#beloved academia how i suffer for you

[lord-luci]

Absolutely all of this but also, for people who are new to reading academic texts/just started college, here's some tips that have saved my ADHD ass when it comes to the mountains of academic texts I gotta read.

- If you can manage it, do your best to get a print version (or an ebook version that you can annotate). Don't sit in front of your computer with an uneditable PDF in front of you, you'll most likely just give yourself eyestrain and/or a migraine without absorbing anything from the text. School libraries frequently have texts, or you can print them. There's probably a way to make PDFs available/annotable on kindle or whatever, but I'm technologically useless, so I don't know how.

- Once you have your editable text, annotate it. If it's a text I gotta read closely (like for a professor who will quiz on every single detail), I write down the main idea of each paragraph next to it. It doesn't need to be long, sometimes it's just one or two words that give a quick summary. If it's for an assignment where a professor is asking specific questions about the text, I'll write the number of the question next to any paragraphs/sentences that have an answer to it.

- If it's a longer text or one where I'm using it for my own research, rather than a specific assignment, I'll skim it first and just put a sticky note or highlight sections that seem particularly relevant. Then, on a second reading, I'll read those sections more closely and note down the ideas in them. I'll usually go back for a third re-read after I've gotten the main ideas, to check if they're present in the sections that I didn't pre-mark in the first readthrough (usually, they are).

- If there are words you don't understand, look them up and write their definitions in the margins (or however e-readers let you take notes, if you're doing it digitally). It'll save you from a lot of misunderstandings, especially if the reading you're doing is in a foreign language (brought to you by me hilariously misunderstanding one of my German readings this week because I mistranslated a word).

- For scientific papers, most will have a clearly defined abstract and conclusion. Read those first, get the general idea of things, and then dunk yourself into the text itself. This is especially helpful if it's a topic you know very little about.

- If your vision is skipping between paragraphs (ancient books with your tiny fonts, my beloathed), cover up paragraphs with a sheet of paper. This generally works best after you've already done an initial skim through the text and have a general idea of things, because otherwise you might get bogged down in the wording of things and miss the main idea.

- Plan time to reread stuff. Even if you think you got the idea, rereading never hurts.

- Also plan time to take a break. Some people might be able to stare at academic texts for six hours without break. I am not those people. Most people are probably not those people. If you find your eyes glazing over as you stare at the page, it's probably time to take a step away and go grab a snack or stretch your legs.

Academic texts definitely generally aren't a "oh lemme just do some light bedtime reading" sort of thing, so it's okay to feel frustrated. Learning to read them is a skill and it takes practice, but you'll manage it in time.

i genuinely have no animosity towards ppl who get upset abt not being able to read academic texts + i do think we need to expand the pathways/methods of being exposed to critical concepts so that "sit + read for 2 hours" is not the only option.

however, as someone dx with adhd + incapable of sitting still for even a minute (actually right at this moment i am writing this instead of reading the book sitting open in front of me), i do feel like a lot of ppl do not realize that not all readings are designed to be read like a novel.

as in, it's ok + normal + good to need to reread a paragraph several times, to only read part of a book, to have to research or reference words or concepts in order to grasp the reading, to skip over large chunks of text which are not relevant to your expertise, to continue reading despite not understanding a concept. this is something 'neurotypical' academics do frequently + many of these texts, especially contemporary ones, were designed with this in mind.

there are many ppl with accessibility needs that are not being met by academic texts at this time! many texts (in my humble opinion) are unnecessarily complex in order to show off or hide the fact that they have no idea what they're talking about.

i still feel like many of the kneejerk reactions on this site are based on the assumption that their experience reading academic texts should be similar to their experiences reading a nyt bestseller, rather than a process of thinking, analyzing, researching, processing, returning. some of u are telling yourself that any challenges u face while reading are a result of some internal fault u have + not an expected + precious part of the experience.

[cryptiicism]

if I had to pick four characters to explain my character Jessica to others, these would be them :

• Lilith Clawthorne : a powerful witch whose highly respected, this is who Jessica is without any other inspection made about her character.

into the latter part of Lilith's season 2 arc is to let people in despite how she sees them. this is something Jessica has to later grapple with as well .

• Light Yagami : A young man who strives to be incredibly powerful even if it means using others to get to his goals, often disregarding them as less them. Jessica wrestles with this, rising to the top and often using people to improve upon her own skills while never seeing people as anything pther than "livestock". to her, they serve a purpose and they don't have any feelings against it or otherwise. despite this, both her and light are deeply beloved as well as respected by many.

• Marcille Donato : A young woman driven by her desire for companionship, and understanding within those around her, Marcille delves deep into her studies for answers to her desires, pushed by those who love her; Jessica suffers deeply from loneliness as she doesn't have anyone who is on her level so she strives higher to find someone who'll understand.

• Jonathan Sims : A man in an industry who works hard, latened by the tower of academia to do as he's told and whatever may be asked of him. Less than a dog, but nothing close to being an equal, I sentient tool to be put to go use. He desires that companionship and yet cannot stand those who desire the same, of him- because they aren't useful in the ways he will immediately see. Likewise Jessica strives to be equal to someone, and to be useful as that is what it means to be a achieved student... right? She however despises Edwurd as he brings nothing but delay in senseless pestering her like a dog. Demanding her attention or rather requesting it, but never achieving it because he's her jon, a tool in her project to get the gears going again. What she doesn't realize is that she's the true tool here, and like Jon- he has Martin, who Edwurd is to Jessica.

Ironically most if not all of these characters are autistic coded, and are aro/ace or aroace, with 2/4 wearing glasses.

Jessica is Aroace, and so is Edwurd, he just doesn't realize it. This is Jessica btw !!

Art is by the fabulous artists @sickhoondr & @poofmalyakaet respectively !!

Anyway please talk to me about my ocs!! if you want-

[shxugx]

my theory academia

also known as “what i wrote in my notes app to explain my mha theories to my wife, who knows the bare minimum of mha lore”

* manga spoilers ahead *

SO i begin with Red Shoe TheoryTM

Red Shoe Theory is basically the idea that Izuku’s trademark red shoes are a specific brand made for quirkless people.

The doctor in episode one explains that quirkless people are biologically different than quirked people. one of the differences is they have a second toe joint in their toes. a very specific and odd thing to include, but go off i guess

then we see izuku’s ugly ass (affectionate) red shoes. he wears the same damn shoes since he was a kid to literally current day. no one else in the series has this type of shoe and he wears them with everything.

theory is basically bc of the toe joint, they have to wear specific shoes to accommodate.

now: this is kinda a dumb theory by itself. however, i lied when i said only one character in the series wears them.

there is two.

introducing the Shigaraki was Quirkless theory.

HandJob McGee is the only other character that wears these red ass shoes. but they’re not just red. they’re fucking identical to izuku’s. again, not super compelling at first.

until you take in account the UA traitor, Aoyama Yuuga.

he was quirkless. his parents, rich and stupid, asked AFO to give him a quirk. he gives him Naval Laser and now basically has his family enslaved and forces him to be the traitor.

something odd about aoyama’s quirk (besides that is fucking stupid) is that it hurts him. not in a “worked out too much” way but in a “can barely use it” way. he gets better with training but he can barely handle using it for a few seconds without being in pain and he is RELIANT on support gear, something people with quirks are taught not to rely on as it is a handicap in case their gear is destroyed. he has no choice and has to wear it because otherwise the fuckin bitch leaks n shit

there are two other characters who’s quirks hurt them like this. izuku and his liquified bones, who we also know was quirkless

and shiggy.

all the characters we have seen that have toxic quirks have a natural immunity or defense against it to protect them (IE: kacchan and fire, mina and acid etc)

however, shigaraki is literally flaking away. we also know that he was originally Tenko shimura and had black hair and black eyes. now tho, he has white hair and red eyes and his skin is so dry he scratches constantly.

his quirk is decay.

his body is slowly decaying itself as a reaction to the quirk because it’s not supposed to be there. he’s basically turning albino.

now. this i feel like is too obvious to not be canon but *shrugs*

AFO manipulated and groomed baby Tenko bc he’s a petty ass bitch

AFO forced decay onto bb tenko, causing him to accidentally kill his family, and be the one to find him after to “save him”, and it was planned every step of the way.

So this is easier just to go in order of tragic events.

Yoichi Shigaraki, first user of One for All, brother of All For One, so obviously All For One is a shigaraki.

Nana Shimura. Seventh user of one for all and All Might’s beloved mentor.

All Might, who is still alive and who AFO hates.

Nana Shimura. Also known as Tenko Shimura’s grandmother.

now.

nana is dead. bc afo fucking killed her.

all might is not dead and is proving to be afo’s biggest asshole to date.

all might continues to be heartbroken about nana’s death to current day. it’s no secret how important she was to him.

afo, an immortal petty bitch, thinks hmm how can i make all might suffer the most.

oh i know.

finds her quirkless grandson and says “hey lil boy i can give you a quirk! :D”

tenko, 4 and stupid, “omg really!! :D”

afo, *gives tenko a super fucking destructive quirk*

*sends him home*

(note: he could have also have it to him without tenko knowing it happened idk. the details are flexible but the main point it the important thing here)

tenko, fucking accidentally kills his entire family bc how was he supposed to know better.

afo, is immortal and rich so has people watching to make sure no one gets close to the boy and he swoops in to “save him”

proceeds to groom him and traumatize him by making him wear his fucking dead family’s hands on his body to constantly remind him he is a killer and evil and afo will be the only one to be kind and care about him

afo brainwashes tenko into forgetting what happened and who he used to be (through grooming, gaslighting, etc) and now he only knows himself as tomura shigaraki.

plans to make him basically the successor to afo and be what kills one for all/ all might is sick poetic fuckery of all might being killed by his mentors grandson.

(also adds a reason as to why nana is the only female user. to show that she is important to the story beyond just being a past user/mentor)

now this next theory has less of a hold bc of lack of evidence but i personally head canon it to be true.

Dad for One

basically. midoriya izuku’s dad, midoriya hisashi is actually AFO.

he left when izuku was diagnosed as quirkless which could be considered hypocritical considering he sought out tenko but i think afo is a dramatic bitch and wanted to fuck with all might but ALSO

tenko is older than izuku by at least a few years, so he would have already had that plan in motion and may have stuck around just to see if izuku developed a quirk worth stealing or not and decided he wasn’t worth it. or could have also just not been able to get away with using him bc of inko and the bakugous. or a little of all that idk. (i GUESS it’s possible that he also actually did care about izuku and didn’t want to hurt him but i meeeannnnn idk man i wasn’t there)

BUT BESIDES THAT

* horikoshi has confirmed that izuku’s dad would be revealed before the end of the series and we kinda don’t have many options left here (at least i saw something that said that at one point, could be bs but STILL his dad is one of the last mysteries of the show)

* afo’s fuckin face is destroyed so we can’t see any resemblance BUT Yoichi looks INCREDIBLY similar to izuku

* it honestly makes the story super fucking interesting?? like izuku is the son of afo, born quirkless, given the quirk one for all by all might, all might basically becomes dad might, and izuku is the one to take his father down with the help of the previous users (including his uncle yoichi) in an incredible poetic justice loose end tying satisfying ass ending

i also wanna add that the Dabi is Touya Todoroki theory being canon gives credibility that this story has a thing for the family drama plot line and why wouldn’t they use it in the main characters storyline?

in conclusion, i held my wife hostage for a solid hour and a half to explain these to her, not dissimilar to this meme;

and i wanted to share it bc i worked too hard on it to just delete the note lmfao

[anfie-in-the-box]

Fluffynightkiller Week

Notes

I am late, but not quite? This was written before the fifth day of the challenge, but I felt insecure about this piece so I didn't post it. It's My Hero Academia x UTMV crossover where Ccino works for Dream in a cafe right in front of the greatest hero school in the world, and Dream's twin Night is Ccino's significant other and also a villain Nightmare visits the cafe regularly. Only this time is special — Night is also in love with one of his villain subordinates, Killer, and it's the day Night's two lovers meet each other. Killer — or, rather, Target, specifically when he's around civilians, like Nightmare and Night, — so, Killer is interested in the coffee boy his boss is so fond of, but Ccino... Oh, would you look at that. Ccino finds himself mesmerised to the point when usual shyness leaves him.

Also, for those who are not familiar with MHA, it's a world where almost everyone has a Quirk — a special ability from making your eyes change colour to super strength to, well, those I saw fit for the characters of this piece.

。。。

Day 5: Red

Ccino is, by all means, a background character. His Quirk is nothing special — an oddly specific passive ability to measure drinkable liquids exactly like another person wants their beverage to be. That's why he works at a cafe — a normal job, as plain as he is. What's unusual about it is that the said cafe is the nearest to the UTMV — the best hero university in the world. Their guests are both teachers — real Pro Heroes — and stidents, the future of their world. It's such an honor to serve them, and Ccino is forever grateful to Dream for hiring him straight after graduation. The place has become his second home.

Ccino's first home has always been by Night's side. They grew up in the same orphanage — Dream, his brother Night, and Ccino, a couple of years younger than the twins. And if Dream was a star — no, the sun — everyone loved and praised him and his Positive Aura, a perfect Quirk for heroics, — then Night with his Negative Aura was an eclipse, leaving everyone uneasy and volatile. And then there was Ccino, suffering from depression in his young age and being blamed and gaslighted by everyone. He barely felt the effect of the Positive Aura and found sanctuary and validation in the Negative Aura. Then, when they were all teenagers, Ccino realised he's long since fallen in love with Night. And there was no way he'd stay quiet.

So he confessed. He still remembers how soft Night's features and voice got in response. Ccino was blessed to see a rare genuine smile, too. Night warned Ccino their relationship won't be easy, hinted at his plans after he leaves the orphanage, but Ccino wasn't afraid.

That was before.

Now, he's washing the tables after a busy day. When the bells chime, he smiles widely and turns around, expecting to see Night — for the first time not alone but with someone special.

They talked about it a lot during the last month. When Night admitted he also loves another person, Ccino was ready to let him go. Only it wasn't what Night wanted — he loves them both and doesn't want to lose either of them. Could Ccino do this? Share his beloved with someone else? Of course he could, the answer was. He already did. Night used every opportunity to see Ccino, but still was a busy monster. Nightmare, the most nefarious Villain in the world, and his group of misfits.

And today Ccino is meeting one of his subordinates, the one who cought not only attention but also affection of the King of Negativity. Must be someone truly special.

Not that Ccino is special himself. He's just lucky he and Night are childhood sweethearts who never grew apart...

Ccino takes a step forward to hug Night and greet his another love. Only words fail him — he lowers his gaze to the brightest part of the two, a red heart-shaped soul, glowing and swirling gently. He can't look away.

Night chuckles fondly, "Enthralling, isn't he?"

Of course he notices where Ccino's gaze is attracted.

Ccino blushes and tries to pull himself together, barely managing to squeak, "Anything to drink?"

"We both know you already know," Night teases.

"Yeah, right... I'll just, uh, go. Give me a minute."

。。。

Ccino might just have a problem. That problem is not two Villains in elegant costumes sitting near the window of the cafe, chatting — although it looks like Killer talks and Night listens. Also, yeah, he knows who Killer is, even with his soul stable and heart-shaped. He watches the news from time to time. There are lots of soul conditions and mutations in the world of Quirks, so no one pays much attention if any at all. And so Killer is unrecognisable to the public. Just get civilian clothes and control determination and hate leaking from his sockets.

Anyway. The problem is that Ccino can't tear his eye-lights away from Killer's soul. He can't help it, weak before its beauty and captivation. He's just like that with Night, and Night knows it.

Ccino really, really wants to touch Killer's red and white soul. For moment, it's all he sees — and he knows Night knows, the empath that he is.

Ccino is sure to make a fool of himself at least once.

"Here's your coffee, and your tea. I hope you like it." Ccino says awkwardly but serving the cups masterfully.

Then he sits down in front of Night and Killer. And it's so... they're both so...

It's rude to stare, but Ccino's already gone. He's warm all over, and his hands itch to touch, to caress.

Killer gives him a charming smile. Night watches them fondly and finally says, "Ccino, this is Killer. Please call him Target whenever he's in civilian clothes. Killer, this is Ccino."

"Would you look at that, the legendary coffee boy is right in front of me, and what a sight!" Killer — Target?.. — sips his coffee and grins slyly, "It's actually perfect! How about I give you something in return?"

Flustered, Ccino lowers his gaze, but mumbles, "Could I someday touch your soul?.."

Target's grin widens. "...Well, I did not expect that, but you know what? Sure, do it!"

Just like that?!

But Ccino really, really wants to... The red glow lures him closer, makes him forget all rules and limitations. He side-eyes Night — touching someone's soul is so very intimate, after all. But Night nods in Target's direction and smiles softly. So Ccino, supported by them both, lets himself give in to the magnetic desire to touch.

He does, leaning forward over the table and finally touching the heart-shaped target. It's exhilarating in an absolutely different way from Night, and yet so very pleasant. Red glow grows brighter, warming Ccino's own soul. Does Target trust him that much already?..

。。。

The three of them talk a lot, mostly Target and Ccino who need to get to know each other better. Or maybe don't need, exactly, but definitely want to.

Night hugs Ccino and kisses him goodbye, and then Target demands a kiss as well, and looking at them doesn't feel like betrayal or jealousy.

It feels like home.

。。。

Credits

Ccino © black-nyanko

Nightmare © jokublog

Killer © rahafwabas

Fluffynightkiller Week © @help-im-a-gay-fish

。。。

Notes

I'm still not satisfied with this, but hopefully someone else will be. I'd also really appreciate feedback, both from people familiar and unfamiliar with My Hero Academia.

Anyway, thanks for reading, and take care 🌻

[animebw]

Short Reflection: My Hero Academia Season 6

I try not to be too smug when talking about anime. Discussing media always works best when you keep an open mind to all perspectives, so if someone has an opinion I disagree with, I do my best to disagree politely and present my side of the argument fairly. I’m not always successful, but I always make the attempt. Today, though? I feel justified in being a bit of a smarmy jackass. So allow me to present a couple of quotes from my review of My Hero Academia’s fifth season, back when everyone was calling it the worst show in the world because it made a couple arcs 50% less bloody.

“All this is to say, don’t be surprised when My Hero Academia once again becomes the most beloved shonen on the planet heading into its final stretch. Because this show has far from run its course yet.”

“Season 5 may be a low point in its history, but the fact that its low point is still so damn high is a testament to why this show deserved to conquer the world in the first place. My Hero Academia is still good, and I’ll be happy to say “I told you so” when the final seasons blow everyone’s socks off and make them fall in love with it all over again.”

Ladies, gentlemen, and everyone in between, allow me to state, on record, that I fucking called it.

God, do you know how long I’ve been waiting to get that off my chest? I’ve suffered through years of mediocre actioners being worshipped as the new best thing ever, watched as bottom-of-the-barrel crap like Tokyo Revengers and Fire Force tricked everyone into liking them, listened to a flighty, tasteless fandom turn their backs on one of the modern era’s greatest shonen because their lizard brains couldn’t concentrate without a thousand particle effects popping off every second. But no more. No more do I have to carry the torch solo as I have for far too long. Because at long last, after two subpar seasons that still blow most of its contemporaries out of the water, the second anime I ever watched has clawed its way back to the front of the pack and forced everyone to remember why My Hero Academia remains one of anime’s greatest modern standard bearers. The king is back on top, and I look forward to apologies from everyone who ever doubted it deserved the crown.

Okay, maybe that’s a little harsh. It’s not like My Hero Academia has ever been a perfect show, despite its self-evident excellence. Even in this fantastic return to form, plenty of its old issues still carry over. There’s the stupid unnecessary title cards all the characters get every episode, like the show thinks we’re so stupid we’ll forget everyone’s name in the week’s time between episodes. There’s the comedy that never quite clicks as well as it needs to, often disrupting otherwise fantastic scenes. The cast has grown overstuffed enough to officially qualify as a problem, with some characters frustratingly underutilized and some given way too much attention (seriously, who thought Best Jeanist was interesting enough to take over the tertiary protagonist role this season?). And it has a bad habit of stopping at huge moments and pausing the action for unnecessary flashbacks that we didn’t need to understand how the characters got where they were. If you’re the kind of shonen-head who just wants to turn your brain off and enjoy a bunch of flashy fights, it’s no wonder you’d be seduced by the sakuga-laden likes of Demon Slayer and JJK, despite their far more glaring issues in the story department.

But if you’re someone who actually appreciates a good story as a backbone to all those fisticuffs? Then you already know why MHA stands head and shoulders above its competition. And after five seasons watching this pressure cooker of a society boil hotter and hotter, it’s finally time for the lid to pop.

Season 6 is an explosion, plain and simple. It’s over a hundred episodes of peeling back the layers of hero society finally coming to a head and bringing the whole damn house of cards crashing down. The season’s first half is entirely taken up by a massive heroes vs villains war, a war in which everyone is pushed past their breaking point and forced to make climactic decisions about who they are and who they want to be. Characters die, self-actualize, rise to their ideas and shatter beneath them, on all sides of the conflict and sometimes all at the same time. If the All Might vs All For One battle back in season 3 was the end of My Hero Academia’s first act, then this barn-burner brawl is the climax to its second act. It’s the destruction of the status quo, an inflection point for all its characters, and as definitive a no-going-back mic drop as you can imagine. This is the end of the world as we know it, all the mistakes and hypocrisies of heroes past finally coming home to roost as Shigaraki puts his master plan into motion and the foundations of the earth itself tremble in response.

And once the rubble has finally settled, the season’s second half turns to tackle the aftermath. What happens when the world falls apart? What happens when everything people believed in turns out to be a lie? The heroes they put their trust in failed to protect them, and many revealed themselves to be little better than the villains they were supposed to be fighting. Fear and hatred compound, safety nets fails one after the other, and this society that once seemed so perfect reveals itself for the sham it always was. And Deku and his friends are caught right in the middle of the chaos, thrust far too soon into the role of the world’s hope for the future. They always wanted to be heroes: now, it’s time for them to come to terms with what that really means.

There’s a level of moral complexity to these developments that I don’t think any of us could have predicted. My Hero Academia started out as one of the most outwardly inspirational, optimistic stories on the market, but it’s proven itself more than capable of deconstructing its own premise. Heroism in MHA isn’t a static state of affairs; it’s a question that must be asked, re-asked, and asked again through the contradictions and imperfections of the real world. What does it mean to protect? To save? Where does the responsibility lie when we fall short? Is it ever too late to fix your mistakes and start over again? A lesser show might shy away from those questions, but MHA relishes in teasing out their intricacies. And it makes this season- especially the second half- some of the most captivating drama we’ve ever gotten from this genre. Watching the world come undone, and watching the heroes struggle to face the new task before them, results in not just some of MHA’s best moments, but some of the most hard-hitting resolutions in all of shonen history. The Deku/Shigaraki parallels! The return of You Say Run! Uraraka’s climactic speech re-cementing her as one of the all-time great shonen love interests! Payoff for not one, but two of the best goddamn redemption arcs this side of Zuko (and with Shigaraki, that number may climb to 3...)! Twice! Hawks! Lady Nagant! Season 6 is a portrait of a world falling apart, but it’s also a portrait of what rises from the ashes it left behind. As Deku himself says at one point, the world is far more complex than simple black and white, but that only makes it even more important to stand up for what really matters when the chips are down.

I’ve been watching My Hero Academia for a while. I started it back when there were just two seasons out and everyone was still riding high on the hype train. I’ve experienced its highs, its lows, its brilliance and its stupidity (Mineta has done nothing pervy this season and I am SO HAPPY YOU GUYS). I’ve been with this show for a long ass time. But no matter how its perception has shifted over the years, no matter how much anime I’ve consumed since then, I keep returning to the simple fact that MHA is really goddamn good. I don’t just like it because it was one of my firsts, or because of sunk cost fallacy, or anything like that; this genuinely is one of the smartest, richest, most emotionally resonant works of shonen storytelling to ever appear in Jump’s pages. And watching so many of its threads come to a head in season 6 has only confirmed that it’s going to stand the test of time. I can’t count how many episodes left me weepy, how often I was left astonished at the courage and intelligence of Horikoshi’s writing. This isn’t one of those stories that squanders its potential along the way and leaves you indifferent by the end: this is a story that’s going to fulfil every last promise it made, pay off every last idea it set up, and bring it all together in a complete package that makes the entire show better in hindsight.

Because even in its slowest moments, this show was so much more than a mindless punch-em-up. This is a story all about the nature of heroism itself, and what it truly means to be a hero in a seemingly perfect world that actually has more cracks in its foundation than a log cabin built atop the San Andreas fault. This is a story about what happens when golden ideals run up against reality, how good intentions go awry and send an entire society down a path to ruin. This is a story about what drives villains to be villains in the first place, and why they deserve our understanding even in spite of their crimes. And it’s a story about how to rediscover and reforge hope, learning all over again what it means to make the world a better place. Unlike so many of its contemporaries, My Hero Academia actually has things to say about our modern world, ideas it wants to convey that run deeper than “just believe in yourself!” Demon Slayer can lavish as many pretty lights and spinning cameras as it wants atop its cardboard world and stick figure characters, but that momentary flash is nothing compared to this slow-burning tale of what it takes to rediscover heroism in a world that’s forgotten its true form.

Season 6 of My Hero Academia is phenomenal. It’s a lightning-bolt payoff to a story years in the making, sending it hurtling into its final act in as staggeringly brilliant fashion as I ever could have dreamed. It’s not just a new high water mark for this show, finally surpassing the bar set by season 3; it’s cemented this show’s status as one of anime’s all-time classics. When we look back on this period, it won’t be the vapid flashiness of Demon Slayer or the agonizing stupidity of Tokyo Revengers that stand the test of time. It’ll be the story of how a crybaby with green hair became the greatest hero... and how the entire world became the greatest hero right alongside him. And for that, I’m more than happy to give it a score of:

9.5/10

We’re almost at the end now. Bring it home, Horikoshi. I believe in you.

[storm-and-stress]

Oppenheimer thoughts

As a person who wasn't really interested in seeing Oppenheimer outside of the "Barbenheimer" double feature meme, I have some (mostly positive!) thoughts now that I'm on the other side:

I didn't really know where the film's thesis was going and was generally confused until the very well crafted third act. I was definitely more interested in the consequences than the production side.

Jesus Christ Christopher Nolan please put subtitles on your films! I don't love constantly playing catch up on what a person could have said 10 seconds ago.

This movie felt like a fun constant surprise about which extremely beloved and talented actor was about to pop up in each scene, and I think the film leans into this!

I did the irregular Barbie -> Oppenheimer order, and I'd really recommend it! After watching a fun examination of how difficult and damaging gender roles and gender ideals can be, and how the patriarchy also harms men, I found myself watching Oppenheimer with a feminist lens. I don't think Nolan really thought about how each female side character was treated. And watching Emily Blunt's performance becomes more interesting as you think about how she is partially villainized, but Oppenheimer never suffered consequences for cheating. This didn't really take away from all the anti-war and academia critiques Oppenheimer was also making, but I definitely wouldn't have been as aware of gender roles and masculinity if I hadn't just watched Barbie.

I'd recommend watching both! Especially to those who enjoy biopics.

[evelynpr]

As much as I want this to be true for us to further understand visions and their users, that would question other allogenes with similar backstories:

Kazuha becoming a wanderer instead of staying with his family (Midsummer Island Adventure)

Alhaitham, Dehya, and who knows how many allogenes having no family left either (Story quests, voicelines, etc.)

Faruzan being trapped for 500 years, then realizing everyone and everything she knew is gone or outdated. (Hangout)

Collei's family abandoning her, then being the only one left of those who escaped the experiments, then being incredibly distant and cautious of everyone around her before Amber (Official comic)

Ayaka's role of being, essentially, the idol of Inazuma from the Kamisato clan, has also made her incredibly lonely with almost no friends. I believe she directly says this in her Story quest.

Yelan's team dying in a mission, leading to her self isolation of brutal training (Vision story)

Furina's unbearable loneliness of 500 years for protecting the truth (Archon quest)

Ganyu being a half-breed made her feel disconnected from both humans and adepti (Story quest)

and probably more instances of willing/unwilling isolation

For further criticisms on the electro characters themselves:

Lisa being a top student didn't necessarily make her isolated? She just chose to not follow through with the academia because of the danger of knowledge and cut lifespan. You could argue this led to her leaving fellow classmates and career though.

Although Beidou left her original village, how much she cares for her crew is repeatedly emphasized as well. From what I can remember, she left that village because they saw her as a curse, then she chose to form a crew of her own. This doesn't exactly fit in with themes of "isolation" imo

You argue that Shinobu "leaving her family role" of a shrine maiden is what makes her fit into the theme, but you also state that Cyno following his birth path of bringing judgement, and Clorinde being a Champion Duelist like her family, also fits the theme of isolation. So is it opposing one's birth path, or following through with it, that makes you more "isolated"?

In addition to Shinobu, she has the Arataki Gang and chooses to stay with them. This is also directly opposing the idea of "isolation" since she could freely choose to leave for better career options, but she chooses to stay with her beloved group of rascals.

I believe that a number of allogenes suffer from some form of loneliness (whether present or past) because they are just, different, from those around them, whether it be because of birth right, solitude, contract, circumstance, or something else. I really do applaud the effort into connecting every electro character, especially since this theory connects very well with Ei. Isolating herself in the plane of euthymia, then needing to learn that people need her to change, is a powerful narrative about isolation. It would make perfect sense if other electro characters followed this theme as well.

But as I have stated, that would bring to question many other allogene's stories, and why do they not have electro visions. Additionally, the story of the electro characters themselves can be argued to be about different themes instead, and saying they are about willing/unwilling isolation seems like a stretch for some, at least to me.

If you read all that, thank you so much! I mean absolutely no hostility when presenting these arguments, I just want to contribute to the overall discussion, and don't want people to assume that this theory is perfect. Thank you for your time, and of course I'm also open to criticism!

Why Electro Visions are Given: A Theory

expert consult provided by @crows-of-buckets

ALT + (some) additional info below the cut

ALT + additional info

Electro Vision Users

given for: unwilling or willing isolation

[A chart with 2 columns and 10 rows. The first column has the names of all the playable electro characters in Genshin Impact. The second column is the reasons they are “willingly or unwillingly isolated.”]

Lisa : Being the top student in 200 years & an unwavering confidence. Despite still being renown in the Akedemiya, she chooses to live as a librarian in Mondstadt.

Razor : Raised by wolves & has trouble connecting with humans, despite his lessons with Lisa.

Fischl : Uses her vision as a translator (Oz) so she can stay in her delusion. Her facade is not the same as Furina’s because Furina was directed to act high and mighty in order to save a nation, Fischl instead chooses to live as the “Princezzen”

Keqing : Duties as Yuheng kept her from learning to connect with people. She seems to have a lot of anxiety about how exactly friends interact with each other

Beidou : Reputation in Liyue as the Uncrowned Lord of the Ocean. Most citizens of Liyue are scared of the tales that come back with her ship and are weary of her.

Yae Miko: As Guuji, she isn’t allowed to attend festivals, Ei’s last living friend. (I put this there as shorthand, what i wanted to say was “Ei’s only remaining friend from before the cataclysm)

Shinobu : Left her “perfectly planned” life as a shrine maiden to be the right-hand to a gang leader. She tends to do the background work, staying in the shadows and keeping the main team out of serious trouble.

Cyno : Position as General Mahamatra. Scholars of the Akedemiya see him as the harbinger of career death ((which is very fair))

Dori : “Lord of Sangemah Bay” most citizens don’t know that this is her. Uses mora as a replacement for human companionship & only sees people in terms of what they can do for her/how she can make mora off of them.

Clorinde : Duties as Top Champion Duelist. “Radiates coldness” during battle.

[zhonglis-wifey]

lost

you’re what i’ve been waiting for — chapter I

omgsies besties it’s chapter 1 time! i hope i have the energy to actually finish this fic bc i really have it all planned out so. let’s see how this goes!! and zhongli’s actually in this chapter bc it’s not the prologue anymore lmao. he’s such a sweetheart i’m melting

Series Masterlist + previous chapter

TW: death

Word Count: 1742

The timing of your arrival in Liyue was unfortunate. All you had to do was speak to just one more Archon and then you would’ve met them all. That was one of your final steps of your years-long process of research, then you would have enough to move on from there. So far, all of the previous Archons had been secretive about Khaenri’ah, but they were able to give you tiny bits of information if you pushed hard enough. “Beloved of the Archons,” Kusanali affectionately titled you. Sometimes you wondered if you were more of a nuisance, though.

You were prepared to repeat the same thing with Morax at this year’s Rite of Descension, but one major flaw inhibited you from doing so: Morax just died. How was it that just when you were about to get everything you needed, it slipped away from you? You wondered if it was selfish to view Morax’s death as something that negatively affected you in particular. The people of Liyue had to be suffering a lot more than some random outsider. Still, you were angry.

Morax’s funeral was on the morning of your arrival in Liyue Harbor. You were skeptical that the funeral would be of any use to you, but you took your chances. It was better to try and fail than to not try at all. You could feel the somber energy running between Liyuens, forced to remember and part with their beloved Archon. You, being from Fontaine and a student of the Sumeru Academia, were never emotionally attached to Morax, but you could still somewhat empathize. If any of your Archon friends, especially Kusanali, died, you would definitely be just as torn up inside as Liyuens were about Morax’s death.

That girl far from the crowd felt strangely familiar. You could’ve sworn Dainsleif had described someone eerily similar to her: unrecognizable clothing, blonde hair, and an allure to her that no one else had. Hm, kinda reminded you of him. Odder was the floating creature beside her. It looked like a small human, but obviously humans couldn’t just float like that. You saw no sign of a wind glider on the floating girl. The two of them clearly didn’t hail from Liyue. Maybe that was exactly what you were looking for.

You confidently approached the girl and her flying companion. Their backs faced you, but as you drew nearer, they took notice of your presence. The floating creature realized it first and tapped the girl on the shoulder. They turned to face you.

“Hey! You shouldn’t sneak up on people like that!” the floating being scolded you in a shrill voice. You wanted to laugh at the spectacle of such a small thing being so angry.

“I apologize,” you started, “I just wanted to ask you a few questions, if that’s alright.”

Gods, you sounded creepy. “My name’s [Name], by the way,” you added quickly, trying to salvage the encounter.

The floating creature eyed you up and down. Her eyes locked onto the thick notebook wedged snugly between your hip and your forearm, gears clearly turning in her head.

“Oh, are you a researcher?” she asked. You nodded. Did the human girl ever actually talk…?

“You must be from the Sumeru Academia then,” the girl finally chimed in, unknowingly answering your unspoken question.

“Yep!” you confirmed enthusiastically. “I’m collecting information on an event in Teyvat’s history. I’ve been to every country except Liyue so far, and I’ve spoken to all of the Archons except Rex Lapis too.”

You wanted to cringe at yourself again. You didn’t mean to sound self-promotional or anything like that. The more words you said, the less you trusted yourself to smoothly execute your obviously flawed plans.

“Funny,” the girl remarked. “I’m doing the same thing… I’m Lumine.” You could tell that she was debating saying more, but didn’t want to push too hard yet.

The floating being placed her tiny hands on her hips. “And Paimon is Paimon!”

“Well, Lumine, Paimon, it’s nice to meet you,” you formally greeted them. “So, now that you know who I am, mind telling me your story?”

Lumine opened her mouth to say something, but elected not to. You felt like someone was standing behind you, and Paimon confirmed your suspicions.

“Zhongli! You’re here!” she exclaimed, a bit too bright for a funeral. Lumine met your eyes sympathetically, nonverbally saying “sorry about her.” You smiled back at her: “Don’t worry about it!”

You turned to meet the person you assume was Zhongli’s gaze. You felt your breathing halt mid-inhale. Were people allowed to be that pretty?

Zhongli interjected before you could embarrass yourself any further. “Ah, Lumine, you’re here,” he greeted, glossing over Paimon’s presence (though she didn’t seem to notice or care). “Care to introduce me to your friend?”

You took the opportunity for yourself. “I’m [Name]! I’m a researcher from the Sumeru Academia. I arrived in Liyue not too long ago in hopes of speaking to Rex Lapis about a recent event in Teyvat’s history.”

Zhongli’s countenance brightened. “What event might that be?” they asked enthusiastically. You grinned subconsciously; it was rare that people outside of the Academia were interested in your work.

“The fall of Khaenri’ah,” you answered confidently, thanks to Zhongli’s positive reception. “I want to show the world the truth about it. Some people think Khaenri’ah shot first, while others believe that the Archons struck out of malice. Personally, I believe that Celestia pitted the two parties against one another and they’re truly at fault. It’s been a project of mine for a long time. I’ve been to every country in Teyvat and interviewed every Archon besides Rex Lapis.” Your tone shifted, “I was pretty devastated when I heard the news. I can’t help but fear that Celestia has something to do with their death… I just hope he has a peaceful afterlife.”

Zhongli gazed at you adoringly, as if he agreed with everything you just said.

Curious, Paimon tilted her head. “[Name], I didn’t expect an outsider to care so much about Rex Lapis.”

“Of course I care. I care about all of the Archons, especially after everything they’ve been through,” you said solemnly.

“With that attitude, I take it you’re not from Sumeru,” Zhongli assumed.

You nodded. “Fontaine, but I don’t consider the Hydro Archon to be my Archon. I see all of the Archons as my own; we all share Teyvat, right? But I’ve heard it’s different around here. Were you a believer in Rex Lapis?”

Zhongli paused. You wondered if it was a sensitive topic… Of course it was. They just died.

“Yes, although not nearly as devoted as others may be,” Zhongli finally settled on an answer.

“That’s such a weird thing for you to say!” Paimon giggled. “You are Rex L—”

“Never mind her,” Lumine stopped Paimon, but it was far too late. You weren’t stupid. You knew exactly what she was going to say. Paimon silently cursed herself for her ignorance.

“[Name], would it be alright if Paimon and I talked to Zhongli alone for a minute?” Lumine requested.

Normally, you would interpret such comments as signs that people no longer wanted you around, but again, you weren’t stupid. This was a wildly unique situation, therefore unnavigable and unpredictable. You took no offense to Lumine’s request, especially seeing how polite she and her floating companion had already been to you.

“Oh, sure!” you said. “I’ll be heading over to Wangshu Inn if you need to find me later.”

-

As you were approaching the gates of Liyue Harbor and beginning the long trek up Mt. Tianheng, a familiar voice stopped you.

“[Name],” Zhongli — Rex Lapis? Morax? — called, “may I accompany you to Wangshu Inn? I’d like to continue speaking with you.”

You felt your face warm up. You often met with Archons alone, but most of the time, you felt bothersome and unwanted except for with Kusanali. You didn’t need confirmation from Zhongli to tell you that they were Morax. Paimon’s little comment had you thinking about it since she said something. His appearance, behavior, speech, values… It all added up to you.

“I would love that,” you accepted. “What do you want to talk about?”

Zhongli caught up with you quickly, the two of you now ascending the mountain together. “You heard what Paimon said earlier,” he stated simply.

“Yeah, I assumed that was what it was,” you half-laughed in an attempt to lighten the topic. “So, you’re Rex Lapis, huh?”

Zhongli turned to glance at the shrinking silhouette of Liyue Harbor, before confirming, “Now that the city is out of earshot, yes, I am. Thank you for not panicking earlier.”

“Don’t mention it. You’ve already been through enough,” you sympathized. “But why’d you fake your death? Does it have anything to do with Khaenri’ah?”

“I have a feeling you already know,” Zhongli implied that your suspicions were corrected. “After millennia of pressure, I could no longer bear the weight. I was… tired.”

“Well, I’m glad you’re happier now, but…”

“But that doesn’t help you, does it?” Zhongli teased.

You smirked in embarrassment. “I was trying to find a nicer way to say it…”

Zhongli chuckled. “It’s alright. To everyone else, Rex Lapis may be dead, but I am still alive to you. I’m willing to answer any questions you may have,” they reassured you.

You felt breathless again. “R-Really?! Thank you, Rex Lapis!”

“Just Zhongli is fine,” he smiled at you. “To tell the truth, I can’t say much about Khaenri’ah and Celestia directly. But, I am under no obligation to keep information of all kinds from you. If I can push you in the right direction, I will.”

It felt like the weight of the world had finally been lifted off your shoulders. You felt a little guilty putting Zhongli in such a pressured situation right after his supposed departure from stress, but who were you to deny the assistance from an Archon? The only thing that didn’t add up was why. Why, if after all those years of high expectations and upsetting situations, would Morax put himself through that again?

“Why would you do all that for me?”

You almost tripped on a loose brick near the top of the mountain, but Zhongli caught you before you could fall. You rested comfortably, safely in their arms as they peered down at you, infatuation brewing behind their honeyed eyes.

“I simply believe in your cause.”

[belliesandburps]

Our Favorites Handling Bellyaches

I imagine that a lot of our favorites tend to deal with indigestion in very different ways, which can lead to amusing and appealing scenarios.  And since folks tend to enjoy these posts most, figured I’d whip up a new one for y’all.  :P

And for the sake of not going insane, I’ll keep it to one character per series:

Leona Kingscholar (Twisted Wonderland):  Leona has a really strong stomach and canonically stuffs himself constantly.  A full belly tends to just make him really sleepy.  But every once in a while, given his love of exotic, expensive foods, Leona eats something that doesn’t agree with his stomach.  This usually kills his ravenous appetite and leaves his usually concave, slightly toned stomach looking a little puffed out and gurgling deeply.  When this happens, Leona will hiss to himself with a mildly strained and annoyed look on his face, really firmly rubbing his belly with one hand; firm enough that he’s riding his shirt up and exposing his tanned middle while his fingers really dig into it to settle it down, hissing about his indigestion being a huge pain in his ass, as always.  He’ll give a few guttural burps, trying to ease as much pressure in his belly as he can, but they tend to get more rumbly and wet-sounding if he’s feeling mildly nauseous, which don’t bring him any relief.  And if he’s letting a few out in a row, Leona may end up burping so hard that his throat hitches, and he immediately clamps his mouth shut, as if he’s about to throw up.  It eventually passes, but that’s the telltale sign that he’s gotta ease up.  Fortunately, if the Prefect catches him pretending his gut isn’t bothering him, they’ll start rubbing his burbling belly which never fails to calm it down.  He’ll groan about how Herbivores are good for something besides eating, and give a familiar ‘rumble’ in his chest that, if the Prefect ever uttered a word to anyone else about...would be the death of them.  Fortunately, if they relax Leona enough, he’ll be too busy catching a much needed catnap to maim them.  On the veeeeery rare instance where Leona DOES eat too much, his belly will be spiling out to the point where it’s completely hiking up his shirt and forcing him to spread his thighs apart because that’s how much food it will take to actually give Leona a bellyache.  In that instance, Leona will be groaning miserably and punctuating his fullness by burping so forcefully that the ground itself feels like it quivers.  When he’s that full and feeling his belly churning so hard it hurts, Leona will groggily call out to whoever he can, be it the Prefect or Ruggie, whoever gets to him fastest.  Then he’ll demand they rub his belly or he’ll swallow them whole the first chance he gets.  Ruggie tends to get cheeky and when he does, Leona shuts that shit down by grabbing him by the throat and burping enormously in Ruggie’s face, leaving Ruggie coughing while Leona growls that he can still make room for dessert.

Katsuki Bakugou (My Hero Academia):  Bakugou canonically loves extra spicy food, downs a lot of soda and tends to eat very ravenously.  He’s smart enough to know his limits, but he’s a stubborn lil timebomb sometimes, and will always eat past his limits to spite anyone who ever said he couldn’t.  And that usually leaves him groaning miserably while his bulging, churning belly groans intensely from being so abused.  When he’s overstuffed and suffering indigestion, Bakugou will slump back in his seat miserably, tug his tanktop up and firmly run his hands up and down his bloated middle, hoping to ease the cramps in his stomach lining.  While rubbing, Bakugou will press down on his belly and work up some really deep, throaty belches.  These are really thick, hefty sounding burps that give him a sliver of relief, until he eventually slaps his belly as hard as he can and burps so loudly that you’d swear there was an earthquake.  And THOSE monsters always leave his toes curling and his head lulled back with a loud, relieved moan and a satisfied pat to his taut, rounded belly.  If he ate something that didn’t agree with him, then like Leona, Bakugou’s abs thin out and get very mildly bloated and feel like they’re vibrating with how hard his belly churns.  Bakugou gets even pissier than usual, snapping at people to fuck off, but groaning miserably the whole while.  He’ll knead into his gut firmly, always tugging his shirt up and exposing his bare belly while he tries to circulate the gas up with his firm touch.  Bakugou always tries to burp out the nausea, desperate to work up the biggest belch he can to bring some desperately needed relief.  He’ll slap his exposed belly repeatedly until the gas comes out forcefully, or gulp down air to belch on command, which he can do loud enough to give some relief.  But on rare occasions, he’s burped too hard and ended up vomiting profusely instead.  He always gets really angry if that happens and threatens to explode the living shit out of anyone who looks down on him for throwing up.

William James Moriarty (Moriarty the Patriot):  William has a pretty strong stomach, because everything about him is measured and disciplined.  And he has nerves of absolute steel, which means anxiety never becomes a factor.  However, William is no stranger to vices.  He’s quite partial to sweets and though he isn’t a heavy drinker the way Sebastian is, anytime he and Sherlock go out to the pub, Liam can’t help but get competitive with his soulmate.  Or he eats something exotic that simply doesn’t agree with him.  If he drinks too much, William actually ends up getting the hiccups.  One of the only times Sherlock has ever seen his beloved Liam blush was when a loud, high-pitched *HIC!!!* erupted from the young mathematicians mouth, leaving him covering his lips with slightly widened eyes.  After that, William tries to keep his hiccuping stifled with his mouth closed.  This causes his stomach to jerk around a lot, which doesn’t sit well for the poor red-eyed devil, especially if he’s got a belly full of beer, sloshing around inside the organ heavily.  That can lead to some hiccups turning into deep “hiccurrrrps” instead, which rumble in his mouth audibly.  Anytime he muffles a belch in his mouth brought on by all the spasms, William will excuse himself under his breath, and try to hold said breath so the hiccup-fits pass, subtly massaging his stomach or throat if he’s hiccuping too much.  If he just ate something that didn’t agree with him, William’s mask-like face won’t give much away.  He’ll still appear blank, even smiling at you as needed.  But if you look carefully, you’ll see beads of sweat forming from how badly his stomach is aching.  The gurgles it gives aren’t loud, but they’re forceful.  He’ll carry on like nothing’s wrong, and when no one is looking, subtly use his fingertips to knead circles into his belly to try and settle it down.  Or he’ll turn to some of Louis’ much-needed tea to try and settle his gut.  If Louis hears Brother William comment on his stomach giving him grief, he’ll take it upon himself to rub William’s belly to make it feel better (not in "that” way because...hell-fuck-no).  If SHERLOCK hears William comment on a bit of indigestion, he’ll have more fun with it, unbuttoning Liam’s shirt and exposing his lean stomach as they sit down together in private with Sherlock rubbing Liam’s belly sensually and occasionally resting his ear against William’s warm stomach, listening to it gurgle and making some analytical comments on the sounds and what it says about Liam.  Sherlock is surprisingly delicate when rubbing Liam’s belly, but he’s got a cheeky side, so he’ll occasionally knead a little harder and get William muffling a much deeper belch so he can tease him.  William will get back at him by smiling and very gently asserting that Sherlock must have some kind of fetish, getting him sputtering, and William back in control as always.  :P

Natsu Dragneel (Fairy Tail):  Of all the characters on this list, Natsu’s the one we’ve canonically seen suffering from bellyaches the most.  He gets them from motion sickness, and can get them from eating way too much.  If he’s feeling nauseous because he’s on a train or a caravan, his abs puff out slightly, but of the bunch, Natsu is the most overt and crippled by his aching belly.  Whereas Leona is annoyed, William is subtle and Bakugou is really gassy, Natsu is groaning miserably, green in the gills, and puffing out his cheeks like he’s on the verge of vomiting at any moment.  He’ll whine and whimper pitifully, begging Lucy for belly rubs, and she’ll always give it to him, unable to say no...aaaaaaaand not wanting to see him puke his guts out.  XD  He’ll rest his spiky head on Lucy’s shoulder, huffing breathlessly while she very carefully navigates his abs with her fingertips, kneading and caressing that rock-hard belly while he groans, both in pain AND in pleasure.  But from time to time, he gets a really bad stomachache from just eating WAY too much.  In doing so, he’s sporting a huge, jiggling gut which sloshes heavily with every step he takes, since the fire in his belly works down his meals way faster than an average person.  He’ll announce how overstuffed he is with a giant belch, and a miserable groan.  Like the first instance, Natsu will be whining at Lucy to rub his belly, but it’s punctuated by his glutted belly churning noisily and Natsu occasionally interrupting himself with an incredibly deep and throaty burp.  Lucy has taken to rubbing Natsu’s belly outside of her apartment when it’s REALLY noisy, because that gurgling tends to mean there’s a lot of gas festering inside, and what she’s taken to doing is pressing against Natsu’s belly until he unleashes a HUGE, fiery belch...and she’ll keep pressing into Natsu’s belly, making him burp and again as the plume of fire grows weaker each time, until eventually, he’s just burping up smoke.  That tends to give Natsu some MUCH needed relief, which leaves him more docile as he slumps back and eventually dozes off.  But Luce is NOT letting that fiery ditz burn her roof down again...

Killer Croc (Batman):  Croc‘s canonically a huge glutton and canonically very prone to nausea. He doesn’t do well with heights at all, and on multiple occasions, has eaten things which don’t agree with his scaly gut one iota.  If it’s a height thing, then unfortunately, Croc’s inevitably gonna puke.  There hasn’t been a single instance where Croc complains about not feeling so hot in the comics where he DIDN’T throw up.  In the comics, he tends to burp wetly a few times first, but that eventually leads to him throwing up violently, and a few times in a row...which Harley certainly has a field day with.  If he ate something that isn’t sitting right, Croc will let out a really throaty burp and cover his mouth after, worried that he’s on the verge of puking because he can taste whatever he just ate on his burp, or complains that something came up with that one.  In these instances, if someone rubs Croc’s belly, they can settle it down and keep him from spewing.  Whenever Croc’s got something not sitting right, it’s usually not the only thing he’s eaten, meaning his gut is probably pretty bloated. I love to imagine Croc with a paunchy, doughy belly (thanks to a certain @horriblehooter) but his scaly stomach will still look visibly distended, and be pushing his pants down a little.  So when someone rubs Croc’s belly, their fingers will sink into his bellyfat a little while they run their hands up and down that scaly gut and knead into it.  This will get Croc groaning pleasurably, giving a rumble in his chest not unlike Leona’s, just way more beastly in nature.  The rubbing will occasionally work up a beefy belch, and if that person really presses into Croc’s belly, he’ll let loose a HUGE burp that gets the ground itself almost rattling.  But those will give Croc some MUCH needed relief...aaaaaand more than likely cause him to belch up the remnants of his last meal, usually their bones...

Gilbert Nightray (Pandora Hearts):  Gil’s definitely the sort to suffer from indigestion the most.   He gets the most worked up out of anyone within Pandora, aaaand he’s kind of the whiniest (one of many reasons why I love this unwitting cinnamon bun).  Usually, it’s because he’s eaten too much, drank too much, or because he’s just too worked up to the point where he’s given himself a stomachache.  We saw in that fluff episode, Gilbert gets the hiccups pretty frequently when he’s drunk, and if he drank too much, poor Gil’s gonna be a hiccuping mess which is eventually gonna lead to him crawling on the ground, cradling his stomach and hiccuping / whimpering pitifully, before he starts crying and whining that he’s a huge lightweight...which he is.  If he ate too much, Gil’s stomach doesn’t get nearly as big as anyone else on this list.  He’s the sort who, at his worst, gets a really tight and taut bloat that presses his belly out and feels really heavy for him.  That leaves him wincing in pain and sweating bullets as Gil tries to massaging his aching belly, and insisting he doesn’t need any help.  But Oz being Oz, he’ll immediately plant his hands on Gil’s belly and start rubbing, which will leave Gil blushing furiously, and looking away to try and mask how good it feels.  But because Oz is also something of a troll, he’ll wait until Gil is in the middle of saying something then press on his belly so Gil ends up accidentally burping mid-conversation, or even accidentally burping part of his sentence out, which always leaves him mortified while Alice scoffs and says she could top those in her sleep.  If he’s got an anxiety-induced stomachache, Gil occasionally tries smoking to calm his nerves, but with his gut giving him grief, that tends to make it worse, and leaves him coughing up a bunch of smoke comically.  On occasion, Oz still rubs Gil’s stomach to try and settle it and offering words that will ease Gil’s anxieties.  This will always soften Gil up and leave him trying his best not to get sappy with his young master and best friend-o.  :P

Cloud Strife (FFVII Remake):  Cloud’s canonically got a weak stomach, especially when it comes to motion sickness.  Him riding Chocobos will leave him cradling his stomach and lurching miserably.  And in the process of getting nauseous, Cloud will get really wet burps that gurgle up his throat so hard he covers his mouth and lurches like he’s trying so desperately hard not to throw up on the spot.  He’s like Natsu, in that he’s very weak to indigestion, groaning and burping too much to even really talk at all, mumbling that his stomach hurts really badly.  Someone rubbing his back or rubbing his belly will settle him down, but only if the ride is over.  If he’s already nauseous and still has more of a trip to go, he either needs a really long break, or he’s gonna eventually throw up.  Ironically, he can pack it away like a champ, but is still prone to eating too much from time to time as well.  In those instances, someone settling up close and leaning against him to rub his belly will make all the difference in the world.  Because Cloud is your stereotypical loner, but he’s also quite starved for physical affection and contact.  Rubbing his belly will circulate gas up, but Cloud will turn his head and muffle any burps he feels rumbling up his throat, unless he REALLY needs to get it out, in which case...brace yourself.  ;)

Link (LoZ: Breath of the Wild):  Link‘s now a canonical glutton and I love that.  He’s also canonically prone to getting some serious indigestion brought on by experimental cooking gone horribly wrong.  Link will eat freakin’ ANYTHING now, and I love it.  I freakin’ LOVE it.  But that also means he eats things that are just awful.  And when he does, Link is a miserable mess, slumped over, groaning and burping while cradling his aching belly, which is pooching out beneath his tunic because the glutton of time knew what he was eating was awful...and still ate ALL of it.  Some potions will help settle Link’s stomach in instances like that.  Or he’ll ride it out and let a warm campfire bake near his belly to settle it.  Zelda, often times, will delicately slip her hand underneath Link’s tunic and shirt and start rubbing his belly from beneath the tunic to calm it more directly.  And whenever he gets a belly rub, Link has the most adorably docile smile on his face as he hums and leans in to Zelda’s touch.

If there are any other characters you’d like to see covered, hit up the ask box, folks!  :)

[dilucslittleangel]

𝐀 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐈𝐥 𝐃𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐞

Hello!! Usually I wanted to write this same thing with Scaramouche until unfortunately his canon past came out and I had to delete the whole thing- so now, while Dottore will sure take some time to appear in the game, I'm taking my chance to write how I think his past maybe looked like.

Some sentences towards the end have been taken off his artifact!

Word count: 1584

I'd like to say this may or may not fit into canon!! (however I wouldn't mind if this became canon)

So. Where to we begin?

I like to think Dottore had a golden child syndrome from a young age.

Most parents want to see their children thrive and flourish. In fact, the desire to see your child succeed is a normal desire of parenting. Moreover, even good parents sometimes have unrealistic expectations for their children.

But good child syndrome can happen when a child consistently reinforces their parent’s desires for them. These children don’t just want to satisfy their parents- they feel obligated and responsible for doing so. It becomes a significant part of their identity, meaning it affects their overall development. Either one or two of the parent role, are naracisstic.

A healthy child usually wants to succeed and make their parents proud. Golden children take it up a few notches. They may present as anxious children early in life. Similarly, they experience immense anxiety and guilt when they fail to meet certain expectations.

Despite how a golden child syndrome usually develops in a child, it was a little different in this case.

Dottore's father did not give him lots of attention at all. Just like the insane, crazy doctor / scientist he is himself now, so was his father. His father was a mad man, a man who's experiments are more important to him than his own family.

The young boy often watched his father, watching experiments a young boy like him should not see. All his father's attention went to the experiments, did he have to do the same?

The young lad did various of things, but they all were helpless. Nothing made his father even look at him, heck not even at the dinner table they talked. However he didn't want to stop trying. He had to keep on going, so he thought.

His mother? Dottore was just 7 years old when his mother started to feel worse and worse everyday. So worse even she had no other choice but to rest in bed, having a doctor visit every week as her husband was no doctor, just a scientist who couldn't care less. Why did they even marry?

Dottore brought his mother meals every day - at least whenever a helpful aunt came over. Dottore pretty much looked up to the doctor that came over every week. Did he also become so clever and brilliant to maybe help his mother? He sure thought so.

Day and night the young boy spend hours of looking into medical books, learning anything he possibly could. Often would he fall asleep on the ground, all exhausted from studying. He wanted to help his mother.

Besides studying medical stuff and trying to do anything that would make his father give any attention, he'd also spend other day and nights to get the best of grades, always did he bring good ones home. Never would you see anything below 95 points. Dottore didn't even think about having friends, they only were in his way and annoying. He had no time for friends, he only had himself.

Everytime he brought good grades home, he would bring the paper to his mother. She was more than proud of him. „One day you'll be such a handsome man, helping out so many people.. You make your mother really proud..”the sweet voice spoke. He couldn't let his mothers expactions down now could he?

More and more years have passed. Years of studying, years of writing good grades, years of wanting his father to also be proud of him. Dottore was under a pressure of making his parents be nothing, he didn't want to be a good-for-nothing, - a pressure he put himself under. He just wanted to mean something to both of his parents. He wanted to be worth living. Something cracked in the mind of his.

One day, the boy came home in the cold times of the years but he had great news, he scored the best once more in a big test, wanting to share the great news to his mother. He hadn't seen his mother since yesterday, he was happy to see his mother again. „Mother! Mother! Look!”he said proudly as he ran upstairs, he didn't even put his backpack down. „..Mother?”he asked as he entered the room. He walked over to the bed and looked at his mother. Her eyes were closed, chest not rising nor sleeping. „...?” he gently shook his mother, having his hand on the mother's arm, he felt the coldness. The heater was on, how could she get so cold? It got him worried.

„Mother??”he asked loudly, keeping on shaking her till he heard it knock on the door. He put his test paper on the bed and walked downstairs. He opened the door, looking at who was knocking. It was the doctor, wanting to check on the mother as always. „Uhm Doctor.. I don't think mother is feeling well.... She's quiet and so cold..” he spoke. The doctor looked at him. „..?..”the doctor quickly walked upstairs, of course did the boy walk after him. Dottore stood at the door frame, watching the man.

The doctor stood there silently for a few seconds, shrugging a bit together as he suddenly left the room, walking downstairs. „Where's your father kid??” he asked. „I..don't know. He was suddenly gone one day 2 years ago or so..”he answered. „..what?? Then where's your aunt, let me call her, boy.”

Dottore didn't quite understand what was going on but he knew nothing good happen. He looked back at his mother. He walked up to her, climbing onto the bed and hugging his beloved mother. He brushed away the long dark blue hair. Silently, he sank his head on the mothers chest, closing those pure red eyes. He widened his eyes a little as he heard no heartbeat. „...Mother..”. What a shame, he was just supposed to turn 14 in a few days.

Many many more years have passed. While he grew up along his aunt, Dottore had not given up what he did before. Now he had to make his aunt all proud, now that he's the oh so poor failure that couldn't save his mother hm? At least he thought that way, again.

Now being proud 20 years, living on his own in a old lab, doing various of experiments no one would like to recall. He'd just become the madman his father once was. The word "failure" does not exist for him. He cannot be a failure once more, after all.. He's such a big genius. How could a hardworking child with a great smile go to a madman with a short temper who's plans cannot go wrong?

So judgemental the god of his homeland Fontaine, so the people. Fontaine's people were disgusted of the man, afraid of him, they wanted him gone.

Chased away with pitchforks, clubs and angry words, he took fled to the all famous Sumeru Academia where he continued his crazy studies and experiments. He had so many logical theories, yet no one wanted to hear them. One would not even like to look at him. He truly was sick of everyone, of everything.

Years later again, once more the man took fled. Next day awoken, the social reject's legs have given up. Falling into the sand, with a little lake aside, he took a look at his reflection. Half of his face had gotten burn scars, had the man's charm left his side too? Hand covering half the man's face, he remembered it all.

A night of a harmless experiment with potions and fire had kept the man awake. Yet, the man had been tired. Sitting at the table, where he rest his head on his palm, the man closed his eyes. Dottore silently listened to the liquid heating up under the hottest flames. Maybe him closing his eyes was a terrible mistake which he soon got to suffer for.

The liquid had been heated up too much, the man should've turned off the fire by now but he soon was about to reach the beautiful dream realm. Glass exploding and hot liquid splashing against half his face awoke the man. Quickly the man stood up and pressed the towel against his face, sharp breaths escaping, silent cries filling the room, free hand turning off the fire.

How foolish of him, hm?

The man shook his head and closed his eyes. A grip on his shoulder made the man turn around. „..Fatui?”

"Merely an enhanced human? If your great nation can furnish me with sufficient resources and ample time, I could even manufacture that which you would call a god. What say you?"

True indeed. First of the fatui has tracked him down. In the desert that shone bright like liquid gold, he inquired of the Snezhnayan diplomat:

"Will you treat me like the Academia did? Will you call me a monster, a madman?"

"Or will you treat me as my hometown did, and chase me away with pitchforks and clubs...?"

...

"Good. Then, we are now in partnership."

"As for the matter of your title — what do you say to this..."

Taken completely by surprise by the sheer irony of the title he was given, the young man burst into hysterical laughter.

If you'd know ask the man about his theories and experiments, shall you see a sparkle of excitement...

...

(Drawing of Dottore in the age of four. From right to left -> "Daddy" "That's me!" "Mommy")

[ao3feed-bakusquad]

Who Let You Leave Me?

Who Let You Leave Me? by TheSovereign

Being a pro hero is never a safe job. When Bakugou's beloved husband, Kirishima, gets wounded in the heat of battle, the strong soul must figure out how to live without his rock by his side.

Words: 3134, Chapters: 2/2, Language: English

Fandoms: 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: M/M

Characters: Bakugou Katsuki, Kirishima Eijirou, Kaminari Denki

Relationships: Bakugou Katsuki/Kirishima Eijirou, Bakugou Katsuki & Kaminari Denki

Additional Tags: kiribaku, Alternate Universe - Future, married au, Whump, Angst, Hospitals, They're husbands your honor, I Made Myself Cry, Author enjoys your suffering, Blood and Injury, Injury, Major Character Injury, Non-Graphic Violence, they have a dog, otp, rated t for cursing

Read Here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/44395531

[listentotheshityousay]

Rules: Post the names of all the files in your WIP folder, regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous. Let people send you an ask with the title that most intrigues them and then post a little snippet of it or tell them something about it! and then tag as many people as you have WIPs.

I saw this on my dash, courtesy of @theinternationalacestation, so I figured I’d give it a shot! I have way more wips and ideas than below but I limited myself to 5 per fandom at most. feel free to send me an ask about any of these:

Be More Chill

chloe pregnancy fic

industrial espionage au

jenna siren au fic

postcanon fic

the baby fic

Leverage

tog au

the stupidest fake marriage au

honeytrap

recruitment week

eliot you fucking asshole

Boku no Hero Academia

sunshine blinds you if you stare

asui winter fic

tokoyami steals AFO

shinso amnesia fic

suffering too terrible to name

Star Wars

right on the outside (waiting to be found)

As per my usual rule, I don’t tag other people...but I’m tagging my beloved friend zak @actualbird because he needs to be exposed. anybody else who sees this should also feel free to try this out!

[sepublic]

Willow’s Unwanted Fan

While I don’t exactly think the two would be healthy unless after plenty of development... I am imagining Willow VERY hesitantly giving Boscha a chance as just an acquaintance, and... maybe Boscha makes an offhand remark or feels some frustration at Willow, who has it so easy in becoming popular once she applies herself because of how innately talented she is, how lucky she is- And meanwhile Boscha had to work so hard for fame.

Of course, Boscha doesn’t realize what this says about how toxic the coven system is, and how unfair it is because some people ARE blessed better than others; And the idea that people who are less well-off than others only have a lack of effort on their part to blame, is a faulty assumption that she defaults to, to justify cruelty and superiority. In the end, there’s a lot more to success than just hard work, there are plenty of factors that you just can’t control, so maybe a lack of success by others isn’t something you can fault them for...

Maybe Boscha accuses Willow of being ungrateful, of taking for granted the kind of power she has as a popular witch at school, citing some examples -such as herself- of how other kids really struggle to achieve this sort of fame... And Willow needs to recognize that she has a privilege, a luxury that she really needs to take advantage of and make the most of; She’s got a lot of potential, and Boscha just wants to help Willow achieve that!

Kind of like a parallel to how some kids feel pressured by parents and teachers to pursue major accomplishments in academia because of their potential, when really they’re content with the humble goal they normally desire... Perhaps Boscha will try to vicariously live out her lost power, or at least a talent and level of achievement she never had/will have, through Willow- Maybe repeating what her mother tries to do with her, even! And this’d be a particularly horrifying revelation to Boscha, who doesn’t seem to treat her mother with much respect and maybe even sees her as someone to avoid being like...

In addition, maybe Boscha is trying to replace Amity as a friend by having Willow as the powerful witch that Boscha looks up to and emulates... Though in this scenario, Boscha is almost consciously trying to mold Willow into that specific image of what she wants her role model to be, whereas with Amity she was mostly just projecting, and not recognizing Amity’s actual personality. I could see Boscha trying to get petty revenge against Amity, by making Willow so much more popular and cooler than she had ever been, especially since Willow is apparently more talented than the Blight girl,

So just as her mother uses Boscha’s achievement to show up Odalia and her kid, Boscha uses Willow to show up Amity by basically bragging about how her new friend is so much better; How Boscha is GLAD Amity left her, so the Blight girl is no longer holding her down, and Boscha can actually hang out with people who deserve it... And similarly, Amity is missing out on so much potential that Boscha could’ve supported her in reaching (just as Amity left Grudgby), and it’s all her loss!

Boscha finds an unusual resignation in not being the best, so she settles for latching onto the actual best, and making the most of them to spite those she feels ‘didn’t appreciate her enough’. Boscha is basically trying to convert Willow to be more like her, so she can actually live with Willow being better than her, and thus validate her own beliefs in a very roundabout way, by having the ‘best’ (AKA Willow) agree with them!

She can have Willow validate Boscha’s own choices and values in life, by making Willow reach the same ones... And so Boscha can have a role model who she looks up to, but also a friend who basically tells her that what she’s doing is right, and that Boscha isn’t doing anything wrong! Boscha doesn’t want to consider or self-reflect, she just wants someone to look up to, by providing a flattering world-view that isn’t challenging and only confirms what Boscha already believes in.

Regardless, Willow senses some toxicity brewing and she nopes out of there entirely, and/or completely shuts down Boscha’s train of thought. I think Boscha and Willow could have a very interesting dynamic later down the line, especially in regards to how Willow is possibly becoming more popular than Boscha, and having her greater magical strength acknowledged, particularly begrudgingly by Boscha herself... Although I hesitate to say that there’d be an outright positive relationship between the two, much less actual romance.

Goodness, what if Boscha was SO desperate to have some validation of her old role and beliefs, that she just... goads Willow into attacking her, under the satisfaction that if Willow beats her up, then it justifies her hierarchy of stronger witches being above the weaker ones! And even after being defeated, Boscha just trails behind Willow because she’s really accepting any retaliation as self-punishment for not being strong enough; That maybe she becomes SO devoted to the idea of a role model or a leader that she can follow, that she actively revels in being hurt because it’s part of some really sick and twisted concept of ‘suffering builds character’!

What I’m basically saying is, what if Boscha was like Jasper towards Lapis in Alone at Sea, fully accepting of any abuse from Lapis, because Lapis is SO strong that she’s fully justified in thrashing a weaker Jasper, and it gives Jasper some martyrdom satisfaction to serve and provide for someone who’s so much better than her, especially if it means having any taste or association of the kind of power she looks up to! Maybe Boscha just accepts, if not embraces, any retaliation from Willow as proof of her belief that strong witches should be above the weaker ones, etc., thereby validating Boscha’s loss because all IS right in the hierarchy, it just shifted!

Maybe Boscha even enjoys being hurt, because deep down it plays into some possible self-loathing at losing to Willow, while also acknowledging Willow’s victory and strength... And she keeps picking fights with Willow no matter how badly she gets hurt, because Boscha believes that with each battle, she’ll get better and better and maybe one day defeat the Park girl, so any injuries she suffers on the way are totally justifiable if it means getting back on top!

And Willow is in a dilemma where she can’t just smack Boscha away, because she doesn’t want to contribute towards that belief and justify it... She hates Boscha and won’t help her, but generally refuses to take the next step in harming the girl by entrenching her in her own ideas. Maybe we’d have a scene similar to Lapis taking her rage out on the other Lapises and thrashing them, reveling in her power over them; Only to realize that this isn’t strength, it’s just tyranny. And just as Lapis rejects Nice Lapis’ worship by admitting that her own retaliation went too far, maybe Willow does the same to Boscha...

...Of course. Even if Willow doesn’t want to outright harm Boscha, nor does she want to give her any satisfaction by playing by her game and rules; If Boscha were to threaten any of her friends, of course she’d punt Boscha into the stratosphere, no guilt nor hesitation. Because in that kind of situation, it’s just a pragmatic scenario of self-defense, where physical safety is prioritized above any ‘principles’ or ‘points’ that are trying to be made here. And Boscha is just someone Willow is going to have ignore, kick aside, and not waste time nor energy in... That yeah, if Willow hurts Boscha to defend herself, that sucks, especially if it contributes to Boscha’s toxic beliefs; But in the end, Willow’s own comfort is prioritized above all-else, and it’s Boscha engaging with Willow, that makes Willow’s happiness come at the cost of Boscha’s own recovery.

Boscha only has herself to blame for Willow choosing a painful option in that ultimatum, because she’s the one that set it down to begin with- Like when she made her friends choose between Boscha and King-Luz, and not letting them be content with both. Or of course, when Boscha makes the school choose between herself, or Willow... When both can be popular and beloved, this isn’t a pie to divvy up! Willow just might beat up Boscha regardless of whether or not she’s playing into the girl’s point or not, because Willow’s comfort comes before proving Boscha wrong- And it’s this apathetic disregard, that it’s meaningless to Willow whether or not Boscha is vindicated, that she’d rather not be bothered by the problem to begin with... That will show Boscha just how pointless her efforts have been, and how little they mean in the end.

If Boscha sometimes dismisses things or people as being ‘beneath’ her, then she’s about to be on the receiving end by none other than Willow Park herself...! It’s Willow’s out of sight, out of mind principle- Unintentionally playing by the game or not, it’s all inconsequential and interchangeable, it just. Doesn’t. Matter. Willow has more important things to worry about, because Boscha isn’t important, and she’ll do what she needs to do to get Boscha out of the way and out of her hair so she can focus on what Willow REALLY cares about. 

And knowing how little she actually means to some, that she’s not the center of other people’s world like Boscha wanted to believe, that Willow certainly has no place for her that isn’t an afterthought; It would be quite the wake-up call. People have lives beyond Boscha, they don’t need her and thus they aren’t obligated to her; So don’t act like they are, Boscha, and don’t act like you can change this and force them to reciprocate by ‘earning’ that right in a challenge they never agreed to.

[vannahfanfics]

The Sacred Art of Hamburger-Making

Category: General Fluff

Fandom: My Hero Academia

Characters: Momo Yaoyorozu, Denki Kaminari, & Hanta Sero

Hey, hey, everybody! This is the second story I wrote for @cuizineco​’s Heroes in the Baking zine, which is free to download!

Momo hummed under her breath as she filed her nails, sitting between Hanta and Denki on the common room sofa. The air was filled with clacking and clicking as the two boys feverishly jabbed the buttons and spun the joysticks on their controllers; both of their eyes were fixed on the martial arts video game they were embroiled in. Momo enjoyed the rare instances where they came down to the common room to play; she found something about their competitive energy so invigorating, especially after a hard day’s training. 

Just as she had finished buffing her shiny, neatly-trimmed nails, a deep voice boomed from the television to announce with dramatic fervor, “Fatality!” while thick red blood splattered the word across the screen. Hanta jumped up from the couch with a triumphant crow, nearly flinging the controller as he flung his hands into the air, while the defeated Denki melted into the couch cushions with a groan. 

“Don’t worry, Denki. You’ll beat him next time,” Momo encouraged with a sweet smile. 

“No, he won’t, because he’s a loserrrrr!” Hanta teased while making an L-shape on his forehead with his fingers. Denki stuck out his tongue angrily to his friend before humming thoughtfully. 

“Man, we’ve been playing for hours. I’m starving… You know what I could go for right now? A big, greasy, cheesy, American-style hamburger,” he sighed dreamily, salivating at the words alone. Momo perked up, her interest piqued. 

“Oh, I’ve never had a hamburger before.” 

If they were on a comedy show, one would have heard a record scratch. Denki’s head whipped around to stare at her with owlish eyes for a second before he chuckled magnanimously and slipped his arm around her slim shoulders, his expression melting into one a mixture of pity and mischievousness. 

“Momo. Dear. Honey. You’ve never had a hamburger?” the blond asked in a polite but disbelieving voice. Unsure what all the fuss was about, Momo slowly shook her head. 

“Now that’s what I call a got-damn tragedy,” Hanta observed before shoving a handful of potato chips into his mouth. As he munched on the barbecue-flavored crisps, crumbs and powder raining from his lips down onto his tee-shirt, he looked at Denki pointedly. “We have to amend that, don’t we, Denks?” 

“We most certainly do,” the blond nodded sagely, pinching his chin and closing his eyes like the picture of a pensive philosopher. “We cannot allow Momo here, our dear friend, our beloved classmate and light of our bleak lives, to remain in such a sorry state. So… To the kitchen!” he announced and jumped up, pointing a finger into the air. “By our hand, we will allow Momo to suffer no longer!” 

Are hamburgers really that good? Momo wondered as she followed the two boys to the adjoining kitchen. They probably weren’t, but watching the two tear through the cabinets and refrigerator to gather all the necessary tools and ingredients was so energizing that Momo found herself growing excited. She’d never seen Denki so animated about cooking before; he was all smiles as he pranced around wearing a “Kiss the Cook” apron of All Might in a chef’s hat, so she couldn’t refuse him even if she wanted to. 

“All right, Chef Denki,” Momo chuckled as she tied an apple-patterned apron around her waist, “I’m under your tutelage tonight.” 

“It’s the only thing he’ll ever tutor you in,” Hanta joked, earning a sharp jab in the ribs from his cohort. 

“Anyway,” Denki said and cleared his throat, “pay close attention, Momo. I am going to teach you the sacred art of making hamburgers. First, we have to make the patties.” He took a few packs of ground meat and sliced open the plastic, dumping the stringy pink-red meat into a large aluminum bowl. 

“Everyone says they’re down with hamburgers tonight,” Hanta reported, sitting on the counter typing away at his phone. 

“Let’s see— with twenty people plus Mr. Aizawa, with an average of two burgers a person, that would be… forty patties,” he rattled off, using his fingers to count as he multiplied in his head. “We should be able to manage that between the three of us. Hanta, would you go ahead and plug in the mini-grill so it’ll be heated up?” 

“Sure thing, boss.” 

Denki returned his attention to the patiently-waiting Momo. 

“Now then. First, you want to make sure your patties are the right consistency, so you mix it with bread crumbs.” Momo watched with raised eyebrows as he took a box of them and dumped some into the bowl. “You want your patties to stick together, obviously, so you add eggs—” he continued as he cracked some open, spilling the golden yolks into the bowl— “and then milk to soften up the meat a little. Finally— and this is the most important part, Momo— you season it to perfection!” 

Momo watched in wonder as he added several spices and a dark brown sauce to the mix, saturating the meat in flavor, without even taking measurements. As he was telling her how to mix it up, scrunching the meat and other ingredients together with his hands, she smiled endearingly. 

“Wow, you’ve cooked this a lot, huh?” 

“Yup! Me and my folks took an overseas trip once to America when I was young, and we loved the hamburgers so much that we got a recipe from one of the locals! It became a staple in my household! Fast food burgers are nice n’ all, but nothing really compares to a good ol’ beefy homemade burger!” Denki grinned widely. 

“I think that’s great! Would you like me to get started on another bowl of ground beef, then?” 

“Yes, please!” 

Under Denki’s careful guidance, Momo added the ingredients one at a time to the bowl. When it came time to combine them, she squealed at the odd sensation of the sticky, gooey meat, fluid sauce and egg, and gritty powder squishing between her fingers. Denki laughed heartily at the disgusted faces she made while mixing up the ground beef, squeaking and shuddering all the while, until it was uniform. In the background, Hanta had been doing other small tasks like chopping lettuce and onions, slicing tomatoes and cheese, and setting out condiments. He finally joined them at the counter, wiping tomato juice off his hands with a dishtowel. 

“It’s a messy job,” Denki said as he grabbed a fistful of the meat, “but we’re not done yet! Now it’s time to make the patties.” 

“Ooh! My favorite part!” Hanta grinned, grabbing hamburger meat from Momo’s bowl with both hands. “Ya just roll it into a ball, then flatten it into a nice, round patty,” he said while demonstrating the motions. He then walked over to the simmering grill to plop it on the ridged surface. “Then ya grill it until it’s just right, and boom! Nice, tasty, juicy hamburger.” 

“Hanta, have you been to America, too?” Momo inquired as she slowly replicated the motion, still cringing at the sliminess of the raw meat. 

“Nah. I spent a lot of summer break at Denki’s house, though, and his old man taught me how to make ‘em!” Hanta said as he slapped another patty onto the small grill and closed the lid, filling the air with sizzling and popping. While he waited for the meat to brown, he leaned against the counter and flashed Momo a wink. “I felt kinda honored being included in the Kaminari family tradition of summer cook-outs!” 

“You’re my best friend! Of course you would be!” Denki grinned, sauntering over to bump elbows with Hanta. “And, since Momo is our best girl,” he continued while turning around to wink saucily at Momo, “it’s natural that she be included, too!” 

“Ah! Stop it; you’re going to make me blush!” Momo cried and, in her momentary embarrassment, slapped her palms to her cheeks. All the blood drained from her face as she realized she was smooshing raw meat and seasoning on her face. She screamed shrilly and ripped her hands away from her face, horrified by the bits of pulverized meat falling from her cheeks. As she raced to the sink, Hanta and Denki fell to the floor howling with laughter. “Stop it! It’s not funny!” she cried as she scraped at her face with a soapy sponge, tossing a glare over her shoulder. 

“Actually, it really is, Yaomomo,” Denki snorted as he climbed back up to resume making hamburger patties. Momo just sniffed dourly, thoroughly embarrassed. Then, an evil idea hatched in her mind; stealthily, she filled her cupped hands with ice-cold water and crept up behind Denki. Just as he took notice of her presence, she dumped it down the neck of his shirt. He yelped and his back arched backward as the cold liquid hit his skin. 

“Aye, aye, what the hell was that for?!” 

“Serves you right!” Hanta laughed, pointing at him and completely unaware that he was the next in Momo’s cross-hairs. “Wha—?” he blinked owlishly as Momo flung a glob of the raw meat at him; it collided with his cheek with a wet slap, slowly sliding down before landing on his tennis shoe. “I guess I deserved that.” 

“Hey, you morons! Don’t tell me you’re messing around in the kitchen!” boomed a grouchy voice. Momo turned to see Katsuki stomping in, his hands buried in his cargo pants pockets and his lips stretched in a scowl. His vermillion eyes slowly slid down to the chunk of meat dripping on Hanta’s shoe. “What the hell?! You can’t just waste food like that! Who taught you losers to cook?!” 

“Oi! This is my show! Go yell at someone else, Baku-bro!” Denki whined and poked at Katsuki with his foot as he continued to quickly pile up patties on aluminum foil next to Hanta, who returned from cleaning off his face to take the broiled hamburgers off the grill and put them on some buns. Katsuki slapped Denki’s foot away but obediently shambled out of the kitchen to join the rest of their peers, who had been attracted by the savory aroma now clouding the air. 

“All right, the guest of honor gets to try first,” Hanta grinned as he presented Momo with a fully dressed hamburger complete with a side of potato chips. As she took the paper plate, she was amazed at the weight of the thing, nearly spilling it all as she hastily recovered from the plate dipping. She set it safely on the counter before looking at it, wondering how the heck to eat it. 

“I… With my hands…?” 

“Hell yeah, girl! Get in there!” Denki encouraged with an airy laugh. Momo blushed before timidly grabbing the hamburger, grimacing at the juice that leaked onto her fingers when she lightly squeezed it. She craned her neck over the plate as she leaned in for a bite, trying not to drip it all over her clothes. First came the soft bread, then crunchy lettuce and tomato, then melty cheese, and then finally the savory meat. Momo hummed as the robust flavor exploded on her tongue, complemented by all the toppings. 

“Well? Amazing or what?” Denki grinned as he sidled up to her, wiggling his golden eyebrows expectantly. Too busy savoring the symphony of flavors on her tongue, Momo only nodded with her eyes fluttering shut. “Woohoo! Atta girl! Look at our Momo, getting messy with a big ol’ hamburger!” Denki laughed as he did a celebratory jig. 

“Ehhh? Did I hear Momo eating hamburgers?” Mina said as she poked her head in. Momo was mid-bite, her mouth stretching wide to accommodate the thick patty, and she froze to blink owlishly at the pink girl. “Ahhhh! Look how far you’ve come! Finally embracing the ways of us commoners, eh?” 

Instead of replying, Momo just crunched down on the burger, smiling dreamily as the deliciousness once again graced her senses. 

She had the answer to her question. Hamburgers were really that good! While the others began to file into the kitchen to claim their meals from Denki and Hanta, Momo savored hers bite by bite until she was finished. When she sheepishly presented her plate to Denki for seconds, he laughed and began fixing it for her. The others had vacated the premises, leaving only the two of them. 

“Thanks for sharing this with me, Denki. I had a lot of fun, and it was really good!” she said as he plopped a piece of pale green lettuce atop her patty. 

“To be honest, I was a little scared you wouldn’t enjoy it,” he admitted shyly, giving her a side glance as she gasped in shock. “I know you come from a really wealthy family, Momo, and generally… Rich folks don’t think highly of us little guys, you know?” 

“I know.” Though Momo’s family was kind and tolerant, that still didn’t mean that she hadn’t seen the uglier side of the bourgeoisie. With a soft smile, she wrung her arms around Denki’s waist and laid her head on his shoulder to squeeze him in a tight hug. “But I consider myself lucky! You guys teach me all kinds of neat and wonderful things, and I get to share things about my life with you all, too. I would never, ever judge you.” 

“Yeah, I know,” Denki hummed and gently bonked his head with hers. “Here you go, Momo. I hope you enjoy your seconds.” 

“Thanks,” she said as she took the plate. She then grinned roguishly. “To be honest, I might be up for thirds.” 

Like the hearty scent of homemade hamburgers wafting around the small kitchen, her and Denki’s laughter filled the air. 

Nope. In Momo’s book, nothing really did compare to one of Denki’s hamburgers, and it soon became one of her favorite things to cook with her friends, even out of all the things she learned from them.

Enjoy this oneshot? Feel free to peruse my Table of Contents!

[tuiyla]

Standing Together: On Bellamy, Lexa, and the Disappointment That is The 100

Alright so despite having kept up with The 100 since season 3 started I haven’t really been a part of the fandom so you can dismiss this as a “she doesn’t even go here” post but I do have some thoughts after this latest episode.

So Bellamy died. He was killed off for what I can only see as plot contrivance and shock value, with Bob Morley’s absence from filming also being a reason. I think you’d be hard pressed to find anyone who found this to be a good writing choice or even felt the intended emotional effect. Much like with Lexa, the anger overshadows the hurt. Fans are not (just) upset because a beloved character died: they’re upset because it made no sense in a series already plagued by consistently bad writing.

You can be upset at Clarke as a character if you want but The 100 has what I call a “blame the writing” problem. With certain media I can trust that whatever happens is in character and fits into the narrative and therefore I can feel what the creators want me to. With shows like these? I can’t take the conflicts, the character struggles seriously anymore. They make it up as they go along and do so poorly.

And look, I’ve already said I don’t consider to be part of the fandom. I’m also admitting that pretty much the only reason why I keep on watching is because we watch together with my sister. So with all this in mind, I really don’t feel like I have emotional stakes here. Again, I just don’t trust the show. All of this said, what truly pains me is to see people going at each other. No matter what you ship, no matter what aspects of the show you like and dislike, there’s no need to be malicious. It saddens me to see a lack of compassion in the fandom.

So let’s be compassionate. Let people mourn this fictional character and let them be upset at the creators. Let’s not point fingers and call people out for perhaps not being kind enough when Lexa died. Generalizing, in particular, is no use right now. I mean, look at what Lexa’s death resulted in! From raising money for LGBT charities to ClexaCon and so much more. Believe me when I say that the hurt people felt four years ago made an impact. Lexa is part of academia now and papers are being done on Bury Your Gays and the importance of representation. It, the whole thing, but also she far outgrew The 100 and there’s poetic justice in that.

People pulled together then and they can now. Before you say that either a) Lexa was different because she was queer or that b) The 100 has a race problem and Clexas are all racist, please, stop and think both critically and compassionately. The statements “Lexa’s death was unnecessary and played into dangerous tropes” and “Bellamy’s death was unnecessary and The 100 has a huge problem with PoC characters suffering and dying violently” can and should coexist. Lexa’s death was a catalyst. Bellamy is another example of The 100 mishandling PoC characters, to put it mildly. Both instances are issues, not just because of the minority aspect but because they’re examples of the writing’s flaws. They’re also part of the same larger problems that the show (and its showrunner) has. Remember, intersectionality. In a way, like with Lexa, it’s good that disappointment in fictional media can raise awareness for such issues.

When I witnessed the aftermath of Lexa’s death four years ago I never would have thought Bellamy would follow her just three episodes before the show ended. I’m personally quite neutral when it comes to shipping and stopped having favourites in The 100 when Raven was tortured for no reason for the umpteenth time. This shouldn’t be about that, though. Fans of Clexa, please do not gloat. You were hurt, and I’m sorry if anyone disrespected that, but The 100 made yet another mistake and people are hurting once again. That is, again, valid. It’s valid to be upset because you think Bellamy deserved better or because you shipped Bellarke. And it’s damn right valid to be upset over how the series treats minorities.

Be kind to each other and don’t stop pointing out logical inconsistencies, bad writing, and harmful tropes. I think it’s safe to say this show let everyone down, so let’s learn from that and do better. Lexa’s death was a catalyst; maybe, in a way, Bellamy’s can be, too. At the very least, viewers should be able to ask for better stories.

[animebw]

Short Reflection: My Hero Academia Season 5

It feels like every year, we do the same song and dance. A big shonen anime comes out, everyone thinks it’s the greatest thing since sliced bread, and it gets overhyped into oblivion. It gets so overhyped, in fact, that basically everyone even remotely interested in anime ends up watching it, exposing it to a wide enough audience that its flaws, invisible to those initial fans, become much more obvious. Those flaws begin to dominate the conversation, people begin to turn on the show, and what was once so fresh and exciting becomes old-hat normie garbage. After that, it’s only a matter of time before a new big shonen blows up in much the same way, and everyone starts acting like this new show is so much better than the last one and totally won’t suffer the same cycle of overhype and overcriticism. It happened with Attack on Titan, it happened with My Hero Academia, it happened with Demon Slayer, and you can bet it’s gonna happen with Jujutsu Kaisen once the Chainsaw Man anime comes out. Shonen, it seems, lives and dies through mass exposure, a genre inevitable doomed to reappraisal and mockery by the same forces that make it a cultural juggernaut. It’s almost depressing how predictable it’s become watching it all play out.

On the bright side, knowing about this cycle means it’s easy to get ahead of it. You can skip past the process of overhype and overcriticism, stop worrying about how many people are talking about it, and just focus on the show itself. That way, you’ll know way ahead of everyone else which shows will actually last the test of time, and you can enjoy the spectacle of watching everyone else come to the conclusion you reached ages ago. I remember when Attack on Titan was losing cultural prominence and people were losing interest in it, but I never doubted for a second that this show was gonna be worth it in the end. And lo and behold, season 3 part 2 came out and suddenly the show was more popular than it’s ever been. Not all mega-popular anime deserve to be mega-popular, but inevitably, the ones that do deserve it will win out in the end, and all the time people spent bitching about its low points will be so much dust in the wind.

All this is to say, don’t be surprised when My Hero Academia once again becomes the most beloved shonen on the planet heading into its final stretch. Because this show has far from run its course yet.

Yes, even after all these years, I still maintain that My Hero Academia is really that good. It takes superhero tropes and spins them in fresh, exciting ways. It’s constantly shaking up its formula and finding new stories to tell within its world that advance the grand narrative. It’s the rare shonen that actually balances its oversized cast well, giving them all interesting things to do. And at its core, there’s a real, inspirational heart dedicated to exploring the concept of heroism, and what it really means to do the right thing in a world that commodifies virtue and monetizes good intentions. Was it overhyped at the beginning to the point that people were blind to its issues? Definitely. Is it so over-criticized now that people can’t seem to appreciate its strengths anymore? Absolutely. MHA was never perfect, but it’s a damn lot better than it’s currently given credit for, and it continues to be one of the best vanguards modern anime could ask for. And I will be damned if I’ll see it dragged through the mud because we’re overcorrecting for being too nice to it at the start.

In the interest of fairness, though, yes, season 5 has not exactly been this show’s best season. The overall animation quality continues to slip, with fewer Wow moments and much more dead air. The first half feels a little too long, while its second half feels a little too short. You can feel the show dragging its heels through long stretches of this season, waiting too long to get to the point as it fills time to make up the required 25 episodes and reach an acceptable stopping point. On average, it’s probably the weakest entry since season 1, and it’s definitely the most inconsistent scene production-wise. Clearly, the demand to make a new tie-in movie for every season is taking its toll on Bones; every great animator they sacrifice to work on the film means another scrap of passion must be subtracted from the show itself, and the consequences have never been more visible. And in contrast to the clear thematic arcs of previous seasons, season 5 feels kind of unfocused. There’s a lot of stuff going on, but very little of it connects with anything else. It feels like a season of table-setting, putting a bunch of pieces in place so future seasons can take them and run with them. If so, I hope those future seasons really step things up, because nailing the payoff on a lot of things this season is setting up is bound to make it feel stronger in retrospect.

Honestly, though? Most of these issues are only really a problem in the season’s first half, the Class A-1 vs Class B-1 training session. This is the most wheel-spinny MHA has been yet, mostly existing just to throw a bunch of cool superpowers against each other for ten episodes without much of consequence or character development until the final match. And it’s not really bad on those terms; MHA has a strong enough cast that it can survive just bouncing them off each other mindlessly for a bit. It’s just lackluster and mostly unimportant, especially when the production isn’t strong enough to really bring the battles to life. Once we get to the second half, though? Hot damn does this season pick up fast. And from the lows of this training arc, we springboard into two fantastic arcs back-to-back that put this show right back on track.

The first of these arcs is my personal favorite: Endeavor’s redemption. Over the course of my anime-watching “career,” I have seen so many shows try and tackle the subject of abusive parenting, and so few manage to avoid shooting themselves in the foot. But the way MHA grapples with the consequences of Endeavor’s abuse, the effect it’s had on his family, and his struggle to come to terms with the damage he’s done, may genuinely be the new gold standard for abusive parenting arcs in anime. It’s raw, it’s nuanced, it pulls no punches, and it genuinely commits to making Endeavor work to atone for his mistakes. It doesn’t use his desire to be better as an excuse to handwave all the ways he’s hurt his wife and children, and painted such a complex understandings of all the different ways people can react to domestic trauma. Do you want to run from an abuser and never see the again? Do you try to fix them? Are you willing to give someone a second chance if they’re genuinely committed to changing, or is it better if you leave each other’s lives for good? There are no easy answers here, but watching the characters grapple with those questions- and the ultimate conclusion they reach- grabbed me by the balls and refused to let go. It’s really fucking good.

The second arc, of course, is the much-hyped My Villain Academia, the moment where Shigaraki and his League of Villains take over the protagonist roles in a battle against a new, dangerous third party. Essentially, it puts the show’s antagonists through their own personal shonen arc, complete with tragic backstories, last-minute power-ups, intense emotional breakthroughs that push them towards self-actualization, and, of course, enough Power of Friendship to power the entire east coast. Not only is this idea brilliant in concept, but it also ties in perfectly with one of MHA’s biggest themes: no one is born a villain. Almost everyone who’s turned evil in this world is a victim of circumstance, someone who slipped through the cracks of an imperfect world that didn’t give them the tools to save themselves before it was too late. This world is build around the veneration of heroism, but in these villains’ stories, we see how its construction of heroism falls short for the less fortunate... or, in some cases, actively contributes to their descent into darkness. Shigaraki’s backstory alone is some of the most haunting shit I’ve seen from anime in a long time, a wrenching portrait of a boy abandoned by everyone and everything that could’ve saved him, leaving him vulnerable to manipulation by those who wanted to turn him into a monster. I’ve never been this invested in the show’s villains, nor this excited for the moment Deku and his classmates finally face them head-on. And judging by the cliffhanger ending for this season, that moment may be sooner than we thought.

It’s easy to be down on a show like My Hero Academia. With every bit its production slips and every moment it doesn’t live up to the heights of season 2 and 3,you can’t help but hyperfocus on everything it does wrong instead of continuing to appreciate everything it does right. But its high points are still too high to ignore, and it’s still doing too many things well to write it off. Season 5 may be a low point in its history, but the fact that its low point is still so damn high is a testament to why this show deserved to conquer the world in the first place. My Hero Academia is still good, and I’ll be happy to say “I told you so” when the final seasons blow everyone’s socks off and make them fall in love with it all over again. Until then, though, I give season 5 a score of:

7/10

Oh, one last point in its favor: this season had the least Mineta out of any season yet. That, folks, is what we call progress. See you next time!