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#sure they were almost all comics and manga
starkassembled · 1 year
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man, nothing is as nice as completing another series :D
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riizeblr · 2 months
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bully!female!reader tricked nerd!anton saying she'll buy his stupid comic collections just to knock him out then use his dick all she wants, making sure he came inside her so she could be pregnant w his babies and he'll be stuck w her forever
rating: 18+. mdni.
content: babytrapping, nerd!anton x bully!reader
the summer was almost over. you could feel the chill in the evening air, see the rotting fruits on trees that threatened to fall, feel the excitement of schoolchildren as they bragged about backpacks and new shoes. most of all, you felt the anxiety of your peers leaving home, ready to start their lives on their own. they scrambled to check off every item on endless lists, babbling about how exciting it was going to be once they finally made it to university. everyone was moving too fast.
but not you. you sat back and seethed in jealousy, shooting burning hot daggers at the backs of those who turned them towards you. you were never the nicest in school. most people didn’t like you and you knew that, you thrived on it. you were mean and cruel, picking on whoever about whatever. you picked on some people more than others. easier targets who would do nothing more than bury their heads into hoods of loose-fitting hoodies, hunch their backs and avoid eye contact, stutter out hesitant responses in hopes of making you “happy”. that’s what anton did. and anton was your favorite.
he was meek and gentle for someone of his size and stature. he cowered and kept to himself, trying to avoid detection. he was good at it, too. he managed to avoid being the center of attention all four years. it seemed that you were the other one who saw him, picking on his interests, pushing and shoving at him, tugging on his skin and flinging his glasses from his face. anton let you, keeping his lips shut unless you demanded a response. he stuttered and looked for approval in your features, ending most of his sentences with, “right?”
“I’m a worthless loser,” he’d echo after you, “right?”
it was pathetic really. he was nearly begging for you to approve, let him know he was doing good. he was your favorite punching bag, pliant and always coming back.
but now anton was going away, too, and the realization made your mind spin more than you’d like to admit. there would be no one else in your hometown but you, destined to live a pitiful life on your own, while he would go on to live lavish, make a living doing whatever nerdy thing he had babbled on about when you let him.
you realized that anton could take care of you. he didn’t have to go away without you. not if you didn’t want him to. it wouldn’t take much to convince him. he was weak. his biggest weakness just so happened to be something you were more than willing to offer.
you had teased him relentlessly after seeing the dirty manga tucked beneath his usual outlandish superhero stories, watching his cheeks burn bright and his eyes gloss over as he tries not to cry.
“I’m a dirty pervert,” you’d made him say, grinning at the way it sounded slipping off his tongue. “right?” he added. you noticed the way his body shivered, relieved when you finally gave him an ounce of praise, a mere, “hm.”
anton was scared of you. he walked on eggshells, never sure of anything he said, hesitant but so obedient. anton had never changed, staying the same closed-off recluse easy to poke fun at. you liked that. the stability he provided, something you had never appreciated before.
you were embarrassed at how desperate you were becoming. you did all you could to keep him close more and more as the days continued on faster and faster. anton had noticed. it was like he could feel your fear of change. he began letting you push him around long after his shift at the tech store in the middle of town, even attempting to talk to you when he noticed you lingering around. your heart pounded, ashamed of what you had to resort to.
still, your plan was stuck in the back of your head, growing louder and louder until you finally put it into action.
it was dark out, anton’s shift ending later than it usually did. you stayed behind, asking him about the limited edition copy of the comic book he had spoken about. he seemed pleased, perking up at the mention, eager to agree to take you to his bedroom to see it.
it was all easy from there.
anton quickly realized you weren't really interested in his comic. he seemed to be racking his brain, looking for an explanation as to why you were really there, though you knew he would never ask you directly. he kept talking anyway, steady, soft voice breaking and weakening when your hand crept up his leg. he blinked, pausing for a moment, pondering, but never speaking.
he looked confused, conflicted, especially when you shoved your hand down the front of his pants. he gasped, staring down at the bulge of your hand between his clothed legs, gripping his soft cock. you were surprised, even his flaccid cock felt big.
anton clutched the comic book tightly when you pulled on his waistband, rippling the pristine pages. you could already see the look of dispair that would grace his face when he came to his senses.
he twitched at the cold air alone, growing rapidly under your fingers as you played with the stiffening length. he was tense when you sunk down to your knees, prying his thighs open to make room for yourself.
"what am i doing?" you asked him, suddenly eager to hear him say it.
anton swallowed, "you're going to-" he shifted, the words caught in his throat, "s-suck my dick." he seemed hesitant like he was unsure what your real intentions were. "right?"
you grinned, releasing a stream of breath onto his cock. anton's thighs twitched. you took him into your mouth quickly, reveling at the look on his face and the overwhelmed noise that poured from his mouth.
he was weak as you continued, raising his hips into your mouth shallowly, his comic book tightly held in one hand, rips the same shape as his fingernails running up the sides. he tasted good. a little salty and he smelled of his natural musk after a long day. he was heavy on your tongue, stretching your lips and your throat. you found that you didn't mind it. like everything else about anton, you felt oddly at ease.
anton didn't dare complain when you pulled away from him, cruelly leaving him on the brink of his orgasm, but now, more than ever, you were certain of your plan. "i'm sorry," anton croaked, his eyes watery, "i did something wrong. right?"
you looked at him as you rose to your feet, pulling his shirt off his frame, along with yours. he appeared too shy to look at your exposed skin, waiting until you pushed him onto his back. his cock jumped in excitement, tip leaking and eager for stimulation.
anton let you do as you pleased like he always did. only this time, you were kissing and sucking on his skin, nibbling on his nipples, and pulling on his ear. by your standards, he looked content, too.
when you finally sank down on his cock, anton cried out, his entire body strained. you were no better, your hands fixed on his strong chest, pussy hugging his cock tightly.
it only took a few swirls of your hips to feel unfamiliar, but delicious warmth filling your cunt. anton had a pained look on his face and you knew he was embarrassed, likely fearing how you would react to his premature orgasm. inside you, no less. you simply shivered, slotting your lips between his, brain buzzing at the thought of his seed seeping into your womb.
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ifyoucandaniel · 2 months
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i know we all love our jason “reads classical literature and makes obscure literature references” todd, and usually damian is the other reader in the family and they either bond over their love for classical literature or try to kill each other. however i would like to take this a step further and say that EVERYone in the batfam are big readers. i come from a big family and all of us read in some way or another so here are my headcanons for the bats:
jason, as we know and love, is a massive classic literature buff. pride and prejudice, the brontë sisters, the iliad (he swears achilles and Patroclus are the greatest love story of all time), etc. he IS pretentious and everyone groans when classic literature is brought up in any debatable capacity. however his all time favorite book is the princess bride and he would die for buttercup. when the whole family starts watching jujutsu kaisen, jason reads the manga just so he can spoil things for damian that never actually happen. the day a new episode comes out jason tells damian panda was actually a spy and kills megumi. damian tries to kill him with his cereal spoon
while damian was with the league talia made sure he was sufficiently educated in classic literature in all their original languages, and he doesn’t mind a good classic. however i think he actually reads a lot of manga and children's classics. he read where the red fern grows and old yeller and cried, but he won’t ever admit it. he loves shonen and shojo manga, he really likes naruto and attack on titan (i can’t really decide what i think he’d like actually)
Dick is a smut slut girly!! he is in a bookclub with babs and steph where they read the sluttiest books to ever make it through publishing. He read ACOTAR and was constantly facetiming babs to rant. they're currently reading haunting adaline. Bruce once asked what the big deal was when the girls were talking to dick about fouth wing in the kitchen and they all looked at him with such offended expressions he never asked again
tim is also a pretentious fucker, but he reads dark academia. he will ride or die for Donna Tarte, his copy of the secret history is always on the desk by the batcomputer and he takes if we were villians on patrol with him. jason fucking hates his books and they're always fighting on who's taste in books is better. jason actually really loved a little life a cried seven times while reading it, but he would rather die than concede
steph is an AO3 girly!! she's part of the slut bookclub with dick and babs, but at heart she's an ao3 girly. she's also written her fair share of bruce wayne x batman fanfics. she once read a superbat fanfiction out loud to the boys and dick was absolutely enthralled, duke was morbidly facinated, damian had never been more disgusted in his life, and jason laughed so hard he almost threw up
duke reads a lot of comics (spiderman is his favorite because i say so and the MCU is their comic world), and he likes X-men and wolverine. he also really likes high fantasy and has read every book brandon sanderson has ever written
Cass like romance novels and ya books. damian acknowledges her taste in books after she defends his stance on harry potter and percy jackson being classics when jason tries to argue that they don't belong in the same category as his books. she read the cruel prince and convinced bruce to get her a snake she named percy. she reads books damian recommends and he would never actually say it out loud, but he secretly loves sharing his books with her and feels a lot closer to her because of her willingness to read what he recommends
bruce isn't typically a reader (he's too busy serving justice and kicking ass) but he will read books that his kids ask him to. he read the entire wheel of time series with duke and would go on patrols with him after just to talk about it. he read the golden compass to dick when he first took him in, and he read all of jane austen's books after jason told him he must be illiterate if he'd never picked up a classic
now what about alfred...
i dont have time to do everyone else and this is super rushed, but I just couldn't stop thinking about dick and babs having a little book club and reading the sluttiest books ever
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aluhnim · 4 months
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Hello!! When you start a comic, how do you go about deciding your panelling layouts?? If this is too big of an ask for covid brain, how about your favorite song of the moment / a song that really inspires you?? I hope you feel better soon!
I was searching around for an old write up I did for some Original Character Tournament folks who were interested in my thoughts on panels and layouts. To try and answer your question, I go off of vibe now that I’ve made a LOT of comics. However, as much as it doesn’t seem like it at times, I do typically stay as “conventional” as possible to make sure my readers are still following the plot. I make a lot of adjustments along the way. Smarter layouts allow me to draw less, and drawing less is better for me in the long run! It’ll allow me to put more time in other places of the comic.
Anyway, here’s my write up back in the day that’ll hopefully answer some comic drafting questions!
More conventional paneling is a necessary stepping stone because you know your reader won’t get lost and the structure will have you more focused on flow and pacing. It seems remarkably easy to do comics with more “static” or traditional panel layouts but they work for a reason. There’s no real need to break out of something that works, unless you want to! Breaking out of the structure can really add some OOMPH to your important pages.
Some tips, note that these have been my preferences and some definitions don’t quite match their descriptors.
Bleed
I consider open panels or panels that stretch out beyond the edge of the page to be considered bleeds. They’re simple ways to make you feel like your not just sticking within your margins and making your page feel less static without much extra effort. Manga does this quite often, and Western American comics, especially during action packed moments or large splashes.
Some examples of things bleeds can do:
- They can also be used as transitions between pages (first panel bleeding in, last panel bleeding out).
- They can be used to interrupt or add a beat to a moment. Although the example below is mostly bleeds, you can see the one full panel at the bottom stands out because it’s not like the others. A subtle beat.
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- They can also just be used to extend a panel to make it bigger. That seems obvious, but larger panels do make people spend a bit more time on them, regardless if there is text or not. Though, “more time” means probably several milliseconds or even a few seconds more than usual.
- Collaging with a bleed is a really great way to think beyond panels and open the space. You will be spending more time thinking of how much you can cram in along with the flow of how your text is going to lead through a series of images.
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- Removing panel borders can really open a space and allow for more room without having to go above and beyond the ideas of comics and panels. (sorry, gale galligan is just good)
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Gutters
The space between panels is almost just as important as the panel itself. That’s where readers and inferring actions and time. You can only control so much of what the reader is doing between their eye shifting between panels, which is why composition within panels and clarity are so important.
Gutters can also be played with! A simple example is changing your gutters from white to all black. It can be a subtle shift in time, a transition to a new space.
Even the amount of space between panels leaves an idea of time! I think webtoons/manhwa really work well with the gutter space, leaving you to physically scroll and feel the effects of time passing with the amount of empty space you encounter.
It’s important to understand that the gutter has a lot more to do with reader imagination, and your goal is to have them understand that the next panel is somehow plausible.
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THIS SCENE EMFIELDS DID IS VERY FUCKING GOOD. TIME, SPACE, GO OOOOOOFFFF KING
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Panels themselves can be a part story!
This one is a difficult thing to write for, since I feel like there isn’t many examples out there. There are very structural examples of panels out there, like Watchman. While the 9 panel grid was intentional, it also was likely the only way to deal with Alan Moore’s script effectively without missing details. The panels themselves don’t ENHANCE the story, but a means to an end.
But it’s also an incredibly good example of how conventional comics paneling can still be effective, especially when you start breaking that mold just a little bit.
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But then you have comics like M. Dean’s “Baby fat”. Where the comic paneling itself never strays from its original structure, but is indicative of the story itself, representing tiles, mirrors, patterns.
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Or Robert Hunter’s “The New Ghost” which he uses circular motifs and has circular panels representing the telescopes sight line.
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Predicting Reader Navigation
These are my rules of thumb when doing general sight reading panel by panel.
1. Text is what people gravitate to first. It’s the context needed to approach the next panel.
2. Faces are next, this provides context to what the subject is feeling.
3. Familiar people/animals/objects and SFX.
4. Everything else!
This is an example of sight reading notes I gave to my friend Holocene when we were collaborating.
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truffyfest · 4 months
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✨ Truffy Fest 2023 Masterlist & Creator Reveals ✨
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At long last, the fest has come to an end with 37 works total! Thank you to all the readers, supporters, cheerleaders, fans, and of course creators for bring this fest and our favorite two captains to life!
If you haven't already, check out the Truffy Fest zine compiling many of these amazing works! 🤍✨
This list will reveal the lovely creators in order of weekly roundups.
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Week 1:
✨𝐇𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬✨
by @chenziee (Oneshot, 3.8k, rated G)
Onigiri wasn't sure what was worse--Law taking months to realise he was crushing hard on a classmate, his complete inability to do anything about said crush, or his dumb conviction said classmate did not feel the same way about him. Only one thing was for certain. He was not getting paid enough for this.
✨𝐁𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐋𝐚𝐰✨
by @von-leg (3 Page Comic, rated G)
Law agrees to finally tell Luffy's brothers about their relationship. (Ace and Sabo don't react quite like he had expected)
✨𝐌𝐞𝐧𝐚𝐜𝐞✨
by @chenziee (3 Chapter Fic, 2.2k, rated T)
After finding out their sweet, innocent little brother is dating the creepy, dark, and mean Surgeon of Death, pure, honest dread descended upon Sabo and Ace. Someone was going to suffer in this relationship. And it sure as hell wasn't going to be Luffy.
✨𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐞✨
by @katia-anyway (Oneshot, 1.6k, lawlu, rated E)
Taking care of Luffy in bed isn't an easy task, he is demanding and always wants more. But it's so rewarding sometimes... Like when he decides that he doesn't care if his top is too tired, he will push him on his back and do the work himself!
✨𝐃𝐞𝐛𝐭 𝐑𝐞𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐝✨
by @chenziee (Oneshot, 1.8k, rated M)
It was a day like any other. A quiet little port town on a small spring island, beautiful and peaceful, almost picturesque. The Thousand Sunny and the Polar Tang were bathed in sunlight, the water around them sparkling like a sea of jewels. A perfect day, a perfect setting for the two allied crews to take a much needed break after travelling for weeks. At least... That was how it was supposed to be. Manga spoilers for chapter 1044 onwards
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Week 2:
✨𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝 𝐄𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐜 𝐉𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐥 - 𝐆𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐋𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐄𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧✨
by @chenziee (6 Chapter Fic, 3.9k, rated T)
Straw Hat Luffy and Trafalgar Law: more than an alliance?! (Read full article on page 56.)
✨𝐒𝐢𝐱𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞'𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐦✨
by @katia-anyway (Oneshot, 5.4k, lulaw, rated E)
Law had never really noticed Luffy as anything more than as Sabo’s younger brother. Until he sees him without his heels for the first time and realize that, damn, this boy sure is cute… Maybe Law could ask him out… or 5 times Law thought he was completely messing up wooing Luffy and 1 time he realized Luffy had been seduced all along!
✨𝐒𝐮𝐧 𝐆𝐨𝐝 𝐍𝐢𝐤𝐚✨
by Krudy7kk (Artwork, rated G)
Prompt 73: Law meets Nika!Luffy. Every single "classic cartoon character in love" reaction ensues as it takes A While for Law's emotional stunted self to understand what's going on and Nika!Luffy is determined to woo him.
✨𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐟 𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐮𝐦𝐧 (𝐬𝐮𝐝𝐝𝐞𝐧 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞)✨
by @chenziee (Oneshot, 2.2k, rated T)
A long time ago, Hades, the God of the Underworld fell in love with Persephone--the Goddess of Vegetation. He dragged her down to his land against her will, forcing her to marry him so they could rule afterlife together, side by side. That is what the humans say happened, at least. The truth just might have been a little bit different.
✨𝐌𝐲 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐞𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐛𝐨𝐭𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐯𝐚𝐬✨
by Vixent (Oneshot, 9.4k, rated T)
After an accident occurs, leaving Law with blurry memories of his past, he's forced to move away and cope by drawing and painting. One rainy night, Law soon manages to finally draw the man from his faintest memories, and it comes to life.
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Week 3:
✨ 𝐆𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 (𝐏𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐖𝐚�� 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐧 𝐄𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐲 𝐆𝐫𝐚𝐯𝐞) ✨
by riverofnara (Oneshot, 4.1k, rated T)
"The Heart Pirates have learned to keep their expectations of anything happening between Captain and Straw Hat…extremely low. Almost nil. Okay, nonexistent. But then this morning happened." The Heart Pirates believe they need to give Luffy a shovel talk. It goes about as well as one would expect.
✨ 𝐓𝐨 𝐂𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐌𝐲𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐁𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐝 ✨
by @purplehairedwonder (3 Chapter Fic, 13.2k, rated T)
Betrothal Chase: A longstanding courting tradition between pirates in which a pirate who wants to marry another must catch the object of their desire. Now Pirate King, Luffy declares that his next order of business is getting Law to marry him. Law drunkenly snaps that Luffy will need to catch him first, thus unwittingly setting a Betrothal Chase in motion. While Luffy is all-in, Law is, unsurprisingly, a bit of an idiot.
✨ 𝐒𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐜 𝐌𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐝: 𝐀𝐊𝐀 𝐋𝐚𝐰'𝐬 𝐟𝐢𝐠𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐋𝐮𝐟𝐟𝐲 ✨
by Straw_Heart3 (Oneshot, 4.9k, rated T)
The scientific method. He could just use that to figure things out. The first thing is to make an observation: Law noticed that he has been getting certain feelings for one Monkey D. Luffy. The second is to ask a question: What kind of feelings did Law have? The third; form a hypothesis or a testable explanation. The fourth: make a prediction based on his hypothesis. Law knows that as soon as he spends more than a minute actually with Luffy, he’ll squash whatever these feelings are. That leaves the fifth: test the prediction. That’s easy enough.
✨ 𝐆𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐌𝐞 𝐀 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧 ✨
by @betsib (Oneshot, 6.4k, lulaw vibe, rated M)
Law is the lead vocalist and songwriter for the Heart Pirates, but he have been having trouble coming up with new songs. On a whim, he does a cover of the Straw Hats' new single to clear his mind. He doesn't realise Shachi is filming him. The video goes viral on social media, and the fans are demanding a collaboration between the bands. Law isn't interested, until he meets Luffy.
✨ 𝐇𝐮𝐧𝐠𝐫𝐲 𝐃𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐀𝐔 ✨
by @majoranokamen (Artwork, rated G)
Prompt 122: Hungry Days AU
✨ 𝐋𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐭 𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐒𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ✨
by @livwritesfics (Oneshot, 1.6k, rated G)
Law is a student. Luffy regularly sneaks into the university to watch him study in the library. He loves it when Law explains complicated facts to his fellow students. He doesn't understand a word of it, but the way Law talks totally turns him on. Until one day Law catches him hanging around the library after closing without permission. This will be written in Luffy's point of view.
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Weeks 4 & 5:
✨ 𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐭 𝐌𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐒𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐞 ✨
by @tunatunatunas (7 Chapter Fic, 42.2k, rated M)
Law yanked the kid out from the back of the truck and thought about killing him right there. He was the boss of a notorious mafia family, he didn't have time for random weirdos to mess up his heists. Especially not when the little maniac kept asking to hold his gun. It only took some time before Law was falling in love with his smile. "Lu" was sweet and loving-nothing like Law had known his entire life. But most of all, he was kind. And now he was missing, all because Law got him involved.
✨ 𝐌𝐞𝐞𝐭 𝐌𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐃𝐫𝐢𝐟𝐭 ✨
by riverofnara (5 Chapter Fic, 28.5k, rated T)
“See? I’m perfectly fine. Now can I ask my question?” Law doesn’t even spare Luffy a glance. “You had a question?” “Do you want to be my co-pilot?” Golden eyes flicker up to Luffy’s face in shock. “Excuse me?” --- Luffy knows he’s found his Jaeger co-pilot in Law. If only Law would stop saying no and just agree. A One Piece/Pacific Rim fusion.
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Week 6:
✨ 𝐀 𝐁𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐂𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞 𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐠𝐮𝐢𝐬𝐞 ✨
by @katia-anyway (Oneshot, 2.6k, rated G)
Law is the village witch. She lives alone in the forest, only visited by sick people looking for cures after the village doctors have given up on them. Until a young boy wearing a straw hat comes visit him, having lost his memories to a curse. Why would Nika, the Sun God curse a young boy from nowhere? Law needs to figure it out.
✨ 𝐥𝐚𝐰 𝐬𝐥𝐞𝐞𝐩𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐥𝐮𝐟𝐟𝐲 ✨
by @nairi-0 (Artwork, rated G)
Prompt 191: Law falling asleep on Luffy.
✨ 𝐊𝐢𝐤𝐨𝐤𝐮, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐮𝐧𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐮𝐭 𝐠𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐫𝐲 ✨
by @nimudae (Artwork, rated G — 1st part of 2 fic 2 art collab)
Prompt 204: Kikoku has had a VIP seat to Law's (quiet outside, nonstop inside) pining over Luffy and it's Tired so it whispers (unwanted) unhinged encouragements and scenarios to Law to make his feelings known whenever Luffy is anywhere close. Unbeknownst to them, Luffy's ability to hear the voice of all things means he too gets Kikoku's (hilarious to him) running commentary of their interactions.
✨ 𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐰𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐤𝐢𝐬𝐬 𝐦𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲? ✨
by @katia-anyway (Oneshot, 3.6k, rated M — 2nd part of 2 fic 2 art collab)
Luffy is in love with Torao. And he knows Torao loves him back. So why won't Torao kiss him already!?
✨ 𝐋𝐚𝐰 𝐟𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐬 𝐚𝐬𝐥𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐬 ✨
by @nimudae (Artwork — 3rd part of 2 fic 2 art collab)
"Being curled around Torao was just so comfy, he was quickly becoming Luffy’s new favorite napping spot."
✨ 𝐃𝐢𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐱𝐡𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝 ✨
by @goldenandhappy (Oneshot, 4k, rated T — 4th part of 2 fic 2 art collab)
Prompt 204: Kikoku has had a vip seat to Law's (quiet outside, nonstop inside) pining over Luffy and it's Tired so it whispers (unwanted) unhinged encouragements and scenarios to Law to make his feelings known whenever Luffy is anywhere close. Unbeknownst to them, Luffy's ability to hear the voice of all things means he too gets Kikoku's (hilarious to him) running commentary of their interactions
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Week 7:
✨ 𝐄𝐦𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐞 ✨
by @leeislazy (Artwork, rated G)
Prompt 13: Angel Luffy x Devil Law!!
✨ 𝐁𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐮𝐥, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐦𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡 𝐚 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐝! ✨
by Ja-san (Oneshot, 2.1k, lulaw, rated E)
A party turns into a spicy night when Luffy falls into the pool and Law offers some spare clothes.
✨ 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐂𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐌𝐨𝐧𝐤𝐞𝐲 𝐃. 𝐋𝐮𝐟𝐟𝐲 ✨
by Lamp (Oneshot, rated T)
Monkey D. Luffy was cute. This much was known—this was an undeniable, immutable fact. It was also largely suspected to be a ruse of some sort. The squishy-cheeked, beaming face on the wanted posters was largely considered by the more discerning members of Law’s profession to be incapable of the infamous, impossible deeds that Straw Hat Luffy has committed. --- Or: Luffy is cute, Law has incorrect assumptions, and then a crisis.
✨ 𝐁𝐢𝐫𝐝𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐟𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 ✨
by @nimudae, @moonelnone (Artwork Collab, rated G)
Prompt 119: Seraphim!Luffy and Seraphim!Law
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Week 8:
✨ 𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝’𝐯𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐧 𝐚 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐥 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐨𝐧 ✨
by @moustawott (Artwork, rated G)
Prompt 3: DND monk Luffy and cleric Law
✨ 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐐𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐅𝐚𝐛𝐮𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐥𝐲 𝐎𝐫𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐫𝐲 ✨
by RitsukoRyoku (Oneshot & Artwork, 3.2k, rated G)
Torticia Addams must find the perfect flower for the Charity Auction. Only her husband Lumez can help her traverse the wildly fantastical world within their Green house for the perfect one.
✨ 𝐀 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐭 ✨
by Ja-san (Oneshot, 3.9k lawlu, rated E)
Omega Luffy works as a sexworker to survive. And then the sexiest Alpha voice he ever heard calls him to book him not for sex. But for a leather photo shooting during his next heat.
✨ 𝐌𝐨𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐧 𝐌𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐃𝐢𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐌𝐞 𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 ✨
by @betsib (Oneshot, 17k, rated T)
Law is reading a romance novel on this way to work when the bus gets into an accident and he loses consciousness. When he wakes up, he finds himself in the world of the novel, in the role of a doctor, with a talking bear as his assistant and the protagonist bleeding out on his doorstep.
✨ 𝐋𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐌𝐚𝐠𝐧𝐞𝐭𝐬 ✨
by @skartlie (Oneshot, rated E)
Prompt 15: Law is a serial killer psychopath and Luffy’s a sweet car mechanic that lives next door. Although complete opposites, they’re drawn to one another like two opposing magnets.
✨ 𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐎𝐮𝐫 𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐤𝐲 ✨
by Lamp (Oneshot, 4.6k, rated T)
Luffy was the God of the Sun, and the sun was bright. Blindingly so. Luffy could hear the world around him, and he loved his people, but they could not hear him, and they could not see him any more than he could make out the details of their faces through the eternal, blinding sunlight. Luffy could get so close to his people, but he couldn’t interact with them, no matter how much he longed to. Luffy was lonely. Then the Dark Day came, and he wasn't anymore. --- Or: Luffy is the Sun, Law is the Moon, and an eclipse brings them together.
✨ 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐡 𝐖𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐎𝐟 𝐄𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐨𝐫 𝐍𝐢𝐤𝐚 ✨
by @khepiari (Oneshot, 22.1k, lulaw, rated M)
A.U. DILF Luffy x DILF Law. Emperor x Healer. Slow-burn. Miscommunication. Happy ending. Trafalgar D Water Law was heartbroken. The man he loved, his one true love, his soulmate, was married. Married not once or twice, but married six times. But Law has his reasons, which are nothing but excuses born of his overthinking and fears. So now the task to convince Law into becoming Emperor Nika's seventh wife falls on his six wives? How will they do it? Most probably by telling the truth about their marriage, right?
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Last but not least, bonus works:
✨ 𝐈𝐧𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐏𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐥 ✨
by @sydneyxface (7 Chapter Fic, 81k, lulaw, rated E)
Dr. Trafalgar Law has seen many wild and surprising things come across his table as a pathologist, but nothing compares to one of his decedents waking from the dead - and thirsty for his blood. And so Law befriends (and beds) a vampire named Luffy and is pulled into the chaos that surrounds him - which involves cracking a case of missing people supposedly being used as slave labor for the elites of the world... the Celestial Dragons.
✨ 𝐌𝐞𝐚𝐭, 𝐃𝐮𝐜𝐤𝐬, & 𝐂𝐢𝐠𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐬 ✨
by @quackquackcey (3 Chapter Fic, 8.1k, lawlu, rated E)
‘Strawhat’ Luffy, infamous throughout the school as chaos personified, had a crush. In other words, it should be to no one’s surprise that it’d result in broken windows, whirlwinds of fists, and untamed romance, right?
I hope you all enjoyed this year's fest & zine - if you did, please scream about it and shower the creators with love! 🤍✨
[Reblogs & 💞 appreciated so more people can enjoy these fantastic Truffy Fest works! Thank you!]
---
(@opfandomnews Thank you! 🤍)
62 notes · View notes
cecilxa · 1 year
Text
dress up, darling!
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summary: hallowe’en is a festive time of the year, so why not participate? (what the different genshin guys would dress up for hallowe’en + scenarios)
pairings: cyno, thoma, venti, tighnari, ayato and zhongli
contents: established relationships in all scenarios, fluff, humour, slightly angsty in zhongli's part, gn!reader
cw: general alcohol consumption + drunken-ness in venti's part, talks about death + grief + loss in zhongli's part, mentions of kidnapping in ayato's
a/n: somthing very different to what i would normally do! had a lot of fun envisioning the outifts they would have on :) oh yeah, before i forget, has nothing to do with the manga/ anime if you're wondering with the title
wc: 3.6k
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cyno— lupus aureus  ✯¸.•´*¨`*•✿ ✿•*`¨*`•.¸✯
Seeing the (usually) stoic General Mahamatra pouting with a faint blush on his cheeks is a rare sight. So rare, in fact, that you just had to snap a quick picture. Unfortunately, (or fortunately, depending on how you look at it) the Kamera you were using was quite loud, alerting Cyno of your deeds. He sighs- albeit fondly- and his blush intensifies even further. There’s really no way of putting it lightly, but getting to see Cyno dressed up in a werewolf costume is extremely amusing. 
His usual headdress is now topped off with some thick grey (fake) wolf fur, which cascades down his face, covering some of his white hair. Accompanying his new ears, Cyno now dons a very large, very comical pair of claws, made out of the same kind of fur. The nails on his claws are exaggeratingly sharp, which reminds you of a poorly trimmed bear, rather than a ferocious man-wolf. Cyno, still being Cyno, insisted that he keep his polearm with him, so now your already adorable werewolf is carrying his polearm with him, which he denies is hard to carry around with the claws on his hands (the concentration on his face tells another story). 
You ask him why he even needs it when you’re just going trick or treating around Aaru Village, and he replies as seriously as ever, blush disappearing.
“You never know where danger lurks. I need to protect you, to make sure you don’t get hurt.” 
Well, you weren’t going to deny any type of reasoning from your ever-loving partner, were you? Especially ones that had your heart racing at speeds so fast, even he probably wouldn’t even be able to reach it. You smile at him, eyes twinkling, and laugh. 
“There’s no point in protecting me if there’s nothing to protect me from! Let’s head out into the dangers of young children searching for candy, my sweet yet brooding werewolf!” 
Cyno grumbles at the subtle mockery of your last words, yet can’t deny the soft thumping of his heart whenever you call him yours. Maybe this foolish costume is alright, if the silly fur and claws brightens up your night just a little bit.
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thoma— rubeum scutum ✯¸.•´*¨`*•✿ ✿•*`¨*`•.¸✯
“Boo!” 
A pair of hands cover your eyes, as your assailant pulls you closer towards them. 
“Guess who it is?” 
If the cheery voice didn’t give it away, then the attempted kiss on your cheek definitely did. However, you didn’t want to end the game early, so instead of guessing correctly, you decided to have a little bit of fun. It is the season of tricks, after all. 
“Hmm… the mysterious and handsome Ayato? Ooh- oh the elegant and poised Ayaka!” 
The hands turn you around, and your assailant throws off the white cotton sheet. Replacing the costume’s two black eyes and black smile, is a very handsome Thoma, who is currently very much pouting at the very wrong answers you had given. 
“Babe…” 
You can’t help but melt inside at your boyfriend’s antics, who’s acting very cute and almost impossible to resist. You pat his cheek and smile.
“Aw, I knew it was you, Thoma. I was just messing with you.” 
Now knowing that you thought to have upset him, his previous pout turns into a devious smirk as you continue to smile at him obliviously. When you finally catch on, it’s too late. He’s already starting to tickle your sides, grinning at your laughter (or pain, however you want to put it). Your breaths come out in short pants, trying to pry the blonde off of your body. This effort comes to no avail, though, as he then begins to sprinkle in some kisses along with his tickles. One on your forehead, one on your cheek, one on your neck, one on your shoulder, he laughs along with you. Dotted in very carefully, almost like a dance, there’s one place his lips never come into contact with. 
The moment tears begin coming out of your eyes, Thoma’s hands immediately recede, as he leaves you to rest on the ground alongside his body. Even though his hands may have stopped tickling you, his touches never leave, as he continues to pepper your face with a multitude of butterfly kisses, gentle as the breeze from his homeland. His eyes soften, as he lets himself indulge in your presence. Thoma likes admiring you, and thinks that he’s the luckiest person in Teyvat to have ended up with someone so angelic.
When you finally calm down and regain your breath, his arms have left you, and what now stands in front of you is a ghost, unusually shaped, and not at all what the Inazuman tales describe them as. You narrow your eyes playfully and ask the mysterious creature an important question. 
“Who are you, again?”
The ghost doesn’t respond, but instead pulls you up, under its blanket. Thoma’s eyes sparkle under the sheet of white, sunlight peeking in through the cotton. He leans forward ever so closely, your lips nearly touching, breaths intermingling, as he finally gives you an answer. A ghost can be just as playful, with a heart that beats to the sound of a lover’s laugh.
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venti— carmen dei ✯¸.•´*¨`*•✿ ✿•*`¨*`•.¸✯
A clown. Venti is a clown, both literally and figuratively. His hair has been dyed, or, more possibly, stained, bright red, and the same thing has happened to his lips. His complexion is also much paler than his usual skin tone, and he’s moving so irrationally you think he’s got invisible clown shoes on. What’s most prominent about the whole look is the unmistakeable stench of pure alcohol wafting off of his body. It comes off in waves, sometimes subtle, sometimes harsh and intense. Obviously, his ‘quick trip’ to the Angel’s Share took a turn, and now he’s black out drunk. 
One of his arms is lifted onto your shoulder, as the rest of his body slumps down to the ground. You’re trying to hold up his weight, while he’s doing whatever the motion of hobbling and then randomly stopping at inopportune times to throw up is. Adding to your struggle, guess what? Venti’s an affectionate drunk. In this case, too affectionate for his own good. While you’re trying your very hardest to get him home, he’s trying his very hardest to accost you. Sloppy kisses all over the left side of your face, his arms wrapping around you so tightly, it’s as if he’s turned into a sloth. 
“Venti… please get off of me. I can’t take you home with you clinging onto my neck.” 
Hoping that he’d hear the tiredness in your voice, you say this with as much deadpan as you can muster. But of course he doesn’t, and he instead holds you even closer, almost shouting at this point. 
“But I love you so much~ How can I accept your request when all I want to do is cuddle you forever!~” 
This is promptly followed by a series of hics and burps, which ultimately cancel out the- usually- romantic phrases. 
When you finally get home, way after you hear the clock strike one, you place (more like dump) him on your sofa, and rush over to the sink to get him a glass of water. He- thank the archons- drinks it without fuss, and you start heading up to go to the bedroom to get a couple of blankets, when a pair of arms pull you down onto the sofa. The pillows are soft, and it being so early in the morning, exhaustion doesn’t take long to root in your brain, making you sleepy. 
How warm Venti feels doesn’t help your situation, either. He doesn’t lay off on his affections, gazing at you as if you had created all of the stars in the sky. Grinning happily, he smooches you on both of your cheeks, making a very loud sound as he does so. Cheerily laughing out loud, in his drunken stupor, he doesn’t hesitate to proclaim the endless well of love he has for you, and even offers to sing you a song. 
“Baby, you’re so cute! I want to eat you up like those drinks at the Angel’s Share!~” 
You’re too tired to even comment on how you can’t eat drinks, and how his lyrics are much less poetic than usual. You just want to lay in his arms and sleep for an eternity. Patting his cheeks and mumbling a few small praises about his improvised ballad, you promptly succumb to your exhaustion, and fall asleep. Venti, however, perks up at your praise, and his grin turns up impossibly wider at the positive remarks. 
“Aw, baby, I love you too!” 
He hasn’t even noticed you had fallen asleep, but when he gets a lack of response, he sobers up a little (he still has to take care of you), and shuffles a little bit to get you more comfortable. You mustn’t wake up feeling uncomfortable, that would never do!
Grin softening, all he does is stroke your hair gently for a few minutes, basking in your presence. Trying not to disturb your sleep, he allows himself only a few words before heading off for dreamland himself. 
“I may look and act like a clown, but at least I’m yours.”
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tighnari— vulpes zerda ✯¸.•´*¨`*•✿ ✿•*`¨*`•.¸✯
Tighnari stares at you with a straight face. It’s leaning towards a glare, but you know he would never actually be mad at you… right? To be fair, dressing up in his old uniform might not have been your brightest idea, but it certainly was one of the funniest. To see your beloved donning the regulated green pattern, a symbol of the Amurta Darshan, brightened up your day significantly. 
It’s not a surprise that Tighnari fees disdain for certain members of the Akademiya, and by wearing the very same clothing they were wearing, it served as an act of rebellion and distrust. At least, that’s what he’s trying to convince himself of, your smirk not helping matters at all. In fact, you just wanted to see him as what he looked like when he was younger, still a scholar of the Akademiya. It’s very jarring, his usual garments strewn all over your shared bed, instead, replaced by a very simple robe of green, gold and white. 
For all his complaining, you can’t help but notice the twitch of his ears when you remark at how cute he looks in this piece of clothing, and how you wished you had met him when he was younger. Tighnari’s eyebrows furrow, and he takes a breath, starting to lecture you on how there would be no possible way you would’ve met, because there would be no possible way you would’ve been smart enough to get in. 
A gasp of betrayal leaves you, as his eyes sparkle in mirth, tail swishing in amusement. His hand lays on your forehead, almost as if to cradle it, but then he flicks you (although not too harshly) instead. 
“You lummox, I’m joking.”
 A pause. “Well, that’s good because-”
“I’d have no time for you.” 
At these words, you shoot him a harsh glare, tongue poking out of your mouth as the corners of his mouth slowly start to turn up. 
You’re about to start on your retorts when Collei’s voice interrupts your would-be (loving) argument. 
“Master! The kids are already here and they’re getting impatient!” 
Tighnari replies to her, while gently rubbing the spot where he had previously flicked your forehead. 
“Alright, Collei, tell them I’ll be there in a few moments. Remember to take your medicine later.” 
You hear footsteps receding, which you can assume is Collei leaving for the main area of Gandharva Ville. 
After a few seconds, you feel an arm curl around your shoulder, gently pressing you against Tighnari’s body, contrasting the teasing nature of his earlier actions. You reach up to interlock a hand with his, and he smiles, relishing in this domestic feeling. 
“Well then, if you’re so smart, help me with these candies.” 
You gladly respond, and grab a handmade basket filled to the brim with all sorts of sweet treats and goodies, destined to give any parent a headache from all the cavities their children would subsequently get. Tighnari carries another one with his spare hand, heading outside with you next to him, arm still cradled around your shoulder, and hands still interlocked as tightly as ever. Blinded by love, he’s even forgotten about his Akademiya uniform.
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ayato— cypressus custos ✯¸.•´*¨`*•✿ ✿•*`¨*`•.¸✯
You can’t help but slightly drool at the sight of Ayato in a vampire costume. Never in a million years would you have thought red, black and gold would’ve suited him this well. You can’t even call it a costume at this point, fitting him so well, and the quality of the fabric so high, that if you hadn’t known him, anybody would’ve thought that this was an outfit meant for a prestigious event, for only the richest of the rich. 
A blood red waistcoat adorned with (probably real) gold buttons had been fitted to his exact measurements, and you could clearly see the outline of his waist. Contrasting the extravagant waistcoat, a simple white shirt was layered underneath, and attached to his neck was a billowing black cape. He also wore plain black trousers (fitted, of course), and luxury shoes that you were sure he wasn’t supposed to be wearing on a walk through the woods. Scratch that, anything he was wearing probably wasn’t meant to be worn on a walk through the woods, for fear that they would stain or tear. 
The very last thing- that Ayato insisted on himself- was two sharp fangs attached to his top canines. It made the whole thing ‘more immersive’. To be fair, walking through Chinju Forest at night, with the blue flowers illuminating your path, and the moonlight streaming through the tree’s canopy would’ve been extremely romantic, if only for the fear that Ayato was actually going to bite you. ‘Immersive’ indeed. 
Earlier that day, he had been getting very excited on dressing up as a vampire, and even offered to give you a mark on your neck to make you seem like his victim, which you profusely declined with a red flush all across your face, as you were in public, right in front of all of his retainers. 
He had seemed a little disappointed at your refusal, and for the whole walk to Chinju Forest, you could feel his stare on your neck. It’s a little disconcerting, considering his wily nature, and you can’t help but think that he’s got something up his sleeve to finally achieve his goal. However, you reason to yourself, that him trying to trick you into letting him mark your neck was not the point of this date, and instead enjoying each others company was. With this newfound logic, you were determined to have some time alone and relax, being one of the only days off that he would get in a long time. 
Lost in your thoughts, a hand comes up to interlock with yours, and you feel it being lifted up to a set of plush lips. A deceivingly charming smile makes its way onto Ayato’s face, and he chuckles, eyes sparkling. 
“My love, don’t fret. I’m not planning on harming you in any way. That would be the last thing on my mind, after all.” 
You narrow your eyes at his words, used to his tricks, but acknowledge that he would never do anything to actively hurt you. Quite the opposite actually; you still hadn’t heard a single word of those people who had tried to kidnap you last year after Ayato had ‘dealt with them’. Shelving your suspicions to the back of your mind, you allow yourself to smile back at him, looking forward to the night ahead. 
After around an hour of ambling and admiring the peaceful scenery, your legs are getting a little tired, and you’re feeling a little chilly. The wind nips at your bare arms, and you struggle to contain the shivers that come along with the cold. Still holding hands, Ayato can feel you getting slightly shakier, and he sighs fondly. 
“Love, I did tell you to bring a spare jacket, just in case you got cold. I don’t care about whether it matches with your outfit or not; you’re still as captivating as the day I met you.” 
He proceeds to unclasp his cape from his dress shirt, and attaches it to you instead. It softly billows in the wind, but the plush fabric covers you enough so that you don’t get too cold from the cool breeze. This leaves Ayato in his waistcoat, and shirt, frilly cuffs out for all to see. Seeking some other kind of warmth, his arms encircle your waist, as his head rests on your shoulder. The long walk has tired him out as well- even though he may not want to admit it- evidenced by his droopy eyes. 
To further prove this, he nestles his face into your neck, his hair slightly tickling your shoulders. You can feel a sleepy smile emerging on his face, as he subtly kisses your neck. It’s soft and sweet, a stark contrast to the enthusiasm of his past attempts, lips barely brushing your skin. 
Multiple kisses later, Ayato’s still not given up on peppering your neck with his lips, and it doesn’t seem like he will in a long time. He mumbles sweet nothings between kisses, which leave you melting on the inside. With his dopey smile, and his gentle eyes, this is a whole new side of him you rarely get to see. It’s a pleasant feeling, however, and you’re not complaining. You’ll let the suave and sneaky vampire get his way today. He’s not out for blood, but for a love as sweet as candy.
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zhongli— lapis dei ✯¸.•´*¨`*•✿ ✿•*`¨*`•.¸✯
It’s no secret that Zhongli boasts a wide variety of random trivia and knowledge, ranging from herbal teas to precious gems. What is a secret- to most people- is that he also possesses the ability to transform into a dragon on command. Well, more like the ability to hide his true dragon form, and appear as a day-to-day human. 
On special occasions, however, the Geo Archon likes to humour you, and let some of his human attributes fade away, leaving him with his draconic ones instead. Hallowe’en is one of those occasions wherein most people (not knowing about his secret identity) would’ve marvelled at how realistic his ‘costume’ was. 
A thin, scaly, brown tail that twitched every time you kissed him on the cheek; two golden horns made out of the same substance as his tail, and subtle yellow Geo tattoos adorning his arms and chest. He could’ve gone further, but with how many children were constantly pulling on his tail as they walked by somewhat annoyed him. 
He’s distracted from the children by you laughing at the expression on his face, amused by the clear frown of his eyebrows and slight downturn of his lips. You would even haphazard a guess as to say that the Geo Archon, Morax, was pouting. He’s never usually been this expressive, more often sticking to a perfectly neutral smile. Perhaps letting loose of his façade helped him with expressing his emotions more freely. 
The fires in his eyes simmer down as soon as he looks at your figure, as he contentedly smiles, past encounters of the children disappearing from his memories as fast as an avalanche, replaced by thoughts of you. It’s already been a few years since you’d started dating- or courting as he likes to put it- but Zhongli feels like he’s still stuck in the honeymoon stage. Every laugh, every twinkle in your eye, every butterfly that you give him never fails to help him fall even further. 
For someone who’s lived for over 2000 years, Zhongli wants nothing but to spend even more time with you, which is both a blessing and a curse. You’re a mortal; he’s a god; death is inevitable. Seasons change, and the tides turn; yet he stays as still as a rock, unmoving and everlasting. Grief is not unfamiliar to him; how many people has he seen be slain and destroyed? It’s too many to count. 
Too many become the norm for Zhongli, but he can’t deny the strain of his heart when he thinks about your timely demise. He can’t deny the fact that he’ll miss you; that he’ll never get to feel your body against his, never getting to see your oh-so-lovely smile, and that he’ll never get to say I love you ever again. Because you’ll be gone, but Zhongli will remain, immovable as a mountain of sturdy rock. 
For someone who’s lived for as long as he has, he knows that the sadness will subdue; that the initial grief will pass over as he carries on with his duties. But he also knows that it may never go away. The longing that he will feel; the sorrow that will inevitably fill him up; the pain- when it comes to you- will never truly dissipate. It’s as much of a part of Zhongli as his own, wandering mind. 
But when these thoughts take over, he’s reminded of you, again. You, who starts them, and you, who ends them. It’s taken a long time to reach this conclusion, but it’s not been for naught. Because as inevitable and final as death is, Zhongli still has the present to give to you. Time may not be on his side, but he can try to fill your life with as few regrets as possible, and as much happiness as there can be, because what else is the goal of a dedicated and immortal lover to live by their everything until their deathbed? 
So when he has to tolerate some children tugging on his scaly tail on a dreary Hallowe’en day, if to see that smile on your face, he thinks that it’s worth it. There’s no time like the present, as the youngsters say, and Zhongli can’t help but think that they were right all along.
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a/n: if you’ve come all the way to the end, tysm for reading :DD i really hoped you enjoyed! this was very different compared to what i’d usually write, different layouts too, i might continue doing multi character for big events, we’ll just have to see :)) likes, reblogs and comments are always appreciated! ����🧡
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schweety · 3 months
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i've been bitching about the ending non-stop so i sat down and thought about how i would've ended it, so here are my thoughts (unhinged)
first and foremost: hiyori's death
how i would have done it: she had an unique status as an half-ayakashi. a few chaps back, when she was almost sucked into that hole, i wholly believed adachitoka was planning for her to go to the underworld to meet izanami. i'd have loved to see her meet the goddess of death, somehow get the info on how to break the koto no ha (as izanami is surely still mad at father), making a promise to her to bring father to her and then return to the near shore (as she's half-human) to kill father without having to die for the melodrama of it all.
and to make her return to her body, yato'd have had to cut their ties once and for all, making her forget about him (this would have been just as emotional and dramatic as her death!)
second: the whole heaven arc
i would've shown at least SOMETHING about heaven (like a covenant) officially pardoning bishamon and co. and amaterasu announcing that heaven had to change their ways in order to never let anything like this happen again. amaterasu saw first-hand what corruption could lead to and an insight into her mind, her thoughts and learnings all brought to her by yato would've resolved at least some of the loose threads from the heaven arc.
third: god's greatest secret
this wasn't resolved at all by adachitoka. kazuma and yukine have been touched by GGS and lived! nice, but what about the secret as a whole? honestly, all gods should be deadly afraid of them bc of this and not allow their shinkis to hang with them at all lol.
the whole point of GGS was that the painful, regretful death of their past lives would corrupt a shinki. the solution to this whole thing, in my eyes? break the taboo as a whole. not sure how exactly i'd have handled this, but if all shinkis knew their past lives, they could start healing each other together, playing back into the famous quote that ,,only humans can help humans'', which shinki are. ofc, this would need like a whole arc of itself so the ending in the manga is fine, i guess. they just don't rly talk about it lol.
fourth: father
OOOH what wasted potential! he was so complex and then they went ''haha, bad guy go blubblub'' which i honestly don't even mind at all. but i'd have added at least one scene of him meeting izanami back in the underworld, with her wearing kaya's face once again. he'd hear kaya's words ''to let it go'' one last time before he accepts his death and failure, embracing izanami and meeting his end therem eternal limbo. it'd have been a deserved death, bc he was (comically) evil and did terrible things but with some more context and depth to his character (which he always had!).
fifth, yato's lifeline (the most important one)
the literal plotpoint of the manga was yato being recognized as a god by the people. the whole twitter debacle was funny, yeah, but oh so cheap.
i personally would've loved for him to realize, after saving hiyori, that he actually wasn't disappearing at all, making him realize that there were people believing in him (like masaomi). they could've cut back to the little boy with his cat, who still thought about yato as his saviour, or to the girl he saved in chapter 1, who remembered a god that had brought her happiness. he'd have realized that, while bringing calamity, he had also been a god of fortune to them all the time. would've been such a nice, full circle and such a good pointe to this whole lifeline thematic and another realization that father had been lying to him all along. BUT NO. TWITTER SAVED HIM. hsuiahfsdufhudzshf
and lastly, the timeskip:
honestly? i liked this about the chap. showing hiyori as a doctor, her thriving, i was so happy! i would've kept that. also i like the fact that yato hid her diary from her, in order to let her live her life after cutting their ties, peak drama, mwah!
of course, she remembers him, i loved how his name formed on her lips and boom, there he was, on the tree
i would've added a convo, something, anything!!! they haven't talked in yrs (real-time!) so they should've exchanged words, a hug, WHATEVER, accepting their love for each other, accepting that she has to live on on the near shore, as much as it dooms their relationship. some frigging acknowledgment of their feelings for each other, come on!
also, yatorine reunion, before we cut to the end page where hiyori writes in her diary about yato.
the rest? i was fine with. take has a good end, bishamon has a good end, nora especially won! i liked these points but like… everything else i pointed out? too sad we're left with these threads hanging loose, i guess :(
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𝕊𝕙𝕒𝕕𝕖𝕤 𝕠𝕗 𝔹𝕝𝕦𝕖
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In which you find Gojo's six eyes are more than just his techniques. warnings: none aside from spoilers ifykyk word count: 1.2k
MAJOR manga spoilers from most recent chap 245
You had never known that light could reflect the cerulean that embodied a soul the way his did. The way the azure dips into navy when he’s irritated while the color darts lighter when he’s fairly content with whatever is in front of him. You tended to see the lighter colors reflected at you. Oceans of seafoam with the ever-stubborn piece of onyx in the middle of it. waves of color crashing back towards his dilated pupils whenever he was near you, spotted you in a crowd of people, even thinking about you. “What’re you starin’ at?” his pointed eyebrows raised in question, sliding off the bench to angle his torso facing you. “Nothing much,” you mused, taking a bite out of your sandwich that you both had bought at a nearby deli. “Just thinking about how there are so many shades of blue.” Stunned, he leaned back onto the bench, his back arching slightly. You noticed he took particular interest in the pot next to him on the bench, conveniently turned away from you. Throughout your friendship and gentle flirtations, you began to see more distinct varieties of blue. You understood the notable changes and the flecks of near silver that seemed to dance off of his eyes as he lowered his sunglasses, allowing you a vision partially overwhelming. You stuck your tongue out at him, kicking your feet up onto his desk amidst the empty classroom. “It’s getting pretty dark out,” he drawled, drawing his hair back with his hands. You scoffed, angling you head to glance outside at the ever-setting sun. “Your eyes should be enough to light your way home, Satoru.” “Their blinding in their beauty, I’m well aware” he chuckled, a breathy almost baritone sound that escaped his chest, Distracted, you tried your best to catch a view of the setting sun as it dipped across the horizons edge. “I’m not so sure about blinding…” you trailed off. “More like difficult to look at for too long, like how you see everything the light touches but the source of the light itself tends to make you uncomfortable when you peer at it too long.” He shifted his chair, shoulders now touching yours. These rare moments of seriousness were far and few between, but he could sense a moment when he needed to. “But,” you continued on, looking directly into his eyes. “When that sun is about to leave, when it makes its descent, and you can really get a good look at it; you realize how truly beautiful it was all along.” “Is this meant to be a metaphor about my six eyes?” he joked, tilting his chin down in an attempt to catch you off guard, to break that sentimentalism that had caused your thoughts to drift to places that challenged his identity and façade. Suddenly uncomfortable with your eye contact and how you searched his face, he quickly slid his glasses back up onto his nose. “I think it’s a metaphor about people in general, Satoru.” With the sun now completely gone, darkness filled the room, and you stood up to leave. “Wait,” he jumped up as you did. “I’ll walk you home. My eyes can light the way.” He slipped off his sunglasses again, eyes going comically wide. You had a theory that while he covered up his eyes for the comfort of his audience, he likely did it because of how easily his emotions could be read with a single shift. They were expressive, unhinged, raw and feeling. The strength of those emotions was enough to make anyone look away first. But you were drawn into the unfettering and unwavering colors that were his tells. “Has anyone ever told you that your eyes change colors when your frustrated?” “What—” his brows furrowed together as he registered what you just said. “They most certainly do not. Clearly you need to get your eyes checked.” He shoved your shoulder so that you walked ahead of him, leading him to the shopping center.
You had made it a game over the years, trying to gauge what color would be reflected back when he gazed at you, when you both made eye contact and there seemed to be an ease in his shoulders and his pupils took away some of that brilliant color that you enjoyed so much. There had been many twinges of this and that. You’d seen sorrow and pain; God how you hated those colors the most. Anytime you had seen it you wanted to smother it so it never got to be reflected into his eyes again. Because that’s what it was. His eyes were a window into his soul, his identity, his entire being was wrapped up in his eyes. You rubbed your fingers through his tresses, admiring the pure white that danced across your fingers as you tried to braid small plaits into his hair. A worthy endeavor, you thought. You wished you had kept that memory tighter, memorized the texture, what the breeze felt like as it hit your face. As the soft snores of Satoru were the only things you had heard as your ran your hands through his hair, undoing an hour of your hard work. Because once he had returned from that prison realm, those colors had changed again. They were no longer fluid, smoothly moving between his emotions. No, this time… they were guarded. Striking and sharp, all hard lines and ridges even when his gaze met yours. Oh, it softened, those lighter colors barely reaching the surface as he turned his attention fully to you. But there was a quiet pride there, he no longer had his juvenile charm that he had carried into adulthood. Instead, his colors reflected steel, the colors of stormy seas that crashed against lighthouses, determined to hit and wear down anything it clashed with. He said nothing as he approached you, awaiting what you knew would be his final battle, one that would remake or break the world as you knew it. Instead, he grazed his fingers along your cheek, eager to touch your skin and feel you melt back into his palm as he gazed into your eyes, searching for the same thing you looked for in his. He nodded and turned back, continuing his descent. For as long as you’d known him, you thought you had seen everything about him. Steel, pride, sorrow, content, and even affection. But you were wrong. Seeing his gaze unwavering towards the sky, his body felled and torn in two; you realized how dim the light seemed to be. How those beautiful and emotional irises seemed to be muted. You looked away to choke back a sob, refusing to reach out and disturb him in this state he was in. you didn’t want to remember him like this, no you didn’t want your last memory of him to be like this…. But your gut tugged you forward, forcing you to bear witness to what you knew to be the end of your guessing games and you looked deeply into his six eyes. And you noticed a new color, something brand new. But what was it?
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officialinuyasha · 7 months
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Takashi Shiina Blog Translation - Comicalization of Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon
8/20/2021
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Takashi Shiina's new work is unexpectedly a work by Rumiko Takahashi (lol)!
It all started a bit before “Yashahime” started being broadcasted. I was working on finishing Zettai Karen Children, and it went like “There’s no manga version? If no one is going to do it, I will after "Zettai Karen Children”, “Joking again lol”. Finally, I was really given permission to do it. In other words, I was the person who came up with the idea of the project, but in the end I made sure of it many times with the editor in charge like “Well then, I’m going to take this to Takahashi-sensei and Sunrise. "Is it ok? I-is it really ok to talk to them about it?”. Something like “Oh.. oh…? Well… more or less, we have nothing to lose…?”.
Takahashi-sensei's first reaction was, "Shiina-san? Are you serious?" (laughs). When I started Zettai Karen Children, Rumiko Takahashi consulted with me about this and that, and she was very kind to me. So the manga is a way of repaying the favor . . . . and a lie, I just wanted to do it. I'm sorry. Because it's a spin-off of "InuYasha," right? What kind of manga artist wouldn't want to draw it? (lol)
However, if I were to actually do it, "Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon" would be based on "InuYasha", so first of all, Takahashi-sensei would have to give her blessing. And since it is an original work by Sunrise, it is also a world created by series composition writer Katsuyuki Sumisawa under the direction of director Teruo Sato, with various restrictions, so they too have their own ideas and concerns about the work. I wondered if I would be able to bring something new to it, something that would make sense for me as an artist to be involved in it. Even if I could, I wondered how far I would be allowed to go by the rights holders. However, my fears were unfounded, and when I told them about the arrangement I had come up with, they readily agreed to allow me to proceed with the work as is, almost as freely as if it were Shiina's. How did the resulting work turn out?
I can only leave it up to the readers to decide what they think of the resulting work, and I can only hope that the people involved with "InuYasha" and "Yashahime" and the fans will like it. I'm doing my best, and I think it's not bad so far…but…I've made a mistake before…no, no, no…well, I guess it's no use now that I've come this far (that happens every time before a new series is published).
So, please look forward to the November 2021 issue of Sunday S (on sale around 9/25) to see what Shiina Takashi has cooked up and how he has finished his "Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon"! The second season of the anime "Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon" will also be starting soon. Please look forward to it as well! Source: https://cnanews.asablo.jp/blog/2021/08/20/9413275
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eleni-cherie · 6 months
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a thief's end ✨ || bts • myg - chapter 1.6
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"so eager to be in a headlock again?"
"only if it's by you."
he thought he was done with the criminal life and ready for some peace and quiet. but his plans collapsed in the form of a strange girl who was in trouble. © 2023 | eleni_cherie
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masterlist: here
— genre: thief au, gangster comedy, adventure, romcom, humour, angst, fluff, sexual tensiON, slowburn, mutual pining, strangers to lovers s2l
ALTERNATIVE UNIVERSE. CHARACTERS NOT NECESSARILY LIKE THE REAL PERSONS. ALSO VERY UNREALISTIC PLOT LOL - JUST PRETEND READING A MANGA/COMIC OR WATCHING A FILM, REALLY.
SUGGESTIVE THEMES. MENTIONS OF VIOLENCE & BLOOD (BUT NOTHING TOO GRAPHIC, IT'S STILL A COMEDY!)
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a/n: THIS IS FOR ALL US EMOTIONAL BTCHES AFTER THE ANNOUNCEMENT. 21 MONTHS OF PUBLIC SERVICE, WE CAN DO IT!!
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Daegu, South Korea
After over three hours of being on the road, with only a small break at a town to eat something, the motorbike came to a halt. An ivy covered stone wall in a sparsely inhabited area gracing the view.
Yoongi turned off the engine and got off, Soyeon lowering her helmet and following suit. It felt nice sensing the stable ground underneath her feet again. "Where are we?"
"Need to pay someone a visit first," he simply stated and made his way towards the iron gate which was standing widely open. And only when they entered inside, she realised where he had brought them to.
A cementary.
Her lips parted, but noticing the affliction on his face she pressed them back together. Choosing to let him explain when he felt like it. She already had an idea who they were visiting anyway.
They walked through the silent paths with lined up grey stones. Some gravestones looking newish, some battered from the years and weather. Lonely flowers covering some of them. A breeze passed by and the leaves surrounding them rustled in the air.
She was so immersed in the gloomy yet serene atmosphere that she hadn't noticed Yoongi stopping in front of a grave. Lightly bumping into his arm, she quickly stepped back. Seeing him with tranquil eyes looking at the gravestones in front of him and she straightened herself beside him.
They stood there in complete silence. Her not knowing what to say and him being too absorbed in his own thoughts to think of explaining.
Soyeon wasn't sure how many minutes passed, it could've been two, it could've been twenty. It almost felt like back then, when he'd tried to teach her how to meditate. Only now it didn't feel boring, rather solemn and like a deferential moment.
Eventually, Yoongi stepped forward and walked to the side of the grave. Placing a hand on the cold stone and closing his eyes. It almost looked as if he was paying. He let go then and began walking back, brushing past her. "Alright, let's go."
Blinking perplexed, she quickly followed occasionally peeking at him with worried eyes, she shoved her hands into her pockets. Unsure of how to bring her thoughts up.
They reached the gate and Yoongi was about to put his helmet back on, when her voice made him pause.
"This was your uncle's grave, right?" She already had a feeling it'd be him, but then she'd read the dates and was certain.
Averting his eyes from her, he breathed out and nodded with a heavy heart. He knew it'd have been easier to tell her beforehand but he simply couldn't bring himself to talk or even mentioning him.
Soyeon understood, giving him an empathetic smile. She could tell he was silently struggling. "It's alright, you don't have to talk about it."
"Thank you," he whispered, meaning it. Feeling a lump forming in his throat when all the wrought-up feelings and memories crawled back. 
He was quiet now that they were back on the bike and he started the engine. Reaching behind him and grabbing her hands to put them around him once again. Her fingers intuitively got the sign and held onto his jacket, only to feel him shiver against her for some reason.
Perhaps it was the lightly damp clothes and chill atmosphere, the smell of rain along with dark clouds following them anew. Perhaps it was because of how emotionally drenched he felt all of a sudden. Perhaps it was just the mere sense of her touch and the realisation he had her beside him in that moment.
"Sorry." She pulled away, only for him to grab them again and this time holding them in place.
"Keep them here," he quietly demanded, his hands still over hers. And she hummed, letting him know she wouldn't move.
And they drove off.
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They reached their final destination eventually, Soyeon realising they were in front of a path that was leading up a dense foliated hill now. Two stone lions guarding the entrance. She quickly got up, partially because she still hadn't got used to riding a motorbike and her initial fear of it hadn't simply disappeared. It'd  only subdued by holding onto Yoongi.
She neared one of the statues with curious eyes then. It looked like the entrance to a secret place or a temple and she wondered what he wanted there.
He kicked up the kickstand, securing the bike before walking past her into the path.
"Come," he called out as he climbed up the small steps that appeared every few metres on the ground. Leading higher up the hill and deeper into the forest.
"I assume you won't tell me where we're going," he heard Soyeon mumble behind him, causing him to lightly chuckle under his breath.
"My family's home, if you don't mind." And he could feel her baffled stare digging holes into his back when saying that. 
He had left over a decade ago and last time his parents had seen him was a few years ago when he'd learned about his father's condition. Now, after years again and with him not knowing if he'd ever get the chance again, he decided to return home. If he could even call it 'home' anymore. And like every time he stepped closer to the residence, he felt uneasy.
Truth was, he hadn't planned to ever take anyone there. However, since he had taken her to this trip to make up to her, it wouldn't make sense to exclude her now and leave her somewhere alone for hours.
Maybe having her with him wasn't too bad after all. She was distracting him a bit from the chaos inside him. And frankly, it somehow felt nice sharing his background with someone. No one but Taehyung and Jimin - and perhaps the interpol agents after them, if they'd done their research correctly - knew about his roots.
"So.." Soyeon spoke up then, breath heavy as she was struggling with the incline. The humidity of the rainy weather making the leaves on the ground slippery which only added to her struggles. "We're visiting your parents?"
He hummed in response, fearing she might feel uncomfortable. She didn't though, she simply had many questions. More than before. Her curious side shining through, which Yoongi found amusing. "How many years has it been?"
Contemplating for a moment, he looked up at the rustling trees covering the grey sky. The dark green blanket looking narrowingly threatening. As if the forest told him he wasn't welcomed there. He frowned, shaking his head. "Too many," he sighed and she folded her lips. 
"Why?"
"Isn't it obvious?"
"Your 'it's too dangerous' excuse again?"
He scoffed. "It's not an excuse, it's a fact."
She exhaled deeply, shaking her head when they finally reached the top. "You need to stop pushing people away like this.." she muttered. Brushing past him with fast steps. And he stifled a laugh when seeing her expression turning into awe, taking in the huge house in royal architecture style.
She glanced at him then with furrowed brows, confusion written all over her features. "Is your family rich or something?"
With an eye-roll, he rang the doorbell. Shaking his head. "My ancestors built it as a peaceful place for swordmen to train. It got passed down from generation to generation. Now it's just my parents and domestics living here."
Soyeon was about to ask more, but the clicking of the door caught their attention. A woman with short dark hair with streaks of Grey in between, opening and Soyeon immediately recognised her eyes. It was the same small sharp ones she had come to adore so much.
The woman gasped when seeing him standing there and she instantly engulfed him with her arms. Squeazing him tightly. "Where have you been? I was so worried something happened to you," her voice cracked and she had to surpress the judging tone in her voice.
Yoongi awkwardly hugged her back, a guilty expression on his face. "Sorry for disappearing.. again.."
The woman shook her head and stepped back, lightly hitting his chest. "I don't understand you, making us worrying sick.." She sounded hurt, which made him feel only worse. She grabbed his face then, inspecting it as her thumbs brushed over his cheek. "Look at you, you lost so much weight. Haven't you been eating?"
"Mum.." he groaned, grabbing her wrists and lowering them, "I'm fine and I eat enough. Please stop worrying."
The woman frowned when her eyes landed on the short girl who was unintentionally hiding behind him. Her eyes growing wide. She looked back at Yoongi before taking a better look on Soyeon. "Who's this? Your girlfriend?"
The short girl's eyes widened, realising she was talking about her. "H-hello, I'm Soyeon but we aren-"
"Oh, Soyeon! Such a nice name!" his mother smiled, interrupting her. She grabbed her son's arm and pulled him inside then, gesturing for her to follow, "Come, come, you two. It's rather cold outside. Come inside."
Soyeon blinked and walked in as well, arching a brow at Yoongi, silently asking him why he wasn't correcting his mother. He simply shrugged, however, seemingly unphased as he took off his shoes and walked into his childhood house.
"Oh, do you two want to eat something?"
"No, mum, it's alright."
"No, no, you need to eat, you lost too much weight," she argued, making him internally groan.
"It's alright, we won't stay for too long."
She sighed, taking a seat. "So how have you been? Why didn't you contact us in so long, did something happen?"
"It's been complicated," he sighed, giving her an apologetic look, "You know I've been travelling a lot."
Soyeon had already assumed his family didn't know about his actual occupation, but she wondered what lies he'd told them over the years to keep them from worrying.
"This is not an excuse," his mother huffed, shaking her head, "I thought I raised you better than to think not even calling us and let us know you're well would be okay."
"That's kinda what I told him, too," Soyeon mumbled under her breath but his mother still heard her.
"You should listen to your girlfriend."
"I'm n-"
"You're right and I'm sorry," he said, holding his mother's hand, "I promise it won't happen again."
Both, his mother's and Soyeon's brows rose at this. His mother beaming with joy at his words. Honestly, he wasn't certain to what degree he could keep his promise but he wanted to believe that he'd be able to. And besides, it calmed her.
With a cough, he looked around then. Acting non-chalantly about his following question. "And.. where's dad?"
Truth was, he didn't know what reaction to expect from his father when randomly showing up there after years. His father was a rather complicated person. Similar to his mother when it came to worrying about basic things like whether he was eating enough or not, but totally different when it came to showing affection. Or anger.
"Oh right, I should get him! He'd be upset if missing your visit." She was about to get up when Yoongi placed his hand on her shoulder, preventing her from doing so and instead stood up himself. "It's alright, I'll do it."
And with that he left the room, leaving Soyeon with his mother alone. It was alright when Yoongi was there and did the talking but now she'd have to do it and it made her anxious. Avoiding eye-contact at all costs.
"So, tell me.." his mother began then, causing her eyes to grow. Fearing of what kind of questions she'd be asked.
Maybe his mother didn't like her. Maybe she knew she wasn't actually his girlfriend. Maybe his mother wanted to ask details about his job or whatever lie he had told her otherwise, and she wouldn't know how to answer. 
"Y-yes?"
A sigh left the lips of the older woman, her gaze falling. "Is he actually doing alright? He says so, but I don't believe him. He's probably just saying this so I'm not even more concerned."
Soyeon's relaxed, her smile softening when realising she only wanted to know about her son's well-being. Uncertain of how exactly to answer though. "It's not like he's telling me everything either, probably for the same reason," she truthfully said then, "But he's doing alright. He's just a bit stressed lately, but I'm sure this will settle soon."
She saw the woman exhale in relief, nodding. "Why's he stressed, is it the job?"
The panic shortly returned, but Soyeon managed to keep her cool. "Y-yeah, in a way you could say that," she awkwardly giggled, "It's partially my fault, too, though. He tried helping me with some.. family matters."
"I hope nothing serious."
Would being chased by some rich italian family because of a stolen necklace be considered serious? Probably, but she wouldn't tell her that.
"N-no, no. He's just concerned for me." Her smile faded as her eyes fell to her lap. "He's always concerned for me, even though I tell him not to."
She didn't see his mother's soft smile when hearing her words, only when she spoke up again she was met with her joyfulness. "Do you know each other for a long time?"
"Not really, no. It hasn't been too long."
The two grew quiet and Soyeon's leg nervously bounced up and down, unintentionally looking at the direction he'd left earlier. Secretly hoping he'd return soon although it wasn't likely if he went to talk to his father. The two probably having a lot to discuss. So she took a long breath and decided to make the best out of it, remembering her initial plan of learning more about him.
"Yoongi had mentioned coming from a family of swordsmen, but he never mentioned having such a nice house," she smiled then, looking around. Her eyes resting on the big window behind her that was looking out into the guarden in the patio.
His mother seemed stunned by this. "I'm surprised he even mentioned it. He never seemed too happy about it. I remember him always being displeased when his father made him train."
"He's still training though, every morning! He's even tought me a bit," Soyeon said, feeling a little proud of herself.
His mother's eyes lit up and she was glad having told her this, not understanding why he wouldn't. It made her obviously happy. 
"That's nice to hear, at least one of our children continued it. His older brother didn't, you know. Much to his wife's delight as I believe."
Soyeon blinked, taken aback about the new piece of information. So Yoongi had an older brother who was married. She wondered if he had stayed in contact with him or disappeared on him as well.
"And is he still living in that apartment in Seoul?"
Soyeon's brown eyes widened, her fear of such a question coming up eventually coming true.
What was she supposed to tell her? That he actually not only didn't live in Seoul but not even in this country? Was she allowed to tell her that? "Uhm, you know he.. he.."
"I live in Taiwan now."
His voice took both by surprise, seeing he had returned and taking his previous seat. Ignoring his mother's questioning look.
"Taiwan? That's so far away! Why do you live there?"
"Job," he mumbled, "And it's not that far away. The plane ride's just 2.5 hours."
The older woman huffed, looking utterly dissatisfied. Folding her arms in front of her chest. "No surprise we don't see you around!" Her exaggarrated to Yoongi reaction making him chuckle.
"And where's your father?"
"We argued."
She sighed, shaking her head. Not looking surprised at all. "I'll talk to him." And before he could counter anything, she had already disappeared into the corridor.
"Why did you argue?" Soyeon carefully asked, afraid of overstapping. However, Yoongi didn't seem to mind the question, it was just draining him.
He shrugged, leaning back. "Wasn't so pleased to see me again after disappearing with no word.. Can't blame him, though. I probably wouldn't be either."
"Yeah, you really can't hold it against him.."
He peeked at her with a sad glance, before averting his eyes from her again. He knew what he was doing wasn't fair to anyone, but it'd been the safest option in the past. Now he was beginning questioning it.
"You wanna see my old room?" he asked then in an attempt of changing topics and his plan seemed to work as her face beamed. She nodded vigorously, making him smile. She always made him smile so easily.
So he led her to the back of the house where the bedrooms were located, passing by old paintings and furniture. "It's nothing special," he said then as he opened a door and they entered a sparsely filled room, "But it is what it is."
Letting her gaze wander around, she caught an old basketball laying in a corner. Wondering if he'd used to actively play or just owned one like every child owned at least one ball, whether they used it or not. So she pointed at it. "You played?"
It seemed like her first assumption was right as she watched him nod with a nostalgic look. "Was pretty good actually."
"Is that so?" she smiled to herself, looking at the orange ball, "Wished I could've seen that.. you might be telling a fib after all."
He huffed at her teasing tone. Puffing out his chest with folded arms. "I was pretty epic, believe me." His unusual boasting made her laugh out and he couldn't help but chuckle along with her.
Soyeon stepped further inside, a staple of cds in a shelf earning her attention then. Curiously she picked up some. They were all rap and hiphop, which she found interesting. Humming to herself as she herself liked some of those artists.
"Oh, I know them," she said then, holding up one of the cds, "See them around the label sometimes."
"You.. you what ?" His jaw dropped, which made her giggle amused, not having expected such a reaction to her random comment. "What do you mean you 'see them around'?"
"We work in the same label," she shrugged non-chalantly like it wasn't a big deal, "I haven't worked with them, but I've seen them around." Yoongi's astonished expression made her fold her lips, preventing herself from bursting out giggling more.
"You don't understand, they were my childhood idols. When I told you I'd have become a producer if it wasn't for my family, it's because of them! And you just casually meet them at work?" He was whining. Min Yoongi, the cool katana-using thief chased by interpol, was actually whining to her.
She was dumbfounded to say the least.
So he was a fanboy, she concluded, never having guessed this. It was quite a different image of what she knew about him. It was an interesting but also adorable twist. And she felt like she knew a little bit more of him now, of the mystery that still was Min Yoongi.
She stepped forward then, poking his cheek. "See, there're perks of knowing me! And they're really nice. If you.." She cut herself off, her grin fading when realising that her next words would never come true. "..if you ever visit me at work, I could introduce them to you."
Yoongi's smile fell as well. "Yeah, that would be nice.." His voice not above a whisper. And they grew quiet, an awkward silence building up between them when he cleared his throat. "We should probably go ba-"
"What will happen afterwards?"
Her sudden question taking him aback. "What do you mean?"
In search for the right words, her brows furrowed. Tucking a strand of hair behind her ear nervously. "After this visit. What will happen afterwards?"
"We'll return to Seoul."
"And after that?"
He frowned, pretending not understanding what she meant.
"I'll go to Japan on monday a-"
"No, I mean.. you know what I mean."
He stood still, his features turning into a stoic glance. "Nothing. That's it."
Again. Again he wanted to drop her like that. Like she didn't mean anything to him. She scoffed in disbelief.
She knew he most likely would try keeping his promise to his mother or at least she hoped he would, but he wasn't willing to promise her the same. Not even just to comfort her. And she was sick of him breaking her heart and pushing his feelings away like it was nothing.
Yoongi knew what he was doing was hurting her all over again, despite him taking her to this trip to reconcile, ironically. However, he didn't see any other option for the time being at least. Even if it was breaking his own heart, he couldn't risk it. And so it was simpler to pretend than explaining himself all over again. Because he wasn't sure if he could even convince himself, let alone her, even if he tried to.
»»»
It was late afternoon when they walked the slippery path back down to the street, leaving his parents' home.
They remained silent as Soyeon trailed behind him. The distance between them not only physically bigger as she stayed further in the back, afraid of slipping on the foliage, but also emotionally.
At least this trip hadn't been entirely pointless. He did reconcile with his father after all, with a little help of his mother. And besides, they got to have a tasty meal after his mother kept insisting on feeding them. Which was nice considering Soyeon hadn't had a home-cooked meal in awhile.
She couldn't forget, however, how all this time she'd had to bite her tongue whenever his parents referred to her as his girlfriend, an anew piercing ache shooting through her chest. Having enough of this ridiculous charade, she abrubtly stopped in her tracks.
"Why did you start calling me 'angel'?"
She didn't mind it, she just didn't see the purpose of a pet name as affectionate as that if it didn't actually match his feelings or intentions. If he was just gonna dip and disappear from her life again after this.
Yoongi paused and glanced over his shoulder, seeing her standing still and not looking like continuing. Her long hair swaying in the strong breeze as he faced her. The ghost of a smile on his lips. Feeling shy and flustered all of a sudden. "Because you saved me, twice. I thought it'd fit, but I can stop if you don't like it."
Her eyes widened for a brief moment, sensing the hint of a blush on her cheeks. "That's not it. I do like it, a lot. Just.. ugh." Squeezing her eyes shut, she threw her head back and let out a long frustrated groan. Tempted to kick a stone away. "I'm mad, I'm so damn mad at you right now."
His brows knitted together in genuine confusion. "Huh, why?"
"Are you serious right now?" Perhaps 'fck off' might be too kind. "'Cause of whatever is going on between us right now," she exclaimed, shaking her head then. Her voice lowering. "Perhaps you mistook me being so open about my feelings to mean I'd be easy to get, always running after you like a puppy. So I want to make clear that I am not easy to get and I don't run after anyone."
The crease between his brows deepened as he stepped forward. "I'd never think of you of being easy to get or a puppy. Why would you think that?"
"Because.. because you keep giving me these mixed signs." He remained quiet, allowing her to rant out her build-up emotions. "And I don't like this kind of games. Just say straight to my face that you don't feel the same, that you never will and let me move on."
When he saw that she'd finished and had nothing else to add, beside fierce eyes frowning right back at him, he decided to finally speak up. "I'm not a fan of beating around the bush either.." He stepped closer then. "Although I thought I made it clear that I do have feelings for you."
"Well, sometimes it's not clear." She stood firm, still too mad to enjoy his little confession. "One moment I feel so close to you and you call me 'angel' and let your parents believe I'd be your girlfriend and next.. next moment it feels like you don't want me near you and just use the 'danger' excuse to push me away."
He breathed out, not having expected he'd be making her feel this way. It was never his intention leading her on. He wished she'd just break his nose and tell him to go away instead of asking questions and forcing a smile while a angry tear rolled down her cheek. And he wiped it away with his thumb. Looking at her with pain in his eyes while cupping her cheek, tilting her face up so she'd look at him.
"Soyeon, I like you. That's why I try protecting you. I regret not being able to do so back then in Taiwan, and I still feel terribly guilty about it. I don't want that to repeat. Don't you get it?" He felt his pulse picking up while speaking out his feelings for the first time. "I fear I'm even falling for you at this point and I fear even more the consequences of that. You already got in danger once because of your grandfather, because of one of us. You shouldn't risk getting in danger again because of another lousy thief like me. I'm not worth the risk."
She swallowed as he lowered his hand and she grabbed it. Her soft feline eyes somewhow calming his racing mind.
"Yoongi, don't you realise how contradictory you sound?" she softly laughed out, squeezing his hand in hers. Moved by how deeply he cared for her well-being to the point he was willing to neglect his own feelings. "Don't you realise the only times I've been in danger were when you were not around? I feel and am save when I'm with you. And your sword."
He laughed under his breath, causing her smile to widen in an almost teasing way. His eyes wandering to the tree branches above them. Observing them swaying in the wind which was picking up. An approaching thunder roaring in the distance. "I've never had a normal life or any normal relationships for the past ten years.." He looked down, holding her gaze that was still resting on him and he couldn't help but falling even deeper into those dark brown eyes listening patiently as he was pouring his heart out. He swallowed. "This.. this is the closest I've ever had to normality. And I'm scared of both, losing and having it.. of losing and having you."
Her lips curved into a smile as she wiped away a raindrop that had fallen onto his warm cheek. And another one. It started raining again. And Yoongi huffed, wiping the droplets away that had fallen onto her own face with his sleeve when she grabbed his cheeks, pulling him down to her level with a grin as she felt a sugar-rush-like feeling  flowing through her every fiber.
"You know, normality is terribly overrated." 
And she kissed him. Holding onto him in the pouring rain.
»»»
next chapter: 1.7 here
Don't forget to like, reblog & leave feedback! ♡
It motivates me to keep writing :)
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Love, Theoretically by Ali Hazelwood: a critically kind review from a femme acespec physicist <3
> scroll to the next section for my review on the physics academia content in this book!
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First, a quick romance novel review!
spoiler: it wasn’t my favorite but I gave it a ⭐️⭐️⭐️.75 because being a writer has made me a generally more appreciative reader + I am so starved of woman in physics rep.
the good
It just felt good to read about a woman physicist, who are still incredibly underrepresented in fiction, especially as protagonists. (I’ll go off about that in a minute.)
The romance is so swoony with shoujo manga vibes, I haven’t read straight M/F adult romance novels in a while and I just loved the flutteriness of it.
A couple of chapters were so soft with excellent pillowtalk. There was something about the ambience of the snow, the hypnotic sadness of failure, the prescence of a comforting person.
I enjoyed identifying the relatable parts about physics academia. Hazelwood clearly did a lot of research, and I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. It definitely kept me reading!
the bad
The academia issues are so over-simplified it’s almost juvenile. For an adult novel, even one marketed as a romcom, I expect more nuance, more explanations, more explicit lingering in tight positions.
And then the romance tries to be complex (and has a lot of potential!) but not a lot of conflict really happens.
A fictional physics fued between theorists and experimentalists is a really fun (and actually not far off) concept, but I would have expected some things to be the other way around. (More on that later!)
Okay this is personal but the main couple both have terrible taste in movies. Twilight vs white male rage movies??? There is no lesser evil here
Elsie’s hardships aren’t put in a very serious light. Her diabetes and lack of access to health insurance is used as a plot device to engineer romantic momentum between the characters and/or comic relief.
Just overall, the book tried so hard to remain “light” that I think it fails to garner depth. Because adult lives really aren’t that light all the time, and a book can bring relaxation and joy whilst including real worldly negative experiences.
There were aroace and sapphic side characters, but I wanted so bad for Elsie to be demisexual. It's set up so perfectly only for it to be averted—As a demisexual person myself, Elsie’s feelings about attraction felt acutely familiar to me, and every other reader I've spoken to has agreed that the book took a dissapointing and unexpected turn. I understand Hazelwood may not feel equipped to write queer protagonists but if I were her editor, I would have flagged that and recommended she make it canon. It would have added so much more context and dimension to Elsie, and would’ve put hetero demisexuals on the map. </3
Following up on the above: The smut tries so hard to be meaningful but it ... really is icky, stereotypical, unrealistic allocishetero stuff. Think: the shy inexperienced girl vs the man who knows exactly how to advise her. The characters try to subvert the trope by calling it out, but it feels performative because all is forgotten in the next second. The PiV sex is weirdly conventionally idealistic considering the pairing’s size difference. I’m picky about smut but also forgiving when I do like the dynamic. I just didn’t here.
Following up once again: I was ready to ignore all the repetitive comments about how sexy Jack’s height and muscles were, because sure, I guess Elsie has a type. But the sex scenes solidified the redundancy of it all. I've read this same dynamic in countless smutty heteronormative M/F paperbacks. And I have also been made aware by every Hazelwood reader that all her books focus on this kind of physical build pairing. I just want more diversity, you know?
IDK, I just wanted more physics in here than complaining about teaching, glossed over toxic mentors, and using some quirky physics term in every other sentence. (More on that below!)
I just wanted ... more? It’s not an extremely short novel, but both the plot and the character development fell flat. The ups and downs were too fast and easy, and the placement felt off. I finished the book and wondered, “That’s it? That’s all that happened?” It just wasn’t fulfilling. The side characters aren't expanded upon, and don’t get enough pagetime. My other romance reads this year were Bellefleur's The Fiancee Farce and Mcquiston’s One Last Stop. In both of those novels, the drama was fleshed out with so much care and detail. In comparison, Love, Theoretically may mention similar social difficulties in passing, but failed to really, really show us.
Overall ... the novel was fun for being about physicists but I really don’t see myself picking up another Hazelwood book, especially considering this isn’t even a debut novel. The conventional white steminist vibe and the particular allocishetero M/F dynamic just isn’t my thing.
But perhaps a reader wanting more of a novel and its characters is a good problem to have. Never say never, I guess! I look forward to keeping tabs on what Hazelwood publishes in the future!
Now, onto the physics!
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First, most physicists, as good scientists, understand that theory and experimentation are fundamentally linked. It’s true that we each are often biased towards our own methods of research, but it is quite a stretch to imagine full professors so blatantly feud against others solely because of theory vs experimentation. Regardless, I was happy to suspend my disbelief for the sake of the plot that was framed in a genre-specific, lighthearted, humorous way.
Secondly, both theory and experimentation have sources of funding that are motivated in different ways, and Hazelwood's decision to have the theorists struggle with funding cuts due to declining interest in pop culture/the general public is actually quite credible. Experimentation garners a lot more interest from the application and engineering end of society, parts that are easily fueled by capitalism.
However, I think experimentalists in general are far less likely to be mean to theorists than the reverse scenario. Dr Fatima Abdurrahman has a great video essay about that called on her YouTube channel called “Quantum Physics, Feminism, and Objective Reality: What Physicists Don’t Want You to Know About Quantum Mechanics.” Dr Fatima outlines how old white men in physics have maintained this image of unwavering scientific objectivity in the name of rigor, despite studying a field that fundamentally is barely fathomable for humans. In simpler terms: Men, even in theory, pretend to be better, smarter, and more valid as physicists despite being in an infamously iffy field. And I would have liked to see that represented. It was just really hard for me to buy narcissistic grad students mansplaining Elsie about her field, and Elsie’s righteous feminine rage, when the field in question is … physics theory? It just didn’t make sense to me, when all of my personal experiences point to the opposite.
But every cloud has a silver lining, and having a woman theorist in a physics field that’s less popsci-oriented is actually … really cool. And having her love interest be a man in experimentation … sort of subverts gender roles and conventional media expectations.
Let me explain. The reality is that when women are represented in STEM, media prefers to put them in biology, like a nurse to a doctor, a people-oriented nurturer, a mere sidekick to the real “objective” scientist—often a mathematician or an astrophysicist who is always a man. And when women are placed in physics, they are automatically assigned to observational astronomy, which is dismissed as passive and easy. (This is wildly untrue—though styles of research in astronomy has interestingly allowed a somewhat more diverse array of researchers in history. Even today, you’ll see a higher frequency of women and queer people in every astronomy department.)
I think my ideal version of this novel would be retaining Elsie in theory, while also making theorists the overall bad guys in the feud. I would love to have her talk about the unique sexism she faces as a theorist. I would kill for a scene in which Jack gets gobsmacked by how fucking good at math she really is, compared to him (instead of, like, only making fun of it like it’s easy). I would love to read about her getting a tour of his lab, and just more physics content. But maybe I’m the only one saying that, because I’m a physicist. Maybe Hazelwood simplified it all to keep the book appealing to the general masses.
Still, it all read more like a girlpower!!! chant rather than a real commitment to represent a woman in STEM. I savored every moment Elsie or George would go off about physics. I loved Elsie’s conversations with Olive, a different STEM academic. (Monica was more complicated and actually quite interesting, and I wish we could have seen more of her. Heck, I wish we had actually been given any tangible info about Jack’s mom, even.) But I genuinely felt these instances were rare. Elsie referred to being a physicist a lot (and frankly, her mind is more physics-y than any IRL physicist considering the sheer number of physics-inspired figures of speech she uses … but I excused that as silly comic relief, a quirk in Hazelwood’s writing style). But she didn’t tangibly do physics on page. It was disappointing, considering women characters in STEM is what Hazelwood is known for.
And there are physicists who love teaching—even physicists who solely want to teach. Physicists who do pedagogy research. I know the book was mainly trying to criticise the adjunctification and dismissal of physics higher education, and it’s actually quite accurate in representing that most physicists in academia would prefer not to teach. But the excecution also ends up erasing physicists who aren’t in academia just for research. And I say this especially because the validity of teaching physicists as physicists is dismissed in real life. It’s used as justification to further force all physics academics to try to juggle between both research and teaching, whether they want to or not.
Which leads us to bad mentors. I’ve had a bunch of those. As Olive pointed out in an excellent quote, “Academia is so hierarchical, you know? There are all these people who have power over you, who are supposed to guide you and help you become the best possible scientist, but . . . sometimes they don’t know what’s best. Sometimes they don’t care. Sometimes they have their own agenda. […] Sometimes they’re total shitbuckets who deserve to step on a pitchfork and die.” And the thing is, the novel really doesn’t show us any of that (perhaps other than in Monica). We don’t fully get to know what happened to Jack’s mom, or Olive. We are not shown what Dr L’s agenda really was. Their final confrontation was so quick, when in reality shitty mentors are often sticky and entwined with your work, hard to cut off and scarier to talk back to even after you’ve finally realized they’re toxic.
Which isn’t to say the novel is just inadequate about everything. It’s correct in how goofy physics faculty are, and how white man-dominated the field is, how students try to mansplain women profs, how theorists madly work on their computers (as an experimentalist, I could never understand), how publishing is finicky (to put it kindly), and how tenured faculty fail to understand the reality of the job market in academia today. There are certain parts (like the quote above!) where I felt incredibly seen as part of a minoritized identity group in STEM academia. It’s rare to have a book written from this PoV, and as a first I think this novel will always be special for me!
If you’re interested in reading about more fictional women physicists, I would highly recommend skimming through this list I made on GoodReads (and feel free to add more!).
And if you’d like to support memoirs and science communication books by IRL women physicists, then look to further than this other list I’ve also made. (We’re actually currently seeing a boom in these which is inanely exciting to me, so again, contributions are always welcome!)
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afairywithacrown · 1 year
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Dates
summary: your first, recurrent and favorite date with tsukishima.
warnings: gn!reader, angst towards the end. Mostly fluff.
a/n: this series will have a separate continuation of each date as individual one-shots for each.
Tsukishima Kei
first date: Where did he take you on your first date?
The concert
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There was this concert he had been meaning to go. Just a little event at a local bar downtown, simple.
He asked Yamaguchi first, not that you didn't cross his mind but at that moment he was too shy or better said reserved about talking to you in that way. Inviting you on a date? Yeah, never gonna happen.
Or that's what he forced himself to believe.
Unfortunally, Yamaguchi had a doctor appoiment that day and couldn't make it, on the other side you were free:D (btw, that was a complete lie, Yamaguchi was just tired of his best friend not making a move).
The beginning was kinda awkard because even if he didn't say the word "date" it was pretty obvious he had asked you out.
Besides your little crush on him was growing everyday as well as his, so believing it was in fact a date wasn't that bad, right?
By all means, it was pretty great once the band came out. The whole experience was good to be honest.
You knew a couple of songs and the onces you didn't he was so kind to send you a message later with the name of them.
He took you home. It was pretty late.
Once he arrived home he made sure to send you a message naming every single song the band had played.
On the other hand he sent a message to Yamaguchi telling him how happy he was and didn't skimp on details.
Good for him, there was another band coming up next month and perhaps this time he dared to call it a date.
Recurrent: What you normally do to hang out?
Mall trips
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Unlike popular belif, the recurrent dates woulnd't be study dates, of course they are common but he doesn't like to call them dates.
He likes to go with you to the mall.
This happens during the weekend, he arrives to your house, walks to the bus stop and go to the mall.
During the ride he likes to share his earbud with you while you rest your head on his shoulder or his on yours.
Is not that far but gives you time to enjoy a couple of songs before arriving.
There is not an specific goal when you go, you just walk into some stores, look at books, comics, manga or cd's and talk about them.
But you do eat something because you hang there a good part of the day.
You sit on the tables close to the windows and talk and talk even after you had finish your food.
He always buys you ice cream. You can pay for your own food but he has to buy you dessert. It doesn't have to be ice cream, just something you are craving.
After a couple of hours you realice is getting dark so you head home.
He loves the ride back, because the sun is setting and the bus is almost empty. You are tired and a little more loving than before so he takes your hand and does circular motions that never fail to make you sleepy.
Favorite: a date that meant a lot to him
Late night drive
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He was 19 and he got his first car.
Kei didn't drive to a lot of places, he went to school, to run some errands or to take you on dates.
But one night he couldn't sleep, it was finals and he was a little stressed. The words on the paper didn't make much sense and he just had a fight with you.
Laying in bed he called you. You didn't pick up but that didn't stop him from driving to your house.
The ride was tense. Both yelled and cried and apologized.
That was the first time you ever had a fight in which someone ended up crying.
After the fight he went to a 7/11 and bought a bunch of snacks and then drove to a close park where you sat in silence and ate.
Hours passed before he took you home and the sunrise was saying hi. Of course, your parents weren't happy about your sudden scape late at night but you on the other side just hoped if there were more fights like this could be resolved correctly, so he never leave.
Then he realized the next morning you didn't leave either. He expected you in the next weeks, he was still waiting for you'll break up with him but you never did.
That was when he knew this wasn't a high school romance.
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anemoflower · 20 days
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Meet me in the comic store
Ship: Sophie x Elias Word Count: ~ 1.5k Warnings: lots of nerdy references. Description of social anxiety (is that a warning? idk) Not fully proofread bc this has been in my drafts for days and I want it done ;w; A/N: Okay so, I was thinking about their first meeting (I like to write these kind of stuff) and I think it turned quite cute? Anyways, here we goo... Divider by @/cafekitsune
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A sudden wave of shivers went through her body, although she wasn’t sure if it was because of the chilly autumn breeze or because of her anxiety to go into a shop all on her own.
Normally she would have visited the comic book store with her best friends but due to they were busy today, Sophie had decided to be brave and go alone. Now she looked up to the sign over the entrance door, doubts climbing up her spine. On her own.
Her heart was beating fast. It shouldn't be a big deal. Just go inside, buy that one new comic and leave again. No one will look at you, no one will judge you.
Before she could proceed thinking about it, the door to the store opened and two boys ran outside. One of them was holding the newest Spider-Man issue and excitedly told his friend how he looked forward to reading it.
Sophie squeezed past them and into the realm of nerd merchandise, Mangas and Comics. Hundreds of books in the shelves, buttons and pins presented next to the checkout, Statues of popular anime characters were secured behind glass in a cabinet. Figures of characters from One Piece, Jujutsu Kaisen and Spy x Family looked down on her, trying to charm her into buying them. But Sophie went straight up the stairs to the comic and graphic novel section.
She liked this way more, it wasn't so loud and crowded like the main floor and she found more joy in superhero comics than manga recently anyways.
Slowly she strolled past the shelves with the letter “E”, looking for the new published comic book she was looking for. It was the first issue of a new series from an author she admired. One of her books impressed her so much she eagerly waited for the release of this graphic novel, as soon as she heard of it. But it wasn't here. Did she miss the release date?
“Do you need any help?” a tall young man asked her and Sophie froze in her movement because she didn’t notice him before. He smiled at her and tilted his head. Dark brown hair, blue eyes like the sky, a few freckles on his cheeks, which reminded her of star constellations. Silver piercings beneath his bottom lip flared up in the light - Sophie remembered them as snake bites?
On the badge clipped to his gray shirt was his name written “E. Lindner / salesman”
She almost wanted to use the phrase she knew by heart: “No thanks. I'm just looking around.” but something stopped her. His presence calmed her fast beating heart.
“I uhm- I was looking for-” she nervously stepped to the side as soon as she noticed the shrink foiled adult comic books in front of her. “N-not for that! The- the comic book ‘Extraordinary’ by V. E. Schwab?”
“Ah, that's quite new, we didn't get to fill them in the shelves yet. Wait a sec.” As he turned around she got a glance at the tattoo on his left arm. A dragon made of black ink coiled around it.
He disappeared behind a brown door with a “staff only” sign. Sophie meanwhile peeked around the corner of Marvel comics until he came back.
“You're lucky, I saved that one from getting buried beneath tons of newly arrived One Piece Mangas.”
Sophie let out a polite quiet chuckle and thanked him for the book.
“Oh and if you're into that kind of superpower stories, I have plenty to recommend to you.” 
He pulled some books out of the Marvel shelves and showed her each cover - Moon Knight, Silk, Fantastic Four.
“Do you have other favorites?” He asked. Suddenly Sophie forgot about every comic book she had read before. She frantically walked past the bookshelf in her mind until she found the right series.
“I- I love the Ms. Marvel comics” Sophie tipped on the colorful cover of Ms. Marvel Volume 1 - No Normal in the shelf next to her. “I have almost all of the stories at home!”
“Cool, I think I know her-” he tipped on the comic next to that. He was suddenly so close to her, Sophie held her breath, “I read that one. It's a team-up between her and Spider-Man.”
They kept talking about various comics and stories and Sophie felt much calmer every second she shared an interest with him. That tingling spark of excitement grew bigger and bigger in her chest.
And as soon as he smiled, she felt as if her feet wouldn't touch the floor anymore. He was so friendly. Of course he's friendly to her. It's his job to be friendly.
Then it dawned on her and she fell hard to the ground. It's his job. He just talked to her so she would buy more from him. A strategy to gain a customer's trust.
Sophie raised the “Extraordinary” book he had just given to her. “Uhm- thanks for your recommendations but I think I only want to buy this one.”
He seemed to be surprised about her sudden change of mood, but nodded in an understanding way. “Alright, then let's head over to checkout? Or do you still want to look around?”
“I... still want to look around some more”, she lied. Then walked down the aisle, further away from him and almost tripped over a box with very old DC comics. A few more minutes she acted like she would be interested in the Batman & Robin collection, embarrassed by the thought he might be interested in her as a person. Idiot. Why should someone like him ever be interested in you?
Then she went to the checkout, where he was already waiting for her with his usual smile. There were those shivers in her bones again.
She paid for the comic and put it into her backpack, the receipt disappeared into the pocket of her jacket.
“Oh and don't forget to keep a close eye on the receipt?” He said. “Sometimes the computer writes down strange stuff on it. Really weird.”
She haven't really listened to him, only nodded, wished him a nice day and walked down the stairs to the main floor. Out of here. Just out of here. As soon as she left the store, she could get some air in her lungs again and shook off the anxiety which crawled over her shoulders.
She only remembered his last sentence he told her after she arrived at home.
On the receipt which she took out the pocket of her jacket was a small handwritten message on it. “Keep that glow in your eyes, it suits you :)”
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That note warmed her heart everytime it crossed her mind. Sophie wanted to wait a few days before she went back to the store. On a friday afternoon - after she left her workplace - she gathered enough courage to visit the comic book store again. But when she waited at the checkout with a new Manga and some Pokémon merchandise she lost heart again.
The young woman before her bought a sci fi comic, which Sophie didn't know. She had raven black hair, a septum piercing and a crow tattoo on her wrist. She's much more his type, she definitely will get a note on her receipt from him, Sophie thought. But when the woman left and took the receipt with her, there was nothing. No handwritten message on it.
“Hi, found something new?” The young man with stars beneath his eyes asked. Dimples formed on his face when he smiled.
Sophie squeaked out a husky “yes” and gave him the Manga and a small box with “mysterious Pokémon figure” inside.
“Oh these are nice,” he said, tapping on the illustrations on the small box. “The Flygon and Charizard ones are really cool.”
“I- I would love to get the Jirachi figure. It's pretty.” There it was again. This feeling that she could tell him everything and he wouldn’t judge her for it. No doubts. No embarrassment.
Sophie gave him the money and as their fingers touched lightly, a small spark flew over her skin.
“Then good luck.” He handed her the receipt and she already noticed the fine black pen lines on it. A scribbled phone number, again with a message: “Text me if you want. I'd love to know which Pokémon you ‘chose’ - Elias”
She looked up at him again and he grinned.
“What's your name? Now that you know mine?” Elias rubbed his neck.
“Sophie.”
“I hope to see you again, Sophie.” It sounded sincere, like he would really look forward to seeing her again. “And I mean this in a not just-as-a-customer-way, you can always come to the store of course, it's more like…” he scratched the back of his head, thinking about the right words  “as a person? Like someone, I'd like to get to know better. I uh- I have noticed you here a few times already- god that sounds weird. I swear I don't mean it in a creepy way-”
Sophie slowly blinked at him in surprise. He wants to get to know me? Like a friend? She couldn't help but smile brightly at him.
“Me too," she interuppted his nervous stuttering, but tried to contain her excitement again. She coughed slightly and said with a shy smile: "I would also like to get to know you."
- -
Taglist:
@jils-things @soveriegns @huggsbury @satosara @lovinglin
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tiny012 · 3 months
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What "development" is this person talking about? They're given more screen time and made into comic relief characters but that's about it. I was hoping not to see the need to prop up the '90s anime until AFTER Cosmos was released in the US. They completely downplayed the threatening nature of Sailor Animates. Compare Lead Crow's bantering with Siren and her wiping out Phobos and Demos and catching Sailor Mars off guard and threatening Venus as well. No idea what the designs have to do with this.
People still don't understand what character development is
Character development does not equal screen time.
We are not with them a long time but we do know why they are doing what they a doing and get a little backstory.
Especially the fact the 90's anime completely changed their backstory to be being an senshi who gave up their star seed meanwhile in the manga they were never senshi in the first place but WANTED to be senshi. To the point they help Gal kill the senshi of their own planet because she promise them if they do that they will be reborn as senshi with a Sailor Crystal.
That is more tragic because they were promise something and thought's they was working towards that but was never going to get it in the first place.
Shit Tin Nyanko gave Artemis and Luna the ride at by saying they abandoned Mau to help out Usagi which she was very pissed off at that.
Then you have Lethe and Mnemosyne that are "true" senshi but their planets was at war with each other and they saw their planets get blew up by Gal and then they served her.
Would it been more nice to spend more time with them?
Yeah sure
But you have Galaxia pretty much killing a senshi left and right to get Usagi which they were pretty much pawns in this for Gal, it's not going to be like that.
To me they did a couple things
To show there are more senshi out there besides the 11 ( well 12 if you count Chibs) that we have spent almost five arcs knowing. That planets outside the Solar System have their own Planetary Sailor Senshi protecting the planet.( Which it could have been awesome if we got another series exploring more senshi but how Toei treated Naoko, I don't blame her.)
To be a cautionary and tragic tale of girls who want to be a senshi and was lead astray by someone who promised that but it was never going to happen. Which they was used for that person bidding and their own personal goal didn't matter.
To show that without a Sailor Crystal or Star Seed, the body is just dust. Showing that a Sailor Crystal or Star Seed is someone soul and the body is expendable. (Which is many religious teachings, it's been taught that the soul will live on but the body will turn back into the earth aka dirt or dust.) Which the only thing that was keeping those five alive was the bracelets and without them they was just dust.
Some people don't understand how deep was getting in this arc but because they only spent one or two page time before they was gone and not 20-30 episodes being comedic relief before finally getting killed yall want to scream "THEY GET NO CHARACTER DEVEOPLMENT! "
It's bad enough they scream that over and over again about the core four when if you really look closely those girls are not the same people they were when the manga started.
They have changed completely while still maintain their traits.
Do you we have ever seen Ami showing anger for not getting an high score on a test to the point she's ripping a paper in half?
Even Haruka and Mic is not the same people we met from Infinity arc to Stars Arc.
The fact those two went from being all about not making sure Hotaru didn't awaken to Saturn to pretty much taking care of her and treating her like she's their own kid.
Hell Hotaru went from a father who only used her for a science experiment which she was only kept alive by being a half machine, to finding a friend, to awaking up to the powerful senshi who thought they was always " the unwanted guest" to now she has a family, a best friend, and doesn't have to be alone anymore.
Pluto My god Sets. Sets went from being pretty much a kid senshi that had to stay a the door of time guarding it with no friends at all, that was told not to break rules, to befriending Chibiusa, a girl who was a lonely as she was who had no friend's, who she broke all the rules for because how much she loved her and wanted to save her , to being reborn by NQS in present time, and now being the " mother" type figure for the whole team
Mic was straight up gushing about the fact they are in high school again and can enjoy the experience because when they was at the academy they was on a mission. They are able to be normal high schoolers hanging out with each other and with the other five.
Do you think we have saw Mic break her lip stick because one of the starlights told her the color was tacky? Not how she was first introduced to be the elegant one.
We was able to see different sides of the girls and show how multi-faceted they could be while seeing them grow.
All these girls started off feeling like they are alone. That people and society had a perception about them which was father from the truth..
Usagi said fuck that shit and befriended every last one of them which they found a friend in her and found friends with each other. They founded their own family which help them grow and able to show who they really are to not only to each other but to other people as well.
"We're all lonely stars. That's why we seek each other out. We want to be united. Together as one. Because that is how we were in the beginning. "
-Usagi to Chaos in Act 59 in StarS Arc
Does that line really encompass Sailor Moon as a whole but some people fail to grasp that concept??
They were all lonely stars, found each other, and made an unbreakable bond with each other. ( Which you can tell how strong their bond was because they was pretty much can feel when the other one is in trouble, they can feel when one them got killed, and they all stayed together in the Cauldron waiting on Usagi.)
And because we do see that but not 100-200 episodes of that people want to say they didn't get any character development.
That's why you can't tell me their friendship was better in the 90's anime than the Manga/Crystal because it's not true.
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winter-sol · 1 year
Text
Levi's characterization at the Valentine's Event and why I live for it (Spoilers)
Am I here to overthink about Levi's writing again? Hell yes I am. I guess I'm analyzing this event and his role in particular because not only I enjoyed it, but also it had so many interesting aspects to notice I needed to point them out. Now that the event is almost over, I hope I'm not spoiling anyone!
I was a little bit taken aback when I played the event and noticed how Levi centric it was. I still have no idea why they made the decision of basically make him the protagonist but you won't ever find me complaining, I love that demon.
(is this the character oriented event for him? Like we had with Satan and Barbatos? It wasn't stated as such, so I'm curious)
So, recapping a bit, a curse triggered by Beel made all the chocolates of the Devildom disappear, threatening Valentine's day. The brothers need to fix it since they're all simps and want to give us chocolate. In fact, Levi is highly motivated to fix it since he wants a special Ruri-chan chocolate (and we later find out there's more to it).
So, Levi's role starts with the Abstinence Brigade (lmao it sounds so funny), where he makes sure everyone is following the plan of not doing the things they love the most.
I won't lie, I was laughing the entire time because he was just SO ridiculous. Exactly as I love him to be. He was loud and annoying, but above that, I was actually nodding at the screen with how consistent he was.
See, if anyone ever had any doubt this guy is a military genius since his role during events is mostly having weird ideas and fanboying over any otaku stuff (*ahem*... Comic relief), I assure you it's not that much of a strange concept.
It's a simple role he had in here, but that didn't make him any less bossy and strict. For someone who's quite sensitive and self deprecating, Levi certainly has a way with how he can give himself the right to command his own brothers, and I assure you this is not the first event I remember him doing it (it's kinda old at this point, but for example the Manga event was all him ordering his brothers around to make a good manga and scolding them for doing it wrong).
He can be really insecure, but when he knows he's right he's very stubborn and you won't convince him otherwise unless you can prove there's a better way or someone more competent to do it.
Now, moving on.
We find ourselves with the two routes. The normal one has this interesting dialogue, with Barbatos pointing out Leviathan had this piece of knowledge that could work out. I shit you not, I laughed at how Levi was once again relevant because there were at least 6 other characters that could've taken that role.
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When did he even mention that? Lmao. Who cares, the guy has already been carrying the entire event on his back.
So ok, we all got to see he was particularly invested in fixing this situation, looking for solutions and having an active role. But that doesn't stop here.
The neutral route is saved thanks to Diavolo, Barbatos and Simeon and, yay!, everyone gets their little chocolate gifting scene if that's what you chose.
But still, the goddamn route still has an ending scene with him particularly. WHY. That was a surprise, but not as much as...
The unlockable route 🔑
So the story has moved and nothing worked from the original plan. Mc and Beel head to the cafeteria at night after hearing a rumor about an evil spirit appearing there at 3am. Turns out it was... Levi. Levi trying to cook chocolate because he needs to fix everything and restore chocolate in the Devildom.
I'm not gonna delve into Levi's growing as a character, romantically speaking, because I believe it's pretty noticable to anyone. He's not as much as a hater as he was before, and since he's in love, he actually appreciates Valentine's day now. That was really cute and made my heart go doki doki, of course. But c'mon, let me talk about his bossy attitude and sassy remarks cuz I live for them.
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His way of speaking is always direct and blunt, even sounding mean. But what I love about it is the fact he never intends it as a passive-aggresive personal attack. It's more like an objective take of the truth and him feeling entitled to it (man that's some extraverted thinking if you're into MBTI). It might not be to everyone's taste, but it certainly is mine lol
Moving on, not only he feels responsible, but since the plan with all the brothers failed he's actually trying to solve it himself. Since MC and Beel are helping, now he's leading and guiding what to do next.
So it kinda fails as well and Beel gets horny weird all of the sudden. So here I absolutely adored this dialogue.
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Hell no, he's not going to get moody and self deprecating, he's kinda confident now you two are a thing now.
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Also, Beel can kick his ass and he'll still stand strong. Man, I love a "loser" (cuz we all know he isn't) who's willing to fight for me.
But the last thing I wanna remark from this scene is how, when he needs you to prepare the antidote while he distracts Beel, if you pick the choice where you're insecure about it, he does it himself. Like, I thought he was gonna be like "you can do it!" But no, he takes the time to prepare the stuff himself. And without any bickering, he thinks fast and does it quickly.
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Man, how can I not be a simp when this guy's character is so multidimensional and consistent? Yes, he's weird, loud, has crazy ideas all the time, and is always described as annoying and disgusting for being a hardcore otaku.
But damn, he's also dependable, strong and intelligent. As much as he's in his own head and his own world all the time, he's quite practical, detail oriented and good at problem solving. And as I mentioned before, this is not the first time we see him like this.
(also, have you all seen the lyrics from the song "Trigger"? The guy does a 34 seconds rap on how he's smarter than others might think, he actually sees everything, but somehow he's still insecure. fuck, his character is so coherent it's even flexing at this point)
A long time ago I made a post about my own expectations regarding Grand Admiral Leviathan, and this event is feeding me even more to believe there's so much interesting material to work with Leviathan's character. It's so funny how it starts all comic relief, but turned out to be so good he's third at the popularity contest. OM Nightbringer, I surely hope you can deliver and do justice to all this potential.
Did I write too much? Yeah, but I needed to make this analysis and appreciation post.
As always, I'm open for discussing it further or fangirling together.
Oh, and I hope you all enjoyed the valentine's event (and the real life valentine's day) 💖✌️
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ebonyslasher · 2 years
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The reader helping Noir during a stressing moment
Like inner turmoil, struggling to express what he wants, allergy, or maybe overwhelming due to his enhanced senses etc
Or
The reader convincing Earving to take a break and enjoy a day off in the city, in civilian outfits
I'll do the second one dear
A Break from the Noir
“Come on Earving, you can take a break for a lil while with me right??”
You give him the brightest-eyed look he's ever seen. He gives in like the softie he is, you're too cute
However, what would y'all do though? He knows almost every nook and cranny of New York. Almost.
But.....he doesn't know about the underground bookstore you discovered a while back. This would be perfect.
Well....when he arrives at your front door donning his hero suit, you realized that you should have planned things out a little better.
"Uhm how about something more casual..." But what would he wear? Would he even take off the helmet and mesh? Black Noir is fine with wearing regular clothes. But taking off the helmet is a no-go. He feels like he looks weird with all his scars.
So what's he to do?
Thankfully, with some black innovation, y'all get something together. A simple navy blue jogger suit sat peacefully upon his muscular frame. And you had the amazing idea of doing a Kakashi-style black mask, scarf, and hat combo that covers the right side of his face. Perfect.
You start your journey by getting tea from a local cafe around the corner from your apartment. The owner, who you knew well, gave you access to a private room where Earving could relax.
"Earving, I got us tickets to go to the Museum of Ice Cream in a few.""
Really? He's wanted to go to that place forever. His eyes widened and started sparkling. It was already exciting to just spend time with you. But this really puts the cherry on top.
Black Noir began writing on the tablet you got him for his birthday. Much easier to communicate. 'You did? Thank you. Can we go now?'
It's cute when his child-like impatience comes through. And you can't deny his request at all. He looked so happy.
"Sure, of course!"
The Museum of Ice Cream was everything to Black Noir. You've never seen him take so many selfies before. He was enraptured by all the information about the history of ice cream. Meanwhile, you were loving the aesthetics the most.
The popsicle room had to be one of his favorites to run around in.
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Also, unlimited ice cream and treats? He's having a sugar rush he was never able to have before. It's funny to watch him act all sugar silly.
Even though you were enjoying the museum, you couldn't wait for him to see the underground bookstore.
"I have another surprise for you. You ready?" Earving was already having a ball. Of course, he was ready for another surprise.
'Yes!'
25 minutes of walking led you two to an alleyway that had some suspicious-looking stairs on the left. Black Noir's body tensed, ready for any danger that might come. Why did you lead him here?
And why were you just confidently walking down those stairs? He must have been caught up in judging the surroundings to miss you walking down the stairs that lead down to.....a cool sign that says 'Books-A-Dungeon.'
Suspicion turns back into excited curiosity. Black Noir had never heard of this before. And he was pretty good at being on top of the bookstores in NYC. This had to be added to his list.
When you both entered, you couldn't help to watch his reaction. If his eyes went wide for the museum, they absolutely went colossal titan mode in here. He stood still, taking in the scene organized out before him. There were sections dedicated to Comics, Manga, Books, and....... was that an old video game section? Black Noir was in nerd heaven.
Suddenly, Earving hugs you tightly. Picking you up and spinning around like you two were in a romance movie.
As quick as it happened, it ended. Placing you carefully down, he sets off to go explore. But, not before grabbing your hand and dragging you in tow.
This was the best outing ever.
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