#As this is part of that new arc in my life.

[arimiadev]

recommendations of visual novels on sale for the steam winter sale 2024

steam's winter sale just started and will run for the next two weeks, so if you're looking for a new visual novel to try (or want to get into them), here's a lot that I've played that are on sale on steam.

umineko when they cry

the ushiromiya family returns to the family head's home on an isolated island for their annual conference with the intention of settling how his vast amount of wealth is divided. instead, though, a letter is left from someone claiming to be a "witch". with the ushiromiyas dropping dead left and right, the mystery behind everything remains to be solved by you, the reader.

I can't make a recommendation list without mentioning umineko. it's life changing. it might even trans your gender. it's hard to describe umineko, but just know that it's absolutely deserving of the "cult classic" tag.

notes:

kinetic/linear - no choices

VERY long, 120+ hours (over all 8 episodes)

divided into two games on steam - Questions Arcs is the first 4 episodes and Answers Arcs is the last 4 episodes (8 episodes in total, play Questions Arcs first)

created by Ryukishi07, creator of Higurashi

fantasy vs mystery

ace attorney

follow phoenix wright as he embarks on his career as a lawyer to help people. meet a variety of clients and prove their innocence by collecting evidence, interviewing witnesses, and exposing lies in court.

ace attorney is a classic mystery visual novels, being a blend of point-and-click elements via investigations and visual novel storytelling. the steam port is a massive collection, combining the first 3 games (the original phoenix wright trilogy) as 1 game.

notes:

investigative gameplay segments, a good chunk of the story is point-and-click parts

pretty long for the whole trilogy- each game is around 20 hours long and the steam edition is 3 games

modern mystery with supernatural elements

ai: the somnium files

play as detective kaname date as he hunts down a serial killer using a cutting-edge technology which allows him to "psync" with a person, diving into the memories of others to solve crimes in a limited amount of time with the help of his AI assistant/eyeball Aiba.

aitsf is a lot. it's probably the raunchiest non-eroge game I've ever played and despite my low tolerance for dirty jokes I found most of it to be laughable and a fun experience, though I did play this with friends. if it's a miss for you, it's gonna miss you by a wide margin, but if it's a hit for you, you're going to be recommending it nonstop. either way you'll want to hit kaname date with a car.

notes:

long, around 25-35 hours

this game heavily relies on going back to prior choices via their branching menu to try other options in order to get the full story (and true ending). there are several endings to this game but you're meant to play through them all, not just one or two.

a lot of gameplay and interactive segments

sci-fi mystery

english voice acting

witch on the holy night

aoko aozaki is a highschooler who has to balance her class president, perfect grades life with her secret afterschool life of being a mage—a secret she has to keep at the risk of death. keeping this balance already isn’t easy but one day she gets a wrench thrown into it with the introduction of a transfer student, soujuurou shizuki, a country boy so out of touch that he’s never seen electricity before.

I love witch on the holy night so, so much. it's one of the most beautifully directed visual novels ever made with so much love and care put into each frame. the cast is wonderful (touko my beloved) and it's a must-read for anyone who likes modern-ish fantasy.

notes:

kinetic / linear - no choices

long, around 25-30 hours

originally written by kinoko nasu, one of the co-founders of type-moon and creators of fate/stay night. has some relation to tsukihime and garden of sinners but you don't need any knowledge of those going in

modern-ish (1980s) fantasy with lots of talking about magic

ghostpia

a snowy town filled with "ghosts" is where the young woman sayako finds herself trapped, feeling like she doesn't belong and wants to leave this town where no one dies.

it's hard to describe ghostpia. it's a surreal-ish story about "ghosts" where every character is quirkier than the last but every part is made with so much heart behind it. you never really know where the story is going, but unfortunately only 1 season is currently out on steam.

notes:

medium length, around 10 hours

very innovative and unique use of visuals and paneling

surreal-ish (sometimes violent) fantasy

please be happy

as a shapeshifting fox called a "gumiho", miho has traveled the world in search for a traveler who showed her kindness many years ago. afraid of sticking around in one place for too long, miho has never stayed anywhere for more than a few nights- but all of that changes when she arrives in wellington, new zealand and meets the barista/writer aspen and the vampire archivist juliet.

okay I did work on this one but hear me out. please be happy was a labor of love for our team that took over 3 years to make and is a slice of life story about love, trust, and what it means to be human. and you get to play as a gay fox girl voiced by dottovu.

notes:

medium to long, about 20 hours

2 romanceable ladies, aspen and juliet, and a plethora of side characters to meet via a map system

modern slice-of-life fantasy

english voice acting

WE KNOW THE DEVIL

find yourself back at summer camp with all the queer religious horror of it.

WE KNOW THE DEVIL is a short, atmospheric and slightly surreal story about 3 teens at a religious summer camp waiting for the devil. if you want something that feels familiar and otherworldly at the same time, this is right up your alley.

notes:

very short, about 2 hours

3 endings and 1 true ending

isolation, psychological horror

fate/stay night

seven mages known as masters summon heroic and fictional characters from the pantheon of history to fight it out over the ultimate magical item - the holy grail.

fate/stay night is one of the most well-known visual novel properties out there and it's finally not only available in english officially but on steam! this remaster is a treat and done with a lot of care put into it, it's a great way to get into the fateverse if you've never tried it before.

notes:

pretty long, 70+ hours

3 routes / heroines to be with with lots of bad endings

modern fantasy, battle royale

mamiya

the end of the world is near. what will you do in the final months? and who is this "MAMIYA" who proclaims their love for you?

MAMIYA is a dark mystery visual novel about a group of guys who meet during the funeral for a friend, a stranger, a passerby, and become entangled in the web of an entity known as "MAMIYA". the presentation and style feels fresh.

notes:

check out the content warnings before reading

medium length, but is segmented into a lot of chapters that make it easy to pick back up

dark modern mystery with supernatural elements

a date with death

the grim reaper contacts you saying he wants your soul. naturally, you respond...with flirting??

a date with death is a free game but it does have paid DLC so I'm including it here because I want to. it's a comfy chatsim romance visual novel about, well, courting the grim reaper.

notes:

short, around 8 hours for the base game

customizable protag

1 male love interest

cute modern supernatural romance

twofold

Olive has 1 last chance to graduate college - pass a filler class. when their situation comes to light, 2 club presidents agree to help them but end up dragging them in the middle of their feud...

I also worked on this one. the writing and art is truly charming and heartfelt. it's a story about romance but also relationships in general - friendships, platonic relationships, familial bonds, etc. this visual novel took several years to be completed and the final result is one made with a lot of love.

notes:

medium, around 15-20+ hours for both routes

nonbinary protagonist, 2 female love interests

modern slice-of-life, college setting

english voice acting

slay the princess

you're tasked with a simple goal - slay the princess, or else she'll destroy the world.

talk about taking a simple premise and running with it. slay the princess is a mind-bending psychological horror about love and repeating things a lot of times. after all, all you have to do is slay the princess, right?

notes:

short to medium, around 10 hours for a full run

lots and lots and lots of branching paths

psychological horror, does contain gore

english voice acting

canvas menagerie

Niko is a trans man and lifelong actor who's been down on his luck until he gets the lead role in a major TV show. there, he starts to fall for his annoying celebrity costar.

well I wrote and drew and programmed this one by myself so I can't really give an indepth recommendation for it but I think it came out pretty nice. it's a comfy gay romance about actors.

notes:

medium length, around 10-12 hours

boys love romance

modern slice-of-life, adult cast

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

note that all of the indie visual novels listed are also available on itchio as DRM-free versions. there's a ton of VNs on sale over there right now as well.

[grumpchump]

Adding the full yap because a few people asked for it !

(no fast pass spoilers, I'm not caught up yet anyway!)

I feel like this theme applies to almost every character in the main cast.

First of all, we all know that one of Chase's biggest aspirations is to be a famous singer, even though nobody in his life really thinks he can do it. He seems perfectly aware of this. He knows that everyone thinks his dream is impossible, and maybe part of him thinks the same thing, but he just doesn't care. He's still extremely determined to realize his goals despite what everyone thinks of him.

Buddy especially doesn't think very highly of him (at first!)- throughout a good portion of the season, he constantly assumes Chase is going to give up the stories as soon as they get hard. But as Chase says in Sick Day, it's not his style to give up. He is so much more than what a lot of people expect him to turn out to be and he's so cool and I love him so bad

This applies to Buddy pretty obviously too. He's meant to be a cold and ruthless villain, and he certainly does try to be that. He's tough and more than a little mean at times, but we can see pretty consistently that he isn't as heartless as he might want people (Chase) to think. Even from the beginning when he's determined to antagonize Chase and get his key, he drops hints and helps him to finish the stories.

I always thought the scene in the Cinderfella arc where he tells Chase that he can eat the storybook food was really interesting. Like, he has no incentive to do that. He has no reason not to sit by and watch Chase suffer wanting to eat the desserts. But instead he does this small act that is, whether intentionally or not, actually kinda nice of him. It's just another small moment that shows that the villain persona people expect of him isn't really all that he is.

(This is a smaller thing, but I think with his exterior and how he acts in the books, we kind of expect him to be cunning and hard-working. I believe Punko said in a Q&A that in his free time he's actually an extremely lazy person, contrary to how we usually see him. I'm just mentioning that because I think it's funny and I love him a lot.)

Deacon is an extremely complex character with so many layers that I honestly am still grappling with, this guy's really cool.

A lot of his struggles are with the expectations placed on him. We know his whole life and career have been planned out for him by his parents. There's constantly a lot of pressure on him to work hard at this path that has been chosen for him, but in reality, he doesn't want any of it. My man just wants to read his shitty fantasy novels and chill with horses, give him a break !!

He's also constantly trying to defy his role as the helper key (specifically in Sick Day and The Book of Deacon). I think it's really interesting how he struggles to accept his role. Chase and Buddy don't actively try not to be the hero and the villain, they just naturally are more morally grey with it. Deacon, on the other hand, is almost a little desperate to go beyond being a helper and fall into another alignment, acting carelessly and causing trouble because of it. And the thing is, it makes perfect sense why he'd do it.

Books are very much a source of escapism for him. Actually getting to LIVE OUT the books is extremely exciting. Inside the books, he has a chance to escape his parents' expectations- being the helper, though, he just feels like he has a new set of expectations placed on him. Once he actually gets to be the hero in The Book of Deacon, he learns that this role is just as tough- again, he's trading one set of expectations for another. There's really no winning for this man lol. but im getting a little off topic here.

What Deacon needs is to reject the expectations his parents have placed on him and do what will make him truly happy. We can see how Buddy and Chase sort of naturally deviate from their expectations just through being themselves, but Deacon is still struggling in this process. Deacon is struggling to be himself in the way Buddy and Chase do.

There is still that level of acceptance he needs to have for his current situation though, specially in his helper role. He's still struggling to grasp all that being a helper means and how it's still just as important a role to take on as the hero or villain. He needs to find a way to balance his responsibilities and his happiness.

In Prunella's case, it's a bit harder to say- as of Friends and Family, we haven't gotten to spend as much time with her as the boys, so we're still learning more about her. I think the irony of this little girl getting to play the role of the big strong hero is sort of a subversion of expectations in itself lol.

We've also seen her upbringing. We've seen her mom. We've seen her house. It's a big awesome fairytale mess, and she doesn't really fit into it at all- being more into wilderness survival, she's not really what most people would assume her to be when they see her home life. Nothing wrong with that of course, just worth mentioning. We also learn in Friends and Family that she's very advanced for her age- she's extremely smart and probably a lot more understanding and level-headed about all the key business than I think a lot of other kids would be. I'd say she deviates from what a lot of people would expect of a child her age.

I'd love to hear if anyone has any other thoughts about her character !! I like her a lot and I'm excited to get to know more of her in the story :)

I wanna touch on the Keys last, specifically Silver. This part will be more speculation, so take it with a grain of salt.

In line with the theory about Silver possibly betraying Chase, this theme would apply perfectly. The way we've gotten to know Silver, she's extremely sweet and caring. She acts very selflessly for her family and friends and is eager to lend Chase a helping hand in saving his mom.

What we need to remember is that her first priority is to take care of her family. Helping Chase with his thing is definitely a means to reunite everyone (since he'll need all 12 keys to make his wish anyway), but it may not feel like she's doing enough. Helping her family and taking care of the Keys is her ultimate goal. If she's the heroine of her story, it makes perfect sense that she would take whatever actions necessary to do this.

The problem is, Cinderella Boy follows CHASE as the protagonist. We're rooting for Chase to evade Ex Libris, collect the keys, and save his mom. From this perspective, Silver betraying Chase, going behind his back, etc. would technically be an antagonistic action.

Am I saying that makes her a villainess? No, I really don't think so. But we've come to know Silver as a kind, supporting force for Chase. All I'm saying is, if she really were going behind Chase's back in some way (referring specifically to the letter she writes to Violet at the end of Friends and Family), it would absolutely subvert ours and Chase's expectations of her. It would line up with the theme of defying these expectations.

This theme is another of the many reasons why the Beach Boys arc is so important.

Circling back to Chase and Buddy, the core relationship at the center of the story- up until this point, Chase and Buddy have not cooperated with each other. Just a few episodes ago was the Toffee Break arc, where Buddy was an absolute menace and Chase straight got him thrown off a boat, lol.

But then Chase sees Buddy struggling to light a fire, and he does something unexpected. Even though he and Buddy have spent pretty much every moment together as rivals, he offers Buddy a tip on how to start the fire. He completely subverts what we've come to expect of their relationship. And then Buddy does something even more unexpected by returning the gesture and sharing his fish.

They're meant to be the hero and the villain- complete antagonists to one another. But in this moment they both choose to defy their expected roles and share a small, nice moment.

Later, Chase offers to help Buddy get out of the dangerous situation he's living in, and Buddy assumes he's lying. He doesn't expect Chase to be genuine about it. But like he says in Beach Boys (VI), Chase gets mad at him for doing the same thing, and he realizes he's been wrong about Chase maybe the whole time. Chase is not at all like Buddy expected him to be.

I think the point Chase makes in this episode about their roles as the hero and the villain is extremely important to the story as a whole. Buddy is meant to be the villain, so he's supposed to be a horrible person. Chase is meant to be the hero, so he's supposed to be patient and forgiving. But Chase says it himself- he doesn't care about that. He isn't the perfect protagonist we might expect him to be. He's an extremely kind and good person, yes, but he also has no trouble standing his ground and acting the way HE wants to, despite what everyone thinks of him. And Buddy, while harsh and standoffish, has plenty of moments that showcase how he's actually quite a caring person when he starts to let down his guard around someone.

Hell, even the entire concept of Cinderella Boy as a whole is kind of a subversion of expectations in itself!!!! A boy finds a magical artifact that lets him enter and play out any story he uses it on, but, ironically, he always has to be the princess?? it's amazing i love it

Cinderella Boy shows us consistently that nobody is stuck playing the role everyone expects them to. Nobody is bound to the perceptions that other people have of them, and everyone is free to defy these expectations and be the person they want to be. Chase says it best in Beach Boys (IV): "Nobody should have to accept being the villain if they're trying their best not to be."

To rap up my yap session, Cinderella Boy is a narrative about defying expectations and other people's perceptions of you and being a person of your choosing and everyone should go reread it one billion more times !!!!!!

shout-out to Cinderella Boy and its ongoing theme of defying the expectations everyone has for you and being more than your roots and upbringing, gotta be one of my favorite genders fr

[vaxxman]

Oh I'm sad to see people didn't like comic 7, I thought it was very well done.

This isn't an invitation to an argument, I just want to say my opinion because I'm seeing a lot of people criticising the last chapter.

We got a lot of answers and everything that seemed conveniently placed for plot was completely in the scope of how the previous stories have worked before. I thought it was funny that soldier lived in a cave of Australium. It's just as convenient as Medic having a deal with the devil and the mercs being unable to die. Or Grey Mann having a daughter who no one wants to punch in a fist fight. Or Sniper's parents coincidentally being involved with the sinking of New Zealand.

I think it was a very good choice to not let the mercs do anything plot driving in this chapter, because this conflict was never a conflict that could have been ended by the mercs. They wouldn't even have cared, heh. We've known that everything was carefully orchestrated by the Admin, so it could only have been resolved by those who are part of the bigger conflict. Hence Miss Pauling, the Admin and Saxton do most of the plot. Everyone else already had a lot of screen time in the previous chapters, but none of their stories were truly contributing to the actual conflict at hand, so the story can't come to an end until we actually see the person who's been pulling the threads actually come to terms with what she was doing. I'm very happy that her ultimate plan turned out to just be a pointless act of revenge, since we've all known from the start that the gravel wars are pointless. This is just one more dimension deeper into how pointless it is.

Managing to resolve the story and making sure all characters receive a happy end the way they did was more than I had hoped for comic 7. But just to summarise how I think everyone received their peace of mind across all comics:

1. Sniper: Finds out he's adopted -> figures out his step parents were his true family after all

2. Spy: Really wants to tell Scout that he's his dad -> actually manages to say the words, even if he wasn't honest with his appearance

3. Soldier: Delusional hater of commies -> marries a Russian woman and stops claiming racist things, because Zhanna as a person was more important to him than whatever he believed about Russian people. Still weird, not with less delusion but genuinely a sweet father and husband. Exaggerated and maximally silly way of how to actually change people's racist opinions in real life.

4. Scout: Upset that he can't get laid and thinks he has to be More Man -> glows up by becoming a dad who steps up and is less preoccupied with getting the girl of his dreams. His kids are what matters to him now and he becomes like his mom

5. Heavy: Worried about his family in Siberia -> his sisters show him they don't need him to protect them all the time and everyone moves to America so he can be with them. His sisters get to live freely.

6. Engineer: Is involved with the conflict since his grandpa, and is contractually unable to stop it -> tells Miss Pauling to sink all Australium in a trench so this never happens again

7. Saxton Hale: Wants to go back to the time when he was still actively doing things, gets his company stolen -> gets his company back but realises it doesn't make him happy. Leaves his company and joins Maggie again because fighting alongside her was what he's always wanted since we got glimpses of his past

8. Miss Pauling: Thinks the Administrator has a great plan that desperately needs her -> learns the plan was nothing at all and decides on the spot to end it by not giving Admin any more Australium because she realises she has been feeding into the conflict

Medic, Demoman, and Pyro never had a personal conflict to resolve. Medic had his moments to shine by sabotaging TFC and being in hell then coming back. Demoman had his arc with his liver leaving him and defeating the robots due to the alcohol in his blood. Medic scooped out parts of his brain to keep him unquestioning about his eye. Pyro is just a very simple character, and I say that with no judgement at all. Pyro is happy with arson, but also with a Dalmatian as their pet.

Everyone is still friends with each other and have their own little families. They come together to celebrate Smissmass at Scout's place. I think Saxton's last line "or do you want to live forever" was so well placed, being a nod to the meme from Expiration Date, as well as pointing out that, obviously, things have to come to an end we should embrace that ending when we see it's time.

And as always. If anyone doesn't like that any of these things, we are still free to make our own stories and reinterpret characters.

[everlastingdreams]

The Weeping Monk x Fem!Reader : Forged Of Fire Chapter 23

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Story Summary: Raised under the tiranny of your own family, and forced to steal to earn your keep, you struggle to survive. Born from a Fey mother, and a Manblood father who wanted only sons, you are forced to hide your Fey side. When you are ordered to steal from Father Carden by your half-brother, Cassian, your life spirals out of control and you find yourself at the mercy of the Weeping Monk. The life you knew changes drastically when Cassian betrays you in the cruelest of ways. A trade is made, a promise is broken, and a debt must be paid.

Chapter Title: Ignosce Mihi

Notes: 👀

Warnings: Angst. Hurt. Trauma bonding. Intrafamily violence. Depression. Self-harm. Suicidal thoughts. Violence. Torture. Gore. Pining. Trauma. Self-Flagellation. Manipulation. Strong Language. Blood. Misogyny. PTSD. Spicy and smut parts. Slight redemption arc. Lima/Stockholm syndrom-ish. Childhood trauma.

Other warnings: Jealousy. Forced Marriage. Forbidden Love. Romance. Slow-burn. Found Familly-ish. Comfort. Fluff. !SMUT and SPICE!

Word count of this fic: +250K

Chapter:  23/47

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

You had rode all night to find a village that was not too close to where the paladin camp was. Sure, you could have asked someone for directions but it was impossible to know who you could trust. So you kept on riding until finally reaching a village called ‘Willowsmead’. Haunted by what was left behind, you walked alongside the horse and tried to find an inn. Walking between people felt uncomfortable, it felt uneasy and unsafe, a feeling you tried to push down. All the items adorned with symbols of the Church had been taken off of the horse and left in the forest, remaining discreet was key now. Once you found an inn, you tied the horse’s reins to the hitching post beside it. There was a half open horse shelter in wood that covered the horses against rain when it would occur. Tucked safely into the hood of your cloak, you entered the inn. Drunkards of the night before were already starting their rounds of ale up again.

“What can I do for you, lass?” The young woman behind the bar said.

You watched how she kept busy wiping down the counter. “I’m looking for a room.”

She was able to divide her attention between you and her chore. “We have rooms for those who can afford it.”

You took off the string hanging around your neck, put the ring down on the bar and spoke with a determined tone, “A month. Meals and beverages included. My horse will need to be fed too.”

Her mouth fell open a little at the sight of the ring and she picked it up to inspect it. “I like the stones.”

“Do we have an agreement?” You watched her like a hawk.

“Ay. Take the room upstairs at the end of the hall, it’s the biggest. Stairs are over there. The outhouse is behind the inn if you need it.” She pointed at a set of stairs that were somewhat hidden around a corner not far from the entrance of the inn.

You followed her directions and found the room at the far end of the hall upstairs. The room was indeed large, larger than expected. There was even a small room inside of it that was used for washing up. It was better than what you had hoped for and it gave a sense of comfort that you hadn’t had in quite a while. This would be your home for a month, your shelter. There was clean linen in the room, a blessing considering how uncommon it could be in inns. You barely dared to take of your satchel or jacket, convinced that the paladins would find you soon. It was perhaps an irrational fear, you had been careful whilst riding here. Still…

The satchel was stashed under the bed, the jacket stayed on, it felt safer to have the dagger close. Laying down, your eyes on the ceiling, your thoughts traveled everywhere. A month, a new start, but what after that? Alone, no friends… it was a frightening prospect. All you had was the sword lessons from the Monk fresh in your mind. The Monk… Lancelot… so loyal to Father Carden that he had twisted a knife into your heart to gain the praise from the priest. Was it too foolish to believe that someone could have truly been so caring out of goodness instead of a command given? Had everything been a lie? Still, even if his kindness to you had been genuine, he still was going to bring you back to Father Carden even though he knew what fate awaited you. What had he expected? That he could convince the priest not to use you exactly for the purpose you were being held there for? Maybe… maybe he was as lonely as you were and that had made him try to find a balance between you and Father Carden. But such a balance could never exist, the priest did not know the meaning of kindness or mercy, and sadly the Monk did not seem to realize it. How could you still try to find the good in someone who had betrayed you so? Perhaps it was because he was the first to treat you like an actual person. You pressed the palms of your hands against your closed eyes and groaned loudly at your all consuming thoughts. Leaving your old life behind would not be simple if you kept thinking about Lance…- the Monk.

It was perhaps wise to start thinking of a way to earn a living or you risked starvation after the month was up. A knock on your door startled you, and you sat very still on the bed until another knock came. Had they found you…? You quietly moved towards the door to listen for any noises.

“Oi! Lass, you want this soup or not?” The innkeeper’s voice sounded through the door.

You let out a sigh of relief and opened the door, she held a bowl out for you to take.

She gestured to the bowl in your hands. “Just bring the bowl back downstairs tomorrow. People keep thinking they paid for the bowls too when they pay for soup.”

She had already turned around and started to walk away when you called out after her.

“Thank you!” It was considered of her.

“At your service.” She did not turn around and just headed back downstairs.

In the bed you drank your soup. There was a small table in the room with two chairs, but you preferred the comfort of a bed for as long as you could have it. Showing yourself outside as long as it was not dark wasn’t very safe, you weren’t certain how well the cloak hid you from searching eyes. At least it was a nice room to be stuck in for hours, there were even some books placed on a dresser, you picked one out to read. If the paladins had not barged into this place by morrow, you would try and visit the market. For now, you played it safe and stayed in the room, filling the hours ‘till midnight by reading.

    ~~~♡~~~♡~~~♤~~~♡~~~♡~~~

~Somewhere in the woods…~

    The Monk forced himself to stay awake under the light of the sun, it was too dangerous to halt for long in the daylight. In his body was a heaviness sitting on his chest, undoubtedly a rising fever from the injuries he had sustained. His body had not stopped shuddering since the sun came up. The night before had almost cost him his life and now he was not certain if surviving had been the better outcome. He hated feeling the weakness set into his body, part of him wished to let it take over. He had urged the boy, Percival, to clean up by the river bank as he did the same. The blood stuck to his surcoat, his cloak, everywhere. Some of it his, some of it that of the Trinity Guards. It was no use, he was too weak to bathe and wash the dried blood off and fresh blood of his own replaced it soon after anyway. His head was pounding mercilessly, the cuts to his body felt like they were burning. No, this was not ending well if he did not find a healer willing to treat him.

“Are you… alright?” The worried child had been kneeling next to him by the river bank.

The Monk had been kneeling there, starring blankly at the river for minutes already. “Do not concern yourself over me.” He handed the boy his tankard of water. “Drink.”

Percival gingerly took the tankard and drank a few sips of water. “You don’t look fine…”

Neither did he feel so. His body was tricking him into thinking that sleep would be a good idea, but he knew better.

The taste of blood was still present in his mouth, he tried to swallow it away before speaking again, “There is a village not far from here. If we are fortunate we can find shelter there. It’s in the west.” He turned his head to the direction, hoping to feed the boy some valuable information. “We ride along the river and stay away from the main paths in the forest.”

“Do you think they’ll be looking for us?” Percival sounded worried.

He would not lie. “Yes.”

The boy handed back the tankard and followed him back to Goliath. “Why did you help me? Now the paladins are angry with you.”

The fever made him more openly honest than he normally would have been. “I did not want them to harm you.”

Percival stopped and stared at the back of the fearsome Weeping Monk who apparently had a conscience when it came to children. “But you kill Fey…”

He patted the spot in front of the saddle. “Up.”

The boy stood and stared up at him, looking at him with great concern. “Are you going to die?”

“We all will one day.” It slipped from his thoughts before he could think how frightening such a statement could be for a child. “I am trying not to.”

“Try harder.” Percival scrunched his nose. “You look like you’re going to fall over.”

This blunt child… never holding back on voicing exactly what goes through that mind. Still, perhaps it was his way of showing his concern.

He pulled at the boy’s jacket. “I wish to reach the village before that happens. Now mount.”

He ignored the small glare for telling the boy what to do and helped him get up on Goliath before hoisting himself into the saddle behind him. A sharp shooting pain went through his side, causing his vision to spin for a moment.

Percival was quick to notice the alarmed response on his face. “Lancelot?”

“I’m alright.” He took a few sharp breaths to deal with the pain. “Listen. If something were to happen to me, take my horse. His name is ‘Goliath’, he will look after you if you look after him. Do you know how to ride?”

“No…” Percival muttered quietly, hating to admit it.

He put the reins into the boy’s hands. “Then now you will learn.”

With the little focus he had left, he taught Percival the more important parts of horse riding, for he doubted he’d live long enough to see a healer.

    ~~~♡~~~♡~~~♤~~~♡~~~♡~~~

  In the night, as you read your mother’s journal, a sound from outside your window drew your attention. When you looked outside, you could make out a few figures in the dark. A young boy was trying to help someone down from their horse. You decided to go and see if you could help. Quietly you made your way out of the inn, trying not to disturb everyone who was asleep. As you neared the figures, it got easier to see them. And when you could finally make out what you were seeing, you stopped dead in your tracks. The person that this boy was trying to help, was the husband that you were trying to forget.

The boy noticed you. “He needs help! Please!”

Seeing a child begging for help on the Monk’s behalf was staggering. For a moment you didn’t know how to react, but the child’s concern was what pulled you over the line. You stopped a few steps away from the boy, the Monk was slouched forward over Goliath and barely conscious. It took a few seconds for your eyes to figure out what those dark stains on him were. Blood. A lot of it. His clothes were sliced through in multiple places, torn in others. His face was bruised, as was the face of the child.

It was as if the boy was aware of how unlikely it was that someone would choose to help the Weeping Monk. “Please, help…”

Dammit… dammit… dammit.

You had to use all your strength to get the Monk off of the horse without letting him drop to the ground, he was somewhat aware of the help and tried to assist where he could but you doubted he had any idea where he was or with who. He could barely keep his footing.

“What is your name?” you asked the child.

The boy went to support the Monk’s right side. “Squirrel.”

An odd name, one you did not question. “I’m y/n. We need to get him inside the inn, we’ll take him to my room.”

“No one can know he is here.” Squirrel was reluctant to say it.

“I won’t tell.” you assured the boy. “What happened? Why are you with the Weeping Monk?”

After you brought Goliath to where your horse was resting, Squirrel told you the story. The demise of Brother Salt, the attack of the Trinity Guard, the Monk beaten to his knees. Their narrow escape from it all. It felt so unreal to hear it. He had betrayed the Church in the worst way possible to save this child. And according to Squirrel, Abbot Wicklow knew that the Monk was Fey. They would be looking for him, he needed to hide. All you could do was hope that the news would not spread fast, that there was still time for him to heal and flee.

It was half a miracle that you and Squirrel were able to get the Monk up the stairs without breaking any limbs. As you put him down on the bed, and turned to speak to Squirrel, the Monk caught your wrist. He spoke your name, as if he was not even sure you were really there. Clearly delirious from the fever, he failed to form another word. He was simply too weak to speak. Even when you had hoped to never see him again, you still couldn’t fight the wish to help him. His bravery to save the child had at least earned him your help for now.

You wettened a rag in the washbasin. “Squirrel, there is a satchel under the bed. A vial is inside, will you please hand it to me?”

Squirrel was quick on his feet and snatched the satchel from under the bed. In the meantime you wiped the blood from the Monk’s face.

Squirrel handed you the vial. “What’s in it?”

It was tricky to pour the liquid into the Monk’s mouth drop by drop, but it was necessary. “Medicine from when I was sick myself, I hope it will help for him too.”

Squirrel saw how calm you stayed in the presence of a man who had the reputation of being a monster. “You’re not afraid of him…”

Your eyes flickered up to those of the boy. “I’ve met him before.”

The boy squinted his eyes. “Are you Fey?”

A pause. “Some of me is.”

“What part?” The child wondered out loud.

A soft laugh fell out of you at that. “Half of my blood I think.” After pouring half the vial down the Monk’s throat, you took the pouch of willow bark from your satchel and gave some to Squirrel. “Chew this. It will help with the pain of your bruises.”

The boy stilled when you took a gentle hold on his chin to look at his bruises better. “What kind of Fey are you?”

After a moment of thought, you decided to tell him the truth. “I am half Ash Folk and half Manblood.”

“You don’t look Fey.” he blurted out when you tilted his head a little to the side.

You smiled at the boy’s bluntness. “That’s the Manblood part of me.” Then let go of his chin. “I will need herbs to make ointment for you and him. Will you help me bare his torso so I can inspect his wounds?”

Squirrel shrugged his shoulders and nodded. Together you struggled to bare the Monk’s torso, the blood was making the fabric stick to his skin in multiple places. When you could finally begin to asses the damage done, you felt your heart drop. Wounds on his back told you he had used the scourge to cleanse himself, the other injuries were mostly deep bruises and several cuts. They had meant to make him suffer, cut by cut. Even Squirrel looked at the Monk as if he wondered how the man was still alive.

You must have been quiet and unmoving for a moment, because Squirrel looked up at you worried.

“Is he going to die?” Squirrel quietly asked, fearing the answer to come.

It made you snap out of it. “Not if I can help it. Listen, I need to go and find some herbs to help him-”

“I can go find them!” The boy wanted to help.

Sending a child into the woods late at night felt wrong. “I know you can, but I need you to stay here with him. Please?”

Squirrel looked back at the Monk. “Fine.”

Quickly you grabbed your cloak. “I won’t be gone long, if he wakes try to keep him awake.”

“How?” he asked.

“Talk to him?” you suggested.

Squirrel grimaced, as if he worried what to speak of to the Monk who had saved his life.

Almost did you let out a chuckle. “I’ll be right back. Don’t you worry.”

Squirrel went to sit on one of the chairs and began to drink the remaining soup from the bowl. It dawned on you that he must be hungry, the paladins were known to use starvation against the Feys.

You opened the door. “And I will see if I can get you more to eat.”

The boy’s eyes snapped to yours, as if you had just performed a miracle. He managed a nod in response and you headed out to find the herbs.

          It was a rather cold and rainy night, it made it harder to find the herbs you needed. The teachings of Ravenwick’s healer would know their use again tonight. By focusing on your sense of smell more, you were able to find the herbs. While sneaking back into the inn, the innkeeper turned out to still be awake.

“Who are the people you took to your room?” She gave you a knowing look.

You had a feeling that she knew exactly who you had in that room. “Friends who desperately need some help.”

She hummed. “As long as they bring no trouble they can stay in the room as well.”

“Thank you.” You were grateful for her understanding.

“The child, Fey kind?” she inquired.

Was it wise to tell her…?

“Horrible what they’ve done to the Fey. Especially for the little ones.” she said. “Do you think he will want some bread and soup?”

You couldn’t believe the offer. “He would love that.”

“Good. I’ll grab another bowl from the kitchen that you can give to him.” The innkeeper walked from behind the bar to the kitchen, she returned with a bowl of soup and two halves of a bread. “This will keep them fed for the night.”

It felt so incredible to see kindness in another person again. “Thank you so much. This is so kind of you.”

She shrugged her shoulders. “When you plan to rent a room again at a later time, remember the good service I gave.”

It would be hard to forget. “I will. I hate to ask, but do you have a needle and thread I may use?”

She didn’t even ask why it was needed, she could easily guess. She bend down and took a basket from behind the bar. “I see my fair share of blood in here if one of the patrons drinks too much. Take what you need.”

You took what was needed, along with the bread and soup, and headed up to the room. Inside you found Squirrel sitting next to the bed, his attention immediately went to what was in your hands.

You had placed the bowl on the table and put one of the halves of the bread beside it. “The innkeeper was kind enough to offer this to you. Come eat.”

Squirrel was sitting at the table in a matter of seconds, a warm meal had been a rarity and the soup was quick to warm his cold chest up. You did insist that he took off his cloak and jacket so it could hang over the other chair to dry. Then you used your empty soup bowl to mix the herbs into an ointment.

“He’ll wake up soon if he smells that.” Squirrel said with his mouth half-full.

You gave him a side-eye at that and he quietly continued to eat. “It may smell bad, but it works well. An elder Fey healer taught me this.”

“Did you want to be a healer?” Squirrel said, believing you to be one with this knowledge on ointments.

“I uhm…” you swallowed. “It was a useful skill to learn.” And it certainly was for you, Aldith and Cassian would have left you to bleed out. “What do you want to be when you’re older?”

He had his answer ready. “I’m a knight.”

You walked towards the unresponsive Monk. “A knight?”

A short pause fell between his words, it was hard for him to speak about the moment. “The Green Knight… I tried to save him from the paladins, but they caught me. He couldn’t walk anymore… he made me a knight.”

Hearing the hesitation and fragile tone was heart-wrenching. “He must have known how brave you are.”

Squirrel looked your way again, then let his eyes drop to the soup. You fetched the bucket of water from the small room and with one of the rags supplied you began to clean the blood away from the cuts on the Monk’s torso. Part of you was terribly nervous for the Monk’s reaction when or if he would wake, and at the same time you hoped he would wake soon. He had not deserved this, this child was alive because he had went against the Church. Once Squirrel was finished eating, he came to help you move the Monk on his side so you could treat the wounds on his back first. Seeing the scars from up close made your hands begin to tremble, all of them were the result of his devotion to the ones who had made him into a weapon. Once the wounds on his back were tended to you carefully moved him to lay on his back again, and a groan came from him. You froze.

It took a few seconds before you collected enough of your courage to lean in, take his hand in yours, and talk to him. “Lancelot, if you can hear me, you are safe and so is Squirrel. But you must fight this fever, do not let this be the end of you.”

No response came, even after waiting for a while. So you went back to caring for his injuries.

“He told you his name too?” Squirrel wondered out loud.

“He did.” You hoped the boy would not ask further.

Squirrel looked down at the unconscious man. “That priest, in the black clothes, he said Lancelot was Fey…”

Oh… heavens… “He is.”

The curiosity of the child knew no bounds. “But what kind?”

Those three seconds of silence that fell felt so so loud. “He is Ash Folk too.”

Squirrel frowned. “Is that why his eyes are like that?”

“Yes.” You chose honesty.

Another question followed. “Then why are yours not like that? I’ve never seen that kind of marks before.”

The question was to be expected. “I am not sure, but I think it is because I am a woman. He is a full-blooded Ash Man. My Fey-marks do not present themselves all the time like his do, mine only show rarely.”

You noticed that Squirrel blinked rapidly every few seconds, and he began to yawn often. He was fighting against the exhaustion he felt, and you halted the Monk’s treatment for just a moment to put some ointment on the child’s face as well.

“You should rest, I can see that you are tired. Use my cloak as a pillow.” you suggested.

Squirrel was hesitant, but knew that he would not be of much help if exhaustion would take over completely. He took your cloak from where you had put it on the chair and came back to sit next to the bed, he propped the cloak up into a ball to use it as a pillow. It didn’t take long for him to fall asleep, the full stomach must have helped. Quietly you had begun to suture the cuts that were littered across the Monk’s torso. It felt almost wrong to be doing this while he was not conscious, but you knew that if you didn’t his state would undoubtedly worsen. It was the sharp intake of breath between his teeth and the shivering of his body that warned you that he was waking up. His hand lifted to feel the spot you were working on, you couldn’t risk him accidentally ruining the stitches and took hold of his hand to place it down next to him again.

“Do not fear. I am using needle and thread to suture your wounds.” you told him.

This time his hand moved faster and nearly made you jump when it caught your lower arm. Your name fell from his lips in a way you had never heard it be spoken before. A voice, shattered and broken, carrying a small flicker of hope. Finally his eyes opened, it seemed to cause his head to hurt, he struggled to keep them open and let out a pained sound. Completely still, you stared at his face, not daring to continue your work.

It took a moment before you found your voice again. “Lancelot, I am trying to help, but you need to let go of my arm so I can do that.”

He forced his eyes to stay open, after a few seconds he let go of your arm and let you continue the work. A pang of guilt and sympathy went through you every time you had to pull that needle through his skin. But not once did he complain, he tried to bite down the pain.

“The boy…” His mind seemed to clear after a while. “I was with a boy.”

You pointed to where Squirrel was sleeping. “Squirrel is asleep next to the bed.”

Immediately he looked down at the floor and a wave of relief washed over him upon seeing the boy comfortably asleep on your cloak. “How long have I been here?”

The needle and thread were no longer needed, all that still had to be done was applying ointment. “You arrived here tonight.”

“Where is ‘here’?” he asked.

“Willowsmead. I arrived here first and paid for this room after-” A pause, “After we parted ways.”

It was a sensitive subject for both it seemed. “Does Percival know…?”

You frowned. “‘Percival’?”

He nodded down to the sleeping child. “His real name is Percival. Does he know that we know each other?”

The conversation threatened to grow out of the comfortable region. “He knows. And he knows we are both Ash Folk. But he doesn’t know the situation between us.”

He was understanding as to why you had not told Percival. “I did not think I would ever see you again…”

It was not a wrong assumption to make. “That was my intention. But then you rode into this village and Percival pleaded for my help.”

He picked up on the way your tone had gone a bit colder. “I never wanted for us to be at war with one another.”

It felt uncomfortable to speak of this whilst you were busy applying ointment to his wounds and bruises. Part of you just wanted to walk out of the room, out of the village even, but the sleeping child kept you where you were.

You shook your head, a bitter grimace on your face. “Nothing you said to me was true. You were forging me into a weapon for Father Carden. Sharpening me with your feigned kindness and controlling me by making me believe I could trust you. I am only helping you because you risked your life to save Squi-… Percival. So do not think this means I forgive you for betraying me in the worst of ways. I had hoped to never see you again.”

Ice ran through his veins. An array of emotions slipped through the mask he often hid behind. He tried to take hold of your hand. “I beg you, please-”

At that, you stepped away and he immediately tried to sit upright but his body protested against the sudden movement. The look on your face said all he needed to know, it held no fury anymore, only a deep sadness. It was worse than the fury.

“I will make this right, I swear it.” he vowed. “The way you looked at me before you rode off… it is burned into my memories and I cannot forgive myself for being the cause. You looked at me and saw a monster.”

Your eyes were fixed on the floor. “I do not know what to think. You were the only friend I had, and I do not know if that was even true.”

“It was.” He corrected himself with confidence, “It is.”

You touched the tips of your fingers, keeping your attention fixed on them. “You knew all along why Father Carden was so intrigued by Fey Fire. You lied to me.”

He gave a nod, acknowledging his faults in the matter. “I did…”

“Because you knew I would never stay and become a weapon.” you stated.

“In the beginning I tried to follow the order.” he admitted to his guilt. “But once I knew for certain that you would continue to refuse to aid the mission, I lied to Father about the progress you made in controlling your magic, to delay his plan to use it to forge weapons.” A long pause fell. He was struggling to say what he wanted to say. “I wronged you.”

Was that remorse you heard? “You destroyed a part of me.”

The look in his eyes… your words had cut him. He couldn’t look at you for a moment. “You have every right to sink a blade into me.”

You scoffed. “I just finished trying to fix what blades have done to you.”

A careful smile formed on his lips. “That you have.”

You ignored how amazed he sounded that you had done so. “He ordered you to earn my trust. When I heard him talk to you about that… do you have any idea how that made me feel?”

The careful smile was gone when he nodded. It almost made you regret asking. Instinct was telling you that his remorse was a genuine thing and it made it even more confusing to maneuver this matter.

“I was selfish…” he sighed quietly. “I found in you what I had tried to receive from Father for years. Losing that again…” a pause, “I was torn between duty and what I had so prayed for. I could not choose, and because of it I have hurt you.” The Monk was quiet for a few seconds, he swallowed hard.

Was it your imagination, or did it seem like he was close to tears and therefor took a moment to prevent it? It sure looked like it. You balled a hand into a fist, digging your nails into your palm to fight back the sudden urge to reach out for him.

Once he was more composed, he spoke again, “I am so sorry. I pray you believe that.”

Your eyes were fixed on the wall and you tried to stay composed. “Have you chosen now? Or should I expected my door to be run down by paladins soon?”

The trust towards him was painfully small. “I cannot go back. They know what I am, and I fought the Trinity Guard. The Church will not forgive this.”

“So you would go back if you could?” you were sharp.

“No.” he was resolute.

It was hard to believe. “No?”

He tried to keep his voice steady. “When I saw you ride away, I made my choice.”

With your arms crossed over your chest, you had taken on a defensive stance. Protecting what he had driven a knife into, your heart…

“I should have accepted your offer. For us to leave together…” he sought your eyes. “I should have found a place for us, to build our own life. Another life, another place, with you.”

You shook your head, feeling tears well up against your will made you walk towards the small room. To be reminded of that hope, of everything you had wanted with him, hurt. “Don’t. It’s cruel.”

He tried again and succeed to slowly get up from the bed to approach you. That vial was working well for him. Your hope to withdraw yourself into the small room was ruined.

He could tell how much you wanted to create a distance. “What is cruel?”

You could not ignore how gentle he had asked it. “You don’t mean it.”

He held a hand over a painful cut on his side. “What I said about us leaving together?”

The fear that he was playing a game with your mind was too strong. The magic in your veins too powerful to risk it falling into the wrong hands.

You were very evasive. “I’m going outside the inn for a while. There’s bread for you on the table should you be hungry.”

He looked out the window. “It is the midst of the night.”

“It doesn’t matter.” You tried to move past him.

He caught you by the elbow. “It is raining.”

The truth slipped out. “I don’t want to be near you now.”

He tried not to let it show what hearing that did to him. “What can I do to not make you want to go out in the pouring rain?”

With a sigh, you gave the option. “Rest, and allow me to do so as well.”

He agreed to the terms. “Very well. I shall not bother you anymore tonight.”

For him to agree on those terms so easily was unexpected. Maybe he was genuinely trying to make amends.

Your arm slipped out of his hold effortlessly when stepping away. “Well… then I will sleep before there is no night left to use for it.”

He politely stepped aside, letting you move towards where Percival was sleeping. It was strange that, even after everything, you were not afraid to fall asleep in the same room the Monk was in. The spot just beside Percival was what you chose as a place to sleep. The only thing you had to use as a pillow was your propped up jacket. The Monk moved back towards the bed.

To see the child who had given him the will to stand and fight, and the woman who had given him the will to break free, laying on the ground whilst he himself had the bed to rest on… the thought did not sit well with him at all.

He turned to you. “I do not need the bed. Perhaps-”

You were already laying against the wall and sighed. “That is the medicine talking, when it wears off your pain will increase again. Use the bed.”

It would be no use to argue further he realized. He laid down on the bed again, trying not to wince at the sharp pain that shot into his torso in multiple places. Silence fell over the room, but not into your ears as the Hidden’s whispers filled them instead, ignoring them was fruitless. You didn’t know why it tempted you to look in the direction of the Monk again, he looked away the moment you caught him looking at you as well. You turned over, and pressed your eyes shut to scold them for it.

He feared to sleep, no… he feared to wake and find you gone again. If you had not been here in this village, his days would have been filled searching for you. Now he was here, in the caring hands of the woman who had every reason to hate him. He had spend years praying to witness divinity, and now understood where to find it in this mortal realm.

Taglist:

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Please let me know if you want to be added or removed from the taglist of this story. Using this old list from the previous fic.

[phoenixfossils]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MY DEAR VI!!!!!!!!♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️

(i may not be good at drawing ppl, but i will still draw Vi)

WOOO, it's already been a year since I posted on her bd. I will try to keep this short, but let's see how good I'll be at that...

Now, I haven't shared what I think about S2 yet. LONG STORY SHORT, I think Vi's arc was too rushed. I wanted to see more of her, to see her fight for the people she loves. I understand why they couldn't show EVERYTHING, time and budget is a thing, yadiyada. But I still wanted to see more of Vi.

Onto a sweeter part :) It's already been a year and a half since I started watching Arcane, and even if I'm quite new to this series(technically), it still has changed my life in SO many ways. I never knew what this show had in store, and to come out of watching it with a new favorite character wasn't too expected for me personally... I love Vi in all kinds of ways, but most definetely, I love her as a character in general. I relate to her in many ways, and, honest to god, this show in general is what has kept me going. Vi is strong and protects the ones she loves and cares about, putting others needs first over hers. She has a big and good heart, that, FUCKING UNFORTUNATELY, people use for bad.

I have never lover a character so much, at least not where I relate to them deeply at the same time. She is what I have been, and what I'm not right now. This goes deep to a very personal level, so I won't share that much. In the past, I had a certain situation where I put others needs before mine, and I had to be.. a protector. I had to take care of people who needed support, I was the strong one. But now, since life has been.. kinda kicking my ass, I can't be the strong one anymore. I can't balance a lot of things, because, really, I'm not that in control of my life, lol. But, Vi can be that for me, and she IS. Her beliefs and overall character has kept me going, and I am so grateful that a show like Arcane can bring a character like that into reality(not physically tho☹️). You could NEVER make me hate Vi. She is so sweet deep down, so FUCK YOU if you think she ruined everything. WE CLEARLY DIDN'T WATCH THE SAME SHOW THEN!!!!

And if you'll say: "She's just a fictional character.." ... GET OUT !!!!

TLDR: Vi means a lot to me, and because of it, why shouldn't I celebrate her BIRTHDAY??? I love her, she literally deserves the whole world bro.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, VI!!!!!! ♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️

I EVEN BAKED CUPCAKES. 🧁🧁🧁

[bonsai-babies]

Proving how easy it is to write BASIC compelling arcs for Sam LaRusso (1/2)

This last season's (and others) treatment of Samantha is unforgivable, I did this out of spite whenever I had the time to write, so here goes. (part 2)

main conflicts .

KARATE TRAUMA — Sam was raised under Daniel's and Mr. Miyagi's teachings from day one. She loved training with her dad and ojichan because to her it was a fun game at the time. Then, as she grew out of toddlerhood it became a serious martial arts training. Daniel and Miyagi knew it was important to raise a girl who could defend herself in a world that was out to get them, plus they had this time to bond and spend high-quality time together. After the death of Mr Miyagi, Sam feels triggered by Karate. It reminds her too much of him and how soon he was taken from them. It reminded her how Karate couldn't save him. She stopped believing Karate could ever save her too.

SURVIVING HIGH SCHOOL — Until High School, Sam was a proud nerd who had the best time with Aisha. However, as time went by, she observed how nerds and unpopular people were harassed and humiliated. Not only that, but by the last half of her elementary school experience she was being bullied alongside Aisha and grew really scared of what was coming for her in High School. Which is why she did her best to fit in with the cool kids and change her whole self. It was something incredibly hard and draining to do. The whole time she felt anxious, like they'd find out she was a farce at any moment. She felt guilty and conflicted for leaving Aisha and turned a blind eye to all the bad things her group did, as a way to guarantee her stay. The series then explores this, the consequences of her choices, how they turn against her, how she deals with becoming the popular crowd's main target for a long while, the psychological scars, and finally: how she slowly rebuilds her self-confidence and how she does everything to make up for what she was complacent with for Aisha.

development .

KARATE TRAUMA — How Robby changes everything The arrival of Robby in her family's life brings not only fulfillment for her dad who craved a student, but it also causes the first sparkle that should heal her heart wounds about karate. He's a new, bright, kind, and gentle reminder of what it was like to train with her dad and Mr. Miyagi. He makes her remember the joy of practicing it, the gratification of refining a technique, the importance of a bond with fight mates, and the happiness she can still experience despite her awful loss. He's the key to bringing her back and inadvertently shows her the way to soothe her wounds about her past. This creates a tight bond between the two and makes them excellent fighters, especially together.

SURVIVING HIGH SCHOOL — Everlasting Consequences Sam won't escape the result of her choice, which means that even though she makes progress with Aisha, they won't get back to being friends like before, and that's when Tory shows, and Sam is incredibly jealous because she knows she fucked up and her old best friend is now in arms with this new beautiful fearless girl whom she can't ever compete with. Cue the start of sapphic drama for my own indulgence. On top of that, she'll forever be treated as persona non grata by the popular crowd who will take every chance to harass and create rumors about her.

[thebroccolination]

STOLAS AND BLITZ'S CURRENT RELATIONSHIP IS A TREASURE TROVE

Helluva Boss is the ideal source material for fanworks in so many ways. Especially because of where Blitz and Stolas's relationship is right now.

One of the show's more obvious issues is the pacing, and while I don't know a ton about animated productions, it's always seemed to me like they're creating an enormously ambitious production on a pretty limited budget, so they kind of have to power through these episodes at a hundred miles an hour without the luxury of going at the slower, more nuanced pace they deserve. But that's where fanfiction and fanart can really elevate what canon gives us, because the show is creating so much potential to explore, and we have time in between episodes to play!

Basically: I love it here and this episode was a buffet of goodness.

Following Mastermind, Stolas and Blitz are discovering that despite their physically intimate relationship and their feelings for each other, they don't actually know each other.

In Sinsmas, we see Stolas and Blitz discovering so many new things about each other, to the point where you wonder what they ever talked about until you remember: sex. When they reunited as adults, they never re-learned who each other is now. Instead, they jumped past personal intimacy to physical intimacy.

And now that they're working on their personal intimacy, I love that Blitz has flipped completely from acting cold to Stolas out of uncertainty and self-defense to committing to him, unrelentingly loyal and affectionate. The way he is with Loona.

So we have them learning each other in doses:

• Blitz's horse thing

• Stolas's secret medication

• What Stolas eats

• Social norms Stolas didn't have to know when he was part of the wealthy ruling class

• Hellborn culture

• Blitz's genuine love for the company he built, not just pride

• Just how different Blitz's way of life is from the one Stolas is accustomed to

• And the real Blitz as opposed to the idealized version Stolas invented in his fantasies

In Mastermind, Stolas has that line, "Why am I throwing my freedom away for this idiot?" in part because he was still mad at Blitz, but also because Blitz has been knocked off his pedestal, and Stolas has to relearn him from nothing.

But the thing is: this idiot loves Stolas.

He's not ashamed to eat with Stolas in public, not ashamed to protect him from the other Hellborn who hate Stolas because of the trial.

He's genuinely delighted spending his time with Stolas.

He'll hunt rats in an alley just to make sure Stolas is eating what he likes.

And he champions Stolas's very first secretarial attempt in very characteristically giddy flavor.

He risks his life to save Stolas's, a flip from Mastermind.

He wraps Stolas in his own jacket to keep him warm, even though Blitz just complained about Earth's winter topside.

And he wraps Stolas in a blanket, then eats hot coals/brimstone(/whatever those rocks were) to become a hot water bottle for Stolas.

Because ultimately, what Blitz wants and perhaps realizes he wants in this episode is that he wants to be a complete family with Stolas and their daughters.

And they'll get there in part by talking to each other about what matters.

Not fighting, not yelling, not walking away, just talking to each other. About their vulnerabilities and their fears and what hurts. About their past hurts and their worries for the future.

And they've never done that at length before.

The trial gave Blitz the wakeup call he needed, and now the season is ending with Blitz completing another curve of his character arc. Does he believe he deserves Stolas? No. Does he have the family he wants? Nope! But to get there he has to make things right with Stolas, and he's (mostly) done that.

What comes next for them in season three will be up to Stolas.

Blitz has embraced Stolas, but it's not quite reciprocal yet.

So I look forward to aaaaaaalllllllllI the fic and fanart along the way. :>

[not-poignant]

10, 14, and 25 for Faber?

10. What's an AU that would be interesting to explore with your OC?

So, weirdly, I came up with a story idea for him but I like the story idea so much that he's going to get replaced with a new original character (though I suppose they're going to share some similarities!)

Honestly, Faber's such a solid "performer" that he'd be fun to lead any other story. I haven't come up with anything else specific to him, but any kind of situation where I can put that boy in distress is one that generally appeals to me, lmao. I've weirdly thought about crime scenarios with him, like, 'hypercompetent potential victim of a serial killer who comes under Caleb's protection and is really Mad About It except his life is in danger.' That kind of stuff is a lot of fun to think about!

14. How does your OC want to be seen by other characters?

Faber wants to be seen as competent but not as competent as he actually is, and generally otherwise, outside of Caleb, he doesn't want to be seen at all. But he's got complicated feelings about it! His feelings on being seen relate to how he devalues himself and also believes he's better off not trying for his goals or hoping for anything better, so it becomes part of a vicious cycle.

That being said, he was raised to be quiet and precise and skilled, and anything that requires him to break out from that makes him desperately uncomfortable. So if people perceive him as quiet, precise and skilled, he's in his comfort zone.

25. What is your favorite thing about your OC?

Honestly his potential right now. He's such a strong character in the sense that he can really carry a heavy, complex narrative. Not all of my characters can? Some are more suited to like single narrative arcs that aren't too complex (like say, Janusz and Nate, where I love their story, but it's not like Faber's where there's two million things going on).

Faber's the first character in a while actually, where I've felt this way, probably since Efnisien at the end of Spoils of the Spoiled? So I don't get this feeling for characters often, even my own. Like, it's been Gwyn, Augus, Mosk, Efnisien, Flitmouse and now Faber. And I think Faber is probably up on the same tier level for me personally as Gwyn, Augus and Efnisien in terms of how much I want to write him.

Which...for a new character that wasn't created within the Fae Tales verse or some fanfiction, is really exciting to me!

~

From the Edgy OCs meme!

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Shout out to all artists who had to work without any strong direction or instruction.

I wish you a merry “the client likes it anyways”

[fumifooms]

"Marchil? I guess I can see it on Chilchuck’s end, but what about Marcille’s? What makes you think she could develop feelings for him?" I’m glad you asked!

The first thing to note is that she does think highly of him

In the page on the right, literally defending his virtues and literally comparing him to Dalclan. And oh…

She does love a brooding mysterious guy who closes himself to love. But surely, Chilchuck isn’t her type at all, right? He’s not princely or knightly at all. In apperances certainly not, both looks wise and demeanor wise, but then that’s why she seeks to know him on a deeper level, to not only look shallowly.

And hmm. Chilchuck really is quite selfless isn’t he? Always looking out for others, and saving specifically her often, always making sure himself and, staying in or even running towards danger for her sometimes. Modesty is often considered heroic…

And can we talk about that drowning one… You can definitely frame the special attention as him knowing she tends to hesitate or be clumsy, and then his insistance on pulling her out of danger that she’s the healer aka the most important to keep alive, but. From the one who says that he just keeps his ass out of fights and won’t help this is a lot of risk to take, and he does die trying to pull her to safety in the dungeon rabbits chapter. And the drowning bit??? That’s when the dungeon collapses. The only reason they DON’T die of drowning here is that the water then gives way to outside. There was NO hope of pulling her to safety here and resurrections would likely not work either, he truly preferred to die with her than try to survive himself.

Sit your ass back DOWN you are in no state, self-sacrifical hero much damn

And Marcille definitely noticed this imo, after all she loves learning all she can about him, remembering things like how he hates waiting on people too. She pays attention to him and what he does and what he says. This to say that it’s notable, whatever reason for it you may think (though we know by this point at least she was already aware he was an adult though it wasn’t internalized), out of everyone it’s Chilchuck’s bed that she wants to sleep in during the Golden Kingdom stay. He’s safe and comforting to her: dependable, the defining trait in her view of him as is shown by the relationship chart in the Adventurer’s Bible.

^ Lending handkerchiefs is a romance trope btw and handkerchiefs have irl history of being used for courting. Especially in old English literature and plays like Shakespeare’s Othello, and personally I do see a lot of Shakespeare in Dalclan (nobility political drama with some romance). There’s how his cowl is a dearly beloved souvenir from his family too, there’s a lot of aesthetic tropes you can apply to him.

All this to say you can 100% romanticize Chilchuck into a princely noble guy if you try and that’s exactly what Marcille does with the wife roleplay. She doesn’t need much in the first place, she latches onto crumbs and makes aesthetic narratives out of details, give her an inch she’ll take a mile.

But what’s interesting about the shift throughout the arc of her and his relationship is that she starts out idealizing him into a little angel of a kid (shapeshifter), and she ends it idealizing him as a virtuous husband and family man instead.

And what’s doubly interesting is that in the former, she’s actively warping who he is personality and demeanor wise to fit the aesthetic, he doesn’t have that bitter pride of not asking for help and the edges have been smoothened. But what she does during the wife roleplay is something else, she acknowledges the flaws and just… Accepts them, rolls with them. She’s aware of his flaws and implements them into the narrative, but the reason why his wife left doesn’t capitalize on them even, rather Chil is chilblivious and his wife loves him very much still, she’s just testing him after having had a night of feeling out of place at his side.

And this is what separates the idealization vs romanticization, she’s not twisting him into someone else she’s just uplifting what he is and focusing on the good sides.

Marcille: "he has a shitty personality sometimes but if he was my husband I’d still cherish him" "If I were your wife I’d be overjoyed to go out with you and would get myself prettied up while you complain about me taking a long time, your friends would tell me that I’m nice and that’d make me happy, but I’d also be sad because you wouldn’t tell me that you love me enough"

He’s angry and his wife left him, he’s *flawed*, but he’s still worth hyping up, still worth having his own romance story, still has a shot of winning back his beloved. She sees him for what he is, human and real and not a carefully scripted character that fits an aesthetic, and she thinks it’s still worthy of love and admiration and fighting for

And what’s funny too is that you might expect her to cool down on him once she learns more about him but actually she only gets increasingly into his business. You tell her your age and next thing you know you promise to introduce her to your family. Give her an inch she takes a mile. And too the thing is, Senshi is equally mysterious but she doesn’t pester him like at all, asks him ONCE about his succubus and he doesn’t even answer and that’s like… It. With Chilchuck it starts off innocently enough with her wanting to know his age, hometown, the stuff she mentions having asked pre-canon. But it just keeps and keeps going and escalating. Think she’ll be satisfied now knowing you have a wife and kids, maybe she’s disillusioned now? Wrong! She wants to know their names and ages and occupations and hey how did you propose to your wife? Do you think she’ll stop after meeting them? What’s next? What will she want to know next????

She’s… Like it’s not a reach that Marcille is all over him. Like it doesn’t mean it’s romantic but she just is. She is not normal about him idk. Can you not ask him about what tongue technique he used when first kissing his wife, give the man breathing room

Marcille could literally go "if I was Chilchuck’s wife" having deeply pondered and thought out the hypothetical and people would still ask where anyone sees any romantic potential between them. Oh wait

There’s a platonic explanation for everything (almost?) in Dungeon Meshi don’t say I’m saying otherwise, but it’s definitely not like there’s nothing here to read into lol

Going off a bit more under read bc it’s my fave topic

Marcille has a whole theme with the charming prince trope with her idealization and storybook motif and Chil is kinda the "Well someone perfect like that isn’t very realistic and romance is usually more complex and that’s ok and good and flawed people can still be ✨virtuous✨" catalyst

Do you see do you see she starts canon thinking the most romantic thing is a prince charming but her arc in the end has her romanticizing an average, flawed, real and realistic family man, who’s on the poorer side and is on the verge of divorce. And that’s what he needed, too, seeing the positive of himself and the situation instead of focusing on the negative is explicitly what inspires him to hope that he might be able to reconcile with his wife, gives him the courage and self-esteem to shoot his shot.

He IS a prince figure instead that now it’s not about idealizing the grand and overt it’s about romanticizing the small things in real life!! About finding joy and beauty in things that seem normal or mundane and uplifting them to make the world feel kinder!!!!

He’s the devoted virtuous man that she wantsss not the storybook prince that’s unrealistic and could crumble like a script at any time. He’s the perfect example of a flawed realistic but virtuous & devoted & loving man. Far from a prince charming, but not fully detached from it either. Something worth fighting for despite the flawed cracks. Like literally, flawed romance being worth fighting for is literally the finale of Chilchuck and Marcille’s arc on the matter, where their separate arcs and issues intersect at the most crucial moment.

Marcille is important to Chil’s arc not only because of her optimism, but also because of her interest and knowledge in romance & matters of the heart, and that’s what he needs to both open his heart up to hope and to try to reconcile with his wife, like idk sounds gay

Their arc together is literally learning to 1) see each other for how they are and not undermining their qualities capacities etc etc while still not leaving flaws unchecked either and 2) opening up to people. Marcille LITERALLY makes Chil open his heart up to hope like idk man. What do you want from me. He’s literally the guy helping her through deconstructing novels and fantasy and rose tinted glasses and like. Deconstructing the prince charming figure into something more real but still romantically beautiful like KUI KUI STOOOOP STOP I’M ALREADY HOOKED I’M ALREADY-

 Ok fine that’s me reading into the tropes too much forgive me for being storybook brained but like. Speaking his heart out to a lone woman on a balcony, Romeo and Juliette shit, asking if she, too, doesn’t want to meet his family, madly blushing. And like she’s learned with Chilchuck it’s all in the little things, all the implications he cannot speak aloud. She does reciprocate, does blush madly back, and the first thing she does is shower him in flowers and jewelry and what in her heart is coded as romantic gifts

A lady, stashed away in a high tower by her lonesome, waiting for someone to call out to her from below… Romeo courting type shit with an offer, a heartfelt spiel, implicit confession from underneath her balcony. Offering him flowers because he succeeded in calling out to her heart…….. And they have to climb to her too…. Crazy

Doesn’t it sound like a proposal. One that’s both so storybook-like and not, contrastedly real and grounded, all about the implications rather than in your face grand gestures, "Don’t you want to meet my family?". They literally have an arc about the topic of romance and this is the climax/pinnacle of it like god?? This is @ the woman who said "Chilchuck is a shy/bashful man so I know he wouldn’t tell me he loves me, but…" btw

To quote a friend, truly the shiny secret unlockable dating sim capture target : THE DUNGEON LORD BIT WAS SO FUNNY BECAUSE HE KNEW SHE'D TAKE IT HOOK LINE AND SINKER HES THE ONE WHO GOT HER TO TURN AROUND COMPLETELY SHES LIKE. WIDE EYED FLAG RAISED???? FLAG RAISED WITH CHILCHUCK 👀👀👀‼️👀👀‼️👀

And the way that this is the culmination of their arc together… Like people are not ready for the ‘Chil calling out to dunlord Marcille on the balcony has Romeo and Juliette romance novels imagery’ take. Or the ‘their arc is about growing to see beauty even in the non-idealized, in the flawed and in the real’ take which makes it so so perfect if she were to lower her ideal from a charming elven prince to a virtuous halfling man (which she does end up romanticizing)

So there, you got to witness in real time what happens when I think about marchil for longer than 2 minutes, there are so many layers it’s a deranged rabbithole. I saw the necronomicon of subtext and it’s driving me to madness with forbidden knowledge that no one else sees

……. Like what if I told you she implicitly picked Chilchuck over a "unrealistic prince charming who’s actually disingenuous" much earlier in the story already. If she was given the choice to think through going with a guy that seems perfect and chivalrous like her succubus she’d pick Chilchuck over the other actually. If I sound insane rn tune in for my full analysis on them coming this month hopefully thank youu. Interwoven arcs of fantasy vs reality and idealization vs pessimism I love youuu

So now you know the general thesis of my planned analysis about the importance of the prince charming figure in Marcille and Chilchuck’s arc, where she romanticizes things to a sometimes worrying degree or idealize people into something easy and digestible and poetic (like Chil being a kid, and then him being a virtuous ✨✨✨husband), and how she needs to value aesthetics less and actual acts and facts more, be more grounded (like seeing people for what they are flaws and all, and accepting that people need money and not pulling through on principles of honor or unity shouldn’t get Namari shamed) and a part of that is accepting that Chilchuck is BOTH flawed and virtuous, a loving husband that still has shitty moods and fumbled his marriage so bad etc etc. So it’s like, her image of perfect prince charming that will whisk you away on an ethereal romance -> realistic flawed middle aged dad with personality issues and a failing marriage but he still is worthy of love and having his cute grand romance story and his happy ending. Ik I keep repeating the same point through this but I need it to be burned into everyone’s brains it has its grip on me I can’t do this. They are so special……

[rainbow-sunshine-unicorn]

Kate and Anthony s2 vs s3 parallels

[buttercupshands]

Chapter 419 Analysis or "How to make allies not pawns" a helpful guide from League of Villains (part 2)

This is now a second part of Tomura character analysis.

With chapter 419 being probably our last time seeing Tomura for a while, since we need to learn what happened with Aizawa now is time to remember that not only bad things exist it Tomura's life.

Warning of spoilers to the whole manga to the point of chapter 419! All of the warnings from My Villain Academy side of manga are applicable

So like... mentions of death, killing other people, manipulation, emotional abuse and many more!

This is Part 2 - See here for Part 1 of this depressing mess

With AFO being so sure that he knows better and actually controlled every single part of Tenko's life creating a Symbol of Fear without any redeeming qualities or even hope for saving after he destroys him. There's one thing that AFO still doesn't understand about Tomura and never did - and that's his allies, or the League of Villains that he created.

Even Kurogiri, being a Nomu who's views do not stray from what AFO thought was important didn't exactly understand what did Tomura think about his allies quick to assume that he thought of them as pawns all the was back in the Training Camp arc. With Tomura making game examples to explain the situation, he still didn't think of LoV as just pawns on a desk, like AFO does.

At the time of USJ arc there weren't many people Tomura called this, which could make you wonder how much it was just AFO's plan rather than Tomura's with him never worrying about those other villains yet getting so worked up over losing Nomu not only because he was strong enough to defend him from All-Might, but treating his defeat as something that must be avenged.

And that was long before Stain even entered the picture, the first of three people who greatly affected Tomura's view of his own motives alongside AFO's manipulation of literally everything else.

Tomura was terrified of fighting All-Might seconds before this and yet as this goes on it's becoming more noticeable - Tomura doesn't care for his own fear or worries as long as he's fighting for someone else's good. Not so different from how Izuku is ready to disregard himself for the sake of others, resulting in many injuries and being so close to dying so many times.

It never was a secret that Tomura is highly dependent on others to keep himself from losing confidence, or even will to fight, getting either too anxious to continue without anyone's reassurance.

And while AFO's "help" was mostly given only with some kind of lesson as we saw in "Tomura Shigaraki: Origin", with AFO literally sitting there, saying how Tenko is weak for not killing but showing some restrain instead suffering himself, never actually helping or comforting him. Only offering what he deemed nessesary for his own plan of making Tenko kill those thugs not caring that he's feeling sick from those hands.

But in USJ it's not AFO who's there with Tomura, it's Kurogiri, who was shown to still have some care that Shirakumo had that even Aizawa and Mic couldn't argue that it's similar to how Shirakumo couldn't just leave a kitten in the rain. No matter the responsibility that it would bring with taking a little one in.

A helpless little kitten that didn't get the help it needs from anyone else. Sounds way too familiar.

This never was a direct order from AFO other than he needs to "tend and protect" for Tomura, which can mean anything from just looking out when Tomura's sick, or protect him from any tread like someone trying to kill him.

Not helping him getting over his anxiety to fight or helping him and guiding him to do better as a leader of the League calming him if it got out of control. Which is somewhat opposite to the way AFO deals with Decay and Tomura's temper - letting him destroy anything even the hands that he gave him, just offering new ones when he succeedes and never really caring for his pawns, he can always get new ones.

And surely not asking if Tomura's well the first thing while talking to Heroes.

Which then leads us back to how Tomura never viewed anyone that he chose as pawns calling them his allies, with the word '仲間' which can even be translated as friends in needed context, but usually used as comrade or ally when Tomura says it. And the same thing is usually translated as "friend" when used by Twice.

In any case Tomura never once doubted his allies since he saw them as reliable, even if his first meeting with Toga and Dabi went so wrong that Kurogiri had to stop them from killing each other.

Up to the point of Training Camp AFO describes as him teaching Tomura to be independent which was at that point too far from the truth than he thought. If Tomura begging for AFO to leave with them is any indicator he actually was even less independent after All-Might almost caught them, making him doubt his own worth as a leader. Even if AFO's defeat finally let him think and wonder about himself and his past.

AFO believed that Tomura just knowing how to recruit people would suddenly make him great at using those new "pawns" which was proven wrong by Overhaul no so long after that. Showing how Tomura believed the same thing AFO did as well, fully trusting his judgement of anything including himself, all the while parroting what AFO says without fully understanding what it means.

Only after losing both Magne and Mr. Compress arm does Tomura slowly start making progress in becoming someone more than AFO tells him to do. Even if as we see in part 1 it used Decay as the ground to make it stable since he believed it was his quirk. And yet.

Even if Tomura didn't simply instruct his allies how to choose who to recruit, he never blamed them for it. On the opposite, when Twice was hard on himself after bringing Overhaul to them Tomura just looked at them for the first time without a hand on his face, or even on himself at all, showing how he trusts them as much as he would trust himself and believes that they can do it.

Taking off hands of his family would mean not relying on the conflicting feelings that they bring into the picture, something AFO would very much dissaprove, since he was now like an equal to everyone in LoV instead of being above them. He

And with this instead of making them blindly trust his decisions and following him from fear or adoration like people had been following AFO or Overhaul, he instead was an equal to them both in failure and victory that wasn't even all that guaranteed yet.

Each one of them had their own somewhat selfish goal that just seemed like they were just using each other without any worry being each other's pawns. Or maybe that's just how AFO would see them.

Yet it doesn't explain why did Toga care for Twice's trauma response of not having his mask on, since he already did his part and all that they both needed to do was done. But LoV was never about following orders or giving them, expecting for the pawns to follow without question. It was about a leader of the group that would stand up for his allies while allowing them full freedom, except when they needed to also accept that something is needed to be done for their own sake.

Like following Overhaul for a while all for cutting off his hands leaving him with nothing. Did that sound like something reasonable to do? No! They literally lost their chance at having sushi instead of just living at some abadoned building all the while occasionally searching for money or food, stealing and killing just to survive all while Tomura was just... waiting.

Nothing was really stable at the start of what we call My Villain Academia and yet no one from the LoV left while their state was... bad at the very least. No matter how AFO was teaching Tomura he was still left mostly waiting for something to happen rather than doing something to change the situation himself.

Sure, Tomura now was a famous leader of League of Villains that suddenly needed to be stopped rather that underestimated like before. But that was in the future, now LoV was laying low on funds and slowly Tomura showing his face became the norm, with him usually never wearing hands around LoV.

And with Tomura becoming more and more comfortable around LoV, the LoV itself was becoming more like a place that had one core value that accepted anything else added without anyone wondering about the past of others, like Compress said. Just some selfish people, who still followed their own needs first.

And yet somehow Toga, who joined just because she loved Stain and disliked how life was too hard found her place in the LoV alongside Twice who just needed to be trusted and trust in return. If Tomura only followed what AFO deemed to be the best way to lead no one would actually feel like they're accepted in the LoV as much as they were.

Goal or no goal Tomura succeeded even without having the whole world at the palm of his hands by just never pressing anyone to actually follow him - if they wanted to they could've just left here and there, but since they chose to follow he did what he thought was the obvious best - let his allies do what they wanted.

Which was okay for someone like Toga or Dabi who were either already comfortable by just being allowed to be themselves or being free to plan their own things for their own goals.

But not exactly that for Spinner. Who was instead literally searching for someone to show him what to do, not so different from Tomura, who still only followed whatever 'his Sensei' deemed worthy for him to look into, like letting Kurogiri go find unknown "power" that AFO left along with contact with Doctor.

And while Spinner was not fine with still being hollow even while following Tomura pretending that it's the same thing as following Stain... all it took for him to look differently at how exactly was Tomura thinking was the last real "barrier" that there was - Tomura basically spilling his whole backstory and motivations mostly for LoV to listen to, since Doctor was just testing Tomura's will all according to AFO's plan.

And after that it didn't took too long for Spinner to now follow Tomura, even if it was still not the time to really see the 'warped horizon that was waiting for them'. And yet in times where Tomura still showed some doubt over his decisions - that one old trait of his showing up like it was always at the back of his head not so different from USJ, only thing changing that Tomura got better and better at not letting his emotions control him so easily.

Since the price of that would literally be lifes of his allies.

And neither that or using their emotions to his own benefit was ever in his plans, contrast to AFO manipulating Tomura to do just that. Letting his emotions consume him completely just for his own goal and for his own sake. But as a person who was so familiar with this Tomura still was adamant at NOT allowing something like this to happen to his friends allies.

Effectively creating a bond between all six of them, including Toya that in the end kept them together until the very final arc, with Spinner keeping what Tomura would've thought and with him waking up and calling Machia to get LoV first and foremost Spinner did understand their's leader wishes, as well as Twice's who literally died for his friends.

With all that happening in the War arc the moment AFO returned with both being in control of Tomura's body and just abadoned anything that Tomura would care for like leaving Mr. Compress and Machia behind just to punish him for not getting OFA or not even caring to show any actual respect for Tomura's wishes. Instead showing how little he actually cared for anything but his own good.

But while AFO made so many pawns that he could change like gloves at any given moment, threating them and manipulating them with his power and quirks, Tomura only had 6 allies who stayed after AFO was caught and who were willing to die just to live the life they wanted.

And AFO couldn't give them that.

Even if Decay isn't Tenko's quirk and even if he has so much guilt for killing without it being a little bit justified by it...

LoV still followed him as a person who allowed them to live as they please and so what they want, not some all-powerfull overlord but an ally and a leader who had his flaws and fallings.

[suffarustuffaru]

julius keeps collecting twinks that are secretly / not so secretly jealous of him but the difference in how different guys are jealous of julius is that reinhard would keep a photo of him and julius in a frame on his nightstand (has had it there since he was 14) (staring longingly at it is part of his daily routine), subaru would say he hates julius but his entire room head to toe is plastered with pictures of julius and new pictures keep popping up everyday, joshua would keep cutting and then retaping a photo of him and julius together depending on how upset at julius he is that day (we’re talking like theres a cut down the middle between photo julius and joshua ok. joshua dont play around), and then otto would have a designated julius photo that he drunkenly throws knives at (hes had to get his fingers healed multiple times)

[shannonsketches]

something something foils moving in opposite directions Goku's always happy to seek and fight stronger opponents because he spent most of his life being the strongest guy in the room and Vegeta wants to be the strongest/is always exhausted to find stronger opponents because he spent most of his life having to navigate his survival around the whims of the strongest guy in the universe room and so Goku has a foundation of safety and stability and so spends his time craving challenge and adventure and Vegeta has a foundation of challenge and adventure and spends his time craving safety and stability and the overlaid section of their venn diagram is that the only way they know how acquire and maintain those things is through battle

[maddymoreau]

I'm enjoying Fallout 3 a little more but there’s one thing that’s extremely bothering me.

How come, in the dialogue options, I can NEVER can mention, I was FORCED to leave the vault?

I didn’t have a choice but to leave. Jonas Palmer was beaten to death in attempts to get info about my father James. The Overseer was going to have the same done to me if not WORSE.

The Lone Wanderer: "So they killed Jonas, and I'm next, is that it?"

Amata: "Yeah. It's lucky I got here ahead of them. But we can't stand here talking! You're got to get out of here!"

I understand my father didn't know this would happen. That he simply thought I wouldn't be able to leave the vault after he escaped.

But the fact I can never explain what happened when reunited with him is just so ODD!?!?!!?

I COULDN’T STAY!!!!!!!

I FEEL LIKE THIS IS IMPORTANT INFORMATION YOU SHOULD WANT TO KNOW DAD!!!!!

WHY ARE THESE MY ONLY OPTIONS?!?!?!?!!!!!

Why give me that entire section where I had to escape the vault to avoid MURDER!!?? If they were going to back me in a corner (dialogue wise) that I would've gone after my father no matter what.

It would've made the dialogue option, "Why would you throw away the life we had?" WAY MORE INTENSE AND INTERESTING IF I COULD TELL HIM HIS ACTIONS UNINTENTIONALLY AFFECTED ME!!!

It could've been followed by a cute bonding moment where he apologizes and says while this life was never what he wanted for me he'll now help me adjust however he can.

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Re: the tags of that post you just reblogged from me - AU where Steve and Eddie swap roles for just the final fight (Eddie’s with the girls, Steve’s with Dustin) but with an added subplot where we meet Steve’s parents early in the season & maybe they’re trying to get him to grow up/move out/think about his future, or something else, but they’d have to feature somehow so we still get that ending scene except it’s Robin telling his parents he didn’t make it (im picturing a very tragic recontextualising around the phrase “you need to do something with your life” leading to Steve drawing the bats away from Dustin)

That’s just my quick thoughts though, I’d love to know how you’d do it!

oh I LOVE this you've got my brain spinning I have so many thoughts and it's all your fault!!!

(I am so sorry for how long this got)

I think there are for sure many versions of this plotline that could work BUT here goes nothing

I definitely agree that we'd need to introduce Steve's parents early on (in my ideal world we'd have met them sooner than s4 for this plotline but alas I'm not in charge I'm simply posthumously script doctoring) and I think one version of the conversation there could come from a place of wanting what's best for him, but centering itself around ambition and choice in a way that sticks with Steve.

"You had so much ambition when you were still in school, Steve-- all of your sports, how sociable you were-- what happened to that? Where did you lose that along the way?"

And Steve flounders a little bit, because he's gotten to the point after season 3 where he can see himself better from the outside, is just that touch more self aware and good at reading not just other people's feelings but his own.

So it takes him a beat to put it into words, but he's able to, is the thing--

"Maybe I don't need to go down the-- the usual path to end up where I want to end up."

"Is this where you want to end up?" his mother asks, "working at a video store for the rest of your life?"

"It's not about that," Steve shrugs, pouring two travel mugs of coffee all the while, one for him and one for Robin.

Because he knows it's not about that, he spent all of last summer learning it's not about that and the months since discovering that there's a certain amount of peace in knowing that things aren't perfect but that matters less when you have your people around.

"What's it about then? Steve, I just-- I don't want you to get stuck here, when I know you could do so much more with your life if you just chose to."

"I'm not doing nothing with my life, Mom!" he laughs, exasperated but certain for once in his goddamn life. "I'm-- I'm actually doing really well right now, I've got good friends and I've got the kind of job where I'm kept busy while I figure out what's next for me and I'm just... happy, I guess? Like, can't my ambition just be to keep doing stuff that makes me happy? Can't I choose that?"

And he has to go to work, has to walk out and promise her that they'll talk about it more later, talk about it with his dad too, but Steve knows what he cares about and this isn't going to shake his resolve.

What he cares about is this group of people who have changed his life even more than the monsters did, who brought enough good into it to at the very least match the bad, and in some cases (like the girl already monologuing as she climbs into the front seat of his car and accepts her coffee with a mocking kiss to his cheek) somehow usurp the bad.

Steve doesn't have to be what this town expects of him, what most likely to end up rich superlative voters expect of him, what his parents expect of him, because his life isn't about being any particular something, it's in the doing.

It's in the swinging of a baseball bat, the swinging of his fists to keep the people he loves safe.

It's in the morning drives to get Robin to school on time and the late night ones to make sure Dustin meets curfew.

It's in the friendship he's managed to find with Nancy in the past year, the knowledge that this version of them is the best one by far.

It's in the days driving the kids to the trailer park to visit Max even if she ultimately ends up refusing to come out with them, because at least they're doing it, at least they're trying with her.

It's in this, too, when they drive out to Reefer Rick's place and some of the claims of happiness start slipping through Steve's fingers again with the proof that it isn't over, the fight.

But they've beat it before and they can beat it again. It's in the doing, and Steve has gotten knocked down many a time but the thing he always does is he always gets up on the other side.

He knows this. He trusts in this. He's built a fucking worldview around this because that's where his ambition went, Mom.

That's what happened to "Steve Harrington, actually a cool dude."

Steve's humble enough to thank Eddie for saving his ass, but he's done this enough times to still be able to reassure the guy who calls him badass that, "It always looks hopeless right before we win. Don't freak out too bad if it looks like the end of the world, huh?"

Eddie looks at him like he has two heads, says he's jealous of Steve's optimism.

Even Robin tells him that she thinks they might not win this time but all Steve knows is that they always have before. All Steve knows is that his instincts usually work out, let him protect the rest of them long enough to make the big and vital moves necessary to beat this thing.

All Steve knows is that he just, he's changed a lot but-- He's just the same kid who was cocky enough to run back into the Byers' house to fight a monster, stubborn enough to let the Russian's beat the hell out of him before he'd let them do the same to Robin and he--

"I don't know, I still have hope. Maybe this is the first time we actually win. Forever."

There's this sense of finality to it, hanging in the air, and she doesn't look convinced there in the same way she doesn't look convinced when he and Dustin are saying goodbye to the other three at Eddie's trailer, but Steve kisses her once on the forehead and says, "what are you waiting around for? Go kick some ass, your schmuck will be here when you're done."

His instincts have always protected them in the past.

It's his instincts that have him formulating a plan the second he realizes the bats are going to get inside the trailer, going to make a break for the gate and attack whole swaths of people unprepared for such a thing.

Dustin will be mad about being abandoned on the other side, but Steve's pissed him off before and he's always gotten over it.

It's in the doing, his ambition.

It's in the doing, the key to a well-spent life.

It's in the doing, the being of Steve Harrington, overconfident nature and all.

He always gets back up, every knock to the head and blow to the ego, Steve always gets back up, so he holds his ground and fights. Leads the bats away and keeps them there.

His mother wasn't wrong that he's changed, but she wasn't right when she claimed the thing he'd lost was his ambition. He'd found it, this force of nature in his chest that makes him willing to face down hell if it means the people he loves are safe.

He always gets back up, a tail around his throat.

He always gets back up, teeth in his flesh.

Steve Harrington is a pro at getting knocked down.

"I'll get up in a second, just-- just a second--"

"Steve there's-- there's so much blood-- Steve, you need to-- you have to get up now--"

"It's okay, it's okay, we won, just-- just another minute. Wanna see that-- Rob and the others made it back. Then we--can go--"

Dustin is crying. Dustin is holding him.

And Steve is bleeding out, he thinks somewhere indistinct and hazy at the back of his mind. He'll get up and fix that in a minute.

"You die, I die! Hey, hey motherfucker! Don't close your eyes-- you die, I die, you hear me?!"

It's in the doing, really, that Steve does as he's told just long enough to see the other three come stumbling out of the tree line towards them.

It's in the doing, in the choice of it, that he dies knowing they won.

(His mother wails when Robin approaches her at the shelter two days later with sunken eyes and unwashed hair. His father sinks into the closest chair and takes the offered keys to a maroon BMW with trembling hands.)

(It's in the doing that this time, in order to really win, they have to cling a little bit to his hope.)