#and trying to read the manga

[erichuesart]

The sillies.

[amamamumumumu]

This has been a most worthwhile evening 🍽

[somnimagus]

out of the frying pan and into the fire and into another frying pan that's also on fire

[id in alt text]

[wardingshout]

apple season

[allcolorbut-theblack]

my last two braincells:

[katabay]

WOW this has been ROUGH in the Life Events category of things, but. slowly crawling out of that. hopefully

this was the opening scene for a something I started writing after watching the Manben inverview with Nishi Keiko and thinking back to all the classic shoujo manga I stayed up reading back in the day, like damn that's so true Urasawa Naoki

it's partially a love letter to all the greats of the genre that I read, and also to the late night teleseryses that captivated me over the years lmao. it'd be nice to find the time to tackle it properly as a comic, but I'm having fun working on it recreationally :)

✨but since it's recreational, some character info✨

the first character seen is lawrence 'law' valenciano (late 30s), the one with the glasses is cris volante (mid-later 20s). law works at a karinderya, cris is an extremely broke university student.

⭐ places I’m at! bsky / pixiv / pillowfort /cohost / cara.app / insta / tip jar!

[fuupan]

drew these for heart pirates day and uhhhh ep1115

[irl-dogboy]

THEY'RE ALL FRIENDS

[athina-blaine]

images saved under folder titled "actual 22-year-old who should have been at the club 😭"

I know there's this idea in fandom that Kabru is already in a place where he's able to easily shoulder others' burdens, or that maybe taking care of someone else would teach him how to better take of himself. I'm sure a huge part of that comes from his fairly utilitarian role in the main story (he doesn't really get the chance to be vulnerable or break down outside of maybe ch 76), but I just don't subscribe to that. If anything, I think it would be excessively easy for him to continue neglecting his own needs if it's for the sake of other people, especially for someone he cares about 👇

I think it's important that, in the end, Kabru isn't the right person to say what Mithrun needs to hear here. The only desires Kabru offers up to Mithrun are Kabru's own desires to help others with their needs; "I want you to live a life that isn't driven by revenge", "I want to help my friend by eating my fill" (as beautifully illustrated by @yuri-puppies here). Mithrun says, "I wanted to die and part of me still does", and Kabru thinks that this is an acceptable thing to feel so long as Mithrun is able to keep his promise and be useful to others. It takes Senshi offering the idea that scraps are useful no matter what that Mithrun is able to finally feel relief. Just look at the difference between,

versus

which I think is a message Mithrun needed to hear as much as Kabru does. All this to say, I hope Kabru is able to get to the point one day where he feels safe and secure enough to put his own wants and needs first, even when it helps no one but himself

[bluechanas]

..kibth..kizz...kis

[salamispots]

read a manga and went a little bonkers

[s-guacamolearts]

*dungeons so hard I end up meshiying these two*

[clearancecreedwatersurvival]

Okay serious question why are there so many people complaining about how popular labru is as a ship or that’s it’s a reach with no canon basis when the entirety of chapter 76 exists? Like??????

[ladyloveandjustice]

oh god I'm seeing all these posts in the dandadan tag about how the sex jokes/fanservice/nudity is "meaningful and deep" and even calling it a successor to klk and please. we cannot go back to 2013 we can't go through this again in year of our lord 2024.

Please can we accept we're watching a shonen with a side of raunchy sex comedy, with occasional moments done pretty poorly, and not make it this subversive empowering deep meaningful thing. I do think some of the sex stuff in DandaDan is an expression/metaphor of wrestling with sexuality as a teen and the insecurites and fears and I think that's fun to analyze. But can we not pretend the fanservice and sexy comedy ISN'T there to be funny and sexy and often absurd?

It's okay to admit you like a show with sex jokes, fanservice and occasional skeevy moments that don't sit right (like what happened in episode 1 for me tbh). It's fine! You don't have to make it some huge "it deconstructs our preoccupation with of bodies and aesthetics and showcases strength and vulnerability in our society" when we see someone in their skivvies.

Like please. it's okay. You don't have to feel bad for liking it. You don't have to twist yourself into knots. Unlike KLK, DandaDan ISN'T trying to claim it's anything other than what it is, so you don't need to do that for it. We do not need infographs about how the the fanservice is feminist and empowering like in the klk era. I refuse to go back.

People with common sense will not judge you for liking this! I personally enjoy some of the absurd comedy. I'm bleh about some things, but it's got great characters and good chemistry and great fights and I also understand it's trying to appeal to a horny teenage audience. I can also completely get those who don't want to watch it because of how Momo's near assault in ep 1 was handled, or some other fanservice thing that didn't sit right with them. Please please please accept what you're watching isn't as pure as driven snow. I can't do this again.

[haunted-xander]

Compromise

[seiwas]

sellllllll it's meeeeee. hehehehehehehehehhehe

so for ur writing exercises.... deku + light? please? pretty please?

:3c

heheh heheh hehe niku. this will be the death of me. me writing izuku for the first time 🥲 i will only do this for you </3

contains: established relationship, spoilers for the end of the manga, aged up deku but sometime in between the final outcome (he doesn't get the h*** s*** from bakugo yet), mentions of sex and scars

deku + light

izuku only sleeps with the lights off.

it isn't uncommon; many people you know can't sleep with even just a sliver of light turned on somewhere in the room. but the difference with izuku, you learn, is not that he's unable to stand the light―it's that he refuses to.

you quickly pick up on it the first few times he sleeps over.

he fidgets in bed, pretty badly, actually. the nightlight you sleep with glows a warm yellow, illuminating the side of your face and coating him in its afterglow. you chalk it up to nerves, how he pulls at his sleeves and adjusts his position constantly; he is, after all, one of the most anxious people you know.

and this relationship―it's new. heck, even you feel a little jittery with his arm wrapped around you.

the rhythmic tapping on your hip only increases pace. you don't think he realizes it, so your hand gently reaches for his, intertwining your fingers as you turn around in his arms.

he's close, nearly touching you nose-to-nose; the proximity leaves you fuzzy, a little ticklish, so you giggle, a soft "oops," as the freckles dusting his face almost glisten under the warm light.

"hi," you whisper, meeting his eyes; they stare back at you wide in surprise, "can't sleep?"

he looks almost guilty at your question, as if you’ve caught him with the one thing he's been trying to keep from you.

"just—" his voice comes out louder than intended, prompting him to chuckle nervously as he readjusts his volume, "just winding down, sorry."

you inch closer, nuzzling his nose lightly, "it's okay."

"did i wake you?" he asks, cheeks flushing pink as his eyebrows furrow in immediate concern. his expression is something caught between stifling a grin and feeling sorry.

you shake your head against the pillow you share, strands of your hair tangling with his. "just winding down," you tease, watching as his gaze turns softer, eyelids drooping heavier.

sometimes, you think, izuku holds the world in his eyes―a deep, dark green, the color of life. most times, they look at you with wonderment, bright and alive; photos from inko tell you they're the eyes of his inner child.

on nights like this one, however, they hide a depth in them weighted by what you can only assume is time, and all that has happened to him in such a short span of it.

you try your best to understand what lies beneath them, knowing full well he'll never tell you outright what truly bothers him.

"is it the light?" you bring up, some time after laying in silence.

"hm?" he clarifies.

"do you have a hard time sleeping with the nightlight?"

his eyes widen briefly once more, as if shocked that you've caught him again. these split second reactions are ones you've learned to be attentive to when it comes to izuku.

"no," he tries to lie, but you know better as you turn to your nightstand and reach for its switch, "you don't–"

"it was hurting my eyes," you quickly make up an excuse, tucking yourself closer under his chin as you cut off his attempt to deny it again.

finding out that the light was the problem was the easy part—

you'd begun to notice much earlier on that izuku was barely rested on the nights he'd spend at your place. it was only when your old nightlight broke that you began to notice him waking up much later than you did, groggily rousing from a deep sleep.

—what was hard, was figuring out why.

at first, you suspected it was his scars.

"s-sorry, it's not—" he'd warned you, right as your hands gripped the hem of his shirt the first time you were about to have sex, "—it's not nice."

you didn't care though; you still don't care, and you've made that abundantly clear to him since. you love izuku and all his parts―all the nicks and jaggedy pieces of skin that make up who he is.

when you eventually ask him about it, with a request that he be honest with you for once, he tells you that it is and it isn't―the reason why he exclusively sleeps with the lights off, that is.

it's an odd, comforting relationship he has with his body—that he is simultaneously grateful and sorry for how its become a canvas, both painted and marred to symbolize japan’s historic last stand.

you find out the real reason when you catch him staring at his hands.

he does it often, when he thinks you aren't looking—his fists bunched up in the same way he used to watch the power of one for all course through his fingertips; the same way he used to prepare them in battle.

there’s a faraway look in his eyes that lingers, you notice—a little wistful if anything.

“do you miss it?” you finally ask. he gives you the same shocked look he does every time, as if he’s been caught with a secret he’s been trying to hide.

he’s learned a fair bit about you now, too, though—lying to you is futile when you’ve perfected reading his truth. he stares at his fists again as you take a seat beside him, moving to give you space. you rest your head on his shoulder gently, waiting.

“sometimes,” he admits, but you know it’s an understatement.

“i think about the vestiges a lot. i miss them the most, i think,” he continues, clenching his fists tightly, “i always try to reach out to them, but i guess it doesn’t work that way.”

“i… i try to replicate the right conditions every night, but…” then he lets go, stretching his fingers out wide. the scars on the surface ripple through his skin, telling its own story.

you hum, acknowledging what he means. silence sits with the two of you as you take his hand in yours, slowly unfurling his fingers until his palm reveals itself to you. it’s rough to the touch, seasoned with hard work and all that he’s been through.

“is that why you prefer the dark?” you ask softly, after some time.

it's not often that you stay up later than izuku does. when you do though, you catch him shifting in bed, moving from side-to-side. you pretend you aren't awake, but you hear him mumble their names, dwindling in volume as he dozes off to sleep.

he stares at his palm for a moment before he admits quietly, "yeah." his brows furrow as if contemplating whether to say more, but he shakes his head, dark green strands swaying to the beat of his embarrassed chuckle, "nevermind, it's silly."

"it's not."

you intertwine your fingers, sandwiching his hand between yours. a slight sheen glosses over his eyes as he tilts his head up to look at you. he draws in a breath, before it spills over.

"it's..." he finds the words, and you squeeze his hand in comfort, "it's easier to believe it was all real when the lights are out, and that maybe it can happen again."