#fic: the key fits

[starlightwoofwoof]

Well, since you're taking some requests, how bout some CaramelPopcorn fluff after their Akumatization? Kinda like some comfort after the hurt (plus I'm a fucking SUCKER for the ship) X3 Also your art is adorable!!

H E C K Y E A H

(wasn’t sure which way to go around, so I did both ways lol)

and as I like to do for other posts for this AU, here’s some yapping lol

First of all, yes, I did forget Rad’s hat in the first one 💀 (Kevin is supposed to have his hat missing, due to it being the corrupted item-)

Second of all, since I haven’t done Radford’s/The Glitch’s chapter yet, here’s how I think after the defeat would go-

I imagine Rad would be pretty upset after he was defeated, cause y’know, he tried super hard not to become a victim, so Kevin decided to try to cheer him up by being silly with his now broken 3D glasses ❤️💙✨

……… also is it Caramelpopcorn?? I’ve just been calling it Caramelcorn for some reason-

[flyingwargle]

yamaguchi sticks his head out from behind the door, smile wide as he opens it further. "hey, welcome! tsukki just went out to pick up the food, but he'll be back soon."

"sweet! we brought drinks!" koganegawa raises his 7-eleven bag, and kyoutani has a 6-pack of asahi. "thanks for hosting!"

the three don't often meet up, no matter how persistent koganegawa is, but once every few weeks, he can persuade his teammates to a movie night or video games. he never thought that tsukishima, fancy university graduate and museum curator, owns a switch and smart tv, with a wide selection of titles. koganegawa only has pokémon, and kyoutani, surprisingly, has animal crossing, although he refused to show them what his island looks like.

they step inside, and koganegawa is amazed by how bright and tidy it is. there's an abundance of house plants, loveseat occupied with two worn dinosaur plushies, bookshelf filled with both books and games. yamaguchi takes them into the kitchen to put the drinks in the fridge, shiny with stainless steel appliances, with a floral-patterned rice cooker sticking out like a sore thumb. "make yourselves at home," he tells them. "if you want, you can start getting the switch set up.”

koganegawa sits in front of the tv while kyoutani takes the couch, examining one of the dinosaurs. unzipping his backpack, koganegawa takes his switch out, the dock, and... "oh, shoot, i forgot to bring the charging cable and hdmi. yamaguchi! do you have one that i could borrow?"

"check the bedroom," yamaguchi calls out. koganegawa peers down the hallway, where there are two closed doors, the bathroom door open. picking one at random, he pulls open one of them and switches the light on.

it is definitely not the bedroom. instead, it's like a...streaming room? there's a triple-monitor desktop and gaming chair, microphone attached to the desk, headset resting on top. behind it are shelves with books, but what catches his attention are the trophies along the top. they aren't for volleyball - no, they're for pokémon.

the largest reads 2018 pokémon vgc world champion. "holy shit," koganegawa whispers.

footsteps thump down the hall. "did you get lost, or-" kyoutani sticks his head in, freezing at the sight. "what. the. hell."

koganegawa moves closer to examine the titles. national champion. regional champion. and countless of podium placements. off to the side is a loveseat full of pokémon plushies, with a few dinosaurs thrown in. a switch is docked on a shelf beside the desk, along with a pro controller.

"tsukki was a pokémon nerd," koganegawa breathes out. "a worldwide pokémon nerd."

"no, he still is." kyoutani gestures at a trophy. it was from a month ago, a third-place finish.

the front door opens, and they both jump at tsukishima's voice. "i'm back. are they here?"

“welcome home, kei,” is yamaguchi’s chirp. “they’re just looking for something in the bedroom–“

pause. “tadashi. that is not the bedroom.”

another pause. “oh, shoot–“

“we didn’t touch anything!” koganegawa shouts, stepping into the doorway to defend himself, arms crossed over his chest. behind him, kyoutani sighs and mutters in irritation. “i didn’t know where the bedroom was, so i just opened the first door i saw and–“

he cuts himself off, the apartment flooded in abrupt silence. tsukishima is pinching his nose in annoyance, still in his overcoat. yamaguchi is behind him, placating hands hovering in front of his sheepish expression. koganegawa lowers his voice. “i never thought you were a pokémon nerd.”

“vgc champion, you mean,” kyoutani corrects.

“that’s not mine.” tsukishima’s flat tone is the most unconvincing thing in the world. “they’re yamaguchi’s.”

his teammates glance at each other, then back into the room, where there are framed certificates that clearly say kei tsukishima. they stare at him, the faintest blush rising in his cheeks, and he storms passed them, retrieves his switch and necessary cables, and shoulders his way into the living room.

it takes half the sushi platter, a few beers, and several rounds of mario kart before koganegawa needles him enough to talk about the trophies. “yamaguchi got me into pokémon. his dad took us to watch our first tournament in elementary school, and we both wanted to try competing, so we did.”

“i was terrible at it, though,” yamaguchi adds, comfortably tucked into his partner’s side. “i always got eliminated in the first round, but tsukki got all the way to top 16 before he started to get podium.”

“2018 was when you graduated from university, right?” koganegawa asks. “weren’t you playing for the frogs by then? how do you find time to do all these things?”

tsukishima shrugs. “you just follow the meta. doing damage calculations isn’t hard, and i have my own online group to help with testing. tadashi is good at teambuilding too, and i like the process. if you like something, you wouldn’t think of it as a waste of time.”

kyoutani glances at him. “you’re still doing it?”

“i’ve been trying to retire, but my friends want me to keep going,” tsukishima grumbles. “i’ve been to worlds enough times, even won once. i think it’s good enough.”

“no, tsukki! you need to win again!” koganegawa argues. “it’s like the v. league! just because you’ve won once doesn’t mean you can retire! you just have to keep winning!”

“it gets harder and harder every year. i’m within my right to retire.”

“i think we need to focus on the fact that you won worlds at all,” kyoutani says. “so, you’re good?”

the air shifts. tsukishima lowers his controller to his lap. “obviously.”

“bet.”

“hah? you don’t even play pokémon.”

“no, but he does.” kyoutani points at koganegawa, who perks up.

“yes! i do! let’s battle, tsukki!”

yamaguchi lifts his head. “no offense, koganegawa, but you’re going to get wrecked.”

“hey, i know about teambuilding and type advantages! i won’t be beat that easily!”

“that’s not…” tsukishima closes his eyes. “no.”

“come on, it’ll be fun! what, are you afraid that you’ll lose?”

“absolutely not. i’m afraid of what’ll happen after.”

kyoutani snickers. “all bark but no bite.” tsukishima narrows his eyes, reaching for his switch on the table. the game cartridge inside is pokémon scarlet.

“do you have either scarlet or violet? or any other generation, it doesn’t matter. i have them all.”

“ooh, i have scarlet! i’m taking down the world champion right here, baby!”

[sentientsky]

Here, I’m bored and tired, so have an excerpt from my fic, “Until the Bitter End”, specifically a major plot point in chapter 8 because someone bookmarked it as “start at chapter 8” aksjsajsjkskdj

[gatoraid]

The final chapter of my silly accountant AU is finally up!! The feelings are intensifying, Esen is esening and Ayushiridara is going through some very confusing times.

[wolves-in-the-world]

tags on krakenartificer's post about a leverage au where nate enters the priesthood but ends up running cons for people who come to him for help anyway:

#now i need a crossover episode of catholic priest nate who's still running leverage style shenanigans #with father brown [via @trivalentlinks]

thank you for making me stare at the wall in fascination and horror about this crossover

they'd be occasional allies occasional confidantes they'd go behind each other's backs once or twice and only kinda regret it. This nate hasn't gone through the same loss as in canon, but that wouldn't make him a whole lot softer, so he'd be fundamentally irritated with father brown - his tested and unshakeable belief and his optimism about the human condition - and father brown would be generally concerned about everyone on nate's end, and nate not the least of it. They'd play chess together and be fairly well-matched. They'd visit each other's confessionals to check in.

we'd get some interesting acknowledgement of father brown's "I'm nice and simple and harmless" grift (which I could also call power negativity) which is only kind of a grift because he really is that nice and harmless beneath, except that he uses it to get information from people.

flambeau would be utterly thrilled and (playfully?) insulted not to be father brown's only criminal associate.

the leverage crew would be correctly suspicious of flambeau, I think, but sophie would greet him by name - possibly with a kiss to the cheek, possibly eyeing him like he's a viper in their midst - and reference some very improbable occasion when they were after the same prize. He mentions she was using a different name then; he doesn't say what it was. Bonus points if he also had his eye on the dagger in the Rashomon Job but had the flu / was unexpectedly in prison / had to attend a grandmother's funeral at the time.

I have this certainty in my mind that the leverage crew would be largely dismissive of sid's abilities and he'd kind of snort and roll his eyes about it - he's at worst a common criminal and very lower class, so he's used to being understimated - and surprise them with his connections or lock-picking or holding his own in a brawl or fixing an elderly car in the quickest dirtiest way imaginable. (Parker would decide she likes him then; the others would be reassured after seeing how gentle he is when talking with her.) He'd also nope out of leverage's business at a sensible time, because father brown's rubbed off on him and he doesn't actually want that kind of danger - unless the con's personal.

(I'm not sure whether to set this in leverage time or drag it back to father brown's 1950s so I'm settling for mashing the two together and pretending it's not an issue. See also: geography.)

… father brown would have I think one harrowing conversation with eliot where they mention their time in the military, the marks that killing people and losing people leaves on a person - father brown already does this in canon, tells someone it's unfair that they're mired in trauma and alcoholism when he found his faith through trauma instead, it floored me - and after brushing on repentance and god here, he wouldn't bring it up with eliot again. (I think father brown varies on this in canon, frankly, but he often respects that kind of boundary, and I think he'd recognise a wound so sore it should be left to heal however it can.)

(yes I'm playing with fictional priests like barbie dolls but no I'm not comfortable with the conversion aspects, so apologies and bear with me while I skate on past that.)

(he'd describe eliot as a good person, once, or as someone working very hard at it. Eliot would be on edge about that for the entire con, finding a little too much uneasy satisfaction in getting to knock people out and play the bad guy - play at the simpler stuff he used to do. Sophie might catch father brown for a word about it; father brown wouldn't be that clumsy again.)

I think father brown and nate would both talk bunty out of getting involved in a joint kembleford-leverage operation except in the most innocent way possible. The problem is she actually would make a good getaway driver, and she's thrilled with the idea, but she's already had some run-ins with the press and the law and can't risk another; luckily she's better used as a distraction elsewhere.

and I'm sorry to do this, but I think lady felicia's husband would be a mark or potential mark at one point. It would be fraught.

(the main reason I haven't recommended father brown's heist episode (s7e10), aside from not having a background on the politics in it, is that it shows lady felicia as a victim and pulls the heist on her behalf. The show largely convinced me to ignore the messy reality of her and her husband's inherited wealth, but that episode made me kinda uncomfortable - which is a shame, because seeing these characters pull a heist was fucking great.)

mrs mccarthy would be used against her will or knowledge as a distraction while someone's pockets are picked. She isn't told until afterwards, and then only half by accident. She is, of course, horrified. Father brown was absolutely the one to suggest it in planning, but flambeau slips in mid-apology to smoothly take the blame.

I could in fact go on and this is in fact a problem.

—

editing to continue:

I'm actually thinking that father brown might approach eliot from an ex-military angle and not a Religious Authority angle at all - eliot was raised protestant, after all, and it's an entirely different vibe. And I have to think eliot's guarded around father brown for the very fact that he's a priest and seems to mean it in a way that nate, I feel, wouldn't. So they may avoid the topic entirely, or as close to it as they can when brushing on, well, eliot's entire moral injury situation. Which is good news for me.

bunty would admire parker for being different and capable and getting up to exciting things, though would probably fail at any attempts at friendship until she thinks to ask what parker likes doing and ends up learning to pick pockets that evening. The second those two are around buildings tall enough to rappel down she's in danger. (The second parker can slip away at night she's giving the church a go; father brown gives her a look the night before and quietly warns her about the dodgy roof.)

mrs mccarthy decides fairly quickly that hardison is a very nice young man (his nana instincts are online and functional) even if he spends far too much time on the wretched computer. She's determined to feed him and half the time he's determined to find ways to politely refuse, though the strawberry scones are actually pretty good.

she's appalled by eliot's job, and fiercely territorial of her kitchen when he offers help, even just cleaning up, but once she's seen him get in the way of trouble she's absolutely catching his arm and half hiding behind him in any crisis real or perceived. (She still doesn't approve of him.)

lady felicia sees hardison and eliot as two very different kinds of novelties and does some talking to hardison about tech (mostly listening and marveling) and some quietly ogling both of them, and especially eliot once she's seen him fighting. (Eliot unfortunately turned on his charm when he realised she sort of expected it. She doesn't get to chat with charming southern gents all that often - it's very shallow, and she's not serious about it.)

thank goodness bunty's too young for eliot so I don't have to go there. He has to tuck her out of sight in a barn at some point when trouble's headed their way; when the mess is almost cleaned up and she's grabbed a rifle from somewhere to tell the the remaining goon to clear off, with every appearance of competence, eliot takes it from her and disarms it with a smear of blood under his nose and a slightly betrayed expression.

hardison and sid get along, aside from a little initial insecurity on the parker front, and get to bitch a bit about flambeau, who hardison mistrusts from the start.

flambeau... he admires parker, from a distance - professionally and not very effusively - but after he watches her work for a while he seems to realise who she was trained by, and tells her as much. He says he was too, for a very short time, and it's unclear if he'd gain anything from making it up. Says that he and archie had a difference of opinion - and has a way of saying it that implies there might have been fire involved.

[annoying--moth]

My main issue with giving people compliments is that I have no idea how to make them sound natural. If I say to my sister "your hair looks nice" then there's a 60% chance she'll think I'm being sarcastic or trying to be nice for some weird/selfish reason. Or if someone draws something and I want to express that I think it's really good, I often sound really ingenuine even though I do actually think it's good. Why are things like this

[breadandbees]

Snippet from hch4 ch. 4: “What Can Be Done For Now”

Today’s class proved that Heroics wasn’t all battling and butting heads. It could be expanding the definition of what Pro Hero work entailed. Their lesson on search-and-rescue served that purpose, so Shouto only imagined that definition would grow to encompass a general overview of the several recognized categories of Professional Heroes.

What was supposed to be a break in battling was taken hostage by a group of Villains out to kill All Might.

In some ways, he’d been relieved that it wasn’t a different kind of logical ruse. The whole ordeal with Class 1-A chasing a cat they thought was a “lesson” on “clue-finding” had been eye-opening to what could, technically, be defined as a logical ruse. But the Villain group had, helpfully, given them all a brief statement of purpose that left no questions, so Shouto had dismissed the idea.

That settlement was replaced by the pleasant surprise of unanticipated teleportation. Likely a Quirk, Shouto considered as it was actively being activated and swallowing him. Why the world-at-large hadn’t capitalized on the variety of transportation, teleportation, and other warping Quirks would remain a mystery. It’d be helpful for campuses as large as U.A.’s—he knew because he’d covered the entire campus on that first day and missed all of seventh period because of it. Though, he didn’t get very far on the logistics of Quirk travel because, wherever he’d been dumped, he hadn’t been alone.

He’d landed in what he’d later been told was the “Landslide Zone,” froze everyone who tried to make an attempt on his life, and demanded to know what their plan was in exchange for their lives. Or their skin.

Shouto had also taken measures to significantly lower everyone’s body temperatures to prevent flailing or attempts to break free until he was told something. No one but him needed to know he’d worked in a subtler trick that Natsuo had once described would be “overkill” if achieved when a teary-eyed Shouto had drilled him on the Quirk he shared with their sister and mother.

Outside of the ransoming the integrity of their scummy skin for information, a part of him had still been skeptical about the logical ruse thing. He also may have gotten several people sick, which wasn’t as horrible as causing their skin to rot away but it was still rather distinctly something Pro Heroes shouldn’t do. Shouldn’t be caught doing.

Anyways, his father had demanded a report from him that would’ve been better answered by anyone else.

If Endeavor had gone with one of the names on the Class 1-A roster Shouto had delivered himself at his request and interrogated them for a change, he wouldn’t have needed to chase as many pills with a glass of water as he had after training that night. Even the Pros who’d shown up after probably knew more than he did.

Still, he’d gone over everything. Had been prompted for more details, so he’d concluded that judging by the way that Villain looked at All Might, he was probably after more than just skin. Maybe bone.

What he didn’t talk about was the way it felt to be there: a three-on-five match became a front-row seat to the battle-of-a-lifetime. The kind that mothers warned their children to never grow up to stand around and watch because you could get hurt in the crossfire. That kind of battle.

Surprisingly, they did end up going over search-and-rescue four days later. Unsurprisingly, their lesson on search-and-rescue became just that: a battle.

Shouto liked the “Landslide Zone” better when it was populated by Villains. He was pretty sure he managed to keep that thought to himself.

[uhohbestie]

Hello :D I’m a newer reader to your fic (saw some awesome fan art and had to investigate) and I’d just like to start out by saying HOLY SHIT IT’S JUST SO INSANELY GOOD AND IM ONLY ON CHAPTER 20

Y’all should be so proud of yourselves TAMN is honestly one of the best written aus I’ve ever had the pleasure of stumbling onto across all the fandoms I’ve ever been a part of. Kudos kudos kudos and more kudos!

Anyways, the crux of why I’m even writing this in the first place (other than an excuse to sing y’all’s praise) is I recently found a song that just reminds me so much of this fic and I wanted to share with y’all :)

I haven’t had a chance to look at the playlist made for TAMN, so if it’s on there my bad, but the songs called Grandma Became a Zombie, by Kriill. And I know, one could claim it’s a bit on the nose with how much they say zombie in it, and this is literally a zombie apocalypse au, but I honestly think like 95% of the lyrics are scarily close to how I interpret this fic.

Anywho, thought I’d put this gem on y’all’s radar if it hasn’t been already. Once again I’m only on Chapter 20, so I have no idea if this song reflects later chapters, but if you see a random animatic pop up using this song, chances are it’s probably me lol.

Thanks y’all again for writing and illustrating such an amazing story <3

-E

Aaaa thank you thank you so much!! We're always so thrilled to hear that our fic is being enjoyed! (Also oh my goodness, i just checked and chapter 20 is right before you really Get In It hahaha, what a fun little precipice you left yourself on!!)

I gotta tell u, I looked up this song and have been listening to it non-stop since. ( here's the link to it - for those who want to go on the same emotional journey I'm on.)

The lyric "silence is your way to speak your mind" has got me in a vice grip. That's it, that's the fic. That's TAMN reduced to its most basic, fundamental parts. Aaaugh, Scar... Grian... what are we going to DO with you..........

Thanks for sharing this song aaaaaa, I'm obsessed. <3 <3 🔒

[kelpiemomma]

I find it great that a lot of the fandom looked at two out of time, out of place characters. Ingo and Protagonist, two characters with similar origins and have so much to relate to and thus fans agree that it is criminal and inexcusable that Gamefreak barely interact in Canon.

Everyone literally said "Screw Canon, These two are found family, train guy is dad/uncle/friend now

Love your PLA fics of that dynamic. I don't know if you're still open to prompts. You don't have to do this if you don't feel it but here's a prompt I got for you.

Explore Ingo's and Akari's relationship that develops post-game.

Many fics have them bond during the main plot but not much do post game events.

(You could touch events that occured preplot or during plot and explore how characters felt before they met)

Ohhhh interesting interesting interesting..... I think that's because most of us find it easiest to maneuver them around in-game events, and I don't think I've done too much post-gaming myself (easily distracted, started two other playthroughs)

I am definitely intrigued by this idea though. Do you mean they have their basic interaction in canon, but the further relationship develops post game? And what are we counting as post game- calming all the nobles & fighting palkia and dialga, but pre-volo? Or is Volo still part of the main playthrough?

Because I can see (rolling in the dad direction, as I do, in various directions) Ingo being distantly friendly with the protagonist (let's say Akari, as is my usual :,D sorry) He provides training at the dojo with Zisu, sees Akari there mostly, but doesn't much interact with her otherwise. I truly can't imagine him seeing her kicked out of jubilife and not doing anything- moral-wise, at least, I feel like he would say or do something. Even if he felt it wasn't his place as someone not of Jubilife, I think that he (and most of us, I would hope) would protest kicking a kid out of a safe area. It's possible he either wasn't there (returned to the Highlands for a time) or saw it happening, but didn't see Akari's face and assumed she was just going out for another mission. By the time he does hear about it, or understand what happened, and goes looking Akari has already been picked up by Volo. Ingo asks Irida if she knows where Akari can be found and Irida promises she's somewhere safe but can't say more. So until she returns, all Ingo can do is be satisfied that Akari is safe. He no longer trusts Jubilife residents as he did, especially Kamado, and spends less time there. When Akari returns having tamed the two gods, Ingo decides that maybe it's a little fucked up that this kid has done all this on her own. She's still just like 15 at most, right?

He attempts to strike up conversations at the dojo without being creepy, because some part of him is well aware how it might seem if someone of his age shows too much interest in a teenager (the very thought turns his stomach in disgust. He feels regretful that he couldn't help earlier.) but thankfully Akari likes to talk about the Pokedex, and Ingo is a walking Pokedex as well in a way. There's no one able to battle quite like him, which actually helps Akari with her research. She starts searching him out more because he never requires anything or expects anything of her, and they can talk about pokemon or item crafting or food easily. In fact, she starts going to him when she finds strange pokemon in space-time rifts because Ingo almost always finds them familiar and has something to say about them. Sometimes they'll run into each other in the highlands and Ingo will take her somewhere cool, or just take her to a neat little meadow and tell her to chill out because she's spiraling in anxiety over the work she still has to do. They end up bonding over little things and helping each other, with Ingo gradually becoming the first person Akari goes to when she has news because his enthusiasm is always genuine and a little extra but it's nice.

They bond further after Akari battles Volo and comes down from the summit looking absolutely wrecked and in tears. She's been betrayed and had what she thought was a dear, close friendship destroyed. Ingo doesn't pry as much as he wants to- he's upset that she's upset, and he wants to know what happened because this time they're friendly. He cares for her as family and wants to hurt whoever hurt her. But Akari comes first, and so he takes her to his home and lets her wallow in her misery until she can tell him what happened. He asks if she wants him to track Volo down and take care of him, but Akari denies it and says he doesn't need to act like her dad when he isn't. Which kind of makes Ingo stop and think bc... Well. He doesn't have kids. Has never had much interest in having kids. But he likes Akari, and he thinks that she could use a father figure, and he wouldnt mind filling those shoes... So he accepts her request, but he tells her then and there that he doesn't mind acting as her father (figure) because he does genuinely care for her and her well being. Which isn't something Akari was expecting and she kind of stammers... Declines... Takes off. And it hurts but Ingo lets her go. It's her decision to accept or not, and he won't force her one way or another. He appreciates their friendship too much.

Akari avoids him for a couple weeks, which sucks but Ingo stands by his decision to not push. He continues his work in the Highlands, continues training at the dojo, until one day he finds himself standing in front of the photo parlor. He's gotten a picture of himself before, but he was alone and it didn't feel right. It felt like something was missing. Someone should've been by his side, at his back. He's lost in thought until he feels the wristband of his coat get tugged on and looks to see Akari standing beside him, shifty. She apologizes for running off and avoiding him, explains that she had to think, and he accepts her apology. Says he understands, because it was something he'd gradually come to realize and that he shouldn't have sprung it on her. And Akari is clearly Not Of This Time because she gets quiet and then asks him, really fast and kind of quiet, that he meant like being her DAD and not her DADDY right, because she REALLY didn't see him like that and- and Ingo immediately says NO ABSOLUTELY NOT. Just... Dad. Acting as a caretaker. Keeping her safe. Being a place of refuge. Platonic father feelings ONLY. And Akari looks relieved, and Ingo is also relieved because he definitely doesn't see her that way and is glad she now understands that. He shudders at the thought, and she laughs at him, and Ingo pretends to glare at her and scold her but she settles in a little closer.

She looks at the building with all the photos and paintings and asks what he was up to. He explains that he was wondering if he should try getting another picture done, that he'd had one taken before but had needed to throw it away because looking at it made him feel uncomfortable. Akari asks if he thinks it has something to do with the man in white and ingo... nods, because now that she mentioned it, yes. Because the man in white is not here, and Ingo is alone. Apparently he says that out loud, and Akari's face flushes as she takes his hand and drags him inside. Because Ingo's not alone anymore, she says, because they're family. So until the man in white is back, she's going to be where he was. And they take the picture, and it's not exactly perfect... She doesn't fit like he thinks she should, and the pose is weird and not quite correct, but as he looks at the photo she handed him before going to grab some of her gear to take up to the Highlands - there's something she needs to check on, she said, and since Ingo has decided she's his responsibility obviously her DAD needs to go with her! - he feels... Better. Not fixed, but still... Complete. He's not alone. He has family now.

He tucks the photo into his coat for safe keeping, and when Akari returns to his side (she said she'd see him as her father, would she call him dad? Should he call her his daughter? They'll need to talk about it.) he smiles, and she smiles back, and for now everything will be okay. He is not part of an incomplete set anymore.

[whoblewboobear]

my elmville map came 🥵 my spyre map did not 🤧

[illogicalvulcans]

bright and splendid | Rating: Teen and Up | Chapters: 1/1 | 2.5k words

Crowley, it turns out, is a being with a Weakness. As a moth to flame, he is drawn to bright, lively, beautiful things. Has trouble denying himself the simple pleasure of admiring them. Amongst all the glamorous, glorious wonders of Creation, Crowley would dare to say his Angel is the brightest, most beautiful thing of all.

[Read on AO3]

[izzy-b-hands]

Izzy Hands cosplay is far from perfect (my grey hairs are still too few and don't show well, and I need actual leathers someday that eventually I'm gonna be able to save for dang it) but! It is v comfy and it's nice to dress up for the holiday

Bonus Izzy pumpkin that Housemate helped me carve bc they Get It re: characters that live in your bones after the first time you see them and when something frustrating/sad/etc happens to them. They helped get the lil tattoo looking much better!

[breadpain]

valz pacific rim au

i was watching pacific rim earlier and thought... what if valz pacific rim au where genkai used to be jaeger pilot partners but because of a battle against a kaiju, genzuki died. then he meets nagao

it goes like this: it's year 10 after the first kaiju invasion. 21:00. genzuki and kaida is on a mission to fight a category 5 kaiju located at japan's east coastline. status: heavy storm, field visibility is concerningly low, but they've went through things worse than this. they encounter the kaiju about 15 miles from the line, viciously jumping on their jaeger from under the water, catching them by surprise. they counterattack by firing (the laser and electric weapon thing from gypsy avenger, i forgot the name) and manage to wound it, adding a few hard punches here and there. it falls, sinking, glowing blue mixing in the water from the kaiju's blood.

kaida and genzuki are outstanding pilots, had defeated category 3 kaijus more than the hands could count, but things doesn't always go the way you want it to. this is a category 5 kaiju, it's smart, and it learns. so when it resurfaces with a growl and swings its sharp claws on their head, it knows how to intercept when they fire laser at it again. the kaiju uses its horn to stab through their jaeger's left arm, ripping it off, cancelling their attack and rendering it useless. their screen status displays warning sign in bold red letters, alarm blaring loudly through their ears but genzuki doesn't miss his partner's scream, kaida gripping his left arm where the pain is shooting through. he feels the damage the most as he is the left hemisphere of their jaeger. genzuki tries to parry a heavy punch coming their way with one arm, failing to keep their jaeger from staggering. the kaiju sees this as an opening to continue its attacks, this time, opening a hole through the right side of their jaeger's head where the control pod is located.

kaida's vision slows down after this. he looks at genzuki, sees the panic in his eyes, mouthing something at him but he can't make out what it is from the ringing in his ears. he sees the kaiju's hand coming in, grabbing genzuki's pod and dropping him into the ocean. kaida screams, both from the powerlessness of not being able to save his partner and the strain in his whole body doubling, becoming unbearable now that he pilots their jaeger alone. the kaiju doesn't relent with its attacks, however, grabbing and flinging their jaeger like a ragdoll. it uses its horn again to pierce through the jaeger's chest, biting bits and pieces of its parts away and kaida knows he won't survive this, that resisting is just futile. but with the last of his strength, he uses his right arm to send one last blow, the light of explosion blinding him before everything went black.

while unconscious, kaida sees the deep. a heavy feeling forces him to sink and water fills up his lungs. regret, sadness, fear, panic, his final moments before the abyss takes him. he thinks it is his end, but when the hand in front of him reaches out, he sees the bracelet he gave to his partner after the first time they fought together.

it's genzuki, their minds are connected after all.

and by some miracle, kaida survives after all that. but kaida who couldn't handle the thought of letting anyone in on his mind again, and doesn't want to experience the pain of losing another partner, settles on supporting other pilots instead (like being a jaeger engineer or repairman). but then years later, certain circumstances forces him to come back as a jaeger pilot. then cue nagao's entrance in his life, a rookie cadet... and would you look at that, they're drift compatible.

i see it as this: when you are jaeger partners, you need to be drift compatible, and being drift compatible means letting each other inside your heads. it kinda feels like leaving a part of you inside of your partner. when genzuki died, a part of him still remains in kaida. memories, thoughts, feelings, something like that yadda yadda...

when kaida had his neural handshake with nagao for the first time, it resulted with the same percentage as him with genzuki. nagao had seen kaida's memories, and in extension, the fragments of genzuki's. in a way, genzuki is also within nagao, and kaida thinks it's strange how he accepts genzuki like an old friend. they talk about genzuki after that, and when kaida describes him, or talks about a funny memory, eyes turning into crescents and full of fondness, nagao searches in his brain to remember a time he didn't experience, like a spectator who wasn't there but still belongs to.

also, i'd like to think...

genzuki watches over them both when they're out in a fight. one time, when kaida and nagao's neural handshake became unstable, flashes of memories appear before their eyes, an unexplainable emotion surging through, gripping their heart, and a gentle voice saying "the deeper the bond, the better you fight". they just know it's genzuki meddling to save them both.

[keitheaverage]

my problem with both writing and consuming stories is that on one hand I (or the ppl who consume my work) don't want my hand held and have every tiny detail of a world/character explained to me bc too much telling-not-showing can really disrupt the flow of a visual narrative like comics or film, but on the other hand I'm a glutton for information and once I latch onto a character I need to know every small detail of the previous events in their life, the rules and machinations of world they live in, what they're feeling in every moment they appear, how they mark their place in a book, what direction they slice their sandwiches, etc., etc.

[bonestrouslingbones]

i think the hardest part of this oneshot & trying to decide all the posting logistics of it is trying to figure out where it fits in the timeline. because like i'm technically imagining it as taking place in the short little stint between edge & stretch's universes for that good good "stuck alone together for better or worse" feel BUT i've already written a few oneshots for that time period and i am, to be perfectly honest, starting to get very very sick of not being able to use proper nicknames

[jayparked]

writing is going well