#and i was very shocked pikachu about it but it like. actually cleared up pretty quickly.

[asterdeer]

remember when i spent like a year terrified that when i drove to work or especially anywhere less familiar i wasn’t seeing the stoplight colors correctly and that i would run a red light because i couldn’t tell green from red so i would stare at the stoplights repeating “green green green” when i went through them so i would know and remember the light was green and I wouldn’t freak out about trying to remember but it backfired because i did this so much that there were a few times where I literally couldn’t tell what color the stoplight was

[mickimomo]

When They're Jealous

The Sun & The Sky AU

Some things are censored with a multiplication sign, so it's not too explicit.

p.s. @sphinx81 he got punched here. I'll see what kind of pandemonium I can cook up in Storm for M'Baku to get punched by Namora there too. 🤣

Attuma × Okoye

When Attuma is jealous, he makes it extremely clear to everyone that Okoye is his. Whether that be him randomly shouting "Has anyone seen my wife, Okoye? Oh! There she is!" To scooping her up, tossing her over her shoulder and announcing that he's going home to make love to his K'iin. Okoye is always extremely careful to not make him jealous to avoid this, unless she's intentionally trying to make him jealous (when they had a bad argument and he won't apologize first) or when she's tired of someone who's persistently trying to flirt with her despite telling them she's happily married.

If Attuma suspects that she's intentionally flirting with someone, he will not hesitate to lay her out on a table to blow her back out.

In public.

Namora: ATTUMA NO! WE'RE IN A PUBLIC ESTABLISHMENT!

Attuma: *ignores Namora as he speaks to Okoye in Xhosa*

Oni: Why don't we ever do that, Amora?

Namora: In yakunaj, if you need to be pleasured, we will do it at home.

Oni: *bows her head in prayer* Why couldn't it be me, Bast?

Namora: Oni!

Namor: *still eating his food*

Shuri: *has a waitress screen off the area while Okoye curses back at him in Xhosa before she began to frantically apologize and moan*

Aneka: Why would she flirt with the waiter?

Ayo: I don't know, but that's none of my business.

Ross: *minding his business*

M'Baku: *also minding his business*

Okoye does her damn best not to be jealous. In fact, Attuma is such a faithful man. It's rare that she does feel jealous. The only times she's ever felt jealous was when she saw a beautiful warrior talking to him in Talokan. (She really was beautiful, but to her surprise, she was into women... and Attuma was actually telling her that Okoye was his wife... because she was interested in her. 🥴 His jealous ass.) And the second time was when she saw him helping a woman carry some things home because she was pregnant. He just looked like he belonged with her, despite it being an innocent act of kindness. She felt so bad about it that she cried. But it was just the pregnancy hormones. 🥹

Attuma showered her in kisses and fed her chopped pieces or melon to lift her spirits.

Attuma: I was only helping because she was pregnant. My sweet wife is pregnant, and I would want someone to help you if I wasn't around. *feeds her a piece of fruit*

Okoye, trying her hardest to stop crying: I know. But she's so pretty.

Attuma: Okoye, you are the sun in the sky. What could outshine you?

Okoye: *starts sobbing again*

Attuma: K'iin?!?

Okoye: What about at night!? *wails* Doesn't the moon shine bright too?

Attuma: *shocked Pikachu face*

Namora x Oni

Oni is a literal demon when she's jealous. It's never truly Namora's fault. The warrior is completely oblivious to flirting now that she's married and her rest face still scares people off. Despite that, some people are super persistent, and Oni has no issue making it very clear that Namora is married.

She'll watch things unfold quietly and watch how Namora reacts. Then she'll step in and drag Namora away to do some very explicit activities until the only coherent word she can say is 'Oni'.

Oni tilted her head as she kneeled before the dazed warrior and grabbed her jaw.

Oni: Who do you belong to, Amora?

Namora, panting and sniffling from overstimulation: Oni.

Oni: *smiles sweetly as she cupped her flustered cheeks* I don't mind reminding you. Forget as much as you'd like. You will always end up like this when I'm done with you.

Namora finds it very hot but is always careful not to let Oni get jealous too often. Oni has no shame and will definitely do something freaky in public to remind everyone who she belongs to. 🫣 She has literally climbed under a table to eat her out before. Don't ask for the specifics. 🥴

Oni is the type of girl that will finger a grapefruit to get her point across, so I'll let your mind go wild with what else she's capable of. (Yes, she can tie knots with cherry stems. 💀)

Oni: Amora!

Namora: Mm? *looks up at her wife*

Oni: Watch this.

Namora: *watches her wife toss a cherry in her mouth and close it with a super focused look on her face before sticking out her tongue to reveal a sparkling clean cherry seed and a knotted cherry stem*

M'Baku: That is the skill of a woman who has conquered many men.

Shuri: Don't start.

Namora: Oni is a skilled warrior. *furrows her eyebrows* I do not understand the offense.

Aneka: He just called your wife a hoe.

Ayo: Aneka.

Aneka: I'm not gonna lie to her.

Ayo: *shakes her head*

Namora: A hoe?

Namor: *translates before taking a casual sip of his drink*

Namora: *gets up and beats M'Baku's ass*

Ross: *still minding his business*

Oni: *looks at Shuri* Can you do it?

Shuri: Let me try.

Okoye: *eating her food and watching M'Baku get beat up* This salmon is delicious. You wanna try it?

Attuma: *also watching the Namora win the fight* Sure. *eats her offering off her fork* Wanna try my food?

Okoye: Sure.

Now, when Namora gets jealous. You better run. Namora will more than likely send you off to meet your maker or catch and release you into the wilderness, halfway across the world.

Oni is a beautiful woman, and she's usually very friendly until provoked. So it's natural that honey would attract bees. She appreciates those who back down after learning that Oni is married.

What Namora won't tolerate is when you continue to flirt with her wife after Oni informs you that she's married. Provoking and upsetting Oni will get you on her list. And with heightened senses, she knows when it happens whether Oni tells her or not.

Over 15 people have gone missing after flirting with Oni. And Namora being Namora, she always gifts Oni something that they were wearing. Like a watch or blouse. To make it abundantly clear that she did something and will not hesitate to do it again.

Don't worry. These people found their way home months later, absolutely terrified of the couple.

Well. One guy never made it back because he slapped Oni's ass, but Namora won't tell Oni what she did to him. She simply gives her a kiss and pretends she never asked anything.

Namora earned herself the title Sea Demon, because she has been spotted dragging people out to sea a few times.

Just don't bother her wife, ok? 😮‍💨 Leave Oni alone.

p.s. Oni doesn't flirt with people, so it's their fault if Namora has to get them. Bast doesn't mind it either. Namora is the best protector her vessel could have ever had.

Namor × Shuri

Namor does not enjoy feeling jealous and things will always boil down to three options:

1. He'll do something explicit in public to Shuri in a discreet manner, where no one knows what's happening but the two of them.

2. He'll punish her for entertaining someone by edging her for a few days.

3. He ends them. (A last resort option, because Shuri doesn't like it when he does it.)

Not a single soul in Takokan or Wakanda would be bold enough to flirt with Shuri. (They don't want to die, and they know he would end them. 💀)

Shuri: You know what sucks about marriage?

Oni: What?

Shuri: People don't flirt with me or compliment me anymore.

RiRi: You married the King of Talokan.

Shuri: So?

RiRi: Did you forget what he did to Wakanda? If he caught anyone flirting with you- not a single soul would survive his wrath.

Oni: I agree with RiRi. Namora makes people disappear. Namor would definitely make a country or even a continent disappear if someone dared to flirt with you."

Shuri: But what if it was one of you guys?

Aneka: Girl, what?!

Okoye: She wants to watch the world burn.

Shuri: Well, if I kissed one of you, he wouldn't get mad.

Oni: You can't be serious.

Shuri: It's a hypothesis.

RiRi: That shouldn't be tested, genius.

Okoye: We're all basically sisters to you anyways. It wouldn't work out. Especially since everyone's married, but Ri-

RiRi: -it doesn't even matter that I'm single. That man barely forgave me for my invention. He will never be given another reason to want to kill me, God willing.

Shuri: But what if we pretended we did and pulled a prank. Like a joke. A lil jokey joke.

RiRi: That man doesn't play about you. I'm not using my life as bait.

Shuri: You guys don't get it. It's exciting to see him jealous.

Okoye: How hard do I need to hit her to help her think properly?

Aneka: *rolling up a magazine* I got it. *gets up and chases Shuri around*

For this reason, it usually happens on missions when they're in another country, and no one knows who they are because they're undercover.

Shuri handles it pretty well, and will sometimes flirt with random people to set him off because she finds it fun. (Sis is playing with fireworks in a bonfire. What did J. Cole say in that one song about not wanting to be saved? 🫣)

Unlike Namora, Namor doesn't have a partner with unhinged blood lust. So, people can't just go missing without Shuri getting upset. Unless it's to the point that Shuri feels extremely uncomfortable or unsafe.

They have a safeword for when she's fine with him taking them out, and it centers around his real name.

It's only been used twice, so far.

Random guy: Why are you playing so hard to get? *grabs her wrist roughly* We were dancing and everything, and now you're trying to leave.

Shuri: I was trying to be nice, but you're making things difficult. *snaps his wrist like a twig before walking off*

Random guy: *follows after her, reaching for his weapon* Why you-

Shuri: Ch'ah Toh, in yakunaj. Áantení. *hurries outside as she whispers into her kimoyo beads*

(Ch'ah Toh, my love. Help.)

The sound of bullets firing made her panic as she looked around for her husband. Just as the man came outside and grabbed her by the back of her neck, a spear went zooming past the queen's head and into the man's skull. He dropped to the floor, his touch no longer contamininating her skin.

Namor: Are you hurt? *looks her over frantically*

Shuri: I'm fine.

Namor: You didn't fight anyone, right?

Shuri: No. I'm fine. *gently touches her stomach* We are fine.

Namor: *exhales softly* Good. Did you get what you needed?

Shuri: Yes. *holds up a tube of vibranium*

Namor: Then we can go?

Shuri: Yes, my king. *smiles as he peppered her face with soft kisses*

Namor: *scoops her up* Great. You did well, my queen.

Even before she's expecting, they had this safe word prior to in the event Shuri is fighting someone she can't beat on her own. And no, she's not expecting in Storm, lol. Shuri and Namor have kids somewhere around Okoye and Attuma's fourth kid.

Shuri doesn't handle jealousy any better than Namor. Namor, however, doesn't entertain it or initiate it. Even while on missions, he's very dismissive to people who flirt with him.

Drunk Namor however may fuck up if he sees a woman who is slightly reminiscent of his beautiful wife. Although Shuri finds it a little endearing, she will not hesitate to use PDA to make it very clear that Namor is taken. She'll kiss him. Sit on his lap. And in a few extreme instances, she's literally warm his c×ck or given him a h×ndjob. 😳 Do with that, what you will.

Alexa, please play Partition by Beyoncé.

Shuri: Aj K'uk'ulkan. You should be able to differentiate me from other women. *bouncing on his lap in the corner of a restaurant that is slightly screened off*

Namor: I am sorry, my Queen. *grabs her hips as he struggled to stay quiet* I was only confused for a moment.

Shuri: I don't like it when you gaze upon other women. You should only look at me like that.

Namor: I thought she was you for a moment. I looked away once I realized she was not.

Shuri: You tend to struggle when you are drunk. *grabs his jaw and pulls him closer* Let me help you remember exactly who your wife is.

Namor finds Shuri absolutely enchanting when she's jealous. She's so needy and affectionate, yet demanding and dominating- and he can't help but melt under her every single time. Seeing her uptight facade fall while she's making a very public scene makes him very h×rny.

I would type out these scenes in deeper detail, but I'm not trying to get yeeted. I might crank something out and toss it up on AO3, if I have some free time. 🤷🏾‍♀️

What are you thoughts? Am I missing anything?

I contemplated doing something for Aneka and Ayo, but Ayo does not play those types of games with Aneka. And Aneka knows Ayo would get upset if she saw her entertaining someone. So they don't. There's rarely any jealousy between the two because the boundary is extremely clear.

Blooper:

Ross minding his business

[gayhoediaz]

“ i might get burned at the stake for this but i cannot see the firefam noticing buck and eddie being more than friends much less betting on it”

Other people might get mad but I actually love this because it’s very similar to my thought. I know in fics the fire fam is portrayed as pretty close living in each others pockets etc etc which is fine and while in canon they are still those found family vibes….they just aren’t all ✨that✨ close.

Not to mention we have gotten little snippets from Buck and Eddie about various things that make it clear the 118 really doesn’t know a lot of what they get up to outside of work. Let alone the more person stuff. I still don’t think they know about the Will, until 7.1 when Eddie finally said it, I don’t think they knew about Eddie’s panic attacks. I don’t think they know about Eddie’s breakdown (Bobby might know a little but not the full extent like Buck does). I mean even during the blackout episodes on the way to the zoo, something like Buck taking Chris to the zoo all the time was new information for the 118. Like sure the boys might do or say something that once in a blue moon has someone like 👀 but beyond that I wouldn’t be shocked if they are all *shocked pikachu meme* to find out they are together if/when they get together.

oh yeah absolutely i think they’ll be shocked ngl. they have no idea how close buck and eddie truly are. they’ll be supportive of course but. shocked.

[iantimony]

a day late because yesterday i was tooooo busy! some spoilers in here for dungeon meshi and saltburn!

listening: mostly background stuff. i still haven't played more nier: automata but the boyf got me listening to the soundtrack and it whips.

reading: more tgcf at night to soothe my frenzied brain to sleep. i finished dungeon meshi yesterday!! i did cry!!! it was so, so good, i loved it. i really liked that there was no set antagonist, per se, at least not until the very end with the fight against the winged lion, it was all just a bunch of characters with different but justifiable goals that had their aims all butting up against each other. very cool. i love kabru what a little shit

a collection of some good screenshots:

watching: many things this week. my partner is visiting for the week and we like to have videos on while we're cooking n eating so we watched...essentially the entirety of weird history food channel, started with the trader joes one and spiraled from there.

we also watched the currently-released episodes of dungeon meshi. very charming. i cannot wait to see how they animate certain scenes.

on sunday night we did a friend dinner, so me and my boyfriend, roommate and hers, and one other friend; after dinner we movie night-ed it and watched saltburn and blazing saddles:

saltburn was insane! apparently there is shock and alarm at the sex scenes, which i am not very online about it so i have no idea what people are actually saying but imo it was not that crazy. there is a solo, uh, let's call it Moment towards the end of the film that is pretty out there, but besides that the sex scenes are the least of anyone's worries in this movie. it took me WAY too long to realize that the main character was the antagonist, i'm normally pretty savvy to those kinds of twists so that took me off guard. my roommate had seen it once (or even twice?? i think?? i have no wish to watch that movie again, good for her though) and i didn't start clocking it until immediately before felix tricked oliver into going home. as they were in the car i was like "there's no fucking way that he lied about his family to felix. right. right??" oops. some good cool symbolism in there, i had a bit of an xkcd "of course everyone knows this myth" moment when my roommate was like "huh i wonder if there's a symbolic reason for the bull-man statue in the maze at the end, or felix's angel wing costume" and i was like surprise pikachu. the minotaur, the labyrinth, icarus, hello? wdym you don't know the story of the minotaur??? much to think about with this movie. i searched it on tumblr and feel like a lot of people missed the point in favor of blorbo romance but like, fair, it is the blorbo romance website. 8.5/10.

blazing saddles was our palette cleanser after that doozy of a film. my friend said at the end "anyone who thinks this movie is racist needs better media literacy" and i'm inclined to agree. yes the n word is in there - but the people saying it are so unambiguously depicted as insanely stupid and wrong, and the leading man is a charismatic handsome black man, and tbh the smartest person in the movie? arguably more homophobic (the end scenes) than racist but even then the way 'f*ggot' is deployed hit me like modern tumblr humor.

idk. even though it's a comedy it is Very clear to me that a message from this movie is "Racism Bad". i thought it was fun, didn't find the blonde lady's musical number very good or funny, got a few chuckles out of it overall. classic mel brooks. 7/10.

playing: wizord101.

making: started experimenting with english paper piecing! i forgot to take a picture yesterday so ill try to remember and add that later today. or maybe for next week's post. also started a pair of fingerless gloves for my mom

eating: my boy made us all a budae-jjigae type object on sunday and it was so so so yummy - photo from before simmering for like 30 minutes, with pork belly, spam, tofu, and a bunch of mushrooms, grunions, and kimchi:

before my roommate came back from a conference we did this cabbage and thin-sliced hotpot beef thing that was. so fucking good. we had it two separate nights in a row. just layering meat and napa cabbage and then cutting into ~2in strips, laying them in a pot, filling the center with mushrooms; make a broth of soy sauce/dashi/misc soup stock powder from leftover ramen, pour it over, simmer til cooked baby. delicious. this image is a little steamy bc i tried to take it right after opening the pot, lol

misc: wough. struggling to get back into the routine a little. i need to make more spreadsheets for my agonies (apartment hunting and determining what internships/programs to apply to for this summer). and i need to start using my planner again because i keep forgetting to do shit.

[nosomatsu]

(( suddenly thinking about ichimatsu and the riceball's hunt for cats again.. small analysis beneath the cut ))

it's fascinating that while ichi enjoyed it at first, the reason he went so numb to it so fast wasn't because he disliked cats. rather, he realized now that he had no real excuse to even go out of the house for extended periods anymore. ichimatsu doesn't enjoy being a hikikomori, it's pretty painfully clear that it's super fucking isolating for him. finding cats was the sole thing that could even get him out of bed most days.

... but now that he knows where all the cats are , what's even the point? he could go there and go right back home. now he has no reason to even TRY to go out of the house. i mean he still would to feed them and see them, but he would be miserable unless he found kitties in unexpected places. the search is the biggest reason he enjoyed it so much and the riceballs kind of ruined tht for him for a little while, albeit unintentionally.

the only other times he really goes out is if his brothers drag him along or the nightly safe care shit. but the thing about that is, like . . . they don't drag him out often at all. and it's very rare that he can muster up the energy to go on his own. it's not impossible or unheard of, but when he does, he also walks the least busy / lesser known routes, where he runs into as little people as possible. he goes to the park only when it's incredibly isolated. he probably only goes for oden because it's so isolated / out of the way at night that rarely anyone goes there.

we only ever see him out and about in public places if it's with his brothers but even then he keeps his head down and tries to avoid talking to everyone. the cats were the only reason he'd go out of the house when his brothers aren't around or they can't convince him to go anywhere. the idea of not knowing where he could find one is the one thing that kept him going and walking, trying out new places he'd never been to before even if he was ANXIOUS AS HELL ABOUT IT.

in his mind, it was his first step forward to be more independent and breaking the vicious homebody hikikomori cycle, and it was actually one of few things he isn't burningly numb / actually does have strong emotions about whether he realizes it or not ( although i err on, he's the kind of depressed where he worries he's numb entirely and can't feel anymore but then something Happens that proves otherwise and it always makes him [shocked pikachu] when he does still VERY MUCH FEEL EMOTIONS )

so. yeah. his spirit and tendency to go out on his own for a little while was absolutely crushed. I think it was even more noticable how glum he was so his brothers tried to get him out of the house WAY more often -- aaand that's why we see him in so many morie social situations he'd usually be caught DEAD before ever attending. although he's grumpy on the outside, he does seem to appreciate it. he has sincere and extreme trouble expressing his gratitude, but it cannot be understated how much that helped his mental health in the long run.

Evidently, it eventually healed, and he never once blamed the cats -- but there's a speck of bitterness and disappointment at the riceballs which he tries to smother. they could never and would never be able to understand the weird way he approached thinking about the search. they were confused when he got upset with being shown every place cats could possibly be, and even if he DID try to explain it, they still probably wouldn't have gotten it.

after all, it's not very logical, and certainly is a VERY strange line of thinking. but it is who ichimatsu is -- a shut in, who is desperate for any excuse to leave the house on his own and gain the courage to do so on a more regular basis. when the sole thing that kept him exploring and getting out on his own loses all meaning, he falls into a pretty bad headspace about it and becomes more of a shut in than ever.

thank goodness that his brothers didn't let that happen for too long, though. <:)

[lo-frequency]

Hi I love your blogand your writinh so much it's so good!

Could I request a shoto/denki and toga x chubby reader (if you're not comfortable writing with toga you can just to denki and shoto) thanks!

Fortunately for you, anon, I did them all! (and it's kinda long, so my bad lol) Also, there's mention of insecurity in Toga's, but it quickly turns to fluff. As always, please enjoy!

Denki

-Believe it or not, Denki was nervous to confess to you because he was afraid of being rejected. You’re so cute and cool and that he was sure there’s no way you actually returned his feelings. It was worth a shot, tho. So imagine his joy when you said you felt the same way :)

-Rants about you all the time to his friends, to the point where they feel like they know you personally before you’ve even met. They also get to hear all the tmi stories about what the two of you do alone, because he can’t help himself (if they don’t walk away first, lol).

-He knew you looked squishy before, but couldn’t believe how soft your skin was when he finally got to hold you. It was almost unfair. He often finds himself caressing your skin mindlessly whenever you’re close together, hand always ghosting across your arm or hand (or your thigh ;) ).

-Lays back on you to play video games, his head cushioned by your pillowy chest and the rest of his body situated between your legs as you watch him play. Play in his hair or rub his arms and he will fall asleep. The tingly feeling he gets when cuddling with you is his favorite kind of electricity.

-Zaps your butt “by accident”

-Easily flustered, but he tries to play it off with his cool act. Just kiss his cheek or tell him he’s handsome and watch him ramble about knowing he’s “irresistible” until he flushes red up to his ears.

-Denki can be pretty corny at times but he does have his serious moments, mostly when you two are alone together. He shows you what’s beneath his goofy facade, a boy with dreams and aspirations just like everyone else. After seeing this side of him, it’s a little irritating to hear people reduce him to an idiot (although he does have his moments 💀)

-Them thighs tho 😏 “Dang babe, you been working out?” “Not really, Kaminari” He clucks his tongue. “Sheesh, imagine being that thicc...naturally” he says, shaking his head as if it were a shame.

-Truly believes he has the best s/o in the whole school. Does not take offense to being called a simp 🤷🏾‍♀️.

-Wasn’t aware of it at first, but became super attracted to people with your same body type. His eyes always lingered on them in public, and he couldn’t help but think they were kinda hot (sorry, y/n)

-Very affectionate, but loves to receive as much as give, so please give this man plenty of kithes and hugs, he gets the shakes if he doesn’t get his daily dose of Y/n love.

-Y’all are so silly together, always cracking jokes or giggling about something. You eventually develop a similar sense of humor, and have so many inside jokes people can’t decipher your conversation. If anybody has anything negative to say about y’all: Denki puts his hand over his earpiece and says to you (from right next to him) “Pikachu to Big Sexy, I’m picking up some negative vibes on the radar, do you copy?” And you, holding your hand up to your own ear, say “Affirmative, doing a diagnostic scan...it’s a hater, confirmed.” Cue the obnoxious laughter, lmaoo

-Never forgets the anniversaries or relationship milestones. He even remembers the date of yall’s first kiss, and thinks about it every time the date passes (although he wouldn’t tell you that tho, that would be too sappy, even for him).

Shoto

-The way you and Shoto became acquainted was a little unorthodox. You fell on him during a training session one day, and the feeling of your soft body pressed against his was a new experience for him, to put it mildly. Shoto stood up from it a changed man. Call it an awakening, if you will.

-You were a little put off by all his staring since that incident, thinking he didn’t like you despite all your profuse apologies. But after Izuku dropped hints that it was probably fascination rather than contempt, your relationship progressed smoothly from there (thanks mostly to your efforts, since Shoto had no clue how to approach you).

-Shoto still had a staring problem once y’all became official, too. Whenever you asked him what he was looking at, he was not ashamed to tell you exactly why: you are too fine not to stare (ok, maybe he didn’t say it exactly like that)

-Not overly affectionate in public, but has a tendency to always stand or sit close to you whenever he can. Just sharing the same space is intimate to him.

-Sharing a bowl of soba noodles 💕

-Buys you expensive gifts all the time, and loves to see you using them. Especially if it’s clothes, it’s like a piece of him is always with you even when you’re not together (plus, it shows you’re all his ;) ).

-Now, I’m gonna tell y’all a little secret. It’s pretty shocking, so be warned: Shoto sometimes pretends to be oblivious when you hint at wanting affection, just to make you beg for it. Maybe you brush your hand against his, and he moves it. Or maybe he saw you lean for a kiss and he casually turns the other way just to hear you complain. He likes it, makes him feel wanted.

-Devious, I know, but just get even 😏

-When y’all are alone, he loves when you hold him close and just sit there, peacefully enjoying each other’s presence. He also likes to lay on your lap while reading a book or watching tv with you, slowly nodding off as you comb your fingers through his hair.

-Obsessed with you, but not in an unhealthy way, it’s just that you’ve become such a big part of his life that he kinda...thinks about you all the time. Shoto is canonically not very talkative, but I think that with you, he’d open up more about his true thoughts and feelings. So when he shoots you that blank stare when his classmates are up to some bull, you know exactly what it means.

-Also revels in knowing you that well, too. He’d flex how much he knows about you to the other people and sometimes unintentionally embarrasses you in the process

-For example: “Here Y/n, a cherry popsicle just for you!” Shoto immediately hands you some napkins before adding “Y/n doesn’t usually eat cherry popsicles, they always drop the red juice on their clothes.” Like gee, good looking out Shoto...thanks for telling the whole class I can’t eat without messing up my clothes 💀. He’s sweet tho, he has good intentions.

Toga

-She made it very clear from the beginning that she liked you, and with how smitten she was, who were you to refuse her (aggressive) advances?

- She thought your plump figure was just so cute, one of the cutest things she’d ever seen, and she quickly developed an unhealthy obsession with squeezing your chub.

-When you two are together, Toga is always attached to you in some way, whether she’s hanging off your arm or has her arms looped around your shoulders.

-Starts to eat the same foods you eat, borrow your clothes all the time, listen to your favorite artists, whatever way she could become closer to you

-Writes you love letters or sends you cute text messages all the time, you’re always on her mind, even when she’s on missions. “My Y/n is wayy cuter than you! Let’s get this over quick so I go back to them, ok? 🥰 🔪🔪”

-I know y’all were waiting for this...she most definitely uses her quirk on you. Toga loves you so much, she wants to become you. So one day, you finally allow her to give it a try.

-She tells you to close your eyes, and when she gives you permission to open them, you find yourself staring...yourself in the face. And you do not like it 🤢. There’s something so strange about seeing yourself in 3rd person, in all dimensions. Is this how you look to her, all the time? You quickly lose interest in this little charade, looking everywhere but at yourself as Toga prances around doing sexy poses in your body and giggling. However, when she sees your reaction, she stops.

- “Hm? What’s wrong, Y/n?” she asks with a tilt of (your) her head. You glance at yourself, then look away again. “This is so weird. I don’t like looking at myself” you say, grimacing at the slight bounce and jiggle of your body when she walks toward you.

-In Toga’s eyes, you were absolutely adorable. In fact, she was getting a little hot and bothered just taking peeks at herself (you) in the mirror. She’s used to feeling you up for sure, but being you was a whole other experience. Though, she can understand your insecurity. After all, it’s hard to live in a world that constantly tells you your true self is abnormal. She knows from experience.

-So, she comes up to you with a flirty grin on her face...and starts showering you with kisses, in your body! You start to protest, weirded out by the feeling of your own lips on your cheeks but she would not relent. Toga was determined to show you what being loved (by you) felt like from her perspective, with your irresistible “imperfections” and all 💕

Thanks for tuning in! :)

[daydreamingsora-fics]

hi! i was wondering of u could do headcannons for how bokuto, kuroo, kita, tsukki and iwaizumi would react to their girlfriend who had really long hair for a while impulsively cutting it at her shoulders. I recently did just that after growing my hair out since the 5th grade and I like it but my mom says it looks terrible. thank you so much <3

<sora's memo> hello! I only chose three of them, I didn't put Iwaizumi and Tsukisima. But don't worry, I planned on making another part for middle blockers + aces, so I prolly would add them there! Anyways, I believe no matter what hair style you have, I think it suits you because who short hair makes you look more fresh and mature... well... for me hehehe. I hope you're doing great would enjoy this headcannon. Sorry for making you wait! have a great day!

<another memo> hi everyone sorry for not posting very often, my schedule is very hectic for the past few months. but here's a headcannons of hq captains reacting to their s/o who cut their hair short impulsively. I prolly would do part 2, so if you want to see any hq charac just sent me an ask. Stay safe everyone!

Haikyuu Captains reacting to their s/o impulsively cutting their hair short

CHARACTERS: BOKUTO KOTARO, KUROO TETSURO AND KITA SHINSUKE

BOKUTO KOTARO

you haven’t cut your hair since you entered middle school ‘til your last year in high school.

and you started dating bokuto on your second year.

bokuto already loves your long hair, he loves to touch your soft hair and loves the smell of it too. 

but when he saw you enter the gym with a short hair

the big baby was shock. 

it’s  just like yesterday when he saw you with long hair but now your long hair gone short.

the whole team too are shock when they saw you with short hair.

bokuto is excited and happy to see you with your new look.

he was about to walk towards you but his teammates went to you first.

“y/n, you cut your hair...”

“short hair looks good on you”

“I never thought you will cut your hair that short” 

the boys complimented your short hair when they saw you.

“well, I did this impulsively yesterday sooo... yeah”

you said as you reach for your shoulder length hair

“wait! I heard that when a girl cut her hair short, it means she’s moving on something right?” 

konoha asked you teasingly which make the baby owl anxious 

“konohan-san” akaashi said with a warning tone because he lowkey don’t want to deal with bokuto’s emo mode.

the third year just chuckled while their captain is now lowkey in panic because of what he heard. 

“Y/N!!!!”

“IS THAT TRUE? ARE YOU BREAKING UP WITH ME??”

“PLEASE DON’T” 

bokuto continues to say something about you breaking up with him, while konoha chuckled and akaashi is shaking his head

“i will do-”

“bou, I am not breaking up with you”

“wait, really?”

“yes, please don’t believe on what konoha had just said”

when you said that, bokuto sigh in relief then gave you a squeeze hug

“I got scared there a little”

“yeah, a little”

you mocked him which makes him break the hug and looks at you with a pout.

“HEY!!” 

you chuckled which make bokuto’s heart pounded.

in his eyes you look even more pretty with your shoulder length hair. 

actually for him, he doesn’t care if your hair is long or short

for him you’re pretty no matter what style of your hair. 

“anyways! why didn’t you bring me with you when you decided to cut your hair!”

he pouted then crosses his arm which caught you off guard 

“uhm because you should rest” 

“awwww you love me so much, y/n”

“your hair looks good on you baby”

and the boy started to shower you compliments about your hair and you as a person. 

KUROO TETSURO

we all know this dude prefers long hair

anw, I think when he saw your short hair this man will be shocked 

he will be like: /insert shock pikachu/

“WHY?”

that’s only thing he will say, why did you cut your hair. 

you have your hair long since you are in high school 

also you and kuroo are actually schoolmates during your high school days

you know him because he play volleyball but for him, he didn’t know you until the two of you became classmate in college.

anw, the two of started dating in college because the two of you are blockmates. 

you’re now in the last year of college and you know shit became so stressful 

out of stress, you decided to cut your hair short

even though you know kuroo loves your long hair, you still did because you’re an impulsive girl

so, the day after you cut your short, you’re in the living room of your apartment with your laptop, finishing some of your requirements

then kuroo entered your apartment and called your name, to know if you’re in there.

“y/n, are you there??” 

“I’m at the living room, baby” 

kuroo went straight to the living room and he suddenly let out a loud gasp when he saw your hair. 

Kuroo: /GAAAASP/ 

dude was really shocked while you, you looked confuse because you literally forgot that just cut your hair short. 

“did you just cut your hair?!” 

“oh, yeah I did”

“WHY?!?!?!” 

he asked you hysterically while you just shrugged. 

“because I am too stress and also impulsive af” you answered him, unbothered with your boyfriend slowly having a mental breakdown. 

“but-”

“shush you pretty mouth of yours, I know you love my long hair but I am really feeling this kind of look” 

you cut him off, while your boyfriend let out a defeated sigh and took a sit beside. 

He rested his arms on the back of the couch while you instinctively lean on him. 

he just looks at you and observes your new look and he can’t help but agree that you’re looking fine af with your new look. 

‘maybe short hair is not that bad’ he thought to himself. 

KITA SHINSUKE

Kita will actually like notice it immediately. 

he will be the one to pin point it, that you cut your hair. 

though he will not show that much of reaction to you.

but when his other teammates notice he it and showers you compliment about your new look.

boy, this dude will lowkey warns his members because he is actually jealous that you’re getting a lot of attention. 

you kept hair long since your middle school but one time, in your 3rd year high school, you thought of cutting your hair which you actually did. 

so when you go to the school with your short hair, everyone was shocked, like your classmate.

your classmate told you that you look great with your short hair, something like that. 

during your lunch time, when Kita first saw your hair, he immediately pointed it out. 

“you cut your hair short” 

“yes, I did” 

you answered, waiting for your boyfriend to say something more. highkey waiting for him to compliment you

“you look great” 

“uh- thanks” 

‘is that it? is that all he gonna say to you?! I just look great? not beautiful?’ 

you sighed deeply trying to calm yourself from smacking your boyfriend’s head because you demand more compliments.

kita looks at you and asked if you’re okay and you just answered him that you’re tired. 

later that day you went to the gym because you want to watch your boyfriend’s team and of course him as they practice. 

when you entered the gym, everyone are still chilling and haven’t start their practice yet. it seems like they are waiting for their coach come. 

the boys greeted you, like it’s normal for them to see you watch because duh you’re the girlfriend of their captain. 

as they greeted you, one of the twins noticed your new hair style. 

“Oh! you cut your hair short!”

Osamu pointed out excitedly which catches everyone’s attention. 

the team gathered around you and showers you compliment.

“wow, short hair really suits you!” 

“you look cute with your hair short” 

your fellow third years complimented you while you smiled at them and gave a little thanks. 

“I think like I might have a crush on short haired y/n-san” 

Tsumu said out loud which catches everyone attentions, especially your grey haired boyfriend. 

“As much as I hated to agree with this dumb dude, I can’t help but to agree with him”

suna commented which made you blush and feel flattered. 

Atleast these boys gives you compliments unlike the other grey headed boy⏤ I AM JOKING PLS DON’T HATE ME

you gave them a small thanks as they continued to shower you compliments about your hair. 

Meanwhile, Kita, who’s watching you silently, can’t help but feel a little bit jealous because he noticed how you suddenly felt flustered when Suna gave you a compliment. 

And as he continue listening to his teammates giving you compliments, he gets even more jealous. 

so to catch his teammates attention, he cleared his throat and gave them his famous cold look. 

everyone went silent when they saw their captain looking at them intensely and each one of them gulped. 

everyone knows that kind of look that means, and they are scared for their lives. 

Aran looks at you like he is asking for help but you just chuckled. 

“good luck with your training guys!”

after the training, you and kita walked together and as you both were walking he held your hands brought it up to his lips.

he gave the back of your hand a kiss which makes you blush

he looks at your flustered face with a flirty smile plastered on his face

"you look very beautiful and sexy with your new hair style, my love"

[ravenadottir]

So I was watching a tik tok — “I’m say another guys name” I whatever that is and I thought I remembered you talking about it, and all I have to say is that I almost cried. That poor boyfriend was like who’s “Noah?” And I was like this dude looked heart broken. Yeah that’s all I had to say. I couldn’t have the balls to do that to any of the guys. I can only imagine Bobby crying. (Now that I think, maybe it was your post) 😂 Either way, here ya go!

i did see this trend and i thought it was so cruel... they legit looked devastated. along with the "they say i love you and i don't say it back", i don't know which one is worse.

but like- imagine doing that to lucas or kassam??? come on, that's got to be the quickest and easiest way to earn yourself a... um... *clears throat* few clicks on the counter.

i do think gary and noah would be bantering back, saying things like "oh so that's what we're doing now? calling each other by others' names?" they would grin, fold their arms over their chests and stare you down, long enough to make you laugh, just so they call you by another name as well.

henrik would look C-O-N-F-U-S-E-D. that boy is so naive that if you insisted on it he would probably repeat "but... but... that's not my name... you know that 🥺"

i do think bobby and carl would look hurt. legit hurt. their insecurity always gets the best of them, even in the smallest of situations. "w-wait, why did you call me that?"

"call you what?"

"that name... that isn't mine... why would you-"

"didn't even notice."

"how can you not notice?" and so it goes. until she says it was a prank or a joke, it would probably make them look like shocked pikachu.

now... i need to include kassam's and lucas' reactions under the cut because it's about to get a little... not so fluffy or cute.

they would probably get excited about it because more than the banter and teasing they love when getting challenged, especially if their girl "misbehave".

with lucas things would escalate pretty quickly. a slight confused but still very much killing look would persist until you explained yourself.

"oh... so you think you can play games with me, huh?"

he would definitely hold your chin or the side of your cheek with a smirk and ask "call me that one more time. i need you to call me that one more time." he immediately gets the counter from his pocket and poises it in front of you, expectantly.

kassam, however, will lick his lips with a determined grin and stop whatever he's doing. "you think i'm not aware of what you're doing?"

"i don't know what you're talking about."

he winks with smugness. "sure you don't..." as his eyes scan your face, he continues. "you know i don't play games because i get competitive. every time."

"i'm not playing games..." you smile, pretending not to pick up on what he's saying.

"right. of course not. you would never..." he gets up from his seat and starts massaging your shoulders. "after i finish my work in the studio, you better be ready."

"for what?"

"to say my actual name." he leans in just close enough to whisper. "repeatedly."

[feralphoenix]

HOWMST BELL THE CAT? - A treatise on one aspect of how the Pale King sealed the Radiance

sup hollow knight fandom, i’m back with the picante takes again after having Noticed A Thing.

as with my previous essays i’ll put this guy up on dreamwidth later for accessibility purposes, since my layout text may be too small for high-res pc users. i will attach that in a reblog at a later point.

CONTENT WARNINGS FOR TONIGHT’S PROGRAM: This essay discusses canon-typical body horror and bodily boundary violations, with some side mentions of colonialism.

all game screencaps are mine. the screencap of the wiki is from the “developer notes” (style guide) section of the “cut content” page.

ALSO: if youre from a christian cultural upbringing (whether currently practicing, agnostic/secular, or atheist now), understand that some of what i’m discussing here may challenge you. if thinking thru the implications of this particular part of hollow knight worldbuilding/lore is distressing for you, PLEASE only approach this essay when youre in a safe mindset & open to listening, and ask the help of a therapist or anti-racism teacher/mentor to help you process your thoughts & feelings. just like keep in mind that youre listening to an ethnoreligiously marginalized person and please be respectful here or wherever else youre discussing this dang essay, ty

HOWMST BELL THE CAT? - A treatise on one aspect of how the Pale King sealed the Radiance

We understand more or less how the Pale King’s plan was supposed to work. Stuff Radiance into a no-thoughts-head-empty and silent Pure Vessel to trap, isolate, and silence her, both putting an end to the Infection and killing her for good. Stick that vessel in the Black Egg, which harnesses Void BS to both keep the vessel alive indefinitely and to cover Hallownest (and its neighbors) in a time-defying stasis so that the Pale King could successfully hoard his favorite shiny FOREVER, threatened by nothing. Then put a seal on the Black Egg to prevent anyone from getting inside and harming said vessel while it’s strung up and helpless. And THEN, put protective seals on the anchors (the Dreamers) to the Black Egg seal to protect them from any external harm: The stasis means the Dreamers won't die of old age or starvation.

All in all, a pretty foolproof plan!

...except that the Dreamers are still vulnerable to having their minds breached with the moths’ magic... and the Pale King failed to take into account that his Pure Vessel was a person actually and the amount of toxic stress his training/upbringing put on them made them REALLY POORLY SUITED FOR THEIR JOB... and also that killing 99% of his million children and turning the Abyss into a landfill for baby corpses would take enough of an emotional toll on his wife and #1 enabler the White Lady that she would walk out on him, ensuring he’d only ever have one shot at this whole deal...

Basically it’s the sort of plan that an emotionally constipated, low-empathy sort of guy who pours all his points into INT and has a big fat zero for WIS might think is foolproof. It has big holes in it that the Pale King did not consider to be big holes until he got owned by the various consequences of his actions and fell down said big holes, making the shocked pikachu face all the while. Rip in die, my guy.

Anyway, there’s a lot of incidental information scattered about the game that gives us more insight into the stages of TPK’s plan. Looking at Monomon’s notes in the Archive suggests that she was probably involved in designing the Black Egg; the hidden room in the Weavers’ den points to their being the ones to blueprint the Dreamer seal; the White Palace’s hidden rooms reveal both TPK’s morbid fascination with the Void and his mea culpa wrt his motives and the Path of Pain is certainly suggestive of a lot of things. The White Lady tells us straight out that she walked out on the Pale King because she wanted no part in a second vessel batch, but how TPK didn’t handle that is only revealed via map design and some incidental dialogue from the Old Stag.

This stuff presents us with, if not a full picture, then at least a decent connect-the-dots of certain aspects of crater politics and Pale Court drama at the time, and how exactly TPK’s plan came together.

But there is still one glaring question that these cookie crumbs do not provide us an answer to:

Who shall bell the cat?

How did TPK et al manage to stuff Radiance into Hollow in the first place?

This is the subject of a lot of memes and jokes within the fandom because it's so absurd. Radiance fuckin hates that dude! She’s probably gonna be pretty wary of him considering how he stole her people in the first place! And considering the anti-colonialism slant of the writing - beyond the general sympathetic view Team Cherry gives of each indigenous bug society, Seer makes it very clear that Radiance has very good reason to take violent action against Hallownest - the answer is probably not something like “she’s just that stupid” or “she rolled a crit fail”.

Well... I have an idea of how TPK managed to get Radiance in there. It raises about as many questions as it answers, mind, but it may be someplace to start.

[desc: the hollow knight's entry in the hunter’s journal. top text/ghost’s comment reads: “Fully grown Vessel, carrying the plague’s heart within its body.” bottom text/hunter’s comment says: “The old King of Hallownest... he must have been desperate to save his crumbling little world. The sacrifices he imposed on others... all for nothing.”]

Here we have Hollow’s bestiary entry. Most of what we’re concerned with here is the top text, which says the seal has literally trapped Radiance inside their body. (First of all, ew, TPK.)

We already knew Radiance is literally actually inside Hollow, though: The Infection is leaking out of their body, and to get to fight Radiance, Ghost has to go traipsing into their sibling’s mind. So what’s significant about that here?

[desc: screencap of the outside of the black egg temple, post-infected crossroads. there are large infection blobs in the foreground and background, connected to each other by veins that come from inside the temple.]

The infection blobs are weird and get weirder if you kill enough Lightseeds for the Hunter to tell you their origin story, i.e. that the literal actual sun has been having a very long bad day and cried a lot, and some of the liquid coalesced into living flesh, and some of that living flesh took on a mind of its own to become Lightseeds. (Hollow Knight is a WILD place.)

Lightseeds are Radiance’s accidental children and share a lot of her traits: They are harmless creatures that try to avoid conflict if possible but if pushed will get creative and find ways to fight regardless of their physical limitations. (For the Lightseeds this involves hiding inside Broken Vessel’s corpse and puppeting it around to try to stab you.) They even have her same distinctive yell. And according to the Hunter, they’re born from the infection blobs. These enemies only ever appear in the Ancient Basin, which both Radiance and the Void have ransacked, and in the Infected Crossroads.

The infection blobs are connected to and sort of a weird extension of Radiance because the Infection itself is sort of a weird extension of Radiance. In the game’s internal style guide Team Cherry explains that the Infection started as an accident, not her original intention but what happened when Hallownest tried to block her out.

[desc: screencap from the wiki of style notes attached to seer that describe a sketch of radiance’s finalized backstory. text reads: “The moth tribe were (perhaps) descended from Radiance. However, the King convinced them somehow to seal Radiance away. I guess so he could rule Hallownest with his singular vision, as a god/monarch with no other gods. The moths sealed Radiance away by forgetting about her. Hallownest was born and flourished. However, the memory of Radiance lingered (eg [sic] the statue at hallownest’s crown) and soon she began to reappear in dreams and starting [sic] exerting influence. The King and the bugs of Hallownest resisted this memory/power and it started to manifest as the Infection. Thus the first attempt to seal Radiance failed, and the King had to try another method - the Vessel.” emphasis mine.]

Some fans have posited the blobs as deposits of pupa juice, but given Team Cherry's description of the Infection’s origins I don’t know how likely that is. Since the Void also sticks its squamous tentacles into things via veiny looking things and the Nightmare’s Heart has similar veiny nonsense in the Nightmare Realm, I wonder if it isn’t just a Meddly God Shit thing in general.

Whatever the case, the blobs are very much connected to/a part of Radiance.

And when you’re hanging around them, you will notice two things: They pulse like they’re part of a circulatory system, and you can hear Radiance's heartbeat emanating from them.

[desc: screencap of the game’s title screen with the infected menu theme in use: a glowing orange ball at the center of a lot of black tendony webbing.]

Let’s also think of the Infected menu theme, which you unlock after getting either of the endings where Ghost takes over from Hollow and absorbs Radiance out of them. Ghost is infected and then sealed inside the Black Egg in Hollow's place. It’s suggested by the animation’s staging that Radiance briefly struggles to get out of Ghost after absorbed but is ultimately stuck in them, at which point the seal is reestablished.

If you haven’t used the Infected menu theme yourself, the... interesting thing about it is that it moves organically. The light ball expands and contracts - y’know, sort of like a living organ - and so does the black webby stuff around it.

Also, Radiance’s heartbeat is included in the theme's ambiance.

[desc: hollow’s bestiary entry again]

To cut to the chase, this part of Hollow’s bestiary entry that says “the plague’s heart”? I don’t think that’s just Ghost/Team Cherry being poetic. I think there’s a good chance it’s LITERAL.

I think TPK is the sort of person who could cram a native woman’s literal living beating heart inside his own child’s body so they can use it as... say, a focus to absorb and trap her mind/spirit inside their body, too. Mr. No Cost Too Great is capable of a lot in the name of keeping other people’s claws off his Big Shiny kingdom. This is kind of his whole brand.

But also, like, yuck.

This fits the worldbuilding too; generally speaking Hollow Knight is Body Horror City. Also there’s the case of Grimm: While he and Radiance are loose counterparts at best with WILDLY disparate outlooks and ethoses, his existence serves as precedent that a Higher Being’s heart specifically can be separate from the rest of them.

As I said before, though, this DOES raise as many questions as it answers. If this is another piece in the puzzle of how TPK belled the cat, we’re now left wondering how he got Radiance’s heart to use as Hollow's focus to begin with.

We know he has access to the Dream Realm because that’s ultimately where he hid when Hollow’s seal failed, but who did he send to do the stealing and how did they get away with it? (TPK certainly wouldn’t have gone; his own life’s the one cost too great for him to willingly pay.) Was Radiance’s heart separate from her like the Nightmare’s Heart, or was it a part of her body? (I think the latter is more likely just from her personality; Grimm’s hidden heart makes sense because of how he keeps even his own servants at arm’s length emotionally, whereas Radiance is all heart all the time. I think this makes more sense with their equal opposites schtick too. But this would make for a WAY riskier mission.)

I can imagine all kinds of possibilities. None of them are definitive, but the thing they have in common is that they are all Awful... and how on-brand that is for Hollow Knight as a whole is, maybe, the most persuasive argument for It’s Literally Actually Her Real Physical Heart there could be.

[h0rnyshakespeare]

Good morning/evening/night ❤

If you don't mind could you do a denki x shinsou oneshot where they go on a date to watch a movie And for brunch (with jirou caz denki was too scared to go alone with shinsou) And he's very conscious about how he looks and stuff

Later during brunch denki obviously starts flirting with shinsou, shinsou flirts back as well and jirou is just confused why denki thinks shinsou doesn't like him back

And later jirou leaves them and encourages denki to confess to shinsou

then denki asks shinsou if he wants to have ice cream in the park and while they're in the park he's just like hey I have something to tell you and he tires his best to confess to him but in the end he's just too scared of being rejected and loosing his friendship with him

So they go back to the dorms and denki says good night and then shinsou just kisses him and says "I like you" and just runs away

Denki is just completely dumbstruck for the whole night then he gets ready to bed and gets a message from shinsou saying "sleep well I'll see you tomorrow 💜💛 "

Also if you don't ship denki with shinsou it's completely fine just ignore this <3

Have a nice day 😊

His Pikachu

Pairing: Hitoshi Shinsou x Denki Kaminari (implied MomoJirou)

Genre: Fluff

Word Count: 952

Warnings: none

A/N: I live for shinkami, dear anon😌💜💛Also, I changed it up a bit so Denki texts Jirou for advice rather than her thirdwheeling if that’s ok with you. Hope you enjoy!

Denki paced around outside the Heights Alliance entrance, feeling extremely nervous. He pulled out his phone to distract himself.

Denki: I can’t do this

Jirou: Don’t be an idiot, I’m sacrificing my chill time for u

Denki: Have I told u how much I love u

Jirou: Tell that to Shinsou

Denki: Oh no Shinsou

Jirou: Relax dummy. he obviously likes u

Denki: What if I go into whey mode??!!!

Jirou: He’s seen u in whey mode b4

“Kaminari, I hope I didn’t keep you waiting,’ a familiar voice spoke, startling him. “Oh, uh, hey, Shinsou! Yeah, of course not, I just got out,” Denki said. “We should get going, don’t wanna miss the movie!” “Yeah. I was surprised you were into horror, to be honest,” Shinsou replies as they started walking, the cinema only being a few blocks away. Denki chuckled nervously. In truth, he got scared pretty easily from horror movies but since Shinsou was a fan he did not mind going to see one. “Yeah, it’s cool I guess.” “You sure you won’t get scared though?” Shinsou smirked. Denki shoved his arm playfully. “I’m a hero-in-training! Of course I won’t.”

Denki’s words backfired on him at the first jumpscare. He clung to Shinsou’s arm impulsively, popcorn spilling all over their laps. Shinsou smirked at him lazily. “You good?” Denki let go of him just as quickly as he had grabbed on, almost as if he had (ironically) been electrocuted. “Y-yeah! I’m good! Pfft, that was nothing.” Shinsou shrugged. “Ok.”

Denki: I grabbed onto Shinsou like 10 times during the movie help

Jirou: If he’s still with u rn he was prolly fine with it

Denki bit his lip, feeling self-conscious. Why had Shinsou decided to go on a date with him? Did he even consider it a date? Was it just out of pity? “Hey, there’s a great brunch place nearby. Wanna grab something to eat?” Shinsou asked, breaking his train of thought. Denki smiled at him, putting his phone away. “Sure!”

They arrived at the diner Shinsou was talking about, sitting together in a booth, talking about nothing in particular as they waited to order. Denki, being ever the flirt, could not help but throw some pickup lines towards Shinsou, who, much to his surprise, flirted back, causing his heart to do little leaps in his chest. After they ate, Shinsou excused himself to the bathroom while Denki texted Jirou in the meantime, giving her an update.

Denki: Holy shit he flirted back

Jirou: Wow shocker

Denki: Why must u be so sarcastic

Jirou: :)

Denki: I really like him tho tbh

Jirou: I’m gonna leave now

Denki: wAIT WHAT NO DONT GO-

Jirou: Why? U didn’t text me for like two hours straight

Jirou: U got this

Jirou: Now I’m gonna leave, I miss Momo

Jirou: Pay for his food too ;)

Denki: Thanks Jirou 😭

Jirou: Anytime u idiot<3 don’t forget to confess

Denki found himself grinning stupidly. “I’m definitely going to confess to Shinsou today,” he thought to himself. He saw Shinsou returning from the bathroom and stood up. “Wanna go get ice cream?” “We need to pay for our food first, though,” Shinsou reminded him. Denki smirked. “The bill has been covered by yours truly.” Shinsou’s eyes widened. “I was gonna split it with you.” “No, no, it’s fine. Now let’s go get ice cream!” Denki smiled, causing Shinsou to grin along with him.

Denki and Shinsou sat on a bench in the park, eating their ice cream in comfortable silence. Shinsou had insisted on paying for Denki’s as well as payment for brunch. Denki had protested, but then found out how stubborn Shinsou was and had given up.

“How’s your ice cream?” Shinsou asked, breaking the silence. “It’s really good,” Denki replied, his mind a mess as he tried to come up with words to tell Shinsou how he felt. He took a deep breath. “Just go for it, you idiot.”

“Hey, Shinsou?”

Shinsou hummed in response. Denki’s palms started sweating. “Um, I just wanted to say…” His voice trailed out as he awkwardly scratched the back of his neck. “I, uh, I had fun today.” “Goddammit.”

Shinsou broke out into a rare grin. “Yeah, me too.” “Really?!” Denki yelled, sounding much more excited than he had planned on. Shinsou chuckled. “Yeah. We should probably start heading back, though.” Denki sighed as he checked the time. “Yeah, you’re right.”

Shinsou insisted on walking Denki back to his dorm, which he secretly enjoyed. They stood in front of the entrance, gazing at each other. Shinsou cleared his throat. “Um, thanks for today,” he said, smiling softly. “I enjoyed it.” Denki was processing the fact that Shinsou was actually smiling before answering him. “O-oh right, me too!” he managed to stutter, causing Shinsou to chuckle. “Alright, then, good night!” Denki said, turning to go in, when a hand on his shoulder prevented him. “Shinsou-?” was all Denki managed to get out before Shinsou silenced him by placing his lips upon his. Denki’s eyes widened in shock, before he sighed with satisfaction, melting into the kiss. Shinsou pulled away reluctantly. “I like you, Denki,” was all he said before running away, leaving Denki dumbstruck. “He... he likes me? Holy shit he kissed me oh my god-” Denki was so excited he nearly short-circuited himself. He walked to his dorm room in a daze, trying to believe what had happened. A ‘ping’ from his phone snapped him out of his dreamlike state.

Shinsou: Sleep well pikachu boi. I’ll see u tomorrow🖤

Denki: You too! I’ll see you<3

Both boys grinned at the other’s message before going to bed, replaying the day’s events over and over in their heads.

[tanoraqui]

[now all on AO3!]

it starts, like all great slightly cracky fix-it AUs, with Nie Huaisang impetuously deciding to do something slightly good and slightly selfish

basically, at Phoenix Mountain, while everybody else is busy having romantic drama and/or exchanging lukewarm shots in the building cold war over the Stygian Tiger Seal, NHS is busy getting reamed out by his brother again for not being remotely good at, uh…anything. Archery, ghost-hunting, monster-hunting…etc.

then he happens to look over at Jiang Yanli, the daughter of the goddamn Violet Spider yet who isn’t expected to do anything but be pretty and deal with romantic drama, and thinks, hmm.

Clearly the solution is to Acquire or Fake a Serious Medial Condition

Fake better than Acquire. NHS enjoys being a little dramatically frail, but he’d rather not actually have to deal with it. But in order to fake something well enough to fool his brother, as an ongoing thing, he needs

a competent medical professional

who would be reliably loyal to him (begging, bribery, and blackmail all valid options to ensure this if required)

and won’t be too intimidated to lie to Chifeng-zun himself

it is important at this juncture to remember 2 things about Nie Huaisang, as of approximately the Phoenix Mountain hunt:

he is the privileged second son of a mighty sect, not coddled but definitely humored quite a lot, and despite having gotten through a short war not long before, he has never personally faced a real consequence in his life. He’s seen some shit happen, to his friends and his family, but he himself has never experienced a real consequence in his life

he is, however, aware at every moment that real consequences exist, even when he’s doing truly outrageous things to deserve them. Unlike certain a demonic cultivator who shall go unnamed. in fact, he puts effort into avoiding them, also unlike a certain demonic cultivator

so Nie Huaisang asks around a bit, indirectly and sometimes over drinks, and a week later he’s at one of the small towns in Qishan where the remnants of the Wen sect have been stashed, requisitioning Wen Qing

“...why?” says the Jin disciple in charge of security, who maybe NHS has met at a cultivation conference or hunt before

NHS rolls his eyes and complains from behind his fan, “I don’t know! I think Da-ge just wanted to make me fly here, to build my endurance or something. But she’s on of the greatest healers in the land, isn’t she? Our training yards do produce a lot of wounds.”

The Jin disciple has to admit that all of the above is true and/or plausible. Maybe she makes eye contact with one of the Nie disciples NHS has brought with him as protocol and the dangers of the countryside demand, and he nods slightly. She knew him in the Sunshot Campaign, and trusts his judgement more than that of the flighty heir to Qinghe Nie, so she calls for Wen Qing to be found and brought to the oversight center 

(NHS has implied to his retainers/guards that he wants to ask Wen Qing about a personal medical matter that he doesn’t want getting back to his brother, and they accepted it and are prepared to obfuscate that “truth” to an outsider)

(NHS is still new to this; he’s letting his lies get too complex, different for different people and thus harder to keep track of)

Wen Qing is brought, chin still lifted with dignity despite her drab and dirty robes. The Jin scoff; NHS greets her as effusively and not-quite-politely as though they were still students at Cloud Recesses together, and begs a private audience that she can’t deny. The Jin captain offers her office, and the rest clear out.

“Okay so I need you to help me fake a serious but not too serious medical condition,” says Nie Huaisang, and explains the gist of his plan and desires. “In return, you’ll get out of here - come back to the Unclean Realm and live in, you know, whatever comfort a war-focused sect castle* which my brother won’t let me redecorate can provide.”

*apologies to the setting f fantasy Ancient China, but I cannot imagine the Nie sect inhabiting anything but, like, this

“What,” demands Wen Qing, because she isn’t given to absolutely ridiculous ideas, and moreover, she’s a responsible physician and this is so sketch

...but

she’s also a Wen, a curse which thus far has outweighed her gifts as a physician in the eyes of the world, and hand in hand with being a Wen and long before her hand first touched a needle, she is a sister

so she crosses her arms - no. She ducks her head deferentially and says, “I’ll need my assistant to help. My brother.” And she looks up with iron in her eyes, and they both know that this is the final price

NHS offers his hand to shake. “Done.”

here’s the thing though: Wen Qing does have those medical ethics though they don’t always extend to requiring consent for major surgery, and moreover she has a lot of practice surviving, and keeping her brother safe, in a court where they aren’t much wanted. And she’s honest by nature, which mostly means that when she tells lies, they’re carefully chosen

so a few days later, she stands bowing before Nie Mingjue in the grand front hall of Qinghe’s stony fortress, where the last time Wens were there, their blood spilled across the floor. Wen Ning bows from half a step behind her, where he always does; Nie Huaisang stands half a step in front of her, artfully stuttering in the face of his brother’s bellowing. He hasn’t even gotten to his false story yet

(Wen Qing knows real fear when she sees it, she’s both seen it and felt it enough in Wen Ruohan’s court and since, and the second son of Nie has clear never felt it in his life. Not, at least, because of his elder brother.)

“Sect Leader Nie,” she says, stepping past her would-be-cunning, would-be-savior. She bows even more deeply as Chifeng-zun’s attention shifts to her, but still speaks clearly. “Please forgive your brother his trespass, in bringing this one and this one’s assistant to your hall. His concern is only for you, and your health. I am Wen Qing, of the Dafan Wen, who have studied medicine for generations upon generations. I myself, and my brother to assist me, have particular experience managing spiritual power and preventing qi deviations.” It’s mostly truth. “We have been brought only to serve you.”

NHS: [*shocked pikachu face*; the words TOP TEN ANIME BETRAYALS! flash across the screen]

he recovers quickly, though. He’s good at that

“Yes - ” His fan flutters anxiously and tears well in the corners of his eyes. “Ever since the Sunshot campaign ended, da-ge, you’ve been even angrier...”

It takes a while. It’s very loud, and entirely in public. But this is Qinghe, where anything worth doing is worth doing aggressively and in-your face. 

Eventually Nie Mingjue turns back to Wen Qing and growls, “Even if they have some medical knowledge, why should we trust Wen-dogs?”

(Wen Qing hates this. She is Wen and she hates this; she is Wen Qing, reknowned physician, and she hates this. She hates the indignity, the disrespect, and that she’s about to call on a debt she promised herself that she wouldn’t because it shouldn’t have been a debt in the first place, it should have just been treating the patient in front of her)

“Wei Wuxian of YunmengJiang will vouch for us, Nie-zhongzhi,” she says, bowing deeply again.

NMJ’s lip curls, and he says flatly, “The demonic cultivator.”

(Mistake. She gambles harder.) “Jiang Ch- Sect Leader Jiang will also vouch for us. We sheltered him and his brother when Wen Chao hunted them, after the destruction of Lotus Pier.” She lifts her head then, to meet his eyes. “We are physicians first, and will treat the patient in front of us. And you, Sect Leader, need treatment.”

It’s become clear over the course of this confrontation - his eyes are bloodshot, his hand has the faintest tremor every time it’s not clenching his saber hilt so tightly that the palm must be bruised. If she could touch him and explore the state of his meridians, she’s sure they’d be as settled as a flock of crows awaiting the end of a battle

She knew it before, though, or she wouldn’t have started this gambit in the first place. The Nie saber method’s dangers of qi cultivation are well-known among physicians, albeit not understood outside of the Unclean Realm. More importantly, the fear of it was between the lines of every one of Nie Huaisang’s complaints about his brother’s overbearence and the horrors of saber practice, which she’s been listening to for the past day and a half. And Nie Huaisang is known for being a coward, but not on behalf of his brother.

Nie Mingjue raises eyebrows at her, but he gives a short nod. (She should’ve known, she thinks, that Chifeng-zun would respond better to fierceness than to obsequiousness. She’s still to used to Qishan, and recently to the attitude of Langling.) “You may join our physicians - once I receives word from Yunmeng.”

Wei Wuxian brings the affirmation himself, in the form of a letter from Jiang Cheng. Wen Qing doesn’t get to see it, but WWX assures her that it was very polite and approbational. She thanks him once and not effusively, and they both nod and know that their debt is settled - probably a brother’s life for probably a brother’s life 

(she can keep Wen Ning safe in this place, she’s already sure of it. It is Wen Ruohan and Qishan all over again, but far better - in Qishan what mattered was power, and she scraped and bowed for just enough to get by. What matters in Qinghe is strength, for which Wen Qing has never lacked a day in her life)

(What mattered in the few miles of land the had Jin hemmed them into was subordination and indignity, neither of which she has ever mastered)

{there’s another letter to Nie Mingjue that Wen Qing never knows about, from Jin Guangyao on behalf of his father in Lanlang, politely asking what the absolute hell Nie Sect is doing with the two highest-ranking remaining Wen cultivators. After being reassured that these Wen-dogs are tamed ones, Nie Mingjue writes back...well, pretty much that, with kind of a “fuck you and the sword you rode in on” flavor}

{Jin Guangshan swears, complains, and scoffs a great deal when he receives it, and eventually settles down with a grumbled, “Well, maybe the Wen bitch will simply poison him, or he’ll find a reason to execute her, or both. Then I’ll be rid of them both.” Jin Guangyao murmurs an agreement that’s almost entirely genuine, because he hasn’t forgiven Nie Mingjue for that comment about his mother)

Wei Wuxian stays a week, messing around with Nie Huaisang like they’re still children at Cloud Recesses (they were all children, then) or infuriating Nie Mingjue apparently for fun, or most often both at once. At least it makes NMJ’s temper suitably riled for Wen Qing to get in a good first examination. To the surprise of no one, he’s in bad shape. 

The author would put in fun fantasy medical language here, but this book explains jackshit about its magic system, but let’s say it’s like...when there’s been a fast, hard rain and the hillside has turned to mud and it’s not collapsing yet, no, there wasn’t quite enough rain for that - but one more strong shower could do it, bring the whole hillside down on the busy road below, and if one person goes wandering and steps in the wrong place, they might slip into a sinkhole and never come out again? Nie Mingjue’s spiritual energy is like that.

so Wen Qing bullies him into cutting back on saber use by an hour a day - bullying is her natural bedside manner, and she’s backed by several true Nie physicians, genuinely in agreement but grateful to have someone else take the brunt of their Sect Leader’s angry resistance. Nie Huaisang also helps, with an abundance of pleading and near-tears

he also has to accept the bargain of practicing with his own saber for an extra half hour every day that Nie Mingjue appropriately refrains, which is frankly hilarious

after a few more days of peace, she lets Wen Ning out of her sight, pairs him up with a junior Nie physician who knows the area well and sends them to find the herbs she needs. Nie Mingjue does not, at least, protest the sourness of the medicine she brews

and she recommends Lan calming music, because, honestly, why the hell wasn’t he being treated with that already. His sworn brother is Zewu-jun; why are men in power always so stubborn - 

well, of course she knows the answer, it’s “men” and “power.” And maybe she should be a little more deferential - but as discussed, that’s never been in her nature nor her bedside manner, and Sect Leader Nie seems to respond well to, if not simply being bullied, than at least the snappish [fantasy Ancient China equivalent of cop]/puppy eyes [ditto] routine she and Nie Huaisang fall into naturally

and...he starts to get better. It’s just a start, but the hillside starts to settle back into place.

it’s peaceful enough, it seems a steady and safe enough place, that 2 weeks after Wei Wuxian’s gone, she makes another gamble. Not with Nie Mingjue, though - she finds Nie Huaisang in one of his favorite painting spots, stands between him and the lovely mountain view, and demands a favor

To be continued... (this is 1 of 3 probably?)

[shinsorokiri]

UA Idol | Chapter Three

Hitoshi Shinsou x Reader

Word Count: 2,204

Warnings: Language, big anxiety

A/N: Chapter Three is up because my dumbass forgot to upload last week! So here’s some more. The “original song” is “Pantaloon” by Twenty One Pilots, so if you would like to listen to it, go ahead! I hope you enjoy and I promise I’ll stop forgetting to upload lmao.

UA Idol Masterlist

───────────────────────────────────

You two are pulled aside and interviewed, in which Mina gives a short little excited burst of personality, and you’re there to make sure she doesn’t start shrieking again. It’s pretty endearing, it’s very obvious you two are best friends. After all of that is over with, the two of you are able to wander around, so Mina obviously drags you over to where Denki and purple boy were. They’re still there, and Mina makes it a point to shake the ticket in front of her friend’s face.

“No fucking way! You did it!” he yells, engulfing her in a hug. You don’t realize, but you and lilac man both cringe at their volume, but nevertheless you smile for your best friend. After all, this is a dream come true for her. You’re still in shock from your audition, so all you can think about is the pride and happiness you have for Mina in this moment. “Oh! My best friend and roomie made it to!” Mina squeals, grabbing your wrist and shaking your hand that’s holding the ticket for you. “Denki Kaminari, (Y/f/n), (Y/f/n), Denki Kaminari,” she says, motioning from him to you then you to him. “Hi there, cutie,” he says with a slight smirk and you raise an eyebrow at him. “Call me that again and it’ll be the last word you ever speak,” you say, and to your surprise, he laughs. “Damn, Mina, it’s like I’m looking at another Shinsou,” he says, and that’s when the lavender dude sighs. Ah. So, he’s-

“Mina Ashido, Hitoshi Shinsou. Hitoshi Shinsou, Mina Ashido. (Y/f/n), Hitoshi Shinsou, Hitoshi-”

“I got it,” you and Shinsou say simultaneously, with the same inflection in your voice and deadpan facial expression. That’s when you look at each other. And by that, I mean really look at each other, not just look at the other person when their eyes are focused on something else. And that’s when everything just kinda… stops for a few seconds. The only thing you can even focus on is him, and you can’t tear your eyes away from his, no matter how much you want to. Do you even want to? You don’t even know the man, and yet butterflies are erupting in your stomach and all feelings of unease leave your body. Of course, Mina and Denki don’t notice the cease in time or the feelings exploding in your body. You’re only forced back into reality when your best friend’s voice interrupts you. “Holy shit, they’re like clones of each other,” Mina mumbles, staring back and forth between you two. “The only difference is-”

“Contestants 14799 and 14800? Follow me, you’re on deck,” the same producer who grabbed you two away from them earlier comes and snatches them away from you. “Don’t go anywhere, Mina. If you’re cool with it, I kind of want to go to dinner to catch up after this, it’s been too long,” Denki says, and Shinsou raises his eyebrow at him. “What about me and (Y/n)? Are we supposed to tag along on your date?”

“Oh, honey, I’m gay as fuck. But Denki, I’m so down to catch up! I can’t believe we went a whole month without linking up. And I’m sure (Y/n) would be happy to come with. Especially if we go to her favorite restaurant which I just so happen to have a coupon for because I was gonna take her there to celebrate or mourn after the audition.”

“Awesome! You two stay right here, we’ll be back out!” Denki screams over his shoulder as Shinsou drags him away. “Seriously, Denki?”

“What? I want to talk to Mina again! She and I were literally the best pranksters of our little group in high school and it’s been like a month since we last caught up with each other,” Denki whines and Hitoshi sighs. “But why did you need to drag me into it?” he groans, and Denki smirks at him. “Oh please. Don’t pretend like I didn’t notice you eyeing up Mina’s friend.” “Choose your next words wisely.”

“Shin. Come on. You at least think she’s pretty since your eyes literally didn’t leave her the entire time she was by us. Give her a chance at least, maybe she’s the one,” Denki says, his joking demeanor gone away. Shinsou hesitates before speaking again, saying the thing he’s said to his overexcited blonde friend multiple times before. But this time, he doesn’t believe it as much. “I don’t have time for love, Denki. It’s time consuming and I need to spend my time on more important matters.”

“But she was really cute, right?”

“If you call her cute again, I will beat you up.”

“Why?”

“Because she was cute. And I don’t need you to make me think about it every five seconds because my brain is already doing that on its own,” Hitoshi mumbles, looking away from his friend who has a smug grin on his face. You were cute, so what? You were so cute that the world around him stopped functioning for a bit when you two made eye contact and all he could focus on was your eyes and how you made him feel like he was okay despite the fact that his anxiety was through the roof right now because of the situation he is in and all the people surrounding him at all sides because that’s normal. That’s normal, right? Please, assure him that it’s normal. “Hm. Have you thought about buying her dinner? That’ll send off the right message.”

“Shut. Up.”

“What’s up guys!” Shinsou and Denki’s conversation was cut short by Present Mic literally screaming at them. “Just getting pumped to do this!” Denki responds immediately, hopping up and down in place. “Alright! That’s what I like to hear! Now, who are you guys?”

“I’m Denki Kaminari and this beautiful bastard next to me is Hitoshi Shinsou,” Denki responds, finger-gunning over to Shinsou. Shinsou sighs but gives a genuine smile to Present Mic as he waves. “COOL! So, are you guys a duo?”

“No, we’re just here to support the other! My family doesn’t live around here and Shin’s… couldn’t make it!” Kaminari covers up for Shinsou, knowing that he just told the entire story of why his family couldn’t support him right now to the producers maybe thirty minutes ago. Shinsou silently thanks him for that, knowing he’d probably have to tell at least some of it again to the actual judges. “I love seeing y’all supporting each other like this! Makes me think of when I supported Aizawa the first time he ever actually performed instead of just sat on the sidelines watching someone else sing his song! Kaminari, you’re first, you ready?” “I was born ready.”

“HELL YEAH! Go on in!”

Hitoshi watches his best friend enter the room, his own nerves starting to kick in. Regardless of how he’s feeling, he listens as Denki belts out Kiwi. For someone who has the personality of a corroded triple AAA battery, his voice is really pleasing to the ear. Especially when he lays on the distortion but still somehow manages to hit high notes in his belting range. Honestly if anyone was born to be a rockstar, it was Denki Kaminari. Unsurprisingly, he comes out with a ticket, waving it around like the excited Pikachu he is. “I did it, I did it, I did it, I did it, I did it, I did it-”

“Okay I get it! You did it!” Hitoshi says, waving his fists in a little celebratory motion. He is genuinely smiling though. He’s happy for Denki. And then he realizes it’s his turn. “You got this, man! If I can do it, you definitely can!” Hitoshi gives him a small smile of appreciation before walking through the doors himself. This was... a lot. It was a lot. He stopped in the middle of the performing area and looked at the judges. “Hello, handsome.”

“Midnight. Please.”

“Never, Aizawa.”

“I’m sorry for her lack of professionalism. Hello, what’s your name, where are you from, and why are you here?” Aizawa completely ignores Midnight and Hitoshi clears his throat. “Hi, I’m Hitoshi Shinsou, I’m 22 years old, and I’m from Tokyo. I’m here because my roommate convinced me to audition with him, but I also just really love music and it would be pretty nice to have my mom see me performing.”

“Aw, a family man. How sweet,” Midnight says and Hitoshi shrugs. “It would just be nice for her to see it before she... you know.”

“Is she sick?” Hawks asks, a small frown on his face. Hitoshi nods. “Yeah, she is,” he says, and there’s a sympathetic look on all the judge’s faces. Goddamn empaths. “Well, hopefully she gets to see this! I’m sure you’ll do great,” Toshinori says, giving him a reassuring smile and thumbs up. “What will you be singing today?”

“Um, I was actually planning on singing an original? If that’s okay?”

“That’s more than okay! Go for it,” Midnight says, and Hitoshi makes his way over to the piano. “If you wouldn’t mind, could you tell us what it’s called?” Aizawa asks. “It’s called The Pantaloon,” Shinsou responds, placing his hands on the keys. He starts playing away, hoping that what he sings for them is good enough. He had to shorten the song a bit, but it’s still pretty wordy, so he’s worried they won’t like it that much. He also knows that his style and voice in general is a little different, so he hopes they don’t hate it.

“Your grandpa died when you were nine. They said he had lost his mind. You have learned way too soon You should never trust the pantaloon.

Now it's your turn to be alone. Find a wife and build yourself a home. You have learned way too soon That your dad is now the pantaloon.

You are tired, you are hurt. A moth ate through your favorite shirt. And all your friends fertilize The ground you walk, Lose your mind.

You like to sleep alone, It's colder than you know, 'Cause your skin is so Used to colder bones. It's warmer in the morning, Than what it is at night. Your bones are held together by your nightmare and your frights.

You are tired, you are hurt. A moth ate through your favorite shirt. And all your friends, they fertilize The ground you walk. So lose your mind.

You are tired, you are hurt. A moth ate through your favorite shirt. And all your friends, they fertilize The ground you walk. Lose your mind.”

It’s funny how when you do something well, you forget how it went. Hitoshi finishes out the song, playing the last chord, hoping it went well but not really knowing since he kinda... blacked out...? Not really, but he doesn’t remember how it all went, so he hopes it went well. “Wow,” Midnight’s voice pulls him out of his head, and he looks over at the judges. “Literally what the hell, he’s the second person who auditioned who is better than me!” Hawks basically yells, throwing his hands up, the pen he had resting in them flying up and then coming back down to hit him on the head. Hitoshi can’t even pay attention to the fact that Hawks just assaulted himself because I’m sorry, did he say better than him?? He has 10 Grammy’s what the fuck does he mean better than him??

“What are the odds two kids like them would audition not just in the same season but on the same day not even forty minutes after each other?” Toshinori says, awe evident on his face. “It’s certainly rare, I can tell you that. Especially when it comes to actual songwriting ability, which it’s evident they have,” Aizawa says, and Shinsou’s breathing literally stops. Aizawa Shouta is his literal idol. And he just complimented his songwriting skills? What? “Well, Shinsou. I think I can say with confidence this isn’t the last time your mom is going to see you perform,” Midnight says, and Shinsou smiles. This is crazy. “You’ve got a future in the business kid, even if you don’t win, I see you in the top two with the other singer-songwriter we saw today. Easily,” Aizawa says, and Shinsou literally cannot believe what he is hearing. “Really?” he asks, disbelief in his voice. “Yes! Of course, after a performance like that in a room like this with a song like that, of course you’ll make it far in the competition! I’d bet you even make it to the top two with it!” Toshinori basically yells, and Shinsou scratches the back of his neck, letting out a flattered chuckle. “Thanks… thank you,” he says, and Aizawa picks up one of the tickets. “I’m just going to give this to you. I think we all agree that you’re a yes.”

Hitoshi goes and takes the ticket, thanking them again and again before walking back out the doors. He shows Kaminari the ticket, and Kaminari literally screams in his face. Full on shouts. “I FUCKING KNEW YOU COULD DO IT BRO!”

“Could you please be quiet? For once in your life? Just shh?”

[potestessemagishomosexualitatis]

LAOFT but make it a pregnancy romcom

okay so this is based both on this post and my pre-existing idea that gage witches can reproduce through magical parthenogenesis (self-cloning) and roman is a clone of abby and therefore a trans guy

so: let’s re-write laoft as a fairy tale pregnancy romcom

first change: virgil never got cursed. however, shortly after greta’s death, durant somehow tricked him into a semi-permanent banishment/exile from wickhills. trudi and may assumed his disappearance was grief-based and by the time they got concerned the trail was long cold.

so now, when roman is planning to make a deal for logan’s freedom, he instead semi-accidentally manages to summon virgil back instead, breaking his banishment.

roman makes a deal for logan’s freedom in return for his firstborn. not to keep, virgil assures him, but for virgil to be godfather to (he might still be missing trudi & may, oops)

however, virgil first has to win back his forest. it takes several years for him to do that, although in the interim he and roman meet sporadically in the clearing in the woods. as soon as he learns about logan and patton’s situations he insists on meeting them and helping to teach them about magic whenever he can

so basically, the entire group is a complete mess of pining and unrequitement angst

everyone thinks that different subsets of their friends are together and therefore “taken” and/or uninterested and/or unsuitable

roman thinks that l&v are endgame as the Fae Power Couple but that patton is pining for logan and would never choose roman over him

logan thinks that p&r are borderline-already-dating (and still has the immortal angst thing) but that virgil is way out of his league because Fae Politics

patton is aware that they all have a thing for each other but feels like he is out-of-place as the only non-magical being and fears that he doesn’t contribute anything to the group and he’s scared that if things change it will end with him being left behind

virgil is completely enamoured with all of them but would rather die than make them feel even 1% pressured and is thus physically incapable of making a move. also has no idea that the other three aren’t already dating.

this is where we’re at when virgil finally manages to help logan shake off the last threads of eirwen’s control

“my half of the deal is complete,” virgil says. “i guess there’s no reason we have to keep meeting up. unless you’re planning on having that baby any time soon.”

roman laughs, of course. but in the back of his mind he imagines having a baby – having virgil’s baby, a child for the two of them to share, and… well. that’s very much not a thought he minds having.

and thus, six weeks later: a positive pregnancy test.

roman, who is very much still a virgin: what the actual fuck.

roman now recalls the conversation with virgil and it takes on a very different tone. he assumes that this is his side of the deal which – was not what he expected, but okay that’s what you get with fae, clearly he and virgil misunderstood each other.

of COURSE he tells pat and lo fairly immediately, the only reason he doesn’t tell virgil is because he assumes it’s virgil’s fault

roman does not realise how describing the situation as “virgil’s fault” will sound to the others because roman does not have the sense god gave a goose

he does notice that the others seem shocked/upset but assumes they, like he, are pissed at virgil’s violation of boundaries (don’t get people pregnant without asking first! even if roman is… kinda into it, actually.)

logan & patton of course think that ro & v made the baby the old-fashioned way

patton is completely gut-punched. change has come without his permission and it doesn’t include him, he only just manages to hold it together long enough to make supportive noises.

logan of course is doing the “this is fine it is perfectly reasonable they can do whatever they want what do you mean i’m growing whatever-flowers-symbolise-jealousy everywhere”

virgil notices that EVERYONE is pissy and roman is showing symptoms and puts two and two together and gets twenty-five, i.e. assumes it’s an unplanned pregnancy between the three of them and there’s some dispute about what to do about it

(roman hasn’t even really thought about that, because even though he’s only about 19-20 there is a part of him that craves family that says “yes, this is what i want”)

(he hasn’t really thought about a plan because he just kinda… assumes that lo & pat & v will always be there for him. and also he would fight a grizzly bear armed with a spoon for this child already so even if they aren’t he will make it through on sheer Gage Stubbornness)

roman puts off telling may with the excuse that “she probably already knows” because he doesn’t want her to be disappointed in him

but everything is really weird and brittle in the friend group now and roman is Struggling a bit

and now he suddenly gets very scared that he might actually lose his friends and be alone raising this baby

(okay except mamaw but that’s Different, obviously)

roman breaks down one day b/c hormones and feeling overwhelmed and of course does it in the most awkward possible place: all over logan

logan is panicking a lot but he is trying his best to comfort roman and then roman sobs something about “didn’t even get to do the fun part of making babies -”

wait what

so roman explains the whole magic deal thing and logan is like Oh Okay I See, There There

two minutes later: logan kicks down virgil’s door like WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU DO

virgil has never seen logan so pissed and he is genuinely a little scared

logan starts giving him the talking to of his LIFE and of course virgil has. no idea what he’s talking about.

fortunately this very quickly becomes apparent to logan who calms down and catches virgil up on the situation.

and okay, now everyone is very confused because Where Did This Baby Come From???

but you know what, that’s 3/4 of the group up to speed and we’ve barely had any misunderstandings so -

logan gives patton a call and says something about how they have to talk about roman’s baby and something about magic and pat is like “you’re a part of this?” and logan is like “of course i am”

patton’s worst fears confirmed: all three of them are involved, and he isn’t part of it. isn’t powerful enough for them, just a weak little human -

he hangs up the phone immediately because he doesn’t trust himself to speak any more

logan and virgil are FLIPPING OUT about the mystery baby. roman is pretty chill about it actually and gets downright pissed if either of them gets too close to insinuating that maybe the pregnancy is too dangerous…

also virgil is now fussing over roman so much “stress isn’t good for you right now” “you telling me that every five minutes is not helping my stress levels”

no-one really notices that… they were expecting patton to be joining them… several hours ago…

when they do realise there is a small argument of who should go over: roman: “i think he’d rather hear this from you, specs” logan: “you’re being ridiculous. he clearly prefers your company” virgil: “uhhh…. does it make a difference? aren’t all three of you… y'know?” ro & lo: “we’re WHAT NOW”

so yeah virgil spills the beans that they’re all hearteyes for each other and the other two are like “oh fuck” and go to patton together

(virgil stays behind… of course he does. he’s always the one left behind.)

logan and roman go to patton and tell him how important he is and roman winds up giving a big speech to both patton and logan about how he can’t imagine raising this baby without either of them there and he knows it’s a lot to ask but -

of course they are both on board. they have been since the moment roman told them the news.

(although logan makes a comment about how much he’s going to miss when he goes away to college, he’ll have to defer a couple of years -)

so yeah, a round of love confessions followed by a round of “uh. and virgil too, right?” “yeah of course.”

they all fall asleep crammed together in patton’s bed, finally at peace again.

mamaw comes to pick roman up the next morning like “you can’t stay out all night without telling me, not in your condition”

roman is Busted, of course she already knew, and she invites all four of the boys over for tea that afternoon to explain the Gage Parthenogenesis Witch Magic thing

(may does NOT know who the “father” is and would rather die than ask)

when she explains that it’s triggered by the witch wanting to have a baby badly enough, roman gets very very blushy and then goes outside and virgil follows and roman explains that it was the conversation they had about the deal that triggered all this

logan is like 5% jealous that it wasn’t him or patton but roman quickly points out that he’s had years of practise suppressing those thoughts about the others but much less exposure to virgil

virgil is Surprised Pikachu at roman’s confession

the others are Surprised Pikachu at his surprise

everyone gets together

roman gets fussed over and pampered for the rest of his pregnancy (to the point where he sometimes threatens to stab his loves if they don’t give him breathing room)

he gives birth to a healthy baby girl, linda, who very clearly takes after all four of them so that’s okay then. and is also a fae somehow, not a witch (shh its magic)

may grumbles a little about not having a Witch Heir and roman’s like “hey, we can do it all again in a few years”

and the others? are very okay with that.

[veinereastath]

Far Cry: New Dawn was a disaster, and here’s why.

Okay, just to be clear - this is my personal opinion, not pure, cold facts that I’m trying to push down people’s throats. I just felt the sudden urge to break down piece by piece my utter hatred towards this game. So, let’s go. What exactly went wrong with it, and why Far Cry 5 was way better? I will try to present my ramblings and point of view by putting both of these games side by side. So, when reading every sentence in this... thing, add in your head a “it’s vei’s opinion” bit to avoid misunderstandings. Thanks in advance! First thing, to make everything clear - Far Cry 5 was not a perfect game. No, actually, it was far from so; there are many games much better plot-wise, with more entertaining gameplay, bigger world, more interesting side quests and so on. But, one thing for sure, this game has a spirit, an unique aura that makes many people want to come back to it and replay it over and over. The way Ubisoft portrayed Hope County is absolutely fantastic - the music, the landscapes, the characters. It was something new, something fresh, and despite quite a lot sceptical voices when the first trailers came out, it turned out really well, and in general, people really liked this game, or loved it even. Yeah, some people hate the endings, the fact that every single one of them is bad one way or the other and that you can’t basically win (I always thought this was fantastic, because, hey, you can’t be a perfect hero every time - even so, I love how this game, Seeds especially, mock the “hero attitude” that protagonist tries to have). But even so, Far Cry 5 was mostly a success, right? And the canon ending when the nukes get dropped seemed to leave a perfect opportunity for a sequel. So, what could go wrong? Well, about that...

1. How long is this game? New Dawn is short. It’s fucking short, because I installed it right after it became available (fun fact, this was the first and the last game I ever pre-ordered, so imagine how excited I must’ve been), and started playing it as soon as I could. In my case, it was around 2-3 am. I had a break then, woke up at 7 am and continued playing. I was playing it slowly - completing the side quests, because I wanted to know what has changed in Hope County, and, of course, I was looking for some easter eggs regarding the Seeds (surprised pikachu - there weren’t any, Old Compound, John’s bunker and Ranch are too obvious).  Took me around 5 hours to move on and actually start playing the main story. I was pretty sure that it will take me at least 10-15 hours to complete it (why was I thinking so, don’t ask me, I guess I still have way too high expectations after what Witcher 3 expansions have shown me). Again, surprised pikachu! I finished the whole game in 16 hours. Sixteen. Including liberating all the outposts (1 star in each, didn’t bother to get 3) and finish all side-missions + driving around the County just to look around. The hell? And it wasn’t a DLC? Just for a little comparison, because, yes, FC5 can also be completed pretty damn fast if you rush it, but my 1st playthrough of it, with all the quests and admiring the landscapes took me 33 hours. Which leads us to the next point on this god forsaken list, and that is... 2. The map.

The next reason why I am shocked this game wasn’t a DLC - the heckitty hecck they did with the map in New Dawn. Radiation zones? Sign me the hell up, they make sense, are cool and stuff, but adding them just so you could bite off half of the original map is stupid, and extremely lazy thing to do. Okay, you can take off some parts, but if you’re doing so, add something new - some new paths, caves, mountain routes, something. And no, expeditions don’t count. To make it worse, the parts that were deleted were one of the best parts of the FC5 storyline. Faith’s Gate, Drubman’s Marina, Jacob’s Armory, Wolf’s Den, and the fucking Veteran’s Center. The opportunity to make this a haunted location with an entertaining quest in it was HUGE and it was absolutely wasted. It’s not like they couldn’t done it, we’ve got the mission in old Joseph’s statue, and the crocodile pikachu in Inquisitor’s Grave (which, by the way, shouldn’t actually exist - this bunker was blown up to pieces, but it seemed pretty decent in New Dawn, there are barely any sings of explosions, not to mention that “The Confession” room is untouched!). You bought this game with an intention to actually go back in time and find out about something that FC5 didn’t tell you? Kekus maximus, you don’t. Have some photographs instead (which are a nice addition, but seem lazy). To give this post even more personal hatred - I really don’t like the Henbane River region, so you could literally hear my heart breaking when I saw that we got 50% of the River, 80% of the Valley and 10% of the Whitetails, which were my absolute favorite. So fun!

3. The Villains. I must admit, in the trailers, back when the hype for this game was insane, Mickey and Lou seemed to be quite interesting. Even though back then it was obvious that Highwaymen won’t have that kind of depth that Eden’s Gate had, it was still something I was looking forward to, even though those vibes aren’t really my cup of tea; but most of my excitement was born from my love for Far Cry 5, so if course I had to try out the sequel. So yes, the trailers were quite nice (just not the live action one - that was a fucking disaster, and killed my hype for a few days afterwards).

Mickey and Lou were quite fun, but to little extent, sadly. I liked their sister-sister dynamics, they really seemed close, and it was nice that shey were so different from each other - Mickey was more calculating, while Lou was living for the action and brutality in itself. The Highwaymen as a faction in itself wasn’t really that great for me, because their only purpose was to cause mayhem, and I simply don’t like something like this. But the sisters were something different, right? No, they weren’t, and that’s the point. I felt like there was little to no depth in their actions - it was all for fun, and I find this just boring and pointless (pr maybe I’m the boring one). I know that this is often how the world works - people take and destroy simply because they can and because it’s considered cool. We suck as a species, that’s official and well known, but I expected something more entertaining from a videogame. Maybe I shouldn’t, but I did. And Mickey and Lou were literally Highwaymen members with a VIP crown above their heads and nothing more. They left their mother? Okay, that is something that could lead to other interesting things. They killed their father for power? Huh, alright, I can work with that. The point is, it didn’t give them that much depth, their main purpose was to plunder everything. Which would be all good and nice if they were some kind of a side-faction. But this was The Villains™, and I wanted to feel something more towards them. And to be honest? I didn’t even hate them. I felt absolutely nothing, they just existed and I didn’t care, because they didn’t make this game interesting. What I will say now may sound brutal, but I will say it: I don’t consider two young people (they were around 19/20) just wanting to blow everything up “for lulz” a good villains. I fucking don’t. It was a huge downfall after what FC5 has given to us. I was just so bored when fighting the Highwaymen, because they were shallow, and their personalities were only focused on one thing. 

Of course, there is also Ethan. Yes, I hate him (he even has a very punchable face, what a coincidence!), but I admit he was somehow a nice touch in this game. Yes, he was a prideful, irritating kid, but while I was just utterly bored by the Twins, Ethan actually managed to make me hate him. The only thing that I’m quite bothered by is that I don’t believe that he’s actual, biological son of Joseph. To put it shortly, and say it louder for the people in the back - The Twins were just meh. Boring. How was the situation in FC5 better? Oh boy.

Putting their obvious... Attractive physical appearance aside, and focusing purely on their personalities, because that’s what I’m trying to explain - they were something else, and something new. Ubisoft took a risk with creating four villains for a single game, because it’s extremely hard to give each one of them the screentime they deserve, and make them interesting and unique. Did FC5 succeed? In a way, yes. I’m not saying that Seeds are absolutely perfect villains (they aren’t), but they can eat Twins for breakfast and still stay hungry. To show you what I mean, have some short descriptions: JOSEPH: Cult Leader, “The Father”, a person who claims to hear the voice of God himself. Someone from a broken family and difficult life, who was in prison (according to song dedicated to him), lost one job after another, lost his wife, killed his daughter, and then formed a religious cult. JACOB: military veteran suffering from PTSD, with a massive knowledge about history and psychology, someone who literally brainwashed nearly half, if not more of the County, and manages to combine religion (something he clearly isn’t really fond of) and personal, darwinistic look on life. JOHN: former lawyer, a person skilled in adapting to any environment, charismatic manipulator abused as a kid, forced to spend most of his life pretending to be someone he hated to be, battled with addictions, emotionally unstable and with sadistic outburts. FAITH: young woman devoid of purpose in life, also battling with addictions in the past, probably on the verge of suicide at some point, who was manipulated (and quite possibly drugged) in order to comply; a broken girl hiding her pain behind lovely smiles. Sounds pretty diverse, right? And I bet that at least one member of this family was somehow entertaining for everyone. Now, here’s what New Dawn has given to us: MICKEY: the more calculating sister; young girl who followed her father and chose brutal life, creating entertainment for herself by making others suffer. Shows some kind of regret when you defeat her by the end of the game. LOU: the more brutal sister; young girl who followed her father and chose brutal life, creating entertainment for herself by making others suffer. Doesn’t show any regrets towards her actions.

And honestly, that’s it. I really tried to write something more for the Twins, but I couldn’t put my finger on anything. That’s all we know. And yes, I know that there is a major difference between them and the Seeds, which is the age gap - FC5 villains are simply older and have more life experience, but honestly, this doesn’t make it better. Mickey and Lou could have much more depth and be far more interesting despite them being young. Age is not a problem in such a case. I suggest to compare Mickey and Lou’s descriptions with the Faith one, since she’s just few years older. There is a difference, isn’t it? And even when playing both of these games, the Seeds just seem to be better developed than the Twins. Ubisoft did something weird, because they managed to focus on four villains and make each one of them interesting in their own way, but made just two main villains flat, and nearly identical. 4. Radio calls. This is a continuation of the point above, because it’s also something I wanted to point out and is connected to the villains of both games. The things you can hear directly from The Twins can be mostly described as “hey rabbit, you’re pissing us off a bit”. Same with the things they say at outposts and direct them to the Highwaymen - it’s always about the same thing, and there isn’t a single line that I found interesting or worth remembering (okay, my bad, the fact that Mickey and Lou seemed to be dissapointed after Nana chose to stick with the Captain rather than them was a nice touch). Meanwhile, I can recite most of the dialogue lines from the Seeds from my memory, and it’s something I could do after 2 playthroughs. They seem to be on a whole different level - and yes, it is true that to some point, the “rabbits” thing is similar to “the weak” theme of Jacob, or “the sinners” in case of John, but it didn’t seem to be that much tiring to hear about. Faith’s radio calls were interesting, because with each one of them you could hear her demeanor towards the Deputy changing - in the beginning, she was friendly, but after you destroyed Joseph’s statue, she was scared, and at the final confrontation - maliciously hostile. Jacob started his radio calls history with a threat towards you, and kind off keeps that all the time, but the closer you get to the final meeting with him, the more... Okay, how the fuck do I describe it in a non-thot way amused (I guess we can call it this way?) he sounded. He was still far from friendly, you still didn’t have any doubts he’s your enemy, but there was something in those radio calls, something that suggested he actually sees the Deputy as something more than just enemy, as a tool he crafted all by himself and he was proud of it. John welcomes you with this cheesy ad at the beginning of the game, and as time goes on, he goes even more obsessed with making you atone and confess; not to mention his absolutely fantastic reactions to stealing his house and destroying his sign. His calls are something unpredictable, because once he’s all official and charismatic, but suddenly he switches to this ominous mode that actually makes you want stop for a bit and look around you, as if he was lurking somewhere. To sum it up, this game made you feel like if you were actually developing some kind of a relationship with each one of the family member. But the radio calls from the Twins seem to be always the same, it’s all about “rabbits” and “problem solving”. Yes, it might've been better if only one sister was all about it, and the other one had something else on her mind, but making them nearly identical was a lazy move.  5. Landscapes.

Far Cry 5 was amazing, because every region was different and had something else to offer. Henbane River was full of Bliss, which created weird hallucinations, Faith dancing around you was also pretty interesting addition, and The Pilgrimage was also a nice touch (I recommend going with it, it’s a really nice experience, actually). Holland Valley was the pure definition of Montana countryside, and it felt fantastic to walk around and see those little farms, cows, windmills and so on. Whitetail Mountains were also something unique, with less open spaces, a huge amount of wildlife, combining massive mountains with deep forests. And even though the colors of this game could be simply described as beige-green, I didn’t really feel bored when wandering around. New Dawn had a cool concept, actually - makind the post-apocalyptic world colorful, instead of making it a grey wasteland was something new and I was excited. And, honestly, I really liked how it all looked like during the first 2 hours of playthrough. After that... I was just so done. The pink colour in itself wasn’t bad, really, but the way they added it everywhere made me feel sick. Those flowers were nearly everywhere and they were always the same. And while I love screenshoting landscapes in games, New Dawn didn’t really felt like something I wanted to spend time on. I like to admire the views of FC5, but not in ND. Combining the small as hell map with nearly the same flowers on your every step was a bad solution. 6. Other. To mention other things - well, I guess we could mention the music, but I feel it isn’t fair, actually. Both games did this well in some way, FC5 songs are certainly something unforgettable, and I mean both the cult ones as well as the OST. New Dawn did what it could - gave Highwaymen music that fits them. The OST, however, isn’t that good. Maybe because it just doesn’t feel unique to me, while the different type of music in each region in FC5 is, for me, unforgettable in many ways.  I won’t really talk about The Deputy >> The Judge metamorphosis, because everyone sees it in a different way. I personally don’t consider it as a bad thing, it’s quite a nice plot twist, and I like it (even though I went with a totally different path with my deputy OC).

Okay, I think it’s time to get to the main point. Why I consider New Dawn as a disaster? The Villains were devoid of any depth and felt exactly the same, the map was small as hell, the story was way too short (and these two things should be enough to make this game a DLC, not an actual installment of the franchise), the landscapes were repetitive, 90% of what was left from FC5 (locations, for example) didn’t get a chance to shine. Just imagine how much more entertaining this game could be if we would find some old recording of the Eden’s Gate songs somewhere. If there were mentions of some terryfingly huge wolves roaming around, if the members of Prosperity actually mentioned something about John Seed (which house they are living in!), if we could visit the remnants of the Faith’s Gate, hear the ominous “Only You” when approaching the Veteran’s Center and read some old notes about experiments that were happening in there, and so on. Basically, the main opportunity that got wasted was focusing on continuating FC5 legacy in a more respectful way. The things I mentioned above seem like small details, but they really could make the experience something else entirely. So, yeah. I hate New Dawn, in case someone didn’t notice. :)

[rirururu]

Why Zenitsu is my Favourite Character in Kimetsu no Yaiba

NO SPOILERS FOR THE MANGA

Yeah, it’s pretty cool that the guy can one-shot anything he sees. Let’s just get that out of the way. It’s hype. He’s like a Pikachu version of One Punch Man but with his personality in the supreme opposite end of the spectrum which consequently makes him just as funny and badass to watch. I think that’s initially what draws most people to his character on a surface level. Heck, that’s what made him so endearing when I was introduced to the series as well. But he’s evolved into so much more than that for me over time.

AKA. That in-depth analysis post that I make every year that is way too long because I want to talk about something so badly but no one else is doing it.

I remember catching up to the manga a few weeks ago and not being able to choose who my favourite character was. They’re just all so good. It was at some point that I realized while flipping the pages, to my (pun intended) shock, Zenitsu was and probably always has been the character I looked forward to seeing the most. It’s like he snuck up on me and was already clinging before I even noticed he was there. Sure the running gag where he fights while sleeping is amusing to watch. Sure the Thunder Breath is an amazing technique. He has a great design to back all of that up, not to mention that his backstory tugs at the heartstrings. But change a few words around and you could apply that reasoning to basically any character in the series.

There lies my dilemma where I couldn’t decide on a favourite of the cast. What stuck out to me and started setting Zenitsu apart from the rest was how he fought. Of course, this isn’t the only reason I like him so much. However, I feel that a lot of people misinterpret his fighting style so it seems best to use that as a starting point.

Sadly, the fact that he needs to be unconscious in order to battle and that his conscious personality is so abhorrently pathetic compared to his sleeping one isn’t new to anime and has been done countless times. Like many people, I expected the usual revelation of Zenitsu having a split personality or alter ego or “dark yandere side.” I’ve seen either it or some variation of it so many times in anime, manga, and video games. I mean, how else would anyone explain his ability to fight while sleeping? It’s the easiest way to have any of it make sense and is the route most stories like to go.

It very quickly seemed like the path his character was taking would be entertaining but ultimately not unique in any way. Seeing as most characters of his type rely on the gag / fighting style in order to remain zany and popular, he most likely wouldn’t develop much past it either. But as the series progressed and very early on (ie. where the anime is now), you come to realize that this simply isn’t the case.

To begin with, it’s apparent just by watching episode 17 that there is no crazy side of his mind at work here. When Zenitsu sleeps, he fights. When he fights, he's dreaming. He states here immediately after waking up that he had such a wonderful dream about being powerful like he’s always wanted. He had a dream where he was strong enough to defeat the demon and brave enough to make decisions. But evidently, that’s exactly what he was doing in reality. When he dreams, he’s the one controlling his own body in the outside world and making judgements on what to do in battle.

How does he do this without say, ramming into a tree about 5 seconds in? He reveals pretty early after his introduction that he’s always had amazing hearing. It was so advanced that it creeped others out and drove them away. One statement he makes in particular is that he can recognize entire conversations that are happening around him even as he’s sleeping. Now, that’s interesting. Why did the series bring that up if it wasn’t important? He can sense someone’s presence, emotions, and even intentions based on sound alone. It’s perfectly logical that, just like Tanjiro, he’s able to detect his surroundings except using his ears instead of his nose. He most likely goes one step further to project that into his dreams in order to fight without any eyesight.

In other words, there is no alter ego. It’s all him. Zenitsu’s just that good. When he sleeps, he’s culminating everything that he trained and all of his hopes and wishes towards becoming a better person who doesn’t run away into that one moment. When he sleeps, he rids himself of all of his fears and doubts so then his body can fight completely on instinct and clear-minded focus. He can do it. But his low self-esteem and fear of dying alone gets in the way. It’s only inevitable that it does. After all, he’s been told his entire life by everyone except one person about how useless he is until he actually believed it. He can’t even stomach accepting compliments on his strength.

That isn’t a normal reaction to being told that one is strong. That scene did a pretty good job of highlighting the contrast between how Zenitsu (very happily) embraces praise on being great versus how he completely rejects the idea of anyone thinking he isn’t a useless coward. It says a lot that his image of himself is so bad that his own body and mind developed this unique way of fighting and force him into losing consciousness as a defense mechanism whenever there’s a threat of death nearby.

Of course, the series makes it no secret that this “running gag” has taken a toll on Zenitsu’s mental health. He always awakens believing that everything he just did only happened in a dream, which explains why he clung to the idea of Shoichi being the powerful one so vehemently. He never gets the chance to confront his fears properly. Subsequently, his hate for his cowardly self grows even bigger each time it happens and so does his belief that he just can’t do it. And that’s what really gets to me. The sleep-fighting is not just a running gag. It’s a snowball effect. The series uses what seems like a gimmick that is so worn down in anime to the point of becoming a troupe and turns it into a young boy’s ongoing uphill battle against his own mind and hate for himself.

That’s why it’s so important that by the end of the series, Zenitsu learns how to fight without sleeping at all.

Yup, that’s right. His character seems to be heading the exact opposite direction of where I thought he’d go because of how counter-intuitive it is. For the sake of his own growth, he has to overcome and be rid of the zany gag that was what initially drew watchers to him in the first place. Eccentric traits such as this are usually a safety net for stories that aren’t confident enough in their plot or characters. It’s how authors get more sales. But Zenitsu isn’t written out to be a butt monkey badass for views. He’s written as a real person. He’s failed. He’s succeeded. Some people believe in him while most don’t, but what really matters is that he starts believing in himself.

Zenitsu as a character really speaks to me in that sense. He can only do one thing. After all these years of training, he can only perform one single attack. It’s discouraging to work so hard and only be able to achieve one goal while others can reach triple the amount with half the effort and time. It’s easy to start running away and thinking you can’t do anything right because of that.

Despite the poetry that shounen anime like to wax, that’s the reality for most of us when our lives are on the line. We complain and laugh about how annoying Zenitsu is when he imitates a whiny baby that screams in fear at everything, but the fact of the matter is that the way he acts is the most realistic given his upbringing of people looking down on him, his past filled with failures, and the effect that his continued sleep-fighting is having on his well-being. Why should he die in this war if it’s inevitable that he can’t win and there are other people much better for the job? It’s a chillingly accurate impact that living in a world where it’s so easy to die at the hands of a demon can have on someone.

However, because Zenitsu never gave up, he managed to hone that skill with the intent of at least becoming the best at that one thing. Thunder Breathing First Form is meant to be a straight one-strike attack. If driving school has taught me anything, it’s that the faster you’re going, the more the most minuscule of mistakes can spiral into gigantic deviations in movement. Yet he’s taught himself how to use Thunderclap and Flash six times in a row (hence six fold) and in six different directions / distance of his choosing in such quick succession that it looks like he's using it continuously. We even saw how his fifth step landed him perfectly on a thread so he could bounce off of it for the finishing blow.

Just imagine how much dedication and training it takes to have that kind of control. He grew up with nothing. He’s trained so hard just to be able to do one thing. Now he’s going to make his “dream” of being powerful enough to help people into a “reality” on only that and that alone. His eventual development away from relying on sleep-fighting is a representation of it. And that’s when he officially started ascending into becoming my favourite character.

[blackbatsnwitchshats]

New Opportunities

Chapter 7

Chapter Summary:

AFO/Ichidai: hey, hi, i'm karma ;)

Bakugou: *shocked Pikachu face*

______________________

The pleasant surprise on Midoriya's face when he found Ichidai waiting for him by the koi pond was incredibly humbling.

The other boy had come out of the building looking miserable, glancing his way for but a short moment before dropping his gaze to the ground again. Though, another look towards him caused Midoriya to jolt up in excitement when he realized he hadn't been stood up. To Ichidai, it wasn't unlike seeing a shelter puppy run towards him -a big ball of anxiety smothered by even greater hope.

"You're here!"

"I am," Ichidai nodded. "Though, I have to ask where your lunch is?"

"Oh! I -uh-"

Midoriya fumbled his words for a while before ultimately looking back down as his feet, almost ashamed.

Ichidai raised an eyebrow and stated, "Someone stole your lunch money."

He must have hit the nail on its head, because Midoriya sighed and his shoulders drooped like he was a wilting flower. "Yeah."

"Was it Bakugou?"

"No."

Both of them were quiet for a beat before Ichidai hummed and made room for him on the bench. "Well, then I guess I'll just have to share my lunch with you today."

"Suzuran!" Midoriya yelped, going ramrod straight and waving his hands in front of himself. "You don't have to do that! I'll be fine!"

However, his own stomach contradicted him by speaking up at that moment. It growled, loudly, and Midoriya looked down at himself in betrayal. Of course Ichidai couldn't help but chuckle, and that only made him cover his bright red face in embarrassment.

"You're right; I don't have to. I want to, though. So here," Ichidai said as he took half of his sandwich and held it out to him.

Midoriya peeked at him from between his fingers. "You're sure you're okay with sharing?"

"One-hundred percent."

"Well," He hesitated a bit longer before taking the sandwich and sitting down on the bench. "...Okay."

Midoriya took a bite and smiled. "This is good. Did you make it?"

"No," Ichidai shook his head. "My guardian did."

"Your guardian?" Midoriya asked curiously.

"He looks after me and my older brother. Our parents are no longer with us," Ichidai explained.

"Oh... I'm sorry."

Ichidai waved off his concern. "It's okay. You didn't know."

"Anyway, what about you?" he prompted as he bit into his own half of the sandwich.

"It's... uh... mostly just me and my mom. I don't have any siblings, and my dad is overseas for work."

"Must be pretty quiet at your house."

"Yeah, but we find things to do. Mom took up sewing as a hobby and I... well, I write."

Ichidai had noticed. If Midoriya wasn't doing assignments, he was writing in that separate notebook of his. He'd never gotten close enough to see what was in it though.

Now would be the perfect time to ask.

"You write? Creatively?" Ichidai tilted his head. "Is that why you're always carrying that beat up Compos book with you?"

Midoriya fidgeted his feet nervously. "Er... Yes and no. I do quirk analysis."

"Really?" Ichidai perked up not unlike a squirrel at an offering of nuts. "That's pretty neat!"

His own sincerity and exuberance almost startled him.

Midoriya himself was certainly taken aback by it.

Toning it down slightly, Ichidai asked, "May I see?"

Midoriya hesitated a bit before reaching into his backpack. "I guess, ...though -just letting you know- it can get a little... dark... sometimes."

"That's alright."

Ichidai opened the clearly beloved notebook and began reading.

Halfway through the second entry, he muttered, "You're very thorough... and you said you do it just as a hobby?"

"Uh... yeah. It's something I've been doing it since I was little. So I've kinda gotten the hang of knowing what to look for."

"This is amazing, Midoriya. You could be a professional quirk analyst."

Flipping forward a few pages, Ichidai was further impressed. The attention to detail in the other boy's observations was astounding.

"Most of your work is about heroes," he noted as he closed the notebook and handed it back. "Do you like them?"

"Yeah! Heroes are awesome!"

Goodness -the amount of glee in that answer was second only to Midoriya's joy upon finding Ichidai waiting for him.

"All Might's my favorite, but what about you? Do you like heroes?"

Ichidai just barely managed to keep a straight face at the mention of his arch enemy, shrugging in an effort to make his grimace look more neutral than disgusted. "Eh... I'm more interested in their quirks than the heroes themselves. Though, if I have to pick one, ...probably Fatgum. He has a cool quirk and doesn't seem like all that bad of a person. Everything I've seen and heard about him has been pretty positive over all."

"Fatgum, huh? I don't think I've looked into him yet. He works closely with the police, doesn't he?"

"Right. From what I understand, the way his quirk works-"

The bell for the end of lunch interrupted him.

"I guess we'll have to save this for later. After school?"

"Sure!"

________________

"You two have gotten rather friendly. You dating or something?" Bakugou jeered at them one morning.

Ichidai sneered back, "Why are you asking? Jealous?"

Rebuffing the blond had become his norm in the past few weeks. He'd thought Bakugou had been annoying before, but -now that Ichidai was friends with Midoriya- he'd gotten at least ten times worse.

Following them around. Asking too personal questions. Just generally being a nosy little bastard.

It was like Bakugou had some sort of complex involving Midoriya, and he couldn't stand not having the green haired boy and his attention all to himself.

Though, Midoriya for his part did seem to be losing some form of interest in his bully. He wouldn't answer Ichidai when he broached the subject, which made him curious, but Ichidai was more than willing to drop it in favor of more interesting topics.

Like quirks.

He and Izuku could talk about quirks for hours.

They didn't always agree on everything, like possible sources and applications, but they never felt the need to argue either. They'd yet to get bored of each other; their ideas, theories, and general flow of conversation never ran dry. There was always a new hero -a new quirk- to peak their interest.

They got along like a house on fire, and -for whatever reason Ichidai couldn't quite understand- Bakugou took offence to that.

Either way, Ichidai was having a blast rubbing it in his face.

When he wasn't making a nuisance of himself planting relatively harmless traps for Aldera's faculty failures, he was monopolizing as much of Midoriya's time as he was allowed. Partially because Ichidai knew the pathetic sharks would swarm the green-haired boy as soon as he left, but mostly because he was actually having fun with someone for the first time in goodness knew how long.

All For One couldn't remember the last time he'd genuinely enjoyed someone's company. He'd been so caught up in running his criminal empire that making any sort of personal connections just didn't happen. Not to mention the fact it just wasn't a good idea in the first place.

Now though ...now he could without worry, and he wasn't going to let some two-bit wanna-be hero brat ruin it for him.

"Nah. I just wanna know why you're wasting your time with the deku. You do know he's quirkless, right?"

In his peripheral, Ichidai could see Midoriya shift in discomfort. Probably worried he was going to drop him as a friend like a hot potato.

It made Ichidai wonder how many times it had happened, because he had no doubt it actually had.

"Yeah? And what of it?"

"So you do know; you just don't care. Why?" Bakugou huffed, "It's not like he's going to amount to anything or do anything important. He's useless."

"Useless, huh?" Ichidai raised an eyebrow, humming, "Well, ...if he's useless, then you're worthless."

Bakugou's mouth dropped along with the rest of their classmates'. Even Midoriya, standing just beside Ichidai's desk, couldn't believe the words that had just come out of his mouth. They all looked at him like he'd grown a second head.

"What did you just say?" Bakugou asked quietly as he clenched his fists.

Ichidai rolled his eyes. "You heard me."

Bakugou launched himself at Ichidai, fists flying. He yet again aimed for Ichidai's head, but missed as Ichidai lowered himself in his seat and braced his shoulders against the window sill. Glass rained down around them. Neither boy paid any attention to it though as Ichidai brought his feet up and planted them firmly on Bakugou's hips, kicking the blond off of him.

Bakugou flew back into several empty desks, their metal legs screeching over the tile floor.

He pulled himself up from the floor and snarled, glaring death at Ichidai. He tensed, preparing to tackle Ichidai again, before the classroom door slammed open to reveal their teacher and the principal.

"What on earth is happening in here?!"

Thinking quickly, Ichidai pointed to Bakugou and stood up to reveal the newly broken window next to his seat. "Bakugou broke the window trying to punch me!"

Classic.

Bakugou pointed back at Ichidai and opened his mouth, likely to deny the claim, but the arm he raised was the bloody one he'd used to punch the window. There was no getting out of trouble now. The evidence was clearly stacked against him, in plain view.

Repeatedly glancing between Bakugou and the window, the principal looked just about ready to blow his top. The anger in his voice was clear as he spoke, barely managing to keep himself from yelling. "Young man, this is absolutely unacceptable. Grab your things and meet me in my office. Now."

He then turned and marched out of the room.

Their teacher heaved a heavy sigh once the other man was gone. Looking to Bakugou, he said, "You heard him, kid. I'll call the nurse and let her know you're coming. She can escort you after you get that hand of yours looked at."

Bakugou grumbled under his breath, but nonetheless gathered his things. Shooting scalding looks Ichidai's way all the while, he stomped to the door and slammed it shut behind him.

"Alright class, fix your seats. There's still plenty of work to do. Those math problems aren't going to solve themselves."

________________

Later, during their walk home, Midoriya asked, "Suzuran, why did you do that? Earlier today..."

"Do what?"

"Call Kac- Katsuki worthless."

"Oh, that," Ichidai shrugged. "I wanted to give him a taste of his own medicine."

"He's always calling you such horrible things, and I thought, "Why not return the favor with something equally as cruel? It'd only be fair, considering everything he's done." I figured that if he wants to go around calling people awful names, he should at least be able to handle receiving the same gestures in kind. As we saw earlier though, that's obviously not the case."

Midoriya nodded, quieting for a moment. Rubbing his arm, he asked, "You really don't mind that I'm quirkless?"

Ichidai pursed his lip in thought before answering, "Yes and no. I care in terms of what it means for you, but it doesn't hold any weight in my decision to be your friend."

"Really?"

Midoriya looked at him so warily yet hopefully that Ichidai simply couldn't bring himself to do anything other than reassure him.

Bumping his shoulder against Midoriya's, he said, "Really really."

It wasn't his intention to make Midoriya cry, but that's exactly what happened.

Though, Ichidai supposed he didn't mind. Happy tears were leagues better than sad ones.