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littlemessyjessi · 3 years

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“Tae and Jae”: Part 2 from the BTS 8th Member Series “Untamed”: Mae Jae: The Gucci Twins Have A Day: Fake Social Media + Imagine

Part Two to Tae and Jae’s day of adventure !

"Where are we going?"

Jae couldn't help but laugh at the bewildered look on Taehyung's face as he drove them further and further out into the middle of nowhere.

"Just keep going." she said. "It's not far from here."

"Where even is here?" he asked. "It's pretty but I've never been here."

"That's kinda the point." she said.

"Did you bring me out here to kill me?" he asked, widening his eyes at her and pulling on his acting skills. "Was this your equivalent of fattening up the pig? Spoil me, feed me and then just bring me out here so you can bury me where no one can find me."

"How dramatic." she laughed at his faux face of terror.

His face melted back into his iconic boxy smile and he continued on before she directed him to pull off just ahead.

"Just sit tight and keep your eyes closed." she said before hopping out of the car.

"Well, this is it, I guess. She's getting her weapon of choice out of the trunk. I knew I should've been suspicious when she wouldn't let me help her with that big suspicious lump earlier. Good bye, cruel world." he said dramatically out the open window.

Jae's laughter could be heard in the background.

Taehyung snickered a little as he could hear her moving around out there.

"Am I actually waiting for you to dig a hole?" he teased.

"Yah! Shut it! I'm working on something!"

He snickered again though he nearly hit on his head on the roof when she tapped him on the shoulder and he jumped.

"Ok, we're ready. Come on." she grinned.

He cut the engine and climbed out, only to be ordered to shut his eyes again.

Jae took his hand and began to lead him forward a bit before they came to a stop.

"Ok, you can open them now."

It took him a moment to adjust to the brightness but when he did, his jaw opened in shock before his face squished in affection.

"Awwwww!!!! Noona!!!!"

Jae laughed as he clobbered her in a hug.

Tae never called her Noona unless he was particularly emotional.

There before them were two places set up for them to paint.

"I thought we could paint and watch the sunset." she supplied. "We can go and get food afterwards and I know a place for a treat before we go home."

Tae squeezed her to him again once more before fishing his phone out of his pocket and snapping a picture of the easels and supplies.

"I love you." he said as he looked down at the picture on his phone.

"I love you too, Tae." she chuckled. "Now come on, let's make some masterpieces."

He let her yank him towards the set up and the two of them spend the next couple of hours painting the scene around them and chatting comfortably.

The both of them had missed this.

Even when living in the same home, it was still sometimes hard to get one on one time with loved ones.

People were busy and as you got older, it only got worse.

In the beginning, when they were all crammed into a tiny little place with way too many bunks in one room, there were around each other constantly.

It was true that Taehyung still ended up in Jae's room at least a couple of times a week.

The poor guy needed to hold something to sleep and he would much prefer if it was a person as a pillow.

Jae usually let him because it was him but she also pulled long hours in her studio so sometimes she didn't even get home until the early hours of the morning.

Recently, she'd been working on her own content as well and doing producer work for the company and it wasn't uncommon at all for her to come at nearly four in the morning.

Not to mention, she was planning a trip to go back home to see her parents soon and he knew first hand what a pain travel plans could be.

He felt really touched that she thought about him enough to plan ahead and spend the day with him.

It reminded him of the early days when she'd take them all out one by one for ice cream or noodles.

Her and Jin had always done that kind of thing.

The eternal big siblings.

After they finished their paintings they left them on the easels and laid back on the tarp to watch as the last few rays of sunlight dipped below the horizon.

"This has been really nice, Jae." he said, arms tucked behind his head.

"I'm glad you've had fun, Tae." she said. "We're not done yet though."

"I would've been happy just driving around with you." he shrugged. "You didn't have to do all this."

Jae turned to look at him.

"I know that, Tae." she chuckled. "I know you'd be happy cuddling up and watching a movie. But I wanted to do it. I like treating you. All of you. And I wasn't always able to do things like this but now I am. We're all in much better positions in life now, financially, emotionally, a lot of ways. And I think it's important to spoil your loved ones when you get the chance."

"You spoiled us in the beginning." he laughed. "I remember when you used to take me to the convenient store and let me pick out any candy I wanted. It felt like I'd been on a shopping spree."

"It was just candy, Tae." she said with an amused look.

"Not to me it wasn't." he said seriously. "It was a lot more than that."

Her features softened looking over at him.

While Big Hit marketed the two of them as 'the twins' he was still a few years younger than her.

He'd grown into such a good man and she was so proud of him.

Sometimes she forgot that Taehyung was younger than her though and would always look at her like his older sister.

She remembered that scrawny kid with the boxy smile and the effervescent personality.

She remembered how so many people didn't know how to handle Taehyung's personality.

What Taehyung remembered was how even when they didn't get along in the beginning, she'd still come and get him and take him for noodles or make him dumplings in the middle of the night.

"Do you remember when you got up at like three in the morning and made me dumplings because I was missing my family?" he asked suddenly, looking up into the darkening sky.

She laughed, "Yes. I remember we weren't exactly close then but I could hear you in the other room."

Taehyung laughed, "I remember you walked out and I was fully expecting you to scold me for not being in bed."

"Sounds like me." Jae snorted.

"But you didn't. You just walked into the kitchen, hair snatched into a bird's nest on your head and started cooking." he said. "I remember I just watched you for the longest time and then you just shoved me a plate and said- 'Here'."

"I wasn't that great at expressing myself back then." she shrugged. "Food was my love language."

"Kinda still is." he teased.

She shrugged, "Food is simple. You can do a lot for someone by just letting them know that you care enough about them to make sure they're well fed."

The two of them looked at each other softly.

"I didn't always say it. In fact, I never said it in the beginning. But I'm really appreciative of you being there and taking care of us. If it weren't for you and Jin, I don't know that I would've stayed. Joon made it clear that we could do it and that he'd lead us. That gave some reassurance. But without you and Jin, I just don't think I could've handled it." he admitted turning back to the blossoming stars in the sky.

"Yes you could've, Taehyung." she said, eyes focused on his profile. "Because you're far more talented than you give yourself credit for. I have no doubt that you'd have been fine without anyone else. But I'm really glad that I've gotten to be along for the ride to watch you grow. It's been a priviledge. One that I hope I can continue to have for the rest of my life."

Taehyung refused to respond and instead just rolled over to cuddle her.

She laughed, rubbing her hand up and down his back.

"Oh you big softy." she said.

They laid like that for the longest time before she pulled him to his feet.

"Come on. Let's get this loaded up and then I'm taking you for japchae." she said, smirking when his face lit up.

He didn't need to be told twice and soon they were speeding off in the direction of a little spot that sold some of the best japchae she'd ever had.

Which was saying something because she'd had a lot of it in her years in this world.

They tucked into a booth and she smiled watching Taehyung happily dig into his meal.

She snapped a picture and uploaded it before she tucked in herself.

Only a few moments and she laughed when she saw that Jungkook had already commented, whining about wanting some.

"We have to pick pizza up before we go home." she said.

Tae's eyebrows lifted, cheeks puffed and mouth full of food.

It was a comical sight.

"Kookie is hungry." she explained and his eyes creased in a smile.

"When is he not?" he asked when he finally swallowed.

"He's a growing bunny!" she defended.

"He's only two years younger than me." Taehyung said.

"He'll always be my baby bunny." she said with determination. "I don't care if he's sixty. He's bunny forever."

"You're such a mom." he laughed.

"The same goes for you." she said. "No matter how old you get, you'll always be my rambunctious little tiger cub."

Taehyung's creased in a smile.

One that he was never able to fight off when Jae referred to him as her cub.

"When are you headed back to see your family?" he asked.

"In a couple more weeks. I still have to iron out a few details and finish up a song I'm producing." she said.

"Are you excited?" he asked knowingly.

"I am." she grinned. "It's been so long since I've seen them in the flesh. And video calls just aren't the same."

He nodded knowingly.

He understood that.

He loved the BTS family that he'd come to have but it was different than actually seeing your relatives.

It was also something that none of them really got the chance to do very often.

Taehyung, himself, barely got to see his siblings and parents, and his grandparents, who had raised him, had been gone for a few years now.

"How long are you staying for?" he asked.

"Three weeks." she said, feeding her noodles into her mouth.

"Oh god." he said. "Jimin is going to be a monster."

"Not my sweet baby Jiminie." she teased knowing full well how much of an absolute demon Jimin could be sometimes.

His brat energy was off the charts at times and when he was pouty he was a menace.

Taehyung rolled his eyes, "Yeah, sweet baby Jiminie. Suuure."

"Well, you two can cuddle each other while I'm away." she said. "We both know you'll be sulky too."

"I'm offended that you would even suggest such a thing." he said. "I don't sulk."

"Mmmhmm, sure." she said, impishly looking at him over the rim of her glass as she took a drink.

He pouted at her and she nearly choked to death on the sprite.

He grinned evilly, "Karma."

"Shut it." she said, wiping the soda from her face.

"I'm gonna miss you when you're gone though." he said.

She reached out to pat his hand.

"It'll be ok, Tae." she said. "It won't be long."

"I know. And I do hope you have fun." he said but she could tell he was still fighting another pout.

"I'll call everyone all the time." she offered. "You can even sleep in my bed while I'm gone."

"Well, thank you for the permission but Tannie and I have already made plans to temporarily move in anyway. And I will be raiding your closet while you're gone."

"I expected nothing less." she said. "Although, you act like you don't just walk in and do that anyway."

He grinned in response before leaning back and patting his stomach.

"My grandma would be proud." he said.

Jae laughed in response.

"Alright, come on, tiger cub. I got one last treat, then we'll pick up some pizza for the heathens and head home." she said sliding out and pulling him to his feet.

He stretched and reached for his back pocket.

"Touch your wallet and you die tonight, Kim Taehyung." she said. "I already told you. The next time, you will actually get a spanking right here in public."

Taehyung didn't say anything else.

He just hugged her from behind, chin on her shoulder while she paid the cashier and left a tip for the waiter.

He snatched her hand as soon as they were outside and swung them together like a child.

"You happy, Tae?" she asked.

"Very." he said.

"Alright, come on." she said.

He didn't fight her when she took the keys from him.

She could tell he was getting sleepy by this time.

He watched her while she drove them, weaving through the streets until they came to another stop.

Taehyung had nearly fallen asleep to the hum of the car and the feeling of the cool air conditioning on his skin.

"Come on, cub." she said tapping his nose. "Let's go."

He grinned when he noticed that she'd taken him to a hot chocolate bar.

The spent the next hour indulging in the delicious chocolatey treat, adding cream and marshmallows.

Even a few odd combinations here and there that Jae claimed were an abomination and that they should never speak about.

Tae had posted it to his social media and Jin had lectured Jae about giving him chocolate at this time of night as if Taehyung were four and then proceeded to call her and further assert his point.

"Kim Seokjin, you watch your tone or I'll sneak into your room while you're sleeping and lick your face." she said.

The fast and comical angry response that she recieved had Tae rolling with laughter when she put Jin on speaker phone.

"Jesus Christ." she said when she finally hung up. "I can only imagine his blood pressure right now."

"That vein in his neck is probably popping out right now." Tae said.

"He's getting a little red in the face." she continued.

"Hair whipping back and forth as he shakes his head." Tae laughed.

"Fastest rapper in the world." she giggled.

"Activated when angry." he said before the two of them dissolved into a fit of giggles.

Eventually, they piled back into the car and after having stopped for pizza for the rest of the members, they sped away towards their home.

Taehyung was sleeping when they got there, all but laid out over the console to throw his arm around Jae while she was driving.

She poked his cheek until he stirred.

"Come on, big guy." she said. "Help me take everything in."

His face was pinched as he struggled to wake up but he slowly helped her take everything inside anyway.

Jungkook, who had heard her car pull in, met them half way and snatched the pizza boxes out of her arms.

"You're welcome!" she yelled after him with a laugh.

"Thank you!" he called back before he disappeared from view.

When they finally made it in, the whole lot of them had surrounded the table like a pack of wild hyenas.

There was a mumble of greetings and thank yous.

The two of them parted ways to go and shower and change.

Jae was laying on her bed, scrolling through the pictures of the day when her door opened and Tae stood there.

Hair a fluffy mess and white tee shirt and pajama bottoms hanging on his frame.

He grinned before running and jumping on her.

"Oh god, Tae! Some warning would've been nice!" she laughed as he snuggled into her.

He looked the picture of innocence, head nestled in the blankets, eyes sparkling at her like a little boy up to no good.

She snapped another picture of him because it was just too good.

"Can I sleep in here tonight?" he asked.

She tapped her finger to her chin, pretending to be thinking before she smirked at him.

"I guess." she said, laughing when he grinned that boxy smile at her and called out for Tannie.

The pomeranian came bounding in and jumped on the bed, fully preparing to nest for the night.

They half watched something on Netflix for a while, half played on their phones, hands scratching idly at Tannie's fur.

She snickered as she watched him tuck his arm behind his head and take a selfie.

"Ooooh, Kim Taehyung and his selcas!" she teased and he almost shoved her off the bed.

However, a few moments later when she recieved a notification she couldn't help but aww.

'I have had the best day ever. Thank you for spending time with me and spoiling me today, Twinkie. I love you so much. @BTSJae #VXBFFL'

He hid his face when he could see her reading the caption.

Jae smirked, typing out her own response.

'I'm glad you had a good day, pumpkin. I always love spending time with you, baby bear.'

Taehyung peeked at his phone at the notification and shoved his face into the pillow with a groan of happiness.

She just chuckled and turned her attention back to the flat screen, just very thankful to be where she was in life.

--------- Part one is HERE if you missed it Bonus Content including a slightly jealous Jimin coming soon! ------

–

Hey loves! I hope you enjoy this! I’m trying out something new with writing for a while since I hit a major road block while I’m here in the hospital. I hope you enjoy these! If you’re interested in reading Jae’s full profile and the masterlist for this series you can find it HERE

I would love to know your thoughts and if you have any suggestions for other things to happen with Jae and the boys, just let me know!

I love you and I hope you have a good day, my loves.

Love,

Kenny

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——- Also, just a reminder that I am open for commissions! Additionally, the only tag list I have is my permanent tag list but if you ever want to be added all you have to do is just go to the ask box and request to be added! It’s that simple and you’re in! I love you all!

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hmslusitania · 3 years

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I see we're going ape over buddie and Choices tonight so

Yknow in 2.07, when Shannon comes back and her and Eddie have their first scene together? The argument at the end, after Eddie says it wouldn't be a good idea for her to see Christopher bc she left them, she says she needed him, she needed a husband and a co-parent - and "I needed someone to have my back!"

To which EDDIE says, "I always had your back"

*insert Incredibles "coincidence? I think NOT" gif here*

(Also side note, I do like that the show doesn't try to sugarcoat what Shannon did being messed up, and that Eddie's own actions weren't really the right thing either[thinking about his conversation with Buck where he says he got to pretend he left for a noble cause even tho he was running], and that it was just a sticky situation that neither of them were equipped to handle in any way, and snowballed. I do kind of wish we could've gotten post-divorce Shannon and Eddie and Christopher interactions, figuring out how they fit together, if at all, bc I like those intricate and messy situations but I could see how that might get too close to retreading old ground re: Michael and Athena's divorce. But I do hate how ive seen the fandom like. Seem to oversimplify things with Shannon sometimes? And make her the ultimate villain, and Eddie Did Nothing Wrong, Ever)

Hi Anon!

The decision to have Buck and Eddie's first bonding moment end with "You can have my back any day" and "or, y'know, you could have mine" only to then six episodes later find out that at least a contributing factor to Eddie's marriage dissolving was that he "didn't have her back" is like. Such a galaxy brain chaos move for them to take, honestly. Like?? They could've had the phrasing be literally anything in 2x07 but instead they had it directly echo Buck and Eddie in 2x01. What was the reason? Why did they do this?

As for the rest of your ask:

(gosh this got long and, uh, opinionated. It is Not Pretty below the cut)

One of the things I really liked about Eddie Begins is that we did get to see him at the beginning of his journey in being Chris's dad because it gives us an opportunity to appreciate how amazingly he's grown as a father. Like, he didn't start out as a perfect dad and he was definitely kind of lost in the woods at the beginning there when it came to the whole "how do I parent" thing. And before Eddie Begins, we'd only ever seen the end result of the growth he's gone through, where he really is a fantastic dad whose son is basically his entire reason for being. Before Eddie Begins, we get to hear him say things like "I left first" and "I've failed that kid more times than I can count but I love him enough to never stop trying" but we kinda have to take that on faith? Because we hadn't actually seen him be anything besides a good dad until we saw his Begins episode. (And even then in his begins it's like "area man in his early 20s unsure how to care for small child while also coping with PTSD and a toxic support system" which like. yeah. no shit. there's one hell of a learning curve there)

The thing about Eddie and Shannon as a couple and as parents that always gets to me is that they were so fucking young. We don't know exactly how old Eddie is in the show, but we can guesstimate pretty safely that he's around the same age as Ryan which would make him between 23 and 24 when Chris was born, and it seems reasonable to believe Shannon was around the same age. It's also a pretty common reading in the fandom -- although I'm not sure how much canon support there is for it because we really, really don't know anything about their relationship pre-Christopher unless I'm forgetting something -- that they got married because Shannon got pregnant and that was the Done Thing. And when you're 23-24, baby on the way, freshly married, that is just like. So much. It sure as hell ruined my parents' relationship when they did that exact thing, and then they disliked each other until they were 27 and then they got divorced, and no one was happier than me about it, I have to tell you.

Back to the show, I can only give you my impressions, obviously, but the impression I have always gotten from the whole "I left too" conversation and the context that goes into it and the different behaviours we see exhibited by the characters is that Eddie "left" first and it comes across to me that he was basically an early twenty-something kid running scared from the abstract concept of being a father in general, and then when he was forced home by an honourable discharge, and was confronted with the reality of Christopher, he managed to step the fuck up and become Christopher's dad. It's there in 2x02, right? "Oh, you've got a kid? I love kids!" "I love this one." Eddie doesn't strike me as a Swiss Army Knife all-purpose Dad(tm) the way Bobby is. Eddie is Christopher's dad. (and like, of course, he's obviously moved by kids when he's on a call, we've seen that enough times to know that if there's a child who can even glancingly remind him of Christopher, Eddie's sense of self-preservation goes out the window, and I love that about him as heart-stopping as it can be in practice)

Shannon, on the other hand, didn't run from the idea of being a mother -- at first. When she left, it wasn't from the abstract. She left Chris (and "gave up" on Eddie, thanks Helena). She was not running from a concept, she was running from a reality. I think Shannon is a fascinating character to include in a television show as a side character, because she really isn't a one note character. Like, she was unarguably a bad mother, and from what we saw, she was a questionable romantic partner to have (but as you said, anon, Eddie was also not 100% the best romantic partner when he was with Shannon either; their entire relationship so far as I can tell was built on sexual chemistry which, uh, super does not sustain a relationship), but she also seems to have been a devoted daughter? I mean, yeah, it's entirely possible that her mom being sick was a convenient excuse to bail -- and obviously she didn't come back after her mom died, and didn't, y'know, contact her son or husband in the interim, so yes, I can see that being a valid way to read the situation. I don't think she's the Ultimate Evil, because she strikes me as a very human character in all the ways that people are more often than not really fucking flawed.

But then we get back to the actual break-up scene. The first time I watched it (and second, and third; then the fourth time the person I was watching with was like "I mean, sure, but it could also be read in this light") her "I'm just learning how to be someone's mother" speech really bothered me? Partly because it was the abstraction of it, right? Eddie doesn't like kids, he likes Christopher, and Shannon sort of had the inverse journey there, I guess, where it went from she didn't know how to be Christopher's mother, to she didn't know how to be a mother. And that speech bothered me because it always sounded to me like she was bailing again. She begged Eddie to let her back into Christopher's life (guilt? I guess?) and like, straight up bribed him with sex which was sure a choice, and then decides -- for a second time -- that she's out. It sounded, to me, she was handing Eddie papers and maybe, in a few years, possibly, once she'd had "time" to "figure out how to be someone's mother" she would try again. Just like she had in the interim between leaving when Christopher was little and the time of season 2.

And like, that could totally be a misunderstanding of the scene and what she was saying. It's what I took away from it, but that could very well be influenced by the fact I was raised by divorced parents and my dad had custody and if you count up all the time I spent with either parent when I was a minor, I was predominantly raised by my father and have had an especially tempestuous relationship with my mother that is mostly (sometimes) repaired now that I'm in my late twenties and have not lived with her since I was sixteen.

Back to the show, and to your comment that the fandom tends to treat Shannon like the Ultimate Evil and act like Eddie Did Nothing Wrong, I mean. Yeah. Fandom as a rule tends to shirk nuance. We're all fools here on the internet sitting in our blue industrial waste container crying about a wee woo show. I personally believe a more nuanced take on that might be that Eddie has shown a great capacity to learn from his mistakes (sometimes to make fun, shiny, new ones, but for the most part, just like ends up doing better the next time) and Shannon did not show that capacity in the time we knew her.

I think, depending on what they did with it, there was potential for an interesting storyline if they'd played through the divorce. I don't think it would've been rehashing ground covered by Michael and Athena's divorce because I can't see Eddie and Shannon having reached a point of amicability and friendship. The only thing we know they had in common was Christopher, and frankly, when you boil it down, the ways they engaged with Christopher as a person were so disparate that -- to me -- it really didn't seem like they had Christopher in common when you get right down to it. But I wouldn't have wanted to see Christopher and Eddie dragged through an ugly divorce process. They deserve better than that.

There's also a conversation to be had about Shannon's blatant ableism towards her own son, but that is extremely not my lane since I am not disabled myself. But even from an outside perspective, basically their entire parking lot conversation in Haunted, uh, haunts me with it's repugnance and the fact that instead of calling her on any of it, Eddie "Chronically touch starved" Diaz's response was to kiss her? Gosh golly do I wish that was one of the mistakes he learned from properly instead of finding a new, shiny version.

ANYWAY this got long, tl;dr (although if you clicked on the read more, you probably read it) version is No, Shannon is not the Ultimate Evil, she's a shitty mom not a demon in a skin suit and a pretty yellow sundress; and No, Eddie is not a flawless human who's never done wrong in his life but holy fuck is he trying and he'd be the first person to tell you he's made mistakes (and often has been); and no, sorry, I don't want to see the divorce storyline play out because we probably would've had to see either Eddie Bashing, Shannon Redemption, or Shannon turning up again like a cardboard cut out of a cartoon villain the way Eva did and I want to be witness to exactly zero of those things.

#the ghost ship answers questions #I...honestly don't know what to tag this as #I have thoughts about eddie and shannon's relationship #that are probably unpopular opinions #teal dear she's a shitty mom not a demon in a skin suit and a pretty yellow sundress #and I also don't like her for personal reasons #and eddie is not perfect but I wouldn't want him to be and like seeing him try to improve constantly #and also am personally predisposed to like single dads #also for personal reasons

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tentendeservedbetter · 3 years

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home is where my team is - Chapter 6

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Read also here: AO3 | FFNET

The moment he entered the street his home laid in, in an area that is considered to be Konoha’s “Inuzuka neighbourhood”, the smell of spices and fresh meat took over the other scents around him, almost making him salivate slightly as he pulled open the front gate. It was early evening - almost time for dinner, he assumed, and man, was he starving.

Kiba nearly tripped over his own feet as he rushed through the front door and sat on the ledge of the entryway of his home, unzipping the back of his sandals and kicking off his shoes. He was about to leave his sandals in their spot, one having flipped over and laying on its side, however, the memories his mom scolding him harshly from the last time he left his shoes in the entryway, and today was the day he did not want hear any type of scolding from Tsume.

Before Kiba could give a command, Akamaru bounced up from the ledge leading into the house, barking and bouncing through the hallway into the living room.

“Chicken! Chicken!” Akamaru barks echoed through the hallways.

"Hey, Akamaru! Sit! Sit!!" A voice came from within, making Kiba jump up from the ledge and briskly walk towards the doorway.

He found Hana standing in the kitchen, near the counter with chicken legs lined up on a glass platter, hands covered in plastic gloves in the air away from her, extending the leg that Akamaru had decided to attach himself onto away from the counter. Akamaru almost immediately backed off of Hana when Kiba stepped into the space, sitting down, but he never left Hana’s side.

“I wasn’t expecting you guys to be back home this early,” Hana commented, looking up to Kiba. She tilted her head to the side, the side of her mouth lifting into a grin, an eyebrow raised. “So? Pass or fail?”

“You knew?” Kiba asked, his eyebrows pulling in automatically at her question, a realization dawning on him. “Why didn’t you tell me that I would have to take another test to become a Genin!”

“You sign a NDA along with your contract to ensure that you don’t tell Academy students about the test,” Hana answered with a slight shrug, taking off the plastic gloves, quickly turning on the sink and running her hands with soap.

Kiba desperately wanted to ask, “What the hell is a NDA?”, but Hana chuckled a bit, continuing, “I’m kidding, it’s not that serious. But they do tell us not to mention it to upcoming Academy graduates, just in case. Even the ones who failed can’t mention it either. So? Did you fail?”

Kiba quickly shoved his hand into his hoodie pocket, pulling out the headband he took off on the way back home, the mixture of sweat and dirt from all those hours running around, fighting Kurenai, and rolling across the ground making the fabric stick to his forehead in a way that even he found to be uncomfortable and mildly gross. The smell of it...well...he didn’t want to begin to describe it. He showed her the handband in the palm of his hand, and he could see Hana’s face brighten up, a big smile.

“Hey, I knew you could do it!” Hana said, walking up towards him, a hand reaching out to rub his head roughly, the strength of it making Kiba’s move around a bit too much, he swore his skull was going to snap off his neck.

“Hey! Ow! Stop it!” Kiba exclaimed, his voice cracking throughout the inflections, and Hana pulled her hand away (but not without giving him a few more ruffles). “You’re ruining my hair!”

“It’s already ruined,” Hana replied, putting a hand on her hip. “Go wash up and come back downstairs. And actually, wash up properly.”

“I’m not a kid! I know how to clean myself,” Kiba continued as Hana silently ushered him out of the kitchen, out into the hallway to the staircases leading up to the top floor.

“Do you? Do you really?” Hana asked, and Kiba squinted his eyes, throwing her his best annoyed look to get her to stop bugging him. He walked up the stairs with Akamaru a step below him, slower than he would, all the movement he did that day catching up to him and making his legs ache in a way that he never felt from anything he had to endure throughout the years at the Academy. Actual battles are different from those training spars they had to do, for sure. When they emphasized endurance and resistance training, Kiba didn't think much of it- but now, he has to come up with some new regimen to follow.

Suddenly, he heard Hana call out from the bottom of the staircase, “Wear your cleanest clothes! We’re going to have guests!”

“What!?” Kiba called back immediately, whipping his head back to look down at her, but all he saw was Hana walking away into the hallways, likely to go back to the kitchen. He yelled, louder now, “Hana! What?! What d’you mean we’re having guests?!”

“You heard me!” He heard Hana’s voice, muffled through the walls, call back, and he could hear the sound of water running again quickly before he could yell back again. He didn’t want to go back downstairs, already at the top of the staircase to begin with, and he knew Hana was going to tell him to leave her alone so she could do what she was doing in peace.

What the hell! Kiba thought as he went through the top drawer that was underneath the bathroom sink, taking out his green visor-like shower cap, after grabbing his towel from his room and throwing all his clothes in the laundry basket in the corner of his room. He nearly stomped into the bathtub, putting the visor around his forehead, around above his ears, before turning the knob maybe a bit too aggressively. He quickly set up the water temperature with the knobs, the cold water from the showerhead turning warm as the water hit his hair, traveling down over his body.

I was going to meet up with Akane after the test! Kiba furiously grabbed the nearest shampoo bottle in the tub - the only one there, a lavender scented one, just lovely, he really needs to buy his own shampoo from now on unless he wanted to smell like a flower shop - and he lathered and massaged it into his brown strands. He was careful not to let the shampoo get anywhere near his ears, he knew that it would annoy him if water got into his ears. I wanted to...oh fuck, my eyes!

He had somehow got soap in his eyes, and Kiba quickly cupped his hands to catch the water and wash his face. After that, he quickly cleaned the rest of his body, not wanting to stand in there longer than he had to.

Kiba had met up with his friends the evening before at the park near the Academy, after he met Kurenai for the first time and he had stayed behind at the tea house with Hinata and Shino. The moment they finished the tea and mochi that Kurenai had (thankfully) paid for, he ran off, not wanting to be held back with them anymore. They were more than excited about their sensei - he was so cool, Akane had swooned, with a bandana and a toothpick in his mouth without a care in the world- and they were definitely much more optimistic about their team than Kiba could have ever dreamed of being.

Hinata and Shino… he won’t lie and say that he thought of them differently before this test they had to take together. Other than what he thought of them before - one being shy and passive and the other being cold, rude, and, well, creepy- he also had thought they would be much more...stuck up.

Well, Shino was kind of stuck up, in a way, however...he did recognize Kiba’s abilities as a shinobi, entrusting him with a pretty big role in their strategy to get Kurenai’s headband. But...the way he speaks to him, with all those big words and explaining every little detail, asking him questions all uppity, like he was looking down on him when he asked a question…

Kiba knew they were from noble clans - the Hyuuga and the Aburame, two of the four other clans to help found the Village, along with the Uchiha and the Akimichi clan. And the only reason Kiba even cared to remember this is because his year had a student from these clans. Sasuke Uchiha and Choji Akimichi, specifically. The latter one, he was acquainted to as well, but he had a hard time believing that Choji came from such an esteemed clan - he always hung out with Shikamaru and asked him for his allowance to buy snacks from the convenient store near the Academy, always snacking during class, and he was not a better student than...any of them, really.

Choji was very different from the other three students. He was definitely friendlier and more outgoing. And he was actually approachable.

Hinata was definitely different from how he thought she would act. Well, yes, she was shy, and was very much a peacekeeper between himself and Shino, and was passive about what to do when they first started the test together. He expected her to be snobbish as well; between all of them, the Hyuuga, from what he remembers from seeing in passing when Hinata was accompanied by a member of the clan to school and on parent-teacher conference night, had a sense of...importance that they carried. They also smelled like, what Kiba would describe as, freaking loaded.

And he expected Hinata to react differently when he teased her - he thought she would have told him off, in a more ladylike way with less cursing obviously (imagine Hinata cursing...that would be funny), like how most of the girls in the class do whenever a guy tries to get on their nerve and make a dumb joke.

Hinata genuinely thought he was serious, and she...just looked very naive. Sheltered, if he had to go there. And she didn’t try to demean him in any way. And...she just accepted his apology, because really, he thought she wouldn’t react that taken aback, and she was just...generally very easy going.

Not saying that he felt some deep and profound connection with them after this test, no. But maybe having to smell them, getting all in their personal space, might have done something? Kiba felt his face start to heat up as he thought about how close he was to them, close to their clothes, their hair, their skin. He never had to do that before; it was his first time. Usually, he would be adjusted to people’s scent through time, and while it did take a very long time that way, it is the least intimate way to get to know someone.

Stop thinking about it, Kiba commanded himself, feeling his heart beating fast, and he turned off the water faucet, taking a deep breath. Now’s not the time...we got other shit to deal with.

“Akamaru!” Kiba opened the bathroom curtains slightly open, grabbing the towel he hung nearby and wrapped it around his chest - no, he meant his waist. He found Akamaru laying down on the mat on the floor, eyes closed as the steam from the hot water created a foggy blanket in the room.

Akamaru immediately pulled himself up on his feet to the sound of Kiba's voice, looking straight at him, barking, “Yes Master!”

“Come here,” Kiba gestured. Akamaru didn’t budge, his tail momentarily stopped moving, and he stared at Kiba, frozen in place. Kiba stared at him for a moment, waiting. But when he noticed Akamaru starting to back away towards the bathroom door, Kiba immediately stepped out of the tub, taking a few steps. Akamaru quickly turned around and started to scrape at the door, whining.

“No! Please don’t!” Akamaru whined, and Kiba swiftly picked him up, holding him with both hands.

“Would you rather Hana wash you?” Kiba replied as he quickly plugged the beige bathtub stopper in the drain, turning on the faucet and letting the water run until it was shallow enough for Akamaru to stand, but deep enough to easily throw water on him.

“Yes-!” Akamaru replied, and without any hesitation, Kiba sat on his knees and let go of Akamaru into the bathtub, where the pup let out a yelp as he landed on his feet.

“It’ll be fast, I promise!” Kiba grumbled as he held Akamaru with a hand around Akamaru’s narrow waist. “And don’t bite, or else!”

“Help! Hana, help me!” Akamaru called out.

“Stay still!”

After what felt like too long for a quick bath for a pup that size, Akamaru was sitting on his bed wrapped in a towel, while Kiba put on, as his sister said, his “cleanest clothes”. Other than what he would wear for training, he didn’t have many options - but a plain black t-shirt and brown cargo pants should be enough to please Hana. The smell of cooked chicken, along with other foods wafted through his slightly opened bedroom door.

What guests are they even going to have?

“You want me to get the hairdryer?” Kiba asked Akamaru while aggressively rubbing a towel in his hair, trying to dry it to the best of his abilities. Akamaru shook his head, and Kiba sat down beside him, patting his fur gently after Akamaru shaked his body quickly.

“Kiba!” He heard Hana’s voice call from the first floor through. “Are you done? Come down!”

“Yeah!” Kiba hollered back.

“Huh? I can’t hear you!” Hana called back.

“I SAID ‘YEAH’!” He got up on his feet, quickly making his way down the stairs, through the hallways, and…

“Well, if isn’t the man of the hour! Congrats, Kiba!”

“What the-” Kiba muttered when he saw the living space was filled with...well...members of the Inuzuka clan.

There were members of his clan sitting on the three couches surrounding the coffee table, spaced out between themselves. He saw the space in between occupied with a few dogs, all of varying fur length and colour but they were all larger, older than the other dogs in the clan, laying on their stomachs, taking a nap. The screen door was slightly open, and he could hear even more dogs, playfully barking while the sound of children yelling in glee.

Young and old...Immediate family or extended members that he does not share blood with...it didn’t matter how they were all related to each other or whether they were related at all. What mattered was that they carried the Inuzuka name, they were loyal to one another in the clan and...they were here.

To celebrate him becoming a Genin.

It was only a fraction of the clan, though - regardless, Kiba felt warm seeing them there. The one who congratulated him first, before everyone else also started to throw whoops and cheers of congratulations, was a man in the Konoha green flak jacket, around middle aged, slightly sturdier in size sitting on the corner seat of one of the couches, with tan skin and brown hair, paler with a few grey strands from age, that fell just below just above his shoulder. He wasn’t one of the most senior members of the clan, but he was getting there, though the man tends to say that he was still agile despite being in his 50s.

“Man of the hour, huh?” Kiba asked, grinning at his words as he approached the couches, and the man stood up, much taller than Kiba and wider than Kiba’s small statue. The man reached over to grab his shoulder, nearly toppling Kiba forward from the strength of his affectionate shake. “So, can I call you Gaku instead of old man?”

“Hey, hey, don’t get too comfortable,” Gaku cautioned, though he laughed while saying it, while the others around him chuckled and laughed at Kiba’s cheeky request. “You’re still a little brat!”

“He’s not so little anymore; you've gotten taller since the last time I saw you,” another man chimed in, and Kiba glanced beyond Gaku, where another middle aged man sat at the end of the couch. His hair was much shorter than Gaku’s, much more grey and split from the side, but just as choppy, not wearing his flak jacket, rather wearing a casual shirt and pants. He had similar red markings on his cheeks. “At this rate, you’ll be taller than Tosa!”

“Well, aren’t you a comedian, Isamu,” Tosa, sitting on the couch opposite from them, scoffed, his voice deeper and lower than the other two men’s. Kiba had to hold back his laugh while the others around them let out laughter at the man’s deeping frown, making the lines on his face deepen, his red marks moving down. “You should consider joining a circus.”

“I’ll do it when I retire,” Isamu replied lightheartedly. “Maybe after Hitomi finishes school, I’ll run away.”

“Please do,” a woman, probably about a few years younger than them but still with evident aging on her tan skin, who sat on the opposite end of the couch Tosa sat on, replied. She grinned, her red marks perking upwards, as she spoke, “Then maybe I will know peace, for once.”

“Well, I did tell you not to settle with him,” He heard another voice from the dining table, and he glanced over at another middle aged woman, her black hair, speckled with grey strands, tied back into a bun, her hands busy skinning an apple. Unlike the others, she didn’t have the red fangs on her cheek. A large plate sat in front of her, already with some apple slices and tangerines.

“Well someone has to be with him, Fuuko,” the woman beside Tosa replied, gesturing towards him as Isamu smiled along. “Look at him. Nobody else in the Village wanted him.”

“Haya, what have I done to deserve this kind of treatment,” Isamua pleaded to his wife, who rolled her eyes in response.

“Aunt Fuuko, you can let Kiba handle the rest,” they heard Hana calling from the kitchen, and Kiba glanced back towards the entryway, finding her holding a tray with fried rice. The smell immediately filled the air, and from the scent Kiba could tell it was fresh from the pan. Hana looked at Kiba, and held the tray out towards him, not moving to him. “Kiba, put this on the table, please.”

“C’mon Hana, it’s the boy’s special day!” Gaku replied before Kiba could even scowl back at her, his body instinctively ready to walk towards her. “Let him rest for a bit.”

“The more hands I have in the kitchen, the faster the food comes out,” Hana replied, glancing down at Kiba, looking at him expectedly. He knew supporting Gaku would not deter her - besides, even if Kiba didn’t want to do it, it wasn’t like he was doing much of the work. Hana must have been preparing all of this food for a while...and Tsume left this morning to go on a mission, and was nowhere in sight, so he could only assume she hadn’t come home yet. Besides...If Tsume comes home to find him not caring for their guest... that’s another fear he does not need.

“Alright, alright,” Kiba replied, walking out of Gaku’s grasp towards Hana. “I’m coming.”

“Good,” Hana said with a wide smile, placing the tray on his arms. “Put this on the table, and then cut the fruits that are there.”

“Sure,” Kiba drawled. “Would you like me to do anything else, my dear sister?”

“Yes,” Hana said brightly, playing along with his tone. “You can make everyone here tea.”

“Hey, Hana! Bring out the sake!” Gaku called out from his seat from the couch. “We can’t celebrate without alcohol!”

“You guys want to drink now?” Hana replied, raising an eyebrow, looking straight at him above Kiba. “You don’t want to wait for everyone else to come?”

“Everyone else?” Kiba repeated, and as if on cue, the ding dong of the doorbell rang through the air. Hana immediately stepped past Kiba, and he quickly went to the dining table, placing the tray in the middle.

“Hey, Aunt Hachi! Thank you for coming! And Mimi, I love your dress, you look so pretty,” Hana kindly greeted their clansmen under the sounds of his aunts and uncles talking in the living room as he entered the kitchen. He begrudgingly filled the kettle on the counter with water from the sink, glancing around the kitchen space. He saw the oven was on, a timer ticking away near it, a mixture of cooked meats and spices emitting from it. Kiba inhaled sharply. There was chicken...more chicken...and meatballs, maybe? The more he sniffed, the more he smelled - tones of teriyaki, miso, the lemon and paprika… he could feel his mouth salivating again, his stomach letting out a low rumble.

He needed to distract himself.

“Who wants tea?” Kiba asked, and he heard a few ‘yeah’, ‘sure’ and ‘here’.

“Let me check if Hige wants one,” Haya said from her seat, gesturing to the sliding door leading outside. “He is sitting outside with Ken and Kegawa. Hige!”

She bellowed his name as she stood up, walking to the sliding door, "Oji-san! You want some tea?”

"Depends- who's making it?" He heard a voice distantly speaking from outside, elderly in quality, low and croaky, slow and steady in the tone.

"Kiba."

"He's here?!” The voice perked up, and Kiba could hear it clearer as it approached the sliding door. “Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

A face peered through the sliding door, aged through years of fighting through many wars before Kiba, or even Tsume, existed on this Earth. What was left of his hair was pure white, his hairline receding to reveal the top of his scalp, shiny under the light. His tan skin was etched with lines - wrinkles and scars, Kiba knew - and his sharp eyes looked around the room, just as they were since he was an active shinobi (or so they say). The Inuzuka genes were strong, even into their old age.

Even the balding.

Kiba considered himself lucky that he probably didn’t have that gene.

“Kiba!” Hige spoke in a booming voice, nearly making Akamaru jump beside him at the sound, much louder than Gaku. “You didn’t come to say hello?”

“I didn’t know you were here, Oji-san,” Kiba replied, giving a slight bow of his head. “You know you would have been the first one I said hello to.”

To this, Hige let out a loud laugh that Kiba swore made the room rumble a bit, grabbing the attention of even the elderly dogs in the room, as he said just as loudly, “You’re just like Tsume!”

“Hey, Oji-san!” Gaku called out. “Quiet down a bit, you’re yelling again! And don’t laugh so loud, you’re gonna raise your blood pressure!”

“What?” Hige replied, glancing around the room for moment. He lifted up a hand behind his ear, and yelled, “Did someone say something?”

“I SAID QUIET DOWN, YOU’RE YELLING AGAIN!” Gaku hollered back, making Isamu cringe beside him, covering his ears with both hands.

“Take your own advice!” Isamu pointed out, before another layer of loud discussion occurred.

"Kiba-niisan's here?!"

A different voice hollered from outside, a lighter voice.

Ken’s here?! Kiba thought, nearly straining his neck from whipping his head towards the door. A small head peered behind Hige, short tufts of brown hair poking in every direction, a boy that was a few years younger than Kiba. The moment the boy’s piercing brown eyes met Kiba’s, his face broke into a big, wide smile, puffing up his markless cheeks and he started to run towards the kitchen, every step light and fast.

“Ken!” Hige exclaimed as the boy ran past him, an order for him to stop running, but he didn’t listen to a word the old man said.

“Kiba-niisan! Kiba-niisan!!” The boy exclaimed as he ran into the kitchen. “Mom said you’re a real ninja now!”

“Yes I am,” Kiba replied, keeping his voice as even as he could. He could never try to make his voice all soft towards kids younger than him- his voice did not allow for that.

“Where’s your headband? Can I see it?” Ken continued to probe, stepping around to look up at Kiba, hovering.

“Uh, yeah, sure,” Kiba said, going into his pocket and fishing out his headband. The light of the kitchen caught the metal, giving it a gleam as Ken got on his tiptoes to peer at it with wide eyes.

“Whoaaaa,” Ken gasped as he blinked a few times. “Can I wear it?”

“No, you have to graduate from the Academy before you even think about wearing it,” Kiba said, quickly stuffing back in his pocket before Ken’s little hands could even go near it.

“Why is it blue?” Ken asked quickly, walking around Kiba to look up to him.

“I don’t know. You should ask your old man - he was around when they started making these things,” Kiba replied swiftly.

“I’ve seen headbands that are black, and, and, red, and-” Ken started to rattle off about headbands he’s seen, continuing to hover around Kiba. Kiba could feel his tolerance slowly grating away as he reached up to get a bunch of mugs, laying them out as he poured the boiling hot water into a teapot, the tea bag steeping the water a deep amber.

Hana told him that it was out of admiration, that he should be flattered that Ken looked up to Kiba since Kiba was the only male cousin he had, everyone else in the family being around Hana's age and older. Which, when Kiba thinks about it, yeah he did find it flattering, stroking his ego a bit as well. But that didn't stop Ken's constantly following him around like a tail annoying.

He had Akamaru for that.

“Ken!” another child’s voice, smaller and quieter than Ken’s voice, came from further away. Kiba glanced up to see another child, even younger than Ken, with a similar spiky brown hair that is apparently a common trait amongst the Inuzukas. “Where are you?”

“Kega! I’m in the kitchen,” Ken called out to the child, peering around through the open kitchen doorway. “With Kiba-niisan!”

Please, no more, Kiba looked up, the child’s feet pit-pat across the floor, the legs of his blue overalls snagging along behind.

“Kiba!” the small child exclaimed with a big smile, and he waddled over to where he stood, besides Ken, a good few inches smaller than the boy.

“Hello, Kegawa,” Kiba forced out, making his voice a bit less gruff for the kids, but dammit, his voice wasn’t built to be soft! Now, it’s not that he hates kids, and between the two brothers, Kiba really liked Kegawa because, well...he doesn’t talk as much as Ken, and was much more reserved, a stark contrast.

“Kiba-niisan! Come play with us,” Kegawa asked in a soft tone.

“Yeah!” Ken said in a much louder voice, suddenly tugging on Kiba’s shirt, pulling him as much as his seven year old strength could muster. “Come play with us! Come! COME!”

“Ken, my shirt!” Kiba protested, bordering on whining. Now his shirt’s gonna be stretched out! Kiba let a slight sigh as Ken let go, but the kid did not back off. “I can’t, I make food and everything. Don’t you want to eat chicken nuggets?”

“CHICKEN NUGGETS?!” Ken exclaimed, now enticed by the thought of food. Kids are so easy to distract...

“Yeah, I have to make it though,” Kiba said lightly, bending slightly with his hands on his knees. “I can make it with cheese inside and everything.”

“CHEESE?”

“Yeah, so if you and Kega play for a bit, I’ll make it and give it to you right away,” Kiba continued.

“Thank you…” Kiba could hear a tiny voice coming from the doorway into the living room. A little girl with two brown pigtails in a dress - Mimi, another cousin of theirs- came through the door, Hana right behind her.

“See, Mimi’s here too,” Kiba pointed out, and the brothers whipped their heads around at the same time towards the door. “Why don’t you ask her to play too!”

"Hey, Mimi!” Ken hollered immediately, running up towards the young girl, who stood idly as he grabbed her hand, tugging. “Finally! You’re here! C’mon, let’s go play outside!”

“Oh...okay,” Mimi said, following him closely, as Kega tailed behind her.

“Noka!” Ken called, looking at the portion of the living room where a few dogs laid around, and a black dog glanced up, looking at Ken. “Come play with us!”

“I’ll come out in a bit,” the dog, Noka, barked back lightly, returning to licking the fur on her paw. The dog wasn’t Ken’s dog, no, she was his mother’s ninken; ninkens tend not to leave their master’s side, however, when it comes to their master’s kids, on their master’s orders, they often are found to be a sort of caretaker for their child. Kiba doesn’t know how this specific dog can do it though; Noka was much older, equivalent to a human nearing their middle-age. And yet, she still manages to have the energy to keep up with both Ken and Kegawa.

Kiba let out a little sigh of relief as the three children ran across the room, slipping outside of the sliding door, leaving it slightly open as they were laughing in a childish glee. Finally, he can breathe a little more now.

A woman with red markings and a brown bob entered the living room behind Hana, interestingly wearing the flak jacket - she must've come here right after her shift. She immediately noticed Kiba through the open panel of the kitchen, and walked up to him.

Ah shit, here we go, Kiba thought as the woman affectionately pinched his cheek.

"Kiba-chan! Good job on passing!" The woman, Hachi, another aunt that was related to him somehow, or she wasn't actually related to him by blood, he doesn't remember, sang. He knew that she was Mimi’s mother, so likely she was blood-related. "I knew you could do it!"

"Thank you," Kiba managed to say, and she let go of him.

"Here's a lil’ something something," Hachi continued, and she produced a small envelope from her pocket,

"I can't accept this-" he started, actually wanting the money, but he knew he couldn't readily accept it.

Hachi immediately interrupted, pushing the envelope back to him, tatting, "Nuh uh. Keep it- buy yourself some new clothes for work or whatever you want to get."

Hachi was one of the younger aunts he had in the Inuzuka clan, though he wasn't sure how exactly they were related, she was one of the closer ones to him, he knew. She lived up to the young aunt role to anyone who called her Aunt Hachi - she was much more up to date with what was happening around the village, unlike the other aunts.

And she was the only one who gave out money as a gift when it wasn't New Year. It had helped Kiba out when he wanted to get something, but he didn't have the allowance for it or he knew Tsume would've said no.

“How many people are coming today?” Kiba asked when Hana entered the kitchen after Hachi left, who looked into the oven immediately.

"Everyone who can make it," Hana replied simply, as she took a pair of oven mitts that sat over the oven handle, putting them on as she opened the door. Immediately his senses were taken by the smell of food filling the space. He can't escape it- he could feel his mouth salivating. "That's why...you gotta give me a hand."

"What happened to Ma?" Kiba continued, waiting for the kettle to whistle while he watched Hana carefully place the large trays from within onto laid out towels on the counter.

"She should be here soon," Hana said, without much concern, her focus on the task at hand. "Tosa was out on a mission with her. He said she had to file a report with Uncle Tadao. Those things take a long while sometimes- you're gonna find out soon enough."

The doorbell rang, and Hana took off the oven mitts, heading out once again.

"Put the other trays inside the oven and set the timer to 20!" Hana said as she pointed out trays of meat on a different side of the kitchen counter.

"Please," Kiba emphasized to no one, taking the mitts and putting the trays into the oven.

It continued as such - more clans people entered the house as Hana greeted them, and Kiba was in and out of the kitchen to the dinner table, serving tea as more guests arrived and helping Hana with preparing the food. Eventually, the main courses were finished, and now Kiba simply stood by, waiting for Hana to signal that they could eat.

“Hey Ashi!” He heard his sister’s voice grow much chipper. “You decided to come! And who’s this little baby?”

"A baby?!" Akamaru barked beside Kiba, and started to bound excitedly away from Kiba towards the front.

“Hey, Akamaru!” Kiba replied, quickly following him, trying to catch him.

“Aw, what a cutie! Is this Kiba’s ninken? Sit!” A voice exclaimed delightfully, while Akamaru gave a cute ‘arf’ in response. Kiba peered around the corner, a young woman kneeling to the ground, as she petted Akamaru’s head, who had a tongue sticking out, panting. She continued, "Sorry, Ashimaru wasn’t feeling well!"

Kiba saw the young woman with long, dark brown hair and light brown skin, shorter than Hana in height, taking off her shoes. An equally young man stood beside her holding an infant in his arms, a bit paler than she was, and definitely taller than her, with ashy grey hair did the same. The woman had the red Inuzuka marks on her cheeks; the man, on the other hand, did not.

“Kiba!” the young woman exclaimed upon noticing Kiba, looking past Hana at him, and immediately entered the house. “Congratulations on becoming a Genin!”

“Thank you, thank you,” Kiba replied with a grin as he approached her, expecting her to give him a pat on the head, but rather, she reached over to pinch his cheek like a child. Because of course she would- every single one of them does this with him. “H-Hey! Ashi, leggo!”

“You might be considered a man now, but you’re still my little brother!” Ashi replied happily, letting go. “Aw, Hana, how’re they gonna let him go out on the field when he looks like this, huh?”

“Please, I’m not a kid anymore!” Kiba mumbled, rubbing the cheek she pulled, stinging. At this rate, he was getting worried about the state of his cheek at the end of the night.

Ashi was his cousin, not an immediate cousin, but she was one of Tsume’s nieces...from the many that she called a niece.

Growing up, Hana and her were close friends, always hanging out together. She treated Kiba nearly identical to how Hana would treat him, teasing him and treating him like an annoying little kid, but was much more obnoxious with it, unlike Hana who Kiba thought was at least, less loud and brash. It wasn’t until she started dating her now husband, that he hadn't seen her around the house. They got married two years ago, and immediately had, well...what her husband was holding in arms.

The baby looked blankly at Kiba, big round eyes staring as they watched him carefully, tiny fingers holding on to her father’s shirt, tufts of deep brown hair in pigtails with a bow on one side. Most of their limbs and body, rounded and curved, was covered in a long sleeved black dress, and some white bottoms and little socks with cute dog patterns around it. The baby, a girl named Akita, looked very much like an Inuzuka, despite her father having a starkly contrasting look from Ashi.

“You’ll always be that little kid,” Ashi mused, before turning around and heading back to the entryway. “Oh! And we got you something too!”

She rummaged through the basket that was under the red stroller, pulling out a purple gift bag, and held it up to him. “Here you go!”

“Ashi, you didn’t have to get him anything,” Hana replied. “He just became a Genin.”

“A Genin is still part of the force,” Ashi replied. “And Sanae thought you might need these! Your team is going to be a tracking team, right? You might want to start using these from now on.”

“How did you know?” Kiba asked as he accepted the gift, carefully peering through. Inside was a bag, sealed, with a few round purple balls inside, the size of a tennis ball. He knew immediately what it was, something that he has seen Hana and his mom packed when they were going to head out to a mission - smoke bombs. He hasn’t been able to practice with it, even at the Academy, the budget didn’t allow them to use every weapon, rather just look at it so they knew what it was.

“Everyone’s heard of the new Genin teams that passed by now,” the man, Sanae, behind them spoke up, his voice much softer than Ashi’s, and he took a step up the ledge. Everyone, Kiba assumed, was the shinobi forces. "Only three teams passed this year."

"Really?" Hana asked. "Last year, they only passed one."

“That one was an anomaly,” Ashi said. “Depending on how many teams they make, they put a limit; it’s always been typically 2-4 teams for about 8 years now? But, we are having a shortage of students becoming shinobis too, so that might be affecting our numbers.”

“They’re just not pumping out shinobis like they used to,” Hana replied with a shrug. “There were, like what, 60 students in my year? And we had about 6 teams that made it.”

“Yeah, it was something along those lines for me,” Ashi nodded, before glancing over to her husband. “What about your class?”

“Around that number as well,” Sanae agreed. “It was after the war, after all, so they really needed new shinobi. We had a lot more groups actually...about 10 teams?"

“Ah, that’s right,” Ashi sighed. “I forgot that you’re really old.”

Ashi quickly followed it with a loud laugh, while Sanae just smiled, not saying anything at Ashi’s joke at his expense.

Ashi continued, as they stepped inside, “I don’t know if it’s a good or bad thing that they have a limit with the number of students though. They should be lenient with it.”

“Nah, they’re like that so they can weed out the students that aren’t taking it seriously,” Hana added with a shrug. “Anyways, come inside, please. Kiba, please go make tea for both of them.”

“Alright,” Kiba said, refraining from groaning because, well, at least Hana said please this time. He was about to turn around, but not without bowing his head slightly. “I appreciate the gift. I’ll do my best.”

“Of course you will,” Ashi said, following behind Hana as they led them back down the hall, towards the living room. “You are Tsume’s kid after all.”

Right. He has and will always be known as Tsume’s kid...Hana’s brother… Kiba knew he had a lot more to live up to than most of his classmates had. He’s just going to have to work really hard to prove himself useful for his village.

They walked through the hallway, into the living room. The moment Sanae walked through with their child in hand, however, was when all attention from the rest of the clansmen turned towards them.

“Ashi brought the baby?” Isamu said, sitting up immediately to look over at Akita in Sanae’s arms.

“Hey, hey, where’s my hi, Uncle Isamu?” Ashi asked as she went around to the couches, leaning to give a side hug, to the people on the couches, receiving a nose kiss here and there, an unusual practice for those outside of the Inuzuka clan, but the constant norm they grew up with in the families.

“Yeah, hi,” Isamu said, distracted as Sanae brought the baby towards the center of the couches as he greeted his in-laws, letting Akita look around a bit, now looking a bit more happier at the multiple faces before her. “Sit here, Sanae.”

A demand, not a request, and Sanae looked at Isamu’s gesture towards the empty seat between himself and Gaku. Kiba could tell Sanae was thinking of something as he stared at the seat, and it took him a moment to finally respond with a hesitant smile, “A-ah, alright.”

Kiba watched from the kitchen as Sanae shuffled between the coffee table and the couch, his lean figure wedging itself between the two older men, their wide and muscular bodies taking up most of the space. He gave Akita to Isamu, who immediately swept the baby from his arms, lifting her up in the air before Sanae could protest. Akita, on the other hand, was making some happy sounds, and Isamu continued to gently lift her up and down, while cooing at her. Once Kiba finished making their tea, he placed it on the coffee table.

“Where’s your old man?” Haya asked as Ashi finally set herself down beside her after her greetings.

“He's still on a mission - he won’t be back until tomorrow,” Ashi said with a sigh.

“Already?” Haya asked, a quirk of an eyebrow. “I thought the doctor told him to take it easy with his injury.”

“Yeah, well, what can you do,” Ashi shrugged. “He sees it as a pride thing.”

“Nothing prideful about working with a busted kneecap,” Haya shook her head. Meanwhile, on the other couch, Isamu continued to play with Akita, now playing peek-a-boo while balancing her on his legs.

"Akita,” Gaku cooed from beside Sanae, quietly drinking his tea. “Come to Uncle Gaku."

"Uncle? You could be her grandpa," Tosa commented. Gaku immediately threw him a scowl.

"Don't mess it up for me- Tsume already made these kids call me old man, even when I told her not to," Gaku said while Isamu gently gave him the baby, holding the infant up in the air, before bringing her down to his face. “Who’s a cute little baby? Who’s a cute little baby? You are! You are!”

"Should've had your own, then," Haya commented, to which Isamu laughed.

"Gaku swore to never settle down," Isamu added as he leaned over towards the table, picking up the coffee mug that sat there.

"He made the right choice, then," Hachi replied from one part of the room, with a slight chuckle. "I can't imagine whoever he finds would stay for long."

"What is this slander?" Gaku scolded as he smiled towards Akita, who touched his beard curiously. Akita then reached out and tugged quickly on the tips of his beard and Gaku yelped. “OUCH!”

“H-hey, old man, you scared her!” Hana said when she saw Akita hesitate at Gaku’s yell, her face pausing momentarily as she began to frown. She quickly swooped Akita out of his hands when she let out a little cry. “Okay, okay, sh, sh, okay…”

“M-my bad,” Gaku hesitated, patting Akita on her back while she cried into Hana’s shoulder for a moment. Ashi simply let out a sigh.

“See, that's why Uncle Gaku can’t have his own, he doesn’t know how to reel in his own voice,” Ashi said, while she watched as Hana managed to calm her daughter down, taking a sip from her own tea. “He’ll just scare his own kid.”

“Sheesh…” Gaku mumbled as he took another sip from his cup, disappointed at Akita being quickly taken away from him. “I’m not even that loud- she’s just not used to loud noises, what, with Sanae-boy over here. And you managed to dial it back too, runt.”

“What’s that supposed to mean!" Ashi said deadpanned, but Gaku ignored her to reach a hand on Sanae’s shoulder.

Sanae nearly flinched at the sudden touch, his back much straighter now, and Kiba could tell that there was a rigidity to his form. Gaku then said, a bit of a smirk on his face, “How many more are you planning on having?”

“Oh we-!” Ashi started, but Gaku quickly interjected.

“Hold up, I’m asking Sanae over here,” Gaku said. “I haven’t heard the man talk in ages!”

Isamu decided to join in on badgering the young man, “That’s right! You’re not getting any younger you know! So how many are you two trying for?”

“Hm…” Sanae said, glancing over to Ashi, who watched him carefully. He then glanced around to the two men that surrounded him, expectantly waiting for him to respond. Kiba watched to see what he would say, knowing that this was their way of teasing Sanae, exclusively, and he could see his Adam's apple on his throat rise and fall as he swallowed.

It's not because he wasn't born into the Inuzuka clan, no, not at all. His Aunt Fuuko married into the clan.

It’s just because Sanae was an easier target than the other’s, with his quiet nature and his tendency to get nervous easily. Like he was at that moment.

“Maybe 3 more?” Sanae replied softly, earning a loud laugh from Gaku and Isamu. Ashi’s eyes opened slightly at his response.

“Atta boy,” Gaku laughed, smacking his back affectionately, and Kiba could see the embarrassment on Sanae’s face, the nature of the Inuzuka still making him flush, something that he was likely not comfortable with, only having married into the family 2 years ago.

“Get to it, then,” Isamu added, and they both let out a howl of laughter, while Sanae just stared into his cup, a sheepish smile on his face.

“Who the fuck-Oh shit, my bad,” Ashi started in a louder voice, before catching herself, glancing over at Kiba, alarmed.

"I already know those words," Kiba chimed in. "I'm not a kid anymore, please."

"Your mom better not catch you swearing," Ashi said quickly. She cleared her throat, continued evenly. “And besides, who's going to have more kids? Not me.”

“It’s not worth it, trust me. " Another voice, rougher and higher spoke from the entrance, drawing Kiba's attention. There stood his mother, with her green chunin vest open revealing the black shirt she wore underneath, the red swirl patch on the side. She had a square, white gauze along the side of her jaw, the lipstick she left with this morning wiped off and leaving a wine coloured stain on her lips. “Stick to a max of two kids, if you can.”

“Took you long enough, Tsume!” Gaku exclaimed as Tsume approached him, gripping her arm affectionately. “We can finally crack open the sake!”

“What, you guys didn’t give it to them, yet?” Tsume glanced over to Hana, noticing Akita in her arms and giving her a quick pat on the head. “What, do we not have any?”

“It’s not even that, we were waiting for more people to arrive,” Hana said, glancing over to Kiba. “Kiba! Can you go to the basement and pull out the cases?”

“Hana, let the boy rest, he’s been running around, serving everyone tea,” Fuuko said.

“Is that right,” Tsume said curiously, glancing over at Kiba, seeming a bit proud. “Well, you can do this last thing, and then you’re off the hook.”

“Seriously?” Kiba asked, and Tsume nodded, crossing her arms.

“Well, yeah, maybe this once,” Tsume said with a smirk. “You passed your test, and you helped Hana out. It’s fine- I’ll go get the alcohol. What do you all want?”

Tsume’s voice yelled into the room, and the clansmen yelled out their requests; sake, beers, umeshu, you name it. They likely had it in their basement, tucked away behind a closet, waiting to be opened whenever they had family over or whenever Tsume was in a good mood. The door was always locked, the key always staying in a specific place in the cupboard, and while the key was accessible, Kiba never dared to touch it.

Kiba had tried to sneak into this closet once, when Tsume was sleeping on the couch, drunk and sound asleep from what Kiba could see, and Hana was nowhere to be seen in the house. He saw the key, gleaming on the coffee table, beckoning to come and pick it up, and he put his skills to the test - he was able to get the key soundlessly, and made his way down the stairs, the closet glowing at the end of the basement. He was so close, so close to opening the door, but the click from the lock unlocking made him hear footsteps on the floor above, and in a panic, Kiba escaped through the basement window, making his way back into the living room through the backyard. He quickly put the key back in place, Tsume disappearing from the couch and, he assumed, making her way to the basement, sniffing him out, and left it back where she had left it.

Finally! Kiba held back his sigh of relief as he went towards the table. I can eat!!!

“By the way, look what I brought with me,” Tsume pointed a thumb back behind her, and there was a man, younger than Tsume with less white hair running through his black hair, the red Inuzuka marks on his cheeks, and visible eyebags on his tanned face, leaning against the door frame. “Where’s Ken and Kega? Tell ‘em daddy’s home.”

“Please, wherever they are, leave them alone,” the man sighed, his voice low and tired, as he stood back up, walking towards an empty chair that sat nearby the couches, having been moved from the dining table. Tsume laughed as she made her way to the basement to retrieve the alcohol, Kuromaru following her quickly behind. The man groaned as he took a seat, leaning back into the cushion.

“Tadao, here,” Tosa said, gesturing towards himself as he stood up from his seat beside Ashi. “Sit here.”

“Nah, I’m good, thanks,” Tadao said, but even Kiba could tell from the way he shuffled side to side, he was trying to get comfortable on the chair.

“Now,” Tosa pressed, his voice, always grave, more demanding. “After all you did to track the payload, you need more support than me.”

After a moment, Tadao used an arm - his left arm - to push off the chair, the sleeve from his other arm swinging and swaying with each step, empty. Tosa took himself towards the side where Haya sat, leaning on the arm rest.

“Where’s the wife?” Hachi asked Tadao as he sat down, and he shook his head.

“Ah, you know. The Third is always working the Intelligence Unit to the ground nowadays,” Tadao said, flicking his left hand slightly, as he stretched his neck side to side, grunting slightly. “Kimi said she’ll come by as soon as she can, don’t you worry.”

“You should really see a massage therapist,” Ashi said, shuffling to give him more room. “You know it’s covered, right?”

“I don’t need that,” Tadao said. “Just get one of my kids to stand on my back for a bit and I’ll be fine.”

“Nice exploitation of their tiny feet,” Ashi said, shaking her head.

Tsume returned with a few long, white bottles in her hand, Kuromaru carrying a case of beers by it’s handle with his mouth. “Kiba, one more thing you gotta do- fetch the cups.”

“No problem,” Kiba replied, quickly going into the kitchen, getting all the sake cups, small white cups the size of a palm, and the longer beer glasses he could carry in his hands.

This was it. As always, when it comes to drinking Tsume is the first one to start the drinks and the last one finishing all of them. With his luck, since this was a bigger than usual celebration for their clan, hopefully his mom will get piss drunk within the next hour.

Kiba caught a glimpse of the sky through the sliding door, the blue of the daylight swapped with a deep pink and purple blend. The moon and stars should start showing any moment now- and he wanted to do what he wanted to do before it got too deep into the night.

That’d be more romantic, maybe, Kiba thought mindlessly as he placed the cups on the coffee table, the Inuzukas who wanted to drink - most of them, except for Tadao - gathered around, as Tsume poured the first bottle of sake, the clear liquid filling up the cup cleanly.

“Hey, Kiba!” Gaku said, gesturing for him to come closer. Kiba obeyed, and Gaku raised his cup towards him. “Here! Drink!”

“Uh-” Kiba hesitated immediately, and from the corner of his eyes, he watched closely as Tsume and Hana turned their attention to him.

“Uncle Gaku!” Hana exclaimed. “He’s underage!”

“Ah, c’mon Hana! I’m not offering him the whole drink,” Gaku said. “The boy’s a man now! A full fledged ninja, serving the good ol’ Leaf! You had a bit too, when you graduated!”

“Yeah, champagne, not sake!” Hana replied, and Gaku glanced over to Tsume.

“Well, Tsume? You gonna stop the boy?” Tsume looked at Kiba, who quickly glanced away, not wanting to move unless he got his mother’s okay. Gods knows what her mood was like today, but Kiba wanted to play it safe without getting an earful.

“Let the pup try,” Tsume said, curiously. “He’s not gonna take more than a sip anyways.”

“Alright!” Gaku put the cup in Kiba’s hands, Kiba stumbling to keep the cup steady in his hand, the liquid sloshing out slightly. “A toast to Kiba - the newest Inuzuka to join the Leaf forces and serve the Village! From here on out, you’re no longer a boy, but a full-fledged man! Kanpai!”

“Kanpai!”

“Kanpai,” Kiba mumbled, lifting his cup up towards them as they cheered and whooped, watching as Kiba put the cup to his lip. He hesitated slightly, the smell much stronger in his nostrils, and he could make out every element in this liquid, every fermented grain of rice that went into it. He quickly pursed his lips and sipped… before quickly coughing, the liquid burning as it went down his throat into his stomach. His chest immediately felt warm, a weird warmth he hasn’t felt before, but the taste was both sweet and bitter, if that was even possible.

“Well, now we know he hasn’t been drinking,” Tsume laughed as Kiba quickly gave the drink back to Gaku, who gave his back some hard taps.

“Of course, he knows you’ll give him a run for his life,” Haya cackled after downing her drink.

“You bet I would,” Tsume stated proudly, as she picked up the same bottle again. “C’mon, c’mon, let’s drink some more!”

“Uh, Mom, you should slow down,” Hana said cautiously, and Tsume gave a wave of her hand.

“It’s time to celebrate, Hana! Come here, grab something to drink,” Tsume said, as she filled up the cups once again, while chatter took over, as it always does in an Inuzuka household.

Hana just sighed in response, and came towards the side of the living room, where at this point, Kuromaru had brought more drinks by himself. She squatted down beside him, and asked, “You got anything light?”

“No ma’am, you would have to go out and buy it yourself,” Kuromaru spoke, his lips forming the words in their human language.

“Figures,” Hana said, as she stood up. “And we don’t have any chasers...Kiba. You want to go to get me some soda.”

“Are you asking me or telling me?” Kiba said as he watched Hana go to the front, pulling open the closet and rummaging through the coats that hung.

“Both,” Hana said plainly. “Just get me one of those 1 litre sodas. Here.”

Hana lifted her hand, producing a paper rectangle, a 500 ryo. Kiba grimaced.

“Don’t you have a 200? It doesn’t cost that much for sodas,” Kiba replied, and Hana just smiled.

“Use the rest of the money for whatever you want,” Hana replied. She then placed both hands on her hips, giving a quirk of her eyebrow. “Don’t stay out too late, alright? And no funny business either.”

“Wha- What’s that supposed to mean?!” Kiba exclaimed, feeling sweat starting to form on the nape of his neck, the tips of his ears heating up, watching carefully as Hana passed him.

“I said what I said,” Hana said with a shrug, and gave him a slight wave of a ‘see ya’, before returning back to the living room, the noise from the chattering and yelling never diminishing despite the wall that separated the room and the hallway.

“Alright, Akamaru,” Kiba whispered, despite knowing that there was no way his mother or anyone could even hear him from the amount of noise they were making. “Let’s hurry up.”

“Master! Where are we going?” Akamaru barked as Kiba slipped into his sandals, zipping up and strapping them in. Kiba didn’t reply, grabbing a beige hoodie from inside the closet, instead opening the door, running outside, Akamaru hot on his heels.

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

Kiba walked briskly through the main streets of Konoha, the winter night darkening the sky immediately, the streetlights along the sides illuminating the roads in a yellow hue. The streets were still bustling with folks making their way home from a long day’s work, shinobi and civilians alike on walking along the path with coworkers, friends, and families, some on their way home from work, other on their way to work, some on their way to their shifts,

The night was cool. Or, as cool as it could be for a January in Konoha. The wind provided most of the chills, and Kiba was happy he had the forethought to grab a hoodie on the way on. There was the scent of warm foods, mostly soup based items, he noted; ramen, oden, sukiyaki, nabe… All foods that you would enjoy on a cold winter night such as this. He inhaled sharply, the coolness of the air, filling his lungs, cooling his warm body, easing his heart that was beating loudly.

He glanced down to Akamaru, trotting alongside him, admiring the stores that lined up along the street. The lights from the stores casted shadows on the road, shaped in the window panel that were there.

The stores didn’t close for a few more hours, he knew, and this gave him the opportunity to take a quick trip towards the northern part of the village, tucked away near the land where the forestry laid outside of the training ground boundaries.

His hands were stuffed into the pocket in the front of his hoodie, fiddling with the headband and wallet inside.

Should he wear the headband? Well, there were no regulations about wearing it off-duty, clearly, since his mother would come home in the middle of the night still wearing it around her arm while drunk with her colleagues. But would he seem like a douche if he did? But he worked hard to pass that test, so maybe he does deserve to wear it...but no, he didn’t want to seem like a show-off just yet.

Hmm...Should he buy something before seeing her?

Nah, that'd be too much. But, then again, if he was going to tell her...how he felt...wouldn't it be better to woo her beforehand?

Should he buy a flower or something? Chocolates? Girls like that type of stuff, right? Akane might try to say she’s different from the other girls in their class, but Kiba knew that she enjoyed those types of things. What do guys his age typically do when they confess to a girl?

Maybe he should’ve asked Hana about this? He didn’t tell anyone about him meeting up with Akane to confess...he didn’t tell Itsuki, nor Natsuo...he didn’t even tell Akamaru, and right now the pup probably thought they were just going on a little stroll around town. Hana might have provided some information about what girls like and whatever...but no, he can’t tell Hana, because he knew for a fact that when it came to matters like this, Hana would tell Tsume.

And Tsume was adamant about Kiba staying focused on being a shinobi, telling him not to waste time on stupid things that would just waste his time in the long run.

But what does Tsume know about love anyways?

He’s not the one who chased his dad away.

Nah, I don’t think she cares that much, Kiba thought as he continued to make his way up the street, the road now sloping upwards in a hill. Konoha was unique in its layout- built near a tall mount, the streets are sloped and slanted in different ways, leftovers of the land before the Village had even installed the roads and buildings they had today. It made for one hell of a trip, though, and oftentimes the villagers would have to determine a route around the village that would enable more flat roads, especially for merchants that travel into the village on a delivery.

There were no shortcuts where Kiba was heading, though. He headed to the forest that was not used for training, a forest reserved for those who work in woodwork, to the Moritaka residence, a civilian family that had a history of producing the top master carpenters for the village.

The Moritaka handled a portion of wood production for Konoha to use and export, chopping down wood, processing them into lumber, and creating structures with it. The Konoha cemetery recently had to rebuild the torii of the entrance, rainfall from previous years having rotted through into the wood, and the Moritaka were responsible, from what Akane had told him with pride.

Akane kind of had her future already made for her, kind of like how Kiba already had one as a shinobi. She didn’t have to become a shinobi, and it’s not like being a shinobi was any less hard, especially physically. At least, as a carpenter, you don’t need to use chakra either, something else that made being a shinobi incredibly exhausting. And it wasn’t like Akane would have to pick up carpentry herself- she could just handle the business aspect of their company, and Kiba knew that she preferred sitting at a desk working on numbers more than using her hands.

Doesn’t matter, though, Kiba thought as he ventured deeper down a street, away from the main streets and into a path, the streetlights much further apart from one another, leaving spots that were darker. The path started to merge into a heavily forested area, lines of trees on both sides, segmented from the path with stone. The night sky could be seen better without the yellow of the lights, and he can see the moon starting to rise, a crescent. I’m a Genin and she’s…

Kiba hoped that Akane’s team passed for more reasons than just seeing Akane at work. Itsuki, Natsuo...they were his friends too, and while he was closer to the first than the latter, he had to have something familiar around him, people that he actually liked and grew up with in the same field, to keep him grounded and...well…

Comfortable.

Kiba soon noticed the path diverging, and he took the path that led deeper, where most of the trees stood haphazardly, thicker and taller in size compared to the trees he had just passed by. The scent differed as well - there were more evergreens here, a new variety of forestry that was always further away from the village. Further down, he could see a wooden house that stood, wide and tall, a singular floor, classical and traditional in nature, minka-esque but modern. The roof, rather than being tiled, was thatched. The lights were on, lighting up the surrounding area, and the front light was on as well, the front door opened wide. As he got closer, he saw a figure coming out, their long hair swaying as they held a tiny brush with an inkpot cradled in their palm, and a scroll on the other hand along with a lantern.

Kiba stopped in his tracks, and his once steady heart started to beat frantically. He was further away from any light source, enveloped in the darkness in between, and he knew that the person couldn’t see him from where he stood. The person started to make their way to the side of the house, towards the back, deeper into the forest.

Maybe he should wait before confessing. No! He told himself that when he graduated from the Academy, he would ask her out! He can’t be a wuss and back off right now! What kind of man does that?

“Akane!”

He called out to her without putting much thought, his voice cracking in between, and now he could feel a wave of embarrassment wash over him. Gods, when will his voice stop cracking?!

Akane stopped in her tracks, turning around to look directly at Kiba. Kiba gulped, clenching his hands into fists, taking a sharp breath to calm his nerves. He walked up to Akane, and Kiba was taken aback by what he saw - Akane had square gauze taped on the side of her cheek, scratches and redness evidence along her nose and her jaws. She still wore the outfit that she had worn the other day, but Kiba could see how the edges frayed, and she was no longer wearing her sandals with the heels, but her home loafers. She didn’t look bad, but she definitely looked like she'd been in a fight; clearly, from the test they had to take in order to become Genins.

“Kiba,” Akane said, her voice a bit lower than normal, a bit more isolated and distant. She must have noticed how Kiba was staring at the gauze on her cheek, and she quickly raised a hand towards it, attempting to cover it with her hand. Akamaru gave a light bark in greeting, drawing her attention towards the small dog. “And Akamaru...What...are you guys doing here?”

“Uh,” Kiba started, returning his glance back at her eyes, clearing his throat. “Uh, well..you said you wanted to meet up, remember? After our first day…”

“Oh,” Akane said slowly, hesitantly, twirling a strand of her purple hair, before she nodded. “Yeah, I forgot about that. My bad. I got home a few hours ago and...My mom wanted me to check the warehouse for a last inventory check.”

“It’s okay,” Kiba said evenly. “You weren’t expecting it either, right? You know...the test.”

He could see Akane’s eyebrows twitching inwards when he said ‘test’, the edge of her lips pulling downwards, into a slight grimace. She stopped herself before she could frown further, instead shaking her head. “Yeah. Took us all by surprise. Did you...see the guys before coming here?”

“Nah, I couldn’t, I was stuck at home with my family,” Kiba sighed. “I wanted to come see you as soon as I can.”

To this, Akane glanced away, but her grimace never left her face. “I see…”

“Do you want me to walk you to the warehouse,” Kiba suddenly said, gesturing towards the lantern in her hand. “I can take that. You’re carrying a lot already.”

Akane stared at him for a moment, looking like she was thinking. She then let out a slight breath, and held up the lantern towards him, before continuing in a much softer tone, “Sure. Don’t hog it. I know how scared you are of the dark.”

“Pft, me? Scared? I ain’t scared of anything,” Kiba chuckled as he took the lantern. Their hands brushed against each other. “Akamaru can protect us, isn’t that right, boy?”

“Yessir! Just leave it to me,” Akamaru barked, as he bounced his way in front of them, ready to walk once they started. Kiba glanced over at Akane, who now had a small smile on her face as she watched Akamaru.

They walked the rest of the way to the warehouse in silence, neither of them starting the conversation. Kiba was too preoccupied about what to say next...when should he confess? Now or later? Should he ask her about her day? Or maybe he should ask about the test...no, no, that’d be too straightforward. But he had another concern too that threw a wrench in what he thought was supposed to be happening...Akane was being unusually quiet and low, and very distant. He didn’t even need to hear her say it - she had an atmosphere around her that was unwelcoming, almost shut off. What should he say? What can he say-

“Let’s sit for a bit,” Akane suddenly spoke, gesturing towards the log that laid in front of the warehouse entrance, the top part cut through to create a flat surface. Kiba immediately sat down, thankful she said something first. Akane sat beside him, a little distance between them. Akamaru hopped on the bench, beside Akane, and Akane picked him up, putting him on her lap, as she patted his soft fur gently.

“How was the test for your team?” Akane asked, never looking at Kiba, keeping her eyes on Akamaru, who now laid on her lap, his eyes closed as her fingers ran through his fur.

“Terrible,” Kiba groaned, using his hands to lean back a bit on the surface. “Our sensei had the brilliant idea of capturing the flag thing with her headband, but the only thing is, she knows how to use genjutsu!”

“Yeah…”

“And we spent hours and hours just trying to find her by ourselves! She put me in a genjutsu and everything, it was so bad,” Kiba laughed. “The Academy didn’t teach us shit, but luckily I remembered what Iruka-sensei taught us with Kai, and I was able to get out...but we ended up with an hour left! So we had to team up and we managed together.”

To this, Akane looked up towards Kiba.

“We?”

“Well, yeah...Hinata and Shino,” Kiba continued, his voice a bit lower, reflecting on what had happened. “Shino made this whole plan for all of us to get the headband and we all had to...basically work together to get it.”

“For real?” Akane asked, quirking her head to the side, her bangs falling to frame her face. The moonlight looked nice against her face. She continued with a bit of a laugh, “Even with that creepy bug fanatic?”

“You know, I didn’t think I would ever get along with them,” Kiba shook his head. “But we did and...well...we got the headband in the end…”

Without each other, I don’t think we would have got it.

“So that means…” Akane mumbled, and Kiba knew this was the perfect time to tell her. He brought out his headband from his hoodie pocket, the Konoha leaf gleaming underneath the white moonlight, and he held it between them.

“Yeah,” Kiba said. “I’m officially a shinobi now.”

Kiba expected Akane to smile. He expected her to be her cheerful self immediately, grabbing him by the arm like she usually did, and congratulate him on becoming a shinobi. But instead, between the whiteness of the moon and orange of the lantern, he could see Akane’s eyes widening, her smirk dropping quickly as she stared at the headband. Her hand froze on Akamaru, no longer moving.

There was a silence that fell between them. Kiba didn’t know what to say. He didn’t know what else to say. He was expecting her to have a better reaction- he did just pass a very gruelling test, the hardest one they ever had to take in their many years of training.

And yet...there wasn’t a sign of anything from Akane.

“So what about you,” Kiba broke the silence, his voice slightly hoarse.

“...” Akane looked away, staring straight at the ground, not saying anything.

“...Akane?”

“...We…” She paused quickly, hesitantly, her voice cracking. She gave Kiba a side glance, not being able to face him. “We...we failed…”

The air froze around them, the silence filled with the wind whipping past them, howling. Kiba stared at her, waiting for her to say “joking!” or “sike!”, but Akane just went back to staring at the ground, saying nothing more.

“Wha-” Kiba started, processing what he just heard. They...failed? How was that possible?

“Our sensei thought that...since we didn’t work together during our test...he failed all of us…” Akane explained. “He said that if we wanted to even think about becoming shinobi that we should...take it more seriously and go back to the Academy or just quit while we’re at it. Can you believe it?”

Harsh, Kiba thought, not knowing what to say. Console her? Say everything is going to be alright? She might get mad at him for saying that, she doesn’t like it whenever he is like that with her...

"Well...I guess there's always next year," Kiba replied, though he wasn’t even sure. Akane didn't look his way. "Right? You're gonna take the test again next year?"

Another uncomfortable silence fell between them, and Kiba could feel his throat running dry. The blood in his veins had been pumping non-stop, and it was making his heart beat louder, audible to his own ears, and the silence did not help the situation at all.

“Seriously? That’s all you have to say?” Akane asked, her voice sharper than before.

“W-what?” Kiba asked, and Akane scoffed.

"Forget about it. I'm gonna take the year off," Akane finally said. "Just gonna work for the family business as I figure some stuff out."

Kiba couldn’t stop himself from frowning.

"What? You can't give up now,” Kiba said, his voice a bit steadier, a bit more passionate in his tone. “We studied and trained super hard all these years just to get here! If you miss out on a year, you’ll have to catch up for another year! And you guys know better now...you can retake the test and pass-"

"Yeah, well, easy for you to say all that," Akane scoffed. "You're the one with the headband."

He was immediately taken aback. What was her problem? He was only trying to help; she was the one who wanted to be a ninja too...right?

And what’s going to happen to them if Kiba and Akane’s paths diverge here? Kiba would be a shinobi, while Akane stayed behind...what would happen between them...

"Well-"

"Is that all you wanted to talk about?" Akane asked suddenly as she got up. Akamaru quickly hopped off her lap, onto the ground, looking at her confused. "I have to finish logging in the inventory."

"Oh," Kiba said slowly, standing up immediately. "Uh...yeah… I guess I'll see you later, Akane?"

"Yeah...see you around."

Akane walked into the warehouse without another word, lantern in hand, never looking back as she closed the door behind her, leaving it slightly open. Kiba stood there, staring at the door, not knowing what to do, a vortex of emotions swirling deep in his chest. He was finding it hard to breathe.

He never got to confess but...he felt like he was basically being rejected, but not romantically.

He was now a shinobi. And she is, well... a civilian. And would likely continue to be so.

He was now shut out from her life.

And he felt his chest squeeze slightly, his breath increasing as he slowly walked away from the door Akane had closed. Is this what rejection feels like? Or is this what it feels like when a bond you held dear to you is severed…

I guess… I’ll never know, Kiba thought, continuing down the path he had walked on, without a second glance back.

#kiba inuzuka #shino aburame #hinata hyuuga #hinata #kiba #shino #naruhina #homeiswheremyteamis

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lesbian-percy-weasley · 4 years

Text

The Various Breeds of Christmas Trees That Stand Between Us by Gay-Natasha-Saves-The-World on Ao3 (aka the most epic fanfic writer ever)

Ship: Percy Weasley x Oliver Wood

Content Warning: None

Description: Percy and Oliver have been dating since May but as Christmas tree season comes closer, Percy has to figure out a way to tell his family that he’s dating a boy who’s parents run the rival Christmas tree farm or attempt to hide him until January.

Percy’s family has been in the Christmas tree business since before anyone could remember. It was the oldest in town and one of the biggest as well. They could confidently get almost all the town's business and even some out of towners came. Like Christmas tree kingpins, they didn’t let any other competition plant roots in their territory. And they were successful until a few years ago.

Riverside Christmas Tree Farm sprouted right under their noses. A family had inherited the land from the old man who once owned it and they decided to start a Christmas tree farm. Ever since then, it was a race, a competition, a battle of wills to see who will sell more. The feud between these two families for two months out of the year was not to be matched. Not by the Montagues and the Capulets, not by Xbox and Playstation, not even by Coke and Pepsi. No, if you compared the feud between the Weasleys and the Woods to anything it would be a dishonor.

And with every great story of a family feud of epic proportions, there are always a pair of star crossed lovers.

Percy and Oliver started dating sometime around May, not knowing that they were part of rivaling families. Even if they did know, neither of them would’ve given much of a shit.

Percy’s family didn’t know that he even had a boyfriend. He knew that they would make fun of him for it. They always did find something to make fun of him for. You would think they would catch on after Oliver picked him up to hang out practically every week in the summer. Really, they were just happy Percy finally had a friend that wasn’t in the classic literature club.

They did love each other but as late November reared closer, the whole family thing started to become more complicated. They feared that if they kept hanging out as they were they would make their families irrationally mad. Come January it would all blow over but right now they were in rough waters.

They took to hanging out at school together. Oliver spent lunch in the library with Percy and Percy spent after school watching Oliver’s hockey practice when he didn’t have a club meeting to attend. They didn’t mind as long as they could hang out together.

One day, they were sitting in Oliver's truck when the topic of the Christmas tree farms came up.

“Are you ready to pretend we hate each other until after break?” Oliver asked whilst putting his arm around Percy. “We don’t have to. It’s not like my family pays attention to what I do anyway.” Percy mumbled as he leaned into Oliver’s embrace. “I’m sure that’s not true,” Oliver replied.

“I have been staying after school every day for the past three weeks and they haven’t said anything.” Percy laughed. “I’m sure we can get through the next 40 days without the sky falling.” Oliver gave a lighthearted hum in response.

With that, they left the school to drop Percy off at his house. It wasn’t a very long drive between their houses so Oliver didn’t really mind. He could’ve lived on the opposite side of town and he wouldn’t have cared but it was just more convenient. He always dropped him off at the end of the driveway. When he stopped the truck, Percy gave him a quick kiss and grabbed his books.

“I’ll pick you up at 3 tomorrow,” Oliver said quickly. “The movie doesn’t start until 4,” Percy replied with a smile. “Yeah, and it takes 30 minutes to get to the theater and you’re usually slow.” Oliver chuckled as Percy lightly punched his arm. He hopped out of the truck and waved goodbye as his boyfriend drove off.

It was about 2:50 the next day and Percy was waiting quite anxiously for the text saying Oliver was here. He was waiting in his room since his family was all downstairs planning for when they will open the farm. He wasn’t as involved as everyone else. Sure, he did help when it was open but other than that he chose to opt-out of many of the discussions.

Running a Christmas tree farm wasn’t the walk in a park that most people presume it is. Not only did you have the land you had to maintain all year round for a short business season, but there was also a lot to consider when planting. Of course, you have to plant a multitude of different trees like fir trees, pine trees, cedar trees, and cypress trees (not even getting into the different breeds of said trees). And then you had to strategically plant so that all the most popular types were accessible. If someone had to walk a mile to get a douglas fir then they would just go elsewhere.

Then came the problems with having competition. The fact that they had somewhere else to go that was only 10 miles away. They had to quality check meticulously. If one family got a bad tree then they’ll just switch to Riverside and if there are a multitude of bad trees then it starts to add up. And then there has to be a balance of u cut and pre-cut trees. You can’t just chop the good ones then that leaves nothing for people who like to chop their own.

The ambiance is a big factor too. If it doesn’t feel like a Christmas tree farm then people won’t enjoy the experience. That’s mainly what his family was discussing. How to decorate the farm in a unique yet traditional way. Well, that’s the topic they were on when Percy finally emerged from his room.

He walked down the stairs to be immediately met with the gaze of his family. Of course, they noticed that he was dressed to go out. That suspicion was confirmed when he grabbed his coat and his shoes.

“Where are you going?” his father asked. Absentmindedly, Percy replied, “I’m going to see a movie with my boyfriend.” His eyes widened with horror as he realized what he said.

“Boyfriend?” George asked, “Who’s your boyfriend?” Now, Percy could lie right now. Wait until January to tell them the truth. But he already revealed that much so there was really no use. “Oliver Wood,” he replied as he began to tie his shoes.

The whole energy in the room shifted. “Wood? Like Riverside Christmas Tree Farm Wood?” His mother asked a bit directly. Percy didn’t even look up from his shoes, he just nodded. That was when all hell broke loose.

“Traitor!” Fred screamed over a chorus of gasps. “It’s really not that big of a deal.” Percy sighed, finally looking up at his family. “It is a big deal, you are literally dating our only competition.” Ron rebutted.

Percy was starting to get a little angry with his family. “You guys have been pestering me about getting a boyfriend but when I do y’all act like this.” He wanted nothing more than to leave and go on his date. “What I’m more concerned about is the fact you’re wearing your Frankenstein shirt on a date.” George snickered.

“What’s wrong with my Frankenstein shirt?” Percy asked defensively. “You look like a nerd,” Ginny added. “I don’t care. I just want to go see Pride and Prejudice with my boyfriend and there is nothing any of you can do about it.” He was trying to keep his cool but it was obvious he was losing it.

Suddenly he felt a vibration in his pocket. He knew it must be from Oliver so he started to walk out the door.

“Use protection!” the twins yelled as he was stepping out the door.

“Fuck off.” He replied as he shut the door.

He heard his mom scream “Language!” through the door but he didn’t care. He wanted nothing more than to get away from his family. They teased him a lot but he could usually deal with it. It seemed like they were never happy with anything he did. He knows he’ll never live this down.

But he couldn’t let this ruin his date. For years he’s tried to convince someone to go to Austen Night at the theater with them but none of them wanted to. At least Oliver cared enough to act like he was interested. That was more than his family ever did.

When he saw Oliver’s truck at the end of the driveway, he tried to forget about what just happened with his family. He hopped into the passenger seat and Oliver gave him a quick kiss. He could tell something was off. Percy wasn’t the best at hiding his emotions, especially when he was frustrated.

“Is something up?” Oliver asked as Percy was buckling his seatbelt. “I told my family about us.” Percy mumbled, “It didn’t really go well.” A look of concern fell on Oliver’s face.

“You know, if you don’t feel safe, my parents probably wouldn’t mind if you stayed with us.”

Percy looked confused for a second. “Oh, they knew I’m gay it was about the…”

“The Christmas trees?” Oliver asked

“The Christmas trees.” Percy finished. There were a few seconds of silence then they both broke out in laughter. “They’ll get over it. My parents weren’t very happy when I told them but they don’t really care now.”

“I know. What I was more upset about was them making fun of my Frankenstein shirt.” Percy said as Oliver started to drive. “What’s wrong with your Frankenstein shirt?” Oliver chuckled. “Nothing they just don’t have taste apparently.”

When the movie was over it was already dark out. Percy was rambling about the difference between the book and the movie when they walked out. He wouldn’t even realize it was snowing unless Oliver tapped his shoulder.

“It’s pretty early in the year for snow,” Percy said while he put his hand out to let snowflakes fall onto it. “I don’t think the weather cares about your opinion, Percy,” Oliver said lightheartedly. “It was just a comment I know I’m not Jack Frost or anything,” Percy said defensively as he turned towards Oliver.

Oliver couldn’t help but notice how the snowflakes melted as soon as they touched Percy’s bright orange hair. Or how the wind made his nose and cheeks a little bit pinker. All he could think about was how lucky he was to have him in his life.

“You’re so beautiful.” Oliver blurted out. Before Percy could think of a reply, Oliver kissed him. It was sweet and passionate like all their kisses but this one felt different from Percy. It was like his rom-com Hallmark Christmas movie moment and he wanted it to last for as long as possible.

When it did, Percy hugged Oliver as his life depended on it. “I love you, Oliver.” He said into his shoulder. “I love you too, Percy. Even if your family never gets over it, I’ll still love you.” Oliver replied.

Driving home, Percy was still talking about the movie. Oliver didn’t mind. He liked seeing that Percy was happy and after all, the movie was better than what he was expecting.

Oliver insisted that he drive Percy to his house instead of dropping him off at the driveway. He made an excuse that there might be ice on the driveway so Percy just brushed it off. But he knew Oliver was planning something when he insisted to help Percy carry his things in.

Percy did buy a sweatshirt and an ornament from the movie theater. After all, the proceeds went to the local library and they were Pride and Prejudice themed. But it wasn’t anything he couldn’t carry.

“You just want to see my family, don’t you?” Percy said with a smirk. Oliver shrugged “Just want them to know I’m not going anywhere.” Percy rolled his eyes. “Whatever, you can help me carry my stuff in.”

When they walked through the door, Percy’s whole family was watching a show in the living room. His parents smiled at them but his siblings gave only glares at the two of them. Percy brushed them off and headed up to his room.

Percy showed Oliver around it since he had never seen it before. He had the opportunity to talk about his various trinkets so of course, he’s not going to waste it. But it seemed too soon when Oliver needed to head home. It was dark out and getting kind of late but it didn’t matter. He couldn’t help but think about a time when they could live together. No more feuding, no more Christmas tree drama, no more sneaking around as to not get in trouble. Just the two of them, in love. No amount of fir trees would ever get between them.

#harry potter #percy weasley #oliver wood #perciver #fanfiction #gay #percy weasley x oliver wood #christmas #christmas fic #muggle au #rival Christmas tree farm au #Percy is a literature nerd

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noonmutter · 3 years

Note

Kinky Questions, Go!! ALL 50! At least the ones you haven't gotten yet.

*knucklecrack*

1: Kitchen Counter, Couch, or on top of the dryer?

"Yes. If I gotta pick one, couch. Th' dryer's noisy an' I like bein' able t' hear th' other person.

2: Your last sexual encounter: Good or Bad and why:

Answered here!

3: A fictional person that you think would be good in bed:

(I actually don't know any ingame fiction to draw an answer from here, sorry. <.<)

4: Something that never fails to make you horny:

"Pullin' me int' you. Up, down, chest-t'-chest, back-t'-chest, whatever. Not often I get manhandled, y'ken?"

5: Where is one place you would never have sex:

"I mean, never say never, but somewhere it'd take some real convincin' t'get me t' do it? Th' meetin' space at th' center o' th' Dreamgrove. I'd sooner set my 'air on fire than fuck where th' statue o' Malorne might watch me, an' Remulos would not approve."

(Rest below the cut! Yes I did do all of them!)

6: The most awkward moment during a sexual experience was when:

"...Wakin' up in a pile o' people after an especially long bender, none of 'om I recognized, an' not one stitch o' clothin' anywhere in sight except fer a gnome-sized miniskirt. An' there were no gnomes in th' pile! "Days like tha' are why I don't fuck drunk anymore."

7: Weirdest thing that ever made you horny:

"Tenderizin' steak." Sigh. "Pretty sure it was th' smell o' th' raw meat, mostly.

8: What is the best way to sexually bind someone: Handcuffs, Rope, or Other [if other please explain]:

"With my bare 'ands, or with my teeth 'oldin' somethin' sensitive. Wolf's snout kin fit all th' way 'round most people's throats without actually bitin' down as long as I get th' canines all th' way across, an' as long as neither of us move too terribly much, it's great fun."

9: What is the fastest way to make you horny:

"Hook a finger in my collar an' pull me t' yer eye level. Trouble is, if we're not already pretty damn close an' y' start grabbin' at my collar, I might punch y'."

10: Top or bottom?

"Switch."

11: We were about to ____________ but then ______________ [example: we were about to have sex but then his mom walked in] "We were about t' sneak off t' start our 'oneymoon but then I tripped through a portal some jackass dropped in th' middle o' th' weddin' party an' 'ad t' fly all th' way back first.

12: Is one orgasm enough? Are multiple orgasms necessary?

"Sometimes it's enough, sometimes it's a start, sometimes it's not even th' point. Really depends on th' mood at th' moment, dunnit? I like t'go as many rounds as either of us kin stand, most o' th' time, but I def'nitely find plenty o' value in just one long, slow go tha' ends when it ends.

13: Something that you have hidden in your room that you don’t want anyone to find:

His expression was less jovial than for most of these questions. "Th' collar I made for Vandy."

14: Weirdest nickname a significant other has ever called you:

"Squigglebird. Long story."

15: Two things you like [or dislike] about oral sex:

"Like th' noises it makes a person make--vocally, I mean--an' th' views it gives o' th' person I'm goin' down on an' th' person tha's goin' down on my. Don't like th' taste all tha' much, really 'ate some o' th' noises yer lips an' throat make if yer a li'l overzealous."

16: Weirdest sexual act some has performed [or tried to perform] on/with you:

"Li'l inflatable toy thingie in m' backside. Felt alright fer a while, cuz I mean it wasn't like it was th' first time I'd 'ad anythin' in there, but ah... she kept goin' past my willin'ness, an' it got pretty damn uncomfortable pretty damn fast. I might be willin' t' try it again but not without a lotta thought b'fore'and, an' not with my 'ands bound.

17: Have you ever tasted yourself? [If no, would you?] [If yes, what did you think?]

"Yeah." He shrugged. "Tasted like cum. Nothin' special."

18: Is it ever okay to not use a condom:

"I mean, if y'both agree to it an' y'don't fool around with anybody else, then yeah it's fine. Overwhelmin' majority o' th' time, I wrap up, even with m'wives."

19: Who was the sexiest teacher you ever had?

"...I din't 'ave any teachers I thought were sexy? My first shan'do was a 'andsome elven woman 'o could arm-wrestle a grizzly an' win, but she wasn't wha' I'd call sexy. Too gruff, too keen t' be alone."

20: A food that you would like to use during a sexual experience:

"Not somethin' I really think about in advance, t'be honest. Cook or no cook, food just kinda 'appens on a whim."

21: How big is too big:

"Can't get my mouth 'round it is usually a problem. Length isn't so much a concern, just means y' won't get t' bury it all th' way after a certain point unless y' want me dead."

22: One sexual thing you would never do:

"Mess with any bod'ly fluids besides cum. I tried real 'ard t'understand tha' one an' I just can't, sorry. Gross."

23: Biggest turn on:

"Depends on th' person; wha's 'ot from one is wierd comin' from another. Pickin' out of a hat? When Val'rin says somethin', then rolls 'is eyes up t' look at me an' tacks on a plaintive li'l 'Sir?' at th'end."

24: Three spots that drive you insane:

"Pretty much anywhere on m' throat, th' undersides o' my wrists, an' my 'air. Partic'larly yankin' on it. Just... don't come up an' do it outta nowhere. Like with m' collar, tha' shit'll get y' punched an' I'd argue y' prolly deserve it."

25: Worst possible time to get horny:

"Most times aren't really tha' bad, Iunno... middle of a warzone I guess?"

26: Do you like it when your sexual partner moans:

"I'm kinna suspicious of anybody 'o doesn't. Wha' kinna person doesn't love tha' kinda instant feedback? Tell me I'm doin' a good job, tell me 'ow t' do a better job, tell me just 'ow blown yer mind is by losin' track o' words, sing me a song."

27: Worst sexual idea you ever had:

"Really dunno why I thought it was a good idea t' let a blindfolded guy toss me anywhere, least of all into a bed with a solid headboard on it."

He touched the back of his head in remembered pain.

28: How much fapping is too much fapping:

"When yer chafed an' still 'aven't finished cuz yer too damned raw and desensitized t' get off, it's prolly time t' stop fer a while."

29: Best sexual complement you ever got:

Answered here!

30: Bald, landing strip, Jumanji:

"Landin' strip, ideally. I kin deal with whatever but tha's th' most convenient amount. Less potential fer mess."

31: Is it good sex if you don’t nut?

"What a bizarre question, 'course it is. Shit, sometimes tha's 'alf th' point."

32: Fill in the blank: “If they ____________, we are fuckin”

"Bite my neck 'r pin me t' a wall."

33: What your favorite part of your body:

"My 'air. It's gotten damned difficult t' take care of, but th' tradeoff's pretty worth it."

34: Favorite foreplay activities:

"Touchin'. Just... touchin'. Runnin' my fingers real light an' soft across ev'ry...single...inch...of a playmate's body. Learnin' th' curves, th' blemishes, th' scars, th' ins, th' outs, th' sensitive spots, th' ticklish bits, th' fav'rites all by touch. I kin do tha' fer hours if they'll let me."

35: Love (>,<, or =) Sex For those of us who don’t remember our math that's “greater than, less than, or equal to]

"Does not equal. Th' two kin be completely unrelated t'one another an' tha's perfec'ly fine. They kin en'hance each other when they're both involved, but they aren't incomplete without one another at all."

36: What do you wear to bed?

"If I kin get away with it, nothin'. I run 'ot these days, it's real easy t' overheat if I wear stuff t' sleep.

37: When was the first time you masturbated:

"Gods, Iunno. Thirteen? Fifteen? Somewhere in there."

38: Do you have any nude/masturbating pictures/video of yourself?

"Not tha' I keep fer very long. I make 'em an' send 'em t' people tha' I made 'em for, then I get rid of 'em cuz I don't wanna watch m'self wankin' or whatever."

39: Have you ever/when was the last time you had sex outside?

"So many times, gods alive. Last time was a few days ago, if y' count th' back acres on our property as outside enough."

40: Have/would you ever have sex outside?

Leon just kinda snorted. (See previous answer!)

41: Have/would you ever had a threesome?

"Sev'ral times, an' I would 'appily do so again with th' right people. Fun, but occasionally tricky t' figger out."

42: What is one random object you’ve used to masturbate?

"Most o' th' time I'm very borin' an' just stick t' my 'and an' maybe a dildo, but I got one o' those vibratin' sleeve thingers not too long ago tha' I've been meanin' t' try out..."

43: Have/would you ever masturbate at work/school?

"No, an' maybe. If I were still workin' in a kitchen where other people 'ad t' work an' there's food ev'rywhere, it'd be an absolutely not. I work in a private workshop by th' 'ouse now, so I kin get away with it more, long as 'm careful. Thus far I 'aven't been so tempted tha' I couldn't make it back in th' house first, though."

44: Have/would you ever have sex on a plane?

"Never been in one, be willin' t' try. I've 'eard 'ow tiny those bathrooms are."

45: What is one song you’d like to have sex to?

"...gonna 'ave t' ask me that'un again in a few months when I know more songs, sorry."

46: What is something nonsexual that makes you horny?

Answered here!

47: Most attractive celebrity?

"Do th' Tarts count as celebrities? I'm not even gonna try t' pick one, but tha's all I got."

48: Do you watch gay/lesbian porn? why/why not?

"Not a big porn-watcher in gen'ral, my life feels like a goddamned romance novel as it is. Not often I need more'n a couple o' particularly fond mem'ries."

49: If a child was born on the occasion of the last time you had sex, how old would that child be right now?

"Four days."

50: Has anyone ever posted nude pictures of you online?

(Hard to answer this one since the internet at large isn't really a thing in WoW, at least not in a widely-accepted enough way for me to answer it...)

51: What is one thing that NEVER makes you horny?

"Put-downs. Don't call me slut or boy or bitch--gods, especially not bitch--or th' like if y'want me t' go 'ome with y'."

52: Do you have stretch marks? (How do you feel about them? Has anyone ever had a problem with them?)

"Not tha' I've seen."

53: Do you like giving head? (why/why not)

"Like givin' it cuz it makes m' playmate feel real nice, don't like th' flavor s' much."

54: How do you feel about tattoos on someone you are interested in?

"Doesn't make a dif'rence t' me, aside from most tattoos bein' pretty."

55: How would you feel about taking someones virginity?

"Done it, though I'm not a fan o' th' phrasin'. They put some trust in me, I din't take anythin'."

56: Is there any food you would NOT recommend using during a sexual encounter?

"Nothin' spicy. Period. Just don't. It's not worth it."

57: Is there anything you do on Tumblr that you would not like your significant other to see?

(Another one that doesn't really have an answer in this context.)

58: Do you own any sex toys? (what is it? (how long have you had it?)

Leon burst out laughing and pointed at the full-size steamer trunk at the foot of his bed. "Tha's not even close t' all of it, either. Gods alive, wha' a question t' ask me!"

59: Would you give your significant other unrestricted access to your Tumblr for a day?

"Wouldn't give 'em unrestricted access t' anythin' private o' mine fer a day. If it's tha' private t' begin with, it's cuz it's my safe 'aven, an' they respect tha', same as I do their private stuff."

60: Would you be offended if your significant other suggested you get plastic surgery?

"A li'l bit if it came outta nowhere, but I've talked a fair bit about wishin' I could get rid o' some o' my scars. It's not somethin' I wouldn't consider tryin'."

61: Would you rather be a pornstar or a prostitute?

"Pretty 'appy doin' th' latter as it is. Don't think I'd wanna try th' recorded stuff, it seems like it'd be really awkward t' do tha' fer a cam'ra crew an' with somebody 'o ain't really enjoyin' it."

62: Do you watch porn?

"Not really. Most of it's not int'restin' t' me."

63: How small is too small?

"'Too small' is 'ard fer me t' quantify. I 'aven't found anythin' too small fer me t' work with some'ow."

64: Have you ever been called a freak? Why?

Bit of a flat look. "Worgen."

65: Who gave you your last kiss? Did it mean anything?

"Me an' th' guy 'o fucked me on th' fence out back shared quite a few kisses b'fore, durin', an' after. Mostly they meant 'fuck yer hot.'"

66: Would you switch phones with your significant other for a day?

"I mean, I could. Nothin' on there I wouldn't want any of 'em t' see. Be a bit inconvenient though."

67: Do you feel comfortable going “commando”?

"Frankly I'm more comfortable tha' way than otherwise. Spent too long with a big ol' poof o' fur around m' crotch t' be comfy with most undies. Same reason I'm not overly fond o' shoes either."

68: Would you have a problem with going down on someone if they hadn’t shaved their pubic hair?

"Purely in a logistical sense, yeah. I kin still go t' town an' do thin's right, but it's... sloppy. Those 'airs seem t' WANT t' get in yer mouth, an' all tha', an' it's just so much messier overall."

69: If you could give yourself head, would you?

"'O says I can't?"

70: Booty or Boobs?

"I am very much an ass man."

71: If you had a penis, what would you name it?

"I do, but I didn't. Namin' it seems strange."

72: Have you ever been on an official date?

"Sev'ral, but all of 'em only took place in th' last few years. Never when I was growin' up."

73: Have you ever cheated on someone? (Why?)

"No, an' I never will, an' you kin quote me on tha'."

74: If you were a stripper, what would your name be?

"I 'aven't th' faintest idea 'ow tha' works."

75: Have you ever had sex in your parents bed? (Would you?)

"Nope. Never 'ad th' opportunity, an' I think I'd rather throw up on th' floor an' eat it."

76: How would you react if you found out your parents had sex in your bed?

"Sweet, I'm gettin' a new bed!"

77: What was your reaction the first time you saw a penis/vagina

"Assumin' we're not talkin' about my own bits... 'That's not gonna fit!' fer a dick, an' 'This is a lot less sexy than th'other lads made it out t'be' fer a cooch."

78: If you had a penis/vagina for a day, what are five things you would do?

Answered here!

79: Oral, Anal, or Vaginal?

"Yes."

80: What’s the first thing you look at on someone of the opposite gender?

"Their face. Also 'ow they carry themselves. But mostly their face."

( @pinpep @shckaewynn @valarin-sunstorm for mentions )

#prompty things #leon #SUCK IT RANEK

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bratxfantasy · 3 years

Note

Good girl. Now fake eating quickly, Eri needs to go to sleep and you and I need to talk. Pressuring her was the best option since Brittany seemed keen to answer, now. I didn't want her to change her mind at the very last minute and I needed info.

Eri it's lovely. Hmm. Super yummy. But daddy isn't hungry, since daddy ate a lot earlier, remember?

Eri pouted at my words but smiled when hearing how good her food was.

And mommy and daddy need to discuss important matters. So we're gonna finish this and put you to bed after. I don't want to hear you complain, understood?

Yes. But can mommy Britt-

No. Mommy stays with me. My tone was cold but I had to, in order to make myself understood.

I'm sorry, she wasn't supposed to cry and pull all that shit she did. After Eri made her scene to make Britt and I stay, she fell asleep crying in my arms, wetting my shirt. Not that I cared, but her scratched knee kept rubbing against my jeans, leaving a small red stain on it, and I wasn't happy with that. Eri was pure and healthy, but I wasn't totally convinced.

You can sit here. Now Brittany. Why aren't you and your father on good terms, hm? Tell me everything, doll.

Resting my chin on the palm of my hand, I looked at her expectantly.

-Overhaul

The pet names are getting to my head, making me weak in the knees, but I can’t be too trusting. Kai is a killer and mafia leader. He is not to be trusted.

Fidgeting with my shirt in nervousness, I sigh. “My parents have never been good with money. No figure, yeah?” I scornfully chuckle. “I raised myself a lot, my parents playing parent when it’s convenient. My mother stayed in the bedroom while my dad stayed in the garage. My mother was still a good mom, though. She loves me so much.

“She got into trouble when it comes to money, making my dad angry which led to mental abuse to me and my mother. Due to government after us, they moved us to Japan. My parents fight all of the time. My father is strict, my mother not so much. I still love my mom. We are close now and she learned from her mistakes. Well, me and my dad argue a lot. He is one to hold a grudge. He acts like a great dad to our family and the world, but treats me like nothing behind closed doors.

“The very thing he is mad at my mother for, he is doing it ten times worse and put all the blame on her. He was fucking people over in America! Can you believe it? Such a hypocrite,” I rolled my eyes and balled my fist in anger, “he put us back in danger. Hell, my mother may have gotten us homeless due to owing the government, but at least it wasn’t the damn mafia.” I exclaimed.

“No offense, by the way. My point is, I don’t mean any disrespect, but there is certain things you shouldn’t fuck with and my parents did. The mafia would not care about us unless we worked with them, right? So, it’s their fault we are in this mess with them. Now, I have to suffer the consequences. I feel like just a pawn to my father at this point.” I sighed, gazing up at him. “I’m sorry to spill my issues to you. I know you didn’t ask for my life story, but now you know.”

#tw toxic family #tw yandere themes #tw kidnapping #—ghoul overhaul 👻#lmao not me spilling some of my mommy and daddy issues in this #it was good to get it out #of course it’s way extreme and exaggerated #but this holds some truth

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vlads-yuka · 4 years

Text

A few Ikepri suitor theories (hc?)

So just earlier (not really anymore, since this took me a few d a y s) I was talking on discord about who among the suitors would be which type (the mom, yandere, tsundere etc) and since I wrote such a long thing about Rio, I thought I could try to do the same for the others 👉👈

I base my assumptions on translations I found of canon content (as of June 7th) as well as my own understanding of Japanese (I might be wrong about things that I claim canon, so if I do please tell me).

♦

Leon

So it's pretty obvious that Leon is the Ore-sama type basic black haired first guy. I honestly don't have much to say about him, his animal is the Lion, often labeled as the king of animals (how funny haha) so he's going to be very proud and probably use MC just to do his thing and that's it. It's likely he treats MC unfairly and grants you a few misogynistic comments about how useless you are if not to allow him the throne. Eventually, he'll fall in love and become at first awkward af and then probably really sweet and somewhat protective (he has a goal to achieve and his pride won't allow him to let you be hurt in front of him). He'll have some kind of sexy scene when feelings are returned and single handedly resolve whatever drama happens while swearing to protect you and make you happy once everything is over.

♦

Yves

Yves is really awkward. He tries to act tough like he doesn't give a damn but that's to hide that he's too clumsy to say things honestly (unless it comes to Licht). Pretending to be a tsundere, maybe his lack of luck will also come with the fact that being a bitch to everyone draws them away from you, and he's probably scared of hurting the people he cares about with his harsh words, but that's his only way to hide his "weak" self. He actually doesn't feel comfortable with a lot of people so he doesn't bother opening up. He's dense as fuck and doesn't realize that Licht DOESN'T CARE. Once you try hard enough and keep on being nice to him even though he'd expect you to hate him by now, he'll be so thrown off guard that you'll get to see his adorable stuttering messy self. He'll probably threaten you to not spill what you know about this part of him. He'll gradually sweeten and allow himself to touch more MC and he probably has the cutest laugh once he fully opens up. He's not really clingy unless he's sleeping with MC (you're not getting out of the hug until he says so) and will act selfishly from time to time because suddenly he wants a hug but doesn't want to do it in front of everyone. Note that his earring will be an important part of his past and since there's only one of it, it's either that the other is somewhere else or it's originally not an earring and was something else belonging to someone dear to him. He might break/lose it at some point in his route (since he's unlucky). After MC help him trying to fix/find it for his sake he'll grow soft and tell her how she makes him happier than ever by being her lover and he doesn't need it anymore if he has you, thanking you to have let him love you (I'm thinking about that one adorable cg in the trailer where you can't see his earring and I can't tell if it's just hidden or not) and he'll find/have it fixed soon after. He'll probably tell you that being by your side makes him feel better because he's so lucky to have you that it's almost like his usual rotten luck is meaningless (or at least that's what he'll think if he's too embarrassed to say it). He probably needs to be praised (not exaggerated or he'll sulk thinking you're making fun of him) and he'll blush into an adorable mess.

♦

Licht

Licht is that one suitor who thinks he doesn't need anyone (and no one needs or wants him). He's super love deprived and will say mean stuff like he's too cool for you (it's canon he's a kuudere and misanthropist) and sincerely doesn't want to have to do anything with anyone. He's the definition of a lone wolf (funny innit) and will be cold, interested and mean with MC for a good part of the beginning of his route. Now this could go two ways. Either Nokto will reveal you about his/their past (because he's that bitch but he probably cares about him) which will allow you to somewhat find your way inside his shell and let you do something he likes, which would, for once, let him show his pure and cute smile, or something will happen causing him to have to protect you (it may be a real danger, but I'd rather think it would be something not necessarily dangerous but triggering to a trauma) and he'd drop his resting bitch face. I think his case could be similar to Kenshin's. He doesn't dislike people, he just hates that he can't/couldn't protect them. His animal being the wolf, I think Licht would become very protective once in a relationship. Him being the powerful male of you two, he'd act like the leader of a bundle of wolves and protect you as you and him. By that I mean he doesn't protect you especially, he protect what the both of you are, and it's like protecting himself at the same time. I think he'd be really quite but would love nuzzling in private. He's that one prince who's icy to everyone but warm to his lover in private. In the same logic as protecting, he'd make sure that you have everything you need and I can imagine Nokto working a bit behind the scenes too to make sure Licht can open himself in a good environment with MC. I don't think Licht hates Nokto, but I definitely think he'd be mad that Nokto is popular and can keep people around him (and in that way, somewhat protect them) so I can see Nokto understanding that and plotting things so MC can help his brother regain confidence. Licht would be the type to, like wolves, have his lover stick to him all the time, but it wouldn't feel obsessive, it'd feel more natural and protective (he's definitely not a yandere imo). In terms of displays of affection, he wouldn't be too vocal about his feelings (he doesn't know much about it yet, it's not really familiar to him to let himself feel so much) and wouldn't say much in general, he's more of an action person. In public, your hands would probably be GLUED but that's about it. In private he'd definitely hug a lot more than kissing and would be the big spoon most of the time when cuddling.

♦

Jin

I have a feeling Jin is one of those suitors who thinks MC is too pure for him and he shouldn't stain them with however disgusting he thinks he is. I expect him to be a fun mix between Shingen and Arthur and I'm pretty sure his route will be a RIDE. He's absolutely shameless and probably touchy (it's canon he's a boob man, Clavis said it so you better believe it), but I don't think he will with MC. Since he said in his profile he wants to watch MC chose a suitor rather than get involved in becoming king, I think it's going to start by him spending gradually less time with Clavis as he spies on you. Naturally, he'll fall in love (before MC does) and understand quite fast but might take some time to acknowledge it. Something will probably happen like MC randomly tripping or facing a dangerous situation for him to come out of the shadows to protect both her body and her pureness (the type of guy to fight while telling you to not open your eyes and remove your hands from your ears until he says so). Upon you thanking him, he'll go with a bitter smile because he knows he loves it but doesn't deserve it. MC will probably try to make it up to him and so he will spend more and more time being intoxicated with love while trying to push you away. Will come a moment where something bad happens and he realizes that the only way to protect what he wants to protect is with the throne. He'd probably say some cheesy line like "I didn't intend to become the king but I guess it wouldn't be too bad to have you as my wife" and will end up accepting. He'll be a king putting the well-being of the people before his and he'll keep on saying how proud he is of you. In terms of affection, he wouldn't go overboard in public but he'd definitely say some inappropriate stuff in your ear to make you blush in front of important guests. I think he would definitely keep PDA to a minimum because you're his woman and he doesn't want anyone else to see your pleasured face. But boy once you're together between 4 walls he has no self control and doesn't care a single bit if you want to work a little more before sleeping, because you're not going to be able to anyways with him in your bed. An eagle looks like it'd be free spirited and proud so I think this is where his personality will go.

♦

Chevalier

The information we have on him definitely makes him one of the hardest characters to guess for me, so I'm quite unsure and I'm sorry (I love him tho). For a start, I think a good comparison would be Nobunaga, since the first impression is pretty much the same. Now Chevalier certainly isn't as shameless as Nobu when it comes to touching women (in fact, I think that in the beginning of the route he'd be treating MC with respect but lots of distance). I'm pretty sure I caught him referring to himself as a monster several times, and he's convinced that his core is filth. However, the fact that he's a monster doesn't mean he can't do anything good. The fact that he's often drenched in blood means he fights a lot and this comforts him in his own thought that he's a monster (my best guess is that he's been called so by people in his childhood because he beat some brat up or something and he just decided to stick with it because it's just more convenient than trying to explain why he did), as well as the fact that he probably doesn't smack just anyone and does so it protect his ideals (in that way, he's quite like Mitsuhide). Again, I think that, like Mitsuhide, he overall doesn't bother supporting his acts with saying why he does them, and just does what he thinks is right. Rio mentioned that Chevalier is a late riser and Sariel added that tigers are nocturnal. During night, I think he secretly does some sort of charity stuff (secretly, because it's just laughable to have a monster do charity and he wants to keep acts of light away from his name, that's associated with filth) and probably also beats up some criminals here and there. I think that this would be uncovered a night where MC can't sleep and follows Chevalier out of the castle (maybe she's curious and wants to understand him more, maybe he dropped something) and finds about it. He's not stupid and MC probably is to some extent as usual so he'll notice and will start to tell her why he does this and why he doesn't want it to be known. Following this event MC will start to think that after all he's not just a monster and will stick with him when he goes doing charity at night because you can "Do whatever, it's not my business". While spending time there with you, you'll slowly creep up on his list of things he wants to protect even if he has to stain his hands. Of course, some kind of drama will lead him to have to do it, probably in front of a large number of people and I can see him leaving his sword aside and kneeling to the enemy to protect MC from danger. There, he'll show his sweet side and his desire to see you happy more than anything. Of course, you, who already loved him, will call him out on his bs and tell him you don't want him to be hurt either and you love his beautiful smile. He'll definitely be confused at first but then will take a new breathe and save you, who became a part of him. He'll obviously still think of himself as a monster, but he knows that doesn't mean you can't love him. He won't stop fighting for his ideals, but now that he has to protect himself to protect you, he'll stop being as reckless and definitely will be thankful that you helped him access the throne to pursue his dreams (even though at first everyone told you that you should stay away from him, but you loved seeing his eyes so full whenever he was doing something good). In terms of relationship, Chevalier will be reasonably protective and will trust you to not betray him because "Only you could love a monster like me, and I won't stop loving you either" or something like that. He'll definitely be quite of a tease in private when he wants things to get heated but most of the time it'll just be fluffy with small forehead kisses, hair combing and warm hugs (he's always the big spoon and he's soo warm).

♦

Clavis

You heard it, the court's number one problem child is romanceable (and this is so messy wtf I literally can't decypher him at all I feel like I wrote something so wrong for him ugh I'm so sorry). He loves to stir up drama and then sit back to watch and has no shame in doing so. Since MC will, as usual, be kinda dumb and innocent, Clavis will tease her A LOT, and use her to stir up even more shit. No one at the court really likes him (COUGH Sariel COUGH) but some somewhat tolerate him, like Chevalier (but if he goes overboard he'll end him). I mean I say no one important, because he sure has a lot of women swooning over him, but I can see him being all flirty and stuff but then not doing anything because he just doesn't really care, it's for fun (lol). When he mentioned Jin's preference, I think he said that he himself was more of an ass man (he said something like leg or something iirc but bruh we all know what that entails when the other option is boobs). Clavis will propose you to mess up the king election (more like drag you into it), but I'm pretty sure that it's because he knows that something fucked up is happening or bound to happen. It seems he will pull up a Mitsuhide except he drags you into it, probably to have you by his side when shit will go down so he can protect you (since you'll trust him, i guess ?). Everything will go according to plan, except for the fact that he's starting to be fond of you, so instead of just having you into the drama and protect you from afar, he'll start to actively stick with you, which will screw up his plans. I'm honestly not too sure about what will happen but basically he realizes he can't be as carefree as usual when something so big is going on and his love interest is in the middle of it because of him and decides to tell you what is happening so you can untrust yourself to him. I think from this point onwards, you both will somewhat have understood what you feel for each other, but nothing will have been said. Hand holding will be normal, and cuddling too if the situation forces you both to stick together outside and/or hide. He figures he'll just confess properly after everything will be over and he'll get to apologize for getting you into all of this. Once it is actually over, he'll turn into a big romantic (Chevalier but cringe) to start the relationship like it deserves to and then will proceed to tease the shit out of you. Overall he'll be a Mitsuhide or Leonardo type lover in my opinion. Now HEAR ME OUT, have you ever seen a leopard walking ? It's beautiful. He knows it. I can just see him walking while somehow seductively balancing his hips sjshid imagine him crawling on bed djdbjd MY MIND IS GOING DOWN THE GUTTER. He's such a flirty seductive ass but I swear he's loyal he just wants to see your cute pouting face. He's quite blunt when it comes to PDA (that's where the fact that he's an ass man comes in handy if you see me haha I can't help it he has a thot dot) and will not hesitate to straight up make out in public if he thinks it's needed (he's not dumb sjbsix he likes to stir up shit for fun but he wouldn't do something extreme if he knew it would end up bad when there are other ways).

♦

Nokto

Two words: skirt-chasing liar. The man painted his nails to have them black when he does the fox/kitsune hand symbol, he's totally trying to have people distrust him. It is mentioned that Nokto's behavior is a great contrast to his past heroic acts. Linking this to what I wrote of Licht, I think he might have been praised for whatever he did and he hated it because he didn't reach his goal (like nobunaga who unites Japan but hates the fact that there are victims nonetheless). What would be the most interesting would be if it was like I hypothesized of Licht, that he couldn't protect someone in particular. In that way, there would be a contrast between Licht feeling like he can't protect anything and Nokto who can protect everything but what he really cares about. Following this logic, his womanizer personality could be explained in the way that by chasing skirts left and right he can feel like he doesn't have anyone important and protect himself from the pain of loving someone too much and the pain of losing them. Now, either the two's traumas are totally different, or it might be the same event; if so, my best guess would be their mother's death. However, Nokto being a womanizer leads me to think that it was actually a love interest that he lost. Being a good liar and trickster (kitsune things), I assume he's good at reading people and is probably very observant of his brother. If his brother even confided in him, I'm pretty sure Nokto would hide his disappointment of not having been able to protect a few people for his brother's sake. I think his route (or at least the beginning of it) would be a mix of Mitsuhide and Arthur's, being some bold flirting at first as a warning because he wants to draw pure MC away from him. I think MC would then be drawn by his caring attitude toward Licht (almost like a big brother, even though he's the 7th prince and Licht is the 6th) and would make him notice how kind he is. Nokto would probably find a way to make her uncomfortable with heavy flirting mixed up with denying but if it repeats, he'll probably just say that he wants to protect the last person he dares to care about. MC would probably see pain and sadness in his gaze and choice of words and kind of like Arthur's route, she'd be drawn to this vulnerable caring side of him and understand the flirting is only a part of Nokto. Drama will happen, and Nokto will have a breakdown, because he got attached to MC and is convinced he won't be able to protect her. It's likely he tries to push you away even more to make you mad and break his own heart before he has to see you die before his eyes too. Due to this bring a heavy and very bottled up trauma, he will be looking very distressed and MC will rather try to soothe him. I do think Nokto might be crying at this moment (the other one I have in mind would be Yves) and both will realize their feelings at this very moment. However Nokto still won't think he can protect you, but maybe Licht would think something like "I can't protect anything by myself but I can help my brother protect what he cares for" and help him, which would easy Nokto into the idea of having to fight. It's also possible Clavis and Chevalier join in, but I'm not too sure about that. In terms of relationship, Nokto would be a super touchy fluffy lover, liking to feel your chest move in rythm with your breath against his chest while hugging you tightly reminds him that you're alive and that he could protect you and he always will no matter how many times he has to. Like Licht, he would be very protective, but he won't become too obsessive if you soothe him back enough and prove him that you won't break in his palm (the fact that he becomes king also helps since you can have personal royal guards). He's a bit more into PDA than his brother and won't mind resting his hand on your hip in public, but your cute facial expressions are for his own pleasure only~

♦

Luke

So Luke is the big brother one (but only for MC) and apparently he's lazy. Like a bear, he's huge but you can bet he would spoon you For his lazy traits, I think it might just be his personality, but I do think his doting comes from his past. A guess would be that he was very fond of his little sister but lost her to another man for arranged marriage. I don't know where or when Ikepri happens but arrange marriage can be planned very early, and this would explain his hate/disinterest for official affairs and his doting (it's like he would try to see his little sister in MC while treating her as such) and the fact that he tries to drag her out of official affairs as well. Like mentioned in his profile, his eyes sometimes look somewhat dark and dull, so I assume this could be when he thinks back about his past. I wouldn't go as far as saying he's a yandere, but he'll definitely try to drag her away from court life (not especially people, not especially violently, he'd just try to not lose her). It's sad, but you will probably get sis-zoned for a nice long time before he realizes that 1. he can't force you to do something you don't want to and 2. he doesn't just love you as a sister. Maybe this realization will make him want to become king with you to not lose you, or maybe he will be needing a little something else to be pushed to do so. In terms of relationship, he'll be doting and have remnants of big brother behavior but he'll finish his light scolding sessions with a big fluffy hug. Jokes on you if you wanted to spoon him. For PDA, I think he'd be pretty much just like hand holding and head pats/hair ruffling.

♦

Sariel

Sariel is known in the court as the "Devil". I would say his role is a mix of Giles (midcind) and Mitsuhide. As the profile says, his past, identify etc is quite of a mystery so I wouldn't get too much into this. Now Sariel expects MC in his profile to kind of suck up to him and do as he pleases while she finds a new king. Whether Sariel is loyal to the princess (you) and the crown or not will determine whether he's simply a shady suitor or the villain of most of the other routes if not all of them (William things hehe). He'll obviously be EXTREMELY shady and will make it very clear that it's best you stay away from what his job entails. However MC will find a way, consciously or not, to get involved way too much in Sariel's affairs (Mitsuhide things haha, he radiates the energy of other chaotic shady suitors only) and he will have to first of all scold her a ton shit and secondly a find a way to get her out of his business. They will probably struggle together their way out of an important job of his and MC will most likely have a good impact on the overall outcome but he'll mostly scold you for getting on the brink of death thanks to what he'll consider a foolish move. As a relationship, once king, I don't think Sariel would go any further than formal hand holding, arm holding and back of the hand kisses. I have a feeling that in private he wouldn't be the touchiest either (I mean he's busy with his shady stuff) but he would definitely pull you into his lap without asking and I could see him stroking your hair while your head rest on his shoulder until he finishes work before carrying you to bed, whether you're asleep or not.

♦

Rio

Rio IS the yandere and it's 100% canon I'm not accepting critiques on this (someone saying "Look only at me, you only have to think about me" screams yandere already, not to talk about my obsession consisting of comparing him with Toneri of Yuroma) and I honestly think it's soooo cool that the yandere is a butler I love it. ANYWAYS. Rio lost his memory 3 years ago (he was already your butler back then) which means his memories only consist of serving you. That said, you're literally his world, his only friend and his master. I think Rio would be scared not only to forget about everything again and see (I assume) you sad again and forget all your smiles he saw for 3 years (I definitely think he's one of those suitors that love you right off the batch but give you the liberty to be happy with whoever), but also lose you as easily as he lost him memories. If he lost you to someone else, either he'd be forced to watch you be happy with another man, or be left behind. As a loyal dog, he would totally hate the later. Now being your love interest's butler is extremely convenient as a yandere. If he doesn't want you to get out of your room he just has to give you some sort of somniferous stuff or lock you in saying you're sick and "My Lady does not wish to receive anyone in her quarters". Butlers not only attend to their master's wishes (he does say that granting your selfish wishes is also his job), but also are their first connection to the outer world. If your butler doesn't come with you outside, he'll at least be there to see you off and the first person waiting for your return. Now I don't know what entails the secret behind his memory loss at all so I'll leave it as it is. I don't think Rio will be as brutal as Toma from Amnesia or anything (Sariel is watching too) and will probably try to convince you that you need to stay in for a while and that he'll look out for you (bonus points if something bad actually happens). I'm actually not sure to what extent Rio would go. Would he harm others ? Just keep them away ? I don't know, but a dog sure knows how to bite to protect its owner. The route will probably follow the classic yandere schematic: everything is fine, he gets really obsessive, you try to push him away, he gets hurt, you explain him that you love him too but you can't stay locked in forever, he eventually chills. As a king, I think he'd take some time to stop being there for his Mistress' every needs but he definitely would in private, he just wouldn't want to embarrass you in public. For PDA, he would also not be too touchy, sticking to basic butler extent touchy, but he'd be extremely cuddly in private, trying to hook up as much time as possible from you. He'd give a lot of little pecks and smol kisses everywhere on your face and neck until you stop working so he can pull you on the bed in his arms for a slower making out session.

♦

THAT'S IT

That took me quite a while, phew ! Sorry if there typos and sorry for the huge length inconsistency !

If you have something to add, especially regarding the ones I didn't write as much, please do say so in comments or in my messages and if it adds something to the analysis (and if you're okay with it) I'll add it with credits !

I'm so excited for Ikepri I hope to be able to play soon but for now it's 3am haha

#Ikepri #Ikemen prince #イケメン王子 #ikepri leon #ikepri yves #ikepri licht #ikepri jin #ikepri chevalier #ikepri clavis #ikepri nokto #ikepri luke #ikepri sariel #ikepri rio

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staliasjeronica · 3 years

Text

Riverdale S5 Ep11 Thoughts *Spoilers*

thoughts under cut to keep tag from being cluttered :)

- Oh yeah I forgot that Chad was blackmailing Veronica about the dirty dealings in her company even though it’s not her at all (unless it’s just been so long and I’ve forgotten but she’s my baby and I feel like I would’ve remembered but-

- Hiram and this dumb prison is one of the worst things for this show it’s a constant plot of people escaping and it’s so annoying like sure Hiram owns it and he was in the jail but no one has, like, taken him back to jail…??? Hiram is a fucking disease smh

- “back to remote learning” why didn’t you just stay that way though… like even right now in covid schools are opening back up and kids are complaining because it’s still not safe so like… just… go back to it??? I’m so not built for this world fasdhfkahf

- Veronica and Smithers 🥺🥺💞💞

- the way Veronica hugs Archie is so cute bc she’s so tiny but like she always gives her all and Archie is just 😐 never giving anything ahjfsdfsh it’s quite sad you can tell how done KJ is with Varchie lol

- “I really hate that I’m dragging you through this.” … what about constantly pulling him into your mob boss father mess that the writers refuse to allow you to escape from?

- “until you and Chad are officially done, I think we should keep our distance.” Varchie bones!!! you just KNOW that Archie has been looking forward to this because that man is whole heartedly in love with Betty and has been since forever and that while Chad prolongs the divorce papers, Archie will not be waiting for Veronica considering he doesn’t want her. Varchie = bones we love to see it!

- now who tf would join Penelope Blossom’s ministry… no one, realistically.

- can Cheryl stop being given the craziest and usually most boring plots ever please...

- Not someone holding a gun to Tabitha literally don’t hurt Riverdale’s best girl weirdo

- these bitches really haven’t aged huh…. poor Veronica though being robbed but like they stole some watches or something and the opal like that’s all you take..?? okay-

- Fangs 💞💞💞💞💞 also rip to him having to work with his ex tho

- STOP HAVING ARCHIE GO TO HIRAM WE’RE TIRED

- You know considering the whole reason why Hiram is still here as the villain and ruining Veronica’s life/growth to keep her in his plots al because Mark is a big soap opera celeb and apparently brings in money, you’d assume they would give him GOOD shit instead of everything he’s gotten. If they hadn’t of hired Mark can you imagine how much better off the show would be if they didn’t have to keep him around bc of his status????? God why-

- Reggie’s always there for Veronica muah…. oh fuck me I guess fjasjkdf

- “I work for one Lodge and it’s not you.” lmao okay??? you acting like that’s a flex, and that you’re working for the better Lodge who literally left you to die after the Serpents thought you shot Fangs so-

- MARTY BEING WHY REGGIE IS WORKING FOR HIRAM…….. YOUR DAD IS ABUSIVE LET HIM HANDLE HIS OWN DEBT??? God both Veronica and Reggie are always fucked over when it comes to their parents huh

- don’t you just love when they make characters act ooc for a plot ahhhhhh it’s totally fun to watch and totally not frustratingly annoying

- “FOR OLD TIMES SAKE.” 💞💞💞 we love Veggie even though they made Veronica act ooc and hurt him back then and they weren’t given an actual chance.

- “don’t be such a Betty” now why is Betty so surprised she only ever had fun when she was with Archie, when she’s with Jughead all she did was do what she wanted and order him around so likeefjhakdfh

- “he shouldn’t really be my problem anymore.” BUGHEAD BONES YASSSSS

- I know it was just a sound they used but like that squish sound when Darla kicked Tom’s face… did she like smash his face in damn what is this The Walking Dead?

- see the problem with them randomly bringing characters/parents in when they need them is that they’re never around so like no one really cares… like they could have utilized the parents so much (and Skeet and Marisol never would have left) and it would have been so much better than random appearances that make them look incompetent and awful parents because they’re never there during all the other times their kids need them. but we have to see the two toxic parents that won’t go away constantly??? literally what the fuck

- Betty calling Jughead’s writing cringey wbk she’s never liked his writing she was just stroking his ego bc she was his gf and had to be supportive lmaoo

- why are these 60+ year old men beating up Jughead like for why???

- so they just forgot that Tom was checking in on the convict huh gotta love dumbing down characters for plot!

- Fangs with his switchblade muah

- jealous Tabitha muahhh over a password

- “wait THE BETTY?"

- Cheryl looks so good

- Find meaning in his death… girl didn’t you not care that your husband killed your son over the illegal maple stuff I forgot the plot but it was something illegal and dumb

- “drain the vein” …...

- Reggie helping muah

- Why is Archie acting like an ass? like sure he doesn’t know that Chad is abusive and toxic but c’mon fucker you cheated on her and never apologized and you don’t even wanna be with her in the first place so why are you acting like you’re personally hurt sit down

- God Archie really hates Veronica huh… I don’t even blame him considering the shit she’s brought him into time and time again.

- Jughead was kicked like maybe five times yet he was fine falling out of a two story window and the serpent imitation but now he needs antibiotics..? plot convenience!

- literally don’t remember anything about Doc tbh or him talking to Donna and Bret like—

- ever since Negan people are obsessed with bats with barbed wire.

- also! yes please kill Hiram <3 I know they end up saving him bc of the opal but c'mon

- they searched basically nothing for five seconds wow such great detective work you guys!

- we know you just want his manuscript Jessica

- Cheryl with her rainbow skirt how cute!

- “daddykins” girl you’re like 25

- Veronica acting like she cares about Hiram fjsadhkfhas these guys thinking that they’d kill Hiram even though they need him lol

- bad bitch Ronnie we love her even though she’s gonna have to save her father to save others and get her opal </3

- not Veronica calling Archie first and not Kevin considering Kevin’s dad is there…. this is the pandering va fan service bs we have bc it makes no sense and it’s so forced

- Fangs knowing Archie rides with tools in his truck mmhm that’s a little sus idk how but archiefangs agenda coming through!

- no one would actually believe that Jessica ashkjdfsj and they take this bait…??? you gotta be joking lmao

- Jug got to help doc this time 🥺😭

- …. tell me why when he said boyfriend I immediately thought of Reggie I hate myself for wishing fahsdjkfsafj

- okay as cheesy and corny and awful the fight scene is since they posted a clip of it, them working together is so refreshing and nice we love leader!Veronica bc she’s so good at it. but the show only cares for Betty which is funny since she’s an awful detective fbahsdjfj

- my god enough with Jason’s body!!!!!!!!! you burned his body please let him stay dead let his body rest

- okay but the back and forth from Betty and Jessica is so good like I wish we could get that kind of rivalry drama type stuff all the time. too bad they refuse to let Veronica act like a normal person and get angry at being cheated on and such :/ when will Veronica slap the fuck out of Betty

- he’s not a blameless victim but Betty take responsibility for how awful a person you are PLEASE

- THE VOICEMAILLLLLLL Jughead only speaks the truth! it’s weird that he only realized what we all knew about Betty after but whatever, finally he gets upset like damn. also jeronica crumb he’s the only one to ever include Veronica smh ALSO Cole acted the fuck outta this voice mail muah

- the way Betty just sits there uncaring… she really is a freak huh god when will someone punch her in the face and take her ego down a million notches she’s so annoying

- “that’s darkness.” …?? what?

- the way bh’s relationship parallels jughead’s with Jessica though. the unhealthy habits, the bad energy, etc. except Jessica left it and Betty didn’t and it turned Betty into whatever the fuck this is. I miss s1 Betty :/

- so when will they sue Jessica for drugging them? mmhm probably never

- poor Tabitha being the only one who cares about jughead tho

- oh no I forgot there was a random musical number…

- you’re gonna have Betty and Tabitha act like THAT and not put them together so rude

- when will Cheryl be free from her mom. is was like turned on by abuse or something sigh why do the toxic (and most boring!) parents get plots and screen time and everyone else doesn’t...

- Veronica would be able to do Moree than pepper spray but whatever only Betty is allowed be “badass"

- fangs being fangs ugh so sexy my babyyyyy

- Trevor Stines is so attractive it’s a shame they only bring him back for five seconds to traumatize Cheryl over and over again though </3

- wow varchie in a pop’s booth what season is this again??

- god it’s so upsetting how amazing varchie would have been as just friends…

- the way he smiled at Veronica was so contradicting to the blank, “please don’t” expression when she was telling him she was gonna get divorced as fast as possible. why can’t he just admit he doesn’t want to be with her!!!!!! my god they’ve put off barchie long enough just let them be together so their characters can finally act in character and stop being so awful and annoying

- “this cause” what cause you fucking weirdo

- not Hiram threatening the mayor he could literally be your downfall if we had good writers fjasdkjfasf

- jughead how would you have killed him with a small wooden basket

- I like doc so much but I know we’ll never see him again until we randomly need him seasons from noow

- Betty wasn’t hit by the drugs until after the message though… how would she not remember? it didn’t seem to be doing anything to Betty until the bunker

- hopefully since they’re friends now Tabitha can make Betty act like a decent human being <3

- the way Tabitha looked at Betty please stop doing this to me...

- maybe we can finish that dance!!!!!!!!!!!!!! jabitha rising bughead dying we love to see it!

wow that episode felt like it was two hours long but thankfully I finally finished it… don’t have many actual thoughts but anyways hope you enjoyed my live blog of my thoughts!

#Riverdale #Thoughts #Spoilers

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ivyprism · 3 years

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Can we get some sweet angst with the Willows siblings and Isla?

Did someone ask for angsty?

Warnings: Physical abuse, verbal abuse, an innocent person is harmed here. Ivy tried. Ivy's compassion is used against her. Sadness and Angst ahead.

Reason #1. Why Isla is Cut Off.

As Isla walked around the room, all they could hear was silence and dread. Isla chuckled as she tightened her grip on Prism's shoulders. Prism tenses, and her breath quickens in time with her pulse.

"How are my adorable siblings doing? And how is my evil, corrupted younger sister?" As Isla tightened her grip on Prism's shoulders, she snarled. Piper snarls as she rises.

"Get your hands off of her, Isla." Isla scoffs as Piper warns. Isla pushes Prism, who grips her pants.

"Okay, okay... You can't stand a little teasing, can you?" Isla snapped as she locked her gaze on her twin. Piper grabs her own fork, and Ivy whimpers.

"Teasing?" Piper snarled as she approached her sister. "You were blatantly attempting to set her off! "Teasing," fuck you. Get out." Piper's rage grew as her twin grinned smugly at her in response.

"Leave? Are you really trying to keep me from seeing MY children, Piper?" Piper gripped the table cloth as Isla growled. Winter and March snarled, but Ivy stood up first.

"D-Don't act as if you're involved in their lives!" Ivy spoke up quickly. She was terrified, but she remained calm as she stared at her now irritated older sister.

"Excuse me?" Isla took a menacing step towards Ivy. Normally, Ivy would have yielded, but not this time.

"You heard what I said! You're not even involved in their lives unless it's convenient for you!" Ivy planned to solve the problem peacefully and without resorting to violence. She was going to slam her older sister verbally. "You abandoned them from the day they were born, and now? Now that all the "hard" parts have been completed, do you believe you have the right to claim them as YOURS?" Ivy stared at her sister, but tremors of fear began to form in her body. "You don't get to call yourself a "mom" because you weren't present! You weren't present when they said their first words or took their first steps. Piper put her blood, sweat, and tears into those kids, not you!" Ivy trembled slightly as Isla stepped forward.

"Don't raise your voice at me, you worthless-! I kept this roof over your heads, and this is how you express your gratitude?" Isla snarled as she assessed her younger, shorter sister.

"No! You didn't! Ian did all the work! Ian did everything! He was the one who paid the bills, had the jobs, and did everything, not you!" Ivy locked her gaze on her sister with ferocity, easily masking her fear. Prism and Piper were ready to pounce on Isla at any time. Briar, thankfully, was nowhere in sight. "Isla, I love you, truly. You're my sister, but this isn't good for anyone. Please, please.... Don't come back... Leave. Don't pretend to be someone you're not... Like a good sister-" Ivy tried to reason, but her reasoning was cut short by a sharp pain and the loud sound of skin hitting skin. Ivy reached for her cheek as she noticed a liquid on it.

"Ivy!" Piper, Ian, Isabella, and Prism yelled, and the four siblings rushed towards her. Ivy clutched her bleeding cheek.

"Don't address me in that manner, filth! Do you believe you have the authority to address me in this manner? You worthless, garbage, despicable little girl, at least I was wanted." Isla spat and Ivy remained still and quiet.

"Get out! You're not welcome here!" Piper's voice became more like venom as Ivy comprehended the pain and the realization of what happened.

"I want to believe... Isla, there's still good in you... But it's so difficult to find..." Ivy lowered her voice and cupped her cheek. "I care about you, Isla... I really do. You're my sister, and I'm always there for you... But I can't do it any longer... I can't keep reaching for you if you don't reach back." Ivy looked up at her older sister with a pained expression.

"I believe you should leave." Winter glared angrily at her biological mother. Ivy stood there watching as Isla scoffed and began to walk away. Ivy's eyes welled up with hot tears, and she averted her gaze. After preparing her bandage and assuring her sister and brother that she is fine, she hides her tears. When her face is bandaged, she flees to her room and quickly collapses. She begins to sob and whimper. She tried so hard!

Is her sister really beyond saving?

Bonus Picrew!

-H

#anon asks #super angsty #sad

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dangan-meme-palace · 4 years

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Sometimes I think if Saihara had the guts to feel betrayed when his friends, well, betray him and instead of being sorry make him stand for their ideals they were not able to stand for themselfs he'd be more likeable, not sure if realistic applies too, but like, I would feel betrayed were I to take his place

Shuichi is so strange to me. He feels like 2-3 people in one body.

At times he adamantly believes that he must search for the truth no matter who the culprit is and no matter how painful it is, other times he's throughly convinced that he needs to blindly believe in people and that suspecting certain people –even if there is evidence– is wrong because Kaito told him so.

Notably, he only believes that he must find the truth when

The narrative needs to progress (EX: during trials where he can't get the wrong answer because the story/game isn't over yet or Chapter 1 where he needs to set up Kaede's plot for the story to progress)

It doesn't involve suspecting anyone he's actually close to (EX: he always vehemently denies to himself that Kaito could ever commit murder even if the evidence is pointing to Kaito and he doesn't have evidence to deny Kaito's plausible involvement)

It largely sounds like an inconsistency born from him being forced into the protagonist role. If he hadn't become the protagonist would he have been biased in all situations instead of just the convenient ones? It's something to think about.

Back on topic, I remember during Kirumi's trial everyone doesn't want to suspect Kirumi because she's their "mom" and has been taking care of everyone, and during that trial Shuichi has to force everyone to look at the facts instead of going by their emotions. He seemed pretty upset that people weren't listening to the truth he had found and stood his ground because he knew he was in the right for trying to listen to his head and not his heart in the dangerous situation they were all in.

However, when this scenario happens again in Chapter 4 Shuichi does a complete turn around and while he still forces himself to find the truth despite the others, he also seems to believe he was in the wrong for some reason? He didn't blame himself for finding the answer in Chapter 2 but he did in Chapter 4 and I can't tell if it's because Kaito's influence on Shuichi was stronger in the latter chapters or if Shuichi's writing and character were just that inconsistent.

Narratively, Shuichi couldn't blame Kaito for being biased for some reason and I'm suspecting it has something to do with the narrative's need to make Shuichi and the players glorify Kaito, but I'm not sure why it was so important to glorify him unless they wanted people to analyze the game and they put in some very obvious questionable moments to let us know that our protagonist and narrator is unreliable and that we have to find the truth for ourselves which is... if they were trying to do that then they failed, looking at the general views of the fandom's majority.

I don't really have much of an arguement for that being the case aside from the theme of Truth and Lies maybe extending to the story itself? Like how the cast believed that Gonta was manipulated twice but wasn't, or how Kokichi was evil and inconsiderate when he wasn't, etc. Maybe we're being challenged to find the truth for ourselves like in those cases and not rely on the cast or even Shuichi, who is flawed at points in the story? But this is just my crackhead conspiracy rather than an analysis I can back up.

I'm kind of stumped on why they would set the story up like this if my speculation is off (which it very well could be, I've always sucked at discerning Author's Purpose), but I know that Shuichi blaming himself and not the others seems to be important to whatever the writers were trying to do. It's... kind of unfortunate no matter what though. I was really upset when Shuichi didn't blame Kaito for acting like a toddler and backtracked on the mindset he had in Chapter 2 which seemed to be something like "facts over feelings so we don't fucking die" lol. Shuichi being written in this way makes him feel more like a doormat or a puppet of the narrative rather than an actual person, which in turn makes him more lackluster imo.

Anyway, if anyone has their own conspiracy theory I'm all ears. I can't quite make the puzzle pieces connect aside from connecting them with red string on a corkboard lmao

-tech

#asks #defective detective #my thoughts #i really hope this makes sense because i feel like the way i put it makes it harder to get

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gothamangelwings · 4 years

Text

Okay, so I wasn’t sure if I was going to say anything about this, but I have to, for my own sanity. Excuse me for my rambling (especially about Castiel) and repeating myself, which I probably will do in this post.

Truth is I only got into Supernatural a little over a year ago. I just kept avoiding it over the years. I think when it was in it’s 7th or 8th season, I thought to myself “oh this should be ending soon. I’ll just wait til its over and watch it then” That did not happen. Jump to last year when I heard about the Scoobynatural episode. I love Scooby so I had to watch. And I loved it. And I really loved Sam and Dean. But I also couldn’t stop thinking about the guy in the trench coat with the deep voice named Castiel. Did very little research to find out he’s an angel. That’s all I wanted to know. Went to netflix and started watching the show from the beginning. By the time I got midway thru season 3 I was hooked. I started buying the dvds in bunches. Watching as much as a I could a week. When I got to season 4 I was Cass on the cover of the boxset and said “that’s him! That’s the angel! He’s in the season!” I actually didn’t know he would show up right in the beginning of the season but when Dean was at that gas station and gas started shattering I thought. That’s him isn’t it? That’s Castiel. Misha’s actual entrance on the show is the best in history. I do love Sam and Dean but I’m not going to lie and pretend like Castiel isn’t my favorite. Because he is. I adore that awkward angel. He is the reason I happily kept watching and brought all the dvds because I knew Misha was still working on the show. He is the reason I will buy season 15. I started shipping Destiel in season 5 but when I re-watched the series (Yes I watched it twice in less than a year. One over a period of several months the other over a few weeks before the show came back after hiatus.) I saw moments in season 4 that i missed the first time around.

So yes this finale makes me cry and not in a good way. although there are a few saving graces.

Let’s begin.

First let me start by saying I do not in any way blame the actors. Especially Jensen. He said he thought the ending was bad and had to be talked into it. Dean/Jensen deserved better. I blame the writers and producers and The CW

Second, repeat after me:

Cass is in heaven with Dean

Now speaking of Castiel, who I mostly want to talk about before addressing the rest of this mess. Castiel/Misha deserved better. There really is no reason Misha couldn’t be in the final episode unless there was something on his end. Although seeing that he recently went to California to shoot a something for Amazon and took West to the Winchester House. He can definitely travel. But if there was some reason on his end, then okay, fine then. However that doesn’t excuse the way the handled his character in these last two episodes.

Yes in 15x19 Dean demands Chuck bring Cass back. Dean remembers Cass’s words when Chuck calls him the ultimate killer. Yes, Dean runs to the door when he thinks Cass has just called him. Instead in was Lucifer. What a slap in the face to the fans and an insult to Misha after that beautiful confession of love.

But the end of the episode. Jack becomes God and no one says “What about Cass?”

Now 15x20. Sam brings up Castiel and Dean is just like “move on“. No, That is not Dean. No matter what Dean cared about Castiel, to the point that being without him in the past led him to depression. i understand he doesn’t want Castiel’s sacrifice to be in vein. But come on. There’s living on and being happy and then there’s acting like the guy didn’t matter. Again, no. That is not Dean. Not after all the development those two have had. I know Dean wasn’t always perfect when it came to Cass but he did care. What happened to “We lost everything. Now you’re going to bring him back” What happened to the purgatory apology and admitting his anger issues. And so much more.

Again Castiel is in heaven. Jack got him out of The Empty. But they could of made it more clear. ( I swear, if they are leaving this up to interpretation....) Because I see so many people who have “conveniently” missed what Bobby said and insist he’s still in The Empty. Or just want to say “well that’s not what he meant. Cas is still dead, he just meant his influence on Jack” or some shit like that.(Now that I think about maybe influence isn’t the right word to use with this fandom lol)

Anyway lets say that Misha could not in anyway be there for filming. YOU CAN STILL ADDRESS HIS CHARACTER PROPERLY AND GIVE HIM A SATISFYING ENDING. In fact you barely have to change the scene between Dean and Bobby just add a few more lines.

Dean: “So Jack did all that?”

Bobby: “Well Cass helped”

Dean: “Wait, Cass is here?!”

Bobby: ‘Yep, Kid got him out.”

Dean: “Well where is he? Can I see him?”

Bobby (smiling): “Now calm down ya idjit. He’ll be back soon. Had some business to take of. But he is planning to stick around here with the rest of us.’

Dean (smiling, happy because he’s getting a second chance): Good. He belongs with us. With me. (takes a drink) It’s just too bad...

Bobby (knowing he’s talking about Sam: “Don’t worry he’ll be here shortly...”

Scene plays out as normal but instead when Sam and Dean are reunited. Dean tells him “Let’s head back, Mom, Dad, Bobby, and Cass are waiting for us. Along with everyone else we loved and lost when we were alive.”

Or... a few scenarios with Castiel there (even for a few moments)

1. When Dean dies (yeah we’ll talk about that) Jack sends down Cass to take him to heaven. Dean leaves his body. Watches as Sam falls apart and then hears “Hello Dean” turns and there’s Cass to guide him to heaven and also let him know Sam will be okay and will live a happy life”

2. The scene with Bobby starts the way it did but instead after he says “Well Cass helped” he points behind Dean.

Cass: “Hello Dean.”

Dean: “Cas! Aw, it’s good to see you. You have no idea.”

They embrace. Maybe the say something about the confession maybe they don’t but at least they’re together and we know that they have time to talk.

Episode continues as it did but again Dean tells Sam that Castiel is here waiting for them.

3. Episode plays exactly as it did. Except at the very end after Sam and Dean reunite on the bridge...

Cass: “Hello Dean. Hello Sam”

Both: Cass!

The three hug. Dean a bit longer.

Dean: “Well look at that. Team Free Will back together again. This time forever.”

In any scenario Castiel is living in heaven with the boys. Him and Dean eventually talk about what happened. In my canon Dean returns his feelings but even if he can’t it’s okay because Dean does care about Cass. And Castiel’s happiness was just in being able to say it. Either way they’re together along with everyone else they love and will be waiting for those who haven’t arrived yet.

Also Cass finally gets his guinea pig. Because he deserves it.

ONCE AGAIN, EVEN IF MISHA COULDN’T BE THERE. THERE WERE STILL BETTER WAYS TO HANDLE THIS ENDING! OH AND THERE BETTER NOT BE SOME LAME ASS THING LIKE ‘HE’S IN HEAVEN WORKING WITH JACK BUT ISN’T ALLOWED HERE BECAUSE THE NEW GOD LIKES TO KEEP ANGELS SEPARATE FROM THE REST OF US’

NO. CASTIEL IS DEFINITELY WITH DEAN IN HEAVEN. END OF STORY.

Moving on the other problems which I won’t go into full detail in like I did Castiel.

Dean’s death. The ever loving fuck was that? A nail?! I get that they finally get to call the shots in there own lives now but come on! A nail. And this is what a few weeks after defeating Chuck. Who, if he wants to can have a happy life. You know when Cass heard about this he rolled his eyes. Like “Really?!”

Ewwww that forehead touch. I know for most people it’s just a sweet final moment between two siblings as one dies. But we all know this is fuel for the Winc*sters and b*bros. I mean come on now. You’re afraid to have Dean even acknowledge Castiel’s feelings but a forehead touch that can and will be taken out of context as romantic between two brothers is fine and dandy. I was watching this with my Mom and even she was like “That forehead touch,,, why.. just why...”

Funny thing about my Mom. (Sorry not sorry going back to talk about Cass for a moment) She has been watching SPN with me this year but honestly only (not even) half paid attention. She has a habit of always looking at her phone even when it’s something she wants to watch. Two weeks ago after 15X18 I asked “Do you believe Cass’s confession was romantic?”

Her response. “No, they’re just friends. Angels aren’t supposed to feel romantic love.’ We get into a small argument.

A few days later...

Me: “Misha confirmed it was romantic.”

Mom: “Oh, well that settles it then. I just was taught that angels didn’t feel that kind of love.”

Me: “Yeah but your forgetting a few things. 1. Cass isn’t like other angels and 2. This is a fictional tv show not the actual bible.

Mom laughs: “Good point, Guess I didn’t think about that.”

Me: “Y’know people are actually saying that Cass can’t be gay or bi because Dean isn’t.”

Mom: “That’s stupid. One has nothing to do with the other. Even if Dean doesn’t feel the same way that doesn’t change Castiel’s feelings.”

Jump to the last few days.

Mom: “Cass is going to show up in the finale. He and Dean will be reunited! Maybe he’s one of those people in the masks being controlled by The Empty. Or maybe there will be a scene in the barn where Dean is on the ground about to be stabbed and Cass saves him in the knick of time!”

Mom after the finale: “That was terrible. Very disappointed. They really couldn’t get Misha for few minutes. They better not use covid as an excuse with all those people on that bridge. Everything about this episode felt wrong” (she said that about 15x19 too). (Grabs her phone to look at twitter) “Misha is crying. This episode doesn’t deserve pie.”

We brought pie. We did not eat it.

Moving on.. .yeah yeah the wig on Jared was awful. But who cares. What I want to know is who is the mother? Is it Eileen? I hope it’s Eileen. It better be Eileen.

The barn. Why? Why that barn? Did they really think no one would notice. I get reusing sets and locations as completely different places. But that just hurt.

Did we need so many songs with no dialogue being spoken. I mean yes Carry On was a must have but so much time could’ve been spent talking about other characters during the other songs .

And again why are they trying to make Dean look bad. It’s not his/Jensen’s fault it’s the horrible writing of these final two episodes. Why did they not take to opportunity to talk about Castiel’s confession. Yes I’m back on Cas again. I warned you. Also he’s probably the main reason you’re reading this anyway, so yeah...

I would like to believe a conversation happened off screen but the way Sam and Dean acted it doesn’t seem like it.

Again would it be so hard. Two scenarios

Dean: “Before Cass got dragged into the Empty he told me...

Sam: :Told you what?”

Dean: He told me... he told me he loved me.”

Sam (smiling): “That’s not news Dean,”

Dean: “No Sammy. He really loved me... like... you know..”

Sam: “Again, not news Dean. How do you feel? “

Dean (hesitates): “ I think... no, I know I love him too. He’s the only man I’ll ever love.”

Sam: “Well you know technically Cass really isn’t male... so...

Dean: “Oh please Sammy. Could you imagine Cass in any other body? Especially a chicks. It would be so weird.”

Sam: “Good point.”

Dean: “Besides, he was perfect the way he was.”

Dean: “Before Cass got dragged into the Empty he told me...

Sam: :Told you what?

”Dean: He told me... he told me he loved me.”

Sam (smiling): “That’s not news Dean,”

Dean: “No Sammy. He really loved me... like... you know..”

Sam: “Again, not news Dean. How do you feel? “

Dean: “I can’t return his feelings. I see him as a man and you know I’m attracted to women.”

Sam: “Alright then.”

Dean. “But y’know...”

Sam: “Hmmm?”

Dean: “I still miss him. I wish he was here with us.”

There were so many easy ways to fix this and they did nothing. Did they not think 15x18 would have a huge impact. I really hope the writers are kicking themselves for this. Funny, by ignoring Castiel and his feelings they actually brought more attention and love to him and Misha.

I really don’t know if a rewrite and reshoot for the dvd release is possible. Has that ever been done, I feel like it has but I’m not sure. But if it is. Fix it. It only took a few weeks to film these last two episodes. I’m sure all the actors can come back to film for a few weeks. Once there are less Covid restrictions of courses. I know there’s been talk about a possible movie. That could fix it. As long as they bring back the angel in the trench coat. Or how about a bonus episode for the dvd 15x21 where everyone is gathered in heaven. Sam, Dean, Cass, Bobby, Mary, John, Kevin, Charlie, Eileen, Jo, Ellen, Pam. Even Crowley and Rowena because why not. Oooh and Meg too because she did sacrifice herself for them and also I just love her. Anyway they all gather and talk about old times. Perfect excuse for an old fashion clip show. Funny/heartwarming banter in between. Make Destiel canon at the end. Another possible way to fix it is do a comic book season or even just a few issues to flesh out the ending in heaven. Just fix it.

At least we have fanfiction.

If there are any positives to take away it’s this:

1: Castiel is in heaven with Dean. They are together. They have a second chance.

2. It was said only 30% of the fanbase would like this ending. Like many people I assumed that meant a Destiel ending. Cause I thought out of the whole fanbase shippers were in the minority. Nope turns of the the Winc*sters/B*bros are the 30%. Destiel fans, Cass fans, Misha fans are part of the 70% who hate this. Though why you would want to only please 30% of your fanbase is beyond me.

3. Sam was able to live a long happy life without being codependent on his brother.

I absolutely hated the last two episodes and how this show ended. Again the only saving grace is knowing Jack got Castiel out of The Empty and he and Dean reunited in heaven. But no matter how much I hated 99% of the ending. I still love this show and all it’s characters. I will happily go back and watch it over again to relive the good, funny, sad, bittersweet moments. The final 90 minutes of the series is not going to ruin that for me. I love Sam and Dean but Castiel is my favorite and I will happily go back and enjoy everything about his character. I am not going to let this ruin Supernatural for me. Next summer I am going to my first SPN Convention and I can’t wait. I may have only discovered the greatness of Supernatural a year ago after avoiding it for so long but I want it to stay apart of my life. Like I said I only got into Supernatural a little over a year ago but this hurt my heart so much I only imagine how those of your who’ve been here for over a decade feel.

I know this was very, very long and I probably actually forgot some things I wanted to say. But I’m tired.

Cass and Dean are in heaven together. I believe they are canon 💙💚

#destiel #deancas #castiel #dean winchester #spn 15x20 spoilers #cass and dean deserve better

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thesaunatest · 4 years

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MY HUGE THEORY ON EL’S PLOTLINE IN S4

before you guys even start, YES I know that 99.9% of what I say is going to be wrong but this is literally just for fun.

its march 1986, middle of the school year and el HATES school

when we left her she was barely literate and had just started getting accostomed to speaking full sentences, NOWHERE NEAR a 9th grade level, so shes struggling in her classes to say the least

on top of that, she barely knows how to socialize with other people, so shes evidently getting picked on

with joyce and jonathan both working to keep the family afloat, will and el get left alone alot

but outside of the party, they socially have nothing in common

in fact, will is adapting to the new town a whole lot better than el. he fit right in with all the creative kids he met in class, but el didnt mesh with that crowd

anyway, our girl is sturggling

the only time she really has fun is when she visits hawkins, or when someone from the party visits them

which leads us to spring break

mike obviously comes to visit, and el doesnt want them to waste a single second so she begs mike and will to come explore the town with her

at this point joyce is already in her detective mode, hatching a rescue plan for hopper so she doesnt notice theyre gone

and jonathan is battling the heartbreak of nancy ghosting him when she was supposed to come visit

so the trio goes off on an adventure without anyone noticing.......... or so they think

because brenner is back, and he knows el is with the byers, but he cant go and snatch her because he doesnt have the resources all the way in california

in fact, he doesnt have the resources at all. his numbers experiment is seen as a catastrophic failure that lead to the deaths of hundreds of lab employees

the only way for him to redeem himself in the community, and gain his funding back is to present his peers with proof that the project can work, so he needs to get one of his numbers back

el is the only one he can track down, but he doesnt think he can do it himself. if she saw him, she could just kill him with her powers, he assumes because he doesnt know she lost them

so who does he employ to get el back to hawkins? lonnie byers

its almost too easy. it doesnt take much to bribe lonnie, and hey, its not like its his kid. so lonnie accepts the bribe, and goes all the way out to california to find el

he shows up at the byers house..... only to find it completely deserted. so he waits

and the trio finds him there after their day out (why are you here? what do you want? where are mom and jonathan?)

and lonnie, being as crafty as he is, comes up with a good excuse on the fly (hes craftier than i am because i genuinely have no idea what he would say)

anyway, he gets them in his car and on their way back to hawkins

jonathan shows up after theyve already left, and is too stoned tired to think anything of the empty house

and joyce is already halfway to russia

will knows his father. he knows that his father doesnt give a shit about him, the family, or anything about hawkins. he knows that his father wouldnt get involved in anything unless he had something to gain. so hes wraking his brain

maybe.... lonnie pulls over to take a suspicious phone call? maybe will figures out an inconsistency in his story? either way, the gang is onto lonnie and figures that they gotta get away from him and get back to joyce and jonathan

they tuck and roll out of the car. idk. all that matters is that they get out of there

as theyre rolling out of the car, el bonks her head a little and has a quick flashback to her time in the lab

since her intuition is always spot on, she takes this as a cue the breener is back and lonnie is working for him

she tells the boys it isnt safe to go back to california or hawkins, so they come up w an alternative plan, somewhere neither brenner nor lonnie would think to look for them

and while theyre on the road, they stop at a diner to eat (dont ask me where they got the money) and we get will leaving an emotional voicemail home, probably sobbing to jonathan about how much he means to will, which gives el an idea

because who has the resources to help her, as well as a desire for vengeance on brenner? kali

el uses her superb hitchiking skills to get them to chicago

maybe she just has some hints of her powers left, but it isnt too hard for el to find kali

she explains everything thats happened, and lets kali know that if she want revenge, the opportunity is hers

unfortunately, lonnie was hot on their trail, and called for reinforcements

theyre ambushed by the few employees brenner has working for him. initially, everyone is hiding, assisted by kali’s powers

but el knows they arent leaving empty handed, and would rather get taken away then have kali’s freedom taken from her

so el reveals herself, followed by mike because he wont leave her, followed by will because he wont leave mike

all three get taken away, back to hawkins lab, but now kali is even more motivated to bring down the lab once and for all

so kali and her gang get to hawkins, almost simultaniously with jonathan, who has been looking for his family in a frenzy since the morning he woke up to find eveyone gone, without even a note or a phone call, as well as argyle, who came along for the ride

the video store is being used as home base this season, so thats the first place they go, where they find steve, shortstaffed and not knowing whats going on because the whole team ditched him

they catch him up to speed on how EVERYONES GONE and steve catches them up to speed on how EVERYONE IS GETTING MURDERED

meanwhile, brenner has three predicaments

1) no matter what he does to el, what kind of torture he inflicts, she isnt using her powers because she doesnt have them. she tells him this several times. he refuses to believe it

2) lonnie byers is demanding his payment, which he didnt recieve because the deal was that he bring el to them, and he couldnt even do that

3) he has to find a way to dispose of mike and will, who he had no intention of bringing into the lab but theyre here and they know everything

and this is the moment where mike screws up by letting them know that people know theyre in the lab and people know about all the experiments and any second now, someones gonna come banging that door down to save us. nancy, jonathan, steve, robin max, lucas, dustin, kali-

and the second mike says her name he knows he screwed up

brenner decides in that moment that all he can do is round up everyone involved and get rid of them. conveniently, the string of murders occurring will serve as a good cover for what happened to them

and this is the part where joyce, murray, and hopper get back to hawkins

this is also the part where nancy and robin and the gang get back to hawkins

so nancy and robin immediately go to the video store armed with all the new information they learned from victor creel

..... and are met with jonathan, argyle, kali, and steve in pandemonium

they close the store for the day, and get ready to storm the lab

they realize that they need something from the school, so they head there to pick it up

and soon after arriving, theyre met with the all to familiar hawkins lab vans

they make a hasty escape, taking out some of the goons but they need to find a way to get the rest off their trail

they head for the woods, hoping to hide out in the cabin

meanwhile, the russia crew has taken the mostly demolished cabin as their haven to recover from whatever injuries they sustained

theyre all running through the woods, but they realize the people from the lab are closing in on them

and then nancy and jonathan pass a very familiar tree

they use whatever weapon they have on them to break through the bark, and head into the upside down

the lab people keep going into the woods, eventually finding hopper’s cabin

epic showdown between the russia crew and the lab people, joyce, murray and hopper win, they realize the lab is back, immediately head there realizing theyre gonna have to rescue someone

nancy and robin use the info they learned from victor creel to keep the gang alive in the upside down, max, argyle and eddie are freaking out because omg we’re in another dimention, we get some big reveal about the truth about the upside down and the gang makes their way out and head to the lab

and while this is all happening,we get some super emotional monologue between brenner and el (ala-the last 10 minutes of the truman show) and brenner realizes that el isnt going to be the naieve superweapn she used to be, and decides the best thing he can do with el is give her the standard punishment, time in the closet

and being in the closet triggers all sorts of flashbacks and emotions (mbb’s opportunity to show off her acting chops for an emmy)

joyce and hopper bust into the lab like they did in season 1, but this time they dont get caught

they decide to split up to cover more ground, and hopper finds el in the closet

and around the same time joyce finds mike and will and gets them out of there

here comes the REAL emotional performance

hopper sees her, we get a teary eyed “el!” “dad!”, and then hopper gets pulled away from el by lab workers

exactly the same way terry did

we’re watching this happen from el’s perspective, with a heart-wrenching “noooooooooo” from el, accompanied by cuts to every time el has had to be separated from someone she cares about (terry, the s1 ending, billy dying, her leaving kali in s2, saying goodbye to everyone on moving day, her being separated from mike and will when they got to the lab) accompanied by some terribly sad 80s song, then back to the present moment, she reaches her hand out and boom, the guards go flying. her powers are back

except she doesnt have control of them the way she did before, and now shes bringing the whole building down

her and hopper race to the the first floor, and meet joyce and the boys, they get out of the building at the very last second, and the whole thing collapses.

eventually they find the other group, the whole team is now together, they go and take down the big bad from the upside down, joyce almost KILLS lonnie

nancy and robin drop a huge bombshell that has to do with hawkins/the upside down, specifically pertaining to el, which they pieced together after talking to victor creel

we get a massive cliffhanger, season 5 starts like 10 minutes after the ending of season 4

#stranger things #yes i know half the stuff i said is going to be wrong #it would be really cool if it was tho #stranger things theory

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common-blackbird · 4 years

Text

it’s time... for a dragon age 2 playthrough post. scroll on!

The things i loved most:

1) the frame of the game - Cassandra interrogating Varric.

What a great way to get hook the player. Like, the opening of guards dragging this poor dwarf with cuts of the title, and then Cassandra demanding answers... Whoaaa! I have no idea if that’s usually done in games or not, but it’s definitely such an amazing intro with characters introducing themselves as well as the story so perfectly, it captivates instantly. The tutorial has a charm to it bc varric is messing around. Which serves to show more of his character. Cassandra’s personality was pretty much blank here but her presence is so powerful. Something happened, something huge and they know and i was about to find out. I can’t describe how excited that intro made me feel. Each time the scene cut to the interrogation scenes, my eyes were glued more than ever. Just GREAT.

Also it makes for a very convenient scapegoat for every plothole ever with the argument “it’s just his version of the story”.

2) The story.

It’s tragic. It’s amazing! The further you play, the more you can see that no matter what you do, everything leads to a disaster. Hawke doesn’t want to take sides, tries to mediate, does not want to get involved, but just can’t stop it. For every thing gained, Hawke loses two more. Your friends come with packages that get you involved in terrible stuff. Your good intentions result in disasters. The whole game you spent time climbing the social ladder not only to reach the top hauntingly alone after losing all of your family, but also losing even that empty title and watching as the city you started to find your place in fall apart in blood. UGH! GAH! FEELS!

3) Kirkwall.

“ But, I beg you my dear readers, never forget that, no matter the subject of any story that might ever be explored between the cliffs of Kirkwall, She will find a way to steal the thunder of the protagonist. Or become the antagonist. Kirkwall is never a mere background. We could even understand it so: the challenge for you dear readers is to prevail against the smokescreens and observe to what extent our characters are players or played by the merciless black souled stone giant. Enjoy playing the dare of the ages between the lines of these humble memoirs. “

Memoirs from the Downfall - Act I. Mirage by Pfefferminze on ao3 (fic rec!)

This paragraph summs up what Kirkwall is better than I ever could. This shrouded mystery that surrounds Kirkwall keeps you on toes. From the first intro when Varric describes it (paraphrasing from memory) “Kirkwall. The city of chains. It is a free city - keeping in mind i use the the word loosely”. You already start seeing how dark Kirkwall gets. The name, that derives from its black walls (interestingly, the walls in the game aren’t black...), the history of slavery etched into every corner of that city and its surroundings - the names (The Gallows, the Bone Pit, the Wounded Coast, the pub The Hanged Man), the scenery (sculptures of slaves, the sunken ships by the Wounded Coast, slums and underground of the Lowtown and the Darktown).

I was really digging the History of Kirkwall and it loved it. Kirkwall has a history of violence, from the times of slavery of the Tevinter Imperium, to Qunari conquests and liberation from Orlais. Many revolts and uprising. And though free now, it’s suggested that, seeing that the Templars hold the most influence, Kirkwall is in the hands of the Chantry.

It’s full of cultures mixing together. I love how not one of your companions is a native to Kirkwall, and it feels like a crossroads to every character’s life. a very tragic crossroads in their life, seeing there’s nothing ever good waiting for you in Kirkwall.

Also there’s these codex entries you look for about the Enigma of Kirkwall. It was when i started digging that up that i fell in love with the city and all. Combined with the History of Kirkwall and every codex entry for every place in and out of Kirkwall, I was pulling my hair out reading about the Enigma. I..i’m still not quite sure what happened. Did the magisters use blood of thousands upon thousands slaves to unbound a forgotten one? if so, is that corypheus? And around what time did that happen?? I get that part (or all?) of Kirkwall’s mysterious violent agency is owed to corypheus slumbering relatively close to the city, but is that all? or is there something more? In either case, the Band of Tree are my heroes.

4) The characters.

I’ll talk more about them later, but in general, i just love how they oppose each other, how complex they are, and there is just not pleasing everyone. They feel genuine. They are all deeply flawed. They all have a solid background that makes their beliefs and actions convincing. The friendship/rivalry points are shaky though, and sometimes really don’t fit the character, but i guess there must be someone hating/loving your bad choices for the sake of the game regardless of characterisation. But all in all, i really appreciated each and every character, and loved how their viewpoints challenged me.

First i want a disclaimer: i love each and every character in the game, whatever i say against them doesn’t diminish my liking of them. My issues really aren’t significant. Also, i might and probably will say smth wrong bc i’ve only played it once. I’m a baby.

let’s start with Family:

Mama Hawke:

i really loved mama hawke. after reading her codex entry and an excerpt of some book on this site, i really feel for her. I mean, imagine going back to your home city where you only remember being respected and wealthy only to find out everything you remember is gone, you are forced to live in poverty, your kids are doing dangerous jobs and you can’t stop them bc you do need that money, you write letters trying to get the old connections but keep failing (at least it was implied?), it’s really been hard for her. I get why she was so obsessed with her legacy. She wanted her childhood home back. She can’t feel like Kirkwall is her home until she is home.

Also loved her antagonism towards Hawke. It seems she can no longer treat him like a child, so she criticises him instead. and honestly, hawke is doing some crazy things so he defintiely deserves some criticism. And stopping Hawke from taking carver with him is just logical to me, idk. since she knows she can’t stop Hawke from going, she will at least attempt to prevent the last kid from going into mortal danger. I’d do the same. AND AFTER HAVING CARVER DYING IN DEEP ROADS I AGREE WITH HER

All in all, i don’t think she’s a perfect mom, but there is no perfect mom, and Leandra does care a lot for her kids. The All that remains killed me too :’(

Bethany

RIP :(

Her codex is not long, but i guess she wasn’t happy with her magic :(

CARVER

My favouritest bestest bro in the game. A secondary character with an inferiority complex towards his sibling, with no sense of humour, blaming everyone else for his inability to get a life? I see a lot of myself in him. He is sooo bitter, but doesn’t even realise (or at least doesn’t admit) that he’s his biggest obstacle. He feels like it’s Hawke’s fault for Carver not getting his place in the sun, but honestly, it’s Carver’s devotion to Hawke that keeps him from getting a life. He’s just tied with that responsibility and can’t break from it unless forced to.

His interactions with other characters are so funny. Either he’s bitter or he’s awkward, i die every time ;;__;;

Anyways, he became a templar in my game and i thought it fits better thematically (throughout the game the grey wardens felt more like a fanservice material since they really aren’t connected to the story), but after reading that meta about carver and seeing the striking difference between warden!carver and templar!carver i wanna reload and redo everything ;;__;;

i mean... carver isn’t exactly a templar material. The codex entry for templars says that the wanted characteristics of templars are strong faith and utmost obedience, none of which carver really has... . But that moment when he stands up against meredith was *chefs kiss* worth it. I’m just wondering what happens after, is he still a templar? is he with hawke? is he in Kirkwall or if not, where did he go?? so many questions ;A;

Uncle Gamlen

I feel bad for him. Mostly he’s mean but i like to think it’s bc he’s so ashamed that his sister sees what he’s become. And he’s bitter about his own life. I was so happy when i realised he has a personal mission ;__; I feel bad that he didn’t come to live in the hawke estate tho, especially since Hawke is also alone there :(

COMPANIONS!

Varric

There are no words that can properly convey the amount of love for this guy. He is simply flawless. He’s a charming godfather of the dwarven mafia. I wanna have a charming godfather of the dwarven mafia in my life... He already becomes interesting with the intro, and i gotta say, out of all ~storyteller~ types of characters, he is the best. he puts a disclaimer at the beginning with that game tutorial, and during the whole interrogation he’s like “well, how do you know i’m not lying? i could be.” Also, his voice is the second best voice in the game.

As for his personal missions, oh wow, that thing with his big bro really hurt. I also gave him the red lyrium... was that a mistake? will i regret it? ;__; I know the true friend would prevent him, but i also trust that varric knows how to handle dangerous stuff...

On a side note, since i’ve read the comics (no self control whatsoever), i loved the beginning of the Until We Sleep, where varric mentions it’s easier to imagine all the people he had to kill were evil than to face the fact that those were normal people just doing their job or trying to survive. Man, it hurts TAT

*garret hawke’s voice when he looks a certain way at the family crest in the hawke estate* ISABELA!

Ok ok, so, i love Carver bc i relate, i love Varric because he’s simply perfect. But I love Isabela because she’s the most intriguing.

She just crashed in Kirkwall and really didn’t sign up for all the trouble she got. She never likes to have deep conversations, she is always downgrading herself and you just wonder, what is it that happened in her life, and you know her past mistakes haunt her, and she’s doing her best to move on. Her arc was i think my favourite. I think the comic Those Who Speak really adds a lot to her arc in DA2 and makes some of her choices more understandable. Her whole story is about her internal conflict of whether to survive or do the right thing. Her story about freeing the slaves got her ship wrecked is great and all for making her be a pirate with a golden heart, but that story about her drowning all the slaves few years previous make this freeing of slaves a big character moment for her. She finally did the right thing. And she got for it was more trouble, because she’s a pirate which means she can’t afford to just do the right thing. And throughout the game, that same story is going back and forth. She runs off with the Relic bc she’s done the right thing before and it got her nowhere, so now she decided to put her own survival as a priority, but comes back bc she’s too kind to just leave Hawke standing like that. And again, with the slaver papers, it’s the same reasoning: it’s her or the higher cause. She needs that ship. She chooses herself. It’s her biggest flaw. But hey, between pros and antis in your party, it was really refreshing to have someone who, along with varric, just gives you a break with moral high-grounds.

I only wish we actually got to see her more as a captain in power in the game or that she showed me that amazing hat she saw in lowtown. It’s cool that it’s implied that her crew doesn’t like her and she also lost most of them during the crash while the others probably left her after.

I love it when she says she goes sometimes to the docks just to watch the ships. That there is no feeling like sailing. I just want a spin-off with captain isabela’s terrible adventures (´A`)

Also, isabela’s VA is my fave, she really did an amazing job. she voices so smoothly, i wouldn’t know if i was playing a game or watching a movie. And has such a pretty way of talking...

Aveline

I’m really neutral towards Aveline. I like her personality and i like that she’s found herself a purpose and advanced in the guards, and she’s always looking out for everybody. I just wish her personal missions went in the vein of the one in act 1... i feel it would have been more interesting to see her having trouble in her position and that you can’t just waltz into Kirkwall and take command. It’s implied she’s being pressured, so i guess she’s just dealing with it herself, but i just... eh. She’s ok.

Merrill

Merrill actually has one of the if not the most tragic story-line that really challenges you both morally and emotionally.

Her cheerful and cute personality is dampened by her constant dark leitmotif of willingly practicing blood magic. And i think her story really showed well the indirect consequences of it.

Not in one instance was Merrill’s practice of blood magic an active culprit for all tragedy that surrounds her. First, it seems that blood magic is practiced in the clan, seeing there is no freeing Flemeth without it, but i’m guessing it’s seldom practiced and with great caution. So Merrill wasn’t in any danger of being prosecuted for her blood magic. It’s actually her wish to study it further with the help of the demon that makes her an outcast. That and the magic mirror that apparently is forgotten for a reason. Also, it’s made quite clear that Merrill would be welcomed back no questions asked if she at any point decided to ditch the demon and live without the study of magic mirror. She, on the other side, is driven by the higher cause, the idea that figuring out the forgotten purpose of some evil mirror might help her clan, and is willing to be an outcast if it means reaching her goal and helping her clan. Fast foward to act 3, the clan is still there when they should have moved away, and it’s only when you face the demon possessed Keeper, you realise why. She knew Merrill would sooner or later bargain with the demon again. And she sacrificed herself, trapping the demon within her, as to prevent it. And i think that is why the clan stayed so long there. She waited for Merrill because she wanted Merrill to kill her, and hopefully with her the demon. It didn’t go as planned, obviously, but i really think she had good intentions. When Merrill does manage to kill the Keeper she’s forced to face the clan and i chose the wrong option of telling the truth which resulted in a massacre. Merrill gets back and regrets everything. She, however resolves to help the alienage.

The thing is, there is no one to blame Everyone had the best intentions. Everyone is working for the safety of the clan. it’s a story of sacrifice and when sacrifice feels like the wrong choice (whether it truly is or isn’t depends on your worldview) and it’s really done well.

But here are my issues with Merrill. I love her as a character, but i don’t agree with her decisions. It’s a personal issue. Merrill is giving up everything as to help her clan by learning history of the evil mirror. And while this is a game where old things are important and significant, her mission is always explained as this duty of preserving history. And while i agree that preserving history is very important, there is a limit to it. you should never put history before the present. If your research endangers the present, you give up on that line. The other is that you need to make peace with the fact that many, many things are forgotten and will be forgotten. It’s sad, but you gotta make peace with the fact that some things are just gone.

And Merrill, who is a magic historian, fails to see that. So that kinda irks my historian moral codex. And in the end, as far as i know, Merrill doesn’t succeed in reviving the evil mirror and dedicates herself to help the alienage. It was a terrible way to learn that some things aren’t worth it.

The other, less personal issue, is that none of this had to happen. I mean, the keeper obviously didn’t think Merrill was experienced enough to actually deal with demons and therefore distrusted her and warned the clan about it. So, if Merrill was a little bit more patient she could have just studied normally under the keeper, and when she herself becomes the keeper, she could have fraternize with that demon however she wanted without much complications. So yeah... i guess youth is made of idealism.

But as i said, minor issues. Her story is really, really great.

Fenris

Fenris and Anders are my “i love you but i am soo annoyed by you but i still love you” characters. Half of the time they’re just there to make you feel guilty for being a neutral party. Which sometimes has me rolling my eyes. If Fenris and Anders actually got along with each other, slavery and mage oppression would have ended in 2 days. Which makes it all the more frustrating that they do not.

Fenris.. his voice. What a nice voice colour. So elegant, but kinda rough, sometimes he talks like he’s 80 years old, sometimes like he’s a teenager. I love it.

As for the rest, i mean, i don’t agree with his methods, but very often, the guy’s got a point. I get his experience with mages colours his view on them, so while i symphatise, it’s really hard to have him on my “free mages” missions when he’s my best tank and i want him to be on friendly terms with Hawke so this makes things... difficult. That aside, it’s interesting that fenris doesn’t see mages as evil per se, but rather victims who, in his experience, will always, always going to succumb to a demon. It’s an inevitable reality to him. And this makes me wonder if he ultimately, despite being his friend or lover, is just waiting for the day he will be forced to kill Hawke too :(

As for his missions, they were ok, it led up to culmination and i didn’t let him kill his sister bc Hawke has just lost his mom, don’t do smth you’ll regret ;__;

also, somewhere around the end of act 2 i decided to romance fenris bc i love to suffer, so i worked the whole act 3 trying to get more aproval points and also wondering why are there no romance options when i talk to him... turns out that one night stand with isabela romanced her and canceled fenris. But i never even finished the romance with her so i’m just ??? about it all.

I wish it was more explained about the tattoos fenris has? I just thought the tattoos would play a big role somewhere in the game and it just never happened. There was a banter with Merrill about how his tattoos are similar to valaslin, so i thought, hmm, interesting, maybe the two are connected. But nah they just glow in the dark and make you pass through walls. Whatevs.

also dude just goes and kills without a second thought, i’m just “mate, you gotta calm down”. But that’s his thing. He’s constantly bitter and is very bad at anger management. I can’t blame him, considering he lacks around 10- 20 years of experience due to amnesia.

He’s the only one who left me when Hawke sided with mages, and i was like, “ok i getcha, it’s been nice knowing you”, but then when i asked him to join me 5 minutes later he just went “ok changed my mind” which was so funny, like, where did all that integrity dissappear??? It would have been more impactful if the dialogue went in the line of “i want to stand by my principals but you’re a living breathing proof that not all mages are weak to succumb to demons so i’ll join you in the end” (and then side-eye “i told you so” when orsino turns into a demon)

And i wanna read the fenris comic now bc my question for every character here is what is their fate after kirkwall. I only know that isabela & varric are working for alistair and merrill wants to help the alienage. Aveline is i guess either dismissed from her job or got a pass after cullen took the command. But Carver?? Fenris?? Anders?? They never talked about long term plans...

Anders

ooh boy, here we go. there are many questions i have for him and am generally just hmmmm. First, as for his pro-mage rights - it’s like opposite fenris so i just have the same feelings: you mean well, i don’t agree with your methods, your experiences define your worldview so i let some things slide, but other things i will not agree with. Though, question: in how many circles has Anders been? He knows the kirkwall circle, he knows the fereldan circle. Seeing he has excaped 7 times, did they send him to a different circle each time or was the fereldan the last one? or the first one? Or maybe it was his boyfriend they transferred? did i miss something?

I’ll just whisper: awakening!Anders >>> da2!Anders. I just miss the old anders. Which says a lot bc during the awakening i was just “shut up anders”. I miss his bad jokes, his terrible attempts at flirting, his enjoyment of freedom, nagging all the time, and generally being more moderate in pro-mage rights. Like, in awakening, because it was not the only thing he talked about, it felt more personal and intense. Here mage-rights are the only thing he ever talks about + justice. I mean, please correct me if i’m wrong, this was just general impression. But to defend da2!Anders here, it makes sense that merging with mixed both of their personality, and i like that they did that. It’s also very sad.

The thing is, when i’m thinking about anders, i love his story and character. Just as it’s terrible that Fenris, having no memory from before being Fenris, Anders can never go back to being just Anders. And this, people, is why you don’t fraternize with spirits. He’s obviously afraid of how justice is affecting him and there are some bare traces of his old personality and i guess he wouldn’t be as radical if he didn’t have justice personality that can’t stand the injustice. And in combination with anders quite selfish personality (form awakening, and i say that lovingly), it makes him do things that justice wouldn’t condone. Anders is literally a walking bomb.

Again, same problem as with fenris, i really thought that the justice glow would have a incredibly significant culmination, and it didn’t, it was just to show that anders and justice are very bitter. Eh, ok.

Also, i let anders join after he blew up the chantry, bc he started it, so might as well follow it through.

Some minor characters that i remember

Senechal Bran for the next Viscount! He hated hawke so much but still put up with him.

Feynriel is the coolest mage in Kirkwall. I think his missions were my favourite. Dude goes from “oh no i’m a mage” to “i will just dreamwalk to tevinter and learn control the reality” to “i dream-killed bad people from thousands of miles away”. Does he appear in the next game? I want him on my side. He’s so cool.

I think the Maker is sending Cullen signs to quit being a templar. First job: evil mages that tortured you. Instead of “this job will kill you” h took it as a “never trusting mages again, got it”. Second job: your boss is evil possessed paranoid maniac. Man, talk about bad luck.

What is the story of the Lady Elegant?

Flemeth had that big great talk at the beginning of the game and i thought by the end of the game i’d realise what it meant, but nope, still no clue.

Ok so I defeated Corypheus, but there was this looong shot of Larius walking away. Corypheus possessed larius, didn’t he? He’s out there. In a madman’s body. I know he appears in inquisition.

Many thoughts

I gotta say, in Kirkwall, at least, it didn’t feel like much of a challenge to pick a side. Like, there was no mage who said “hey i actually really like it here in the circle, the templars aren’t so bad”, and having templars actually smuggling mages from the circle says a lot to say the least. Every time a mage talks to you, unless you go with “oh they’re 100% lying”, their stories invoke sympathy and of course you want to help them. And then in 99% cases they turn to blood magic bc there was no other way. Except that dude who always hanged out with the wrong people, he only did blood magic to save Carver. But yeah, that turning to blood magic was like having Fenris side-eye me with an unspoken “i told you so” bc every mage, whether in desperation or hunger for power, will turn sooner or later into a demon. Regardless, blood magic was always in the act of desperation and self-defense. The only times where magic was actually evil was the slavers and the serial killer, who is a madman.

When i was reading the Enigma of Kirkwall, there was a part that talks of a blood-mage conspiracy and i was all, oh shit, there is a reason why templars are mean to mages! maybe the conspirators are framing innocent mages on blood magic crimes that they actually commit, maybe Meredith is actually on trail of the conspirators, maybe there is a reason for animosity on both sides. After all, Kirkwall was known for having a bigger number of apostates, a bigger number of blood magic cases and far more ruthless templars. It added up.Thinking back now, i never even got any specific reason why meredith was so intensely anti-mage, other than going mad.

But yeah, no conspirators. Just sad mages and mean templars, and good templars that get screwed by desperate and mean mages.

While in Kirkwall it’s easy to be a pro-mage, i was thinking a lot about mage-rights in general so let me indulge myself: there are circles, but the mages aren’t oppressed. Rather, the circles would be educational centres and society in every larger city where one learns how to properly handle magic bc magic is dangerous. You can leave when you pass the final exam and also come back anytime to hang out with mages who decide to live there since the institution would support mages.

Also, when one gets possessed, i’d invest more into “walk into their head and free them of demons” specialists. It’d be cool if you could have a dreamer who does that bc no lyrium spent. Honestly, why don’t they ever do that? How did the keeper do that rite for Feynriel? Was it blood magic?

I guess, you’d still have to answer for your crimes, tho no death punishment and degradation allowed. Blood magic wouldn’t be punishable by death, but rather have specialists who study it, but practice with extreme caution and use of another person’s blood is strictly prohibited.

Templars would still exist but completely reformed. No more “mages are all potential disasters”, but i’d rather make it that mages can too be templars, since they both have abilities that prevents the others from casting magic. This way the control system would be much like the dalish: if the keeper(mage) is possessed, the clan (which means the non-mages and the first(mage)) need to kill them. You could argue that you don’t need templars as non-mages, since mages can do it too, but seeing that in general people fear magic and feel inferior to it (since there’s a collective memory of the great tevinter imperium), having non-magic specialists would make them feel like on equal ground. The extra-reformed templars would be under Circle, not under direct command of the chantry, and circle, depending of whether chantry is reformed, might or might not be under chantry.

(a side note, i was thinking about templars recently and i can’t recall an instance where it says who had the clever idea to chew lyrium first? i just wanna know)

I know that DA2 wasn’t about grey wardens and therefore not about darkspawn, but seeing as in legacy we get corypheus being... an evil version of the Architect(??), i was only wondering do we get more answers about the darkspawn? is there hope for them? is the Architect still alive?

And oh, to turn to the Anders question:

Is he a terrorist, or was that just activism? I mean, i don’t see why those two can’t go together. blasting a building with a symbolic significance killing and harming many innocent people to get a message of your radical activism across belongs into a schoolbook of terrorism. Does he have a good cause? He sure believes so, and i, too, agree that mages should not be oppressed for just being mages. But does that mean this is the right way to do it? Personally, i do not condone any act of violence in service of a political or religious cause. I know it’s sometimes inevitable, but i like to believe there are more diplomatic ways, or at least not including an attack on civilians.

That aside, the moment where anders goes in front and just announces that the church was gonna blow up in a minute was the best anders moment for me. Until that point i more or less just viewed his activism as a hobby since he just did it in his free time, but now he put his money where his mouth is and freaking went all out. Cool character moment. And incredibly heartwrenching. He was aware of how many innocents he killed, but just didn’t see other way to get the point across.

I still don’t agree with his idea of blowing up the church tho. Maybe if he told Hawke, they could have done something to empty the church previously and further people away from it and then blow it up?

But still, blowing up religious buildings isn’t the answer. If i was the radical mage activist, i would have gone for the open assassination. Seeing it worked in WW1, i don’t see why it couldn’t start a fantasy war.

Some random things i liked:

uniportant but lovable interractions in the house: it starts innocently with gamlen’s house, to see how you’re doing, and becomes really fun during act 2 when you see your friends have been here and left you things. In act 3, however, it feels melancholic. no more family to come back to, just ghosts of friends that have visited, Bodahn and Sandal being there for you, Orana still not getting some sunlight and your dog at the fireplace. The Hawke Family Suite is playing, and you feel older than you are, lonlier than you should be. just... ouch. I hope Bodahn adopted Orana and took her out of Kirkwall :(

t i named the dog “Maker” which is very funny to me bc every time i summon the dog i just imagine Hawke yelling “Maker help us”. Carver hates the name bc he needs to chase the dog often in the streets. Mama Hawke never ever calls the dog Maker, but she never has to call the dog anything: he’s super obedient towards her.

Fighting wasn’t as hard as in origins, i like that.

The haunted house mission was so cool.

When random people greet aveline in Hightown.

And that’s i think about it. There are probably plenty more things i loved, but i think this is already enough. if somebody told me i’d be playing so much this year, i’d laugh, but I already want to play the next game ;;___;;

#don't klick keep reading if you aren't ready to scroll endlessly #a very long post #in which i:#love everything #stan carver #cry over fictional characters #need a romance manual #form political opinions in a fictional game #give a random fic rec that is so worth your time #if you've read this you're a hero and i'm sorry #da2 #spoilers for those who plan to play #it took me a week to write this god

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flightfoot · 4 years

Text

Divergent Points: Onichan

AO3/FFN

-----------

Nino walked to school.

It’d been a few weeks since he and his friends had been sucked into some salty sentient alternate dimension.

They’d all been extremely relieved to be out of there. Though his return to his body hadn’t been the most pleasant thing around.

Seriously, he hadn’t even THOUGHT of where some of those tubes comatose patients were hooked up to would go. Oh HELL did he learn though.

...Maybe time to get back on subject. He didn’t need to dwell on that train of thought any longer. Wouldn’t change what’d happened and hopefully he wouldn’t have to deal with it again any time soon.

Marinette’d been bringing lots of little gifts to their get-togethers and reassuring them how much they meant to her, how much she cared about them. It got to the point where they’d needed to take her aside and reassure her that they KNEW she cared, KNEW she wasn’t Saltinette.

They all knew, including Marinette, but… well that didn’t stop anxiety. And when Marinette got anxious she tended to try to reach out and do something to help with it, to try and assert some control over it - in this case gift-giving and verbal affirmation, since gift-giving was the main way she communicated her feelings to other people and how she most easily perceived them.

As for verbal affirmation?

It was something she found valuable, something that they all worked to do with each other more… but it was a love language she’d grown especially in-tune to because of how much Adrien needed it.

With seeing his insecurities during the Syren attack? With knowing what his father was like?

She was going to make sure all her friends knew how much they meant to her.

They’d check in with her whenever she seemed to be a little too frantic or harried, especially with stammering over her words when she became afraid she’d said something to hurt one of them. They just calmly reassured her over and over that they were ok, that she was fine, and gave her small smiles whenever they could to let her know they weren’t upset or hurt.

If she seemed overly focused on needing to DO something to help, on baking a ton of macarons, on needing to be there for every event any of them went to, of wanting to be supportive to the point that she hurt herself, they’d pull her into a hug and reassure her she was enough. That their bond and their conception of her as a person wasn’t so fragile that one wrong move could break it. And just squeezed her tight until her breathing slowed down and she could manage on her own.

She’d slowly been doing better. Her anxiety was still definitely there, but it wasn’t as all-consuming as it once had been.

Not that everyone else was completely unscathed. Adrien still flinched when he saw that statue of himself and Ladybug in the park. He’d stare at it for a moment as if reassuring himself that it was fully intact. That no bloodthirsty mob had taken to vandalizing his statue as a proxy for himself.

Marinette just avoided the statue entirely.

Alya’d been avoiding Lila as much as she could - difficult to do since she’d purposely set it up so she’d be sitting right behind her, but she managed. Not like Lila wanted to talk to her anyway. Those salty scenarios supposedly springing from her becoming one of Lila’s sycophants just freaked her out too much. She KNEW she could never be dragged down that path, that her very self had rebelled against it so hard even Saltinette couldn’t force her into it, but… well, like with Marinette, that didn’t stop the thoughts, stop the anxiety.

Adrien mostly took the whole thing in stride, aside from the statue thing. Considering how much trauma he’d been through already it was probably a drop in the bucket.

He was glad Adrien could function well even with what he’d been through during their adventure.

(He was more concerned that Adrien had to develop his trauma coping skills to this point.)

Which left himself mostly monitoring the Lila situation, as the one with the least trauma. Alya’d apologized to him a few times for not being able to help more.

He’d just smiled and reassured her, giving her a hug if she could use one.

The three of them could take as much time to heal as they needed.

He’d protect them until they were better.

After all, wasn’t that what a Guardian should do?

Lila hadn’t actually been doing much of anything. She told lies here and there, but nothing that’d make major waves.

She’d also tried to finagle it so she and Adrien would be in close quarters a few times and got a little too close to him.

He’d subtly intervened whenever he saw that happening, pushing his way between them or finding some excuse to call Adrien over and separate them.

Lila seemed suspicious at how often he ‘conveniently’ got in the way, but she hadn’t called him out on it.

Just as well. He’d like to maintain at least some plausible deniability of being a neutral party. Not much considering that his girlfriend was well known to dislike Lila, but it was something.

None of them were sure what to do about Lila. Originally they’d fantasized about exposing her, finding something to get her thrown out of school.

After seeing the vengeance-driven Saltinette? They’d all agreed that whatever they did about Lila should be based firmly on stopping her from hurting people, not on enacting retribution. They’d seen how far that could go.

Not that it helped much. Not when they still had no ideas-

Wait. Was that?

He peered closer, keeping behind her so she wouldn’t see.

Yep. Definitely Lila.

And if she was coming out of that apartment just before school -

It was probably where she lived!

She’d been very cagey about her address or her parent’s full names or most things that could be used to locate them. Not that he’d pressed too hard, but it did seem suspicious.

Probably because a bunch of her lies would collapse if they could talk to her parents.

Lila herself though?

He frowned, running to catch up with her.

He’d never seen her so miserable.

She’d put on acts before, but… this was different. More genuine.

She glanced up at him, looking surprised for a moment before shaking herself, plastering on that fake smile of hers.

But he knew what he saw.

Maybe there was more to her than he thought?

“Is something wrong, Lila?”

“Uh no, I’m doing great! It’s just that… my mom wants me to go with her to this fancy embassy function tonight, but I’ve got way too much homework and I’m so behind after being away for the first term. I’m just gonna have to tell her no. She’ll be so upset…”

He wasn’t sure whether any of that was a lie, but with the exaggerated expressions and her leading statements, she was pretty obviously trying to manipulate him into helping her somehow - probably not in a way he should be helping her.

Best not to take the bait. “Ah yeah. Bummer.”

“Adrien said he’d help me, but I don’t want to bother him with it. He’s probably forgotten anyway. He might think I’ve got a crush on him, just like all those other girls who are constantly hanging all over him.”

Like you? He wanted to add.

He was pretty sure she was jabbing at Chloe and maybe even Marinette - though if she was trying to implicate Marinette that was a pretty poor way of doing it. She didn’t hang off of him, at least not when it wasn’t wanted. They’d certainly been very touchy-feely lately, but it was VERY clear that Adrien was fine with that.

Even before the Reveal when Marinette and Adrien were still stuck in that Lovesquare (oh WOW had Alya ranted about that one), her clinging to him was decidedly NOT a problem - if anything she had trouble being in his vicinity. Though she’d gotten better with that over time.

As for the rest of it? No way his bro had agreed to help her. Not without telling him.

She was pushing pretty hard without outright asking him to ask for Adrien’s help on her behalf. Probably trying to set up a situation where Adrien couldn’t refuse without looking like the bad guy and hoping that social pressure would force him to do what she wanted.

After needing to fend her off from Adrien multiple times? He wasn’t going to allow that situation. He certainly wasn’t going to help set it up.

But while he could nip this one in the bud… what about the next one?

He needed to try to settle this. Soon.

Before his friends got hurt.

They were still trying to heal from the salt worlds.

Lila was the last thing they needed to worry about.

Best to brush her off for now and try to figure out what to do about her later. “Adrien’s been very busy lately,” he told her apologetically. “Even if he did remember he might just not want to bring it up because he feels so bad about not being able to help. I’d just let it go for now.”

“Oh…” she said looking down at the ground in an exaggerated display of sadness, clearly different from her more natural-looking melancholy from before.

Luckily school wasn’t far so Lila didn’t have time to come up with some other plan.

And he had time to come up with one of his own.

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

Taking a deep breath, he knocked on the door of Lila’s family’s apartment.

Lila always ate at school for lunch so he figured it was a safe time to try to talk to her parents. See whether gathering more information that way could help. He didn’t have much proof that Lila was making her claims - though he could get other classmates to corroborate that at least - and none for her making threats besides Alya and Marinette’s word which he was betting wouldn’t be enough to convince her parents unless they already thought poorly of Lila.

He knocked.

No answer.

And knocked again.

Waited a minute.

Knocked a third time.

Didn’t look like anyone was home.

Not that big a surprise. A lot of parents were gone during the day.

Inconvenient though.

He’d just have to wait until next time Lila was preoccupied and check back again.

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

...Okay, this was getting ridiculous.

It’d been two weeks. He’d checked every time he could find that Lila was preoccupied while he was free - which had been pretty often lately - and no one ever answered. He was beginning to suspect he was mistaken and no one actually lived in that apartment.

Marinette, Adrien, and Alya had started to notice his frequent absences and began asking questions. The three of them were talking and healing and just… really getting to enjoy themselves again. They’d been running around Paris while suited up almost every night getting to enjoy the freedom the Miraculous offered.

Which was especially important for Adrien; both worlds targeting him had emphasized stealing his Miraculous. Getting to be Chat was a good reminder that those worlds were false.

Alya just enjoyed having that level of freedom and control, especially with how the worlds targeting her had tried to bend her to their will, trying to brainwash and even physically force her to do what they wanted.

He just told them he was figuring out what to do about Lila and not to worry about it.

They’d seemed concerned but didn’t press the subject.

Not that Lila was the ONLY reason he’d had more absences lately. Fu’d been training him some more which took up some time.

At least he could read some of the Guardian literature while on stake out.

Some adult had to be home at some point.

Right?

Plus Lila was sleeping over at a friend’s place today; hence why he decided to do this stake out today and not some other day. It wouldn’t do as much good if he finally caught a parent or guardian entering but was unable to talk to them due to Lila being there.

So he waited.

And waited.

Luckily his parents thought he was sleeping over at Marinette’s. Not entirely a lie either. Her balcony had a decent view of Lila’s (suspected) apartment, albeit a distance away.

She frowned and asked him whether he was sure when he said he wanted to stake out and watch for Lila, but he just nodded and smiled at her. She stayed with him for a lot of it, even proposing taking shifts but… yeah he wasn’t gonna do that. She needed all the rest and relaxation she could get.

Wait, was that…

Aha!

Finally, an adult heading to the apartment.

So someone else DID live there!

He quickly checked his phone.

Yep. All the evidence he and Alya had assembled since Lila came back to school was right there. Most of it probably wouldn’t be relevant - this was geared more towards potentially exposing her to classmates and their teacher, not to her mom, so it was geared towards the lies she told THEM, not what she told her parents - but some of it might still be useful, depending on what Lila’d told her parents.

He headed out from the bakery and to Lila’s apartment, knocking on the door.

Finally, after probably a dozen different times trying, someone answered.

A woman opened the door.

Judging by how similar she looked to Lila? Most likely her mom.

She glanced up briefly from her phone. “Oh hi, are you one of Lila’s friends? I’m afraid she isn’t here right now.”

He took a deep breath. “Yeah. That’s why I came. I need to talk to you about your daughter.”

Taking in the seriousness in his voice and the intensity in his expression, she put down her phone, devoting her full attention to him, alarm slowly creeping into her voice. “What happened? Is something wrong? Is my daughter okay?!”

“As far as I know she’s fine - physically anyway.” His eyes hardened. “But there is some trouble WITH her.”

She frowned. “...Huh?”

He sighed. “I have some things to show you.”

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

Ms. Rossi sat on a stool in the kitchen, just leaning back and staring into the distance.

He couldn't blame her. She’d been skeptical at first that Lila was making all these claims, that he might have just misinterpreted stuff she said. Which he supposed was a reasonable thing to think. It was certainly a possible thing to happen and he couldn’t prove otherwise… with SOME things.

But others?

“Wait, Lila’s been akumatized?! That can’t be right, she would’ve told me!”

Nino just stared. Not everyone kept track of EVERY akuma but… seriously? It wasn’t like it was a major secret Lila had been Volpina and Chameleon. Volpina in particular just looked like Lila in a costume. It wasn’t THAT dramatic a transformation.

He just flipped through his phone bringing up old news reports and akumas.

Ms. Rossi watched, eyes wide, as her akumatized daughter ran around fighting Ladybug and Chat Noir.

The Volpina fight was especially interesting. “Wait, isn’t that Lila’s boyfriend? That Adrien boy who’s all over the billboards?”

Nino’s head shot up. “She is NOT his girlfriend. They’re not even friends.”

“Young man you must be mistaken! Lila’s told me several times about how much he adores her. She wouldn’t lie to me!”

HAH.

He kinda wished Adrien was here to disprove it now.

Ms. Rossi frowned. “I guess Lila was one of the few people Ladybug was able to save. The school had to close down for so long because of all the akumatizations going on.”

...What.

“The school never closed down. We’ve missed maybe half of a school day sometimes because of some akumatization, but… yeah that’s about it.”

Ms. Rossi blinked at him. “But Lila had to stay home all last semester because of that!”

“Did you google to see whether the school was closed at least?”

“I- I thought I did.”

“Maybe you should try it now?”

With a few quick types she looked up the school. Looked through their akuma procedures. And then frantically started googling everything she could about akumas and the Miraculous holders.

Nino sat back as her face slowly fell, reality crashing in as she saw more and more of what was really going on.

Eventually she sighed, looking like she’d aged about ten years in ten minutes. “...I’m going to have to talk to the principal. And this time Lila isn’t talking me out of it.”

Looking up she gave him a small, bitter smile. “We’ve always bounced around a lot for my job which meant Lila didn’t have much time to form firm friendships. Between that and the divorce a few years ago, plus work being busier than ever… well. Lila got left by the wayside a lot. I thought she was fine since she began talking about all these great friends she has, even having a boyfriend now. And when she told me the school was closed down but that the school had let her handle most things, I just… didn’t question it. She was one fewer thing, one fewer person I had to worry about.”

She sat back heavily and closed her eyes. “I should’ve tried to pay closer attention to what she was saying, looked at things for myself. I might not have been able to spend much more time with her than I have been - my job keeps me really busy - but for something as major as her school being closed, I should’ve looked it up myself.

I just… wanted to believe Lila was right. She told me what I wanted to hear; that she was fine and handling everything.”

She laughed wryly. “I guess in a way she WAS handling everything. Just not in a way I’d approve of.”

Ah.

Adrien may have been right when he thought Lila was lonely.

It just went deeper than that.

But he could give Ms. Rossi some small comfort at least.

“She DOES have friends, people she hangs out with. If she’s told you she’s at a friend’s house on a sleepover? That’s true. I’ve been sent a few selfies of her with our classmates. She’s pretty well-liked. I doubt they’ll be happy to find out that Lila’s been lying to them but… I don’t think she’ll be abandoned over some lies. Not unless they were malicious and hurtful.”

Most of the lies she’d told hadn’t been intended to cause harm except for when she told Adrien that Alya and Marinette were backstabbers and just using him - though that may have been less of a lie and more of an actual belief on her part.

Aside from that? They were usually pretty harmless. He wouldn’t put it past her to blatantly lie for malicious purposes, he didn’t think she was above that, but he hadn’t seen much sign of her doing so to date.

If Lila could get the help she needed, maybe she could be set on the right path before she did something it was hard to come back from.

Ms. Rossi gave a more genuine smile at that. “I’m glad. Maybe… maybe this is something that can be fixed. My boss has been suggesting I take a vacation soon anyway. I’d been planning on putting it off a bit longer but - well, this is important. I won’t make a final decision until I investigate more, but I think it might be time for my daughter and I to go visit my parents for a few weeks, far away from Paris and Hawkmoth and the risk of akumatization. I think we have some things to work out.”

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

A few days later Lila disappeared, telling everyone that her mom was taking her on vacation with her - an actual truth for once.

There was definitely a method with her lies. They either allowed her to exert more control over her circumstances or were things she WISHED was true. He guessed she didn’t see the need to lie there since she liked the idea of going on vacation with her mom.

Come to think of it, while she’d lied about how much time she got to spend with her mom and the types of things they’d do together before, she didn’t lie about say, her mom’s profession - she really DID work at the embassy. That wasn’t something she really seemed to wish was different, though he suspected that she lied about some of her specific accomplishments, making up grander-sounding ones than were probably true.

Lila still kept in touch with the rest of the class and nothing much happened for a couple weeks.

Until one day he came into class and saw a group of his classmates muttering together.

He frowned. “What’s going on?”

Mylene looked up. “Lila just called and… well… she told us some stuff.”

She winced. “I guess you were right to warn us not to take everything she said at face value.”

“It’s okay; I get it. You didn’t want to believe that someone would lie to you.”

At least she’d fessed up.

“What’re you going to do?” he asked curiously.

Mylene chewed her lip. “I’m not happy she lied and manipulated us, but… well, not everything was a sham. The fun times we had together? They still matter. So… for me at least? I’m not gonna let this stop us from being friends, so long as she doesn’t do it again. Some of the others are more upset - Alix walked out when she heard, I think she’s cooling her head first - but that’s my take on it.”

Nino nodded.

Lila’s actions had consequences and each person she’d lied to would have to decide for themselves how they felt about it.

But at least she wouldn’t be completely alienated.

Lila returned a few weeks after that seeming more subdued. A few of the people who were in her posse formerly now avoided her, but they didn’t try to do anything against her. They just only engaged with her casually. He suspected that they’d warm back up after awhile once the sting had faded some more.

Speaking of avoiding people, Lila’d been avoiding Adrien, Marinette, and Alya. Though he didn’t get the sense she hated or disliked them anymore - she almost seemed ashamed. The few times he’d caught her glancing their way she’d looked sad more than anything.

With great relief he found that she’d stopped trying to invade Adrien’s personal space and harass him. He actually felt safe leaving them together for short periods of time, though he still had some reservations and wouldn’t want to purposely set them up in that kind of situation.

She also happened to be busy regularly on certain days twice a week, shortly after school. When some of his classmates asked her about it she said she’d been signed up for some violin lessons. He heavily suspected that that was one of the few lies she was still telling though. He’d seen some worksheets poking out of her bag lately that looked less like anything a music teacher would assign, and more like homework a therapist might assign.

That was fine. She might still be lying, but well… it genuinely wasn’t anyone else’s business whether she was seeing a therapist or not. He might not be fond of her, but she still deserved privacy. If she felt safer telling people she was going to violin lessons than that she was going to therapy, then so be it. Not like he and his friends had never told lies when they’d felt it was necessary.

He was just glad that Lila was finally getting the help she needed.

-----------

(A/N) I figure after everything that happened there'd be some lingering trauma, with Marinette having the most because of the way Divergent Points - ML Salt centered around her (plus seeing herself used for that would be VERY disturbing). Alya and Adrien would have a fair amount as well, but considering how Adrien's reacted to the trauma of losing his mom, Gabriel's abuse, Desperada, etc., I don't think it'd be all that visible with him.

I have no love for Lila. I'll still happily read fics that include bashing her and exposing her, at least when doing something else that I massively enjoy, when that's not the sole purpose of the fic.

But I've seen it done a million ways already, and have seen so many of those fics just turn into warping every other character into a horrible human being and exacting extreme vengeance and I'm just... I'm tired of it. At this point I just want Lila to not be a threat anymore.

#divergent points #ml fanfic #Miraculous ladybug #nino lahiffe #Lila rossi

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