enemies become friends and vice versa. They lived and grew older just like me. Except they were cooler than me. And had more interesting lives than me. I gotta tell you, I was so sad when I was 12 and Kero didn’t tell me I had latent magical powers. But there was magic in my life and it was the magic of a complex narrative story. And not only that, it had a sense of movement and had cool costumes. I was hooked immediately.

Also, fun fact, at that age I happened to be a complete and utter tomboy! I loved pretending to fight my friends in the playground and was really worried that puberty would ruin my life because being a girl sounded so CUMBERSOME.

Which leads me up to my confession. Before I became Dr. Shojo, I was in fact......Dr. Shonen.

Bleach? Naruto? One Piece? I've read every single chapter there is.  

Hundreds of hours of watching fight sequences. Another fun fact, I only got into shojo because my aunt bought me volume 7 and 8 of Fruits Basket thinking “all mangas like the same right? Kids love comics?” It’s a tribute to how episodic western media was back then that she thought buying volume SEVEN and EIGHT was a REASONABLE PLACE TO START READING.

Now you might also say, Hey! Dr Shojo! Cardcaptors was a shojo! And you are right! but back then the anime was marketed to boys over here in the west and they actualy like, edited out episodes that they thought wouldn't interest boys?! Second fun fact, Once when I was in Grade 3 I was told I was not allowed to join a club under the stairs cause I was a girl and it was BOYS ONLY. The point of the club? To talk about how great Cardcaptors was! I Kid you not!

So anyways, your pall Dr. Shojo loves Shonen manga to this day!

The only reason I made this Dr. Shojo blog specifically about shojo is because, being a tomboy with no female friends, reading shojo manga was the first time I really thought about what it meant to be a girl and fall in love. And y i k e s. Shojo manga, like most media, fails miserably most of the time in displaying real world relationships. Or at least, it  doesn't prepare you for how disappointing everything can be. When I had my first kiss, I was thinking about how it didn’t feel at all like how I felt reading Zen and Shirayukis kiss in Akagame No Shirayuki Hime. Those were formative years, and shojo was one of the only places I saw romance being talked about for younger audiences. I liked reading romances where no one had any sexual experiences and were figuring out what love meant to them. But let’s shelve this topic for now.

The point is that gender roles are dumb and if you have an open mind there's a world of stories out there for you. Take this time inside to read something you wouldn’t normally. Critically think about the ways that the worlds you see in stories and how you experience the world differ. What are the messages a story is trying to tell you? And why do you like the stories you do? Reflect on how the stories you tell yourself color your view of the world. Even mindless entertainment leaves an impression on us. Anyways.

Whilst you're doing that, I'm going to absolutely lose my hecking mind over the Shonen Jump series MY HERO ACADEMIA: Vigilantes!

WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD!

Part Three: I downloaded the one month free trial of the Shonen Jump app and made you read all that, so I can tell you that today Dr. Shojo is going to rant about a spin-off of a shonen manga

THAT’S RIGHT, OF COURSE I READ HERO ACA AND YES I DID PICK UP THE SPIN OFF SERIES. SHONEN JUMP LETS YOU READ ALL THE NEW CHAPTERS FOR FREE ON THEIR APP. KIDS, IF YOU LIKE SHONEN AND YOU’RE PIRATING ON A SCANLATION SITE STILL GET OUT BECAUSE YOU DON’T NEED TO SEE THOSE WEIRD PLASTIC SURGERY AND DENTISTRY ADDS ANY MORE.

SHONEN IS HERE AND ITS LEGAL AND ITS FREE FOR YOU. GET OFF MANGA FOX OR MANGA ROCK OR WHATEVER THE KIDS ARE USING THESE DAYS.

OK, so by this point in the article you have learned two very important things about me: 1) I love Shonen manga and 2) I read a lot of fanfiction.

Specifically, I read an absolutely biblical amount of My Hero Academia fan fiction and let me tell you, A solid chunk of it is vigilante/ Deadpool / criminal with a heart of gold themed.

So when I saw Hero Aca had a spin off, and it was about vigilantes, I was NOT SURPRISED IN THE SLIGHTEST. Ao3 sure is powerful.

Now, if you will permit me a tangent in a post full of tangents—HOLY CRAP, THERE ARE TOO MANY VIGILANTE AUS. I CAN'T KEEP TRACK OF EM. IT’S THE ISEKAI PROBLEM ALL OVER AGAIN. I GET AN EMAIL A FIC HAS UPDATED AND I’M LIKE IS THIS THE FIC WHERE DEKU HAS AN ABUSIVE MOM OR THE ONE WHERE HE HAS SPLIT PERSONALITY DISORDER OR THE ONE WHERE HE’S VIGILANTES WITH HITOSHI. OH WAIT, nvm, it’s the one where deku has a healing quirk.

OH WAIT WHICH OF THE 6 DEKU WITH HEALING QUIRK VIGILATE AU FICS IS THIS ONE?! ARGH WHY DIDN’T I WRITE A DESCRIPTION IN THE BOOKMARK FOR THIS!

My gripes aside, there's a reason why there's such an abundance of vigilante story telling—

Deadpool made like an absolute buttload of money and people love sass and memes.

People have a desire for a story in which they see themselves. Or, how they think of themselves.They like a story about someone who maybe came from nothing. Someone who has less money, maybe someone who is unlucky and had some bad breaks. Someone who never learned they had magic, never got their Hogwarts letter, never saw Kero, someone who never got that God-level quirk from All Might. And if your on Ao3 They want someone who also has seen a lot of memes and kind of wants taco bell and is also questioning their sexuality a bit?

Enter our new hero VIGILANTE DEKU.  

But the cannon can't do this, cause hey, Deku is the chosen one. Albeit, chosen by All Might, He’s got his own thing to do. But how can we still cash in on a vigilante story?

And thus enter our New-New hero KOICHI HAIMAWARI—code name Nice Guy and then later The Crawler. True to his relatable roots. He’s just a dude in an hoodie who can go about as fast as a bike.

First off, I love Koichi. He wants to be a hero and fight crime, but most of the time he has to run away because at the end of the day he's just a dude.

He’s cute but not wildly good-looking, A bit of a nerd but not like an extreme okaku. He’s got a part time job and hates violence.

And this is where Koichi really shines—in every day stuff. He helps out wherever he can. Often, that just means listening to people complain and maybe helping his friends out with whatever they’re going through. He’s the kind of guy who smiles, not because he's especially brave, but because he just takes things one at a time and doesn't sweat the past. I think it’s really telling that he missed getting into hero high-school because he skipped the entrance exam to help someone. He’s the kind of person who lets us experience the superpower of human decency and empathy. And you know what? That’s something the world need desperately.  

This theme of human decency is really the driving force of Vigilantes—it’s a manga about how the laws are there for a reason but sometimes they unfairly impact the poor and vulnerable. It's about how a lot of criminals are just people who fell into bad social circles or on bad times. People have the capacity for cruelty and violence but that’s never all they are.  

Now, speaking of crime, the entirety of Hero Aca falls into some murky water when it comes to its evil doers. Much of the fandom has a huuuuuge problem with how much the franchise is willing to sweep under the rug in the name of redeeming their baddies. RE: people getting mad about forgiving Endeavor’s child abuse, or Bakugo’s suicide baiting. Or Mineta’s blatant sexual harassment.

But this theme is in Vigilantes even more than it ever was in the main series. To start off with, there’s this guy who tries to rape Pop Step early on, and the later he later winds up befriending everybody. It becomes a running gag that each new villain winds up befriending the other villain guys and then they all open a cat café together.

Using jobs as a way to lift people out of lives of crime is great and all but in the story there is no nuance or consequences for past wrong and well.....it feels very weird.  It's like Vigilantes plays at having an opinion about moral ambiguity and the complexity of human existence and then just.......lets everyone get along because who has time to get into all that. Make of that what you will but it sits weird for me personally.

Anyway, let's move on and talk about POP STEP our main girl!

I love pop stars and I love vigilantes and a guerrilla performer is defiantly a character I could get behind. And I think they do a good job with Pop. She is actually kind of shy, but has this secret edgy persona she puts on when she performs. She is every girl on tumbler in the early 2000s. I also looooove that they make her not that great a singer. SHE’S GOT PASSION AND CHARISMA and maybe not born talent but like why should that stop you! Talent can be earned through practice and this is a great lesson to show people.

Unfortunately, Pop is also a great example of everything wrong with romance in Shonen.

It’s established early on that Pop loves Koichi because she is the girl he rescued all those years ago and yada yada yikes we’ve heard this one before. Many times before.

Sure, it's fine that they’ve met before, but gosh am I sick of damsels in distress. It's like she can't love him just because she respects what a great guy he is in her life and in the community at large, no no, she just needs to be rescued on top of that. And LOLOLOL isn't it funny he never noticed she was a girl because she was a child with short hair?! Once he realizes she has boobs now they will for sure fall in love! That’s how love works!

She's just with him all the time—nothing romantic ever happens she just gets a little tsundere.

I am never ever going to believe Koichi likes Pop because he spends like sooooo much time with her and they never have like, a moment. The first time he considers her is when Makoto is like, ‘hey I would love to get together with you, but have you thought about if you are crushing on Pop’. (Also this entire plot point is suspect—she's arbitrarily falling for Koichi cause he.......is the protagonist?)  

Say what you will about shojo, they give you the emotional conversations, the moments where you think.....ahhh I can see why she is falling for him. They give you context! Shonen likes to just say HERE’S A GIRL YOUR AGE. YOU CAN DATE LATER WHEN THE ADVENTURE IS DONE.

Just when they might get together, Pop suddenly turns evilllllll. The evilllll beeeees made her eeeevilllll (and more sexy).

*Siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiighhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh*

Because why on earth would they get together if Koichi didn’t get to rescue Pop one more time?

I’m tired. These troupes are tired. I’m sure you are too. HOWEVER! If your still with me, Let’s move into why I'm really writing this post. Let’s get to the part that got me screaming to my friends, who by the way, don’t even care bout Hero Aca….but listened anyways. May you all find nakama like these my friends.

Anyways,

HOLY FUCK ERASERHEAD’S ENTIRE BACK STORY IS IN THIS AROUND CHAPTER 60 AND IT IS WONDERFUL AND ABSOLUTLY HEARTBREAKING AND IS ONE OF THE BEST CHARACTER BACKSTORIES I HAVE EVER SEEN AND IS THE REASON WHY THIS SERIES IS A MUST-READ FOR MAIN SERIES FANS.

AND BY ALMIGHT.  

WHY. IS. IT HERE.  

I present to you my late night text messages to my friends

ALSO, AIZAWAS TEACHER IS PRINCE?!?!?!

AHEM, so as you can see, I kinda lost my shit.

And now, I would like to formally defend my claim that DESPITE HOW AMAZING IT WAS, ERASERHEAD’S BACKSTORY HAD NO BUISSNESS BEING IN THE VIGILANTES SPIN-OFF MANGA.

Eraserhead, aka Aizawa Shouta, is a side character who is working with the police on some crime stuff. He is not a main cast member in this spin off. He’s a guest character that fans of the main series will be like OH COOL. GRUMPY CAT MAN LIKES CATS ON HIS OFF HOURS TOO. LOVE THAT FOR HIM.

So, my imagine my absolute surprise when Aizawa runs into Koichi and the following happens:

It starts to rain, so, like in any good manga, this means some great FORCED BONDING TIME

Except no. It doesn't because rather than start talking, Aizawa JUST STARTS REMEMBERING—ABSOLUTLY SILENTLY TO HIS OWN PRIVETE SELF—HIS ENTIRE TRAGIC BACKSTORY.

AND THIS GOES ON FOR CHAPTERS.

THIS GOES ON LONGER THEN ARC ONE IT FEELS LIKE.

I LOVE IT, BUT KOICHI IS ABOUT TO JOIN ATSUSHI NAKAJIMA IN THE DUBIOUS CATEGORY OF “PROTAGONISTS THE SERIES FORGOT ABOUT IN LIEU OF COOLER SIDE CHARACTERS”.

AND LO IT HAS NO BEARING ON THE REST OF THE PLOT, CHARACTERS, OR STORY

What the ever-loving-just WHY?

WHY?

WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY?

SURE, IT’S A COOL TIE-IN.

YES, OF COURSE I LOVED IT. I SHIP ERASER MIC, I DREW THIS FOR HECK’S SAKE:

AND YET I AM ANGRY.

I AM ANGRY BECAUSE MY FRIDAY WAS RUINED BECAUSE VIGILATES SUCKER PUNCHED ME WITH AN AMAZING STORY THAT REALLY WASN’T PLOT RELEVANT AND PROBABLY SHOULDN’T HAVE BEEN THERE.  

IS THIS WHY THEY TOOK LIKE NEXT-TO-NO CARE WITH POPS ARC?!?

I mean its ongoing, so it’s too early to say but—

In conclusion—

Excuse me one more,

AIZAWA WAS TAUGHT BY PRINCE!?!??!?!?!?!? PURPLE RAIN PRINCE!?!??!?!?!? WHAT!??!?!?!

It’s so ABSURD that I HAD TO WRITE SOMETHING ABOUT IT. I HAD TO WRITE PARAGRAPHS TO JUSTIFY YELLING ABOUT THIS ONE THING. WHAT THE ABSOLUTE—

Ahem,

Anyways, I hope you liked this weird rant/personal-story/random-diatribe in three parts.

If you’re reading this, thank you, stay safe, and I’ll be back with more shojo manga next time.  

Ciao!

Dr. Shojo

(aka Dr. Shonen)

[bottleofbabes]

"Hey little yeen! Come on, I'm starving. I wanted to go to the new-" Asami pauses when he steps outside the building and sees that Kizaru isn't alone, a taller, silver haired guy standing beside him. What was his name? Kizaru talked about him all the time. Heidi? HAISE! "Ah, you must be the best friend I've heard so much about."

@strawberryxdreams

"And you're the guy he's always disappearing off with." Haise says pointedly. Not that he didnt like Kizaru having someone other than him to hang out with. But he barely knew this guy and they hadnt officially met yet. And it was Haise's job as best friend to gauge this man's worth.

"Hey now, don't be like that Haise. And stop calling me a little yeen, you stupid pirate!" he snaps at Asami. "Anyway, lets go grab some food or something. Its about time you two got to know each other properly."

[veterveter]

Hey hey, it's gay bike anon again! I'm more than honoured to get my own tag!!! I definitely would like to keep talking to you <3 And only love for you too <3

I'll gladly wait for your response to my ask (or asks??? we'll see one day ehehehe)! I feel you, when people cite some of my text messages from a few months (or more) ago I'm often like "nope, nah-ah, that's not me, you're wrong". Same for older essays, I often can't believe I wrote those. And even with things I wrote late at night a few weeks ago, sometimes I'm like "I wrote that? That monstrosity??? Okay, I need more sleep before writing". (My capacity of writing in correct English grammar usually goes to sleep before I do, same goes for varied word choice). But sometimes I'll see this project I've worked on YEARS ago and exactly recognize the pieces I wrote? Since the ask would be fairly recent, I suppose I would recognise my writing style and word choice and since I didn't wrote it whilst sleep deprived (I hope??) I'm setting my chances of recognising it pretty high. But we'll see one day, the mystery will marinate for a while... [I am rereading this in the daytime, and this is EXACTLY what I meant, at night I make the weirdest word choices?? I’m definitely not changing it though because I might find it kinda funny]

I snorted so hard about the way you talked about your almost-name, I'm giggling here like crazy. Apparently my name means something alike 'dedicated to God', but my parents aren't really believers, so gotta love that. The meaning of my sibling's name is 'summer', but I'm the one born in the summer, whilst my sibling is born in autumn, oops. Guess my parents never checked one of those sites/ books where you can find the meaning of a name hahaha.

I love how my ask was so weird and chaotic that you sent a screenshot to a friend. I LOVE that she had no idea what was going on. Then again, I watched the semis (obviously hahaha) but I had no idea what was going on either... But honestly it was peak Dutch culture, water and bicycles, I would just add an ode to 'hagelslag' and voila, the entirety of Dutch culture summed up... [Also: if you don't know: 'hagelslag' is just sprinkles which we eat on bread, yes, on bread, we do not not only eat sprinkles as on cake or on donuts, like in any other country, no, we put it on bread. It's actually a really popular sandwich topping here. My ultimate favourites are the chocolate ones, but you also have them in several fruity flavours (like forest fruit) and anise flavour.] Thank you, perfect chaotic energy is an ultimate goal I strive towards *bows like I'm Victorian royalty or something*

You're absolutely right, it went EXACTLY like that. Specifically, I would be studying for my exams, explaining topics to myself like I always do, so I'd tell myself "The six possible origins of economies of scope are indivisibility, specialisation, marketing, research and development, GUESS WHAT.. SUBWAY DRIVER GANDÍA... ehhh... what was I doing again??" OR: "one of the most detailed and most used models of responsive regulation is Brathwaite's piramid. His enforcement piramid visually shows, nope not important, SUBWAY DRIVER GANDÍAAAAAA" And I'd laugh, continue explaining theories and calculations to myself until my focus started lessening again and my thoughts would wander off again. I am VERY glad I'm not the only one who thinks about it from time to time, and I'm glad you're not suing me for any mental harm yet.

Yess, those pictures I saw from Promising Young Woman look so beautiful and aesthetic!! I'll probably watch it somewhere after the 16th, because I'll most likely have finished my last exams by then. I'll tell you what I thought about it! Thank you SO SO SO much for all the luck wishes!!!! I had an exam last Friday and I absolutely rewarded myself, because it went better than I expected and I passed an earlier exam and a paper too! I didn't buy myself a tricorne (yet), but I did buy funko pops (my inner economist said it was 100% rational because it was a really good deal hahaha). I still have two exams to go, so I could always buy a tricorne for finishing either of those, OR. EVEN BETTER. I'll ask my parents (or my grandparents) for one for my birthday. I mean, that would be hilarious. They'd be so confused. They've never seen S3 and S4 of LCDP so they'll have no idea, even if I tried to explain it. It would be so incredibly funny (and really really weird for them), I am laughing like crazy just at the thought of it.

I've never been in Finland before, but those temperatures do not sound legal indeed. I have no knowledge of Finnish law, but maybe article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights, the prohibition of torture, would work? If I was the judge I’d 100% agree, so we should all sue the weather sksksks. I'm glad to have brought you rain though (and that I apparently possess the power to do so - magic weather controlling pirate seems like a nice enough job to me)!!! I hope the temperature has become at least somewhat lower. You're right, climate change should just... stop... right away. The weather is pretty weird here, right now: one day it will be super sunny and (at least) around 27 degrees and almost melting away, and the other day it will be raining and I'll be wearing my warmest sweater. Like, why the extremes??

I love that I am able to make you lose your coherent thoughts (that's probably why we have one brain energy about Underwater, because I, too, have the ability to make myself lose my coherent thoughts). I'm glad for your faith in my impersonation of Martín. I even started Duolingo Spanish again, and now know the phrase, "Yo bebo leche" (I drink milk) which obviously would be very important to him. Now I'll just need an Argentinian accent to go with it. Leaning menacingly on a cane would be GREAT, I love the idea. I'll open job applications for a Denver. Maybe my cat could help me, she, much like Denver, is super loud and she is super aggressive towards other cats, so there is potential there. And guiding dogs and even tiny guiding horses exist, why not a guiding cat?

I always assumed I would follow a more... you know… legal... career path, maybe even literally a career in law. But, my accounting professor also showed us how to manipulate financial statements ("so you can notice when people are doing this", uh-huh sure, sure that’s why) and another professor of mine also said that a criminal career sometimes could be the more rational, rewarding choice over a legally acceptable career. So, I suppose I should not be surprised by this sudden change of career plans. I should have seen this coming. And what better way to be able to avoid the laws than by knowing exactly what they are and how far you can go. And if that plan doesn’t work out, the books of law I have (they’re combined in two huge hardcover bundles) are really heavy and you could probably harm someone with them if you hit hard enough… Well, I suppose you can even leave “hard” away, just by hitting someone softly with those books you can bring serious harm to them… Ah, and like that one professor would say: in this scenario it would be a rational choice to become a pirate instead of a privateer. Oh dear, not Arturito :/ Mutiny would seem like a good option, I’ll take over the ship and become Palermo the Pirate. Sounds much and much better than “Arturo the Pirate”, since that isn’t an alliteration, sooo mutiny is reasonable even for that reason. And then there’s the fact that it’s Arturo, I mean, that says enough.

YOU LOVE UNDERWATER TOO????!!!! I completely forgot that you posted that! It seems we do indeed already have one shared braincell energy my friend <3

Last week has been pretty good (except for having to make a test at 9:30, what a godless time, I’m usually barely awake by then ehehehe), I think I aced the test I had, got back some good grades and finally got my first Covid vaccination (and only shortly slight dizziness as a side effect, so that's pretty great). And thanks so much!!! For now I’m safe from Gandía, but somewhere in mid-July I’ll have to take an exam on campus, so I’ll might be able to bring out my inner Palermo then.

How was your week? If the weather is still unkind to you (well, also if the weather *is* kind to you), treat yourself to your favourite ice cream and a break every now and then <3 Do you already have holidays or hasn’t your academical year ended yet?

You’re also right - this is conversation and we’re friends now <3 And I absolutely do like cookies! I would say my favourites are american cookies (though stroopwafels are reaally good as well) but honestly there are only a few kinds of cookies that I don’t love that much. And anything with chocolate in it is GREAT. I do also love apples and bananas, though grapes (which I just had) are even better! What’s your favourite kind of cookie?

Also, I know I have been giving you so many prompts already, but I saw this one in that list you reblogged and it gave me so much Berlermo energy: you live in an apartment with your best friend. the two of you always fall asleep in each other's arms, but one day, your friend isn't there. they've fallen in love with someone else. it's your other best friend, who recently moved in with you. and that's when you realize, that those nights you spent together, weren't so platonic after all. I would love it if you’d write it, but if you decide not to that’s absolutely fine too, no worries <3

By the way, I was going to post this quite a bit earlier, but my laptop (unlike me) decided yesterday night, when I was finishing writing this, that it was time to sleep, so I had to quickly dump this whole rant in Google Docs (it’s almost two and a half pages what the heck) and I was busy all day so I only was able to upload it just now. I swear I can ractually espond faster than after a week :) Have a lovely evening, much love from the gay bike country <3

Heeeeeeey you are back!!! How happy am I to see my favouritest gay bike anon return to my inbox!!! 💕 [Author's note: You can tell I started this reply right away because you've sent me three or four asks since this one and one can tell you are indeed back hahaha]

Yeeeeeees this is how one makes friends!! You know, I was just thinking the other night of how "gay bike anon" shortens to GBA, like the Game Boy Advance, you know. Make of that what you will, but it pleases me to know that you can also have a cute nickname for your cute nickname. Nicknameception.

Yes, exactly that, "I did not write that, and if I did in fact write that.. No I did not." Also, "the mystery will marinate"??? That's an amazing word choice and some day I will absolutely use it for something, just you wait. I think it just goes to show that you should write everything while tired, haha.

Haha I love that naming convention for you. It may make very little sense, but....... but. Also, happy birthday for whenever it is, presumably in the nearby past or future!! Lots of love!! You're the summer child while your sibling is... a summer child, but like, different.

Since you appreciated my almost-name story, I'll reward you with the rest of it: so my name is Tuuli, which is Finnish for "wind". My mum originally wanted to name me Pilvi, which means "cloud". And then she was like oh no this child is not at all serene and cloud-like??? and thus, a new me. I'm glad she had second thoughts, although I wonder if having such an ill-fittingly chill name would've done anything to alter my personality? Nomen est omen and all. There's some kind of an alternate universe where all of that played out, but I'm glad it's not this one.

Yeah either you watched the semis and have no idea, or you didn't watch them and have no idea. There is no way to get what was going on there, I'm certain they themselves also didn't get it. I had no idea about hagelslag but thjipgnhefjpihjo that's amazing, I love that for you!!!! There was absolutely no reason to go there but you as a country just... did that. Amazing. Please have some and report to me so I can live through you. And also, you are absolutely legit Victorian royalty [or something] *bows in return*. Also, I do love how you say "I watched the semis (obviously)." Imagine if you didn't and this entire time I was tragically misinterpreting the nature and intentions of your ask and you were just rolling with it because you've no idea what I'm on about but are also too polite to tell me that. Khhhhhhh

Your brain has priorities!!!! And they're honestly beautiful. Well done, brain. Subway driver Gandíaaaaaaaaaa~~~ My brain is filled with Berlermo quotes that come @ me at random times during the day and leave me just a tad shell-shocked, remembering how it all went down. I'm eating my morning yoghurt and my brain goes yo te propuse fundir oro juntos, and I'm just there like :)))))) Real nice, brain.

Have you had the opportunity to see Promising Young Woman yet? Hhhhh it's so pretty, every time I work on this reply [it's a lot of times, okay, I'm very diligent about this, I stare at this ask and craft snazzy replies in my head all the time, that's why I'm so slow in... actually replying] I'm reminded of that. I'm not a very visual person but the colours and the framing... that was really nice.

I am somewhat glad you've not been to Finland yet, you must hit me up when you come visit, I'll take you for coffee!!! It's actually cooler now (bless!!!!!!!!!!!), the last... four days have been reasonable 14-20 degrees, after four consequtive weeks of 25+. Kkhhhh thinking back to it makes me feel a little ill, but now beret weather is back. I own a lot of berets, dear gay bike anon. I'm going to my university city for the weekend and I'm already wondering which beret(s) I should bring with me. This is an important decision with potential long-lasting consequences. I don't know if you've played any of Telltale's games (The Wolf Among Us and the first two seasons of The Walking Dead are the best ones, fight me), but when you make a decision and the game goes "This character will remember that." and you instantly go oh no what have I done??? That's how I feel about choosing the perfect beret for my city outing. But yes, weather extremes are just the worst. We've been having the longest drought I've ever seen here (it's still not properly rained, for the record, on Tuesday it rained for an hour or so) while in other places there's awful flooding. That's awful.

Ahhh I'm so happy you're continuing your Spanish-learning!! I took a beginner's course at uni in the spring semester, I'm going to take the next one when uni resumes in September. And yes, I'm studying it for LCDP. I mean I love languages in general, but I never had a particular need to study Spanish, until this year I suddenly did. I'm also Duolingo-ing it! Very slowly and steadily. Also, I adore the idea of your cat being your Denver. What's your cat's name??? What do they look like?? Tell me everything, you can't just leave it at my cat, you simply must allow me to meet them. Also, you know why guide cats aren't a thing? Because cats are the worst. I love cats, but you can't just teach them to do useful things. They'll do them if they want to. As I type this, my cat is trying to catch flies at my feet. Her name is Muusa.

I studied accounting for my undergrad!! So I can join you in [[[preventing]]] tax fraud and [[[recognising]]] tampering with financial statements. We can make a totally legitimate business out of it. No but truly, I'm certain we were taught some of those things with the expectation that our future employers would expect it of us. Capitalism is so fun :)))))) And you shouldn't be surprised, academia is but a stepping stone to crime, honestly. Any dark academia book will tell you this. You start out learning Latin and wearing turtlenecks, you end up with murder. That's just how academia works. And you seem to have already chosen your weapon... you're well on your way. :) Palermo the Pirate sounds great!!! I support your mutiny. I don't think I said, but this is my favourite word of the English language. Mutiny. Mutiny????? It doesn't sound very serious. It sounds cute, actually. I love it.

I'm so happy to hear you got your covid vaccine!!!! I had mine a month ago or so - I typed you a reply to the subway Gandía thing on the train ride back, actually. I was really stressed about getting it on my right arm, because I'm left-handed, and last time I got a vaccination (like a decade ago) they insisted on giving it on my left arm and I was sad :( But this time!! I got it on my chosen arm and was very pleased. So anyway, that was a segue. I'm glad you got your covid shot and were side effect -free!!!

My week has been good, thank you!! I went to my uni city for my niece's birthday on Monday, and as said I'm going back on Friday (tomorrow). So this time in between has felt like exactly that, time in between. I started reading Call Me By Your Name. I had my Korean class last night. Now I'm hanging out with my cat (she has stopped chasing flies and climbed to my lap) and talking to you. My holidays started already in May! And uni resumes in the beginning of September, but I'm a tutor for new students so I need to show up three weeks earlier for the orientation weeks. Yes, we do three weeks of orientation (read: three weeks of drinking). It's a bit insane.

Now I need to ask you again how your week has been, since I'm so slow. How has your week been?? Are you free from your exams?? When does your uni resume?

Stroopwafels are so good ahhh I'll have to buy them when and or if I see them. Possibly when I'm in central Europe but haha I can hope to be lucky and see them at a store with imported stuff, you know. My favourite cookies??? Omg maybe these ones - they have this truffle filling, and they're fun to eat (this is important in cookies, you see):

And of course they're Fazer. Because Finnish people have only one setting, apparently. Or maybe that's just me. But all cookies are great, honestly. I like making American cookies, that's always a fun pastime (and you get to have cookie dough, that's like half the fun). I've actually not made them for a lifetime??? Maybe I should, soon. I'll keep you updated. Also, brookies. I love making brookies, they're great.

I really really appreciate being given prompts, I hope you know that!! Thank you!! Consider me pocketing this prompt and maybe eventually some day theoretically getting back to you about it!! You're right - it has Berlermo energy. Insofar as either of them actually have other friends. :)

Thank you for this kind message, dear gay bike anon <3 I'd apologise for my slowness in replying but I think I'd rather you just assume that I'll get back to you, and thank you for your patience <3 Your kind and funny and chaotic asks always brighten my day. I hope you'll have a great rest of the week and just... all the nice and fun and good things and great vibes in life. All the best, dear gay bike anon <3 Take care!! And greetings from Muusa as well - she just yawned and I presume that means "greetings".

[unfolded73]

Since you're taking prompts, maybe a future fic when little Swan-Jones somehow learns a thing or two about dad's past and Killian has to figure out a way to explain it in a way his kid will understand. (I know this is probably random, but it seems like something you would write really well based on other stories of yours I've read.)

My first thought was, I’ve already written this! (A Sad, Sad Place Without You) But I very quickly realized that there are more angles to tell this kind of story from, and no shortage of things for Maureen to find out about. Plus, I was able to use a tiny orphaned snippet of a Charming/Maureen conversation that I didn’t know what to do with, which makes me happy. 

FYI, Maureen is my invented Swan-Jones daughter who predates the canon pregnancy, so some of the stories about her are consistent with S7 and some aren’t.  Rated G, ~2300 words.

David found Maureen on the swing he’d hung from a big, old tree on the property years ago. She’d kicked off her sneakers, and despite the chilly air was swinging back and forth barefoot, leaning back so that her hair dragged through the dirt, her fists clutching the weathered rope.

“I wondered where you’d gotten to,” he said, and at the sound of his voice, his ten-year-old granddaughter pulled herself upright, slowing with a drag of her heels against the ground. She was dirt from head to toe, as usual.

“I wanted to swing,” she said.

“Well,” he said, leaning against the tree, “I’m glad you’re getting some use out of it. Neal’s too old for it now.”

Maureen narrowed her eyes. “That’s stupid. There’s no reason to grow out of swinging.”

“You make a compelling point.” He crossed his arms. “In any case, your parents will be here to pick you up soon, so you should probably come back up to the house and get cleaned up.”

Rolling her eyes, she pushed back with her legs and started swinging again.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.”

“It must be something, Mo.” He flinched. “Sorry, Maureen.” She’d announced at her tenth birthday party the previous month that she didn’t like her nickname anymore, and wouldn’t answer to it or to any of the other pet names Killian had for her.

She scowled, stopping her momentum again with her bare feet. “My dad killed people, you know.”

David took a startled step back at that non-sequitur. “What are you talking about?” he asked cautiously, not knowing exactly what she knew.

“I used to think being a pirate meant sailing around where you wanted, maybe stealing gold from people who didn’t deserve so much gold.” She screwed up her face, and David could tell she was near tears. “But he was a villain. He hurt people.”

Still uncertain if this was a conclusion she’d drawn about pirates in general or if she’d gleaned specific information about her father, David spoke carefully. “Your father only became a pirate because an evil king caused the death of his brother--”

“I know that story,” she interrupted. “Doesn’t mean he didn’t do really bad stuff though.”

David walked over and knelt on the ground in front of Maureen, gripping the ropes of the swing in his hands. “I know, sweetheart, but your father has been a good man for a very long time. A hero. A man I’m proud is part of my family.”

“Heroes aren’t supposed to kill people.”

A sudden image of his own wife after she’d killed Cora, more distraught than he’d ever seen her, flashed in David’s mind. Heroes aren’t supposed to kill people.

“Did something happen, Maureen? What’s got you thinking about this all of a sudden?”

She scuffed her feet in the dirt, kicking some of it onto David’s blue jeans. “I heard them talking.”

“Who?”

“Mom and Dad. I heard him say he killed his father.”

And mine, David thought traitorously. He’d forgiven Killian long ago for that, but it still struck him at odd times, that his closest buddy, his daughter’s true love, the father of this wonderful girl in front of him was responsible for such a life-altering crime from so long ago.

“I heard him tell Mom that he’d dreamed again of the night he killed his father. They didn’t know I was listening. And I just started to think about pirates, and I realized he probably killed other people too. I don’t know why I never thought of that before.”

“Because he’s your dad,” David said. “Killian’s father was not a good man. He abandoned his own children when Killian was no older than you are now. I know it’s hard to understand--”

Maureen didn’t seem to even hear him and was working herself up into hysterics. “He lived for a really long time as a pirate, he told me. Two hundred years. How can he make up for being a villain by being a hero now? There isn’t enough time!”

David reached out and stroked her cheek, catching one of her tears on his thumb. “It doesn’t work that way. Your dad doesn’t have to balance out the years when he was a villain with the same number of years as a hero before his slate is clean. What matters is that he’s a good man now, and because of that, we forgive him for things that happened in his past. It’s an act of generosity to forgive someone who’s worked to be a better person. An act of grace.”

Brow furrowed, Maureen tried to puzzle that out. “When did you forgive him?”

David thought about that, uncertain how to answer. It had been a gradual thing that happened in stages, with a few rough patches between where they’d started and where they were now, but that wasn’t what Maureen wanted to hear. “Have you ever heard the story of Queen Elsa?”

She nodded.

“When Queen Elsa came to town, she was afraid that the people here had done something to hurt her sister Anna, and it made it difficult for her to control her powers.”

“Ice powers?” Maureen asked quickly, and he could see a spark of excitement in her eyes underneath the worry.

“Yes, ice powers. So for a little while, your mom was in danger, because she was trapped with Elsa, and it was very, very cold.” He took a deep breath. “I was with your dad, and he fought so hard to get her out of that ice. I think he would have chipped at the ice with his hook until he collapsed from exhaustion. That was when I realized how much he loved your mom, and I guess I forgave him then.” It wasn’t the whole truth, but it was true enough for the sake of what he was trying to communicate. It was certainly one of many times that he’d seen the man’s love for Emma shining out like a beacon in the dark of night.

“And once someone’s forgiven, the bad stuff they did doesn’t matter?” she asked, wiping at the tears on her face and hopelessly smearing her cheeks with more dirt.

“I wouldn’t say it doesn’t matter, but… you move on from it. Maybe you don’t forget. Just like your dad has never forgotten the things he’s done. But you turn the page, and you live on.” He thought about Rumple and Killian, Regina and Zelena. So many people in his life had been granted forgiveness for so much. Perhaps they didn’t deserve it, but in the end, what would it have benefited anyone to hold grudges? How would it have done anything but keep those people back from achieving the good they’d achieved?

Maureen hopped off of the swing, and he pulled her into a hug. “Just know that there are few people in this world that I trust more than your father to protect the people we love. And that’s been true for many years. Okay?”

She nodded against his chest, sniffling. “Okay.”

“All right, young miss, let’s get you inside and cleaned up.” Maureen picked up her shoes and ran toward the farmhouse while David followed after her at a more sedate pace.

~*~

“Okay, Dad. Thanks.”

Killian looked up from his book, seeing Emma in the doorway by their bed, slipping her phone back in her pocket. He sat in the wingback chair he’d positioned next to the large ocean-facing windows of their bedroom years ago. It had become his favorite place to sit of late to enjoy the salt-tinged breeze, even as the temperatures were dropping and it was becoming less pleasant to leave the windows open.

“Hey, is Mo still in the shower?” she asked.

“Aye,” he said, tilting his head toward their bathroom. Their daughter had recently switched from baths to showers, but annoyingly she insisted on using their bathroom instead of the one next to her room. That bathroom creeps me out, she said, although Killian could find absolutely nothing to justify such a statement.

“We’re going to need to talk to her. Dad said she overheard us talking about Brennan last night.” Emma refused to honor the man who’d fathered Killian with the title, choosing to refer to him by his name. She may have never known the man, but it didn’t stop her from despising him.

Killian’s heart plummeted. “Dammit.”

“That’s not all. I guess it got her thinking about pirates and villainy and murder and I don’t even know what all, but she was upset. Dad did his best to comfort her and it sounds like he did a bang-up job, but we’re going to need to talk to her.” She stepped up next to the chair and combed her fingers through his hair, her nails scraping pleasantly against his scalp.

“I knew this day would come eventually,” he sighed. “I just wish I knew what to say. There’s nothing to justify some of the things I did.”

Emma continued to stroke his hair. “Do you want me to be here, or should I let you talk to her by yourself?”

He looked up at her gratefully for thinking to ask. “I think I’d rather talk to her by myself unless you think that would do more damage.”

“Of course it won’t.” She leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. “I’ll be downstairs if you need me.”

His daughter appeared from the steam-filled bathroom a few minutes later, wearing baggy, plaid pajama pants and a plain t-shirt, her hair a wet and uncombed riot. She had a drawer full of pink and purple nightgowns and girly pajamas -- gifts from her Grandma Snow that she had never worn.

“Would you like me to comb your hair, love?” he asked gently, seeking any sign of her emotional state on her face. He expected Maureen to say no (these days she wanted to do everything herself), but she nodded.

Killian reached over and grabbed Emma’s brush off the dresser, beckoning his daughter closer with his hook. Without a word, she positioned herself with her back to him, and he sat forward in the chair and began to gently work the tangles out from the bottom, his hook pressed above where he was brushing to keep from pulling at Maureen’s scalp.

“I fear I’ve made an error with you, darling, telling you so many exciting stories about being a pirate and leaving out the less savory aspects of my former life,” he said, clearing his throat around the lump that was already forming. The last thing in the world that he wanted was for any of his past mistakes to cause his daughter pain. He’d die a thousand deaths to spare her that if he could.

Maureen’s shoulders tensed but she said nothing.

“I can’t lie to you; I was a villain, and I made many mistakes in service of seeking vengeance against someone who had wronged me.”

“Rumpelstiltskin,” she supplied. She didn’t know Rumple; he and Belle and Gideon had left Storybrooke to travel the realms before Maureen had been born. And of course, Maureen had asked Emma years ago why her father had only one hand. Emma had told as sanitized a version of the story as she could, just as he had once done the same when Maureen learned that he’d died. Too many terrible tales haunted their pasts, he thought.

“I hated my father. He abandoned me and Liam when we were boys, leaving us indentured to a ship--”

“What’s ‘indentured’?” she asked.

He sighed. “It’s almost like being a slave, but the difference is there is a chance to buy your way to freedom, although it’s very difficult.”

Maureen whirled around. “You were a slave?”

“Not exactly, darling, but near enough.” He coaxed her to turn around again so he could continue working on her hair. “I never forgave my father for that, although perhaps I should have. So when the chance arose and killing him would get me closer to my goal, I accepted a devil’s bargain and I orphaned your other uncle Liam.” He left Regina’s involvement out. He didn’t know when or if she might return to Storybrooke, but he didn’t want to bias his daughter against someone who was an integral part of the family. “He was a bad man, but it was a mistake and I regret it.” Most of the tangles gone, he ran the brush down the length of Maureen’s hair. “I regret many things that I’ve done, and I work every day to be a man worthy of this family. Worthy of being your father.”

“You are,” she said in a small, trembling voice. Setting the brush aside, he coaxed her onto his lap so that he could hold her. She didn’t fit the way she used to, all long limbs and angles, and he shuddered to imagine the woman she would start to bloom into in only a few short years. His days of holding her like this were numbered.

“I apologize that my past deeds have made you upset. And I apologize that I wasn’t more honest with you.” Her wet hair was cold against his cheek, and he turned and pressed his lips to her head.

“It’s okay, Dad.”

“I love you, Mo.”

“Maureen,” she corrected, but there was no heat in it, and she wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly.

“Maureen,” he responded, hugging her back, his eyes squeezing shut against tears that threatened to spill over.

“I’m glad you’re a good man now.”

“Me too, love.”