#Like if you had the chart of 'Characters who say Fuck' he is absolutely someone who has said it before

[redhoodinternaldialectical]

Thoughts on Jason Todd’s choice of weaponry?

:D an ask! Yay!

Oooh, lets see, I'll start with the crowbars because I appear to be like one of three people on the entire planet who actually likes them.

They're a tacky as fuck riff on the fact that Jason's death is central to his character. They overemphasize the manner in which he died, muddy the waters about what part of his death is important to him, and strangely cheapens the manner in which he died through the parody feel of it.

No one seems to really disagree with my analysis here, but I happen to enjoy that about them and think it's very on brand for Jason. What can I say? They're fun!

Best Quality - His Wiggles

This ultra-sharp curved blade used to be his signature character design feature, the way the white streak in his hair is now, and I'm really not sure why it didn't stick!

Best weapon he's ever had, bring it back please!!!!!

The All-Blades

hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm....

HMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM...

I have mixed feelings about the All-Blades. Like much of Lobdell's work: phenomenal idea, poor execution. Giving the guy who is most known for being morally grey a set of powers that is exclusively based on moral absolutes sucks shit, I gotta be honest, and the trick he pulled on the blood blade was cool but ultimately does nothing to solve those problems.

HOWEVER

I want to love them so fucking badly. A set of glowy soul blades is a dope sicknasty off the chain concept and I wish the well wasn't poisoned with the moral implications and the restrictions to use them only on the "Untitled", a set of enemies that only exist for Jason so far as I can tell. If someone seriously took Jason down a magic based path that removed the DnD alignment chart bullshit, I would be so game to see them come back! Hell I wouldn't even insist on a better cooler design for them!

...though uh, yeah those are the least interesting magic sword designs I've ever seen tbh

Normal Ass Swords

They're alright I guess. Like, there's nothing in it really, but it's not bad?

Guns - Real Bullets

Excellent, evocative yet simple, straightforwards and to the point. It makes hella sense thematically to boot, love this for him, please give him back his pistols and miniguns and shit

Guns - Rubber Bullets

Hate. HATE. hate ick disgusting bad NO.

I just fucking hate rubber bullets, like, as a concept. I refuse to accept "non-lethal" bullets as a valid use of gun, either in real life or in fiction. Guns are for putting many holes in things very fast!!!! If you're gonna use a gun, fucking well own up to that!!! Do not play this silly ass game of pretending that you can change out the material and do the same things as with lead bullets but with the video game status effect of "non-lethal" applied. YOU ARE GIVING PEOPLE SMALL CIRCULAR BRUISES. This is still harmful, yes, ooph ouchie, but it is not even slightly a good use of a gun, you are wasting holster space, and carry weight, and the physical materials used to make it all!!

JUST USE A FUCKING STICK! YOU DON'T RUN OUT OF STICK AMMO!

My belief in his capacity to take out enemies is shattered the instant those fuckers are on panel. Maybe this ain't entirely rational, or realistic to how fights go with rubber bullets IRL, but I hate them so much on principle that I will ignore any counterargument you might have that they'd work. I will die on this hill. Rubber bullets BAD. Please stop making him use this!!

Bombs

Love it, give him more bombs forever

ka-BOOM!!!!

His Brain

This is actually his best weapon - sorry wiggly knife, you're being shunted down to number 2 on a last minute technicality! I think Jason is at his best when he's outsmarting people and making long term fucked up schemes to ruin people's lives.

He's so good at it! It's so fun to watch him do it!

Genuinely a shame that this facet of him was mostly lost after Flashpoint, though to give credit where it is due, in Rebirth Jason did ruin the Penguin's life in an impressively elaborate way, which I did really enjoy. I want to see him be a tactical deliberate menace to one person in specific again idk, that's part of why I do kinda agree that he works better as an antagonist than a protagonist - which it should be noted does not mean I think he works better as a villain necessarily, his ethics aren't what matter here - he's just had his best moments as the schemer, and it's hard to have a protagonist schemer even when you make them ethically the good guy.

I hope you enjoyed my nattering on about Jason's weapons :D thank ye again for ask!

[ouchthathurts]

Hey, so I saw your comment on bloomingattorney's post. Might want to check out GBPatch's comments on reddit. She's doubling down on the biphobia.

See, now this is upsetting. What happened to Rose is understandably fucked up because being doxed and harassed like this is absolutely awful and never an okay or just thing to do.

It was disappointing hearing someone on the team had such amazing ideas such as the skin color chart but having a strict mindset on what it meant to be gay/pan and being trans. As someone who genderfluid, pan, and afro-latino, I was disappointed to see someone like me have such heinous views and be in a position be a hinder to the group.

My main problem comes from GPatch themselves and how they handled it, while being a face of a company and working with many others of the same community and having your audience also be a part of your community there's a responsibility you carry with such a position.

The people see how you're constantly pulling the "I trust them" card instead of listening to what people have to say and taking the time to look over Rose's actions under another lense such as trans people who share terri's experience, people who are bi/pan, people who happen to be male being into tam, and so on and so forth. rather than trying to understand the people and fix the problem which would be holding Rose accountable for what they said on the issue.

I read over the post that happened between blossoming and Rose and the way Rose handled it was not okay, even if it was before they were hired. If Rose has changed from that then that's great, that's amazing even, the problem comes from not doing a background check on someone who holds a view of a community that there in with such an awful mindset.

Rose can change for the better and be allowed another chance, the problem is that instead of holding Rose accountable, speaking about how this effected your fanbase and how Rose will be stepping down sounds a lot better than just releasing tons of statements and trying to paint with a pastel on black background.

GBPatch should've taken the time and waited for the situation, I've seen tons of people who release content immediately hurt themselves and their credibility by speaking on the subject too fast and ruining themselves in the eyes of the public.

Wait till the emotion dies down in you before responding and don't sit there and defend the person you know has done wrong with proof. I'm not talking about what Rose said about GBPatch, they hashed it out in dms and that's their business, my problem comes with what they had said how that reflects on a company's image if they're allowing someone with these views to speak on these issues for a community.

That's bad representation, and then defending them because you know them is a whole other can worms due to the fact you're not really listening to your audience. It's not about Rose as a person but about what was Rose said and how he's going to rectify it, there is no reason for him to be on a team where he represents a group, and he ruins the fun for everyone by policing and saying what should or should not be done to LGBTQ+ characters.

Rose doesn't have that experience to say that because of the mindset that shows he doesn't see it as a spectrum but instead a certain way people have to be once they've found what they are.

We understand Rose has changed and we understand that Rose is trying for the better, we understand. The problem is how you're addressing the people's concerns and instead of talking to them and hoping to get an expansion on how they feel from their favorite creator of their favorite game, you sit there and defend them just because you know them personally.

If Rose still held those views of pan/biphobia, eld those views that trans people have to dress a certain way after transition, and immaturely called everyone bigots who have a point in conversation.

Would you still be saying the same thing?

This isn't about Rose changing, or Rose being your friend, or whatever else.

This is about how Rose, as a BIPOC and member of the LGBTQ+ community, holds these disgusting views and how they should at least step down from the team until they've broadened their horizons with new people and different experiences before speaking out against something with a close mindset.

Talking about how Terri's clothes were sexual just because they hugged his body, and the many other things said in the tumblr post alongside the response was very something to behold and the response being more irritating because of how it makes communities look when trying to make a point because Rose's point was ignorant and their response only doubling down on such ignorance and using the idea of being a BIPOC and/or apart of LGBTQ+ to escape criticism is disgusting and a bad look on the community.

I get it if it was a joke but it clearly wasn't in this context.

With my final thoughts coming to mind

The main problem I had with final statement is that Rose left due to harassment, Rose should not have been harassed in the first place and doxed, what should've happened was Rose being fired or at least taking the time to learn more due to the negligence and ignorance of other people's, especially queer, situations.

The situation has definitely been thrown out of proportions, I understand people not wanting them to work on the team but doxing is never a good thing to do and harassment is never okay. My advice? Block them and report it to the creator about their worker's close minded views.

Alongside that, GBPatch in future controversies and dramas, taking a step back and reflecting on everting before making a statement instead of responding on emotion instantly. It makes it look like you're arguing with your fanbase, defending someone who is being held accountable for their actions and so on and so forth.

It's good you're calling out the awful people making the situation worse, those people should not be a part of the community to come and harm and put people's lives in danger. That's a good place to start following it with talking about what Rose did, I get the whole 'I know them' and 'They've changed' argument but save that until after you've discussed what happened.

You gotta understand that as a company, why you won't meet everyone's expectations of what they want, you have to try and salvage the part of your audience that really does want to stay and give them a reason to want to stay and that being letting Rose go and grow more as a person to come back with a wider horizon. There a people genuinely hurt and offended by what Rose said, they are are apart of the community and want to feel comfortable in this space made for all and with someone with a close mindset acting this way and publicly working alongside you it makes the game’s community not feel as good to be a part of

I get that Rose has done great things for the game, I’m more than thankful the skin color expansion, but Rose leaving the project for however long he decides was for the best, not under these disgusting circumstances of harassment and doxing, also the disgusting and childish behavior of a fan base to be jerks and bigots is not okay at all. There is a way to handle things and the situation should’ve been handled better by all sides.

That's all my thoughts, I'm open to discussions and other interpretations because everyone is different.

To qoute blossoming-attorney, "It's not about wanting them to feel bad about it. It's about how I feel this may affect the game. These close-minded (in my opinion) views on trans people's bodies are unacceptable. "

[rulerzreachf4n7]

(If you're just trying to find some cute ship art for like lumity or huntlow and you find this I'm sorry I just want this to get some recognition cause I'm new to the Tumblr community 😭😭)

Hello there and welcome to me rating different TOH ships!

It'll be in a format like a iceberg chart, the more well known ships at the top and more unknown and obscure ships in the middle and below

Also know this is my opinion and I have given reasons why I don't like and ship the ones I'm going to list, don't get mad at me cause I don't ship whatever the fuck you like

And with that let's go!

The surface

1. Lumity 9/10

Actually a really good ship, I don't know why people keep on saying it's a toxic/unhealthy ship, the only reasons they say is that they lie to each other,Amity somehow "hurts" Luz and never gives her a proper apology...? Im sorry but it's fucking stupid, there's other reasons but I don't remember them, I gave it a 9/10 because it's okay, nothing astonishing or amazing, just good wlw rep and that's all that matters

2. Huntlow 100000/10

WORDS CANNOT DESCRIBE HOW MUCH I FUCKING LOVE THIS SHIP OMG!!!! I wish it could have gotten confirmed or more hints throughout the show (I personally think it would have been a cool idea that after kings tide Hunter and Willow started dating and it would be shown in TTT) it's just a really cute ship to me and I love everything about it >_<!!!

3. Raeda 10/10

It's a really cool ship, but I was confused on the whole is Eda bisexual or pansexual thing cause she's confirmed bisexual but Raines non binary...and now supposedly bisexual people can be attracted to non binary people??? It's just hella confusing to me, but that's a topic on it's own for a different time, I really like how they developed and definitely TTBK was and is one of my favorite episodes

4. Veesha 8/10

It's actually canon that Vee has a crush on Masha and thats all I need to know...GAHHH IT'S SUCH A CUTE SHIP!! Really cool thing how Dana is adding some much non binary characters in the show (NOT including the collector cause he's demiboy NOT non binary, there's a huge ass difference) wish there could have been some development/hints in the WAD, sadly not, but that doesn't mean it won't be confirmed!

5. Gustholomule 8/10

By far one of my ships but sadly not on the top 3,yet again, needed more hints, especially in s2a cause Gus and Matty had more screen time and interactions together,and I love how the fandom just agreed Matty was gay, and not to mention the friendship with Matty and Amity

6. Belpaw 10000/10

this is a joke ship between Belos and springtrap/William Afton from fnaf but it's absolutely fucking hilarious to me and I love it

Now, time to go under the surface, here are some ships that some people know/ship but not much people do, and the further I go we'll get to the more...problematic ships, yet again, don't get mad at me for my opinions

1. Lunter -100/10

Please block this account immediately if you ship lunter I CANNOT STAND THIS SHIP!!! Sure, they had some pretty decent chemistry and interactions with each other, but it just won't work! There's no use in shipping a character with a canon love interest/already dating someone and just choosing to ignore it and ship them anyway, PLUS FOR THOSE SHIPPERS WHO ACTUALLY GOT FUCKING MAD CAUSE IT DIDN'T BECOME CANON I'M ACTUALLY SHITTING BRICKS ON HOW FUCKING STUPID THAT WAS 💀💀💀💀 plus Willows a canon love interest to Hunter, Zeno, HUNTERS VA, literally changed his name to Hunter noceda, and no it's not wlw erasure, but if you acknowledge the fact that lumity is canon, if you acknowledge the fact Dana put her hardwork and effort trying to get a same sex couple in a kid's show which literally got it CANCELLED, and still ship it, disrespectfully shut the fuck up, lunter would be canon if FUCKING NETFLIX MADE TOH 😭😭😭

2. Huntric/Huntmira -100000/10

I. Hate. This. Ship. I put them together cause I didn't want to make seperate sections for it, now you're gonna read me rant on how much I fucking despise this ship, number one, EDRIC IS FUCKING DATING SOMEONE, no interactions (only one with Edric but none with Emira) the mfs literally degraded him in labyrinth runners, no chemistry whatsoever, its overall just not worth your time, and I'm not a toxic huntlow stan, no I won't force the ship on you, however I will block you because I don't want that shit on my feed, same goes for lunter and the other ships I'm gonna mention

3. Luz x Willow, Amity, or all of them together 5/10

Ngl, it's not that bad of a ship, actually really cute, but I couldn't see it happening in the show given that lumity is already canon, plus we should normalize healthy friendships between two girls, not everyone needs to be shipped and the toh community has a huge fucking problem with that, plus this also goes for Amity x Willow as well

4. Camila x Eda (i dunno the official ship name 😭😭😭) 5/10

It's mid, I SAID IT I SAID IT!!! *hides in bed* I'm sorry the ship is mid, raeda is canon already and they didn't have any dialogue, interactions,chemistry together only other than people want Camila to date/marry someone,and the only part when they actually meet is in WAD and that one picture of Eda showing Camila the Apple blood, other than that it's meh, eh, mid

5. Boscha x literally anyone -1000/10

Disrespectfully shut the fuck up if you ship boschlow, boschmity, or boschluz, THESE ARE EXTREMELY TOXIC SHIPS AND YOU'VE PROBABLY NEVER EVEN WATCHED WING IT LIKE WITCHES OR THE ENTIRE FIRST SEASON OF TOH, YOU MUST HAVE SEVERE BRAIN DAMAGE IF YOU THOUGHT THIS WAS OKAY, Boscha is literally their bully, IT'S NOT THE ENEMIES TO LOVERS STORY YOU WANT POOKIE, the only one that isn't as severe is boschmity, that one, unlike the other ships isn't as bad cause boscha genuinely likes Amity and if you watched FTF you'd know why, plus boscha must had have the fattest crush on Amity, but the only boscha ship good is Boschbria (Boscha x Bria)

6. Veenter 10-/10

No...why must I have come to this...NOOO!!! okay, first off, ima just put this in the most direct, black and white, simple way, it fucking sucks, no interactions that support the ship, no chemistry, like I said, I'm a raging Huntlow stan, this ship is unacceptable, plus I like found...a potential r34 comic of them BUT WE DON'T NEED TO KNOW THAT HAHAH....oh fucking god...

The pit, here lays all the problematic ships, also uhm TW maybe??? I am gonna use words like p3dph1l1a, @buse, Child @buse,and pr0sh1p alot, so if it makes you uncomfy just a warning, and with that, lets go...

1. Camphip -infinity/10

I HAVE A RAGING HATE FOR THIS SHIP OH MY FUCKING TITAN, okay, I know Camila is an adult and belos is...well he's an old fucking geezer,but the age gap gives me the ick, but let's just start, it's @busive, Camila literally said she wanted to beat him up in the beginning of FTF, AND I DUNNO, DO YOU THINK A 400+ GENOCIDAL EMPEROR WHO @BUSED 50+ GRIMWALKERS WHO COULD HAVE POSSIBLY BE KIDS (and by kids they'd be at least 11/12-16, still pretty younge though)MANIPULATED MILLIONS OF WITCHES AND DEMONS, AND KILLED HIS BROTHER IS A GOOD HUSBAND/BOYFRIEND MATERIAL? disrespectfully shut the fuck up, given the fact of think Luz, Vee, and Hunter are all Camila's children (or at least that's what I headcanon) DO YOU THINK THEY'D BE HAPPY TO KNOW THAT THEIR MOTHER IS DATING THE PERSON WHO CAUSED THEM SO MUCH FUCKING PAIN AND ABUSE????ESPECIALLY HUNTER, BELOS FUCKING SAID HE DIDN'T EVEN GIVE A SHIT ABOUT HUNTER IN HOLLOW MIND, CLOUDS ABOVE THE HORIZON,AND IN THANKS TO THEM, HE LITERALLY TRIED TO K1LL HIM, THIS SHIP WOULD ONLY BE FINE IF IT WAS IN A GOOD BELOS AU, THE ONLY WAY, I will immediately block you if you ship Belos x Camila, I hate it HATE IT AND I'M DEAD FUCKING SERIOUS

2. Amity x Gus or Hunter -infinity/10

You're lesbianphobic, go fuck yourself if you ship Amity with any male characters

3. Empgold/Huntlos -infinity/10

It's pr0ship, p3d0philia, and @buse, Hunter is 16 and Belos is 400+ years old, you can't ship a character with someone's who dead so it wouldn't matter if you ship them after the time skip when Hunters 20, Belos @bused Hunter, the scar on his cheek and the whole fucking possession scene in TTT might give you a hint, Belos never cared for Hunter and only saw him as a tool, he tried to k1ll him in Hollow Mind, and in Thanks to them, if you ship them, I am blocking you, and I say this proudly

4. Guster -infinity/10

I. Hate. This. Ship, AND FUCK YOU GUSTER BUBBLE BATH YOU FUCKING MADE ME HATE IT EVEN MORE (please don't question what the guster bubble bath is, DO NOT SEARCH IT UP IT IS AN R34 COMIC...unless you wanna get traumatized, but it's cool baby girl) I hate this ship, there's plenty of interactions, but they give off a more sibling energy,and that's a reason why I don't ship it, I see them as siblings, I get they could somehow date cause of cosmic frontier but it's more of a similarity than a romantic aspect just like with Amity and Luz with the good witch Azura,its also uhm *COUGH COUGH* p3d0philia if you ship their time skip versions (Hunter is 20 and Gus is 16), the reason why I put it so low is because I feel like it's not as well know but not as obscure (plus I did this all rushed so I had no fucking time)

And ladies, bros, non binary folks, that's the end! You've endured all my criticism so take a damn break, you deserve it

And special credits to ships I didn't include!

Luz x Anne/Marcy (Amphibia)

Hunter x Sasha (Amphibia)

Gus x Willow

Gus x Bria

Luz x Marco (svtfoe)

Gus x Vee

Luz x viney

Edric x Emira

Eda x Belos

Eda x Darius

Amity x Marcy (amphibia)

Belos x Luz

The Collector x King, any member of the hexsquad

Amity x Odalia

Eda x Dana

Darius x Raine

Belos x Kikimora

Kikimora x Puss in boots (oh god yes that's exists)

Aaand....

Lilith x Belos/Hooty/Steve/Eda!!!

I hope someone at least read this cause I made this in a damn hurry!!!

[berrypass-de-murdler]

26. The Murder of a Mailman

SEASON TWO BEGINS

Anyone who's read the episodes up to this point receives infinite kudos because I don't know how to repay you 😭

I also don't know what to say either so I'mma just be a loser

Four more episodes until goat lord

DON'T READ THE EPISODES UNTIL YOU'VE FINISHED THE FIRST BOOK!!

Logico goes to the post office and finds two things, an astrology chart and a dead mailman. 

LOGICO: Oh, hilarious.

Who else is there? His neighbors Crimson, Coffee, and the INFAMOUS Mayor Honey (EW). Logico learns some new things such as that letter openers are not allowed in the sorting room because of ‘the Incident’.

COFFEE: Ooh, I remember that day!

He learns some other things too, like the fact that testimonies are kind of crucial.

LOGICO: By my calculations this means… whoever had that GIANT GIFT is a BALD-ASS.  COFFEE: Why do you hate me so much?? 

You Can Trust Mayor Honey, says Secret Admirer. 

LOGICO: Ew, are you sure? SECRET ADMIRER: Positive.

Turns out the reason that Logico hates Coffee so much is because a) he’s killed people in the past and b) he did it today too.

COFFEE: Oh well. A good soldier admits when he’s defeated.

He says that like he just lost a game of chess. Anyway, Logico finds a letter addressed to him. He’s expecting money from Chalk, cuz that bastard owes him money, but it’s an invitation to meet at the Investigation Institute.

LOGICO: There are detectives… other than me?

The end!

Seasons 3-4 have consistently longer episodes dw

Hmmm here's my friend who is in love with Champagne

And!!

a barrage of out-of-context s1 quotes for absolutely no reason

AUREOLIN: I trusted you and your fork, you dumb... fork! LOGICO: Whatever happened to 'thou shalt not kill', you incompetent son of a bitch? LOGICO: I HATE THIS ABSTRACT STATUE!!! LOGICO: I hate leather! Why would you want to wear someone else's skin?? LOGICO: Fuck you, police brutality! GREY: I HATE GARDENING, IT'S FOR GIRLS!!! LOGICO: Good gracious, the dialogue. LOGICO: The fuck is a marot? LOGICO: [manly British sobbing] SAFFRON: Well, hehe, guess I'm going to jail then! CHAMPAGNE: They're serving free drinks over his still-warm body! COFFEE: Welcome to Coffee's Shop! Have you seen the dead barista? "Fuck my life, I want to die..."/"Well not yet, there's been a murder!" LOGICO: Incredibly stupid. Why did I ever admire this author? INK: You're such an ass. Why did you do that? LOGICO: Fuck detective work, I've found my new LIFE! LAVENDER: YACHTS AREN'T FOR PUBLISHING, AND REMEMBER TO TAKE YOUR MEDICINE, CHALKERS!! LOGICO: Please, I'm the main character! He can't do that to me! BLUSKI: I'm really sorry. I was actually trying to kill Logico, and this person was really fat and short, so I thought it was him. MIDNIGHT: I'm not standing. I don't got legs. BLACKSTONE: I just uh omg um hi "What do you need all that paper for??"/"Killing."/"Gee, well, let's not give it away too soon." RASPBERRY: [feminine scream] COPPER: YOU'RE A DETECTIVE FUCKING DO SOMETHING.

The power of Goat Lord compels you!

See you next time murdlers!

[saph-yells-into-the-void]

did the blue lock character chart for the funsies <3

(transcript of my little thoughts i wrote below read more bc istg my handwriting is illegible)

isagi: Goated mc

bachira: FELL IN LOVE FROM 1ST PAGE ❤❤

chigiri: BROS BEAUTIFUL, LIKE CMON. (also love his mean girl esque personality)

kunigami: WC..., might change?

raichi: DO SMTH. PLS.

kuon: eh

naruhaya: LITERALLY ONLY BC OF HIS BACKSTORY

lemon: irrelevant but he had cool saves soo

gagamaru: ABSOLUTE LEGEND. also cool design 👉👈

imamura: ? who are you, why are you here

igaguri: essential methinks...

kira: fine. dont come back tho

nagi: very interesting character. very scared for him tho

reo: PLS GET UR CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT. STOP DEPENDING ON NAGI.. I BEG

zantetsu: idiot <3

barou: very cool ig

niko: the gay 15 year old shipper plss. (a banana fish AND madoka fan? cmon ik he's having sm fun rn)

rin: I- I like emo boys...

aryu: 🌟OSHA 🌟🌟 OSHA 🌟

tokimitsu: anxiety boi, he's just like me fr

hiori: *HEAD IN HANDS*, MIGHT change depending on this arc...

karasu: mom friend but also why he saying the horniest shit? SIR please (i like him)

otoya: eh, a bit boring

nanase: I need to see more tbh

yukimiya: tragic. but i giggle sometimes

shidou: THE ONLY MAN EVER ❤ ❤ ❤ #1 FAV

sae: SPAIN WITHOUT THE S. fuck you for fucking up rin but also pls stay and let me into ur brain

ego: Treat Anri better

anri: ANRI, I'LL GET YOU OUT OF THERE

(between ego and anri is: mlm 🤝 wlw)

sendou: completely forgot ab him until this match. (saw a tweet say he had dick-sucking lips and never saw him the same way since.)

aiku: one of the best designs, fight me. he's so chill but also why does he have to be a player

(to clarify i meant in terms of women and dating by saying "player." lmao just wanted to be clear alskjksl)

kurona: his design's neat ig..., (not super attached tbh)

kaiser: I- I like assholes...,(plus hes funny as shit), (so unserious LMAOO)

ness: insane and obsessive <3 (he should kill someone. as a treat.)

noa: The eyeliner tho...

chris: <- literally a golden retriever

[t4tpumpkinduo]

aheem heem 12 and then like. all of the 20s?

YES KISSA YOU O7 doing dsmp ones uhm

12. the unpopular character that you actually like and why more people should like them

well you already know what the hell i'm going to say...ceeschlatt i'm so sorry he only did some of that you guys are so annoying. i think a huge chunk of his story is just like. Canonically Textually way deeper and more sympathetic and more complicated than people want to acknowledge. guys will have direct blatent narrative foil parallels of their mistakes to their blorbo of choice but only one side will get a million excuses and only one side will get their pov analyzed. OK 👍. telephone game ass fanbase. read the parallel storyline of what would've happened had pogtopia won read the nov 16 script look at the canonical smplive isms analyze why someone would want to "revive someone for political power" desperate style after a funeral where it was Blatantly Clear that person has absolutely Zero Power and it paralleling the post charlie death insanity. and then you will calm down!!

honorable mention to ceefundy as well. i wouldn't say he's unpopular unpopular but goddamn. despite the fact he's so interesting and cool and inpactful and represents huge chunks of Core Themes, he just gets ignored and infantalized and has so much of his story plain Erased because it's inconvenient to other characters. Fucked!!!

20. part of canon you found tedious or boring

ceeranboo so sorry ok. iget why people like him i do but he is so so bland to me. shepards tone empty promise of a character. to me. some of his implications were pretty interesting, especially when it came to things that were more complicated, the exile isms the being knowingly complicit in ctommy prison murder or him drinking ableist copium abt tubbo being kind of unhinged. the centristism sometimes feeling less waffly and more like he's trying to people please to the point of exploding. too bad i do not care ☝️🔛🔝

21. part of canon you think is overhyped

and if i say tntduo..it's been so overhyped it overshadows everyone else it overshadows their own damn characters entire arcs and decisions and then the whole story itself they are not allowed to be anything except eachothers klance bait which was equally as mid. i do think there is value to it but at this point i am so exhausted about the oc versions being treated like canon when on screen its so bad out here sometimes. ppl going ohhh we never got resolution :[ ,,,.ccwilbur blatantly said what would've happened in the final tntduo stream. cwil would show back up to lnv in the same set up of his apologies but its a bait and switch that pivots into insulting q again and then finish it up w oh hey maybe yr not so bad after all 😂 and then he gives him a fist bump and leaves. there's yr closure. lea me alone

22. your favorite part of canon that everyone else ignores

i already said i think pumpkinduo is like funny comedy mallets for crazy people but i think most other things get attention properly? el rapids deserved more hype tho i srs think it would change how people see a lot of the characters involved

23. ship you've unwillingly come around to

im not sure? weird shit is a given but other than that who rlly care <- edit: HELP i misread the question i thought it was asking what you are Unwilling to come around to. so sorry. to answer the actual question uhm,,still not very sure hheheh im very solid in my dislikes and likes and complaints

24. topic that brings up the most rancid discourse

exile and the prison for sure :heart_hands: /RETCH. sure other things are very annoying but the levels these two arcs get to are Awful and Telling and Shitty the media illiteracy is off the charts. how you can watch streams with your eyes closed and ears closed and without registering the words or characters on the screen. what's going on. anyways if cdrm thinks torture is so bad maybe he should not talk about eye for an eye when he had tortured three people before he was even in the prison. but okay. also rip prison arc sam the world wasn't ready for a character like you 🙏

25. common fandom complaint that you're sick of hearing

i'm not sure? what are the most common complaints i do happen to agree with a lot of them i think

[childofaura]

I guess I’m just gonna be filled with bad takes this December but I’m putting out one more while I work on my Sonic Forces comic:

I get kind of bugged about the fact that a lot of the Sonic characters are moving away from their original core personalities, and not in a “the character is growing” sort of way like Shadow when he hit peak character writing in 06 (Yes I said it, I’ll write an essay on why 06 was Shadow’s highest point as a character). But more in a “These characters are slowly losing the aspects of their personality that defines them, either by the franchise writing their characters to fill roles that don’t show those traits or sometimes by well-meaning fans.” I don’t know if it’s because I’ve been around (kind of) long enough to know how the characters were or if I’m just slowly becoming grouchy about it, but let me start:

1. Knuckles. Knuckles is starting to slip from his “rough and tumble and ready to fight” personality. Most of the portrayals I’ve seen from him are starting to slip more into the “cocky overconfident butt-of-the-joke” scenes, or in the case of Forces where he had absolutely no personality at all. Knuckles is supposed to be confident, yeah, but he’s also ASSURED in his might. The most cocky he’s gonna get is when he knows he can take a good swing at someone or something. And he’s stubborn.

2. Silver. For some of the most part, Silver’s thankfully stayed kind of the same, but he too is tripping into OOC portrayals (like that awful line in  Forces “I’m an optimist but I’m also a realist”. I swear that line was written by someone who read a summarized bio of Silver and said “Okay I think I’ve got this”). A lot of the time I’ve seen him get put into the “anxious nervous baby uwu” camp, though mainly that’s been from a few comic panels and the fandom that I’ve seen (and honestly I haven’t read enough of the comics so I’ll be happy if I get proved wrong); everyone forgets that Silver’s anxiety wasn’t in the form of “literal baby” but more “I’m so fucking sick of seeing everything in my life get destroyed” to where he has bursts of temper. His intro in 06 shows him floating through Soleanna and when he sees an Iblis flare, he very angrily backhands it psychokinetically. I’ll grant that Forces gave us a brief moment of Silver’s true personality when he rushes into a fight against Infinite (that should have lasted WAY longer and the fact that they crippled my boy’s power level for that scene still peeves me), but that was it.

3. Tails. Not a whole lot to say on this one but this kid is slowly losing his bravery.

4. Amy. Surprisingly, this one actually irritates me the most. For some reason, everyone loves changing Amy the most despite the fact that she hits a very nice medium of personality with her character that most people don’t realize. People don’t allow Amy to be cutesy anymore, and almost every time I’ve seen someone re-draw her or whatever, they aggressively squash out her crush on Sonic and they say, “Well now she’s gonna be more INDEPENDENT and HEAD-STRONG!”

NEWSFLASH.

AMY WAS ALWAYS INDEPENDENT AND HEADSTRONG. YOU GUYS DON’T LIKE HER BECAUSE SHE’S A CUTE FEMININE GIRL WHO DREAMS ABOUT LOVE.

In Sonic Heroes, she rallies up Cream and Big to go save Chocola and Froggy while also wanting to look for Sonic, taking the role of leader in Team ROSE. In Sonic 06, she manages to break into Eggman’s base somehow by accident without being detected and singlehandedly rescues Elise. She also apologizes to Silver and promises to help him find who he’s looking for, and she throws herself in harm’s way to help Sonic. In Riders Zero Gravity, she gets Storm under her boot just by being intimidating. A twelve year old girl!

Let her be head over heels for Sonic. Let her be a cutesy girl who ends up being the damsel in distress sometimes (because a good chunk of the time she also saves herself and scares the shit out of whoever treats her badly). Let her be that compassionate “I pray for peace” character she always was.

And honestly that covers MOST of the characters I’ve had issues with (There’s also Team Chaotix, but the one who gets the shit end of the stick the most is my man Vector). There’s some characters like Shadow, Blaze, Omega, Rouge (Though she’s kind of slipping too), Cream etc, who are staying relatively true to their characters but they’re also kind of slowly being lost.

[eddieredmayneargentinablog]

New post: Oscar winners Jessica Chastain and Eddie Redmayne collaborate on The Good Nurse, the true story of a nurse who helped catch a serial killer.

By Krista Smith

Photography by Emily Soto

11 October 2022

"Eddie Redmayne and Jessica Chastain are easily two of the most widely respected, tremendously skilled actors of their generation. Oscar winners both, the performers have demonstrated an astonishing chameleonic ability to disappear into almost any role, building impressively diverse resumes over the past two decades. Redmayne has starred in such films as The Theory of Everything, The Danish Girl, and The Trial of the Chicago 7, while Chastain’s credits include Interstellar, Zero Dark Thirty, and The Eyes of Tammy Faye, to name just a few. They also happen to be friends offscreen. So, when the opportunity arose to star opposite one another in the true-crime drama The Good Nurse, a story about the woman who helped bring serial killer Charles Cullen to justice, both eagerly agreed.

Looking back now, though, both Chastain and Redmayne admit that they’d privately wondered how their real-life rapport might be affected by long hours on set. “It’s complicated because you don’t know,” Chastain tells Queue. “You really like someone in real life and then all of a sudden you show up on set and you go, Oh wait, everyone’s process is different. And Eddie’s playing a character that kills people. If he was Method, it could be quite a complicated work relationship, but he was just as lovely as he is every day.” Adds Redmayne, “For the darkness of this movie, we had an extraordinary time making it. We both have young families. We were in New York. I adore her husband; she gets on very well with my wife. The storytelling was so intense that to be able to have that [familiarity] outside of it was wonderful — but also the thing is, she’s fucking good.”

To be fair, both actors prove their talents yet again in the gripping new thriller, which marks the English-language debut of Danish writer-director Tobias Lindholm (A War, Another Round) and is adapted for screen by Krysty Wilson-Cairns (Last Night in Soho, 1917) from Charles Graeber’s nonfiction book The Good Nurse: A True Story of Medicine, Madness, and Murder. Chastain plays Amy Loughren, a New Jersey nurse and single mom struggling with a life-threatening heart condition, who befriends the affable Cullen, portrayed by Redmayne, after he starts his new position at her hospital. But Loughren begins to wonder about her quiet, unassuming co-worker after the death of one patient draws the interest of law enforcement. Before long, she notices mounting irregularities and errors in Cullen’s charting, which, taken together, point toward a deeply disturbing truth.

Cullen confessed to 40 murders but is believed to have killed more than 400 people between 1987 and 2003 while working in hospitals in the northeastern U.S., making him one of the twentieth century’s most prolific serial murderers. That he was able to operate within the medical establishment undetected for so long is the stuff of nightmares. “Nurses are extraordinary, and they work phenomenally hard, and they get paid far too little,” Redmayne says. “And there was a shortage at the time as well, in the nineties, so Charlie Cullen was able to slip through the net. He was a very good nurse, so there was a brilliance to his capability, but then that was weaponized, and that’s what’s so frightening.”

Prior to working on The Good Nurse, Chastain had been unfamiliar with Cullen’s reign of terror and Loughren’s courageous efforts to expose his crimes. For her, the opportunity to bring deserved attention to such a heroic woman made the role irresistible. “I play a lot of complicated female characters, but I also like to show how incredible women are, and Amy absolutely is incredible,” Chastain says. “She’s a real-life superhero. There are so many stories out there that aren’t being told about people who work every single day to keep us safe and healthy — Amy’s story was so moving to me that I really wanted to celebrate her.”

Before filming began, both actors went through nursing training set up by the production, learning everything from the history of nursing to the proper technique for inserting an IV, practicing on mannequins. “For me, it was very important because so much of Amy is that she loves her job and she doesn’t even think about it,” Chastain says. “You don’t want to think about it when you’re doing something you’ve done hundreds of times a week. I needed to get to the point that I was just so comfortable in the [hospital] scenes it just felt like she was breathing.”

In addition to focusing on mastering the movements required to appear convincing as a nurse, Redmayne also developed a specific manner of speaking and a physicality to inhabit the character of Cullen. “One of the things I found most useful was that Charles Graeber describes having spent a lot of time with the real Charlie Cullen, and how he had the shape of a question mark,” Redmayne says. “That was his interpretation, but I found that very helpful, both in a physical element, but also in an emotional one. This person was this weird hybrid of being translucent and skinless and vulnerable, while also being a total closed book. Anonymity was his tool, and he got great power and a kick out of being sort of anonymous. So, how do you make a character present while also being anonymous? That was the conflict for me.”

As captivating as Redmayne is in the role, both the actors and Lindholm took care to ensure that the story always remained firmly rooted in Loughren’s perspective — the real Loughren even visited the set to advise the stars and offer any input the filmmakers required. “I wanted to put viewers in Amy’s shoes to allow them to understand the emotional connection between Amy and Charlie and have them doubt things as they happened as Amy did because of that connection,” Lindholm says. “We didn’t want to go too deeply into Charlie’s secrets. A lot of serial killer movies try to provide a logic behind the killings, but I don’t believe any logic or reason can be found in Charlie’s motives. The only thing we could do was to give honest moments and turn the sum of those beats into a kind of truth.

Remarkably, Redmayne transformed into Cullen only when required during filming — a gift for which Chastain felt especially thankful. “Everything changes about Eddie in this film, but he didn’t torture me when he was doing it,” she says. “It wasn’t like, Oh, I have to be in this character the whole time. He didn’t slip into Charlie until [Lindholm called ‘Action’] and we were actually doing the scene. I found it to be such a generous way of working because he could still show up and do it and not have to hurt us with the negativity of the character . . . I know he’s always afraid things can go wrong, and he does get quite nervous. He’s hardest on himself, but I think that’s maybe why his work is so good".

Redmayne says his performance wouldn’t have been the same without Chastain’s support. “Jess’s effortlessness and optimism and confidence really changed the way that I approached it,” Redmayne says. “She’s so assured and she is such an optimist, and I am the opposite of those things. She wouldn’t let me self-doubt, which is something that quite often creeps in when I’m working. She’s like, Don’t be ridiculous. She galvanized me and gave me the confidence to really play, and I’m so grateful for that.”.-

[msfbgraves]

You know, I went into Cobra Kai fully believing that I would be shipping LawRusso - and I did, still do. What totally blindsided me was the Silverusso. Like holy SHIT. From the instant Terry appeared he stole the show for me - the charisma, the charm, the magnetic presence, the psychological makeup...and then, when he decided to ruin Danny-boy’s life, the chemistry between them in all their scenes was OFF THE CHARTS. 

I hadn’t seen KK3, so I watched it and what the actual fuck? Like, nothing about Terry and Daniel’s relationship in that movie is normal - even by psycho standards. It has serious Red Riding Hood and Wolf vibes - was it intentional? What were the filmmakers thinking? Was everyone on crack or something? Was this considered normal in the 80s? This is like, the most psychosexual kids movie of all time. (And any which way, the vibe between them even then was eclectic.) 

Silverusso literally ships themselves at this point, it’s absolutely mental and deranged and I’m living for it. And the thing in, I actually feel they would be SO good for each other - if Terry wasn’t fucking evil. He ruined it for himself. (Maybe that’s why in CK Daniel and Silver so often wear complimentary colours and clothing with the blues and the blacks - the parallels connecting them are so very visually delicious!)

Well, Nonny, good to know I'm not the only one because that was basically what happened to me, beat for beat. As for the vibes, I'm putting that under the cut.

On the one hand, going by two of Ralph's works I'm obsessed with, young Terry and Cuba - I think that yeah, something was going on for these things to get greenlit. What the everloving f***. I mean I am not complaining but looking at the things they didn't modernise for CK with Silverusso, which was the D/s style seduction techniques - maybe the supermarket scene but even there ("you know you liked it," sure, but Danny boy's trying very hard not to fall for it) and he is buttering up none of the other kids like he did Daniel; and the fact that young Terry has a staff of very young boys whom he talks to in the bath - that just wouldn't fly. And then just before they made Ralphie's teenage character get groomed by an adult junkie and lusted over by his father, who also dommed him around in other ways, on Broadway. And hardly anyone so much as commented on that.

I only have one explanation and that is that if kinky things do nothing for you, maybe people just don't see it. If people try to write kink - mostly to show that characters are depraved somehow - but they don't feel it, they write all kinds of leather and whips and bondage and toys and torn fishnets in Walmart and what have you. I guess people do that, I couldn't say from experience, but you don't need any of it for the vibes. Cue Thomas, who spent his entire career Domming people on screen in broad daylight, fully clothed, no matter the film, and no one ever stopped him because no one was visibly having sex or even touching.

And sure, maybe the line with "traditional" masculinity is very thin. But the clues are always in him being both very considerate and protective - he is like this off screen too - and then jokingly pulling someone to him (he did this with Ralph when he changed a handshake into a hug) or giving a lighthearted order to see if someone will let him. Just something like "Come here, you," or "Hey, stop that" with that big smile of his, nonthreatening, you can shrug that off with a smile or a shoulder squeeze and no harm done... or like Terry, you can build that into something that starts with a soft "well done" and an arm pat and ends in the bedroom, that is, if someone is receptive to that. But that doesn't read as seduction to most people, they just let it be, while Terry was feeling Daniel up and had him follow commands without question by the end of the film...

I think the CK writers on the one hand are very aware of the vibes, hence the complimentary colours, but as Thomas didn't improvise these scenes (he did in tkk3) they read a little different. I think that if Thomas had had completely free rein, Terry would not have left Daniel at the end of their fight scene, but taken him to his house to finish what he started 35 years ago.

Also, "Terry would be so good for Daniel if he weren't evil" - I think there is a very good reason Daniel married Amanda, who looks like a young Terry in female form and is no stranger to telling Daniel what to do. And I think Terry knows exactly what kind of woman Amanda is, going by their scenes together.

Honestly I think he's flattered.

[the-blind-assassin-12]

writer wednesday #18 - 11/02/2022

Happy Wednesday, everyone! Apologies for falling off the bike last week with this list - I had a weird one. But I’m back on the bike now, and I’m making up for the lack of list last week by going on a massive reblog spree for the rest of this week, so if you’re looking for things to read that will make you say WOW!” start with these three, and then stay tuned for more recs and reviews!

*as always, this list is ordered by length*

This Max Drabble by @cyantomatos

Max P x GN!Reader

October Writing Challenge

WC: ~500

Okay, first thing’s first: I typically don’t read a ton for Max P. Did I enjoy the movie? Yes, I laughed my ass off. Especially because when I first watched it, I worked in an office that was literally sucking my soul, so I found it v relatable. And would I let Max turn me or keep me as a pet or drain me as a snack in a heartbeat? You bet your bottom dollar I would. But I still don’t typically seek out fics for him - for no real reason, I’m realizing as I write this. This one though? This little drabble? It grabbed me by the throat and throttled my heart. This is certainly Max... but its Max like we’ve never seen him before, because its Max in the future, once he’s spent lifetimes living with someone who sees (and loves) him for who he is. Its a classic “love soothes the savage beast” but with a really beautiful and bittersweet twist that I don’t want to give away, but be prepared for this one to pull at your heartstrings. Yes, even though Max P is a four loko frat boy business student turned vampire boss. Trust me. 

Hunter and Prey (part 1: The Girl With the Golden Eyes) by @mandosmistress

Din Djarin x F!Reader

Spooktober 🎃👻🦇

WC: 3k

OH BOY AM I STOKED ABOUT THIS ONE! Since this is the first part of a series, there’s some set up here, but it is fascinating. There’s absolutely great Din characterization. There’s an extremely intriguing Reader character. And there is hot fire when it comes to the chemistry between them. Because even though it’s just the beginning, there is still some intense smut here, and I for one can’t wait to see what happens when these two get their hands on one another again. And I can’t wait for him to learn who - and what - she is. I love it when Din is matched with someone who is just as capable and dangerous as he is, and that seems to be just what he’s dealing with here even if he doesn’t know it yet. Buckle in, Djarin, I think you’re in for a while ride (and I’m thrilled to get to take it, too!) 

Stunt Double by @something-tofightfor

Dieter Bravo x F!Reader (Locked Down universe)

Kinktober - Sex Toys

WC: 8.3k

Aside from maybe a modern Oberyn, I cannot think of a character who would enjoy (and make the most of ) making their own “stunt double” more than Dieter Bravo. This man is such a sexual being. Yes, by now we all know that there is more to him - especially this version (Locked Down) of Dieter. But a large part of who he is is someone who is adventurous and open minded when it comes to sexual exploration. And now that he’s got a partner who he trusts completely and who knows him inside and out and who would never judge him and who has been there for him through ups and downs and who he is head over heels in love with? This man is ready to chart entirely new territory. I absolutely love that almost everything that happens between them, no matter if its serious or fun or simple, always boils down to the solidity of their relationship. The actual smut in this one? HOT AS FUCK. But I’m just as dazed and dizzied by reading about their love and how damn strong it is. The bonus of getting Dieter Nye the Science Guy with this one is the cherry on top. #Science. This was flipping great, and I will be reading it over and over just like the rest of LD. 

[momsopposed2theoccult]

It’s come to my attention that a good majority of people on this website have a really poor understanding of the conflict between Toph and Katara in “The Chase.” As somebody who loves both characters and their friendship, this irritates me. Without further ado, let’s unpack that in what is in theory supposed to be a meta but turned out more like a rant. 

“Katara was hostile towards Toph because the fact that she’s a gender non-conforming girl made Katara uncomfortable because Katara is obsessed with gender roles.”

Alright, so right off the bat this is just... completely idiotic and clearly fuelled by an agenda (and likely also a lot of projection). First of all, how is Katara of “I don’t want to heal, I want to fight!” fame “obsessed with gender roles?” There’s an entire episode in Book One dedicated to Katara refusing to conform to societal norms for women in the Northern Water Tribe! Katara routinely calls Sokka out on his misogynistic bullshit! (Mind you I adore Sokka but he could be a little twerp at times and Katara was 100% right to challenge him on it) Katara is the feminist icon of ATLA! The fact that people act like Katara is some sort of conservative tradwife who loves gender roles instead of the outspoken feminist and political activist she is makes me incredibly angry.

Second of all, Katara was extremely kind and welcoming towards Toph at first. She gently encouraged her to join in with the group as they all set up camp together as opposed to setting up her own private camp. It’s only when Toph refuses to comply with her that Katara begins to get irritated. Mind you, Toph has her reasons for this, something I’ll get to in a minute, but from Katara’s perspective (key word here is perspective) she’s just being an annoying little stubborn, selfish, lazy, anti-social, entitled brat. Of course we the audience find out later that this isn’t the case at all (or at least in theory we should find out later but apparently some people on here skipped that part), but for all her many talents Katara is not a mind reader and has no way of knowing what’s going on inside Toph’s head, nor does she know her well enough yet to fully grasp the context behind why Toph acts the way she does. Katara is somebody who greatly values community and believes in teamwork, so Toph turning down her warm welcome in favour of “carrying her own weight” likely felt like a slap in the face. Not to mention that she’s already emotionally exhausted from having to constantly mother Aang and Sokka. If I were Katara, I likely would have reacted the same way. 

Oh and I agree that the “the stars look beautiful tonight, too bad you can’t see them, Toph” comment was out of line, but it doesn’t make her a horrible person. It makes her a 14 year old, and 14 year olds can be nasty, especially sleep deprived 14 year olds. Katara is otherwise a very kind and compassionate person. Other characters have said worse than that. Hell, Toph herself has said worse than that. That being said, it was a deeply hurtful comment and I do like to imagine that she apologized for it off-screen. 

“Toph is a lazy, entitled, and classist spoiled rich brat who just didn’t want to do chores and expected other people to wait on her.” 

This is another one that makes me roll my eyes and ask if they even watched the show. First of all, the presumption that Toph is a lazy or entitled person is just... laughable. I feel like people forget that Toph isn’t actually an earthbending prodigy in the way that Azula is a firebending prodigy (I could say more about Azula and how her belief that she was the unshakeable prodigal daughter ultimately caused her downfall and how by the end of the series Zuko is arguably a better firebender than her but this isn’t a meta about Azula and Zuko, now is it?). Nah. Toph was a sheltered kid who discovered she had the ability to earthbend, was told that she could never become great at it because she was blind, and in response said FUCK THAT and decided to work her ass off until she was not only great but the very greatest all thanks to her crazy, stupid, off-the-charts nerve, drive, grit, ambition, and desire to prove people wrong about her. Does that sound like a lazy person to you? Believe me when I say that you do not achieve that kind of skill level by sitting around on your ass and expecting to have things handed to you. And entitled? Don’t make me laugh. Toph hates having things handed to her, that’s one of her defining characteristics. 

As for the implication that she’s classist and enjoys basking in her family’s wealth and being waited on...... are you stupid? Did you even watch the show? Toph absolutely despises everything about her parents’ lifestyle. Growing up like that was traumatizing and restrictive for her. We’re talking about a girl who likes to play around in the mud for fuck’s sake. Toph does not care how much money you have. She never wanted any to begin with. She even says it herself; “I guess I shouldn’t be complaining. They gave me everything I could have wanted. But they never gave me what I actually needed - their love.” Not to mention that she easily could have continued to freeload off her parents wealth but instead chose to sneak out of the house and make her own money doing what she did best; disproving people’s assumptions about her earthbending. Oh and I’ve seen someone point this out before but WWE is generally considered a “low brow” activity that “proper” people frown upon and shouldn’t associate themselves with. Toph fucking loved it. I don’t know how seriously people take the comics, as they often miss the mark when it comes to characterization (Toph’s, however, was generally pretty accurate), but there’s a part in The Rift where Sokka asks her when she’s going to start charging people to learn metalbending and she gets all serious and flat out tells him that she will never do such a thing, because money doesn’t matter to her. Sharing her one true passion with the world is what matters to her. Oh and the part where she basically tells a bunch of rich and sleazy businessmen to fuck off and “stop thinking about money and start thinking about people’s lives” is just... *chef’s kiss* Sorry my thoughts here are so incoherent but this take is so piss poor and makes me so angry that I don’t even know where to start. As for “Toph enjoys being waited on” I just- *sigh* Toph has such a visceral and defensive reaction to any implication that she is unable to take care of herself. Like I said earlier, that’s one of her defining characteristics as well as the reason for her behaviour in “The Chase.” Where are people getting these takes?

You wanna know why Toph acted the way she did in The Chase? Well, first let’s recap her life up to this point. Toph was born the blind daughter of one of the wealthiest families in the Earth Kingdom. From day one her parents treated her like glass due to her disability. She was not allowed to leave her house unsupervised, and even then she was only permitted to walk around the gardens of her home. Every day of her life she was pitied, gaslit, babied, ignored, emotionally neglected, and made to feel ashamed of herself. She was not allowed to make any decisions for herself. She was not allowed to do anything for herself. She was not allowed to talk to other children. She had no friends. Other people didn’t even know she existed on account that her parents kept her locked up in her own home and didn’t tell anybody about her because they were so ashamed to have a blind daughter. Flash forward to “The Chase.” Toph begins to set up her own camp separate from the rest of the Gaang. Considering that she flat out was not socialized as a child and hadn’t even interacted with anybody her own age prior to a few days ago, this is understandable. So then Katara comes up to her and asks her why she isn’t setting up camp with the others as if she’s somehow incapable of taking care of herself (again, this is just what happened from her perspective) like she’s her mom or something and it just angers her because she thought she joined this group to get away from all that and she doesn’t understand how friends work because she’s never had one, all she knows is that apparently this girl thinks she isn’t capable of taking care of herself, and that infuriates her because it’s the exact same bullshit she thought she was running away from.

There’s a lot more I could say about this but I’m sick of typing so yeah in conclusion both of these takes are piss poor and I’m sick of having to read them. Stan Toph, Katara, and their friendship. 

[pynkhues]

Please recommend some of your fav Rio fics!

Of course, anon! Since you asked for Rio fics, I'm going to guess you meant Rio POV fics? If not, I'm sorry, haha, because that's what I've collated, but I hope you give these a shot regardless! They're all fics I think are pretty great. ;-)

Below a cut, because this got long.

But when he does reappear at the store—she still doesn't hear him coming, she needs to work on that—she's wearing a fuckin' dress, and he's glad she hasn't seen him yet because he can't stop himself from grinning.

Maybe it ain't for him, but given the fact that he doesn't think he's seen her legs since he came back—aside from that one night at the bar when she was definitely feeling herself—it seems like this is an intentional break in the pattern. Either way, he fuckin' loves the idea that she's been dressing up all week, not sure if he's coming but wanting to be ready if he does.

Now Use Both Hands by ms_scarlet / @mego42 6k words. Explicit. Beth x Rio. S3 canon divergence.

Ooooof, this fic causes me physical pain, but I love it a whole lot. Meg really captures Beth and Rio at their most acidic, their most sharp edged, while also managing to balance that with the feelings they desperately don’t want to have. It’s a bit magic, and the fact that she follows this up with another fave, Listening Through the Air Shaft is *chef’s kiss*.

- - - -

When he wakes, he's in a hospital bed, mouth dry as bone and he can taste blood, stale and metallic, on his tongue. The pain in his chest has been dulled by the drugs, but it still lingers, a persistent ache that spikes with every breath.

By all rights, he's a dead man walking.

Ten hours, they had him in surgery. From the look of his chart, he'd flatlined twice, and he can feel the consequences of that, see it in the bruises on his chest, the exhaustion lining the faces of his family. He'd woken to a little hand in his, Pop's cheeks damp with tears, and shit, it'd been close. Too close.

Bury a Friend by @ejunkiet >1k words. Mature. Beth x Rio S3 canon divergence.

Pivoting from 3.01, this fic is a wonderful, quiet character study that looks at Rio in the aftermath of the shooting before he explodes back into Beth’s life. It pulses with emotion and with the promise of catharsis, and it’s just a really special little fic. The Rio voice is terrific too.

- - - -

He finally gets what he needs one day when Elizabeth’s wearing this tight black sweater with a keyhole that shows off just enough to make Rio’s jaw rock. It’s so out of the ordinary, so unlike her ugly li’l sweaters or her surburban mama button-ups, he does a double take, head whippin’ around so fast that she catches it immediately. Then she catches where his gaze lands, where it keeps landin’ through their whole stilted, irritated conversation, and he sees her chest pinken til he can count her freckles. He sucks his lower lip into his mouth, and her lips fall open just the smallest bit, and then she looks up at him.

Eyes locked on each other, Rio takes a step closer. Elizabeth doesn’t back away.

I Will Collect You and Capture You by @foxmagpie 17k words. Explicit. Beth x Rio S3 canon divergence.

I feel like I've recced this fic 1,200 times at this point, haha, but it really is one of my favourite fics in the fandom. It has this sort of grip on you as a reader that almost embodies Beth's grip on Rio in the story, and the way it builds and builds and releases only to build and build again is really delicious, affecting writing.

- - - -

“Com’n her and her lady friends were shakin’”

“Shakin’ about the lemon on the fuckin’ granite, sure.”

They chuckled as the car rolled on, the suburbs slipping away with the sun.

“Think they’ll pay up?”

There was a groan as Rio shifted in his seat, flexing his fingers along the dash.

“Neighborhood like this? Everybody knows someone who knows someone with a trust fund.”

Mick’s lighter flickered, followed by long, rasping inhale. “And a boat.”

Smoke swirled lazily through the open window up into the purple sky.

“And a boat.” Echoed Rio.

Drivin' through the Suburbs by gangfriend / @00gangfriend00 5k words. Teen+. Mick + Rio friendship, Beth x Rio. Canon compliant.

It takes a lot to make me laugh out loud in a fic, but this one does multiple times. It's just insanely fun, and captures Rio and Mick at their most boyish in a way I find utterly charming. It's really, really delightful.

- - - -

She’s got her crimes wrapped up and categorized in folders with labels and post-its. Wrapped up in gift paper with a big blue bow on it. And she’ll probably ask Turner do you want freshly baked cookies or some shit when they go raiding her kitchen.

Rio should really get it under control. Her, get her under control.

She opens the door and slumps onto the front seat, her eyes set angrily on him. Nineteen voicemails and she’s still got things to say: he sees it in the twitch of her hand, the restless, frustrated pattern. Any minute now she’s going to settle on new words to voice her complaints like he’s here to listen. Like he’s got the time— like he cares. Like he’d better.

It’s a Work Thing by isoldewas >1k words. Mature. Beth x Rio. 2.12 canon divergent.

I'm a bit of a sucker for a good canon divergent fic, and this one pivots the car break up in 2.12 in a smutty way that just works unfairly well. It's such a great little fic that really settles well into Rio's headspace during the messiness of s2, and I love it.

- - - -

They settle in their respective places and Rio takes the opportunity to give Elizabeth the same once over that asshole did. Her ass really does look great in those pants and she could fill out any shirt. Her eyes linger over him too, tracing his skin, the bar tattoos peeking out from under his t-shirt that she’s seen a million times but she devours at every opportunity. Then her eyes meet his and she gives him that small, crooked lil’ smile.

He’s not one for religion, but every so often he takes his mom to Spanish mass. All the viejitos and pious Catholic types think he’s a banger but his ma’s still excited to show him off. He sits with her in the pew and when the priest asks for the congregation to give thanks to God, he says a prayer for the riches that have come to him, the health and brilliance of his son, the vitality of the other little ones in his life now, and Elizabeth. And when he thinks of her in those moments, he sees her in his mind’s eye with this exact look on her face.

A Bit of a Stretch by @septiembrre 5k words. Teen+. Beth x Rio. Established relationship.

Beth and Rio do a yoga class together! There’s such a lived-in feel to this fic that it feels impossible not to fall a bit in love with it – their relationship is explored in a way that feels true to who the characters are, while sanding down the edges to create something that feels sweet in the way they usually aren’t in canon. It's a great fic, but more than that, it really just works in a way that's a lot more complicated than it looks, and it’s all the more charming for it.

- - - -

He’s happy to keep kissing her like this. To savour it. Realises she’s undone the last few buttons of his shirt at some point as she shoves it down his shoulders. Doesn’t have a second to think about his ugly scars pressed to her skin. Can just feel her little hot palms snaking up his back and grippin’ him tight. Refusing to let any light between them as they kiss for what feels like hours.

He realises these are the lips he’s been tasting. Searching for in other women when his night’s got too unbearably quiet, hunting for an echo of the thing he really wanted. Comin’ up short every damn time. Sweet and soft and lethal. Unique to her.

It’s longing in a way he’s never felt. This is the taste of it.

As Good as This by @riosnecktattoo 5k words. Explicit. Beth x Rio. 4.05 canon divergence.

Okay, I know I just said how much I loved canon divergence fics, but it bears repeating – I love canon divergence fics, haha. This is such a great alternate take on how the wire scene in 4.05 goes down, and it simmers with tension from the opening line. The way it escalates as Rio navigates this newest betrayal works really well too, and it results in a pretty sexy and surprisingly emotional sequence. Magic!

- - - -

“Do we have a deal?” She asks.

When he turns to look at her she’s smiling, and that’s when he realizes he’s absolutely fucked. He’d just fucked himself out of almost a quarter of a million dollars. He lets his eyes drop down her body, licks his lips and nods.

“I choose the place,” he says and turns on his side to face her. “You owe me half - with interest,” he says and slides a hand into her hair. She’s damp, the sweat slowly cooling.

“That’s not what - “ she opens her mouth to protest and he takes that opportunity to slide his mouth across hers and lick into her mouth.

Long Nights by zetuslapetus / @querenaxx 2k words. Explicit. Beth x Rio. S3 canon divergence.

Rio and Beth bone while negotiating a deal! What's not to love, haha. This has such a fun checks and balances feel to it which just makes me want to peel my skin off, it's so good. It's exactly the way I like my Beth and Rio - hot and snarky and constantly trying to get a leg over the other, literally and figuratively. It's the best.

- - - -

He should go out and find someone to fuck. Maybe text one of his hookups. See if Jen’s working. He has options.

He knows what he should do.

But it turns out fucking other people is a worse hell than the one they create when they’re together.

And now that he’s yielded to this wicked ecstasy, he knows he’ll do anything to keep sitting in the fire with her.

To Sit in Hell with You by @daydreamstew 2k words. Beth x Rio. Explicit. s4 canon divergence.

Canon-divergent from 4.06 – Beth and Rio keep hooking up after the time at his grandma’s place. It’s fun and sexy while also keeping the complicated push-pull and lack of communication at the heart of them. Deeelightful.

- - - -

“Does it make it easier?” Maddie asks him once they’re spent, maybe emboldened because he has already brought her into their bed. Which may be unfair, because Lee had been in their bed from the beginning.

“What?” He seems lost in his thoughts, his arm behind his head. In a few minutes he’ll get up and get ready to get back to the factory. Like always, she’ll be looking for her keys so she won’t be late for work.

“Getting it out of your system before you see her.”

Rio glances at her. “I don’t always see you when I see her.”

It’s so rare for him to explicitly mention this woman, however tenuously, and Maddie waits for more. Rio’s gotten like this about a few women in his life but it doesn’t happen often.

Sure am Using You by aniara 2k words. Explicit. Rio x OC, Rio x Beth.

It's not for everyone, but I absolutely love fics that feature characters with other people in ways that tell you something about the characters' feelings about somebody else. In this fic, Rio's fucking one of his childhood friends, but it's all about Beth really, and the way both Rio and the OC negotiate that is really compelling writing, and feels so in character for Rio. I really love it.

- - - -

Rio dreams of her that night, again. It’s irritatingly pedestrian – Elizabeth’s kissing him deep and then, ah, suddenly his gun’s in her hand and she shoots him, with a double encore. It’s always variations on the same futile theme. When he wakes it’s not that he’s freaked, unaware of reality or his whereabouts. But he’s been soaked in anger for so long. He can’t think straight, not on her. It’s honestly terrifying. Cos stubbornly keeping his head on right is – that’s him. Maybe her entire raison d’etre is destroying every single one of his attributes though.

He ain’t sure if his subconscious is desperately screaming that he’s made the wrong move, letting her live. Or if it’s the total opposite. Could be fucking neither. It’s not – it’s not getting any easier. And that main reason for not biting the bullet, that he’d be mad as hell for being mad as hell at himself over killing her, it's not smelling any less idiotic.

Climbing up the Walls by s_t_c_s / @sothischickshe 8k words. Explicit. Beth x Rio. S3 canon divergence.

Another canon divergence from 2.13 and an interpretation of how s3 could've gone, and another one I really love. There's a throughline of chaotic frustration to this fic that rings true to Rio's character for me, and the way that that reverberates through his moments not just with Beth, but alone and with other women, feels really textured and interesting and real. It's pretty great.

[slowpoke-fics]

The Good Doctor

Fandom: The Walking Dead

Pairing: Negan x Reader

Summary: You're the doctor in Alexandria and Negan comes on a supply trip, taking something that doesn't belong to him

Warnings: depression, death, mentions of off self, gets a little triggering, I know I'm missing some, Negan is off character, nothing is exactly right in this, it's writing for writings sake

A/N: This is my first fic in years please forgive me for mistakes, it's just me in this operation, probably gonna be a whole series, here is part two!

May 20th

Negan's trucks roll into Alexandria again, loudly pushing past the gate and up to the medical center. Your insides start to rumble at the nervousness you have to see the ruthless man who knows no bounds. You reluctantly step outside and wait for him at your door, not doing well at hiding your displeasure of the loss of supplies.

When Negan and his men get out of their loading trucks, Negan shoots you his oh so dangerous smile before directing his men to their collections, keeping two of his men with him, he finally approaches you. "Well good fuckin' morning Dr. Y/L/N," he holds the door open for you, "after you, doll."

You moved past him, smiling at him, and walked to the stockpile of medication you had collected yourself helping Daryl on runs. "Please, only take what you are owed." Negan's men glared at you viciously, "We will take whatever we damn well please." Negan turned to face his men, "Now, we have a peaceful agreement here with the nice fuckin' doctor, get the supplies n lets go." You smiled at him, "Thank you for keeping your end of the bargain." Negan nodded, "I may be a fuckin' prick, but I am a man of my fuckin' word, ain't that all that fuckin' matters nowadays?" You nodded, waiting in silence for the men to complete their tasks.

After the men went through the supplies that laid before them, they pulled Negan to the side, obviously keeping their conversation private, one of them turning to you and flashing you a gut wrenching smile, you leaned on the gurney, waiting for the problem. Negan turned to you, scratching his chin, laughing lightly, "See doc, my men seem to really think that you've tried to short us this week," your eyes went wide, remembering what happened to the last person that tried to short Negan and his group, "I know you wouldn't fuckin' do that so can you just clear this shit up for us."

Scanning over the pages in front of you, "No," you cleared your throat, "I'm not short, its all documented here," you handed Negan the clipboard. As he scans over it, looking at your logs for every pill that comes in and out of this faux medical center, every date and name, the two men he placed with him rips your bag from your shoulders, dumping it out on the table, displaying the contents. Negan glances up, taking in the items on the table; a knife, a ripped up pack of spearmint bubble gum, a few pens, a small first aid kit, a few hair ties, stray items and a small leather bound notebook.

Negan slams the clipboard down, smiling at you, "I'll be damned she's fuckin' right boys, pack it up, it's all in the goddamned charts." You let out a breath of relief, a little worried to be Negan's next lesson. One of the men came close to you, pushing you backwards toward the gurney, "Don't test me bitch," backing away while still staring at you, he picked up your knife and waved it at you, "mine now, doll." The nickname reverberated evil inside you, at least when Negan did it, it felt at least flattering, but this man dripped poison from his words. At that though, Negan perked up, "Come on, shithead we've got things to do." You panicked, "No!" They all turned to you, "You cannot have my fucking knife," you backed up a little when the man stared you down, "please, it means a lot to me." The man started to say something, obviously furious you would even try ordering him, but Negan stopped him, taking the knife and handing it to you. The man he took the knife from grumbled and picked up your pack of gum, "Fuck you, keep your knife bitch, I'll take something sweet." Flashing you his smile, Negan was gone.

As you watched his trucks leave Alexandria, you finally returned to your work, cleaning up the mess his hooligans had made. Straightening the bottles, subtracting inventory, picking up your bag and sighing at the small amount of happiness you had as you realized that was the last pack of gum that you could find in a 50 mile radius. As you were putting away everything on the table, you started to move frantically looking for your notebook, under the table, around the table, even been looking all over the room. You couldn't find it. Your coping mechanism for the world moving at a pace that you just couldn't handle. A sense of dread washed over you as you realized, Negan.

He just couldn't help himself, just has to know what makes the good doctor fuckin' tick. Now, he just happens to have an all access pass to your thoughts in the zombie apocalypse. Humming to himself and relaxing into his seat, he peeled the book back at the marker for your most recent entry, picked a random nearby page and began reading.

April 23rd

celebrating yet another round of people. at some point I hit my limit, just can't keep meeting and greeting. feels pointless, I never see half of them, and when I do they normally die in my clinic. is this what it's become? death after death? mercy after mercy?

April 30th

every time someone dies in my clinic and I slide a knife through their skull it just reminds me this is how it will end for us all. we'll all just be the walking dead in the end. when's my turn? when do I get to finally stop running this rat race and throw in my damn towel? everyone else gets to say goodbye seems fair

Goddamn, Negan thought to himself, there's an entry here for every fuckin' day. He readjusted, taking in where they were at and how long he had to read for now, planning to figure out how you worked. No shame in wanting the pretty doctor.

May 4th

so fucking stupid, absolutely incompetent, couldn't even find antibiotics. couldn't find any gauze or even disinfectant. what a waste of gas, we're beginning to pick clean every building, car and trash can in a 50 mile radius. how long do we have left with the saviors breathing down our neck

May 12th

found some supplies, couldn't find enough, not enough, people treat the medicine like it's never ending but I just can't keep up there's nothing left, there has to be something that I can do, has to be something out there for me to find, it can't just be all gone, I'm not thinking of something, there is something out there I just have to be fucking smart enough to find it

May 15th

risk is worth the reward, I finally found some more antibiotics, and hit the fucking jackpot, found some chewing gum, melted Twix for Judith, and a knife for henry after I lost his in that horde, indescribable emotion when I had that first piece of gum that reminded me of how it used to be, when I was surrounded by support and family, gotta make it last

May 16th

henry was carried in by rick and daryl. henry was conscious, talking, don't let me turn, he begged. rick said he fell from a third story window. daryl grabbed alcohol and gauze, rick grabbed the stitch kit while I cut open henrys shirt, glass, at least two dozen pieces, please be manageable. I grabbed the tweezers and pour alcohol on henry's chest, his screams. half an hour in, he's seizing, rick grab buccal midazolam, place it in his mouth, hold him still until it stops, wait for a beat, no beat, cpr, one hundred twenty seconds in, can't let him turn, wait for beat, no beat, knife.

had to be something more.

henry was carried in by rick and daryl. henry was conscious, talking, don't let me turn, he begged. rick said he fell from a third story window. daryl grabbed alcohol and gauze, rick grabbed the stitch kit while I cut open henrys shirt, glass, at least two dozen pieces, please be manageable. I grabbed the tweezers and pour alcohol on henry's chest, his screams. half an hour in, he's seizing, rick grab buccal midazolam, place it in his mouth, hold him still until it stops, wait for a beat, no beat, cpr, one hundred twenty seconds in, can't let him turn, wait for beat, no beat, knife.

Negan shifted uncomfortably, this went on for at least ten pages, questioning every move you made, reliving putting down a good friend of yours, is this how you mourn?

May 17th

This is it. surrounded by death, my turn.

Fuckin' christ, Negan thought, now realizing that the good doctor is too fuckin' hard on herself. Realizing that you had your own horrible demons, and that this world is starting to get to you.

May 19th

Guess not.

Negan felt horrible for taking this, he felt like he had taken a piece of you, just trying to figure out which buttons to press to make you want him like everyone else, he definitely didn't expect this. He had to give it back, had to find a way to make it better, and he just might have a plan.

May 21st

You woke up feeling empty, just going through the motions, getting dressed, brushing out your hair, brush your teeth, quarter of a piece of gum- no. Walk to the clinic, not hungry today. You sat in your chair, clipboard on lap, staring at the door, waiting for your next victim to come through. After about two hours, you hear a few bikes pull into the gate and getting closer. Taking a peak out the window, you see Negan at your clinic doors with a relatively large backpack on, and the same two men he had with him yesterday, and an extra woman who you had never seen before.

Negan walked into your clinic, the woman standing at the door but not stepping in, and you couldn't do anything but get your knife out. "What the fuck are you doing back here?" You pointed the knife at him, not going to let him take anymore of your hard earned supplies. "You raided yesterday and stole from me! The kind of nerve a selfish prick like you-" Negan pulled out your book and an unopened pack of spearmint gum. You lowered your knife, looking at him like a confused puppy, and then jerked the book out of his hand, leaving the gum. "It's a fuckin' peace offering, doll," Negan held out the gum, but you didn't take it, just stared at him. "I don't want it, you don't get to take all of our lessening supplies and steal from me after I've been nothing but honest trying to keep our deal for no violence and then just come offering a pack of gum your henchmen stole from me! I worked for that! I worked for all of this! I was good to your men! I was good to you, Negan!" You started tearing up and turned away from him, mindlessly putting your journal back in your bag, sighing in great relief that it was returned to you.

"Doll, I didn't fuckin' mean to upset you, I didn't fuckin' know what it was-" Negan stepped closer, setting the bag he carried on your table, "it's not the only peace offering, I've got two more." He sat the gum next to the pack and took your place in the chair, spinning around. You emptied the pack, meds, gauze, a Twix bar, and a few cases of extra supplies. You immediately turned to him, eyebrows raised, "What's the fucking catch? Nobody gets anything from you without a catch." Negan smiled, scratching through his beard, that trouble causing smile, "You gotta come back with me." You scoffed, gawked at that. "Are you serious? You want me to come back with you, with the saviors? Why? That's not even possible, I-I'm needed here, I'm the only one whose been studying the medical books, only one that can tell their ass from their end, that's just stupid-" Negan stands and points to the woman at your door. "Cue the next fuckin' offering, Amelia. She knows what she's fuckin' doing, she's a good one and fuckin' despises my fine ass, so I know that your fuckin' people are in good hands. You only gotta come for a week, just a fuckin' week."

You sighed, not sure what to do, but only had seconds to figure it out, "Okay," you moved closer to him, "on two conditions." Negan smiled, turned on by your big balls of courage to demand something from the man who mercilessly beat the shit out of people with a barbed wire bat. "I have today to train her on how to keep things in order while I'm gone, and next week, you leave Alexandria alone, and no taking extra in two weeks, we get to keep our extra supplies for next week." Negan scoffed, unbelievable that you'd demand that, he's gotta run his own group, "Are you fuckin' joking sweetheart?" You laughed, packing up the supplies and giving the bag of supplies back to him, "No, I am not," you pulled back and crossed your arms, "so how bad do you want me, Negan?"

[gogglor]

Cap-Ironman RecWeek: Tropey Tuesday

Over the past year my pandemic brain decided it would produce happy chemicals exclusively by reading and writing Stony fanfiction. On the advice of counsel, I decided to take my happy chemicals where I could get’em. And the result is that I’ve had the tremendous pleasure of reading some absolutely incredible works of art by some immensely talented people. And since it’s @cap-ironman RecWeek, I figured this is as good of an excuse as any to make some posts recommending my favs (and try to keep self-recs to a minimum, but I’m only human).

I skipped Multiverse Monday since I’m still not well-versed enough in the multiverse to talk about it with any kind of recommendational authority, but today is Tropey Tuesday, and so I would like to share some fics from my all-time-favorite, major-reason-I-bother-with-the-MCU, gets-me-every-time trope:

Found Family

And so, without further ado, here are some Found Family Stony fics that I simply adore.

Avengers Family Ficlets

Author: elwenyere

Word Count: 8,548

Summary: “You built a neural network that analyzes squash,” Bruce said flatly, “and you attached it to a laser.” A collection of short stories set in the extended Domestic Avengers Universe.

Why You Should Read It:

Thing number one that you should understand about me is that I would be perfectly happy with a story about body-less entities making funny quips at each other in  a featureless void, and anything else is just a bonus. Elwenyere’s stories consistently get the banter down so unbelievably, ridiculously well that when you find out they also have heart, creativity, well-developed characters, and so much damn feeling in them, it feels like an embarrassment of riches.

Go read all of their stuff, please, but this one’s a great place to start. It’s got everything you could possibly want in a fic: over-competitive pumpkin carving, emotional hospital confessions, Christmas decorations that come to life and attack people, crab dip, Steve Rogers accidentally ruining Thanksgiving through the sheer power of his own snark, and most importantly, a bunch of human disasters that somehow make a beautiful family together.

Executive Party

Author: copperbadge

Word Count: 3,228

Summary: Tony's terrible December is suddenly looking up.

Why You Should Read It:

Copperbadge is another author where you should read everything they’ve put out there. They’ve got this phenomenally creative mind that manages to consistently draw out deeply human stories that can kinda catch you off-guard in the places they find touching moments. You might’ve heard of their very popular Foodieverse, which is an incredibly creative AU with the Avengers in the food service industry, but this is the one I come to whenever I’m looking to indulge in my favorite trope.

Tony’s looking forward to spending the night before SI breaks for Christmas doing paperwork. Steve gets the Avengers to have an impromptu video game Christmas Party in his office instead. Cb’s also got a gift for banter (I have a type when it comes to writers, ok?), and the little details like Steve’s carnage record on GTA, Natasha’s Russian appreciation for country music, and Steve’s SHIELD break-up mixtape make it just a goddamn delight to read.

patchwork people

Author: itsAllAvengers

Word Count: 28,247

Summary: It was a pretty well-known fact that Tony Stark had control issues.It was far less well-known why, though.

CW: Past abuse and non-con (not by main pairing)

Why You Should Read It:

If you’re the kind of person who regularly thinks to themself “You know what Tony Stark needs? More trauma,” then this is the fic  for you.

Tony’s got some serious trust issues and PTSD thanks to some shitty, shitty exes. This is the story about how Tony learns to trust again, Avenger by Avenger, in his new Found Family. Come for the Whump, stay for the found family insomnia infomercial parties and Steve Rogers getting arrested for enacting some sweet, sweet karmic justice.

And now we get into a sub-genre of Found Family that is also a huge weakness of mine: Tony thinks he’s only tolerated instead of wanted, and his found family convinces him otherwise.

Some Things Shouldn’t Be a Chore

Author: scifigrl47

Word Count: 22,187

Summary: Steve takes things like personal responsibility and respect seriously. Tony's got people he pays to take care of that kind of thing, and anyway, he's pretty sure that he's going to die of some exotic disease in his workshop, because Dummy's still a little spotty about what is 'clean' enough to put on an open wound.  The rest of the Avengers are in this for personal gain, except for Clint, he just enjoys being a dick. And some things shouldn't be a chore.

Why You Should Read It:

Honestly it feels a bit like cheating to recommend the first work in scifigrl47′s tremendously popular Toasterverse, since I’m pretty sure a lot of people who don’t even like or regularly read fanfiction have liked this one, even indirectly. Sci is so ludicrously good at building an engaging, creative, character-driven universe that this series is responsible for most of the fanon you know and love about MCU fanfics. Tony’s bot Butterfingers? Sci made him up for this story. Thor’s love of Pop Tarts? Clint the vent goblin? All sci. They’re just that damn good at world-building.

In this fic, the Avengers try out a chore chart. Hilarity and feels ensue. I don’t want to say anymore and risk spoiling it because if you’ve managed to get far enough in Stony fanfiction to read this post and haven’t yet read the Toasterverse, I want to keep the experience pristine for you to enjoy. Please read this. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll reserve a hypothetical genie wish to make this series the actually canon MCU (God knows I have).

Hold the Things You Wanna Say

Author: SailorChibi

Word Count: 6,316

Summary: Tony is still a consultant, and between SI, the team and SHIELD he's overworked and exhausted. That's okay. He and Steve have been having sex for weeks but that's all it is, just sex, and Tony wants more but he'll never get it and that's okay. Really. What's not okay is the fact that Howard Stark has somehow appeared in the future and is the same as always. This is definitely going to fuck up his schedule.

CW: Abuse, Howard Stark’s A+ Parenting

Why You Should Read It:

SailorChibi’s one of those authors I’ve been meaning to get around to reading all their stuff for, but it’s tricky when you have a short attention span and an author that is just so damn prolific. They’re a multi-fandom maven consistently putting out some really great stuff, and they’re absolutely worth checking out.

This story’s a real yank on the heartstrings, and as someone who can really identify with Tony’s fear of failing the people he cares about, the point in the story where he reaches his low is just unbelievably poignant. But the warmth and the wholesomeness of the end made my heart grow three sizes the day I read it. And the love that all these idiots have for each other is just so damn palpable in this story, it damn near made me cry.

Irreplaceable

Author: Orphan Account :(

Word Count: 4,952

Summary: There are obvious downsides to being the only member of the Avengers who is not a super soldier, a god, or a super assassin, and does not Hulk out when aggravated. The most obvious one is that when villains want bait, they've got a go-to guy. Tony already knew Mondays sucked. He did not need his opinion reinforced this way.

Why You Should Read It:

It’s such a bummer I can’t plunder this author’s other works because I love this one so much!

Tony gets kidnapped and says a lot of self-deprecating things that, unbeknownst to him, are projected on a live feed to the Avengers. They rescue him and have some opinions about how easily he could be replaced. This story’s got Tony hiding from feelings like an idiot, Steve manually carrying Tony somewhere the Avengers can say nice things about him, and a lot of feels.

That’s it for today! Tune in tomorrow for some AU recs!

[romiantic]

𝐍𝐎𝐓 𝐀𝐍𝐎𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄 𝐒𝐎𝐍𝐆

⇢ ˗ˏˋ 𝒓𝒚𝒐𝒕𝒂 𝒌𝒊𝒔𝒆 𝒙 𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒓!𝒃𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒌!𝒇𝒆𝒎!𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒆𝒓 ࿐ྂ

彡 ❛ 𝐚 𝐧𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐛𝐞𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐞 ❜

彡 𝗳𝘁. ryota kise

彡 𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗿𝗲: fluff with very little angst

彡 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗱 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁: 2.3k

彡 𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀: suggestive theme at the end

彡 𝗮𝘂𝘁𝗵𝗼𝗿’𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗲: all characters are 18+. also can we talk about how BOMB this song is 🤧 y’all sleepin on this song fr

·˚ ༘ੈ✩‧₊˚ ╰┈➤ ❛❛ 𝙄 𝙇𝙊𝙑𝙀 𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝙒𝘼𝙔 𝙔𝙊𝙐 𝘿𝙊 𝙄𝙏 ❜❜

❝ 𝐘/𝐍 𝐇𝐔𝐑𝐑𝐘 𝐘𝐎 𝐀𝐒𝐒 𝐔𝐏! You have two minutes till showtime.” Your manager, AKA, older brother, barged and announced to you like he didn’t update you almost five minutes ago.

You did your usual of sucking your teeth and rolling your teeth every time he barged in and interrupted your call, you replied with annoyance in your tone, “AJ I know! Can you wait a minute? Damn, so impatient for absolutely no reason.”

“I’m sorry who’s the one with hundreds of thousands of fans screaming their name and waiting for their ass outside? Me or you? Oh okay. Anyways, end yo little call with yo boyfr-”

“He’s not my boyfriend!” You interrupted, becoming irritated with your brother and simply wanted him to shut the fuck up. A great manager and brother, yet way too uptight for his job.

AJ rolled his eyes and muttered something but you flipped him off and pretended not to hear him until he left your dressing room. You gave your attention back to your phone, giving a cheeky smile to the blonde boy on your screen. From the corner of his eye, he noticed a nervous look growing on you but from what you could tell, he was choosing what shirt to wear to his photoshoot. Leaving him to be seen with a no top on and a pair of denim jeans.

Though it was typical to see your best friend’s exposed upper body, it was a sight you never got used to. His well-toned body, results from years of playing basketball in middle and high school, making your face hot, adding on to the nervousness you were already facing from your upcoming performance. Along with the pearly white smile he flashed at you creating a sick feeling in your stomach, something that you made you clench onto it and try to ignore. Now was not the time to be drooling over your best friend, who interrupted your stare with a laugh and said, “Are you gonna keep staring or are you gonna take a picture?”

Of course, he’d ruin it with some cocky line like that, you rolled your eyes and sucked your teeth. “Boy calm down, ain’t nobody wanna was staring.”

“Your nervous face said otherwise.”

“Akekeke, don’t you have a photoshoot to go to?”

Kise replied with the same energy as yours, “And don’t you have a performance to go to?”

You held up a finger to a screen then crossed your arms, “Aht aht, don’t worry about me now. Worry about yo lil pictures with that famous ass Russian model.” You wanted to roll your eyes just thinking about the brought-up woman but it would make it seem like you’re being jealous for no reason.

Kise let out a small laugh, adoring the irritated look that was starting to creep up on your face. “Somebody sounds jealous.”

You rolled your eyes and let out a scoff, “Oh please, like I would be.” You looked at the time on your watch and noticed it was about one minute until your performance. Your eyes widened at the time and hurried, you quickly ended the call with Kise, “Shit, fuck! I gotta go perform but I’ll call you back when I’m done.”

“And I’ll be waiting for you beautiful when you get back.” The golden-eyed boy winked at you yet you cringed and scrunched your face. “You’re so fucking corny Kise.” You hung up the call, grab any other pieces missing from your outfit, and headed out of your dressing room.

You traveled quickly around backstage, passing by many coworkers and background dancers waiting for you, to head into the small tunnel for artists to come out on stage. You stopped at the exit and gulped as you scanned the stage. An outside arena with hundreds of thousands of fans cheering your name, waiting for your appearance.

Usually, you would be at ease with concerts this large but for some reason this time is different. Unknowing the reason nor cause, you started to feel anxious, your hands mildly shaking and your throat going dry.

There was something in the back of your mind attempting to not make you perform, something telling you to not do it, it won’t be good, people will hate you. A voice there to influence thoughts, hoping that you would fall into the trap and just give up on singing. Though of course, you wouldn’t listen to that voice, that voice always lingered around whenever you were brought to perform, no matter where you were.

The only thing to distract you and keep you safe from that tiny voice is someone who you’ve longed to love. One who just settles your nerves, bringing comfort, and removing all anxious thoughts. One who would deem you as one of the greatest artists he’s ever listened to, maybe it’s opinionated but he loves you too much to disagree.

The now dawdling thought of his soft voice whenever he spoke or his flirtatious nature when you two joked around made a familiar feeling grow greater than before. Something replaced the anxiousness that was growing, a feeling that replaced the nervousness and calmed your shaky hands. Something that was the thought of Ryota Kise, he was like the medicine to all the pain you’ve suffered. A remedy to your anxiety, one of the many causes of the cheeky smile social media often sees you with.

Someone who you grew up and spent all your life with, always noticing how protective he was of you or the way he hummed one of your pre-recorded tracks that he was the only one to listen to. Celebrating one of your songs had hit #1 on the Billboard chart and the way he helped out whenever you hit writer’s block.

Every single thing, noticeable or not, made you grown to love the boy, starting from a platonic, playground friendship blooming to many years of trying to figure out if you are romantically in love with him. Growing familiar feelings of butterflies mixed with the thought of just wanting to cup his face and kiss him whenever he was around.

Just the ultimate feeling of wanting to be buried in the blonde boy’s arms and explain the blooming love for him made you want to sing the song you wrote for him. A new single that you never wanted to put out since you wanted only Kise to hear it, including that the song was your way of telling him what you felt all these years.

Though something changed your mind, something in your brain told you to tell everyone around you that you’re singing solo, no backup singers or dancers, only you on that stage. In this performance, you just had to do it yourself, nothing but you, the stage, and the microphone.

Everyone was confused by the last-minute change of plans but went along with it. They rescheduled it to where your first “official” song to start the concert with was right after your solo performance. You gave thanks to your team and took some deep breaths. You made sure your Bluetooth set was on and working properly in your ear, AJ handed you a mic and brushed off any wrinkling from your outfit and any smoothed out your hair. Uptight about his job yet made sure his little sister was looking the greatest for her performances.

You took deep breaths again, shook off any bad nerves, and walked on stage. The already excited crowd enraged and their volume expanded as they saw you stand before them. Everyone waving their signs that said, “I love you y/n!!” or “Y/N is so beautiful!” You waved to the audience and stopped at the middle of the stage, walking closer to the front of the stage as well.

You turned on the mic and tapped it to see if it was working, “Mic check one two, can you guys hear me?” The crowd immediately responded yes, you continued on to talk to them, “Okay good, have been getting technical difficulties with my mic and I really don’t feel like switching mics three times. Anyways, afternoon to all my lovely fans who made it out here or to those that are watching me live. I love you all and thank you for supporting me, I truly am grateful for every single one of y’all.” Everyone screamed out how much they love you and adore you, showing off their merch that they bought and waving the homemade posters.

You smiled at their response and cleared your throat as you introduced the song, “Thank you, I love you too. This first song is one that has been sitting too comfortably in my heart. A piece that came from genuine emotions and feelings I’ve tried to bury yet couldn’t no matter how hard I tried. It’s something that I never planned on dropping but I just felt like the world had to hear what I had to say. Hopefully, you guys enjoy it cause I did when I was writing this song at two in the morning before I snuck into the studio and recorded it. Was it worth it? Definitely. Now I may introduce to you, Not Another Love Song. A contradicting title isn’t it?”

You took a large breath in and out, you took a position as you waited for the beat to drop. As soon as you heard the familiar melody start, you sang, “I don’t wanna mess this up, could it be too much to say I’m in?”

The crowd lowered down and became silent to hear your new single, grasping the beautiful new lyrics you were singing and just vibing along with it.

You yourself were placing emotion as you sang, not noticing how proudly you sang the chorus or how you were smiling at the crowd the entire time. One thing was clouding your mind to even pay attention to those details, the same thing that more than likely pushed you to sing the song.

As you sang, the feelings for your best friend grew stronger, butterflies in your stomach, and the deprivation of his touch grew on you. Not even realizing how much you missed him until you turned initially to smile at AJ and your team yet saw a familiar face appear as well. You questioned it but then turned back to continue singing to the audience, only thinking that mind is playing games with you.

“I'm finna take my time, my mind, my rules. This ain't no crimе makin' love to you, though you ain't say this. But I had a hard time waitin' for you, boy. Like ooh, boy, you, boy. Got me where you want, just gotta say and it's on, it's like, ooh, boy, do you know you got me like where do you go when you're alone?”

As you sang, you noticed the crowd growing silent, their eyes widening, and their jaws dropping. You were utterly confused at was catching their attention, you turned to your team and your brother pointed behind, giving you a goofy smile as well.

You turned around to what was the cause of this silent commotion and right along with everyone else, your jaw drop and your eyes widened. The flirtatious, handsome model that everyone knew of was standing in front of you with a bouquet of roses in his hand. He walked up to you and smiled greatly, closing in the large gap between the both of you.

Seeing him walk closer to you made you want to say forget concert and sing the rest to him. Half of your feeling was already poured out, not even knowing he was listening to all of it. You didn’t think he would even be here since he had a photoshoot, not standing on an outside stage with a bouquet of roses and dressed in casual attire.

He handed you the roses and kissed your forehead, telling you, “Alone with you, away from the world, where else would I be when I’m alone?”

No response came from you, not even a single gasp or a sniffle to signify that you might cry. The way you responded to his presence was something that shocked the arena, everyone watching you on live, your team, and even the two of you yourself. Who would’ve thought you would be bold enough to grab his face and kiss him right then and there? You snaked your arm around his waist and pulled him closer to deepen the kiss. He responded back by wrapping his hands around your shoulders and hugging you tightly, holding onto you to make sure you wouldn’t separate from him.

You pulled back from the kiss and smiled, softly combed his blonde hair, and expressed, “I love you, Kise.” Saying his name like it was something you’ve been aching to say, a name that you’ve buried away yet brought out today. A name that sounded so lovely and romantic when you say it.

Kise expressed as well, “I love you too y/n. I’ve always loved you and I will never stop loving you.” He kissed you again, he removed his hand from your shoulders and trailed around to find your hands. He removed your hands from his waist and instead intertwined them with his.

He felt you smile when he held your hand and smiled back. He stated in between kisses, “You know I’m staying on this stage to hear you finish that song right?”

“It’s fine, I need someone to do my next performance on anyways.” He looked at you and you did nothing but wink and mischievously smiled at him. Kise had a small idea of what he could expect but suppressed it to enjoy the soft moment he wanted between the both of you. A moment that he’ll never forget and a concert that will always be remembered for everyone around you.

彡 it’s like 5 am and I’m tired 🦧 the only thing that kept me up was the fact that I don’t have school plus I loveeeeee kise

彡 also the show olivia

彡 I don’t think I ever mentioned to y’all how much I love his ass but now is definitely not the time 😁

彡 I’m convinced if it silent black hair blue eye powerful men weren’t my type, cocky and flirtatious ones would be runner up

彡 anyways hope you guys enjoy + pleaseee listen to the song, I highly recommend plus ella mai is VERY underrated

bye babes, drink your water, stay hydrated, and remember that you are the baddest bitch on the planet 🥰 no matter what ANYONE says

𝐏𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐦 𝟏𝟖:𝟑𝟎 💗

© 𝟤𝟢𝟤𝟣 𝗄𝗈𝗂𝗌𝗁𝗂𝗀𝗎𝗋𝗈. 𝖺𝗅𝗅 𝗋𝗂𝗀𝗁𝗍𝗌 𝗋𝖾𝗌𝖾𝗋𝗏𝖾𝖽

[pandajaye]

Todoroki Family Ties (Part 9)

Characters: Enji Todoroki, Stepmom!OC!Ivy (Ivy is black btw), Child!Shoto Todoroki, Teen!Touya Todoroki, Preteen!Fuyumi, Child!Natsuo

Fandom: My Hero Academia/Boku No Hero Academia

Warnings: pregnancy, hospital, hysteria, child abuse, Aquaphobia, upset child, abusive family, neglect

“Enji, it’s okay. Please try to calm down. Everything is going to be fine.” Ivy comforted her husband, putting a hand on his leg in an attempt to keep it from bouncing so much. “I know, I know. Just a little nervous, that’s all.” He sighed, looking down at his hands while he rubbed his palms. They were the only ones in the room right now. It was cold and white everywhere apart from the delightful little flower clusters. The atmosphere was mostly quiet except for the tapping of keyboards and damp sounds of phones ringing in some of the offices.

“I mean…. what if it’s true? How could I be so careless? I should’ve been thinking clearly. I should’ve thought more about you. Things were just finally going so right and I was so distracted by excitement. So many good things were falling in to place. It’s…. It’s all my fault that we’re here today.” He brought her hand up from his thigh and kissed her knuckles. “Please, forgive me.” All she could do was smile at how nervous he was. “Forgive you for what, baby? Nothing bad has happened. Being here is a big part of the journey. It’s where our path is decided for us. I’m excited. You should be, too.”

Enji wrapped his arms around her with a tight squeeze. “You’re right. You’re absolutely right.” She always did know how to make the best of a situation that seemed frightening. Maybe it was the way of words. Maybe it was the sweet and calm voice that did it for him. Whatever it was, he was happy to be able to access it. Having her next to him was going to make this move a lot smoother, and he couldn’t ask for anything better right now.

Their moment of peace was interrupted by a nurse dressed in lovely pink scrubs. “Todoroki?” Her voice was gentle and nice as well as her smile while she patiently waited for the two to stand and follow her. On the way to their room, Ivy glanced into the rooms they passed. In one, a couple was finding out some good news. They looked excited. In another, a woman seemed to be having a good check up. And the last one was different than the other two. A woman leaned against her sad husband as she cried. The doctor also had a sad and sympathetic look on her face. Those sure were some interesting situations to witness. Which one would represent her and Enji’s?

“This room right here. Doctor Akari will be right with you.” The two parties bowed to each other before she left and they entered the room. Enji looked around the room and sighed. It was so weird to be here again. The rooms had changed a bit since the last time he was on this same floor seven years ago. ‘Wow. Seven. I’m getting old.’ He was quickly brought back to reality by Ivy. “I’m really glad we’re here today. This is good.” Her smile brought so much ease to him. How lucky is he to have someone like her.

A quiet knock on the door gathered their attention. In walked an older woman. Her hair was still a dark brown so she couldn’t have been that much older but you could see some of the age in her kind face. There was a bit of height difference between them, her being taller than Ivy, shorter than Enji of course. She carefully closed the door behind her before setting her chart on the table and introducing herself. “I’m Dr. Akari, nice to meet you today, Mr. and Mrs. Todoroki.” She shook their hands and continued. “Amazing, I never thought I’d be meeting, let alone working for the number two hero. I guess dreams do come true.” Enji blushed, rubbing the back of his neck. “Heh. Always nice to meet a fan.”

“So. We’re here for a verification today, correct? How are you feeling? Mrs. Todoroki, is this your first?” Ivy nodded. “Yes, ma’am. I-I’ve really never been in any type of situation like this before. I’m excited and kinda nervous. Sorry.” Dr. Akari held Ivy’s hands in her own. “Sweetheart. You don’t need to apologize. Being nervous is apart of this. A big part. That’s not to say that it’ll be a bad experience. It is what you make it. And I have so much faith that this is going to be an amazing and beautiful new part of your life. You’re going to be great at this.” Her smile was warm and reassuring. Maybe everything really will be okay. “Should we get this thing started?” Ivy looked at Enji and back at Dr. Akari with a grin. “Let’s do it.”

The test and results took no time at all to come back to them. “Congratulations, Mr. and Mrs. Todoroki. You’re having a baby.” Excitement quickly grew on Ivy’s face, brown eyes big and full of tears when she looked at Enji who hugged her tight, kissing the top of her head. “Wonderful news! Wonderful! Wonderful!” He was so energetic and happy like a child himself. The fifth child and he’s still taken aback as if it’s his first. Ivy stayed a little calmer herself. “I’m so happy. This is everything I’ve ever wanted…. A dream come true.” The doctor hugged Ivy when Enji finally pulled away. “I’m so happy for you two. You have my full adoration. I know you’re going to be an amazing mother. Before you know it, you’ll have a quirky and spontaneous bundle of joy in your arms.” Ivy froze.

‘….Quirky?’

Enji thanked the doctor a few more times before leaving and while they walked to the car, he noticed something was off about Ivy. She kept her gaze towards the ground and hadn’t said a word since leaving the doctor’s office. After a short walk they arrived at the car, Ivy got in the passenger seat and patiently waited for Enji to get in and close his door. As soon as the car door shut, Ivy broke down hysterically… “FUCK! FUCK! FUCKING! FUCK!” Honestly, it scared him a bit. She was fine a few minutes ago and now she’s upset? “IVY? WHAT’S WRONG?” She started hyperventilating, forcing him to pull Ivy into his lap and hold her. “Breathe! Breathe. Slow down. In….. Out….” It took a minute before she could match his breathing. Eventually, they were in sync and she began to calm down and got back into the passenger seat.

“Alright. What in the hell was that?” He didn’t mean to sound irritated, he was just genuinely confused about what just manifested. “I-I’m sorry but…. I-I can’t do this. I-I-I can’t be a mom.” Tears were still falling but she tried to wipe them away as fast as they came. “Wha…. What do you mean?” His brows were furrowed and his face contorted. “Enji…. I-I was so excited at first. And, I still am in some ways…. But…. what happens when…. w-when we have this child…. and they don’t have a quirk because of me? I wasn’t even thinking about it until Dr. Akari said the word quirky and all of a sudden it hit me. My child is going to be weak because of me…. They’re going to hate me. I know you want a strong child with a strong quirk but I-…. I-I can’t give you that.”

To be honest, he hadn’t thought of it either. But that was the old him anyways. He’s grown since then. Quirks aren’t everything to him anymore. Just her. Just his family. No matter what skills they had or didn’t have. He loves them in every aspect. “Ivy…. I don’t need you to give me that. I want you to be happy and healthy. I want to have this child with you no matter what happens. As long as you’re both okay, that’s what’s important. I know how I used to be. And I’m still sorry and trying to atone for it. I’m learning and growing every day because of you. I appreciate and love you so much.” His large hand held her cheek as he searched her eyes for a sign that she understood him.

A wave of safety washed over her as she leaned into his hand. So much calm after one random storm. “You’re right. You are learning. You have grown. And I am beyond proud of you. I’m sorry for my outburst. It wasn’t all about you. Being quirkless has always been a problem for me. Way before me and you. You’ve improved in ways that…. he never did.” Her gaze shifted to her feet when thoughts and feelings she had long ago returned. “Who?” When her gaze came back her eyes were brimming with tears of numb pain.“My dad….”

From a very young age, Ivy was victim to some of the most impactful abuse that young girls have suffered for centuries. Familial. Being the outcast, the one child that didn’t make the cut. Worked hard and reprimanded for occurrences out of her power. Her power. The center of everything and the reason for her suffering. More commonly known as a quirk, her ability should have been water manipulation. It ran in her family. They’ve always been connected to it all. Oceans, lakes, rain, dew, snow. A gene for telekinesis brought in from one of her great great grandparents but no one remembers which one.

“LET’S GO, LET’S GO, LET’S GO!” Nami James Emaraki, Ivy’s father, blew hard into his whistle. It’s not that common for a ten-year old to have to do burpees and laps on a Saturday morning. Especially since she’s not training for anything. “YOU SLACK AND I SWEAR ITS ANOTHER TEN LAPS!! YOU ALREADY MISSED BREAKFAST SINCE YOU WANNA SLEEP IN, I’M PERFECTLY FINE WITH YOU MISSING LUNCH CAUSE I’LL STILL EAT BUT YOU WON’T!!!!” He wasn’t kidding either. That threat wasn’t the least bit empty.

“I-” Her foot slipped and caused her to face plant. She lifted her head and a stream of blood ran from her nose. “OW! UGH! H-Help, please!” Rolling his eyes, he stomped over to her, grabbing a fist full of her hair. “Sure, I’ll help you. Usually salt water helps with things like that. Let’s get you a lot of salt water.” He looked at the pool and smiled. “How about 10 ft?” Panic flooded her entire body so quickly it almost made her dizzy. Or maybe that was from the quick face plant and loss of blood.

“N-No! Please!” Ignoring her, he began dragging her to the deep end of their pool. “I’m so sorry, I can keep going! I can keep going! Daddy I can keep going!” She couldn’t help but cry and scream for forgiveness because he always had such a terrible punishment for her. The closer they got the more she struggled. “DADDY PLEASE! PLEASEPLEASEPLEASE NO! NO-” He tossed her in with a grunt and picked up his stopwatch. “Hurry up. You don’t wanna drown, use your quirk to get out!”

But that was the issue. Ivy was quirkless. It never showed up when it was supposed to. They hoped she was a late bloomer but it wasn’t looking very hopeful. Her father and uncle did everything they can to bring it out of her. They were so close they moved into two joint houses for each of their families, between the two homes, a facility with a large indoor pool that they used to coach swimming and have opened for water sports and activities. Every child in their family has used this pool to get better at their quirks. But Ivy was the only one forced into fearing it, unlike her siblings and cousins.

The eldest children were Ivy’s older twin brother and sister who were six years older than her, as well as a male cousin four years older than her. They were taught everything with care and detail. How to swim, how to make waves, etc. Next, her cousin that was but a few months older than her. He also experienced the life of being the middle child like her. Ivy was born next. Treated like all the other kids until she reached the age where quirks usually had already appeared in their family.

Four. When the family pediatrician attempted to explain that her quirk would never come in due to an extra joint in her foot, that of which the absence of would determine if the power would ever come in. Her father was so upset when they got home, he grabbed her by the ankles and dunked her in the water a few times before dropping her in the 5 feet. Her mother stood and watched as paramedics revived Ivy, pretending very well to be concerned.

Yet, here he is now. Watching her sink as she loses oxygen. Destined to be a corpse at the bottom of the pool. But just before tragedy could wrap her up in its claws, her father washed her back onto the side of the pool with a wave. There she laid in a puddle, lungs full of water. “So damn dramatic.” Unrightfully annoyed, he preformed mouth to mouth and saved her, smacking her when she accidentally spit up water in his face. “You’re a disgusting excuse for a daughter. But just you wait, you’ll be a hero soon enough. And you’re gonna be supporting your family after we’ve been so supportive of you. Get your ass up and come inside when you’re through acting like something wrong with you.”

Nami didn’t even look back after he started walking way. He didn’t care if she ever got up. To him, she has two options in life. Become a top pro-hero. Or die. And some days, she wished he wouldn’t save her. Some days she wanted to stay at the bottom of that pool knowing she wouldn’t be able to breathe. Ivy couldn’t help but wonder, what’s the point of living if your entire family is already disappointed in you?

During lunch, her mother Eimi asked her about today’s training. “How did it go today, Ivy?” She smiled, looking between her and her father. Ivy didn’t want to answer so she kept her mouth shut. “Ivy, your mama is talking to you. Answer her.” His fist slammed down on the table. The back of her throat burned from swallowing her need to cry. “Ivy? Answer her, girl, can you not hear?!” She flinched at him raising his voice. With a quiet sigh, Ivy spoke, carefully trying not to let her voice crack. “It w-was fine, mommy. But….” She couldn’t take it anymore. She had to speak up.

“B-BUT DADDY TRIED TO KILL MEEEEE!!” Cries broke out of her throat. “CONTROL YOUR DAMN VOLUME RIGHT NOW!” He tried to grab her arm but she ducked out of the way. “MAMA I FELL AND HURT MY FACE AND MY NOSE WAS BLEEDING AND HE THREW ME IN THE POOL AND ALMOST LET ME DROOOOOOWN!!!!” Tears dripped from her chin as she trembled and sobbed. Eimi just looked at Nami and shrugged. “Well, Ivy. Maybe if you stopped pretending your quirk isn’t there, you could have saved yourself. So I don’t want to hear it.” Ivy was horrified and offended by every word out of her mother’s mouth. “WHAT? BUT MOMMY-” “THAT’S ENOUGH! YOU’RE GOING TO YOUR ROOM!” Before she could run, he grabbed her and carried her to her room as she struggled. “I HATE IT HERE! I HATE IT, HATE IT, HATE IT!!” Once the door slammed close, she hugged one of her stuffed animals tight and cried. And cried. And cried. Until she cried herself to sleep.

Ivy had ever only known Hell on Earth. Her siblings before her were treated with respect. Even her baby brother and even younger baby sister got to see the best from their parents. Ivy was the one that they wanted to depend on. Their goals for her were to make her one of the most famous Pro-Heroes ever. Then use her paycheck to further their lives. She would put them on the map and be their little bank. But the older she got, the more she fought back. Until finally they realized she’d never be able to help them anyways.

Ivy was shunned and kicked out of her home. Forced to learn the way of the world. She made her way through three nice jobs and even college. Out of all the smoke and fire, she emerged through her trials and tribulations and began working at Endeavor’s agency. Her hardships didn’t end there but shortly after, everything started to work out for her.

Her past was filled with evil but it never influenced her to become a bad person even after never getting her quirk. She realized that quirks never really mattered. It was the love that she never received. Love that she’ll be giving to this baby. She wouldn’t be able to live with herself if her child ever had to go through what she went through.

The world outside was so beautiful as they drove home. She looked at Enji and smiled. He sparkled in the sunlight. Those beautiful blue eyes focusing on the road while he held her hand up and kissed it. “You’re gonna be okay, Ivy. I love you so much. You’re going to be a great mom. And, I hope i can be a great father. On the fifth try.” The reassurance made her grin. “Thank you, Enji. Thank you.”