#also I’m like amazed he’s not gonna get expelled or punished considering

[emeraldcreeper]

I think I understand why majima is the way he is in kiwami now,,,,,,, Jesus Christ I presume it only goes further downhill for him now

[quillquiver]

DeanCas-adjacent Coda 15x01: Back and to the Future. Dean and Cas are still fighting, but they’re also in love with each other so. I wrote canon? I guess??? (Also: let me know if you want to be tagged!)

“Hey, uh, so—Castiel, right? I—”

“Not interested.”

Belphegor falls into step half a pace behind him, laughing. His gait is slightly different than Jack’s. The knowledge grates. “Aww, Cas, you don’t even know—”

“—And do not call me that,” Castiel growls.

“Touchy,” the demon mutters. “C’mon, guy, you don’t wanna talk to a fan?”

Cas whirls around and slams Belphegor against the nearest hard surface. It happens to be a brick wall, and only the desire to keep Jack’s body intact stops Castiel from crushing his prisoner to dust. His knees almost go weak in protest at the physical sensation of hurting this particular walking corpse, stomach turning as Belphegor mouths off, stopping only momentarily when there’s an angel blade at his throat.

“Aww, really? Cas, I thought we were friends! I thought—”

“Belphegor,” Castiel spits. “Tell me, really—how stupid do you think I am?”

It’s awful, seeing how Belphegor stills in Jack’s body. How his shoulder relax and his chin lifts in a smirk. “Nah, see, that’s the difference between me and your friends over there, Cas; I don’t think you’re stupid at all.” 

Castiel’s lip twitches. At this point, he thinks that seeing his loved ones worn by evil entities should be second nature. It’s not. 

“I think you know exactly who I am,” Belphegor continues, “and I think you’re keeping me a secret because you know that once Thing One and Thing Two figure it out, they’ll waste me like last week’s lunch. But you won’t. Because you know you need me. Because I can help end all this.” He waves his hands, motioning over Castiel’s shoulders. “I’ve been following your career a long time, Cas,” he says. “Ever since you bit the big one and jumped down here to live in the mud. The new Lucifer—”

Castiel sneers, ripping himself away—but Belphegor holds tight to his biceps and keeps them locked: blade against his own throat, Cas attempting to glare him into the ground. 

“You dare compare me to that child?” 

“No,” Belphegor replies serenely. “Because you’re not a child. You’re a soldier. A strategist. You are so much smarter than him, Castiel.”

“I am nothing like him—”

“And I’m agreeing with you! I’m telling you: I think you’re amazing, I do. From the bottom of my black heart. Really. The amount of chaos you’ve caused, I fucking admire you. I mean, Lucifer didn’t even get half as close to what you’ve done to this world—and Heaven? Oh, your work in Heaven was inspired—”

“Shut. Up.”

“Why? You’re exactly who I want to be when I grow up!” Belphegor lets go of his right arm then, but Cas finds he can’t move; not that he’s physically unable to, but that… but that nothing that was just said was false. Seeming to sense Castiel’s hesitation, Belphegor smiles. “And so beautiful,” he says. His free hand moves to cup a stubbled cheek, thumbing at it for only a moment before Cas finally manages to rip himself away, feeling sick. He’s going to be sick. That’s his—the hand, and the voice and—Castiel barely manages to keep from expelling the contents of his stomach, squeezing his eyes shut as he spins away. He wants to douse himself in bleach. He wants to burn his clothing and his body with them. He wants this imposter dead and his child back—

“I know we’re not supposed to say it ‘cause he was the Morningstar and everything, but I think you’re more radiant than he ever was. I mean, I’m the seventh prince of hell, maybe I’m a little biased towards the underdog, but damn. And your meatsuit? I was telling Dean: all the humans are so attractive, now. That body’s just yours, right? I can tell. You’re inhabiting it… it’s sexy.”

“Stop talking.”

“Oh, shit, right. It’s, uh—the kid, huh? Yeah, Dean told me he was your son. Together.”

And Castiel’s heart stops for an altogether different reason.

“He did?” Cas demands, whirling around. “He said that?”

Belphegor considers him for a moment. “…Yeah,” he finally replies. “So I guess those rumours are true, too.”

Castiel stares.

“Oh come on, you’re gonna make me say it?” Castiel stares harder. “Ugh, fine: that you’re in love with tall, badass and freckled over there. You rescued Alastair’s protégé from Hell and then fell right off your fluffy white cloud for him.”

Castiel grits his teeth. “Dean is—”

“—Righteous, yeah, so they keep telling me; gotta say, I don’t see it. But it’s all in the eye of the beholder, eh? You’re good for sticking with him. I mean, I love the guy, but he’s seriously repressed. You deserve to be treated like a god, Cas. I would never—”

“There a problem, here?”

Dean.

Castiel takes a split second to gather himself, cutting off Belphegor’s inane response as he turns to look at Dean as impassively as he possibly can. He can’t decide if he feels angry or upset or a million other emotions, but what finally comes out is: “Do you care?”

Dean looks taken aback for a moment before shaking his head. “Wow.”

“No,” Castiel pushes. “I’m genuinely curious; do you care? Or am I going to be punished for a crime I didn’t commit for the rest of eternity? I’d really like to know now so I can prepare myself—”

“Get in the fucking car, Cas.”

“With pleasure. Good talk, Dean.”

“Fuck you.”

“Fuck you.”

The door slams and Belphegor grins. This was the problem with his siblings—they forgot Castiel. Sure, Sam and Dean are key players, but Cas? Dean Winchester’s angel? The angel he nearly drank himself to death for? The angel he spent months in Purgatory trying to find? The angel who nearly ended the world not once, but twice to keep him safe?

Those other losers, they had it all fucking wrong.

Pit Sam and Dean against each other, and you get a little discord at best. Dean and Castiel? Total chaos. They aren’t working together, and the whole group falls apart. What they have is electric—pure, unadulterated, apocalyptic chemistry; years and years of unresolved sexual tension, non-existent conversations and sweeping grand gestures that make them a fucking powder keg. They’ll never talk about it because they think they don’t deserve one another. It’s too perfect. Belphegor barely even has to do anything.

Long live the king, baby.

[probablyreal]

“I shouldn’t post a write up for THAT dream,” I think. “It’s bullshit. I never finished Persona 5 anyway. It’s probably not even right.” Then I called it “a very weird fanfiction that I’m 90% sure already exists” and went, y’know, why not.

(Contains memory loss, guns, panic attacks, and perceived betrayal, I guess?)

Reading all this shit will be 1650 words, so like, 3 minutes of your life.

So the dream starts with Akira/Me standing outside of Leblanc. It’s sunny; he’s just standing there, looking up at it (up at his room?) until someone notices and calls the cops. Then they realize that it’s not just some random loitering kid; it’s Sakura’s kid, kind of, and this is a big deal because he’s been missing for 6+ months. They thought he ran away, but he’s back.

Unfortunately, everything in the dream agrees with him running away. He looks fine- not a scratch on him. He’s still quiet, only answers questions when he’s asked them, and sometimes not even then. They eventually decide that it’s fine, since he’s Sakura’s kid they can let him go- but seriously, he’s missed half a year of school, there’s gotta be some punishment for playing that much hooky. And that punishment will be doled out by the school, who miraculously hasn’t expelled him, and Sakura, who still lets him stay in the attic.

The attic was being used as the Phantom Thieves’ meeting place. Yusuke’s left paintings in various stages of completion behind. There’s nature, but with excessive greys; there’s monsters, but they aren’t based on personas; metaverse scenery, with red streaks reminiscent of blood. There’s one painting turned to the wall. It’s the whole Phantom Thieves crew, Akira included, but it’s distorted; the colours, the proportions, the expressions are wrong, not enough to be outright evil, but definitely unsettling. We look at all of them, and the specific thought is like a text box popping up: “This looks familiar...” Nothing happens after that, so we clear off the bed and go to sleep.

School, obviously, isn’t happy. I guess they didn’t suspend Akira because the dude’s already skipped school for six months, are you seriously gonna tell him to leave? So instead they assign him some menial labour like taking out the school’s trash (”Task: Take the school's garbage out. It needs to be done by Friday, or it won't be picked up.”), and basically a version of detention that he would need anyway, to catch up on his studies. 

At some point during detention Akira wanted to do something but a textbox saying "I need to get Kawakami to trust me again if I want to... what?" pops up. Akira’s not really sure what made him think of that, because he actually has no idea where he’s been for the past six+ months. Somewhere. Not school, obviously, but he has no clue.

Obviously, he doesn’t mention this to his friends/family or associates. It’d sound like a cop-out, or an excuse, and nobody would believe him besides. He rubs the side of his chest because it aches, a bit; it doesn’t hurt, and there were no marks on him, but it feels like it used to hurt, you know? And his head throbs a bit when he thinks too hard, but if it’s not pain, it doesn’t matter. 

The Phantom Thieves are kind of glad he’s back, but they’ve managed thus far without him. Ryuji and Ann are the new leaders because seniority. They’ve got busy schedules, wrangling the rest of the gang; besides, they’re not sure how to deal with Akira just up and abandoning them, and also being a bit of a liability now. He does, after all, know about the Phantom Thieves, but he’s not actively a part of them anymore.

That hurts a bit. But it’s ignorable. He has to focus on his real life stuff, appease the teachers, regain peoples’ trust. But when he does, he’ll get back to Phantom Thief stuff and it’ll be like it used to be... right?

For some reason ‘fast travel’ within the school was achieved via elevators to go up, or a big plastic tube/slide in a stairwell to go down. I don’t make the rules. Anyway, Akira used the slide and as soon as his feet hit the ground and he could see light again there was chest and head pains- difficulty breathing, can’t even stand, hard to think, hard to see. He scrambles out of the way because if you thought this fast travel slide was a dreamer-only thing you were wrong; other students could use it, or the stairs.

A couple people pass by, and they just see this kid with his back against a wall, knees against his chest, panting and gasping and clutching like he wants to rip his uniform open, gritting his teeth and trying to just breathe. But it’s school, and he’s the shitty delinquent, he’s probably acting or playing hooky again. Most of them go “ehh, not my problem” and walk away.

At some point Mishima walks past. He’s pissed too, because he’s the Phantom Thieves’ number one fan, after all, but he’s also your friend...? So he stops, and he watches, and eventually realizes this isn’t an act, Akira’s seriously having chest pains or a panic attack in the stairwell. So he goes “Do you need to go to the nurse?” and it’s an out! It’s an offer of help! But for some reason Akira tries to pretend everything is fine and shakes his head, so Mishima leaves.

It isn’t fine. Maybe it’s the lack of air, or maybe it’s the pain. Akira hallucinates, dreams, or maybe remembers the Metaverse: black and red, Joker’s coat under his clutching fingertips (where are his gloves?), a gun at his head and someone muttering that this would be too easy. The voice is familiar, but Akira’s vision is just so blurry, he can’t make out the figure- just a blur of white and red.

It’s not real, right?

The pain dies down eventually. He gets up with a textbox prompting "I had to do [thing]". As he goes to do it on the main floor of the school, everything he sees is kinda disorienting, wavy and dark around the edges. It’s like sound is being filtered through water. Colour leeches out of things, then comes back. There’s a smell of baking bread, and it’s nauseating.

The task is completed well enough, dizziness aside. (Akira’s pale as shit, obviously not okay, but nobody asks if he’s alright.) The elevator’s in use, so Akira goes to climb the stairs, but promptly passes out in the stairwell because chest pain and dizziness. 

The last thought before smacking his head against a wall and then the ground is that he needs to “take out the garbage by Friday.”

The perspective switches to the other Phantom Thieves. Akira passed the Fuck out at school and was sent home; he’s resting in his attic, and they’re concerned enough that they’re there with him, despite, you know, avoiding him for however long he’s been back. I think I forgot what the rules for palaces in P5 were at this point, because the PTs break out their Metaverse Navigators and are entirely unsurprised to see that Akira has a palace.

Well, they’re together already. Why not just dive right in?

It’s not really a place so much as a game. It’s their city, but black and red, bright and bold and weirdly two-dimensional. It’s nice, or it would be nice, if it weren’t crumbling around them in slow motion. There are chunks missing from what should be sharp shapes, and not only that, but it’s like someone ripped handfuls out of the reds and tried to fill them with yellow and blue putty. Debris is falling in slow motion. As far as games go, they can defy some laws of physics- double jump, jump off the debris, etc.

They figure, well, if Akira has a palace he has a treasure, and it’s their job to steal it, right? But as they explore the palace it’s apparent things aren’t right here. If there are puzzles and traps, they’ve all been solved; if there are shadows, they’ve been defeated. Their trip takes them to familiar places: the school rooftop, the walkway, Akira’s room. All of their Phantom Thief hideouts. If this palace is a game, those would be checkpoints.

They find an obvious ‘vault’ for the treasure, and they find something they’d consider treasure, rippling and indistinct, but it’s like trying to jam a triangle block into a square hole. It can work, but it doesn’t fit. Something is wrong.

Suffice to say, the treasure they find isn’t Akira’s treasure- but what is it doing in Akira’s palace?

Morgana, eventually, wonders if someone already stole Akira’s treasure. It would explain why the palace is self-destructing, but it doesn’t tell them what they should do. And if Akira’s treasure got stolen, wouldn’t the destruction his palace be a good thing? (He’s not on a murder spree or dead...) And how did they even replace his treasure with someone else’s?

(What kind of an effect would it have, to replace a treasure? Whose treasure is slowing Akira’s palace from destructing? What’ll happen when it finally does- because Akira won’t have a palace, but he will have a treasure?)

They decide to regroup and call it a day.

Akira wakes up and needs to have a nice heart-to-heart with his friends, but it’s like pulling teeth because neither wants to say what they mean. 

“Hey Akira, you have a palace” would be a hell of an opener and probably a lead-up to “and we’re gonna steal your treasure”. 

“Hey guys, I have amazing amnesia and it’s scary, not knowing six months of my life” is just, no.

“You guys just... assumed I’d left? Did you even look for me?” would be tough to ask without the second question, and harder to answer. ”Of course we did- but Akira, how could you think otherwise?”

Eventually the others leave, and Akira tries to think about what could have happened in the last six months. He’s glad his friends are around, at least, but he’s so tired.

His head and chest (is that his heart?) hurt. He needs to use the washroom, but making it all the way there is seeming less possible by the second. At this point he decides he’s going to have to piss on his potted plant because it’s preferable to pissing his pants and I went “nope, if you piss in a dream you piss for real”.

So I woke up.

Anyway I told most of this to a friend @nishiuraboys and they know a ton more of Persona stuff than me so they said:

theory 1: Akira somehow faced his own shadow during a trip in the metaverse, splash in some elements of p4 mechanics where deny your shadow means Boss Battle, it goes horribly wrong which results in akira going missing for months

theory 2: someone else finds out that akira has a palace and promptly decides to Fuck Shit Up they face the shadow version of Akira, which a la p4 mechanics is the embodiment of resentment, frustration, anger, and despair that Akira refuses to acknowledge despite having acknowledged bits of it 

Mystery friend toys with shadow akira for weeks, sometimes fighting them, other times taunting them, but never outright Defeating him which leads to Akira hecking away for months cause his psych is literally being played with he comes back but the with resulting aftereffects of what those weeks prior to disappearing did to him

I also had No idea what happened in P4, so they tried to elaborate for me:

personas have two forms, the initial one that’s summoned and a better one either via ranking up a link or through story progression 

akira can have a palace if him having a palace means he can't achieve the second form of his initial persona because the shadow him is running amok

p4's thing with shadow basically boils down that the 'you' in the real world and the 'you' in the shadow world are one and the same and if you think different or deny the shadow, Boss Fight or Murder

[tori10rambles]

So I just finished Chapter 97, which is where the Yuuei teachers get permission for the students to live at on-campus dorms. Gonna go to bed soon, and pick up tomorrow.

Opinions on things under the cut.

Arc Commentary:

Entrance Exam (1-4): The intro to Izuku was great, honestly? I love that it’s Quirkless Izuku, who doesn’t want to give up on his dream, who wants to save people, to meet All Might and gain One for All. Also, the intro the the universe is pretty cool?

Quirk Apprehension Test (5-10): In which I learned about Aizawa being a hardass, but a well meaning one. because honestly, I’m amazed Aizawa gave Izuku a chance to prove he could adapt to OfA so quickly. Any other kid who continuously hurt himself to use his Quirk should be considered a liability. Not that Izuku isn’t, but he clearly adapted quickly enough.

Battle Trial (8-11): That Izuku vs. Bakugo fight. So good. Also, Todoroki just... one-shotting the entire thing on his own looked so cool, even if it lack basically all of the teamwork heavily implied.

USJ (12-21): Shit gets real fast. And I love it. Also, badass Aizawa, the kids being awesome despite the unexpected attack, and some proof that Yuuei’s staff are actually really cool when they’re not... you know... stuck in a classroom teaching.

Sports Festival (22-44): Holy shit guys. Todoroki vs. Midoriya. That was the best about the entire arc. I watched that entire fight in GLORIOUS 1080p on my family’s flatscreen, and it did NOT disappoint. The animators deserve mad props for the animation in the climax of the fight. It’s just, so good when we do a side-by-side comparison to the manga (as in, so faithful. I am BLESSED). Also, where I learned that Endeavor is a bastard who needs to die in a ditch and stay away from his kids and wife.

Hero Killer (45-59): Stain is surprisingly intriguing, because the dude’s got charisma. And he’s proof that not all villains are in it for the Evulz. He’s more of an antivillain to me? I do feel like the various villains joining the League of Villains because they were inspired by him would piss him off though. The brOTP of Midoriya, Todoroki, and Iida was so good though? And Izuku learning how to use Full Cowl!

Final Exam (60-69): More teachers being badass! And students growing! Just, everything about Aizawa vs. Todoroki and Momo was amazing, from Aizawa being an unexpected softy (and still badass), to Todoroki being supportive of Momo when her self esteem becomes a problem, to Momo being awesome with her Quirk once she gets her confidence back. Also, Bakugo and Izuku against All Might. just... so good.

School Trip (70-83): Obligatory training camp arc! Only, you know, it all goes to hell in a handbasket. But the kids are surprisingly good at dealing with this shit as it pops up, although Izuku being reckless with himself is forever gonna be something I lament (maybe he internalized the idea that he was worth less than others because he lacked a Quirk? And he still thinks it subconsciously because 10 years worth of behavior cannot be replaced in like... 1 year?)

Hideout Raid (84-97): The kids going on a rescue mission, and not getting into a fight. All Might retiring because he fucked himself over for the good of others and to stop All for One. Bakugou being the obstinate shit we all knew he was. Aizawa being confident in Bakugou’s morals. Just... so good.

Favorite Characters (so far):

Momo: badass, smart, awesome quirk, and she’s just... so cute? idk i just love how she’s shown to be cool and awesome and still be anxious and insecure like any other 15 year old. Also, even though she has a fanservicey costume, it’s for a reason, and it WORKS.

Tsuyu: idek? i just really like her? So calm, so collected. Also, just so freaking deadpan. I just really appreciate her cool head in a crisis.

Todoroki: I mean, he uses fire and ice, is kind of a dork, deserves all the hugs (and for his dad to go die in a ditch). And he’s pretty. He matches many of the (very general) requirements for my Favorite Character Type (mentioned in these tags)

Izuku: my god. This fanboy who actually made it by working his ass off. This guy who cares so damn much. I want to adopt him (you know, if his mom weren’t as awesome as she was, and my being a little under a decade older than him). Badass Adorable for sure. Those freckles... so cute! (also meets one of the Favorite Character Requirements in these tags)

All Might: More like Dad Might, honestly. because that’s who I really like. Not the super muscle-bound, #1 hero, but the scrawny, sickly guy who cares so damn much for his kids. He’s adopted all of them, is2g.

Aizawa: BADASS. I screech every time he gets serious because honestly, the guy has a Quirk that is really not useful for fighting multiple opponents? But he does anyway? And is AWESOME AT IT? Also, he cares so damn much for his students despite his hardass exterior. Basically, I’m saying Dadzawa. But like, the stern, tough love Dad instead of doting Dad.

Other Interesting Characters (so far):

In all honesty, most of Class 1-A??? They’re all such good kids (except Mineta).

Tenya: socially awkward nerd boy is my jam, because I can relate. But mostly it’s because he’s adorkable.

Tokoyami: Dark Shadow is amazing, and I like birds.

Bakugou: Okay, I gotta admit, his personality was not my favorite in the beginning. In fact, I wanted to just punch him in the face. But you know what? I love the fact that I get why he’s that way. I love that it’s because he’s set himself to this unreachable standard, that his issues are mostly due to his own pride and the things in his head, and not a hugely traumatic event. because there are people just like Bakugou out there, and it’s so relatable. And I actually kind of like how the narrative is forcing him to confront his issues. Because despite being good with his Quirk and at fighting villains, he’s still ending up in jam after jam, and the reasons always have nothing to do with what he perceives as a weakness. And while I would love to see someone call him out for the shitty things he’s done to Izuku, I feel like with the way the story is going, it isn’t the appropriate time for that yet. Basically, the kid’s a relatable asshole and his slow character development is realistic and just very good evidence that the universe thinks he can be better if he’s willing to try. I’m still not exactly fond of him, but I could get there if we see more character development (and an actual apology for his shitty behavior towards Izuku).

Ochako: I love her motivation for being a hero. Because being a hero doesn’t mean you can’t also make sure that the ones you love are safe and comfortable first. Heroes are still human after all.

Shinsou: this boy. someone replace Mineta with this boy. Tiny Purple Pervert for Awesome Purple Walking-Imperio. His Quirk is really cool, and would be hella useful, but the goddamn Yuuei entrance exam basically fucked him over. Plus, you know, a non-front line/offensive Quirk belonging to a decent person just seems more attractive to me than a Quirk that while useful, belongs to a boy with a pervert streak so odious that I’m surprised no one’s hurled him into the sun.

Not So Cool Characters:

ENDEAVOR: This man. This Man. THIS MAN can go rot in the deepest, darkest corner of Marianas Trench. I NEED to know how the hell no one took ONE GOOD LOOK AT TODOROKI and ask about the burn. I need to know how the hell the “#2 Hero” can get away this something this disgusting. The worst part? All the shit he’s done to his family, from abusing Todoroki to putting his wife into a mental hospital due to his abuse, was for nothing, because he DIDN’T beat All Might. All Might RETIRED.

Mineta: How did this little pervert make into the Heroics course? Better yet, how has he not been expelled for his sexual harassment of his female classmates???? Like, he's groped Tsuyu, “convinced” the girls to wear skimpy cheerleading uniforms, has tried to peek on them twice... Just, I am so offended that he gets to stick around and not be punished for his very un-heroic actions.

Monoma: Dude... just SHUT UP about 1-A being more well known than 1-B. I get the inferiority complex and the jealousy, but rubbing every perceived failure of 1-A’s in their faces is hardly heroic.

Other thoughts:

So, I blame tvtrope’s fanfic rec list for making me dive into BNHA fanfic hell, but I just kind of love the chatfic(/crackfics) that have been popping up. And anything that roasts Endeavor.

Also, TodoDeku. I’m so down for TodoDeku, honestly??? It probably won’t be canon, and I can see setup for TodoMomo and IzuOcha, which I’ll be okay with, but TODODEKU is my OTP.