#advent book project

[tundrakatiebeanart]

It’s so weird to have this step be done! I’ve been working on it so long

[just-sarah--things]

A Fun little passion project that I get the honor of working on with @sparklepocalypse ! Feel free to sign up or submit prompts!

Calling all RWRB fanwork creators!

Signups are now open for

New Traditions

A Red, White & Royal Blue Advent Calendar Event!

Fic writers, artists, and video makers are all welcome to participate. If you would like to sign up please fill out this Google Form with:

your top three dates of availability to post in the month of December (don't worry, we'll narrow it down for you)

your willingness (or not!) to post steamy content

your willingness to pinch-hit with another submission on a date we don't get signups for

your questions/concerns/suggestions

Signups will remain open until end of day on Friday, November 17th, and date assignments will be sent out the 18th and/or 19th (depending on the number of signups)!

For our Fan Fic Writers we are asking a minimum of 1,000 words and no Maximum amount!

Sign up here today!

-- @just-sarah--things and @sparklepocalypse

[catastrophic-crisis]

We've looked back on the records of 2024, so here's a sampler of games that you can play right now for the low price of free:

Beetle Ninja (a hero-for-hire RPG set two weeks before the end of the world, built for repeated playthroughs) / Grimm's Hollow (a spooky and sweet RPG set in the afterlife where you play as a Reaper hiding your ghost sibling)

Remember Places? (locked inside, an AI is your only friend) / Liminal Dreams (a game about exploring bizarre world and meeting strange strangers)

Drown the Bride (a point n' click adventure visual novel about meeting your friend's fiancee in a historically themed fantasy world) / MAMA (a visual novel where you pass out at a yuri convention you were attending with your girlfriend, and awake to find yourself in your childhood home making certain... connections about your mother's actions in the past)

Slider (a tile-based sliding puzzle adventure to find your cat via manipulating the world around you) / The King is Watching (defend your kingdom against an army; buildings are only productive when your gaze is upon them)

Rental (a short and spooky game about renting a cabin, reminiscent of classic survival horror games) / Illusion Carnival (a lost soul wanders a 2.5D pop-up book-like amusement park, evading the attacks of the anomalies that would love to eat them up)

HavE (a visual novel set at a ski resort vacation goes awry in ways that may be supernatural) / Zodiac Paradigm (a murder mystery visual novel arises when twelve animals are called to be a part of the Emperor's council, yet thirteen arrive)

Bad Manors (a point n' click visual novel on Halloween where your friend can't make it to an escape room with you, so a helpful stranger goes in his place) / Reaper's Goodbye (five patrons of a food stall tell their tales while waiting for the midnight train)

SWOLLEN TO BURSTING UNTIL I AM DISAPPEARING ON PURPOSE (a weirdo RPG in which a flying saucer crashes into the town of "Vomit", but you have packages to deliver) / Until Biglight (technically a demo, a sample of a cancelled project of poverty, cats, mice, violence, words like "hyperreality", and planning an assassination)

C.H.A.I.N. / C.H.A.I.N.G.E.D. / The Madvent Calendar (Three anthologies from the Haunted PS1 community. A game of game development telephone, a branching path telling a tale of time travel and family, and a haunted advent calendar.)

[nobody-viii]

The Turks - Context Clues (The Kids Are Alright)

@accala posted an excellent inquisitive post about the Turks here and their motivations and to add some The Kids Are Alright: A Turks Side Story book context, imma leave this here. Couldn't find the quote I was looking for, but here's some things I found interesting. NOTE: I feel like Advent Children did the Turks a little dirty, but I really loved the banter as a kid. This book has some of the same campy shortcomings, but take it or leave it, here's what I found.

1.) The Healen Lodge from Advent Children was an R&R facility for Shinra, universally accepted as the worst one by employees. The Turks/Rufus chose it for its tactical advantages, but it also shows how far back on their heels they were. "The Shinra empire had ruled most of the world up until two short years ago, and it didn't sit right with Elena that the company president had to live in such a desolate place. Yes, medical treatment was available, security was way better away from the city, and the commute was only two hours by car; the staff could have had it much worse." - pg. 14

2.) The abandoned rec hall was being used by Shinra as a lab to convert SOLDIER stimulants into geostigma treatments. The project was Elena's idea, with the resulting medication being donated free of charge to city medical professionals and the WRO. (pp. 16-17)

3.) Reno & Rude were sent into the city to retrieve a stolen item from a teenager (read the book for details I'm too lazy to go into it), and when he started crying and shaking, Reno and Rude switched to a new script. "Aw, look. The kid's really scared." The redhead sounded sympathetic now. "That's what we came to do," the bald one pointed out. And: "Now, we put on our best tough-guys acts on the way over, so we can't just leave without roughing anyone up," said the redhead. "Our job is to teach a lesson to anyone who tries to mess with us." I was still scrambling for an explanation to give them. "Y-you mean, kill me?" was what came out instead. My voice even cracked for good measure. "That's one way to teach a lesson. But we're trying to strike a balance for Shinra, here. We want everyone to love us and maybe be a little bit scared. Killing you would have the opposite effect." (pg. 23) Reno opted to punch the kid in the face, then tell him to keep his chin up, so...balance? Sure. Shinra is, at this point, technically trying to figure out their PR while simultaneously leaning on old habits. Also, the kid calls Reno and Rude a knife and a fork and I thought that was funny.

4.) Reno is described as someone who looked like he 'turned delinquent as a teenager and never grew out of it, like those kids in the Sector Eight warehouses who I still hated and admired in equal measure.' (pg. 23)

5.) Elena roughs up one of the protagonists, but reins herself in when context is presented: She'd paid a visit intending to break Fabio's dominant arm, but when she saw him fight back to protect the child, she changed her plan. Her objective was to punish a thief, not deprive a child with geostigma of his only guardian. (pg. 47)

6.) Reno calls a doctor for the guy he roughed up. Kyrie nodded. "I figured, these guys must have phones, so I asked them to call Dr. Drake. 'Evan's in a bad way 'cause you guys beat him up,' I told them. And guess what? They said they don't know any Evan. So I lost it and said, 'Yeah, 'cause Evan's the one you whaled on when you mixed him up with Fabio. You owe him..... So then the redhead--his name's Reno--he called a doctor. Not Dr. Drake, he said, but a good one..." (pg. 55)

7.) Evan (the protagonist) is trying to work out who would be the easiest Turk to try to forge an alliance with and we get a glimpse of how the Turks are perceived by outsiders (Tseng is an unknown entity to Evan at this time): The most dangerous one was probably the lady Turk who went after Fabio. A close second would be the slab of muscle out there, Rude. Maybe the redhead Reno was more on our level. I thought back to my first impression of him--the grown-up teenage delinquent. Guys like that generally looked out for their own. A sense of solidarity. There had to be an angle I could work. (pg. 57)

8.) There's a whole scene where Evan and Kyrie try to ambush Rude. They choke him, break a chair over him, kick, scratch, the whole shebang and he just brushes himself off and manhandles them to a car (which made me laugh).

9.) Reno and Rude take the protagonists towards Healen in a truck and there's a few moments I found interesting. "So anyway..." Reno was looking at me in the rearview mirror. "Sorry about the shiner, dude. We totally did think you were Fabio. But y'know, I'm impressed you stayed mum and protected your buddy," Reno went on. "Even if you were about to piss your pants." (lol) Then, "Some of us have been slower to to adapt to the new way of doing things," Reno continued. "How many Turks are left?" asked Kyrie. "Can't tell you. That's Shinra's most closely guarded secret." "It's just you three, isn't it?" "Not telling." "But I'm right." "Yeah, you keep thinking that." (pg.63) Rude sleeps through the majority of the ride despite Reno trying to keep him awake. They talk quite a bit about Aerith, because Kyrie and Reno both knew her. Reno warns them not to get mixed up with Shinra's science department.

10.) Evan gets introduced to Rufus for the first time after believing the former president has been dead for two years and Tseng finally exists in this book for two seconds. "He's alive...?" Evan was still speaking to Reno. "I am. The decoy who took my place is not," Rufus replied. "You're a candidate for the position--and from what I can see, you'll do." Evan's jaw dropped, and he stared agape at Reno, then Rufus, then Tseng. Tseng looked down at the ground, trying to hide his laughter. Evan's description of Tseng: He looked like a Turk, too. The very definition of one, in fact. Reno and Rude both showed an awkward humanity--well, sporadically in the latter's case--but this guy was pure ice.

11.) An ill-conceived escape attempt by Evan and crew sees Rufus temporarily kidnapped, as Tseng and Elena are investigating an explosion. Reno and Rude try to stop it, but are ordered back. "Reno, stay back!" Reno obediently halted. I had expected to see fury in his eyes, but all I say was sorrow. Surprisingly, I felt a pang in my chest, too. But there was no other way. I pulled Kyrie's knife from my pocket and opened it--a sad, flimsy little blade, but it could still slice open a throat. "Hey, don't be stupid." I ignored Reno and held the knife to Rufus Shinra's neck. Then, "Reno, take Rude and check on the lab." Suddenly Rufus was giving orders. "Tell Tseng not to get involved here." "Wait, what? Boss, are you sure?!" "Don't worry. I'm as interested in staying alive as you are." Reno reluctantly descended the stairs, glancing over his shoulder almost every step. (pg. 77)

12.) Reno and Rude talk about family and have a lil tiff. "If I found out about a brother I'd never seen, I'd make way more of an effort than those two," Reno insisted. "That right?" Rude said. My colleagues are all I need. "You're not much into family, eh, Rude?" "I'm a Turk," Rude said flatly. "Coolheaded and cold-blooded." He turned and headed for the truck. "Hey, Rude. You pissed at me?" Reno called, an unabashed whine. "C'mon, man. You can't cold-zone me now. Tseng and Elena aren't answering my calls, and the boss just tells me to finish the monument. I know they're starting something awesome without us. We're outcasts! Me and you, you and me. If we don't stick together, then what?" Rude looked back. "Tseng isn't answering calls?" (pg. 94) Reno goes off several times throughout this book about how he'd act if he got the chance to meet family, which makes me wonder about him. "So how'd it feel, meeting your brother?" "I don't think it's sunk in yet." "Well, it's a process, I guess," said Reno. "But you gotta visit once in a while, you know? Then you'll get to figure each other out. Break the ice." (pg. 97)

13.) Reno and Rude are actually partially responsible for the monument in the city. This lil bit kinda gives weight to how long they've been in Shinra. Evan was one of those types who wasn't quite grounded in reality but was full of bravado. A show-off. A scared kid determined to buck people's expectations by pretending he had no fear. And if he kept it up, he was gonna do something stupid enough to get himself killed. Both Reno and Rude had known too many kids like that, from rookie Turks to infantrymen to SOLDIER operatives wet behind the ears from mako infusion tanks.

14.) Reno & Rude get amused by Kyrie treating them like they're not scary. The concern over redemption makes an appearance. "Now what?" Rude stepped closer from his vantage point. Apparently, he'd been watching the whole time. He was pretending he didn't care, but inwardly, Reno was convinced, Rude was intrigued by every act of the farce. Which only made the whole thing funnier. "She said she's hungry," said Reno. "So she's gonna grab something to eat." "It's like she's never heard of the Turks. It's almost refreshing," Rude remarked. So this is what happens when Shinra wins hearts and minds. Reno chuckled again but then remembered that the girl was still afraid of them. He'd seen the goosebumps on her arms. Her toothless threats were her way of gauging the danger he and Rude presented. Evan might trust them, but not Kyrie. Despite what Rude said, she knew what they were and what they were capable of. "You know," said Rude. "She reminds me of Aerith." "Yeah, I was thinkin' that too." Maybe helping them out will redeem us, at least a little bit, he thought. A guy can hope. (pg. 106)

15.) Shinra's resources are thin...and that chopper that ate it in AC was one of the last ones left (cue gross sobbing because in the words of a certain Puppy, Shinra makes good stuff). No one knew exactly how many helicopters the Shinra Company used to have. Within a half a year of Meteorfall, many of them had been looted. Accidents, mechanicals, and other circumstances had taken out others, and now Rufus Shinra and the Turks were left with only three. But even with so few, it was a constant battle to keep them in working order. Also, Rude has mechanical experience and is the one on repairs.

16.) A civilian points out the flaws in Reno's hopes for the future of the Turks. "Well, to be honest, maybe my opinion of you guys is changin'." Doyle looked at Reno again with a level stare. "You're up to better things." Reno couldn't help averting his eyes. Unless it came from a fellow Turk, approval tended to make him uncomfortable. "The monument and the medicine are only one step, you know. Just wait. It might take a while, but Shinra's gonna get off the ground again. Rise again, you hear?" That general idea had been floating around in his head for some time. This was the first time he'd said it aloud. "How?" Doyle scowled, his thick eyebrows lowering. Reno cursed himself for the thoughtless comment. "Can't tell you." "Yeah, I figured. But no one is going to let a violent regime lord it over them again. Not anymore. You tell your president that."

17.) Tseng and Elena bring up the notion of inviting old Turks back into the fold. "For any one person, finding it (Jenova's head) may well seem like a futile task. But there is still a nonzero chance. Either way, staying in contact with our agents and meeting regularly are essential to maintaining organizational cohesion." " But how many...?" Elena glanced around and spoke in a stage whisper. "How many former Turks can we expect to help us?" In his mind, Tseng saw the faces of the old Turks, his former subordinates. Of those, he had made contact with-- They get interrupted and Elena rushes off to investigate something. Tseng watched his operative go with a wry smile. Below the hem of her sundress, old scars marked her legs. Once you joined the Turks, you were in for life. Even those who tried to get out and build new lives could be summoned back with a single phone call. Maybe it was a cruel call to make, Tseng thought. and he sighed.

18.) Reno & Rude defy a direct order from Tseng. "Dumbass," Reno muttered. "What are you waiting for? Engage!" Tseng's command rang from the speakers. "Evan's down there," Rude answered in Reno's stead. "He's already done for," said Tseng. "Fire." "No can do," said Reno. "Reno." Tseng made his name a sharp rebuke. "He's our friend." "Fine. Let me briefly explain--" Tseng's voice abruptly cut out. "Radio trouble," Rude mumbled, his hand drifting away from the radio's master switch.

There are a lot of quirky, funny, violent, or neato moments I didn't list, so check out the book if you want more insight. Hope this gave you some headcanon fodder.

[nsfhetalia]

Hetalia Event Calendar 2024

January

⭐ Australia' Birthday (01/01)

⭐ Monaco' Birthday (08/01)

⭐ Prussia' Birthday (18/01)

➡️ @asakikuweek2024 (24th - 31st)

➡️ @hwsevents (HWS Redesign Week: January 25th - February 7th)

February

⭐ Holy Roman Empire' Birthday (02/02)

➡️ @royalredbrosweek (4th - 11th)

⭐ Japan' Birthday (11/02)

⭐ Spain's Birthday (12/02)

⭐ Lithuania' Birthday (16/02)

⭐ Estonia' Birthday (24/02)

➡️ @fuchyeahaphestonia (APH Estonia Week: Feb. 25th - Mar. 2nd)

⭐ Egypt' Birthday (28/02)

March

➡️ @hwsevents (Mythtalia: 1st - 31st)

⭐ Bulgaria' Birthday (03/03)

⭐ Eyebrow day (03/03)

➡️ @geritaweek (16th - 22th)

⭐ South Italy and North Italy' Birthday (17/03)

➡️ @itararepairweek (17th - 23th)

⭐ Greece' Birthday (25/03)

April

➡️ @hongiceweek (1st - 7th)

💖💖 Fruk Day (08/04) 💖💖

➡️ @spaus-week (20th - 26th)

⭐ Hutt River' Birthday (21/04)

⭐ England' Birthday (23/04)

May

➡️ @engportevents (EngPort week: 8th - 15th)

➡️ @nedcanweek (12th - 19th)

➡️ @scotengweek (13th - 19th)

⭐ Norway' Birthday (17/05)

➡️ @hetalia-canukr-week (17th - 19th)

⭐ Cuba' Birthday (20/05)

June

➡️ @polpruweek (3rd - 9th)

➡️ @hetalia-aushun-week (3rd - 9th) ⭐ Denmark' Birthday (05/06)

⭐ Sweden' Birthday (06/06)

⭐ Portugal' Birthday (10/06)

⭐ Philippines' Birthday (12/06)

⭐ Iceland' Birthday (17/06)

➡️ @hetaberia-week (24th - 30th)

➡️ @lietcanweek24 (24th - 28th)

⭐ Seychelles' Birthday (29/06)

➡️ @amechuweek (June 30th - July 6th)

July

⭐ Canada and Hong Kong' Birthday (01/07)

➡️ @hwsamecanweek (1st - 7th)

➡️ @hwsfemmephenomenon (Digital Zine: Contribution applications open, from 1st to 31th)

➡️ @spamano-week (3rd - 9th)

⭐ America' Birthday (04/07)

➡️ @hwsasiaweek (8th - 17th)

⭐ Liechtenstein' Birthday (12/07)

⭐ France' Birthday (14/07)

➡️ @doomspiral (RusPru Micro-week event: 18th - 20th)

⭐ Belgium' Birthday (21/07)

➡️ @summertalia-event (21th - 27th)

⭐ Netherlands' Birthday (26/07)

➡️ @aphcardverse-week (Jul. 28th - Aug. 3rd)

August

⭐ Switzerland' Birthday (01/08)

➡️ @usukweek (5th - 11th)

➡️ @hetalia-rarepairweek (11th - 17th)

⭐ South Korea' Birthday (15/08)

💖💖 Rusame' day (16/08) 💖💖

➡️ @germanbrosweek (18th - 24th)

⭐ Hungary' Birthday (20/08)

⭐ Ukraine' Birthday (24/08)

⭐ Belarus' Birthday (25/08)

⭐ Moldova' Birthday (27/08)

September

⭐ Vietnam' Birthday (02/09)

⭐ Sealand' Birthday (02/09)

➡️ @nedportweek (22th - 28th)

💖💖 Nedport' Day (25/09) 💖💖

October

⭐ China' Birthday (01/10)

⭐ Germany' Birthday (03/10)

⭐ Portugal' Birthday (05/10)

➡️ @gerpru-week (6th - 12th)

➡️ @gereng-week (5th - 12th)

➡️ @hwsevents (PrUKtober: 10th - 17th)

➡️ @hetaween-event (22th - 31st)

💖💖 Hetalia' Day (24/10) 💖💖

⭐ Taiwan' Birthday (25/10)

➡️ @hetahorrorweek (25th - 31st)

⭐ Austria' Birthday (26/10)

⭐ Turkey' Birthday (29/10)

➡️ @gurotalia-week (October 31st - November 6th)

November

➡️ @hetafashionweek (10th - 16th)

⭐ Poland' Birthday (11/11)

⭐ Wy' Birthday (15/11)

⭐ Latvia' Birthday (18/11)

December

➡️ @hetalia-advent-calender (1st - 25th)

⭐ Romania' Birthday (01/12)

➡️ @nordictalia-week (1st - 7th)

⭐ Thailand' Birthday (05/12)

⭐ Finland' Birthday (06/12)

⭐ Macau' Birthday (21/12)

⭐ Russia' Birthday (30/12)

_______

Upcoming~

➡️ @lietpruweek (January 6th - 12th, 2025)

_______

PS. I'm not sure those Birthday' dates are correct, also there are many missing. Please correct me if there is anything wrong or if something is missing. Thank you 😋

Also, also...

Let me recommend:

@heta-on-the-books

@hetaliahappenings

@hwsevents

@hetaliacalendar

To help you by rebloging/boosting your event/ or other project.

[bardic-tales]

Hey there! Can I ask for some fun facts about Bianca? Ramble away!!

Hello! Thank you so much for the ask and your interest in my dear Bianca. I hope you are having a wonderful day or night! She is currently my favorite.

I just want to say that Fantasy Worlds Collide is a fusion of original and fandom content. It is very canon divergent.

General Facts

Bianca was created 28 years ago, a month after the release of Final Fantasy VII OG. Her character has been developed alongside every new FF VII media release. This including books and Advent Children. She has seen multiple iterations since her creation in 1997, including her FF VII version, an original content version, and an Inuyasha version.

As an ongoing character, her development is constantly evolving. With every new project, particularly in Fantasy Worlds Collide, Bianca continues to grow and change, reflecting a deeper part of her and my personalities, since I'm fascinated with what makes a person tick.

In 1997, her original version of her character was a Shinra scientist. Some of that backstory can still be found in my antagonist: Diana Ravenscroft, one of Hojo's assistants.

She has over an hour playlist. This is her current theme song.

Fun facts and facts about her backstory under the cut.

Cute Facts

Bianca has a secret love of baking. She will often experiment with recipes when she and Sephiroth are just hanging around. She likes to decorate her baked good with celestial themes.

Bianca often can be found on the porch outside of the cabin she built up with reality-bending magic. She would be snuggled up in a oversized sweater, trench coat, woolen mittens, and a woolen beanie with a fluffy pom-pom. She loves to read her favorite romantic tragedies.

She likes to draw little cartoons of herself and Sephiroth in a secret journal, complete with heart-shape doodles and whimsical depictions of their planetary 'take-over'. She would NEVER show Seph this.

Bianca has a very gentle side. She allows Sephiroth to groom her wings, removing pinfeathers, etc. She has to be preened and he doesn't, since he just manifests his wing.

She writes heartfelt mini love letters, tucking each one in corners of her home for Sephiroth to find.

Bia has a soft spot for ravens. Like them, she likes to collect shiny little trinkets that remind her of things.

She likes to name constellations after her loved ones. She'll point up into the night sky and tell them that She calls this constellation after them. There is a bright one that she calls 'Aurora' after her daughter.

When she is alone, she will hum a lullaby to herself. This lullaby is one her human mother would sing to her. She sung it for Sephiroth while he was sleeping with her hand gently running through his hair. She also sung it for her children.

Fun Facts

Content Warnings: abuse, body horror, cosmic horror, cults, demonic, extreme violence, obsession, psychological distress, trauma.

Hades and Persephone symbolize Bianca and Sephiroth's relationship. The only exception here is that Bianca is more of a dark Persephone and Sephiroth would never let her return to Earth or the Celestial Realm for half of the year.

Bianca and Sephiroth have two children together: Aurora and Lucien. These children were 'poofed' into existence through her reality-bending magic. She loves them fiercely. Each of their personalities have some of Kadaj, Loz, and Yazoo's personalities in them, as she feels grief that she was not a better 'mother' to those boys and participated in a second Reunion.

Bianca is not just an agent of chaos, but she is a being of profound transformation. She will eventually come to accept her role in bringing about the destruction and eventual rebirth of Creation, where she will place Sephiroth as the supreme god (and herself as the supreme goddess).

Bianca is a fallen celestial with both angelic and demonic roots. Once she reaches her full power, she will be extremely powerful, but as is, she is an unstable being. Her father, Azrakiel is known as Asmodeus. He participated in the civil war in the Celestial Realm. Her mother is named Seraphine. She is now a living conscious in Bianca's head, sort of like Jimney Cricket.

I headcanon Sephiroth to be 6'7. Bianca is only 5'0. They make a striking couple in public due to their height differences.

Noctemaris is a tachi that embodies corruption and evil. Its a supernatural blade which is marked with dark inscriptions. It is sentient in a way.

In contrast to Noctemaris, Solstice is her other weapon. It symbolizes purity and righteousness. Bianca can NOT wield it due to her corruption, as her mother placed an enchantment on the blade to prevent anyone who has ill intentions to be able to use it.

Bianca's wings are a mix of indigo and black feathers. They are large, compared to her 5' height. Most of my celestial have impressive wingspans.

Her true form is actually a cosmic horror being: a shadow dragon. She is an eldritch creature that is 55 feet long with a 45 foot wingspan. Her body is covered in smoky black feathers, with dozens of purple eyes scattered across her wings, body, and tail. There is also tendrils that are connected to her sides. These writhe and last out to suck the life out of her enemies. These eyes blink independently but they all look at her target when she focuses on someone.

Her humanoid form has long black hair, indigo eyes with slitted pupils, and sharp fangs. She has indigo and black wings. She also has a prehensile tongue which Sephiroth appreciates.

Her wardrobe consists of a battle outfit and every day clothes. She wears dark attire: a leather biker's vest, onyx plated spaulders, and a black trench coat. At home, she likes softer clothing: oversized sweaters, comfy trousers, and a cream trench coat.

Bianca and Sephiroth share a very mystical bond. This is a soulmate AU. The two are bound by an emotional and telepathic connection. This bond allows them to feel each other's pain and emotions, dulling it for the injured / emotional party and amplifying it for the other person, making their connection truly heartbreaking. They can also see each other's memories.

Her love for Sephiroth is consuming. She has an obsession with him that has driven her to make extreme decisions and even sacrifice her own sense of self to be with her. That devotion knows no bounds, even when it comes to following his more darker path.

Bianca can converse with departed souls, since she is a celestial (divine being). This is even the cast when her soul is stuck inside her human host.

Back on Earth, Bianca was a romance novelist. She writes about love and passion and danger. These themes resonated with her own experiences at the time.

She is bilingual in a few languages: Abyssal, Aramaic, Celestial, Enochian, Gaian (which is what I headcanon the name for the FF VII language is called), and some corporate jargon from the time she was confined by Shinra.

Bianca has a deep connection with the cosmos, as she is a celestial being. She longs for the Celestial Realm and to feel the Eternal Moonlight upon her skin. As Celestials are not allowed to love mortals, she gave all of that up for Sephiroth. In return, once he had fallen into the Lifestream, he ended up creating a dreamscape for her: that resembled the Celestial Realm. Using their bond, he was able to tap into Seraphine and Seraphine's memory. This dreamscape is where she retreated during the night when she was held captive.

She also has a phobia of mirrors as they remind her of her experiments. Due to being a celestial, she was awake through most of them, hallucinating, but she could see her form being cut open in the chrome of the lights over head and other objects.

She is terrified of chocobo. This is because when she and Sephiroth were making their way across the Western Continent to get her to the Northern one and North Crater the chocobo he 'borrowed' for the travel ended up bolting away from Sephiroth with Bianca barely conscious upon him.

Backstory Facts:

Content Warnings: abuse, betrayal, bloodshed, kidnapping, murder, psychological trauma, torture, vivisection, violence.

Bianca and Sephiroth's bond is a manifestation of their intertwined souls, both light and dark, forged through cosmic prophecy, destined to reshape the Creation.

The Creator's attempt to sever Bianca and Sephiroth's destiny by splitting their soul into two halves only strengthen their connection, ensuring the prophecy's fulfillment.

Seraphine used her abilities to send Bianca forward in time as a fetus to ensure she remains free of Asmodeus' machinations. This was the ultimate self-sacrifice, as she now exists solely within Bianca's thoughts.

She was raised by Sarah and David Moore. Sarah ended up being murdered by a cult who worshiped Asmodeus and wished to send Bianca's soul back to him and the Abyssal Realm.

Bianca spent 10 to 18 running from the cult. Her and David would stay at one city for six months before moving on to the next. She lived a transient life.

Her first love, Krista, was a member of the cult of Asmodeus. Krista's betrayal forced Bianca to choose between survival and love. In a heartbreaking confrontation, Bianca killed Krista, severing her innocence and forcing her to mistrust everyone. The interesting thing about this is she was 16; the same age that Sephiroth was when he himself became really guarded due to events on Rhadore and Rosen and Team Glenn.

Bianca's bond with Mordecai Delacroix, a vampiric incubus and CEO, became really friendly. They would eventually marry and Bianca became 'queen' of his Clutch, so to say. This arrangement was completely platonic and the marriage went unconsummated.

At 20, Asmodeus finally caught up with Bianca. He skinned her alive, which awakened her dormant celestial and demonic blood, marking the beginning of her transformation into a goddess of light and shadow.

Mordecai's final act of devotion was sacrificing his life to save Bianca from Asmodeus. He pushed her and Noctemaris through a portal, leaving her devastated, unable to return home until she figured out how to use her space-temporal powers or Noctemaris. She is forever changed.

Bianca's journey through the Etheral nexus, a liminal space between dimensions, leads her to Planet, where her soul is drawn there by Sephiroth and his current crisis by their soul-bond.

Bianca's arrival at the Underground Library marks a turning point in her life, She is pulled into his world. For seven days, Bianca and Sephiroth share an intense, passionate bond. Their connection is based upon trauma bonding and their soul-bond amplifying their emotions.

Her celestial aura and Jenova's influence play ping-pong with Sephiroth's pysche. This gives him moments of lucidity as he slowly goes mad. Jenova's Influence finally takes control after they make love for the first time, causing Sephiroth to lock her in the archival chamber (he always says to protect her) and go down into Nibelheim.

Witnessing Sephiroth's descent into madness during the Nibelheim Incident, Bianca struggles to remain sane, herself. She begins to question if her emotions are being influenced by their soul-bond, but she accepts that she loves him. She goes into Nibelheim to save him, escaping the locked room by using Abyssal Rifts. Thanks to Noctemaris.

Sephiroth choosing Jenova over her -- his destiny over their love -- serves as a catalyst for her descent into darkness. The pain of watching him step off the reactor floor and fall into the mako below while cradling Jenova's head shattered her.

Bianca becomes a subject in Project N, where Hojo bleeds her for her demonic blood and Diana vivisects her. Each scientist has their own reason doing this. Diana wants to learn the secret of Bianca's immortality; Hojo wants her blood as it was shown to slow the degradation in the SOLDIERs. This project was abandoned soon after Bianca escaped. While it did slow down the degradation for a little bit, their cellular breakdown increased rapidly afterward. This project scarred her physically, psychologically, and emotionally.

Infusions of Jenova and S-cells into Bianca's veins altered her essence, transforming her appearance and making her powers unstable. These cells bonded with her demonic cells, causing her celestial powers to become corrupted and her celestial essence to slumber.

During her imprisonment and experimentation, Bianca begins to hallucinate, as she begins to see brief visions of Sephiroth, leading her to wonder if their bond was the cause or if it was a manifestation of her fractured mind.

Upon escaping the manor, Bianca becomes a force of chaos. She used her celestial and demonic powers with precision, as she is determined to reunite with Sephiroth no matter the cost. Whether this is a biological response, like Cloud and the Clones, to go to the Reunion or if she wants to truly be with him remains to be seen.

This is one of the only times she uses her claws and fangs in defense. She hates to lose herself completely to her inner demon. She massacred several SOLDIERs and troopers in her bid for freedom. The downside of her escape was that neither Diana or Hojo was there at the Manor at the time. She would have murdered them.

Finally, after Sephiroth learned that he could possess clones as vessels to move about Gaia, the first thing he did was take control of the clone SC-X to come and rescue Bianca from the labs. SC-X was a Wutain who was 'kidnapped' by Shinra and pressed into their SOLDIER program, as they were trying to bolster the numbers after Genesis' defection.

Sephiroth had already murdered several people on the manor's grounds and was preparing to go inside through a passage that he had learned about in the Lifestream. He collided with Bianca as he opened the secret door. She smacked right into his chest. Seeing that she was now safe, she ended up collapsing. He flies her up into Mt. Nibel to stabilize her, due to her vivisection.

He never shows it but he was frightened that he was going to lose her that night. It hardened his resolve more to bring about Meteor to drain the Planet and to kill off humanity. His words that he whispered was that those dullards had dared harmed his angel.

And finally my drawing of her. I need to end up making a character sheet. I wish there was more time during the day. Anyway, thanks for the ask and allowing me to ramble. When I ramble, I tend to 'ramble'. lol

Bianca content:

@themaradwrites @whatwedointhecraft @megandaisy9 @watermeezer

@prehistoric-creatures @creativechaosqueen @chickensarentcheap @seastarblue

@inkandimpressions @arrthurpendragon

[soscarlett1twas]

Midnight Church Bells

↳ Andrew and his brother sneak out. ↳ 2k words / also available on ao3! ↳ This fic is literally a year old lmao?? I was sorting through docs and found this finished draft, so I polished it a bit and here we are. Please forgive past me if the prose is... how we say 'shit'.

The holidays always snuck up on Andrew the same - sudden and unwelcome, but inevitable. This year, he’d been too invested in his studies, and, surprisingly, his own love life to notice much of withering leaves or decorations, but when he turned on the radio and heard those familiar jingles, he groaned in recognition. 

Really, it was none of those things (despite how much he did tire of those songs) that bittered Christmas for him. It was the fact that once the break started, his family would come calling. And despite all protests, his parents would never let him stay at college during the advent. 

“It’s time for the Lord.” His mother’s voice lifted through the phone he propped up on his dashboard. “And family,” she added after a moment. He resisted the urge to slam his head against the steering wheel, instead opting for biting his tongue. The one time his parents didn’t want him studying. 

Her saying that added to the sting of the season. And family. It seemed that this was the only time of year where that was on her mind. 

Which all led him to the same spot he was every December 24th: Sitting on his childhood bed, with whatever book he was currently reading in his hands, and classical music playing from his phone. 

Reclining into his pillow, Andrew lifted his glasses off and put them on the bedside table, a thumb folding the wings as the other worked as a bookmark. 

Yet he didn’t close his eyes. For one of those brief moments in life, he wasn’t thinking, or sleeping, or doing really anything at all. He was just there, in a limbo between sleep and consciousness, hoping that if he purposely derived himself the next day wouldn’t come as quickly.

And he stayed like that for 5 minutes. Or maybe it was 10, or maybe no time passed at all. But eventually he gave in to rest. No matter what, the morning would come and he’d rather not fall asleep during the already tedious sermons in church. So he set an alarm, put his book on the nightstand, and laid down.

He closed his eyes, and it was like he could hear the ringing already. 

Maybe he did.

A soft patter-ing rang just outside his door, the familiar sound of footsteps on carpet blotting the silence. And just as he was about to roll over, Andrew heard his door creak open, and the silhouette of a man leaned into the room. 

“Want to go on a walk?” He whispered, twinged with a sense of boredom. 

Andrew didn’t even need to turn to know who was asking. “Give me a moment,” he sighed, and motioned to push himself off the bed. 

—

“How did you know I was awake?” Andrew asked, still pulling his overcoat over his arms. 

“Your light was on, I saw it through your door.” His brother responded, turning off their driveway onto the sidewalk. He was slightly ahead of Andrew, but slowed a bit so that they were walking together. 

A cloud of mist formed from his breath as he stuffed his hands into his pockets, pulling the coat closer to himself to save some of his last remaining body heat. A near-midnight flit wasn’t what he had planned, but he’d prefer it than trying to sleep. Besides, this may be the only quality time he could spend with his twin during the break. God knows the time they’ve spent at college has already distanced them enough. 

“So,” he huffed, searching for a topic of conversation. “How have you been?” 

“Fine. Uni’s been beating my ass though - we spent practically the entire week leading up to the holidays in the lab, just sweating over our assignments. Jesus, I’m not even a Biochem major but Chemistry is just not letting up.”

It had been years since he was in a lab, but with the track he was on, he got the stress with ‘crunch time’. “I understand. I’ve recently had to rush a project for my Literary Theory course.” 

“What do you even do in that class?” He questioned, half serious, half mocking. 

“Analyze texts, find out how the culture of the author influenced their works.” He could go on: Literary Theory was one of his favorite classes, no matter how rigorous the course was, but he knew his brother wouldn’t care to hear the details. 

Winding down their street, the two carried on talking about academia with a partial interest, not fully understanding either’s field of study but trying to be supportive anyways. Soughing wind bent branches to a static beat as they approached the neighborhood's egress. By and by they were talking about the more social aspects of their schooling: Andrew’s literature club, the parties either rarely attended, his brother’s friends.

“How has your roommate been?” Andrew asked, kicking a rock under his shoe and watching it roll along the concrete. 

“Good.” He sighed out a laugh. “He’s great, actually.”

Andrew glanced over to his brother, and if the slight warmth in his voice wasn’t enough, the red on his cheeks told him everything he needed to know. He chuckled too, and gave a soft nudge on his shoulder, making them both smile. 

In a weird way, they never needed to tell eachother about any of this stuff. Equal parts the awkwardness that surrounded telling your sibling, your twin of all people, who you were interested in and an unspoken alliance against their parents had kept them from ever openly speaking it. But Andrew knew his brother was into guys ever since they were teens, he just didn’t know if his brother had caught on to his own preferences yet.

The stone made a sharp sound as it drifted over to his brother, who promptly kicked it back to Andrew with the inside of his shoe. 

“Helios, right?” 

His brother hummed in response. 

His mind trailed to the man at his college, the one who he had desperately wanted to introduce to him, and found himself grinning at the mere thought. God, he hoped Isaac would like his brother. 

He opened his mouth, then shut it quickly. What would he even say? He trusted his brother, but to come out was something entirely different, and with Christmas just around the corner? No, he’d wait. Right after, though, he’d tell him. Andrew silently swore it to himself. 

“Honestly, I prefer the dorms to the house.” 

That snapped Andrew out of his thinking. “Really?” 

“Yeah.” He stopped abruptly, and threw his arms out in exasperation. “Isn’t it suffocating to you too?” 

Everytime he was in his room, Andrew could only remember the sleepless nights he spent hunched over and studying. The dining table was a barrage of moments he spent silent as his parents and brother fought. The living room was a danger zone, as he never wanted to catch his parents when they were disappointed in his brother, or worse, him. The whole house could burn down and the only memories that would go with it were the most futile. Worse was, even without flames, Andrew felt like he wadded through smoke every time he was in those walls.

He silently nodded his head. His brother just stared at him, as if he wanted voice confirmation. But how can one speak up against the pyre when its fumes had already scorched his vocal cords? 

After a moment, his brother kept walking, and Andrew followed. “I contemplated not coming back this winter.” He muttered.

“As did I.” Andrew responded, suddenly getting his voice back. 

“What could you possibly be avoiding?” 

A million and one answers filled his head, but none escaped him - no matter what he said, not a single one would measure up to his brother's reasons. So why even bother trying to compare? 

His twin huffed as he turned away, suddenly gaining some distance on Andrew, and he let him keep it. 

For a while, the only sound they made was their shoes against concrete sidewalks and the crunch as they occasionally had to step into snow. Andrew brought his hands up to his face, cupping them to breathe and warm himself up. Normally he kept gloves in his pockets, just in case. But, of course, he just had to forget them tonight. His fingers combed through his hair, forcing him to look straight ahead at his brother's back. Again, he bit his tongue. But wasn’t that what had gotten him into this situation, unintentionally pushing his brother away by not talking? He didn’t understand it, but only continuing the cycle wasn’t going to help anything. 

So he opened his mouth, just in time to slam right into his brother. 

He stumbled, but his brother didn’t flinch. Or even look at Andrew. His eyes remained trained to the tree line, frozen in place. 

Regaining his footing, Andrew tried again. “Dar-“

“Stop.” He whispered.

“No, D-“  

“Shut up, Andrew, just listen.” 

So he did. 

For a few seconds, he didn’t hear anything. His eyes fell where his brother’s were focused, though without his glasses, the details were fuzzy. 

Then, a distant chime hit his ear. 

More followed. 

A symphony of church bells rang, each peal like a glimmer in the air. 

Andrew knew they rang the bells at midnight every Christmas Eve, though he couldn’t remember the last time he had heard them. During mass, he could imagine it would be unbearable. But from here? The sound was quite pleasant. 

As the bells continued, the twins stood there, listening to it all. Andrew was the first to tear his eyes away from the church he couldn’t see, glancing over at his brother through the corner of his eye. It was the first good look he had gotten at him in a long time. 

Andrew hadn’t realized how short a decade was. Though in context of anything else, the last ten years of his life had dawdled. But with his brother? It was like the blink of an eye. One moment they were running and laughing, a mirror image of one another - even the Christmas’ were tolerable. Fun, even. The next, blooming into adulthood - mimics of who they used to be.

In fact, the longer he looked at him, Andrew realized just how much his brother had changed. His hair had definitely grown, locked into a short ponytail that hung low with swooping bangs, and he made the full switch to contacts some time ago. He even got taller, and next to Andrew, he was a lofty inch or two higher. Though that could also be accredited to the boots he wore. (Ashamed to say, Andrew didn’t remember when or how he got them. They certainly weren’t a gift from their parents, but did his brother even have a job to afford them?) He was more muscular, which wasn’t saying much compared to Andrew, but he was certainly leaner. The man never made a mention of continuing his secondary school athletics, but maybe he did as an extracurricular? Again, Andrew was straining to remember specifics. Though, he supposed any reason to play was now null, as originally it was a brilliant excuse to come home late without his parents accusing him of deviancy. 

But he wasn’t too alien to him. There was something still familiar to him, like flecks of gold shining through, no matter how small. After all, they began to sneak out when they were fourteen and are still doing it now. There must be something that still connected them. 

Right?

Just as he had that thought, he missed his brother's pass, and the pebble went flying into a curb. 

They walked in silence for a while longer, bells fading to the wind. Eventually they found themselves back on their driveway, and their silence became deafening as they lightened their footsteps. God knows what their parents would do if they found out they had been out so late.

They followed one another up the stairs, crossed the same hallway, and went to rooms adjoining. There was a time they shared one, but that was before they had moved. 

Andrew slipped open his door, the knob turning slowly as to mute itself. As he slipped in, he turned half-way to see his brother doing the same.

His brother looked up, catching his gaze. 

Andrew saw himself in the reflection of his eyes. They were bitter, burning with… not rage. But a violent form of disappointment. 

Andrew was the center of it. And he could smell the smoke wafting. 

[tundrakatiebeanart]

Who’s that Pokémon?!

It’s the LAST page of the advent book! It’s time to start working on binding the pages together and the cover so there’s only one mon to guess this time (and it’s a lot easier if you know Jick and think about what hasn’t been included yet)

My patrons have the full scoop and tiers start at $1! You could know exactly what’s going on and not have to wait a week!

[mincyberr]

welcm to cy's hot takes, where my takes might fire back at me 😭

sorry in advance! 😭 -

this hot take is about YOUR HOT TAKES!

Welcome to the cyber ANNIVERSARY! It's been a year on Tumblr! So I'm sharing your takes! 💋 I'm giving CREDITS to my hot takers SOOOO enjoy the show!

(made on Nov 9 (my anniversary) - Nov 13

@inlovewithdob : Should’ve made Thomasa (Thomas and Teresa) siblings/twins -

I see this for so many reasons, image Teresa betraying Thomas but they are siblings!! THATS DRAMAAA and it makes sense!!!

ﾟ:｡ ִ ✿𝆬 ⁔⁔ ۪ ⊹ ֗ ꫂ

@kestis-advent : Don't know if it's a hot take, but. WICKD was really stupid, and the more you think about their experiment with the maze the less it makes sense or the more you think you could have found an answer faster than them and without harming anyone. -

I had a project at school about TMR and about if WCKD was good or not, BRO! I was in a mid field and had to explain this in my essay, 10/10 hot take

ﾟ:｡ ִ ✿𝆬 ⁔⁔ ۪ ⊹ ֗ ꫂ

@thepersassiest : HOT TAKE Y’ALL ARE GOING TO HATE ME FOR THIS ONE (and I say this as a hardcore Newtmas shipper who can only see Newt as gay) Newt is NOT canonically gay. Trashner only “confirmed” it years afterword for clout and fanservice. Same way JK Rowling only claimed Dumbledore was gay years afterword for inclusion’s sake; without actually putting in the work to make the character real representation. Don’t get me wrong, the subtext is all there and I completely headcannon Newt as gay. But attacking people who hc him as straight or bi or write f!self inserts with him is not necessary. yes, straight washing queer characters is bad!! but it isn’t straight washing when the character was not confirmed queer to begin with. -

Yeah I see this as a good thing to note. One time as I was searching about TMR, I didn't know he was gay until I found Maze Cutter. So thank you for speaking about this.

ﾟ:｡ ִ ✿𝆬 ⁔⁔ ۪ ⊹ ֗ ꫂ

@wildbwills : guess I’d just say book newt is cooler 😎

- FACTS, HES SASSY AS HELL IN THE BOOKS 📚 LOVE HIM !!!

ﾟ:｡ ִ ✿𝆬 ⁔⁔ ۪ ⊹ ֗ ꫂ

@ssseashell : !! i would say my hot take is that the whole plot for the third movie is way better than the 3rd book’s plot. Minho’s rescue was so much better than just the ‘running from wicked and destroy them’ plot from the book -

I haven't finished Death Cure book yet. But yeah I loved the third movie, it's second place for the Maze Runner trilogy for me.

Thanks for a year on this platform!! And 30 followers!! Thank you and good bye 🫂

♡ 𝐜𝐲𝐛𝐞𝐫 (stan minho)

[anim-ttrpgs]

Songs for Eureka Sessions: Investigators Fleeing/Hiding from Monster

Masterpost of Eureka song lists & how to choose good music for any TTRPG session.

Beastiality - The Thing

Don't Cry, Jennifer - Clock Tower

Anguish - Martha is Dead

Mynah - Signalis

Claws of the Dead - Death Stranding

The Man in the Hat - Little Nightmares

Detritus - It Follows

Strange Dreams – The Mount Fuju Doomjazz Corporation

Disposable Entertainment – Little Nightmares II

Zombie Attack – Resident Evil 1 Remake

Reliving the Present – Resident Evil 2 Remake

Vigilante – Trigg & Gusset

The Second Malformation of G – Resident Evil 2

Black Tiger – Resident Evil 1 Remake

One Step, Two Step – Little Nightmares II

Black Impact – Resident Evil 2 Remake

Ashes and Ghost – Silent Hill 2

Screaming Target – Resident Evil 2

Vengeance – The Guest

Falling Victim to the Ex-Neighbors – Resident Evil 2

Richard – Hotline Miami 2

Theme of Aya – Parasite Eve

The First Malformation of G – Resident Evil 2

Faces – Martha Is Dead

Track 17 – Galerians

Nightwalk Restlessness – Martha Is Dead

Stalker – Parasite Eve II

Intruders (Alternate) – Silent Hill 4

Ultimate Bio Weapon – Resident Evil 1 Remake

Final Battle – Resident Evil 1 Remake

Absurd Advent – Resident Evil 2 Remake

Elegantly designed and thoroughly playtested, Eureka represents the culmination of three years of near-daily work from our team, as well as a lot of our own money. If you’re just now reading this and learning about Eureka for the first time, you missed the crowdfunding window unfortunately, but you can still check out the public beta on itch.io to learn more about what Eureka: Investigative Urban Fantasy actually is, as that is where we have all the fancy art assets, the animated trailer, links to video reviews by podcasts and youtubers, etc.!

You can also follow updates on our Kickstarter page where we post regular updates on the status of our progress finishing the game and getting it ready for final release.

Beta Copies through the Patreon

If you want more, you can download regularly updated playable beta versions of Eureka: Investigative Urban Fantasy earlier, plus extra content such as adventure modules by subscribing to our Patreon at the $5 tier or higher. Subscribing to our patreon also grants you access to our patreon discord server where you can talk to us directly and offer valuable feedback on our progress and projects.

The A.N.I.M. TTRPG Book Club

If you would like to meet the A.N.I.M. team and even have a chance to play Eureka with us, you can join the A.N.I.M. TTRPG Book Club discord server. It’s also just a great place to talk and discuss TTRPGs, so there is no schedule obligation, but the main purpose of it is to nominate, vote on, then read, discuss, and play different indie TTRPGs. We put playgroups together based on scheduling compatibility, so it’s all extremely flexible. This is a free discord server, separate from our patreon exclusive one. https://discord.gg/7jdP8FBPes

Other Stuff

We also have a ko-fi and merchandise if you just wanna give us more money for any reason.

We hope to see you there, and that you will help our dreams come true and launch our careers as indie TTRPG developers with a bang by getting us to our base goal and blowing those stretch goals out of the water, and fight back against WotC's monopoly on the entire hobby. Wish us luck.

[copperbadge]

Radio Free Monday

Good morning everyone, and welcome to Radio Free Monday!

Ways to Give:

nivchara-yahel and her sibling Hem are disabled and currently applying for SSDI and other benefits; they need ongoing support and are currently fundraising for August rent. Hem is also an artist and offering work for donations of $10 or more to those interested. You can read more, reblog, and find giving information here.

Char is raising funds for a friend's cat, Phil, who is currently at the animal hospital indefinitely until he receives treatment; they're still working out what he's dealing with, but are treating him currently for an infection in his liver and are checking for lymphoma. You can read more and support the fundraiser here.

Anon linked to a fundraiser for a classroom in Texas that is trying to get some missing chapter books in the classroom library, and read-aloud books that focus on marginalized peoples, environmental concerns, and non-Western upbringings. The project page states it will impact ten students, but all students and teachers in the school will have access to these books. You can read more and support the fundraiser here.

Buy Stuff, Help Out:

sarahmackattack is with Skype A Scientist, a nonprofit science education organization that connects scientists with classrooms, libraries, and scout troops for free; they also run a "Squid Facts" hotline that people can text to receive squid facts, and support a science mural program in Philadelphia. They're currently selling Frog Facts and Crab Facts advent calendars; you scratch off the sticker each day to reveal fun facts about frogs or crabs. You can purchase them and other fun stickers and merch to support Skype A Scientist at their website here.

Recurring Needs:

we_are_spc's AC in their house has gone out, and they are trying to stay cool with only one fan; they are unemployed, and the heat is bad for both their asthma and their cats, as well as several musical instruments in the home including indigenous flutes. They've had a great update which is that the unit itself is working so only the copper lines need to be replaced; they need to raise less than previously thought, but are still trying to get as much funding as possible for the line replacement. You can read more and support the fundraiser here or give via paypal at celticphoenyx@gmail.com, via venmo at rowansong, or via cashApp at rowansong.

loversdoom has recently been diagnosed with PCOS and needs help to afford the prescribed birth control pills on top of living expenses; you can read more, reblog, and find giving information here or give via paypal here.

thegeeksqueaks's school district has shorted her on her summer teacher's budget; she can't afford currently to stock her classroom for back-to-school. She's raising funds to get food and hygiene tools for underserved kids as well as various aids for neurodivergent kids. You can read more and reblog here, give via DonorsChoose here or via paypal here, or purchase from an Amazon wishlist here.

And this has been Radio Free Monday! Thank you for your time. You can post items for my attention at the Radio Free Monday submissions form. If you're new to fundraising, you may want to check out my guide to fundraising here.

[joelhappyhil]

DAWN’S BETA IS OUT!

I’ve been writing and refining this for at least 3 years now, and I intend for this to be the final major update before releasing the game in full. I’ve got a ton of things to say about this update but if you just want a link to the game it'll be below.

Here’s the link: https://joel-happyhil.itch.io/dawn! Below the option to purchase at full price there will be a bunch of community copies for any who want to download but can’t/don't want to pay.

For those who know nothing about it: DAWN is a Battle Shonen (a subgenre of anime and manga) inspired tactical TTRPG that I’ve been developing since I started my last major release (Star And City 2E).

I consider it the result of everything I’ve learned with writing and game design, it has the most collaborators I’ve had on any project, and it’s a product I’m incredibly proud of. Also, its precursor, Advent Dawn, was the first game I ever posted on Itch.

I want to note that this version is in no way complete, and should be read as such. There's the obvious missing art and text to start (which I’ve marked with a WIP image).

This version will likely have issues, as this is the first time this version has been shown publicly. Despite this, I’ve done as much as I can with my limited testing, I feel the book is a presentable and enjoyable product for any who’re interested in it.

I’ve also started a Itch funding tracker that’ll be active for the first 2 weeks because this update is a big deal to me and I want to see how much support I can get for the final release. I appreciate any support you give because of it, but don’t feel pressured to.

You may know I already ran a Kickstarter campaign for DAWN, this is why I haven’t set up any rewards for this itch funding, as I feel it would devalue the support I got on that initial KS, I just like to see numbers go up.

I can’t express how much I appreciate any amount of support. If you're interested in testing the game there’ll be a Discord link in the document that you can use to find my community, where I’ll be trying to test the game at least weekly and answer any questions asked.

[weewoowings]

Day 2 of the BuckTommy Advent calendar! Tis the season folks!

Title: Hope

Rated: G

Warnings: None

Words: 1014

Hope

Los Angeles wasn’t exactly a winter wonderland, but the city had its own kind of holiday magic. Strings of lights adorned the palm trees, and the warm December air carried the faint scent of cinnamon and roasted chestnuts from pop-up stands. Buck’s loft was no exception, glowing softly with the twinkle of white lights he’d carefully hung the week before. The garland draped over the railing, the tiny, slightly crooked tree in the corner, and the cinnamon-scented candles on the coffee table filled the space with a cozy warmth.

The loft wasn’t lonely, but it was quiet. Tommy stood by the window, his silhouette framed by the city lights outside. He was still as he stared out at the glowing expanse of Los Angeles, one hand in his pocket, the other resting against the window frame. Buck sat on the couch behind him, pretending to read the book in his hands. His eyes skimmed the same sentence for the third time, but his focus kept drifting to Tommy.

[brw]

brieuc, I'm glad you also do not have the fortitude to listen to the Cerebrocast's Trish Tilby episode, because I'm morbidly curious, but I just can't risk the psychic damage.

Also, for the record, I think I could JUST ABOUT do a ten hour podcast about Hank, but even then, I would struggle. 10 hours for Hepzibah is Zach Synder-esque bloat.

It's calling out to me like Green Goblin's mask. I'm so morbidly curious about it. I also apparently started listening to the Abigail Brand one but I never finished it and I can't remember anything about it, so I feel like I must have trauma-blocked it. Or maybe it was incredibly mediocre and forgettable, very possibly both.

And yeah, like could I do ten hours worth of material about Simon, or The Vision, or Janet van Dyne? Probably! But those are characters with, you know... appearances. Solo projects. Consistent title appearances. Some semblance of cultural relevance. Things to discuss in changes in culture and how that affects their depictions in comics, i.e. how the changing norms and relevance of certain genres in Hollywood has affected how Simon's career is depicted, how the changes in robots in fiction has affected Vision and how the rise of A.I. in our lives will likely affect The Vision, how the advent of the internet and people being able to see panels without context alongside the popularity of the Ultimates really killed any hope Janet had of being divorced from that panel in the headspace of most comic book readers and people moderately familiar with Janet, etc. And I'm not saying Hepzibah doesn't have that, I'm just saying that there are a lot of characters out there! Even just in the X-Men! And I just frankly think there are a lot more interesting and relevant characters to talk about for 10 hours than Hepzibah. I'm sorry if it offends anyone, maybe the episode is kino, although I have it from trusted sources it did ramble a lot, I just cannot get over the fact that there is someone out there in the world, two someone's, in fact, who have more to say about 128 appearance queen Hepzibah than they did 1195 appearance, second ever Marvel Comics character Namor.

[stillness-in-green]

On Heteromorphs & Heteromorphobia (Introduction + Terminology + Arcs I - V, Entrance Exam to Sports Festival)

Being a project to observe and document the use of the term “heteromorph,” the people described by it, and the depiction of their experiences with discrimination in My Hero Academia

OR

“No, heteromorphobia isn’t new or a late-story retcon.  The non-heteromorph main characters just weren’t confronted with it for a long time, that’s all.”

Introduction

In this series of posts, I will be examining heteromorphic characters and heteromorphic discrimination chapter by chapter, arc by arc, up through the plotline coming to a head in the attack on Central Hospital.  My overall aim is to demonstrate that, contrary to widespread assertions otherwise, heteromorphobia had ample groundwork laid long before it burst to the forefront in My Villain Academia.  My analysis will generally fall into one of the following categories:

General observations about heteromorphs in the world: how the reader is introduced to them individually and as a group, their demographics, the language used to describe them, how they fit into the structure of professional heroism, etc.    

Aspects of the series—scenes, character beats, worldbuilding details, etc.—which I believe canonically point towards heteromorphic discrimination, even before that discrimination was explicitly acknowledged.

Aspects of the series that could be read as evidence for said discrimination, but which may or may not have been intentional on the part of the author.    

Discussion of how individual characters intersect, or could intersect, with this form of discrimination.

I would like to fold the Vigilantes spin-off into this analysis as well, as that series is very good at taking aspects of worldbuilding from the main series to their logical, street-level conclusions; I may also examine other extracanonical material (the data books, the movies, TUM and the novels, etc.) if I find—or have suggested to me—anything relevant to the topic.  More on this as I get closer to the end of the material in the series proper.

The current plan being to end my mainline analysis with the hospital attack is largely because, at the present time, Shouji’s response to the mob seems to be the series’ last word on The Problem of Heteromorphobia.  I may, however, continue beyond that point if the series circles back to the issue in a major way between now and the completion of this project.

In the meantime, join me below the jump as I lay out my thesis, explain the rationale behind the terminology used in this piece, and dive on into the canon material, from Chapter 1 up through the conclusion of the Sports Festival in Chapter 44.

   

The Thesis 

Anti-heteromorph discrimination has been present as a background element in the series from the very beginning.  However, this is obscured by the main character’s lack of awareness of it, the overlap between such discrimination and the broader dehumanization of villains, and, perhaps most crucially, the fact that the term “heteromorph,” while serviceable as a descriptor for a broad categorization of quirk types, is uselessly broad for discussing heteromorphic discrimination.

It’s very easy to say, “The idea of heteromorphs being discriminated against is a ridiculous retcon,” if one views the story as suggesting that all people with heteromorphic quirks are subject to the exact same levels of discrimination, while transformation and emitter types are never discriminated against at all, no matter how they look.  This, however, is demonstrably false if one instead looks for patterns in the types of discrimination demonstrated throughout the series.  The common element in heteromorphic discrimination is that it becomes drastically more likely the farther away one is from the “normal” appearance of humans prior to the Advent of the Extraordinary.  This is particularly the case for those with heteromorphic quirks tied to animals or those who live in rural areas.

   

On Terminology

Baseline/Divergence: “Baseline” is not a canonical term, but it is a useful one.  I’ll use it to describe bodies that look more or less “normal,” with features like those humans would have had before the advent of quirks.  Bakugou is baseline; so is Momo.  Tokoyami and Koda are not.  I’ll also sometimes use “divergence” or “divergent” in association with this concept, especially for people who have no more than one or two cosmetic differences that are not associated with an animal.  Jirou’s earphone jacks or Iida’s pipes would be examples of such relatively minor divergences from “baseline.”  It is, as I will argue, a significant factor in the extent of discrimination that heteromorphs face.

Igyou/Heteromorph: The Japanese term Spinner objects to in Chapter 220 is igyou, literally meaning “fantastic; grotesque; strange-looking; suspicious-looking” per Japanese dictionary site jisho.org.  It’s often appended with gata, “type,” and people who have quirks of that type labeled as igyou-gata no ningen.  The Viz release translates igyou to “heteromorph,” and igyou-gata to “heteromorphic” or “heteromorphic quirk.”  It’s much more clinical-sounding to an English ear than a more literal translation of igyou would be; thus, when Spinner suggests that the word is not very politically correct, the Japanese reader will have a much clearer understanding of why than the English reader.

Another thing Spinner says about igyou is that, despite the fact that it’s not a good word for formal contexts, everyone uses it day to day.  However, as far as I can tell, and troublingly for fans who want to avoid using an offensive word, there is no polite alternative.  We see people using the word to describe themselves, Aizawa uses it freely in discussing how his quirk affects the type in question, but we don’t get to see an academic paper or expert interview letting us know what we should say instead.

I’ve only seen two alternatives.  One is buried in Vigilantes and is less “a polite alternative” and more “a mouthful of words to prevaricate around not having a polite alternative”: tokushuna taikaku no mochinushi, or, per the Viz translation, “individuals with unique bodies.”  The other, used by the firebrand PLF advisor leading the hospital riot, is kotonaru katachi, which means, roughly, “differing forms.”  It’s better, but still more of a descriptive phrase than a noun, and runs into the issue that something vague like “differing forms” could also apply to, for example, congenital anomalies or amputations. It also uses the same kanji as igyou, just a different reading of the characters, so it’s unclear if Spinner would find that wording just as objectionable.

It’s tricky to navigate this, too, because it’s not all 1:1 translation.  Spinner doesn’t object to being called igyou while thinking that igyou-gata or igyou-gata no ningen would be fine—that is, he’s not saying he doesn’t like being called a heteromorph, but being called a heteromorphic type or a person with a heteromorphic quirk would be fine, in the way that you see debates about person-first versus identity-first language in e.g. the autistic community.  It’s the word igyou/“heteromorph” itself that he dislikes.

Why?  Well, the obvious answer is that the word itself, down to the kanji involved, denotes the people it’s used to describe as being strange or different from normal.  Transformation-type quirks have a similar if less pronounced issue: henkei can mean “transformation” or “metamorphosis,” but it can also mean “deformity.”  Emitters are the only ones who don’t have this problem at all, with hatsudou meaning simply “invocation” or “put into operation.”

When that kind of normativity is baked into the language itself, it’s impossible to even talk about without Othering the people you’re discussing.

While neither addresses the language issue specifically, Ujiko and Re-Destro both offer some useful insight on why the issue exists.  Ujiko says, “With each passing generation, quirks become more mixed, more complex, more ambiguous(...).”  Re-Destro, meanwhile, asks, “Isn’t it odd how society insists on conforming to the old ways of thinking while eliminating anyone who doesn’t fit the mold?  Especially since we as a species have moved beyond the very notion of normal!”

My suspicion, then, is that no polite alternative exists because the concept itself is so nebulous, and talking about it—as we will see—leads to thorny, difficult-to-categorize places when people prefer to keep things nice and tidy, easy to sort and put away.  This is convenient for people who are uncomfortable talking about it, since policing people about their language is a great way to shut down discussion entirely.

Indeed, I’ve seen as much in the fandom—thoughtful, well-articulated posts wholly dismissed with snotty rebukes against using the word “heteromorph” on the basis that it’s equivalent to a slur, with no further engagement on the posts’ actual content.  I often see “mutant” used instead, but I don’t view that as any kind of solution, for two reasons.

Firstly, and more simply, using “mutant” creates confusion due to its overlap with the idea of quirk mutations—situations like Eri’s.  Indeed, in the Japanese, while Pops uses the Japanese word for “mutation,” kanji that would normally be read as totsuzenheni,[1] the furigana show that what he's actually saying aloud is the English word, giving the reading as myuuteeshon.  The word igyou is totally unrelated—it doesn’t even have any kanji in common with totsuzenhi—so I feel it’s best to not add ambiguity where none exists in the original text.

Secondly, and more irksomely, “mutant” is what the most widely available fan scanlation used as a translation for igyou.  Scanlation!Spinner says it’s the word “mutant” he dislikes; it’s not dodging offense to use the scanlation version instead of the official when they’re both placed in the exact same objectionable context![2]

Pictured: me being extremely unimpressed with people who use “mutant” accusing people who use “heteromorph” of using slurs.

All that said, in the absence of any polite alternatives provided by the canon, and in the interest of not throwing out the only word we have in favor of a nonexistent nicety the story’s victims themselves have no access to, I will be using the word those victims themselves use: “heteromorph.”

For further specificity, I will use “heteromorph” to describe anyone, regardless of quirk type, with a physical form that diverges from the pre-Advent baseline, while using “heteromorphic quirk” to denote quirks of said category and those who bear them.

Categorizing Quirks & the Division of Arcs:

Usually, when I denote a quirk as a given type—emitter, transformation, heteromorphic—I’m using the English fan wiki’s classification.  However, note that, while these broad quirk classifications are discussed within the series, there is no canonical source that categorizes the vast majority of the quirks we see in the series.  In character sheets, data books, narrated quirk explanations or the anime’s tic of showing characters’ names and quirks on-screen, the only information given is the quirk’s name and a brief explanation of its function.

Fan wikis, however, are run by curatorial fans, who want to have that information all down neatly, so I’m sure there are whole discussions behind classifying some of the more borderline cases.  I will be discussing the insufficiencies of the current system of classification, but any time I declare a quirk as being classified as a certain type, that’s based on the wiki, not the text itself.

The wiki was also my reference for the breakdown of arcs in the series. They are equally noncanonical, but convenient for the purposes of keeping this piece broken down into digestible pieces.

Let's get started.

   

Heteromorphs and Heteromorphobia Chronologically

The Entrance Exam Arc (Chapters 1-4)

Chapter 1: 

On the very first page, we meet li’l Tsubasa, the winged boy who is implied to eventually become the Winged Noumu during the Stain arc.[3]  No longer in Bakugou’s friend group by the time they’re in middle school; according to the data book, that’s just because he changed schools, but that information does come with an ominous ellipsis trail-off…    

The very first villain we see is a heteromorph, yelling at heroes to go away.  We’re told he’s a purse-snatcher who transformed into his large size—he maintains his base appearance even after being captured and shrinking back down to a normal size—when cornered.  Called “pure evil” by Kamui Woods and while that does speak more directly to the dehumanization of villains than that of heteromorphs, it’s notable that this very first comparison between what heroes and villains look like shows such a stark difference between which one looks human and which one doesn’t.        o  Kamui Woods himself is a transformation-type rather than a heteromorph-type, but he blurs the line between quirk categorizations.  Even at “rest,” his limbs have a wooden appearance; he transforms their shape and size, but not their basic nature.  In that sense, he has a heteromorphic body.  His humanoid size and dimensions, though, as well as his mask, make him appear baseline at a casual glance.  I’ll be discussing him in more depth later, but note that if you read this first confrontation in light of later reveals about heteromorphic discrimination, it’s the one who wears a mask that’s a hero.

But with Mount Lady getting the final blow, note how everyone in this picture is baseline except the literally muzzled villain.

Of twenty-four visible kids in Deku and Bakugou’s class, only two have clear-cut heteromorphic quirks.  One girl has horns but no other divergent features nor other apparent power in use; the other is of the “different head” style, a boy with what looks like a pair of needle-nose pliers in place of a normal head.  One other boy has gnashing, sharp teeth; it’s unclear whether they look like that all the time or whether it’s a transformation effect.  The rest of the students all seem to be emitter or transformation types.    

Introduction of the Sludge Villain, whose body is entirely fluid.  Implied to kill those whose bodies he possesses, at least the ones he intends to fully hide himself within.  We’re now two-for-two on villains being heteromorphs.    

The crowd full of bystanders are all baseline:

Keep this image in mind for when we get our first crowd shot of villains.

Chapter 3+:

You can identify both Shouji and Tokoyami in this chapter, but Deku doesn’t talk to either of them, so they don’t have anything solid in the way of dialogue.  Shouji does get one focus in the art, though: a shot of him from behind, typifying the information-gathering type.  Nedzu first appears in silhouette but also has no speaking lines beyond a shared impressed noise with the also-silhouetted Vlad King.  One or two other heteromorphs can be spotted throughout the exam, but they’re definitely fewer in number compared to the rest.    

+: Others will crop up as Deku has his first day with Class 1-A and Aizawa in the following chapters; Tokoyami, befitting his eventual Number 3 placement at the Sports Festival, has his name regularly shown near the top of assorted exam/class activity rankings.  Shouji’s name appears likewise in Chapter 7’s track and field test rankings.    

The Quirk Apprehension Test Arc (Chapters 5-7)

Chapter 5:

Iida is, strictly speaking, the first named heteromorph in the class.  There will never be any particular sign that Iida is subject to the judgement and bias that more divergent heteromorphs are.

Chapter 6: 

Tsuyu is the next named heteromorph, the first one with an animal-associated quirk, and the first student whose facial features are clearly intended to be anything other than baseline human.  Her quirk is not yet officially introduced, but she’s identified as a froggy type by her hopping, her long tongue, and her ribbit talk bubble.    

In the same chapter that gives us our first instance of an animal-type heteromorph, we also get our first instance of animal-type name-calling:

Note the ever-stoic Shouji’s pointed lack of a response.

This is not particularly highlighted in the moment, but it will get a callback over 300 chapters later as something that warrants an apology.  Note that both Sero and Mineta are themselves heteromorphs, but neither are animal-associated. This already sets up a discrepancy between what kinds of heteromorphs experience significant discrimination, even though the reader won’t get context for that until Spinner introduces us to the CRC.    

The Battle Trial Arc (Chapters 8-11)

Chapter 11:

Shouji is formally introduced, name and quirk alike.  Tsuyu proves to be relatively outgoing despite her demeanor, grouped with the affable Kirishima, Mina, and Sato in introducing herself to Deku after the indoor battles.    

The first appearance of the League of Villains in the stinger with Shigaraki, Kurogiri and the USJ Noumu.  None of them have heteromorphic quirks, as we’ll eventually find, but it’s immediately apparent that—like both of Chapter 1’s villains—they’re much more monstrous in appearance than the heroic cast.  This correlation of appearance with criminal activity will continue to bear itself out throughout the series, getting more prominent and more explicit in the text as it goes along.    

The U.S.J. Arc (Chapters 12-21)

Chapter 12: 

Contains Ojiro’s character sheet, which notes that he always has to ask for clothing alterations when he’s shopping, which has become standard practice since the proliferation of quirks.  Another profile page leading Chapter 32 will note similarly that he has a hard time sitting normally in a chair.  Indeed, despite U.A. being the premier school for heroes, their accommodation seems to top out at exaggeratedly large doors; there doesn’t seem to be any accommodation in things like desks given for people with differently shaped bodies, like Ojiro’s tail or Mineta’s small stature.     It’s possible that specially made desks, like clothes alterations, could be provided upon request, but that puts the onus on the person with the need to ask.  Between the people in question being teenagers and Japan’s culture of meiwaku (not causing trouble for others), that’s a pretty significant disincentivization compared to just incorporating different desk sizes into the class by default, either by having a selection available in all classes or by proactively asking students about their needs during the enrollment process.

Chapter 13:

Bakugou calls Tsuyu “frog-face,” starting a trend he will continue for a long, long time of immediately going for animal traits when he’s reaching for an insult to use against an animal-type heteromorph.    

Thirteen talks about how the use of quirks is heavily restricted and monitored because, “It only takes one wrong move with an uncontrollable quirk for people to die.”  The series will go on to provide all sorts of examples of conflicts that arise from this state of affairs—reduced bodily autonomy, repression of biological compulsion, quirk-based discrimination—but Thirteen doesn’t bring up any of that.  As Mr. Compress will call out later, the UA kids are seldom given much in the way of opposing viewpoints, and that’s visible here, where Thirteen provides a very basic explanation of the status quo with zero historical or sociopolitical context.[4]

Chapter 14:

As was the case for Shigaraki’s chapter-ending stinger at the bar, it’s very noticeable that the group at USJ have a far higher ratio of frightening appearances in crowd scenes.

Venus fly-trap hands, paper ofuda body, three with weird heads, face-chest dude, the dude with four legs: some of them might well be transformation types rather than heteromorphs, but either way, they’re a lot creepier across the board.

First use of the term heteromorph, from one of the villains Shigaraki brings to the USJ attack.  It’s followed up with Aizawa distinguishing “heteromorphic types” from “operative” and “transformative” types.  As I said in the terminology section, “heteromorph” is less fraught than the Japanese term igyou, but one might guess that Caleb Cook didn’t see a discrimination plotline coming—especially since the first person to use the word is self-describing!—so went with something a bit drier.

   

Tsuyu provides the first example of a character’s quirk being named simply for the animal they resemble with the formal introduction of her quirk, Frog.  I have to wonder somewhat about the politics of this—who chooses what to name a quirk?     Do the parents themselves do it, choosing a name and the kanji to use, and then just have to get the name approved when turning in a registration form at the local government office?  Or does the clerk at said office do it after getting a description of how the quirk operates?  Is there an appeals process if your choice is rejected/you don’t like what the clerk saddled your kid with?     Are heteromorphs, especially animal-types, more likely to just get assigned the exact same quirk name as their family members, regardless of any difference in their abilities?  Both of the Iida brothers, for example, have their quirk listed as Engine, though their pipes are in different places on their bodies.  We’ll later be told that Spinner’s whole family has reptilian quirks, but his is particularly weak.  Nonetheless, it’s still called Gecko, the same way Tsuyu’s is called Frog, even though she has a whole suite of abilities—she can do anything a frog can do!—and all Spinner can do is stick to walls.  And I wonder what the culture is like on that, and who makes that call.     As a further thought experiment, consider that if heteromorphs are more likely to get blanket names of their quirks than emitters, what does that mean for the quirk registry as an investigative tool for police?  Sure, there might be a lot of fire-users in the area, but the name and description of those quirks in the database will offer more ways to distinguish between them and how a fire-using suspect wielded their flames. You don't get that when your suspect had a lizardish quirk, there are fifteen petty criminals with lizardish quirks in the city, and all the quirk registry says is, “Lizard: Has lizard-like abilities and features.”     This homogenization of people who are already discriminated against compared to the apparent effort made to distinguish people with desirable emitter-type or colorful transformation quirks[5] leaves a lot of room for lazy, shoddy or even actively vindictive police work.     (Incidentally, Hound Dog and Gigantomachia both have quirks just named Dog.  Machia’s version only grants enhanced smell and hearing; he lacks Hound Dog’s canine features completely.  This would seem to indicate that simplistic quirk names aren’t limited by family groups, but rather assigned quite widely.)    

At the end of the chapter, Tsuyu’s character page notes that she gets cold easily—a weakness to cold that fellow ectotherm-based-quirk-haver Spinner does not seem to share, despite his appearance being considerably more divergent than Tsuyu’s.  On the other hand, his power set is much, much weaker.  Possibly the more abilities you have from “your” animal, the more of their more “negative” traits you also have to deal with? This would track with Mirko’s panicky “rabbit survival senses” kicking in the instant she saw Shigaraki in the tube.[6]

Chapter 15: 

Nedzu is introduced as the Principal.  Nedzu’s an interesting case.  He must be assumed to have a heteromorphic body as he’s clearly not a baseline mouse!  And his quirk is heteromorphic in the same sense that Ujiko’s is—its effect is both limited to his own self as well as being inherent to him—he can’t turn it on and off, and he can’t affect others with it.  Yet we can’t quite assume he experiences heteromorphobia in the same way humans do because he isn’t human; if people assume he’s animalistic or less-than-human, well, he is an animal, and he isn’t human.     Personally, I think Nedzu’s experience of heteromorphobia is most interesting for how it might intersect with that experienced by human heteromorphs—for example, what do people assume about Nedzu that’s similar to what they assume about other heteromorphs, and what do people assume about heteromorphs because of Nedzu and other rare instances of animals with quirks?

Chapter 21:

Introduction of Cementoss.  His quirk’s an emitter-type, but his body, and particularly his head, is very clearly not baseline.  Similar to Tokoyami, his appearance is technically independent of his quirk, though there are visual ties.  This begs a lot of questions about the arbitrary categorization of quirks and the insufficient language to talk about people whose appearances are very far afield from the old human norm, if the only word there is for a very different body is a word that’s also used to talk about a quirk category, and it’s considered a somewhat rude word at that!     In any case, with his squarish, cement-block head, he’s also our best look so far at someone with a heteromorphic body who has a visual tie to something that is a) a recognizable, extant thing in the world, but also b) inorganic in nature.  He won’t be the last or the weirdest of these.    

Introduction of Sansa, our first animal-type civilian heteromorph.    

Shouji’s character sheet, noting that Horikoshi thinks he’s cool even if he’s not the type of guy to stand out in the crowd, and wants to feature him in the story but isn’t sure when it will happen.  The character pages often—not always, but often—show what characters look like underneath various masks and costumes.  Shouji is the first exception, with his face remaining covered by his mask even here.  I see very little reason for that to be the case unless Horikoshi was concealing his scars for a dramatic later reveal.     Horikoshi also mentions here, for the first time, that he really enjoys drawing non-human-looking characters.  Given that he will also later say that he really enjoys thinking up personal details and backstory stuff for characters, it’s not unreasonable to suppose that he might have had the idea that “rural areas are still discriminatory” from the very beginning, even if he didn’t know how much of a role it might wind up playing.  This is especially the case if he had already begun conceptualizing the members and stories of the League of Villains, as discrimination is inseparable from Spinner’s reasons for becoming a villain in the first place.    

The U.A. Sports Festival Arc (Chapters 22 - 44)

One thing that stands out to me about the Sports Festival—no particular chapters, so I’m putting it at the beginning; keep an eye out next time you read it!—is that the audience members are far more varied in terms of how they look than the street crowds tend to be.  This is particularly the case as you get towards the finals and get more crowd commentary, and thus comparatively more detailed crowd shots.

Unincluded but equally telling panels include the ones with the skeleton knight or the parasitized snail guy.

While some of this can probably be chalked up to Horikoshi’s assistants getting better at drawing colorful random extras, I don’t think that’s the only reason, given how consistent the patterns in crowd make-up are throughout the series.  Rather, it’s notable that the attendees to the Sports Festival are, by and large, Hero industry people—most of them are, judging by their costumes,[7] heroes. We know from later on in the series that Japan has hundreds, probably thousands of active heroes in the modern day, and heroism is a good path for heteromorphs who don’t want to become villains but feel stifled at the prospect of being civilians; if nothing else, having a license is a preventative against being harassed for public quirk use just because you exist!  So it’s not surprising that the mid-ranks of heroes—people with middling quirks who are, For Some Strange Reason, not popular enough to make it to the tops of the charts—are flush with heteromorphs.

Chapter 26:

The full roster for Class 1-B is shown, though only a few of them get much in the way of dialogue through the Sports Festival material, most prominently Shiozaki, Tetsutetsu, and Monoma.  Class B is where a lot of the really weird first-year UA heteromorphs wound up.  Class 1-A has got nobody even a sliver as Downright Bizarre as Fukidashi Manga and Bondo Kojirou.

Chapter 27:

Hatsume Mei’s character sheet implies that support goods are mostly a thing for heroes—a government license is required to produce them; using them requires a hero license.  Most notable from her page is the sentence, “For those whose quirks impede everyday life, permits for special life-improving items may be granted after a rigorous examination.”  That’s a lot of qualifiers, isn’t it?  You might get to have support goods that improve your quality of life if you can prove to someone from the government that your life is sufficiently impeded by your quirk—oh, and that examination is going to be really demanding.  There’s an obvious example in Aoyama’s belt, and Aoyama’s certainly no heteromorph, but it’s easy to imagine that kind of thing affecting heteromorphs disproportionately.

Chapter 29:

A small thing, but Tokoyami notes that the only person he has previously told Dark Shadow’s weakness to is Koda, another of the Class 1-A kids with a more significantly heteromorphic appearance.  We will eventually find in a volume extra about the CRC that one of their branches is a group that rejects those who have strange heads—Tokoyami and Koda are the clear examples in Class 1-A, give or take Shouji’s unmasked features and Mina’s horns and odd coloring.     The wiki notes that Koda and Tokoyami were together for the USJ attack, so the weakness may simply have come up there, but I don’t believe it’s explicitly specified anywhere what the circumstances were for Tokoyami telling Koda that information.

Chapter 30: 

A “raccoon eyes” from Bakugou aimed at Mina, a reference to her black sclera.  The Japanese here just translates to black eyes, though—still a reference to a heteromorphic feature, but not an animal insult.

Chapter 32: 

Opting to rest up during the Sports Festival’s pre-final break, Tokoyami, the bird head guy, does this by stashing himself up on a tree branch.  While I don’t think Tokoyami tends towards a lot of avian mannerisms, he will later be deeply impacted by Hawks encouraging him to fly.    

In a strategic tactic to rile up Midoriya by insulting his classmate, Shinso derisively calls Ojiro a monkey.  It’s super-effective!

Chapter 33: 

In a not-so-strategic patch of angry internal monologue about Ojiro spilling the beans on his brainwashing quirk, Shinsou thinks of Ojiro as a monkey.

Chapter 35:

Mount Lady comments on Shiozaki’s strength by calling her another plant user when talking to Kamui Woods.  We’ll see this sort of quirk solidarity in a number of other places—Endeavor’s agency full of fire types, a fire-type dude on the street expressing his support of Endeavor, Hawks quipping about both him and Tokoyami being birds—but this is the nice, safe version of something that raises a lot more questions when it’s e.g. Tsuyu’s parents both being frog-type heteromorphs.  More on that in the relevant bonus chapter.  In short, the solidarity’s nice, but pushed too far, it’s easy for that kind of thing to turn exclusionary.

Chapter 41:

The introduction of Stain.  Stain’s another interesting case of someone not being denoted as heteromorphic—Bloodcurdle is an emitter-type—but, like Cementoss, having physical traits that clearly fall in line with their quirk.  I would say Stain’s an even more borderline case than Cementoss, actually, as far as having a quirk that blurs the line on typing.

Cementoss is clearly strange-looking—less scary than Stain, but also less human—but his physical features do nothing whatsoever to facilitate the use of his Cement quirk.  Stain, though, has his tongue: too long to be a normal human feature, and certainly helpful in terms of making it easier for him to taste other peoples’ blood.  Yet we don’t call Stain a heteromorph because, in contrast to a feature like e.g. Sero’s elbows, Bloodcurdle would work the same way even if Stain had a totally normal tongue.  So how would one discuss any discrimination Stain might ever have faced over it?     Thus, my belief that the discrimination we see in the story is based, not simply on having a heteromorphic quirk, but on having a sufficient number of heteromorphic features.

---------

Thanks for reading so far! A lot of this first post was introduction and set-up, but the hints will be growing more overt as we press on. I'd like to make this series either weekly or biweekly, time and other projects depending, but it's written all the way up through the Edgy Deku arc, so I don't anticipate major delays.

I hope you all enjoy; this one has been in the works for a long, long time.

Next time: the Stain arc on through the License Exam, plus the (very telling) Tsuyu bonus chapter.

------------------- FOOTNOTES -------------------

[1] AFO uses the correct reading when he’s explaining Decay’s sudden appearance to Tenko in Chapter 222.  I assume this is because Pops is a mobster while AFO has been married to a quirk scientist for seventy years.

[2] Also too, even if I were inclined to pick one word to use as the rude word and one to use as the more formal term, “mutant” is closer to the rude connotations of igyou than “heteromorph.”

[3] Knowing what we know now, it’s possible that l’il Tsubasa is fine, and that said Noumu only has a copy of his quirk via Ujiko.  Its impulse to save/grab Deku could be chalked up as something caused by said quirk’s vestige, which the lower tier Noumu might simply lack the brain function to filter out.  It’s difficult to say if the current story will find time to address this.

[4] One has to wonder if hero schools save all the crunchy classes about Hero Civics and Modern History for the third-years, if the younger grades are learning it but Horikoshi thinks it’s too dull to show, or if students are just never taught about it at all beyond the bare minimum necessary to do their jobs by the book, and anything more than that is the reserve of higher education or specialized study.

[5] Consider the simplicity of animal-type quirk names and then compare them with e.g. Helflame vs Hardflame Fan, Explosion vs. Landmine, Float vs. Air Walk, Magic vs. Poltergeist, Bubble vs. Clean Bubbler, or Scalemail vs. Scales vs. Shield.  And that’s limiting myself to only quirks named directly in the manga!  It gets even more ridiculous if the patterns in the anime’s invented names for quirks are taken into consideration.

[6] Of course, lots of people get chills from being around Shigaraki, even before the surgery but especially after.  Everyone else has that response to a conscious Shigaraki, however.

[7] Conversely, when Mei scopes out some Support industry dudes in Chapter 35, the two she focuses on as well as nearly everyone seated around them are just baseline dudes in suits and ties.  Only one of the fourteen visible faces in that panel is a probable heteromorph.

[bibliophilecats]

Our Christmas "tree" this year and some.more decoration.

For several reasons, a couple of years ago we started treating one of our books shelves as a Christmas tree, i.e. we wrap an evergreen garland around it, Christmas lights and hang up our tree decorations (the pink baubles have been in my family since I was a child).

This year, we also got a metal frame in tree shape to which I added lights and a garland and now houses our robins and koroks.

And despite not having any particular association with Australia, I just loved this Santa Claus statue. The wall hanging was an Advent calendar project last year.