#I'd rather have them continue working to be a hero

[poohsources]

🐝  *  ―  𝑰𝑹𝑶𝑵 𝑭𝑳𝑨𝑴𝑬 𝑺𝑬𝑵𝑻𝑬𝑵𝑪𝑬 𝑺𝑻𝑨𝑹𝑻𝑬𝑹𝑺.

❛  i will already know, as i am continuously with you. forced to bear witness to the awkwardness that is twenty-one-year-old humans.  ❜ ❛  you do not have the right to burn what is mine.  ❜ ❛  [name], remember it's only the body that's fragile. you are unbreakable.  ❜ ❛  i'm still not making it easy. but you and i are not easy people.  ❜ ❛  the hardest battles aren't fought with weapons but with the heart.  ❜ ❛  strength of courage is more important than physical strength.  ❜ ❛  you're my gravity. nothing in my world works without you.  ❜ ❛  you're capable of hurting me in ways i'm not sure you've even begun to fathom, [name]. i might be skilled enough to land a death blow, but you alone have the power to fucking destroy me.  ❜ ❛  i'm a fucking fool for saying this, but when haven't i been a fool when it comes to you?  ❜ ❛  as complicated as our connection is, it's also undeniably simple. he's the horizon, and nothing exists beyond for me.  ❜ ❛  i'm sorry if you expect me to do the noble thing. i warned you. i'm not sweet or soft or kind, and you fell anyway. this is what you get, [name] - me. the good, the bad, the unforgivable. all of it. i am yours.  ❜ ❛  i think i liked you better before you decided that feelings were something we need to discuss.  ❜ ❛  how long do you think it takes for someone to fall out of love?  ❜ ❛  love doesn't even have the decency to die. it just transforms into abject misery.  ❜ ❛  i love you. the world does not exists for me beyond you.  ❜ ❛  i chose you not as my next, but as my last, and should you fall, then i will follow.  ❜ ❛  i would have done the same thing you did because i'm just as reckless for you as you are for me.  ❜ ❛  don't offer me your body unless you're offering me everything. i want you more than i want to fuck you. i want those three little words back.  ❜ ❛  that trick you mentioned? you know, with the fingers? thanks.  ❜ ❛  me? argue with you about books? i only pick fights i can win.  ❜ ❛  the four of us stick together. that's the deal. we make it to graduation, no matter what.  ❜ ❛  yeah, well, it cost me you.  ❜ ❛  i need to know you'll be there. that no matter what happens, you'll come back so we can talk it out or fight it out.  ❜ ❛  i know who you really are, [name]. even when you keep things from me, i know you.  ❜ ❛  all this time, you've been convincing everyone you're the hero, and now you'll be the villain ... especially in her story.  ❜ ❛  that question insults me.  ❜ ❛  whatever is going through that beautiful mind, i'm here for it.  ❜ ❛  i want you more than my next breath, but i can't fuck you into looking at me like you used to. i refuse to use sex as a tool to get you back.  ❜ ❛  shit. what is this? jealousy? anxiety? insecurity?  ❜ ❛  are you trying to bring me to my knees? or win the argument?  ❜ ❛  just remember who trained me.  ❜ ❛  you never let me have any fun.  ❜ ❛  you want to know something true? something real? i love you. i'm in love with you.  ❜ ❛  less than a minute. that's how long it took for you to fall out of love with me.  ❜ ❛  i'd rather you scream at me than pretend everything is all right with silence.  ❜ ❛  so scared i'm pretty sure either my heart's going to give out or i'm about to shit myself.  ❜ ❛  you want full disclosure when it comes to me, right?  ❜ ❛  you aren't where i left you, [name].  ❜ ❛  stories can change depending on who tells them.  ❜ ❛  i don't miss the woman i was, the one who didn't know her strength.  ❜

[villainousauthor]

Hero stares down at the paper in front of them with mounting dread. Their stomach is all tied in knots, and they feel a cold sweat at the back of their neck.

"You know, you don't have to do this if you truly don't want, I'm not forcing you." Villain purrs behind Hero, voice against their ear. The threat is unspoken. If Hero doesn't sign, they'll continue with their rampage. Continue killing, destroying, maiming.

The pen shakes in Hero's hand as they continue staring down at the paper. It's just a piece of paper, made of thick cardstock, cream white. Yet Hero has been staring at it for fifteen minutes, as if it'll bite them.

Certificate of Marriage

The font is too pretty, all stately and official looking. Hero feels as if they may throw up any minute.

"I don't understand why.." Hero finally finds their voice, asking the question that's been bouncing around in their mind since Villain first pulled the paper out as they suggested a truce.

"You already know my terms. In exchange for leaving your hero friends unharmed, for leaving the civilians of the city unharmed, I want you." Villain's voice is something possessive, filled with fire and heat. "This just makes it more official. More binding."

Hero shudders, and they feel as Villain steps closer behind them, a dark shadow looming over them. They know this goes beyond simply wanting to make their agreement more binding and they both know it.

"You know it's not legitimate- it's not legally binding without an officator." Hero stumbles over their words, not even sure if that's true.

Villain snorts, not usually one to be worried about legality of course. They put a hand to Hero's shoulder, warm and rough.

"I can find a priest to threaten. No one needs to know how and when we signed. Unless you'd rather make a big ceremony of this." Villain's tone is now teasing, amused by the idea of a wedding. "That could certainly be done if you prefer."

Flushing hot, Hero shakes their head quickly. No, they would not prefer that. This is already nerve-wracking and humiliating as is. A part of them wants to outright refuse, to tear the paper the shreds, and throw it in their face, but Hero knows this is the chance to get Villain to back down.

"I wouldn't be unkind to you." Villain says, voice suddenly softer and more serious. They lean forward, face resting against Hero's neck. The most terrible part is that Hero knows they mean it. They wouldn't be unkind or cruel, and that makes this all the more difficult. "You'd belong to me, but I'd take care of you."

Hero already knows there's no choice. They knew from the beginning that there was no other option. They have to do what is best for everyone else. Shakily, they finally nod.

"So selfless, so sacrificial to others." Villain says as they place a feather light kiss against the shell of their ear. "We'll have to work on that once you're with me."

They take Hero's hand currently holding the pen in their own, their grasp strong, as they lift it to the paper.

[ultraericthered]

Out of four consecutive Disney Villains that were defined by plot twists regarding them, I've often thought: what made Turbo and the Cybug he merged with in Wreck-It Ralph work out so well and deliver a villain so infinitely stronger than the villains that followed? I'd concluded that mostly it was because Turbo got to be around as an active and characterized antagonist as King Candy and the twisty nature of his villainy was more comparable to Judge Doom than following the Stinky Pete, Henry J. Waternoose, and Lyle T. Rourke route of only being revealed as a villain in the third act and getting to be actively antagonistic for a limited time while taking on drastically different characterization than before like the later Twist Villains (or in Bellwether's case, in only the final minutes of the third act!).

But there was something else too, and it recently struck me.

Hans, Callaghan, and Bellwether all adhere to basically the exact same formula, with only the specifics of their roles differing due to each movie being a different type of story - Frozen is a fantasy adventure-thriller, Big Hero 6 is a superhero story, and Zootopia is a buddy cop mystery. The formula is that not only is the villain introduced as a friendly character in the first act and ultimately shows their true villainous self in the third act, but during the story there's another villainous character thrown at the viewer to serve as the red herring. In Frozen, it's the Duke of Weselton. In Big Hero 6, it's Allister Krei. And in Zootopia, it's Mayor Lionheart. All of these characters seem more like the sort of villains you'd typically expect to pop up in stories of these films' natures, radiating such obvious evil energy that the viewer is naturallly meant to have their suspicions drawn to them rather than the unassuming nice person who turns out to be the real villain of the piece. I'd argue it worked best when first tried in Frozen because the Duke ended up having absolutely nothing to do with the main conflict or how it got resolved, his main contribution being to tell two men to be prepared to kill Elsa at one point and that's it: he was a red herring in the purest sense. With Krei and Lionheart afterwards, they both had increased prominence in the narrative, the former being responsible for what drove Callaghan into grief-stricken, vengeful supervillainy, and the latter at first being Bellwether's boss and actually serving as a secondary antagonist in the plot with his unethical captures and coverups in response to Bellwether's Night Howler conspiracy. And they both are such obvious suspects for being behind evildoing even in-story that it loops around to becoming obviously NOT the true culprits at all. (Not helping is how both the Duke of Weselton and Allister Krei are voiced by Alan Tudyk, at the time still most known for King Candy/Turbo!)

Whereas with Turbo, I think it was so effective because it was sort of flipped around. The story was leading us to look at King Candy as the red herring or ultimately just the diversion, continuing to remind us that the Cybug that Ralph accidentally brought with him into Sugar Rush was lurking below and breeding, which we knew could become a true threat to the game and to the whole arcade world given the way Calhoun talked the Cybugs up. Even when Felix goes into the backstory of "Going Turbo", we're not really linking that to what's currently going on with King Candy, who we at that point had not been given reason to think is anyone but who he appears to be, and King Candy's such a silly, whimsical doofus of an antagonist that we suspect he'll amount to nothing more than food for the Cybugs. How King Candy goes on to manipulate Ralph and the revelation about him as a usurper turns our perspective of him on its head as is, but then it's revealed he's not just any usurpeeeer - he's Turbo! This on its own makes him that much more villainous, but then still we get the kicker: Turbo gets eaten by the lead Cybug, just as we might've predicted would befall him....and his code overwrites the Cybug from within, making him even more dangerous and malicious than ever! So while the Cybugs do indeed become the endgame threat, they're also used as the actual diversion to get you not looking harder at King Candy and figuring out both his true identity and his true nature as the primary, most menacing villain in this story. It is ingenious.

Pulling off a Twist Villain is easy. It takes a lot more thought, skill, style and polish to pull off a Turbo-Tastic villain as Wreck-It Ralph did.

[vibragarlic]

hiya!! I have been reading your posts and reblogs about facial differences and it was making me wonder

is giving your villain ocs scars inherently a bad thing?? I have a massively unsympathetic (literally pure evil) villain who has a lot of scars cuz of the battles he fought and I want to be tasteful cuz even tho hes a villain who loves being evil i want the fact that he has scars to be important but I don't wanna seem like hes evil because he has them (mostly cuz he is tons of actions that make him a monster)

hope to get your feedback soon!! and i love your art!! thank you

hi! thank you for the ask and compliment ahh!

i'd really want anyone to avoid giving their villain characters any facial differences at all. is it nice that the disabled villain is evil because of reasons *other* than their disability? sure, it's something a little different! but it always ends up rehashing the same old tired trope of scarred = evil, no matter how many writing or in-universe excuses are given. people will always take away that fact from your character, and other disabled people will come to the conclusion that that's what you think of us.

visible disability has become a visual/storytelling shorthand to indicate that someone's evil or has been through a lot, and that translates into real life biases and discrimination

i *personally* am distasteful of scars being used a storytelling device, though this opinion probably differs between different people with FDs. there's never any characters who have facial differences from an accident that happened to them when they were young, or because they had a stroke, or because they were just born with them! it's always from a really intense battle or event and it creates the assumption that all scars are from like war veterans or something. not to say that you can't have acquired FD from violent events, but it's just too saturated in media right now!

so, i'm not saying to get rid of the battling aspect of his character, but maybe giving him scars because of them isn't the best idea. i mean, plenty of hero characters end up physically unscathed and Pretty As Ever from even the most life-threatening of events (which says a lot of things in of itself) so it's not like it's ridiculous or something.

literally all of our FD rep is of villains, vigilantes, or pathetic, incapable people, and i'm honestly so tired of seeing the same villain thing written over and over again. so like, at this point in society where i can count all the good FD representation on one hand? i'd really rather see a protagonist or Good Guy Character be visually disabled instead!

(especially since you mentioned that your character is "pure evil" and "massively unsympathetic" i don't think that helps portray us in a good light)

maybe the protag has bilateral strabismus, or their partner has burn scars from a work accident, or the retail worker side character has neurofibramatosis! IDK. i just think there's a ton more interesting and infinitely better options for visually disabled characters that actually *do good* rather than pulling the same scarred villain character design again.

i'm not great at articulating myself and i'm still learning more about facial differences every day, so i apologize if any of this was unorganized or unclear haha. i probably missed a lot of stuff, so please continue to do more research as well!! it makes me really happy that you reached out to me in the first place :D i hope this helped!

[wavesoutbeingtossed]

I'd actually love a midnights storytelling Timeline playlist? Like what order you'd place them to tell the complete story of the album. I love the idea of Dear Reader as track 1

OK so, one caveat is that generally I think Taylor's tracklisting works really well and often tells a story of its own (e.g. TTPD), so I'm a little reticent to mess with that. And next thing is that like, we don't always have firm dates about when songs were written/what events they refer to/even who they were about depending on the album, so like, you can't really pinpoint a timeline *chronologically* of events as they transpire most of the time, certainly on Midnights. And also writing/processing isn't linear. @likeadevils does however have excellent posts about album timelines and places the songs in order of creation if that's what you're after.

Now that that's out of the way...

There are a few different ways I could see organizing Midnights thematically, and I'm approaching here kind of, emotionally-speaking rather than chronologically, although there's kind of a weaving of the two. I've split them into "chapters" à la folklore playlists on Spotify.

Prologue: To a house, not a home, all alone 'cause nobody's there

Dear Reader

Act 1: A real fucking legacy

Midnight Rain Would've, Could've, Should've Maroon Question…? High Infidelity

Act 2: Love blackout

Labyrinth Snow on the Beach Lavender Haze Paris Glitch Mastermind Karma Sweet Nothing

Act 3: Sweet dream was over

The Great War Bigger Than The Whole Sky Vigilante Shit Bejeweled Anti-Hero Hits Different You're Losing Me

Epilogue: Yeah, you can face this

You're On Your Own, Kid

So this is how I see the chapters:

Prologue:

This is the introduction to the themes of the album, very much the same way that Fortnight does for TTPD. (I love me a "Two households, both alike in dignity / In fair Verona, where we lay our scene" setup.) Dear Reader does this really well, she's speaking directly to the listener, but also to herself, and touches upon the themes throughout the album: anger, loss, fear, self-loathing, self-destruction, but also the recognition that she "shines so bright." It's the push-pull between her private and public life, her personal and professional ambitions, and that is ALL over the album and each side informs the other.

I could also argue adding Anti-Hero and Midnight Rain into this chapter and nearly did. Anti-Hero because again, it touches the public image vs. internal struggle/self-loathing of it all, which she is ruminating on on this sleepless night. And Midnight Rain because "I never think of him except on midnights like this" because well, that is the entire conceit of the album.

Act 1: A real fucking legacy

Like I said above, I nearly put Midnight Rain in the Prologue, but it also serves well as an introduction to the theme in these songs. Because "I never think of him except on midnights like this" covers these relationships from the past that are haunting her in this dark night of the soul exercise. Remember what we said about the push and pull between her personal life and her career? The crux of the song isn't her pining for this former lover, it's that she's wondering if her pursuing her ambition relentlessly and joyously is diametrically opposed to the idea he represents. It's the spark that lights the flame of the pining we see later on. Which leads to the other Hes who have marked her life and set her on the path she's on now.

So in contrast to the bittersweet nostalgia, we have the darker side of that rumination. There's WCS about the trauma that continues to haunt her, and Maroon about a relationship breakdown that broke her. Question...? Kinda is just there for laughs as comic relief-- but in all seriousness is like, "you were a dumbass and do you ever wonder if you hadn't been such a dumbass if we could have made it work?" About something that never got off the ground. And then High Infidelity ends the chapter on another darker note about the threat within a relationship, but the "Do I really have to tell you how he brought me back to life?" is the segue for our next chapter...

Act 2: Love blackout

This is where we get a sense of the core relationship she's dancing around in the album-- the one that is driving all this rumination, because it's so intricately tied with the path her life took as a result. The "Do I really have to tell you how he brought me back to life?" to "I thought the plane was going down, how'd you turn it right around?" emotional parallel hits the ground running and tells you why this relationship and this phase is such a lifeline. SOTB is the honeymoon phase of the relationship, where everything is wondrous and exhilarating, and pairs well IMO with Lavender Haze in that the rush of new love is intoxicating, and she wants to stay on that high and block everything out to chase it.

The rest of the songs I put here kind of meander, but there was a method to my madness. Paris feels like the memories of a special time, with the emphasis of it being them alone, shutting the world out, which is a continuation of LH. Glitch is her continued disbelief that they've made it this far, but suddenly it's six years later and she's still yearning that high (... in spite of everything telling her this wasn't supposed to happen). Mastermind could have arguably gone earlier in the list, but I put it here because again, she's planning and scheming and doing all the work to keep this thing going against all odds. Karma feels very "happily ever after"-esque in that it's, "I went through all this shit, but it's totally fine because I got what I wanted in the end!" without giving away that it's a veneer, and finally we end with Sweet Nothing because it's the sweetest fantasy of running home to your lover and feeling content and complete. Which brings us to...

Act 3: Sweet dream was over

Our last full act, which is all about loss and the ways in which one reacts and deals with it. The Great War is the bubble bursting that Sweet Nothing dreamed up. It's a crisis point in the relationship, an entire life built that is potentially going up in flames; it hints at the conflicts that would prove to be their undoing. BTTWS is a raw depiction of grief in the wake of loss, and the questioning and despair that goes along with that, sinking someone into the pits of depression and loneliness. Vigilante Shit is another reaction to loss-- this time unadulterated anger in the form of a revenge fantasy. (It's fantasizing about agency in a situation where there is little of it because like BTTWS, in many ways it's out of her hands.)

Bejeweled is a bit of the odd duck because I kind of wanted to put it near-last because I think it's the best transition into YLM, but thematically it's not quite ready for prime time yet-- although the same conundrum applies to Anti-Hero here. But Bejeweled is part of this chapter because it's her grappling with her sadness and despair and wanting to break out of it. She wants to shine again, and it's a warning to the person that she won't stick around if they don't see that. (Broadly speaking, I know there's more there.) Anti-Hero is kind of clunky here, which is why I'm very tempted to put it in the intro instead, but my thinking is: she's in this pit of self-loathing, wondering why she keeps making the same choices and same mistakes and drives everyone away. She's the problem. And it's her persona, her big life, that's driving her to this madness-- or is it? (But also: one day I’ll watch as you’re leaving and life will lose all its meaning for the last time.)

Which finally brings us to Hits Different and YLM. Honestly, these two could also swap positions, and I went back and forth on them. I think "chronologically" HD makes more sense at the last song in this chapter, but "emotionally" YLM is SUCH a fitting end, so there we go. HD makes good on the threat of the break in The Great War, and a lot of the themes we've seen throughout the playlist here but specifically this section are present. The self-destruction and self-loathing of AH, the anger and lashing out in TGW and VS (in a very different form), the depression in BTTWS and even a tinge of the self-worth in Bejeweled.

But YLM is the true denouement of this all and reflects all those same vignettes in far more devastating fashion. There's breakdown, loss, anger, spite, self-destruction and standing up for herself too, however briefly. I think it really feels like the true crossroad of the album: Do I throw out everything we built or keep it? We've just spent a whole album wading through all of it, and now she's left to decide which path to take. Does she stay and fight, perhaps wondering what she has to give up int he process, or does she leave and risk the pain she uncovered in Act 1, only tenfold because it hits different this time? The empty house of Dear Reader in the Prologue (and incidentally in HI I've just realized) is blanketed in darkness in YLM, and it's up to her to decide if she's turning the light back on or out for good.

Epilogue: Yeah, you can face this

You're On Your Own Kid feels like the perfect emotional ending for this playlist because not only does the song travel through this entire time period, from an early young love that gave way to bigger dreams to the sheer devastation she put herself through to reach the very top and the subsequent crash. And it feels like it answers the question asked in the previous chapter: Yeah, you can do this. You've come back from every setback and you'll be able to do it again. You've always ultimately had to rely on yourself, and you'll do it again and again until you pull yourself out. The song is full of such sad revelations, but it also ends on a hopeful, if bittersweet note. She might be playing solitaire for now, but doesn't mean she can't handle it.

It feels wrong to mess around with Taylor's tracklisting like this, but it was so much fun 😂 I loooooooove delving into the themes in her albums and I really find like the emotional journeys within them become more salient as time passes on too.

Honestly, I can't say it enough, I loved the pre-release playlists for TTPD too, if you're looking into this kind of emotional deconstruction of her discography at large. The beats within the playlists themselves make so much sense, and I think frames the songs within them really well. Just my two cents!

[zwolfgames]

Idk, but I think bg3 reader would try to leave the group, if they know about their yandere personalities, lol. Please, your bg3 works are so good. I expect the new one

(So, not a continuation of the last drabble. This is hypothetical for now. Also it deleted my answer the first time :( so this is try two, it may seem a bit rushed. And I got a bit off track, woops.)

Warnings: mentions of yandere stuff I suppose.

Y/N in this au (aka teen tav) really isn't stupid, sure they grew up in a village with just their mother and pulled random spells out of their ass like a true sorcerer, but they're not stupid.

The party started with variable reactions to a minor in the group. Act 1 doesn't showcase a lot of Yan tendencies due to everything still going kind of fine and everyone getting to know each other.

The yandere part really starts in act 2 when they enter the Shadow cursed lands. Unlike the normal region of act 1 are the Shadowlands riddled with danger.

The party quickly gets their wake-up call after things like Kar'niss (who gets his little momemt) and the other bosses and dangers. Katherine Thorm, being a threat, also doesn't help ease the party's feelings.

The group would go from silly to way more protective in act 2. But Y/N can't do anything about that yet. The shadows would eat them alive, or someone else could get them. Better left with unease rather than dead, right?

I've purposefully mentioned Y/N's mother in the drabbles to show the main goal of the reader, which is to return to their mother. This goal is being held back by a party of people who no longer seem intent to part ways with you once this is over.

Sure, Y/N wanted their cool adventure with heroes like Wyll Ravenguard, but staying with them permanently? Haha... no.

So after the wake-up call of act 2, Y/N would take their chances at escape in Baldur Gate. The thing is, though, Y/N isn't from Baldurs Gate. They don't know the alleys like the back of their hand in the same manner that Astarion does. They didn't grow up playing in the secret passageways like Karlach...

This is a dangerous game you're playing. The more you wiggle, the tighter their hold. It's just how it goes with people who have faced enough to lose it.

They handle you in different ways, of course.

Wyll, Gale, and Halsin strike me as the type to have wanted to protect this poor kid from the start, so their resolve just strengthens to unnecessary levels. You wouldn't mind just being carried to bed by a bear man, would you? He knows some good elvish lullabies.

Lae'zel is her own separate category, she's a githyanki, they have very diffrent ways then most folk on faerun. I'm basing her motherly ability on the prologue where she raises the gith egg. She may not be affectionate, but she does not want you out of sight. Expect training.

Karlach and Astarion surprisingly go together here. They don't seem like the parental type. More of an aunt/uncle. Would try and stay your friend. Guiltripping from Karlach that she may or not be aware of herself, and straight up manipulation from Astarion. They both had a bad past. You can stay, right? As a little gift from the gods?

Shadowheart didn't like you from the start, not a fan of kids. Her yandere strikes a lot later. First, she had only been worried about your health as a cleric. After her arc at the end of the shadow cursed lands (freeing Dame Aylin etc) she gets a bit of that parental feeling nonsense too. Though I'd say she shows it the least. You'd be tricked easily into thinking she's the only normal one in the party.

Minthara, I'm unsure if I can find a good way to let her join, but she'd be similar to Lae'zel, just crueler and definitely bot secretive about her want for your stay. If you ask her directly, she'd just plain out and say that if she catches you, you're getting bound.

Jaheira, natural mom, she's got kids, protected the kids. Don't expect her to be sweet, but you're definitely not going out of sight.

Minsc joins in Act 3, so really, he doesn't have the time to get to know you, he's funny, you're funny. Friends. Not that the rest appreciates the time you spent with him. They're scared you're gonna make up a talking animal next.

All in all, Y/N would try and escape. It just isn't very likely to succeed. If you get far... well, there are other beings out there still after you, you know?

Just forget your mom. Aren't they better family now? Your mom didn't teach you spells, did she? Or swordplay? Maybe how to make balms?

Cmon, they're the best option. Stay.

Just an answer lol, hope i didn't make anyone too OOC with just this. Xd.

[leashybebes]

For the kiss prompt may I request 41 if it so inspires you. If not my backup pick is 10. 😊 Good luck with your assignment!!

41 is because the world is saved. may i offer you a pacific rim au in these trying times?

Tommy has never seen the LA Shatterdome so full. PIlots and technicians and cadets and - civilians, maybe? - are running around, there's the sound of cheering, the babble of excited speech, the boom of announcements. Tommy takes some of Sal's weight as they look around, and up at the looming shape of their Chrome Brawler. Tommy's mentally calculating how long the repairs will take, and trying not to think about how the hell she even managed to get them back to the Shatterdome in one piece. Jesus, what a day.

"Six weeks minimum," Sal says, the drift lingering enough that they don't have to say any more.

"Yeah," Tommy sighs. "C'mon, let's get you to medical."

They hobble along in silence for a few minutes before Sal says, "We'll get an award for this one."

"I'd rather get a week R&R," Tommy argues. God, he wants to sleep so bad.

"Of course you would, you fuckin' misery." Sal digs his elbows into Tommy's ribs and Tommy briefly contemplates dropping him to deal with his fucked up ankle on his own.

They pass Hen and Chim of Sierra Mentor. They seem pretty unscathed, and Hen shoots him a quick look, gestures towards the row of Jaegers and gives him a thumbs up. Tommy feels something of the knot of tension unwind just a little in his chest. Corsair Shrike isn't lined up with the others yet, but then she'd been right at the head of the pack, as always, giving Tommy a fucking heart attack as Evan and Eddie threw themselves into the effort to seal the rift without a single other thought in their minds.

He gets Sal to medical, hands him over bitching and complaining to the medics, and even submits to a quick check over himself. Somehow, he's totally unscathed apart from a pounding headache and he finds himself in the hallway outside medical, drinking from a tepid bottle of water and sweating in the drive suit he should really take off. He closes his eyes, just for a second.

"Tommy!"

The voice jolts him out of the sleep he's been longing for for seventy two miserable hours, cures his headache, erases his tiredness, sends him to his feet because there - Evan. He's also still in his drive suit, only the helmet removed, and he and Eddie have an arm around each other, limping their way towards him. Eddie straightens to stand on his own, gives Tommy a lazy salute, then shoves Evan towards him. Tommy's water bottle falls unheeded at his feet, spilling the last dregs across the floor, and they collide. The stupid suits mean there's no way they can get close enough, no way he can check Evan for injuries to his own satisfaction, but maybe he doesn't need to, because Evan is beaming and babbling, clearly riding the high of adrenaline and the drift and success.

" - you see us out there, Tommy that was amazing, we did it, we did it - "

"You guys were incredible," Tommy says, glancing over to include Eddie in the statement. "Took five years off my life, but wow."

"Deluca okay?" Eddie asks, and Tommy gestures to medical.

"Nothing major."

"Alright," Eddie says. "I'm gonna - " He melts into the hubbub around them and Evan promises to come check on him.

"Tommy," he says again, quieter now. "Tommy, we saved the world."

"Big damn heroes," Tommy jokes, and Evan pulls him into a kiss. It's awkward with the bulk of their drive suits between them, but they make it work. God, it feels so good to have Evan in his arms, alive and whole and justifiably on top of the damn world. If the way Evan presses closer and bites at his lip is anything to go by, tonight is going to be a hell of a night.

The sounds of victory, so long absent from the LA Shatterdome continue to roar around them but Evan sways in his arms and lets out a happy little sigh, and Tommy doesn't hear anything else at all.

[zylasweetbean]

All Might is a First Year Teacher

All Might gets a LOT of flack for being a bad teacher.

Ignoring the fact that the whole school is a lawsuit waiting to happen, and ALL the teachers (yes, including Aizawa) do things that range from illegal to highly questionable, I'd argue that All Might isn't a bad teacher.

He's a first-year teacher.

And honestly, a good first-year teacher at that.

If you look at his very first lesson, the "Battle Trials," you will see several things he does that first-year teachers struggle with but works to overcome them.

When he gives instructions, the class gets a little out of hand, and he has to try to calm them down.

This happens ALL THE TIME! And not even to just new teachers. Learning how to manage a class is a process even veteran teachers can struggle with. Students are easily distracted and will yell out answers or talk to friends, and you see the same happen with All Might. However, he actually manages to get the class back under control, which isn't easy.

2. He needs to use flashcards to remember the scenario.

It's really tricky to always remember everything that needs to be said for an activity or lesson to work. And if you haven't taught the lesson before, it's even trickier. It's common for first-year teachers to use things like sticky notes to keep track of key information. Sometimes you can even use PowerPoint. All Might didn't have that, so he used flashcards. Now, while it might not look great, it's arguably more important that he remembers everything that needs to be said for the battle trial to work rather than forgetting and trying to explain it later. (Which happens and is messy).

3. He gets a little flustered when Yaoyorozu answers a question really well.

Students constantly surprise their teachers. Sometimes, you ask a question, and they know nothing. And sometimes, they give you a perfect, insightful answer. All Might gets a bit tongue-tied when Yaoyorozu gives a great answer, but what I love about him is that he recognizes she did a great job! He doesn't try to add something to prove that he knows best, but he recognizes and acknowledges her input.

4. He recognizes the needs of his students (even if he doesn't address it perfectly)

During the battle trial, All Might recognizes that Midoriya desperately needed to continue the fight with Bakugou in order to work through some things. Should he have? Probably not, but new teachers regularly try and struggle to know how to best support their students. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't.

Then after the battle trial, he notices that Bakugou is upset over how it went and tries to offer words of encouragement. In this instance it doesn't work, and Bakugou storms off angry. However, the point remains that he saw the need and tried to address it.

5. He let the fight between Midoriya and Bakugou last too long and get dangerous.

First off, UA let a bunch of teenagers try to attack massive robots as their entrance exams! The battle trial was far from the most dangerous thing UA had already thrown at them, so All Might deserves some slack.

Also, as a first-year teacher, it's difficult to know when to step into a situation and when to back off. All Might tried to give multiple warnings, which Bakugou ignored. Usually, that's enough, but in this case, it wasn't. However, he was still aware of the situation and tried to mediate it, even if, in retrospect, it should have been handled differently.

AND ALL OF THIS WAS HIS FIRST LESSON!

In conclusion, All Might isn't a bad teacher. He is a first-year teacher who is clearly learning but who cares deeply. You can tell by how he supports and interacts with his students; he wants to be there for them and help them become heroes, even if he struggles along the way.

As someone who recently finished their first year of teaching, All Might remind me how challenging teaching can be, but that you don't have to be perfect at it. You just have to keep trying to improve every day, plus ultra style.

[raayllum]

aaaaah I’m so glad you opened asks! I’m genuinely curious on your opinion/idea of, how do I word this, what would be a fitting “punishment”/ “defeat” of Aaravos?? He’s the bad guy duh, but like…Leola 🦄🥹…he’s a hurt father💔🥹…he just wanted his daughter…death seems too idk unfair?

Like 1. He’s immortal, 2. Yeah a prison but I mean, he’ll escape even if it takes centuries. This has been on my mind since forever and I’d love to see what other people think no matter how bizarre!

That's a good question! More here on how Aaravos' grand plans mostly came to fruition in arc 2 that helped form my background here. I'm also gonna rec this meta on humanity's history with magic in Xadia because it talks about the Cosmic Council and they, of course, also have a big role to play in how Aaravos' story ends.

In my mind there's three main avenues. I'm gonna go over them in the order of "less likely to likeliest" just given what we know now and where my head is at, but I do think all of them are decently viable and I'd more surprised if none of them happened, so. grain of salt

Option 1: The Cosmic Council is the Endgame Big Bad + Aaravos Atonement Arc [least likely]

This is perhaps the most straightforward "Aaravos atonement arc" option. Much the same way a bigger villain (Aaravos) helped pave the way for Viren to realize he needed to change (Aaravos manipulating Claudia and attacking Katolis) and engineered plot circumstances for him to prove that he had, the Cosmic Council being even worse than him could pave the way for Aaravos to turn over a new leaf and seem like the better option/person.

The way this would work would be that the Cosmic Council has, presumably, not been aware of Anything happening down on earth (dark magic included) and are just gonna start wiping shit out now that they know 'things have gone off the rails'. Aaravos clearly has a plan in mind to bring them down and weaken their power, so main trio and co. would be helping him do so in their own best interest for survival/saving the world. Maybe they're also going to go after Claudia or something and Aaravos doesn't want that ("I refuse to watch another daughter die") or circumstances have changed so he is dependent on the trio's help.

However, I think this is the least likely for a couple of reasons.

If the Cosmic Council is That Bad, then presumably Aaravos could've just told everyone "Hey, if they ever start paying attention, you're all screwed, so help me take them down" rather than... 1,000+ years of manipulation and then turning everyone against you (4x04) when you actually need their help* (*assuming that isn't because circumstances have changed)

It doesn't necessitate Aaravos changing. The heroes have no choice but to work with him, and also have no guarantee that he won't continue to wreck havoc. (Drabble written here that touches on some of this option, actually, because it IS fun)

It also leaves Aaravos in as just a manipulator. "I wanted to get the Council's attention by destroying the world so I could get your help in stopping THEM from destroying the world" like. pardon

If S7 knew we couldn't thematically end on Aaravos being 'permanently' imprisoned and/or temporarily murdered by the trio, I do wonder if the series is going to end with "well let's go murder These startouch elves, and this'll fix Everything"

It's not tangibly any different from a thematic level and it doesn't answer why the Cosmic Council destroying the world would be so much worse than all the damage Aaravos has caused (that he also thus far has zero regrets over like. he's killed Hundreds/thousands of people at this point)

If the kids work to give Aaravos his revenge, it's unlikely he'd be willing to spare the Cosmic Council now that he finally has what he wants within his grasp

Option 2: Aaravos is the Endgame Big Bad + the heroes team up with the Cosmic Council to Stop Him [more likely]

This is likelier, I think. It would require the Cosmic Council to be fleshed out as characters, communicate with humans, and radically change as people, and presumably we will have to get to know them and understand them (and understand why they're wrong!) better in Arc 3 regardless.

It also keeps up the momentum of Aaravos as an antagonist in league with Claudia; it reflects Councils like the Six Horns and Silvergrove changing guided by Janai, Amaya, and Rayla's compassion; the Cosmic Council can start making amends for executing Leola and choosing for humans not to have magic, etc. It'd be somewhat self serving of course — they're also here to save their own asses — but given that they don't seem to actually care about their creation beyond maintaining the hierarchy they established, they do need another reason to care, and they are on Aaravos' hit list so they do have one.

We also know that the Cosmic Council can kill a Startouch elf permanently; whether they still can, or can kill physically Aaravos (if he's taken out his heart or some other twisted dark magic catch-all, maybe they can't) we'll have to see, but it does give a clear cut "we team up to defeat the villain, here's why and how" that Option 1 just doesn't have as clearly.

The Cosmic Council also undeniably has to be taken to task. At best, they abandoned Xadia because they were afraid of what they'd created (Aaravos) and arc 3 is set up to examine the ethics of leaving/abandonment more than the previous arcs (i.e. Soren with Lissa and Claudia; finally resolving Rayla's character arc fully, etc). At worst, they "stood there and watched while humans and Xadia kept hurting each other" because they were indifferent and because of their own choices, so they got a Lot to make up for.

HOWEVER, I think Option 2 still presents a big problem, because I don't know if I would believe that ALL the Cosmic Council is going to change especially not within such a short timespan — even 7 years is nothing to them, let alone what time the series would follow (maybe 3 months if each season is 1) for arc 3 — to be like saints, again we don't know if they would change and care past saving themselves, but honestly the main thing is that I don't know if we can kill Aaravos in a negative "we've Defeated you" manner.

Physically and literally maybe it's possible, but from a thematic standpoint, I feel like maybe we've closed that door as an option largely because of 7x09. Rayla, Zym, and Ezran turned to murder in 7x09 and it was deemed as "we almost gave up everything that we are." I don't think them perma-murdering Aaravos would maybe be seen, thematically, as anything different.

(This is also one of the reasons why I wasn't a huge fan of the 'Callum coins Aaravos theory' circulating pre-S7, because while it was in-character for Callum to try, I felt there was no way the coin spell would be able to be completed successfully from both a plot or theme standpoint, and. Well.)

We can get into the weeds of course of why the Archdragons temporarily killing Aaravos vs Ezran doing so (and the archdragons then just saving the kids' lives) would've been different, since Callum-and-Rayla's sacrifice(s) are more understandable on that level (killing and outliving the love of your life / dying for the world at 17 would Suck) but I digress.

Like you said, we can't imprison him. I think it's possible that's what the trio's initial plan will be (Callum mastering enough Ocean magic to make his own pearl), but that doesn't mean it'll be what happens, especially if Everyone needs to be freed from the Cosmic Order, and that includes Aaravos. And we — potentially — cannot kill him.

So what now?

Option 3: The heroes work with the Cosmic Council + Aaravos atonement + they Both change [most likely]

This is the most likely option to me for a few reasons. It gives us all the benefits of Option 2's plotline in terms of worldbuilding, pacing, the Cosmic Council being more fleshed out and showing that even they can change. It also answers the problem of what to do with Aaravos post-defeat.

I want to do a bigger meta on how S7 steadily inches us away from "all cycles are bad" to "some cycles are good" (+ the increasing phoenix motif and rebirth symbolism) and I will at some point, but I think it's an important undercurrent to consider.

We have four main father figures throughout the series — Harrow, Runaan, Viren, and Aaravos. Two of them were restored using quasar diamonds, with Harrow potentially being the third. Viren and Runaan both died (to varying degrees), were saved by their daughters, and fundamentally changed by their death and rebirth; if Harrow lives, he'll likely continue to be changed. Moreover, confronting death is also what made a lot of things click into place for Harrow and made him encourage his sons to pursue a much better legacy than the one he'd been on ("For a long time, I didn't know that").

And now Aaravos is dead... and will be reborn in 7 years to return to his daughter. We also have a semi consistent thread of Character A destroys/ruins Character B, and then realizes that Character B is someone they have become over time. We see this with Ezran imprisoning and then becoming Runaan (turning to precise violence as a solution); we see this with Claudia and her becoming increasingly draconic; and we see this most notably with Kpp'Ar and Viren. (Meta on it here as well.)

So Aaravos kills (destroys) Viren, and then becomes Viren, realizing he doesn't want to sacrifice / destroy their shared daughter (Claudia). This doesn't absolve Aaravos of all the harm he's done to her and I'm sure that'll be addressed eventually once she begins to conceptualize that he's harmed her, but it does feel like the hinge to turn at to get her to change. Maybe, in tried and true Claudia fashion, she continues to go further and further — maybe feels betrayed by Aaravos and refuses to listen to him, either ("Okay. Follow me") — only for her brother to bring her back.

Something important about Aaravos and the Cosmic Council, I think, is how much he de-personalizes them. He claims they've never cared or loved their creation in any way, but all accounts on that front are through Aaravos' lens, and doesn't necessarily give us an accurate picture. He also groups them in with Sol Regem, who he claims "is a wicked monster that ruined our lives. Killed my daughter."

But is Sol Regem a Monster? Is the Cosmic Council? Is Aaravos?

In many ways, yes, but I think no, in just as many. There's no monster(s) he can slay to solve all his problems, just as killing him won't necessarily fix theirs, either. "So if you want to punish me, I can't stop you. But I don't think it'll bring you peace. Only more pain" (7x04).

I also want to pivot and talk about Ezran, because I think in some manner while all the trio have a role to play — Callum, as Aaravos' thematic oppositional endgame; Rayla, as Aaravos' foil — but Ezran I think takes the mantle from his father of being Aaravos' ideological opposite (Harrow-Aaravos meta here). Ezran even spells this out for us in 7x07:

You're right, Aaravos. I will lead the world into a new era. But not my compromising with you. [...] that I'm too young to see clearly, but I think it's the other way around. You've spent so long seeing the world through a lens of hate you can't see any other way to get what you want. But I can.

Not that "what you want is fundamentally wrong," not that compromise with someone isn't worth it, but that Ezran disagrees with his methods, and that Ezran can see another path stretching out of how to get there. Because we will, inevitably, dismantle and shatter the Cosmic Order. We will reunite all of Xadia for human-elf integration, and we will remove the unequal distribution of magic between humans and elves. But not through hatred, the way Aaravos has chosen — because his primary goal in dismantling the Cosmic Order is to get revenge for Leola (7x06 — and a way that will only leave him empty as the Last of His Kind (2x05).

Aaravos seems utterly unconvinced that the Cosmic Council could ever change, repent, grow, or admit their mistakes. That they could make amends. And I'd be surprised maybe if all of them did — we probably need a Karim or Kasef to balance things out — but it's not like other characters haven't come back from attempted child execution (Viren multiple times) or baby murdering (which Harrow signed off on, and Claudia did commit with Sir Sparklepuff) in this show, anyway. And, as we've already acknowledged, him punishing the Cosmic Council will not help him, and it's debatable if taking him out will help the trio and co., ultimately, either.

The path ahead for Option 3 is not gonna be clean, of course, and it's not going to be easy; it's going to be long and difficult and messy, but I do think this is where I'm leaning towards as far as an endgame. I could even see it ending in Aaravos dying, but by choice, and being able to reunite with Leola in that manner, but idk.

I could see Option 1 or 2 working for me as well, provided they give me the narrative legwork to get there (and they very well could! TDP always does), right now Option 3 with double Aaravos + Cosmic Council atonement is where I'm leaning towards, that could change in the future.

But yeah, that is my long winded speculative answer, I hope you enjoy!

[casual-praxis]

Thinking about a canon-divergent AU where one of the only changes is that Blue and Vio switched places...

I know it's been done a few times already, but I've mostly been thinking about it from the angle of "how can I change as few things as possible while also giving it a unique spin??"

I did end up changing some things anyway, but most of what I've envisioned are minor personality tweaks that only slightly change some dynamics, like Green using humor to cope with stress or Red being more direct in trying to keep everyone from fighting. Vio gravitates towards Red early on to set up for when the group is separated, conflicting with Blue more due to Blue's tendency to swat at Red.

Once separated, Blue still ends up in the snowy area, but instead of being completely frozen, he's only partially trapped, allowing Shadow to pop in and ask if he's "cooled off a little?" The recruitment speech occurs here, but altered to appeal to Blue rather than Vio. I like to think Blue would initially accept because he's pissed at the others but quickly realize he's in over his head (he doesn't really want anything bad to happen to anyone, anger just tends to cloud one's judgment).

He goes along with trying to trick Vio and Red at the Temple of Darkness, but his poker face is way less perfected than Vio's, so Vio clocks something is wrong fairly quick. Blue doesn't stick around to see what happens to them, not trusting he can continue to fool them, but also confident that Vio will keep Red safe (probably, anyway - he's still going to worry).

I like to think the connection Blue forms with Shadow is less backstabby, and more genuine on both sides. Blue isn't playing the long con here, he just isn't sure how to get out of it without getting himself or the others killed, and now Shadow factors in as well. If I put more thought into it, I'd like to see a scenario where the betrayal doesn't happen, and Blue convinces Shadow to join the hero's side (Shadow still probably breaks the mirror, but he'd be with them for at least a little while before that).

On Vio's side of things, he probably just wandered the Lost Woods until he ran into Red, and the two of them continued on looking for Blue and Green with the help of the fairy. I like to think that due to the constant conflict between him and Blue leading up to it, Vio would firmly be on the warpath to put down Blue (as logic dictates him as a threat to the group), but Red is trying desperately to keep him in line.

So during the Blue vs Green confrontation in this scenario, Vio would decide to just start taking potshots at Blue once it looks like Green is on the backfoot. He misses a fatal shot, but still gets an arrow lodged in Blue's shoulder. This results in Shadow and Blue retreating, and sicking the hinox's on the group, who also have to flee using the fairy.

The two of them reconcile at some point either before the Tower of Winds or during it. Blue's a little bitter about the arrow thing, but Vio chalks it up as revenge for Blue always hitting Red (to which Red chimes in that it's not equivalent and to not drag him into this).

Did this whole idea spawn from me attempting to inject Bludow and Vired into the canon story? Yea. Did it work? Not really, but it's fun to think about and that's all that matters probably.

Green during this whole thing has just been quietly goin' through it, but he's happy to be reunited at least. He missed everyone more than he thought he would.

I'm gonna keep rotating this idea around in my head for a bit, but it's on a backburner for now.

[class1akids]

Japanese reactions to the MHA 424 Shouto panel

I went through the Japanese Shouto tags last night on Twitter because I was curious about their reactions to Shouto's panel and what it may mean. The comments were around 5 main topics:

1. Sad that he's alone

ここでは1人でいてほしくないなって思いました - I didn't want you to be alone here, I thought

1人になるなーーッッ！！！囲め囲め！- Don't be alone!!! Surround them, surround them!!

🍰くん後ろ姿で1人なの辛すぎ 誰か……誰か近くに行ってあげてくれ

🍰-kun, it's so painful to see you all alone and looking at your back. Someone... Someone please go and get him.

2. A general sense of unease, wondering what kind of fallout he'll get and if he'll be blamed for the rest of his life for Dabi

🍰くんの後ろ姿が不安で仕方ない… I can't help but feel uneasy about 🍰-kun's back

轟くんが心配 - I'm worried about Todoroki

🍰家こそ……戦いの終わりが憎しみの終わりじゃないんだよな……の背中… 🍰 The end of the battle is not the end of the hatred...

Ahhhh, I wonder if 🍰will continue to be blamed by the citizens as I've often seen in fan fiction. Seriously,🍰 's path to becoming a hero is too harsh.

本誌　ヒロアカ 轟家はこれから先地獄と言われてるし覚悟してるけど轟くんの後ろ姿で泣く Magazine: It's been said that the future of the Todoroki family in My Hero Academia will be hellish, and I'm prepared for it, but seeing Todoroki's back makes me cry

No matter how hard 🍰-kun tries, there will always be a certain number of people who will unreasonably hurt 🍰 -kun, and it's really painful to think that this will never go to zero. People will probably say all sorts of things about 🍰-kun without knowing how much resolve he had and how much pain he fought to overcome. But I guess that's the reality. I hope he'll be happy.

tdrkくんだけ後ろ姿なの辛い しかも「けれど」っていう言葉と同じコマなのはやっぱりまだtdrk家はまだ終わってないし終われない、これからどうしていくのかっていう方が大事なんだよね だからとぅやくんも生きてるんだよね It's sad that only tdrk is shown from behind Moreover, the reason it's in the same frame as the word "however" is that the TDRK family isn't over yet and can't end, what's important is what to do from now on, and that's why Touya is still alive.

しょとくん、これから「俺の顔見たら遺族や被害者家族が苦しむと思うから」という理由でテレビ雑誌などの媒体に一切出ず、給料も莫大に入ってるのに最低限だけ残して全部ダビの遺族への慰謝料に当てて、俺は幸せになっちゃいけないからヒーロー業だけ専念するんだ…という生活を送ったら…どうしよう… - Shoto, from now on you won't be appearing on TV, in magazines or in any other media because "I think the bereaved families and the victims' families will suffer if they see my face", and even though you're making a huge salary, you'll only keep the bare minimum and use it all to pay compensation to Dabi's victims' families, and you can't be happy so you'll focus only on your hero work...what should I do if I live that kind of life...?

🍰くんだけ背負ってるものが大きすぎるし、ヴィランではなく世論を相手にしなくては行けない未来が待っているのは必至だし、もちろん 🍰くんはその業を進んで背負うんだろうけど、ちょっと辛いなと思った時に思い出せる仲間たちがいて、折れない起源をちゃんと家族以外で作ることができてよかった

🍰s the only one who has to carry a heavy burden, and it's inevitable that a future awaits him in which he will have to deal with public opinion rather than villains, and of course 🍰 will willingly bear that burden, but I'm glad that he has friends he can remember when he's feeling a bit down, and that he was able to create an unyielding origin outside of his family.

とどろきくんちどうなっ…ウ……顔見えない…なにを思ってる…しょと……What's going on at Todoroki's house... I... I can't see his face... What are you thinking... Wait...

tdrkくんはdabiのこととかあるしそこらへん描かれるかな dkくんとも喋ってほしいな！！！tdrk-kun has things to do with dabi, so I wonder if that will be depicted. I'd love to talk to DK-kun too!!!

冒頭の明るい雰囲気は「5歳の読者」に向けての先生の心遣いだと思うけど、「元には戻らない」ということが繰り返し描かれていて、そこはよかった…。 デも勝も現時点でいったん何かしらを失ったけど、ショは大丈夫ですか…？　ショは30巻からもうだいぶ失いっぱなしだから、これ以上はないすか…？I think the bright atmosphere at the beginning is the teacher's consideration for the "5-year-old readers," but I liked how it repeatedly depicts the idea that "things can't go back to the way they were." Both De and Katsu have lost something so far, but is Sho okay? Sho has already lost a lot since volume 30, so is there anything more he can do?

3. The meaning of the Ochako - Shoto - Spinner panels and the villains fate (also, JPN fandom was also really confused about the Spinner scales panel - many thinking it was oysters or the remains of Dabi)

とどろきくんとお茶子ちゃん、単純にこれで良かったにならない2人のエピソードもやってくれそうで嬉しいな。 それは2人だけじゃないのは大前提やけど、今後周りから受けるものが賞賛でも非難でも、2人の中でこれで良かったともならず、これで終わりとはしなさそうなので、真っ直ぐ明るいものだけじゃな

I'm glad that they will also have episodes about Todoroki and Ochako that don't simply end with the ending. It's a given that they're not the only ones who feel this way, but whether they receive praise or criticism from those around them in the future, it doesn't seem like they're happy with this or that this is the end, so it's not just about being straightforward and bright.

爆豪勝己 緑谷出久が笑いあってるよ。 お茶子ちゃん、轟くん心配だな…トガちゃんと荼毘くん…轟くん『一緒にうどん食べる』って言ってたもんね… Bakugou Katsuki and Midoriya Izuku are laughing together. Ochako-chan, I'm worried about Todoroki-kun... Toga-chan and Dabi-kun... Todoroki-kun said he wanted to eat udon together...

救えたとか救えなかったのか、デとお茶子と轟くんはこの先一生考えていくんだろうし、やっぱ今後の個性社会と同じで元には戻れないね

Deku, Ochako, and Todoroki will probably be thinking about whether they were able to save him or not for the rest of their lives, and just like in the future society of quirks, there's no going back.

mdryizkとbkgktkが主軸で、それにtdrkshtとurrkochkを合わせてくれたのが嬉しい　みんながどうこれから歩んでいくのかめちゃくちゃ楽しみ　tdrkくんがね、心配だけど　hrks先生だからきっと大丈夫

I'm glad that mdryizk and bkgktk are the main focus, and that tdrksht and urrkochk were added to them. I'm really looking forward to seeing how everyone will move forward from now on. I'm worried about tdrk-kun, but I'm sure it'll be fine because it's hrks-sensei.

何でお茶子ちゃんと轟くんの間にスピナーの鱗？なんだろ、と思ったけど明るい未来を示すキーパーソン的な意味での並びかな- Why are Spinner's scales between Ochako-chan and Todoroki-kun? I wondered why, but I guess it's because they're key people who represent a bright future.

4. If Shouto lost his voice

い、嫌じゃ！嫌じゃ！🍰くんから「mdry」の鳴き声が失われるのは嫌じゃ！！（いいぞやれぇ！やっちまえぇhrks先生ぇ！）

I, I don't want that! I don't want that! I don't want 🍰 to lose the cry of "mdry"!! (Go ahead! Go for it, hrks-sensei!)

轟くん親子赫灼熱拳のシーン技名心の声で叫んでるのか実際声に出して叫んでるのかどっちなんだろ… In the scene where Todoroki-kun and his father use the Burning Fist, are they shouting the name of the technique in their minds or actually shouting it out loud?

これはちょっとズレた想像かもしれないけどtdrkくんの喉が心配…で…… 一次戦でも喉焼かれて声ガスガスになってて今回も耐えられる身体にって備えて戦ったけど、気絶前喉やられてたし最後集合した時の足場作った時大口開けてたけど特に声を出していた描写なし……。 ………………………、This might be a bit of a stretch, but I'm worried about tdrk's throat... so... In the first battle his throat was burned and he was speechless, so he fought this time prepared with a body that could withstand it, but his throat was damaged before he passed out, and although his mouth was wide open when he was building a foothold for when they all gathered at the end, there's no depiction of him making a sound...

tdrkくんマジで喉やられてたりしたんかな〜 倒れる前はわりと話してたけどそこからほんま言葉発してないもんな I wonder if tdrk's throat was seriously damaged. He was talking quite a bit before he collapsed, but he hasn't really said a word since then.

5. Shouto deserves praise and happiness too

誰か 🍰くんのことも褒めたげてよぉ…

Someone praise 🍰 too...

🍰-kun also showed his true, honest and hardworking side in the letter during the final battle, so I just want him to be happy and laugh.

轟くんの幸せを祈るしかねえよかっちゃんみたいにいつか落ち着いて轟くんも泣けるといいな All I can do is pray for Todoroki-kun's happiness I hope that one day Todoroki-kun will calm down and be able to cry like Kacchan

[formulaford2022]

When I was a child I wanted to be an artist. I wanted to paint and draw and create. When I was in middle school I wanted to be a writer. I wrote poems and stories and songs and I wanted to be a journalist and take my own photos. My seventh grade teacher gave me an application to submit a poem to a contest. I never even gave it a chance. Two of my classmates got their poems published in a literary magazine and I never even tried. I quit taking art classes when I turned fifteen and I decided I would never be great so why even try.

I started watching formula one during the 2023 season. I grew up surrounded by people who loved NASCAR. I knew what racing was and I thought I knew what was it was all about. Racing is great. Honest, wheel to wheel racing is amazing. It's exhilarating. I love watching clean overtakes, racing in the rain, miraculous saves. But that's not what racing, or any sport really, is about. Sports are about stories. The season long drive, the underdogs, the guy who nobody ever saw coming. In football or basketball there are teams. Fans want their team to win more than anything in the world. In racing there are drivers. These drivers are real people with real lives, but they are so much more than that. They are the archetypes that create the story. Rivals, longshots, champions, antagonists, heroes, villains.

I've been thinking about Logan Sargeant a lot lately. Or rather, what he represents. I don't know him, but here's what I do know: he would have submitted his best poem.

Imagine moving across the ocean to a new country and pouring your blood, sweat, and tears into being the best. You're competing against dozens of kids who are faster. Imagine winning and winning and winning and putting hours into becoming greater than anyone else there. Imagine climbing the ranks and finally achieving what you've been working towards your entire life. And it's yours for nearly two terrible years. There's highs and there's lows, but nobody's calling it a success. But you were there. You made it. It was yours. It's gone, long gone, but you made it happen.

When I was a teenager I decided that I wasn't the best, and if I wasn't the best then why would I even try? Who's going to remember Logan Sargeant fifty years from now, outside of some statistics about American drivers? If he quit after his first loss he never would have been a formula one driver. He was a formula one driver. No one can take that away from him. If I never stopped creating, I could still call myself an artist and a writer.

"Tis Better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all," was written by poet Alfred Tennyson who died in 1892. I don't know Logan Sargeant. I don't know how he feels about anything he did in formula one, but if I had to assign him an archetype, I'd given him the Tennyson quote. 133 years after he died his words are still being quoted, because he actually wrote them. Just like Logan Sargeant actually drove a formula one car.

I'm still an artist and a writer. I will forever be an artist and a writer. I cannot handle not creating. Even if I'm not the best. Even if all I've done is lost. I will continue to create. I hope you do as well.

[synergysilhouette]

Saw "Moana 2" and...(Review with Spoilers)

In retrospect, I'm not surprised that Disney's highest-grossing Disney princess movie (not adjusted for inflation and Anna and Elsa aren't part of the Disney princess line) got a sequel. That said, given the track record Disney has had lately since "Strange World," I'm also not surprised with the decline in quality. So here's my thoughts on it in 3 points.

The music is...different--Thankfully, Disney got the same people to do the score, but when the film was envisioned as a TV show, they decided not to approach Lin-Manuel Miranda (or maybe he was busy) and instead approached Barlow and Bear for the music. Now to be fair, the soundtrack is NOT bad, but it's not as good, either; Matangi's song feels very showtune-y rather than an epic song set in the Pacific Islands, and every song except Moana's feels like a downgrade. Granted, I do blame this on the transition probably not giving them as much time to grow and change the songs, but I still find it to be disappointing. I think the songwriters could've been better suited for an original film and Disney get LMM back the moment they decided to make a sequel film.

2. The new characters aren't anything special--First off, Simea doesn't do anything to impact the plot in a way another character couldn't. When you give the main character a sibling in a sequel, you expect them to have an impact. Simea's goal was likely to show the bigger stakes Moana could face and all the leaves behind, but the first film was also life or death for her and her people, and her parents could still serve as what she leaves behind, especially since they're older and Moana takes on new responsibilities. Moni as a storyteller seems like he should be a source of encouragement and remind Moana of her grandmother, instead of a fanboy. Plus why he reveres Maui despite him almost destroying the world would be interesting to explore. Loto being the science-y girl in a world with clear fantasy elements would be interesting to explore, especially since she doesn't seem offended or in denial of it. Kele is supposed to be the farmer, but visually, we don't see how that comes into play that much. Moana pretty much does most of the work. Matangi is also just a servant to the main antagonist Nalo, but he isn't interesting or symbolic like Te Ka, and Matangi is a weird mix of villain and helper. I'd have rathered she was a villain akin to Eris from "Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas" and was simply outwitted by Moana. Her small role and message of getting lost felt underutilized. And it's SAD that the Kakamora feels more interesting than the rest of Moana's crew. The wayfinders at the end of the film and in the art book looked much more interesting, and I'd have enjoyed them filling the roles Kele, Moni, and Loto had. On the bright side, Moana as a character wasn't ruined, even if the film didn't do any favors for her.

3. There's no real message and the plot is very boring--The film continues on the message of the restoration of cultural identity, but nothing the characters experience really show a conflict that threatens that. In the first film, sailing and wayfinding is forbidden due to Te Ka's influence causing the ocean to be tempestuous. As such, they lost a big part of their culture. Maybe the film could've focused on Nalo (or Matangi) venturing out to destroy Moana rather than her coming to him due to her possibly being the hero to unite the people across the Pacific. They'd manipulate the humans and cause rifts between the people of Motunui. It'd be more domestic, but perhaps have Moana going to different islands, meeting other wayfinders, and trying to weed out Nalo's deception could work. This is all assuming you wanted a strict villain over a trickster deity or a more nuanced antagonist. And side note, but the modern dialogue (ie butt dialing, hair flip, and fanfic were so cringey to me).

Overall, the film is...fine. I need to hear about what was going on during production, because I can't blame it all on "it was gonna be a tv show first." It wasn't as good as the first film, nor would it win a "battle of the sequels" with "Frozen 2," but it's better than "Wish," and while that's a low bar, it's something I could be happy with for a brief period. 5/10

(And I'll probably add this film to my "alternate take on the Disney revival era" post--but I'd like to hear a little bit more about the production for the film before I do.)

[ym4yum1]

Preface — My favorite Spy (5)

November, 2024.

Part 1. Part 2. Part 3. Part 4. Part 5.

How did the MCU shape Natasha Romanoff's character?

In AoU, THE Black Widow — arguably Marvel's sharpest, most capable spy — had her "damsel in distress" moment while waiting for Bruce (not even the Hulk) to save her from captivity. The only female Avenger at the time, Natasha was suddenly reduced to a love interest, questioning her worth as a hero and burdened with shame simply because she couldn't procreate. Who thought this was a good idea? My husband's answer: "A man." No offense.

Now, let's consider how Natasha has evolved in the MCU.

In Iron Man 2 (2010), she flirted with Tony, but earned his respect by hacking a system JARVIS couldn't crack to free Rhodey. In The Avengers (2012), she had a deep partnership with Clint, outsmarted Loki, and found the key to close the portal. In The Winter Soldier (2014), she was as much a protagonist as Steve, building a strong connection with him, even sharing a kiss. Then, in Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), the film began with her already involved with Bruce. Yet, their story happened almost entirely off-screen, undermining the narrative principle of "show, don't tell," and diminishing her existing relationships.

If I were Thor, I'd be upset at being the only Avenger left out of Natasha's supposed romantic entanglements.

Jokes aside, the "monster connection" between Natasha and Bruce felt forced and unearned, as did their "romance" — a plot device to tie together two isolated people with no meaningful payoff. Ultimately, it was a disservice to both, reducing them to simplistic, cartoonish tropes.

Then, in Captain America: Civil War (2016), Natasha was forced to choose sides, pitted against close friends like Steve and Clint while trying not to lose her Avengers family. In Avengers: Infinity War (2018), though worked underground, she continued fighting crime alongside Steve.

Finally, in Avengers: Endgame (2019), her death was framed as her "redemption". But really? By this point, hadn't she evolved well beyond her past, proving her heroism time and again — even taking on a leadership role within the Avengers? And why would Steve Rogers — one of the best tacticians ever — send two non-superpowered humans to retrieve an Infinity Stone on an unknown alien planet? The Soul Stone's demand for a "sacrifice of love" was unknown to the Avengers, yet the writers chose Natasha and Clint, who had a deep bond, without any strategic justification.

From a storytelling perspective, sending someone with resilience or cosmic experience like Hulk or Rocket Raccoon would have made more sense. Natasha and Clint — skilled spies — would have been better suited to New York than the Hulk, where stealth mattered. Instead, many of these choices felt contrived and plot-driven rather than organic character growth, making Natasha's sacrifice feel hollow and unearned — designed more for emotional impact than logical consistency. Further, the absence of a funeral added insult to injury.

Sending Natasha Romanoff to Vormir, a mission that essentially preordained her death, without any explanation whatsoever, cheapened her development. From that moment, the plot felt lackluster, the movie lost its meaning, and the MCU lost a fan. But I digress.

[aipurjopa]

it’s been like 2 weeks since i wrote these down but anyways my thoughts on the parrot farlands uu video…

the allay carrying an emerald which is something that represents Luigi, the allay being unkillable and able to follow parrot literally everywhere, and how despite parrot’s insistence at killing all the other pets, he keeps the allay around… the allay represents Luigi’s death and Luigi himself and how it’s following Parrot. Also the allay, and Luigi’s emerald, being the things that snap Parrot out of his hopelessness in the farlands, Luigi being the thing that keeps Parrot going.

Interestingly, for Parrot’s pov, Proton escape marks the end of the first “arc” in uu (or at least in my opinion). Proton, where Kenadian introduced this question of “would you rather be safe or free?” or rather: would you rather be safe but have to live in fear of breaking rules set for you or would you rather give up your life (and this your safety) for the chance to be free. This theme introduced continues throughout the next episodes from Parrot’s pov (and also Wemmbu’s skyciv video).

Wifies originally in Proton is on the side of being free: how can you be truly safe if you live everyday in constant fear? However, now that things have sort of gone to shit and they’re being hunted every day, Wifies is on the side of being “safe,” which is effectively what Ken had wanted during Proton too. They literally both say something like: “everything I do is in your best interest,” to Parrot at one point. Parrot doesn’t really get Ken’s point in Proton, not fully (as evidenced by the explanation he gives to the rest of the team after he leaves Kenadian behind), and so him not understanding Wifies’ point also makes sense. It’s so interesting how Proton really does sort of set the stage with the main theme the video has… they really should've stayed in that prison.............. (joke)

Anyways, I’ve always said Parrot’s “fatal flaw” i suppose is his selflessness (and also why i joke about him having a hero complex ahaha) and tbh he’s so selfless he becomes selfish. Like he’s ignoring everyone else’s opinions and just hyper focuses on his own mission of getting everyone out. Like, Parrot is literally putting Wifies’ entire life on the line by constantly trying to get all 3 of them (parrot, wifies, dean) to safety. At that point maybe it’s a little bit selfish to keep going that way.

Also i’m like, not really in agreement with Wifies, i think someone needs to ride up against Ash and i think that Parrot (with his ability to rally people) is probably the only person who can do it, but I get his point. I understand it so much. They should’ve stayed in that damn prison. But also in a time where the freedom of everyone is being threatened, every person needs to fight together. or whatever.

i love the contrast between Parrot and Wemmbu… parrot who puts everyone else’s safety above himself while wemmbu puts his own safety above everyone else’s. i think that’s what makes wemmbu leaving everyone in the skyciv so interesting, because he clearly somewhat cares for Wato and Pangi but in a moment where he has to pick between himself and everyone else he goes with himself which directly contrasts with parrot who has repeatedly shown to be a “no person left behind” kind of guy (proton escape being my favorite example of this; parrot refuses to leave until everyone is out and constantly asks if everyone’s ok. he only leaves ken behind because ken literally begs him to go.)

Also tbh I'd love for a "the 3 protagonists are forced to team up and they fucking hate each other's guts and desperately try to find a way to not work together but are forced to in the end."

[rainbowsillz]

Hi, I really loved your overblot!riddle fox and I was wondering if you would write something similar for another dorm leader

Maybe Vil, Malleus or Leona

(Also i love your writing, so glad I found your blog)

“ I'd rather be hated than allow for you to go. ”

FT. Yan! Overblot Malleus X GN! Reader.

Tags: Delusional behavior, obsession, toxic, etc.

CW: Yandere.

You can't return to Earth, not when he denied you of this.

Your open-mindedness was what welcoming, for you— who radiated like the sun itself to him.

Malleus was fond of you and that's no secret.

For a magicless student, you were bold, granted that you didn't know who he was. He can tell, it wouldn't be what deterred you away from him.

You were quick-witted, determined, nobody can frighten you. You don't let anyone stomp over you. And you cherished his friendship with you!

It was surreal.

This feels.. more of a mirage.

He'd give the universe to you had you asked him, his passion extends than you'd imagine it.

You had become what he cannot live without.

I mean if I were him, I wouldn't want you to choose your home too, so it sits on his chest, billion of thoughts visiting inside his head.

And like a blade through his heart, it's undoubtedly that you'll pick your family.

Twisted Wonderland wasn't a place where you'll reside forever at, and you trusted him too much that you told him of what you planned to do once the headmaster could send you back over.

He looked calm externally.

You noticed the shift in the atmosphere and decided that you shouldn't have said that.

For a close acquaintance, he'll probably be affected by this, so you didn't bring it up twice.

Hopefully, he'll forget about that.

Malleus didn't. Why would a housewarden like him wouldn't recall this? That's ridiculous.

After that, nothing changed in your relationship and he didn't say anything that indicated about it. Time was fleeting, it continues on, despite the heaviness and the graveness it was for him..

Maybe he was childish because he was hurt.

And a lot of months flew by.

So— karma happened to you it seems.

It started out like any other until this.

It was sudden, for a person who managed to turn the tide around every time where overblots came, this was impossible. Attempts met with reality of him snuffing out everyone's work.

It didn't take an hour, it didn't last for long, thorns wriggled across marble floors, if you turn to the window you'd see that outside weren't much different from the interior carved in.

A prison by yours truly.

You were awake, not because you were a superhuman or that you have an immunity.

It was due to Malleus has to speak to you.

You were a nervous wreck, weren't you? You should be, considering the things he do.

How curious.

Malleus has read stories that good always prevailed, while evil served to make them more memorable and beloved in society's eyes.

So, if you were the hero, what's to be his role?

When you didn't response to him, he wasn't offended by that, an attentive smile fixated on.

“Why do you resist? ..I have neither intention of harming you nor anyone in our college.”

And he was true to his word.

“Jesus Christ, Tsunotarou, this is crazy, you are out of your mind. You can't use magic at us!”

Well, he can but that wasn't your point, okay?

“Crazy? I am that for you, aren't I?”

He mumbled to himself, having him in front of you was less reassuring than you anticipated.

“....Yeah.”

What does he expect you to say?

His hand, tainted with ink, takes hold your chin.

Green pupils misted with turbulence, there was no malice in him, to your surprise, there was sorrow. Malleus was in grief, you assumed.

“Whether it's you or Lilia, I'll be left alone again. Isn't this how I should have it be?”

Your mouth was dry, unable to reply.

He can convince you, he shall, and until then? A slumber was what would befallen upon you.