#‘these people are displaying critical thinking skills!! burn them!’

[queerexmo]

just saw a mormon say how sad it is that even faithful members are criticizing the church……. honey how do you not see what a red flag that is

[beardedmrbean]

Okay mostly know Indy from clips(Disney hurry up and put the films on plus) but didn’t Indy try to save artifacts so that the NAZIS and Soviets wouldn’t have them?

While we don’t have to take stuff like the British museum, but after all these church burnings, statues being destroyed, and other shit (especially in the Middle East) I would prefer artifacts to stay in a secure place rather than being at the mercy of emotionally immature people.

Sorry this took so long, keep getting distracted by things and people. Mostly people.

Ya the British Museum bit is a quality observation since there's a post on here that goes over that situation perfectly, guy from I believe Iraq visiting the museum and crying in front of an exhibit of stuff from "home" cue the ignoramuses with no capacity think of any possibility beyond 'white people bad' displaying a stunning lack of critical thinking skills and outright ignorance, until someone points out that if someone had bothered to read the article they would have seen they were tears of joy.

For Indy, the first movie 'Raiders of the Lost Ark' he finds the Jewish artifact generally referred to as the "Ark of the Covenant" got the broken OG 10 commandments tablets, some manna, and Aaron's staff in it, manages to get that away from the Nazis because just because they hate Jews it doesn't mean they won't try and take advantage of their sacred artifacts.

Winds up in storage in a warehouse in the US that holds all kinds of things that are on the do not touch list.

In regards to the movies it's the only thing he did not get back to it's rightful owners.

Temple of Doom, the whole thing was with stones that were somehow magical and provided prosperity to the village where one of them was, their sacred object gets all three but loses two when they start getting charged up off of Indy's grumpiness but he saves the one that belongs to the village and gets it back to them.

Last Crusade at the opening (RIP River Phoenix) there's a cross he's trying to retrieve from a guy that will pretty much just sell it on the black market, not an object with any specific owner other than maybe the Vatican and he says it belongs in a museum.

Which I can agree with given the type of object it is, to a point, maybe ask the Pope if it's ok.

Then it's looking for the literal Holy Grail, which can't leave the spot in well they used Petra for the outside shots so let's go with that, so it's still where it was when he started just underground a bit maybe.

Crystal Skull, took it back to where it belonged and the aliens took off in their space ship since they needed the last one's head before they could do that.

Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, I can't think of any artifacts that he specifically recovered and took away once he was old enough to know the score, went in to a mummy's tomb as a child with TE Lawrence and a few other folks who did stuff but he was like 8 what could he do. Same with meeting up with Teddy Roosevelt on a safari in Africa with several other big names if you know names from that time.

Tolstoy's Bible might count, but he traded Tolstoy his baseball cards for that so fair deal (wild thing to say) got to hang out with the last round of Hapsburg's in Austria too, really top quality show.

Kinda jumps from childhood to him late teens, riding with Pancho Villa meeting Remy (RIP Ronny Coutteure) who wants to go back to Belgium since well that whole first big tussle with Germany and Austria Hungary known as WW1 is going on and he wants to defend his home, so lot of WW1 stuff there not much archeology, do get a episode with Tim McInnerny playing Kafka that's a lot of laughs but that's an espionage thing, whole episode played out like Kafka wrote it fun stuff.

After all that he goes back to the US, and there's no archeology at all, rocket building with Goddard, college dorm mate with Elliot Ness, learns Jazz from some of the masters in a episode featuring Harrison Ford (finally) Civil rights stuff here and there.

But ya, all of the stuff he finds winds up in the hands of it's rightful owner.

As unproblematic archeologists go he's up at the top I'd say.

Think Spielberg did that all on purpose, ark thing works for him since he's Jewish so he can decide what he wants there.

_______________________

This was long, sorry. Hope it's a bit interesting at least.

[sirenalpha]

Darth Vader being portrayed as crossing any moral event horizons or as someone who can genuinely scare you in non-OT material actually damages Darth Vader's characterization and the themes of the OT

it's not cool, good fan service, or an interesting perspective shift

specifically, portraying him as hatefully cruel and enjoying his own cruelty or playing him up as a horror or a boogeyman or making him out to be more of a mastermind/saboteur is inaccurate and doesn't work for the final sequence in rotj

his lack of cruelty and lack of joy in the cruelty or any arrogance derived from it is what separates him and is meant to separate him from the other villains in the OT like Tarkin, the Emperor, or Jabba

sure Darth Vader is angry and brutal at times in the OT, but he is most of all efficient and it keeps him from crossing the line and keeps him respectable

the worst he does, aka the thing he does that the heroes do not because the heroes do kill people and lots of them and they also dismember people, is torture people but it's kept carefully off screen and he's not presented as enjoying it and it's always to achieve a particular tactical end

you as the audience are not meant to be afraid of him or hate to love him, he's clearly portrayed as a worthy opponent, he's meant to be respectable as an opposing commander as he puts himself in as much danger as his own men and the heroes

that's part of why he gets into a starfighter same as Luke over the Death Star and is there in person on Bespin and Endor

he does not in anh drag Obi-Wan through flames out of revenge for his own burning, he just fights him with a lightsaber because he wants to prove he's surpassed him in his lightsaber skills now and isn't even particularly mean with his smack talk

another factor that frequently gets left out of non-OT portrayals of Darth Vader is his deference and subservience

Leia (and by proxy you the audience) is not afraid of and talks back to Darth Vader because she knows he's on a leash, she shows more contempt and fear for Tarkin and Jabba than she does for Darth Vader

Tarkin is able to tell Vader off and Vader obeys him no question, not even any back talk

Vader is also portrayed kneeling to the emperor and calling him master and obeys him even when he doesn't want to like bringing Luke to him

yes he cooks up a plan to offer up ruling the galaxy to Luke in esb but it's his only meaningful display of autonomy before killing the emperor and it shows that he's still thinking within the Sith paradigm

he is not scary because he lacks power in this one critical area and it serves to make him sympathetic

Darth Vader works so well in his role as a redeemable minor villain because he is a worthy opponent being held back and used by worse people

that's why it matters when non-OT material changes Darth Vader's characterization

when you give Vader the autonomy to actively act against the Emperor like taking on a secret apprentice, you cheapen his relationship with Luke as it means Luke is no longer the only person important enough for Vader to risk going behind the Emperor for, any old force sensitive would do, and it makes him so much less sympathetic when it seems like he could cast off his subservience if he just wanted to making him no longer someone who might need help or saving

when you let Vader toy with Obi-Wan and torture him on screen or be cruel to those between him and his objective, you make him a less worthy opponent and portray him as in line with other OT villains rather than different from them

all of these negative effects on Vader's characterization damages Star Wars' themes because beyond making Vader a less coherent character, it makes Luke's efforts to save him less noble and less rational

there actually does need to be a reason for the audience to believe Luke when he says there's still good in Vader and not just because he's Luke's father

otherwise the emotions involved with Vader's redemption will not land with the audience

and if those don't land, if the audience doesn't feel that Vader's redemption is satisfying, that Vader is actually undeserving of the opportunity and faith Luke offers him

Vader's redemption and self sacrifice is superficial, just one moment out of a life time of harm caused and about familial ties and Luke and Vader's relationship as father and son, it is base instincts to protect your own child, it's a rather cynical and unhopeful story as Luke, the hero that's supposed to reestablish the Jedi and help the galaxy, is just foolish rather than good so nothing really changes

if it lands however, if Luke's goal to save his father really is noble and successful, and Vader is redeemed in a more meaningful way than having done just one good deed, then it is a much more hopeful story about the ability to change and become better for both of them, Luke becomes a better Jedi than his teachers and Vader finally overcame his own flaws, and the galaxy is a better place for both of them having done so and can continue to be improved

and that's why you can't just make Vader a scary overpowered bad guy in new Star Wars entries even if you think it will draw people in

[cheapsmmpanelsblog]

Better Understand and Grow Your Business With Social Media

I have been on Facebook beginning around 2006, Twitter beginning around 2008 and involved the two stages as a method for developing my stock organization that I used to possess. Indeed, I even had an exceptionally dynamic MySpace account. Over the most recent 3 years, I have likewise been dynamic at Google + and keep my LinkedIn profile refreshed quarterly. I additionally am dynamic on YouTube. So we should better comprehend and develop your business with Online Entertainment.

So leading why? Why invest energy and exertion on this? I think as an industry we are most certainly delayed to adjust a large number of the devices accessible to us with social cheap smm panel outlets. On the off chance that you take a gander at a portion of the key part in our industry very little time and exertion is placed into virtual entertainment. Web-based entertainment takes heaps of time and it is difficult to rapidly truly see the outcomes. Additionally, for the overwhelming majority in our industry, we are a greater amount of a simple industry and are seconds ago getting to the computerized age. Cushion Printers are a great representation. Brilliant inventive and skilled individuals that stamp ink. They can make pretty much anything work, yet ask an in-your-face cushion printer their contemplations on the computerized sublimation frameworks is frequently "that terrible difficulty making machines can take a flying jump… " However in the right climate with the right market, sublimation can be a hero for a cushion printers business. So back to Web-based entertainment…

So why the do we should be via virtual entertainment? 37 million individuals sign onto to Facebook day to day, and as of now, 40,250 Tweets have been posted. What about Google +? Who do generally us all go to when we need to look for something on the web? There are 5,922,000,000 (Yes that is 5.9 Billion) look through on Google each DAY. Google holds a stunning 67.6 percent of the U.S. web crawler piece of the pie, as indicated by the most recent web index portion of the overall industry figures for April 2014, delivered by comScore. Being on G+ and discussing search terms that are critical to your business as well as sharing connects to your site on G+ accurately will help your hunt positioning. By further developing your pursuit positioning you will have a superior probability that somebody goes to your site who is keen on the items and administrations you offer. So the numbers are correct. There is a crowd of people and chances are a large portion of your clients are some place via virtual entertainment sitting tight for you to communicate with them.

The other justification for a significant number of us is the cost. The cost can't be bested… FREE! Being social is totally free and simply takes time and exertion. There are things you can burn through cash connected with virtual entertainment that will make things somewhat more straightforward, yet truly individuals getting everything done well and investing the energy required don't need to pay a thing to advance their business and track down new clients. What are your options in contrast to arriving at your clients? You could display at an expo or home show or another occasion. However, anticipate burning through $5,000 to $10,000 to truly do that right. You could do web promoting with flags or Google AdWords. Anticipate burning through $1,000 to $2,000 per month to get the sort of contact you can get with virtual entertainment. You can put promotions out on the radio, television or even the nearby paper, however again they generally cost cash, an item that most private companies don't have in overflow yet. Presently utilizing virtual entertainment to work on the return on initial capital investment (profit from venture) for the above things is something you ought to be taking a gander at doing. Suppose you spend the $5,000 to show at a nearby home show, however by result of pure chance end up in a corner behind the neighborhood windbag real estate agent and nobody comes to see you. What about utilizing web-based entertainment to get individuals past the real estate agent with pictures of your corner, kids about the windbag real estate agent etc. Act naturally and assist with peopling come track down you.

One more in addition to is it isn't uneven like numerous other advertising strategies, you don't need to be the only one developing your business with it. Genuine quality connection is driven by your clients and expected clients. Your responsibility is to encourage association between your organization and items. This isn't the brief presentation where you have 30 seconds to sell your labor and products, this is an ideal opportunity to discuss things that interest your client and fabricate a relationship that will transform them into enduring clients. Likewise, cheerful client make the BEST salesmen so give them an outlet to advocate for your image by having a functioning online entertainment plan.

So what else should be possible? With virtual entertainment, you can likewise involve it as an instrument for Client support. Indeed, I'm at legitimate fault for utilizing my own Twitter to vent my dissatisfactions with unfortunate help got by an organization. I additionally attempt to know about yelling out great client assistance by organizations through web-based entertainment. Many organizations have sorted it out and really work effectively of aiding, supporting and dealing with their clients with virtual entertainment. Then there are the instances of the individuals who have made enormous botches. An organization that a large number of us in our industry could have known about made the Inc. Magazines top 10 virtual entertainment flops in 2014 for their posting of an image of the Challenger space transport detonating as an approach to praising the fourth of July on their Tumblr page. They got hammered for itself and the reason was the online entertainment chief was brought into the world after the Challenger fiasco and didn't realize it was it was. On the other side of this coin you have bunches of organizations in our industry and past that get it and work effectively of collaborating with their clients and making web-based entertainment a necessary piece of their client assistance plan. For instance, I'm a faithful flyer on Southwest due to the assistance I got by means of their Twitter group when I was having a few difficulties going with my Mentally unbalanced child. They got a move on made our excursion a lovely one and presently I scarcely fly any other person. You can do things like screen for remarks about your organization or item and afterward ensure you are making the best choice via web-based entertainment. You need to imagine their perspective and wear your "sympathy" cap while interfacing with people via online entertainment. Abandon your self image!

Virtual entertainment can likewise be utilized as an instrument for exploration and item improvement. You can track down a wide range of data about your rivals, your clients and expected clients via web-based entertainment. The stunt here is to simply be essential for the discussion. You must be a human, in addition to a Twitter Handle or a Facebook Page. You need to give something to get something. This implies tackling issues, giving tips and deceives, opening the shade to your identity personally and organization. When you do this then you can get individuals to respond to questions like "Do you like the dark edge plaque with this plan or the cherry edge plaque with an alternate plan?" You can likewise see whether your rival XYZ Organization takes excessively lengthy to convey an item, or has different shortcomings that you could possibly exploit by being a piece of the "bunch" via virtual entertainment.

So as you can see to me being a piece of online entertainment can be a gigantic lift for your business and furnishes you with a wide range of instruments to advance your business as well as comprehend and better help your clients. It is allowed to be a piece of it simply requires investment. Yet, assuming you ponder what your typical day resembles, how frequently are you simply perusing the most recent misleading content article that your companion posted on Facebook or taking a gander at the most recent Disney quote on Twitter or other time squandering action. Why not require those 15 minutes and give it to being dynamic via web-based entertainment such that discussions about your business. What about empowering your workers to be dynamic via online entertainment as it connects with your business. Everything necessary is for the word to begin spreading and you will get results. They will not be gigantic or prompt, yet assuming the work is placed in and you are day to day being a piece of the discussion where your clients are at via online entertainment, you will awaken in a half year to a year and notice that it is working.

[ghostjellyfishheart]

I saw this post by @ly0nstea and wanted to add my thoughts, but got derailed so now this exists.

I think a big issue with Ozai is, again, the narrative.  Ozai is the most powerful bender in universe because otherwise Aang’s purpose is diminished, but he can’t face Ozai before the finale.  Aang’s goal was to defeat the Fire Lord, after that the story ends.

Most of the posts I see criticizing Ozai emphasize his lack of field work.  They say things like “oh Azula was the one who achieved everything of importance during Ozai’s reign” which is sort of true for the part of it we see in the show.  Ozai does not lead any battles.  But why would he?  Putting your leader on the front line, regardless of bending prowess, is a risky strategy.  And the Fire Nation spends the entire show winning the war.  Ozai has no in universe reason to go out into the field, and a narrative reason to avoid it.

It bothers me when people say Azula accomplished everything of note for Ozai because it just.... isn’t true?  Azula accomplished a lot towards the end of his reign, which is the main part we see.  But before that, the Fire Nation was winning the war, to the point where they seemed unbeatable.

Oddly enough, I think one of the best examples of Ozai’s abilities, bending and political, is Zuko’s burning and banishment.

The burn was controlled.  It didn’t spread across Zuko’s head as his hair caught fire, the shape of the scar is rather precise, the heat from it didn’t cook his brain.

The story wasn’t widespread.  I know it’s a popular idea in fanfic, especially the idea that Toph knows, but it isn’t supported by the show.  Zuko’s crew didn’t know.  A group of soldiers traveling through a bunch of ports with the prince never overheard and gossip about it and were never asked to confirm it.

Sure, the Fire Nation court knows the story, but nothing was ever confirmed for the people.  And who could burn the prince and get away with it?

The prince was sent to capture the Avatar.  Seems a strange mission to assign after he’s been missing for nearly a hundred years.

I’m just saying it would have been really easy to craft a story about how the Avatar, the only person who can bend fire that would want to hurt the prince, attacked and disfigured the heir of the Fire Nation.  The prince lost the fight, but is on a mission to capture the avatar and restore his honour.

A rallying cry to unite the people

And a warning for the court.  This is what the Fire Lord did to his son for standing against him.  What would he do to you?

Not to mention the way Zuko’s banishment intimidated the Fire Nation’s enemies.  I’ve seen things before pointing out that the timeline checks out for Zuko’s banishment being what rallied the Southern Water Tribe into joining the fighting, despite being absolutely devastated.  Which checks out, since the last time an heir of the Fire Nation took to the field, Ba Sing Se nearly fell.

Not to mention, Zuko was still loyal after all that.  He wanted to find the avatar and go home victorious.  The only thing that could throw a wrench in Ozai’s plan would be the return of the Avatar.  Not as an old man who could have reasonably been working in the shadows to take the Fire Nation down, but as a kid.

Ozai had no reason to fight Aang until the comet.  The narrative did not want Ozai to fight Aang before the comet.  He sends out antagonists the Gaang are allowed to win against from the safety of his palace.  This means his skills and abilities are never put on display, but does not diminish them.  Ozai was an extremely powerful bender and a political mastermind.  It’s just easy to forget, because if Aang had faced Ozai before he was ready, the story would have ended with the Avatar losing.

[ashesandhackles]

The Hogwarts Express scene in Prince's Tale: A Sirius and Snape analysis

I really, really enjoy Sirius and Snape as characters and their respective narrative functions in story. But what gets me most about them is how much Rowling hints about their backgrounds and so much of it makes sense with regard to who they are as adults. So I am going to be breaking down a very small scene from Prince Tale and getting into long winded hypothesis about their respective childhoods.

So, let's start with Snape. The scene begins with Snape rushing to find Lily, already in his Hogwarts clothes. Harry notes he must have been eager to get out of his clothes - ones that look like he borrowed from his mother, as Petunia spitefully pointed out. This has always been a very interesting detail to me - first off, it indicates how poor Snape's family is. Second, this indicates his tiny rebellion from his father - he refuses to wear clothes of the abusive man, and prefers his mother's. I admit, I am partial to the reading that Snape refuses to associate with his father in tiny ways, rather than Tobias refusing to hand his son clothes.

(I have seen readings which say that it is also a sign of neglect - perhaps his parents bought clothes that simply don't fit him, but I am more inclined to think it's a hand me down, simply because Harry identifies so strongly with it. Because Harry knows what it is like to wear a hand me down that don't quite fit, that are too big for you, or the ones that make you look ridiculous.)

Lily and Petunia's relationship is fraught with Petunia's jealousy. And young Lily is upset over it when Snape meets her. "I am not talking to you. Tuney hates me" she tells him. "Because we saw the letter from Dumbledore". Young Lily shows signs of being extremely emotionally reactive and this scene is one of them. It's easier for her to deal with Petunia's rejection of her by telling Snape she doesn't want to talk to him. It's a childish displacement of her hurt over her sister's rejection. (I am genuinely baffled by interpretations that Lily and Hermione are similar. Hermione is very cognitive person, Lily, as we have been shown repeatedly in memories, is not).

Snape, however, with his bad history with Petunia and his inability/ poor social skills to understand why this matters to her, goes: "So what?"

Lily, who throws him a look of deep dislike, says "So she's my sister". This seed is important because this is what develops into "he doesn't get me" feeling she later displays in her teenage scenes with him. Interestingly, most of Lily's personal relationships have deeply interwined love and dislike - Petunia (whose rejection bothers her but she cheerfully informs Sirius that Harry nearly broke a vase her sister sent - which means there is resentment on her end too), James - who she was attracted to even before 7th year but also disliked at one point, and Snape - again, a contentious friendship filled with love and distance.

"She's only a -" we dont get to hear what Snape intended to say. And given his own acrimony with Petunia, it could be anything. However, I read it as "She's only a Muggle" because it ties into his feelings about his father. Snape, who is proud of being half a Prince, emphasizing his magical lineage from his mother's side, his refuge in a violent, neglectful home. (Barty Crouch Jr and Snape with their disappointing fathers - I imagine Voldemort is supremely attractive leader to people with broken homes like this)

Snape, by all accounts, shows a disorganised attachment style. His caregiver, his mother - and perhaps the only parent he seems to have regard for, is too preoccupied by her own abuse to be there for her son - we see this in glimpses Harry sees in OOTP: " woman cowering" where a man shouts at her, and a young, neglected Snape cries in the corner. Children born in homes like this have trouble regulating their emotions, simultaneously displaying tendencies to aggressively lash out or show disassociative symptoms. Both of which Snape displays. Statistically, this is also seen more in low income households where economic instability and resulting domestic instability creates an unsafe environment for the kids to safely form ideas of their identity, or express emotions in healthy ways, modelling instead out of behaviour seen at home.

Then, Snape reminds her that they are going to Hogwarts. He is already in his Hogwarts clothes - now, Snape gets to be the impressive figure. The one who told her about magic, who theorised about how Muggles get letters from magical people, the one who told her about Dementors and Azkaban. He has already left behind the Spinner's End version of him, he wants to bigger than that, and is keen to be in place of magical learning and to join Slytherin. Essentially, he shows signs of unstable identity, insecurity - all prime for grooming into a cult.

And here comes along James Potter, who looks around at the mention of Slytherin. James's comment uses Snape's line and directs it to Sirius instead and it becomes a conversation between them, as a way to bond more with a fellow "rowdy boy" Sirius. Effectively ignoring the other two.

Sirius as we see here, "does not smile" when James talks about Slytherin. He essentially says something that can be construed as a way to nip that conversation in bud: "My whole family has been in. Slytherin". This suggests to me that there is some loyalty to his family there and his disillusionment with them isn't entirely fixed yet. After all, Sirius's intense loyalty to his friends, more specifically James, did not come out of thin air. It is reasonable to suggest that he felt some loyalty to his family at some point and the intensity with which he regards his friends is a reaction to burned off and being a "displaced person without a family" as Rowling put it.

Interestingly, while his reaction to his mother and Bellatrix are obviously sore spots, his response to Regulus is comparatively quite soft. ("Stupid, idiot" - something he calls James later on in the same book, OOTP). I imagine Sirius has quite complicated feelings about his brother and he is capable of nuance (when the person isn't Snape, where his dislike seems to be borne of an intense projection): "The world isn't split into good people and Death Eaters". As someone who is grown up among them, Sirius would understand that.

His framing of Regulus's need to please his parents also further highlights what exactly is the source of disillusionment. He calls Regulus "soft enough to believe them" - which means he is crediting his own intelligence to see through his parents bigoted world view. Clearly, bigotry is not something the Blacks explained in a way that Sirius, eldest of their male line and their heir, bought it. It also probably didn't help the Blacks case that Grimmauld Place is in a Muggle neighborhood and that their eldest son is a bit of a wild boy with interest in pushing boundaries. His intellectual disconnect leads to the righteous rage he later feels but it began there. (Boy, it must suck to discover that everything you have been taught to value in the world and in yourself as the heir is essentially rubbish). Since his differences with his family began with seeds of intellectual disconnect rather than on intense empathy with downtrodden, it makes him, as a pureblooded privileged boy, unable to truly understand Lupin's fears regarding his lycanthropy. Hence, the Werewolf prank (I am not getting to the Snape bit, just the Lupin bit). To James' credit, he does understand what that means for Lupin and saves all three of them from different set of consequences.

Anyway, back to the scene. James, who has made an ass of himself in front of his new friend, who he was getting along with fine until now, then goes "Blimey, I thought you seemed alright". (Btw, I find James wildly large ego kind of hilarious here, especially in light of Snape's comment about him to Sirius in OOTP: "You will know he is so arrogant that criticism simply bounces off him"). Sirius, who I believe has been raised like "royalty" as Blacks would, has good enough social skills to defuse a situation. He grins and says: "Maybe I will break the tradition".

This line is an indication of Sirius's desire for independence, an identity seperate from his family. The use of the word "tradition" is interesting. It sounds like Sirius is expected to behave in a certain way, the heir of Black family whose parents thought being a Black "made you practically royal". Adult Sirius is contemptuous of this, or their "valuable contribution to Ministry" which means they just gave gold - it tells me that any and all conditions put on him by his family were to fulfill tradition that is either worthless or holds no meaning in his eyes. The root of the emotional abuse Sirius suffers from his family is this - realising his parents love for him is conditional on him being a certain way. (In fact, you can read Regulus desire to emphasise his connection to the family as a reaction to what he sees with Sirius - Sirius does not behave, Mum and Dad don't love him). As a child with unconscious knowledge of lack of love, Sirius then acts out, they react, rinse and repeat "until he has had enough". Sirius chafes against boundaries well into adulthood and doesn't react well to people enforcing it on him, even if it is out of love for him. Cue the fire scene with Harry where he behaves as if Harry is rejecting him instead of protecting him.

Sirius asks James about where he wants to go, and Snape, who is incensed about James being insulting about a House he put stock in, which he made part of new identity (so that he is no longer that Snape boy from Spinner's End) and was in general trying to be impressive about in front of Lily, "makes a disparaging noise" once James talks of Gryffindor. Snape's response to James' : "Got a problem with that?" is interesting. He says: "If you'd rather be brawny, rather than brainy-"

This is an important value for Snape. He knows he is clever and values it. He spends his spare time inventing hexes, making great shortcuts to Potions. He has genuine thirst for learning and he hones it. In SWM, we see that he has written far more longer answers than anyone else, he is poring over his paper after exams. He even mocks Hermione's lack of inventive answers: "Answer copied word to word from the textbook, but correct in essentials". He values originality. It may be me stretching this, but I am partial to the reading: this is his way of rejecting his father once again, who is implied to be a violent man. (in other words, someone who is hypermasculine - "brawny". In fact, Snape's rejection of hypermasculinity is a huge post on it's own - Potions (brewing, cauldrons - coded as feminine arts), the doe Patronus, his proficiency in Occlumency and Legliemency (intuitive mind arts, again seen archetypically feminine) etc).

"Where are you hoping to go, seeing as you are neither?" - Sirius is quick with emotionally cutting insults. Snape hasn't even finished his sentence, but Sirius is already on his case. Which suggests growing up in a household with sharp tongues. It's a fair assumption, given Mrs Black's half mad portrait. It also tallies with Sirius's talking about his mother: "My mother didn't have a heart Kreacher, she kept herself alive out of pure spite" . The wounds are fresh enough on this. (Another interesting way Snape and Sirius act as inverse mirrors - Snape rejects his father, Sirius rejects his mother. Sirius acts as proxy for James for Harry while Snape takes on Lily's role of protecting him). However, you know who else is spiteful? Sirius.

While James is the physical bully (the tripping Snape, doing most of the bullying in SWM), Sirius attacks emotionally. ( Sample the one about Snape's appearance - "I was watching him, his nose was touching the parchment, there will be great grease marks all over it, they won't be able to read a word" or even the carelessly vicious- "Put that away, before Wormtail wets himself in excitement"). Curiously, with all that talk of how his mother being spiteful, it's her room he spends time in when he is depressed. (Again, in inverse mirror way, we can talk of how Snape looks for a father figure in Dumbledore - craves his validation and is proud of Dumbledore's trust in him). We could argue it's also because Buckbeak is there, and perhaps it's the largest room in the house, but it's very telling that's where Sirius spends time when he is "in a fit of sullens". Sirius's sense of abandonment from his family, makes him look for family connections with friends - a trait he shares with Harry. Interestingly, the first time he glimpses Harry in Privet Drive, Harry is also running away from home - just like he did. Anyway, I could go on.

[fruitoftheweek]

Little Cherry Book:

Chapter 1: Who is She?

Chapter 2 Here/ Chapter 3 Here

I guess this is a Switch!Spencer (mainly Sub! Spencer)X reader fan fiction this is my first fan fiction I’ve written since middle school so bare with me and feel free to message me constructive criticism. This will probs be multiple chapters but I just couldn’t get this idea off of my mind so here we go! And yes this season 1/2 Spencer because he is just the cutest!

Pairing: Spencer Reid X reader

Plot: Doctor Spencer Reid has heard of little black books, but that pales in comparison to what he has just found in the BAU’s elevator. A sweetly scented notebook filled with salacious journal entries illustrating the writer's sexual fantasies. He doesn’t know what it is about this book but all he can think of is finding its owner.

TLDR: Spencer finds your kinky notebook and uses super sleuth skills to find you.

Series TW: 18+, smut, degradation, piercing, choking, knife play, mommy/daddy kinks, spanking, exhibitionism, Will update as time goes on

Chapter TW: Cumming in pants, Hinting at sex, exhibitionism, no panties, Language, General 18+, Hinting at future kinks

Word Count: 2,439 (gah damn)

𝒯𝒪 𝒲𝐻𝒪𝑀 𝐼𝒯 𝒞𝒪𝒩𝒞𝐸𝑅𝒩𝒮:

𝒟𝑜 𝓃𝑜𝓉 𝓇𝑒𝒶𝒹, 𝓃𝑜𝓉 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝓂𝓎 𝓈𝒶𝓀𝑒, 𝒷𝓊𝓉 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝓎𝑜𝓊𝓇𝓈. 𝐼 𝓌𝒾𝓁𝓁 𝓃𝑜𝓉 𝒷𝑒 𝓌𝓇𝒾𝓉𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓂𝓎 𝓃𝒶𝓂𝑒 𝒾𝓃 𝒸𝒶𝓈𝑒 𝒾𝓉 𝒸𝑜𝓂𝑒𝓈 𝒾𝓃𝓉𝑜 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓌𝓇𝑜𝓃𝑔 𝒽𝒶𝓃𝒹𝓈. 𝐼𝒻 𝒾𝓉 𝒸𝑜𝓂𝑒𝓈 𝒾𝓃𝓉𝑜 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓇𝒾𝑔𝒽𝓉 𝒽𝒶𝓃𝒹𝓈, 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝒸𝒶𝓃 𝒻𝒾𝓃𝒹 𝓂𝑒. 𝐼𝒻 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝒸𝑜𝓃𝓉𝒾𝓃𝓊𝑒, 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓈𝒽𝒶𝓁𝓁 𝒷𝑒 𝒸𝓊𝓇𝓈𝑒𝒹, 𝒷𝑜𝓉𝒽 𝒾𝓃 𝒶 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒸𝒽𝓎 𝓌𝒶𝓎 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓂𝑒𝓃𝓉𝒶𝓁𝓁𝓎. 𝒴𝑜𝓊 𝒽𝒶𝓋𝑒 𝒷𝑒𝑒𝓃 𝓌𝒶𝓇𝓃𝑒𝒹.

As Spencer read these sentences, he paused. Not for the warning of so-called curses, there was no scientific evidence for such things and Spencer knew magic was just science with a trick of the eye, but for the vehement warning making him feel intruding on whoever had left their journal in the elevator.

It had caught his eye as he stepped into the elevator on his way out of the office. As someone who had lost plenty of books in his days roaming the halls of the BAU, he knew how frustrating it was to not know what happened at the end. As he picked it up, he noticed the cover. It was old, bound in aged cherry red leather, yet too small to be more than a pocketbook. He had found your message while searching for a name to return the book to, and simply reading the first page already felt prying.

Alas, one sentence enticed him “If it comes into the right hands, You can find me.” Where his hands the right ones to come into? The probability of that could be found easily by calculating how many people got on and off of this specific elevator that day, no, in the past hour, with the hustle and bustle of people leaving for the day. Spencer could and he would calculate it he wasn’t so distracted by the message and his voracity to solve this mystery.

Tentatively, he flipped the page, finding a handwritten table of contents. This book had obviously been very important to the reader if they had taken the time to write in page numbers, detailed headings, and chapters. The table was nearly full of chapter titles in scrawled cursive lettering. His eyes stopped on the first chapter title. “Male Needs” with shakey lettering. He could tell by your handwriting that you grew more confident in your journaling as the chapters progressed, the hesitations in your strokes growing few and far between.

As he flipped the page once more he had reached the next floor and a large group of people bustled into the elevator. Spencer shied away from them, not just because he had an aversion to contact with strangers and their germs, but because of the sentences, he had read underneath that first chapter “I do not need a man, a man needs me. Yet, when I am with a man, I have needs. Needs that most men can’t fulfill. I need a man that eats pussy like it’s the only way to quench his thirst-“ and with that Spencer slammed the book shut, earning some confused looks from the others on the elevator. He should have heeded the warning because now all he could think about was the fact that this was your nervous entry and as your confidence grew, it was bound to escalate from there. He wasn’t sure if it was his flustered mind or the heat growing deep from inside him that made him feel dirty; not because it scandalized him, but because these were someone’s fantasies and he had intruded in their secrets and soiled them with his mind.

Ding! He had reached the ground floor and that was when he decided to leave it alone. He couldn’t bring it to the lost and found as it would be more likely to end up in the wrong hands there and your secrets would be for someone else to find, not that he even knew who you were.

On his drive home, he tried to think of anything else besides the book. His lunch, Garcia’s new item she added to her collection, how to get back at Derek for putting salt in the sugar container, but his mind kept wandering. It didn’t help that the notebook sat tauntingly on top of his satchel as if saying “Open me, you know you want to. You want to know who I am. You can find me.” There was no way that it had been there for that long as the janitor was on duty today and he had been on the elevator two hours ago on his way to clean the top floor. Since Spencer had left a little later than most people that meant there were multiple elevators full of people who would have noticed. He knew it wasn’t so but part of him felt as if you had left it there specifically for him to find. Like it was made for him. He quickly shook off the thought and went back to who it could be. He wanted to return it without reading any more. You clearly would miss it but he couldn’t imagine you wanted others to know about what lay in those folded corners of your book and your mind.

As he walked up the steps of his complex, he clutched onto the notebook with all of his strength, he feared that he would look down and it would have disappeared, he wanted to keep your deepest secrets safe as if they were his own. He was only able to relinquish his grip when he shut and locked the door to his apartment. He set it on the table as he got prepared for the night. By now he had limited his pool to 54 women who were regularly in and out of the elevator at that time of day which was a cut down in comparison to the 860 roughly women in that building on any given day. But that number still wasn’t small enough. He had to minimize the sample size even further. That was the only reason he reopened to the table of contents, right? Not because of his own morbid curiosity and definitely not because of the heat burning in his stomach.

He looked down at the page numbers, still too nervous to look at the titles, and saw that each entry was a page long consisting of 23 entries and one with a title but no page numbers. Not chapters as he previously thought but entries giving lascivious details into what he had not yet mustered up the courage to read. He was still unable to look at the titles in fear of what he might find. If graphic depictions of female oral sex were displayed under “Male Needs”, what possibly could lie ahead.

For now, he studied the handwriting. Cursive, not often used by many younger women, was often associated with antiquities and traditional values but he noticed something off. There was a very specific curl to certain numbers. Every even number had a specific extra curl or flourish to it and the zeros had a line through it like a “do not enter” sign. This went directly against the hypothesis that you were an older woman that the cursive provided; as many older women who wrote in cursive stuck to the rules even when it came to numbers. She wasn’t old enough to even be Hotch’s age but she appreciated the charm of the past. 'Who is this girl?' Spencer wondered. He was able to narrow it down to about half of his previous lot, excluding the women on his team. He had seen them write enough to know their handwriting inside and out. And while Garcia’s had similar flourishes to yours, she never crossed her zeros.

Spencer knew that he would have to read at least the chapter titles to grasp a better understanding of your handwriting and who you could possibly and as his eyes scanned the page, for the first time in a while he was actually reading slowly; putting all of his focus into each word and what order they were in. Unfortunately, his focus was his downfall. His face became so hot that he felt as if you could see steam coming off of it.

Table of contents:

Male Needs

Praise

Degradation

Mommy

Daddy

Work

Exhibition

Choking

Collars

Breeding

And that was all he could take. Ha couldn’t look at the thirteen and a half more entries, even this much knocked the wind out of him. He didn’t have much experience with women and certainly not enough to understand what all of those words necessarily entailed but he knew that whatever it was keeping his internal fire roaring with heat.

While he hated snooping, he knew he would need more information. He chose the chapter that sounded the most mundane out of all of them, "Work." ‘What was more normal than work.’ he thought, but he was so sorely mistaken.

"Work:

"Before I move on to exhibitionism, I have to talk about work. Yes, I would love to have sex at work where I and my partner are one step away from getting caught, I haven’t done that yet. I want to tell you what I have done. Almost every day I go to work wondering if the others can tell that I’m not wearing underwear.”

His heat spread from his face down until it pooled in his loins and his cock became hard imagining this mystery girl walking the halls of the BAU with a breeze in her skirt, nearly exposing the secret that lied beneath. Had he sat next to you when you were partaking in this activity? What would he have done if your skirt bunched up your thigh as you sat, exposing the tan lines where your underwear should be. Would he be able to see you in your tight work pants with no pantie lines and be the only one who truly knows your secret?

“I kinda want to be caught someday by Him. I wonder what he would do. Would he tell me off for being unprofessional? Would he take me to that storage closet 3 doors past Garcia’s office, just far enough away that he could teach me a lesson for being naughty at work?”

He felt so dirty, inserting himself into the fantasies of a girl which he did not even know that he almost glanced across the use of Him, capital H.i.m. He wanted to indulge in his imagination that in some way or another that the “Him” in question was in fact the man reading this with trembling hands and an impossibly hard cock. He couldn’t stop himself from imagining situations in the storage closet that he regularly used as a reading nook when he needed time away from the others.

He rested his head on the pages of the book, hoping somehow that his dirty thoughts would be transplanted from his head and back into the pages so that he could stop thinking about you. His efforts were thwarted as this action meant that he could spoil himself in your scent that enveloped the book. As if you had wrapped it in the deepest most vulnerable part of you to hide it away from others. You smelled of bergamot, patchouli, and musk but deeper than that, you smelled like sweet, tart berries and honeysuckle in summer. There was something else that he couldn’t put his finger on at first but it was intoxicating all of his senses. It was saccharine, heat, and sex all combined in one. When it clicked, it no longer felt as if his head was pressed against a book but as if his he sat kneeling on the ground with his cheek resting in your inner thigh, your hot sex waiting for his indulgence, “like it's the only way to quench his thirst” echoed in his brain. The scent was your natural pheromones beckoning him closer with the promise of a treat.

And that was it. That was what sent him over the edge. The purest embodiment of your scent had him cumming, hot in his pants.

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

You sat down at the edge of your bed after a long day at work; shucking off your work clothes to get as comfy as you could in your PJs as a way to unwind from the day. You went to grab your lip balm from your bag and noticed that the front pocket of your bag had been left open. You instantly panicked, searching everywhere for your little red book. The one that kept the key to your deepest secrets and darkest fantasies. You tore your bag apart, knowing that you had it at the end of your workday because you took it out of your desk drawer and tucked it back into its home in your bag. You cursed your carelessness for not double-checking that you zipped your bag before leaving. With your forgetfulness, you knew it would happen one day but you didn't realize it would be this soon.

There was an odd mix in your heart and your stomach. Part of you felt your heart drop through your ass thinking that it had ended up in the wrong hands, part of you had butterflies thinking about someone knowing the deepest parts of you, intimately in your own words. You had the assurance that your name was nowhere to be seen in the book but you also knew that you worked with people who analyzed people's dark desires for a living. While none of your fantasies involved murder, they were like precious gems that you kept locked away in your heart. You couldn't dare imagine what would happen if it came into His hands. While you were the youngest at the BAU, only by a few months and you weren't even part of the group because you were still tentative, you couldn't put your dirty thoughts into the innocent head of the pretty boy genius. It was almost more worrisome than if SSA Hotchner or Gideon found it and you were fired. The idea of tainting someone so pure...

You had to literally shake your head to clear your thoughts. Imagining His face tinged red in innocence reading through your lewd writing had your head in a tizzy. Imagining Doctor Spencer Reid sifting through the pages with lightning-fast fingers, stroking down the pages of smut as you had imagined him stroking down your thighs so many times before. You decided to bury your head in your pillow, hoping that would calm your mind enough to slip into slumber.

Unfortunately for you both, your efforts would be fruitless and you would both go to sleep unknowingly thinking of each other.

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

Chapter 2 Here/ Chapter 3 here

And that's Chapter one. Hope y'all like it. LMK in my messages and all that <3 have a great week!

[natewriteslol]

The Wonders of Magic Pt. 1

Non magical!Twisted Boys x Witch!Reader

A/N: This has been sitting in my brain for a while since I have Little Witch Academia brainrot and I love snooty rich boys asdfljsfaj

Characters: Keep reading to find out!!

Warnings: Language and Y/N goes by she/her pronouns 

Summary: Dealing with magical adventures and society deeming magic as “flashy but worthless” doesn’t deter Y/N L/N from reaching her goal of becoming a powerful witch. However, what will she do when she has to find a way to stop the selling Calypso Academy? 

~~~

All your life you had dreamed of being a witch, however there was a slight problem. You weren't a magic user.

And as magic use had started to become more oppressed and scarce, magic schools were starting to open their doors to all walks of life. Making the most elite schools fall to their knees.

Either you lose your elite status or fall into debt.

So this was good opportunity for you, you managed to make it into one of the most renowned magic schools in the country, Calypso Academy. But it wasn't all peaches and cream, you weren't exactly accepted among your peers. Your family weren't magic users, nor were they wealthy. Yet you still pursued magic, there was a fire burning in your heart that just drew you in all your life. And you couldn't let your dream go just because of some mean girls. But this is the story of how you met some of your greatest obstacles.

 ~~~

It was the night of the great Ball, Calypso academy was having it's 350th anniversary. And you unlucky for you, you still didn’t know how to ride a broom since you were learning from the ground up. 

So there you were, by yourself, in one of the open fields of your campus. Trying to make this broom fly. 

And in your flight teacher Ms. Flint’s words, “If the broom doesn’t leave the ground, you can’t step a foot in the ball.” And so far, your feet have been stuck on the ground.

You felt horrible. I mean, what witch doesn’t know how to fly a broom? And while you were incredibly dejected

 from your failures, you knew you couldn’t just let it go. 

‘The trick it to be determined, yet feel as light as a feather. Be one with the broom’ your manifestation teacher, Mrs. Fairi had softly advised. You had to do this for for her, she already put so much faith in you, she would be so disappointed if she didn’t see you at the ball. 

“Nubes Volant ro!” You casted, pushing your leg to lift. Expecting your legs to come back down and for your shoes to hit the softness of the grass... but it never came.

You opened your eyes and there you were, suspended in air. 

Your excitement was indescribable, but you needed to be skilled enough to meet the requirements for Ms. Flint. So you tried and tried again, and while a little shaky you still managed to fly and do a stable landing! 

“I did it! Screw everyone in this academy who doubted me!” You  squealed a little loud, doing a little dance. You heard  footsteps and chuckling, but you brushed it off as some of your classmates. Too excited to care, you grabbed your things and ran off to show Ms. Flint.   But there was one problem, the entire point of this celebration was to both celebrate the anniversary but... it was begging as well. It was no secret that Calypso was losing money to pay taxes, but they were being pressured to give it all up. So to persuade the buyers, they had invited their son's to be enriched in witch culture and tradition. To prove them wrong and show that magic has value. However the students of the academy weren't aware of the true intentions behind the invites of the son's of these rich men. Many whispered in the halls about the upcoming ceremony. Talking about how handsome the young men attending were. But the day of the party was finally here! The banquet was absolutely incredible with 25 foot tables of food on both sides of the ballroom. Crystal chandeliers with floating candles illuminating and creating a heavenly golden light. And the great ancient tapestries that surrounded the room. There was no way that anything could mess up your night. 

But then, you heard a shout from a classmate in the crowd. "The nobles sons! They're here!" You stopped stuffing your face for a moment. Everyone cleared the way for the grand wooden doors as they opened, a red carpet elegantly draping the piece of floor it laid on. Designer shoes clicked as they touched the ground. Every girl eyes followed as they walked, you snuck past some trying to get a glimpse of their features. They were five of them being escorted by one older gentleman, all incredibly handsome young men. One had a bright smile that was genuine and waving at some of the girls in the crowd. While the other had a smirk not paying anyone any mind, as if he was calculating something. One held a solemn expression, yet was incredibly poised and graceful. The last two however wore scowls, one that showed he most definitely didn’t want to be here while the other just looked strict. 

They sat down in their seats in the front table that awaited them. Each seat was just as fancy as a king’s throne, with gold embellishments and velvet seats. 

It was a cookie cut scene, they were made for this life of luxury.

~~~

It was an hour into the ceremony, showcasing tricks and theatrical dances from every witch culture from around the globe. But it was almost as though nothing was satisfying them, besides the one with white hair. While he adorned a smile, there was something behind his eyes, as though he was doing some critical thinking. 

Nothing was enough for them. 

But it was toward the end and the noble’s sons were promised a tour. Every witch in the school was made to study up on knowledge of the campus. So that if you were the “lucky winner” you wouldn’t look like a complete fool. 

As you snacked on your chocolate filled croissant, Ms. Flint with her booming voice had called everyone’s attention to the center of the stage. Raising her wand, a split of golden light had displayed random names. 

Knowing your luck, you knew you wouldn’t be picked. I mean this was probably a tactic to get people to study the school’s magical history. It did work, as if there was a slight chance you were chosen you wouldn’t want to make a fool out of yourself in front of people like you usually did. But, Principal Hendrix wouldn’t be so irresponsible as to let a random student represent the school, right? 

Exactly. But even then, you sure did feel sorry for whoever was to give the tour-

“Y/N L/N!”

...

Remember what you said about shitty luck? 

Shocked was an understatement. Even though you had your two best and only friends Silva and Miete patting you on the back telling you congrats and to do your best, the hammering of your heart was too heavy for you to handle. 

Whispers broke out for a moment, a lot of girls were incredibly disappointed but cleared the way for you to go up the stairs and talk to Ms. Flint and Principal Hendrix. 

“Good job, Y/N. Now if you wouldn’t mind, please give these young men a tour of Calypso, would you?” Principle Hendrix said gently with a smile.

“Ha, ha, of course! But surely there’s been a mistake, I mean Lydia could probably recite the information without having to read a single book-” 

“No way, L/N. You were chosen, now do the tour please, the latest you can be back is at 9pm,” Ms. Flint replied, cutting you off sharply. 

“You’re an incredibly charismatic student, Y/N. Just keep them entertained,” Principle Hendrix whispered as you walked toward the table.

Be charismatic, not awkward! Got it!

“Alrighty then! Who’s ready for a tour?” you said, almost giving finger guns as a mechanism. 

“Oh, I am!” 

“Yes,  I’ve been wanting to see the range of this property in person.”

“Yes, I would like to get this over with. I have an appointment tomorrow and I would not like to miss it.”

Other than that, all you received was a nod and an eye roll. But it’s better not to pry and ask for more from them. 

Each getting out of their seats, you walked outside. Hearing cheers from the crowd and the occasional “Vil! I love you!” which made you a little embarrassed. 

Feeling the night breeze and seeing the stars poke through calmed you down slightly, it was 7:45 and all you had to do was blabber at them about the school until 9. 

Easy task, Y/N. Easy!

~~~

Once you got outside, the tour had been running smoothly for only a couple of minutes. But you couldn’t help but feel as though they started scanning you, as if they saw you from somewhere. Until unfortunately, the sunshine of the group’s lightbulb had went off. 

“Oh! You’re the girl with the broomstick towards the front of the school! You looked so happy practicing.” 

“There must be a mistake-”

“Are you sure? If so then I guess you have a doppelganger” the boy with glasses teased. 

“Didn’t you say, ‘Screw everyone at this academy’?” the short, red head questioned, persecuting your behavior. 

“Well some people here aren’t exactly the nicest. It was just an excitement of the moment thing, sorry,” You said, trying to get Mr. Non-Rule Breaker off your back. 

~~~

So... you had accidently overshared about your adventures on campus. 

It had all started when one of the boys looked shocked that the ancient Willow tree was thriving and looking beautiful as ever. When he looked at it from pictures given to him, it was completely lifeless and grey. 

“This tree, it looks completely different? It’s been sickly for years! How is this possible?” He asked, as his main piece of evidence the white haired boy gave to his father to buy this property was foiled. 

“Oh, that was me. They had willow worms in the roots that were ready to hatch and I accidently brought them out,” you said, a little prideful, yet it was quickly stomped out.

“That is highly irresponsible, you should’ve had a professional complete that task, not an inexperienced student,” the red haired boy scoffed, it seemed as though he didn’t respect this school at all. Yet the boy with grey hair and glasses paid him no mind, still incredibly astonished, but it was quickly wiped from his face and replaced with a somewhat of a sour look. As though you beat him at some game he was playing.

“...Interesting. I never knew magic could do something of that caliber,” he remarked,  pushing up his glasses. 

“Magic is incredibly useful, Mr...” 

Shit. You didn’t get their names...

“My apologies, I didn’t catch your guy’s names,” you said, placing a hand behind your head. 

You had never in your life seen a group of people get so surprised, besides the other white haired boy, who was happy to tell you his name. 

“I’m Kalim, Kalim-Al-Asim!” he said, shaking your hand with a vigor, “It’s a little funny that you don’t know who we are, but I like that about you!” 

How was it funny? You’ve never seen these people in your entire life? The blonde man was especially offended as you glanced at him for his name. 

“Vil Schoenheit. Actor, singer, dancer, beauty influenc-” 

“Hmmm, Vil I can’t help but feel that you’re angry at Ms. L/N for not knowing who you are,” the boy with glasses remarked before taking your hand, “Azul Ashengrotto, it’s a pleasure to meet you.” 

“I’m Riddle Rosehearts,” the short red-haired boy said.

“...Leona Kingscholar.” 

“Alright, I’m glad I got your names! Let’s get a move on! I have got to show you some more stuff!” you said before moving along, gaining more confidence as you talked to them. 

Maybe this tour wasn’t so bad after all!

~~~

Coming up:

“How did you not know who the noble’s sons are?!” Miette yelled, but her soft voice wasn’t exactly giving the shocking boom to emphasize her feelings.

“I’m sorry! Everything was completely fine after that, if this whole tour was such a big deal then I would’ve studied them more instead of the school,” you said, completely pooped out from last night. 

So much pressure on you made you very tired out, and all of these new details coming out made you feel even more guilty for your half-assed tour. 

[pet-genius]

The Death Eaters as a Cult - Part 3

Follow up to this and this. Trigger warning: Cult abuse.

Draco is vulnerable to being recruited simply because he’s Draco - his father is a Death Eater, and he's eager to prove himself to the master he grew up believing in. I’m not usually sympathetic to Draco, but this line makes me feel for him:

“everyone thinks he’s so smart, wonderful Potter with his scar and his broomstick —”

“You have told me this at least a dozen times already,” said Mr. Malfoy, with a quelling look at his son. “And I would remind you that it is not — prudent — to appear less than fond of Harry Potter, not when most of our kind regard him as the hero who made the Dark Lord disappear.”

This makes it clear that he’s been indoctrinated from a young age into a fringe belief (his belief in the Dark Lord, not in blood supremacy - that’s mainstream), and into hiding it, even after the cult disbanded. This contributed to a sense of isolation from mainstream society, and for someone like Draco, exacerbated his existing condescension and entitlement. The same must be true for Crabbe and Goyle, who on top of being children, are stupid and lacking in critical thinking skills, which means an escape was nearly impossible for them, and indeed, Crabbe died, and who knows if Goyle was clever enough to stay out of Azkaban.

Throughout HBP, Draco goes from boastful to scared for his life.

From DLA:

“What say you, Draco?” asked Voldemort, and though his voice was quiet, it carried clearly through the catcalls and jeers. “Will you babysit the cubs?”

The hilarity mounted; Draco Malfoy looked in terror at his father, who was staring down into his own lap, then caught his mother’s eye. She shook her head almost imperceptibly, then resumed her own deadpan stare at the opposite wall.

Once on top, now the Malfoys are too scared to make eye contact with anyone and protest at their humiliation. Draco is looking to his parents for protection, but they know they can’t provide it, even though Narcissa is trying.

Regulus was in a similar situation to Draco - I think he felt pressured to prove himself after the bitter disappointment Sirius had been. He and Draco were marked before they were of age, whatever being of age means in the wizarding world - meaning Voldemort was not above using minors. He also used children: the Daily Prophet writes that the Ministry has captured a nine year old child who had been Imperiused into murdering his family.

Snape’s vulnerability is glaring. In a nutshell, his extreme poverty and the neglect and abuse played a part in his decision to join the Death Eaters, and there’s a reason why Lucius is seen patting him on the back as soon as he is sorted. Perhaps the policy was to groom all newcomers. Like Barty, he might have looked for a father figure. Harry notices the many similarities between Snape and Voldemort (and himself), and these are all things Voldemort must have used on young Snape as well.

Snape is an example of how disposable Voldemort’s followers were, to him - he sent him to Hogwarts to get the cursed DADA job, meaning he was willing to let a potentially horrible fate befall Snape within the year. Even after Snape ascended to #2 by killing Dumbledore (on Voldemort’s order, no less), Voldemort killed him to gain mastery of the wand Snape became master of by doing Voldemort’s bidding.

Snape also explains the Dark Mark

“There,” said Snape harshly. “There. The Dark Mark. It is not as clear as it was an hour or so ago, when it burned black, but you can still see it. Every Death Eater had the sign burned into him by the Dark Lord. It was a means of distinguishing one another, and his means of summoning us to him. When he touched the Mark of any Death Eater, we were to Disapparate, and Apparate, instantly, at his side.”

A famous cult in my country did this: The leader made his followers tattoo pictures of him and his name on their body. It’s this association that originally made me think of the Death Eaters as a cult. Voldemort branded his followers like cattle, and he expected them to drop everything they’re doing to run to him whenever he wants.

Snape was constantly tested, too. He was assigned a servant he despised, for one, and tasked with killing Dumbledore. Even after he had accomplished that, Voldemort did not fully trust him:

“Yaxley. Snape,” said a high, clear voice from the head of the table. “You are very nearly late.”

This is a threat, since they’re not actually late; I think it’s meant as a “hey, remember when I tortured you once for being late?” It is followed by:

“Saturday... at nightfall,” repeated Voldemort. His red eyes fastened upon Snape’s black ones with such intensity that some of the watchers looked away, apparently fearful that they themselves be scorched by the ferocity of the gaze. Snape, however, looked calmly back into Voldemort’s face and, after a moment or two, Voldemort’s lipless mouth curved into something like a smile.

Voldemort is using Legilimency - he still does not trust Snape, he still needs to interrogate him so carefully that the others are afraid to look.

Next, there is this:

“Do you recognize our guest, Severus?” asked Voldemort. Snape raised his eyes to the upside-down face. All of the Death Eaters were looking up at the captive now, as though they had been given permission to show curiosity.

That the Death Eaters all knew not to look up at the gruesome sight without permission, goes to show, again, how fun it must have been to be a Death Eater. In general, I think the best way to read “Dark Lord Ascending” is to pay attention to where people are looking, and how - it’s important in general, but especially in this chapter.

Lucius is an anomaly. It’s very hard to picture him kneeling, and there is no obvious reason why he should forfeit his dignity. Cults don’t typically target the elite, and in this, the Death Eaters are a bit strange, unless Lucius was also recruited at a young, impressionable age. This can be resolved if you consider that Voldemort is the Heir of Slytherin, and unlike cult leaders, he really is super-powerful, and the person with the most potential to achieve political goals the Malfoy family is interested in.

Privileged as he was, even Lucius had vulnerabilities, and Voldemort was a Legilimens, meaning it was very easy for him to tell what they were.

This is how he treats Lucius in DLA:

“As I was saying,” continued Voldemort, looking again at the tense faces of his followers, “I understand better now. I shall need, for instance, to borrow a wand from one of you before I go to kill Potter.”

The faces around him displayed nothing but shock; he might have announced that he wanted to borrow one of their arms.

“No volunteers?” said Voldemort. “Let’s see... Lucius, I see no reason for you to have a wand anymore.”

How… emasculating.

Lucius Malfoy looked up [so he was looking down until then]. His skin appeared yellowish and waxy in the firelight, and his eyes were sunken and shadowed. When he spoke, his voice was hoarse.

“My Lord?”

Lucius looks like he’s been through a lot. Also, since this scene takes place in the middle of July, why is there a fire? I’m theorizing that it’s for Nagini, or perhaps Voldemort is cold-blooded now, but in any case, he doesn’t care about the others’ comfort level. Maybe he even wants them to sweat.

“Your wand, Lucius. I require your wand.”

“I...”

Malfoy glanced sideways at his wife. She was staring straight ahead, quite as pale as he was, [...] At her touch, Malfoy put his hand into his robes, withdrew a wand, and passed it along to Voldemort.

Voldemort is making Lucius give him the wand himself, to reinforce his submission - he could have used magic.

“Give you my wand, Lucius? My wand?”

Some of the throng sniggered.

“I have given you your liberty, Lucius, is that not enough for you?”

Indeed, Voldemort has given Lucius his (questionable) liberty, but again, he is expecting gratitude for something Lucius would have had in the first place, were it not for him: Lucius was imprisoned because he was caught at the Department of Mysteries fighting for Voldemort.

“But I have noticed that you and your family seem less than happy of late.... What is it about my presence in your home that displeases you, Lucius?”

“Nothing — nothing, my Lord!”

“Such lies, Lucius...”

The soft voice seemed to hiss on even after the cruel mouth had stopped moving.

[...]

“Why do the Malfoys look so unhappy with their lot? Is my return, my rise to power, not the very thing they professed to desire for so many years?”

“Of course, my Lord,” said Lucius Malfoy. His hand shook as he wiped sweat from his upper lip. “We did desire it — we do.”

Remember the fire? Do you notice Lucius sweating? His hand shaking? See how terrified he is, and how awful it must be to be forced to state how much he loves being treated like that?

To Malfoy’s left, his wife made an odd, stiff nod, her eyes averted from Voldemort and the snake. To his right, his son, Draco, who had been gazing up at the inert body overhead, glanced quickly at Voldemort and away again, terrified to make eye contact.

This is what has become of the once mighty Malfoy family.

Legilimency is important - because it means Voldemort typically could spot the mere thought of defection, and manipulate it out of the offender or outright kill them. The DEs know he can read minds, and so averting your eyes could be seen as admitting to a lie, unless you avert your eyes regularly. Breaking eye contact is a gesture of submission, and if one’s body is forced into it enough, it becomes ingrained. Every mention of eye contact in Dark Lord Ascending reinforces that. Their body language in that chapter also shows how controlled they are. I believe Death Eaters are learning to occlude involuntarily, to deceive themselves into only having permissible thoughts and feelings, to ensure their own survival. This makes it impossible to escape.

Finally, there’s JKR’s statement that Snape was the only DE who could produce a Patronus. This can't be because he's not evil (Umbridge can produce a Patronus), and it can't be because he's the only DE who is more powerful than 13 year old Harry. I think it’s because they were not allowed to - I think a spell that requires you to think genuinely happy thoughts would have reminded Death Eaters that their happiness does not come from Voldemort. The rigid mind control screams "cult" to me, and I think it's a much more interesting take on them than "bunch of plot-stupid people who had somehow managed to terrorize the wizarding world despite being incompetent".

Hope you now feel the same and thanks for reading this thesis <3

[reneg661]

Was one of the primary antagonists in the Entertainment District Arc of Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba. She was a demon affiliated with the Twelve Kizuki, being the secondary holder of the position of Upper Rank Six, a position she shared with the primary holder, her older brother, Gyutaro. Over a century ago, Daki was a human child by the name of Ume, who lived in the Rashomon Riverbank of Yoshiwara, the lowest class of the Entertainment District, before she and Gyutaro were turned into demons personally by Doma, who was Upper Rank Six at the time. Daki was a very prideful, dismissive, and sadistic person, taking enjoyment in toying with her victims before killing them and not showing the slightest bit of guilt or remorse for apathetically taking the lives of people. Daki also seemed to think very highly of herself, dismissing all non-Hashira Demon Slayers as not worth her time, and getting incensed when Tanjiro Kamado spoke to her, presumably because she looked down on him. This is also shown when Daki said that she might spare Tanjiro if he told her how many Demon Slayers are present in the Entertainment District, and when Daki openly expresses how slow the Demon Slayer's techniques are and her boredom, further exampling her arrogant and dismissive personality. Daki's cruel nature. As a courtesan, she seemed to have a seductive side as seen during her typical interactions with her male clienteles. Despite being hundreds of years old, she had displayed childish and brattish tendencies such as throwing tantrums, crying hysterically when things didn't go her way, and lashing out against anyone to vent her frustrations. Daki was openly aggressive and both verbally and physically abusive towards anybody that displeased her in any form. Daki had a certain number of habits that were well recorded in history, in particular her use of the word "Hime" at the end of any of the identities she assumed. She also had a habit of angling her head to the sides and glaring at others while sitting when criticized. As an oiran, Daki was extremely cruel and wicked, pulling on a young girl's ear because she didn't clean up her room and punching Zenitsu Agatsuma into the other room for merely touching her. She also preferred to only eat people that she viewed as beautiful or strong, choosing to kill those who got on her nerves without eating them and leaving their bodies behind, which people often mistook as suicide. Daki displayed a spoiled and bratty demeanor that bordered on sociopath-like character, harassing many of her fellow workers to the point of suicide, purely because they annoyed or retorted her, all the while showing no traces of guilt and in fact deflect the blame on her victims for offending her. She was so prideful that she had no respect for anybody, not even her house owners, rubbing on their faces that she was their central source of income as both a way to display her status and halt their objections towards her. She was so drunk on her standing and infamously violent tendencies that some house masters had to resort to bowing their heads in order to calm her angry outbursts, to which she responded by putting up a corrected, more polite and affable stance. Nonetheless for all her faults, she was an exceptionally skilled courtesan whose many identities had always earned great fame and significant earnings. Daki throwing a tantrum. Daki has shown to have exceedingly childish and aggressive tendencies, potentially due to her young age prior to being transformed into a demon. This was shown when she threw a tantrum and cried when she got beheaded by Tengen Uzui, showing her childish temperament and whining incessantly while spewing threats at the Hashira. As seen during her fight against Nezuko, Daki also suffered from a certain level of Pyrophobia. Due to her having been burned alive at the age of 13 in her human life, Daki has shown to have a deep psychological fear of flames. Having been shown to scream hysterically after she was set on fire by Nezuko's Blood Demon Art due to the experience having brought back that painful trauma to her. In stark contrast to her bossy, hostile, dominating and violent exterior, Daki was fanatically loyal to Muzan, bowing her head immediately and speaking in a considerably meeker voice tone while being both visibly terrified and mesmerized by his presence. This was well known to him to the point he actively honey-laced his words towards her in order to easily motivate and direct her actions, despite the fact he thought badly of her abilities in comparison to her brother. She seems to have a somewhat caring relationship with her brother, Gyutaro, though she had been seen insulting and ridiculing him when they both fail, showing that despite her love for her brother, she isn't above ranting and lashing out at him, as shown when she spoke cruelly of him upon their defeat, even insulting his appearance and viciously claiming that he couldn't possibly be her brother. Daki refusing to leave Gyutaro. However, underneath her spoiled attitude towards her brother, Daki is shown to possess a strong genuine love for him, as seen during her time in Limbo, where despite Gyutaro attempting to sever ties with her and try to send her to heaven, Ume stubbornly refuses to abandon her brother, even if it meant going to hell together with him. Having tearfully reminded him that no matter what happened to them, they were at their strongest together and promised that no matter how many times she died and was reborn, she would always be his little sister. It was noted by Gyutaro that as a human she possessed an easily influenced, impressionable and honest personality, causing her to easily take up the personality traits and words of those she trusts and admired to heart, as evidenced by Muzan's manipulation. Her brother Gyutaro himself believes that the sole reason why she is like she is now was due to her being raised by him to be selfish and to only worry and care about herself due to taking to heart his words of "take before you're taken from", resulting in her current personality. He also added that had she been raised in a normal household and was taught proper morals and teachings, she would've become the polar opposite of her current self.

Daki (c) Demon Slayer Art (c) reneg661

[itsclydebitches]

RWBY Recaps: Volume 8 “Dark”

Welcome back, everyone! Can you believe it's been six weeks already? I can't. Something something the uncomfortable passage of time during a pandemic as emphasized by a web-series.

But we're here to talk about RWBY the fictional story, not RWBY the cultural icon. At least, we will in a moment. First, I'd like to acknowledge that shaky line between the two, growing blurrier with every volume. A sort of good news, bad news situation.

The bad news — to get that out of the way — is that we cannot easily separate RWBY from its authors and those authors have, sadly, been drawing a lot of negative attention as of late. This isn't anything new, not at all, but I think the unexpectedly long hiatus gave a lot of fans (myself included) the chance to think about Rooster Teeth's failings without getting distracted by their biggest and brightest production. There's a laundry list of problems here — everything from the behavior of voice actors to the quality of their merch — but as a sort of summary issue, I'd like to highlight the reviews that continue to pop up on websites like Glassdoor, detailing the toxic, sexist, crunch-obsessed environment that RT employees are forced to work in. A lot of these websites requires a login to read more than a page of reviews, but you can check out a Twitter thread about it here. 

Now, I want to be clear: I'm not bringing this up as a way to shame anyone enjoying RWBY. This isn't a simplistic claim of, "The authors are Problematic™ and therefore you can't like the stuff they produce." Nor is this meant to be a catch-all excuse for RWBY's problems. If it were, I'd have dropped these recaps years ago. I'm of the belief that audiences maintain the right to both praise and criticize the work they're given, regardless of the context in which that work was produced. At the end of the day, RT has presented RWBY as a finished product and, more than that, presents it as an excellent product, one worth both our emotional investment and our money (whether in the form of paying for a First account, or encouraging us to buy merch, attend cons, etc.) I'll continue to critique RWBY as needed, but I a) wanted fans to be at least peripherally aware of these issues and b) clarify that my use of "RT" in statements like, "I can't believe RT is screwing up this badly" is meant to be a broad, nebulas acknowledgement that someone in the company is screwing up, either creatively (doesn't have the skill to write a good scene) or morally (hasn't created an environment in which other creators are capable of crafting a good scene). The real, inner workings of such companies are mostly a secret to their audiences and thus it's near impossible for someone like me — random fan writing these for fun as a casual side hobby — to accurately point fingers. Hence, broad "RT." I just wanted to clarify that when I use this it's as a necessary placeholder for whoever is actually responsible, not a damnation of the overworked animator breaking down in a bathroom. Heavy stuff, but I thought it was necessary (or at least worthwhile) to acknowledge this issue as we head into the second half of the volume.

Now for the good news: RWBY has reached 100 episodes! For any who may not know, 100 is a pretty significant number in the TV world because, when talking about prime time programming, it guarantees syndicated reruns. Basically, networks don't want audiences to get burned out with a show — changing the channel when it comes on because ugh, I've seen this already, recently too — and 100 episodes allows for a roughly five month run without any repeats, making it very profitable. RWBY is obviously not a television show and doesn't benefit from any of this (hell, modern television doesn't benefit from this as much as it used to, not in the age of streaming), but the 100 episode threshold is still ingrained in American culture. Beyond just being a nice, rounded number, it is historically a measure of huge success and I can't imagine that RT isn't aware of that. Regardless of what we think of RWBY's current quality, this is one hell of a milestone and should be applauded.

All that being said... RWBY's quality is definitely still lacking lol.

Our 100th episode is titled "Dark" — keeping with the one word titles, then — and I'd like to emphasize that, as a 100th episode, it definitely delivers in terms of plot. There's plenty of action, important character beats, and at least one major reveal, everything we'd expect from a milestone and a Part II premiere. The animation also continues to be noteworthy for its beauty, as I found myself admiring many of the screenshots I took for this recap. There are certainly things to praise. The only problem (one we're all familiar with by now) is that these small successes are situated within a narrative that's otherwise falling apart. It's all good stuff... provided you ignore literally everything else surrounding it.

But let's dive into some examples. We open on Qrow starting, awoken by the thunder outside. Robyn has been watching him and makes a peppy comment about how none of them will be sleeping tonight, followed by a more serious, "Sounds bad out there." Yeah, it does sound bad, especially when they all know — thanks to Ruby's message back in Volume 7 — that this is due to Salem's arrival. I think a lot of the fandom has forgotten that little detail because people often discuss Qrow as if he is entirely ignorant of what is going on outside his cell. Even if we were to assume that he's forgotten all about the pesky Salem issue (the horror of Clover's death overriding everything else, perhaps) he still knows that Tyrian is running loose in a heat-less city with a creepy storm going on and, from his perspective, the Very Evil Ironwood is still running the show. So it's bad, which begs the question of why Qrow (and Robyn, for that matter) hasn't displayed an ounce of legitimate worry for everyone he knows out there. Thus far, their interactions have centered entirely around Qrow's misplaced blame and Robyn's terrible attempts to lighten the mood, despite the fact that a war is raging right beyond that wall. It's another example of RWBY's inability to manage tone properly, to say nothing of balancing the multiple concerns any one character should be trying to juggle. Just as it rankles that Ruby and Yang don't seem to care about what has happened to their uncle, Qrow likewise doesn't seem to care about what might be happening to his nieces. When did we reach a point where these relationships are so broken that someone can be arrested/chucked into a deadly battle and the others just... ignore that?

So Robyn's otherwise innocuous comment immediately reminds me of how badly the narrative has treated these conflicts and, sadly, things don't improve much from here. We are thankfully spared more of Robyn's jokes when Qrow realizes that what he's hearing can't be thunder. A second later, Cinder blasts through the wall — called it! — and Qrow instinctively transforms. 

The only downside to this moment is that the whole ceiling falls down on Qrow and the others because APPARENTLY these cells don't have tops on them. Seriously. As far as I can recall we don't see the stone breaking through the forcefield somehow and this looks pretty open to me.

If it is... you're telling me these crazy powerful fighters who practice landing strategies and leap tall buildings in a single bound —

— can't just hop over this mildly high electric fence to get out? Qrow can't just fly away?

We're, like, two minutes in, folks.

We transfer to Nora's perspective as she wakes up, seeing Klein giving her the IV. He tells her not to worry, that "you and your friend are going to be just fine." What friend? Penny? Klein went upstairs prior to Weiss hugging Whitley or Penny crash landing outside. I had thought them bursting through the door with another unconscious friend was the first time he learned what the big bang outside was, but apparently not.

Penny is, obviously, a mess. While I now understand the choice to make her blood such an eye-catching color when that's crucial to the Hound's hunt, I still think it looks strange visually. Like someone has taken a copy of RWBY and painted over it. It doesn't look like it fits the art style. More than that, it implies some rather complicated things about Penny's humanity, especially in a volume focused around her being a "real girl." Real enough for Maiden powers, but with obviously inhuman blood that isn't even referred to as "bleeding." Penny "leaks" instead.

Toss in the fact that she's literally an android who is made up of tech — recall the running gags about her being heavy, or it hurts to fist-bump her, to say nothing of keeping things like multiple blades inside her body — yet Klein says that her "basic anatomy" is the same and he can "stitch up that wound."

I'm sorry, what? Whatever Penny looks like on the inside, it's not going to resemble a human woman's anatomy, and Klein might be able to stitch the outer layer of skin she's got, but that won't do anything to fix whatever metal bits have been broken underneath. Penny isn't a human-robot hybrid, she's a robot with an aura. Penny has knives in her back, rockets in her feet, and a super computer behind her eyes. When our clip introduced that Klein would be the one to help Penny, my initial reaction was, "Seriously? He's a butler and a doctor and an engineer?" But RWBY didn't even try to get away with a Super Klein explanation, they just waved away Penny's very obvious, inhuman anatomy. Yeah, I'm sure "stitching up" an android wound is just like giving Nora her IV. I hope the surgical sutures he used are extra strong!

In an effort to not entirely drag this episode, I do appreciate that Whitley is allowed an "ugh" moment about the non-blood covering his shirt without anyone calling him out on it. That felt like the sort of thing the show would usually try to make a character feel guilty about and I'm glad that, for once, he was just allowed to be frustrated without comment.

Then the power goes out and May calls, which raises questions about what state the CCTS is in and when scrolls are available to our protagonists vs. when they're not. But whatever. She's checking in because she just "saw another bombing run light up the Kingdom" and —

Wait. Bombing? Salem is bombing the city? I know we've seen explosions in the sky, but I'd always just attributed that to evil aesthetic. Why does this dialogue sound like it's from a World War II film and not a fantasy sci-fi show about literal monsters launching a ground attack?

May looks pretty against the sky though. I like her hair color against that purple.

I'm admittedly grasping at positives here because we finally return to her "You have to choose" ultimatum and — surprise! — May has pulled back completely. Ruby says that once they've helped Penny, "We'll...we'll do something!" which is once again her avoiding making a decision. Ruby still refuses to choose, instead falling back on generic, optimistic pep talks. They'll figure out how to stop Salem later. They'll think about the impact of telling the world later. They'll choose who to help later. Ruby keeps pushing these problems into the future where, she hopes, a perfect, magical solution will have appeared for her to latch onto. When that continues to not happen, others pressuring her to actually do something and stop waiting for perfection — Ironwood, Yang, May — she panics and continues stalling for time. Wait an episode and the narrative supports her in this.

Because initially May was forcing Ruby to decide. Now, May enables her desire to keep putting things off. "Don't beat yourself up, kid. At this point, I don't know how much is left to be done." That's the exact opposite of what May believed last episode, that there was still so much work and good to do for the people of Mantle. This is precisely what the show did with Yang and Ren's scenes too, having people call Ruby out... but then return to a message of, 'Don't worry, you're actually doing just fine' before Ruby is forced to actually change.

None of which even touches on May calling her "kid" in this moment. That continues to be a convenient way of absolving Ruby of any responsibility. When she wants to steal airships or Amity Tower, she's an adult everyone should listen to, the leader of this war. When the story wants to absolve her of previously mentioned flaws, she becomes a kid who shouldn't "beat herself up." I said years ago that RWBY couldn't continue to let the group be both children and adults simultaneously, yet here we are.

So that was a thoroughly disappointing scene. Ruby gets her moment to look sad and defeated, listing "the grimm, the crater, Nora, Penny" as problems she doesn't know how to solve. Note that 'Immortal witch attacking the city I've helped trap here' isn't included in that list. Ruby is still ignoring Salem herself and no one in the group is picking up where May left off, challenging her to do more than wring her hands over things others are already trying to take care of: Ironwood is fighting the grimm, May has gone off to help the crater, Klein is patching up Nora and Penny. Ruby, as one flawed individual, should not be expected to come up with a solution to everything, but she does need to stop acting like she can come up with a solution to everything when it matters most (office scene) and rejecting others' solutions when they ask for her help (Ironwood, May).

If it feels like I'm dragging the flawed, traumatized teenager too much, it's not in an effort to ignore those aspects of her identity. Rather, it's because she's also the licensed huntress who wrested control from a world leader and violently demanded she be put in charge of this battle. Ruby, by her own actions, is now responsible for dealing with these problems, or admitting she was wrong and letting others take the lead, without purposefully derailing their plans. She doesn't get to suddenly go, "I don't know," cry a little, and get sympathetic pats.

But of course that's precisely what happens, courtesy of Weiss.

During this whole scene I kept wondering why no one was celebrating Nora waking up, especially when Ruby outright mentions her. Have they just not noticed given all the Penny drama? Because Nora absolutely woke up.

Aaaand went back to sleep, I guess. What was the point of that POV shot? No worries though, she'll wake up again in a minute.

Willow arrives and announces that they can fix the power (and Penny) using the generator at the edge of the property. I'm convinced RT doesn't actually know what a generator is because the characters are acting like it's some super special device that only richy-rich could possibly have. Whitley says that it's the SDC executives who have their "own power supply" and that it's "extremely unfair." Now, don't get me wrong, a good generator powering large portions of your house can run you 30k+, but you can also get one that plugs into your extension cord and powers your fridge for a couple hundred. There's absolutely a class issue here, just not the one Whitley and Weiss seem to be commenting on. They make a generator sound like the sort of device that only a politician-CEO could possible have and it's weird.

Likely, it sounds weird because it's a choppy way of getting Whitley to bring up the wealth disparity so he can then go, 'That's right! We're crazy rich with a company housing tons of ships! We can use those to evacuate Mantle.' Awkwardness aside, I do like that the Schnee wealth is being used for good purposes, but... evacuate where? To the city currently under attack by a giant whale? In a RWBY that wasn't determined to demonize Ironwood, this would have been a great plot point during the office scene instead, with Weiss offering her services to Ironwood, even if the group decides that a continued evacuation still isn't possible.

Instead, we get it here from Whitley. Do I need to point out the obvious? That Whitley is the MVP of this episode? He's done more good in an HOUR than the group has managed in a year. Give this kid some training and make him a huntsmen instead.

We're given a (very pretty!) shot of the shattered moon because it wouldn't be RWBY if we weren't continually reminded that gods once wiped out humanity before destroying part of a celestial body... and absolutely no one talks about that lol.

Blake's coat might not make any sense for her color scheme, but it does make her easy to spot as she and Ruby run across the grounds. Oh my god, they're actually doing something together! It only took eight years. They even get a lovely talk where Blake admits how much she looks up to Ruby, despite her being younger, and once again I'm struck at how much more I would have loved this scene if it had appeared elsewhere in the series. It is, indeed, as sweet and emotional as all the RWBY GIF-ers are claiming... provided you overlook that this is the exact opposite of what Ruby needs to hear right now. She doesn't need to hear that she's more mature and reliable than her elders when she's functioning under a "We don't need adults" mentality. She doesn't need to hear that not knowing what to do is totally fine, not when that led to her turning on Ironwood, despite not knowing how to stop Salem. She doesn't need to hear that "doing something" — doing anything — is a strength, because Ruby keeps avoiding the big problems for smaller ones she's comfortable with, like standing by Penny's bedside instead of deciding between Mantle and Atlas. Blake's speech is heartfelt, but it's a speech that suits a Beacon days Ruby who is having some doubts about her leadership skills, not the girl whose impulsive — and now lack of — actions is having world-wide repercussions. Everyone is babying Ruby to a staggering degree. It's like if we had a med show where the doctor is standing by the bedside of a coding patient, fretting between two treatments. 'Don't worry,' their colleague says, patting their shoulder. 'I've always looked up to you. You'll do something when you're ready' and then they continue to watch the patient, you know, die.

Also: who does Ruby look up to? Everyone talks about how much they depend on and trust Ruby, but who does Ruby look to for guidance? A number of her problems stem from the fact that she has rejected the advice of everyone who has tried to help her improve: Qrow, Ozpin, Ironwood, even Yang. Ruby is presented as the pinnacle of what to strive for in a leader, rather than a leader who has only been doing this for two years and still has a great deal to learn.

Anyway, they get the generator on and the Hound shows up.

I am begging RT to just make RWBY a horror story. All their best scenes the last three years have been horror I am bEGGING —

Anyway, while Ruby waits to be eaten we cut to Willow and Klein, the former of which is reaching for her bottle, pulling back, reaching again, all while her hand shakes. This is good. This is what we should have gotten with Qrow. Which isn't to say that their (or anyone's) addiction should be identical, but rather that this is a far more engaging and complex look at addiction than what our birb got. Willow tells us that she doesn't drink in the dark despite bringing the bottle with her; tries to resist drinking when she's scared and ultimately fails. Qrow just decided to stop drinking after decades of addiction, seemingly for no reason, and that was that. Why is a side character we only met this volume written better than one of the main cast?

Blake manages to call Weiss about the Hound and she asks if Whitley can handle the airships without her. I mean, I assume so given that Weiss is looking at the bookshelves while Whitley does all the work lol. He makes a teasing comment about how he can if she can handle that grimm and she comments that they still need to work on his "attitude."

No they don't. Weiss stuck a weapon in her kid brother's face. Whitley made a joke. Even if Weiss' comment is likewise meant to be read as teasing, it's clear that we've bypassed any meaningful conversation between them. That hug was supposed to be a Fix Everything moment even though, as I've laid out elsewhere, it didn't even come close.

We cut back to Ruby getting thrown through a wall into the backyard and the Hound creepily coming after her. She's freaked out by this clearly abnormal grimm and Blake is weirdly... not? "It's just a grimm. Just focus!" Uh, it's obviously not. Have we reached the traumatized, sleep-deprived point where the group is sinking into full-blown denial? I wouldn't be surprised. They've been awake for like... 40+ hours.

Because the Hound knocks Ruby out with a single hit. Just, bam, she's down. "Focusing" is not the solution here.

Weiss calls to warn the others about the grimm, telling them to stick together. Willow (understandably) starts freaking out and flees the room (classic horror trope!). Klein is left alone when Penny wakes up with red eyes. Oh no!

Don't worry. You know nothing meaningful happens.

She shoves Klein before (somehow?) resisting the hack, her Maiden powers going wild in the process. Just when it looks as if Penny might cause some serious damage, Nora wakes up, takes her hand, and says, I kid you not:

"Hey... no one is going to make you do anything you don't want to do... It's just a part of you. Don't forget about the rest."

Okay. I want to re-emphasize that I love hopeful, uplifting, victory-won-through-the-power-of-love stories. Istg I'm not dead inside, it's just that RWBY does this so badly. I mean, what is this? It has similarities to the character shouting, 'No! Resist!' to their mind-controlled ally, but this is not presented as a desperate, last-ditch effort by Nora. She just speaks like this is the most obvious truth in the world. If you don't want to have your mind taken over... just don't! It's that simple. The problem definitely isn't that Watts has changed her coding and has implemented a command she can't override, it's that Penny has forgotten about the "rest" of her personhood.

And this works. Granted, not for long, but we leave Nora having successfully calmed Penny down and until her eyes unexpectedly go red again scenes later, we're left assuming that this is a permanent solution. That, imo anyway, is taking the Power of Love too far, overriding the basic reality of Penny being hacked. It’s not a personal failing she must overcome, it’s an external attack. I would have rather had Nora react to the scars she saw on her arm, or have a moment with Klein, or get some love from the group. Not a wakes up, falls asleep, wakes up again to save Penny with a Ruby level 'Just ignore reality' pep-talk, then back to sleep again.

So Penny isn't attacking her allies, or mistakenly hurting her allies with wild Maiden powers. Not that the group doesn't have enough to deal with, but still. Weiss arrives to help with the Hound and attempts a new summon, only to fail when two minor grimm burrow up into her glyphs. I really enjoyed that moment, both for the wing visual and the knowledge that Weiss' glyphs can fail if you break them somehow (which makes sense). Also, I just like that she failed in general? Weiss is, as per usual now, about to demonstrate just how OP she is compared to the rest of the team, so it was nice to see her faltering here.

The Hound tries to make off with Ruby and Blake does an excellent job of keeping it tethered. Ruby finally wakes, only to realize that the grimm is actually after Penny since it's staring at her power up through the window, no longer trying to escape. Moments like this remind me that there's someone on RT's writing team that knows what they're doing, at least some of the time. The assumption that the Hound is after Ruby as a SEW, the surprise that it's actually Penny, realizing it holds up because Ruby is covered in Penny's blood and Blake is not... that's all nice, tight plotting. More of that please!

The Hound drops her and Ruby's aura shatters when she hits the ground. I want everyone to remember this moment as an example of how strong the Hound is. The group may be tired, but unlike YJR they've been sitting around in the Schnee manor for a number of hours, regaining strength. We saw the Hound hit Ruby twice — once through the wall and once to knock her out — and then she falls from a not very high distance for a huntress, yet her aura is toast. That's the level of power and skill the Hound possesses. Decimating YJR, knocking Oscar out, same for Ruby, avoiding Blake and Weiss' hits, soon to treat Penny like a ragdoll. Just remember all this for the episode's end.

Blake tells Weiss she'll take care of Ruby, you go help the others. Yay breaking up the duos more! Bad timing though as the new acid-spitting grimm pops out of the ground and Blake is now left alone to face it.

Weiss re-enters the mansion, knowing the Hound is somewhere nearby, but not where. Suddenly, Willow's voice sounds through her scroll with an, "Above you!" which... doesn't keep Weiss from getting hit lol. But it's the thought that counts! Willow has accessed the cameras she's set up throughout the manor, watching the Hound's movements, and I have to say, that is a WAY better use of her separation from Klein than I thought we were getting. I legit thought they'd have Willow run away in a panic, meet the Hound, die, and then Weiss could be sad about losing her mom.

It does say something about RWBY's writing that this was my knee-jerk theory, as well as my surprise when we got something way better.

The Hound runs off, uninterested in Weiss, and she asks Willow to keep tabs on it. It heads for Whitley next (also covered in Penny's blood) and very creepily stalks him in the office with a, "I know you're here." Whitley is seconds away from being Hound chow before one of Weiss' boars pin it against the wall. He runs, then runs BACK to finish deploying the airships, before finally escaping assumed death. Goddamn this boy is pulling his weight.

I assume all these ships are automated then? I hope someone takes a moment to call May. Otherwise it's going to be super weird for the Mantle citizens if a fleet of SDC ships just show up and hover there...

I don't entirely understand how Weiss saved him though. She's nowhere to be seen when Whitley leaves and he runs a fair distance before he and Willow encounter Weiss again. We know her summons don't have to keep right next to her, but are they capable of rudimentary thought, attacking an enemy — and an enemy only — despite Weiss being a couple corridors down and unable to see the current battlefield? I don't know. In another series I'd theorize that this was a deliberate hint, a way to clue us into the fact that Willow, someone who we currently know almost nothing about, had training in the past and summoned the boar herself. Weiss and Winter certainly didn't get that hereditary skill from Jacques. Hell, we might still get that, Weiss reacting with confusion next episode when Whitley thanks her for the boar, but I doubt it. That scene with Ruby and the Hound aside, the show isn't this good at laying groundwork and then following up on it.

Case in point: Weiss says, "I didn't forget you" to Whitley after he gets away from the Hound, the moment trying to harken back to her promise to Willow. Key word is "trying." Because she absolutely forgot him! Weiss threatened and ignored Whitley until he proved his usefulness. I also shouldn't need to point out that, "Don't forget your brother" does not mean, "Don't let your brother die a horrible death by abnormal grimm." Weiss acts like her saving him is a fulfillment of her promise, rather than just the most basic of human decency. And also, you know, her job.

So that part is frustrating. The entire Schnee dynamic is a mess, from Weiss making a joke of her father's arrest, to Willow (presumably) fixing their relationship by putting a hand on her daughter's shoulder. Okay.

Then Weiss cuts off the Hound by summoning a giant wall of ice. My brain, every time this happens:

YOU COULD HAVE FIXED THE HOLE IN MANTLE'S WALL.

Moving on, Blake's fight against the acid... thing has some great choreography, including Blake using her semblance which we haven't seen in AGES. 

I really like the fight itself, just not what Blake is shouting the whole time. "I need you, Ruby! We all need you!" This has really gotten ridiculous. Ruby is presented as everyone's sole savior despite failing time and time again. It's not that I don't think Blake as a character should have faith in her leader, it's that I don't think the writers should be crafting a story where everyone puts their unshakable hopes in an untrained, disloyal, impulsive 17 year old. I mean, Ruby is currently unconscious, yet Blake is acting like if she doesn't wake up — she, as an individual, if Ruby Rose does not re-join this fight — then all is lost. If Ruby doesn't save them, no one can. Which is, of course, absurd on numerous levels. Blake doesn't need the passed out, aura-less Ruby right now, she needs the still very healthy Weiss pulling out multiple summons and an ice wall! Use your scroll and call for backup again.

But of course, Ruby wakes up and kills the new, terrifying grimm with a single hit. It's a preview of what's to come with the Hound and it's just as ridiculous here as it will be there.

Speaking of the Hound, am I the only one who thought this was... cute?

I can't possibly be the only one. That head-tilt is exactly what my dogs do and my brain instinctively went, "Aww, puppy!"

Murderous puppy.

The Hound realizes none of the Schnees are who it's looking for and runs off. Penny, meanwhile, has been fully taken over because, well, that's just what's convenient now. She resists long enough keep Amity up, then succumbs, then resists to apologize to Ruby, then succumbs, then resists because Nora asked her to, then succumbs once it's time to knock her out. If RWBY was willing to commit to consequences, Penny would have been taken over and that was that. The characters would need to deal with whatever outcome happens as a result. Instead, the show very carefully avoids any of those pesky consequences by having Penny successfully resisting at key moments, despite no explanation of how she's managing that.

She shoves Klein again (Klein is having a Bad Time) and starts walking down the main steps. When Whitley wants to know where the hell she's going, Penny mechanically responds that she must "Open the vault, then self-destruct." I suppose the change Watts made was the self-destruct order? Ironwood obviously wants the vault open, though not necessarily Penny's death. Think what you will of his moral compass, she's a damn powerful ally — a research project, perhaps — and a Maiden to boot. At the very least, her death may give the powers to someone even worse.

God, please don't let them have brought Penny back and made her a Maiden just to kill her again.

The Hound arrives though and, as said, knocks Penny out. We're back to square one with her, then. Note though that this attack is near instantaneous. She grabs its hands one second, is hanging limply the next. Wow, the Hound sure is a terrifying antagonist!

Not for long.

"That's enough," Ruby says and one-shots it with her eyes.

Now, I want to talk for a moment about the implications of that line. "That's enough." Obviously Ruby is #done with this situation and emotionally unwilling to let the Hound kidnap Penny (congratulations, Nuts and Dolts shippers), but there's a meta reading here as well. Not intentional, but glaring to me nonetheless. Basically, the idea that the Hound has, from a plot perspective, done enough. It has served its singular purpose. It kidnapped Oscar and now it dies. Never-mind how insanely powerful we've established the Hound to be, never-mind how Ruby's eyes also work or don't work according to whether anything of actual import is on the line. From a plot perspective "that's enough" and the Hound can be disposed of instantly. It got Oscar and gave us an episode of filler creepiness. Move along now.

The idea behind Ruby's eyes isn't bad, but the execution absolutely is. RT has undermined a huge portion of the stakes by giving their protagonist an instant kill-shot that always works precisely when she needs it to. Starting with the Apathy, we have yet to get a moment where Ruby's eyes fail to save the day when she really needs them to, no matter how incredible the challenge. The Hound was very intentionally written to be a grimm outside of the group's current power level. It thinks, it talks, they literally can't touch it. This creates the expectation that the group will need to grow stronger — or at least become smarter — in order to surmount this new obstacle, yet Ruby's eyes undermine all of that. The group hasn't grown in years, the show just makes enemies weaker as needed (Ace Ops), or has Ruby pull out her eyes as a trump card. It wouldn't be that bad if we'd at least gotten a good battle out of it, one where the group gets close to defeating the Hound on their own, but needs Ruby's eyes to finish it off. Instead, she literally walks up without any aura, announces to the audience that this antagonist's time is up, and blasts it out a window.

Granted, Ruby's eyes don't completely finish it. The Hound pulls itself to its feet and we see this.

Yup, that's a guy and yup, those are silver eyes.

I would like to issue a formal apology to the "It's secretly Summer!" theorists in the fandom. I mean, I still think it would be ridiculous (and at this point highly improbable) that Ruby's dead mother has actually been a grimm mutant this whole time, just hanging out in Salem's realm while she waits for the plot to start before attacking the world, and then sends some no-name faunus dude after the group instead of their leader's mother for extra, emotional torture... but you all were definitely right about the “It's a person” part! I... don't know how I feel about this. Admittedly, it seems to be a logical continuation of the other grimm-human hybrids we've seen — namely Cinder and Salem herself — and it finally explains why Salem wants Ruby alive (even though it actually doesn't because WHY did she want more SEWs for Hound grimm when she wasn't even attacking back then? And already has all these other insanely powerful tools??), but at the same time, it feels like it's complicating a story that doesn't need further complications. The group fights monsters and has an immortal enemy. You don't need to add 'Some of those monsters are secretly human' to the mix.

It doesn't hurt that this twist is giving me Attack on Titan vibes, which, ew. A dark time in my fandom life, folks.

The Hound staggers a few steps before Whitley and Willow dump a suit of armor on it. That's all it takes to kill the most dangerous grimm we've ever seen: a single flash of silver eyes and some heavy metal. This also wreaks havoc with the implication that Salem wants SEWs alive because they create such powerful grimm. Obviously not. I mean yeah, normal huntsmen are going to have serious  problems, we’ve seen that this volume, but any other SEWs nearby will take a Hound out instantaneously. For a villain with so many other powerful abilities — immortality, magic, endless normal grimm, her nifty soup — Salem would be much better served just killing SEWs straight out. Clearly, creating Hounds isn't worth the effort.

The Hound leaves some bones behind and Ruby collapses to her knees, overcome with the knowledge that this was once a person. Again, uncomfortable Attack on Titan parallels.

We finish our premiere with Cinder clearing away rubble to reveal Watts. Honestly, I like that we ended on this because her rescue is hilarious. She just slings him over her shoulders like a sack of potatoes and blasts off with her magic fire feet. Fantastic.

Note though that with this scene we've seen almost everything from the clip and the trailer. What's to come in the rest of Volume 8? No idea. Outside of Winter leading the charge with the bomb, we got it all here.

Time to update the bingo board!

I'm crossing off "Introducing new grimm that are quickly abandoned." Between the Hound and acid-dude both falling to a single blast/cut from Ruby, we've more than earned this square.

It doesn't look as if we'll get another Watts-Jacques team-up now that he's left, but you never know.

Maria's got me worried. I feel like her Yoda fight against Neo is the one thing she'll be allowed to do this volume, but given that we didn't see anyone except Ruby's group this episode, we don't yet know whether the story is now ignoring her and Pietro, or if they'll re-appear in another episode like YJR.  

Qrow is free. Will he get a drink before trying to murder Ironwood? Perhaps.

Still no bingo :(

All in all, the episode was by no means horrible. I think there were lots of horrible parts, but also some legitimately well executed moments, fun action, and scenes that I can easily imagine as squee worthy if you lean back and squint. Everything is comparative and in the growing collection of bad RWBY episodes, this one isn't securing a top slot. Which doesn't mean I think it's good, just... not as bad as it could have been and primarily only bad due to long-running problems, not things this specific episode has done. That's my bar then, so low it has officially entered the underworld.

Still, RWBY is back and a part of me is eager to see where this volume takes us, for better or for worse.

Until next week! 💜

[Ko-Fi]

[silkylious]

Tsunami (Bakugo Katsuki x Fem!Reader)

Bakugo x fem reader

warnings: swearing, angst, fluff

A/N: Ahhhh this is my first post on tumblr, i hope you like some bittersweet  goodness w angry boi. constructive criticism is much appreciated!

Love.

Such a complex, convoluted emotion that many people find themselves falling helplessly victim to. Of course, there are the cheesy scenes in romantic movies that exaggerate and almost drain all meaning from the prickly feeling; sharing a sweet kiss while basking in the cool caresses of dewdrops, or having a dim-lit home dinner -scenes which drove his gag reflex reeling, he simply couldn’t understand the appeal of mushing faces with someone when he had better things to do, to achieve. He was going to be the number one, dammit, he didn’t have time to waste on cuddling and doing “couple-y shit” with some extra. That’s not to say he’d never had a crush, or found some girls attractive, hot even, but he kept in mind all his “crushes” (he loathes that word with a burning passion) were merely fueled by his hormonal mind, driven by pure sexual attraction. Nothing more, nothing less. So, he never sought out relationships.

And that was enough for him to keep his peace, unhindered and undisturbed on his desolate little boat, one that he was rowing tirelessly towards his end goal, with no waves and no turbulences daring to stand in his way of firmly grasping that number one spot.  

Until a tsunami came crashing in, pummeling him off his safe cruise.

That tsunami was you.

He really should have seen the signs -no that’s not right, he definitely noticed the red flags raising in his peripherals, he should have acknowledged them. It started out as small, barely existent ripples, something to break the monotony of his journey and rock his boat gently. You’d always greet him with that stupidly bright smile, the one that made him feel uncomfortable, skittish (though he hadn’t realized why yet), the one that surely made the sun writhe in boiling jealousy. No matter what time of the day it was, how early in the morning or how deep into the night, you always seemed to make it a point to address him with that unhinged, cheeky grin. He’d reply with a curt nod, or a faint grunt if you caught him on a good day, wanting desperately to ignore the brewing sensation inside him.

“Hey, Bakugo! Did ya sleep well?”

He never replied to the tedious question, refusing to give into the one-sided small talk. That didn’t stop you from resuming your daily routine of pestering him about his training progress or babbling about some movie he couldn’t care less about. He didn’t pay an inkling of attention to the stream of word vomit pouring out of your mouth, no, he much rather zoned in on the way your lips move languidly, still upholding that infuriating smile, the way stray follicles fell over your neck, having escaped from the usual updo you were sporting. His concentration faded in and out of the single-sided conversation, managing to scrap together bits and pieces of whatever you were droning on about. Though he never made any effort in reciprocating your enthusiasm, he never shut you down either (like he would most people), and that was incentive enough for you to keep coming back. To keep talking his ear off with a cluelessly precious smile.

Looking back, he probably should have stopped it there, but he didn’t, he couldn’t help but revel unconsciously in your optimism, though he’d be buried six feet underground before he admitted that. It looked all too peaceful, he didn’t mind the soft stir in his boat, and he was more than content to leave it at that. But then you had to go and push your luck.

You were infinitely aware that he treated you… differently, to say the least, your classmates were also painfully conscious of his strangely tamed and, dare I say, docile way he acted around you, everyone with eyes could see it, except him apparently. Even if he was agonizingly oblivious to his own feelings, yours too, your heart couldn’t help but accelerate whenever he displayed a rare act of kindness towards you. One time in particular, he scolded you for overworking yourself while tending to your wounds, his words lacking the usual bite, none the wiser to the chest palpitations he was effortlessly causing. You couldn’t take it, you had to test your luck. You desired to be closer to him, for him to view as more than a nuisance, you wanted to be more than just acquaintances. With caution thrown to the wind, you embarked on a mission to befriend the Bakugo Katsuki.

That’s when the small ripples that would gingerly sway him turned more rigorous; they evolved into waves, ones he needed to smoothly ride if he didn’t want to fall victim to their ferocity.

He became much more aware of your stature in his lifestyle, how could he not? You’d made it a goal to sit with him during lunch, to share with him your bento box, to talk to him at any given moment. And it was then that he discovered a new part of you, one that was hidden behind your tactful persona. It became a common spectacle during lunch, you two hurling remarks at each other, yours more calculated and sarcastic while his were loud and fiery (in true Bakugo fashion), though the competitive grin stretching his lips, wrinkling the corners of his ruby hues gave away his enjoyment. Bakugo could never get over your quick wit, the speed at which you replied to him with your own quips almost gave him whiplash every time, if he didn’t know better he’d think you were regurgitating pre-written comebacks. It took a bit of coaxing at first, but eventually he gave into your petty bickering (all you had to do was mention Deku this and half-n-half bastard that), and then before he knew it, it was part of his routine, but can you blame him? He was presented with a challenge, of course he’d step up to the plate!

Your waves threatened his quaint, little sail, he had to learn to surf them if he didn’t want to topple over. And so, he did, after all, Bakugo Katsuki never backed down from a challenge.

Your comradery only strengthened from there. You trained together, him pushing your limits with his abysmal power and sheer instinct, you pushing his with precise movements and surprising agility. You strangely complemented each other, both in fighting styles and general attitude. He (aggressively) helped you with your academic shortcomings, and though his methods of teaching were very questionable, they proved to be fruitful as your grades had spiked significantly from his (torturous) aid. You’d grown impossibly closer, spending every waking moment together or thinking about each other. Katsuki didn’t know when it became a habit to anticipate your “goodnight” text, or when just the sight of your face made his anger practically dissipate into thin air.

“So, do you wanna come over to study, I’m kinda struggling with algebra,” You sighed sheepishly, scratching at the back of your head.

“No.” came the blunt response.

“Aw, c’mon, don’t be such a meanie!” You jutted your bottom lip out much like how a kid throwing a tantrum would, his eyes couldn’t help but flicker down to the childish pout, when suddenly it turned into a poorly constrained grin. You had an idea. “Well, whatever, I was gonna order takeout from a new place down the road, I heard they have pretty spicy ramen there, but I guess I’ll order for one,”

You watched with mild amusement and well-concealed affection as his fiery eyes seemed to light up at the mention of spicy food. “Fine, dumbass, but I’m only doing this ‘cuz your sorry ass would fail without me,”

“Mhmm, sure thing, Bakugo,” You practically sang, a teasing lilt to your voice.

Bakugo.

That didn’t sound right at this point. Words left him before his brain could even process what he said, what he was insinuating.

“Katsuki.” He mumbled firmly. Your eyes widened a fraction, giving away your surprise.

“W-What?”

“Call me Katsuki,” It came out more assuredly this time, his glare directed forward as you both walked to your destination, missing the soft smile adorning your lips and the affection oozing out of your gaze.

“Sure thing, Katsuki.” His own lips curled into a faint smile, a tiny tug at the corners of his lips.

A push-and-pull rhythm was created between you; your waves pulling him in, only for his skillful hands and sails to conquer them. It was an endless tug of war, neither of you seemed to mind it, it blanketed you both in a sheen of serenity.

The calm before the storm.

It was merely an innocent question, a teasing inquiry at most, directed at him by his electric blonde friend. “So, man, when are you gonna ask (last name) out? Y’know if you don’t ask her soon, someone else will,”

Katsuki could have sworn he switched quirks with the dunce faced idiot, because at that moment his mind fully short-circuited. Him? And (name)? What would even give him that idea? Sure, she was cute and all -wait, cute?? What the actual fuck? His lack of response and the pinkish tint that spread from his cheekbones to the bridge of his nose seemed to get a rise out of Kaminari, because within seconds his head was thrown back, his laughter catching the attention of their red-haired friend. “Yo, man, what’re you laughing at?”

With that, Bakugo seemed to snap out of his trance, sharp eyes snapping between his self-proclaimed friends. His mouth opened, ready to deliver a curt response, something along the lines of “Fucking nothing!” or “Mind your own business, Shitty Hair!” but the other blonde beat him to the punch, loudly bellowing out,

“Bakugo has a crush on (last name)!”

Bakugo wasn’t pleased to say the least, his hand darting out, flexing a lethal explosion that Kaminari barely dodged. Bakugo’s eyes were wide with unadulterated rage, though he really couldn’t tell at who, nor did he care, he was seeing red at that moment and that’s all he could focus on. Before he can aim another strike towards his cowering friend, Kirishima looped his arms around Bakugo’s shoulders, activating his quirk to prepare for the barrage of oncoming explosions that were sure to come his way. “Dude, stop! You’re being super unmanly right now!”

Realizing there’s no point struggling against his friends hold, Bakugo’s figure suddenly slackened, Kirishima very cautiously relinquishing his grip on his friend. Burning rage, confusion, uncertainty and self-deprecation began to settle in Bakugo’s mind all at once, a million questions stampeding his thoughts. He didn’t like that, he hated not being in control, he hated not knowing what was wrong, especially with himself. With a furious shout of “FUCK OFF!” to dispel some of the anger bristling within him, the ash blonde stomped out of the nearly empty classroom, leaving his two friends to share looks of bewilderment.

And that’s when a tidal wave, a tsunami of emotions quaked his lonely ship, flipping it and hurling him off the deck into the freezing cold, wave riddled ocean, leaving him to sink deeper and flail around in a futile attempt at staying afloat.

The coming days, one thing haunted Katsuki like the plague, despite trying his hardest to avoid overthinking, you just seemed to carve your way into his subconscious. Everything reminded him of you, and he absolutely despised it. When had he gotten so distracted? When had his schedule morphed to make room for your presence in his life? When had he began to await seeing you, hearing your obnoxiously sweet voice? When had he gotten so weak? He didn’t need anyone, no one but himself, that’s all he needed to reach the top. If that was true, then why were his days getting more and more bleak as he actively shunned you out, avoided looking you in the eyes and subsequently being blissfully unaware of the look of hurt in your eyes. He knew he wasn’t being fair to you, but he couldn’t help it, he had to put some distance between you.

And so, he kept struggling against the currents, which only made him sink deeper, and deeper. Even so, he kept wrestling with the tides, hoping he’d make it out alive and free.

His absence in your life made you fidgety, but you brushed it off as him having a less than pleasant day, he’d surely go back to normal, right? Wrong. Things continued as they are, you wanted to give him space and all, but it didn’t help that it seemed he was only circumventing you. You wanted to be patient for him, and you were. But even the most patient of people, the most peaceful of saints, had their tipping points.

“I don’t understand you, Katsuki, we were good not even a week ago and now you’re completely avoiding me!”

“So what if I was, huh?! Are you saying that I need you or some shit?! Are you looking down on me, thinking you’re all high and mighty, that you could be the one to befriend the “pitiful lonely guy”?! Are you saying I’m weak, is that it, huh?! I’m not fucking weak, (name), I don’t need you or anyone for that matter, stop tryna coddle me, I don’t need your shitty friendship!”

Ouch, that hurt. He knew he was spouting so much bullshit straight through his teeth, it didn’t even make sense but that was how his self-defense mechanism works. When in doubt, push people you love away in fear of vulnerability. He knew he was being a major asshole, but nothing would’ve prepared him for the look of unbridled hurt and betrayal in your eyes, tears silently carving valleys on your flushed cheeks. Your quivering lip suppressed a wretched sob, before opening to utter a few heartbroken words.

“I see. Sorry I was such a nuisance for you, Bakugo,”

Bakugo, double ouch. That one stung. Hard. He’d never heard your voice so broken, so raw and meek. He walked home alone that day, already regretting everything he said, already missing your bubbly self.

A drift shook both of you away from each other. Your concerned classmates could only watch in silenced misery as you both hurdled yourselves into hero work and training, doing anything it takes to stay distracted. Bakugo thought that at least there would be one upside to arise from this situation, he could focus more on his dreams, he had more time than ever, he can totally utilize this to his advantage. Or so he thought. You infiltrated every crevice in his mind, all he could think about, day in and day out, was you. He’s always prided himself in being self-disciplined and focused, but right now he was anything but. You weren’t fairing any better. Your optimism was missed in the classroom, you forced a smile to reassure your friends, but that was about all you could muster. It seemed there was no end to the spiral the pair of you were sucked into until something happened. Something big happened.

He was kidnapped. Bakugo was kidnapped.

It seemed like a wake-up call to both of you. You could have lost him; he could have lost you. Bakugo realized, strapped to that chair, with the grey-haired, handy man holding a picture of you from the sports festival while babbling some vague threats, that he wanted to protect you, protect what he loved. He loved you. And he had to be better for you. He also realized that he wanted to go back to you. Dammit, he still didn’t apologize for what he said! He needed to return.

He no longer fought against the tide, he didn’t want to, and he wasn’t going to. And with his fruitless squirming against the current coming to an end, he began to rise to the surface, the gradually heating waters holding him afloat.

His return was a giant relief, you wanted to jump into his arms the moment he was saved, but you knew better. He needed time to think, to sort out his thoughts. Though you didn’t expect that he would sort out his thoughts with his fists. With Midoriya. Actually, scratch that, it was a very Bakugo thing to do.

That night you couldn’t sleep, sitting on the U.A. dorms Alliance stairs with a steaming mug of tea between your clutches. Your eyes, which had been transfixed on the constellations lining the night sky, blinked downward when you heard two pairs of footfalls approaching. You instantly recognized the two boys, beaten and battered.

“(name)...?”

His abnormally scratchy voice greeted you, you didn’t have to strain your ears to conclude that he’d been crying. Your stares were riddled with unspoken words, unvoiced feelings, leaving a pregnant tension in the air. A haggard throat-clearing cut through the quiet.

“I’ll leave you two alone,” And with that, the one-for-all user excused himself into the dormitory.

Katsuki shifted his weight, clearly uncomfortable. He knew what he needed to say he just couldn’t find the will to swallow the lump in his throat and say it.

“Hey, umm-”

Before he can get another syllable out, a force collided with him, shaky arms circling his broad shoulders, mindful of the bruises that littered his porcelain skin. Eyes blown wide; he couldn’t fathom the words that were uttered into his chest.

“I love you, Katsuki. I love you.” A sniff followed the heartfelt words, he felt some tears brimming his own lids.

Carefully bringing his arms around you, wrapping them securely around your waist. Katsuki drifted and swayed on your waves, surfing them skillfully, fully abandoning his past ways, no longer would he scuffle with the ebb and flow of the waters that only hoped of propelling him forward towards his goal. His red gems drifted to the sky, mapping out the stars much like a lost sailor would in search of guidance, though he was anything but lost in that very moment.

His lids dropped, thoroughly fatigued from the day’s events, before his head followed suit, descending and placing feather-like kiss on your head, his strong arms keeping you nestled as close as possible against his chest, a quiet murmur with powerful words left his lips,

“I love you, too. I’m sorry.”

[og-danny-dorito]

{ Some SFW Tamaki Headcanons For Your Daily Dose Of Somft™}

OKAY hi hello, I know I've been gone for a while but I'm kinda back now since ive had a burst of inspiration lately for no reason in particular. This is partially cause I actually just finished watching BNHA and good lord, let me tell you bro- I have WAY too many thoughts about this dude for it to be a normal infatuation so here we go! -w-;

- FIRST of all, I'm like 90% sure this dude listens to like really soft cute music like Lofi remixes or those rlly cute anime openings that give off Soft Boy vibes???

- he's like a soft person in general already so its kindof a given. he really likes pastel colors a whole lot for that reason cause they're more muted and subtle and aren't completely overbearing

- he actually owns like, 40 oversized pastel sweaters with various prints and designs on them for that reason. that and oversized soft sweaters are year-round

- most of his clothes are kinda oversized though?? like if you've watched the anime and can see how his shirt fits him I'm like 90% sure it's like a size bigger than it should be (his natural size is a medium in men's, I'm assuming, since he's like canonically 5'9" and not really muscular). his hero costume is also a little bigger than it should be in some areas and it fits around him like a big blanket

- there are MULTIPLE reasons for this imo, but the main two are that he's A) self conscious and therefore less confident in things that fit him better, and B) likes feeling like things aren't constricting him like tight shirts do

- on the self-conscious point, he already has issues with about like 500 other things that concern himself, so why not physical???

- let me explain- his form is naturally slim, which means that he hasn't really ever been as physically muscular as the other heroes (mostly cause his quirk burns up most of his calories and he has a naturally fast metabolism), and is consistently reminded of it

- he doesn't want other people to think of him as less or weaker in the general public because he doesn't look as physically strong as the other heroes, so he wears clothes that aren't very form fitting to hide this fact and therefore avoid the possibility of criticism of is physical features

- also, you're on tumblr, the land of people who are or have been physically self conscious for whatever reason, so it's pretty safe to assume that you've worn/wear oversized clothing. do you know how comfy they are??? it's like being wrapped in a formless blanket that makes it feel as if you arent able to be subject to criticism from others. it's literally the BEST

- his closet really just consists of things that are bigger than him really, but he does have some skinny jeans and a few formal outfits that fit him properly. his figure is actually kind of cute in a way since he's more on the slim/muscular side but if you EVER tell him he looks handsome in something that's more fitting than he ususally wears he will have a slightly boosted self confidence but amplified anxiety, no exceptions

- but he doesnt really like receiving compliments to be honest, and there's a few reasons for that

- as a kid not many people talked to him so he would occasionally be subject to being outcast by others. as a child he knew that when the teachers were being too nice to him by complimenting his work or talking too him too much that it was out of pity. he felt like he was being patronized out of personal obligation to be inclusive and not in personal interest, so he still has some remnants of that mentality due to having grow up with that

- being given a serious and genuine compliment isn't something he's used to and quite frankly he might be a little uncomfortable if he doesn't know you very well

- if, however, he knows you well and trusts that your comments aren't out of spite or ill-intent, his face usually turns a bright shade of red as he either A) stutters out a nervous thank you or B) hides his face in his hands and refuses to say anything until it's subsided

- he'll usually try to compliment you back, even though its hard to hear over his incredibly soft voice. it's usually something about how nice you are or how he doesn't understand how someone like you can think that way about him, but he secretly really likes feeling like someone cares and appreciates him

- speaking of soft voices, I'm almost entirely convinced that he can sing. since he doesn't really go out with friends in his spare time since he basically only has two close ones, he usually either trains or, alternatively, sings

- its more of a subconscious thing to him to sing along when his favorite song is on, but he only does it when he's alone. the thing is that he thinks his voice is horrible since he hasn't had any extensive formal education in music and generally doesn't try that much to refine his skills manually but his singing voice is like, literally angelic

- seriously, if you get this man to sing 'Heather' by Conan Grey its like listening to some sort of ethereal being trying to lull you to sleep

- its not like he'd ever do this in public because of his anxiety and insecurities, but asking him nicely and swearing you won't tell anyone about it usually gets him to do it, albeit kinds shyly at first. it takes some working up to really, from him nervously singing gently to a song while his back is turned to you to just starting to hum along to songs by habit while you're around

- the only time he really does it to his own violation can be when you're sick (he cant say no to someone who's injured, it makes him feel terrible), when you're about to fall asleep, or even when he forgets that he's around other people and is doing some sort of chore or task around the house

- mentioning it to others makes him even more embarrassed than physically possible, and he usually covers his ears to mask the sounds of your praise about him. he hates drawing attention to himself and simply cannot Deal™ with the compliments he's receiving

- this is amplified if you're in a romantic relationship with him since, lets be completely honest here, he's literally never been in a relationship before

- I mean like, if that one girl who was with him for a week in 5th grade counts for anything, then I guess he's been in one before but other than that he has no experience

- how does he accept compliments? how do you genuinely love him?? should he dress better when around you???? oh god, do you secretly hate a bunch of things about him and only like him because he's a good hero????

- there's literal pages in his search history dedicated to is panicked questioning about what he should do if you haven't told him you love him in more than a week, what he should do if he accidentally calls you the wrong name while making out/having sex, when it's acceptable to talk about getting a plant together without seeming like he wants to get married in that instant, etc.

- for this it doesn't matter whether or not you're experienced since its good both ways! someone who isn't experienced could help ease his nerves a bit since hey, you might not really know what you're doing ether, so you're both gonna mess up. if you're a little more experienced then you can help show him the ropes and probably might help him improve in future relationships if you ever decide you don't want him anymore. both win-win situations basically

-  it also doesn't really matter if you're male, female, or anything else since he's demisexual panromantic. your personality is basically the most important aspect to him, even though he still thinks you have the face of a god/goddess

- the first few weeks of the relationship are basically him figuring out when its okay to touch you and/or ask for you to touch him since he doesn't want to scare you off with how affectionate he can be

- and when I say affectionate, I mean like a full out cuddle-bug

- Tamaki is straight up touch starved so like jot that down. like high key he really didn't have much physical affection as a child and even now can’t really figure out how to do it since he doesn't have any experience with it. he still craves physical affection though, and consistently

- a good way to tell that he wants affection is that he sticks a little bit closer to you during the day. not exactly under your feet, but still in your space when he knows its appropriate. usually just giving him a long hug or hdoling his hand in private helps to alleviate it a little bit, but his favorite way to get affection is to sit down and either sit in your lap or have you sit in his lap

- the reason I say private though is because PDA makes him nervous. it already kinda draws attention to the two of you since the act of PDA is basically outing a relationship on display and that alone makes him nervous, so he usually avoids it unless its in a barely populated park, a quiet cafe, etc.

- so in public he's probably gonna stick close but not outwardly hold your hand by himself, but behind closed doors he's basically hanging on you wherever and however he can

- can you really blame him for liking you as much as you do? I mean you're patient with him, you genuinely like him, and you're so sweet that he doesn't even know what to do with himself. that, and you're super fascinating to observe

- not,,,- he doesn't mean that in a creepy way I swear. he means it like- he means that he likes watching you work because the way you move around catches his interest. part of his training is observing others and he already does it a lot due to being more of that type of person by default, so he can tell a lot about you just by watching you do simple tasks such as cleaning the floor or doing some work you need to get done

- his observance makes him a great partner when it comes to remembering small things about you like your favorite color, how you do your hair in the mornings, what your favorite band(s) is/are, and more! expect him to bring you small gifts that reminded him of you because of something you said four months ago at a very specific time and a very specific date and a very specific location

- this applies to anyone that he really knows or pays special attention to really, but you're one of those people that he subconsciously has encyclopedic knowledge of because he thinks about you so much all the time

- anyway, we're getting to the end so lets get to my favorite part of the list- miscellaneous headcanons! :

he really likes Conan Grey and Lofi remixes of songs that he likes since they're more on the calming side and less intense and help his nerves go down if he's feeling anxious

when he does get severely anxious he curls into a ball and pulls at his ears and cries. he's unresponsive for this time but usually just letting him calm down after a little bit on his own or telling him softly to listen to you helps

he likes insectariums a while lot, specifically the butterfly rooms where you can walk through and let them fly around you. for some reason they tend to be more prone to lighting on him than anyone else, even though he only really wears dark colors and doesn't make an effort to get them around him

he has some purple fairy lights set up above his bed in his room that look like glowing butterflies cause he thought they were cute

he's incredibly good at cooking complex and simple dishes since he usually has to eat large amounts of certain things for his ability, and almost always cooks for the two of you if you're staying long enough to eat with him. he's arguably one of the best home-taught chefs at UA besides Bakugo even though they specialize i different areas of cooking basically

- well, it looks like thats the end for this list! Tamaki is such a sweet dude, really. being his friend or lover is like having a cheerleader, an endlessly loyal supporter, and an eternally loving partner (and more) all rolled into one. once you've been nice to him like once he's automatically favoring you over others. it may be hard to try to help him get more comfortable with the things he's anxious with, but he's a fast learner and if it makes you happy it makes him happy too

- Be careful with him, and you've got a friend for life!

[ ~Thank You For Reading, and if you think I missed anything please let me know in the notes or in my inbox. Any feedback is heavily appreciated!~ ]

[mythgirlimagines]

Back with a brand new talentswap, you better keep your eyes peeled for the hybrid fashion consultant-fashion model-fashion critic, Myth Anon, the Former Ultimate Fashionista!

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BACKSTORY AND TALENT

Myth was born to two rather wealthy folks who both specialise in the fashion industry, with the father being a former male model turned seamster and the mother being a fashion designer and photographer. Even Myth’s sisters ended up getting careers in fashion, with her first eldest sister being an expert seamstress and her second eldest sister being a fashion designer. Considering her parentage, one would expect Myth to have quite the eye for fashion. Well, she does. But neither her parents nor her sisters knew just how impressive her skills at fashion-related matters are, ranging from modelling fashion, to fashion advice, to fashion trends, to even sewing, knitting and making fashion herself. Myth particularly specialises in the gyaru style. Eventually, Myth was accepting into Hope’s Peak under the umbrella title of “Ultimate Fashionista”, and her fashion skills are still going strong and even stronger, even as a young adult.

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RELATIONSHIPS

Wyre Anon, Former Ultimate Soldier

Considering their two completely different talents and their completely different personalities, you would be surprised to learn that they have been friends ever since they were little. Ever since Wyre was sent to fight in a massive war, Myth prayed that her best friend would be alright, and emotionally rejoiced when Wyre came back from the earth-shattering war in one piece. Myth regularly exercises with Wyre (How else do you think she keeps her slim figure?), and Myth helps make Wyre confident in their various body scars and muscular build. At some point in their friendship, Wyre was also employed as Myth’s bodyguard, in order to ward off weirdos who want to get handsy with the model.

Outfit: A sleeveless camo hoodie, over a black tanktop, dark grey shorts with a brown belt, green socks and brown boots, black painted nails and friendship bracelets on her arms.

Anon Scar, Ultimate Fanfiction Author

Famous for her angsty and grimdark, yet simultaneously wholesome fanfiction under the online psuedonym of “The Keeper of Tomes”, Scar always tries to act like the evil and dramatic characters of her fanfiction, but this facade breaks fairly easily to reveal her true personality: a kind and maternal young lady who regularly frets over the other conmates. Myth and Scar regularly confide in each other over fretting about their common-sense-deprived allies, even if Myth isn’t all that keen on Scar‘s shonen-protagonist-esque outfit. However, for once, Myth is willing to let this fashion faux-pas slide, considering that Scar’s cosplay game is surprisingly amazing.

Outfit: A grey headband with a black swirl in the center, a black overcoat over a red hoodie, black fingerless gloves, a red scabbard housing a plastic sword, multiple belts, black pants and black boots with silver soles, mask from the original design

Fusion Anon, Ultimate Baseball Player

As the ace of the Lions, his hometown‘s local high school baseball team, Fusion is renowned amongst sports fanatics for his pitching strength and his skill in catching the fastest of throws. Fusion is also known amongst his teammates for acting a lot like a father figure to them, and for that, Fusion gets along very well with Myth. But while Myth is all for Fusion’s bright and colorful baseball uniform, she hardly ever sees Fusion outside of that, and his outfit just reeks of sweat. That, and Myth wishes Fusion would just tame that wild rat’s nest that he calls a “fro”. Little does Myth know, Fusion’s outfit and positive attitude hides a rail-thin and heavily injured body.

Outfit: A red and blue long-sleeved baseball jersey and a matching visor, black fingerless gloves, blue jeans, white socks and black and white baseball shoes, glasses from his original design.

Fusion Anon II, Ultimate Gambler

Despite being underage, Fusion II is a name to be feared in the gambling circuit, and for good reasons. Starting out her career as a timid little street rat, she quickly grew more confident and smug the more money that she gained and her skills at gambling tables only grew even further. At this point, having Fusion II at the gambling table is an automatic way to lose all of your money. Because of Fusion II’s penchant for formal wear and their similar attitudes, Myth gets along with Fusion II very well, and the friendship is very easily reciprocated on the gambler’s side. Fusion II really looks up to Myth and appreciates her advice, despite what her regular snide comments would suggest.

Outfit: A green jacket with card suit-themed buttons over a white dress shirt and a red tie, pants that match her jacket and a roulette wheel-themed belt, white platform shoes, the sunglasses from her original design.

Just Anon, Ultimate Martial Artist

Despite his small height, adorable appearance, and his regular slacking off during times that are normally supposed to be spent sparring, any of Janon’s opponents can tell you that he is a true force to be reckoned with. Janon has a bit of a complex about being seen as cute and “baby”, which is part of the reason that he picked up martial arts in the first place, and adopted a vulgar and bitter attitude (that belies a massive protective streak to those that are younger than him). First of all, Myth thinks that if Janon wants to be intimidating he should drop the bunny hoodie to show off his hardened muscles. But Janon claims that his hoodie is comfortable and will pound anyone who tries to steal it.

Outfit: The bunny hoodie from his original design over a red and white martial arts robe and black flip-flops, hair tied out of his eyes in a small ponytail.

Sparkle Anon, Former Ultimate Swimmer

As the leading lady of an all-girls synchronized swimming performance troupe, known as the “Spectacular Sea Sprites”, Sparkle’s loud voice and her skill with dramatics, that is also backed up by her athletic skills to boot, makes her a perfect leader for the group, in spite of her “eccentricities”. Sparkle also idolizes Myth and her fashion statements, and was simply over the moon, when the swimmer first learned that she would be chaperoning the Kibo-Con trip alongside her hero in confidence and fashion. Needless to say, Myth was ultimately flattered at meeting another fan. The various displays of affection from the over-dramatic swimmer and Myth-brand fanatic are a bit too much though. 

Outfit: A sparkly blue one-piece, a sparkly transparent shawl and matching skirt, pink heels.

Egg Anon, Former Ultimate Affluent Progeny, and Wet Sock Anon, Former Ultimate Biker Gang Leader

As the heir to the throne of one of the most influential and largest corporations in the land, Egg knows everything there is to know about business and finances, despite what their general impulsive and cursed behavior would suggest. Wet Sock, on the other hand, ran out of and was disowned by their family years ago, and by their teen years, moved through the ranks, to become one of the greatest and most dangerous and vicious biker gang leaders in all of the land. Myth has no idea how such great fashion icons could also be so incredibly chaotic and cursed, and is only willing to put up with it, because the both of the twins look stunning and damn fine in both male and female outfits.

Egg’s Outfit: Combed-down hair, a silverish blue jacket over a bright orange button-up shirt, pants that match the jacket and brown loafers, glasses from the original design.

Wet Sock’s Outfit: Hair shaved completely on one side, a black leather jacket over the hoodie from their original design, torn jeans, and black boots.

Curious Anon, Jr. Ultimate Moral Compass

Oddly calm and level-headed for their age and with an unshakeable moral compass and a kindhearted and amiable attitude on top of that, Curious has been a part of their middle school’s public moral‘s committee ever, since they started attending middle school. Despite basically being a servant and waterperson to the other members, they ended up being far more popular and beloved compared to the other people of the middle school public morals committee, for their kind attitude is a refreshing change compared to the other cruel and tyrannical members. Myth finds Curious’s meticulous appearance nice, but she just can’t forgive the person who tried to dress code her clothes. 

Outfit: A pure white school uniform with a green armband and black thigh high boots.

Anon Nerd, Former Ultimate Programmer 

Nerd’s parents are the heads of one of the most prolific weapon-manufacturing companies in all of the world, and Nerd has been programming the technology in the weapons, ever since he was a preteen. He is worldly-renowned for being an absolute prodigy in the worlds of both high-tech weapon manufacturing and programming the fine details of the weapons, with the scouter he wears right now being a particular favorite of his. Myth has no idea how someone in a such a neatly-ironed and crisp suit could be such a vulgar jerk, who regularly harms her with his scouter and other technology on a daily basis. She’s lucky she has Wyre to fight back, because all the burns can’t be good for her skin or hair.

Outfit: A black suit with a green tie and assorted black machinery all over his body with a red scouter over his right eye.

Eldritch Anon, Ultimate Clairvoyant

One of the few supernatural talents in all of the Hope’s Peak’s roster, Eldritch was born with the supernatural ability to predict the future, which were usually negative and things that might as well start the apocalypse in his fanatical doomsayer eyes, which gave him a paranoid and pessimistic personality. Boasting a 1/3 accuracy rate on his fortunes, Eldritch is oddly confident in his abilities and always tries to warn others about events in the future that he claims will cause the apocalypse, usually to no avail. Myth thinks Eldritch has quite the odd fashion sense, and Eldritch isn’t willing to spill on why he dresses like a wizard. Eldritch also claims that people like Myth die first in horror movies.

Outfit: A tinfoil hat, long oversized green overcoat over a galaxy patterned sweater, yellow shorts and orange sandals.

Dream Anon, Ultimate Idol

Dream is the lead singer and main choreographer of the 9-girl pop idol group “JUMP*FLY”. She’s often regarded as the face of the group, due to her positive and cheery attitude on stage, backed up by her dancing and singing skills, and was the one elected by the other eight members to attend Hope’s Peak as the Ultimate Idol. Apart from Fusion II and Wyre, Myth gets along with Dream the most, for she reminds Myth of a younger her and she loves how she can just slay all of those sparkly and pretty dresses on stage. They regularly do dance exercises together, along with Fusion and Sparkle, and talk about their shared experiences as famous beauty icons, in spite of their age.

Outfit: Black and pink headphones, stars drawn on her cheeks, a pink and grey jacket over a black top with pink stripes with a white star in the center, a pink sparkly skirt over shorts that match her top, and boots that also match her top.

Iris Anon, Jr. Ultimate Novelist

In spite of being only a middle schooler, Iris is one of the most prolific and best-selling science fiction-romance hybrid novelists in recent memory, best known for such novels as “Star-Crossed Lovers”, a tale of two aliens trying to get to each other’s homeplanets, with the help of some eccentric side characters/wingaliens, and “Neptunes”, the tale of an astronaut finding their soulmate using a special alien song, which are both best remembered for their ultimately happy endings. Despite what many people think, Myth really enjoys reading romance novels, and novels by Iris are definitely no exception. Imagine Myth’s shock when it was revealed that one of Myth’s favorite novelist is several years her junior. 

Outfit: A black sweater, blue suspenders that hold up a matching skirt, blue and white striped stockings, purple boots, glasses and braids from her original design.

Purple Anon, Ultimate Detective

Purple comes from a long line of affluent and prolific detectives, and was naturally expected to follow in the family footsteps. She did follow the footsteps of the family lineage, and shocked and amazed her family, with her skill in solving crimes and cracking the toughest of cases. Just like every other family member before her, Purple was eventually accepted into Hope’s Peak and was christened the Ultimate Detective. Despite the gruesome cases that she cracks on a regular basis, Purple is often really timid and often hides behind large objects (and even Anons). Myth loves the demure detective‘s high-class threads, and wishes that Purple had the confidence to show it off more often.

Outfit: A dark grey overcoat over a white dress shirt and a purple tie with a lilac question mark on the front, a black skirt, grey stockings and black Mary Janes, the beret from her original design.

This series will center around a fashion icon scoping out only the most scorching of tea and fixing up the various fashion disasters in the Con!

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PERSONALITY

Fashionista!Myth is rather laid-back and cheerful, yet overly passionate about her one true passion: fashion, and is willing to ignore her haters and continue to do what she loves for a living. Fashionista!Myth has a shockingly kind heart underneath the judgmental and sassy exterior. It’s just that people with terrible fashion senses tend to aggravate her more judgmental side and causes her to make rather snide comments about their disaster fashion choices. People with better fashion senses tend to get more respect from her, and showing off her kind-hearted and hidden maternal side. Fashionista!Myth is particularly known on her blog for her wise and experienced fashion advice, but she’s also great at giving out life advice in general, which kind of gives her a reputation as a sort of “mom”, or at least a “wine aunt”. She also lives for drama (particularly of the romance kind), even if she has no idea what said drama actually is. 

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APPEARANCE

Fashionista!Myth wears her brown hair down with streaks of purple, pink, and blue, as well as a pink beret on top of her head. Fashionista!Myth wears a black off-the-shoulder sweater with fluffy white sleeves and  a small blue rose on the front over a red tank top, a red skirt with a black belt that matches her purse, and thigh-high black boots.

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I hope you like this talentswap! Consider this an exercise for me in drawing trendy clothes! Let me hear what you think of this AU!

[chaerrie-on-top]

He Compliments Your Insecurity (7/7)

he (unknowingly or not) compliments your insecurity/insecurities 

JUNGKOOK:

insecurity: your adventurous personality.

being the youngest, jungkook often held the traits of seeking a thrill. he was often up to no good with another member in the group, whether it be taehyung or even hoseok, but when he met you everything seemed to change. you had often been told off by friends and family for being too curious or for exploring too much. you were called nosy or mocked for seeking too much excitement. daredevil had started to become a bad connotation to you. meeting jungkook reignited the burning fire inside you, and your fun side came back in no time. the two of you would often roam the streets of korea, or other countries you all would visit. these moments you shared with jungkook were often some of your favorites, and looking back on the good times made you thankful for meeting a person who knew how to bring out your fun, youthful side.

TAEHYUNG:

your love of arts.

for as long as you could remember you always loved art. whether it be music, drawing, writing, painting; anything. you adored it. being able to express yourself through your own creations amazed and intrigued you. but the people around you thought otherwise. through your teenage years, while you were growing up and expected to go to college, get a job, and eventually have a family one day, high expectations were set on you. your parents wanted you to pursue in a more 'realistic' career, for example a doctor or lawyer. they often looked down on your dream of attending art school and pursuing a career in your field, and this made you doubtful of your passions. until you met taehyung. taehyung was an artistic person himself, so he understood how you felt and knew how to support you regardless. he'd always encourage you to create artwork, and he'd be the first to support whatever you did. he might have known it, but his endless support was what kept you going, despite the contrasting views others had of your dreams.

JIMIN:

your shyness.

growing up you only had a small group of close friends, and you were never really one to socialize much. while everyone else stayed out partying, you'd prefer to stay in and read or hangout with a very close friend or two. your parents constantly nagged you for this trait, and you were often pressured into uncomfortable situations of meeting others, that resulted in low self esteem and anxiety. you knew your family only wanted what was best for you, but socializing was hard for you and a skill you lacked. you grew up hating yourself for this, and wishing to just be like everyone else. once you met jimin, who could be a bit shy himself, he taught you to be able to open up to other people, by thrusting the fame and the rest of the members into your life. meeting all of them allowed you to learn to maintain and make new friendships, yet still know your limits and be able to appreciate how you are. jimin made it known to you that being shy is perfectly okay, as long as you're happy and in some kind of healthy relationship with others.

NAMJOON:

your body.

like most girls, you often stressed over the smallest things; weight, legs, butt, arms, stomach. it seemed like their was a new insecurity of yours every day of the week, and you often found yourself staring into the mirror, criticizing any body part you could possibly think of to judge. namjoon could tell you struggled with self esteem, even if you weren't vocal about it. he'd secretly watch the way you looked into the mirror, eyes trained on a certain area, or the way you'd seem to overwork yourself in diets or exercise. he hated how low you thought of yourself and how negatively you tended to treat his body. namjoon fully understood what it was like to not love yourself, but he wasn't always sure how to approach your insecurities. eventually, he couldn't bear seeing you this way anymore and made it his duty to take better care of you. while you got ready for the day he'd complement you, if pictures paparazzis released of you he'd comment on how cute you looked going on about your day. literally any situation gave namjoon an excuse to slip in a comment or two.

"your thighs look really good in those jeans," he'd kiss your cheek, fingers looping in the belt loops of your favorite pair of jeans.

"your arms look amazing. you've been lifting weights, haven't you?"

namjoon's eyes would squint shut pulling your smaller body close to him as he hugged you, hands running over your belly. "your stomach is so cute. how are you so perfect?"

HOSEOK:

your energy.

all throughout your school career you were constantly labeled as 'class crown' or 'the loud friend'. at first, the labels made you feel almost unique and maybe even appreciated, until people began making them out to be a bad thing. you were a naturally bubbly and energetic people, the mood maker, and you found enjoyment in brightening people's lives. why did people think it was bad for you to be happy? why did others bring you down for bringing others up? none of this mattered to hoseok, though. heck, he was an energetic, loud person himself, so he found himself falling for your similar personality. being able to make other people smile with you was one of his favorite moments the two of you shared, and it only made him love and appreciate you more. hoseok had nicknamed the two of you the 'mood maker couple' and the name had stuck so that even the other boys called you both this. being constantly taught it's okay to have a dynamic personality by hoseok and the rest of the members really helped you to get over your insecurity and made you confident.

and in the end, it even strengthened your bond.

YOONGI:

your hair.

yoongi wasn't exactly the best with making compliments, so usually he stuck with complimenting the simple things about you. of course you know how he is and that he truly means it whenever he compliments you, so you don't get caught up in his compliments being meager. but the one thing he compliments the most is your hair. most days your hair is rebellious, and doesn't fall the way you want it to, or maybe will only cooperate in a certain style or two. either way, yoongi always thinks it looks effortlessly amazing, and he always catches himself playing with it. whether he's twirling random pieces around his fingers, attempting to braid parts of it, or just combing it through his fingers, he loves the way it looks and feels.

"ignore my hair," you'd say upon seeing him during breakfast. it hadn't cooperated that morning, and you had ultimately decided to just throw it up into a ponytail.

"it's cute," yoongi would fondly smiling, reaching a hand up and running his fingers along your hanging hair. "you know i love when your hair is up..."

SEOKJIN:

your smile.

you didn't really like the way your face looked when you smiled; on other people their smile looked just fine, but you always thought it made you look weird. your eyes would squint in the most unattractive way, your teeth would look bigger, maybe it drew more attention to your nose. whatever the reason was, you hated your smile. but seokjin loved it, causing the thought of seeing it becoming one of his motives when cracking jokes or trying to make you laugh. he loved the way your eyes shimmered and squinted in pure joy, or the way your perfect teeth would be on full display. he thought your smile was gorgeous, and a day never passed where he didn't make this known.

[piers-supremacy]

I know you just started 🥺 and but I dont know if you’ve gotten any requests yet so Ima shoot this out there😌✨ Piers with a electic type gym leader but just platonic hc. Like shes super energetic, runs at a 100 mph (figuratively), and pretty spontaneous? Basically the polar opposite of him😳❤️ agh, there needs to be more piers content out there! So thank you for this blog 🥺💕

Oh my god, when I saw this I squeeled so loud lmao. Thank you so much for the ask. I will give this my best. 

SO, I ended up making this more of a drabble on how Piers’ would’ve met this girl and found himself getting along with her. My answer was, accidentally help his sister. Let me know how it turned out! The ask was super appreciated

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The Gym tournament season ended, and Piers had just retired. Some old leaders came and went; Opal made way for Bede, and Leon's little brother Hop finally took the spot as champion. Surprisingly, though, a trainer who had nothing to their name except a thunderous passion struck their way into the gym challenge as the first Electric-type gym leader in Galar. Quite a few people were skeptical when Leon announced this the day after becoming the gym challenge chairman. It was a frustrated passing comment from Marnie that piqued Piers' interest. Marnie, for the life of her, could not beat this new Gym leader. Piers watched as Marnie spent hours training for the next opportunity she had at battling her. Marnie had a new rival, and Piers' frequent teasing did not help with Marnie's thirst for blood. Finally, Piers wanted to see for himself why this girl had Marnie so riled up. He decided actually to attend one of the tournaments at Rose Stadium. He chose not to tell Marnie, figuring it might mess with her performance if she felt she had something to prove to her brother. As the battle started, this sparkly girl practically slid onto the field with her hands stuffed into her pockets. She looked about Leon's age and had a very similar attitude to him. "Back for more, are we?" The girl taunted, earning a growl from Marnie. The battle began, and Piers had a hard time keeping an eye on this girl. She hopped from one foot to the other when Marnie yelled out her commands and would spin her sneakers in the fake grass of the stadium when she shouted her own. They were both down to their last pokemon, and both the girl and piers were surprised when Marnie threw out a Trevenant. "That's new." Piers said, hearing the same words come from The girl's mic. Marnie was now making super effective hits left and right. Thrown in with the occasional Criticals, Marnie finally took down that dynamaxed Toxitricity. Team yell went insane in the crowd, horns blaring, and girls shrieking shook the stadium. Though the girl was stunned, she quickly shook it off, and a huge smile overtook her face as she ran over and picked Marnie up into a suffocating bear hug. Piers couldn't help but laugh out loud when the Rotom cameras zoomed in on Marnies' face. The girl dropped Marnie and grabbed her arm into a vigorous handshake. "Helluva display, kid!" Marnie looked downright baffled as both were called off the arena for the next round. Piers got up to meet Marnie in the locker rooms. Marnie still had a face of confusion, but it softened when she saw Piers. "Oi, What 'er you doin' here?!" Piers chuckled and put an arm around Marnie's shoulders. "Came to see what you were all worked up about. Though, I wasn't expecting you to pull out that last-minute maneuver." Marnie grinned and opened her mouth to speak, but before she could, Piers spotted the Electric gym leader over giving some kid a signed Pokeball. "I'll be right back." Piers walked over to her. "Piers. No! Piers!!" The girl turned, marker in hand, and cap wedged between her teeth. They locked eyes, and the cap soon fell to the ground. "Hey-" Piers put out a hand to greet himself. "Yo! Piers, right? Man, I didn't think you'd be here!" She took his hand and shook it hastily, "Names Y/N!" Piers cocked a brow with an unsure grin. "'Aven't seen you here before." Piers acknowledged. Y/N took her hand away and swayed in place, "Yeah, man! Leon and I were buds, so he bit me off a piece of that gym action." Y/N looked over his shoulder at Marnie, "Dude! That's totally your sister ain't it? She shocked the whole stadium!" She elbowed Piers' side, and Marnie used a hand to cover her face, "Or I guess you can say 'rocked' it? Eh? 'Cause she's your sister." Y/N clicked her tongue and shot two finger guns at Piers, and he couldn't help but laugh despite the awful joke. "Arceus, you're worse than Leon." Piers joked, and Y/N had an ear to ear simper. "Damn, man, That's an accomplishment!" Y/N shifted her feet from one side to the other. "'ave you heard o' Spikemuth?" Piers asked, his head tilted. "'Course I have. Why?" "You got some kinda thing that got m' sister tryin' to better her skills. Love to see ya 'round there sometime." Piers shoved his hands into his black leather pants, "Plus, could always use a good laugh now and again." Piers winked and went back over to his sister. Y/N's ears burned at the last comment, and as she watched them leave, she couldn't help but exclaim, "Ey, wait! I got time now." Y/N ran up behind them to follow them back to Spikemuth. Marnie glared up at Piers as he tried to stifle his growing smirk.