#hated that he finally learned who he was without being a hero

[mx-legend-of-faye]

Guys do you ever stop to think about how hard Wild must’ve struggled to find his sense of self?

His Hyrule was full of people telling him he’s a hero and he needs to save them, or alternatively that he doesn’t exist at all anymore since he was told he was the hero but then everyone knows the hero is gone?

So Wild, with no memories of who he was before, but all his kindness and readiness to help still in tact, goes on to become the hero of his Hyrule once again. At that point, a hero is all he really knows he is, and it’s all he’s told he’s allowed to be. Hyrule needs a hero, so that’s what Wild is.

Sure, he learned some things he really enjoys, and makes the best of them …but remind me how he came to learn them? Because even on his way to save Zelda and Hyrule, he stops to help others with smaller tasks? And those people teach him things in return? Because he helped them? Because with no memories, Wild woke up, and was told he needed to be helpful?

And when Zelda was safe and Hyrule was no longer under threat from the Calamity, where does that leave Wild, a hero with nothing to save his people from?

When your job that made you who you are is completed, and you can no longer remember the feel of your mother’s hugs or the sound of your father’s voice, where does that leave you? Who are you after that?

Wild had to relearn a lot more than you first might think. Wild had to relearn how to be a person. He had to relearn who he was as a person.

And he will never again be the same person as who Zelda remembers him being. He will never again be the child his parents raised.

He’s someone new, and it’s great and it’s exciting and he gets to exist now without expectations, but there was a period of time where he was a shell of person with no sense of self until he was told by all around him that his purpose was to help and to save.

So he didn’t get to start from a blank slate and become who he wanted. He had to have his purpose become an almost null point once he beat the Calamity. He had to start discovering who he is, not from the ground up, but from the ruins of who he thought he was, who everyone needed him to be.

My train of thought has left its tracks and so I’ll bring this to an end here. I hope what I was saying was coherent, I am very tired right now so—

[little-fae-hero]

Linked Universe, Hero of the Winds

My headcanons/aus

Art by Atro Avis

Colored Version.

Long talk/ideas under the cut. Warning for general game violence and kidnapping. (Note: I may add stuff overtime but I will never delete from the list).

Twilight. Sky. Legend. Hyrule. Four. Time. War. Wild.

Wind (Wind Waker/Phantom hourglass). Other Nicknames: The Sailor, Pirate, The baby (hates this), Guppy (hates this as well), Island boy, Ocean child.

Hero’s Title: Hero of the Great Sea, Hero of the Winds, Hero of the Great Sea, Holder of the Wind Waker

God that has claim over his soul: Hylia (for the wisdom to actually find the pieces of the triforce)

Part of First’s soul: Childish Wonder (smallest piece).

History:

Link lived on an island with his sister and grandmother, and had a peaceful life like everyone in the great sea. He was given a green tunic when he turned 12, much to his annoyance. However his sister Aryll was kidnapped on his birthday, taken by a bird monster and he joins up with a pirate by the name of Tetra to get her back.

Through trying to get his sister back he learns that the Gerudo King Ganondorf is back, hunting for the Triforce, the Red king of the seas asks Link to take up the mantle of the hero. To which the young boy does, to make the seas safe for his family. He later learns the man’s reason, a place for his people; however he still tries to kill the hero and the princess. They actually succeed and plan to start another hyrule.

However This plan gets put on the back burner when Tetra and Link run across a ghost ship and Tetra goes missing, causing Link to start another adventure. Link get’s the phantom hourglass and a fairy and they go through the palace of the ocean king. He saved the great seas from the parasite known as Bellum and was finally able to go back home.

Death: Unknown…

Interesting Stuff/Headcanons:

has a sailor mouth from living around pirates. Others don’t let him swear (like grandma) but Time does.

The best thing to heal him is his grandmother’s soup. The chain learns how to cook it when they visit the Great Sea.

Link has a good sense of direction, to the point of it being scary. He doesn’t even need a map; it's like the wind tells him where to go.

Wind deals with a lot of self-doubt, he wasn’t born with the triforce of Courage, he had to find it and put it together unlike Tetra. So, he often feels like a fake.

He looks up to Time, since he was the hero of Time who once defeated Ganondorf, plus he also doesn’t treat Wind like he will break at any moment.

The others have a habit of jumping in to protect him, mainly because he reminds many of them of themselves of when they first started their adventures.

Wind actually prefers sandals since he lives on an island, but that’s not considered ‘proper shoes for combat’.

Wind cannot control his expression, whether in sneaking around or in combat, he cannot keep a poker face, which of course makes him terrible at keeping secrets.

Link has no concept of ‘personal items’ he grew up sharing stuff with his sister and then a pirate ship, everything is fair game, unless said otherwise or you're wearing it.

Anything he finds is worn as jewelry until he can get back home, to which the treasure is given to Aryll and Grandma.

He is actually really good with seagulls, I mean it’s not like his sister Aryll, but he can easily feed them without them getting startled.

He’s a great swimmer; however, his legs can get tired from a lot of walking, especially rocky paths, he doesn’t tell the group this.

No concept of ‘oh that’s dangerous’ will happily be shot out of a canon for the laughs.

Wind doesn’t have any piercing even though he wants to, any jewelry is limited to necklaces and ear wraps. 

Letters are a big comfort to Wind, as sometimes he panics that Aryll is missing, or grandma is sick again. The letters remind him that everything is fine.

Wind will fall into his big brother persona; he immediately will fuss others despite bringing the youngest of the group.

Besides looking up to Time, Wind also looks up to War, he doesn’t know why.

Koroks seems to really like Wind, he considered them his friends, Time doesn’t like the Koroks staying around or Wind going after them.

He cannot stand the cold because of growing up on an island. He’s in multiple layers or stealing others' scarves to keep warm.

Wind loves music, especially sea shanties, you will not know peace if one gets stuck in his head.

He knows how to shoot guns; he has one from Tetra and knows how to make ammo for it. It’s just very, very loud and he doesn’t like it.

He is slowly getting use to them and even started to build interesting items of his own.

He will correct anyone if they refer to Tetra as Zelda, since she prefers the name Tetra.

Wind loves fruit sense you can only really get them on islands, they are his favorite thing to snack on.

Wind sometimes realizes how stupid enemies can be, meaning he will sneak around them when others are planning something.

He is the most likely to do his own thing in battle and give the others heart attacks in the process.

The soul piece of the hero’s spirit is the smallest in Wind, it was the childlike wonder of the god, something the god couldn’t have a lot of considering his first life.

Because of this Wind doesn’t get the full burning in his chest that others might. But he does get the call to adventure.

[the-faceless-bride]

Chapter one: Childhood

you came from an ok family, you’re parents had you young and struggled to keep you off the streets but they managed; and after sleepless nights and lots of hard work they had finally been able to move to Japan, a nice small house in a nice little neighborhood. 

You were excited, new home, new people, a new school! All the new friends you could make! It excited to no end. You were practically vibrating in the back of your parent’s small car, hands and face pressed to the window, smearing the glass as you waved to anyone who looked in your direction as you passed by. Including a bright faced green haired boy and a rowdy blonde who was excitedly punching the air while talking. 

When you finally arrived you excitedly grabbed as many of bags your little arms could carry before rushing into your new room and getting started on putting everything you could away.

—

after putting a few of your things away, you heard your parents call out for you. “[Name!] Our Neighbors are here to say hi! They have a few new friends for you!” 

you run as fast as your little legs could take you to the kitchen, and there you find two women with their son. You assume he’s about your age he though he is a bit bigger than you and other boys your age; he had dark hair that reached past his ears, bright red eyes, and a big sharp smile. “Hi! I’m Kirishima Ejiro!!” He excitedly yell to you not giving you a chance to speak before he threw himself onto you in a tight hug making you wheeze. 

“Ejiro, let her breathe.” One of the women said placing a hand on his shoulder making him step back his smile never leaving, you smiled back. 

Your friendship grew stronger and stronger, until the day he got his quirk. He didn’t like his quirk; it wasn’t cool, it wasn’t strong, it just wasn’t a ‘hero’s quirk’ and it broke his little heart; you tried to cheer him up the best you could about how you hadn’t even gotten yours yet but once you did no matter how uncool or flashy it was you’d still be his best friend and you would both become hero’s some day. But as time past and your quirk never came and Ejiro’s insecurities grew, days became darker and darker. 

Ejiro barely smiled anymore, his insecurities and jealousy grew and you were slowly being forgotten to the world. Quirkless. 

A nobody, that’s what you were to the world now. Even your parents started to treat you oddly; a Quirkless kid, the one thing a parent never wanted to have. But you tried not to let it get to you, you had a job to do. Being a hero, maybe not to the world… but you would be one to Ejiro. You listened to his pains and woes, where there when he fell and always lifted him back on his feet, you were “so manly” as Ejiro put it and he was going to be too. 

The two of you had each other, until you didn’t. As you entered middle school things changed, Ejiro and his Family were moving. His mothers had to move for work, and you had no idea if or when you would see him again. In all of your 11 years of living you’d never been so sad, letting him go. Saying goodbye;  frowning as one of his moms call to him to “get in the car.” Your best friend in the whole world was leaving, his sad eyes bore into you as his frown sinks even lower… you can’t remember the last time he smiled as bright as the day you two first met, and you couldn’t do anything about it.

And the days only grew darker. As you entered middle school the bullying became relentless… the words Quirkless was all you ever heard anymore. Worthless, Quirkless, loser. That seemed to be what everyone knew you as and when your parents split you had hit your lowest. 

Now living with your dad, he wasn’t really around. You’d learned how to live on your own, how to make pasta, how to pay rent, you learn the world doesn’t owe you anything. And you began to hate. No longer were you a happy little kid. You were tired, you were restless, and you longed for the light again. But without anyone you’d found it hard to do anything other than hate.

until you met someone like you, a green hair boy with doe eyes and a big heart. 

[gallifrey1sburning]

It was one of the worst fights they’d ever had, if you could even call it that—and there had been some bad ones, in the time since they’d started trying to heal, trying to forgive. You didn’t move past a history of attempting to kill one another without a few screaming matches. But Draco had never seen Harry like this, before; his eyes like ice in a stony face. And it was about Severus Snape, of all people.

“He was a good man,” Draco had said.

And Harry’s posture had shifted, something going still in a way that had given his response an unexpected edge. “No. He wasn’t.”

Draco had been incensed. “How can you say that, when he saved your life? He gave up everything, endured years of suspicion and hatred, lived and died as a spy, all to do the right thing! He was a good man.”

So cold, that glare, and yet it wasn’t reflected anywhere else on Harry’s face. His features, usually so animated, had been a flat, expressionless mask. Even in his own anger, something about it had terrified Draco.

“Do you know why it was that he hated me so much?” Harry had asked.

“Because you were a little shit who constantly got away with breaking the rules?”

Harry hadn’t even acknowledged the response. “He loathed me on sight. I remember him glaring at me at the start of year feast. Bullying me in our very first class, mocking me for not having memorized the textbook, sneering and telling me fame wasn’t everything. Doing his best to humiliate me.”

The silence of the brief pause had been stifling. Draco had wanted to respond, to argue, but his tongue had felt glued to the roof of his mouth. Harry had rolled his wand between his fingers, watching it twirl back and forth, hypnotic.

“I was eleven years old. Orphaned. Malnourished. I’d spent the last ten years being treated like less than dirt, locked in a cupboard, hated for reasons I had no hope of understanding because no one ever told me. I was so excited to finally be treated like a person, to have enough to eat, to have friends, to fucking learn. And Snape took every single opportunity he could, for years, to rip me to shreds. Trying to sabotage me in class, trying to get me kicked off the Quidditch team, trying to get me expelled, not trying to teach me the one skill that could have protected my mind during the war. And all for what? For having the audacity to look like my dead dad.”

He’d drummed his fingers against his wand, then, ceasing the absentminded twirl. “He had reason to hate my dad, of course. He’d bullied him, and then he’d married the love of his life. But I wasn’t my dad. I was a child. I was a child who happened to, by roll of the genetic dice, look more like my dad than my mum. And that was it. That was all it took. That was the entire reason. I may have been a ‘little shit’ in retaliation, but that wasn’t why he hated me.”

When Harry had looked back up, eyes meeting Draco’s, Draco had felt the sharpness of his stare like a knife through the chest.

“Now imagine someone doing that to Scorpius—treating him the way Snape treated me—simply because he favors you over Astoria. And then tell me again that he was a good man.” He’d swallowed, then, the first sign of any feeling beyond icy-sharp fury. “He might have been a hero, for his role in the war—but don’t ever mistake that for being good.”

And then he’d walked away, and all that Draco had been able to feel was cold.

For the @drarrymicrofic prompt “Ice”, although this clearly ended up a bit more than micro…

[rockpaperimpala]

So about Netflix's the Last Airbender....

I am literally so confused you guys. You made me think I would HATE this show. And I LOVED it. Me. Known perfectionist and hater.

Katara was lovely. Yes, she started as a more soft spoken character than her cartoon version, but she was still passionate and hopeful throughout, just visibly unsure of herself. I think people were thrown off by this actress' natural way of expressing herself, which is Different from animated katara for sure, but not bad. Then she spends the whole season growing in Confidence and Fire. I Adored her fight with Paku, it really did feel like a payout of the whole season's development, and the bending kicked ass!

The Bending Kicked ass!!! The martial arts was fun and fast and creative and exciting! It looked SO good. That alone would be enough reason for me to watch and enjoy any show.

Zuko's actor was fantastic. He really captured the rage and confusion of this 16 year old banished prince. And there were so many Added moments between him and Iroh wich to me enriched their relationship. Like YES! This is why I'm watching, to see more of them, to see things done a little differently.

Iroh facing the consequences of his actions at Ba Sing Se!! That's what I'm here for!

Zuko's relationship with the men on his ship! That's what I'm here for!

The Extra layers we get to Ozai manipulating his children!

Also no one is talking about Admiral Zhao, who I had SO much fun with. I feel like they slightly fleshed out his character in a really dramatic way, really developing the hubris and frankly insane grasping ambition of someone who would kill the moon. I completely enjoyed this wilder, less controlled version of him, who comes up through the season from basically nothing and no one!

I am OBSESSED with King BUMI and his anger and disillusionment with the world! Like this was SO real. Living a hundred years of futile war would do that!!!! It is one of my favorite changes to the whole series. This new layer of emotion and character depth is what I'm here for!

Sokka was SO funny. He literally had me laughing out loud so often. That actor GETs Sokka, and GETS the way his humor is delivered. And is also able to tap into the more vulnerable side of him. People said he was "obsessed" with leadership. WHAT? That is a young person trying desperately to do his best and to try and find his place in the world, to figure what he has to offer. I loved his pride at hearing the Mechanist say that he would make a good engineer, and the sweetness of the moment that Yue's father says that he can be a hero without being a warrior. Sokka does so much growth in this series, in understanding himself and life.

And his chemistry with Suki was adorable!! I even like him and Yue (who was a totally unexpected sweetheart, despite her terrible wig)!! Like he has that same ability that Sokka has in the original to Connect with people.

Aang was great! He WAS fun loving and sweet and funny. I don't know what you guys wanted. Cartoons are always bigger and more exaggerated than live action. People's eyes swell up an, birds fly around their heads, and there are funny sound effects. That larger than life quality is the strength of animation! You have to look for different strength in live action. Like the SUBTLETIES of the acting choices. This little actor brought so much kindness, innocence, and strength to Aang.

And I FELT his frustration at being asked to do this at 12, his fresh hope anytime it looked like someone more experienced would be able to help him and no one did, and that's why he didn't learn waterbending this season, because he kept waiting for an freaking ADULT to show him the way, to help him carry this immense burden, but every adult he meets asks him for help instead, asks him to carry it himself, and then the finale hits and he realizes that there won't be any adults helping, he does have figure this out himself, and he makes the hard choice, takes on responsibility more than his years and offers himself to the ocean spirit, and he might have been lost entirely if not for Katara!

And that counter running theme to the show pays off: that he doesn't have to do it alone. He may not have more experienced guidance, because the adults have let him down again and again, but his friends will be with him, and they will figure it out together!

This is there throughout the series! Katara tells him this about learning waterbending, when he says he still wants to wait. Bumi tells him this in the palace at Omashu, and Aang sees the faith he has in his friends repaid!

I like these changes! And the show still found time for silly fun adventures and character building moments.

The show was never going to be the animated original. That is already a Masterpiece, and it frankly did NOT need to be adapted at all. I did not WANT a live action adaptation. I was adamantly convinced I would hate it. But the changes that they netflix show gave are what I Iike most about it. If I want to see Zuko say "you rise with the moon, I rise with the sun," I will go watch the animated original, because that version is perfect. And now, if i want to see Zuko say "Lu ten would have been proud to have you as a father," and see iroh pull him into a tight hug, I can watch this live action version, which is very good too. I'm going to disagree with most of the people on here and say that the Netflix's Avatar: The Last Airbender, DOES capture the heart of what we liked about the original show. It's spirit, fun, excitement, and characters. And the changes made are the reason we should be watching.

[salmalin]

My sincerest apologies and warmest welcome to my rant about FF7: Crisis Core. Or, as I like to call it,

Propaganda: The Video Game

I say this with the utmost affection. Crisis Core ranks really high up there in my favorite Final Fantasy 7 installments. I played it when it first came out, borrowing it from a friend to play on a borrowed PSP. And, the more I learn about the game and the more I replay it, the more everything lines up.

This game is not about Zack Fair.

This game is about how Capitalistic Propaganda can sink into every aspect of life to the point where it is entirely indistinguishable from reality. And it’s very overt about it. So…

Here we go.

My treatise on Propaganda’s starring role in Crisis Core.

Part One: The Timeline

Something that a lot of people gloss over due to decades of Child Heroes in media—Japanese Shonen and Shoujo series in particular—is how young these protagonists are. We’ll hand-wave a lot of stuff in non-live-action series with just a little bit of suspension of disbelief. And that’s honestly just accepted these days. But here’s the thing about those hand-waves.

Final Fantasy 7 doesn’t do that.

Now, FF7 hand-waves a lot of stuff. For example, how far you can travel in a day by foot, the distance a man weighing approximately 165lbs can jump after being genetically fused with what might as well be a cocaine demon (Jenova), and how much hairspray one can reasonably carry on a cross-country journey while on the run from the feds.

Age is not one of them.

Exhibit A: Yuffie Kisaragi.

Do I really need to say more? She acts her age. So does Zack. And Aerith, even. Most of the characters in the original lineup were over twenty for a good reason. We see several kids in the series, and they all act their age, too—both the OG and the remake. Age is not a thing that FF7 really grapples with. It’s something they take relatively seriously.

Now, to the point.

Zack is 16 when Crisis Core starts…

… and he was 13 when he ran away from home without his parents’ knowledge to join the military.

Which accepted him.

At 13.

Without a parental permission slip.

Think about that for a second.

… Or for the next several parts of this breakdown.

Part Two: The Main Character

As I mentioned in the introduction, Zack is not the main character of the events of Crisis Core. Instead, he is the focal point of the second person POV. This is not the first time Square has done this. It was done most notably with FF9, FF10, and FF12. (I’m not going to go on an Akira Kurosawa rant right now, but please check out his film “The Hidden Fortress”. FF12 and Star Wars episodes 4-6 borrow heavily from this film.) The purpose and position of this character is such that they might best witness the effects the other characters make on the world as their stories unfold, usually in the role of a love interest. For Akira Kurosawa, it may have been told this way because these people are most effected by the decisions being made.

“Well, then, Sal,” you may be asking, “who would you say is the main character? Would that be Aerith, since she’s the love interest, like in the other games?”

No, actually.

It’s the antagonist.

And by that, I mean Genesis.

Hear me out. I used to hate Genesis, for I was once young, full of judgement for flamboyancy (thanks, internalized homophobia), and was led by the narrative to believe he was mean to his friends. Then I met my Lovely beta who loved him, so I wrote a fic for her as a gift. So for that I kinda just… read stuff. Because that’s the thing about Propaganda—you gotta read stuff to navigate it. I read the in-game emails. I re-watched all the scenes I could get my hands on with him. I read his wiki and tried to track down more information about him. Then I watched the scenes in Japanese and gained a better understanding of not just Genesis, but Sephiroth’s character. And I realized that Genesis was put on this road from the start. In fact, a big part of the fact that he’s seen the way he is in Canon—only at his most hostile and lowest points—is because the story is told through Zack’s point of view.

So before we get into the breakdown, here’s the hard facts about Genesis.

1. He was a test tube baby who may or may not technically be Angeal’s fraternal twin brother, which we are not going to unpack right now.

2. He was adopted by a relatively rich family.

3. He was a child genius (which requires not only resources, but drive to achieve), and at a tender young age of like… ten or something? He decided to mess around and literally invented pasteurization. Which is incredible, and really speaks to his knowledge of the world and ability to grasp complex concepts even at a young age. But, again, this is not the time or place to unpack that.

4. He was best friends with Angeal, who might as well have been the sweetest, kindest boy to ever walk the Planet. (I’m biased. I love him.)

5. As a teenager, he became fixated on Sephiroth, who had gained national acclaim as a SOLDIER despite them being the same age. (Please see part 1 and think about that for a second.) He then goes to join SOLDIER and brings Angeal with him. And Angeal brings his step-father’s puritanical “hard work is honorable” mindset with him. (On that note, Angeal and his father’s arc really are a wonderfully scathing letter to companies that overwork their employees and how toxic/unhealthy that line of thinking is. But. Again. We are not unpacking that right now.)

6. At one point he became consumed with LOVELESS, a series of poems with heavy prose and symbolism thicker than syrup. It got to the point where he was so well known for it that there was an entire fanclub dedicated to both him and analyzing the text.

7. While he was in SOLDIER, he repeatedly had his achievements publicly accredited… to Sephiroth.

Over and over and over again.

Everyone did, really. They mention it in the beginning of the game. Sephiroth even got public credit for Zack’s raid on the castle when he wasn’t even there. How much of his legacy is real? How much of it is made up? How much of it was faked? We don’t know. No one knows. But he keeps getting credit, anyways. And when Genesis confronts him about it, Sephiroth doesn’t care. In the Japanese version of their fight scene, you could even say he indirectly implies that he wants Genesis to take his place as the “hero”. In the English, Sephiroth’s line is, “Come and try.” But in the Japanese the line is closer to, “Wouldn’t that be nice?” Which, depending on how you take his tone, can mean wildly different things—from mocking, to earnest, or even admiration—which is especially to tell because he might be annoyed with Genesis at the moment.

Fun Fact: In Ever Crisis, Sephiroth explicitly says they are making up his achievements in the press to target boys his age for recruitment. (Thus why they accepted Zack at age 13.)

My theory on this line is that he is being cynical; that Genesis doesn't understand just how harrowing and even humiliating his experience has been. This only enforces my theory that the "come and try" translation in the English not only does a disservice to a line as wonderfully heavy as, "Wouldn't that be nice?", but fundamentally misunderstands Sephiroth as a character.

8. Genesis then took the fight to Shin-Ra. Inspiring a good chunk of their staff to leave the company, he then staged multiple attacks on facilities, staff, and the main building—which also spilled out into the city of Midgar. He murdered his parents, buried them, killed everyone in town, and… Yeah. It wasn’t pretty. A lot of innocent people died simply because they were vaguely associated with Shin-Ra. These are the actions of a villain. What’s more, this is clearly a sign that he has been acclimatized to death and violence by Shin-Ra to the point where he doesn’t even consider taking hostages.

Except.

Except the entire town was a Shin-Ra town.

Banora, canonically, was a Shin-Ra built town, which means everyone there was basically an employee of the company. No one was safe. Everyone was a threat. And that…

That was how he was raised. And he finally knew the truth—that every moment of his life was touched, controlled by Shin-Ra, all the way down to his very conception. He has never known freedom. He has never known his own identity. And now that very cage was killing him, slowly and painfully, and turning him into something that couldn’t even be recognized as human. He was watching himself rot in the mirror, and it was all because of Shin-Ra’s greed. And as he searched for salvation, he sunk into LOVELESS as he always had, hinging his entire life on Minerva’s Gift because he knew he was dying and that was all he had.

9. And then he died…

10. … but then it turned out LOVELESS was actually kind of a blueprint, and he did meet the Goddess, and he did get reborn without his degradation so he was rewarded for his journey in the end.

So why wasn’t Genesis the main character of the game?

Simple.

His actions challenge the status quo without being about the status quo. It’s a story about revenge. It’s a story about retribution. It’s a story about answering mass violence with mass violence and ultimately being rewarded by it. And while, yes, the series is an action-based violence simulator, the violence in the original FF7 was a guided, tactical effort. (For all that the characters aren’t the brightest bulbs in the sun lamps.) But the biggest, most obvious shift in the narrative happened when they realized their role as terrorists—bringing mass violence to the company via bombing and open aggression—was just resulting in increasing levels of retaliation against uninvolved people. They might as well have been a child beating the ankles of a giant. The goals and themes of the game fundamentally change when they realize that answering mass-scale societal violence with mass-scale physical violence was not only unsustainable, but also wasn’t going to solve their problem.

FF7 is about change and learning when violence—and what kind of violence—is appropriate in the face of different threats.

Genesis’ arc undermines all of that, and making him the main character would contradict the very heart of the OG game.

So, instead, we are positioned as Zack, connected to him through a mutual friend. From there we see all the damage and horror this vengeance brings to those living under the status quo.

But also, that plotline’s a major downer in a lot of ways, so they needed to lighten things up a bit to keep audience involved. And that’s why Zack is, well…

Part Three: Zack is a Himbo

Please, for the love of all that is holy, keep in mind that everything I say here is with the utmost affection.

Zack is dumb as a rock.

He is a charismatic, enthusiastic sixteen year old jock who ran away from home at thirteen years old to join the military. Which, please know, why I say “military” I mean “private security guard force with a standard-issue Death Baton and a license to kill”. The first scene in the game is him being excited that he gets to murder a bunch of people in a simulation, which he is immediately scolded for by his mentor. He is a glorified, souped up private security guard who is canonically only in it for the glory at first. He wants to be a “hero”, but doesn’t seem to fundamentally know what that means. And, over the course of the story, the definition of that clearly changes for him.

Which tracks, because the story takes place over a period of time with high stress.

Occasionally I see people saying they wish that Zack had more complexity to him, and honestly? The game. Would be. SO. BAD.

Full Disclosure: I am not the biggest fan of Zack specifically because he lacks a lot of nuance. I wish he was a bit more complex, too. But I also know that would break the game. What’s worse, if he was still on Shin-Ra’s side because he understood Shin-Ra’s mission… Well… That would make him a villain, or a cog at best. That’s not main character material. It would make the ending more messed up, though.

Anywho, Zack was thirteen when he left home. He had no formal education. He didn’t tell anyone what he was doing. He even joined without a permission slip from his parents. This means that Shin-Ra was accepting thirteen, possibly fourteen year olds into the military. (Some people will say this tracks because you can get a job at fourteen in many parts of Japan. But, and this is important, you aren’t allowed to be a security guard until you’re quite a bit older, and you need a specific license for it, much like in the US.) Clearly they didn’t teach this boy critical thinking skills. Not because he’s a himbo, but because having their Super-Powered Private Security Force With A License To Kill think independently would explicitly go against their interests. (EX: Genesis.)

Shin-Ra needs SOLDIERs to follow orders or the company would no longer be able to function. Seconds and Thirds aren’t even allowed to reject missions. (One could argue that sending certain someone on back-to-back missions would be a good way for them to eliminate undesirables within the ranks by sending them to their deaths, which… would make an incredible fic idea, actually.) We already know that First, Second, and Third Class rank assignments do not actually reflect the power of the SOLDIER. This is canon. I would instead argue that those who make the rank of First Class aren’t necessarily the most powerful, but are instead the most visible in the media, thus the easiest to market, and/or the easiest to manipulate and control. (For a great example of this, see The Umbrella Academy.)

The point is, Zack may have been elevated to his position as a first specifically because he is malleable and single-minded. Even after all he saw with Genesis, he stuck by the company to the very end, with the exception of the time Sephiroth was literally guiding him to fail a mission. Zack allowed himself to take Shin-Ra’s side every time, taking down their enemies and following their orders, preserving his “honor as SOLDIER” as he had been taught. The only thing that made him stop…

… was literally getting put in a jar.

It was when he was no longer a SOLDIER.

Part Four: Honor

There is no such thing as SOLDIER Honor.

I repeat: There is no such thing as SOLDIER Honor.

It is a fictional thing that is borne of an ideology based around hard work. It only has power because it is believed in. It is an intangible social construct similar to the law, mathematical order of operations, and gender roles. So why are Angeal and Zack obsessed with it?

Pretty simple.

Angeal’s step-father followed it.

Now, we know three things about Angeal’s step-father.

1. He was chill with the fact that Gillian was already pregnant when they started dating.

2. He was a very good father.

3. He worked himself to death trying to pay off the sword he bought Angeal.

This, of course, says a lot about Angeal considering he rarely uses the sword. He essentially sees that sword as the symbol of his step-father’s life. Everything he uses it for, he sees as more important than his step-father’s life. That thing is usually Zack.

Zack, who is the child who joined the military based on stories of heroes.

Zack, who rises against Angeal in the name of his own step-father’s ideology and tries to talk him down, even at the very end. But Zack fails because he fundamentally doesn’t understand what’s going on, partially because “Soldier Honor” is just one more aspect of this narrative he was given. It is a narrative that Angeal has had to step away from, even though he doesn’t want to leave the memory of his step-father behind. He was a good man. He was a good, hardworking man.

And that is why he died.

Corporations will use you up until there is nothing left, then honor your memory/sacrifice. Shin-Ra was doing the exact same thing the company his step-father worked for did; using up SOLDIERs until they outlived their usefulness. And Angeal was horrified to realize that his “SOLDIER Honor” wasn’t honor at all.

It was willingly submitting to control.

But, unlike Angeal, over time, this meaning changed for Zack. Partially because he didn't understand it fully in the first place. It became about acting with integrity. It became about helping people. It became about not lying down and watching the abuse Shin-Ra handed out in exchange for literal money; for maintaining the status quo.

At the very end, Zack understood what it meant to be a hero.

Part Five: The Conclusion

To sum up, Zack believed in and idolized the propaganda spread by Shin-Ra at such a young age, and was so convinced by it, that he ran away from home at thirteen to join the military.

He was their target demographic, so they happily took him into their ranks. What’s more, people think this is normal enough that we see no one opposing this, because the only people who oppose Shin-Ra are “extremists” or “violent terrorists”.

Zack then became their loyal puppy, groomed to fill his role as super-powered attack dog to sick on anyone they deemed appropriate, and he filled the role. He believed he was doing good. He didn’t think they were invading another country, because that’s not what he was told.

He went after Genesis, because that’s what he was told, and he wouldn’t let Genesis’ actions shake his faith in the company.

Then he went after Angeal, hoping to get answers, only to become more confused. Angeal taught him about SOLDIER honor. He taught him about a higher calling. He was the one who made Zack truly loyal to the company. This challenged everything Zack knew.

He went with Sephiroth, planning a small rebellion of their own (a white lie on paperwork) to get answers, only to find things he wasn’t ready for and couldn’t fully understand.

Zack is shaken by each of these events. Horribly. At times, we even watch him grieve. But time and time again, he doesn’t leave the company. He sees the damage they do first hand, and he doesn’t leave the company. The company isn’t the problem, to him. He reads their emails, does their dirty work, and “maintains his SOLDIER honor”.

Zack swallows what they give him right up until what they give him is torture.

Zack swallows what they give him until he becomes their victim.

Every step of the way, Zack is fed a story of how the world is. He was raised on it. He lived it. He became part of it. He was paid peanuts to enforce the status quo Shin-Ra installed in the world by force, and he was proud of it because it was, to him, something to be proud of.

Zack believes the propaganda whole-sale, and we get to watch, from the point of view of an outsider, as it slowly destroys his life before killing him.

Propaganda has the power to make suffering normal. Propaganda has the power to make murder righteous. Propaganda has the power to take a thirteen year old boy out of his home so they can give him a sword, and when they point him in the direction of their enemies he charges of his own volition, because they made him believe in their cause. And he believes in their cause because he believes that it makes life better for everyone.

But that’s not what’s actually happening.

That’s just what he was told.

Crisis Core is about propaganda, and the depths to which it can affect our lives. It changes our belief systems. It changes our perceptions of reality. And when it’s torn down around our eyes, it can make us go insane. It can make us violent and unreasonable as we realize just how much violence is being forced upon us—violence other people just plain do not see. It's just a a piece of paper. It's just a law. It's just a job.

It's just a war.

Final Fantasy 7 was about Fascism.

Crisis Core is about the propaganda that built it. It is told from the point of view of a boy, then a man, steeped in it. He watches until the people suffering around him—Sephiroth, Genesis, and Angeal—are twisted into villains by the truths and lies around them. Genesis and Angeal are tortured by truths, Sephiroth is transformed by lies, and Zack is subsequently hunted down to conceal them.

Crisis Core is Propaganda: The Video Game.

[glow-in-the-dark-death]

So here is another DPXDC crossover idea nice-ish pariah dark au pariah dark dad au pariah dark x clockwork gender-fluid Danny au ghost prince Danny au Danny x Damien Danny steeling lost artifacts from places so that they don’t get into the wrong hands and Gotham has a bunch

Danny has taken up the job of helping get lost artifacts from the zone back to the infinite realms and giving items lost the zone back to the families of those that lost them Danny is having fun evading the superheroes

Damien is having fun trying to catch the thief that was stealing supposedly cursed artifacts and is surprised when he finally corners the thief that it is a someone his own age and is even more surprised when the thief disappears the literally second he turns his back

Let's see what prompt I can come up with. ✧◝(⁰▿⁰)◜✧

~

Chase Me, Catch Me, Will You Love Me?

When he was a child he dreamed of going to space being able to chase the vastness of stars.

After his accident that was a dream he had to give up, after that his life became too busy to really think about it.

Gaining powers

Fighting ghosts each day

Trying to do her best in school

Realizing her gender

Evading and escaping his parents

The GIW

He needed a break but not because of this

This being his parents finding out about them being Phantom and not taking it well.

Ha

'Not taking it well' was an understatement.

She fled to the Infinity Realms towards ClockWork. CW felt more like his dad than Jack had for a long while now. He was a bit suspicious when CW told him that the Zone had decided to rehabilitate Pariah Dark but so far he had been staying in line if a bit of a harsh grump and maybe a future parental figure with how he and CW seemed to look at each other when they thought the other wasn't paying attention.

But on the other hand she was thankful he was still king and not Danny, wow had that been a shock to her finding out he was almost king before he was even an adult, he was still titled prince but at least he wasn't the one in charge of everything.

Speaking of being in charge of things, they as a prince still had duties to fulfill, ClockPa had decided it was best for his growth that she return to Earth but not the same one where he would be in danger, no instead it was an Earth with multiple heroes and magic and even aliens!!!

The only thing he had to do was find haunted or ecto powered objects and either return them to their rightful owner or have it put somewhere secure.

"This is going to be so much fun!"

~

Damian had a new rogue, they called themselves Phantom and their crimes resembled greatly of Catwoman's only with seemingly spiritual centered objects.

He had already faced the teasing of all his siblings about how he was resembling father

...and as much as he hated agreeing with them, after almost a year of constantly fighting, chasing, bantering and most recently actually getting to talking he had learned that they were very close in age and had a lot of similar interest they could talk about together with for hours if given the chance.

Soon their dynamic slowly began shifting without either realizing it,

And well who knows what the future holds for them but until then,

The chase continues.

~

Fin

~

Hope you liked it Anon

~

Just an Idea

[soul-crowned-prince]

Danny Fenton, Phantom, Danyal Al Ghul, Cursed Al Ghul Heir, Crowned High Prince, Ghost King, Boy King, The Balance.

So many titles, so little meaning, yet so many consequences.

Danyal will endor, he always has.

Danyal has always excelled under pressure, whether it was the weight of his grandfather's expectations or the burden of his own choices. From an early age, he understood, twins were never truly desired. Danyal was attuned to the whispers that surrounded them: that one twin was destined to perish, that one would be deemed lesser, that one would carry a curse. Danyal was acutely aware that they were being tested, that their lessons were being monitored, that only the strongest would survive. And so, Danyal made his choice. He failed the test. Not out of weakness, but out of love. He loved his brother more than he could ever comprehend, and that love meant his brother needed to survive. Their mother, he believed, would protect his brother from here on.

Danyal was dispatched on what he knew would be his final mission. He was aware that those accompanying him had orders to kill him. He understood that his grandfather had betrayed him, forsaking the so-called "cursed" heir. Yet, Danyal resolved not to meet his end without a fight. It was his right as an Al Ghul to resist, to defy his fate with every ounce of strength he possessed. The assassins sent to eliminate him would not return and neither would he. As he prepared for what lay ahead, Danyal clung to one final hope: that his brother would not hate him for abandoning him. He prayed that Damian would understand. However Danyal knew he wouldn't, not if their grandfather could help it.

Danny was to be adopted by the Fentons, who, under the misguided belief that he was possessed by a ghost, sought to "help" him. Ironically, this worked to his advantage, as Danny learned to adapt and perform from them—more so from their daughter. It was a pleasant arrangement, a family without the weight of expectations. He often wondered if Damian would ever experience such a life.

Of course, this was until his death. Death was no stranger to Danyal; he had died many times before. Yet, this time, he did not anticipate returning. Fate, however, proved cruel. Instead of the liberation of death, Danyal was burdened with further chains. He became a hero, then a king. Perhaps he was the cursed twin after all. Danyal could only hope that Damian, at the very least, had found freedom.

𓆸 𝚏𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚝𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚜𝚒𝚡𝚝𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚢𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚜 𝚘𝚕𝚍

𓆸 𝙱𝚊𝚍 𝙵𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚘𝚗𝚜 𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚜 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚎

𓆸 𝚁𝚘𝚢𝚊𝚕 𝚢𝚎𝚝 𝚙𝚘𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚎 𝚍𝚎𝚖𝚖𝚎𝚊𝚗𝚘𝚛 𝚞𝚗𝚕𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚊 𝚏𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚍

𓆸 Family and friends are estranged if not, not spoken to at all. However, that does not mean Danyal does not still watch them.

𓆸 𝙲𝚊𝚛𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚊𝚕𝚜 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚖𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚎𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚛𝚜 🟥🕊

𓆸 Profile

[kitthepurplepotato]

Chapter 21 - Let’s ignore the elephant in the room.

Summary: Y/N learns more about the people who live in Izuku’s head. No, she doesn’t think Izuku needs to see a therapist. Izuku already does that anyway.

Izuku also acts weird when it comes to the Hero Gala… what is he hiding?

(Is this how you write a summary? Hell, I’ve been away for too long.)

First Chapter Master List Ko-fi

~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~

Somewhere in the near future

Y/N’s Diary entry #145

Life has been great. Too great, to be honest.

I was loved and appreciated and my side hustle helped me to get enough money to feel safe in case something goes wrong. No more stress about being a burden or feeling useless. Sounds great, right?

It was… it was great. Everything was splendid.

I knew something will happen in the future. I knew it can’t stay this good forever.

But I didn’t think the reality will hit me this hard.

The funny thing is, that it isn’t even about me. My life is still… great. But seeing my loved ones in so much pain is worse than being in it myself. The tears, the loud sobs, the sound of choking on air in the middle of a breakdown… these things live in my head rent-free, they keep me up at night and mess up my mornings and I hate how I’m completely unable to do anything to help my loved ones.

~•~

“I know we usually go from number ten to number one, but tonight… it will be different.” The entrepreneur announced on the hero gala without a single smile, shaking and kinda broken. No one clapped. They just sat in silence, their eyes the size of saucers, their anxiety clear even through the screen of the TV. “I have a letter from our favorite number one pro hero, Deku. Now let me read it for you.”

I knew right at that moment… that things won’t be same anymore.

~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~

Back to the present.

“Do you think we went a bit unhinged in there?” You mumble to yourself as you enjoy the hot water of the onsen. Izuku looks at you questioningly, not really understanding what this is about; feeling his gaze on you after everything you two have just done it’s a little bit… well… embarrassing? No, it’s not the right word to use. It’s a pleasant feeling but it also makes you shy away a little bit. You feel like that meme that’s circulating the internet about wives getting shy around their long-term husbands after getting… well… loved hard. Now, there is two problems with this; first of all, it was your first time with him (plus you’ve only been together for a few months), second of all, your time together was anything but… hard. It was soft but scorching hot like a marshmallow being cooked by a fireplace. It was the exact opposite of what that wife was going through in that one meme.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean… we are a bit too much, aren’t we?” You try to make yourself a bit easier to understand and by the look of it, Izuku gets it; but instead of getting shy about it, he just gives you a massive, adorable smile then moves into your personal space to answer you while your lips are almost touching.

This man will be the death of you.

“Is it weird to be obsessed with my girlfriend?” Izuku closes the distance, his lips moving on your own as he speaks. It makes your heart beat out of rhythm and you feel the familiar warmth in your tummy again, only half an hour after your cheeky shenanigans.

You blame it on the hot water, because otherwise… How insatiable can you be?!

“I mean, it might look weird to other people. But I guess I’m no better than you and if you are okay with it then so am I?” You answer with your eyes half lidded, anticipating the kiss you are so hungry for.

“I don’t give a fuck what others think, Sweets. Not when it comes to you.” Izuku grumbles in a deep voice and finally puts his lips back on yours for a chaste kiss. You can’t help but giggle.

“Did Kacchan’s soul just infiltrate you for a second there?”

“Nah, but my answer was heavily influenced by one of the vestiges inside me. He doesn’t talk much but when he does, he has a strong opinion.”

“They… talk to you?” You look up at your boyfriend with pure wonder. This is the first time you hear about this; he told you about feeling the old wielders inside him but he never clarified on what level he can communicate with them. In your head, you thought it’s more like a second conscience, like you can feel it when they are angry or happy about whatever is happening around Izuku but that’s about it.

“Yeah, I…” Izuku moves his face away from you but his arm snakes around your middle to pull you closer. You put your head on his chest, ready to hear his story. It’s something you do quite frequently; you put your head on his chest or in his lap while Izuku tells you unheard tales about stuff he’s been through. “You see, it’s really embarrassing to tell someone that there are several other people living inside my head, taking over my own thoughts sometimes. I don’t want to end up in a mental hospital… not like you would ever do something like that, but… I’m sorry I kept this a secret.”

“How does it work?” You take Izuku’s free hand in your own and start playing with it, trying your best not to sound so nosy. You fail.

“They… well… uhh, this is so hard.” He giggles. “They aren’t constant… they jump into my head once in a while when they have a strong opinion about something but they let me live my own life and they try their best not to interfere nor influence my decisions. They talk to me during battles, help me with strategies, I can also close my eyes and talk to them if I want to or need to. During my dark days, right after the accident I sometimes managed to completely zone them out. They weren’t happy about that.” Izuku admits.

“What were they thinking about us?” You try to change the topic because there is no way in hell you want Izuku to start getting all nostalgic and sad right now.

“They teased the shit out of me for being a coward. They knew about my feelings sooner than I did. They haven’t said too much but when they did they were… let’s just say I have a full ass “SweetZuku” ship gang inside my head.” He giggles, leaving a tiny kiss on the top of your head. “Don’t worry, they love you. Especially the first wielder. And the second, even if he denies it.”

“Tell them I said hi.” You mutter sleepily, way too comfortable in this position.

“You made them really happy by saying that. Maybe, in the future we could try and talk to them together.” Izuku smiles, elated from being understood.

“I would love that. Thank you, Izu… and the gang.” You giggle, moving your head towards Izuku’s to give him another kiss.

“I hope this kiss is only for me though. I’m a really giving guy, but I’m not sharing you.”

You laugh out loud; this reminds you of the time when Izuku got so jealous of that poor fan who asked for a selfie with you that his black whip came out in the middle of a meet and greet, scaring the shit out of the staff while the fans just took it as “fan service” and wrote poems about how cool it was to see black whip in action.

“I’m aware of that, Izu. Way too aware.” You giggle yourself as you keep peppering kisses on your boyfriend’s mouth.

“Sorry, it won’t change.” Izuku announces proudly and you are so proud of him that you are about to cry; this might sound like a red flag from anyone else, but seeing Izuku finally sticking to his opinion instead of trying to change for other people is such a big step up compared to his old self you can’t help but feel pride swelling in your chest because hell, you did that. It was a long struggle but finally, your work has payed off.

“You have nothing to be sorry about. I know you wouldn’t harm anyone nor me and it’s in your rights to be protective over your loved one so please, keep being jealous, it’s kinda hot, anyway.”

“Wow.” Izuku looks at you incredulously, extremely entertained by your answer. “I’ll… do my best to be healthily jealous then. I love the way you looked at me when I said that. In your words - it was kinda hot.” He gives you a massive grin.

“Going back to our original conversation…” you give Izuku a knowing smile. “We are really weird, but I really fucking like it.”

“That’s my girl.”

… yeah, you are definitely insatiable. There is no other explanation to why are you two heavily making out in the scorching hot onsen right now, absolutely ignoring the dizziness from being in the hot water for so long.

“Jesus Christ, can you stop making out so loud?!” Comes Kyouka’s voice from the other side of the massive privacy fence. “I’m trying to relax here!”

“Wanna take this to the bedroom, Sweets?” Izuku looks at you with a mischievous glint in his eyes.

“I heard that!”

“He knows!” You yell to your friend as you crawl out of the water, stumbling to your towel while Izuku’s eyes move from your head to your toes shamelessly, clearly enjoying the “5 star view”. You really want to comment on it but after doing the same only a few hours ago, you have no rights to do so. “Come on, let Kyouka enjoy her solitude.”

“Yes, madam!”

~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~

“Yup, they fucked.” Kaminari declares with a straight face, once he opens the door.

You really want to lie and say you have no idea why Kaminari thinks that’s true, because surprisingly enough, you did look into the mirror before and coming here and you did try to sort yourself out but… there are things you can’t really hide with make up; for instance, your eyes that shine like a fucking star got stuck in your irises or Izuku’s puffy lips and pink neck, still ruddy from all the kisses.

After the onsen… you two… well… uhm…

Let’s just say you couldn’t forget how Izu said he’s never done certain things in bed and that he was always on the giving side and never on the receiving side… So once you two were inside the four walls you decided to show him some other things he might have missed. You are quite sure you lost your voice during the “process” but it was absolutely worth it and Izuku got hooked on the new type of intimacy and came up with ideas of his own and… well, yeah. You are limping a little bit. Just a tiny bit. Mostly because of all the “leg training” but there’s also that other factor that you can’t even say out loud because you two are too fucking sweet to say those things. And all of these things had happened out of love so… there is no need to make it sound dirty. You two had a good time but maybe went a bit too far. Oh well, it happens.

“I really have an urge to yell about the audacity of coming to my humble abode looking like a wreck but if I would need to suffer another day with you two eye fucking each other at my table I’d probably explode myself to the other world, so just shut up and sit down.” Katsuki mutters, also with a straight face and Eijirou just sighs at that.

“At least they are not denying it. I remember you telling everyone a week ago that you got beaten up in a “secret mission” when…”

“OH MY GOD THERE WAS NO SECRET MISSION?!” Denki hollers out loud. “

“Nope. Just me. Sorry.” Eijirou gives the group the biggest grin known to mankind, not even flinching when Katsuki slaps him in the face with a kitchen towel.

After the group is finally distracted, everyone sits down to eat another gorgeous meal made by Katsuki himself, mostly talking about hero stuff and Rody’s shenanigans. The night goes well, until Kyouka brings up the hero rankings. Izuku’s whole body stiffens next to you as Kyouka starts to talk about the dress she decided on for the big event next week; the whole gang chimes in with their own choice of clothing, showing pictures on their phones back and forth, completely indifferent to the turmoil in Izuku who just stares at his leftovers and plays with a little pea in his bowl. You wordlessly try to console him by taking his clenched hand into yours; he clenches it so hard you almost yell out loud from the pain.

Something is wrong. Really wrong.

“What are you gonna wear to the Gala, Izuku?” Kirishima asks, eyes full of excitement but it changes into a look of concern once he takes a better look at the greenette.

“I’m not going to this one.”

Someone’s butter knife hits the table. Someone chokes on their drink. Everyone processes the information differently but one thing is identical; everyone looks at Izuku like he’d grown another head.

“You can’t be fucking serious.” Kyouka looks at Izuku, utterly dumbfounded.

“You are the Number One hero of this country.” Katsuki sneers. “It’s your fucking responsibility to show your cute little freckled face and make sure people know you are still there for them.” Katsuki said these words with venom in his voice; you are extremely surprised to hear Katsuki’s tone so harsh.

“I’m not there for them though, am I?” Izuku snaps back with his eyes full of tears. “I can’t fight their battles. I can’t help them. You can’t possibly ask me to show up and be all smiley and “cute” when my whole fucking career is in shambles!”

Everyone steps back for a second. There is an awkward, tension-filled silence at the table and you have no idea what to do; Izuku’s words make sense but they also don’t and you really don’t know who to stand with.

“Like it or not, he has a point.” Eijirou puts his hand on Katsuki’s shoulder. “As you can see, he’s still not okay. Let him sit this one out. It’s not worth ruining his amazing day.”

“He ruined it for himself when he started fucking yelling at me.” Katsuki stands up from the table, clearly shaken up by the whole situation; Katsuki might look like a strong person but he’s actually really sensitive; you can clearly see how wet his eyes are when he stomps into his room and slams the door on everyone.

“Kacchan!” Izuku is the next one to leave the table, running after the blonde with nothing but guilt in his teary eyes. Everyone just stares at the drama in utter silence, not really sure how to help or what to do to save this evening.

Thankfully, the fact that everyone at this table is an grown ass adult, the drama sizzles out after half an hour; Izuku and Katsuki emerges from the bedroom after some yelling and banging is heard from the other side of the door; their eyes are red rimmed and cheeks blotchy but they have their arms around each other’s shoulders and everything looks “okay”; or at least for the rest of the group who sigh happily when the two joins the Netflix-binge on the couch. Not you, though. You look at Izuku intensely, you look at the way his mouth smiles but the edges are still facing downwards, and you realize that something is still wrong; Izuku is hiding something, from the group, and from you.

Something is wrong but everyone ignores it, too happy to have the “good vibes back”.

You really feel the urge to yell at the group to look closely, to find a solution for the problem before someone gets hurt but all these heroes worked their asses off to have these few days off and you don’t have the heart to ruin their good time nor ruin Izuku’s only time where he can be out and about, far away from those four walls he is not used to be surrounded by for more than a few hours.

Will this decision bite you in the ass in the near future? Probably. Will you regret this decision a few days later? Yes… But you can’t help but smile when Izuku’s weird half-smile becomes a real one as he sits down on the sofa, snuggles into your arms while his legs end up on Katsuki’s lap who plays with the hem of his trousers in a weird, affectionate way.

“Are you okay?” You mutter into Izuku’s ears.

“No.” Izuku admits and your whole world turns upside down. “But one day…” he looks around his friends, who are all snuggled together on the sofa enjoying each other’s company, not knowing when the next time will be when they can be together like this. “One day, I’ll be okay. And that’s good. I’m happy with that for now. Sometimes, it needs to get worse before it gets better, you know.” Izuku smiles at you with a sad, but genuine smile and your heart skips a beat once again. You are so far gone for this man it’s ridiculous.

“It will all make sense, eventually.” You leave a tiny kiss on Izuku’s fluffy curls and turn back towards the TV. “I’m not worried, because if you ever get lost, I’ll be there to show you the right way.”

“And I’m counting on it.” Izuku smiles, but somehow, the sentence brought some weird eerie vibe into the room.

You try your best to read between the lines but you feel like there is a missing piece to this puzzle.

Ahh, let’s not overthink it for today. There is always a “tomorrow” to sort that shit out.

… Next Chapter!

~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~

TL: @garfieldthomas @porusuniverse @stickygumchewer @sixxze @mily-moo @aei-sedai-moiraine @aymasakusa @katsuari @kenzie-deadly @shiviwrites07 @lukerycyja-reblogs @cloroxisadelectabletreat @coffeent @kisskissshutmydoor @bobcar1 @yazminetrahan @cringefan @ronimacaroni77 @themultifandomgirl @dangerousluv1 @emperatris-rinaka @shotos-angelic-whore @angelsdemonsmonsters @norvacaine @rei165 @unofficialmuilover @yao-ai @happydragonfrog @eeerreehhh @vinivave @alyss-eiz @sleepisfortheweakpooh

Potato ramble:

- Long time no see, guys. I know I have a lot of explanation to do but I’ll spare you from the gruesome details as I genuinely think no one deserves to even go through all the shit I’ve suffered even through another person.

But if you want to get a short version then here you are, but you don’t need to read it if you don’t want to.

The short story is: I’ve had two traumatic experiences in the last 3 years which made me extremely weak mentally but I always pushed through by saying “until this one person is with me I’ll be fine.” Well, this person stabbed me in the back in the most evil way, while I was the weakest, which ended up completely ruining me and traumatizing me once more (therapist’s words, not mine, I’m not being overly dramatic, just factual.) I live far away from my small family (2 hours with a plane) and I didn’t want to run away from my new home as I knew I’ll never have the balls to come back all alone so I had to endure all of my mental struggles without my family’s support. The only reason I’m still alive is my friends and my family who worked their asses off to keep me alive through the phone, and my work colleagues who never let me out of their sight and called me over so I don’t have time to think. I also have a therapist now which does wonders. So yeah, I literally didn’t have the mental energy to even give you guys a heads up.

I’m still struggling and I’ll probably never be the same but I’m trying my hardest; I gained all the weight back that I’ve lost (I was 45 kg to start with so me losing weight really wasn’t a good thing, I literally looked like a skeleton it was a nightmare), I started working out (in a healthy way) and I’m trying to get back to my old self. Please be patient with me.

- I have 3 or four chapters already written hence I decided to start posting again! I wanted to wait until the full story is done but I miss communicating with you and I also like to hear your thoughts before I write a chapter hence I decided to yolo it and start posting but please be patient with me. I still have breakdowns sometimes and I’m having a hard time writing about romantic things as my whole life is in shambles. But I really like this story (and the Kirishima one too! You will need to wait a little bit longer though 😭) so I decided to try and finish it.

- On a more positive note; look at my new rainbow flat! There is MHA in every single corner, even in the toilet btw, I’m living that best single life right now with my purple sofa, a magenta rug and fairy lights! With that said, see you in the next chapter! Please send me your thoughts 🩷 (Also, there is some angst incoming but this is the last one. Only good things after that!)

[gonetoforks]

Introducing; Yuichi Usagi-Cuddles!

There’s a slight typo in his basic character bio, (first, grey image) other than “yuich,” his family in America lives in the part of the hidden city under Jersey. He lives in Jersey. He’s a Jersian. So in terms of leosagi, it’s gonna be an enemies-to-lovers comedy-of-errors muahahahaha!!

More (a LOT more) info about him as his own guy under the cutoff :D ⬇️

Basically; He’s a silly guy! I feel like his kinda buffoonish, embarrassing personality in canon is simultaneously PERFECT for Rise’s writing style & grievously underrated in fanon depictions. So he’s this clownish type of character, haha.

Okay, time to go hyperfixation mode.

Adhd & his stubborn attitude;

He has ADHD! Executive function issues makes it hard for him to start tasks & manage himself, so he relies on his teams (the Mad Dogs when he’s training & the Rise equivalent to his canon friend group on his own time) to not only instruct him, but also hold him accountable & keep him on task. He’s body-doubling without even realizing it.

Although, he resents the things he does to accommodate his disability. He doesn’t notice that doing the things he does genuinely helps or why so he thinks he’s using them as a crutch because of incompetence. Every time he gets stubborn and ignores the things he needs to do, he crashes and burns. When he was new in town with no teacher & no friends who liked martial arts, he became a huge sad sack until the kraang invasion.

His character arc is about being able to rely on other people & accommodations. That relying on a bit more help than other people doesn’t make you incompetent, choosing to seek out the support you need so you can do your best is the true mature thing to do. I was inspired by canon Yuichi’s struggles with paying attention and Rise’s themes of cooperation. (& also my own experience with adhd and learning with executive function issues & junk)

Relationships w/ the turtles;

The Mad Dogs agree to let him like, intern with them? So he can see what it’s like to be a vigilante, they offer him advice and they occasionally go on low to mid-tier missions with his help. They take him on cause they think more heroes and allies out there, the less work they have to do haha. Also, one of the writers mentioned a season 3 would have them adjusting to being ~official heroes,~ I think this would be them trying to be “real.”

He’s closest friends with Mikey out of the whole group! (Adhd solidarity) Then it goes Donnie -> Raph -> and finally Leo (for now muahaha)

I tried to give Leosagi an interesting dynamic with constructing his character like this; They have similar insecurities from drawing self-worth from technical capabilities that they can develop past together, but Leo is clever and calculating about it vs Yuichi being rash and impulsive. So like smart x stupid but they’re the same actually.

His Family in Jersey;

He speaks english fluently because he’s visited his American family frequently his whole life, they’re very close. He has an accent though since he mainly speaks Japanese.

I haven’t fleshed out this concept enough, but I think members of his jersey/Cuddles half of the family would be spoofs of characters from the original yojimbo comics, implied to be reincarnations? Except Miyamoto ofc. (i’ll explain later..)

Reusing the ninja orphans plotline from the original show, his family utilizes their cute appearances to run an orphanage too. They wonder why this Chizu lady is constantly showing up with unhoused children, but they’re just grateful they’re safe now.

Everyone in his family HATES Mrs. Cuddles, they all think she’s in prison and are happy about it. She might’ve given him that scratch on his face.

Additional;

He is gay.

Thank you for your time.

[weepingtalecowboy]

Hylia be putting all her eggs into one basket (then hits demise with it)

Fanfic prompt:

A thing I find interesting is the fact that the mortal with the blood of the goddess can be sacrificed to bring back demise at some strength

Like not even needing death just their blood

As in skyward sword Zelda was not successfully sacrificed so demise's revival was half assed but functional when ghirahim failed to do it fully

The curse specifically is a free respawn for demise as long as both a mortal with the blood of the goddess and the hero's spirit exist

In addition in adventure of link ganon needs the hero's demise to return so it probably can be possible that any hero would suffice as it would fit in with the curse specifically mentioning the hero spirit

The sheer terror Hyrule would feel when he realizes that everyone in the chain is a decent sacrifice

His hyrule is DOOMED no way nobody be dying in it

Both revivals hinge at a different bearer of the triforce

So imagine how personal it would be to choose the hero of legends

Because if we go with the legend and fable being siblings headcanon

That out of all heroes legend is probably the best option for a revival

Because he gotta be more annoying than hylia

Like demise said her name with such disdain but she hasn’t ruined his life

OVER 4 TIMES IN A ROW

In link to the past he collected the LED light maidens , triforce and then beat up ganon

In the oracle games he hindered the lightening of the flame of despair and destruction (who were essentially just a revival ritual but less effective because the oracles were not sacrificed)

And the final adventure for the oracle games (if you sync them up you get a free extra game ) link prevents the sacrifice of Zelda so ganon's moms sacrifice themselves to light the flame of sorrow but because the ritual was hindered three times in a row ganon came back as a feral beast

But ganon kinda seizes the full triforce in the process and link straight up fights ganon without the triforce and kills him somehow despite that

Like that isn’t even the worst part

Later in link between worlds ganon gets revived again and fused with Yuga this time around

Still feral though but a bit more civilized this time through yuga

And after an intense battle of tennis you literally just throw a literal painting of an arrow at him and that poor pig dies AGAIN

Like twice is a coincidence

But three times in a row is a pattern lol

Even worse this nightmare continues on for ganon when in cadence of Hyrule cadence spawns in after Octavio knocked everyone to sleep and then she and link start dancing to defeat Octavio

Ganon betrays his loyal henchman who brought him back to life again

Then gets jammed to death by the same dude via some rhythmic moves (the dance moves give you extra special abilities ) AGAIN and that cockroach attained immortality during the time

Like that has to be utterly embarrassing

Four times in a row is called a sign from the goddess to not engage

I would be surprised if he still hates hylia more than legend for the stuff he pulled on the poor man

But that got me thinking legend essentially is her reincarnation with the hero spirit add on

Putting all her expenses into one dude to make him a nightmare initially would be risky but it definitely paid off

But if legend gets sacrificed then ganon would be the least of Hyrule’s problems (because out of everyone ganon in that timeline must have a GRUDGE like no other ganon before , it’s fucking personal)

Fucking demise would be back with full power because legend is a fancy way of saying linda successfully fused into existence

so both the hero spirit and the reincarnation of the goddess get sacrificed at once

So demise definitely can still curse out hylia for that one (now with actual fingers to hold up at sky and legend)

Sky was terrified that day

Only for legend to crawl back from death and start being a problem again (the fates be being nice and respawning him)

Let's just hope he learned his lesson and won’t engage with the hero who dunked on him four times in a row and hindered him 7 times

[delusinalandpassionate]

man i was gonna type something out here but nothing came to mind

part 3 was so good its left me speechless

Thank you very much for opportunity to write my thought down, without thinking about intro.

I LOVE 7 CANTO.

It was amazing. I feel rewarded for all my love and faith toward Don.

AND THE FACT I PREDICTED A LOT OF THINGS ALSO FEELS AMAZING

I loved how Sancho abandons us walking forward, and for the first time, sinners follow her, listening. Paying attention.

I loved to see that story about that Bloodfiend family and how Bari changed everything. I loved to see how he changed his mind and how he tried to change everything around him. I love how when he sees "fruits" of his absence, he tries to bring justice himself, punishing his Family for crime and himself for allowing that to happen. (Also also the fact that while he speaks about his family, the fact that his relationship with Sancho is special. One he takes with him for adventure, one who allowed to run away from this prison, one who allowed to kill him, one who inherits his name. If I were Dulcinea, I would also hate Sancho. Imagine being so obviously second favorite for eternity.)

I loved that Don Quixote did so much to save Sancho from this prison and torture from hunger, and yet the first thing she does after getting saved is lock herself in a prison, ignoring her hunger. She did not want to be saved. She wanted to die here with him, and in some way, she did.

I love that Don that we meet in a beginning a prisoner who for a first time in two hundred years sees world and speaks with other people. Of course, she's weird. Genuinely, she could be weirder.

I love that she confronts sinners and their answer not to beat her into submission but talk with her.

Some of them I believe some of them not but it still was great. Seeing Sinclair stopping circle of violence and being first person to say "hey our friend is hurting, maybe WE WON'T BEAT THEM?!"

I love how desperately Yi Sang and Heatcliff don't want to see their new family to fall apart

I love how Hong Lu says the most correct things

I love how Outis SEES HERSLEF IN DON(not in a way I predicted BUT STILL), and I love how she doubts her.

I usually dislike timetavels in story, but there was something so beautiful in a way that Dante changed only a bit, only a few words, rejecting their fear to help Don.

I love how Don Quixote is broken, but there are still some embers of his ideals. I love dynamic between him and Sancho, I love his weak laughter in battle and how it's almost impossible for Sancho to lose. I love that so many skills Sancho learned from him, but in final action, he copies her, creating a lance.

I love how he dies in her hands, and Sancho keeps crying, explaining how, in the end, she changes. She wants to live, and she wants to be a hero. And how he dies almost happy seeing how his Sancho finally found something worth living besides him.

I LOVE THIS CANTO

But of course, there is some unsatisfying stuff.

We still don't know what's the deal with Sanson.

We still haven't learned what "Promised Timepiece" means.

I also think her sprite SHE HAVE BEEN CHANGED TO HAVE HER SANCHO HAIR

But not everything could be a win for me and that's fine.

I only hope that, at least in the next event we will see Sinners getting used to the idea that ancient vampire is traveling with them and that it's a conscious choice to keep sounding like that.

Also, I want them to use Don's voice actor range because SHES AMAZING

[wolvertooth]

(Wolverine 2020, issues #28 + #29)

finally got around to reading logans experience with the pit, and was surprised to learn it was after sabretooth escaped, his presence having infected krakoa slightly…

logan wasnt really present in vics time in the pit, yet he was a big part of logans

when vic gained sentience, he chose to ignore logan in his fantasies. when logan gained sentience, everything started getting taken over by sabretooth. ik its just a difference in writers, but its still kinda funny how that turned out

(Sabretooth 2022, issue #1)

ig one could also hc that vic just didnt know how to deal with logan being in his fantasies, or not wanting to deal with having that Good Thing with him again

(Wolverine 2014, issue #12)

the 2020 series ends with them both having a moment of being down there together-

(Wolverine 2020, issue #50)

i think its interesting that it ends with sabretooth saying both of them are Pain, in contrast to logan branding vic as Hate and just himself as Pain. logans pit moment really addressed the concept that he sees sabretooth as a representation of his own inner hatred, as a reflection of all his own worst parts

the whole thing about logan always framing vic as the worst of himself, it puts a barrier between needing to see that stuff as his own problems. issue 29 finally showed that recurring theme in a physical way. yes, he still does see himself as Bad, but the way he treats the traits internally requires a disconnect in order to feel like he has the potential to be a good person. if he separates those traits from himself, he can pretend hes still the good guy, he can pretend the thoughts arent his own

and in turn, victor doesnt separate any of it. he hates himself fully n truthfully. he doesnt get the privilege of blaming someone else, since to him, hes the worst he'll ever know. in a way, logan also sees himself that way in regards to most, but at least has the crutch of knowing sabretooth will always be 'worse'

meanwhile, vics pit moment was mostly about him getting a chance to explore himself outside of that stuff, Sabretooth and the Exiles even having him play hero for a bit(before Sabretooth War turned him right back into being the villain. sigh.)

as it was mentioned in one of the Sabretooth War issues, vic very much sees them both as equally deserving of punishment and death(as well as the whole weapon thing that logan insists upon himself)

(Wolverine 2020, issue #46)

despite the hatred, logan is still the only other person in the world he views as his equal, as someone who understands the experience, while logan will always want to run from seeing the other as anything close to himself

so they both just constantly project onto eachother without actually meeting in the middle or acknowledging any shared experiences other than their worst traits….cuz they share a lot of similar fears too

[multifamdomfan]

Hold It Together

A/N: Frank is my favorite character in Heroes of Olympus and I feel like his trauma isn't talked about enough so here's a fanfic.

Frank didn’t talk about it.

He couldn’t.

Every time he tried, something in his chest tightened, and his mind scrambled to find a way out. He hated feeling vulnerable, hated admitting that he was broken. But the truth was, every time he looked back at his life, he felt like a patchwork of everything that had gone wrong.

He didn’t need anyone else’s pity. He didn’t need to burden them with the weight of his trauma. He didn’t deserve to burden anyone with it.

He had already watched too many people carry their own burdens. Jason, with the weight of being the leader. Percy, with the memories of Tartarus that never seemed to leave him. Leo, with the grief of never having a family to come home to. Hazel, who had fought for so long to reclaim the life she’d lost. Frank couldn’t complain when he was surrounded by people who had lost so much more.

It didn’t feel fair.

But still, Frank pushed it all away.

His mother.

His mother had died when he was too young to remember her voice, too young to remember anything but the look on his grandmother’s face when she told him the news. Emily Zhang had been fighting in the war, giving her life for a cause she believed in. Frank never got to say goodbye. Never got to tell her he loved her. All those years without her, all those questions that he never got to ask, all the time he missed without even knowing her... It ate at him. He buried it deep.

His house.

Frank had never had much, but what he did have was his home. The house that had been a place of comfort, of safety. He had memories there, ones that no one could take from him. And then the fire had come. He was barely there when it happened, but by the time he realized what was happening, it was too late. It was all gone. His grandmother had barely survived the flames, but Frank didn’t get to hold her after. Didn’t get to tell her it was okay, that they would be okay. She left him after the fire, and he never got to say goodbye.

His grandmother’s death had felt like the last piece of the world he could hold onto slipping away. She was the only family he had left, the one who had raised him when his mother couldn’t.

And then there was Mars.

Frank had never known his father. For the longest time, he had wondered if his father had even cared about him. When Mars had finally found him, it wasn’t like he’d imagined it. Frank wasn’t welcomed into the godly fold with open arms. No, Mars had treated him like a possession, a vessel for his two conflicting personalities. He had learned that being Mars’s son meant bearing the weight of both Greek and Roman identities—and those voices, those constant arguments in his head between Ares and Mars, never gave him a moment’s peace.

The migraines started then.

They never stopped.

The firewood.

The curse had been the final nail in the coffin. A piece of eternally burning wood that was tied to his very existence. It wasn’t something he could just get rid of. The burning firewood was a reminder—every second of every day—that he was alive, but only because the gods decided he was. That at any given moment, the fire could burn him out, and his life would be extinguished. He had no control over it, no say in when it would end. It wasn’t just fire—it was a constant, inescapable reminder of his own fragility.

It burned. Always.

And yet, despite all of this—despite everything that Frank had endured—he still kept it together. Because he had to. Because his friends had enough to deal with already, and if he let them see just how broken he really was, how shattered he felt inside, he wasn’t sure they’d be able to handle it.

So Frank pretended.

When Percy would glance at him with a concerned look, Frank would smile, shake his head, and say, “It’s fine. Really. Don’t worry about me.” And Percy would frown, because Percy could always tell when something was wrong, but Frank would dodge the conversation, shifting the topic, focusing on something else.

When Annabeth would ask if he was okay, Frank would chuckle and wave it off. “I’m fine, Annabeth. Just tired. It’s nothing.” And Annabeth would look at him for a beat, those sharp eyes of hers always searching, always finding what others missed—but she would let him go. She would nod, and give him that little smile, and Frank would feel like he had won the battle.

But inside, Frank was falling apart.

The nightmares were the worst.

Every night, Frank would wake up in a cold sweat, his heart pounding, his mind replaying the moments he couldn’t forget—the fire, the screams, the weight of his mother’s absence. His grandmother’s weak hand in his, the realization that she wasn’t going to make it. His father’s cold indifference, his body shuddering from the anger that raged inside of him, the headache from the voices battling in his skull.

He’d lie awake in his bed, staring at the ceiling, trying to suppress the tears that were always threatening to come. And yet, no matter how hard he tried, no matter how much he pushed it all down, it always came back.

The pain never left.

And there were times, like now, when he wasn’t sure how much longer he could hold it together. The voices in his head were louder, the fire burning hotter. It was getting harder to fight.

But Frank couldn’t ask for help.

Because if he did, if he admitted just how much it hurt, just how deeply it cut—he was afraid that his world would collapse. He was afraid that if he let himself break, he wouldn’t be able to fix himself again.

He had to keep it together. For them.

Because they were his family. They were his home.

And Frank was afraid that if he didn’t keep it together, if he let the cracks show, they wouldn’t be able to see him the same way again.

[morganski-19]

Chills Right to the Marrow Part 39

ao3 link| part 1 . . . part 36, part 37, part 38

It’s the last day of school. Their last day of freshman year. It’s chaotic as hell.

The day is only a half day, so it’s basically a nothing day. Not just basically, it is a nothing day. Finals were over, grades will get mailed out in a week. There’s really no reason for kids to show up. Except if you’re looking to get the perfect attendance award. Dustin was striving to actually get it this year, but then spring break happened. Everyone’s attendance being fucked up with promises of a fix, but no real hope that it would actually happen.

But that didn’t matter right now. All that mattered were the seniors sitting out in the field practicing for graduating tonight. Nancy, Robin, and Jonathan all sitting in alphabetical order, listening to the principal drag on about who knows what.

They were graduating, that’s all everyone cared about.

Not the empty chairs left for the people who were lost through the years of this crap. Or the empty chair that shouldn’t be empty, but the person who is still very much alive refuses to sit on it. Refuses to walk at all. After talking about it for years.

They’re forgiving Eddie’s grades and letting him graduate. Now that it came out that he was in fact not a murderer. That he saved some people along the way and was “just hiding thinking he would be the next target”, which wasn’t all that false, they could let him graduate. Give him believable passing grades and let him walk.

Even though they really didn’t want to. But it took Nancy giving them hell and a visit from the police chief for them to actually do it. Then another round of it to make sure he was invited to his own graduation.

Now he won’t even go to it.

Not like Dustin blames him. He still can’t walk without crutches and has just started to be able to stand for more than a minute without any aids. His joints still act up depending on the day, and the scar tissue is still bright red. Not to mention the fear that things will be thrown at him when he crosses. Forever marking him as the villain everyone thinks he is.

He hates that people can think they know all of a person just from headlines. Especially when they have no clue what they’re talking about. Eddie wasn’t a monster or a villain. He was a hero. And no one will ever know that.

The last bell rings, and everyone floods into the hallways. Out the doors and to the busses and parking lots. Home for three months with freedom to do whatever they wanted.

The party gets crammed into the back seat of either Lucas’ mom’s van or Nancy’s back seat. All heading over to Steve’s house to celebrate the end of school.

It’s been about two weeks since “the big one.” Two weeks since Dustin saw just how bad Steve’s migraines really get. And how out of the loop he’s been. But he’s better, for now. Steve insisted that he was better.

Dustin’s been staying over almost every weekend. To monitor both Steve and Eddie. See for his own eyes that everything was getting better. That he wasn’t dreaming. This was real.

Eddie’s muscles are slowly getting back to where they once were. He’s able to do a lot of things that he wasn’t before. It’s the pain that really keeps him from doing much. Still learning how to manage something that will never go away.

Steve hasn’t had another migraine. At least one large enough to make it noticeable. He hasn’t missed a shift, has been picking Dustin up from school without a problem. Has been helping Eddie with his physical therapy. Even started going out on his absurdly early morning runs again. Going back to normal.

Their normal, at least.

Nancy pulls up Steve’s driveway and parks. Everyone spilling out and heading through the open door. Right out to the back to the pool. It’s the first time Dustin’s ever seen it filled. He’s really excited.

The rest of them come a few minutes later. Lucas stopping in the kitchen to force Steve to take the money his mom gave for the pizza. Insisting that they help out with the food. It takes a little convincing, but Steve takes the money.

Everyone gets changed, some of them just wore their swimsuits under their clothes to school and heads out to the back. Dustin the last one, stopping when he hears the conversation coming from the living room.

“I can’t believe you filled in the pool again,” Nancy says. Voice filled with minor sadness. “It’s been empty since-.”

“Yeah, I know,” Steve replies, sympathetically. “But, I thought it was time.”

“Not to mention,” Robin teases. “It’s for Eddie.”

“Oh,” Nancy joins in. “For Eddie.”

Steve sighs. “You both need to stop. Nothing’s going to happen.”

“Yeah right,” Robin continues. “I see the way you two are acting around each other. Nothing is happening, really?”

“And what’s stopping you?”

“A lot of things, actually.”

Dustin hears footsteps coming. He slides open the door and heads outside. The air already way too warm for it just being June.

What were they talking about? Does he even want to know?

Cause it sounded like Steve might-. But Steve wasn’t gay. As far as Dustin knew, he really shouldn’t assume. But he’s been with so many girls. Had that whole thing with Nancy during spring break.

So he wasn’t gay. Because Dustin knew that those feelings were real. Unless. Could Steve really fake it all that time?

A beach ball makes contact with his face. Literally stopping his thoughts.

“Dude, get in here already,” Lucas yells. Having a smug look on his face. Of course he was the one to throw it, anyone else would have missed.

“Seriously,” Mike adds. “What’s taking you so long?”

Dustin rolls his eyes. “I’m coming, Jesus.”

Almost immediately as he steps into the pool, someone jumps on his back and shoves him under the water. He shoves them off, pushing his hair out of his eyes. “What they fuck?” He pushes Mike back.

Mike is laughing, not regretting anything. Lucas and Will join in. Max making a big show of laughing while sitting on the edge of the pool. Only El is trying to hide it, but even she is giggling into her palm.

Dustin rolls her eyes and swims to the deep end in protest. They all groan and continue to make fun of him. Lucas chasing after him to try and drag him back.

It’s probably the first time in months that Dustin’s smiled this much. His cheeks hurt and his throat is dry from yelling so much. But he doesn’t care. They were back. Different, but back.

He doesn’t know how much later it is, but they get hungry. He volunteers to go inside and see if Steve has ordered the pizza. He only makes it to the hallway before he hears voices again.

“Would you back off,” Eddie snaps. “I don’t need you hovering.”

“Sorry I was trying to help,” Steve replies. Annoyance in his tone.

“Well I don’t need it. I can do it by myself.”

“You are so fucking stubborn.”

There’s a thud. Like someone just slammed something on the counter. “And you’re such a fucking nag.”

“Fine.” There’re footsteps coming toward the door. “Hurt yourself more, just don’t blame me when you do.”

“I won’t,” Eddie yells after him.

Steve comes into the hall, seeing Dustin in the hallway. He takes a deep breath, the anger going into hiding. “Did you need something?”

The words come out stilted. Dustin knows he doesn’t mean them to, but they do.

“We were wondering when the pizza would get here.”

The bell rings. Answering his question for him.

“Tell them to get out of the pool. We have to go in an hour.”

Dustin nods, heading back outside. The conversation he overheard still replaying in his head.

tag list (closed): @the-they-who-nerded, @insteviewetrust, @croatoan-like-its-hot, @jettestar,

@tinyplanet95, @steddie-as-they-go, @slv-333, @littlecelestialmoth, @thatonebadideapanda,

@fandomsanddeath, @marismorar, @wonderland-girl143-blog, @glass-bottle03, @gutterflower77,

@here4thetrama, @goodolefashionedloverboi, @jaytriesstuff, @cryptid-system, @manda-panda-monium,

@resident-gay-bitch, @anaibis, @xxsutherlandxx, @forevermineliv, @mugloversonly,

@gregre369, @n0-1-important, @different-tale-student, @spectrum-spectre, @tartarusknight,

@devondespresso, @swimmingbirdrunningrock, @cheertain, @anti-ozzie, @autumncrocusandladybug,

@greeniebean911, @cr0w-culture, @stillfullofshit, @connected-dots, @daisynotquake,

@morgannotlefay, @a-little-unsteddie, @dolphincliffs, @maskofmirrors, @me-and-my-sloth,

@papergrenade, @waelkyring, @sweetheartprincess28, @katouasobj, @astercomoasflores

[virtuouswhitehatorganization]

Post-High School Heed And Flug Finally Made Friends (One Actually Didn't Squander It)

It's actually fun to see how after school they managed to find friend groups. Flug's friend group could be consider still small because he's introverted and hates social interactions, but his interactions with Penumbra are just so cute and heartwarming. He went from being dismissive to her as a client to you can tell she's one of the closet people he's ever gotten to. When contrast with Heed she really got the popularity and clique she desired in school. However, in contrast with Flug, there just seems to be hint of how fake it feels due to seemingly valuing people more to build herself up rather than actually be friends with them.

For instance, Omega, Eflora, Konan, and Incinemiau were considered some of her biggest friends. She often would be photographed with them because she knew being seen with them would up her popularity. However, without any hesitation she brainwashed them to be her followers, especially Omega who she screwed over the most so he could be her bodyguard alongside his archenemy, Coyote. Also the trio didn't fare any better because they as well were victims towards her want for more popularity and recognition by brainwashing them into dropping out of the contest and letting her win even when she didn't even compete.

So, it's a pattern stemming from her high school years where she hypes herself up as a friend to someone but as time goes by she doesn't hesitate to use and discard them once she's gotten what she's needed. They all practically like Flug to her which is she will use you as a friend to validate and sponge off you but she won't hesitate for a moment to fuck you over when it benefits herself.

It's no wonder she eventually loses everyone she culminated as a friend over the years as a hero because even though she seeks friendship she ends up as a parasite in a relationship where she desires everyone to cater to her whims at their expense. She loses her friend group because she never truly learned to value people outside of a transactional relationship and give back.