#but then my mom is gonna tell me to not post that stuff cus they say that shit to her

[evanwevand]

I hate having my whole family following me on Instagram cus now I can't post vents or they're going to worry about everything I draw and pretend to care for me GRRRRRRRRR

[snailvibes]

Evening chat I give you my list of some of my autistic Max Caulfield related headcanons except a lot ended up being pricefield related oops (does include spoilers)

Remember these are all HEADCANONS and me just being silly and having fun projecting on my fav lol

- that grey jacket she’s always wearing? That’s her comfort clothing item why do you think she’s still got it in double exposure

- even ever since she was really young Max has always been a picky eater bc of dealing with food textures and generally not liking a lot of things. Chloe always tried to make sure her mom bought things that Max liked so she could always have stuff to give her no matter what

- Max doesn’t really know how to like. Enter group discussions, it’s a lot easier for her to talk to people if it’s either one on one and with someone she’s familiar or comfortable with, she knows what she’s gonna say to someone before going in (like “I’m going to go up to Kate and check in on her” or “I’m going to go up to Brooke and ask about her drone”), or it’s someone talking to her and asking her questions, so when it’s people just generally chatting in a group she usually gets left out cus she doesn’t know how to jump in

- loud noises usually overstimulate her (vortex club party was hell) and growing up one of the more common times that occurred was when it stormed outside :) [which still held true throughout the game :))] post sacrifice Arcadia Bay ending she just kinda completely shut down in Chloe’s truck for a long while through a mix of it and the emotions from everything

- aside from Chloe, Kate was the first person Max found who actively listened to and engaged in her infodumping. During their first few tea hangout sessions she’d find herself accidentally going on about photography and stop herself, and every time Kate would encourage her to keep going cus she enjoyed hearing about it (ultimate Loves to yap + loves to listen duo)

- a lot of the time when Max shuts down she ends up going nonverbal for long periods of time and Chloe is the only one who can translate what she’s trying to communicate lmao. Everyone else, while they mean well, tend to just get confused so if she’s like with Kate or Warren when it happens they’ll just be like “shit time to track down Chloe”

- Chloe’s hair is one of her favorite things to mess with and play with cus she loves the sensation of running her hands through it, so when she’s overwhelmed Chloe will just take off her beanie and let Max run her hands through her hair for as long as she needs

- The Captain is her comfort plush which is why she brought him with her to Arcadia Bay. Usually she carries him around with her as much as she can but she didn’t wanna get made fun of for it at Blackwell so she started keeping him in her dorm. Post Sacrifice Arcadia Bay, she drags Chloe back to Blackwell before they leave so she can retrieve him from the rubble and starts carrying him with her everywhere again. Post Sacrifice Chloe she just starts carrying him with her everywhere at School without really worrying about what people will think, and everyone just doesn’t say anything cus they can tell she needs it.

- Max relies on music a LOT to block out the world when everything is too much. Chloe knows this and when she’s not using her earbuds to do it alone, will always offer to sit quietly and listen with her if she wants

- Warren Graham I know what you are /ref him and Max infodump about nerdy movies together almost every chance they get and sometimes they have to be pried apart in the halls to get them to go to class bc they will go on for hours if left alone to

- going back to that “Max struggles with conversation in groups” point, if said convos are happening in the photography classroom whether it’s a “class discuss this” moment or a group project, Kate will always try her best to get Max included in ways that work for her like asking for her thoughts or just pulling herself away from the group to chat with Max one on one

- girlie needs very specific instructions for things because otherwise she will overthink what to do and get confused and this has screwed her over with so many class assignments but I think she’d get help from Kate in that regard because she’s the only one she’s not anxious about asking if she knows what someone meant by something

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

WIBTAH for sending my (21NB) SIL (20F) stuff to help with her pregnancy when her mom said she doesn't want us to?

✨️✨️✨️❣️✨️✨️✨️ <- so i can recognise the post

so for some context, SIL didn't tell us she was 2 months pregnant until last night. She'd been planning on moving across the country (we live in the USA so across country is 3000~ miles/4500~ km) to go live with her boyfriend (22M) for a while now. None of us wanted her to go regardless but now that we know she's pregnant we wish she were here even more so we could help with anything she needs. She left this morning for her flight across country with a guy our family barely knows - some of us only learned his name last night.

my MIL - her mom - says she was gonna send her a car before finding out about the pregnancy but since SIL said she's gonna go to school and work online cus she wants to stay home with the baby, the mom doesn't want to send her a car that the idiot who got her pregnant (and was the one who convinced her not to tell us about it) is gonna end up using instead of her.

so, i brought up sending her some stuff to show her that she has people here who will help her (even if she is across the country) and show she's not alone. MIL was worried it would convince her to stay there. My worry is that not giving her any help will push her to stay over there where she doesn't know anyone instead of staying with family or, at least, someone she knows better than her bf of a few months.

I know she doesn't like it here, and at first I supported her moving out before I found out it was across the country with a guy she met *This Year* (2023 when submitted - idk how long thisll take to post). I don't think she should have to stay in this house, I understand she has trauma here and I fully support her moving out but the thought of her alone and pregnant on the other side of the country where she has absolutely no one other than her bf (who doesnt seem to be taking this situation seriously At All) and his family - who none of us have ever met - is just terrifying.

I dont think what I want to send her is something that would end up being a present for the boyfriend instead of her like the car. I have a pregnancy pillow from a surgery I had last year and thought even if she ends up not wanting it, sending it to her would at least show her that she's not alone and we still love and care about her from all the way over here. It isn't much and I don't think it's anything that would convince her to stay over there so I don't see why it should be a problem.

For full transparency, I *do* hope sending her support might convince her to come back, even if she doesn't move back into the house, I hope she doesn't stay in a place with a guy who clearly isn't ready to help, people she doesn't know, new rules, new everything. It all just seems too stressful under regular circumstances, let alone during her first-ever pregnancy. That being said, her staying or going is her choice, all of us agreed that trying to force her to stay/come back would only stress her out more and would be bad for her and the baby.

for extra context- when i say we dont know the bf at all, i mean it. i met him yesterday, the rest of the family has met him 2, maybe 3 times. he made a speech last night at dinner that only made me worry more, "I may not be the best for her", "Yeah, I'm in school but I'm not studying anything right now" (wtf does that even mean????), apparently he wants to be a cop (which i dont like personally) but isnt doing anything to accomplish that? and when FIL asked if we could visit her, he completely waffled as if he had never thought of the fact that we would like to go see her?? and her child??? Everyone throughout dinner made it very clear to him that we Don't know him and we're entrusting the baby of the household, the Princess of the household, with him - all of this was before we even knew she was pregnant. He didn't even tell the dad about the pregnancy before they left, he made MIL do it.

tl;dr- SIL's bf convinced her not to tell her family she was pregnant until the night before she moves across the country to live with him. I want to send her stuff to help with her pregnancy & show her she's not alone & we're here to help with whatever she needs but MIL worries sending her things will convince her that she doesnt need to come back home, i worry that not sending her anything at all will make her not want to come back at all.

What are these acronyms?

[iexistfor1post]

Rambly I think

I think my brain really needs to accept that I am never, ever going to calm down. I guess

What I mean is my brain needs to accept that changes are going to happen and that I'd rather not be anxious twenty-four seven

I'm still having to get used to having to change my Messenger app. And so i'm anxious about it now

Too many changes and my brain hates it

Like i've only kind of gotten used to my new phone despite having it for a couple months now

It is just very clear to see that my brain has been running on anxiety

With just a flick, they switch if it's on or off at the moment

And even then, it's always like a tiny bit of anxiety, is there and it's stupid stupid, it's stupid

I was gonna draw, but anxiety just made me wanna go lie down?

You know, hide under the covers. Listen to youtube for hours instead of doing something that was bringing me joy

Not that watching youtube doesn't bring me joy

The thing is, it is bad to not have good sleep for anxiety and other issues I guess

But ISO badly went to sleep-deprived. Myself so my brain will not be really anxious, so I can get used to shit

Cause. How can my brain work when it has to focus on not sleeping hmmm

...

It makes me sad to think that despite all the stuff that I love. In like present day and stuff, I like and stuff I liked in middle school and high school

It makes me sad that I honestly wish I was still a kid in the early to mid 2000s to early 2010s

Mostly the early to mid 2000s

Like I do get joy in the everyday. Of my life, I guess sort of

But there's just a part of me that's just longing for when life was just easy for me

And like it was always kind of easy, I didn't have to really do anything

Like I did have some fun in high school and middle school. But I am not missing it, I guess

I just think being a tiny child is what's bringing peace. Or something like I don't know like why?

What about being a small child makes me long for it

You have no freedom as a tiny child

...

Do I just wish to be cared for in a certain way???

Like I am an adult but I still live with my parents

I don't have to pay rent

I help with groceries

I have a job

I am technically secure because of my parents

Try as anyone might, but nobody can convince me that the world isn't scary

Like I think I'm kind of breaking down despite literally having fun. This entire day so far

All because of a stupid message app being different to the one I had for around a decade or something.

It is stupid

...

I am stupid :(

It's like I feel trapped but I don't want to go anywhere. I don't wanna be free

But like I'm that sad creature in the cage

Like me. Typing this down is me trying to bring peace to myself and help my brain

I feel like I'd go in circles sometimes

It is the same post almost every time

From what I turn from, I was never good at change

I didn't like it when I had to move. But that just sounds like a normal kid thing

But literally a year after moving my anxiety started, I guess

Like the 1st day of school, my nerves made me feel sick. In almost every year after that, it was the same thing for the first day or two

But I was still a kid and I was having fun in life. I just wasn't good at making friends

Looking back now I can say the internet wasn't a good thing for me

It still isn't

Cus the internet became my escape

It was fun and is still fun but...

My social skills suck

I have no drive in life

It really just feels like I want to be hand held in life

My love for school died in middle school so I never want to go to college

Excuses excuses excuses

It isn't even like I wish I was born in a different time period

I am pretty sure I would flail there also

Especially since my anxiety is bad

Also btw even though no one reads

I haven't been diagnosed with Anxiety but I think by reading and stuff we can tell I have it

....

Also as much as I don't want to think about it I could have depression

Like idk

I know my maternal grandma has depression

My mom I think as anxiety and I think depression but idk if diagnosed

My nieces have depression and I think one of them as anxiety

My brother has anxiety (and adhd)

Like something definitely runs in my family

I mean, I could take "fun" online quizzes

Maybe laughing at my "pain" will help.

===

Took one for just anxiety not anxiety disorder

I got High Anxiety... 75%

To which the random quiz says It could be anxiety disorder

Uh huh yeah no I kind got that when the past couple months have been on and off in trash feelings

Quiz told me to get therapy then (as it needs to say) that it isn't professional advice

Shoot I took their anxiety disorder quiz and got 75% there also

Which makes sense even though the questions were different enough

I never know how to a answer the panic attack question cuz it also seems to be hyperventilating which I almost never do

I get shaky and my heart pound and I pace even more than I normally do

That doesn't sound like a panic attck

Though I do also want to go and hide but like that also doesn't sound like a panic attack

Took another of their quizzes

Highly anxiety personality 62&%

I honestly don't know ow where I was going with this

I left and came back to this 3 hours later

I am feeling slightly better now

[jrueships]

Fic you would 10/10 recommend

OKAY so i think or i heard or maybe i think i saw smthin abt this day being fic appreciation day or whatever so IM HURRYIN WITH THIS ONE so i might come back here later n reblog with some more fics i missed but I WILL GIVE YALL SOME!!! just to note tho im honestly not a big fic reader in just regular gen? I'd say I prolly read maybe like.. one fic over 2 months? And that's if a fandom gives birth to a new fic with people im intrigued by! Im a very picky reader so i don't do it often (as u can tell by my VERBOSE vocabulary of same one word showing up 50 times in one sentence i try to write) SO DON'T RLLY EXPECT LIKE. A BIBLE of recs! i also really like reading shorter fics!

You know for fic recs i GOTTA recommend the MOOTS writings!!!! btw if any other moot on here writes and posted a story that's not recommended here LEMME KNOW! LEMME READ THAT SHIT!! ANYWAYS from the moots ive read from: ok. Nevermind. I was gonna link each story and it would have been awesome but the links won't link so 😭 um. I'll just say the title of the fic and the author LMAO sorry im on mobile. OH ALSO most of these fics you're gonna need an ao3 account to read! But it's WORTH IT trrrust me paps!!

Wreck my plans (that's my man) : sunlightdappling!!! I think I read this b4 we became mooted or at the very beginning of moothood but!! The title ALONE made me excited to read it! I love titles with parentheses i love you song titles i love you two verses! The verses are unfamiliar to me but if i had to guess the title is from a swift song? Idk why! I've never really listened to her but i just get the feeling it's something she'd say? IDK what i mean is THE TITLE IS VERY SMOOTH AND ROLLING!! Which is very much how the whole story feels! It all flows so well and everyone is so real!! I love wall street exec/principal/dad/mom andre a ton here! So cool when authors include more teammates in the fic besides the two it's centered on! I'm personally not big on the warriors cause im attracted to poverty (spurs) BUT i LOVE this fic and tbh like all the warriors related stuff my moots bless me with because Warriors are Gay. And my moots? Gay. This is good stuff, everyone just IT IS JUST SOMETHING YOU WANNA AND SHOULD READ and my picky pallet self loved it VERY much! READ IT!!!!

Kdsburneraccount : <- author!! GO CHECK OUT THIS AUTHOR!!! Moot does it ALL! You see a fic in another language you really wanna read because it's like 1 outta the 4 fics your ship has? CHECK OUT KDSBA!!! (Not actually kd) translates the CUTEST stories with permission ofc so OTHERS can enjoy as well! ANDDD moot ALSO writes GREAT fics ! For very interesting ships!!! Includes lots of people in the fics without any being ooc! You can tell moot takes TIME with these!! If you're thinking of getting into nfl fic! This ur person! AND IM YOUR PLUG ‼️‼️

The whole kyle/demar tag. Read it . Just. Read it. 29 fics with love poured into each and every ONE of them (i think idk i read like half i don't remember) putting it in the moot section bcs there's gotta be some tumblr moots of mine established in these stompin grounds (or planning to set ship root here!! So just keep an eye out on this tag !)

Nahco3 : <- author! BRO. IF YOU ON SPORTS TUMBLR N NEVER READ A NAH FIC. DO IT. RN. Reading at least THREE sodium bicarbonate fics is required! Sorry! Either witness greatness or lag behind idk what to tell ya buddy! Moots ability to write like SO many 10k+ works where every single word sounds MWAH is so MWAH it's MWAH just CLICK ONNA FIC MAN!!! SEE FOR YOURSELF!!! my personal fav favs are the fics with russell just cus his personality and behavior are A1 both in real life AND fiction. Russell fics are just something to read if you like those kinda elegant but POPPIN personalities IDK lol READ IT!! Read a kyle/demar story and thank nah for being the strong pillar that ship needs to stop it from falling into the 'short one uwu smol bean baby tall one MEAN and emotionless daddy 🥺' trenches. Seriously. That's a real savior right there !!! Also james harden is so funny in the fics we hate him but we all agree a straight guy who is Straight can just be hilarious sometimes

Freaky Friday : hardlythewiser (sequinedfairy)/ just moots fics in gen also legally if you read nahco3 you read HTW too! TWO-PACKED DEAL!! it's like getting TWO ps5s for the price of ONE ps5! SERIOUSLY READ THIS FIC!!! READ THE FICS!!!! I included the one that got me into moots fics (b4 we were moots! It was just such a creative concept AND all done in one chapter too? The DEDICATION??? i HAD to check it out), but read them All. OR YOU ARE MISSING OOOUT!! writing main ships are HARD. Yet this account manages to knock em outta the park EVERY time!!

Of course i love ALL my moots AND ALL THEIR WORKS so if yall want to be included LEMME KNOW and i will add yall in the rec! I'm just writing this at night rn so im trying to go a lil fast n post!

Ok now just for fics in general hmm

Tonight : anonymous A BRAD/JOHN FIC!!!!! and the fic that encouraged me to join tumblr n scrounge up some fics of my own for the fandom! John n beal have such an interesting relationship and storyline which NEEDED to have a fic done on it! AND THIS ONE IS SO GOOD! i haven't read it in forever since my start here so i can't describe all the deets but! I like it :). It has my og fav there and the perfect melancholy kind of vibe beal/john gives off.

A little TLC : madina / madina fics overall. Madina was probably one of my first fav fic authors for the fandom. AND IDK IF I JUST HAVENT MET MADINA AS A MOOT HERE OR MADINA DOESNT USE TUMBLR OR SMTHIN BUT IM KINDA SAD I CANT BE MOOTS WITH MADINA! because i just wanna COMPLIMENT madina so BAD madina is a GENIUS i LOVE madinas fics i love how madina writes russ , (and yes i am biased because madina writes a lot of my favs but STILL), IF YOU LOVE RUSS.. you'll love madina! Madina just gets PEOPLE! So right! And knows how to write main ships AND rarer ships so well! Only weakness to madina i can think of? Lakers fan lol

Just read all the kd/russ fics they're like all so high quality and good concepts and it's all written about a really complicated relationship but the fics do it so well ! JUST READ EM!! (again tho i read like half and a long time ago so😭)

Football fics now I TOLDYOU I DONT READ ALOT anyways Prom King by playclock!!! When /I/ was rec this, i thought the authors name was playc*ck so i was a little confused 😭 waiting for that thing some writers do where they label it unexplicit or mature then it has l*wd in it LMAO but no! This one is just a really soft really cute fic about stef and allen! If you're looking into getting into nfl through that ship or just that ship, READ THIS FIC!!! it gets INSECURITY it gets PLAYFULNESS it gets FRIENDSHIP it gets LOVE!!! i love it im so glad i was recced it and now im reccin it TO YOU! guys

Easy like a [tuesday] morning : counselor. CUTE title for a somber soft fic!! I love sports fics that dive into issues athletes might have that no one really considers! This one was so understandable it was sad AND I LOVED IT!! a lovely lamar and hollywood fic, their friendship is shown so well!! READ.IT.

AGAIN i mainly read whatever catches my eye, whether that be interesting characters, title, coverart, booksleeve, SO TAKE MY RECS... however you wanna take em JUST KNOW i am no historian of literature or WHATEVER ! THESE ARE FICS I LIKE, you may not like em, who cares everyone knows everything is about me lol eat shorts

[simpingforthisonedeer]

Chapter 11: Sons & Daughters

SFW version here

Summary:  Holly is involving herself in things she shouldn't be, like telling the Wizard King he is doing necromancy. Aika plays matchmaker and then has tea with Lord Silva. The Captain of the Royal Guards "greets" Aika and the faceless assassin from the final battle returns. 6563 words

Notes: Heyo folks! Im back 😎 I stopped waiting for the Spade arc to finish so I’m posting now. It’s gonna be really fun from here on out cus we’re slowly easing into the plot so I can’t wait😋

Tagging: @ckjwnnbc​ @thoughtfullyrainynightmare @lyranova​ @elysianluv​

“Good Morning, Julius!” She chirped from where she was seated on her mother’s lap, completely unaware of tension.

A smile lit up his face. He was truly happy to see her again. He faintly wondered if he would get an opportunity to ask about her magic.

"Good morning, Holly! How wonderful to see you again! Are you here to spend the day with your mother?"

"No, I'm about to go to the CLK headquarters to go see Uncle Fueggy, and Leo!" He raised a brow at the name. Uncle Fueggy?

"Good morning, Julius," Aika greeted as casually as she could as her arms tightened around Holly.

His face softened when he looked up at her. She felt her face heat up under his gaze. It always seemed like he was looking through her.

"Good morning, Aika." His low voice raised goosebumps on the nape of her neck. "I just wanted to inform you that I will be touring the bases and will hold a conference with the Captains. I was wondering if you would like to accompany me? It would be a simple way to come out of the shadows as well, now that your amulet is gone," he explained, his voice the epitome of neutral.

She ushered Holly off of her lap and stood up as she clasped her cloak pin, slight regret crossing her face,

"I’m sorry, Julius. I have to go settle a territorial dispute between the city-states Roma and Amor." While it wasn't necessary to provide details, her Uncle recommended that she tell him minor details of her company to encourage Julius to trust her more about his own work.

She had only noticed after Master Raymond pointed it out but Julius may tend to seem casual and open but that was just part of his charm. He asked a lot of questions but rarely ever revealed any details about himself but most people don't notice it because he was so charismatic.

"What does that territorial dispute have to do with you?" Holly grumbled as she crossed her arms. She wanted her mom to come visit Fuegoleon instead. It’s a big achievement becoming captain! It’s like becoming a general.

Aika layed a gloved hand on her head as a small smile crept up her face.

"My company owns a big part of the land they're fighting over so it's a matter of who I will be paying the taxes to." Holly was always very aware of her mother's work and it was all so fascinating. She was glad she explained this stuff to her in a way she could understand. She hated not knowing things.

Aika looked up and addressed Julius again who was listening in interest.

"Then, I would have to have tea with Lord Silva, and hopefully finish that before I have to go introduce myself again to the Royal Guard who take lessons from me once a week. They don't remember me because of the amulet I used to have."

"Oh! I've heard about some faceless teacher giving lessons to the Royal Guard from Master Raymond." Julius touched his chin thoughtfully. "He told me it was you...It was the amulet you were wearing right? Would they even remember your lessons if they couldn't remember your face?"

"Yes, and of course. They only don't remember the identity of their teacher." She tilted her head when she noticed the time. "I must be going now," she announced as she pulled out her communicator. “I will talk to you more when I return.” Aika brought the device up to her mouth. "Ellie, to Roma please." A portal opened up next to her. "I'll see you later, Julius. And Holly," she gave her a stern look. "Behave yourself. Don't bother Fuegoleon too much, okay?” She sighed. It was his first day as Captain but he permitted Holly to come visit him anyway. She worries how much he showed favoritism towards Holly. “And no mischief,” she added.

Holly nodded somberly, suppressing a grin. It was perfect that Julius had walked in when he did. While it wasn't necessarily mischief, she needed to inform him of something that may be considered a bother in her mom's books. She may not exactly like him yet, but this was important. It was her very first, very real mission.

"Yes, mom. I love you!" She blushed when her mom gave her one of her infamous headpats. "Be safe!"

Aika smiled down at her daughter. "Of course." She nodded at Julius who winked at her in response. She blushed as she shook her head and ported away. 

"Julius?" Holly called seriously, her face turned away from him. He briefly feared that that wink may have been too much in front of her.

"Yes, Holly?"

"Are you going to the Crimson Lions Headquarters first?"

He raised a brow.

"Yes. How did you know that?"

She turned around with a mischievous grin.

"It's the closest base to the capital, so logically you would go there first."

"Wow!" He didn't expect deductive reasoning from a 10-year-old.

She smiled proudly.

"So, could I come with you? I'm going there too and I want to tell you something."

That piqued his curiosity. She had something to tell him?

"That mark you and mom are wearing on your forehead." She tapped her forehead. "Do you know what that is?"

Julius stilled at her words. Should he even be talking about this?

"It's a mark from a magic item," he answered cautiously.

"Yeah, I overheard. But do you know what the rune actually means or represents?"

"Er, no?" Where was she going with this?

"Well, the Nordic runes, the Hebrew alphabet and the Star of David are derived from the six-rayed star."

He quirked his brow again. He never knew that and it was fascinating information that he could delve into. But why did she sound so serious?

"The top part of the Tree of Life, also known as the Tree of Sephiroth or Sephirah is also derived from the same rune."

Julius's eyes widened. The elves who used to live near Hage worshipped the emanations in the Tree of Sephirah. Was the Swallowtail their relic? But the first Wizard King had a log of how he invented it so was it inspired by the elves?

"Any magic related to the Sephirah is life magic, used in resurrection, necromancy, reincarnation etcetera etcetera. It's forbidden magic."

Chills swept through him. Oh. Now that she put it that way, that was exactly what he was doing wasn't he? He reasoned that it was so that he could revive himself but that was technically necromancy, wasn't it?

"Mana and life essence are one and the same and you are storing your mana in it right? So that means you are storing your life energy," Holly narrowed her eyes at him in suspicion. "And also, there are elves in other countries who might find it a great offence that you are wearing Sephira's mark, especially when you don't worship it." She looked pointedly at the cross he wore.

"How do you know all of this?" He asked as he mirrored her suspicious gaze.

"My mom's old teacher, who is now my teacher, is an elf and a High Priest of Sephirah. He told me. He knows a lot about the divinity part of forbidden magic. And in order to learn about the light, you need to know the dark so yeah, he knows about all of this." She walked past him towards the door leading to his office. "But please don't tell my mom I know because she doesn't want me learning about the darker parts of forbidden magic yet."

He followed Holly into his office, thinking about how surreal this all was. A ten-year-old was just casually telling him off about necromancy and religion.

"Then why are you telling me this?"

"Because the Triad in the Spade kingdom and their Devils would target this kingdom more aggressively if they knew that someone was bearing the mark that represented the antithe—" She wrestled with the word. "Antithesis to them." She raised her arms defensively. "I'm just telling you what my teacher told me." He was a prophet for Sephirah. Someone who had also achieved Enlightenment, which granted him the ability to bear the Image of God, Imago Dei, and not go blind or insane. He and the other Enlightened Ones would receive direct orders or visions from God that they must carry out. He told her that she needed to tell Julius Novachrono that he must be wary of the mark on his head. When she asked him why, he told her it was more for her sake than him but the message must be relayed nevertheless.

His words worried Holly because did that mean she must be wary of the mark too? She worshipped the sun gods which were emanations of The God so they will be merciful towards her if she made a mistake. Right? Holly wasn’t so sure.

After all, there was no law dictating that God must be fair.

Julius stared long and hard at her. That was very heavy information for a child to bear. And how did her teacher know all that information about the Spade Kingdom? Why did he want to relay it to him? He needed to think on this because there is a very real threat from Spade that could kill him and if he had no way to come back, who was going to protect Clover Kingdom? He needed to keep the mark.

"Alright." He said simply. He would think about this later. "Who's Uncle Fueggy?" He asked with a bright smile, changing the topic. A child shouldn't dwell on such things. 

Holly blushed at that question, ignoring the bizarre way his mood quickly switched up for now.

"Fuegoleon played with me a lot when I was a kid so it's a habit," she explained sheepishly.

"Oh, is your family close to the Vermillions?"

"Well—" Her mom did not want her to tell anyone about her and Mereoleona unless she said so, so she couldn't say anything. "You have to ask my mom about that."

"I see..." Julius did remember the tense looks former Captain Leonardo and Aika shared. There seemed to be some history. Well, he could ask Fuegoleon himself when he goes to their base. If Holly wanted to accompany him, he doesn’t see a reason why she shouldn’t. 

He proffered his elbow to her with a dashing smile. "Shall we go?"

Aika landed unsteadily on the study floor as she tossed her cloak and folders on the desk. Ellie followed behind her, eyes blank and wide as she just tried to process what she just witnessed.

"Are they going to be fine...?" She asked, pointing shakily at the shrinking portal behind her.

Aika leaned on her desk as she pinched the bridge of her nose, staving off an oncoming headache.

"Of course they're going to be fine. The two kings are in love with each other despite how much they fight."

"What?!”

“Yes. It is obvious to most of the officials in the room, myself included.”

“I—” Ellie sputtered in shock as Aika continued.

“Usually, I don’t play cupid but in a show of unity they were trying to impose both their taxes on me and I can’t have that. Our branch on the disputed land is a small one and it would go bankrupt if they did that. So I did the next best thing. I paid the wait staff and guards off so that they would direct the two kings to the same private lounge when they adjourned for recess and lock them for the entirety of the break.”

Ellie gaped at Aika and her crazy idea.

“They’ll either talk it out or kiss and make up.”

“...But how would that help us?”

“This plan could only work because I have a good rapport with both the kings. I proposed a plan where they could split the money from one single tax evenly between themselves. If they talked it out calmly and away from prying eyes, they would go with my plan. If they kissed and made up, their first compromise together as partners would be to go with my plan as well because they are both favorable towards me. They were only being unfair because of the tension between each other, not with me.” It was guaranteed that it would go either way. She didn’t play fair and not use her Time Magic with her own company. She could see what choices she could make that could lead to a favorable outcome for her and her company. 

She knew what investments to make, where to take risks and where to back down, but only if she could think up various solutions to her problems. If she couldn’t think of any plan, then her foresight would offer her nothing. 

She could only see if the plan that she thought up works or not but her foresight couldn’t offer her a plan itself because there technically would be thousands, if not millions, of ways any situation could play out. If she had visions of all of them at once, with the information overload, she would be dead instantly. She has to come up with a plan herself and confirm its success. It was better that way because it kept her sharp.

“What if the—er, tension between the two escalated to a physical fight?”

 Aika plopped down in her armchair with a sigh. She had thought of that as well but she didn’t need to worry about that.

“Even if they did have a fist fight, I’m not worried because those two would not go to war over personal vendettas. I think it would relieve some stress between them actually. In the end, they will calm down and end up compromising on my idea. So either way, whatever manifests in that room, hate or love, I’ve no doubt they will be coming out of it a little bruised,” she smirked as she crossed her legs.

Ellie let out a laugh at her boss’s suggestive look. Aika was relieved she could reassure her. She tended to worry too much about such things. Evan, Jayce and Ellie do not know that she used Time Magic. So they sometimes wondered how she was so sure about her decisions. After years of wondering, they just chalked it up to forbidden magic.

"Ready for round two?" She asked, referring to the tea they were about to have with Lord Silva. Ellie hummed affirmatively as she shook her head in amusement.

"I have only been as far as the gates to the Silva Mansion. Is that alright, ma'am?"

"Yes, Ellie. That is perfect." They quickly freshened up and stepped into the portal and the grand gates of a white, picturesque mansion came into view. With it's steeples, domes, and solid, white brick walls, it would be more appropriate to call it a castle. Daunting gates made of black metal framed tastefully by green vines slowly swung open when their feet touched the cobblestone.

Aika and Ellie shared a cautious look and took the first step forward together.

When they reached the burnt, spruce wood doors, Aika stared at the tacky gold eagle door knockers in exasperation. Ellie reached for them without a second thought and knocked twice, the loud noise startling Aika. The spatial mage looked at her apologetically as the doors seemingly opened by themselves to reveal the Lord of the house standing in the middle of the foyer, his back ramrod straight, hands linked behind him as an ever-present scowl eased into a bored expression in some resemblance of courtesy.

"Welcome to my home, Madam Tolliver and..." His gaze landed on Ellie. "And uninvited guest," he sneered as he took in her appearance. It was obvious that she was a commoner and even worse, a foreigner. Her big, red eyes, soft nose, and plump lips all encompassed by skin as dark as the sea stood in direct contrast to his features. The only trait they seemed to share was the snow white hair that seemed to shine with an otherworldly glow.

Aika cleared her throat when Ellie's brows furrowed to glare back at the older man.

"I hope you don't mind my maid accompanying me. She's a close associate of mine that assists me in anything I need."

Lord Silva's eyes snapped back to hers as he pursed his lips.

"She may wait in the gardens. The matters we are going to discuss are rather... delicate."

Aika turned to her and nodded permissively. There was no reason for her to stay. She could simply go back to the headquarters but the more area a spatial mage covers, the more places they could travel to, and the more valuable they would be. It would be...advantageous for her to be able to travel directly onto the Silva property if she needed to for any reason.

A servant led Ellie away while Lord Silva motioned her to follow him. She side-eyed the paintings she passed by, but one in particular made her pause mid-step. It was undoubtedly the painting of Acier Silva. It was gigantic as if to immortalize every detail on her beautiful face and the frame was grand and ornate. Lord Silva stood stock still next to her, looking up at his former wife with eyes full of utter adoration and heartache.

Aika looked away, allowing him to have his moment.

When she noticed his feet move away, she followed him, putting that little moment of vulnerability behind them.

He led her to a well-lit sitting room with big windows and a view to the gardens that was breathtaking in the afternoon sun. 

Aika faintly wondered how Holly was doing.

Another servant poured them tea and quickly left the room, leaving them in tense silence. She looked out into the garden, clearing her mind and bringing the tea to a much more lukewarm temperature with her magic.

"I apologize for my behaviour on that day," Lord Silva said evenly. She turned to him with slightly raised brows as if she had just noticed his presence. "Whether it was wanted or not, you saved me and I should be grateful to you for that."

"Should be," meaning he wasn't.

Aika looked pensively into her cup.

"Tell me, sir," She peered up at him through her lashes. "How many children do you have?"

He stared at her for a moment, lips parted, before he finally answered,

"Four."

"Have any of them struck your mind before the earth struck you?"

"Excuse me?"

She took a sip.

"I'm sure you need no repeating."

"How dare you ask me such a personal thing?!"

Lord Silva's voice raised several notches, immediately setting Aika on the edge but she restrained her tone and body language.

She quietly stared at him straight in his eyes and he scowled back, refusing to back down for a minute. When he realized she wasn't either, he wrenched his gaze away with a derisive scoff.

"You still haven't answered my question. I'm sure that's not very polite in Clover society," she added lightly. He huffed as a sneer crawled up his face.

"Neither is asking such questions."

"Think of it as payment for saving your life."

"The debt can only be fulfilled when I save you in return."

"You will never save me." Lord Silva's gaze snapped up to her's with a jolt. Blank eyes were downcast at her cup as her left cheek twitched in annoyance.

It seemed like she slipped up once more. It has been happening a lot recently. What was wrong with her?

"What?"

"I meant that you would not have an opportunity to save me." She cleared her throat. "Answer the question for me at least, as your saviour and as a mother."

He was taken aback by that.

"You are a mother?" He asked incredulously.

Aika smiled internally. Information must always be timed perfectly. She had used the truth to both change the subject and reveal a detail about her in a show of false vulnerability that would no doubt encourage him to open up a bit more.

"I am." She smiled lightly. "I have a daughter. Nearly ten."

"So do I..." Lord Silva's shoulders relaxed slightly. He wrapped his hands around the cup comfortingly as he sighed. He caved under her persistence and answered,

"No, I haven't. I haven't thought of them at all."

Aika let the silence envelop them for a moment.

��If you abandoned your children and died, how do you think Lady Acier is going to react?"

He stared at her in shock. How dare she be so casual with him?

"Whether you go to the Underworld or the After, it would be hell either way. If the father of my child died to follow me into the After, leaving our daughter, believe me, I would raise hell."

He looked away pensively when her words struck him.

“I suppose you’re right...”

And with that, Aika was done with what she came for.  She gave him something to think about and hopefully it would snowball into something better for him.

She stood up as she set her cup down.

“I’m glad we agree. I don’t believe there is much to discuss.” She clasped her hands in front of her. “I pray that your retirement is as peaceful as today’s afternoon.

“We are not done yet.”

Aika looked up with a raised brow.

“Your Uncle.” she twitched at the mention. Silva senior smirked at her as she sat down in interest.

He knew.

“Yes, Raymond told me you were his niece. He also told me about your company.”

She picked her cup up with a sigh.

“You two fooled the rest of the world into thinking that you were enemies.” She took a sip. “It seems like that is not the case.”

“We were rivals, but we are also comrades,” he retorted defensively. “But back to the point. He told me about your company, Eidolon.”

She tensed at the name. It was very rare to hear the name of her company. It was both a secret and not. It was vast and well-known but it was strange hearing a Clover citizen discuss it.

“He told me that he was allowed to recommend one person if he wished, to work for your company,” he conjured a sheet of water that materialised into a thick binder of papers. “And he recommended me to your company.” He placed it on the table in front of her. “This was the paperwork and possible contracts I could sign that he gave to me. I have no plans to sit around during my retirement. I want to join the dungeon raiders.”

Aika threw a perplexed look between the papers and the man who stared intently at her for her response.

She opened her mouth open, and snapped it shut when nothing came out. She was at loss for words.

When she asked her Uncle to maybe recommend someone in the future, she meant someone young, adaptable and full of potential. Not a recently retired Magic Knight Captain who is well known to be classist and most likely racist, and too old to learn anything new like a language or a culture.

She was so close to blurting out a rejection but she stilled her tongue. She threw up a polite smile and pretended to sift through the papers in interest.

“I will...consider it,” she finally answered tightly. Silva Senior seemed to be oblivious to her annoyance as he clapped his hands together.

“Well, that’s settled then!” He stood up with her and led her to the door with a wave of his arm.

Aika pursed her lips as he allowed her to pass him. He threw a cold look at her back. He didn’t want to spend any more time in her presence than he had to. He was stubborn but he knew how to pick and choose his battles.

“I must go pick up my maid,” she informed him as they walked in long strides, both eager to relieve themselves of each other’s company.

“Ah, yes of course. I shall show you around the gardens on the way if you don’t mind.” He really didn’t have to but he was just playing the role of a polite lord. And he played it well too. Any sign that they had a heart-to-heart was gone, replaced with brittle formality.

“Thank you, but I have another appointment and I must get to it soon.”

Aika must introduce herself to the Royal Guard, but this time, they will not forget her.

Ellie’s portal directly landed them on the training fields in Clover Castle. Aika adjusted the shoulder brace that clung to her crimson half-cloak that covered her left shoulder. Her longsword hung from her waist, ready to be drawn at a moment’s notice. She appreciated how time magic always helped her get ready quicker.

“And who might you be, porting into Clover Castle without permission?”

Aika looked up and a finger crystallizing with ice was pointed between her eyes, threatening to engulf her any second. She tilted her head to the side to stare at the owner of said finger.

It was the Captain of the Royal Guards, Sal. The rest of the guards were in various groups, exercising or sparring but they all paused to stare at her.

“Hello there, Captain,” she greeted. “You wouldn’t remember but I was the one helping you train your men and I came to reveal my face today.”

Sal raised a brow.

“Is that so?”

He brought his sword up and down in an axe cut where her exposed shoulder was at an unprecedented speed. But Aike blocked it with a dagger she reflexively drew from her forearm where it was strapped.

“Attacking without a warning,” she drawled. “How rude.”

Sal grinned at her.

“No real fight has a countdown.”

She pushed his sword away from her face as he slackened. She took this moment to tie her hair at the nape with a ribbon and drew her sword.

“I see that you wish to test me.”

“Well, Master Raymond did say something about forgetting someone before he left, but I didn’t forget the way they fought.” He rolled his shoulders as his smile fell away and a sharp glint in his eyes surfaced. “Would you mind a spar?”

Aika sighed heavily. Sal wasn’t the one for chit chat, always got to the point in an almost rude fashion. She will make this quick, just as he would prefer it.

“On your mark.”

He threw himself forward with his ice magic propelling his feet and clanged his sword against hers. While Aika pushed with her sword hand and shoulder, she wrapped her other hand around the hilt of his sword where he attached his hand to it with ice so it wouldn’t slip off and she crushed it so the ice encasing it broke.

Sal’s eyes went wide and with the element of surprise, she twisted the sword out of his slippery hand and threw it to the side, far from his reach. 

He launched himself upwards with a tall pillar of ice before she could attack him but she laid a hand on it and melted the pillar with her time magic and it instantaneously turned to water. She pretended she had water magic and this just helped solidify that lie.

When he dropped and rolled, Aika quickly moved to kick him to the side mid-roll but he grabbed her ankle and knee and tripped her onto her side. She threw her sword away as she fell and waited for Sal to come close. He tried to pick her up by the leg but she used the momentum to wrap her legs around his thick neck and she squeezed hard .

She rocked forward and backwards as he choked and he toppled face first but he braced himself with his arms. Aika used this opportunity to reach back and grab his ankles and wrenched them backwards so he couldn’t use his legs.

The leg lock around Sal’s neck slackened and so he inserted his hand between her calves and made a tube of ice that forced her legs apart, freeing him from the chokehold. Aika broke away from the ice clinging to her pants and shifted her hips to straddle his back and grabbed his arm and forced it behind him.

“Give up,” she finally said. Sal struggled in her grip and tried to use his musculature to overpower her strength but it was no use. Aika had always had an abnormal amount of physical strength.

He stopped struggling and tapped the ground twice with his free hand.

“I surrender!” His voice strained.

And just like that, she rolled off of his back and offered a hand to him. Sal took the proffered hand and stood up as he rolled his neck with a grimace.

“That grip was not expected at all. What do they even feed you?” He asked as he scratched his beard.

“Same thing as they feed you. I just don’t have a tendency to flex my muscles like you men,” she said lightly as she covered her smile with her hand. Sal was often funny when he wasn’t terrifying his guards to do their job right. Talking to him was always fun and she would be lying if she said she wasn’t happy that she finally got to talk to him as herself and not some faceless cryptid who whooped the guards asses once a week.

“No shit.” The gathered crowd moved closer to listen to the exchange. “You’re covered from head to toe like a nun!”

Aika let out a laugh.

“Far from it actually!”

He leaned in as if to tell her a secret but whispered loudly, “But I would be lying if I said anyone in this castle is a saint.” He thought for a moment. “Well, except maybe the new Wizard King. Met him earlier today. He was really nice and young. Didn’t seem to be ruffled by too much and was full of boundless energy like a puppy.”

Her mind couldn’t help but conjure up images and memories. A wide smile framed by little dimples that kept her distracted. The passionate way he discussed magic without an end. A soft, content look that he would give her when she added onto his rants.

Aika felt her ears burn up. This infatuation was too much. She was not a schoolgirl yet there she was blushing like one.

“Yes, he is like that a lot.”

“Oh, you know him personally?”

She sighed as she let a smile take over her.

“Something like that.”

“Oh.” Sal smirked. “I see.” He cleared his throat. “Well, Madam Tolliver, wasn’t it? My name is Sal, Captain Sal.” He offered a hand for her to shake. “But I’m sure you knew that.”

“I did, and you seem to know mine as well.”

“Master Raymond made sure to brief the entirety of the Castle staff on many things after the final battle.” She nodded in understanding. Sal motioned at the crowd of guards who were speaking in low voices.

“Well, do you have anything to teach or train us for today? We can catch up over drinks later.”

Aika crossed her arms and scanned her surroundings. She recognized some of the faces among the crowd and Evan and Jayce gave her a thumbs up when she spotted them. Ellie moved to lean on the castle wall where the shadows provided reprieve from the afternoon sun. Sal had a mischievous smile that only served to increase the dread among the guards. The rooms overlooking the training grounds were some libraries, conference rooms and some lounges for the Wizard King to use.

Aika took a deep breath. It was hard not being anonymous. She couldn’t just rely on people to forget the things she will say or do in the future now. She had to watch herself in the future or consequences will follow her.

“Last time, some of them mentioned wanting to practice offense and defense because we practiced intelligence gathering last time so I suppose that?”

She looked to Sal for approval.

“Yes, that sounds good. I’ll keep watch.”

He still had that smile on his face and she wasn’t sure why.

“Okay, everyone!” She raised her voice to catch people’s attention. “My name is Aika. You may call me Miss Aika. I was the teacher who had been training you all alongside Captain Sal when Master Raymond was still Wizard King.” The crowd began to murmur amongst themselves at her words. “That being said, we’re going to be practicing offense and defense today.”

Aika drew a circle around her with a sword, a meter wide, as Sal moved away to stand next to Ellie in the shade.

“Your task is very simple. You have to push me out of the circle in any way you see fit. All of you have to do this at the same time. But of course you can’t all crowd me at once because you might hurt your allies so this tests your teamwork too if you wish to work with other people.”

Someone raised their hand.

“Yes?”

“Will you be attacking us too?”

“I will attack if someone attacks me inside the circle but I will not initiate any offense yet. I will also be defending myself. Blocking, deflecting, and cutting down attacks. I may even send back one of your spells back towards you. You are all allowed to attack me however you please. But think of this exercise as a way to coordinate against one enemy so don’t all rush in at once.”

As Aika spoke, they all slowly moved to surround her at a good distance. She could see the gears shifting in their minds as a strategy formed in their heads. Unlike the Magic Knights, who can go on solo missions or in small teams, the Royal Guards must protect the castle as a one big team. These training exercises have been especially frequent the past few years because of the constant wars with Diamond and Spade kingdoms. And since King Augustus had been crowned, he had been especially insistent on everyone being able to protect him.

“I am ready when you are.”

They didn’t even give her a moment to breathe. Everyone on the front line shot their long-ranged spells at her. All the trajectories were different. Some were straight and some were arching over her so it was difficult to simply just jump and let them collide but she had no other option.

Aika jumped high and tried to make it seem natural when she weaved through the ones still in the air and took this moment to see where the next attack was coming from. Close-range fighters readied themselves to ambush her, no doubt going to use the smoke of the spells that exploded below her to their advantage. Her position is set in that little circle so there’s no uncertainty as to where she will be.

When she landed on her feet, amidst the dense smoke, three people leapt towards her, wielding various weapons. Her objective was not only to push them aside but to knock them out or else they will keep coming back. One woman with a spike-less morningstar swung at her but Aika subtly slowed down the force and when another attacker lunged at her back, she sidestepped and sped up his speed and he was smacked right in the shoulder by the woman. She froze in shock at how she accidentally injured her ally.

Aika’s circle was getting cramped so she kicked them both away and used the momentum to kick the next man right in the side of the neck. She studied enough anatomy during her college years to know that she kicked him perfectly in the vagus nerve and he was knocked out cold as his daggers slipped out of his hands.

The smoke dissipated as she rolled him out of the circle with her foot.

She tied her hair up tighter as she taunted,

“Who’s next?”

There was an immediate response.

Golems rose out of the ground, their bodies burning with the enchantments of different elements. She was briefly impressed with how quickly they infused the mana of multiple mages into them.

They all tried to swarm her but she finally drew her sword and swung in a wide arc. As they were all cut in half and the mana escaped, she drew it all to her.

Her head whipped towards a loud cheer that came somewhere from above. The distraction was dangerous but if she was being honest, she had nothing to worry about. What was the worst that could possibly happen?

Aika’s heart jumped when she saw Julius who was waving enthusiastically from a window. He must be using one of the conference rooms that was overlooking the training grounds. A familiar ginger headed man also leaned forward behind the Wizard King in confusion and was surprised to see her when he spotted her. Her heart warmed at the familiar face. It had been weeks since she had seen Fuegoleon and now he was Captain.

She waved at the both of them with her sword hand as she held the other hand up to hold the growing ball of mana. She should go congratulate him as well.

Just as she refocused her attention back to the fight on hand, a figure came lunging at her with a sword but she quickly blocked. Aika couldn’t help but feel surprised when she strained against his strength. She couldn’t see the entirety of the man’s face except for his growing grin. All her instincts seemed to awaken at once, screaming at her to move, but her skepticism and curiosity kept her still.

Then in a strange turn of events, he let the sword slip out of his hand and his other hand seemed to reach for her stomach, but curled into a tight fist and punched her right under her ribs.

For the first time in years, Aika went flying. She was slammed against the castle walls, creating a sizable crater. Her breath was knocked out of her and her head spun but a brief surge of rage quickly sobered her. She thrust her arm out as she whispered,

“Mana Zone: Mana Hands.”

A swarm of invisible hands materialized all around her and one of them quickly brought her sword to her as she picked herself off of the wall.

Aika took in the sight of her opponent who wielded enough strength to punch her that hard.

A young man whose hood covered half of his face, smirked at her as a slight young woman stood next him, wearing a familiar mask framed by flowing blonde hair that spilled out from either side of her, swaying in the wind as she held up a bow, ready to shoot.

Aika had to look twice as her eyes went wide. It seemed like a bizarre dream when the mask stared back at her. It was the same archer who broke her amulet.

Her hand curled around the hilt of her sword.

And they had some nerve coming back to face her head-on.

Notes: There's a fight scene the next chapter and we see Fuegoleon!! WOOO so I'm excited for that🥰 Also, yes, Sal already knew her because the previous Wizard King refreshed his memory in detail but he was just messing around with Aika LMAO

[supercasey]

So I've been playing The Hades Game like fucking mad for the last few weeks, and although I'm not very far in it (at least, I don’t think I am; I’ve only beat Hades once!), I'm absolutely in love with it! Anyways, a certain idea has been kicking around in my head for awhile now, so I thought I'd share it with y'all; feel free to tell me what you think of it! (Warning: spoilers for when you beat Hades the first time!)

Anyways, I've already seen a really cool AU post for if Demeter raised Zagreus on the surface by herself (which you can find HERE; please check it out, the outfit for Zag alone is an amazing concept, and I love the artwork!!!) but I keep thinking about an AU where, after Zagreus dies at birth, Persephone runs away and takes his wrapped up body with her.

On the surface, she reconnects/reunites with her mother Demeter, and with her aid, the two of them manage to resurrect the newborn baby, though now he has more white in his hair than anything else. After that, Persephone sends Hades a letter to tell him that Zagreus is alive and well (because she actually has some fucking class), before proceeding to raise Zagreus on the surface with her mother, far away from the entrance to hell. The Olympians also help her out a bit, but mostly they just help by hiding Zagreus when it’s necessary.

(The rest is under a cut ‘cus this got a bit long, sorry!)

Years pass in relative peace, until Zagreus is about as old as he is in-game (I think he’s around 20-25ish???) and is living well, working with his mom and grandma to take care of their gardens and live peacefully away from mankind; he especially loves tending to the animals and guiding lost mortals to safety. However, one day while foraging for fruit in the deepest corners of his mother’s signature garden, Zagreus happens across a strange man in long robes, who introduces himself as Thanatos.

The two men get along swimmingly from minute one, and after agreeing to meet with each other again soon, they leave and tell their families/friends all about the experience, having no clue who they are to each other. After all, Thanatos was told growing up that his lord’s first wife died giving birth to their first and only child, who was a stillborn, and Zagreus thinks his father died of disease (his mom didn’t have to heart to tell him anything bad about his dad). Needless to say, they’re gonna be in for quite the shock soon.

Cue Hades losing his shit and calling on Thanatos, Megaera, and Achilles to go find his progeny and bring him home; he gives them special permission to leave the Underworld without any resistance, trusting Than to lead the way back to Zagreus. Achilles is less than thrilled to be performing such a morally grey task for his master, but Meg and Than are eager to prove themselves, so he begrudgingly agrees to help, even if it hurts his conscience to do so.

Persephone and Demeter also freak the hell out on their end, scared shitless by the fact that Death incarnate has just met their son/grandson, and they’re worried that he plans on coming back again soon. Demeter suggests sending Zagreus to live with the Olympians until this all blows over, but Persephone disagrees, wanting her son to stay nearby in case he grows ill (it’s implied that she’s a bit overprotective of him, mostly because she’s afraid of him dying again; this also means she refuses to let him know that he’s in any danger, believing it would only make things worse for him in the long-run). Frustrated but understanding her daughter’s pain all too well, Demeter at least convinces her to call on the Olympians for aid, which Persephone agrees to do.

The gods promise to help of course, but... well, they're low-key lying; they wanna see how this plays out first.

After several days of traveling through hell (literally), the “let’s kidnap Zagreus” gang makes it to the surface, and they immediately head to Persephone’s garden. All this time, Zagreus has no idea that he’s being targeted, so he goes about his chores as usual, only to run into Than again, and hey, he brought some more friends for him to meet! Zagreus is friendly with all of them, being raised to be very polite by his guardians, and while he’s busy chatting with Than and Achilles, he doesn’t notice Meg sneaking behind him. Just as Zagreus is rattling on about how the animals have been faring this summer, Meg stabs Zagreus in the back with a blade coated in Hades’s blood, cursing him to belong to the Underworld again.

With Zagreus now unconscious from a sedative that was mixed with the blood, the trio hurry off with him back to the Underworld, but not without Persephone seeing what they’ve done to her son. Horrified, she begins to sob, and winter arrives in the mortal world without so much as a fall season in-between this and the summertime.

When Zagreus comes to, he finds himself in a bedroom similar to the one he has in the game, but it’s much cleaner and has less objects of personal value to him. Hades is standing at the foot of his bed when he wakes up, and very calmly, Hades tells Zagreus that he’s his father, and that from now on, Zagreus will be living in the Underworld with him and his people, where he so obviously belongs. It’s a shame his mother can’t be here, of course, but they just need to wait awhile, that’s all; surely she’ll come to her senses and return home soon, now that her husband and son are here.

Zagreus jumps out of bed and faces his father as soon as he’s done monologuing, ready to tell him off for what he’s done, but to his shock, Hades hugs him as soon as he’s on his feet, and admits that he’s waited for this day for a long, long time. He asks his son to please just accept that this is his home now, and despite still being a bit surprised (and subtly hugging Hades back because Longing), Zagreus tells him straight up that he can’t, that he has to get home, especially with winter coming in a few months!

Dejected but not overly surprised, Hades simply nods in acceptance, but he still warns Zagreus that it’s no use trying to fight it; he’s stuck here, now and forever, so he may as well get comfortable and try getting along with him, because no one’s going anywhere anytime soon. Zagreus is horrified, but he nods nonetheless, unsure of what to say or do just yet.

Later that night, as Zagreus is struggling to sleep in this new, unfamiliar place, Achilles comes to him and apologizes about what’s happened, and although he can’t magically fix everything for him, he tells Zagreus that it actually is supposedly possible to escape; it’s just that no one’s ever done it before. Driven by his desire for freedom and the thought of reuniting with his mother, Zagreus tells Achilles that he’s going to find a way out, no matter the cost. Achilles congratulates him on his tenacity, but warns him that it won’t be easy. Still, he’s willing to help Zagreus as much as he can.

From then on, I imagine the game playing out very differently from the original, with a rather frazzled and scared Zagreus trying to get home to his mom and grandma, but with none of his training from Achilles in this AU, he has to rely on something his mother taught him; his connection with earth and all it’s inhabitants. Or, in his case, his connection with the spirits of animals (a cross of his dad and mom’s powers). That’s right, I’m making The Hades Game into a fucking Pokemon-ripoff, but still with some rouge-like elements mixed in (mostly with Zagreus not keeping his animals after runs).

Having royally fucked up in not stepping in sooner to protect Zagreus, the gods end up helping him out by sending down animals associated with them for the young god to tame for a run (I’ll come up with them later). They usually offer a selection to choose from, and from there Zagreus can build up a team and use it to try and escape the Underworld.

To replace weapons, I like to think he’d have “signature” animals that can help him out for any of his runs, specifically ones from Achilles, Poseidon, Zeus, Demeter (once he reaches the surface at least once), and eventually even Hades gives him one if they bond together enough ((yes, it’s Cerberus... kinda; it’s a puppy version of him, otherwise he’d be OP as fuck)). Zagreus’s signature animals can all be given names, and they keep certain skills that they pick up through enough experience battling in the Underworld for Zagreus.

As for story-line stuff, Zagreus ends up in a very fish out of water situation as he tries to get to know everyone in Hades’s house (he’s still our kindhearted Zag, after all, and he knows most of them aren’t to blame, not even really Than!) while also focusing on his goal to get home to his mom. Hades ends up being a lot nicer to him in this AU, perhaps overly so, as he’s trying to make his son like him more in order to make up for lost time (and fill the hole in his heart that Zag’s initial death as an infant and Persephone leaving with him created). It’s part of the reason he’s even letting Zagreus try to escape; he wants him to learn that it won’t work on his own terms (and maybe also scare the kid so bad that he comes running to him for comfort afterwards).

Also, I should really note that Zagreus is 100% a sweet country farm boy in this AU, and he has no idea what the fuck is going on with pretty much anything in the Underworld, much to everyone’s astonishment. For example:

Meg: Gods, it must be weird getting used to everything down here, huh? Sick of stepping in bat shit yet? Don’t worry, you’ll get used to it, and Dusa’s pretty good about cleaning it up to begin with. Zagreus: I mean, I guess? It’s not that different from chicken shit tbh. Meg: What the fuck is a chicken???

After that... yeah, I dunno. I’ll try playing Hades some more, see if I think up anything else that could be interesting, but for now, I hope at least someone ends up liking this dumb AU (if not, I’ll still like it... might even try my hand at drawing for it a bit tbh). Again, please check out the person who’s post/art I linked earlier in the post, ‘cus their art is really awesome and inspired me to include Demeter more in this AU!

[imagines-mha]

When you wear his clothes

Fandom(s): Haikyuu!!

Characters: Daichi, Oikawa, Kuroo, Bokuto, Terushima, Kita, Futakuchi, Ushijima

🔸 Daaamn if this man ain’t smug as hell

🔸 He wouldn’t seem it, and it’d take a genius to tell- but beneath his cool facade, he’s overflowing with utter pride

🔸 You show up one day to practice to drop off his lunch, clad in one of his comfy t-shirts

🔸 Let's be real, Tanaka and Noya see you way before he does

🔸 And bc ur the captains s/o™️, you get a free pass to becoming the unofficial mom of karasuno

🔸 So yes, they all adore you. And yes, they tease you and Daichi like hell

🔸 “WOAH Y/N!! IS THAT DAICHI’S?!” Noya calls, and all eyes magnetise to your figure

🔸 That’s when a smirk creeps onto your boyfriend’s face and your face starts to heat up bc he is HOT

🔸 “You gotta wear my stuff more often babe,“ he’ll grin after the team finish with their compliments, “seems like everyone here thinks you’re cute as hell too. Pity you’re all mine though-“

🔸 *cue cheesy couple shit that makes half of the team wanna throw up*

🔹 If you wear ANY of his stuff, you can bet he’s gonna put the evidence all over the internet. Yall KNOW he would upload it onto a public billboard if he could

🔹 Because everyone needs to see how cute his little y/n is

🔹 And also- boy likes to boast about his relationship cus he thinks ur a gift from god lol

🔹 He’ll probably still tease you about it tho U CANNOT WIN W THIS MAN

🔹 “Aw y/n are you trying to get even closer to me by wearing my shirt? Did you really miss me THAT much? Gosh you’re so cute when-“

🔹 Just slap him

🔹 Fr tho either tell him to knock it off or feed his ego even more. We all know what choice is gonna take less time lmao

🔹 He’s the boyfriend who encourages you to wear his stuff, but super subtly.

🔹 Leaving hoodies on radiators when it’s cold, t-shirts in convenient places just in case you wanna throw them on…

🔹 He just loves having an s/o who wears his clothes it makes him feel like a cool boyfriend okay

🔹 He’ll post pics with the caption “isn’t my sweet little y/n just adorable in MY hoodie?! 🥰🥰🥰” and u can’t lie it kinda does make you melt

♦️ Go grab the dictionary and look up “teasing little bitch”

♦️ There u go that's how he is. He’ll torture you abt it but we all know he’s so into seeing u wear his stuff.

♦️ Sexually.

♦️ “Wow dontcha have your own jacket to wear? Or are you just trying to show me off again?”

♦️ “And who gave you the free pass to steal all my shirts?”

♦️ He’s just teasing though, y’all know he prays every night for you to wear them cus he thinks you’re fucking precious

♦️ You remind him of a little kitty when his giant hoodies are draped around your shoulders

♦️ It drives him CRAZY

♦️ He’s got hard like 83 times more than he’d like to admit just from the sight of you in his clothes not his finest moments

♦️ With that in mind, wear his clothes for a free pass to the best sex of your life amen

⚫️ Lmao. Simp king.

⚫️ He comes home early from practice to find you rummaging around in the kitchen, one of his hoodies hanging around you

⚫️ And istg he almost has to call an ambulance

⚫️ “Y/N WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME YOU WORE MY STUFF WHEN I WASNT HOME ANDJWJDJWDJSH”

⚫️ Openly campaigns for you to wear his clothes

⚫️ Like if advertising his clothes to you was an olympic sport, he’d have won gold at least 6 years in a row by now

⚫️ Ur like “oh i'm coming to practice today” and he’s like “ok wear my hoodie”

⚫️ And BOI when you do. WHEN YOU DO.

⚫️ You’re gonna feel like A BEAUTY QUEEN.

⚫️ “EVERYONE LOOK AT HOW FUCKING ADORABLE Y/N LOOKS IN MY HOODIE. HEAR THAT? MY HOODIE. THE HOODIE THAT IS MINE AND BELONGS TO ME. M-E. NO ONE ELSE.”

⚫️ Bokuto you’re making another scene

⚫️ Its fucking cute though

🟣 Confused.com

🟣 “Y/n… where are all your clothes?”

🟣 God bless him he’s such a sweetie pie. He just doesn’t get the memo you’re doing it bc he has comfy ass clothes and you wanna wear them also he smells nice n u like to boast that ur ushijima’s s/o what about it

🟣 When you tell him this, he just nods for a moment, still clueless as ever

🟣 “I can buy you new clothes if you need them?” USHIJIMA NO

🟣 Somehow he works out that you just wear them cus you wanna, and he is more than okay with that

🟣 Lowkey fills him with pride

🟣 You’ll find he’s more clingy when you’re in his hoodies etc. He’s a big cuddlebug on the worst of days so this just sends him OFF

🟣 Perfect for when u need that extra affection

🟣 Just throw on his hoodie and BAM there you are. Cuddly wakatoshi. Ur welcome

▪️He finds it endearing above anything

▪️ He isn’t one to openly show how blushy something makes him, so his reaction is a narrow display of how his heart is really feeling

▪️ You can still read him like an open book tho and u just KNOW by the sparkle in his eyes that he’s melting at the sight of you

▪️ He’s a busy guy, but meticulous at that. He’ll walk into your home and notice you wearing it immediately

▪️ It makes his chest heat up at the sight of you, and he just has to indulge himself in the situation

▪️ You feel his arms around your waist before anything else, giving you a warm squeeze and a peck to your head

▪️ “You look beautiful y/n”

▪️ You guys always cuddle before bed, and you find he’s holding you just a little closer and tighter when you’re in his hoodie/shirt

▪️ He likes to nuzzle you to his chest and play with your hair- it comforts him

▪️ But if you’re in his t-shirt while he does it?? It’s like the feeling is hyped x100

🔸He’s gonna get turned on by it no cap

🔸Seriously, what else did you expect from him?

🔸 He’s boastful as hell when his sees you in his outfits, and even the idea of it just makes him heat up

🔸 You show up to his house one day in a shirt he left at yours

🔸 You’re met with a sharp whistle, catching you off guard and clearly to compliment how hot you look

🔸 “Didn’t know you were comin’ all dressed up for me baby,”

🔸 You swear every time he calls you baby it makes you swoon

🔸 Like Oikawa, he’s boastful as hell

🔸 Expect 104827 selfies before you leave he treats u like his model its so fuckin cute

🔸This man just likes to show you OFF

🟢 Boy gets a little flustered

🟢 But does he mask it with cockiness? Yes. Yes he does

🟢 “Wow, this for me?” He’ll smirk a bit, dropping his bags on the floor and making his way into the bedroom where you lay

🟢 And then it could go one of two ways my friend.

🟢 Either you act all sub and cute- pouting back, letting him take control of you

🟢 Or you call him out on his faux-smugness, and watch him fall weak to you

🟢 If you chose option 1, he’ll probably take it as an opportunity to further things and fuck you- cus that boy is ALWAYS ready to go if u know what i mean ;))

🟢 If you chose option 2, you get to watch his soft side come out and it's CUTE as hell

🟢 He’ll be like “y/n stoppp let me be cool…”

🟢 Either way he fuckin loves when you wear his clothes. Surprise him in a t shirt and nothing else and he’ll SLAM you into a wall and kiss you til you can’t feel your lips istg

[biorusted]

Nahri x Ali post EoG stuff

ok listen if my brain has to play these post Empire of Gold scenes in my head then yall gotta deal with them too (heavily Ali and Nahri centric) :

- EVERYONE knows that they are a thing. From the side glances to the Arabic conversations to the way they reach for each other’s hands at any given moment. like... they aint slick. Ali visits the hospital almost constantly and is one of the few people Nahri will listen to when it comes to taking breaks or days off. Nahri comes up to the palace for the sole reason to check if Ali was crushed by paperwork etc etc. They wont talk about it! but everyone knows!

- Nahri and Ali talk about getting married long before it actually happens (Ali is, what? 23 or 24 in EoG so he wouldnt get married right away). It’s actually Ali that brings it up first while they’re sitting next to each other in the hospital gardens. They argue about how they would plan the wedding; big celebration or small private occasion (Hatset and Zaynab would kill them if it was the latter). where it would happen, if there were and Daeva / Geziri or Ayaanle traditions they should abide by. its a whole thing. it becomes a regular conversation between them (even an arguing point; ‘See! if we got married this wouldnt be a problem!’ etc)

-Eventually Ali does go to Jamshid’s place to ask if there are any Daeva/ Nahid traditions hes gotta follow -> promptly dropping the ball that he’s gonna propose and given the company it would be a very big thing. He also asks for Jamshid’s and Nahri’s grandfather’s blessing. And, if possible, Nahri would ask Zaynab/ Muntadhir/ Hatset’s blessing too.

-Zaynab and Hatset would probably organize the wedding ceremonies n stuff, not that Ali or Nahri would have any say in it but it does come as a relief bc both of them are super busy! and wedding stuff would be so stressful! They also have a small and big ceremony (the small one like MONTHS before the big one) bc like... months is just so long to wait.

-Ali is the blushing virgin on their wedding night and that is just very very good.

-Anyway Time skip and Nahri gets pregers and tries to get Ali alone to tell him but hes just super busy and always around people so one day during a family meeting Ali’s off ranting n stuff and Nahri. bless her heart, Just fuking says it. “Ali, I’m pregnant” and the room STOPS. Cue Ali slow turning to face Nahri with a very Contained and Calm face and just whispers ‘Ok’ and Nahri’s like ‘Ok?’ and Ali- 5 seconds away from crying goes ‘Ok.’ and then rushes to hug her. Everyone is astonished.

-Ali gets so worried about being a good father he stresses himself OUT but like? literally everyone else sees how good he is with children? He sometimes looks after the children at the hospital when their parents are working/ getting healed and does everything from religious talks to teaching the alphabet of the different languages to leading a bunch of children around the hospital with little jodies or rhymes (have yall seen the goat video yet? the one where a lady in a niqab sings and the goats go ‘baa baa’ to the song? its that thing) Some children from Bir Nabat come and its the Best thing ever!! Ali is so good with children like why is he stressing himself out.

-Nahri of course works through her pregnancy. She snaps at Ali when he pushes her to take a break (’ Dont you EVER tell me to stay away from my hospital!!’ ‘My Love, you are NINE MONTHS PREGNATE!!) they end up compromising and a cot gets set up in her office.

-When the time comes Ali is a pacing wreck. He’s the first one to arrive at the hospital and everyone asks him why he’s dressed up so nicely to which is response is ‘first impressions matter.’ Ali also knocks on the door way to much - much to the annoyance of everyone. (Ali if you knock on the door one more time im going to gut you in your sleep!’ Ali: *turns back around* ‘I dont think they’re ready yet.’

-Ali hold’s his baby girl (whos got a full head of hair and just So Tiny) and is the quietest he’s ever been in his life. Utterly silent as he rocks her in his arms. He is entranced by this little baby and is once again one work away from crying. To convince Nahri to stay in bed for a little longer, cus shes physically fine just a bit exhausted, he slids in next to her and they hold their baby together.

- they name her Duriya yall cant convince me otherwise.

- the baby is in some way obviously part marid- whether it be the eyes or like little webbed feet and not for the first time they think about this childs whole identity. (’ Part Nahid, Daeva, Geziri, Ayaanle, Human and Marid.’ “This kids gonna have so many identity issues.’) but its all gonna be ok bc Duriya is gonna have the best upbringing that any child has ever had and its overall Great. Nahri is an amazing mom that doesnt have to chose between the things she loves and Ali takes everything he’s learned and is the best father that he never got to have.(ultimately tho Duriya does get spoiled a bit bc of the family but thats ok Ali is very good with humility lessons n such)

its just an all around great time.

and, just as a bonus if yall like Dara; cameras were invented in 1816 (the first book takes place is like 1801 or around that time) so Postcards are being sent and its sad and good at the same time.

[lollybliz]

bout to make a Monster of a fic rec post here we go

heyo @jinx108! We’ll start with the complete ones because sometimes you’re just not in the mood to wait for the last chapter, you know? I don't remember details of all of these so i’m just going to copy the author’s summary rather than write my own. I am literally just going through my bookmarks, I got 400 of these to sort through. if ive talked to or am familiar with the author im gonna mention them, but if I mention you and you don't want me to have Please tell me and i’ll remove it.

If you’re not into spoilers Please Tread Carefully, I don't watch out for that stuff so I wont know to label it

1>Crushing Truth by Bunzuku: Tododeku. “Romance is hard enough for a teenager to understand when they have a good relationship role model. For Shoto, it takes two excited meddlers for him to even realize what his feelings really are.“

2>Disowned by b00mgh: tododeku + others. Unrated, some traumatic elements. “Shouto freaks out under a bridge and I use the word "grass" a lot more than I really should. Izuku does his stupid martyr thing and everyone makes continuous references to his propensity to break his bones. Aizawa goes "oh FUCK my kids are dying again" and his students use him as emotional (and physical) support. A friend requests angst, I say what kind, she say idk make someone get disowned and i say oh this I can absolutely provide my good buddy.”

3>cotton candy hands by @chonideno: Kiribaku. I will take Any excuse to rec this fic, its the most fluffy pile of feels Good Lord. also the first fic I ever bound into a physical book. “Studying to become a hero requires knowing how to take care of yourself. Sometimes you might need help on the way so if your crush offers to do your hair for you or to give you a well-deserved back rub, it'd be stupid to say no. A series of soft vignettes in which a love-struck Kirishima and a touch-starved Bakugou care for each other and it's definitely not making their hearts jump through hoops, they’re never this close to kissing, no, they're totally best friends bro“

4>Catching Sight of the Storm by neo7v: Kiribaku, tododeku. A considerable amount of Whump and related angst, and kinda sad tbh. “Blind. Quirkless. Useless.The first two things were stated clearly by the doctor that sat about five feet in front of Izuku. The third was a word that Kacchan called him everytime he failed to make the jump on whatever forest excursion they were on or when he ran into a tree because he hadn’t seen it. “I’m so, so sorry, Izuku.” Was his mom giving up on him already? But he could still be a hero if he tried hard enough, right? Quirkless or not. Blind or not. Just because Izuku was useless now didn’t mean he would stay that way forever, right? *** A Blind!Izuku AU”

5>Yell Heah by fakecharliebrown: Chatfic. M a n y pairings. technically complete, but part of an ongoing series. “Iida creates a group-chat for Class 1-A. It doesn't go as planned.“

6>Sunshine by Rosey_Note: BIG SAD. tw- failed suicide attempt. KiriKamiBaku. “They didn't deserve to put up with his crappy mood. Because Denki Kaminari did not feel like Sunshine right now. And they deserved sunshine. In fact, Denki didn't feel much of anything right now.“

7>Electric Connection by  Onlymostydead: ShinKami. “Kaminari's quirk has always had... Weird side affects. Like his ADHD. And his constant energy. And his insomnia, which wouldn't leave him be right now, when he really needed to just get some sleep. But, thankfully, he has good friends.“

8>The Best (The Worst) by Onlymostydead: no romantic pairing. tw- rampant transphobia, both outside and internalized. “Bakugou Katsuki has known who he was since he was four years old. He was a boy, it was as simple as that. Around his friends, at school... But things couldn't just be that simple, could they?“

9>Lichtenberg Figures by Q_loves_you: no definite romantic pairing. “Kaminari Denki has a very powerful force of nature running through his body. Kaminari Denki doesn't want to hurt anybody. He doesn't always get what he wants, and "anybody" does generally include himself.“

10>Eventuality by KikaTouka: ill be honest I don't remember this one at all, I maaaay not have read it yet :/. anyway. ShinKami. “Shinsou learns more than just hero lessons after being transferred to 1-A.“

11>Pickup Lines for the Soul by MustardSoup: ShinKami. “Denki is twelve when he is flicking through the TV channels and lands on an old RomCom movie about soulmate marks – specifically the same type that he has. “I can’t believe I’ve had to walk around with a cheap pickup line written on my ankle my entire life because of you!” The leading lady yells at the leading man as he stares at her in awe. Denki laughs. “Oh no.” His mother says, watching him. “Oh no, indeed.” His sister repeats quietly.“

12>caught in my own web by @anxioussailorsoldier: ShinKami. “Shinsou needs some help after getting caught up in his capture weapon. Kaminari enters from stage left.“

13>not so summer love by nataliya: ShinKami. “Class 2-B’s common room, although typically quiet, was currently filled with five students—three slowly giving up on homework, one bitching about noise and another that rushes through the front door. “We’ve been waiting for you—” Mina starts, but Kaminari’s vaulting over the back of the couch, eyes wide as he practically buzzes out of his skin, emitting light like crazy as currents dazzle across strands of hair. “I have a big ugly crush,” He steps off the couch and onto the coffee table, much to Bakugou’s chagrin, “On big ugly Shinsou.””

14>Blamed by coldandhotsoba: ShinKami. Tw- they fuckin kill a guy and its a lil nasty. “This was not how the day was supposed to end. They were supposed to end the day like they do most nights.  Kaminari clutching onto him like a koala as he slept, wrapped in the millions of tacky blankets Kaminari had bought. Warm and safe in their bed. It was not supposed to end with both of them tied up in some cold metal room.“

15>Lightning Scars by Present-Mics-Scream (write_your_way_out): Shinkami. “It's hard to be confident in your abilities when you're surrounded by people with incredible quirks. Shinsou Hitoshi would know better than anyone. Sure, he was admitted to the hero course in his second year, but being admitted to the hero course, and keeping up with the rest of the class are two different things. Lucky for him, Kaminari is there to prove that the flashiest quirks come with the largest drawbacks.“

16>See No Evil, Hear No Evil by randomfan188: no romantic pairing. “Kaminari Denki is legally blind. When he forgets to wear his contacts and breaks down during math class, comfort appears in the strangest of ways.“

17>how not to enjoy the weather, an article by kaminari denki by dreamtowns: no defined romantic pairing. “If there was one thing Kaminari hated the most in a world wth villains, it would have to be thunderstorms.“

18>”Studying” by emmyrox22: ShinKami, EraserMic. “Shinsou and Kaminari have been “studying” together for a while (but not for school). Shinsou gets stopped by his dads on the way to another “study” session and mistakes are made“

19>Weaknesses by sunflowerstorm: ShinKami. “Kaminari's quirk and storms compliment each other in the worst way, but he's convinced he can deal with it on his own... until he really can't any longer. When Shinsou accidentally overhears Aizawa confronting Kaminari about recent changes in behaviour and hears about the hell his quirks been putting him through, he can't just pretend he never heard. He wants to help.“

20>it’s hurt denki hours by memeingfultrash: ShinKami + others. ““Certain members of our class are...under the impression that...you’re the traitor.” Denki’s body went cold and felt like he was going to short circuit. ~some of class 1a believes that denki is the traitor and avoid him”

21>Petition to replace Mineta with Shinsou- (signed by Kaminari Denki) by CharaTheQuartz: ShinKami + others. This is one of my favorites, I go back to reread it from time to time. It SAYS 41/42, but that's just a glitch cus chapter 36 doesn't exist for some reason, I talked to the author about it and its fine. “Mineta brings shame to the color purple. You know who does not bring shame to the rich color, but pride and sexual tension to one infatuated Kaminari Denki instead? Shinsou Hitoshi, aka sexy zombie man, aka the most perfect hunk of a man to walk planet earth, aka future husband. Shinsou has finally gotten his chance to prove himself to the hero course, and he did more than prove himself. The only question left unanswered is whether he will start in A or B, and how Kaminari can manipulate the end result.“

22>How to Get a Boyfriend (in Four Easy Steps!) by e1ana: ShinKami, EraserMic, + others. “Step 1: Get kicked out of the house by your homophobic parents. Step 2: Run headfirst into your brooding, mysterious crush. Step 3: Sleep in his dad’s (see: your homeroom teacher) house Step 4: Watch everything you thought you knew go to shit. This isn’t exactly the sweet, romantic plan that Kaminari Denki longed for. Will everything be ok, or will step 5 be to crash and burn?“

23>Bakugou and Todoroki’s Foolproof 5-Step Plan to Fuck with Mineta Minoru by Anubis_2701: Kiribaku, TodoDeku, + others. This is another one of my favorites, and the one I am currently folding and sewing into a physical book. you learn how to do funny things when bored and quarantined ig. “It was a simple enough idea; screw around with the resident bastard of Class 1-A to let him know that his medieval ways and perverted behaviour weren't going to be tolerated by even the most career-focused of UA's students. To say that things had snowballed was an understatement. Todoroki had no idea how he had ended up sitting on Bakugou's floor at 1 am, holding a dossier of incriminating material that would make the FBI slobber, but he wasn't sure he wanted to know. The long and short of it was, fuck Mineta.”

24>Colour Theory by chancellorxofxtrash: TodoBakuDeku. this one’s a series. “Midoriya/Bakugo/Todoroki slow burn soulmate AU. All three of them are nerds with their own emotional issues, trying to navigate their way through becoming heroes, and their own relationship with each other.“

25>Summer Sunshine by Mara97: TodoDeku. Ever want a Barbie in a mermaid tale/Bnha crossover? No? well here you go anyway! “Instead of worrying about college, Izuku spends his summer vacation finding out his father is, supposedly, a dead merman king and going on a quest to dethrone the current king, Endeavor. Along the way, Izuku becomes close to the three journeying with him, makes friends with strangers, starts crushing on an unattainable prince, and, in the end, learns to love himself. Oh, and he saves a kingdom, too.“

26>The snowflakes on our skin and the flames in our soul are one (and the same), my love by missunderstuffyou: TodoDeku, Kiribaku. this is one of the ones I keep a running reread comment going on. its at,,, 6, atm.  “Before your quirk begins to present itself, the soulmate link comes through, and suddenly whatever you write upon your own skin appears on the body of your soulmate. As your soulmate writes to you, the emotions they feel follow through the ink.Izuku Midoriya is four years and a few months old when he first feels the slight ebbing in his arms. It doesn’t hurt… he can just feel something, and it’s enough to make him sprint into his mother’s arms screaming that his quirk is coming. She had been washing in the kitchen, and the sudden screech as her son rockets into her side is enough to make her jump with panic, immediately grabbing at him and looking for cuts and bumps before she understands his words and the stupidly bright, alight smile on his face with large, watery, hopeful eyes. Shoto Todoroki doesn’t feel his soulmate connection open up. It is drowned in the aches of a small body worked far too hard.“

27>It was dark inside the closet by Chad_Champion69420: Pre-ShinDeku? maybe? its tagged shindeku but like. it’ll make sense if you read it. “Midoriya is invited to a party. He and Shinsou decide to play a little trick on the rest of the party during Seven Minutes in Heaven.”

28>how to woo your local trash gremlin: a comprehensive guide by Todoroki shouto by wonhaebunny: TodoBaku. this is the fic that dragged me into todobaku, fun fact. “five times shouto tries to confess to bakugou, and one time he doesn't bother tryingaka: wikihow is a scam and bakugou is a terrible, terrible boy“

29>top ten photos taken right before disaster by Shookspeare: ShinDeku. “Izuku participates in a harmless prank, only to end up ruining it and running for dear life.“

30>Secrets to Share by pechebaie: no definite romantic pairing. “Kirishima comes out first, and nothing changes. Kirishima and Kaminari still hang out to complain about class and talk about boys - and sometimes girls, too, in Kaminari’s case; he still plans stupid pranks with Sero that get them sent to the principal’s or nurse’s office every time; Ashido still kicks his ass at Mario Kart without hesitation; and Bakugou doesn’t get angry at him any more than he usually does.“

31>What One Hides by Pinalinet: TodoDeku. “All Might gives class 1-A an unusual assignment that results in Midoriya Izuku and Todoroki Shouto attending a weekly acting class. But with a mysterious villain targeting individuals without Quirks, and a developing issue of Todoroki's own, an after-school assignment is the least of their worries.“

32>whether or not we’re fated, we’re meant to be by juurensha: KINDA SPOILERY. TodoDeku + others. “Todoroki didn’t have a soulmark for most of his life.His siblings all did, but up until the day of the U.A. entrance exam, he had shoved the idea aside. It’s not like they could help him anyway. And then a 9 appears on his chest, and a green-haired boy barrels into his life with a fire and ice soulmark on his arms, and suddenly Todoroki cares very much about all this could mean.”

33>The Midnight Shift by meiishu @meiishu @totallytodoroki (idk which you’d rather I attach so I went with both): ShinKami. ““Hey Toshi,” Denki says, and he laughs, clearly embarrassed. He’s got on a jean jacket that did him absolutely no help and a white tee shirt that is currently stuck to his torso. It’s got a pikachu design in the center. “By any chance, do you sell umbrellas?” “You really went out in this weather.” Hitoshi deadpans, instead of dignifying that with an answer. or hitoshi works the midnight shift at the gas station, which also doubles as a pokestop for pokemon go. of course, denki is a regular.”

34>Rock the House by AkabaneKayo: ShinKami. “It wasn’t just his bed. It was his entire fucking room shaking. Only one thought crossed his mind at that moment: “Holy shit. My room is haunted.”“

35>Technically, they’re morning kisses by CharaTheQuartz: ShinKami. “Most nights, Shinsou cannot fall sleep. Neither can Kaminari. It seems counterproductive to have a sleepover then, but they try to make it work. And they fail, but that is okay.“

36>someone to call mine by nearly_theyre: ShinKami, EraserMic “From: Me wish you were here, denks From: kitten 💛💘💛 what if i was tho? OR Four times Denki snuck into Hitoshi's room and one time he walked through the front door.“

37>Pretty by Onlymostydead (noticing some repeat authors? me too): no definite romantic pairing. “(Or, Kaminari still can't figure out bra clasps.) Kaminari has never really felt good about himself. Herself? Whichever way, not knowing doesn't make anything easier. Especially when he (she?) and Mina have their bodies swapped during training, and everything seems too right.“

38>If I offer you my hand, will you take it? by bleukitsune: Kiribaku. SPOILERY. ““Why?” Kirishima leaned back on his hands, trying to create some space between them. Too close. The ash-blond looked really nervous, his usually arrogant and cunning demeanor gone. “What do you see when you look at me? Kirishima is worried. Bakugou is hurting. After his confrontation with Midoriya, he finally reaches out to him. “

Theres way more but I haven't tagged them properly yet so that m a y come later if I can ever finish going through and adding my sorting tags.

and then a last few that Are Not Complete but im really very fond of them. not as many as id like to add, but my hands are getting tired tbh.

39>State of Mind by GuardianOfTheLoaf: no relationship YET but its looking like it’ll be either tododeku or shindeku, probably the former. EraserMic. tw- childhood neglect and severe depression. Izuku’s not a happy kid. “Izuku was a late bloomer, his quirk lying dormant until his tenth birthday when in a fit of emotion he grabs his mother and she disappears. With All Might slowly restoring his confidence Izuku begins the difficult journey into becoming a hero.“ 18/? chapters.

40>Izuku Eats His Problems by CosmicAce: ShinDeku. Izuku’s a flerkin, what more could you want? “His whole life, Izuku Midoriya was taught to keep his powers, his Quirk, hidden from the world. His kind were feared, hunted to near extinction because of it. He just wants to show people he’s different. That he can be a HERO. And nothing is going to stop him. Even if his Quirk IS like an eldritch abomination.“ 43/? chapters

and then probably my current favorite bnha fic- although it fights with Apertum Mortem for that spot but that ones d a r k and not here-

41>family of the year by periiwren: EraserMic. “Hitoshi is done. Done with moving around every few months to a couple that will scrutinize him and eventually dump him right back where he started. Good thing he’s well past his strike limit now- at least he can stay in one place, be content to age out of the system and finish out his training with Aizawa. Maybe transfer into the hero course, maybe be a hero- but none of that was guaranteed. The only thing for sure was that he was going to stay in that center for the rest of his childhood. Or so he thought- because Aizawa Shouta and Yamada Hizashi have other plans.“ 24/? chapters. we’ve been informed that this one’s gonne be l o n g and im Very Grateful.

42>Here There Be Dragons by here_and_there: pre-ShinDeku. “Izuku looked at the small circle Aizawa had motioned to in front of them. "I won't fit," he whispered, thinking. He raised his hand, tentatively. Sighing, Aizawa grumbled, "What?" "I-I have a question. Actually, two." His teacher just stared at him, unimpressed. Izuku continued. "Can we activate our quirks before we step into the ring?" Aizawa looked up into the sky, muttering something Izuku didn't hear. "If you must." "O-Okay. Uh, second question. You said we have to stay inside the circle, right?" "Yes." The man looked disappointed, not only in Izuku but in himself for letting the kid speak. "Great. Uh... does that include tails?"“ 6/? chapters.

43>Another Option by sandersonsister: TodoBakuDeku, Touya/Hawks, Dabi/Hawks. Potentially Spoilery, depends on whether horikoshi has the guts to confirm Touya. this one is waiting around the corner with a baseball bat, its really cute, and then r e a l l y painful. it might be getting better though. maybe. it might be getting worse. “When Touya stops his mother from hurting Shouto, he decides enough is enough. He needs to get out of this house and he's taking his baby brother with him.“ 33/? chapters.

That's it i’m done for now, oof. maybe ill edit more onto this post later, maybe i’ll just make another one. hope some of these work!

[adultswim2021]

EPHEMERA WEEK

cus anime is teh s uck (June 15, 2003)

(picture credit)

I had five paragraphs about this written, but then I resized my browser window. That causes your tumblr post to disappear. Did you know that? So, I’m rewriting this from scratch. Let’s all just imagine how much better the old post was.

[adult swim]’s new bumper aesthetic lead to a much more integrated online experience. In addition to the new bumpers there were also new message boards. Lots of [adult swim]’s bumpers would dedicate airtime towards responding to message board critics. On June 15, 2003, they aired a message containing the phrase “cus anime is teh s uck”. I’m not sure how many people alive are familiar with “l33t speak”, so I’ll dryly explain it to the best of my abilities. I was a person recoiled at the concept of l33t speak, so forgive me if my description of it is myopic. Basically retards and shitheads who liked pretending to be cool hackers (ironically or otherwise) would talk in a certain way online that involved swapping numbers for letters (“l33t” = “leet” = “elite”). They also co-opted common typos as vernacular. For some reason describing stuff by declaring it “the (noun)” was also part of this. so, “teh suck” = “the suck” = “sucks”. Another popular variant of this was calling stuff “teh secks” (or “the sex”).

Also, [adult swim]’s message boards had a draconian swear filter, which required people to interrupt whatever swear they were hoping to express with a space in the middle of the word. Or else “suck” would be filtered out into a string of asterisks (I think; I don’t actually remember) and the intent would be completely lost. So “anime sucks” as expressed by a l33t-speaking toolbag on [adult swim]’s message board becomes “anime is teh s uck”.

It’s important to note all this for a few reasons. one: they actually ran with this little inside joke to the point that they produced official merch with said phrase on a t-shirt. I’m not sure if the above picture is the actual shirt they sold or a limited run they made for adult swim personnel or what; I made one attempt at searching for it using archive.org but the jpg of the shirt didn’t get indexed. Anyway, I think the merchandised version of the shirt was black with white text, like the bumpers.

This joke appeared on TV, not just during the bumpers. It was in Aqua Teen Hunger Force in the episode “The Last One”.

MAIL BAG

My mom's gonna kill me but I just wanna say adul swim is cool! don't tell her.

all moms are gay and retarded and they are forbidden from reading htis blog, especially yours. presumably you agree!

[asterekmess]

Scott McCall is the poster boy for entitlement, misogyny and toxic masculinity. Remember when he demanded that Allison goes out with her stalker (Matt) and then yelled at her in the middle of a crowded club because she had the audacity to trust her own father to save Jackson instead of obeying him? Or when Scott pinned Allison against her bedroom’s door and humiliated her just to prove how ‘weak’ and ‘fragile’ she was and because “If I’m scared shitless, then you should be scared shitless too”?

I told my friend Mads a long time ago that with every new fic I put out, my urge to become, if not popular, then just understood as an anti-scott blog got stronger. I mean, it’s not like I want my blog to just be about hating Scoot, but I didn’t really want people to come in and follow me thinking I was a Scott fan, because it would be disingenuous.

I think I got my wish? Either one person has a lot of feelings (which I’m all for) or a bunch of v angry anti-scott people have swarmed over me like hummingbirds on sugar water. It’s a really interesting experience!

Anyway, back to your ask. So, I don’t like Scott, and admittedly sometimes I’m a little extra bitter/hateful than others, but I do try to be accurate in my dislikes of him (usually), so I’ll go through what you said one at a time and try to decipher (from my v faulty memory, so apologies if there are mistakes) if I agree with each statement.

Since some people have requested the Read More thing so they can scroll easier.

Scott is: Entitled. Off the cuff, I would agree. I’ve mentioned before how frustrating it was to see the show attempt to portray him as a poor kid, when he’s nowhere near that. I’ve also seen posts before that explore how Scott doesn’t carry a ‘poor kid’ mentality at all (they probably did it better than me, and it was probably Athenadark who did the analyzing). Growing up, I didn’t consciously know I was poor. Not as in ‘i had everything I needed’ but as in “i assumed all kids grew up occasionally eating a single can of pears for dinner or had to return groceries from the car because their parent’s card was declined and they were out of food stamps or wore a pair of tennis shoes until they were literally taped together with packing tape because we couldn’t afford new ones.” I grew up in a poor town, on the poor side of that town, so there wasn’t a lot that showed me it was possible to live differently. Being poor gives you a specific mentality, and when I finally met kids who were ‘middle class’ I was blown away by the differences. I say all this because Scott is very clearly a middle class kid.

Yes, he has an after school job. Who tf didn’t? That doesn’t automatically make you poor? Even my rich friend got a summer job because she wanted to buy band merch and her parents wouldn’t let her. But have you seen his room? It’s a wreck. We get the scene of him digging under his bed trying to find his phone, and I honestly was kinda disgusted. (I also grew up in a hellhole hoarder house, so clutter fucks me up) It’s not just the messiness though. It’s finding out that his mom is the one doing the laundry. Melissa “One shift won’t break us completely” McCall still cleans her son’s room and does his laundry and sews his clothes even though she’s supposed to be working herself to death at the hospital. Oh, and he’s sixteen years old, so he should be able to do his own fucking laundry? it’s one thing if his stuff ends up there while she’s doing laundry, but apparently she goes out of her way to do his clothes regularly enough that she has no qualms about going in his room to clean? Scott works at a VET’s office and has for long enough that he can put a cast on a dog and feels confident giving it painkillers in the right dosage. And he can’t sew a line of stitches in his clothes? He’s got an ensuite bathroom. His room is clearly the master bedroom. He doesn’t make his mom dinner to bring her, he picks up chinese. And there’s the house itself and its size, etc. Of the two of them, i would’ve expected Stiles to have the messy room. He’s adhd, I know how hard it is to keep a room clean with that kind of headspace. But no, his is really clean most of the time, even his desk, unless he’s researching something specific. I mention Stiles because it’s the comparison of the two that makes Scott’s own messiness stand out. Hell, literally no other bedroom we’re shown is messy in the slightest. Allison’s, Lydia’s, Jackson’s, none of them. (I don’t remember Liam’s room, if we saw it) He feels entitled enough to take up extra space and add extra work to his mother’s stress level (which, listen, I’m not saying being not-poor makes you entitled. I’m saying that the show makes the claim Scott IS poor and he Still does these things. THAT is the entitled part.)

Then there’s his relationship with Stiles. “Yeah, but I had you before.” When talking about the good and bad things in his life, he doesn’t even think to mention Stiles as one of the good things. He says he has nothing, just like before. Stiles isn’t even on his radar, even though they’re looking right at each other. Yet we know that Stiles is basically Scott’s only friend. As someone else with very few friends, I can’t imagine saying to my best friend’s face that I have nothing and no one. Let alone if that friend had been keeping me from dying and teaching me how to be a fucking werewolf for months on end. When do we see him worry about Stiles being human and stuck in the middle of all this? Especially in earlier seasons, we never see him say anything like “maybe you should hang back cus’ you’ll get hurt.” Like, we know that Stiles would do it anyway. And we’d get pissed if Scott told Stiles he wasn’t allowed to help because he was human, but that’s because Scott doesn’t get to tell Stiles what to do. We know Stiles finds ways to protect himself when he has to, but Scott never even asks. He never hints at “I’m worried about you and please know I wont’ be mad if you stay away from the fight.” Even Derek shoves Stiles behind him when the kanima shows up. There’s the thing where he warns them ‘if something goes wrong call for me.” But he explicity says that worry is for Allison, even though she has some method of self-defense. Stiles has nothing. Scott never cares enough to think “Maybe we shouldn’t bring him to the rave where there’s gonna be a vicious killing machine that has already tried to attack him once.” One word from Peter “vulnerable” and Scott stalks Allison (and forces Stiles to help him) for a week. But Stiles gets trapped in a pool for hours, scared out of his mind, and Scott never so much as seems to get clingy? He just assumes Stiles will be fine. He feels entitled to Stiles’ help and assistance, without putting any thought into Stiles’ safety. He asks “is it illegal?” not “Will you get in trouble?” He looks at Stiles when he says “I can’t protect anyone” But when was he trying to protect STILES?  Then there’s the part where while he’s ‘under the influence of the wolfsbane whistle’ (A plot point I fucking hate) he drags Stiles down with him and includes him in being nothing. Being no one. He assumes that if he was nothing before the bite, then Stiles must’ve been nothing also. And since Stiles didn’t get bitten, it also implies that Stiles is still nothing. He’s just hanging on Scott’s wolfy coattails. That’s an incredibly entitled viewpoint to have.

Admittedly, we do see some more humble moments with Allison, especially at the beginning of their relationship, where he says “I just wanna make sure I get my second chance” he’s not assuming he’ll get it. Go scott! (I’m not the hugest fan of him asking her out after he’s clearly just done her a massive favor and is keeping her from getting in trouble for hitting a dog, and she’s wearing his SHIRT and she can’t really say no without looking absolutely horrible, but she seemed pretty into him, so I’ll let it go) But once they’re together? I know that most best friends share secrets and private stuff with each other...but Scott tells Stiles so much about his sex life with Allison that Stiles is actually pissed off and kind of disgusted by it. Stiles. Who is supposed to be sex obsessed. Even he thinks that it’s just way too much information. I can’t imagine Allison would be comfortable with Stiles knowing that much about her in bed. (But at the same time, we see Scott tell Stiles that he never wants any more info on Stiles in bed than Stiles’ vague innuendo abt wet dreams, and then he still feels entitled to tell Stiles whatever he wants about him and Allison and won’t listen when Stiles asks him to stop.) When he asks Allison to go out with someone else, there’s so much that makes me both sad and angry. She is confused and scared, and has clearly committed really hard to Scott (enough to go against everything her family wants) and he tells her to go on a date with someone else. Not just that, but to kiss someone else. To kiss Matt, specifically, whom he knows Stiles thinks is really fucking creepy (though, we need to acknowledge that no one knew Matt was stalking Allison.) And she tries to show him that he’s asking for something really fucking weird and uncomfortable. “Kiss him? You mean, like really kiss him?” And even then, he doesn’t think anything is weird about telling his girlfriend (and they are clearly v monogamous. We see how insanely possessive he is of her, losing his shit when she’s just introduced to other guys Lydia knows, after only one date that he bailed from) to kiss someone else, but not kiss them the way she kisses him. He doesn’t ask for any info about the date, doesn’t ask if Allison’s uncomfortable. He just says “Do it.” and expects her to obey. He feel entitled to controlling who she’s with and what she does, without asking her if she’s okay with it. Because I haven’t seen later seasons in a long time, I usually try to stick to the earlier stuff so I’m less likely to say something stupid, but I do remember him scaring her in her bedroom. There’s a lot about that scene to unpack, but in the case of Allison specifically, we see that he still feels entitled to touch her. They are not friends right now. She has not given any hint that she wants to get back together (except asking to talk to him in ep.1). He should not feel like it is in any way okay to touch her at all, let alone hold her still with super strength. But he does. In his mind. She’s Allison, so why wouldn’t he able to touch her?

He also feels entitled to his leadership. We need to make clear that Scott doesn’t do the leadership stuff. He just happens to be the person in the friend group who’s a werewolf. Stiles and Jackson are the ones who go and set Peter on fire after they can’t get ahold of Scott (WHO IS NOW WITH DEREK, and THEREFORE HAS HIS PHONE). (You’re telling me Scott could’ve done the howl thing at any time to find Derek, and he just left him there for a week?) (Also, yes, I know Stiles was also not involved in helping find Derek until Peter made him. I’m annoyed at him too.) What is leadership-worthy about leaving a tortured man on a grate with electric wires plugged into his side and shackles on his wrists until he agrees to help you kill his own uncle (Oh, also, I have Peter feelings and have salty thoughts about the plot of s1, if anyone’s interested)? But let’s say Scott’s leadership comes in Season 2, not at the end of S1. But when exactly does he earn it? When he tells a teenage girl he doesn’t care about the humiliation and pain that led her to taking a bite that would cure her lifelong illness and give her a friend group that she didn’t have to be afraid of or bullied by? When he called a boy who looked him in the eyes and begged for him to keep his wolf secret “Bloodthirsty”? When he dismissed Boyd’s want for the bite, which was a way for him to make friends and feel like he belonged somewhere, as ridiculous? When he damaged Boyd’s workplace in a way that would almost certainly get Boyd in trouble? (You think smashing a massive crater into the middle of the ice rink with his fist didn’t get Boyd yelled at or maybe even fired?) When Boyd asked to talk to him on the field, and Scott attacked without rhyme or reason? When he let Erica sit and seize while he fussed over Allison? “This doesn’t Feel right” really Scott? You know, I think Erica, who’s having a fucking seizure in the next aisle, would agree! Hurry the fuck up! Oh my god, I went so off track. I have more thoughts on all that though, if anyone’s curious. Anyway. Scott doesn’t do anything that actually entails being a leader. His one job in the rave, he passes off to Isaac so that he can go call Gerard, because he’s currently working with the villain behind everyone’s back. The whole thing with Allison telling her parents and the plan with Derek getting messed up? Yeah, that was Scott’s fault for not telling her. Hell, for not telling GERARD. He, what he expected her to read his mind? Scott knew Allison was telling her parents about Jackson! She said she would tell them after he broke out of the van! The entire fuckup is his fault. But he still shouts at her and blames her and says she should’ve ‘trusted’ him. He passes all the guilt onto her and leaves her there on the verge of tears. He’s entitled to her obedience and he’s entitled to shaming her and scolding her like a child when she doesn’t do what he wants.

So, yeah, I think Scott’s entitled.

Scott is: Misogynistic. This one...I’m not so sure? Scott has a lot of bad qualities, a lot of behavior that’s incredibly toxic and manipulative, but I can honestly say that I can’t think of a single time when his reasoning for not letting/not thinking someone is capable of doing something is because they’re female?

There’s a lot to be said about the manipulative way that he speaks to and interacts with his girlfriends, but that doesn’t stem from misogyny, from what I can see. It stems from everything else. From his self-obsession, from his moral code, from his honest belief that he deserves obedience and complete candor from those closest to him. He does this to everyone, not just the women. It’s just easier to see it with the women because we’re primed to look for it. (I’m making the assumption here that you are female/feminine presenting, anon, since I know that the vast majority of the fandom is, but if I’m wrong, my apologies) Wow, though I’d have more to say on this bit, but I don’t.

Scott is: Toxicly Masculine. I’m not sure where I lay on this idea. Teen Wolf does have a lot of general instances of toxic masculinity, and Scott does exhibit some of them, but again, part of those behaviors can be found in women as well.

I know that it regularly pissed me off how often they reduced men to sex machines. *Scott and Allison are making out on Allison’s bed* Scott: “I don’t wanna make you do anything you don’t wanna do.” Allison: “I’m not doing anything I don’t wanna do. Are you?” Scott (incredulous): “Are you seriously asking me that question?”

*Stiles and Heather are talking about having sex at the party* Heather: “I mean, would you be okay with that?” Stiles (gently mocking): “Would I be okay with that? Yes, yes, I believe so.” They go out of their way to completely negate the possibility that a guy wouldn’t be into sex, even making the concept of asking for a man’s consent sound silly. This becomes even more toxic when Stiles complains about Malia leaving marks on him, hurting him during sex, and he gets teased for it. No one considers it a problem that Malia is scratching him. He’s expected to be appreciative of it/like it.

There’s the possessiveness, yes. Scott does some really fucked up, possessive things. Like freaking on Allison when Lydia introduces her to other guys, or getting angry from the sidelines just because Jackson is talking to Allison, not even flirting with her. Or running off to attack Jackson AND Allison (because there’s no proof he was only going after Jackson, and he’s only ever been able to follow allison’s scent across town, so he couldn’t have specifically been looking for Jackson) after she broke up with him. Throwing Isaac into a wall for liking Allison, even though they’ve been broken up for FOUR MONTHS. I can’t think of any more at the moment. But it’s a lot. BUT. We also see possessive behavior from Malia (yeah, she was an actual coyote for years, but she’s still a woman.) and similar amounts of aggression throughout the seasons from most of the shifters, implying that the habit is born from the werewolf/shifter thing, and not specifically Scott being toxicly masculine. (It’s still not good, but it’s not technically toxic masculinity.)

Aggression I think we can all agree is a shifter-wide phenomenon.

So, yeah, there’s instances that come across this way, and there’s also evidence that some of it is werewolf related, not scott related. I’m torn.

Anyway, again, I’ve talked way too much. If there are moments from later in the show that I’m missing that specifically prove/disprove these points, I’d love to know about it and check it out! I feel you Anon, Scott is infuriating and you’re in good company. <3

[piperemerald]

I'd be interested in the answers to all ten questions for both Declining the Queen's Gambit and Falling For Your Voice if you don't mind.

Welp this is gonna be a long and self indulgent post, but if you’re interested I’m excited to talk about this!

1. Of the fics you’ve written, which is your favorite and why?

That’s a hard pick because a lot of my fics are different and were written for different reasons. Even thought it’s been over two years since I wrote it, All My Hope (my longest and more emotional Dear Evan Hansen fic) still holds a special place in my heart and it kind baffles me that I’m still getting comments on it from people who felt moved by the story or connected to how I portrayed Connor. 

For the specific questions I’ll start with Declining the Queen’s Gambit.

2. Which scene was your favorite to write in [title of fic]?

There are a lot. I like the romance bits where Ray’s being an idiot, but I also liked the more serious part with Isabella. But also the parts where I went into Norman and Emma’s POV were fun because I got to describe Ray and set out of his head. Ah, I don’t know if this is even an answer…but yeah.

3. Which part of [title] was hardest to write?

Probably the confrontation with Peter Ratri and his crew. I didn’t want it to feel too much like just Ray monologuing, but still wanted it to have the same effect as in the manga when one of the trio turns everything on it’s heals. 

4. If you could change anything in [title], what would it be?

The lack of Norman’s squad. I only mention them here and there because this wasn’t a Norman fic and I wasn’t sure how to make them interact with the others. But looking back it would have been cool to have a bit of how they coped with thinking Norman was dead and just being in the human world they didn’t think they’d live to see (in my defense when I started I didn’t know they were “dying”).

5. Did you make an outline for [title]? Did you stick to it?

Oh yeah. It was really long too. I pretty much always make outlines, but once the plot twists started coming in I really needed to lay everything out. I stuck to it pretty well. There were some details that weren’t in it at all but I didn’t end up straying much.

6. Which scenes did you cut, and which were added in [title]?

I don’t think I cut anything, but I added quite a bit. Initially all the Don and Gilda stuff wasn’t there, but I had Ray talk to Gilda and their sub-arc just kinda happened. 

Also that whole bit where Emma tries to get Ray’s camera and ends up tackling him and he’s just like O-O was not in the outline and I do not know how I wrote it without dying of second hand embarrassment. 

7. Who was your favorite character to write in [title]?

Kinda ironic cus it’s a Rayemma fic, but Norman. I liked throwing him into the mix and the way Ray was able to face his own emotions once he was back with them. Also Ray needed someone to call him out and Norman was more than ready to do that. 

8. Which came first, the title or the fic?

The fic. I went back and forth between a few chess related titles, since the chess game was a pivotal part of the story and the amount of chess metaphors used. 

9. Which idea came to you first in [title]?

I wanted to write something Rayemma and post cannon where Ray had to deal with his PTSD and feelings for Emma. Initially Norman was gonna be dead the whole time and it was just gonna be a romance and study on how the both of them handle their grief, but then I decided to make the plot a bit more complicated. 

10. What are some facts readers may not know about [title]?

Hmm…that the whole idea of the moms rebelling came from something my beta said off handedly after we finished showing season one to our friend. We also has a handful of post fic head cannons, most of which include the trio struggling in college and Emma explaining to Ray that one time that girl was talking to him at the mall she was actually flirting with him and that was why Emma made her go away.

Also, the reason I made Norman kinda crush over the guy he met at the college tour was because I wanted to give him the change to get over Emma (and Ray), but I didn’t want to just shove him with someone else. So maybe he dates that guy, maybe he meets someone in one of his classes, the most important thing is that he’d ready to connect with someone aside from his two best friends. He’s also bi. That was important to me for some reason. 

And that’s it. Onto the Norray! I’ve already answered 5, 7 and 9 here for Falling For Your Voice, but here are the rest (or what I can tell so far of the rest since I want to answer these now but not everything is posted yet) 

2. Which scene was your favorite to write in [title of fic]?

So it’s low-key in one of the upcoming chapters. So instead I’ll answer what my favorite was so far. I liked writing the tag bit and how smug Ray gets, but since I’m kinda dramatic my favorite was probably both the paparazzi incident and the fallout after it. I like the moments where Ray surprises Norman and they get closer to being a real relationship (even though they don’t realize that’s what’s happening).

3. Which part of [title] was hardest to write?

The ending. But. That hasn’t been posted yet. So. Also every time Norman is a smooth fucker. I hate him.

4. If you could change anything in [title], what would it be?

Since it’s still coming out nothing really. If there was anything I wanted to change I would do it now while I still can. 

6. Which scenes did you cut, and which were added in [title]?

Nothing was really cut from the fic, I did initially not have a lot of scenes in the outline/original idea. The paparazzi thing wasn’t gonna happen at first, neither was half of the next chapter (that will be posted either today or tomorrow)

8. Which came first, the title or the fic?

The fic. I’m awful at titles and the document was just labeled Pop Star Norman while I was writing it.

10. What are some facts readers may not know about [title]?

The whole Oedipus inspired painting that Emma made is a metaphor for Ray, but I don’t touch on it a lot because of the tone of this fic. 

Emma is a lesbian. I mean, that’s kinda obvious but I don’t think I ever have her outright say it.

Ray types really loudly when he’s in the zone because my best friend says that I do and it either sounds like I’m angry or gonna break my keyboard.

Thank you for the ask!

[moucchi]

ah shit i gotta go to the doctor then german classes in a bit so before i got no time

happy bday to the boy heres an appreciation post cus my drawing tablets been actin up

kirishimas????? beautiful?? amazing??? handsome??? manly??? bro im an anime watcher and even i know s4 is gonna have my nostrils stuffed with charmin ultrasoft

hes so passionate abt the stuff he likes n believes in like bro when have u ever seen kirishima go for smth HALFWAY he sees smth manly? cue single tear and waves crashing behind him. smth happens to his bro? hes not waiting around or half assing that rescue. even in battle once he does tht Signature KnuckleSmash its over for all of yall hes IN IT

plus i love his voice man lemme give his va a pat on the back hello sir ur vocal chords bless me day and night have a rad october

HE LOOKS GREAT W HIS HAIR UP I DONT CARE IF HE LOOKS LIKE KNUCKLES GOT LICKED BY A DINOSAUR ITS CUTE N IT SUITS HIM AND THE RED OF HIS HAIR MATCHES THE REDS OF HIS EYES WHICH IS BTW AN AMAZING COLOUR

his hair down too? sign me the fuuck up that s3 ep where they all dressed up doubled my lifespan at this point even his crocs im willing to validate

HES ALSO FUCKING RIPPED BRO BRO BRO IF U HAD A CHEST LIKE THAT UD MAKE UR HERO COSTUME OPEN TIDDY 2 and this isnt meant to like sexualize him cus ew he deserves better than that all im tryna say is our boy has muscle and works hard now everybody clap ur hands

clapclapclaplcpalcplapclapclaplap

*turn it out*

his hero costume looks good look i love the buttcape w all my heart the mask too it works so well we love a strong boy!

i love his shark teeth too man and his eye scar little details like that.. bro... BRO...

not to mention he isnt a wimp, even if hes impulsive at times which he sure fuckin is [pan 2 when he was ready to throw down w a literal vortex] [pan 2 their midterms where he and sato just jumped right in it no plan at fuckin all] [pan 2 like... 100% of the rescue arc ESPECIALLY WHEN THEY IMMEDIATELY GOT OFF THE TRAIN AND KIRI WAS READY TO GO AFTER BKG RIGHT THEN AND THERE] he has his logical moments 2

plus he acts like a mom

he’ll tell m/neta his bs is nasty as fuck, hell i kno bnha smash aint canon but when he told kami and jirou to stop voicing over iida and bkg with old married couple lines i died, he tells bkg to watch his tone and apologizes when hes rude

he brings together the class man n hes such a vital character like when id be up at 3am spamming some hundred pics of kirishima or so my friends were like WHY DO U LIKE HIM SO MUCH... . HES LITERALLY A SIDE CHARACTER this girl had faith man i was like euhhh

“not for long”

my boy needs that red riot confidence he trusts himself to make a great image after crimson riot dude thats incredible THAT MUST BE SO STRESSFUL

i mean yeah deku ur all mights successor thats wild 2 but not everyone knows it imagine going out there red theme n shit modeling urself after a hero u really, really look up to

if i fucked up even once id b like ww. w ell.

BUT kirishima mfing eijirou dude he went from 0 to 100 he was emo n shit in middle school and this determined ass kid landed himself in the ua hero course and now he gotta learn how to accept himself and make use of his so called “nonflashy” quirk dude listen

if were in a world w people who could fire lasers out of their belly buttons and make things float all the way up to space id find hardened skin pretty damn cool id probably b like so my dude think u could make an ice sculpture w ur hands only?? could u harden up and raise a brick with ur pinky like its nothing??

besides kirishima dead ass seems like one of the most approachable people in the class. hell cheer on his friends with the most radiant smile in the world yet if u go up against him man i hope u wrote ur will cus hes giving u a run for UR money

in conclusion,

kirishimas little eyebrows are cute

hes one of the strongest bitches there and i dont know how credible midoriya is when he said hes #1 hero ill have to double check that with a whole red riot over here but ok deku do ur thing

hes hella fucking manly

when the Sun dies in something billion years or so i think we got ourselves a replacement

happy birthday kirishima eijirou may today bless u with manly things and also meat

[leafsbabe]

Nico Hischier imagine - pool party

oh another one of those “request a blurb and get an imagine” things, this took me forever, i’m probably not gonna do that again (i’m still gonna do blurbs and imagines in the future just not this combi)

2.2k words

Nico honestly was surprised it took him nearly a whole season to use his newly earned riches to buy something extremely stupid. The extremely stupid thing being a house. A house that was way too big for one person. Okay maybe it wasn't his first stupid spending considering he basically paid his best friend to live with him but it was honestly the best decision he ever made so it didn't count. When you told him that you had no idea what you were supposed to do after school he had suggested you could just move to America with him and well, that lead to the two of you sharing a small apartment in the city next door to Taylor Hall. Later after you enrolled in college he had insisted that he at least helped you out a bit which lead to tuition being split between him, you, and your parents back home.

Okay, truth be told, Nico loved every second of it. Coming home after a Roadie to see you waiting on the couch with take out and a movie cued up was the best sight in the world. He loved playing house with you and imagining how things would be if the two of you weren't just friends. Now though, playing house had a whole different meaning.

The whole thing went like this: Nico saw the house, Nico bought the house, Nico told you, you yelled at Nico, you told Nico's mom, Nico's mom yelled at Nico, Taylor who heard the yelling coming from your apartment and came over to investigate, Taylor laughed at Nico. A visit to the house and a promise to let you decorate it later you had kinda forgiven Nico for buying the house. Even later, once you actually moved in, you had forgiven him completely. The calm and quiet of the suburbs didn't compare to the city noise. It was so much better. You felt proud and mature and desperately wanted to throw a pool party.

Nico wasn't home for most of the season, always training or having a game and university wasn't as hard as you expected so you had a lot of free time. You used that time to decorate the house and make it a home. Now you wanted to show it off to Nico's friends on the team and the WAGs you had befriended.

When Nico had purchased the house he didn't really pay attention to the big pool in the backyard, too transfixed with the interior to care. Now though, it was summer and you wanted to celebrate the great season had so far. They even made the playoffs although they were kicked out in the second round. The team was a bit down so you decided to throw the party before everybody left for the summer. You wrote invites to the older couples and send text messages to the young guys. You even went so far as to go on Pinterest and search for some hockey inspired snack foods, from which you then prepared enough to feed an entire hockey team plus partners. This was going to be perfect.

When the day rolled around you got ready quickly. You had bought a new bathing suit, a cute two piece in Devil's red, and a matching sundress as a cover. A bit of light make up that wouldn't smudge in the water and you were ready.

Nico had it easier he just wore a shirt and swim shorts.

"Are you ready?" You asked him as he came down the stairs to the decorated living room.

"Yeah. When do the others get here?" He asked back. He hadn't had a haircut in a while and his floppy bangs covered part of his face; he looked really really good.

You just swallow down all thoughts of 'damn' you had gestured him to get closer. "In a bit. Can you help me take a few pictures of the decorations? I want to put them onto my blog."

He took a few of the decorations and you before lowering his phone.

"How do they look?" You asked while walking towards him.

"Absolutely beautiful." He answered, only he was looking at you and not the phone display that showed the pictures.

Soon after your, well Nico's, house was filled with people. Some of the older men on the team had fired up the big outside barbecue grill since no one trusted Nico to do the grilling.

You were sitting by the pool with some of the girls while they're boyfriends and your ... your Nico were swimming in the pool. You had your legs dangling in the water while talking to some of the WAGs.

"What should I title it?"

You had heard that question three times already. You really liked the girls but you had all taken pictures together as a group earlier and now they all wanted to post it.

"I wrote 'Did you know WAGs is actually short for wine and garden parties' and then like three heart emojis and #lovethesegirls." Will Butcher's girlfriend said.

You continued talking about the boys for a while and what it meant to be a WAG before the question turned to the one topic you really didn't want to talk about... how you technically weren't a WAG. When you told them as such you were met with resistance.

"Come on Y/N," Lauren Boyle said, "you support Nico like no other, always come to games and take care of him literally all the time. You definitely qualify to be a significant other aka WAG."

Her small speech made you incredibly emotional. Half because your couldn't help but wish her words would become true but also half because this amazing group of women thought of you as an equal. There were tiny tears pooling in your eyes, threatening to pour out, when Nico swam over and placed his arms over your knees to keep himself balanced.

"Hey, what are you guys talking about." He asked. There were small droplets of water in his hair and really wasn't fair how good he looked.

"Oh nothing." You smiled as you fought the urge to run your fingers through his hair. Ultimately you gave in and did exactly that, which turned out to be a mistake since one of the women behind you thought this was the perfect moment to give you a little shove which not only pushed you into the water but also into Nico's arms.

"Wow."

The two of you were more or less pressed together after he caught you.

"Everything okay?" He asked and you could feel his breath on your skin. You hadn't even realized how close your heads were. You could see the tiny specks of gold in his eyes before you finally tore yourself away.

You quickly stepped back from Nico and put some distance between you. Trying to play it cool you pulled your now soaked dress over your body and threw it onto the group of girls by the pool.

"Can you hang that up to dry please? I'm gonna stay in here for a bit." You asked them before turning back to Nico. "Wanna swim over to the others?"

The two of you made your way over to some guys from the team. They were all really nice and chill so you got along with them as well.

"What were you talking about before joining us. I saw you all laugh." Steve Santini asked you once you were close.

"Oh, nothing special. The girls kept insisting I'm a WAG but I kept telling them that I was neither dating one of you nor am I married so I can't be a WAG." You simply answered.

Both Nico and Brian Boyle were looking at your weirdly but you didn't really pay any attention to that.

"Aw Y/N," Taylor Hall said while he threw an arm around your shoulder and pulled you closer to him. "You know I'd wife you up in a second if Hisch would let me."

This made you laugh and playfully swat his chest. In the time you and Nico lived next door to him you had become good friends with him. Of course he flirted sometimes but that's just his personality and everything between you was purely platonic.

You were just about to reply when a pair of arms wrapped themselves around your middle and pulled you against a muscular chest. Nico hooked his chin over your shoulder, tightened his grip, and glared at Taylor.

"Mine."

The whole group, you included, began to laugh. Nico laughed too but he kept his arms wrapped around you, keeping you close.

This continued on for the entire afternoon and evening. Nico never left your side. He wrapped his arms around you constantly and even made you sit in his lap at one point.

You really liked how cuddly he was but it also made you feel sad since you were sure he only saw you as a friend.

Over the course of the evening both of you kept accepting and drinking several glasses of wine and bottles of beer that were handed to you by those teammates that were already allowed to legally drink in the states. It was a nice throwback to the years before the draft.

Eventually people started to leave until there were only Nico, you, and a passed out Taylor left. Deciding that you could postpone the cleaning until the morning you made your way upstairs to your bedroom and got ready for bed. You had just turned the lights off and slipped under the covers when your bedroom door opened and a dark figure slipped inside.

"Nico?" The soft whisper of your voice sounded in the darkness.

"Yeah, it's me. Sorry if i scared you. Taylor is passed out on my bed and i wanted to ask if i could stay with you tonight." He whispered back.

It wouldn't be the first time that you shared a bed so you just hummed and lifted your duvet a bit for him to slide in beside you. "You better not hog the blankets or I'll kick you out."

You closed your eyes again but you heard the rustling of his clothes as they hit the floor. He climbed into bed beside you and laid down. After a few seconds you slid closer and he put his arm around you, just like he had during the day. His chest was warm against your back and you could feel his breath on your neck.

"Nico?"

He hummed in response but otherwise didn't move.

"Why did you act the way you did earlier? All possessive and stuff." You tried to keep the emotions out of the question. You didn't want it to sound like you liked it or that you wanted him to act like that all the time even though you did.

"I don't..." he huffed in annoyance and tightened the grip he had on you. "They were all looking at you." He said quietly. "They kept staring and i just ... I don't want them to think of you that way."

Almost immediately you turned around to look at him. A thought dawned on you and you had to know if it was true.

"Nico Hischier, are you jealous?"

In the darkness of the room you could only make out his outline but the way his shoulders tensed up was visible even in the low light.

"No! I mean yes? Ugh. It's just ... I ... you mean a lot to me Y/N and I ... I don't want them to look at you that way. Because I should be the only one looking at you that way but even that can't happen because we're friends and I'm not supposed to look at you like that." He turned around and pressed his face into one of the pillows on your bed.

You took a minute to just lay there and think about his words. If Nico really thinks of you that way...

"What if...," you started, "what if I look at you like that too?"

Nico turned his head to look at you before you continued.

"What if you could look at me like that ... because we weren't just friends?"

"Really?" Nico's voice sounded unsure and you wanted nothing more but for him to know that you meant every little word.

"Yeah." You moved closer to him so your faces were nearly touching.

The two of you leaned in at the same time, softly connecting your lips in a sweet kiss.

When you pulled away you could see the smile in Nico's eyes so you quickly turned your back to him and pulled his arm over you so he was spooning you.

"We should talk about this tomorrow. Can you just hold me for now?"

Nico pressed a kiss to your shoulder before pulling you closer. And then so quietly you could barely hear him he whispered...

"Mine."

[heckdt]

hey it’s an ajin theory on ibm summoning!

explained from: my dumb 5am post tht i made 

hey.. i actually wrote a LOT more than i thought i would & also came up with stuff on the spot to support my dumb theory even more so.... :D? if stuff seems kinda out of whack, there’s ur chance to call me out on it!

anyway, enjoy!

alright listen lemme spit some SUPPORTING EVIDENCE to my nakano/ibm theory:

i’ll start it off by basically repeating my last post: i like to think ibms are connected to any particular thought about death. i think they’re manifested with dark thoughts that would lead to death or completely involve death. so here goes with my first example:

nagai! that guy! in the beginning of the manga, he’s thought about killing people (not..directly) or.. more specifically, just.... not wanting them to exist at all. he wants their existence gone.

and as a kid he’s thought about death (not...in a bad way? in a normal/thoughtful way)

and both of these occurrences resulted in his ibm appearing!  in the anime, there’s one line that has particularly stood out to me, when nagai says something like, “Good. Now I know how to make it appear.” and i’ll be damned if that aint a mystery to be solved (by yours truly). to me, it feels like nagai’s hinting at the conclusion that ibms are produced/can be summoned by connecting them with some form of thought or thought process. (& this is where i come in & say, “yeah, they’re connected thru dark thoughts!”) he’s basically understood that ibms are produced by something but we don’t know what. it’s almost like a “fill in the blank” type thing. thanks sakurai!

oh, and also (gonna mention ogura outta the blue here), despite ogura saying “making an ibm appear is like luck” to kou, i don’t really think ogura knows how to make an ibm appear (cus...he’s not an ajin so he wouldn’t have firsthand experience, so this is kind of a subject he can’t really offer much advice on), so that line is...kinda......redundant. he even says “there’s not a way that i’m aware of.” just ..puttin that out there i guess!

now onto tanaka. everybody knows he was tortured for 10 years (GOD...) . in that time, it’s kind of assumed that he never really learned how to use his ibm properly or like...maybe he never really even learned to manifest it. its shown that he didn't really hold the “”resent”” he carries/carried when he was caught by satou. well. he didn't have it the whole time. i wanted to include this scene

cus in this moment tanaka probably had the chance to kill her & the scientists & maybe even escape?? but. in this moment he says “save me.” he doesn't tell the lady to go fuck herself, he doesn't ‘damn anybody to hell’, he doesn't do anything that i would completely consider normal in his position! he asks her to save her because, at that moment, he still believes in humanity (...........to some degree) ! he doesn't hold the resentment towards humanity that u see when satou saved him! 

(adding on: actually, i just kinda realized--maybe tanaka just says “save me.” beause he’s tired of being experimented on? you wouldn’t believe how emotionally taxing being tortured would be.. maybe he’s just tired of living.. just some food for thought!)

now to satou haha (tht basard!) satou has been linked with death since he was young... so like. it was inevitable that he’d be able to make an ibm. and obviously he’d be thinking about death (he thinks about it in his downtime, this man is literally obsessed with killing) at Any Moment so i dont really need to talk much about satou. but like. y’know. satou being obsessed with killing = easy way for him to form an ibm.

takahashi, okuyama? i don’t know about these guys. they’re confirmed ajin (i didn’t mention gen cus he’s not confirmed!) and they can definitely make an ibm. but for them to be thinking about death while making it? seems....unlikely. okuyama in particular, because he has such a hard time controlling his ibm + making it appear. kinda leads me to think he doesn’t have a particular interest in death. and with takahashi, it’s kinda like. i guess he just doesn't particularly care? to me, he just seems like the type of guy to do something that’ll entertain him & killing (not necessarily the act of taking lives but maybe the rush you get from doing it) seems like a ‘fun’ thing to do!

izumi’s turn! with izumi i have a fun game theory about her ibm. my favorite thing about her ibm is probably how it changes from her teen years to her adult years. i wont go too much into it but i think that during her teen years, she was going thru something Rough (resentment towards her stepfather + mom, she was literally living on the streets, & her only way of living was..prostitution) and was probably really mad at the world in a lowkey way. angst!

(oh, one more thing. the way her ibm looks now is probably because she lost the resentment towards her mother, so it’s kind of like...recovery? she’s definitely better emotionally, i’d say.) 

((adding a bit more: what i mean by that is like, now, the way u see her, she’s firm in her resolve. she knows she has a purpose. but back then? shaky. after her mom & stepfather died, (i feel like) she was going thru a kind of “fuck the world” stage. there was a lot of pent up anger and u could see it in the way she treated/talked to tosaki when he first met her. angst x2..)

kotobuki! kotobuki is a... tough nut. i can’t seem to imagine someone as aloof/nonchalant like him thinking about death in any particular way (other than, “i can’t die”) he’s kinda like nagai in that sense, they don’t really worry about dying since they know they’ll just come back to life. well, kotobuki regards it more as some form of escape i suppose? he doesn’t care about any damage inflicted to him cus he’ll just come back to life.

so i guess since death is a form of ‘escape’ to him, that’s why his ibm is like that. i dunno! its blurry on this one!

now it’s nakano’s time to shine! nakano, who is clearly shown to struggle with making an ibm, probably doesn’t think about death at all. well. not in the sense that everybody else does. maybe it’s cus he’s scared of dying.

he doesn’t really like dying and can’t embrace his ability to die like all the other ajin can. there’s no resentment from him (the only form of resentment would probably be towards his parents but i don’t think he would even do that) and it’s not like he loves killing like satou. he doesn't see death as a form of escape (re: scared of it) and he definitely doesn’t see death as a fun way to pass the time. i think he’s genuinely too pure-hearted to really think about death in any other context other than fear. but maybe (ONLY MAYBE) because of the “nagai ditching him” incident, maybe something will stir up in him... only sakurai will let us know....

and that’s the end! thanks for coming to my ted talk!