#a worthy successor to a literal fox

[from-the-coffee-shop-in-edoras]

This is absolutely not the point of War of the Rohirrim, which has a lot of interesting things to say about loyalty, revenge, leadership, etc. and the substance of which I have addressed elsewhere already. Having said those things, though, allow me to take the point of privilege to also say that not since 5 year old me fell for fox Robin Hood have I loved an animated man as much as I love Fréaláf.

Kind. Open minded. Loyal. Humble. Not above taking orders from women without being even remotely pissy about it. Good fashion sense. Great hair. A real tall drink of water. Can handle himself on a horse. Just good stuff, all around. And, bonus — human, unlike Robin.

[sleepymarmot]

Ocean's Eleven (2001) & Ocean's Twelve (2004)

Ocean's Eleven

This is basically the gold standard of modern masculine coolness, right?

I definitely saw this at some point, but that was so long ago that I remembered nothing of the specifics. I do remember Ocean’s Eight well enough to compare, though, and what I found out today is that Debbie wasn’t the only Ocean sibling to have a surprising amount of gay chemistry with their blond(e) right hand (wo)man. Good for all of them!

Danny/Tess made a valiant effort to keep up, but unfortunately, Tess’s entire character is the weakest part of the film. The story is male-centric to the extreme, and the only woman is a trophy for the protagonist to steal from the antagonist.

None of these people measure up in hotness to Cate Blanchett in Ocean’s Eight, but they did look nice. A special shout out to the bad guy, who suddenly acquired a dark brooding gothic demeanor when he realized his defeat.

Every review describes Ocean’s Eleven with adjectives such as “smooth”, “fun”, and “charming”, which is true, but in addition to that, an essential factor that makes it work as a “feel-good movie” for me is how non-violent it is, despite the hypermasculinity. The target of robbery is utterly unsympathetic, there’s little to no collateral damage, guns only enter the picture as a two second long fakeout. The viewers don’t have the reason to feel bad for anyone and can just bask in the good vibes. (Though personally, I still managed to get nervous a few times during the heist, even though I knew perfectly well that the job would end in success. I’m really not built for any kind of suspense, huh.) It’s extremely shallow, but instead of the common and annoying “pretends to be deep but fails” way, it’s shallow in the “our only goal is to make this as fun as possible” way, and that gets no objections from me.

Ocean's Twelve

I genuinely can’t tell if I’ve watched Ocean’s Twelve before in full or not. I remember the laser dancing sequence, and the Bruce Willis-Julia Roberts stuff feels familiar, but everything else feels totally new to my present self.

They Garak’d Brad Pitt so hard! Literally the first scene of the movie grabs the viewer by the shoulders and shouts “Oh you thought he seemed kinda gay? Here, look, he’s definitely attracted to women!” Also, God, Hollywood kissing close-ups are so obnoxious.

The thief/cop romance is not bad in theory, but felt forced in practice; now that Danny and Tess are back together, we need another obligatory white heterosexual will they/won’t they (that doubles as a no homo, see above). The “reveal” that the legendary thief who might or might not be dead, and the thief father who allegedly died around the same time, are in fact the same person, can be seen from miles away; the real surprise is that Isabel herself didn’t figure it out somehow.

Linus was only slightly annoying in the first one, but here he’s given prolonged scenes that are painfully awkward to watch. What was the point of making him the “immature SJW” if that didn’t even go anywhere?

Vincent Cassel is not as good of an antagonist as Andy García. Watching Terry Benedict threaten the crew at the beginning of the film was actually pretty fun, and the Night Fox just doesn’t have anything to be a worthy successor to that classic villain charisma.

Overall I have to say I was pretty bored. Perhaps it’s my fault for watching the second movie the day after the first, motivated more by curiosity than “I’m really missing the heist movie vibe right now”. Several times I thought “this can’t possibly be the real heist, it’s not good enough”. The final twist was decent if a bit predictable, but it wasn’t enough to justify the whole thing.

I considered completing the marathon with Ocean’s Thirteen (which I have no memory of, either), but perhaps it would be wise to leave it for later. I suspect movies like these work better as palate cleansers or light entertainment, and trying to be completionist with them like with typical series would be counterproductive. For now, it might be better to take a break from action movies starring white American men — I feel testosterone-poisoned already!

[belladxne]

i will see you where the shadow ends | chapter 4

[see notes for ao3 and ff links]

part of the put your faith in the light that you cannot see series AU: Breath of the Wild pairing: KiriBaku word count: 5,133

chapter 4: there’s a fog from the past that’s giving me, giving me such a headache

When Eijiro starfishes on the ground at the bottom of the tower, it’s not long before Inko’s leaning down over him, watching him with a fond expression. She’s content to chat with him like that for a minute or so while he gets his bearings, and when he gives an abridged, glossed-over summary of how atrocious fast travel was, she insists that if he lost his lunch he’ll just have to let her cook him a big dinner to make up for it.

“Well, if you’re gonna twist my arm about it,” he laughs gently, though he’s getting a little worried about overexerting her hospitality.

They agree again that it’s only fair he should help gather enough food for their dinner, and he figures it can’t set him back too much to hunt and forage a bit before heading for the nearest shrine. That decided, he dusts himself off from where he’d been slumped on the ground, and makes for the Forest of Spirits.

That’s where Eijiro meets his first Korok.

The little guy almost gives him a heart attack, too—Eijiro’s climbed an odd stone formation in the middle of the forest, hoping for a vantage point to hunt from, and is slightly puzzled by a large rock just… sitting there. It’s kind of huge, maybe bigger than his torso, but not quite big enough to make a good perch, so he doesn’t want to stumble over it while he’s focused on aiming his bow.

He heaves it over his head, just planning to heft it out of his way, when all of a sudden a triumphant little trumpet sounds and Eijiro drops the stone in alarm at an explosion of fairy lights in front of him. He barely hardens the dragonscales on his head fast enough to avoid concussing himself.

“Ya-ha-ha!” the forest spirit cheers, while Eijiro whines and rubs his head. “You found me!” The Korok bounces in absolute joy and utter delight for a moment, before suddenly tilting its head at him in apparent confusion. “Huh? You’re not Hestu!”

“Um,” Eijiro manages. The little spirit sounds so betrayed. “Sorry?”

“You can… see me?” the Korok asks next, apparently more concerned with this fact than with Eijiro’s apology. “I didn’t know your kind could see the children of the forest!”

“I… I guess I didn’t either?” Eijiro answers. It’s probably not strictly true—it’s more like the case of him being dragonblooded. He knows what a Korok is, recognizes one on sight—he’s probably seen them before? But he hasn’t thought about it at all, hadn’t even thought about their existence or the potentiality of meeting one, so he may as well have been blind to them before now.

“Wow!” the little plant cries, awed. Eijiro is glad to see that the betrayal has been left in the past. “You must be very special! Like the Deku Sprout!”

“Thanks?” Eijiro says, and it occurs to him that most of his contributions to this conversatiion have been in a confused and questioning tone. Might as well keep up the streak. “Um, and what is that exactly?” He feels like he should know. The term sounds familiar, like a mental sensation of a word being right on the tip of his tongue.

“Not what,” the Korok gasps, scandalized. “Who! The Deku Sprout is a person! We Koroks love the Deku Sprout. He’s the Great Deku Tree’s successor, and he’s wonderful!”

Oh. Of course—with that, the information does come flooding to mind. A long chain of heroes chosen by the Goddess Farore, with Her blessing passed down between them, tasked with protecting Her creations. Nature in particular, but She’d created all life in the land and this chosen hero was meant to look out for all of it, accordingly. Her magic would grow in them, keeping them strong and youthful until it would begin to overtake them, and they would have to settle in one place as Her magic transformed them into a giant tree—the Great Deku Tree.

And then they would pick another hero worthy of Farore’s blessing—someone to receive a mere sprout of their power, to store and cultivate on their own as they protected the land. That was the origin of the name Deku Sprout, but that name for them was probably more popular among creatures of the forest than regular Hylians. That was why it hadn’t been immediately familiar.

He was pretty sure Hylians had preferred other titles for the role, but the current Great Deku Tree, a legendary hero named All Might, had taken so long to choose a successor that most had forgotten the legends, and the titles with them. Eijiro could vaguely remember that there were tales of how All Might had prolonged his retirement and transformation for so long that he’d gone into his last few battles with bark already overtaking his skin.

“Oh—you’re right, sorry, sorry.” Eijiro nods his acknowledgement and understanding of the Korok’s words. “But… you said I’m like him? I don’t... think I’m the Deku Sprout.”

“Of course not!” The Korok uses a tone that makes it sound like he’s trying to explain a very simple concept to a very silly small child (and the irony is not lost on Eijiro), like Eijiro’s not understanding him on purpose. “The Deku Sprout is in the castle!”

“In… there?” Eijiro asks somewhat dubiously, nodding his head in the direction of Hyrule Castle, though their view is blocked by all the trees in the way. The place doesn’t exactly seem hospitable, clearly.

“Oh, yes!” the forest spirit chatters, clearly eager to gush about this topic. “He’s a hero, Mister! He’s protecting all of us! He’s been fighting the Calamity for a long, long time, but he’ll be back soon! All Might said it won’t be long anymore, and then he’ll come back to the forest.”

In the castle? Holding the Calamity off? “Huh...” Eijiro manages, but it comes out weak and distant to his own ears, as his thoughts race. The voice, his voice, he knows it’s coming from the castle—is that what the voice has been doing, too? It makes sense—he hadn’t said as much, really, but he was asking for Eijiro’s help, and he’d said he was waiting and that the monster was regaining strength. A long time… was he fighting All for One for all of those one hundred years?

“Um, I gotta... go...” he tells the Korok distractedly. He’s got a lot to think about now. For a moment he almost wonders, are his voice and the Deku Sprout one and the same? But, Farore’s associated with green, not golden light, and besides, nature powers wouldn’t let someone talk to him in his head. Unless they would, but it wouldn’t make any sense. So… are they in there together, then?

“Okay!” The Korok seems oblivious to how lost in thought Eijiro has become, dancing excitedly from foot to foot. “But wait! If you run into Hestu, please return this to him.”

Eijiro’s not sure where the seed that the Korok produces came from, since it’s not like the little guy has pockets, but he takes it and stares at it blankly. It’s… literally just a seed. There’s probably a lot of others like it. He has no idea why he’s being tasked with this. “Um… okay? But I don’t know who Hestu is.”

“Doesn’t matter! You’ll know him if you see him. You can’t miss him!”

Eijiro figures he might as well just accept it.

He returns from hunting with three Korok seeds in his pockets, and two foxes that he’d managed to catch—which he skins and cuts up for Inko to begin cooking into stew before he finally steels himself for the next shrine. Inko thanks him warmly and sees him off, but there’s something tense in her demeanor.

Her eyes seem tight with worry, but when Eijiro tries to ask what’s wrong she just waves him off and makes him promise to be safe. He doesn’t hesitate to give her his word—he couldn’t bear to make her worry, but really, as uneasy as he is about the shrines, he knows he can handle them.

The ruins aren’t far from Inko’s home at all—honestly, he’s had to pass them at a distance, a bunch. It doesn’t take him long to make his way to them, and they’re surrounded by… odd shapes of some sort, the kind he’s seen dotted around the Great Plateau in several places, but this is the closest he’s actually gotten to any of them. They’re all tarnished and moss-covered, too much so to make out what they might have looked like once, and he can’t figure out what they were for.

Not statues, surely, because their positioning is too random and too haphazard. The only thing he does know, is now that he’s close enough to make out details, they fill him with the most visceral unease and dread he’s ever felt in his life.

He spends a solid minute staring at one, throat dry and palms clammy, before he manages to convince himself to inch closer. There’s no reason he should be so—so—so scared shitless by a hunk of lifeless material. They’re stationary. What’s his problem?

Man up, he chides himself, swallowing roughly as he pokes around one. It’s… not so bad when he gets in close, because he can focus on just the area right in front of him, and ignore the whole shape. It’s made of metal, he realizes, knocking on a scuffed and dulled part of the material and hearing a hollow and muted clang as he does so. Squatting down, he leans a hand against the moss-covered material and peers into one of several openings near the bottom of the shape.

As he runs his hand around the opening, brow furrowed in thought as he tries to piece together what these things are and why they agitate him so much, something comes loose in his hand. Pulling it out, he stares at—a screw?

Something similar had come out of the automatons he’d been forced to fight in the last shrine. Looking up at the shape again, Eijiro bites his lip, his unease building again. Was this another machine just like those? Near the top, he now realizes there’s a circular indent that—that looks like the eyes of the automatons, where their lasers had fired from.

Eijiro blanches.

He can’t imagine what machines of this size would do—what kind of damage that eyes of that size could cause. He grips the screw he’d pilfered tightly to keep his hand from shaking, and suddenly his fear doesn’t seem as ridiculous or confusing to him now. He’s just glad they’re all clearly defunct. Taking in a shaky, steadying breath, Eijiro stands and backs away quickly, regardless.

He just… doesn’t want to be around them. That’s all.

He skirts around it as he moves further past the battered and half-collapsed walls of what the map tells him used to be the Eastern Abbey. Skirting through one opening, he makes his way into an area clearly far more open than it once was—there’s half of an archway in the center of the space, the only testament to whatever walls once divided this particular area. There are two more of those intimidating defunct machines lodged in the rubble on either side of that arch. Beyond them stands a complete doorway in one of the few whole walls, though its opening is sealed over with debris.

Still, these walls are all cracked and littered with ivy and plantlife, so climbing them won’t be any problem at all. Eijiro’s not worried as he makes his way forward—at least, not about how to get to the shrine. He wishes he didn’t have to walk so closely between the lifeless machines, though.

He’s hardly more than a few steps into the clearing when it happens—the machine on the right, it moves. The top of it rattles and lifts, the whole creation suddenly glowing red as it spins to face him, and then—that fucking sound, like a gong or a hand slamming down on an out of tune piano, and Eijiro—

Eijiro can’t fucking move as the eye lights up piercingly blue and stares him down. His blood turns to ice in his veins and his breath feels solid in his lungs as he tries to choke past it and every muscle in his body draws painfully tense and he can’t—he can’t—

He can’t move and can’t think and he can’t afford to run he has to stay and fight, but there’s no point it’s over he can’t do this they’re going to kill him, they’re going to kill them both, and then they’re going to kill everyone and he can’t stop it he just has to—

The eye shifts colors. The blue’s suddenly deep and dark—a line of red light beams out of it, directly onto Eijiro. A strangled gasp gets caught in his throat, and he runs. Involuntarily he scrambles, nearly tripping over his own legs. He manages to slam himself behind a ruined wall, in the same instant a white-hot beam of light flares past where he’d just been. It blasts into a wall behind him, a sob escaping Eijiro as an explosion of flame and light bursts at the impact point. It sears his skin, even fifteen feet away.

Eijiro presses himself flat to the wall, legs curled close to his chest, face buried in his knees as he struggles for breath. His heart’s pounding so painfully he thinks it’ll break his rib cage and he grips tight around his legs with one arm, his other hand gripping at his own hair tight enough to hurt.

He needs—he needs to—fuck, he has to get away from here, he can’t—he doesn’t know what that thing is but some deeply ingrained part of him must, because he still can’t control the trembling of his limbs or the stinging of his eyes. He can hear it, on the other side of the wall, a constant whirring and deep, menacing humming all paired with a mechanical grating as it turns its head back and forth, searching for him.

He has to go. He knows without trying that his sword would break on this thing before he could get any real damage done. It’s armored, heavily, and even its insides are made of metal. His sword’s fine, but he knows the difference between fine and good or even great. It could never survive an attack on that thing.

He could just… he could continue to use this wall for cover, and get as far as his legs will take him, keeping obstacles between them until he’s gone and doesn’t ever have to do this again. It would be easy. It would be easy, but…

He has to get to that shrine. He has to get off this plateau, and help the voice—fuck, the voice, he’s in the castle, with something so much worse than this stupid, stuck robot that can’t even move. Why the hell can’t Eijiro get himself together? He knocks his forehead against his knees over and over, trying desperately to manage something other than the choked, hiccuping gasps that keep escaping him.

How can—how can he even think about running away from this? If he can’t jump into action now, when it’s his own life on the line and his enemy can’t even move, how is he ever going to help anyone else? How is he ever going to face All for One? The voice… Eijiro’s going to fail him. He can’t give in here.

He still can’t even draw a full breath properly, but he can’t let it stop him. He moves to grab the hilt of his sword, starting to push himself up against the wall beside him before—before—he slumps, sliding back down the wall and onto his ass. His knees are still too weak to hold him, but even if they weren’t, it’s his resolve that failed.

Eijiro knows he can’t fight this thing. He hasn’t seen a weapon on this plateau that could even make a dent. He’s being a coward, he knows, but… but he doesn’t want to die fighting a battle he can’t win. He’ll never help the voice that way. So… so he has to figure out something else.

His mind scrambles through what he knows, trying to figure out something—any piece of information he can use. Think. He tries to comb through what just happened, to pinpoint anything…

It hadn’t targeted him right away. That’s what he realizes first. It had taken a moment, to find him, and only then did the red light flash towards him. And—and it hadn’t fired right away either. The red light had lingered on him, a strange clicking sound emanating from the machine, until a final beep. It had fired a split-second after that. But—but it also hadn’t moved. The line of red light had locked in place after the sound, while Eijiro kept moving, and then it had fired, at where Eijiro had been.

So—so if he moves fast enough…

He can get past this thing.

He doesn’t want to risk getting close to the machine, and he doesn’t want to bet his life on being fast enough to dodge only in that split-second where it can’t track him, but… there are walls littered all around them. The shrine is surrounded on all four sides. If he can just keep to cover, moving faster than the beam can focus in on him, until he can scale that last wall—it won’t be able to target him.

Eijiro has a plan. He can do this.

It goes off without a hitch, more or less, for the first sixty seconds or so. Yeah, he’s scared out of his godsdamned mind the moment he sees the flash of red, every time he sees it—but he only has to sprint through the open twice, and both times are fleeting. He makes it around a corner, out of the thing’s sight, but even as he sags with relief he refuses to believe he’s out of the woods.

The place is littered with the remains of those machines, and now he knows he needs to be wary of all of them. He finds himself at a dead end, walls around him on most sides, so he tries to loosen his muscles and gets to climbing. Despite his protesting muscles, he heaves himself over quickly.

He finds himself a little too out in the open—the machine has a line of sight on him from here, if it thinks to turn around, so he sprints again for the wall to the side of the shrine. It won’t see him from there, at least. But just as soon as he makes it, he sees—there’s another one up ahead. And it gives a shudder.

The second one lights up, its eye turning to Eijiro, and his heart stops.

His heart stops and he runs—he doesn’t freeze up this time, bolting for the wall, and he doesn’t even waste time looking for handholds. He just feels claws overtaking his hands, and he jabs them into the stone with enough force to crack it himself, making his own handholds as he claws his way up. He’s over just as the beam locks on, hurling himself past the wall heedlessly of the fall waiting.

He rolls to dispel as much of his momentum as he can, scales hardening across his skin to absorb what force he can’t, and then—

And then it sinks in. He did it. Part of him wants to whoop for joy but the rest of him is still too breathless and shaky, and he lets himself flop flat on the long grass that’s overtaken the ruins, right at the foot of the shrine. He doesn’t remember if he was the praying type before he woke up in that shrine, but he lays a hand over his pounding heart and thanks each of the Goddesses and Bakusatsuo in turn, earnest and sincere.

Ja Baij Shrine does give him another rune. It won’t get him off the plateau, but it is badass.

He can now summon bombs, two types of them, out of the slate at will. He doesn’t know how often he’ll need that, but just having the option makes him feel pretty damn powerful. Admittedly, the trial this shrine offers is just as easy—maybe easier—than the magnesis trial had been, but he keeps messing it up.

When he first comes in, the adrenaline is only just draining from his system, and all of his limbs feel heavy with exhaustion. The fear response from earlier hasn’t fully left him, either, and it makes his hands just a little shaky—the result is he keeps fumbling his grip on the bombs, not quite judging his throws correctly. Several times he has to stop to take a few deep breaths, shake his hands out, and hope for the best as he attempts the same toss he’s messed up two or three times already.

Still, he gets through it in about the same amount of time, and he endures Ja Baij’s weird purple mist and spontaneous disintegration with only some contained distaste and not outright panic this time. Progress!

When he steps out of the shrine, the same odd energy that’s been humming under his skin since the first one is there still, stronger now. He’s still unsettled by it, but—but whatever it is, the ‘strength of these monks’ spirits’, it’s supposed to help, so he tries not to let it bother him. He steps out into the beginning of sunset, and he realizes—

He’d thought there could be nothing he’d ever hate more than fast travel, and he was so wrong. Standing on the surface of the shrine, realizing he’ll have to get past those looming machines on the other side of the walls, Eijiro doesn’t have to debate long. He pulls out the slate, braces himself, and taps Oman Au Shrine on the map—it’s farther, but like hell is he going to climb down the tower a third time, in this state.

He’s in hell for all of the five seconds it takes him to be ripped across the plateau, but, hey, he doesn’t throw up this time!

Sure, he stumbles to his hands and knees as soon as he arrives, and he has to close his eyes to ride out the waves of nausea that hit him, but he doesn’t even dry heave so he’ll take the win. He takes as many deep breaths as he needs to to calm his stomach, and then he pulls himself to his feet, heading back towards Inko’s home once more.

It’s really nice, to have somewhere that cozy and safe to recoup, after all the worst of today.

Inko looks about ready to cry when he arrives back at her tiny house, two more Korok seeds in his possession. Actually, he can’t be sure she doesn’t actually start crying—he has to look away fast, just in case, before he’s in danger of his own waterworks possibly starting in response to hers.

“Oh, you’re safe, thank goodness,” she breathes, waving him in almost frantically. He can’t even get a word out before she’s ushering him into a seat at her table, and she keeps him there with a hand firmly on his shoulder, not even letting him move to dish his own meal up. She ladles the stew she’s had simmering for the past two hours or so into a bowl herself, and puts it in front of him.

He’s not sure where all the nervous energy comes from, but it doesn’t fully fade through most of the meal, even as they talk over their dinner. Every time she stands—to dish up seconds for either of them, or to grab something across the room—she finds an excuse to touch Eijiro, laying a hand on his back or shoulder. One time, she even strokes his hair, the gesture motherly and caring. It’s like she has to keep reminding herself he’s there and not hurt. Eijiro doesn’t know what to make of it.

It’s well and truly dark out by the time Eijiro finishes eating, and that’s when it finally hits him—

“Oh… I should probably figure out somewhere to camp out for the night.” He hadn’t even thought about it before, and he wishes he’d thought to get set up someplace before it was dark out. Still, he doesn’t think it’ll be too hard. It feels like something he’ll know how to do.

Inko raises her eyebrows at him. “What are you talking about? You’re staying here, of course.”

“Really?” he blurts, surprised and hesitant. “Are… are you sure? You’ve already fed me twice, and given me hair ties, and helped me out so much today, you don’t have to—”

“But I want to, and I will,” she says, firm. It’s hard to argue with her, especially with gratitude swelling in his chest, but…

“I—I really don’t want to be a burden—”

“You could never,” she insists gently, but she leaves little room for argument. “I would never forgive myself if I made you fend for yourself in your situation. You’ll stay here tonight. And tomorrow, if we haven’t figured out how to get you down from the plateau, either. I want to do this for you, and you’re going to let me, young man.”

“Okay...” He swallows, and his voice is not just a little wobbly, thank you very much. “Um… where...”

“You’ll take the bed,” she says without looking at him as she begins to gather their dishes, and Eijiro shakes his head.

“I can’t! I couldn’t make you sleep on the floor, and it’s your house!”

Inko just shakes her head, glancing his way with a warm smile. “You can. I wouldn’t be using it much, anyways. It would be a waste. Trust me, dear, getting old ruins your sleep. You can’t sleep through the night anymore, and you’ll be napping throughout the day no matter what you do. You’ll take the bed.”

“But that’s not fair,” Eijiro protests. “You keep doing so much for me, at least let me repay you by letting you keep your bed.”

Setting their stacked bowls down, Inko reaches across the table to lay a hand over his, regarding him with a fond, no-nonsense look. “Eijiro, honey, you do not have to repay me for a single thing. You deserve a good night’s sleep after the day you’ve had, and I won’t accept no for an answer. Besides, I have some things I want to work on tonight. I think I have an idea how to help you get down safely, so I won’t be sleeping much tonight anyways. I insist, and it will make me happier than any other sort of repayment you could give me.”

Eijiro presses his lips together, and he can feel a lump in his throat. She’s so kind and helpful, and he doesn’t even know what he did to deserve it. Letting him have her food, some of her things, even her bed, and on top of it all she’s planning to lose sleep working on a way to help him tonight. He doesn’t understand but he’ll never forget how much he owes her as long as he lives.

“Why—” He has to clear his throat, voice a little hoarse. “Why are you… so nice? You’re doing so much for me—and I appreciate it! I really, really do! But you don’t even know me, why...”

Inko’s expression softens, and turns just a little sad. She takes a deep breath, and the smile she offers him is heartbreaking.

“You remind me—an awful lot, actually—of my son,” she tells him quietly. She clasps her hands in front of her and her eyes grow distant, but thinking about him clearly brings her so much joy. “I haven’t seen him since he was your age, but you’re just like him. You’re both such sweet, polite boys. It’s—it’s a terribly dangerous world out there, but he’s keeping people safe, just like you want to. You both think so much about other people—and you’re so brave.”

Her voice wavers on the last word and then—and then she’s crying, tears an absolute flood, and before Eijiro realizes it he’s got tears spilling down his cheeks, too. “Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean—”

“It’s all r-right,” Inko says, but he can barely make it out through her tears. “Really, it is, I just—I just love him so m-much.”

“I can tell,” Eijiro says, pressing the heels of his hands into his eyes, but it doesn’t do much to stem the flow of his sympathetic tears. “He’s—he’s got a really great mom.”

“I have a really w-wonderful son,” she responds, and Eijiro can’t see with his hands pressed to his eyes, but he can hear that her weeping is only getting worse, and it just makes his worse in response. “I kn-know he’s thinking about m-me every day, just like I think about him. And that’s why I’m looking after you, Eijiro. I w-want to look after you the same way I’d—I’d hope someone would look after my baby. So just l-let me do that, okay?”

“Okay,” Eijiro just barely manages, his own voice wobbling and wavering just like hers. He pulls his hands away from his eyes to see her frantically trying to stem the flow of her tears with a handkerchief, but it’s not getting her very far.

“Good,” she wails, and together the two of them are a complete and utter mess.

Eventually they manage to pull themselves together, enough so for Inko to finish cleaning up after their dinner and for Eijiro to get ready for bed. He doesn’t have the heart, after all that, to argue with her further, and the complete and utter happiness on her face when he finally starts to climb into the bed makes getting past his hesitation completely worth it. He hopes that wherever her son is, he understands exactly how wholeheartedly wonderful his mother is, and cherishes her appropriately.

By the Goddesses, Eijiro hadn’t realized how exhausted he was after everything until the exact moment his head hits the pillow—he tries to stay awake long enough to plan out how to get to the two shrines left on the plateau tomorrow, but it’s in vain.

The last thing he sees before his eyes shut for good is Inko pulling out a sewing kit and something that looks like a blanket, maybe? It’s vibrant red and has the winged Triforce symbol of Hyrule on it. He doesn’t even have time to wonder how a blanket might help him get down from the plateau before sleep barrels into him with all the force of one of his newly-acquired bombs.

[arlakos]

The Master Fu rewrite: From a Miraculous Themed Pez Dispenser to an Actual Mentor

Ok, let's get this show on the road. Its gonna be a while and a lot of salt/

Master Fu is a character I have grown to dislike. A lot

While I initially did not feel this way at first (at worst finding him to be boring) thanks to some interesting discord discussions, as well as discussing with my internet best friend @twin-books​, I have slowly come to see the character in a negative light in many different aspects, ranging from the characterization of Fu to the plot choices Fu makes that are in many ways stupid as hell. However, unlike some who I have talked, I believe that Fu in many ways can still be salvaged as a character. He’s not a bad character himself, just that the way the show (and by extension Thomas ASS-truc, aka THAT GUY) treats him is the issue. 

In this post I am going to tackle the key issues with Fu, explain them and what i would do to personally make his character better. I am not gonna lie, this post is going to have a moderate amount of salt, so if you arent interested in a salty blog post, TURN BACK.

So, assuming that you have accepted the salt by continuing to read, let's get started.

There are a few key pointers to the issues I have with Fu.

1. His character

2. Show, don't tell

3. Fu’s weird choices

4. The bad Origin Episode of Fu (not to be confused with the actual origins episode.

So let's go over the first topic.

1. Master Fu’s character (or why he’s a glorified PEZ dispenser)

A lot of people may find this part to be surprising. After all, Master Fu shows himself in canon to be kind and helpful towards Marinette, developing new powers for her and Chat Noir to use and has helped the heroes in stopping some of their adversaries. Right?

Well...

See, the only actual characterization that Fu has is well... his passiveness.

See Master Fu, for the most part, does nothing to actually help the heroes in their struggles against Hawkmoth. For most of season 2 and 3, he remains inside his home and pretty much does nothing, doing nothing to help track down hawkmoth or aide the heroes himself, and then for the second half of season 3, runs around in a van. He gives the miraculous to Ladybug and Chat Noir to have them stop hawkmoth, then watches from the sidelines while drinking tea.

The only time he really did anything developed the potions that give the powerups (and based off what we saw, are huge gimmicks), and even then, it was simply used as another way to show how awesome Marinette is by her being the one to solve the potion.

Sure, some people may point out that it was used to show how Marinette is a capable Guardian, but aside from the fact that I think Marinette is not a capable Guardian (which is my opinion), it really doesn't help the fact that it makes Fu seem incompetent.

Slight Rant time: The secret to one of the potions was an actual tear of joy?! What kind of stupid ingredient is that? It would have made much more sense for writers to make the ingredient to be some sort of plant because of the whole ‘natural energy’ in plants, but no its an actual tear of joy, what did the guardians do to learn that, cry in a pot?! Also, For someone who is supposed to be a wise Guardian, you sure can’t seem to find out the last ingredient like its impossible. But a prepubescent girl who can't talk to a boy is totally smarter than you and can figure it out?! Yeah right.

And people are going to bring up the fact that Fu helps by granting the miraculous... but that really doesn’t help the argument against him. In fact its one of the main reasons why I think Fu is so passive. Rather than go out and give the miraculous to allies in the same manner as he did with Ladybug and Chat Noir, Fu just gives them to Marinette to just choose whoever she wants and expects them to be returned! 

Not only is that irresponsible of any sort of mentor to allow a novice to choose a hero, but what if Marinette chose wrong or allowed the Miraculous to fall into the wrong hands because she lost it?! Because of surprise, THAT’S EXACTLY WHAT HAPPENED IN STYLE QUEEN when she lost the bee miraculous! 

Despite the fact that I love the idea of Chloe being a hero, I think the introduction to how she got a miraculous was largely Fu’s fault. Had Fu decided to have a look at Chloe (assuming he ever would have) and introduced Chloe to Pollen in a safe manner (and not while she was upset and visibly stressed/angry), she would have learned that keeping a secret identity was important and would likely go on to become an actual hero like Ladybug and Chat Noir.

A lot of people would assume she would do the same thing again regardless, but Chloe at the time was flat out rejected by her mother, who was a rather huge Bee-word (Pun intended). It would make sense that she would do whatever it takes to prove to her mother she is worthy of respect, and that would include exposing her identity just to show off to her mother.

Despite all of the hardships both Ladybug and Chat Noir go through, Fu does nothing to remedy or help the situation. This can even be seen in Season 1, where the only reason Fu reveals himself was because Marinette discovered the Miraculous Book, and Fu (and even Marinette for that matter) didn't even tell Chat until season 2 because ‘he wasn't ready’, whatever reason that is.

Rant: What the hell do you mean he wasn't ready?! He literally became a hero the same time as Ladybug and he it’s not like he hasn’t proven himself! Why the hell should he be left in the dark?!

Now, a lot of people could attribute all these moments to both his responsibility as a Guardian or his isolation at being the Last Guardian so to speak. He has to make sure the Box is safe and make sure the knowledge is passed on to his successor without it being lost. His recessive behavior is due to his isolation and duty to keep the miraculous safe.

If that was the case, why does he do nothing to aid the heroes in finding Hawkmoth or his lair so that the miraculous doesn't remain in Gabriel’s hands? That way he can move on and keep the miraculous safe away from others. We know he is supposed to be smart, so why doesn't he just attempt to find the place the butterflies are coming from and tell Ladybug and Chat Noir via a message so they can ambush him?

So...what would i do to fix his Character?

Well for starters, I would actually have him be a bit more proactive. 

Considering that Fu would recognize the threat Hawkmoth poses, he would work down to track Hawkmoth and prevent him from getting anymore stronger. It would also be likely that he would choose which people should get a miraculous, regardless of whether it is temporary or not, so this would likely mean that Alya, Nino, and Chloe would not likely get their respective miraculi, even if Fu deems them worthy of one.

Note: This would actually make a cool AU. Imagine if Fu chose other people in the class to be heroes, like Nathaniel to be the fox and Luka to say, the turtle. Perhaps Sabrina would be the Bee hero?

Also, perhaps if you really wanted to keep the Queen Bee Trilogy, have Ladybug finally choose a hero as part of her first test, but have it go wrong for her.

Also, If anyone has seen the series on AO3 called Miraculous Tales by JED1, one of the things introduced in the sort of AU was that Fu worked behind the scenes for a majority of season 1, helping the heroes by sending them anonymous letters to aid them in their heroics. So that could be another way Fu could be more of an active mentor instead of just doing nothing except dispensing Miraculous.

Also, I know the whole thing about Fu being too old to be a hero, but what If Fu transformed to help the heroes in one of their early adventures.

Say... instead of Volpina being the season 1 finale, it is instead an early encounter with Hawkmoth, who comes to fight the heroes himself. The two heroes have been weakened thanks to the effect of an Akuma Hawkmoth has with him. He is so close to beating them...

When a shield of green energy blocks an attack from the Akuma.

Together, the three heroes managed to stop Hawkmoth and his Akuma, but unfortunately, he escapes. Before the two heroes can talk to the newcomer, he vanishes. 

The next day, Marinette goes to see the person Tikki mentioned, and she meets her savior (and soon to be teacher).

A few days later Adrien meets his new Chinese teacher.

That Could be a great way for him to actually be a Guardian and a mentor for the two heroes! As well as for Adrien to actually be part of the Miraculous team instead of as a sidekick!

Still, some people may say that Fu helps Marinette and Adrien, it's just not shown on screen. This, of course, brings me to my second problem...

2. Show, Don't Tell

Now, this a problem that the show has a and isn't solely based on Fu alone, and is mostly due to THAT GUY and his stupid writing. Anyone who has seen my previous mega-post knows about THAT GUY and his ludicrous idea of a perfect show. I could go on and on about why THAT GUY can go eat a stale Baguette, but I'm going to stick on track.

See, when a large part of the show is about heroics and being mentored on the art of heroics, it makes sense that you would show the heroes learning how to be actual good heroes. Maybe teach them martial arts, train them in the use of their powers and help them unlock new ones, all that usual superhero stuff.

But thanks to both the structure of the show and the impossible writing of THAT GUY (which concists of writing each episode to be single story and out of order insead of each episode following the last), we don't get to see any of it at all. The show rather would want to focus on setting up the next akuma rather than explore the world of the show, so it means that a lot of the stuff in show is just presumed. 

This can also go for simple lore stuff as well. For example, Adrien joined Kitty Section in the Captain Hardrock episode, yet he isn't in Silencer. Nobody would know what had happened until you had the mistake of seeing Astruc's twitter...

So yeah, its not the first time it has happened, but it shouldn't have to be this way in the first place! If you have to go to someones twitter to find the knowledge from a show that should have been there in the actual episode, then its not the fans fault for ‘oBvIOUSly’ not knowing, its THAT GUY’S fault for not making sure that bit of information was in the episode in the first place! Perhaps just a small scene explaining it instead of being passive agressive on twitter because you were too dumb to remember your own canon?

...Dammit i got off track. Back to Fu.

So yeah, in Miraculous, they dont actually show Fu teaching Marinette how to be a guardian. He does mention in Feast that he has chosen Marinette to be the next Guardian and that he will teach her (after basically insulting the traditions of his order), but considering that he goes off in his truck and stays on the move, its likely that he doesnt get the chance to teach her at all. Of course, Miracle Queen has him declare Marinette to be the new Guardian, but it feels rather jarring, as we never really feel that Marinette learned anything or she has proven her worth. All they really showed on the show was Marinette getting miraculi from Fu and that one episode with the potions, so we really never really think that she is ready. Sure we can assume that Ladybug is capable of choosing the right people to be heroes, but that doesn't mean she meets the other criteria because of that specific category.

Honestly its very simple how to fix this issue:

Have some episodes be about Fu teaching Marinette and Adrien. That way it makes sense when Ladybug is made the new Guardian. Perhaps have an episode revolve around a particular new thing about the book the heroes are learning from and have the akuma not be related to the episode theme for once, just have them there as an excuse to show off a new power, even if it is a gimmick.

Speaking of the book, the book seems like its never been fully explored or explained, or perhaps that it really doesn't seem to contain much.

Throught the entire 3 seasons, all that we have learned about the book is:

That it contains the list of all miraculous heroes

It shows how to make the power up potions

It shows how to combine the Ladybug and Black Cat Miraculous

It shows how to repair a miraculous

It would be nice for the book to be used to explain the background of the order, or perhaps it shows a way to grant Ladybug and Chat Noir new powers for their miraculous, and have them learn about the guardians for the plot and themselves so we can have a ‘moral of the story’ for the episode.

3. Fu’s weird Choices

Fu makes a lot of dumb choices in Miraculous Ladybug. I’ll make this one quick but i will explain a few new ones in more detail

Fu doesnt help Ladybug and Chat Noir until season 2. Sure it makes sense to wait until they both prove themselves trustworthy, but he leaves no advice for them, not even with their kwamis for safety reasons.

Fu doesnt tell Chat Noir the truth until Syren for no actual reason (thats 14 canonical episodes!)

Fu lets Marinette choose the miraculous despite her lack of training (yes, even if she does choose well in canon.)

Fu lets Marinette return the Miraculous book despite how important it is to the order (even if he did take pictures). Marinette doing it to let Adrien come back to school is still wrong, even if it is to help her friend.

Now for the actual big mistake of Fu.

In feast, the order of the Miraculous has been restored, and so have the people inside it. His master and all the people he knows is there. With Hawkmoth knowing his identity, it would make sense for Fu to travel back to China and back to the temple with the Miraculous Book to be deciphered by the other Guardians, using the Horse Miraculous to transport Miraculi to the wielders when necessary.

...Right?

...Nah that’s dumb (saying this sarcastically)

Instead, he stays in Paris, hiding in a truck, and basically gets himself kidnapped and the box stolen, resulting in him having to give up his memories to protect the heroes because he decided a truck was a better idea than keeping the box out of Hawkmoth’s grasp.

How would I fix it? It’s obvious, just have Fu be smart and not make any of the listed bad decisions. With the power of an entire miracle box in his hands, he could have just used the powers to keep himself out of Hawkmoth’s grip and give the miraculi when necassary, even if he decided not to go back to the temple.

And finally we come to the big bad, the main offender, the reason why I think Fu is a badly written character...

4. The bad Origin Episode of Fu (not to be confused with the actual origins episode.

Going back to the start of season 2, i actually like how Fu is introduced. From the initial start he shows himself as a wise and caring mentor for Ladybug (and Chat Noir) and actually sounds confident. When I hear him talk about the Order of the Guardians, and his own backstory, it sounds both intriguing yet tragic. 

The fall of the Order was Fu’s fault, but how could this be? Was it because Fu was betrayed by someone he chose as a hero, perhaps a Butterfly wielder? Were they attacked and Fu blames himself due to survivors guilt? Did fu touch an artifact that released an ancient evil?I didn’t know, but i was curious and wanted to know more. 

For that first initial introduction, I could imagine that the season was going to be great. I hadn’t learned the revelation that Gabe was Hawkmoth and seen the rest of the ep at the time (which was boring in comparison and just like season 1 but WORSE), so I was still excited for this season That we as an audience would finally learn more about the world of miraculous and explore this new chapter in the show while seeing Ladybug and Chat Noir fight new villains along the way.

Obviously, that didnt last with Miraculous being Miraculous, and it was around that time i learned about how THAT GUY was an asshole, and the discord server that i joined showed the shortcoming with the show, but even looking back on it now, i could imagine that season 2 could have been amazing.

Seriously just look at the video above, its a downright amazing intro to Fu.

So finally season 3 comes around, and the episode Feast is released. So how did the temple fall? What is this secret that Fu kept hidden from us? Surely after a season of buildup that the BACK STORY WAS GOING TO BE AMAZING-

....

So, the whole reason the order fell was becasue Fu was hangry and he dabbled with magic so he could sneek off to grab a bit and not do his job?

...

*Sigh*

...

░U░N░H░O░L░Y░ ░S░C░R░E░E░C░H░I░N░G░

This is it, all this buildup and this is the reason that an entire order Fell! Are you kidding me!?

Not only was this one of the worst writing decisions that has ever been made, but it also made Fu look like a complete and utter moron! I get that this show is mainly used by THAT GUY to make Marinette look better than everyone else, but COME ON!!! WHAT WAS THAT?! WHY WAS THAT?! HOW DID ANYONE ON THE MIRACULOUS TEAM THINK THAT WAS A GOOD IDEA. DOES EVERYONE JUST  LET ASS-TRUC DO WHAT HE WANTS BECAUSE NO ONE CAN TELL HIM HIS IDEAS ARE DUMB?!

...

Ok, calm down. Calm down...

Well, aside from that really stupid decisionholycrap- the sentimonster itself wasnt that bad. The idea of it is rather terrifying and explains why Fu needs to always keep moving and is so passive for fear of the monster finding him and chasing him. But the whole origin story for Fu is a bunch of crap. Not only does it waste the buildup of that moment, but it also makes Fu seem so incompetent. It’s obvious that THAT GUY used this as to show why Marinette is a better Guardian than Fu, but as someone that actually likes good writing, i choose to reject that idea. Just because Astruc messes up the ideas of the show, it doesnt mean that the concepts are bad, and i’ll be damned if I let that affect me or my own canon!

So how would I rewrite this monstrosity of an origin?

Literally replace it with anything of the backstories i mentioned. Have Fu been betrayed by a Butterfly wielder, have the temple be attacked, anything that what we have been given. I’d make a joke about a funny idea for the fall of the order, but the origin of Fu in Feast is already a joke. A bad one

And with that, here’s how I would rewrite Fu to be a better character. 

With these changes, I feel he would be a much competent and interesting character and a better mentor for our heroes. If you guys feel some other changes would be needed for Fu, or if you think I'm wrong about something because either i missed something important or you think that Fu being incompetent is a great way to show girl power for Marinette (Lots of sarcasm at that last part), feel free to send me an ask about what I would do about this part and that part for Fu or another character, or just tell me that I’m wrong.

Can’t wait for Season 4! Let's see if Zag can fix the mess Astruc made.

Also, please for the love of god go read Miraculous Tales by JED1, they are amazing. And follow @twin-books​, they helped me so much with rewriting Fu.

[gnomaad]

tododeku villain au?

these are rough notes of the main plot - obviously there will be subplot involving other characters and time for tododeku and feelings to develop but this is the main gist of my idea? honestly it’s messy and a little bit wack.

Villain TodoDeku Au!

main character trivia.

- quirkless midoriya izuku. inko (mother) ends up killed during a villain attack, due to all might’s recklessness.

- age 20

- ‘morihana’ meaning forest flower.

- given a quirk by all for one; can make any kind of flower with any kind of power - tends to prefer poison which he applies to dual knives he received from his mentor.

- works with the league of villains.

- another reason for choosing the villains - he is gay and in the hero world it is not accepted.

- trained by hero killer stain.

- green tie, white shirt, ripped jeans, dark green vest, black gloves - piercings, bracelets. occasionally red lipstick (depending on how he feels).

- todoroki is already a pro hero - only uses his ice as a hero in this au.

- age 20

- apart of his father’s agency, hasn’t reconciled with his mother, has a ‘dead’ look in his eyes that izuku finds rather attractive (izuku is a fanboy)

- apart of the team hunting the elusive ‘morihana’.

- simple life, avoids people, has no friends or people he truly trusts

- still abused by his father - hasn’t seen his family since he was a child

- his hero name in this au is ‘blindice’ - given to him by his father due to him being blind and ignorant in his father’s eyes.

background info.

- hitoshi shinsou is a villain in this au; his villain name is ‘scape’, inspired by dream scape. he infiltrated ua but actually works closely with izuku.

- legally, ‘izuku midoriya’ is deceased. during the villain attack, his body was not found, assumed to have been crushed and lost during this event. he was saved by the hero killer stain, and once deemed worthy, trained to become his successor.

- todoroki has villainous tendencies that come from his desire to destroy his father - a dark look to his expression, deemed not very hero-like.

storyline!

this takes place as a series of events throughout the bnha timeline (kinda??) ((ish??)) (((not really???))).

act one

+ izuku midoriya, age 15, returns home from middle school, his spirit damaged. his favourite hero, all might, refused to save him from a villain attack. once quirkless izuku managed to escape it’s grip, giving his supposed hero time to trap the sludge, he asked his hero if he could ever be a hero. all might says no. he did not show hero spirit and had no quirk. the boy returns home with tears in his eyes, dropping his bag and turning his attention to his mother who was cooking his favourite dinner, katsudon. “welcome home izuku!” with a smile was the last thing he saw of her, before a large piece of rubble broke through their ceiling, crushing inko midoriya in an instant. izuku screamed, his mind snapping. bullied, betrayed, he cannot stop screaming and shaking. anxiety takes over, causing the boy to crumple to the floor hyperventilating, unable to see. a warmth touches his skin.

+ the hero killer stain had fallen in with the rubble, using it as his disguise to get away from the number one hero. he had seen the boy crumple to the floor, looking down, seeing the severed hand of the boy’s mother, holding a ladle. he pitied the boy the boy, in realising that the heroes of current had taken the life of another innocent. stain picks the boy up, escaping with the passed out child. he decides that this boy will become his successor.

+ he trains izuku in using dual knives, the boy’s stunted growth would make it difficult to use a sword but he was perfect for fast, quick attacks. midoriya showed great dedication, becoming an intimidating force of rapid attacks. he decides to seek out the league of villains by the time izuku is 20. izuku takes a liking to tomura shigaraki  and vice versa.

+ stain incapacitates ingenium, and is later attacked by the younger iida. during this attack, izuku watches from the roof, only to see stain momentarily frozen in his place. his attention is drawn to the back up, shouto todoroki. the darkness in his mismatched eyes, his strong physical form, his deep voice, the whole mystery around him had izuku giggling from the rooftop. deciding to get involved, he throws one of his knives at him, testing his reflexes and getting more excited as he sliced the pretty scar on the side of his face. blindice is frozen by stain, who scolds izuku for interfering with his work.

+ midoriya approaches todoroki, running gloved hand down his chest. todoroki is paralysed by his deep, emerald eyes even without the other villain’s quirk. he can’t help but find the sway in this short villain’s walk tempting, the soft yet manic smile on his lips, the innocent looking freckles contrasting with the slight bags under his beautiful eyes - it only made them stand out more. he had never seen this villain before, frozen as the boy caressed his body. “blindice, funny that you’d find me here, without even intending to find me!” izuku giggled, todoroki’s mind clicking with realisation. morihana. the quirkless villain. he reached to freeze the boy only to find himself literally paralysed.

+ midoriya finds the soft expression in shouto’s eyes too tempting as he leans up to press a kiss to the corner of the hero’s lips. the chill that ran down the hero’s spine was too tempting to him - seeing the ice cold hero with a chill made him ecstatic. izuku steps away from the hero, skipping with a little wink. he made his way back behind the hero killer, barely dodging with his fast reflexes as ice catapults stain into the air. a yell of recipro burst, and stain’s unconscious body atop a glacier. the green haired boy’s eyes widen. his mentor had been beaten. he turned to run, only to be frozen on the spot. ingenium, the other pro hero were also unconscious, due to blood loss.

+ todoroki approached the green haired villain. he grabbed him by his collar, tugging him closer as his eyes narrowed. “i don’t do favours.” he muttered. conflict was clear in the taller male’s eyes. izuku tilted his head coyly, a pout tugging at his plush lips. was that lipstick? the ice hero glanced behind him, then above him before unfreezing the villain. “go.” he mumbled, gesturing to the back of the alley. midoriya blinked in surprise, furrowing his eyebrows. “why are you letting me go?” todoroki only glanced towards the hero killer, then back to the greenie. “i’m supposed to apprehend you but at this moment in time, the hero killer is a bigger priority. you’d just slip away the first moment you get, after all you did avoid us for so long. that and… i have a feeling i’ll be seeing you again soon.”

+ with that, he watches as the green themed villain disappeared from his sight. He could only sigh. time to take care of the hero killer.

+ izuku meets shigaraki again, deciding to join the league of villains now that he had nowhere to go and shigaraki is eager to accept him.

+ upon tomura’s request, all for one welcomes izuku by giving him a quirk - flower garden. he had chosen it due to izuku’s given villain name by the media, and izuku found it rather fitting. izuku can create any type of flower - medicine, fire, ice, poison, anything he felt like, from the palm of his hand or anywhere on his body. when trained, he can also create vines due to it being tampered with by all for one.

act two!

+ people tease todoroki for the lipstick on the corner of his mouth, asking about his new girlfriend. todoroki blushes so hard his left side lights up a little. he didn’t want to be laughed at.

+ todoroki and iida are praised for taking down the hero killer, endeavour boasting about his son being a true successor but could have done it faster if he had used his fire. iida has some doubts, actually having seen todoroki release the green villain. their interactions seemed… odd for a hero and a villain. it bothered him. todoroki makes the report, speaking to the press. he tells the press that they have made no progress on finding morihana - which iida knows is a lie.

+ todoroki takes a beating from his father, for going against his wishes. todoroki ends up wandering the streets, his throat blooming with purple from his father’s grip, his stomach sore and breathing ragged. at least he could say it was from his fight with the hero killer, imagine what the media would say if he told them the truth. he ends up in a bar, ordering a drink from a shady looking guy. quite literally.

+ he doesn’t look up when someone sits beside him, a soft voice speaking to him. “it’s a little rude to ignore your date, y’know?” the familiar voice has him snapping his head up from his hood to come face to face with the villain he had let go, nearly three days before. “date?” his voice croaks, startled and a little confused. midoriya nods, sipping from his own bright pink drink. was that glitter? the smaller closed his eyes, glittery purple eyeshadow on his eyelids. damn it, he’s so pretty. morihana licked his lips, leaning into the hero’s personal space. “you’re in the big leagues, little hero. and you didn’t notice you walked straight into the fox’s den? that’s okay. come with me.” for some reason, todoroki followed the villain out the back, only to be pushed into an isolated room. the door shut behind him, his own self being slammed against it. lips met his. they do things, midoriya covering his skin in lipstick, and love bites over every bruise inflicted by his father. he finds peace in the calming green of the villain. maybe villains weren’t so bad? what if it wasn’t so black and white?

+ todoroki wakes up the next morning in the bed of the villain he was supposed to be hunting but he found himself okay with it. glancing at the mop of green, the smaller leaning against the hero’s chest as he hugged onto his waist, his leg thrown over the icy man’s hips. cute. he had no idea how he ended up in this situation, only meeting the boy three days before. was this even normal? of course it fucking wasn’t, his first time having sex was with not only a villain, but someone he didn’t even know! he sat up, running a hand through his hair. the villain next to him stirred, he turned to meet emerald green eyes staring softly up at him - a soft smile tugging at his soft lips. fuck it. todoroki caged the smaller with his body, the soft giggles music to his ears as he had his way with the smaller, first thing in the morning.

+ once he returned back to his office, his mood was obviously different. it freaked the rest of the heroes out. he didn’t even flinch when bakugo yelled in his ear. he smirked at people’s jokes, adding his own dry, witty humour. he even winked as the girls at reception giggled flirtatiously. midoriya was definitely rubbing off on him.

+ he checked his emails, and then his phone, only to find a text from a new contact. ‘i took the liberty of adding myself to your phone, mister hero. come see me any time, you put all the others to shame ;)’ - midoriya. ah, so that was his name. he’s spent the night with him and didn’t even bother to learn his name. it was then that he realised he had slept with a villain on the wanted list. but he couldn’t bring himself to be mad - if his dad ever found out, it’d be a big fuck you to him.

+ todoroki only rolled his eyes when kaminari, sero and mina saw the purples and reds on his throat, trailing down to his collar bones. he only shrugged when they asked to see the rest, unzipping the top half of his hero jumpsuit. it was odd to interact with people - was midoriya really rubbing off on him after one night? he barely knew him yet couldn’t get him out of his mind. he didn’t even realise his back was covered in scratches, or the fact that his father’s bruises had blossomed into beautiful flowers against his skin thanks to midoriya. so that’s what he was doing. morihana definitely suited him.

+ he goes on patrol, fights some villains - part of the team being the one and only izuku midoriya. they only smile at each other, something that catches iida’s attention is todoroki’s smile. they engage in combat, dancing around each other. todoroki gets angry when midoriya requests him to use his fire, lashing out of their little dance with the intent of really hurting the villain, only to have the villain yell at him. “It’s your power! Not his!” and with that, todoroki lit the whole street ablaze with his dazzling fire. all the heroes and villains look at him in shock. it was almost as if he was reborn, emerging from the ashes as a phoenix. the way his fire danced, casting a warm hue over izuku’s pretty features had his heart skipping a beat. izuku’s smile was different from his usual, crazed, manic one. it was warm, and everyone saw it. todoroki guided his fire like a second nature towards the villain, the other dancing around it towards the hero. he slashed the hero across the chest, making sure to only graze him, as he did, blindice made sure the angle was hidden enough as he leaned into ghost a peck to the villain’s lips. they bounced away from each other the whole thing being recorded now, on live t.v. but iida had seen what no one else did. he’d noticed how they were familiar with each other’s movements. he’d seen the kiss. and all he felt was betrayal.

+ iida steps in and apprehends midoriya, to which izuku’s warm eyes turn to todoroki, fear covering his usual expression - it shatters todoroki’s heart but there was nothing he could do.. was there? he steps in to try to take custody, iida refusing as he tightens his grip on the villain, the smaller letting out a blood curdling cry.

+ izuku is imprisoned for questioning.

act three!

+ izuku is questioned, he refuses to answer. todoroki and iida have to watch as the small villain is tortured for answers on the league of villains. this has todoroki questioning everything. it wasn’t right to torture anyone it was.. villainous.

+ his identity is kept hidden from the rest of the world so far, until they had answers. izuku decides he’ll only talk if todoroki is the one talking to him. suspicious, they throw izuku into a cell with quirk proof glass.

+ he faces the icy hero with a smile, reaching a bloodied hand to press against the glass. todoroki notices his nails had been torn off, making the hero wince. he listens to izuku’s story, his expression dropping.

+ midoriya shakes his head, tears rolling down his cheeks as todoroki’s hand presses against the glass, opposite izuku’s. the door bursts open, iida pulling the icy hero away

+ iida scolds todoroki. “i don’t know what’s going on with you todoroki, but you need to focus on your job. you are a hero. you need to stop fraternizing with a villain. a murderer! it is your responsibility to ensure the safety of the innocent! protect victims!” this has todoroki’s expression darkening, nodding as he steps away.

+ todoroki has made his decision. he turns back around, his hand covered with ice as he moves, his hand encasing tenya iida’s face. all he can see is the horror on his expression as he freezes his partner’s body. “If they don’t thaw you out in time, there will be serious brain damage.” he uttered nonchalant. he had always been treated as a villain. an obstacle. a tool. his ice had been melted by a damaged soul who had no one to turn to. he was just like todoroki only he saved himself. he didn’t pity his existence but decided to fight for something when he was abandoned. they didn’t even bother to look for him. todoroki melted through the cell, using his ice to shatter the wall. he pulled midoriya from the cell, throwing him over his shoulder.

+ he could see the horror in his father’s expression as they confronted him. a dark smirk tugged at the usual blank expression on his own face. he stomped a foot down, freezing everything in his path.

+ he escapes with midoriya, taking him back to the bar he had stumbled upon previously. he meets an unexpected face. touya todoroki - or currently dabi. this was the right choice after all.

+ as midoriya is recovering, being taken care of by everyone at the LOV, todoroki tells him about his father and they decide to make it their mission to take down endeavour and all might, even if it kills them. real heroes needed to step up instead of a corrupt system.

+ romance stuff: todoroki and midoriya slow dance in the bar and it feels like a real family. they all drink together, izuku never leaving his side, giggling as touya told him stories of younger todoroki, before his father had taken ahold of him. they got to know each other better, and something started to blossom between them - though they knew that the day their eyes met for the first time. izuku admits to missing his mother and his father figure, stain, and wished they had both gotten proper funerals.

+ todoroki moves into midoriya’s apartment (despite them all having rooms at the bar, izuku still wanted his own space away from toga). izuku and him have dinner together, and they both learn that villain and hero is just a dumb label and they talk about the future. midoriya realises he’s fallen in love as the man tells him that he will go wherever midoriya does.

+ midoriya cries; he hadn’t been left behind again. his mother was murdered by a hero, his father figured murdered by the police’s torture, his childhood bestfriend turned him away and bullied him for the sake of popularity - izuku had been quirkless after all. todoroki admits to being alone all his life, but felt of a higher purpose, necessary now that he had izuku.

+ soft confessions!! bathing together due to izuku’s still healing injuries, soft kisses, hand holding, play fighting. gentle gentle gentle babies!! <3

+ training together, lots of flirting.

+ media in frenzy about how the great blindice had become a villain, everyone in fear. LOV makes an announcement, blindice was no more. making his debut as a villain on live tv (yknow what izuku’s like, dramatic and theatrical) they just had to hack into the network and broadcast something themselves! todoroki had decided to use his real name, ‘shouto’, as a big fuck you to his father.

+ in the broadcast, it was clear as day how much shouto had changed. dressed in a crimson button up, black vest hugging his chest, sat on what looked like a throat. a dark glint in his eyes as he smirked, another male in green draped over the back of the throne - wearing lipstick?!

+ after the broadcast, merch and other things to do with shouto and morihana started to be released. it appeared people liked the idea of a hero turning into a villain. the publicity brought others to join LOV.

FINAL ACT!

+ tododeku and big brother touya break rei todoroki from the hospital, forging documents for the woman to be taken into fuyumi’s custody. natuso and fuyumi are shocked to see the eldest and youngest todoroki siblings working together as villains yet their actions seemed.. heroic? their family tells them they will support them no matter what and were glad to see their oldest brother alive and well, and their youngest finally flourishing and having expression and seeming.. alive.

+ hitoshi shinsou meets up with them and joins the LOV. with his quirk, they hatch a plan to capture endeavour, record him as they use shinsou’s quirk to make him confess to all of his villainous acts and let the law deal with him.

+ fight! fight! fight!

+ iida confronts them and calls them traitors to all that is good. bakugo recognises izuku, yelling how he should be dead. they all end up fighting. kacchan is paralysed by one of izuku’s flowers - he questions on how he has a quirk. izuku gets pissed off, using his vines to lock around them all - using the thorns on them to poison all of the heroes.

+ todoroki is gay *omg das my boo look at him go the fuq what a pretty little flower ugh i love one broccoli look at his lipstick so yummy wow look at those ABS!* < todoroki’s head.

+ the endeavour plan happens, they win yippy doo, endeavour is arrested

+ izuku confronts all might, tells him about the days after school and then how when he arrived home, the hero was responsible for murdering his mother. all might has a breakdown and his true form is outed, he runs away.

+ “you said i couldn’t be a hero. you never said anything about me not being a villain.”

+ todoroki get’s protective when bakugo runs his mouth at midoriya.

+ LOV takes over the city

+ villains win in this au wahoo!

+ izuku and shouto have dinner with the rest of the todoroki

the end

or something?

[mandibierly]

‘Black Mirror,’ ‘Westworld,’ and 13 Other Genre Shows That Are Tackling Issues Well

Netflix’s ‘Black Mirror’

Leading up to the 20th anniversary of the March 10, 1997 premiere of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Yahoo TV is celebrating “Why Genre Shows Matter” and the history of how these shows have tackled universal themes (e.g. how much high school sucks) and broader social issues.

Name a current show you think is tackling an issue well. It’s another question we posed to more than 30 executive producers of current sci-fi/fantasy series who agreed to take part in our Why Genre Shows Matter survey over the last month, either by email or phone.

Not surprisingly, the top response was the Charlie Brooker-created anthology series Black Mirror (streaming on Netlifx), with many paying it a similar compliment…

Eric Kripke (NBC’s Timeless) I’m obsessed with Black Mirror. It’s exploration of modern anxieties and technologies, pushed to their sometimes logical, sometimes metaphorical end, makes it the first worthy successor to Twilight Zone I’ve seen.

Drew Goddard (NBC’s The Good Place) Black Mirror. Even the title of the show is a mission statement. Not since The Twilight Zone has a show managed to confront the issues of its time with such violent brilliance.

Nick Antosca (Syfy’s Channel Zero) How could I say anything but Black Mirror? No show since Twilight Zone has done a better job of identifying disturbing tendencies in society and taking them to their most horrifying but utterly logical extremes.

Michelle Lovretta (Syfy’s Killjoys) Black Mirror is a bit bleak for my personal sanity, but Lord is it endlessly clever. I really admire its merciless examination of the ways technology is changing what it means to be human and how we connect (and disconnect) with one another.

Adam Horowitz and Edward Kitsis (ABC’s Once Upon a Time) Black Mirror. Its warnings to us about the dangers of technology we find deeply resonant. While it has brought so much good to the world, this show deftly and dramatically continues to warn us of the dangers of being consumed by our “screens” and “gadgets” — and these cautionary tales, told so entertainingly and sometimes terrifyingly — at the end remind us of the importance of preserving and celebrating real human connection.

Emily Andras (Syfy’s Wynonna Earp) I love the way Black Mirror is examining our increasingly complex relationship with technology. That show always surprises me and feels daring and fresh.

Robert Cooper (BBC America’s Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency) Black Mirror is so exciting not just because it is so consistently well done, but because of the way it explores how technology is changing our lives — something we don’t seem to be as aware of as we really, really should be.

Ryan Condal (USA’s Colony) I can’t think of a better current show than Black Mirror. Charlie Brooker puts on a writing-to-theme clinic in every episode he makes. If I had to pick just one, it would be the episode called “Nosedive,” which brilliantly dramatizes and satirizes our sycophantic addiction to social media and obsession with being ‘liked’ by digital avatars whom we’ve never met.

Bryce Dallas Howard in the “Nosedive” episode of ‘Black Mirror’ (Credit: Netflix)

The second most popular pick: HBO’s Westworld.

HBO’s ‘Westworld’ (Credit: HBO)

Ronald D. Moore (Starz’s Outlander) I think Westworld is exploring a lot of really interesting territory in terms of the nature of consciousness and what it means to be human.

Jeff Davis (MTV’s Teen Wolf) I’m pretty enamored of Westworld. The way in which they explored what it means to be human, to be objectified, to wonder about what it means to have a soul or to be truly alive is what I think made it more than just good science fiction, but thoughtful even philosophical drama.

Albert Kim (Fox’s Sleepy Hollow) I think Westworld has done a great job of exploring the question of what makes us human, and explores the boundaries of where our humanity begins and ends. It gets into a lot of the same issues that Ex Machina did: If an entity looks like a human, acts like a human, and has emotions like a human, shouldn’t we consider it human? These kinds of existential questions are on people’s minds a lot more lately, given how science and technology have been changing our everyday experiences. After all, am I my Twitter feed, or am I no better than a bot?

Ken Woodruff (Fox’s Gotham) I thought Westworld tackled some intriguing issues that affect us today, and will continue to do so in the future. For example, the pace of technological process is so fast, we’re never afforded the time to stop and question whether or not the advancements we’re making are in our best interests… or even safe.

Other shows singled out…

Netflix’s ‘Jessica Jones’ (Credit: Netflix)

J. Michael Straczynski (Netflix’s Sense8) I think Jessica Jones has done a great job of bringing the topic of PTSD into the general conversation, and opening up the genre to lead characters who are broken in unconventional ways. Certainly it’s started a conversation that has led to a lot of people who suffer from this condition talking openly about their problems.

Related: Why Genre Shows Matter: A Conversation With Melissa Rosenberg and Sera Gamble, EPs of ‘Jessica Jones’ and ‘The Magicians’

Netflix’s ‘The OA’ (Credit: Netflix)

Melissa Rosenberg (Netflix’s Jessica Jones) [SPOILER ALERT! ]The OA is completely original. All the sort of conventions of storytelling that you’re not supposed to do, they do them and they work! It’s really breaking barriers and telling very unusual stories. She’s essentially been kidnapped and kept imprisoned for 7 years. There is quite the metaphor in just her being captured in this cell with other people with whom she can’t have physical contact, but there’s this emotional connection that happens. They’re taking on all sorts [of issues], so it’s not about any one of them. It’s about where true power comes from. It’s just beautiful, beautiful storytelling, beautiful character exploration, and it’s utterly unique.

Netflix’s ‘Luke Cage’ (Credit: Netflix)

Marco Ramirez (Netflix’s Daredevil) I think the way my man Cheo Coker put Luke Cage in a hoodie as a tribute to Trayvon Martin was pretty exceptional.

HBO’s ‘Game of Thrones’ (Credit: HBO)

Cheo Hodari Coker (Netflix’s Luke Cage) One of my favorite scenes [of Game of Thrones] is when [Tywin Lannister] is explaining why he did the Red Wedding and essentially what he’s saying is, ‘Is it better that I kill people at a dinner party, or do you want me to send everybody to war and risk our entire army?’ And yes, he’s talking about what’s happening in terms of that world, in terms of Westeros and all that stuff, but really, the metaphor is drone warfare. So the fact that you can have a fantasy show that at the same time is talking very topically about what has been happening in real world events — I mean, that’s amazing!”

Related: why Genre Shows Matter: ‘Luke Cage’ Showrunner Cheo Hodari Coker on Embracing Exploitationj

HBO’s ‘The Leftovers’ (Credit: HBO)

Julie Plec (The CW’s The Vampire Diaries and The Originals) I love themes of loss and grief and a sense of “What does life mean?” and “Where are we all going?” — and The Leftovers does that times 1,000. They handle that so magnificently and so intelligently.

USA’s ‘Mr. Robot’ and FX’s ‘Legion’ (Credit: USA, FX)

Damon Lindelof (HBO’s The Leftovers) I think both Mr. Robot and Legion do a great job of tackling mental illness by Trojan-Horsing that theme inside a different genre entirely.

Bryan Fuller (Starz’s American Gods) Legion knocked my socks off.
 I love that its tackling mental illness with a superhero metaphor.

Brian Minchin (BBC America’s Doctor Who) Mr. Robot! The show is genius. I absolutely love how it captures the loneliness of our digital age. I’m mesmerized by those brilliant characters, so connected, yet so alone.

BBC America’s ‘Orphan Black’ (Credit: BBC America)

Terry Matalas (BBC America’s 12 Monkeys) Orphan Black for its wonderful LGBT relationships. Stellar cast and characters.

‘Les Revenants’ (Credit: Music Box Films)

Dana Gould (IFC’s Stan Against Evil) The French series Les Revenants (Netflix) is, in my opinion, the best series of its kind since Twin Peaks. As technology divides our culture into smaller and smaller groups, Les Revenants paints a picture of an isolated village in France divided into the living and the dead. It’s no accident that the more estranged these groups become, the more the village literally submerges.

SundanceTV’s ‘Top of the Lake’ (Credit: SundanceTV)

Mark Fergus (Syfy’s The Expanse) “I was really blown away by Top of the Lake. It’s one of the most unusual and beautiful thrillers I’ve ever seen. It allowed Jane Campion’s voice to come through as a storyteller so strongly via a very strong framework of a conventional cop story. I think that was a really impressive way to tell her view of the world, which is like nobody else’s.”

NBC’s ‘The Good Place’ (Photo by: Vivian Zink/NBC)

Joe Henderson (Fox’s Lucifer) The Good Place is a genre show sort of, right? I feel like they’re playing in a similar world as us — the ideas of redemption, defining good and bad, and turning both those ideas on their heads — but in such a different, amazingly funny way. The humor hides the depths of morality they explore and subvert.

‘Crazyhead’ (Credit: Netflix)

Sera Gamble (Syfy’s The Magicians) This is probably a premature recommendation, but I was just surfing Netflix, browsing around, looking for something the other day, and I watched the first episode of a British show called Crazyhead. It feels very much a direct descendant of Buffy in a way that was kind of delicious, and so I plan to keep watching that one. It’s supernatural and it’s funny, but it is also about these two girls that don’t fit in and think they are crazy.

Adult Swim’s ‘Rick and Morty’ (Credit: Adult Swim)

David Benioff and D.B. Weiss (HBO’s Game of Thrones) Rick and Morty does a great job examining the difficulties of boy/robot love.

Read more from Yahoo TV’s “Why Genre Shows Matter”: Genre Show Producers Name 15 Series That Helped Shape TV Today

‘BSG,’ ‘Buffy,’ and Other Series That Genre Show EPs Believe Deserved More Emmy Love

‘Farscape’ Star Claudia Black Revisits Aeryn Sun’s On- and Off-Screen Feminist Journey

‘Battlestar Galactica’ EP David Eick Revisits 5 Episodes That Remain Relevant

‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ 20th Anniversary: Joss Whedon Looks Back — And Forward

‘The Expanse’ Co-Creator: If You Have Something to Say, ‘Invite Them In With Genre’