#hero forge video

[knightfuryvawannabee]

Shodara is still a deciding to be a menace; more at 11.

[meteor752]

My favorite youtuber (Mandjtv) reacted to the hero forge figures I made in his latest Reddit video! How fun!

[triplestar100]

being that tomorrow (Feb. 27, 2024) The Dominican Republic celebrates its 180th anniversary of being an independent nation, I thought it appropriate to give the Old Isle my kudos by making Hero Forge effigies of the biggest representatives of DR Pride in popular fiction currently (that I'm aware of)! from left= The Vance Brothers Victor & Lance (Grand Theft Auto), The Question (Batman/DC Comics), Luz Noceda (Disney's The Owl House), Powerman 3 (Avengers/Marvel) and King Rasta Mon (Capcom's SlamMasters).

[matchakoii]

A commission for SuperTalismanCD on Twitter of their OC Aleksi! :3 Really loved getting to do this one. Practicing bgs is always one of my favorite things. TuT

[thr0wnawayy]

Who would the 10-13 1A members that died in the MLA be, if MHA had any actual stakes? I really liked your Kaminari idea, so I just wanted to explore it with you. It would have realistically made UA/the heroes look a hell of a lot worse and the villains look a hell of a lot smarter if they went for the angle of "the best heroics school in Japan is using child soldiers!"

I know for the heroes, it should have been Pixie Bob and Gran Torino in addition to Crust. Endeavor also should have died because it would have actually given the story actual stakes - Japan is now in shambles and the new #1 hero/heavy hitter is dead. Oh shit, what are they going to do?

Firstly I feel I should clarify that both 1A and B would lose some team members as both classes were thrust into war with basically no real training. Although for the sake of plot 1A would lose vastly more.

With that stated, let us begin.

I know for a fact that Koda is dead.

Truthfully, there is no way someone as bulky as him (with the addition of his poorly designed costume) would be even marginally capable of outrunning Shigaraki's Decay.

His quirk (Anivoice) gives him zero advantages and being in Jaku (a city under evacuation) would only add to this.

We also mustn't forget that the rubble by itself was also capable of disintegrating anything it touched. Putting all that together and given how close he was to "ground zero", his chances of survival are slim to none.

Additionally, everyone who found Midnight's corpse is either dead or brutally injured.

Midnight's body is isolated in a decently foliage heavy area, with plenty of hiding spots and vantage points making it all too easy to set an ambush.

Our merry band of MLA/PLF mercenaries simply have to bide their time, wait for the shock and horror to settle in and then strike.

Sero, Kirishima and Setsuna are easy targets (with Setsuna being the farthest from the bait) their backs are turned and mentally are either distant or "vacant".

If Momo didn't recover from her grief and get off the floor, it's game over.

However. She would likely manage to fend them off long enough to escape (thanks to her intelligence and dexterity), although not without some scars. (eyepatch momo, anyone?)

Mina might be able to hold them off due to her acid but will eventually falter because (as you mentioned) Aizawa's a shitheel.

That brings us up to 5 students so far (if we include Kaminari's death) that have died due to UA's (and the HPSC's) crippling negligence.

I'm a tad hesitant to add Tsu here but it's unlikely she'd survive. (even if she does survive the wave, she'd likely die in the crossfire)

Comicman, because yeah he's unimportant.

For the Villa Raid team it's important that we cut some heroes in order for this scenario to work.

Edgeshot is dead, likely fried to death by Electro-lite.

This would cause the raiding heroes to become discouraged and overwhelmed.

the MLA's gear is more than a match and combined with their years of fighting and tactical prowess. It's not even close.

Simply put; divide and conquer.

Mineta's dying for sure. His costume restricts his (torso and leg) movements and makes him standout like a traffic cone. That guy with holes all over his body is likely the one to snuff him out.

Ojiro is dead the moment the MLA members use numbers to overwhelm him, no amount of martial arts will save you from getting jumped.

Mines dies because his quirk (Twin Impact) suffers from the Flect Fallacy.(Overwhelming the quirk will break it). So pretty much any MLA member could be the one to kill him

That sets the score to 11 total student deaths (8 for 1A, 3 for 1B), not a good look.

We know the rest, Dabi kills Enji for good.

Skeptic publishes a video along with Dabi's exposé that reveals UA is using child soldiers and that the HPSC forged paperwork to allow this.

And the crowd goes wild!

The reactions would be brutal, national if not global criticism from every angle.

The entire raid and evacuation effort would be considered an immense failure, the villains remain at large to gather their numbers and most civilians would be left homeless and displaced.

The hero that everybody placed their bets on turned out be a child/wife beating eugenicist who bought (and later assaulted) his wife when she was only 17. Only to be killed off by the very child he left to burn.

The (global) outrage partially stems from the fact that if it weren't for Dabi, no one would have known otherwise .

The number 2 hero is an (attempted) murderer and seems almost irritated at Enji being outed, the world stage takes this the wrong way and opts not to aid Japan.* What pisses them off the most is his uncaring attitude.

Considering them a lost cause when Shigaraki not only breaks everyone out of Tartarus but also manges to kill AFO by sheer force of will (and wanting to see his friends live as they please)

Rei's speech/conference serves as the final nail. Going into immense detail of the pain she and her children suffered at the hands of Enji. (If their were any doubts Touya was her son, they were killed here)

When asked if anyone knew, she finishes her speech off with revealing that some heroes and staff knew about the abuse and chose to look the other way. Causing the room to burst into an uproar.

*(explaining why Japan was allowed to fester for as long as it did without intervention, something Hori failed to explain)

Parents begin pulling out their children in droves, not wanting to risk their kids getting drafted, others quit by choice.

Shiketsu and Ketsubutsu don't put their students on the front lines (they aren't stupid). The commission is unable to force them due to their, "unique" situation.

The heroes that quit are harshly criticized by the public and media (and usually fairly too), pointing out how shitty it looks (and is) for heroes to suddenly abandon them as soon as things get serious.

Class 1A is left to pickup the pieces with 8 classmates killed (+ Bakugo) the events of the last week have shocked them to their cores but perhaps there is hope.

Of course they're left to pick up their predecessors mistakes, again.

Midoriya would still go rouge, albiet he would stick to his principals. He's made a disturbing connection between Bakugo and Endeavor and it haunts him.

(I should add that Bakugo's death is portrayed for the selfish play it was)

Midoriya likely driven by the need to ensure that he doesn't lose anyone else. His anger at AM would probably stem from the fact that he is putting himself in danger for someone as "expendable" as himself.

I could see the two having a heart to heart that Midoriya is more than his quirk once he willingly returns.

Some additional information:

Bakugo dies permanently, because Edgeshot was killed by "Electro" earlier (even then I'm not doing the writing atrocity that is the "Jeart".)

For heroes I'd like to add Jeanist to the roster. Gigantomachia should have swatted him and his airship like a fly. This means the top 3 are dead, adding to the chaos. This also prevents the old-gen from taking up space.

The High-End Nomu beat the tar out of Miriko, leaving crippled at best and a paraplegic at worst. (That is assuming they don't kill her).

Fourth Kind is killed when, like Ojiro, he is overwhelmed.

Your absolutely correct, Gran Torino and Pixiebob are eliminated, joining Crust.

Twice actually lives, though I would keep that ambiguous until later, he wouldn't get out unscathed of course and would probably need to be put into a coma while his injuries heal.

Himiko's revenge plot now has additional stakes as she promises Twice that she will return to him. (before he's medically put under)

This also fuels the PLF + Spinner, vowing to do right by their ally and friend.

Dabi would have disfigured Hawks upon discovery of his attempt on Twice's life, no more cosmetic scars. Just good old fashioned brutality.

(The fear of losing Twice may have dug up the past memory of losing his mother after Enji drove her to the brink. As Dabi cares deeply for both [even if he won't admit it] ontop of the fact that it's a "hero" that's trying to take them and he betrayed them).

Overall this world is going to be one wild ride with a very different ending to what Hori gave us.

It is a story not of heroes and villains, but of ideals and goals. It asks the question:

What is it to save?

A few additional notes:

Momo would likely have a revenge arc as a sort of parallel between Izuku and Himiko. However it wouldn't be as bland as what we got in canon with Mina.

The mercenaries aren't mustache twirling supremacists, no. Here they're cold, calculated soldiers who are strictly tactical. Midnight was "nothing personal, just business" to them.

They serve as a dark mirror to Momo's shift in personality during the war, as Momo reverts to her initial cold confidant personality and kicks it up to 20 as she hunts them down.

Midnight's killer even points out midbattle on how Momo was sexualized and she doesn't even know it. Telling her at one point: "You may see them as an equal, they see you as a display"

The battle isnt treated as a victory either, while the Momo and her squadron win, the gravity of the situation isn't ignored and Momo actually listens to her opponent's critique.

[thefirstknife]

Some conjecture on the topic of Ergo Sum: I think people are taking the whole "this is the sword that was on our grave in the Corridors of Time" thing the wrong way. Yeah, it's the sword buried on our grave, but I don't think people realize how *big* of a moment it is that we're getting *that* sword? This sword was a direct gift from the Traveler to aid us in our upcoming battle with the Witness. This sword is going to become so iconic and important and synonymous with us that it's going to be featured prominently on our grave when we die.

Ergo Sum also shares the same Ghost pommel (little bit at the end of the handle) that the new relic we get in the "final" boss fight has as well. Both were also given to us directly by the Traveler in the same place. They're very clearly linked to one another. It's also worth noting that the last shot of the final cutscene at the end of the campaign has a Guardian wielding it prominently, with what seems to be Light radiating off of it.

I think this is going to be the sword that kills the Witness.

(Or at least directly connected to it.)

Agreed! When we saw it originally obviously we didn't know anything about it. It just looked like a cool sword. I also remember people being disappointed that this sword wasn't the actual exotic we got from the Corridors of Time puzzle.

But now, this has so much more meaning. This is the sword made by the Traveler to cut down the Witness and destroy it. Like, it's not just some weapon, it was forged by the Traveler itself for the specific purpose of unmaking the Witness. That's absolutely incredible. Us wielding it in the final fight is HUGE.

The problem with Corridors of Time grave is that we simply don't know if that's something set in stone or not. There are other timelines and our grave could be from there, although the sword being real and so important to us makes this more likely to be our timeline. It's possible that whatever happens in the raid and in the post-raid mission, we will die in our final confrontation with the Witness, wielding that sword, and our grave will be made, fulfiling the Corridors vision, but we will somehow be brought back. I would not put it past the Traveler to personally intervene and react to bring us back because of how much we've done for it and the universe as a whole.

Super speculative of course, but the existence of that sword and it being directly connected to the Traveler is way too big of a deal IMO, for the Corridors of Time grave to just be a random curiosity. Like, they did not have to make the sword look like that. A lot of players have never seen it at this point. I'd even say most players; it was only available for a total of 2 weeks well over 4 years ago.

Speaking of, here's the grave scene with the eulogy. It also shows the sword at the end. Note the music in the background: it is the same music that plays when we take the sword at the end of the Destined Heroes exotic quest (I timestamped to one of the videos of the quest I could find where you can hear it). Again, this is something few people would notice because of how long it's been and the fact that it only existed for 2 weeks: you'd know only if you played at the time and remembered the music and recognised it, which I did the moment it started playing because I am normal about the Corridors of Time.

It's important to say also that in the eulogy, Saint says that the weapon used to be his and that it was shattered in the final confrontation. The Ghost shell is also not directly connected to the pommel; I remember originally we just thought it was a normal sword and the Ghost shell was just our Ghost laid to rest with us. Ergo Sum connects these two. Some alterations are normal I think, given the amount of time it's been between these things, but I do believe this is meant to be this same sword as a throwback to our grave, especially since they literally used the same music when we retrieve it. Really wild to think about.

In all likelihood, the only person who has seen our grave is us (Quria notwithstanding), unless we told someone about it. I'd like if this was somehow discussed but since nobody else has seen it, I don't know how we would do it even if we did speak more than one line. Do we even remember? Does it even matter? I feel like it should, beyond just being a cool throwback. Eagerly waiting to see more.

[itsnothingofinterest]

Everyone and their mother's been saying it; but I to fully expect the League to be instrumental in bringing Tomura back if they can get to Mt. Fuji.

AFO went on about how everything in Tomura's life was by his design; and for most of it he seems to be right and I'm still mad about it. He told Kotaro to have Tenko, may have helped build his house, Tenko's friends whom he first wanted to be a hero for were plants, his quirk that he killed his family with was a plant, AFO told him how good & right it is to use villainous violence, and hell he's most likely the one who got Tomura his 1st video game as a cherry on top. There's next to nothing to Tenko or Tomura without AFO's fingerprints on it…with one major obvious exception.

Tomura's time as leader of the League from the Summer Camp onwards was basically all him; the bonds they forged, the motivations they gave Tomura, and the hope Tomura inspired in them were his influence alone with little to no direct involvement from AFO.

His identity as the grand commander of the villains is the one piece of identity AFO cannot undermine. And while reclaiming all of what AFO influenced and recently undermined isn't impossible for Tomura, it may even be probable in the long run; I suspect it's easier said then done if Tomura's got no foundation to fight for/from (which was the entire point for AFO to undermine as much as he could), so his connections to the League might be just the kind of core to an identity Tomura needs to fight AFO and play his part in putting him down for good, if the League can just get to him to deliver some reminders & motivational speeches.

Although, I can't help but wonder if the heroes failure to actually save the League members so far might help with that, come back to bite them in the butt, or even both. I can easily see Toga & Spinner's message to Tomura being along the lines of "Shigaraki, you promised you'd destroy everything and clear the way for an easier world! Are you really gonna let this loser whose already died twice get in your way? Kick him to the curb and get to it already, we're still waiting on you to save us!!!" simply because they haven’t gotten a lot of reason not to think that way. But eh, might not work as well if it didn’t support Tomura’s existing convictions anyway; so maybe them still wanting to be villains for this conversation is for the best.

(On that topic: I could see Dabi's line to Tomura being more like: "Boss, you're the one guy in this world whose ever truly surpassed All Might! To lose to his favourite punching bag, it's so sad I can't stand it!! Quit acting so pathetic!!!" I'd even be okay with him paralleling his dad yelling at All Might in Kamino for it.

[cynthiav06]

I loved the Vengeance saga, an absolute banger. Might be my second favorite after the Wisdom Saga, but here's the thing:

Odysseus wounding Poseidon or even being able to use his trident or trapping Poseidon amidst the storm is all extremely unlikely as in impossible even in the Epic canon.

Before everyone starts a riot, here's why.

Poseidon is a god. Not just any god either, one of the Elder Gods (as in first olympian gods). In fact before the Dark Ages of Greek, from at least Homeric Era to Classical Era, Poseidon was called Wanax or was at least heavily associated with him by the Myceneans and was the old King of the Gods according to them. But I digress.

Point is Poseidon is basically an Eldritch horror on legs while Odysseus, despite his brilliance and strength, is just a mortal, not even a demigod, a human. Albeit one blessed by the wisdom goddess.

Poseidon is a God of storms. And sure Epic might have some different connotations but apparently not cause Hermes himself quotes in track 2 of Vengeance saga Dangerous that no mortal can survive Poseidon's storm I.e he created it so he's the stormbringer confirmed. Plus, Odysseus himself does say that he will make Poseidon stop the storm.

That aside, Poseidon is literally the God of the Seas. No god, not even Zeus, can beat Poseidon in his own bloody domain. So Odysseus has no chance.

Even if Odysseus trapped him on land, Poseidon can create earthquakes with his trident, which is also prominent in his lore. So that's a no, no.

Sure, Odysseus could have made Poseidon drop his trident, but even if that happened in no scenario, would Odysseus be able to lift it. Poseidon's trident was forged by elder cyclops and is one of the three absolute weapons of power in Greek myths ( the other two being Zeus's bolt and Hades's Helm). These weapons were designed specifically for these gods and obey none other. Not to mention it weighs a lot, i.e., "only a god can lift it heavy."

In the impossible scenario that Odysseus lifts it(by some miracle or other), Poseidon could just summon it back to his hand.

For all those saying maybe Poseidon can't do close combat, he has fought titans. He has to all but breathe strongly in Odysseus's direction, and Odysseus will literally die, which is why Odysseus's survival is Odyssey is such a legendary feat.

It also beats the point of Odysseus's legends. Odysseus is the King of Ithaca, sure, but he's no demigod. He doesn't even have any special abilities aside from quick thought or the occasional godly assistance. He's basically a mortal that achieves things everybody, even demigods, failed at all through his wisdom, wit, and trickery. He is only human, but his mind is what makes him on par with the divine.

Odysseus resorting to physical fighting against a literal god goes against his very nature. Odysseus is the smartest Greek hero, a strategist, a manipulator, and he knows very well how to play to his strengths.

In the original works, Odysseus escapes Poseidon the second time due to intervention from both Athena and Ino. Ino is the goddess of protection, especially the protector of sailors. She gifts Odysseus with a veil of protection. And Athena pulls her usual strings.

This is Odysseus playing to his strengths. He has the situation in his favor, a plan as he has convinced these gods either with his past deeds or his unbreakable will to intercede on his behalf. By manipulation or sincerity, doesn't matter. He lies, manipulates, tricks, and thinks his way through, so he would never ever resort to a 1v1, that too physical with a god.

[Circe was a special case. He had the blessing of molly on his side due to him earning Hermes's favor. Through a plan]

I love Epic, I do, and I love Jay even more. He's phenomenal and Epic the musical is an absolute work of genius and I know he said he is taking inspiration from video games and anime which might lead to some divergences but this is a bit too big of a liberty from both the source material and the essence of Odysseus. Sure, it's enjoyable and badass, but it's a disservice to the original Odysseus in a way.

Just wanted to give my honest opinion cause I love Epic so much, especially with its imperfections.

[that-one-kiddo-in-the-back]

The Harley Quinn show is amazing... probably.

Okay, so when I was in like middle school, I was a huge DC fan. I'm not as much anymore as I've dedicated my life to Star Wars. Now, Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy are my favorite femfatile villains and have been the lesbian couple Gotham really didn't want, but the LGBTQ fans needed. Both have been abused by the men in their lives and found companionship with each other. Now let see how Lily sees it.

So Lily isn't a fan of the DC universe. Mainly, her problem stems from batman saying that she stopped caring about batman when it became something dark and edgy and used the dark knight as an example of it getting too dark, which if you're gonna blame something for a franchise for getting to dark don't use the dark knight. The batman franchise has been a dark thing way before 2008. Batman, in the 85 years he's been around, has always had a dark streak. All of the villains are crazy patients with a killer clown running around a corrupted city and the main hero becoming who he is after the death of his parents. If you want to blame something for how Batman is now. Blame the dudes in charge in 1939.

Now, Harley Quinn has been the Jokers "girlfriend" ever since her first appearance in 1992. With them being an off and on relationship. Lily says that the abuse Harley goes through with the joker is never really touched upon, which is both true and not. Everyone in comics and shows knows that Harley is in an unhealthy relationship, and all have asked why she stays. It's not that it's not touched upon. it's more of everyone knowing she's not gonna leave him, no matter what he does to her. To everyone around her, they know Harley doesn't want to leave the joker, so why bother convincing her. Like Lily said, you can't help someone who doesn't want it.

Lily starts talking about Ivy and how dispirit the fact that she's a doctor (most of the villains are doctors in their own field) she sexualized except for The Batman where she's just a teenager. Then she talks about clayface being a D list villain who's now a struggling actor (he always was). While she's talking about other characters, her straw man is constantly asking Lily what she thinks of Harley Quinn herself and spoiler alert she doesn't like Harley. What a surprise.

She claims that Harley's character is boring and is only centered around the love between her and Ivy and the abuse between her and the Joker now that might be true for the show which is pretty lame if you don't want to read her comics but what makes me mad is that Lily thinks that Harley being a stand alone villain never made sense because she has no evil goal like Ivy or the penguin but the Joker also doesn't have a goal either. A villain doesn't need to have a goal to do evil things, and Harley is no different. Harley Quinn is straight up crazy thanks to the chemical dunk and has HPD (Histrionic Personally Disorder), meaning she does things for attention. She doesn't need to have a goal in mind to cause trouble, and personally, I think the scariest villains are the ones who start shit just because they could.

Lily then goes on to say that Harley is only a villain because of the people she's dating, then brings up how Harley was the Jokers therapist but threw it away because of

"Bog standard fangirl hybristophilia"

Harley was fucking manipulated by the Joker to see if he could make her fall in love with him not because she had a thing for bad boys. I have not seen the Harley Quinn show, so please tell me that's not what the writers wrote in for her backstory.

I try to watch the whole video, but her saying that a victim of manipulation and abuse did this to herself because she had Bonnie and Clyde syndrome pissed me off so much that I couldn't finish it. All I can say is that Lily really has a problem with victim characters, and we've seen it time and time again from her hating Hunter to Catra, how she's willing to end friendship to save her own mental health and completely forgetting that the person who is reaching out probably has no one else to go to. Lily has no empathy, but I didn't need to tell you that.

[justatypicalwizard]

Late night frustration | Bakugo Katsuki

✦ Bnha characters have their quirks but they are all secret heroes living a doubble-life. Katsuki has a had crush on you but instead of asking you out on a date he's stuck listening to you fangirling over Red Riot. Out of frustration he decided to do something very stupid.

✦ Word count: 2,5k

✦ Warnings: none

Secret hero Dynamite on rampage once again [see video]

Stupid fucking media. They just don’t give a time of the day to check how it all happened. All they see are Mina’s boobs and Eiji’s smile. Bakugo grunted while scrolling through a bunch of shorts featuring yesterday's secret hero action. They all showed the two mentioned earlier in a glorifying light or his, not so subtle, bursting out of the convenience store, glass shattering behind him as he grabs the thief by the collar.

Apart from being a college student Bakugo lives a double-life as a secret hero. How did he get his powers? No one knows, including himself. The same with Mina, Kirishima and Denki. There were a bunch of other people who rolled out on the streets after sunset with masked faces but he didn’t know them all, he didn’t care. It's not like he ever even agreed to the idea, his friends convinced him that they should all use their powers to save the world. Honestly he just saw this as an opportunity to manifest his quirk, otherwise too destructive to play with. Over time he got fed up with what people talked about him, he’s not gonna lie, at some point such an amount of hate would touch anyone. Yet, he didn’t stop, didn’t hide behind a fake personality denying he even has any powers. He got out every second night and did what he’s done for years now.

A bag dropping near his face tore him out of his thoughts bubble. Looking up he spotted your smile as you sat down opposite of him, the well used wooden chair creaked under your ass. There was one more reason why he kept trying all the time. After every night action he waited with gritted teeth for your excited text sending him an awesome video of Dynamite that you just found and fell in love with. He wanted you to fangirl over Dynamite so he could drop by in the middle of the night, take his mask off and tell you that it’s him, he’s the secret hero that you’re in love with. But it never came. You never said a positive word about his alter ego, either being neutral or agreeing with some of the opinions on his brutality and carelessness.

Yet, how could you know better? You were not there last night with the shop owner, an old man too shocked to mumble anything into the microphone after onlookers and reporters flooded the crime scene. You didn’t hear him when he grabbed Bakugo by the sleeve just as he was about to run and thanked him. You didn’t know that the old man was grateful, claiming that the window was nothing, repairing it will cost less than what the thief was about to steal. Of course none of them heard that because Katsuki always gets those compliments off-scene. Noone ever listens to the actual victims, they have a forged history that will match their shitty profiles and online channels.

“Did you see yesterday’s action?” Quite close up actually, princess.

“Mhm.” He mumbled, opening a random book to quickly end the topic.

“There’s a lot of shots of Dynamite breaking that window. I mean, I get that he has a very destructive power but was it really necessary to catch the thief bursting through the glass? Maybe he could run up to him on the streets?” And what would it change? Then he’d blast a car standing on the roadside or a street lamp and they aren’t that cheap either! “Well, at least he got the criminal.” Oh finally, some scarce words of compliment. “But look at that, look, look.”

He nearly grabbed your hand as you started to wave it in front of his face. It was a short featuring Red Riot flexing as he ran to help Bakugo tackle down the thief. It was unnecessary as Bakugo’s explosive hand was already on the criminal's neck which paralysed the guy with fear. Yet, Eiji always wanted to help. He sincerely didn’t do it for attention, he just always wanted to make sure he did the best he could. How can he stand back and watch? It was him who handed the tief to the police. Bakugo already learned that they were not keen on being close to Dynamite so it was always Eiji talking to them. That’s how he stole the whole spotlight of the previous night, he jumped on the already disarmed thief, picked him up and handed him to the police. Simple as that. And yet it had you squeaking and scrolling through more phone-made shots from different angles, all painfully exposing Eiji’s flexing muscles in the scarce suit he wore.

“Red Riot is so hot. I can’t believe he lives somewhere there as a normal person.” Oh he actually lived very close by. Your Red Riot was just a few tables away, chewing on a pencil, sweating over a simple maths equation.

Bakugo was seriously in awe that people didn’t see that bulked form in Kirishima. It was obviously good that his cover never blew but apart from covering his face and hair during actions Kiri was nearly all on display. In the daytime he also didn’t bother covering too much, always wearing a hugging shirt that would show off his tremendous muscles. Guess the mass doesn’t really look for the heroes, they just admire them and later forget that they actually exist as said normal people.

“I would totally fuck Red Riot stupid.”

This was enough. Having someone you love, I mean have a crush on, whatever, talking about fucking a different guy in you very face was too much for Bakugo.

“You know what, I got a text from mom, I need to go.” The blonde stood up, pushing the chair from under his knees with such a force it nearly fell down. He looked at your surprised face as you mumbled a ‘okay’ and that you’d ‘do the assignment they were both due’.

As much as Bakugo wanted to spend time with you, he also couldn’t listen to what you said, a painful feeling aching in his chest.

Later that evening Bakugo found himself sitting on a roof, looking at the city below him. It wasn’t supposed to be a patrol night but he couldn’t sit at home, he had to do something, anything to take his mind off of the earlier talk. Eijiro didn’t even do anything bad but the blonde was furious with him. If he saw that dumb face he’d punch him, which of course he didn’t want to do so he distanced himself for the time being.

A cool breeze grazed his form, sneaking under his masked face. He certainly didn’t like the cold, it made him slower and weaker but autumn was taking over. He saw it in your coat, you picked a new one, a warmer one. You wrapped it around yourself tightly, hiding your chin into the large collar. Oh, you were there, again.

Bakugo leaned over the edge of the roof to see you better. It was past sunset, the yellow light of the street lamps giving your silhouette a golden hue. You were walking down a narrow lane in the middle of the park. You must be heading from some shop as your hands were wrapped around big paper bags.

If not his earlier outburst maybe he could have been next to you. Maybe he’d lie that he doesn’t have anything to do and he can go to the shop with you. You’d spend the evening fooling around in some shopping mall, maybe take out something to eat and he could pretend, just for a second, that you were his girlfriend. Later he’d walk you home and give you a goodbye hug because that’s what friends do. And he would keep you close just a split second longer, so that you don’t notice.

Nothing would come true if he keeps on ditching you for the sake of his own anger. So what if you’re fangirling over Red Riot? You’re not stupid enough to fall in love with the unreachable secret hero. Yet, Bakugo couldn’t shake off the creeping feeling that you could meet Eiji at some point, at a party with your mutual friends and talk to him. You could talk to him a lot, laughing at his shitty jokes, unconsciously brushing his biceps with your hand because of course you’d like him. The redhead is a funny, charming himbo that girls love. If Bakugo would sit down on the couch and watch your interaction for afar then he’s sure that Eiji would put down his hand on the counter behind you, narrowing the space between your bodies. He’d flirt with you jokingly just as he does best up to the point when you both sneak out of the party. Then he’d give you a night you’ll never forget because Bakugo knows damn well what girls say after spending an evening with Kirishima. Maybe Eiji would break it to you that he’s Red Riot and after that he’d never get rid of you. It’s a dream come true. For you. A nightmare for Katsuki.

He actually had to cough because the clench in his chest and the turn in his stomach became unbearable. He felt hurt, as if everything that he just imagined actually happened. As if you were already Eiji's girlfriend. He just wanted you so badly right now that he actually leapt down from the roof down onto the park lane, catching your attention with the small explosions.

Katsuki knew that who you saw approaching you right now was Dynamite. He saw the shock in your eyes as they focused on him but not fear. Good, because he was about to do something very stupid.

Bakugo closed the space between you with a few long strides. He grabbed the puffy collar of your coat and with his other hand slid up his mask, just enough to plant his lips onto yours. Katsuki was not innocent, not even a bit. If he was going to kiss you as Dynamite, so that you never know what actually happened, he was going to do it good.

Your lips were already parted, they never actually closed after seeing the secret hero cross your path. Bakugo used it to his advantage, slipping his tongue inside to taste you, grazing his teeth over your lower lip. He swore you moaned quietly but maybe he just imagined it getting way too horny. You were soft, no matter where he grabbed you. Unfortunately it was the coat, it secured you from his touch and he silently cursed it was late autumn and not summer.

Finally he let go of you and you stumbled a bit backwards. Before you could ask any questions he ran away, leaving you gaping behind him.

Bakugo could already imagine the sexual assault headlines after you tell everyone Dynamite kissed you out of nowhere. Or maybe you would first talk to him about it. Either way his hero name was already stained enough so that one more spot won’t change anything. But he did it, he kissed you, he felt it. Now he can play it over and over in his mind, fixating on your taste. Hope he never forgets. But he also felt guilty. He basically stole it away from you and that’s not how he wanted to have the first kiss with you.

Katsuki wandered the streets for some time before the emotions overflooded him and he found himself heading towards Mina’s crumpled up college flat. He just had to yell at someone, to someone. He’d throw it all on Eiji once more, complaining how his crush fangirls over Red Riot, the same as usual. Mina was well aware of the whole drama.

As quiet as possible he jumped up and up until he reached the  window of her unused room. It was open, as always, and he flew through it, landing on the floor, tearing his mask off.

“Racoon fucking eyes…” He was just about to start when he dropped his mask to the ground.

Instead of Mina he saw someone else, someone he really didn’t want to see now. It was you, standing in the middle of the room, picking something out of the same paper bag you carried earlier. Now that he saw it up close it had a print of a home supplies shop. You looked at him, eyes wide as ever, mouth gaping once again.

You were not stupid so of course he couldn’t make you think it was all a dream but he honestly didn’t have any better idea right now.

“Bakugo?” You asked, standing up and walking to him, your scrutinising eyes scanning his costume. “What the fuck? You’re Dynamite?”

Of course you were quick to connect the dots, who wouldn’t when he saw his best friend fly up the window with the, oh so well known, explosions.

“You’re, but, how? Why?” You looked like you didn’t know what to ask about.

“Okay, shut it, I’ll explain the whole damn hero thing…” The blonde also started to throw words at you with the speed of a machine gun.

“What? Hero? Why did you kiss me an hour ago?”

That’s not what he expected. You were more concerned with the kiss than with him being Dynamite? He didn’t know whether he liked it. It would be way easier to explain his secret hero life than what he did that said hour ago.

“I…” No words came out of his throat as he looked at you, at your face, tense and focused.

“Why did you kiss me Katsuki?”

“Because I’m in love with you okay, fuck it.”

“What?”

“I’m. In. Love. With. You.” He spat out every word. “And after hearing, once again, how you’d fuck Red fucking Riot today I had enough. It’s always Red Riot this and Red Riot that, but no one cares about the fact that it was me who caught the thief. Why don’t you just go and actually fuck Red Riot. Now that you know I’m Dynamite might as well just show you the way to his fucking apartment…”

Bakugo didn’t have the chance to end his rumble because he felt the familiar taste once again. You were pressing him up the windowsill, your small form no match for him. Your lips were planted against his. You broke the kiss before he had the time to react.

“Shut up about Red Riot. I was just joking. Why didn’t you tell me you liked me?”

“What?” It was his turn to ask stupid questions.

“I, uh damn, I also like you, crush you very much. I just didn’t think you liked me back, giving your shitty demeanour all the time.”

It would take him some time to explain the whole situation to you. It would also take some time for you to get used to him being a secret hero, though after you agreed to be his girlfriend you noticed he threw himself in crossfire less during his night actions. Who knows, maybe he’ll even gain a bit in the eye of the public soon. Now he doesn't really care for it any more as the only person he ever wanted to impress is already snuggled up beside him in bed, late in the night.

[carnivore-voyeur]

I don’t know a lot of facts about Per from his Katatonia days, but I did watch the Katatonia documentary and I’ve watched and read some interviews. So, here have some more Per facts I guess:

tw - mild discussion of throwing up, so if you’re emetophobic like me take caution.

Per started out as a guitar tech with the band about six years before joining Katatonia. He’s worked with multiple bands including Meshuggah, Opeth, and Dark Funeral. He’s worked as a guitar tech in between touring with Katatonia and Bloodbath as well.

His bandmates say Per was a “guitar hero” in his home town. The first ever band he’s listed as being in is a band called Hostile from his hometown.

‘Sodomizer’ comes from his old friend’s band Goat Sodomizer. There’s a dedication on the back of their first tape to both Tobias Forge and Per Eriksson, except Per is listed as “Lil Per” - that was ~20 years ago? So, Per and Tobias have actually known each other for some time.

His bandmates nicknamed him v*mitizer b/c he threw up a lot, both from motion sickness and alcohol. Per even quit drinking for a while b/c it made him sick and his hangovers were really bad. It seems he still limits his alcohol consumption today.

Katatonia did a show on a cruise and Per got terrible motion sickness so he had to lay down in his cabin. From the recent live, Per also said Dead by Daylight gives him motion sickness so it’s safe to say he’s prone to motion sickness.

There’s a photo of Per laying curled up on the floor. I think people assume he was drunk or hungover, but it’s from a blog post by Per while on tour with Katatonia. He was actually sick and he got sick a few times on tour. You can read the tour diary here.

Per almost got fed to the GWAR dinosaur on stage once? If I remember correctly? I think his bandmates tried to feed him to it idk.

Per gets bored easily on tours. He entertained himself by binge watching shows and movies on his laptop. Playing music festivals, there’s not much else to do in between sets. While on tour with Ghost, he seemed to enjoy going to museums.

Per’s laptop fell out of his bunk on the bus once and the band asked fans on Facebook if they could help him get it fixed lol.

Per’s been in a bunch of small metal bands since he was ~15/16, including one where he dressed up like King Diamond when he was ~19/20. His old bandmate posted these on Facebook:

Everything I know about this goofy guy comes from interviews, videos, archives, etc. so if you’re looking for that kind of information, I might have it.

[codenamesazanka]

Regarding your recent post about deku releasing tenko’s story — while I can absolutely believe that doing it would be a bad look for him, all might, and heroes in general, with the way the war arc progressed (and how much collapse could arguably be contributed to ‘people’s overinflated expectations for heroes falling apart when it turns out they’re all mortal fallible people’), I’m not entirely sure that that would actually make Izuku not share the story. Like, it might not gain coverage or press, but there’s a level of honesty and transparency that doing it implies and that the world at large didn’t seem to have beforehand in a way that makes me think it’s supposed to gain that honesty and transparency.

You're totally correct, anon! I do think that, if Deku were to want to share Tenko's Story, he would forge ahead even though it potentially is a bad look for him/Heroes/All Might. After all, he sought to save Shigaraki despite Shigaraki being a Villain; he made sure Overhaul saw Pops again; and he encouraged Spinner to write a book despite it being one that will "stick it to the Heroes." A determination to see things through once he set his mind to it. If he were to want to share what he learned, he would commit to it with honesty and transparency.

The key word is 'if', though. What the story has shown us is that he doesn't seem very interested in doing so, beyond telling All Might and maybe Tsukauchi. He doesn't seem to have told Spinner, who he knows is Shigaraki's friend, someone who was at the center of Shigaraki's heart, and who it might help to know.

Not to mention he never really told anyone in reality his desire to save Shigaraki anytime during the entire third act, besides Gran (implied in Gran's advice that death is salvation), maybe All Might (generous guess), and vaguely Uraraka (tho his words were "I can't ignore that crying inner child.").

Plus like, Deku also learned through Nagant that the HPSC were doing extrajudicial executions. Now that is something that is basically mandatory to expose to the public. The right thing to do is to whistleblow that to hell and back. The HPSC's black ops were injustice, what they did to Nagant was injustice, and should to revealed to the world, as the honest and transparent thing to do. And yet it doesn't seem like Deku ever does so.

Deku, as he is in the story, simply has no interest in speaking out about things like these. (So much for reaching out a hand when it's none of his business, huh?)

And I have to wonder if it's even enough to be just honest and transparent in HeroAcaLand. We've seen Endeavor confess that Dabi's video was true; we saw Hawks point blank admit he killed Twice... and nothing really came out of that. It didn't seem to have gained much coverage or brought about the controversy it deserved because the collapse of the state was a more pressing matter (despite these things arguably being a factor in the collapse of the state), despite Endeavor and Hawks being honest and transparent. That was the honesty and transparency that the world didn't have beforehand - Jaku forcing these things to be exposed to the light and the heroes readily confessing to them (probably helped by the HPSC having its head killed off). And it barely penetrated society's thick skull.

If Deku were to share Tenko's story, I agree that he would do it despite it reflecting poorly on him and the Heroes and All Might. I agree that he would be honest and transparent about it. But that's it. He'll just tell it once, just to have it on record, then never again unless it's specifically brought up. IMO, of course, but look at how he promised to never forget Shigaraki, and yet Shigaraki is never mentioned at all in the final chapter, only getting one small ghostly panel.

No, what needs to be done, then, is not just being honest and transparency, but also fighting for these things to matter. To stay relevant and change actually made in response. To advocate for the villains-who-are-also-victims. Sadly, Deku has just never been too interested in truly helping Shigaraki in this aspect.

*as always, substitute criticism of Deku for criticism of Horikoshi's writing to the amount of your liking.

[amygdalae]

always love recreating my edgelord-ass video game ocs in hero forge

[extraordinarilyextreme]

Zeng Shunxi's Goodbye to Fang Duobing

Original video on Weibo:

去岁初夏逢君¹盛² Last year, at the beginning of summer, I met the flourishing you. 今朝花落²梦方醒 Now, as the flowers fall, Fang wakes from his dream. 故事到此收笔 This story has since reached its end, 但人生还长 But life still goes on, 江湖路远 And the roads of the jianghu stretch far. 意气江湖正道³安 The spirit of the jianghu lies in following the correct path; 风华正茂⁴是少年 At life’s blossoming is the youth. 愿将来的方小包 I wish that the future Fang Xiaobao 经历风雨⁵ Will forge through wind and storms 不忘少年初心⁶ Without forgetting the original aspirations of his youth. 走遍人间 Even after walking to the ends of the mortal world, 仍有他路可寻 There remain other roads that can be sought for. 山高水长见日光⁷ The mountains are lofty and the rivers are long; everyday, may you see the light of the sun; 始终不忘少年样 And from the beginning to the end, may you not forget your younger self. 前路存知己⁸ The road ahead harbors the one who knows your heart, 江湖有相逢 for in the jianghu, there exist reunions. 于道各努力⁹ Work hard on every path you take; 千里自同风⁹ Even separated by a thousand li, he and you are buffeted by the same wind. 方多病 Fang Duobing, 希望你不服众望¹⁰ I hope you will not disappoint everyone’s expectations, 成为下一个传奇 And become the next legend.

Detailed explanations (footnotes) under the cut!

Any mistakes are my own.

1. 君 is a formal and literary way to say “you.” It can also be used to refer to lords, monarchs, rulers, etc. 

2. Note the juxtaposition of 盛 “flourishing” (also: splendorous; vigorous; blooming) and 落 “falling” flowers.

3. The 正道 can also be understood as the “orthodox path.” In Buddhism, it is the right way: it is the path of correct principles and of doing the right things.

4. 风华正茂 is an idiom that simply means “in one’s prime.” I chose to invoke imagery that would call back to the beginning two lines about flowers.

5. 经历风雨 is an idiom that means “to go through thick and thin.” 

6. 初心 is a commonly invoked theme in such coming-of-age stories (which this thematically may as well be, for FDB) and translates literally to “the heart at one’s beginning.” For FDB, it would mean keeping his principles of justice and goodness in mind, no matter what he goes through.

7. 山高水长 can be an idiom that describes one’s personality and/or character. This line can also be understood as praising FDB’s noble and optimistic/positive character (见日光: seeing sunlight; sunny-dispositioned; always looking on the bright side).

8. 前路存知己 is very similar in phrasing to a line from Tang Dynasty poet Gao Shi’s 《别董大》 (Farewell to My Friend Dong): 

莫愁前路无知己 Worry not, on the road ahead, that you will lack someone who knows your heart. 天下谁人不识君  Beneath these skies, who will not know your name?

If you watched 《说英雄谁是英雄》 Heroes (2022), this line will probably be familiar.

9. These two lines come from the end of Song Dynasty poet Zhou Xingji’s 《送友人东归》 (Sending My Friend to Return East), which I believe laments the pains of a long-distance friendship. The lines that ZSX has quoted here essentially encourages FDB to continue working hard on the life path he has chosen, despite how the sadness of separation can feel unbearable, for even if he and his friend (LLH) are a thousand li apart, they will ultimately reach the same goal and destination.

10. I thought it was interesting that he uses 服 and 望, because the phrasing is very similar to LLH’s letter at the end of the series, when he apologizes to DFS (终有服君之所望): “I have failed you ultimately.”

[fieldghoul]

I happened to read this interview where Alex Ross Perry (co-director of Rite Here Rite Now) was talking about his Videoheaven and Pavements projects, and this quote jumped out at me:

Cinema Scope: There’s a line that keeps popping up in Videoheaven: “The movies talk about themselves.” I like this a lot, and it’s interesting that a filmmaker like Brian De Palma was ahead of the curve in assessing the symbolic or semiotic potency of the video-store space, whereas later on it served mostly as a backdrop for romantic comedies. It was a way to hint that the characters had inner lives, and taste, but rarely to the point where they genuinely talk about movies. It’s like a weird uncanny-valley thing: I remember always wondering what the characters on Friends would say about La Dolce Vita (1961), the poster for which is hanging in Monica’s apartment, or if the version of Die Hard (1988) they rented had actual profanity in it…  Alex Ross Perry: Well, this is something that only people like us would ever think about. If they rent Die Hard on Friends, but then Bruce Willis appears in a later season as Ross’ girlfriend’s father, in this world, is there simply a guy who looks like Willis and has his mannerisms, and so on? And has he ever seen Die Hard? This question is of course made text in Last Action Hero (1993), with the Stallone Terminator 2 (1991) gag. To say nothing of the now well-known and HD-enhanced fact that on Seinfeld, Jerry owns Child’s Play 2 (1991) and Arachnophobia (1990) on VHS, along with Pretty Woman (1990), which stars Jason Alexander…I’m reading too much into all this, but so would a De Palma character. 

(For some broader context -- Videoheaven is an as-yet unreleased documentary about video stores, particularly as they're featured in film.)

But it made me think, it's funny, isn't it -- the VHS tapes in Rite Here Rite Now.

Some of them are vague -- for the two box sets next to the TV, the top one has a logo that was used for Prequelle Exalted version, and the bottom is the logo for either Impera (possibly Phantomime, it's hard to tell which with the color grading in the movie). I don't think anybody has definitively figured out what Ghost In the Trees means, but Haze Over North America Tour 2013 was a real tour that happened, but no audio or video of it was ever released (at least, not in our universe).

On the table, we have one more box set with the If You Have Ghosts logo and art, and we see tapes of the Chapters videos. New Blood, Tax Season and Meanwhile in Dublin, are shown up close, plus Nap Time is on the desk in front of Sister Imperator.

The fact that the Chapters exist on VHS is what's so weird. There's really no way to reconcile the existence of these tapes in the Ghost universe with the way most people would have understood the Chapters up until now. I think the default interpretation of a piece of fiction is that it is true in its own reality -- i.e. in the universe where Cardinal Copia is himself, and not Tobias Forge in a mask, the Chapters are something that actually happened. It's much weirder to see it it as some kind of meta-fiction, where it's a scripted production put together and released by these fictional characters. But Rite Here Rite Now is a movie about Copia and Sister Imperator and Papa Nihil and not the actors that play them - how could the chapters possibly co-exist with the characters in-universe?

I always think that's a fun part of Ghost -- the veil between the universe of Ghost's lore and reality is often so thin. They come out to play in our world in the form of concerts, and it's not quite like meeting Mickey Mouse in Disney World where the costumed character's experiences have no bearing on the canon. The real life shows Ghost performs add to the counter Papa Nihil is keeping for Copia. The accolades that they allude to in the Chapters - the Grammy, the gold certification for Mary On A Cross, TikTok virality - all happen in real life.

For the record, I don't think we're meant to explain the tapes in RHRN, for the record -- my interpretation it is just a nod to what Alex Ross Perry mentioned in the interview. It is impossible to have a fictional storyline that takes place in the real world without running up against paradoxes you create.

Also, allow me to plug my own post, from earlier: besides the VHS I already mentioned, there are two others on the table that are partially obscured and unidentifiable - the one in the GIF above, with the Union Jack on it, and one other in an orange case that appears to say "Australian Tour" (the "tour" part is cut off in this screen cap, but is somewhat visible in the video). I can't tell if there's other text on the VHS cover, or if it's just graphics.

I can't figure out if it's young Nihil on the cover or a stylized version of Papa III -- but either way, Papa Nihil of course never went on an Australian tour in our reality (or, theoretically, in theirs - since, per Metal Myths, Nihil's version of Ghost "immediately disbanded" - not that Ghost is unwilling to retcon things) but neither did Papa III. There were plans for an Australian tour during Meliora era, but they fell through when Soundwave was cancelled in 2016. But I guess it's another point where their reality diverges from ours :-)

[justacynicalromantic]

The sun is rising behind the spoil tips.(2) The world is allowing those with strong beliefs to claim what is rightfully theirs. Babylon is burning, but we are already holding the line with swords in our hands. For fire cannot touch those who were forged in flames. (3)

Listen to the latest song from the authors of the now famous Ukrainain track "Wild Field"

We human beings have been blessed with a beautiful garden and a myriad of pathways to explore. Each atom is a work of art, a haven of emerald waters. But there are some who get a kick of launching drones into children's rooms. They are just God's mistake, a badly written machine code. Having received the most remarkable creation - human body - In the world of violins and scripts, they want to pull the Soviet oar, Half a world away from home. Cruel beasts from birth, They thirstily feed on blood. True evil, in short. Endowed with gifts to weave love and musical chords, I dive instead into this surreal reality, when I could be building life instead. Because if we do not, all of us will be killed by this horde. Our world is broken again. We have to be the engineers of new Existence.

The sun is rising behind the spoil tips. The world is allowing those with strong beliefs to claim what is rightfully theirs. Babylon is burning, but we are already holding the line with swords in our hands. For fire cannot touch those who were forged in flames.

The uranium of the nation is here, where the spirit of the people is stronger than the everlasting ores. In the cities, there are cobblestones and animal waste. If you are a pound of slag, no money will get you rich. We are the pillars that provide the world with a continuous and influential impetus. The courageous and resolute do not fear death. It would be awful if the two shores were to be torn apart once more, The actions of the heroes - erased, the children - colonized.(4) It's better to go into battle with a pack of wolves than a herd of deer. Destitute slaves dive into the Tisza River. But we emerge from lava, from soot, and fog. Demons are constantly climbing out of the underground mines. With the bodies of the best of us, we are sewing up the cracks of the Earth.

The sun is rising behind the spoil tips. The world is allowing those with strong beliefs to claim what is rightfully theirs. Babylon is burning, but we are already holding the line with swords in our hands. For fire cannot touch those who were forged in flames.

Behind the tericons Babylon is burning, and we are Under the crown of the sky We stand in legions

The video clip shows war-torn Donbas. Especially in the second half of the video, you can see what used to be asphalt roads lined with rubble that used to be houses - all that's left of the city of Mariinka. The landscape of Donbas - endless fields of wheat, sunflowers and wildflowers - burned and scarred with craters left by missiles. For reference, this is how Donbas looked before:

2. Spoil tips, or terricones as we call them, are waste from mines, the size of mountains - a very common sight in Donbas.

3. "For fire cannot burn those who were forged in flames" is a very famous quote from Taras Shevchenko's epic poem "Hamalia"

4. In these 2 lines the song is referencing Ukrainian history in the beginning of the 20th century. The Dnipro River divides all of Ukraine almost cleanly in half, and by this separation line Ukraine had been divided for many years - the Left Bank under the rule of Russian Empire, the Right Bank - under Poland's rule. But after WWI and after Russian Empire fell, Ukrainians were able to first establish two Ukrainian states (people of the Left Bank established Ukraine's People Rebublic and people of the Right Bank established West Ukrainian People Republic) and then, on January 22, 1919 - to unite again into one singular state. This date of signing the Treaty of Unity is a national holiday in modern Ukraine. Alas, soon the whole country was again occupied by Russia and forced into the Soviet Union.

PS: link to the Wild Field, for those who has not heard it yet

I also highly recommend Ragnarok