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When She Smiles / Fan Works

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Examples of When She Smiles in fan works.


  • Abraxas (Hrodvitnon): Several characters have observed that when San smiles in genuine happiness without any violent intent compared to his Slasher Smile, it's quite disarming. Ren Serizawa is apparently not known to smile often, but when Vivienne sees him smiling in Chapter 13, it's a bittersweet reminder of the late Dr. Serizawa.
  • Gankona, Unnachgiebig, Unità: Italy tells Japan to smile more because of this. Japan really does have a nice smile.
  • Advice and Trust: When Asuka sees Shinji acting gloomy, moody, or depressed she encourages him to smile because she thinks his smile is beautiful.
    • In chapter 3:
      Once they were almost alone on the bus, Asuka felt safe to talk to him, and rested her head on her arms on the back of Shinji's seat. Shinji was staring out the window, a faintly sad look on his face. She poked him in the back of the head. "Why the glum look, Shinji?"
      Shinji blinked and snapped out of his distracted fugue. "Uh? Oh, it's nothing."
      She poked him again. "Bullshit. Talk, Third. I like it when you smile too."
  • A Crown of Stars: Before traveling to Avalon Shinji and Asuka were very, very burnt-out and broken. Nonetheless, Shinji always made a special effort to find new video games for Asuka because he loved seeing her smile for a change.
    He never managed to say to her face that it was all worth it to see that wisp of a smile and hear her calling him ‘baka’ again in that softer voice.
  • The Child of Love: Asuka’s smile was so beautiful when they got married after so many hardships that Shinji said he would never forget it.
    Shinji: I will never forget that smile you gave me when you said 'I do' in front of the priest. And it may take my entire life to repay you for that smile, but I'll do it.
  • Child of the Storm has Carol usually wear a cynical smirk or a sardonic smile. When she actually, genuinely smiles (something that, not coincidentally, usually happens when Harry's around), it's noted as being genuinely dazzling.
    • Harry himself smiles a little more often, but when he does really smile, it both tends to be dazzling, and give him a startling resemblance to his maternal second cousin, Jean Grey.
  • In chapter 7 of Children of an Elder God, Rei Ayanami blushes and smiles when Shinji says she's beautiful. Touji and Kensuke agreed that her smile was memorable.
    And then she smiled.
    It was a small smile.
    A very small one.
    But it was a memorable one.
  • In Danganronpa: Yakuza Arc, Hajime Hinata has shivers go down his spine the first time he sees Natsumi Kuzuryu give a genuine smile.
    Natsumi looked away and a smile crossed her cheeks. It was an honest, relieved smile. Unlike her usual forced, smug, obnoxious grins, this was a real smile. Natsumi was genuinely happy. Seeing her smile like that sent shivers down Hajime’s spine.
  • Doing It Right This Time:
    • Shinji thinks Rei—his formerly aloof, Broken Bird fellow pilot—has a very cute smile.
      Shinji's head shot upwards at the familiar voice. Perched casually on Unit-00's shoulder, Rei met his gaze and smiled that little Mona Lisa smile that had made him harbour thoughts he was somewhat embarrassed about.
    • As Asuka does:
      Asuka had only ever seen that smile once, directed at Shinji after Ritsuko—or Misato—finally got him back out of Unit-01. Now she wasn't continually seeing red and green both at once, she had to admit it was quite a nice smile. Rather cute, in fact.
  • Evangelion 303: In chapter 4, Asuka beamed at Shinji sincerely. Up to that point, Shinji had seen her angry or depressed most of the time, and he was shocked and flushed.
  • In Hellsister Trilogy, Supergirl is often troubled or depressed. Still, according to her lover, her smile is beautiful.
    She turned and smiled at him. Her smile, he thought, had power enough to illuminate the darkness between Earth and Aldebaran.
  • HERZ: In chapter 10 Shinji imagines Asuka smiling such a beautiful smile that it was heart-breaking.
    Asuka. He imagined her standing at the end of a long polished corridor. She was in her HERZ uniform with her usual eye patch and arm harness. She held Akiko in her arms and smiled at him. It was a smile that could break his heart.
  • Kyon, already described as average-looking in Kyon: Big Damn Hero, whose smile is a source of security and relief to Tsuruya.
  • In La polilla y la mariposa, while Alma doesn't pay much mind towards Bruno and Anná's bond, Pepa and Julieta are fully aware of the positive effect she has on their brother because he genuinely laughs when she is around.
  • Last Child of Krypton:
    • Shinji finds Asuka beautiful when she smiles.
      Asuka rolled over beside him, her red-gold hair shining in the newborn light. She smiled beatifically, the neural connection clips she wore in her hair blinking faintly. She reached out and stroked his arm gently.
    • Kaworu thinks the same thing of Rei:
      He said something softly to her, and she jerked back in surprise, and then smiled warmly as he approached.
  • Neon Genesis Evangelion: Genocide: In chapter 11, when Asuka is distraught and Shinji tells that he wants to be always with her and live for her, she smiles. Shinji thinks her smile is beautiful.
    Then Asuka's lips curled up, an almost-smile. It was the most beautiful expression Shinji had seen on her face since before she took Keiko into combat.
  • The Night Unfurls:
    • Kyril is a stoic person whose face is covered by his hat and bandanna nigh-perpetually. It shouldn't be a surprise that a number of women who like him would like to see the Hunter smile towards them.
    • An inversion occurs in Chapter 8. When asked by Celestine about his Dark and Troubled Past (due to her peeking into his journal three chapters ago), Kyril smiles, in a way that conveys sadness instead of happiness. As he recounts how he tried in vain to keep his past companions safe, ultimately deciding to bear the memories of the dead as best as he can, Olga and Celestine see him as a woobie In-Universe.
    • Chapter 10 has a straight example. Grace notices Kyril smiling thinly as the Hunter talks about how he has the company of his apprentices and his dear companion who soothes his mind, thus he's never lonely. She internally notes that Kyril looks nice, though she quickly crushed that thought down.
    • Another inversion happens in Chapter 21, where Olga sees Kyril's solemn, yet warm expression on his face. Except that he is not currently showing this expression to her, but to his Not Love Interest Evetta. The later parts of Olga's POV describe how jealous she feels (because she's not the first/only one to witness this side of Kyril), admitting how "unfair" this line of thinking is (because Evetta knew Kyril way longer than she has), and reminiscing how Kyril had been the only man to show her and her servant Chloe kindness. And then Kyril gives Evetta a smile and let her go on her way, only for it to gradually fade into the stoic visage everyone is familiar with, hidden beneath his bandanna.
    • Another straight example occurs in Chapter 31, after Kyril reluctantly obliged Celestine's request to kiss her. He smiles, which causes Celestine to blush, internally noting that it is "the warmest expression" that he has given her. Contrary to many straight instances of this trope, there's no Love Epiphany, no Love Confession, for Kyril is a Celibate Hero who doesn't dwell on supposedly "warm" feelings.
  • In chapter 9 of Once More with Feeling, Touji notes that Misato’s smiles are dazzling:
    "Uh huh" Misato agreed suddenly, turning one of her dazzling smiles on him. "And its time to real them in" she declared, turning back to the battle before Toji's legs got too shaky from the effects of that awesome smile.
  • The One I Love Is...: After spending several chapters angry and trying to not crying, Shinji asks Asuka out. In answer, she smiles, and he thinks she is gorgeous when she smiles sincerely instead of seeming mad, smug, or depressed:
    She gave me her most beautiful smile, before reverting to her arrogant self. If I had not been seated on my bed, I might have fallen on the floor. For that brief moment, she had really been the most gorgeous person I had ever seen.
  • Scar Tissue:
    • After Third Impact Asuka spent most of the time looking angry, depressed, or sneering. When she smiled, though, Shinji thought that she was the most beautiful girl in the world.
    • Gender Flipped when Shinji smiles and Asuka thinks that his childish, relaxed smile melts her heart.
  • A Study in Regret: When Sherlock Holmes smiles for the first time, Mary Watson is so joyful that it unlocks all the emotions she's been keeping at bay, and she cries. And Holmes holds her for as long as she needs him.
  • In The Second Try, the main characters -a married couple of Broken Birds- love seeing each other smile for this reason:
    • Asuka liked teasing Shinji because she loved seeing him smile after everything that they'd been through.
    • Shinji loved seeing Asuka smile, too. When she smiles, he usually cannot deny her anything.
      If Asuka had fought that day in her usual manner, he might have been able to persuade her. But he hadn't stood a chance against the still tired yet serene smile that she had worn the whole time, so he eventually had given in when she softly asked him to just drive extra carefully.
    • Asuka complements Rei's smile after Shinji is rescued from Unit-01's core, though she deliberately words it in such a way that everyone other than Rei would mistake it for an insult due to having to stay in character.
  • Superwomen of Eva 2: Lone Heir of Krypton:
    • When Extreme Doormat Shinji smiles he makes Asuka's heart race.
    • In chapter 16 Asuka beams at Shinji, and he feels his heartbeat speeding up:
      Then, to his considerable surprise, she smiled at him, something she hadn't done since before the last Angel battle. Shinji felt his heartbeat accelerating as he looked at her.
  • In Thousand Shinji, when Shinji sees Asuka and Rei smiling after their final transformations, he thinks that both girls look beautiful.
  • In Children of Time, Holmes's smile is rare by the time Beth Lestrade meets him, and her heart melts every time she sees it. On the flip side, Holmes later tells her that she has "no idea what her smile does to his insides". He ends up nicknaming her "sunshine".
  • Higher Learning: In the prologue, when Kaoru sees Shinji smiling, he thinks: "I would have moved the universe to see that smile."
  • In the Touhou Project doujin Kokoro's Smile Is Priceless, Kokoro ends up losing her mask again, this time to Rinnosuke, and he tells her to sell things in the village to learn how to be responsible. In the end, she manages to surprise him by selling everything (wearing an expressionless maid outfit) and receives her mask back. And she gets impressed with the fact that Rinnosuke looked over her, from distance, and she ends up smiling. The quicker is that the artist doesn't show her smiling.
  • While Katara despised Zuko, she noticed the transforming power of Zuko's smile in The Stalking Zuko Series. Averted by Jet, who thinks Zuko looks extremely strange when he smiles.
  • Cloud is usually very sour and so Zack treats every time Cloud smiles like a momentous occasion in The Fifth Act. Even Genesis notices how attractive Cloud can be when he smiles.
  • In Naruto: the Secret Songs of the Ninja this is how Naruto first notices how pretty Hinata is.
    A sudden random thought struck him at that moment—when she smiled, Hinata was actually quite pretty. He wondered how he'd never managed to notice that before.
  • In Auf Wiedersehen Sweetheart, Feliciano describes Ludwig while playing soccer:
    When Ludwig smiled, he was the most beautiful person in the entire world.
  • In The Rock Farmer's Daughters, Cheese Sandwich finds himself in awe when he witnesses Pinkamena smile for the first time in years.
  • In Expendable Heroes this is how the bond between Team 7 fully forms.
    It was tiny, a mere curling on his lips. But it was still a sight to see. Only then did Sakura understand why Sasuke was seemed so fond of the blond. That timid smile that threatened to break through his usual stoic demeanor... at that moment, Sakura felt like she could take on the world to protect that smile.
  • In Hope for the Heartless, the Horned King, the monstrous lich, has the most beautiful smile of all creatures... according to Avalina, his Morality Pet. She lampshades this trope by saying:
    "You have the most genuine smile of anyone I've ever met. When you're happy, I know it's real. Not a mask, like I've seen other people wear."
  • In Fullmetal Alchemist (2003) fanfic build your wings on the way down Edward notes how Gabby, a college student he meets outside a nightclub and Aviv, her intimidating Face of a Thug Ishvalan boyfriend, look nicer when they both smile.
  • The Bridge:
    • The Cutie Mark Crusaders are really affected when the stern, no-nonsense Destroyah gives a real smile, and do their best to get her to do it more often. Later, when she smiles for Xenilla, he is very affected and remarks that he didn't know she was capable of smiling.
    • Flash Sentry's father Stalwart Sentry is very stoic and serious. In a flashback, he smiles when he sees a very young Flash playing with a very young Starlight Glimmer and Sunburst. Fancy Pants remarked that he hadn't seen him smile in a long time and it was good to see.
    • In The Shimmerverse crossover The Bridge: A Shimmer in the Dark, Princess Sunset Shimmer's smile is so beautiful that Rodan subconsciously remembers it even after his memories of her have been erased.
  • Corrin Reacts: Flora is shown to be rather down often and is as much a Broken Bird as she is in canon. Corrin mentions she looks far nicer when she smiles, noting that she very rarely does.
  • In this Mystic Messenger fanfic, the main character is absolutely dazzled when V gives her a genuine smile, noting that it felt like she was getting a glimpse of "the old V."
  • Pokémon Reset Bloodlines has an unusual example in Chapter 31. Misty barters her spare clothes to get a Sceptilite for Ash, and she smiles after he thanks her. Ash notes that, while he has seen Misty smile many times before, there's something different this time, and he likes it.
  • To Hell and Back (Arrowverse): According to Henry, Iris' smiles were rare after Barry's presumed death. During the visit where he learned of Barry's survival, the first sign that something major has happened is how she's positively beaming at him.
  • Fates Collide: During a party, Glynda Goodwitch smiles while she is dancing with Vlad. When Medea sees it, she is happy that Glynda is finally relaxing and having fun.
  • Lost to Dust: Gray's teammates tend to become very happy whenever she gives a rare smile.
  • Son of the Sannin:
    • Chapter 76 has a non-romantic example. While Naruto visits the Hyuga estate, he notices that several of the clan's members (including Neji) look a lot happier than usual. Turns out it's because Hinata found the way to remove the Caged Bird Seal from their foreheads.
    • Inverted in Chapter 78 with Sai. He smiles when Ino confronts him during the raid to Root's headquarters. Ino calls him out on giving her a fake smile, but Sai reveals it's not fake, and he's genuinely happy to see her.
  • The Red Dragon's Saber: When Artoria first appears, she has her usual stoic look. When she identifies Issei and Asia, she smiles. Issei is awestruck, telling himself he didn't think she could be any lovelier, but he was wrong. Asia also likes her smile and decides to trust her because of it.
  • In Fire Emblem Awakening: Invisible Ties, Lucina is noted to be truly beautiful whenever she smiles or laugh, which isn't often.
  • In When She Smiles (Fresh C), Asuka loses her memories and has a breakdown after realizing that she will most likely never get them back. It pains Shinji to see her hurting and he does not know how he can help her, but he knows "he [will] always live or die by Asuka's smile."
    And in the end, he never did figure out whether he would have been better off without her in his life. But he did realize one thing. Whether it be right or wrong, whether he loved it or hated it, he would always live or die by Asuka's smile.
  • In X-Men: The Early Years, Scott Summers is sour-tempered, moody, snarky and anti-social... but when he smiles, Jean Grey's heart skips a beat.
    Jean Grey studied the framed picture she was holding. She'd managed to capture one of Scott's rare unguarded smiles in the photograph. No one else had ever seen this particular picture of Scott. She'd made sure of that. This was her picture, and it made her heart skip a beat every time she saw it. Scott had been sending that smile to her and only her that afternoon in the park. That's the reason no other human being would ever see this picture. This was her Scott and no one else's.
  • The Long Road (2015): Instances where Jack smiles at Hiccup in particular garner interesting reactions from the latter. Holding his hand also does this, as Hiccup notes that Jack, unlike all other people he's ever met, has smooth, unblemished hands.
  • During Cross Cases, both Sam and Dean are in bad places in their canon arcs and aren't up to smiling. Dresden remarks how much younger Sam looks when he smiles and laughs, like any other thirtysomething guy joking around with friends, and once Dean's had the Mark of Cain removed, he grins at Sam, a smile Sam hadn't seen Dean make in two years and thought he'd never see again, as the brothers set out together to save the world once again.
  • Fate/Black Dawn: When she was a Servant, Arturia was The Stoic who rarely smiled, but when she did it lit up the room. Here, when she is king, she never smiles, and it kills Shirou when he sees her displaying all the emotions of a statue. He is delighted when he does actually make her smile, if only briefly.
  • Unbreakable Red Silken Thread: Heather, who typically smirks or grins when in a good mood rarely if ever truly smiles. The few times she does are noticed by whoever happens to see it. The same is true with her laugh, which is usually described as a 'harsh barking' as opposed to her genuine laughter that has been compared to "soft bells ringing". Sammy also plays this straight due to how shy she is, with the rare occasions she truly smiles standing out.
  • Worm Grand Order: Taylor Hebert gives Vista a smile. Vista describes it as something she wants to see every day.
  • Futures Freak Me Out: After calling her father out for the final time, Asuka goes to meet Shinji to tell him she loves him and she is putting her troubled past behind her. Then she smiles broadly, and Shinji finds her incredibly gorgeous.
    For the first time since she began talking, she smiles. A moment later a giggle slips out of her mouth. She looks… unburdened. She looks like she was in chains and is at long last finally free.
    And she is overwhelmingly beautiful.
  • BlazBlue Alternative: Remnant: Jin Kisaragi usually always has a serious glower on his face, which makes the moments he smiles all the more notable. When he meets up with Tsubaki and Weiss for the first time in years, he actually smiles. Kagura even lampshades it.
    Kagura: You two must have some kind of magical powers. I think that's the first time we've ever actually seen him smile.

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