#SYMBOLISM AM I RIGHT FELLAS :3

[arkarti]

The man behind it all 🎈

Twitter: X

[doomzday-zone]

I don't know if you're like Joking about the Midnight Motorist being about Into The Pit because if you have Genuine theories I want to hear it 👁️👁️

Also I don't get why people keep saying it's an ~unsolved mystery~ it's William Afton right? Am I just as confused as everyone in the FNAF community rn?

I've heard multiple theories about the midnight motorist, one that the Mustard man is in fact william afton and one that hes someone else entirely, and to that i say: both can be right!

we know that in ITP the rabbit isnt *exactly* william afton, but moreso a reflection of him and the horrors that happened at the freddy fazbears pizzeria years before. which would explain why the sprite is a decidedly yellow colour instead of Wills usual purple, and the fact that the rabbit disguises itself as oswalds father also explaining why the sprite is in the shape of a human man instead of a man sized rabbit.

The car being driven by the Mustard man in the game is a dark purple, in the ITP novel the colour of oswalds car isnt specified but in the game it is red </3 a possible explanation for this being that the car looks purple because its dark which is slightly less believable than the alternative, being the colour of the car is more symbolic 😌 calling back to William afton, which isnt completely unprecedented in the fnafverse generally if something is purple its expected to be connected the aftons in some way(for instance michael aftons corpse sprite being purple etc.)

Now.... Jr's. what could this possibly mean for into the pit? i need you to remember there are multiple endings in the game, ill come back to this in a second, in the game files the lore parts of the midnight motorist is called Later That Night. implying this is something we havent seen yet or possibly a different perspective on something we have seen- SO this COULD be either a) a continuation of something we saw in ITP or b) something entirely new. which brings me back to Jr's- you can remember the multiple game endings now<33

in the novel oswald and his dad dont Actually leave Jeffs Pizza, this could imply that something bad will happen again after the events of the story. and adding the game endings what ACTUALLY happened after everything is extremely vague. i propose that the events of MM happen later after the main events of ITP, and given that oswalds dad only wakes up in the pit After the death of the rabbit and since i already established earlier the rabbit is still alive, i also propose that oswalds father is most likely dead. now HERE IS WHERE JR'S COMES IN W THE IRON CHAIR IM SERIOUS THIS TIME:

Jr's is referenced as a restaurant from one source, but also theorized to be a bar, i dont think the distinction is super important but, the interaction with the green fella is mighty interesting "You're not allowed here, dont make this harder then it has to be" in this context this could be in reference to the scene at the house, the disguised rabbit is no longer allowed into the nearby establishments due to its reputation. 'dont make this harder then it has to be' is SUCH an interesting line too, not only implying that the Mustard man knows exactly why hes no longer allowed here, but also the subtle accusing tone and implying that the reason is not only a burden for the Mustard man to carry but that it also weighs pretty hard on the speaker. whatever it was, its serious.

"You know what you are. dont make this harder than it has to be"

Finally, the scene of the home. with the Mustard man identified as the Rabbit, the person sitting in front of the tv would be oswalds mother. we know from ITP based on how many times its mentioned and such that family tv time is SPECIFICALLY very important for them, so the fact we see her here now alone is very telling.

the Rabbit goes to the other room, the door is closed and cannot be opened, this is the only other room in the home that is accessible.(remember that oswald is an only child) the messages that play out when repeatedly going to the door are in reference to the Act revealed a little later but also symbolic of the thematic relevance of child abuse/abusive and controlling parental figures and dynamics in ITP. at the back of the house the window to the locked room is broken and there are footprints leading into the surrounding woods that being a persons footprints and larger set of what seem to be animatronic footprints, paired with the message "he ran off to that place again, when he gets back he'll be sorry" <- this is the Rabbit referring to the pit, and the boys eventual fate.

Lastly the empty lot and the mound are then symbolic of Jeffs Pizza an empty shadow of the former freddy fazbears pizzeria establishment, the pit itself, and what ended up happening to oswald. giving dual imagery for a rabbit burrow and an unmarked grave. Oswald is dead.

To wrap this all up, a summary: The Mustard man is the ITP Rabbit in a human disguise, after the events of the ITP novel oswalds dad is dead, cue the drive through the woods. at the house oswalds mother sits at the family television alone, talking to ghosts.(realistically you would probably hear your sons rooms window breaking regardless of whether or not its raining *which is still a possibility but just hear me out okay lol*, by the time the rabbit gets back to the home oswald is already dead and his mother knows it) oswalds rooms door is closed and cannot be open, he is not there. at the other end of the house there are a broken window and footprints, that of a child and an animatronic. at the empty lot there is a mound of dirt, cue the bad ending of ITP, the rabbit kills oswald, its over. the rabbit is no longer allowed in the nearby establishments, and most likely just like William afton before him nothing was done about the deaths.(also note the callback to the theme of a broken community and communal isolation in ITP, the community just goes about their normal activities *notice the decently full parking lot at Jr's* simply shunning the rabbit and wishing to forget *now think about the 'dont make this harder than it has to be line, this specific community has seen this tragedy before*)

((ALSO ‼️ dont have the energy to make a whole Bit abt it rn but obv this is all connected to Pizzeria Simulator by the ball pits.

and its lore relevant bc william is supposed to DIE in that game but comes back, which is made clear by the rabbit being in midnight motorist/its story implications n whatever u GET it yeehaw !!!))

but hey....... thats just a theory😏

[tdadtwch]

IRON GIANT WEREWOLF AU: Chapter 3 Preview

Heath inhaled another puff of smoke, smirking as he made his way across the blacktop. Benny was waiting for him in a shady spot on the other side of the court. He popped open a can of beer before looking up at the other teen.

“Who was that?”

“Nobody, just a cuck who thinks he’s more important than he actually is.”

Shrugging, Benny took a swig of his beer as Heath sat on the ground next to him. They spent the next few minutes in comfortable silence, watching as Adam and a few other guys chatted amongst themselves. Heath took another drag of the cigarette and looked over at Benny.

“Hey, let me hit that,” he said, gesturing to the drink. He took the can from the other boy and gulped down some of the lukewarm beverage. He usually preferred vodka over beer but the taste was fine regardless. Heath exhaled deeply, closing his eyes and soaking in the cool air. 

He tried thinking of another time in his life where he felt this same amount of calm. What came to mind was a moment from his childhood, back when his father was alive and well. He and Hogarth were sitting on a bench and eating ice cream in the park. Jonathan Hughes was sitting behind them on the edge of the town’s fountain, quietly taking in the scenery. At some point Hogarth’s ice cream scoop fell onto the ground with a splat. Heath laughed and his own frozen treat was shoved into his face seconds later.

Now with a glob of Butter Pecan on his nose, both brothers glared at each other before turning to the sound of their dad’s laughter. Jonathan had laughed so hard that he slipped and fell backward into the fountain with a yelp. Hogarth and Heath immediately burst into a fit of hysterics, their previous feud disappearing from their minds.

Heath smiled as he opened his eyes, reminiscing on simpler times. Just two siblings and their dad having the time of their lives; the three of them against the world. He was pulled from his reverie when he noticed Benny watching him.

“...Do I have something on my face?”

Benny shook his head. “I just can’t believe you’re sitting here.”

“What, am I too close to His Majesty?” Heath quipped, passing the can back to him.

“Haha, smartass. But seriously, I never thought in a million years that you would be sitting here and hanging out with me. I mean this past week was the most fun I had in awhile.” Benny furrowed his brow. “Did somebody spike the water supply or something? Because it’s like you’re this whole new person.”

“Dude, I feel like a new person!” Technically, this statement was true.

Ever since his argument with Hogarth, Heath felt more and more different as the days went by. He was better, faster, stronger. Like an old machine taken apart and made anew. Colors were brighter, sounds were clearer and scents were fresher. He never felt more alive!

Sure, there were a few drawbacks—like the fur growing out of his scars and the white streaks appearing in his hair. But it’s nothing that a pair of scissors and some hair dye can’t fix.

Heath’s gaze drifted to the tattoo on Benny’s right upper arm. It was a black and white basketball with the number fourteen written over it. Pointing to it, he asked, “What’s the story behind that?”

Benny lifted his arm. “Oh, this? Just something I got before I left my hometown. It symbolizes all the baskets I scored during my first ever game. One of the best moments of my life.”

“Where’s home?”

“Dukesberry, New Hampshire.” Benny took another sip of beer, smiling wistfully. “It’s like Rockwell but with a large Jewish community.”

“Hey, fellas!” They looked up to see Adam waving his arms at them. “You guys up for another game? We want a rematch.”

Heath and Benny nodded eagerly as they both got up from the ground. Heath took back the can and stuffed his cigarette butt inside it before crushing the aluminum in his fist. He tossed it into a nearby garbage bin when Benny spoke up again.

“Hey, you doing anything Friday night?”

“Not really, why?”

“We’re going to a party at the old Jackson residence. I mentioned it to you before. The deserted farm outside of town?”

“I remember…” Heath arched an eyebrow. “So you seriously want me to come to this thing?”

“Yeah, dude. I think you’d have a good time.”

“What about everyone else? Wouldn’t it kill the mood if The Heathen turned up and crashed the party?”

“It’s not crashing if you’re invited,” Benny pointed out. When he noticed the slight hesitation in the teen’s gaze, he quickly added, “But if you don’t wanna go, then that’s fine too! I just thought I’d ask. Most of the school is gonna be there as well as some other people. It’s probably gonna be a bit overwhelming so if you say no, that’s totally—”

“Okay.”

Benny blinked. “Wait, what?”

“I said okay. We’ve been hanging out a lot anyway so I might as well tag along.” Heath threw an arm around the other’s shoulders. “Y’know, you’re not as annoying as I thought you’d be.”

Benny rolled his eyes as he blushed. “And you’re not as horrible at basketball as I thought you’d be so I guess we’re even.”

“I’ll show you horrible, you little bastard!” Heath laughed, putting the other teen into a headlock and ruffling his hair. Once they separated, he grinned roguishly.  “Now let’s go fucking decimate these assholes.”

[gagirlleaving]

Life Was Simpler In 1970

I was a kid. Dad got an apartment in Atlanta because he got a job there with the phone company. Everyone thought he was a nice fella.

Yeah, right. He also was abusive and my mother tried to cope. This particular year, we were on the way back home from Dad's apartment.

This photograph kind of symbolizes my life. Trying to merge onto a freeway with a very short on-ramp.

Looks kind of peaceful. Mama had just gotten me a Kodak Instamatic camera and traffic was exciting to me. This is my only photo from that trip.

I have generic memories of our trips to Atlanta. We took MARTA, which was fun. Got things we couldn't get in our rural town. Mama and I loved the excitement of the city, and Dad's apartment gave us a new home base for exploration.

Mama talked about taking trains to Atlanta from her rural town. Later, Mama and Dad lived there.

When life is hard, as it was with Dad's constant put downs and worse, you learn to appreciate the good things in life. Even a car trip in stop-and-start traffic, which Mama hated. That's why we took MARTA, besides Mama wanting me to learn practical skills with transit.

I think we were so close because of Dad's abuse. We were both female, and cooperated to cope.

My life is like this picture. It only looks peaceful, in the way a duck looks that way while paddling hard beneath the surface. Every merge on this interstate brought danger. Stop-and-start traffic was very hard on Mama and painful because she had a bad back.

But, like Mama, I keep going and smile while I am doing it.

Life was simpler then because prices were cheap. There were always things we couldn't afford, but Mama had a great sense of humor. I miss her a lot.

In 1970 we were complaining about Richard Nixon and Watergate. Women were fighting for equal pay for equal work. I was slowly gaining understanding of just how hard it was to make ends meet.

Now, with rents out of sight and food prices soaring, things promise to be worse in 2025.

So, my grown daughter and I are planning our move to Mexico.

Without a visa, we may be able to stay for 6 months, come back to the US, and go back to Mexico where we start our 6 month stay again.

I'm a packrat, so we'll have to go through our 3 bedrooms filled with boxes and have an estate sale.

My daughter will have to sell her house. This is a great disappointment for her. We thought this move would be our last. But, we had high hopes, didn't we?

But, Corene can go back to school. That's a plus. This will be like a long study abroad program. We are both studying Spanish. Corene is very smart, and I have better hopes for her future now that we made this decision.

At this point, we're waiting to hear back from the realtor. This will determine the timing of this move, because the house must sell first, and we want to get maximum money for it.

I'm posting under a pseudonym because I don't want our relatives to know. Not yet.

This account will be a diary of our research, and our thoughts, and how we plan to accomplish The Big Adventure.

[novantinuum]

On the corrupted!Steven theory...

So, originally when I mused on this yesterday I was just playing around with random possibilities.

After combing the series for info about corruption, though, I’m mildly spooked at the increased potential for this to... perhaps be a thing? I’m not saying that this is what I for sure believe will happen- to be honest, I’m not even sure Crewniverse would go this direction at all- but just for funsies, let’s see what kind of “evidence” or “foreshadowing” exists that might support this potential story path in the context of canon.

(EDIT: 10/7/19 

I honestly no longer think this creature is a worm at all whatsoever, it’s either more akin to a horned caterpillar or potentially has limbs. Either way we can see so little right now that it’s hard to tell. I’m not editing the rest of this post because I want it to exist in its original form- but do keep this in mind reading the rest! XP)

1) The design of this worm creature.

Let’s start simple. Let’s start tangible. 

For future reference and simplicity, I will be henceforth be referring to this creature as... “Wormy Boi.”

So, let’s see what we’ve got here. I’m definitely not the first person to point out this fella’s pink nature, and the jarringly human-like nose they’ve got. (Compared to other corruptions, which have had distinctly non-humanoid features.) In the photo above, we also have Wormy Boi sporting glowing pink eyes, which then send out a flare of pink light/energy. So, seemingly a powerful entity.

If you watch the short segment before they sit upright, you’ll see that Wormy Boi is super, super big. They’re in the background, but BOY do they loom. The shadows cast upon them especially push that sense of size. They’ve also got a whole bunch of spikes on their back and framing their face.

So, then. What evidence could be made for this being a corrupted!Steven, as opposed to some other run-of-the-mill monster?

Steven Universe Future is a limited series, described as ‘tying up loose ends.” To me, as a viewer, it would make far more sense for the antagonists/conflicts to deal with big concepts that have already been established since there’s such a limited amount of time we have left with this world. Introducing a completely alien species in the last act of the show would feel offbeat from both a writing and a viewing perspective. Corruption- on the other hand- is something we don’t have full answers to yet.

We don’t see any gem, yes- but Steven’s gem is- of course- on his belly. If this theory were to be true, that would translate to the gem being on Wormy Boi’s underside, far out of our sight in this shot, due to how massive they are. As an addition to this, not showing the gem gives an air of mystery to this creature’s true nature- which makes it seem like there’s something surprising to discover here.

A corrupted diamond would surely be MASSIVE. Also, very powerful. The beam of pink light hints at Wormy Boi being quite a powerhouse.

The spikes on Wormy Boi’s back and around their face highly resemble rose thorns. We all know how much the Crewniverse loves their rose symbolism, and design wise, this aspect would make a lot of visual sense for a corrupted Steven. Running off of that:

The face/nose shape and the five horns on this creature’s head give off a very Steven-like silhouette. 

The nose, of course. The face has a very Steven-like shape to it, overall- although noticeably more angular and sharp. The mouth is reminiscent of the Watermelon Stevens’ mouths. And as for the horns, there’s five of them positioned equidistant around their face, just as Steven’s hair is always formed from five lil’ bumps at the same positions.

Okay, moving on.

(Read more under the cut!)

2) We do not yet understand the true nature of corruption.

“I guess it’ll take more than a kiss to heal damage from the Diamonds…” -Pearl, Monster Reunion

Corruption is still- bafflingly- a huge mystery. The Gems we’ve watched the CGs bubble since season one have been healed, yes, but there are still many gaps in our understanding of it. With Steven Universe Future’s promise to address some lingering story threads, it would make sense if corruption was on the plate for further discussion. So, what DO we know?

We know it’s something the Diamonds can do. Interestingly, it doesn’t seem to require all four diamonds. Three of them together were able to cause all the damage to Earth. There’s also no statement made that more than one Diamond is required to cause effects like that. 

In Legs From Here to Homeworld, Blue and Yellow Diamond weren’t actually aware the corruption was something they were capable of producing. They seemed to assume they obliterated the Gems on Earth. Corruption is then, even a mystery to them. That’s... odd, isn’t it?

Pearl states that it’s “something nearly impossible to describe.” Garnet goes further to say... “It’s sorta like... if MC Bear-Bear didn’t tear the fabric of his arm, but the fabric of his mind.”

"A sound… A song?” There’s a lot of association between corruption and music.

It causes Gems to lose touch with their usual forms, instead warping into a more outwardly "monstrous” version of themselves that appear to be “just a bundle of fight-or-flight reflexes and survival instincts.” As seen by Centipeetle in Monster Buddy and Monster Reunion, it appears as if corrupted Gems try to regenerate with their original forms if unbubbled, but are simply not in a state where they can maintain that.

As seen with Jasper in Earthlings, extreme emotional distress very much seems to speed up corruption’s effects. This is less of a stated fact and more of my read on that episode, but I believe it to be an important tidbit, especially since Garnet states that corruption’s damage is mental rather than physical, at least at its core. This can also be seen in Monster Reunion with how Centipeetle’s partial healing backfires when she remembers the trauma of being corrupted and reacts strongly.

Now, when it comes to healing corruption, Steven tries to heal Centipeetle himself, and does make some nice progress... helping her regain a hold on herself as he treats her with love and compassion and understanding... but it’s ultimately not a healing that can occur in isolation, helping her on his own. She needs more support before she can heal from this corruption to a state where she can truly be herself again.

And that eventually comes in the form of the other Diamonds. So, all four diamonds can help relieve the corruption if they help these Gems all together. 

3) How could this theory potentially fit into the story anyways, you nutter?

Well, here’s the part of this post where I make some broad conjectures. I honestly am shooting fish into a barrel here because again- we know barely anything about how corruption actually happened initially, and my thoughts are very jumbled. Please forgive me.

"I don’t really know how the corruption works. It’s like they’re sick. They don’t remember who they used to be.” -Steven, Gem Hunt

So, corruption seems to be a mental ailment of Gemkind, turned manifest. It also seems to have a deep connection to a Gem’s emotions, with Centipeetle growing smaller and slightly calmer upon feeling more secure in Steven’s presence, and corruption speeding up as Jasper grew more and more emotionally overwrought and self-deriding about herself. 

When it comes to the Diamonds and how they perhaps caused it originally- without fully realizing- we know that at least Blue and White have abilities focused on causing others to act in certain ways. Blue has sway over one’s emotions, and White has a knack for forcing her thoughts and self upon others. (I’m not sure how Yellow’s ability would play in here.) Mayhaps, mixed with their grief and guilt and anger, their power simply pressed all of that hurt emotion onto all the Gems on Earth in one whole fail swoop...? Tearing their minds in the process of it all?

The question I still have, though- is whether a single diamond could produce effects like this. And whether a diamond could turn that ability on themself.

Could Steven accidentally corrupt himself? Why might that happen?

Well, let’s look at our boy here. 

He’s got a wide circle of support at this time in canon, but notably, he’s notorious for bottling up his emotion and not letting others in to help him- instead dropping everything to help them with their problems. Just to name a few examples (a few):

The Test. He feels betrayed and hurt at the Gems for a moment about the way they’re babying him with the rigged test, but instead of admitting the hurt he feels about the scenario, bottles that up to help them feel more like good guardians.

Joy Ride. He opens up to the Cool Kids about deep, incredibly troubling stuff that’s long been on his mind, but he’s never once talked about it with his family.

Mindful Education. The perils of bottling one’s emotions is literally the whole plot of the episode. The kid has a full out sobbing breakdown while he’s plunging to his death. Connie gets through to him a little here, but later episodes show that the resolution we see here is merely the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Steven’s internal issues. 

Storm in the Room. Externally, Steven tries so hard to put on a guise of content and positivity, but once alone in Rose’s room feels safe enough to let the full brunt of his emotional trauma come out in an almost explosive manner. Geeze, get this kid some hugs. 

Gemcation. Steven actually fails bitterly on putting on his customary smile in this episode, simply because the weight of his problems have become such an impossible burden to him. When the other Gems are trying to help him open up, he isn’t immediately responsive to their efforts. 

What’s Your Problem? Amethyst spends the whole episode trying to cheer Steven up and find out how he’s doing, and instead Steven downplays his own feelings on the matter and ends up helping her sort out her own emotional issues.

So to sum: Many an Emotional Issue, a chronic tendency to avoid outwardly addressing said issues in favor of helping everyone else instead... and to avoid accepting other people’s help.

Even if he’s surrounded by all these people who love him, the fact of the matter is that Steven still feels as if he has to face his own inner demons alone.

Now, let’s look at the lil’ teasing synopsis that was given for Steven Universe Future:

“After saving the universe, Steven is still at it, tying up every loose end. But as he runs out of other people’s problems to solve, he’ll finally have to face his own.”

Blatantly sounds like we’re gonna finally get some addressing of Steven’s emotional state, now doesn’t it?

4) A concept on what could, theoretically happen

“Maybe… it IS a guy in a monster costume. I don’t mean literally, silly! What I mean is... there might be a conscious Gem still inside there, somewhere. What if the monster is turning back and forth into its original form? If it is, it might not be as corrupted as we think! There might still be a chance to save it!” -Steven, Gem Hunt

Suppose Steven- by some as-of-yet unknown means- ends up accidentally corrupting himself. His sorry emotional state only further amplifies the effects of this corruption, and makes it really hard to retain control. Wormy Boi as a form could be like... all his inner demons made manifest, a metaphoric mirror into his current mental state. But- as he is half-human- he’s not entirely unaware of what’s happening. Perhaps... as the quote above could be sneaky foreshadowing for... how he’s turning back and forth between this corrupted form and his normal form. 

He likely wouldn’t want everyone to see him like this, doesn’t want everyone to visibly know the sheer depth of how much he’s hurting. But just like the corrupted Gems were only able to be helped in community, with the support of the CGs and the Diamonds in preparing the fountain, Steven can’t fix this on his own. 

He can no longer face the dark alone.

At some point, everyone has to take a brave step. Reach out. Accept help. 

Steven’s helped so many people, and surely he deserves that same love and care in return, too.

And perhaps, when he’s eventually healed from this- and has gotten the opportunity to be open with his family and friends about the hurt he’s facing- he’ll be left with “corruption scars” as well. I think it’s an important thing to address, that no one goes through experiences like these without lingering effects. Stuff stays with you. Healing is not always linear. But life is a continuous journey, and with the support of people who love you surrounding, you too can make a change... can continue to live to the fullest at every moment possible.

I think the above would be a lovely moral for Steven Universe to tackle in its last run of episodes, no matter how they approach it- daft corruption theory or not.

Now, in the end- a reiteration. This is just a wild theory. I’m not trying to be any authoritative voice saying that this is for sure what will happen, because in reality I have no idea what Crewniverse is cooking. However, I do think it’s fun speculation, and I am kinda spooked at how well things fit. 

Whatever happens, I’m sure it will make me weep like a baby, though. Hoh boy. Grant me sanity in these coming months as we wait for answers.

[kidrat]

☕ moash?

so like,,, back when I first got into stormlight I disliked him bc a) I was 15 and didn't always have the best takes I will admit it lol and b) that was the Vibe you know and then a while later like, it was one of those things where you share a fandom opinion but you don't really interact w fandom so then when you do go in tags and see the Takes you're like oh you guys weren't... joking??? lol

like specifically I thought we were all saying 'fuck moash' partially for the meme and partially because he upset kaladin. and to be honest I did/do find Elhokar somewhat interesting!! He's a great case of shit person good character and it was kinda fun to be like 'yeah fuck moash' as shorthand like.. 'I understand and agree with the choice to kill off elhokar but I also wanted to see what Brandon would do with him and if he would grow as a person seeing as the series is based off that kind of arc and Also I am fifteen and it's fun to do the fandom thing of silly exaggerated grief for some rando getting killed off'

and then when I started to see more good and nuanced takes around Moash when I started engaging with the fandom again I did agree w those BUT I can tell you the specific moment I was like 'actually Moash Rights'. which is when someone in the tag was complaining that the moash critical group were referring to moash moving gavinor(?) out the way pre assassination as 'moash kicking a child' and i was like the who are what now. (again I thought we were being HYBERBOLIC and unnuanced FOR THE MEME hello???) and that was just so stupid that I decided to embrace moash apologism.

anyway. speaking of the moash brain rot bc I realise I've mostly talked about my own character development so far lol:

more characters should be involved in failed assassinations. (ik he succeeded but it's so funny it's the Second killing-elhokar-plan after the guy he'd been hyping up as a great killing-elhokar-candidate bailed) more characters who needed a plan b for their murders please. it's so good

I've said this before in notes somewhere but I'm infodumping <3 so <3 in the kaladin isn't a centrist au, I like to imagine it's either kaladin who kills Elhokar, or that Kaladin helps moash or guides his hand to the stabbing. Specifically I crave the moment where kaladin sees moash reconsider or feel apprehensive about the murder and realise moash isn't bloodthirsty or evil, that he has doubts just like Kaladin, and that in fact he is incredibly brave for doing what needs to be done despite not being a cold blooded killer at all. and kaladin just kind of softens. and now I'm just thinking off the top of my head but imagine if killing elhokar was an act of love. imagine if the enduring imagery of elhokar's murder was kaladin's arm on moash's back and an easing of moash' burdens??? imagine if it was beautiful and the sun set over them and elhokar went out quietly.

related. kinda the same point in fact but we needed a paragraph break SO i just reread that scene and it's kinda sexy that moash a) uses a spear to do it when the series has so much symbolism surrounding weapons and has associated spears so much w darkeyes and specifically the oppression of darkeyes! and then that b) he KICKS AWAY ELHOKAR'S SHARDBLADE!!! he really said 'i will take down the bourgeoisie with the symbol of my low status and then reject the symbol of their power, explicitly stating that by removing those in power I do not intend to replace them but to reject the entire system that gave them power' that slapped. and then ofc the bridge four salute which is more of the same

'He looked at Kaladin, then quietly made the Bridge Four salute, wrists tapped together. The spear he held dripped with Elhokar's blood' worm

something something rosharan communist flag but it's a spear instead of a sickle idk what the other thing wld be tho

also going back to that quote, the dynamic of an assassin working For someone in their mind without that person wanting it is kinda cool like to take a break from political commentary... fellas is it gay to dedicate your kills to a man who is horrified by them and renounces you completely despite how you are tied to each other? fellas is it also very outdoor housecat to do that? in conclusion uuuh catboy moash I think? kinda lost the track on that one

to speak on the ship I do think they're both gay idk if Kaladin has a specific crush on Moash (i think he had like a small one on him in WoK/WoR) but Moash definitely is attracted to Kaladin. Like i'm not necessarily invested in the relationship, tbh it takes a lot for me to ship anything But i like the dynamic and the potential attraction involved in the dynamic and the fact it's a Queer Dynamic regardless of if it's a queer *relationship* does that make sense??? it does

I am cutting myself off here for the sake of my remaining dignity send tweet

[btsslowburnfic]

BTBY Ch. 18

Series Summary:  For Namjoon, the moment he set his sights on being the #1 rapper, he pushed the symbol to the side and hated it. Love should be chosen, not forced on you. He didn’t believe in fate and this mark on his wrist was a big “fuck you” to all that.

AN: Sorry the taglist hasn’t been working. I’ve started tagging my local to check  -_-  Let’s get these two back together, what do y’all say??  Previous chapter here --------------

Time passed on with you living on Joe and Xavier’s couch. You had gotten into the habit of texting Namjoon on a semi-regular basis. Sometimes about important stuff, but mostly, and surprisingly it was about dumb shit. He would send you photos from the cities where they were touring or of food. It was finally your turn to return the favor. 

Joe and Xavier got married a few months after you moved in. Joe was offered a position with a Broadcasting company in New York City that was too good to pass up, and so the three of you all packed up and began the long drive to your new two bedroom apartment in New Jersey. 

NJ: What exactly am I looking at here?

Y/N: The World’s Largest Mailbox.

NJ:.........

Y/N: And here is the World’s Largest rocking chair.

NJ: Why am I looking at these things?

Y/N: Haha, haven’t you ever been on a road trip? We’re stopping to see weird things along the way.

NJ: No. I haven’t. My family always vacationed in the same places growing up and management shuttles us around.

Y/N: ha! Well next time you come to the USA I am sneaking you out for a road trip. 

NJ: You’ll have to do all the driving sweetheart, I don’t have a license.

Y/N: Waaaat?! Really? Fine. You can be in charge of navigating.

NJ: That is also a bad idea but I admire your excitement. G2g, interviews. So. Many. Interviews.

You smiled and put the phone back into your purse. You had saved a table for the three of you in the diner next to the World's Largest wind chime. 

“More coffee, honey?” The waitress asked, holding the regular and decaf pots as she made the rounds.

“Yes please. And 2 more menus. My friends are walking over now.”

“Sure thing.”

You put your hands around the cup, enjoying the feeling of warmth spreading through your fingers.  It was early in the morning and you were trying to give them some private time in the hotel room so you had left early to do sightseeing in the small town of Casey, Illinois. It had not disappointed with it’s array of random big shit. 

You heard the bell ding and saw the two men enter, looking sleepy but happy. You didn’t need to wave seeing as there were only ten tables in the whole place, but you did so anyways out of habit.

They sat across from you, as the server walked over and handed them some menus. “Good morning fellas. What can I get you to drink?”

“Coffee.” They responded in unison and then laughed.

“You got it.” She walked away from the table.

“Did you guys check out the windchime?” You asked.

Xavier squinted at you, “Darling, you are way too happy for this early in the morning. No. I have not looked at a windchime.”

Joe put his arm around his husband’s shoulder. “I’m sure we’ll look after we have breakfast though. Why are you in such a great mood this early?”

“No reason. I guess I just think the town is cute and weird.” Your phone pinged.

“You’ve been talking to your boyfriend-not boyfriend.” Xavier said.

You rolled your eyes at first but then a smile crept across your face, “Well I guess I was excited to finally have some pictures worth sharing. He always sends pictures from everywhere that look super cool. And I never have anything other than coffee and LA traffic. Which he has already seen. So unimpressive.” 

The waitress dropped the coffee off at the table and then took the food order. You took your phone out and snuck a peek while Xavier and Joe were discussing the merits of turkey sausage versus regular. 

NJ: You should come see me sometime.

Your eyes grew wide and you threw your phone back in your purse as though it was made of poison. That was a sudden shift in conversation.

“What the hell?” Xavier laughed.

Your eyes remained wide as you looked at both of them. You had imagined visiting him, but to you it was just a pipe dream. Your texts were never romantic in nature or anything. The two of you never mentioned the soulmark or the nights you had spent together or anything, You bit your lip nervously. “He asked me to come visit him. After we get all settled in New York.”

“Fucking go. Book that flight now.” Xavier exclaimed loudly, drawing a few looks from some of the older locals. 

You laughed nervously. “Why so we can awkwardly hang out, have sex, and then never speak of it again? I’ve already done that twice.”

“Yes. That is a great reason to go.” Joe deadpanned. “Absolutely. Go get that soulmate dick. Oh also, because you like him and you would get to see a different part of the world. And you’re between jobs right now. I can’t think of a reason not to go.”

You took a sip of your coffee. “I’ll think about it.”

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

“Has anyone seen my phone?” Namjoon asked. The other guys had been in the break room for a while, but as the leader he had a few more duties he needed to tend to before he could be done for the evening. The interviews had finally wrapped up for the day. They had done 6 online ones back to back. 3 in English and 3 in Korean.  He was exhausted from translating and answering questions. The guys were always extra chaotic during the English interviews.

“I think it’s over on the table.” Hoseok replied, sending some messages on his own phone.

Jimin got up quickly, pulling V along with him,“ we ordered food. See you guys later.” They left the room.

Yoongi was sitting at the table texting as well, “I’m hungry too. Why didn’t they invite me?” He pouted.

Namjoon picked up the phone to see if you had sent him any more weird pictures. He felt bad sending you pictures all the time from all over the world. He felt like a spoiled brat. He knew they had worked hard to get to where they were, but the fame and success and everything that came along with it still felt so foreign to him. He unlocked the phone and checked the messages.

“What the fuck?” He looked up from his phone. “Jimin! Taehyung!” He yelled. Of course it was pointless. ”Yoongi? Can you unsend a message once it’s sent?”

Yoongi blinked slowly, he was also tired and confused by Namjoon’s sudden yelling. “Why are you asking me? I don’t know. I don’t think so.”

“What did they do?” Jungkook, who had been quietly sitting on the couch next to Jin asked, his big doe eyes full of concern.

Namjoon scrunched up his face and wiped it with his hand, pausing to pinch the bridge of his nose. “They texted Y/N and told her I wanted her to visit.”

Jin let out a surprised laugh, “Oh my God.”

*Jungshook*

“Well you want to see her don’t you?” Yoongi said calmly

“I mean I do but she doesn’t want to see me. Remember? She left.” He replied. He was going to kill them. Maybe the IT staff at BigHit could help him. He grabbed his coat, determined to find out. 

“She left in the middle of the night because it’s hard to say goodbye. You’re the one who left the country.” Yoongi said, putting his phone down.

Namjoon looked over, sighing. His phone pinged.  

Y/N: Maybe ^_^ I don’t start work for a little bit after we get moved in. Let me know your schedule! I got my passport renewed.

Namjoon stood there opening and shutting his mouth a few times.

The room stayed quiet for several seconds.

“Did she answer you?” Jungkook tentatively asked.

Namjoon slipped his phone into his pocket and ran a hand through his hair. “She did. She wants to know my schedule.”

Yoongi got up. “Great. Jimin and Tae can live. I’m going to go join them for food.” NEXT CHAPTER @calling-dips-on-j-hope​  @ghostkat23​ @cuteipat​ @marianeamine​ @thisisval​ @almonte12​  @themisunderstoodblackswan  @bobbyboops  @betysotelo18 @katerbees

[tsarisfanfiction]

Long Way From Home: Chapter 4

Fandom: Thunderbirds Rating: Teen Genre: Family/Friendship Characters: Scott, Tracy Family

Time to start really playing in one of my favourite things about writing this fic: the differences!  I’m far too interested in things like this, and for the sake of the story (aka torturing Scott) I am emphasising and exaggerating as many differences as I can between the two canons, whether they be in relationships, technology or society, because quite frankly I love this sandbox.  As my sister told me when I gushed about this fic to her, my inner scientist and academic has taken to this with glee a la “compare and contrast the differences in [xyz] between TOS and TAG”.  There will be a lot of this to come.

<<<Chapter 3

“What is that projecting onto?”  Scott jumped, looking up at the cliff above him.  Other-Scott was perched there, regarding his comm unit curiously.  “Brains was right; your technology really is nothing like ours.”

“Not that it’s doing me any good here,” Scott groused, swiping through the symbol to extinguish it.  “Stupid thing can’t even connect to your Thunderbird Five.”

“You want to talk to John?” Other-Scott sounded surprised, but dropped off the ledge to join him in the hollow.

“My John,” Scott corrected, letting his arm drop to his side. “But I thought my gear would at least link into your network.”

“Network?” Other-Scott asked.  “We have a network of agents that work for us, but what do you mean about your gear linking into that?”

Scott gaped at him.

“Not that sort of network,” he said.  “The communications one.”  Other-Scott still looked blank, and Scott facepalmed.  “You don’t have one.  Of course, different technology.  Really different technology.”

Other-Scott frowned at him thoughtfully, before unbuckling his watch and offering it.  It was Scott’s turn to look blank.

“It won’t reach another universe,” Other-Scott said, apologetically.  “But if you need to talk to our Thunderbird Five, this will work.”  Scott took it carefully, turning it over in his hands. It looked like a normal, antique watch, but having seen Other-Brains’ watch transform into a video link, Scott knew there had to be more to it than that.

“How does it work?” he asked after a moment, eyeing the various buttons on the side.  Other-Scott held out his hand for it back and Scott obliged.

“It’s set to Thunderbird Five’s frequency,” he started, “but it can be changed to any other communicator, Thunderbird, Pod vehicle, Mobile Control or Base by adjusting the frequency with this dial.”  He twisted the one on the furthest left, and the clock face vanished, to be replaced with a string of numbers.  A burst of static erupted from it.  “Or you can tune into a radio station, but Dad doesn’t like us doing that.”  He turned the knob back to where it was, and the numbers flashed in time with a dial tone. A quick press of the furthest right knob and it stopped, restoring the watch face.  “That starts and stops transmission,” he explained. “The middle dial controls the time; after all, it is also a functioning watch.”  He handed it back and Scott looked it over again, lightly tapping the three knobs thoughtfully.  “You can borrow it if you want, but it does have a location transmitter installed, which Dad can access whenever he wants.”

Scott was grateful for the warning.  He had no intention of dealing with Not-Dad again any time soon, well aware that it would be explosive.  Still, a communicator, even if it couldn’t connect to where he really wanted it to, was an offering he couldn’t bring himself to decline.

A light on the face started to flash lilac, and Other-Scott winced.

“Whoops,” he muttered, taking the watch back out of Scott’s hand.  “John must have noticed that I contacted Thunderbird Five,” he explained.  “Lilac means John,” he continued.  “Yellow is Virgil, white is Alan, orange is Gordon, brown is Brains and gold is Dad.”

Scott sighed.  “You couldn’t at least use the same colours?” he muttered.  Other-Scott shot him a questioning look even as he answered his brother’s call.

“Hi, Scott,” the blond man greeted.  “You called?”

“Just showing Scott our communicators,” Other-Scott explained. “His doesn’t work here; the technology must be too different.”

“It looked it, from what Brains showed me,” Other-John agreed. “Is he still with you?”

“I’m here,” Scott said, cutting off whatever Other-Scott was about to say.  He leaned in. “Any sign of them?”

“Oh, hi there,” Other-John said.  “No, none of my new parameters have caught anything.  I’ll keep an ear out, but it’s seeming more and more likely that you’re the only one to have fallen through.”  Some of the tension seemed out of Scott’s shoulders.

“I hope so,” he agreed, settling back in the hollow again. “What can you tell me about this multiverse theory?”  Other-Scott passed the watch back to him.

“I’ll go keep the other fellas away,” he interjected before Other-John could start talking.  “Talk to you later, John.”

“Bye, Scott,” Other-John acknowledged, before turning his attention back to Scott as Other-Scott slipped away.  “Well, Scott, the easiest way to describe it is to imagine a big glass box full of water.  Inside the box of water, there are some objects floating around.  Most of the time they don’t touch, but occasionally you get a collision between two of them.  What actually happens during those collisions is unknown; until you appeared, there’s been no proof to support the theory at all.  Not,” he added hurriedly, “that Brains or I have any intention of revealing your existence.  We’d rather see you get home than be reduced to a lab rat.”

“I appreciate that,” Scott said dryly.  “Except I’m going to have to play the part of one for you and your Brains anyway.”

“Well, that’s true,” Other-John admitted.  “The chances of an identical collision reversing the effects naturally is astronomically slim, so getting you home will require us to somehow force a similar situation.  However, we’ll be sure to remain humane and focused on returning you home before any other research.”

Scott chuckled.  “If your Brains is anything like mine, he’ll be doing it simultaneously. As long as it gets me home, I don’t care.”

Other-John let slip a small smile of his own before frowning. “You realise that this is an entirely new division of research.  It very well might be years.”  Scott was trying not to think about that too hard.

“In that case, what are we waiting for?” he asked, clambering to his feet to find Other-Brains.

“Brains has already started,” Other-John informed him.  “He’s gathering what data he can find from where you were found in Thunderbird One’s hangar, and the anomaly in your DNA from the sample he already took.  I suspect you don’t want to hear this, but interrupting him will only slow him down. He’ll find you when he needs you.”

Their voices were different, but Scott could easily imagine John – his John – saying much the same thing.

“You really are like him,” he said, sitting back down. Privately he was relieved he didn’t need to go back to the villa; after his outburst in Thunderbird One’s hangar, he was determined to avoid the family for as long as possible.

“Like who?” Other-John asked, even though the fact that he knew exactly who Scott was talking about was written all over his face. Scott told him as much.

“You know,” he accused.

“I’m as much like him as you are like Scott,” Other-John pointed out.  “As the two of you are twins in personality just as much as appearance, barring the effects from different life events, it follows that the same would be true for myself and your John.”

Different life events.  It was the closest either Other-Scott or Other-John had come to acknowledging his outburst.

“You haven’t asked about it,” he observed.  Other-John shrugged.

“Would you tell me if I did?”

“No,” was Scott’s immediate reaction, although there was a part of him that wondered if he would, if the right questions were asked.  No, better not to go there.  He’d ripped the wound far enough open already; there was no need to worsen it further.

“I do try not to waste my breath,” Other-John responded. “I meant it when I said you’re just like my Scott.”

Scott thought back to the hangar, and Other-Scott’s reaction to Not-Dad’s anger.

“Am I?” he asked.  He couldn’t imagine ever being contrite like that.

“You attacked each other because you thought the other was a threat to your brothers,” Other-John pointed out.  “Whatever you’ve both been through, your priorities are the same. Or are you going to tell me I’m wrong?” Scott met his eyes steadily.

“You know the answer to that.”

“Sometimes it’s nice to hear someone admit I’m right,” Other-John shrugged with a grin, before he turned away suddenly.  “International Rescue here.  What’s the problem?”

He didn’t cut the connection, and Scott didn’t either, listening to a garbled panic in the background, which Other-John responded to with calm, measured words for a few moments before turning back to Scott. Before Scott could ask, instincts screaming for him to get to Thunderbird One and launch, the blond man pressed a finger to his lips.

“There’s a distress call from a power plant, Father,” he said after a moment, finger back down out of sight.  He must have connected to the villa to relay the information, without breaking Scott’s own line.  “Temperature is rising fast and the blast doors have slammed shut, trapping two workers inside.  Local services won’t be able to get them out in time.”

Scott couldn’t hear whatever Not-Dad had to say in return. Whether that was intentional on Other-John’s part or a happy accident he wasn’t quite sure – if it was his John he’d know it was intentional, but he didn’t know what this universe’s technology was capable of, although he supposed if anyone could bring the most out of it, it would be John’s counterpart – but he was glad.  He couldn’t quite reconcile the man against his memories of his own father, and it was bringing up too many unwelcome thoughts that he didn’t care for.

“Thunderbird One’s about to launch,” Other-John said after a period of silence.  Scott peered around the rock to take a better look at the villa below, and was unsurprised to see the swimming pool retracting.  It was weird to actually witness it for once – no-one else ever piloted One if he had any say in the matter, and he didn’t recall the last time he’d seen the launch process.  A roar of engines – similar but not the same as his own ‘bird’s cry – and the sleek shape of International Rescue’s first response craft soared into the sky.  It was a breath-taking sight, even though he was mentally cataloguing all the subtle differences in the moment he had before she was gone, smashing through the sound barrier effortlessly.

It was a whole different way to appreciate her speed.

“What’s her top speed?” he asked.  Other-John made a curious noise.

“What do you think?” he asked, and Scott sighed, pulling his eyes away from where she’d last been visible to look back at the blond man, whose attempt at fishing for information on his own Thunderbird was far from subtle.

“Mach 19,” he said.  “Officially.”

“And unofficially?” Other-John probed.  Scott shrugged.

“Never pushed her to see,” he admitted.  The airspeed record was his Dad’s, and he had no intention of breaking it.  If there was any craft that could, surpassing the TV-21, it would be Thunderbird One, but he didn’t want to.  It was a piece of his father he couldn’t bring himself to overwrite. “Mach 20.”

“Mach 19.6,” Other-John said.  “Thunderbird Two’s preparing to launch.  Virgil and Alan are taking Pod Three with the DOMO and Mole.”

“Alan?”  Scott couldn’t hold back his surprise.  “Not Gordon? And Pod Three?  Domo?  Mole?” One sentence on a subject he should know better than the back of his hand – did know better, back at home – told him that while Thunderbird One appeared largely the same, there were clearly fundamental differences in their main gear.

“You’d have chosen Gordon instead?” Other-John asked.  He was probing for more information because of course he was.  Any John would be a sponge for information, leeching it from whatever sources he could.

“Of course,” Scott replied, giving him the information because if there was one person in this universe that needed to know, it was the monitor on board Thunderbird Five, listening out for signs of his brothers. “Alan’s just a kid.  Gordon’s more experienced and doesn’t have homework to do.”

“So your Gordon… is up for it?” Other-John asked, fishing around further.  “And Alan – homework?”

“Why wouldn’t he-”  Scott cut himself off as a deeper rumble presumably signalled the other Thunderbird’s take-off, out of sight.  “You don’t have hydrofoils here, do you?” he asked suspiciously.  Other-John’s face fell.

“I was hoping there were more differences in life experiences,” he admitted.  “Gordon’s back will never heal properly.  Dad only sends him if Thunderbird Four is needed, or all hands are.”

“And he hasn’t driven him mad?” Scott asked, disbelieving. “Gordon would murder me slowly and creatively if I kept him grounded like that.”  Not-Dad’s temper and fury at being addressed as an equal rather than a superior came back to him and he frowned.

“If you kept him grounded like that?” Other-John’s fishing couldn’t get any more blatant, and Scott glared at him.

“Stop asking questions you know the answer to,” he snapped. Other-John held his hands up in mock-surrender.  An object on a cord was in one of his hands, Scott noticed.  It looked like an ancient microphone.

“I don’t know the answer,” he defended himself.  “I have suppositions and ideas, but not answers. I can’t actually read minds, you know.” Scott slumped back into his hollow and rubbed a hand over his face again.

“Yes, my Dad is gone.  Yes, that means I’m in charge of International Rescue.  Yes, that means I’m CEO of Tracy Industries,” he bit out. “And yes, that means I’m the legal guardian of my fifteen year old kid brother who should be worrying about school and not launching a damn rocket into space several times a week!”

The watch was silent.  Scott adamantly refused to look at it, to see what face Other-John was wearing – or if he’d hung up.

“No wonder you clashed with Dad.”  Evidently Other-John hadn’t done the latter.  “Scott’s just arriving at the danger zone, so Dad should be in the office at the moment.  Normally I’d say Gordon would be with him, but I know you’ve got him curious.  Scott grabbed his spare watch, and I don’t think Dad’s realised yet, but Gordon’s crafty enough to notice that sort of thing.”

“You think he’s looking for me?” he asked, reluctantly looking back at the watch.  Other-John shrugged.

“Unlikely,” he said.  “He knows better than to chase Scott when he’s in a mood.  More likely, he’s lying in wait for when you decide to return.”  Scott groaned.  Other-Gordon had been the quietest so far, and a quiet Gordon meant warning signs. Amber eyes had been watching him, though, scrutinising him perhaps the most closely of all the Other-Tracys, and part of Scott had been waiting for it to come to a head.  Apparently that time was now.

“My John knows how to keep his mouth shut,” he said. Other-John chuckled.

“I do, too,” he promised.  “They won’t hear anything from me unless they have to.”

“They won’t have to,” Scott growled, looking down at the watch as he tapped at his own communicator uselessly.  The red no signal symbol greeted him and he swiped it away angrily.  “Does this thing have map capabilities?” he asked.  “The entrances to One and Two are the same, but the house itself is nothing like home.”

“Not Three?”  Other-John sounded surprised.  “Odd that not all of them are the same.”

“Odd that your Four doesn’t even have her own entrance,” Scott retorted, although now he knew more about Other-Gordon – or specifically, that they were treating him like he was made of glass – he could see why.  What sort of family dynamic they had that Other-Gordon hadn’t driven them all totally insane in revenge was one he wasn’t too fond of contemplating.

“Thunderbird Four lives in Pod Four,” Other-John said, sounding slightly confused.  “Why does she need her own entrance?”

Pod Four?  And earlier, Other-John had said Pod Three was carrying a Domo and a Mole.

“You call Thunderbird Two’s modules pods,” he realised. Other-John blinked at him.

“Say,” he said, curiously.  Scott sensed another not so subtle probing on the way.  “You heard the briefing I gave Father.  What would you have done?  If you were with your own technology, I mean?”

“Thunderbird One and Two,” he said, not even having to think about it.  “Gordon with Virgil, taking Module Two.  Keep up to date information through Thunderbird Five and assess the situation upon arrival.  Configure the PODs as required once Two arrives and get those people out.  Get John on finding out how it happened and who was responsible.”  Kayo, Lady Penelope and Parker, too.

“You think it’s sabotage?” Other-John asked, surprised. Scott shook his head.

“Accidents are usually caused by cutting corners,” he said, jaw locking.  “Imbeciles who can’t observe safety regulations are a danger to everyone.”

“You’d shut them down?”  Other-John sounded astonished.  “Your International Rescue has that sort of authority?”  Scott scoffed.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” he said.  “We don’t have that authority and we don’t want it. There’s enough paperwork already.” Urgh, the paperwork.  Who would be doing that while he was gone, or would it just be piling up in neglect?  “We just give tip offs to the GDF and they handle it.”

“The GDF?” Other-John queried.  Scott decided to secure the watch to his wrist before he dropped it.

“Is nothing the same here?” he groused. “Global Defence Force.  The World Government’s military organisation.”

“International Rescue exists,” Other-John reminded him, and he sighed.

“No good to me when your tech is basically alien,” he pointed out, adopting Alan’s – and apparently Other-Alan’s - default.  “This watch is analogue.”

“Analogue?” Other-John asked, frowning.  Scott stared at him.

“Round dial of numbers?” he explained hesitantly.

“Well, yes.  What else would it be?” Other-John queried, as though the idea of any other type of watch was bizarre.

“Digital?” Scott offered.  Other-John’s face went blank, again, and he buried his face in his hands. “You’re kidding.”

“You have a name for ours, so it’s not entirely… alien,” Other-John pointed out, clearly as enamoured with the idea of aliens as his John.

“It’s ancient, is what it is,” he grumbled.  “We stopped using analogue clocks half a century ago. I don’t even know how to read the things!”  Virgil did, and John of course devoured anything related to communications, but Scott himself had never paid attention when Grandma had tried to show him on her own grandfather’s ancient watch; he’d been busy with other things, like raising four younger brothers.

“Half a century?” Other-John asked.  “Is your tech different because it’s futuristic?” Scott shook his head.

“I don’t think so.”  He tapped at the watch absent-mindedly.  “I’m trained in a lot of old tech, because not everywhere is at the forefront of technology, but I’ve never seen anything like this stuff.”

“We’ll just have to train you up, then,” Other-John said. “The fellas won’t mind.”

Scott could think of one man who seemed like he would.

“You never said if you could show me a map of the place,” he said instead.  “I need some shoes.”  The island was tropical, but that didn’t stop the dirt congealing on the soles of his feet from feeling decidedly uncomfortable.

“You’re planning on raiding Scott’s?”  Other-John sounded amused.  Scott thought he might be.  John would have been.

“Some other clothes, too,” he admitted, and Other-John laughed.

“I don’t have a map that labels the rooms,” he said.  “But here-”  His face disappeared and was replaced with a very basic, black and white map of the villa.  In the small watch face, it looked very cramped.  In one of the rooms, a blue light started flashing.  “That’s Scott’s room.”  Scott squinted at it.

“Can’t you make it bigger?” he complained.

“Not if you want to see how to get there,” Other-John told him and he groaned.

“You don’t have zoom and scroll?”

“Not on the watches.”  Scott was starting to feel lucky that was even an option on any device. Maybe this stuff wasn’t out of his history lessons, but it felt far behind the technology he was used to.  He poked at his own communicator again, and snarled at it when it merrily presented him with the red no signal declaration again.

“You okay?” Other-John asked.  His face was still hidden by the map, but he sounded concerned.

“Fine,” he growled.  “Stupid thing.”

“If you say so.”  Scott got the feeling he didn’t believe him.

Well, for the moment he had a plan.  Get back to the infirmary, navigate his way through the villa to Other-Scott’s room, and find something that wasn’t pyjamas to wear.

“Keep me updated,” he ordered, and got an acknowledging F.A.B before the line cut.  At least, he assumed it had.  He didn’t know the technology well enough to confirm it, but it didn’t matter either way.  Letting his wrist fall, he pushed himself to his feet and began the climb back down to the villa.

Chapter 5>>>

[bomberqueen17]

thicc replies

themagnificentmags replied to your post “chapter 3 of Fugitive”

Ooh, the plot thickens!

plots are like unto béchamel: irresistible to me when properly thickened (lol that was the most pretentious way I ever could have said that, I am delighted)

gnomeicecream replied to your post “we took the wyverns on a tour of the coast by boat”

High amounts of saphic energy in the prequil of this tale.

Fellas, is it gay to-- ahh, I’ll be serious, answer below.

childoffantasy replied to your post “we took the wyverns on a tour of the coast by boat”

B I am a humble queer, you can't just describe MM like that and NOT expect me to come away with a lil crush. Also I desperately need a lilac bush of my very own, cause idk how well the neighbors will react to me pilfering theirs once they bloom properly and I love gin cocktails

LISTEN. She is magnificent. I should mention, to be fair, that DF is also a reasonably attractive man (6′, hazel eyes, even features, lean but sturdy build, dresses nicely), it’s just, you know, men are much less aesthetically appealing in general. I have never not acknowledged that I am Hella Bi. However, I am also demisexual, and the Beast of Genuine Sexual Attraction bites me but seldom. So, for the record, while it would not be wrong if my residence in this house and love for its occupants was not entirely platonic, it is, but that doesn’t mean I can’t aesthetically enjoy its occupants. My mother is beautiful too, my sisters are great beauties, each in their own way; I can describe them as such without intending it to be a particularly thirsty description. But, for the record, I am and always have been bi as fuck, just, sort of ace too, as it happens. 😊

MM Fashion Update: Last night she dug out a pendant of a gryphon that she owns, to wear it in honor of poor Coen, since she finally got to the part of Ancient Sea where his Tragic Backstory is somewhat enumerated. ❤️

And, re: lilacs, I have EXCELLENT NEWS, which is that at least one manufacturer does make a lilac gin all pre-flowered for you, should anyone wish to recreate the Yennefer and not have a lilac bush just blooming at their disposal. 

Black Button Distilling makes a lovely lilac gin. Which, honestly, I should go buy some of, since I happen to be in town... ah, there’s kind of an inside reference here, Rochester NY is historically known as the Flour City because they had huge mills to convert grain from the Midwest that had come in via the Great Lakes into flour for use in New York and New England, as they were situated ideally right between the Erie Canal and Lake Ontario and at the hub of some railroads. Obviously all of that is long gone, but at some point it got converted over to the Flower City, and to make this a worthy name somebody filled up Highland Park with lilac bushes and every single year (except this year 😪) they have a wonderful big hullaballoo of a Lilac Festival and every single year, Rochester’s weather is so wildly unpredictable that the lilac bushes are not blooming during the festival, and that’s part of the charm of the festival. ANYWAY, so pale purple lilacs are a semi-official symbol of the city of Rochester. Which is where I am now, though it’s not where I live. ANYWAY *exhales* you can get lilac gin and make the Yennefer but you’d have to add bitters somehow to replicate the true beauty of it, the lilac gin is mostly a soft pleasant flowery aromatic experience. 

ANYHOO

you could always just ask your neighbors... I never would though, I don’t blame you one bit.

[rubystmntoc]

visitor from another world One-shot (TMNT)

So before I start I just wanna say happy new year to all of chu people >∆< also this is my first post on Tumblr so pls be nice constructive criticism is welcome thank u and with that being said enjoy 💞

~Disclimer I don't own the tmnt 2k3 series or any other version bc if I did the turtles 2k12 series would have a 6 and 7 season just saying 😐(I only own my oc)

Rose jekins just got home from a late night shift from her job working at the cafe 'if those last 5 customer's werent such pains in my ass then maybe I would have been home by 10:00 and not 12:00' she thought bitterly she hated her job the only reason why she still works there u ask?

Bc she has bills she needs to pay

She tiredly threw her appron and unbuttoned shirt on her couch before trudgeing into her room

'i wonder what it would be like to live with the tmnt' she thought

"who am I kidding? That can't happen it would be to sweet to come true"

'right?'

She kicked off her shoes and grabbed her laptop she smiled widely as episodes came up

Ever since she could remember she loved the turtles she would rewatch the old series over and over again as she grew older she fell in love with the oldest two turtles and would blush when they would wink or smirk as if they where looking at her

Getting comfortable on top of her bedsheets and covers she clicked one of her favorite episodes and hummed along to the theme song

She loved the opening scenes they where the best and kept her on her two cents as the plot was introduced to her

Suddenly her computer screen went static

"dammit" she she said getting up thinking that her computer was dead grabbed the charger in plugged it in

Still static

She was about to turn off the computer when a hand reached in and grabbed her she tryed to get the hand off her but it was to late she was sucked into her computer screen

. . . . . .

She crash landed in a ally way "ouch" she said picking herself up only to feel different

Her vision was a bit blurry but was she

Seeing green?

she screeched having no Idea what was going she backed herself into the ally wall not noticing her kidnappers

A knife was pointed toward her neck in a instant and another was put in front of her mouth to keep her from screaming

"Am only gonna go over this one time and one time only girl-(hatred laced in the voice) my mistress needs you for experimental purposes you are gonna come with me and my friends and if u don't comply am gonna rip ur vital cords from ur throat and watch u bleed out "

"A simple nod of your head is all I ask and will be on our way"

She did not believe it ,she soon recognized her kidnappers as the foot clan from the colors and the symbols scared she nodded her head

'i can't be in New York City! And these foot clan can't be real can they?!.......but this place looks like the NY from the show..wait a minute...AM IN THE F**KING SHOW!?!'

Suddenly feeling a burst of energy in her veins she tryed to wiggle out of the foot soldiers hands ,they catching on to what she was doing was about to knock her out when something hit the back of the foot soldiers head knocking them out

"I don't think she wants to come with cha fellas"

"yeah let the damsel go or face my nunchuck fury!" Two strong and child like voices rang out into the ally

"Raphael and Michelangelo hamato?" She said quitely*

"ITS THE TURTLES!" A foot soldier yelled out another following behinde screaming " KILL THEM!"

"Mikey you free the girl while raph, Donnie and I keep the foot busy"

'Leo!?!" She thought again

Soon she was face to face with the playful brother of the bunch

"don't worry me and my Bros will get you to safety"

Rose nodded her and soon felt herself out of the foots hands Happy she stood hugging mikey

"thank you Mikey" she said sincerely

"you welco- how do u know my name?"he asked questioning

"well let's just say am not from here and 2 your brother Leo just said it" she said with a knowing smirk

Accepting the answer they turned to witness the end of the fight

"that's the last of em" raph said

The brothers 4 high fiveing/threeing before turning there attention to the turtle mutant

"thank you so much Leo,Donnie and raph"

"your welcome hey uhh not to be rude but how do u know our names" a curious Donnie asked

"like a told ur little brother am not from here and this- she motioned her 3 fingerd hand down her body happend when I got here am not a mutant turtle where I come from also can we talk about this somewhere else I don't like talking out in the open" she said*

"we can take her to the lair!" Shouted a excited Mikey*

"absolutely not!" Shouted Leo in a protective manner

"I don't see why not fearless I mean she couldn't harm a fly" argued donnie

He secreatly wanted to take you to the layer to run test and find out more about where u cam from

Raph and Mikey nodding there head in agreement sighing then looking over you once leo agreed

Mikey jumping up for joy led u to the manwhole cover and chatted along with u the whole

U enjoyed his company and grew found of him this was gonna be one long adventure to getting back home!

I hope u like this One-shot sorry it was so long anyways Happy New year stay safe happy 2020 love ya bye!✊💓

[cruddyborderlandstheories]

Museum of Mayhem Art Analysis

ahhh it’s finally here and it’s AWESOME. Lots of credit to @ifalnasminiatures for bringing this to my attention! Also credit to Hayder Hype for providing (nat zero six on gearbox forums) sources (Ashley Landry on twitter) in the description of his video because oh man it’s a lot

you can view most of these art pieces on the borderlands instagram as well

lots to talk about especially regarding the calypso twins so let us dive right in

tl;dr: tyreen has a weird red marking on her face in some old designs. i think troy used to be blind and missing his metal plates. more proof for my elpis/chemical sludge/lost legion theory that the twins are using said chemical sludge to give their followers psuedo-siren powers bc a dahl pumping station (hyperion pumping stations on pandora) but dahl had a presence on the moon

one of my favorites, it reminds me a lot of the Mask of Mayhem, but for villains.

Punk Girl is shown again twice, probably further proving she’s tied in with the CoV somehow

we also got some crazy looking villains such as

baby face. which is all kinds of extremely fucked up

this dude who looks like he could be a miniboss with the glasgow smile and the cool goggles

this guy who i legitimately thought was dr zed for a hot second there

could it be

the evilest brother?? pfft nahhh

this girl who seems like she could be a unique character with a baseball cap. wondering if maybe she’s related to Punk Girl in any way. What’s the verdict on the other band members? 🤔

uhh let’s give it a solid maybe and move on

this piece! very interesting to me

so, the very first thing i noticed is zane’s eye patch being on the other eye lol

amara’s tattoos are also gone, however that might’ve been for reasons similar to the japanese cover art of the game. 

most interestingly is a point @ifalnasminiatures made and it’s that the calypso twins are actually palette swapped! you can see Troy is the one with the white hair and Ty is the one with the darker hair. which I think mayyy play into a few things we see later about the twins

we also see a tiny ship in the background. i can’t tell if that’s sanctuary-iii or the blue/yellow ship, it all blends together a lot due to the quality of the pic. but it is next to the calypso twins, which makes me want to believe it’s the blue/yellow ship we see with red markings all over it. you know this one from the mural of mayhem wallpapers

you can see the reddish markings on the back right next to the engines

then we have ummm

this cover art

😬

thanks for not using this one gearbox cuz 

oh my god

she just reminds me of suicide squad, that’s not a good image you wanna dredge up from the deep recesses of your fans’ brains

she might be a unique character given the clothes/hair? cuz you don’t normally see psychos with stilettos on. or yknow, shoes in general. the hair also seems way to clean and neat to be a psycho/cultist

i just feel uncomfortable looking at this, so moving on

a different logo. also not my favorite cover art, but at least im not physically uncomfortable looking at this. that poor girl’s pelvis... anyway

lots of silhouettes

interestingly, i feel like the roses might have been a thing they just put in for the new cover art. haven’t seen hide nor hair of them across any of the pictures i’ve seen.

we got a lot of figures. out of them i most definitely recognized amara, salvador, maya, another salvador?, zer0, moze (maybe?), and axton. i thiiink one of them is maya as well, but im not 100% on that. 

i can guess why they didn’t pick this one: it’s hard to tell who’s who. a lot of these poses make the silhouettes kinda hard to see and the merging together at the bottom makes things even worse. i do think it’s interesting there are some bl2 characters on here as well, but hayder hype mentioned they very well could be placeholders, and given that i can’t make out fl4k or zane, im inclined to believe him.

this art which was used during the promo for this event

rip elpis i guess LMAO

a better look at the psycho himself from the promo released by the borderlands twitter.

there’s a new red planet which hasn’t been shown off before, looks like a gassy planet kinda like jupiter, but interestingly it has this green crack in the side?

very reminiscent of pandora’s eridium scar. i am wondering if this is because this planet had a vault opened, or if it is tied to the Eridians at all. be interesting if it was their homeworld.

also i have no idea what the symbolism is in the homeworld destroying another planet but maybe we shouldn’t think about it too hard e_e

the other planet that’s being destroyed... idk fellas

it doesn’t match up to me but like, this is only one shot

i don’t know 🤔 if you really squint, maybe you can see that hint of purple at the bottom there?

here

tbh, i thought this was elpis the first time i saw it due to the cracks, but i figured elpis doesn’t have like continents across its surface, just craters. and wayyy more cracks.

so it’s probably not pandora and it’s probably not elpis.

huh...

i do think the actual shot is suspended above promethea, you can see the familiar asteroid belt surrounding it

there’s also a planet in the background,

which i imagine isn’t pandora bc no eridian scar

could be elpis or eden-6, or the 5th planet we don’t know about. i kinda get the feeling the 5th planet may be that gaseous red planet tho. which is probably going to be super weird to traverse now that i think about it. they said oz kits weren’t coming back, right? i wonder how that would work. hmmmm

there’s also this redder planet here which i actually DO think is Pandora. if you squint real hard u can see the purple from the eridian scar. plus the color matches up pretty well with the pictures provided above.

there’s also these two bodies over in the corner where the light is coming from. i can’t tell what they’re supposed to be

there are also these little dudes in the top right

i assume they’re maliwan? they remind me a lot of the maliwan drop ship things that fly overhead when you enter promethea

YESSS okay this is the start of some PRETTY WILD twin stuff

troy: missing his tattoos, blind in one eye, has a weird mark above his eyebrow. also, no metal bits!

Tyreen!!! with a red stripe across her left cheek going up to her eye??? no tattoos on her left arm as far as we can see, but that might be for marketing reasons (she’s also covering up part of her bicep). she’s also missing her coat and chains and wearing a different glove.

we also have a bunch of bl2 VHs taking up space. again i think hayder hype is right in that they’re simply placeholders. not much else to say, but 

this trend of Tyreen having red markings on her face and Troy being blind in an eye (or both) actually continues through a fair amount of these posters!!!

more cover art. one of my least favorites again... i just think it looks like the psycho is puking out the VHs. also, seems to be an older version of the psycho mask.

fl4k seems to be less rendered than the rest of the cast? like they have less detail, especially on their coat

also you can see an older looking space shuttle up at the top, which reminds me a lot of the one we use in TFTBL to get to helios. except less caravanny and more rockety

the splatter also reminds me of siren powers, with the purple and the glitter. it’s cool that it’s showing a different shot than what’s behind it. maybe a hint to siren powers because it’s sort of like a portal.

more puke! 

this time troy is blind in both eyes it seems,

tyreen seems to still have a mark on the left side of her face, im wondering if this ties into her scars at all? it doesn’t seem as prominent as the previous red mark.

Zane seems to have an actual eye patch instead of his more high-tech eye patch, which reminds me a lot of the leaked character concepts from like january i wanna say

amara seems to be dual wielding lol i wonder if originally that was going to be one of her 3 skills but then they were like “wait salvador. wait. nisha. FUC-”

also fl4k is being obscured by this weird saturn-like planet. let them be free!

moze is missing, the saturn like planet shows up 2 times total, and that blue/yellow ship is seen again behind troy

as for the purple stuff? you already know my theory that the twins are going to be using the chemical sludge on elpis to empower their followers. it could also just be straight eridium/slag. you know, like the testing from the WEP with bloodwing and even krieg. we’ll have to see. it would be interesting if they tied krieg into the story through there.

i do lowkey think it’s chemical sludge though, because some of it is actually glowing blue in places, you can see it clearly below amara’s feet. maybe some tie in to siren powers cuz they glow the same blueish color. who knoooows not i

big shot of this psycho here, looks like he’s crumbling. 

i really like the 4 VHs standing at the base with the elongated shadows. very dark vibes from this tho, probably not suitable for the series as a whole. i can see why maybe they decided not to do it. 

i wonder if we’ll see this giant psycho statue somewhere on pandora. it would certainly be a sight to behold. 

also i kinda wish we had cloaks like the concept art shows. cloaks are cool

more sketchy art. this one is also kinda strange, i definitely get why they decided not to go thru with it.

possibly tie-in with the ‘mother’ imagery we get on the propaganda signs across pandora.

lmfao the foot

very bl2 like, im glad they didn’t stick with this. i like that they decided to change things up

troy seems to be blind and also missing his metal implants on his face. his jacket also looks a lot different, it looks more like tyreen’s with the spikes and stuff across it. we also can’t see his metal arm at all, tho we do see his sword! which looks a lot different, im glad they decided to revamp it to be more visually interesting lol

tyreen is more interesting to me. it looks like her right arm has like a silver coating over it? unless that is a metal arm as well. she also is wearing a different kind of glove. her tattoos are missing as well, but again, it’s probably because of the cover art. her scars also definitely seem to have reached her left cheek at some point.

zane also looks a lot different, tho amara, moze, and fl4k look about the same.

another shot of the ship, this one is definitely the blue/yellow one. there’s gotta be some significance with that, right? either we’re getting skins for sanc-iii, we’re going to be painting it a new color, or it’s a different ship.

what the HECK

maybe the twins stole sanc-ii and we’re using sanc-iii. idek. this ship is driving me up a wall lol

gun head.

not a lot to say here. i actually like this one lol it’s very mellow and straight to the point. it’s nice that the logo is right in the middle, not at the top like most of them.

game. buy it. okay? cool.

similar to the other background we did, a bit different. again, like @ifalnasminiatures pointed out, the twins are actually palette swapped here. 

Zane also has the old eyepatch on his right eye instead of his left eye, and his jacket is black instead of blue. fuckin’ edgelord.

one of my favorite ones out of all of them. it’s beautiful, i really wish they had kept it. Fl4k is missing but i assume they were meant to go next to Amara? i also think it’s interesting Moze is in the front, as I took Amara to be the leader this time around. Zane is also an older design, with the eyepatch back on his left eye again (starting to think this is an aesthetic thing lol) and a black jacket instead of blue.

We see the twins on the top. Tyreen has that mark on her face again, and Troy is the same as the last few covers.

We also see Maya, Zer0, and for some reason Brick? Which is weird to me considering we have a few other characters who initially feel much for important to the story (cough Lilith cough), but I’m not complaining. 

the purple splatters again make me think this is a tie in to eridium/slag/elpis’s chemical sludge. i also like the logo being worked into the design instead of just thrown on top, i think that’s a nice detail

i couldn’t find a great shot of this poster which is a shame because it’s one of my favorites

a lot of baddies to go around on here. i love the dude up top, he reminds me of the Anchormen from the captain scarlett dlc in bl2!

these dudes

we can see Punk Girl on the left again

and this guy who appears to be in some medieval armor

i have no idea what’s going on there but i am EXCITED

i’ve been thinking and tbh i think the multiple planets thing was just an excuse for gearbox to go absolutely ham on the character designs/settings. 

i mean why should they have to hold back all their medieval armor designs for another dlc like tiny tina’s? all their pirate/sea-fairing designs for a pirate dlc? fuck it! go WILD. i think they did, anywho

there’s also this post which... tbh i can’t make out much at all. again, seems like an older psycho mask design. it looks like there are characters in the splatter on the bottom left, but it’s very hard to tell who’s who, especially at this angle and image quality lol

if we get a better shot later on i may return to this piece and try to figure things out!

we also have this piece which is giving me huge ‘Happy Together’ vibes. very trippy

moze looks like she’s using an untextured atlas gun? dunno what’s going on with that tbh lol

i really like this one too. it’s cool. i get why maybe they wanted to go a little crazier tho, feels too simplistic for the MAYHEM vibe they’re going for.

oof! can we get an F in chat for whatever planet/moon this is

lots of pink floyd vibes going on here as well

we see a different looking blue/yellow ship flying away from the explosion. it seems to missing a lot of the parts that make sanc-iii so recognizable including the engines/wings

i like the destruction vibe they’re going for here, really sells the “universe destroying power” the twins are supposedly going to get. 

anyway, in addition to the cover art pieces, we also got a few concept art pieces as well!

this bit which looks like a gun

you see the aiming mechanism up there? you see how it’s aimed at that planet/moon? yeah i 100% timed this so you’d see the above concept art with this immediately after :P (im kidding i didn’t but hey now you don’t have to scroll)

fuck yeah babey

we also have seen something similar to this in the gameplay trailer!

i didn’t actually think it was a giant fucking GUN tho. can we get an F in chat for Promethea and/or whatever else this thing gets aimed at

yooo

i thought this was opportunity at first cuz of the bridge but it’s more likely promethea

when u go meet zer0 you can see some water surrounding the city so i would guess this is somewhere else on promethea

im mostly interested in the giant fuckin triangle in the middle of that courtyard looking area

oh also the giant trench of destruction on the right there. that’s probably important, too.

more concept art!

i think the bottom of the 4 VHs is actually what was leaked in january.

some art of the twins on the left there, tyreen is so much shorter than troy omfg

and this does indeed looks to be a younger version of angel so credit to @prettypinkdork for mentioning that on my angel post. it is nice to see those tech-y wings in action, definitely does prove it’s her.

we can also see this art of what i think is Punk Girl, which is interesting to me because she looks to be doing something with her right hand. possible siren powers? maybe! 

we also get a much cooler, bigger version of that maliwan ship people were talking about, with what look to be maliwan... eye bots? surrounding it. this is soooo fuckin awesome to me because it reminds me of a sailboat. and airships are fucking COOL

but something interesting is that i don’t think this ship was actually always maliwan

we got an A in the back here... for Atlas? i mean... you know it’s coming... the colors would match up. Yeahhhhhhh...

more interesting is that it actually looks like maliwan covered it up with their flags/tarps. i would not be surprised if this was claimed by maliwan possibly during the takeover.

a cyclone, with a whole fuckin lot of detail. just... holy shit.

not much else to say here though. i like the stuffed animal on the side, though

a better shot of jakobs manor which holy shit looks badass as fuck

big turret/observation thing on the right there? im not sure

pretty sure this is eden-6. also more tropical trees? possibly a water planet? but maybe just ocean on eden-6. also there seems to be like webbing on whatever is on the road, so maybe some spider-like wildlife?

most important to me is this

yeah i would bet that’s eridium/slag/the chemical sludge from elpis

im pretty convinced this is something on elpis mostly because the DAHL logo on the side. which again, they were on pandora yes but they were mining for iridium not eridium. if this was pandoran pumping stations, that would be hyperion.

i do think this is elpis. and i do think the twins are using the chemical sludge that mutated the lost legion into those fake siren things to give their followers superpowers.”holy holy holy” indeed.

this, plus the rakk wings on the psycho in the mask of mayhem are just convincing me more and more

that’s all for now folks. i gotta run

[makeste]

BnHA Chapter 214: 4th Popularity Poll and 5th Set Climax

Previously on BnHA: Deku met a Hellboy-looking dude in another one of his One For All Dreams and they had a chat! This friendly yet intimidating fella told Deku that the power that had just exploded out of him was actually the dude’s quirk, Blackwhip. It turns out that OFA hasn’t just been stockpiling physical power; all six of the prior wielder’s quirks are included in the package as well! It’s just that up until now, none of the other wielders has ever been able to access them. Before vanishing back into the dream abyss, Deku’s new friend told him he needed to gain better control of his emotions, as his anger toward Monoma was what triggered Blackwhip’s rampage and made it so difficult to handle. Back in the real world, Deku awakened unharmed thanks to Ochako and Shinsou’s efforts. But since the teachers hadn’t called off the battle yet, Monoma came rushing in to attack, with the rest of Team B not being far behind. Mina and Mineta showed up to battle Yanagi, Shouda, and Kodai (they really need to do something about that number disadvantage), while Ochako battled Monoma and Shinsou got ready to take on Deku. The teachers are still watching btw, but it seems like they want to see how this plays out.

Today on BnHA: The newest popularity poll results are revealed and I have a lot of thoughts. A lot of thoughts. Vlad and All Might question why Aizawa wants to let the kids keep fighting, and Aizawa says it’s cuz they’re all still trying their hardest to win. Mineta saves Mina’s life and then completely ruins it because of course he does, but she takes it in stride and uses him to attack the others by flinging him at high speed to ricochet endlessly off of his grapes in a Gran Torino-esque fashion. Monoma tries to attack Deku with One for All but it doesn’t do anything (fortunately for Monoma), and Ochako then takes him down while Deku goes after Shinsou. Deku by the way is fighting quirkless because he’s worried that if he tries to use OFA right now he’ll lose control and put everyone in danger again. He and Shinsou start tusslin’ and we have a flashback to when Ponytail!Aizawa (omg) was training Shinsou on how to use his capture weapon. Back in the present, Shinsou uses the scarf to send a bunch of heavy pipes crashing down towards Deku. But Deku chooses this moment to make peace with himself and his quirk, and catches the pipes using Blackwhip.

(As always, all comments not marked with an ETA are my mostly-unspoiled reactions from my first readthrough of this chapter. I’m caught up with the manga now at chapter 225, so any ETAs will reflect that.)

how are BnHA’s Jump covers always so epic you guys

Shinsou you better watch out, Deku’s fist is too close for comfort. well you’re the one who wanted to fight him again buddy

all right now let’s check out that character poll

oh, nice

BUT WHERE ARE MY POLL RESULTS. HOLD ON A SECOND, I’M GOING TO THE WIKI TO INVESTIGATE

...okay so apparently the results were actually in chapter 207? but the color spread wasn’t released until this chapter wtf why

okay well let me analyze the color page first, and then I’ll go find and complain about the poll results

BAKUGOU AND DEKU’S SWORDS. okay I’ve seen this image before and I love it so much, and that is of course because it’s a sequel to the color page from chapter 120. and the two of them are now each carrying one half of All Might’s sword. basically this is symbolic confirmation that the two of them together will carry All Might’s legacy forward. this is so important to me you guys. this brings me so much joy and happiness

can we talk about what Hawks is wearing. I thought this was a medieval AU, but he’s looking rather steampunk to me. what, are you too cool for D&D, Hawks? also is that a literal hawk. that you’re holding. for some reason. huh

can we talk about what Todoroki is wearing?? and also what the actual hell is going on with his face? he’s wearing some sort of weird mask. and his outfit looks nothing like it did in the previous AU color spread. was Horikoshi just being extra or is this some indicator of a crazy plotline coming up for him somewhere down the road?

I notice my boy Aizawa is missing from the top ten, which is AN ACTUAL CRIME THAT SHOULD BE REPORTED TO THE POLICE, but! on the other hand! BEST FUCKING JEANIST OH MY GOD. WELCOME BACK BEAUTIFUL PRINCE. PLEASE HEAL UP SOON

loooooool Endeavor being in the top ten must have pissed off lord knows how many people. it would have pissed me off, before the Endeavorhawks arc. but I’m cool with it now. I get it. having him as your favorite doesn’t mean you’re giving a ringing endorsement of all his actions; it just means he’s a compelling character who’s been getting some really good development lately. still absurd that he’d be ranked over Aizawa, but if I’m honest with myself it really should be Jeanist who was bumped down for that. he’s just there because Japan apparently shares the same weird tastes as myself. by the way how fucking strange is it to see Jeanist without any Jeans holy shit is that even allowed

and winding down here, (1) I’m glad to see All Might still in the top ten ranks at least, (2) Iida is a handsome boy and I love how his armor is reminiscent of his Ingenium costume here, and that he’s the one actually riding the dragon (be careful Iida or my idiot son is going to fall right off its head), (3) Kirishima is still as popular as ever I see, and lastly (4) Momo being in the top 10 is giving me life and I hope she gets some more spotlight this year! it was great to see her as the head of her respective Joint Training battle team

okay! so now let me find the list from chapter 207

holy shit, okay so first of all let me just say that apparently this poll received almost 81,000 votes. for comparison, the third poll only received about 36,000

so having said that, it is absolutely astounding that my boy Bakugou came in at number one yet again, with a margin of over 1000 votes. glad to see you being appreciated boyo

and Shouto made it to #2 for the first time! good job hot and cold! the Endeavorhawks arc definitely gave him a boost as well I think. and well deserved!

and my boy Deku at #3, but while the difference between Katsuki and Shouto is only about 1200 votes, the difference between Shouto and Izuku is more than 7,400. basically the top two are in a league of their own here goddamn

and Hawks is all the way at #4! holy shit! more than 4,500 votes between him and Deku, mind, and Kirishima is nipping at his heels less than 200 votes away from him, but still, that’s amazing given how recently he made his debut and how relatively few chapters he’s been in. I expect the number of votes for him to skyrocket in the next poll, assuming we get more of that double agent storyline. Touya -- I mean Dabi -- is probably gonna get a boost too lol

my boy Finest Jeanist on God’s Green Earth is next at 6th, and then MOMO IN 7TH PLACE YAAAAAY GO MOMO

and Endeavor made it to 8th! HOLY SHIT ENDEAVOR YOU FINALLY BEAT ALL MIGHT IN THE APPROVAL RATINGS. THESE TRULY ARE MAD DAYS

Iida beat All Might as well and made it to #9! though only by 100 votes

and All Might is in 10th, and then Aizawa is at 11th. oh Aizawa. you were upstaged by a crotchety old man seeking to make amends for his past sins, and a denim-clad meme who nearly made the ultimate sacrifice against AFO and then proceeded to not be in the manga for 120 chapters and counting. but it’s okay you were never in this for the fame

anyways the rest of the results are listed here, but some quick parting remarks:

Gang Orca came in at 15th, presumably thanks to his EXTRA GUIDANCE

my boy Denki is in 16th place and I want him to keep moving up! go kick Shindou’s ass. how the hell did that tool make it all the way to 14th place

Ojiro is still inexplicably popular to me. he’s a nice guy but you could replace him with a cardboard cutout of himself probably and I bet you it would take some time before anyone noticed something was off

Jirou is at 21st despite her performance in the Band AU arc and that is fucked up, people. WHERE IS THE RESPECT

Shinsou somehow went down despite finally making his reappearance in the series?? I seriously don’t understand how popularity works, at all

Overhaul beat Mirio by 3 votes and while I’m so psyched Mirio did better than the last poll (up to 26th place! these 455 people have impeccable taste), this fact is utterly depressing to me. did these people actually read the arc, for real

NIGHTEYE IS AT 27TH AND I’M SO SAD. not about him being at 27th, because that’s actually pretty good. but just, you know. because once again I am reminded that he’s dead sob

lastly, in the American popularity poll Bakugou received 38,000 fucking votes holy shit. we may not have any fucking clue how to vote for presidents but at least we fucking got something right, goddamn. and Mirio in 9th place. and Aizawa in 6th. you guys are all right, US fandom

anyways that took like 25 years and if I’d known it was going to be this long I would have saved the poll to be its own damn recap lol. but now on to the actual chapter!

lol so Vlad is like ARE YOU FUCKING SERIOUS, YOU DON’T WANT TO STOP THEM??

Vlad this is just how we do things around here. not all of us can be ~safe~ teachers whose students don’t get attacked and abducted every Wednesday afternoon. some of us like to live on the edge and be super irresponsible because we’re lazy and also because the students will honestly manage to get into trouble regardless of whether we do our jobs or not

and anyways Aizawa says that if Deku’s quirk acts up again he’ll stop it so it’ll be fine

and All Might’s asking Aizawa why

well it’s obviously because he wants to give Shinsou a chance to complete his examination. and maybe he wants to see how the kids deal with this unexpected twist as well. so long as nobody gets hurt, why not

oh my god Aizawa

this man is fighting to reclaim that top 10 spot. never give up. never surrender

so we’re cutting to panels of all 9 battlin’ kids, and he says all of them are still trying to win this battle

because fucking plus ultra, in other words

sob I should be more indignant shouldn’t I. has this school actually made me come around to their way of thinking

nah, it’s only because everything is clearly fine now. had this scene taken place even 90 seconds earlier I would have been all “WHAT ARE YOU DOING, OF COURSE YOU SHOULD STOP THEM”

lol what

he just shows his affection in some very strange ways tbh

anyway so here we go! back to the kiddos! Deku and Shinsou are each holding onto Shinsou’s scarf and staring each other down!

and now Shinsou has GONE FISHIN’

this is beyond hilarious to me. oh my god. Deku you could just let go

but I guess he thought he could out-muscle him. like if anything, he’d be the one pulling Shinsou down to where he is. but instead he’s falling off of the platform where he and Ochako were standing

and Ochako’s running over and she’s all “Deku lost...?! in a power struggle?!”

that makes it sound like Game of Thrones lmao

Deku’s glancing back up at her and says he can’t use his quirk right now because he’s worried about putting everyone in danger again

yeah, that’s probably a good call. at least until you get a handle on your emotions. even ol’ Hellboy was all “much as I love my awesome fucking quirk, it’s been powered up to here and back now so results may vary”

Ochako says that in that case they should retreat and regroup

lol how are you going to fucking retreat. this has already turned into a melee battle, they’ll just follow you

and Deku says that if they retreat now, they’ll lose

ah, good point

this is their chance to capture him, when he’s exposed and his quirk which relies heavily on stealth and surprise has been neutralized

Ochako’s jogging over to him

oh my god

IT’S THE BATTLE HE’S BEEN PREPARING FOR HIS ENTIRE LIFE

oh to see Katsuki’s reaction to this. sigh

oh. but Deku is dotting and he says “not exactly”

what are you up to you mysterious little chia pet

meanwhile ASHIDO MINA IS BEING A TOTAL BADASS AND I’M HERE FOR IT

THIS ACID MAY STING! A BIT!!

(ETA: you know, I made fun at the time, but given all the other shit we’ve seen today, I have to give her credit for at least warning her opponents before attempting to maim them.)

and class B is just doing the same damn thing as before

I’m surprised they’re not trying to go on offense. mind you, it shows that they have a lot of respect for Mina’s offense and they don’t feel like getting pummeled by acid this fine afternoon, which is understandable

oh shit but here we go

MINA YOU BETTER DODGE THAT SHIT, SHOUDA’S QUIRK HAS A LOT OF POTENTIAL TO BE RIDICULOUSLY BROKEN IF HE USES IT RIGHT

...holy shit

QUICK, LET’S ENJOY THIS BEFORE HE SOMEHOW RUINS IT. WHY CAN’T WE LIVE IN THE ALTERNATE UNIVERSE WHERE HORIKOSHI GAVE US A LOVABLE, FUNNY, AND COOL MINETA AND NOT THE HOT GARBAGE PERV THAT WE HAVE TO PUT UP WITH INSTEAD

good job Mineta. how many panels before you say something stupid to enrage us all again

oh shit I scrolled down to the rest of the page and SO FAR SO GOOD?! wow this is like a record

Mineta did something smart and creative and swooped in to save a teammate and didn’t say or do anything perverted to ruin it?? better get me an umbrella cuz I suspect the other shoe will be dropping shortly

(ETA: 3... 2...)

aaaaaaaaaaaand the very first panel on the next page is him being smacked into Mina’s chest as a result of the twin impact, apparently just as planned

well so much for that. he made it a whole five panels though

hey, imagine if Horikoshi had written that scene and then not thrown in that last part in for absolutely no reason. imagine if Mineta was like that all the time. underestimated and mostly overlooked because of his mascot-like appearance and oddball quirk, but impressing us all with surprisingly clutch saves at crucial moments. kind of like the little niche that Aoyama has established for himself. it honestly wouldn’t be that hard to make Mineta an interesting and actually funny character, and the fact that we’re going on five years of the same old shit instead is kinda disheartening

anyways, enough mourning what could have been, I guess. in the meantime Mina is grabbing him and hurling him lmao

and he’s bouncing around like a ping pong ball and class B is trying to avoid getting hit by him

oh my god. he is the special attack

ain’t nobody wanna get hit by that. that’s a smart move

Shouda says he wants to pull back, but they’re kind of surrounded now and it’s hard to come up with a plan in the spur of the moment

all credit to Mina’s astounding creative mind, which has fucking flourished in these last couple of arcs and I hope it continues to do so. she is brilliant

Tsuburaba says Shouda is having to protect the other two because they’re weak at close-range combat? say what now?? how is a telekinesis quirk weak at close-range combat, exactly?? just float some metal shit into the air and wait for Mineta to inevitably ricochet into it and concuss himself and just like that you’re free to take on Mina three against one. even someone as awesome as her would struggle with that

meanwhile, Jirou is wondering why the hell the teachers haven’t stopped the battle yet

and here’s the first we’ve seen of Katsuki since The Thing happened, so yeah you bet I’m posting that shit

he looks openly confused, and not in his normal “I don’t know what’s going on and that pisses me off so Imma make an angry face” way. but in a more overtly “what the fuck” way. not that dissimilar to the way he looked when he was watching All Might battle AFO, but with less panic, thankfully

it definitely says a lot about how far his relationship with Deku has come that this is his reaction, though. confusion and maybe slight concern, rather than anger or jealousy or automatically thinking this is something new Deku had up his sleeve that he was purposely hiding from him. he really has come such a long way since Ground Beta

anyway so here’s Deku and Ochako taking on Monoma

at least someone is using that TK quirk. or is that twin impact that he’s using. well either way, at least he’s doing something and not just standing there

oh look more Monoma monologuing

officially the most dramatic motherfucker who ever lived. but more importantly,

OH MY GOD HE’S GOING TO USE ONE FOR ALL LASKDFLKJSLKDJFLK DON’T DIE MONOMA

why he would attempt to use a quirk that he has seen breaking its original owner’s bones and only MOMENTS AGO causing its owner intense pain as he flailed around out of control is beyond me. he kind of snapped here and got all go big or go home, I guess

Deku I assure you it very much can

now Ochako’s telling Monoma to stop and that it’s dangerous! and she’s charging toward him!

OH MY GOD

HE WAS FUCKING BLUFFING?? HOW

AND OH MY GOD OCHAKO, I STAN YOU SO FUCKING HARD RIGHT NOW THOUGH. IS IT JUST ME OR ARE THE LADIES THE UNDISPUTED MVPS OF THIS FIGHT!? DEKU DOES SHE HAVE TO DO EVERYTHING HERSELF OR WHAT

wow what??

so he was trying to activate it but it wouldn’t work?

well (1) he’s damn lucky it didn’t, and (2) is that because Deku’s technically quirkless? or is it because the nature of OFA makes it so it can’t be copied or passed on to anyone against the owner’s will? that is really convenient if so

(ETA: or (3) he did copy the quirk but not the accumulated power stored within it. oooh I have some thoughts on that. gonna try and take some time this evening to type out that OFA essay.)

Shinsou’s trying to save his partner, but!

oh shit

he looks so caught off guard sob. Deku are you gonna punch him. please be gentle he is still new to this

once again, I submit for your consideration: your MVP

you see Monoma, this is how you take a supposed “supporting character” quirk and elevate it to its max potential

so now Deku’s tackling Shinsou and they’re tumbling onto the ground

Shinsou’s making another attempt to get Deku to talk but our boy is too smart for that shit now. fool him once, shame on you. fool him twice, shame on him. but you still haven’t managed to fool him thrice so it looks like he can be taught!

and Shinsou is again saying he’s not the same as when they last fought

ahhhhhhhh we’re cutting back to the teachers now ARE WE GONNA GET SOME SHINY MENTOR FEELS

YESSSSSSSSSSS

HOWIRHFALSKDLFJL THE PONYTAIL LIVES, MY FRIENDS

oh my god oh my god

mentor feels! All Might you’re not the only one who’s been training kids out in the woods in the wee hours of the morning!

Aizawa is self-taught holy fucking shit this man’s talent is severely underrated

THE PONYTAIL. I NEED TO MENTION IT AGAIN FOR OBVIOUS REASONS

and I don’t think I’ve rambled about this yet, but! now we’re finally getting to see why Aizawa took such a personal interest in Shinsou, and I’ve been waiting and waiting for this and I’m so happy we’re finally getting to it. he sees himself in him. they both have powerful quirks capable of incapacitating even the strongest opponents, but the catch is that those quirks are mental rather than physical. physically they are essentially quirkless, and so if they ever get caught off-guard -- or pitted against giant robot opponents, or opponents who are otherwise immune to their abilities -- they’re at a huge disadvantage

so here’s this kid who’s very much like him, and Aizawa has no obligation to reach out to him, but he does so all the same, because he cares, and if he can help this kid fulfill his dreams and not have to stumble along and make it up as he goes the way he had to, isn’t that worth doing?

Aizawa Shouta let me just once again say that it’s a war crime that you were not ranked in the top ten, and I think we need to conduct a special investigation into these poll results. I’m only seeking justice and the truth

OKAY BUT THIS IS SOME INDIRECT HIGH PRAISE FOR THE ENTIRETY OF CLASS “NOT A SINGLE ONE OF US WAS EXPELLED” 1-A THOUGH AND I CAN’T EVEN DEAL

AND THEN THE FLASHBACKS TO SHINSOU AFTER HIS FIRST BATTLE, AND BEING SO HARD ON HIMSELF. BECAUSE HE WANTS TO LIVE UP TO AIZAWA’S FAITH IN HIM. OH MY GOD I CAN’T, THIS IS SO GOOD THOUGH AND I’M EMOTIONALLY COMPROMISED

so now Shinsou’s shouting again that he’s not the same as he was back then!

and he’s using his capture weapon to bring a bunch of heavy pipes crashing on top of them!

BUT NOW DEKU IS HAVING SOME MENTOR FEELS OF HIS OWN OH GOODNESS

;________; WHY DID THAT MAKE ME TEAR UP, SOMEBODY EXPLAIN

(ETA: I think because it’s a reminder that all of the past wielders of OFA are just as good and pure as All Might in their own ways, and they’ve all been working tirelessly to fight evil this whole time, and it’s like Deku doesn’t have just one mentor, but he has eight now.)

AAAAAHHHHHHHH

LOOK AT HIM USING BLACKWHIP IN THE SAME MANNER AS THE CAPTURE SCARF WEAPON, THOUGH?? DID SHINSOU INSPIRE HIM

(ETA: of course he did. this is Deku, he takes and learns from everyone. I love it.)

AND JUST LOOK AT THIS FUNKY LITTLE SUCCESSOR LIVING UP TO THE FAITH THAT’S BEEN PLACED IN HIM

oh my god. what a damn chapter. this recap is almost 4000 words and it was worth it. I love this arc

[tas-ss7a]

Jenny’s opinion on important Asians

Hello there, this is Purple and I was forced to write this blog about top 5 most important Asians, feel like those crappy rating channels! Keep in mind that I’m probably writing this at 2 am so most info may not even make sense. Any BS aside, let’s go, woooooo! And since I’m woke AF, I’ll include woman, probably. :>

5. Qin Shi Huang

Ah, the founder of the Qin dynasty, when China got its name and shape. Qin Shi Huang is the mad man that started the Great Wall, an international symbol for China, aka what Chinese people brag about, “You can see it in space!” bla bal bla...NO! Stop it, we get it, you’re proud but shouldn’t you be studying other things that’s not related to a lawyer, doctors or desk top? Other things they should proud about is his unification of the country. Or how now you must pay for a can air because the air there is so polluted? Or how Donald Tru- let's just stay away from politics.

4. Mahatma Gandhi

Well well well, this Indian fella was the leader of the Indian independence movement against British rule. After seeing his people suffering to those white skinned, easily sun-burned Brits, he led the “Dandi Salt March” for this weird thing called a Salt tax. He was imprisoned for many years because you know how white people loves prisons. Gandhi’s hard work paid off and he inspired many people, especially Dr. Luther King Jr for the civil rights movement. His birthday-2nd October-is also now a national holiday for India and an International Non-violence Day.

3. Muhammad  

The founder of Islam, the last prophet, the 5 pillars of Islam, … and yup, Muslim. I found so much standup Muslim comedians and it’s crazy how they can make parking spots sounds funny. Guess what? 21% of peeps are Muslim, I mean people. And they don’t eat beef, wooo, another step from selective empathy. And like they played a pretty big role in history, from the father of modern surgery to Saladin vs Crusades.

2. Genghis Khan

We did a whole darn debate about this (and “for” won for both classes) He’s great at battles and tactics and probably the best conqueror back then, now the internet rules. I mean he literally, by himself, was better than all the Roman emperors at conquering. And he created his own mail system, there would be no “Loserville” without him. Weird fact: A lot of people called him daddy- I'll make my exit soon.

Honorable mentions:

Trung sisters:

Two badass sisters that in 40 AD, led the first rebellion against the Chinese, started 1000 years of fighting against the Chinese that ended with Ngo Quyen with his fight on the Bach Dang river. These ladies are not weak, the eldest, Trung Trac chose her country over her husband and let him die in the hand of the invaders.  

Ho Chi Minh

I am Vietnamese ok, I want to brag about my country just as much as the Chinese to theirs. Ho Chi Minh City is the new name of Sai Gon, the South capital under the Vietnam war. Do you know how much impact he has on us Vietnamese? He was a great president, like the Obama of Vietnam, just saying~ Ho Chi Minh loved kids by the way, that’s why we had to learn so much about him when we were kids, that’s why we’re so familiar with him and how humble he was.

Saladin

He led the Muslim to fight in the Third Crusades. Very noble of him because he did not allow Muslim to steal from them, which is cool but wouldn’t work for me, I mean they rich.

Timur the Lame

According to Wikipedia he emerged as the most powerful ruler in the Muslim world. He took inspirations from Genghis Khan, second place, and saw himself as his heir. Sadly, out of the millions of descendants, he wasn’t one.

Empress Wu

Also from wiki, yay,Wu Zetian was the concubine of Emperor Taizong. After he died :<, she married his ninth son, Emperor Gaozong. She expanded China out of its territorial limits Wu's leadership resulted in important effects regarding social class in Chinese society and in relation to state support for religion, education, and literature.  

1. Jesus

I don’t even think I should explain anything, I mean, it’s Jesus. When you say “Oh My GODDDDDDD” who do you think is the god, Allah- whoops I meant Jesus. You can’t exactly go to a country without a church, but you’re not going to North Korea and Saudi Arabia just to prove me wrong, are you? We associate the cross with God and Holly right, and you wouln’t want to upset 33% of people follow this religion, right?

Ok, that’s enough now, I wrote more than 800 words and I’ll be surprise that you read all you it. Sorry for putting you through torture, Purple’s out!  

[hjazysol]

Chapter 3: A New Ambition

Summary:

To avoid complete capture from an unexpected arrival. New plans must be made to continue dreams that still have yet to be properly achieved.

__________

This mysterious sword wielder sat comfortably with crossed legs slowly witnessing the life of the student he had just cut down wither away. A sake jug floated down gently towards his hand, taking a deep gulp of drink once it reached him. After wiping his mouth dry. He announced it.

"Finally. That kids heart has finally stopped beating. The rhythm has been silenced."

"OI!? WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING!?" Hokori was pissed. Even though he had no real connections with Manto he wasn't just about to sit idly by and let a murder go without judgment. "WHAT KIND OF HERO WOULD DO SUCH A THING!?"

With arms clad in iron Hokori jumped at Asa fired a punched at him. Flicking up the sword from the ground with one foot he blocked Hokori's punch with the swords momentum alone.

"Oh? A hero? You're mistaken. I have a hero Liscense yes. But all things considered I am a prison guard & executioner first and foremost. As far as I'm concerned I'm to treat the vast majority of criminals as equals. You're all pieces of gum that's been spat out onto the sidewalk. You're just there for people to step all over you then feel disgusted when they see you stuck to their foot bottom."

"Don't bother using your meaningless metaphors on me!"

"Oh? Would that be because they disturb you perhaps? I wouldn't blame you really I-"

"No it's just that I'm too stupid to understand. I'd never understand and you'd just be wasting your time!" Hokori said in a very serious & surprising way it was so odd that Asa actually buffered in real life. "Hey guys! I'll beat this guys ass! You all hurry and get out of here."

"Oi oi. There's no way you kids are really that clueless? You bastards have all been exposed on the news earlier today. Since it's pretty obvious you're all oblivious. I'll enlighten you. Besides if you actually know what you guys are guilty for maybe then you'd be willing to come along perhaps."

____

~Earlier that day in a News Office Building~

"Man. What an absolute legend that hero is. All Might! The symbol of peace!" A Publisher for the aptly named Dark Time News, Osseka Kamera an infamous reporter who focuses her research on the stuff that absolutely no sane person should think of looking for.

"Look right here!" She pointed at a tv screen it was on a piece of unshared footage of All Might's fight against the sludge villain from around 10 Months ago. "You see this skeletal looking man here. Watch. He turns round the corner out of sight. Then BOOM! ALL MIGHT! If you fellas are picking up what I'm putting down at the table for you. Then notice this. All Might didn't react until this broccoli boy got involved"

"So that boy must have some deep connection with All Might ma'am?"

"ABSOLUTELY! I have 3 working theories right now either this is All Might's kid or something, he really likes this kids gusto for being able to go out there when he's clearly quirkless or that skeleton looking dude really is just some different person and All Might just so happens to appear. But that's stupid amiright. No ones thinking that last one. It lines up to perfectly!"

"I mean the last one is possible m-"

"Shut up Stibu! Go get me another coffee! I feel like this ones gonna disappear real quick!"

"But ma'am the-"

"Stibu do you really want boiling hot coffee poured on your eyes and balls??? Is that what you want?"

"NO NOT AT ALL!"

"THEN GET MY DAMN COFFEE!" She chucked an empty cup at him which he almost failed to catch. Before being alerted by a shoulder tap from her main helper. Sanama

"Will we let that information out ma'am."

"NO SANA-SAN!THINK! He's the symbol of peace! If something this big were to be leaked he'd never catch a break from anyone. People would think he's actually really weak or something. No one wants that... ... ...Blackmails fine though! So get to it Sama you're my most trusted girlfriend! Come on our profits won't make themselves!"

"Yes ma'am! You heard her get going all of you!" All her workers scattered away to go find All Might. Osseka slammed her desk with a shit eating grin on her face. "I LOVE MY JOB!"

"So you love to ruin lives is what you're saying?" Sat up on the windowsill was a the same man with the water Quirk seen earlier. Osseka at first glared at him. Which soon changed to a welcoming smile.

"Kurakawa! How are you today!?"

"Nothing much. What have you sent those guys out in a hurry for?"

"Oh nothing serious. Just to bribe All Might."

"Well. Before they head out. Are you aware of. The Devil Akumara?"

"He who is not to be spoken of? Anyone alive 16 years ago knows of him what's your point?"

"Are you also aware of the scientist. Akira Kamijiru? Or the family within the shadows? Or perhaps even illegal artificial Quirks?"

"Yes yes! All terrifying legends within their own rights though Kamijiru was never a monster simply he was naive. But enough build up man! Tell me what you know already."

"There is a class within UA's Hero Course that's never been there previously. All students have been given codenames along with an extremely detailed info sheet far beyond that of a regular school report. As an example take this. Hatsu Sakimoto. Age 17. Quirk: Sticky Bomb. And instead of talking about this students progress and how good they are with their powers. There's this."

~Hatsu Sakimoto has been known as the "Little Bomber." At the age of 3 his Quirk awoke and the power behind the bombs he could bring out were enough to bring down office buildings. 10 years later on two individual accounts he was seen enjoying the destruction he caused. Luckily as he became more independent he only ever targeted abandoned buildings but at this point multiple pro heroes would assume through his life he could quite possibly bring down a skyscraper.~

Osseka grabbed the papers from Kurakawa and begun scanning each of them head to toe. "This! This is incredible! A whole class. Of...Of! Freaks! Absolute monsters! I can't believe it haha! All of these students have a dark tie in with society. It would appear most have grown unaware of the threat they cause to people. They have no clue what their past is? They're on the borderline of heroism & villainy. This is exhilarating...And I assume that this is where I come in?" She smiled mischievously.

Her body began turning blue and pixely. "GUYS! FORGET BRIBING ALL MIGHT! Let's just scare the ever living shit out of the entirety of Japan! Bring out the wires and hook me up. I'm broadcasting this now!"

~Osseka Kamera. Quirk: Holographic. She can turn into a holographic image which if connected to different wires and outlets can be protected onto any screen that's connected to her. Anything she touches that isn't electrical becomes Holographic aswell. But to her it feels the same as if it were a normal object.~

In no time her image was instantly projected onto every screen in Tokyo. "Shishishishi. In Tokyo news will surely spread like a wildfire. Just thinking about this makes me all tingly downstairs."

"Errrr. Osseka you're connected right now."

The way she "I'm aware..."

"... ...Weird."

"Hello there world! I've got big, very illegal, news to share. Recen-" Everyone who saw the giant holographic woman on their screens immediately sighed at the sound of her voice & at the sight of her. They're all very familiar with her. "...Wow, rude...Anyway! Recently! A super secret classroom in the *cough* 'Flawless' UA Hero Academy was created. And what was it for, you ask? Well here"

Osseka swiped the papers along onto the screens of Tokyo in a row of 4.

"20 Students! And I'm certain you're aware of each ones. 'Glorious' fame around the country am I wrong. We just love these guys don't we the names will all bring you horrid memories. Especially if you'd the pleasure of witnessing what made them scary. And I hope some of you older folks are prepared. But that's including. 'The Devil'

It was as though time had frozen a large collective of people broke into a cold sweat. The stress. It was suffocating. "She's speaking about that awful Quirk!?"

"And the awful man who weilded it! We all know. He was executed for his crimes against society. But what I'm sure the media neglected to share with you all. Is that he had a son. A son who was enrolling at UA! There by endangering every single person inside. So now I ask the ever expanding hero society. What will you do to make sure. His Child...No...The entire of Class 1-S don't receive any information about the past you've chosen to hide from them? SHISHISHISHI! GOOD LUCK KEEPING THE ENTIRETY OF JAPAN QUIET YOU JACKASSES!"

Osseka left from Japan's screens returning back to normal back in her office room. "There we go Kurakawa perfect. I've done everything necessary. All that's required for this society to feel even the slightest bit pressured. Is a simple push. But in this case....Shishi!. I'VE JUST DROPPED A 10000 TON WEIGHT ON EVERYONES BACKS."

"Well?...What do they do now?"

"The heroes are obviously gonna lose their shit. One thing they'll try looking for me like that's ever gonna end well. But there are other factors regarded for those kids."

"What would those be?"

Osseka laughed to herself as she turned to face the water villain with a hand infront of her face and a downright devilish smile. "Shishishishi~ Can't you see!~ Shishi! They're going to kill those bastards!~ SHISHISHISH- Eh?..." one of her assistants Stivu was still stood in the same place as when he was at from when he was first called for.

"... ... ...EH!? STIVU WHY HAVEN'T YOU GOT ME ANOTHER COFFEE YET!?!?"

"I was trying to tell you miss the Coffee machines broke!"

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN YOU BROKE MY COFFEE MACHINE! BASTARD!' Osseka threw the empty coffe cup at her assistant knocking him out cold. Meanwhile Kurakawa scratched his head then shrugged. "I-... ...I don't think that was what they just said..."

____

"You see with that mad women's actions of exposing you kids to the public. All those within your generation who had no idea what threats within you existed. They know what could happen. Not to mention after The Devil's previous actions. After seeing todays random newsflash by that crazy lady Osseka. Veterans to your infamous reputations would much rather you be dead. Which is why I'm here. As you can Manto Horitsu is already dead."

"HEY SWORD GUY! I'M GONNA BEAT YOUR ASS."

"... ... ...Oh?"

Grabbing him by the shoulders and pulling Hokori back suddenly was Takaishi his whole body trembling. "OI OI! DON'T BE STUPID DID YOU NOT SEE THAT POOR KID? HE'LL KILL YOU TO! B-Besides! Maybe if we go willingly he won't need to kill you. Then we can just clear up this obviously huge misunderstanding! I-I bet Manto's not even dead yeah! How would he know his hearts stopped bleeding?"

"Oh yeah that's true he'd have no clue...Unless that's a Quirk of his that let him know." Asa dropped from his pedestal. And reassuringly patted him on the head. "That's a very commendable theory. Clearly you are not a stupid boy. Dreadlocked boy. Haha!"

"Dehahahaha! Yeah!"

"But... I'm afraid none of that's true...I've been explicitly ordered to murder you...There are your run of the mill villains but your execution is far more required than alot of infamous killers out there such as people like Stain. The acceptions to this being Ikazuchi aswell as Honoka. And my Quirk isn't something that you should concern. Now die."

"Dehahaha. You fool. Clearly someone didn't do their homework."

"Hmm?"

"You may know my Quirk gives my fingers as much power as a sniper rifle? But if you think that's all then you'd be greatly underestimating me!" Takaishi pointed all his fingers towards the ground diagonally. And in response Asa leapt back.

"A rocket!?" The force burst him backwards into everyone behind him. Everyone of them ended up following Takaishi on the departure from the ground, getting launched far far from UA leaving Asa speechless.

Midflight they all began to scatter away from one another. Still trying to process what happened. "Heheh. I did it. We ran away successfully! Dehaha!" Except Takaishi who was commending himself. Until Hokori pulled at his dreadlocks slightly annoyed.

"HEY I SAID I WAS GONNA KICK HIS ASS WHY ARE WE RUNNING!?"

"HEY HEY DON'T CLING TO ME THE PLAN IS MEANT TO BE THAT WE SCATTER APART THAT WAY HE CAN'T GO AFTER ALL OF US!"

"BUT I WANTED TO FIGHT HIM!?"

"ARE YOU INSANE YOU'D HAVE LOST!" Two pairs of hands joined grabbing onto Takaishi's leg. "Hmm? EYAAA!? WHY IS EVERYONE CLINGING!?" Shebi & Kageyama were held on beneath him. Full of himself as he always is Kageyama went on to rant at Takaishi.

"YOU BASTARD WHAT MADE YOU THINK THAT WAS A SMART IDEA AT ALL!"

"HEY I SAVED YOU DIDN'T I!?"

"WELL YOU SURE AS HELL DID A SLOPPY JOB OF IT! SOMEONE LIKE ME SHOULDN'T HAVE SUCH A ROUGH RIDE!"

Takaishi yelped in pain. Almost like a animal being strangled. Hokori watched as his soul pretty much left his body then looked down to see a terrified Kageyama, then reacted the same after seeing Shebi, who had just punched Takaishi in his balls. "Takaishi...Never do something like that with anyone again..."

The boy fainted with his dreadlocks swinging in front of his face. Panicking Hokori knocked him across the head trying to wake him. "EHHH!? DUDE YOU MURDERED HIM!? HOW'RE WE MEANT TO LAND NOW STUPID!?"

"Why would we need him to be able to land?"

"SO HE CAN OPPOSE THE GRAVITY AS WE FALL DOWN!" Realising this Shebi's face turned blank then her spirit also started to leave her body. "OI YOU CAN'T FAINT ON US NOW!"

"Don't worry. I'll catch you guys." Wrapping silk around them from the ground was Yatsua. His Quirk practically ensured him safety due to how durable it makes him. Though he was still hurting a bit from the landing. He pulled them down towards him catching them when they came into his arms.

"... ...Man did you really have to have Kageyama with you?"

"EY IS THERE A PROBLEM WITH ME!?"

"Depends. Does 'Everything' count?" The six armed boy trembled before wrapping his arm round to his back to unravel the body of Manto. "I caught him as we were being launched away... ...I was going to take him to his family. But... ...by the looks of it Manto is a fake alias. He doesn't have a last name...He's alone." A book fell from Horitsu's pocket.

Hokori picked it up. "A diary?" He opened it up to the most recent page to read it. "Talking to people isn't something I can do well. If I ask them a question. They'll Die. So I've stayed silent for the majority of my life not once using any means to communicate with people. Hopefully the hero course will help me be able to control my power :)"

Hokori closed it, gently tucking it back in it's owners pocket. Kageyama was pacing about in circles trying his best to make heads or tails of things. "What the heck is this man? Kataoke would've at least shared me info like this before hand then I could've avoided this! He takes this stuff more serious than anyone."

Pulling at Kageyama's left ear came Takaishi. "Who's Kataoke? That a girls name? Is she cute?" Then pulling at his right ear came Shebi. "Well well don't leave us in the dark how's she look?"

"SHUT UP! And no this is my brother I'm talking about!" Takaishi backed off but Shebi still persisted. "... Well is he hot, or?"

"LEAVE ME ALONE!"

Dirt & stones were being uplifted from the ground suddenly. Hokori was digging a hole. "This is...For Horitsu." It may not be proper. But at least here in this forest he won't be disturbed. Right here Yatsua."

"Oh. Yeah." He held his forwards hanging hair slightly forwards so he could see where he was going. Then placed the body of Horitsu Manto in the hole infront of him. Hokori covered him over with the dirt. Then pressed fist to the ground. And then he trembled. "Sigh... ...I want to go home."

"Pfft as if people aren't already on their way to your home already. That's the first place they'd expect you to go. Moshi mosh? Come on there's gotta be a brain in there right?." Kageyama ridiculed Hokori knocking at his head as if to garner a response which he soon got.

Still trembling Hokori snatched Kageyama's mocking hands mid movement. Then glared at him directly in his face. "This isn't a joke Kageyama... I don't know what it is we've done that deserves us to be hunted down like criminals. But I refuse to go down the path that requires me to be arrested or killed... ... Though I doubt I can try this without breaking a few laws... ...No matter what the world says. I'm gonna be a Hero! But I won't do any of that until I go home!"

"H-How do you plan on making that work?"

"I'll have to skip a load of steps to get there...No proper time to train. No special classes. No tests. No hero liscense. No internships. And so on and so forth...But. One thing I know I'll still need for definite...Are friends."

"A-Are you asking us to help you!? Why should we risk our lives for something like being a Hero we can just give up."

"That's not what you want to say though is it. Everyone of us has a reason for why we're being targeted. Even if we don't all know why. But I know for a fact none of us are fine with letting the horrible past of someone else dictate the lives of ourselves right now. I'm willing to die trying to change the worlds views. You guys should feel the same."

"... ...I'll join you." Takaishi still in alot of pain from Shebi made his way to Hokori placing both hands on his shoulders. "Even though you beat me like a ragdoll. You're clearly a reliable guy. So I'll help you out yeah! At this point what have we got to lose amiright."

"...Really? You've practically just met this kid. Isn't that a bit early to want to risk your life for him? That's not a good plan if you ask me." Kageyama remarked sitting on a nearby rock. The second he sat down the forest of trees behind him were cleaved in half. Followed by the shouting voice of Asa. "Come out you brats if you stop running your lives will be easier."

"He's that close already!?

"Well Kageyama? There are 2 choices. 1 you stay behind and get murdered by that same guy who killed Manto. Or you do what societies clearly to afraid to allow you to do...Become a hero with me!"

"... ...Hokori Hitoshi... I won't lie to you. People like you? You usually piss me off beyond comprehension. All goody-goody. Taking the progression towards an ambition far too lightly... But the fact you'd be willing to go through hell just to achieve this dream of becoming a hero I greatly respect that! Even if people will berate you for just being who you are you just bounce back. So fine! I'll be your 'friend' if you will. At least you're not asking someone absolutely unsympathetic like that Midoriya boy. Honestly, blocking a friend in their time of need. What about you girl?"

"It's Shebi thank you! Anyway I never would've expected something like this to actually happen... ...But before we go anywhere I'll also need to go back to my home. There's something there for me that would help us out alot."

"So you'll join me?"

"If you set a point to meet up then yeah. I'll come to you once I'm ready."

"Ok! Outside my house. You can't miss it people are constantly visiting to see the home of the here Armament Hero aka my Mom. And cause of the statues of her."

"All right I'll see you there in a few hours."

"Yatsua what about you then?" The six armed boy remained at a distance since he'd caught them. When called out to he looked confused. You're fine with having me be around you guys?"

"Hmm? If you want to come with us why would I say no? You're not a bad guy are you?"

"That's depends on who you ask...Not everyones willing to accept that I'm the same as anyone else in the world." Saying this Yatsu tucked his extra 4 arms into his clothes. "There now I'm better right? This is how everyone tells me I should go around places. Even my mom says so. I don't mind coming now--"

Hokori's face was scrunched up and cringing as like he'd swallowed several lemons in a whole row. "Mmmmm! You don't look as cool when you do that though."

"...What do you mean?"

"Take your arms out...You should be happy to be able to show off such a cool ability like that one! You shouldn't have to hide it."

Yatsua was thrown completely off guard by this statement but Hokori's surprise. "No. I'm not going to come with you. I've been here before...You'll just use me. You don't really care about me. You only care about what I can do for you once everythings done and good you'll throw me out like I'm just trash! Bastard. You wanna go throw a fit cause society won't let you play hero? Just try living in my body for a day."

"Hm." In a effort to get him riled up Kageyama threw a light ball at Yatsua's back. "There's clearly something up with you then right?"

"That's none of your business... I don't need your help." Yatsua left.

Takaishi was shaking Kageyama around by his shoulders skeptical of his decision to question his choices. "Hey don't you think he might you know need some space? He doesn't have to join us. These are our decisions after all!"

"You idiot. Creepy crawler over there has a mutation style quirk. And he literally said right then and there. Some people don't like when he's got all his arms out. Obviously that leads to a certain group. The Creature Rejection Clan."

Hokori had never heard of this clan before so as such he made certain that he listened otherwise he'd probably cause a misunderstanding or two.

"The CRC are an evil religous organisation and as the name implies. They don't appreciate people with mutation quirks too kindly. Completely disregarding their existence. I doubt they'd even care if he ended up dead already. So if I were to guess. The fools gone to kill them since he's assumed being a hero is impossible now."

"Hmm. Well if he kills them then he can't join us... Then he'll be a murderer."

"That's right."

"Welp. I'll simply have to persuade him not to throw away his life."

"You really are stubborn."

___

"Ugh! What is that thing?"

"Why is is it here? Do the scum on this planet not know of us anymore? Foolishness! You there ugly beastie! Stop right there! Explain yourself! Who are you and why are you here in our presence today?"

"My name... Is Yatsua. Hayashi Yatsua. I've come here today. So that I may be killed."

_________

Notes:

Name: Kageyama Itoua

Age: 16

Height: 185 CM

Weight: 60 KG

Blood Type: B

Skin Colour: Pale

Likes: Samurai movies (And yet is very disrespectful), Takoyaki, Reading manga, Girls with glasses

Dislikes: Weak people acting big

Kageyama is a very difficult person to get used to he has a very over inflated ego. And behaves as though he's the greatest one around.

He is a rich pretty boy with bright blonde hair even if he's a big jerk none of his over the top gloating comes with a minimal result he's very capable when it comes to use of his Quirk. All he can seem to make right now are poles of light he's still really versatile with them. What he really wants is to be able to create swords. To be more like Samurai.

Outside of school he'd always opt to wearing some kind of suit no matter what. He believes that being strong isn't enough to gain a reputation you also need to be a good looker aswell. He has an older brother, Kataoke who he appears to hold in high regard. If he doesn't have anything ridiculing to say to somebody then he actually stops being a dick for a while. But he'd much prefer if you show him results rather than just be all talk, to him that means you aren't capable to do what your job is.

[the-ghost-writers]

The Old Road Pt.3

A SFW of Dismas and Reynauld setting the path for others to follow while the two find they’re beginning to enjoy working with their unlikely companion.

The story is for @hotmilky and follows (roughly) their ideas.

The story will be given in chapters of various lengths.

All characters are from Darkest Dungeon and belong to Red Hook Studios.

“Yer crap at this game.”

Reynauld huffs, hunching his shoulders as he tries to fold in on himself. He looks at the cards in his hand, the flimsy pieces held awkward in his metal covered fingers. Somehow, the knight had been persuaded into playing a game of poker with his companions. The heir had stated, with another note, that another group would handle this week’s task. It left Reynauld with a week to unwind or, in this case, be thoroughly demolished in a game of cards. His armor creaks as he looks up at Dismas sitting across from him, the man staring at him with a grin.

“And even with a helmet, ya can’t hide that mug of yours.”

The crusader lets his head drop, tossing his hand to the table. The five cards show he managed to get three kings, the rest being garbage. “I fold.”

A grin spreads on the man in front of him, the highwayman smug as he takes the pot. That makes his stack of gold four times the size of Raynaud's. He’s quite happy with that, Reynauld not so much. “Fella, ya shoulda kept your head.” Dismas flips his hand to reveal not even a matching pair. Swiping the cards along the table into his hand, he starts shuffling. He only gives another hand to Reynauld, any other opponents having been beaten off the table an hour ago. “Just remember, I’m even better at dice.”

He watches Reynauld nod at this as the two pick up their cards. The knight only takes a second to look before putting them back on the table. “I must stop.” Dismas moves his cards out of his face, leaving him space to give the knight a look. Reynauld raises a hand to quite him despite how he wasn’t planning to say a thing. “ I must reserve a pocket of gold to purchase essentials and donate to the abbey. The Light knows it could use it, that place is in desperate need of refurbishing.”

Dropping his hand, Dismas looks about the room they’re in. He could go into detail to spot every flaw in it, or he could sum it up with a single glance. The tavern has gone to shit, just like the rest of the estate. He looks back at the knight, the man who’s shining armor and holy symbols clash with the look of the tavern. “You give your shit to that place?” Dismas closes his eyes and winces at himself. The crusader told him he hates it when he curses in the same breath he mentions the church. Correcting himself, he speaks softer. “Sorry. So you donate?”

He doesn’t hide the bitterness in his voice, but it doesn’t seem like it's meant for the highwayman. “The heir neglects it. They put their resources to the clinic and blacksmith instead.” Dismas nods to that. In the ten weeks they’ve been in Hamlet, the heir has been trying to rebuild all the buildings they deemed worthy to help their cause. All but the abbey, the holy place only a little better than when they first arrived. Hell, money meant for the abbey was instead given to the nomad who brings in trinkets.

The crusader reels back in mild surprise when Dismas slides a portion of his gold over to him. When Reynauld looks up, the man is already standing and facing away. His words are muffled as he pulls up his scarf. “I don’t have much need for money, and it’d be pretty fuckin stupid of me to let ya starve.” As he talks he scans the room, empty except for them and the bartender.

Reynauld gets to his feet before the highwayman has a chance to bolt. “I presumed you were here for the payout of our quest.” Ironically, he says this while shoving the gold into his pockets. Even the cards find their way to his pockets.

“Nah, came here for something else.”

The knight straightens up. “Like what?”

He’s met with silence for a moment too long. The room is unnaturally still except for Dismas fiddling with the coin in his left coat pocket. He turns back to the crusader and jerks his head to the door. “Walk with me.” He stands still despite his word, merely watching his companion. It takes a second for Reynauld to realize he’s waiting on him. The two end up outside walking beside each other but Dismas taking the lead. While it may be daytime, clouds block out the sun and leave the estate in a shade of gray. There’s a coolness in their air, accented by the soft howling of the wind above them. Standard weather for this place, something no one likes but all are forced to accept. The two don’t speak at first, merely walking down whatever empty street Dismas takes them down.

It’s not long before the silence is cut by fervent giggling, drawing both their eyes to look down an alley. It’s hard to make out shapes at first, but it shows when whoever is making all that noise move out of the shadows. Paracelsus and the grave robber, someone both have yet to meet, are leaned against the wall and each other as they giggle their heads off. With how the grave robber holds the doctor’s waits, it’s not horribly hard to guess what they’re up to. Dismas smacks Reynauld’s shoulder and motions for him to keep moving.

When they’re a block away, he speaks. “I’m happy for Paracelsus. The grave robber has been pinning at her bout four weeks now. I think they’ll be happy together digging up graves together.”

The knight slows down until he eventually stops, Dismas doing the same. “Is Paracelsus not a woman?” The highwayman nods she is. Reynauld shakes his head softly. Dismas stops fiddling with his coin when he does. “Forgive me. I have never met another who seeks their own gender. It is a new experience.”

A light chuckle brings his head back to see Dismas covering his face with his right. “But Reynauld,” He spreads his arms wide, his coin in hand as he makes himself seen. “Ya met me.”

“Pardon me,” He raises both hands, eyes squeezed shut in his helmet. He opens them to see Dismas still standing there. “You deem yourself homosexual?”

He’s met with bap on his shoulder as the man snorts. “Most people just call it being gay, but yeah. I am.”

Reynauld freezes up again, this time reaching to touch his holy seals of protection. “I would have never guessed, you don’t seem to show it.”

Dismas shrugs. All in all, he expected a more violent reaction from the knight. “Well, I didn’t come here trying to find love.” His face falls from grace as he turns serious. He rubs under his scarf, feeling his chin. “Oh yeah, the reason why I’m here.” He starts walking again. The crusader will either follow or he won’t. Thankfully, Reynauld catches up to him. The two are at the edge of the town, to one side ruined builds and to the other the vegetation that caused it. “I’m here because I realized what a fuck up I am.” The usual joking manner in his self-deprecation is missing. “I was killing people who’ve neva done a thing to me. I didn’t have a good reason. I had plenty of chances to make an honest living, but I never took em.” He stops to wipe at his face. He turns his head so he doesn’t have to look at Reynauld. “I can’t even tell myself why I did what I did. I lied to myself too many times, now I don’t even know the real truth.”

“But then I killed the wrong person. The wrong people.” He pulls out his lucky coin, thumbing over the engraving on it. “It made me realize what I was doing. That I need ta stop. So I came here.” He shifts the coin back to his pocket and looks back to the town. He only just noticed they’ve stopped walking. “I know that I’ll be killed for all that I’ve done. I figured I might as well die doin something right for once in my life.”

Dismas is off looking at the sky, uncaring about Reynauld’s prying eyes. The knight watches him but isn’t sure how he’s supposed to feel. The highwayman looks at him and shrugs, having nothing more to say.

“You’re very open about yourself.”

“I’m done with secrets. Done with lying. I’ve put that behind me.”

Reynauld nods, unsure what else to do. He gets an idea when Dismas looks away. His armor groans in protest as it grinds against itself, curtly silenced as the metal is separated. Dismas turns to see Reynauld with his helmet tucked under his arm, leaving his head to be seen for the first time. He’s only a few years older, a beard matching his brown hair. Both are short, messily kept that way. But it’s clear to see he’s uncomfortable outside his armor. Regardless, he composes himself enough to speak. “I thank you for being so upfront with me. What you said has clear weight to you, it means much that you are willing to share it with me.”

Dismas stares at him and the knight instantly thinks he’s done something wrong. “Fuckin hell.” Oh yeah, he fucked up. Reynauld tenses up when the man reaches out towards his head. His surprised and alarmed when Dismas touches his beard. The highwayman looks at the coarse hairs, completely captivated by them. He shifts his eyes to Reynauld’s and laughs himself into a smile. “I thought ya wore that thing because ya had a ugly mug. But, man, now I think you wore it so Junia wouldn’t have impure thoughts.” Dismas laughs again, this time joined by Reynauld.

[normalpeopleclose]

got sone questions for ya fella: 3, 4, 6, 8, 14, 15, 17, 19, 21, 25, 26, 33, 34, 49, 42, 44

OH SHIT I forgot about this, thanks Decon!3: Do you smoke? Shit no. Smoking is disgusting, the smell, the effects, it's gross.4: Do you drink? On occasion, yes. My current drinks of choice are hard ciders and vodka or tequila drinks.6: Age you get mistaken for Late 20s usually. I'm only 23, and that always seems to shock people.8: Want any tattoos? Eventually yeah. I've had an idea to get a Star Wars tattoo, half Rebels half Empire symbol, probably on my leg somewhere. No idea when to do it though.14: Biggest turn offs Ego. When people are so full of themselves that they can't be humble at all, I can't stand it. I get being positive about yourself, that's okay, but when it becomes a "I can do no wrong" attitude, I fuckin' hate that. Also, obviously smoking is a turn off, it's disgusting.15: Favorite movie Long term it's Star Wars: Return of the Jedi. From recent memory, I would say Logan. It was a dark twist on a normally comical and lighthearted comic world.17: Someone you miss This one is tough. I try my best to keep in contact with everyone I feel is close to me. I'm truly not sure who it would be, other than a few really good friends who I haven't seen in a while.19: A fact about your personality I am only half as serious as is needed about life. I joke around almost constantly, and I tend to have a more light-hearted personality. It keeps me relaxed. Of course, at the right moments I'll get more serious, but there's nothing wrong with taking the lighter side of things.21: What I love most about myself I am determined. If I start something, I will find a way to finish it to completion, no matter how difficult or stressful or shitty that something is. Could be simple, could be complex, I'll get it done. It might take me a while, but it's getting done.25: My idea of a perfect date Aw shit, listen up. It's an entire day-long affair, friends. Make a big breakfast, go for a walk or a hike, or do some urban exploration shit, go to lunch, go home, spend the rest of the day cuddling and watching movies and shit. It's simple, it's fun, there's a lot of room for choices to be made on both sides. There's also tons of room for improvisation. I'm not big on planning everything out, I like a bit of randomness to a date. 26: My biggest pet peeves Unspoken thoughts and feelings. If you've got beef with me, fucking say it. I worry constantly about what people close to me are thinking about me; I know it's bad and I shouldn't care, but I do anyway. I can't stand the passive aggressive "you know what I mean" sort of bullshit. If there's something you gotta say or do, fucking do it. 33: What words make me feel the best about myself That I'm kind, or passionate about the things I'm into, that I'm a good person. I just want to be those things, and it's nice when people say that.34: What I find attractive in women It sounds cliche and shit, but confidence man. People who are confident in who they are and what they want is fucking awesome, there's too many flaky people around. A woman who is confident and strong is fucking awesome. And if we're talking physical stuff, I'm a sucker for red heads and pixie cuts, combine that shit and I'm all for it. 49: Who I wish I could be (I assume you meant 40 ;) )Well shit. It used to be that I wished I could be anyone but me, I hated myself for a long time. I don't think at this point that it's a specific person. But I wish I could be someone who makes a difference in things. You always see it in big YouTubers or Twitch streamers, but they can go to huge events and see people that look up to them and it's just... cool. They can do charity shit and give back and it just seems like a wholesome thing. I kinda want that.42: The last thing I ate I had a homemade breakfast burrito with scrambled eggs and bacon for breakfast. Fuck yeah.44: A random fact about anything If you get car sick easily, it's cause of these little stones in your ears that control your balance. They send signals in tandem with your eyes to you brain about movement and balance. If your eyes are focused on a phone or book, they're sending that signal to the brain. Your ear stones are still sending balance info about you moving in a car though, so your brain freaks the fuck out and makes you dizzy and sickly. I read about this a couple days ago!Thanks again Decon, my friend!