#however! a hero’s death as a whole is just incredible. it has a really special quality and i do love how its more solemn | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

blueteller · 2 years ago

Text

The Soo Trio & Earth Abilities

Let's talk about Earth Abilities for a moment, shall we?

It's been a long-standing debate in the fandom whether Cale has more Abilities than just 2. Of course now it’s at least 3, since he got Embrace from Lee Soo Hyuk. However, just like how the area where Cale and the others live was never called “the whole world”, merely “the two Continents” implies that there might be more continents in that world, Kim Rok Soo had never been stated to have “2 abilities”. Instead, he was called a “Multiple Ability User”.

It was especially worth noticing when OG Cale!Kim Rok Soo was talking with Choi Jung Soo about it. He said he was getting hang of his new Abilities, but Choi Jung Soo warned him that Kim Rok Soo was a “multiple Ability User” and that his Abilities were hard to master.

Furthermore, it appears that Abilities evolve over time, as in the beginning of the cataclysm, most people seemed to have only 1 Ability per person – Park Jin Tae was an unusual case, and thus kept it a secret.

What form Abilities take highly depends on the person’s personality and interest. For example, there was person at Kim Rok Soo’s shelter who used to be a music major, and her ability allowed her to project her voice for others to hear from far away.

Kim Rok Soo’s first Ability was Record. Which fits his personality of someone who has excellent memory and is able to process all information to his advantage. His second Ability, gained after years of working for the Company, was Instant. Yet again, it fits with how desperately he wished to rush in and save his team. He’s also someone who breaks the rules to achieve his goals no matter what it takes, so no wonder his Ability allowed him to transcend time itself.

Unlike Lee Soo Hyuk and Choi Jung Soo, who tragically died quite young, Kim Rok Soo lived to his late 30’s. He had time to develop more Abilities afterwards. I don’t have valid theories about what his third Ability could potentially be. I suspect it was probably something passive, such as “Perseverance” or something. Perhaps it’s an Ability that allows him to stay conscious for as long as he needs to in order to accomplish something. It’s a wild shot, but it’s as good of a guess as any. There haven’t been any clear hints about that yet. Perhaps I’m wrong, and it’s all just red herring – maybe Kim Rok Soo just had 2 Abilities all along and that was it.

Let’s talk about Lee Soo Hyuk and Choi Jung Soo for a moment, shall we?

Lee Soo Hyuk is a fascinating case. He’s clearly someone special. He doesn’t seem to be a Single-Lifer – because he naturally reincarnated after his death. And yet, even Monsters recognize he is someone unusual. He is a natural-born hero: he has the charisma, the skills, and the ideals of one. And his first unnamed Ability was incredibly strong – it allowed him to cut through anything. The power was described to be eerily silent, cutting through the air itself.

...And that Ability previously belonged to Choi Jung Gun, aka. Nelan Barrow, the first Dragon Slayer.

Why the heck Choi Jung Gun decided to hand this ability to Lee Soo Hyuk is a mystery. He doesn't exactly strike me as a generous type. I’m very curious to learn about that story in the future. For now, I just assume Choi Jung Gun saw potential in Lee Soo Hyuk (there was implication that he’s able to see some ‘Threads of Fate’ during his meeting with Cale in the Sloth Test) and decided he should have it due some circumstances.

After getting that Ability, Lee Soo Hyuk developed Embrace. We know Embrace came second, because he did not use it in the Sealed God’s Test, despite going against an Unranked Monster and giving his all. It was also a very peculiar and unusual Ability – it was even able to seal a God!! That is no small issue, Lee Soo Hyuk’s Abilities are all busted!!! No wonder he was such a big deal in Korea.

And finally, we get to Choi Jung Soo. He’s the one I really wanted to talk about from the start.

You see, we all forget that Kim Rok Soo was not expected to be the successor of Lee Soo Hyuk. In fact, everyone in the Company expected it to be Choi Jung Soo. Considering how incredibly skilled Kim Rok Soo was, that’s quite a big deal.

Choi Jung Soo gave Choi Han his Miru Ability – his own variation of it being the White Miru – but looking at Lee Soo Hyuk and Kim Rok Soo, it becomes obvious that he must have had another Ability.

And that’s where chapters 580 & 581 come in.

Cale meets Choi Jung Soo and is incredibly happy to see him. Choi Jung Soo is naturally wary of the person who has Rank 1 Monsters such as the Dark Tiger following him. Cale then thinks this:

“‘He’s wary of me again.’ He could tell that Choi Jung Soo was quite wary of him. That was why Choi Jung Soo was focusing his gaze on him instead of the monster Alberu or Choi Han who had a sword on his side. Cale could tell that Choi Jung Soo's ‘intuition’ was still there after seeing Choi Jung Soo be wary when he was trying to speak as warmly as possible.”

Choi Jung Soo, on the other hand, thinks this:

“The fact that such a person had recognized him through foresight was shocking, and it was weird that he was being so friendly. He also found something weird about himself as well. ‘...I don’t feel any wariness toward him.’ Choi Jung Soo had been quite tense since the world became like this. It was because he was weak. This world was now one where the weak could be preyed upon by the strong at any moment. But for some odd reason, he didn't feel any wariness toward this man named Kim Rok Soo even after hearing how strong he is. Choi Jung Soo found that the current situation was even more chaotic as he had never felt this way before.”

Choi Jung Soo feels wary NOT because he’s distrustful towards Cale. In fact, it’s exactly the opposite. He’s wary BECAUSE he’s not feeling distrustful, and finds that very strange!

Don’t you see what this is??

This is, yet again, foreshadowing, my friends! Choi Jung Soo has an ‘Intuition’ Ability!!

It makes a lot of sense! His first Ability wasn’t the White Miru – because when Choi Han starts training him, he doesn’t have that yet. Choi Jung Soo recognizes Choi Han’s style as familiar, but not the Ability itself. It should have been a dead giveaway if Choi Jung Soo used the same-looking dragon power.

Park Jin Tae had a similar Ability, which allowed him to recognize individual’s strength based on the pressure they gave off. I think Choi Jung Soo’s Ability has less to do with strength, and more with intent. Especially because he thinks this regarding Choi Han:

“Choi Jung Soo realized something at that moment. They had said that Choi Han was the strongest person in the group. ‘But why-’ For some very weird reason... ‘Do I have even less wariness toward this person than even Kim Rok Soo?’ Choi Han was standing there with a stoic expression, but it did not seem threatening at all to Choi Jung Soo. It didn't seem to be because Choi Han was younger than Choi Jung Soo. ‘What is going on?’ Cale continued to speak as Choi Jung Soo became even more confused while looking at Cale and Choi Han.”

Choi Jung Soo feels completely safe with Cale and Choi Han, which confuses him extremely. Those individuals are the strongest, and yet, he feels absolutely no ill intent from them.

That is no mystical connection, or Choi Jung Soo recognizing Choi Han as his family... That is not at all what is going on here. Choi Jung Soo’s logic dictates that he should feel wariness towards the two strongest individuals, and yet his Ability is telling him: “Those two are Completely Safe. You can Trust Them.” Because both Cale and Choi Han love him already as family, even though he doesn’t know them. That must have been very confusing.

I am very looking forward to Choi Jung Soo reuniting with Cale and Choi Han in the Murim world later. I am very sure we will learn more about his Intuition Ability there. I’m convinced such an Ability would be very useful for recognizing allies and forming a rebel group to fight against the Hunters.

Do not underestimate the subtle powers. After all, Cale’s Record was able to change the fate of multiple worlds so far.

So, there you have it! All known Abilities of the Soos:

Lee Soo Hyuk: “Slashing” Ability (received from CJG), Embrace (given to Cale)

Kim Rok Soo: Record, Instant, possible third Ability

Choi Jung Soo: “Intuition” Ability, White Miru

#tcf #trash of the count's family #lcf #lout of the count’s family #cale henituse #kim rok soo #lee soo hyuk #choi jung soo #tcf soos #choi jung gun #earth abilities #analysis #tcf predictions #tcf meta

302 notes · View notes

hajimeiwaswife · 3 years ago

Text

AUGUST | CHAPTER 4: HOME

[Masterlist]

Chapter 3 Chapter 5

Summary: You’re marrying Izuku Midoriya in September, but he gets an emergency call from All Might’s old agency in the U.S., requesting his services for the entirety of August. A death threat directed at you for being his partner has his hair on edge. However, the always responsible, caring and heroic Shoto Todoroki comes to your rescue, offering to take care of you for the whole month. Who would have thought that 31 days were enough to make you reconsider your engagement with the number 1 hero and fall in love with the Icy Hot man who held your hand during the last breeze of summer?

Warnings: Everyone is 25 more or less, death threats, blood, anxiety attack, 1st person pov.

Wc: +6,2k

Playlist

We couldn't go to work on Wednesday because they were still rebuilding our floor at the Agency, so I stayed at home all day catching up on series, books and on writing after so long of not doing so.

Thursday was a long day, having to do the whole working day was one of humanities biggest curses. But I had fun at the club that night, I had to admit; Hina, Mei, Akari and me decided to go out for the 'University Thursday', the day every university student would go out. It brought back memories of my student days and also made me clear my mind up a little.

Shoto knew nothing about my outings, thinking I was just at home. I felt slightly guilty, though at the same time I felt free and he could have his own free time. Now, at 6 p.m. on a Friday night, I was going back to my apartment, a little tipsy and with my make up probably ruined. However, I felt joy, I really needed to go out with my friends, we were just 25 at the end of the day.

The streets were deserted, only a few people were walking around with the same look as me, going home after a very much deserved party night. I could see the entrance to my hall from where I stood, and I started thinking about how strange it was for me to go out partying, never finding it as entertaining as I found it that night. Maybe it was the need to destress myself, or maybe it was the company, but that night and the previous one were what helped me wake up the next mornings to work.

Although, when I reached the hall and opened the door with the keys I had between my knuckles, a hooded figure exited without a greeting or a thanks for keeping the door open for him. I scoffed, rolling my eyes and entering the building. I could only think about taking off the dress, putting my pyjamas on, removing my makeup and sleeping. The time that passed between going up on the elevator and opening the door to my apartment felt like eternity, the prayers of my bed begging to be used were deafening; 'it would have been better to use it in other way with Izuku, though' my subconscious suggested and I couldn't help from clenching my thighs together at the thought of my incredibly hot fiancé fucking me into oblivion.

Yes, the way he would thrust into me using his superhuman strength and speed, One For All at 8%. His tip rubbing that special spot inside of me, my walls hugging his length and welcoming him in my warmth every time he would pull inside. His lips would be kissing my lips, jaw, neck, collarbones; and his hands would touch everything he could as the greedy man he was.

I don't know how I managed to open the door without dropping the keys to the floor, but I did it. I left my high heels at the entrance, walking clumsily around the living room, barefoot. I felt something liquid on the floor, didn't pay attention to it at first, just thinking about getting to the room and changing clothes. However, the more I walked the more liquid there was on the floor, becoming more and more sticky.

I furrowed my brows, mind not really ready to think anything, and switched on the light when I reached the end of the living room. I looked back and the scream I let out had most likely woken up the whole neighbourhood.

The liquid, that thing I had been stepping over, was red and all over the floor, walls and furniture in irregular patterns. So many things were broken that I wondered how I didn't stab my feet with anything. My heart hammered against my ribs in a very unsteady rhythm and I felt dizzy, just that this time, it wasn't because of the alcohol.

Where I got the courage from, I'm still trying to guess, but I went to the kitchen just to find the very same scenery; same happened in the bathrooms, master room and the rest of the rooms of my house. I was speechless and I could feel an anxiety attack arose, my body trembling and my legs giving up, sitting on the liquid filled floor. I didn't want to think it was blood, please, 'don't let it be blood' I repeated once and once again.

What could I do in that situation? Izuku, I needed to get to him, but he wasn't there, he was in the U. S. 'Should I call the police?' no, that wasn't it, either. My mind was racing and at the same time was stuck in time, both the anxiety and alcohol not helping me think of a good solution to the mess that I had dragged myself into without wanting to.

I took out my phone, pondering who I should call, what I should do. Then, I remembered. Shoto's face came into my mind with his words from every single day.

"If you have a problem, call me."

So I did, I pressed his private number with shaking hands and brought the device to my ear, waiting for him to reply. One ring, two, three, four. Time seemed to go slower in the corner of my now red bedroom. Five, six, se—.

"Y/n-san?" Shoto's husky voice could be heard from the other side of the line, a confused undertone in it. He was probably asleep, "Y/n-san, is everything okay?"

"Sho—Shoto," I sobbed, didn't know when I started crying, but my cheeks were wet with the trail the trickle of tears was forming sticking my hair onto them, "Shoto, please, come."

"I'll be right there, Y/n-san. What's the situation? Can you speak? Is anyone there with you?" the shuffling from his side made me think he was getting up from the bed and was going to get dressed to get to me.

"N—no, it's j—ust me." the shuffling continued, meanwhile my knuckles were white of how strongly I was holding my phone, "B—but someone's be—been here, Shoto, I—," I couldn't continue talking, sobbing loudly and echoing in the walls of my shared room with Izuku.

"Okay, okay, don't worry. I'll be there in a few minutes, try to breath." I had never heard Todoroki with that much emotion in his voice, his velvety voice that was trying to calm me down the best he could, "Wait for me, alright?"

I hummed, too overwhelmed to talk. The white noise from his end now showed the jingling of keys and a door being unlocked.

"Y/n-san, I have to hung up, don't worry, I'll be there in no time,"

"NO! No, please! Don't leave me alone!" I cried, terrified, holding onto the device as if it was my lifeline.

"It's just for a few minutes, I promise—"

"Please." I begged, covering my mouth with my hand and sobbing onto it. I was horrified, and drunk, I could smell the alcohol in my breath.

"Okay, then." he didn't talk anymore, but I could hear his heavy breathing and the use of his quirk through the phone.

Ice. His ice was white and cold, unlike the red and warm liquid that was all around my apartment. I needed to think about it. Ice. Ice. Ice. Not red, not liquid, not heat. Ice, cold, white.

I felt like throwing up, could it be because of the situation? Or because I took too many shots? Maybe both? I didn't know, I could just rock myself from side to side waiting for the Pro Hero. Ice. Yes, ice. I needed something cold, my body was burning up and I needed to regulate my temperature.

I went from having fun with my friends to a living hell. My beautiful apartment completely broken and corrupted, Izuku was going to be so sad.

"Y/n-san." Shoto's voice sounded at the other side of the line again, "Open the door, please, I'm outside."

Never had I run as fast as I did, skidding through the corners of my flat because of the 'don't say it', I told myself. My lungs were suffering from not breathing steadily in minutes, my feet hurt from the objects that were on the floor, I was a mess.

When I opened the door, I found a not so stoic Shoto in front of me dressed in his hero costume. The navy blue of his suit contrasted so much with the red that was all over my place, and the ice that remained in his right cheek looked very comfortable, I wanted to touch it and feel something that wasn't agony.

"Y/n-san." Shoto spoke again, his voice hiding the distress he felt when he saw the new decoration of my apartment. "Are you hurt? What happened?"

I could only sob, throwing myself at him and hugging his waist while I cried on his chest. I was tired, drunk and I just wanted to sleep and for my apartment to be like it used to a few hours ago. I felt Todoroki's cold and warm arms surrounding me, hugging me back from my shoulders. Then, I felt him tense up and sniff a little, as if his nose caught on something that could be of value; he separated me from him by the shoulders, keeping his strong hands on them, and looked at me seriously.

"Are you drunk?" he asked, eyes checking me up with the most judgemental gaze I had ever received, "Y/n-san, have you gone out without telling me?"

My condition didn't allow me to think it through and I nodded with half lidded eyes and a pout. His eyes were dead serious, a frown visible in his forehead and his mouth turned into a scowl. I had to admit, I was a little afraid of having infuriated the number three hero.

"We'll talk about your imprudence later. Now, what happened."

His tone wasn't as gentle anymore, he was pissed off and he was on his right to be so. I shrugged my shoulders and he shook me a little to force me to speak.

"I was, I was out with my friends when—,"

"Which friends."

"Hina, Mei and Aka—Akari." I answered between sobs. He nodded and I continued, "I just came home an—and my apartment looked, looked lik—like this." I sobbed harder, pressing my hands on my face to hide my tears. I felt pathetic, but what else could anyone ask from a drunk?

"Did you notice anything unusual? Someone sneaking around the neighbourhood? A note somewhere?" he continued with the interrogation while messing with his mobile phone, sending an alert to his father's agency, to his own and to the police.

I shook my head, my lips still forming a pout. I tried to think as hard as I could, my brain as numb as my body, recalling the events of the night and of the previous days. Everything had been normal, nothing out of the ordinary except for me going out two nights in a row.

"Let's recall the night step by step." Shoto announced, keeping me steady by my shoulders, "When did you go out?"

"At 22:30 p. m." he nodded, pissed off, but at least I was answering coherently.

He continued asking questions about the people I saw on my way to the club, in the club, my friends, the bartender, the people I saw on my way out and back to my house. "Was there someone near the hall?"

"No... Wait." I opened my eyes widely, looking at him with a daze gaze, "When I opened the door to the hall, a guy came out."

"What did they look like?"

"I did—didn't see their face, they were wearing a dark hoody."

"What colour?"

"Dark grey or black, I think." I sniffed a couple of times, my breathing getting calmer now that I had someone capable around, but still in shock.

"Were they taller than you? Shorter? Bigger? Smaller?"

I squeezed my eyes in an attempt to remember them, "Taller, but they were curved forward. And skinny."

"I see." Shoto sighed and started writing on his phone, taking his hands away from me and causing me to lose balance. "Hey! Be careful." with one of his arms he took my waist and pressed me against him to keep me on my feet. His left side, he had pressed me against his cold left side and suddenly all of my woes disappeared as I indulged on the coldness of his body, needing it after the last five minutes of my life, "The police and my agency are on their way, we'll have to wait for them outside to not touch anything. After they're done, you're packing."

"Packing?" I asked with a tired voice.

"I'll tell you later, we don't know if they can hear us here." Shoto looked around, his bicolour hair falling over his heterochromatic eyes as he observed in detail the living room, "I should have taken you out of this flat since the beginning."

"Hear us? Y—you thing there are mics or something?" I grabbed his suit harder, forming fists.

"I don't know." he sighed, seemingly irritated. "We don't know who's done this, if they are more than one person, their quirks. We're clueless right now and I don't like this situation at all."

Izuku had always told me how brutally honest Todoroki was, the lack of social interaction when he was a kid provoked him to not have a filter. That was one of the moments when he didn't realize that his words could affect more than he thought they could. At the end of the day, he had a drunk girl at 6:15 a. m. completely terrified about the intrusion in her apartment and with her fiancé at hundreds of kilometres away.

My tears became even thicker and my sobs were uncontrollable. I wanted to talk to Izuku, to take everyone's warns more seriously and to apologize. I felt so guilty and ashamed about what was happening, because if I hadn't been irresponsible, I wouldn't have had to call Shoto so late at night (or so early at morning).

"Uh?" Todoroki mumbled, confused at my even more intense crying and looked down at me, "What is it?"

"I'm sorry," I murmured, pressing my face on his chest and sobbing harder, "I'm so sorry."

Poor Shoto was at a lost of words, even as a pro hero, he didn't have the best abilities consoling the people he saved. First, he had to understand what I was apologizing for: was it because I went out without telling him? If that was the case, he accepted the apology, but he was going to reprimand me about it later still.

"I told you to tell me if you wanted to go out." he said with his characteristic tone.

"I know, I'm sorry. This is my fault."

"Were you the one to spill blood all over your flat?" the pro hero arched his brows in surprise, his genuine question had me chuckling for a moment, a mixed of laughter and sobs that confused him even more.

"No, ah, that was not— I meant that, if I didn't g—o out, this wouldn't have happened." I complained.

Shoto sighed and looked at me with a serious expression, "It's true that you should have told me, but I don't think we would be talking right now if you had stayed in the building."

My blood ran cold and I opened my eyes wide, again. Did he mean that they would have killed me? And he said that as if he was writing the shopping list? I didn't get to ask any other question, as the sound of heavy footsteps draw our attention to the opened doors of the elevator and to the stairs.

The police and one of Shoto's sidekicks walked towards us, some of them wearing white suits that covered all of their body. Unconsciously, I grabbed Shoto even tighter, the effects of alcohol going away little by little and starting to realize the real situation.

One of the policemen approached along with Shoto's sidekick, meanwhile the others entered my apartment. I observed them with glassy eyes, they were collecting the red liquid from the floor in small bottles, others were going towards the other rooms, probably searching for something I didn't see.

"Shoto, L/n-san," the policeman said, I knew him, he had already worked with Izuku before, Naomasa Tsukauchi, "I'm glad to see you're alright."

"Hello, detective." Shoto greeted with his arms still surrounding my trembling body, "Sorry for waking you so early."

"No need," he did a gesture with his hands to express he didn't mind and directed his gentle gaze to me, "L/n-san, are you hurt?" I shook my head, which was still pressed against the pro hero's chest, "Good. I would like to ask you a few questions then, if that's okay."

I nodded my head this time, noticing how Shoto's arms distanced themselves from me, but I was still not ready to give up on a familiar touch now that I lacked my fiancé's. Stubbornly, I clung to him, closing my eyes tightly and focusing on the coldness of his right part. "Y/n-san," Shoto murmured, trying to push me away by the shoulders, "the detective Tsukauchi needs you to answer."

"Please, don't leave me." I begged. It looked like I was overreacting, and maybe I was, but someone who apparently wanted me dead had entered my flat and filled it with blood all over the place, I was terrified, "Please, don't leave."

"I'm not leaving, Y/n-san." the poor man was still trying to get me off him unsuccessfully, "I'll be right here, but the detective needs to—"

"It's okay, Shoto. You can stay with her, it doesn't really affect the process." Tsukauchi assured, taking out a small notebook to write down my answers.

They were rutinary questions, very similar to the ones Shoto had asked me before. He also assured us that there was a section of the police in search of the man I had seen earlier. In all that time, Shoto kept me against him and didn't try to push me off again, something I was thankful for.

Half an hour later, they informed us that I could get in to take a few necessary things, enough to at least spend the night out. It didn't seem real, in all the years I had been with Izuku my life had never been on edge, and now, all of a sudden, I had to leave my house for at least a night after being broken into.

I thanked as I could the officers and Shoto's sidekick, who just nodded and went straight to talk with the number three hero. I didn't want to look around again to see al out things destroyed, the place I called home so foreign to the sight it looked like it wasn't even mine. Pictures of Izuku and me on the ground, covered in blood and broken glass, our couch teared apart, the television smashed, the carpets ruined, our bed profaned, most of my clothes were inexistent, so I really didn't know what to pack.

I took a suitcase that, luckily, had survived the assault, and looked around for something I could put in. A few shirts, both Izuku's and mines, a couple of trousers, a dress and a pair of shoes were what survived inside the closet. I went to look for my hygiene products, only to find the toothbrush with its bristles missing, my shampoo and gel spilled in the shower's floor, they had been merciless. The body creams and deodorant were alright, but not my makeup.

Dread, I fold everything I had left and placed it on the suitcase. I observed the nightstands and not a single photo was standing, all of them teared apart. My favourite picture of Izuku had been there not even a few hours before, smiling brightly back at me whenever I looked at it, dressed in his hero costume the day he opened his own agency. My heart clenched; I really would have liked to take that frame with me to wherever I would have to go.

"We'll go tomorrow to buy you new clothes, don't worry." Shoto spoke from my back, startling me and making me turn to him hastily, "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you."

"It's okay," I whispered, closing the suitcase and putting it on the floor.

"Let me take that for you." the pro hero approached me, grabbing the handle.

"Thanks."

My shoulders were down, along with my head. The dress I had been wearing was wrinkled and stained with blood, and my hair was a mess after that long night. I wanted to ask where I was going to go; however, I didn't posses the energy to do so.

"C'mon, you must be tired." was all Shoto said before parting and exiting my bedroom, directing himself to the main door of my apartment with me following close behind.

I can't recall the journey between my flat and Shoto's car —who's sidekick had brought—, but I remember the warmth of it. It wasn't warmth as in heat, but the feeling of being safe and cosy, even for a few moments.

"We're going to my apartment, you're staying with me until we solve the case or Midoriya's back, whichever comes first." spoke the pro hero all of a sudden, bringing me back to reality. I squeezed my eyes, feeling guiltier with the new information.

"It's not necessary, I can return to my flat tomorrow," I said with my cheek pressed to the window of the car.

"No, you're staying with me." he repeated more sternly now, "They know where you live and they decided to attack when you weren't there for a reason, but it's clear they want to harm you and it's just a matter of time before they do it physically. I should have brought you from the moment Midoriya left, but I was fool enough to think—"

"I would be responsible and obey?"

"On the one hand, yes. On the other, I was fool enough to think they wouldn't attack your apartment when the threat was sent to that direction. I apologize for that mistake." he said sincerely, he really was brutally honest and seemed to regret his first decision, what left me surprised.

"Don't apologize, there was no way you could have predicted—"

"As a hero, it's my job to predict villains' movements. So I, again, apologize."

I didn't counter back this time, letting him apologize for what he believed had been his mistake. His sense of responsibility lighted something in me, and I opened my mouth to speak again.

"I'm sorry, too."

"You already said that."

"I know, but I'm really sorry, I shouldn't have disobeyed," the effects of the alcohol had completely wiped out and my apology was as sincere as it could be, hoping to reach to him, "you are doing a job you didn't have to take in, but you did, and took responsibility over me to protect me without asking anything in return. I broke yours and Izuku's trust, and I'm deeply sorry for that."

I bowed as well as I could with the seat bell on and held my breath, waiting for a reply from him that never came. Disappointed, I looked up only to find Shoto looking at me with a surprised look and mouth slightly open. We had stopped on a red light, so there was no risk of him staring so intensely at me for a few seconds more than recommended.

I wondered what he was thinking, looking at me as if he never would have expected me to have some civic sense. I did commit a mistake, everyone commits them, it had been my only big one in years; though it had probably left him on the impression that I was an irresponsible and selfish woman.

Our interactions had been briefed until that week, I knew him enough to know he was friends with Izuku since high school and that he was a very serious person; and he knew me enough to know I was his friend's partner. It made me sad to think he took the wrong impression of me for my more than stupid mistake; I deserved it, however.

Thankfully, I had misunderstood him completely, because moments later he left a small smile scape and adorn his face. Tiny, barely perceptible, but it was there and left me breathless; why didn't he smile more often? It was beautiful. "I accept your apology." he said, still with that smile decorating his features, "We're here, by the way."

I broke away from the spell caused by his sudden gesture and looked out the window to find a very modern building. Shoto parked in front of it, giving his keys to what appeared to be the parking attendant, and surrounded the car to get to my door, opening it and inciting me to get out. My suitcase had already been taken and given to the pro hero, who was grabbing it and waiting for me to react so we could enter the building.

It was a very luxurious apartment block, filled with balconies that were bigger than my childhood house, decorated in white and golden. The glass swing doors leaded to a huge and sophisticated hall, with a large red carpet that made the way to the elevators and the central stairs, a desk for the receptionist and a whole wall for the mailboxes. There were a few mirrors all over the place, accompanied of pictures and paintings I could swear were original Van Goghs'.

Izuku was rich, I knew it because we lived in a very spacious and beautiful flat, but this was something else. I couldn't help but look around the same way the men in the cave from Plato's myth did when they discovered the real world of ideas, completely awestruck and delighted, mixed with a bit of uneasiness from the sensation of intruding a place I was not worthy of.

"Don't mind them, they're just old folk with no education." Shoto said in a rather loud voice. I furrowed my brows, confused with his statement, until I took my attention away from the architecture and noticed the glances of disgust I was receiving from an old couple with a dog that were crossing the hall —too early to be awake, I must say—. Their stares were too focused on my clothes, and I realized I hadn't changed them, so I still had blood all over my dress and legs, "What are you looking at? Run! Death's after you!" Shoto said in a very bad mood to the elder couple, who looked at him outraged and marched out faster.

"Shoto!" I whispered shout, horrified, "You're supposed to be a hero! You can't just say those things to the people you have to protect."

"My duty at the moment is protecting you, I'm not working for them at the moment." he mumbled, rushing a little to the elevator.

The lift looked like those of the films where the rich main characters go to a five stars hotel. Was I trembling of fear of what happened or was it because of the excitement of seeing Todoroki's house? I wondered how it could look like: classy, modern, baroque, minimalist.

But what I found when he finally opened the door was the least expected and, at the same time, a pleasure to the sight. The decoration was Japanese traditionalist, so in contrast with the exterior that I could never had imagined someone could adorn their house so different from the concept presented by the facade.

I took my heels off, placing them where Shoto indicated me, and the tatami floor welcomed my sore feet. 'How soft', I thought, following the pro hero around like a lost puppy. He was placing my suitcase on a spare room at the end of the hallway, which was huge. His house was even bigger than Izuku and mine.

"You'll sleep here. If you find the futon uncomfortable, say so, I can always find a mattress."

"It's okay! Really! You're already doing too much." I murmured before observing the sliding doors of the left, that were probably the closet; a very small desk with a chair above ten centimetres from the floor; some other furniture, with exquisite taste; and a window at the end of the room, that was letting in the first rays of sun, "It's beautiful."

"Mm?" Shoto said, looking at me.

"Your house and the room, you have a gift for design and decoration, Todoroki-san."

"Not really, my childhood house was a minka, so I was already used to this style. It wasn't out of inspiration or anything." he shook his head, shrugging his shoulders just after.

"Don't take credit out of you, Todoroki-san."

We stood in silence after that, not really knowing what to say and, in my case, what to do. I needed to call Izuku and let him know what happened, if he didn't know already, that is; and I wanted to take a shower and put something more comfortable on. As if he had read my mind, Shoto turned around to meet me again.

"I have three bathrooms, yours is in this section of the house, next door, actually. There are towels, shampoo, gel and creams. If you need anything else, tell me." he informed me, his tone was a little bit more relaxed in his house, though if I hadn't talked to him for a whole week, I wouldn't had been able to tell.

"Thanks, Todoroki-san."

"Todoroki is just fine."

I took a deep breath and nodded, "Then you can call me just Y/n."

"Okay, L/n." I stayed there with my mouth hanging open and I could swear I saw a glimpse of amusement pass his heterochromatic eyes; then, he proceeded to leave the room.

Getting out of the shock, I shook my head and opened my suitcase, deciding to take one of Izuku's shirt to wear as a pyjama, as I had none. I checked that in my head, to buy pyjamas for the both of us the next morning.

I was so glad when I found a bathtub instead of a shower in the restroom, wanting nothing more than to rest my feet. I left the clean clothes and underwear aside and prepared the water; while it filled, I took out my dress, which I was sure was going to end up in the trash because of the blood.

I observed the shampoo and gel, smelling them and finding Shoto's characteristic aroma on them, it was actually pleasant. But what made me the happiest were the bath salts next to the bottles. So, when I finally entered the warm water, I made a mental note to use them any other day I wouldn't fill the bath with blood, as it seemed I was going to stay at the third pro hero's house for a while.

The dried blood was harsh to remove, but after scrubbing and scrubbing, my skin was clear and clean as it was before. I relaxed on the water for a bit, enjoying the few minutes of peace I had been gifted, and thought about the whole early morning I had lived.

Izuku was going to be so mad when he found out I had been going out on Shoto's back, and he was on his right to be. I really didn't want to break his trust, and less worry him when he was on his own mission with his own problems.

And then, our house was smashed to ashes just less than a moth before our wedding. I still had to revise some of the arrangements, and now I would need to build and design our flat again.

When the water ran cold, I got out of the bathtub and grabbed a white towel, so soft and smooth that caressed my skin delicately. I sighed in content, drying myself at the soft touch of the fabric before dressing on Izuku's shit and a pair of panties. He was so buff that the shirt looked more like a dress on me, hiding my thighs and reaching nearly my knees. It was navy blue with a stamp of All Might in the middle.

I chuckled softly at it and got out of the bathroom, prepared to get to my room and grab my phone to talk with Izuku. However, a deep voice stopped me from doing so.

"L/n, come to the living room." I didn't know where that was, so I just followed his voice and surprisingly reached there without complications, but probably looked exhausted, "It's Midoriya." he just said, shaking the phone in his hand.

I ran towards him, taking it from him and pressing the device against my ear, "Izuku?"

"Y/n! Dear Lord, I was so worried when Todoroki called. Are you okay? He said you said you were, but I needed to hear it from you." the number one hero spluttered, rushing his words out as he always did when he was stressed.

"Yes, I'm okay, but our apartment isn't." I sighed, devastated.

"That's just a material thing, we'll fix it. What's important is that you're safe and sound." he said in a gentle tone, something I needed and my body and mind knew it. He was such a ray of sunshine, "We're lucky you were out of the apartment, I don't even want to imagine what would have happened if..." he didn't get to finish the sentence, hearing a slight sniff coming from his line, and I figured he was shivering.

"Yeah, about that, I'm really sorry, Izuku, I—"

"At least you were with Todoroki, outside you were safer than inside."

"Uh?"

I lifted my brows and continued listening to his rattling about his friend before turning around to look at Shoto, who was just drinking a glass of water calmly on the table in the middle of the room. He returned my gaze and nodded, indicating me to follow whatever Izuku was saying.

"... and I'm sure he would have frozen the enemies! That's why they didn't dare to harm you while you were out."

"Yeah, y—yeah, of course. Shoto is great." I went along, with my eyes wide in confusion and shaking my head.

"Well, darling, I would love to keep talking to you, but I'm sure you're tired and want to sleep a little. Relax and be calm, everything's going to be alright." he assured me, sounding sad of saying goodbye. I was, too, but the tiredness and numbness I felt on my body after the events took over me.

"Okay, I love you, talk to you in a few hours." I said, smiling softly when he spoke again.

"I love you too, Y/n, rest well."

The line went off and I stayed there a couple of seconds that felt like ages, trying to connect the dots and understand what just happened. Did he just say Shoto was with me? Where did he hear that?

Shoto stood up from the table when he realized I wasn't reacting and approached me, taking the phone away from my hand. "I told him I was with you and your friends." he simply explained, less stoic than usual, but stoic still.

"Why?" I really wanted to understand, not comprehending why he would lie to my fiancé on an important matter. Don't be fooled, I was grateful.

"He already has enough on his plate for me to tell him you have gone out on my back."

His words were harsh, but his intention wasn't, he was just being honest as he always was. I nodded, happy of obtaining my answer, but I cringed at the realization that my imprudence was what had driven him to lie for me.

"I'm really sorry."

"Yeah, you should be. More than once you've gone out without telling me. L/n, do you realize the situation you're on? You're not only endangering yourself, but your friends, too, by outing with them without any precaution." he spoke calmly, stoic and controlled, but I could tell he was pissed, "From now on, you're only going out with me, for your own good."

I wanted to protest, but he was right, so I only looked at the floor and nodded my head, agreeing with his terms. I was too tired to think of a counter argument.

"You're been taking the death threat as a joke, and I really didn't want anything to happen, but this has served as a precedent to start taking it seriously." he continued, his red and white locks falling over his eyes, some of them sticking to his forehead, that was filled with sweat because of the summer heat.

"I'm sorry." I repeated, and he just sighed, pressing a hand on my shoulder.

"I know," he acknowledged me as if I was a little kid, "now go to sleep, rest is important."

I nodded again, mumbling a 'goodnight', and walking away to the room he settled for me. I did not have problems to sleep, as I had previously thought it would happen; the futon was comfortable and the air conditioner was a blessing to have. 'I should buy something for Shoto tomorrow, too' I thought, drifting off thinking of my fiancé's kindness and Shoto's hospitality, grateful and terrified at the same time. I just hoped the rest of August would go uneventful.

Tag list: @shoutocakie @kisskissshutmydoor

#shoto x reader #shoto todoroki x reader #todoroki shoto x reader #todoroki x reader #shouto todoroki x reader #todoroki shouto x reader #shouto x reader #shoto todoroki x you #shoto x you #izuku midoriya x reader #bnha #my hero academia

43 notes · View notes

baku-bowl · 3 years ago

Text

broke 1,000 followers (the fuck? I don't even make content people), so decided to write up a list of some (but not all, I'll make other lists later) of my favorite Bakugou-centric fic recs. my tastes run towards hurt/comfort, as you'll probably figure from the list. if there are some Baku-centric fics that you've enjoyed that aren't on here, please add them - this is definitely not a complete list of the ones I've read and love, but I'm always up for some recs. <3

fair warning, most of these are wips.

------------------------------------------------

Social Media 101 by WindsChild8178

Part 1: Survival Guide to Fucking Up

[Solely Bakugou’s point of view]

Katsuki Bakugou doesn’t have a gentle bone in his body. He’s aggressive in everything he does and does everything with 100% of his heart in it. After the Sport’s Festival, Katsuki starts to get harassed by strangers for his unheroic demeanor. It starts with letters but it doesn’t end there. The moment Katsuki realizes the harassment has entered dangerous territory and he needs to tell someone, it’s already too late.

Part 2: Post Traumatic Life Disorder

[Point of View opens up to Bakugou, teachers and classmates]

When the Dorms are finally built, everyone is settling in well, but things become tense as people begin to realize something isn’t right with the recently rescued Bakugou.

[Cannon compliant right up to after the License Exam]

hands down my favorite fic in the fandom right now. it’s the one that converted me into a Bakugou lover. if you have any fondness for Bakugou as a character then it’s likely you’ve read this one already, but if not, I can’t recommend it enough. incredibly depressing, but with the hope that comfort is coming soon in the next few chapters.

The Kids Will Be Alright, Eventually by NotWithThatAttitude

Bakugou is spiraling in the aftermath of Kamino and his friends are starting to notice. He's stubborn, aggressively independent, and less than willing to dig into his past, but after a breakdown that ends with a painful secret revealed, he starts to get help.

Whether he likes it or not.

Meanwhile, a new kind of villain threatens an uneasy peace following the loss of Allmight. Whispers build as a new narrative slowly takes shape:

Hero society needs to change.

Feat. Therapy, Dadzawa, best boy Kirishima, dysfunctional families, healing, growing up, and the mortifying ordeal of being known

guys.. the medical accuracy of this fic is just... *chef’s kiss*

I rarely see mental health genuinely handled well in fics, but this one goes above and beyond. kudos to the author for doing such excellent research into psychology, and making the application of it in here not-boring. also, while this one does have abusive!Mitsuki, it’s done in a way that feels realistic, and how I usually will see it occur in real life, rather than just for the hurt/comfort feels.

fair warning, the fic can be incredibly triggering (themes of severe depression, PTSD, panic attacks, rape survival, abuse survival, suicidal ideation/attempted suicide, among other things), so be safe and heed the tw’s if you decide to read. legitimately one of my Top Favorite fics in this fandom.

Lock and Key by autochorystalize

Bakugou made a choked, gravelly noise before croaking out a low, “You can’t be serious.” His fingers ached to blow up everything in the room.

“I’m sorry, young man, but you can’t change reality! This sometimes happens.” Recovery Girl clicked through his file, adding a new symbol in a previously empty slot.

- - -

A pair of eyes discreetly locked on to an explosive blond plowing his way forward, parting people in his path. He recognized the kid, of course. Anyone in the underbelly of society would recognize him, after the publicity of both UA’s Sports Festival and the events leading up to All Might’s fall. The uniform he was wearing cast away any doubts about the young man’s identity.

It was a bit of a surprise that the little firecracker presented as an omega.

- - - - - - - - -

Or: there are certain types of evil that seemed too distant, archaic violations and perversions that would never actually threaten bright-eyed heroes-in-training in the clean, modern world...but sometimes those evils aren't as distant as one might think.

remember when I said that I love a/b/o fics that are full of plot and world-building and gender-induced tension? that’s this one. the OC’s are fabulous and you love to hate ‘em. also, it’s the fic that made me fall head-over-heels for the TodoBaku dynamic, so it’s got a special place in my cold, dead heart.

be warned, there are rather explicit non-con scenes between an adult (OC) and a minor (Bakugou) in this one, but the author warns for them in advance, and you could likely skip those parts without missing too much if you need to.

Never and Always, Eventually by Wawa_Boonliang

"Katsuki can remember the exact moment that he and Deku…that he and Midoriya Izuku became friends. He can also remember the moment he and Izuku became fierce rivals, a time when they were almost enemies.

However, what he remembers most clearly about their relationship is the moment that they moved passed rivals and became something more close than mere friends. Something more like brotherhood, something forged in fire and secured in the middle of a battlefield or in the midst of natural disaster where the number of the dead was climbing ever higher. And then it was torn from him."

Katsuki is given a second chance. A chance to save everyone. A chance to change everything.

But should he?

y’all. I’m a slutty, slutty whore for time travel fics. a time travel fic with autistic!coded Bakugou? it was love at first read.

Lessons Learned by Sif (Rosae)

Rather than the police station, Katsuki's friends bring him to a hospital after rescuing him from the villains. His wounds were minor, but it didn't make having them treated any less important. As it would so happen, Best Jeanist was also brought to this hospital after the attack.

Sometimes, small choices have a big impact on how a story plays out.

classic Bakugou hurt/comfort. this fic opened me up to the potential that could be a genuinely good Best Jeanist & Katsuki mentor-mentee relationship, and I kind of dig it and search ravenously for it in other fics now. I’m also a huge fan of the behind-the-scences Pro Hero Chat group.

Slope by sunfleurmoon

“I’m not a hero. Or a good person,” Katsuki says, giving Aizawa a pointed look, “So leave me alone. I don’t care about the League or UA, or you—” The two years he’s been away have been fine, more than fine, fucking fantastic actually if you ignore the bi-monthly near-death experiences. He doesn’t need this place. He doesn’t miss this place.

And yet, longing, a childish desire to tear up, or maybe blow something to bits, they all twist in his chest like a band of traitors regardless. “—I just want to go home.”

Or: the one where Katsuki and Izuku fail the first term exam, Aizawa discovers their pasts, and Katsuki is booted from UA. Featuring questionable descriptions of villain organizations, a slightly illegal moving shop, and your favorite emotionally constipated badass in distress with a newly discovered penchant for collecting strays.

paaaaaaiiiiiiiin. the hurt is ALIVE in this one. lots of tortured, angsty exploding child goodness. the OC’s are excellently crafted, and the Bakugou & Eri relationship? beautiful. definitely deserves a read.

Ground Zero by WindsChild8178

In the wake of Kamino, Katsuki is tested more than anyone could imagine. Bound by a villain’s quirk to keep his silence or die, he lives each day knowing it might very well be his last. He continues to work towards becoming a hero, keeping his secret from his classmates and teachers, focusing on making it through each day and trying not to allow the panic or depression to get the best of him. When the villain finally corners him with demands in exchange for his life, there is really only one answer Katsuki Bakugou can give.

honestly don't know which I want updated more - social media 101 or ground zero. this author's fics are amazing, and I really wasn't expecting the twist in this one. can't wait for windschild to come back to this fic some day.

The Defect by LadyGreenFrisbee

"Why do you want to win the Sports Festival so badly?"

Because I want to see if the defect could usurp the masterpiece.

(In which Endeavor holds a terrible secret and Bakugo has to suffer since childhood for it.)

a great concept, and I adore the shouto and Katsuki sibling interaction here. hoping the author will come back to this one some day.

A Name That You'll Remember by Heronfem

Kirishima Eijirou is a Hero. Bakugou Katsuki... is not. Trapped in his toxic workplace and increasingly desperate to get out, Red Riot's days are only brightened by a new villain known as Caution, who's not exactly villainous and keeps accidentally doing good deeds. But when a real villain appears, a threat from the past that demands that Red Riot make the ultimate sacrifice to keep the public safe, Bakugou is forced into saving the day... and eventually, Red Riot himself.

sob story good guy villains are my weakness, this fic is a gem, and I'd kill for the sequel.

Our Hero by AnonymousTwit

He felt everything jerk to the side and throw his balance off before he saw anything, dust clouding his vision and irritating his lungs as the earth itself opened up to swallow them whole. For a single moment, in a millisecond's time, his wild eyes locked with Raccoon Eyes', hers alight with fear and adrenaline-fueled desperation. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he realized that it was the first time she'd looked at him with something other than long-deserved hatred in days.

And then he was free falling.

After a particularly nasty encounter between childhood friends, the class learns about Bakugou and Midoriya's dark history and practically ostracizes Bakugou while trying to defend Midoriya. An earthquake during an outing has all sides regretting their decisions.

just fucking tear apart my self-sacrificing faves in every way imaginable while their loved ones watch on in terror. 💖🥰💖 this one is heavy on the Bakusquad and Class-1A feels, and VERY heavy on the Mina & Bakugou relationship (platonic).

Running back the tape, watching it replay by Faralyne

For someone ripped from their time, ripped from the few but strong relationships built by time and personal development, by self-reflection and swallowed pride, ripped from the one thing that made him feel worthwhile and needed and put-together, and forced to forge everything over again—Katsuki thinks he is handling it pretty fucking well.

A villain’s quirk sends a 29-year-old Bakugou back in time to his middle school days.

am I a sucker for time travel? yes. am I a sucker for vigilante!bakugou? also yes. am I a sucker for this fic? literally refreshing the page in wait for an update as we speak.

Liability by sandelf

After All-Might dies rescuing Bakugou from the League, Bakugou is determined to prove it wasn't for nothing.

But the world is against him, his grief is overwhelming, and his stability is splitting at the edges.

very self-indulgent bakugou angst. tw for harassment, severe depression, and suicidality.

Special Mentions:

How To Win The Sport Festival: A Step By Step Guide by mhwright

Short re-imagining of the Sports Festival Arc if Shinso had planned a little better and worked a little harder to win the Sports Festival and if the match-ups had been slightly different. Self-indulgent fic of watching him succeed.

this is completely Shinsou-centric, not Bakugou-centric, but I love and adore it and am dying for a sequel. Shinsou is Best Boy here and you'll be rooting for him the whole time.

#fic rec #katsuki bakugou #bakugou #seriously though if you have a rec for me please always assume i will be unbearably grateful for it #and hit me up with it in the comments or through messaging #thanks for the follows y'all!

63 notes · View notes

lokiondisneyplus · 3 years ago

Text

A review of “Journey Into Mystery,” the penultimate Loki Season One episode on Disney+, coming up just as soon as I paper cut a giant cloud to death…

Journey Into Mystery was the title of the first Marvel comic to feature either Thor or Loki. It began as an anthology series featuring monsters and aliens, but Jack Kirby, Stan Lee, and Larry Lieber were so smitten with their adaptation of the characters of Norse myth that the Asgardians gradually took over the whole book, which was renamed after its hammer-wielding hero(*).

(*) The early Journey Into Mystery stories treated Thor’s alter ego, disabled Dr. Donald Blake, as the “real” character, while Thor was just someone Blake could magically transform into, while retaining his memories and personality. It wasn’t even clear whether Asgard itself was meant to exist at first, until Loki turned up on Earth in an early issue, caused trouble, and Blake/Thor somehow knew exactly how to get to Asgard to drop him off. Soon, the lines between Thor and Blake began to blur, and eventually Thor became the real guy, and Blake a fiction invented by Odin to humble his arrogant son. It’s a mark of just how instantly charismatic Loki was that the entire title quickly steered towards him and the other gods.

But once upon a time, anything was possible in Journey Into Mystery, which makes it an apt moniker for an absolutely wonderful episode of Loki where the same holds true. Our title characters are trapped in the Void, a place at the end of time where the TVA’s victims are banished to be devoured by a cloud monster named Alioth. And mostly they are surrounded by the wreckage of many dead timelines. Classic Loki insists that his group’s only goal is survival, and any kind of planning and scheming is doomed to kill the Loki who tries. But this ruined, hopeless world instead feels bursting with imagination and possibility.

There are the many Loki variants we see, with President Loki, among others, joining Classic, Kid, Boastful, and Alligator Loki. There are the metric ton of Easter Eggs just waiting to be screencapped by Marvel obsessives (I discuss a few of them down below), but which still suggest a much larger and weirder MCU even if you don’t immediately scream out “Is that… THROG?!?!?” at the appropriate moment. And all of that stuff is tons of fun, to be sure. But what makes this episode — and, increasingly, this series — feel so special is the way that it explores the untapped potential of Loki himself, in his many, many variations.

This is an episode that owes more than a small stylistic and thematic debt to Lost. It’s not just that Alioth looks and sounds so much like the Smoke Monster(*), that it makes a shared Wizard of Oz reference to “the man behind the curtain” (also the title of one of the very best Lost episodes), or even that the core group of Lokis are hiding in a bunker accessible via a hatch and a ladder that’s filled with recreational equipment (in this case, bowling alley lanes). It’s also that Loki, Sylvie, their counterparts, and Mobius have all been transported to a strange place that has disturbing echoes from their own lives, that operates according to strange new rules they have to learn while fleeing danger, and their presence there allows them to reflect on the many mistakes of their past and consider whether they want to, or can, transcend them.

(*) Yes, Alioth technically predates Smokey by a decade (see the notes below for more), but his look has been tweaked a bit here to seem more like smoke than a cloud, and the sounds he makes when he roars sound a lot like Smokey’s telltale taxi cab meter clicks. Given the other Lost hat tips in the episode, I have to believe Alioth was chosen specifically to evoke Smokey.

Classic Loki is aptly named. He wears the Sixties Jack Kirby costume, and he is a far more powerful magician than either Sylvie or our Loki have allowed themselves to be. He calls our Loki’s knives worthless compared to his sorcery, which feels like the show acknowledging that the movies depowered Loki a fair amount to make him seem cooler. But if Classic Loki can conjure up illusions bigger and more potent than his younger peers, he is a fundamentally weak and defeated man, convinced, like the others, that the only way to win the game into which he was born is not to play. “We cannot change,” he insists. “We’re broken. Every version of ourselves. Forever.” It is not only his sentiment — Kid Loki adds that any Loki who tries to improve inevitably winds up in the Void for their troubles — but it seems to have weighed on him longer and harder than most.

But Classic Loki takes inspiration from Loki and Sylvie to stand and fight rather than turn and run, magicking up a vision of their homeland to distract Alioth at a crucial moment in Sylvie’s plan, and getting eaten for his trouble. He was wrong: Lokis can change. (Though Kid Loki might once again argue that Classic Loki’s death is more evidence that the universe has no interest in any of them doing so.) And both Loki and Sylvie have been changing throughout their time together. Like most Lokis, they seem cursed to a life of loneliness. Sylvie learned as a child that a higher power believed she should not exist, and has spent a lifetime hiding out in places where any friends she might make will soon die in an apocalypse. Our Loki’s past isn’t quite so stark, but the knowledge that his birth father abandoned him, while his adoptive father never much liked him, have left permanent scars that govern a lot of his behavior. The defining element of Classic Loki’s backstory is that he spent a long time alone on a planet, and only got busted by the TVA when he attempted to reconnect with his brother and anyone else he once knew. This is a hard existence, for all of them. And while it does not forgive them their many sins(*), it helps contextualize them, and give them the knowledge to try to be better versions of themselves.

(*) Loki at one point even acknowledges that, for him, it’s probably only been a few days since he led an alien invasion of New York that left many dead, though due to TVA shenanigans, far more time may have passed.

For that matter, Mobius is not the stainless hero he once thought of himself as. While he and Sylvie are tooling around the Void in a pizza delivery car (because of course they are), he admits that he committed a lot of sins by believing that the ends justified the means, and was wrong. He doesn’t know who he is before the TVA stole and factory rebooted him, but he knows that he wants something better for himself and the universe, and takes the stolen TemPad to open up a portal to his own workplace in hopes of tearing down the TVA once and for all. Before he goes, though, he and Loki share a hug that feels a lot more poignant than it should, given that these characters have only spent parts of four episodes of TV together. It’s a testament to Hiddleston, Wilson, Waldron, and company (Tom Kauffman wrote this week’s script) that their friendship felt so alive and important in such a short amount of time.

The same can be said for Loki and Sylvie’s relationship, however we’re choosing to define it. Though they briefly cuddle together under a blanket that Loki conjures, they move no closer to romance than they were already. If anything, Mobius’ accusations of narcissism in last week’s episode seem to have made both of them pull back a bit from where they seemed to be heading back on Lamentis. But the connection between them is real, whatever exactly it is. And their ability to take down Alioth — to tap into the magic that Classic Loki always had, and to fulfill Loki’s belief that “I think we’re stronger than we realize” — by working together is inspiring and joyful. Without all this nuanced and engaging character work, Loki would still be an entertaining ride, but it’s the marriage of wild ideas with the human element that’s made it so great.

Of course, now comes the hard part. Endings have rarely been an MCU strength, give or take something like the climax of Endgame, and the finales of the two previous Disney+ shows were easily their weakest episodes. The strange, glorious, beautiful machine that Waldron and Herron have built doesn’t seem like it’s heading for another generic hero/villain slugfest, but then, neither did WandaVision before we got exactly that. This one feels different so far, though. The command of the story, the characters, and the tone are incredibly strong right now. There is a mystery to be solved about who is in the big castle beyond the Void (another Loki makes the most narrative and thematic sense to me, but we’ll see), and a lot to be resolved about what happens to the TVA and our heroes. And maybe there’s some heavy lifting that has to be done in service to the upcoming Dr. Strange or Ant-Man films.

It’s complicated, but on a show that has handled complexity well. Though even if the finale winds up keeping things simpler, that might work. As Loki notes while discussing his initial plan to take down Alioth, “Just because it’s not complicated doesn’t mean it’s bad.” Though as Kid Loki retorts, “It also doesn’t mean it’s good.”

Please be good, Loki finale. Everything up to this point deserves that.

Some other thoughts:

* Most of this week’s most interesting material happens in the Void. But the scenes back at the TVA clarify a few things. First, Ravonna is not the mastermind of all this, and she was very much suckered in by the Time-Keeper robots. But unlike Mobius or Hunter B-15, she’s so conditioned to the mission that even knowing it’s a lie hasn’t really swayed her from her mission. She has Miss Minutes (who herself is much craftier this week) looking into files about the creation of the TVA, but for the most part comes across as someone very happy with a status quo where she gets to be special and pass judgment on the rest of the multiverse.

* Alioth first appeared in 1993’s Avengers: The Terminatrix Objective, a miniseries (written by Mobius inspiration Mark Gruenwald, and with some extremely kewl Nineties art full of shoulder pads, studded collars, and the like) involving Ravonna, Kang, and the off-brand versions of Captain America, Iron Man, and Thor (aka U.S. Agent, War Machine, and Thunderstrike, the latter of whom has yet to appear in the MCU). It’s a sequel to a Nineties crossover event called Citizen Kang. And no, I still don’t buy that Kang will be the one pulling the strings here, if only because it’s really bad storytelling for the big bad of the season to have never appeared or even been mentioned prior to the finale.

* Rather than try to identify every Easter egg visible in the Void’s terrain, I’ll instead highlight three of the most interesting. Right before the Lokis arrive at the hatch, we see a helicopter with Thanos’ name on it. This is a hat tip to an infamous — and often memed — out-of-continuity story where Thanos flies this chopper while trying to steal the Cosmic Cube (aka the Tesseract) from Hellcat. (A little kid gets his hands on it instead and, of course, uses the Cube to conjure up free ice cream.) James Gunn has been agitating for years for the Thanos Copter to be in the MCU. He finally got his wish.

* The other funny one: When the camera pans down the tunnel into Kid Loki’s headquarters, we see Mjolnir buried in the ground, and right below it is a jar containing a very annoyed frog in a Thor costume. This is either Thor himself — whom Loki cursed into amphibianhood in a memorable Walt Simonson storyline — or another character named Simon Walterston (note the backwards tribute to Walt) who later assumed the tiny mantle.

* Also, in one scene you can spot Yellowjacket’s helmet littering the landscape. This might support the theory that the TVA, the Void, etc., all exist in the Quantum Realm, since that’s where the MCU version of Yellowjacket probably went when his suit shorted out and he was crushed to subatomic size. Or it might be more trolling of the fanbase from the company that had WandaVision fans convinced that Mephisto, the X-Men, and/or Reed Richards would be appearing by the season finale.

* Honestly, I would have watched an entire episode that was just Loki, Mobius, and the others arguing about whether Alligator Loki was actually a Loki, or just a gator who ended up with the crown, presumably after eating a real Loki. The suggestion that the gator might be lying — and that this actually supports, rather than undermines, the case for him being a Loki — was just delightful. And hey, if Throg exists in the MCU now, why not Alligator Loki?

* Finally, the MCU films in general are not exactly known for their visual flair, though a few directors like Taika Waititi and Ryan Coogler have been able to craft distinctive images within the franchise’s usual template. Loki, though, is so often wonderful to look at, and particularly when our heroes are stuck in strange environments like Lamentis or the Void. Director Kate Herron and the VFX team work very well together to create dynamic and weird imagery like Sylvie running from Alioth, or the chaotic Loki battle in the bowling alley. Between this show and WandaVision, it appears the Disney+ corner of the MCU has a bit more room to expand its palette. (Falcon and the Winter Soldier, much less so.)

#Loki #spoilers #episode 5 #review #Rolling Stone #Alan Sepinwall

77 notes · View notes

river-bottom-nightmare · 4 years ago

Text

The Nightwing Suit

There are some absolutely incredible artists out here on tumblr, and seeing their fanart makes me cry tears of joy. Dick Grayson, one of my personal favs, is always a wonderful contender for fanart. His innate grace and agility and flexibility translate beautifully on the artistic spectrum. Bottom line: I love all the Nightwing fanart. However, there is something I want to address with his suit. I’ve been an aerialist ever since I was 7 years old, and I’ve taken gymnastics since I was 3. Now, I specialize in Lyra, while Dick obviously specializes in Trapeze, but when it comes to costume, we’ve got many very important similarities.

DON’TS

When it comes to aerial, we want as much mobility and flexibility as possible. So here are some things that absolutely will not be on his suit.

1. Shoulder Pads. I will scream it from the rooftops if I have to. The Nightwing suit WILL NOT have shoulder pads!! Red Hood? Definitely. Red Robin? Those shoulder pads are important for bo staff strength and support. Robin? Damian probably doesn’t need them, but they won’t hurt. Nightwing? No way. To me, one of the most important parts of my body when practicing and performing are my shoulders. They pull me into hangs and holds, let me rotate myself around, and basically support the rest of my body. This is partially due to user preference: I prefer arm-based stunts and hangs rather than leg based. But it honestly doesn’t matter that much. Nightwing will absolutely need 100% use of his shoulders. Him being able to freely rotate them can be the difference between life and death with his style of fighting. Shoulder pads will just hamper that flexibility. I will admit that shoulder pads look badass, but in this one hero’s scenario? Shouldr pads are a no-go.

2. Sleek Arm Braces. Nightwing, while being well recognized as a solo hero, does often work with a team. And on a team, he isn’t the type to huff angrily and say he can do this by himself. Emotionally? Yes, of course. Physically, and in a fight? He takes all the help he can get, with absolutely no would to his pride. When performing his flips and tricks and such, the other partner will grab hold of him by usually his hands or his arms. I’m just going to straight up say: catching someone by their hands is a Bad Idea. You will not believe the speed we travel when we go through the air, and catching by the hands will lead to dislocations and pain. For a few stunts it’s okay, mainly for the visual aspect of a performance. But when it’s life and death combat? Hands are a last ditch effort if you can’t catch someone by the arms. Because that’s what really counts. The forearms. When Dick is fighting with someone, and that other person has the strength to catch him/throw him from a drop or a flip, they will catch him by the forearms. If Dick’s wearing sleek ‘n sexy arm braces, he’s going to slip right out of their grip. I prefer to keep my forearms bare, but in regards to protective armor, the fabric around the arms better have a grip.

3. Extra Fabric. This one is a given. However, I want to get into the specifics. When you’re in the air, momentum is your most powerful ally, and if there’s anything opposing or hindering that momentum, that spells trouble. Extra fabric can sometimes be good, such as around the legs. Not too much, obviously, but wearing loose or baggy pants while fighting with Nightwing’s fighting style works (as long as you can, you know, actually fight in them and not trip over the extra cloth). Around the middle? Nuh-uh, nope. Anything looping around your waist, hips, or rib cage is a liability if it’s not skin tight. The belt that Robin often wears is okay, as long as it’s wrapped pretty tight around him and doesn’t move. For the kind of stunts that Dick pulls off on a daily basis? I don’t think anything but a skintight bodysuit will help. For arms, extra fabric is ~okay~ but not preferable. And anything strapped to his back, as long as it’s securely in place, will actually help his momentum (so his escrima sticks or any other weapon/item you want to put in there is fine). Nothing around the neck, at ALL. That one issue in Batman where Dick wears a scarf is hot as hell, and sort of makes sense because they’re in the desert. But on missions, at the speed Nightwing fights and flies through the air, anything around his neck will choke him. This entire section definitely wasn’t an excuse to say you should just keep Dick in a skintight outfit, nope, not at all.

4. Spandex. While we’re on the subject of skintight outfits, I just want to point something out that isn’t necessarily important or anything. It’s just a general preference for me. I prefer costumes with a little weight on them. The adrenaline rush is intense for some of my more advanced stunts, and those are things that I bet Dick would consider basic. I prefer something with a little substance/weight/texture to it. Nothing too serious, and nothing too restricting, just something to keep me grounded and focused. We all know how much Dick likes being in the air, but I’m willing to bet he also needs a little extra touch to keep his head in the game. So if you’re designing a serious Nightwing suit, not for crack or fun headcanons or anything, I would steer clear from the spandex, gauze, and showy-light-gossamer fabrics. They do provide extra mobility and flexibility, but that’s because they’re one drop away from naked.

5. Joints. Okay this may seem a little contradictory based on the last point, but around the joints, especially hips and shoulders, the protective padding needs to ease up. It’s one of the hardest areas on the body to injure, after all, even for a professional. And second, I know I’m sounding like I’m repeating the obvious, but flexibility is of utmost importance. If the fabric doesn’t bend with Nightwing, then there’s no point. It can’t chafe, it can’t grind against itself, it can’t break. The material around major joints needs to be malleable.

Dos

Now that we’ve got that out of the way, let’s talk about what you can absolutely add to Nightwing’s costume to give it either a little pizzazz, or just your own personal touch.

1. Boots. Yes yes yes, boots are an absolute must! And it’s not just me thinking thigh-high boots are cool. Coming out of a big drop and other major stunts requires rolling on your back and then onto your feet. But Nightwing doesn’t fight with the one-hit-and-done style. (That’s more Jason’s thing. He plants himself like a tree and puts power behind a punch, kinda like Bruce, which is why boots-especially boot soles- are important for them.) Nightwing gets in a punch and flips away, then bounces back and gets in a kick and flips away, then bounces back and gets in another kick and flips away. You see where I’m going with this. Dick is constantly on the move, constantly on the verge of flipping back. The main way he does this is with his feet: landing lightly on the balls of his feet to absorb momentum before using that to hit back. Boots with fricion-specific soles are important, he cannot slide or skid. Also, ones that go higher up aren’t bad either: extra support is always welcome. As long as they don’t cover his knees and allow for ankle flexibility, they’re good to go. They may even help stop ankle dislocation. Anything you want to add to the boots? Go ahead. As long as it’s not gauzy ribbon or something too extra, or something that can easily get caught in something else, it’s good to go. In my performances, I like to cover my shins with something, it can range from simple high socks or performance boots to go with my costume. I particularly like Damian’s long lace up boots, especially in Super Sons. It’s a cute outfit, and it won’t hinder his fighting at all. As long as Dick double knots, he can wear those, and any other variants of boots.

2. Gloves. I’m not actually sure if Dick has ever been called “Fingerstripes” in canon, but I’ve seen it in fanon plenty of times. Regardless, it’s one of my favorite nicknames for him, and it does have a basis. The stripes on his gloves are an awesome artistic choice, and useful too. Assuming they have a different texture than the rest of his gloves, those fingerstripes could help with grip. Grip is one of the most important tools an aerialist can have. I have had grown men look at me with shock when they shake my hand because of my firm grip (and the calluses, ugh). I firmly believe that Dick Grayson has one of the strongest grips in the DC non-meta world, and I bet you he surpasses even a good amount of metas. Having a good, no-slip grip is essential, even if you’re just swinging from the surface for a second, or if the surface is another partner’s hand. Gloves, once again as long as they’re not too restricting, would be awesome with helping with that.

3. Wrist Braces. I said before that Dick can’t have arm braces because of the whole partner-grip thing. But with the amount of force and pressure Dick exerts on his hands on a daily basis, dislocations and sprains should be as common as a bruise. Hell, I’m sitting here typing this and my left wrist is sprained. Fanfic writers, here’s a helpful tip: you can write Dick with a sprained or dislocated or just a plain sore wrist anytime at all, and having him rub his hands with a grimace, rubbing lotion onto them, or doing wrist exercises in his free time is a go-to for if you need anything filler. Or, you know, it could even be part of the plot. Wrist braces help with this, they keep the joints in place and add a little extra stability to his movements. As long as they’re not interfering with wrist mobility, wrist braces are a very very good idea. When you think how long, think about the length of Peter Parker’s handmade web shooters. Long enough to be there, but not immediately noticeable. Also, make sure the material is something cloth, wrap, or gauze based. Anything too hard could scrape against the skin, cause cuts and bruises, and even cut off circulation. Unless it’s armor, it’s not comfortable or easy to do aerial maneuvers with.

4. Back Harness. To be honest, I have no idea what the official name for this piece of equipment even is. But the thing that holds Nightwing’s escrima sticks to his back. The thing that holds Deadpool’s katanas (in the movies, not the comics). The back-strap-harness thingy. That’s a go-for-it when it comes to costumes. Not only does it look badass and hot when it’s on your costume and you draw your weapons from it seamlessly like a boss, it’s practical and doesn’t interfere with your fighting at all. As I said, a majority of Nightwing’s moves rely on momentum. The back harness thingy won’t harm that at all. As long as it’s strapped to your back, unmoving and steady, it stays out of the way and may actually help you with your momentum. Drawing weapons from it is easy and seamless, and one of the quickest moves you can perfect, aside from drawing your weapon from thigh/calf holsters. But as I said before, Dick would probably stick to the back because, once again, momentum.

Okay this got much longer than I thought it would. But regardless, I hope this helps if you’re ever drawing or writing about the Nightwing suit and need specifics. Or hell, if you’re a cosplayer and need some information on how to make an accurate costume, here you go. Now I need to take a breather and chill, because while I considered myself a pretty recreational comic reader and not much of an analyzer, I had no idea how much I picked up about Dick’s individual fighting style and how that fits in with my own aerial experiences.

#i have no idea what to tag this #suit analysis???#superhero costume dos and dont's??#nightwing #dick grayson #meta #dc #nightwing meta #dick grayson meta #dc meta #nightwing suit #river thinks too hard

1K notes · View notes

andypantsx3 · 4 years ago

Text

conspire | 2 | first date

pairing: Todoroki Shouto / Reader

length: 13,307 words / 5 chapters

summary: Shouto Todoroki had definitely only asked you out in order to ward off his horde of interested suitors. So why does he keep actually taking you out on suspiciously realistic dates?

tags: romance, reader-insert, fake dating, misunderstandings

warnings: aged up characters, eventual smut

The next morning, your classmates wouldn’t shut up about it.

The rumor of your rendezvous with Shouto had spread like wildfire through the school, and you were assaulted by a wave of questions the second you turned up to modern lit. “Is it true?”, “Is he your boyfriend?”, “How do you know him?”, “Is he a good kisser?”, all blended into a cacophony of sound that nearly bowled you over as you stepped through the door.

You felt your face grow hot under their scrutiny and quickly stuffed yourself into your desk. “Yes, we’re dating. No, I won’t answer other questions about it.”

“Come on,” Miko--the girl in the desk closest to you--begged. “You’re dating Shouto Todoroki, the cutest boy in school, and you won’t even tell us how you know him?”

You wracked your brain for something close to the truth. “We, um, got along really well on that support item project last month. It’s nothing special.”

Miko’s mouth opened to fire off another question, but Mr. Cementoss cut her off with his arrival, launching immediately into his lesson plan. You sent up a silent thank you to whichever patron saint of fake dating had been listening.

The rest of the school day passed much the same way, and you wondered several times if the price of your senior project was perhaps too high.

You’d known that Shouto was something of a celebrity due to his parentage, supreme good looks, and incredible power--even outside the walls of UA--but you hadn’t really thought through how that would affect the people who stood closest to him. Knowing what celebrity looked like and actually experiencing it for yourself were two very different things, you found. You’d never been subjected to attention like this before and you weren’t sure that you liked it.

By the time Saturday rolled around, you’d started to wonder if you shouldn’t just call this whole thing off.

The sight of him that morning, however, immediately robbed you of your resolve.

He’d asked you to meet in front of your dorm mid-morning, and he showed up looking unfairly handsome in well-fitted jeans, a grey scarf, and a dark jacket with a high collar that framed his sharp jaw. He looked good, way too good for this early in the morning. You felt a shiver go through you, and not just because of the cold.

“Good morning, Y/N,” he greeted you, the corner of his mouth curling. He gestured with something in his hands and you found your eyes drawn to two takeout coffee cups from the cafe just outside the school gates.

Okay, he was a literal angel and forgiven for everything you had been through this week.

“I didn’t know how you liked yours, so I got all the extras,” he said, handing a cup over to you and turning out a pocket to unveil a mound of sugar packets and tiny creamer containers.

You smiled, feeling warm. “Thanks, Shouto. Pretty sure every support engineer has bypassed the need for modifications at this point and just mainlines straight from the coffee pot. Black is perfect.”

He grinned down at you. “Too many late nights?”

You groaned at the tidal wave of memories. “Support items should just build themselves.”

He laughed and gestured you to follow him, leading you out of school grounds and to the nearby train station.

“Where are we going?” you wondered as he ushered you onto the train. He herded you into a corner and stationed himself in front of you, one arm extended to hold the bar over your head. You wondered if it was something like a natural instinct at this point for hero students to assume a protective position, as Shouto’s choice had the effect of shielding you from the rest of the train car.

“I...asked around about you,” he admitted, looking a little embarrassed. “I’ve been told that your interest in quirks and support items doesn’t just end at the classroom door.”

You flushed. You were kind of a nerd, he had your number.

“I’m taking you somewhere I think you might like,” he said. He took a sip of his own coffee, varicolored eyes glinting down at you over the rim of his cup.

You nursed your own coffee as the train rolled into the city, resisting the urge to close your eyes and lean into him. It was something you might do with an actual boyfriend, and as cute as it was that he was taking you out on a real life fake date, you didn’t think he would appreciate you putting the moves on him.

He led you out of the train at the city center and down a few blocks, finally pulling you into a building with a very modern glass facade. You recognized it at once.

“The Support Museum!” you chirped happily, your interest picking up. They had an interactive exhibit going on right now that you and some classmates had talked about coming to see. Your fingers suddenly itched with the need to test out some of the items.

Shouto looked at you from the corner of his eye, a flash of curious blue. “This is okay?”

“Hell yeah,” you intoned, picking up the pace to get in front of him. “If you’re cool with being bored to death for the next six hours while I have a great time, then this is perfect.”

He gave you a dry look. “I care about support items.”

You scoffed. “You have like, one.”

A slow smirk overtook his features. “Maybe you could convince me to add more.”

Something hot flashed through you and you gave yourself a hard pinch through the fabric of your jeans. His tone seemed laced with insinuation, but you knew better than to buy into it. It was just hard when he was looking at you the way he was.

Damn him for having a face like that.

“Careful,” you said, trying to reroute your brain, “you’re signing yourself up for a whole lot of wild rambling and weird tangents.”

That soft smile pulled at the edge of his mouth again. “I’m used to it. Midoriya, my best friend, is a lot like that.”

You’d been in the room with Izuku Midoriya before and didn’t doubt it. The boy could certainly give you a run for your money. If he wasn’t equipped with the wildest quirk you’d ever seen, he would have made one hell of a support engineer -- you were probably lucky you didn’t have to compete for grades with a mind like that.

“Treat me like white noise,” you said as he shouldered past you to pay for tickets.

You let out a noise of protest when you noticed what he was doing, but he pressed you back from the ticket counter with a strong arm you couldn’t get around. It seemed only too easy for him to hold you off and pay for tickets at the same time, and it was slightly offensive. Maybe you needed to put in more time in the support course gym.

“I asked you out,” he said by way of explanation after you complained all the way through coat check, only shutting up when you were distracted by the sight of him in a soft tee shirt and blue button up. “I should pay.”

You made a dismissive noise. “It’s not the nineteen thirties anymore, dude. I can pay for my own stuff.”

He turned to you with a wry look. “Are we fighting about money already? Not something I’d thought we’d get to at this stage, to be honest.”

You laughed. “Our first fight as a couple.”

He pinned you with an interested look, something in his gaze growing hot. “Should we kiss and make up?”

Your face instantly went up in flames, like he’d lit you up with his quirk. Jesus Christ, he was a teaser? You’d thought he was just the quiet and thoughtful type -- who knew that he hid an ironic sense of humor underneath all that? This was going to be bad for your health.

“Cute,” you quipped for something to say, marching in front of him quickly so he couldn’t see your face. “Uh, where to first?”

He let you lead the way around the museum, and in minutes you’d pretty much calmed down from the heat of the moment, distracted by the halls filled with the forefront of quirk theory and the corresponding support equipment.

As someone who’d been born without a quirk of their own, the concept had always been fascinating to you, leading you into the support track at UA in your efforts to study quirks and their applications. It was incredible how genetics determined which people had none, and whose ranged from benign improvements like seeing slightly better through fog to more deadly power that roiled just beneath the surface of one’s skin like Shouto.

The deviations in power manifestation stretched the genetics of each human further from one another than they had ever gone before -- sometimes by a full 0.1-0.2% of their DNA structure -- and it was crazy cool. While your speciality was more applied science, you couldn’t deny the biology of it was equally as interesting.

At the rate it was going, people like you could share more genetic similarity with a banana at some point than someone like Shouto. Well, after a couple more millennia of evolution.

Shouto chuckled and you realized with some alarm that you had been babbling all of that out loud.

“Should I be concerned that our children might come out as bananas?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

You gave him a sour look. “You know that’s not how it works.”

He flashed you a cheeky grin and followed you easily as you led the way through the other exhibits.

He listened attentively as you oohed and ahhed over the different displays, asking very pointed follow up questions like he was actually interested in what you had to say. You fell into a very involved discussion about most of the displays, and you realized with some surprise that plenty of time had passed without you realizing it, and that you were having an incredibly good time.

Shouto paid for lunch at the museum cafe as well, affecting hearing loss over the sounds of your protests, and kept up the easy conversation all the way through the meal.

After lunch, you two queued up for the interactive exhibit that you’d initially wanted to see, eventually being let into the exhibit hall in a small group. You immediately lit up like a kid on Christmas.

The hall was studded with actual support items that had been developed for the top twenty heros, ranging from real costume pieces that had been retired to replicas of items currently in use, supplied by the same companies as had built them. The items were free for testing with the caveat that the user had to be careful.

You spent a fair amount of time over pieces of Edgeshot’s costume that had been made from strands of his own hair, allowing it to fold and reshape with the changes to his body, and more time over Ryukyu’s size-changing suit that mechanically adapted to her dragon form.

Shouto stopped over a flame-resistant gauntlet from his father’s previous costume.

“Think you can melt it?” you asked with interest. You wondered how fast they’d eject you from the museum if he succeeded.

Shouto shook his head. “My flames are hot but I doubt it.”

You perked up. “How hot?”

“I haven’t actually measured,” he admitted and you groaned.

“Your super cool quirk is totally wasted on you,” you said. “You have to let me do tests.”

His mouth twitched again. “What kind of tests?”

“Anything you’ll let me,” you said. “Temperature gauges, cryogenic structure analysis, body scans when you use both energy sources. I have my theories as to how your quirk is actually scientifically possible but I need more data.”

“Body scans, huh?” he asked.

Of course he’d seized on that one. God, he was such a boy.

“Yes. We’ll get you all strapped up in wires and those little sticky nodules. It’ll be super sexy, trust me.”

He chuckled, and set a hand to one of his father’s boots that was also on display. “Fine, but later. Want to test this out now?”

You leaned in, nodding, and he let a flame grow in his hand, pressing it to the fabric of the boot. The cloth activated instantly, channeling the flame across the surface of the boot in the customary style of Endeavor’s flaming costume.

“Fuck, that’s so cool,” you breathed, leaning over to read the description of how it worked. “You need something just as obnoxiously showy on your costume. You’re letting your own dad upstage you.”

He laughed again and let the flame die down.

You wandered companionably through the rest of the exhibit, thrilled when it ended in an arcade-like simulation of Wash’s quirk that let you rig up and shoot water around at various targets. Shouto immediately targeted you instead.

“You're supposed to be a hero,” you whined, whipping around to aim your water cannon at him in revenge. “How could you target a civilian like this?”

His hero training had clearly paid off, as he was too skilled at dodging to get caught up in any of your attacks. Your time was called without you able to catch him once, but you left the exhibit with your own shirt sticking wetly to your body. You tried not to wince, thinking of the wintry weather that would no doubt invade the confines of your jacket once you made it outside.

Shouto immediately pulled you to the side of the coat check, however, his eyes trailing down your shirt where it clung to you. You tried not to feel self conscious.

“Let me,” he said quietly, placing a hand against your shoulder. Searing warmth washed over your skin under his hand and you tried not to arch up into the pleasant heat. You stood incredibly still, hardly daring to breathe as he passed his hand lightly over your shirt, taking care not to touch you anywhere too scandalous, though some traitorous part of your mind almost wished he would. This close, you could catch the scent of some light cologne, minty and fresh, and the smell of it made your head spin.

It took just under a minute for him to fully dry out your shirt, each second passing like a small eternity.

You were able to gather your wits just enough to laugh about his bright future in steam cleaning as you tucked back into your coat, then followed him to the train back to campus.

It was nearly dark by the time he walked you back to your dorm, the sun dipping low to kiss the horizon, sunset orange fading into the deep blue of an evening sky. You realized that you’d spent all day with him and had hardly noted the time passing -- he was a very, very good date. Some girl in the months after graduation was going to find herself very lucky with him.

The dorm was quiet as you approached, which was unusual for a Saturday evening, and you realized with a growing sense of horror that your classmates must be waiting quietly, watching for your arrival from inside to see what he’d do. Shouto must have realized the same thing almost the same time that you did, as he stepped into your space at the doorway, catching the sleeve of your coat to pull you close to him.

“Is this okay?” he asked softly, face dipping close to yours. His features were somehow even more symmetrical up close and it was overwhelming to look at. “I quite liked today, so I thought…”

Your heartbeat kicked up in your chest and the tips of your ears went hot as you panicked, tangling your own fingers in his dark jacket like a lifeline. “Y-yeah,” you answered. “This is g-great.”

He smirked, leaning in even closer to you. You held carefully still as you had in front of the coat check, all the nerves in your body straining with anticipation. Then a hot mouth pressed softly to yours, and every neuron in your brain misfired.

The next thing you registered, your arms were around his neck and he was pressing you gently up against the door, his tongue in your mouth and his large hands on your waist. You arched up into his touch, desperate to get closer, twining your fingers in his soft hair.

He gave a low groan and pressed you harder into the door, a hand coming up to cup your face as he did something absolutely criminal with his tongue. So much for his career as a hero.

A muffled shout came from within your dorm and you jerked apart, panting. Your face flamed in embarrassment.

“Wow,” you said dumbly, and the corner of his mouth twitched.

“Wow indeed,” he teased, stepping back from you.

You shook yourself as he did. Right, fake dating. The kiss had been hot but it was only for show--and the show had been successfully executed. You had to resist the urge to drag him back for another.

“I’ll text you?” you squeaked out and he agreed, looking weirdly satisfied as he bid you good night.

You watched him for a long moment as he trudged back down the path to campus, heart beating a frantic staccato in your chest.

Shouto Todoroki was the most dangerous boy alive and it finally dawned on you just what you had agreed to for the next few months. You were so absolutely fucked.

#bnha #bnha x reader #todoroki shouto x reader #fanfic #todoroki x reader #boku no hero academia #todoroki shouto

478 notes · View notes

toughguywithbossygirlfriend · 4 years ago

Text

Diana’s unexpected superpower

After looking at @dailydccomics ‘s post, Batman’s words to Diana : “You’re the most powerful of us” just popped in my head. Looking at this little exchange, Diana calling out on him, scolding him, facing fearlessly his Bat-glare and changing his mindset with not much more than a disapproving look. I had to take a look at the Comics it came from...

(Edit from DC Comics “JLA-Spectre:Soul War” in Jan-Feb 2003)

So lets have a little fun at the expense of the Amazing Dark Knight, with first a show off of his incredible Will power opposed to anyone or anything, and then ... Diana ... pshhhHHT ! (massive Will power leak) ... XD.

The story is about a team up between the Justice League and an entity far more powerful than all of them together : the Spectre. The Soul that drives this version of the Spectre is Hal Jordan former Green Lantern, so he knows the members of JLA very well. Of course he first talks about Superman, admiring the power of a God and the modesty of a farm boy.. Then comes the Dark Knight ... The Spectre comments about the mistakes most people make about Batman... convinced he is only Madness and Shadows ... but he knows better, giving a nice description.

But everybody of the JL gets his visit : Diana, J’onn Jozz, Arthur, Plastic man, and the GL Kyle Rayner even if there are not much details.

(Edit from DC Comics “JLA-Spectre:Soul War” in Jan-Feb 2003)

A very powerful psychic entity (or entities), “the Trans”, threaten the Multiverse and the Spectre feels deep down that he needs the JLA but doesn’t understand why.

I like how both other parts of the trinity act always ... The JLA needs a Plan so Clark asks for it (Batman always has plans) while Diana is always the one to remind Bruce that he needs to behave when no one else in the group finds the guts to even open their mouth ... XD... She already seems to be the only one to have any control over him.

(Edit from DC Comics “JLA-Spectre:Soul War” in Jan-Feb 2003)

To understand what kind of of “power” Diana holds we need to take a look at Bruce’s will power levels ... The Spectre and the JLA need to separate their physical bodies from their Souls to fight the enemy on the imaginal level but end up trapped in perfect dream worlds (similar to way the Black Mercy operates) ... None of them can escape their seductive dreams, even the most powerful Spectre is trapped... none except ... Batman.

(Edit from DC Comics “JLA-Spectre:Soul War” in Jan-Feb 2003)

The physical powers even divine don’t really matter in an Imaginary realm. Will power, “Soul power”, however you call it, matters more.

The Trans, finally revealed as multiple entities from another reality, regroup to gain more power and to beat the JLA and the Spectre ... They understand that they have first to address their greatest problem ... they need to bend/”convince” the Dark Knight’s will... But Batman answers with his usual diplomacy...

(Edit from DC Comics “JLA-Spectre:Soul War” in Jan-Feb 2003)

Unleashing all their incredible Psychic power the Trans ... still get their asses kicked by the unbeatable Will of Batman again... Freed again, the Spectre can only face the truth ... nothing can stop or bend Bruce Wayne, the Batman.

(Edit from DC Comics “JLA-Spectre:Soul War” in Jan-Feb 2003)

This indomitable will was highlighted on numerous other occasions and even Divine entities fail to control Bruce Wayne... hereafter the Trinity faces 4 demigods of Apokolips. One of them took over Wonder Woman, The Princess of Themiscyra resisted the best she could but in the end failed. Superman tried to resist to the second demigod but ultimately failed as well against such a powerful spirit... then, later, Batman strolls over the desert to meet them after they got already freed from the demigods, only to ask them how long he’ll have to wait until someone can get the trapped god’s spirit out of him ...XD

(Edit from DC Comics “52 Aftermath : the Four Horsemen” of Apokolips )

Even Darkseid himself avoids a fight with Batman on that level ...

(Edit from DC Comics “Final Crisis #6”)

A more recent example would be a Dark version of Bruce : the Dawnbreaker ... overriding with his Will power the Green Lantern Rings most secure embedded laws/rules..

(Edit from DC Comics “Dark Nights: Metal - The Dawnbreaker”)

And what to say about Bruce using the Black Lantern Ring in “Dark Nights : Death Metal” ? During the “Blackest Night” Event all superheroes wearing such a ring became brainless murderous killing machines entirely under the control of the ring (Including Diana whose love for Bruce finally broke the bond) ... In “Dark Nights:Death Metal” Bruce on the contrary controls the ring, unlocking pretty much every one of Nekron’s power (Nekron is the Lord of the Unliving and the Embodiment of Death).. Powers going from raising an incredible number of dead Superheroes and Supervillains to fight with him ...

(Edit from DC Comics “Dark Nights: Death Metal #1-#7”)

... to his personal immortality making him able to resist a bullet that could kill a God or regeneration to the point that not even Diana could tell he was actually undead since the beginning of the story, ...

(Edit from DC Comics “Dark Nights: Death Metal #1-#7”)

But lets get back to the old comic. Once freed by Batman from the power of “the Trans”, Hall Jordan/the Spectre could finally make the enemy flee but had to sacrifice his own soul to save the JL. Alive again the JL wanted to bring Hal Jordan back from oblivion using their faith in Hal Jordan... But such kind of “Hocus Pokus” isn’t really the forte of one of them.

All that endless unbreakable Will that Nothing can bend, ... but against Diana.. she doesn't need a Batglare, or mind control, ...just one fierce look of disapproval and... he knows he’s defeated..

(Edit from DC Comics “JLA-Spectre:Soul War” in Jan-Feb 2003)

Those two are going to be the death of me !! ... XD.

And don’t think for one second that Diana can only make Bruce face the truth and change his mind in older comics. Here’s one from the Rebirth era in “Superman : Heroes” (around 17 years later)...

(Edit from DC Comics “Superman : Heroes” #1 in Feb 2020)

Bruce is angry, stubborn and totally set on some personal POV... Diana sees right thru him... tells him he is wrong ... some silence ... and Bruce gets soft again, accepting he was wrong... changing his POV.

In the “JLA-Spectre : Soul War” after Diana and Bruce’s little exchange they try to save the Spectre but fail because Bruce has still some Issues. But a gift from Hal Jordan proves Batman that Diana was right all the way and Hal needed saving so Bruce wants to try again... but the medium helping them can’t reach the Specter anymore...

(Edit from DC Comics “JLA-Spectre:Soul War” in Jan-Feb 2003)

Fortunately Diana already changed Bruce’s point of view earlier and once he is set on something ... nothing can stop him.

(Edit from DC Comics “JLA-Spectre:Soul War” in Jan-Feb 2003)

Refusing failure again, Bruce reaches to Hal alone and brings him back from Oblivion.

The Spectre thinks it was “faith” ... but we all know Batman doesn't need faith.

(Edit from DC Comics “Wonder Woman (1987)” Issue 166)

All he needs is Diana ! XD ...

At the end of this two Issue story of the “JLA -Spectre : Soul War” everything is fine again. The Spectre is back, the World is safe, and Diana in the background knows she just did what no one else could do : making Bruce do the right thing and save the day again ...

(Edit from DC Comics “JLA-Spectre:Soul War” in Jan-Feb 2003)

Imagine If the Trans only knew that they just had to “mind control” Diana in order to “convince” Bruce ... They could have won so easily !... Luckily they didn’t know she had that unique special Superpower. ;)

OK, I had a lot of fun and did bend a bit the whole thing focusing mainly the post around Bruce/DIana and highlight how she can change his mind no matter how stubborn he usually is, but it is nonetheless a recurring thing between the two.

#wonderbat #bruce wayne #batman #diana prince #wonder woman

129 notes · View notes

magioftheseas · 3 years ago

Text

The Capital Magical Defense Force

For @oumota-events

DAY 1: Magical Boys AU

Rating: T+

Warnings: Violence, blood, death mentioned, darker implications. Yeah it’s one of those magical au. The daaaaark subversions.

Notes: This is the longest one because we’re starting off with a big bang~ It’s not that long though. It’s just not a ficlet unlike the others. I did really enjoy writing this though. It’s a pretty...fun...au. Yeah. Haha.

Ao3 Link

In just about every world, there are unseen forces to make sure a system works a certain way. That the cogs in the machine turn without fail and that any disturbances are dealt with promptly. These unseen forces can be mundane and dull—but they can also be fantastical...while still incredibly dull.

In this instance, there are two worlds. The dull, mundane one and the dull, fantastical one. The only way to transverse is through contracts between the respective denizens, and it turns out that said contracts are necessary to keep everything in order.

There are benefits, truly. If one world collapses, the other is taken with it. It is within everyone’s best interest that the denizens work together—even if certain manipulations need to be made. After all, the greater good is such a vague and nebulous concept. It’s more encouraging to offer personal gains.

Like, for example, keeping someone alive, be it from sickness or the aftereffects of a horrible, terrible, despairing accident. The desire to live is a powerful force shared among many, both dim-witted and intelligent. It’s an efficient deal to make, especially when the other side of the exchange is not only responsibilities, but special, magical abilities to deal with those responsibilities.

Shame, then, that one particular being blessed with those abilities, those responsibilities, that gift of survival...doesn’t seem to fully appreciate it. Certain arrangements have been made. That being has been assigned to the same areas as another being of a similar caliber, but far more keen to do what must be done.

This is as much an experiment as it is an effort to keep matters under control. Observations are to be as follows...

“In the name of the stars, I’m gonna kick your fucking ass!!”

The town hero known as Starboy was being filmed again. Floating about, sending so-called comet punch after comet punch. The monster squealed under the abuse, but it didn’t squeal as much as that fucking eyesore that tailed the magical boy around as he cursed colorfully under his breath.

“This jackass just doesn’t know when to quit!”

“S-Starboy-kun,” the thing whimpered. “Please watch your language! Kids idolize you!”

“Sorry!” Starboy exclaimed, focusing more on the fight thankfully. “It’s just—let me protect the city first!!”

With a battle cry, Starboy summoned all his strength for a starstorm, pummeling the monster more and more until it fizzled out of existence. Starboy was left slumped on the ground and gasping for breath, but still found it in him to whoop for joy.

Unfortunately for him, that moment of victory was short-lived.

“Geeeez, Starboy-chan, I thought you’d really get trampled this time! You didn’t even need any help!” Another magical boy landed on the scene, right next to where the monster had once been and plucking up the fragment which was all that remained.

“H-Hey!” Starboy shouted, more like wheezed. “What the hell—that’s not yours to take!”

“It’s payment for making me worry so much,” he cackled. “You really should be more careful! You don’t want to be killed in the line of duty, now do you?”

Weakened as he was from the fight, dodging Starboy lurching towards him was child’s play.

“D-Dice!!” that eyesore shrieked. “You and Starboy-kun should be working together! Why are you doing this?!”

Dice gave that thing a cold stare, but grinned in Starboy’s direction.

“Because I like you. That’s a lie. I like messing with you. Also a lie! I really—love you, Starboy-chan!”

“Quit messing around!” Starboy gasped. “Y-You—if you need those damn fragments, you don’t have to steal them! You’re a magical boy, aren’t ya?! You should be helping me defend the city! And then I’d split them with ya even!”

Aah. This guy...

“Oh Starboy-chan, I actually, truthfully loathe you,” Dice sighed.

“D-Dice!” the thing shrieked and without looking, Dice had fired a beam that knocked the pitifully contemptible creature out, much to Starboy’s dismay.

“S-SHIROKUMA...!”

Before he could go to help, however, Dice had seized the bow of his uniform, yanking him to not-quite eye level.

“If you know what’s good for you, you’d stop bothering with that thing and join me instead.”

Starboy only scowled.

“Why the hell would I join you when you act like a villain! I-If I could, I’d beat your ass too...!”

Such a remark gets Dice shoving him back, knocking him onto the ground. Starboy glared up at him defiantly, his stare only darkening as Dice grinned.

“It’s a joke, obviously!” he chirped. “After all—what sort of desperate loser would want to ally with an idiot like you?”

Starboy shouted at him, but whatever he shouted, he was already long gone. Starboy shouted again but, being the justice-obsessed type, he switched gears to muster up the strength to go stumbling after the fainted Shirokuma. Scooping the pitiful bear head-looking creature into his hands, Starboy avoided the incoming paparazzi and gracious civilians and rushed off to safety.

The ideal worker. Starboy will be a great boon of energy in the future once his limit is reached.

“Dice is such a fucking dick,” Kaito grumbles, rubbing ointment onto his bruises. “We’re both working for the same thing but for no reason at all, he’s self-serving and a piece of shit.”

He observes himself in the mirror, rubbing at the circles under his eyes. He’s been going at this whole magical boy hero thing for almost a year. It’s getting harder and harder, but for the sake of the city, he can’t give up. He’s its protector, after all.

Still, it’s getting difficult. His wastebasket is filled with bloodied tissue and bandages. Shirokuma, at least, is currently resting in a bucket of warm water. Dice’s attack had been as sudden as it was vicious, and for what?

“Why is he such a dick?” Kaito asks, but Shirokuma hums.

“Some people...are just bad. It can’t be helped. I’m sorry if that sounds despairing, Momota-kun.”

“Bad, huh.”

It’s not the first time he’s gotten that answer. When he describes Dice to his sidekicks, he more or less gets the same response. Harumaki even goes out of her way to call Dice a supervillain, which Shuuichi agrees to, but...

Here’s a secret that no one else knows. The crack in the foundation so painstakingly paved for black and white heroism.

Dice has saved his life more than once. When blood rushed up his throat and his knees buckled in, Dice would swoop in and let him save face. It would be passed off as Dice once again taking advantage of the situation...but it always, always happens when Kaito is facing death head-on.

Dice is a dick. A self-serving piece of shit. Possibly a supervillain.

He’s also definitely looking out for Starboy. It’s happened too consistently for Kaito to be convinced it’s unintentional.

If Dice insists on helping him, then surely he can’t be a bad person...except he still acts like a bad person most of the time.

What a headache.

“Feeling better, Momota-kun?” Shirokuma chirps up at him in that big sweet voice that Kaito can’t say no to, even when he probably should.

“Never better!”

A thumps-up. A wide grin. Doing his damnedest to pretend like his lungs don’t want to collapse in on themselves.

“Starboy-chan is such a fucking idiot.”

Ouma slams his chest of fragments shut. He still hasn’t figured out what the damn things do, but Shirokuma insists on collecting them so they must be important in some sense. Sure, Shirokuma says that it’s something to do with negative energy and restoring balance, blah, blah, blah—but Shirokuma is a piece of shit liar. And Ouma hates liars.

But he thinks he hates Starboy the most. Or, at least, he finds Starboy to be the most frustrating dumbass in the galaxy.

Because it’s obvious, isn’t it? It’s obvious that Shirokuma is shady as all get out. It’s obvious that there is something deeply wrong with the magical boy system. There have been so many disappearances and it’s suspicious as all get out how Starboy in particular is being worked to the bone and pushed to the brink.

There’s something seriously wrong with all of it.

Ouma just needs to figure out what before everything goes wrong.

To become a magical boy, one needs resolve. To encourage magical boys, a wish is often granted to sweeten—and seal the deal. Ouma’s was a cowardly, stupid wish that he’s still kicking himself for to this day, although in hindsight he should be glad it was so simple. The worthless wish to live as everyone else was dead around him.

He’s still haunted by their faces. He should’ve wished for them but couldn’t. He was targeted and tricked, and now he’s stuck. But the least he can do is make everything difficult for those monsters along the way.

Starboy—aka Momota Kaito...well. Ouma doesn’t know what his wish was, but he suspects it’s as stupidly noble and short-sighted as he’s come to expect.

Oh, yes, he knows that Starboy is Momota Kaito. Who wouldn’t know that? They look the same—although Ouma suspects that magic is at play since no civilians have made the connection. Not even Saihara Shuuichi, a would-be detective.

It’s clear, however, that Saihara-chan has noticed the effects.

“This is the fourth time you’ve had to clear your throat, Momota-kun.”

Momota clears his throat again. He musters up a laugh.

“It’s just been dry. No big deal. You worry too much.”

“Gooooooodness, Momota-kun!” Ouma crowed, skipping in. “Are you dying?! Please, please don’t die! I haven’t even gotten to tell you how much I love you!”

Momota recoils when Ouma jumps on him. Saihara shrieks in surprise but Momota only growls as he tries to shake the brat off.

“Let—GO!”

Ouma does, but not without jabbing the back of Momota’s knee and causing him to topple over. Saihara rushes to steady him, shooting Ouma quite the ugly look. Ouma shrugs that off.

“Whatever it is you’re doing is killing you,” he merely states. “So, you should stop lest you traumatize my poor Saihara-chan.”

“I...” Saihara swallowed, looking like he’d hate to agree but when it came to Momota... “You shouldn’t overwork yourself, Momota-kun.”

“I’m fine,” Momota slurred. “Totally fine. I’m a goddamn Luminary, Shuuichi...” He says he’s fine while learning into Saihara. It’s a bright sunny day. People are no doubt stealing glances, and Momota no doubt has to hide his exhausted face in his sidekick’s shoulder. It’s a good thing Harukawa isn’t here.

Ouma scoffed. Saihara shot him another glare.

“If you’re just here to mess with Momota-kun, you can leave.”

Saihara’s hands tighten on Momota. Goodness, it really is like Ouma is the supervillain tormenting the tired hero.

How boring.

Ouma turns heel, smiling as he waves them off.

I shouldn’t bother. I shouldn’t have to bother.

No matter how many times he’s thought that, he ends up in this situation. With Starboy exhausted on the ground and a fragment pinched so firmly between his fingers that it’s this close to embedding itself in the skin. Shirokuma floats around Starboy.

“He’s getting close,” Shirokuma is saying. “He won’t be able to take much more. How despairing. So despairing.”

Ou—Dice swats the thing to the ground. It giggles up at him.

“You can’t save him, you weren’t able to save your other friends. Just give up, Dice-kun. Give into despair.”

It’s laughing, its laughter resounding even as Dice stomps the thing to bits. It’ll just reshape itself and find Momota again. No matter what he does, he can’t get rid of it. It’s part of a damn hivemind after all.

Sighing, Dice goes to Starboy once again, and Starboy is lying there almost prone. Looking painfully pale. His breathing is shallow. At least he’s still alive.

But for how much longer? And what am I even doing wasting my time with this idiot? No matter what I tell him or how bad he gets, he refuses to back down and Shirokuma just eggs him on.

He gets down, rolling Starboy onto his back. Starboy groans and for a moment, he blearily comes to.

“Di...ce... You...again...” There’s a couple of missing words. It’s clearly difficult for Starboy to speak. He groans, eyes screwing shut. When Dice helps him sit up, he coughs and there’s a thin stream of blood that trickles down his chin. “U-Urgh...hurts bad.”

“Well, yeah. You don’t take breaks, idiot.” Ouma tutted him. “Some of the monsters you take are mooks. You shouldn’t waste your time.”

“S-Shuuut,” Starboy slurs. He coughs again. “I’m...s’posed to be...a hero. A-A... Luminary.”

It’s because of shit like this that made it was so easy for Ouma to find Momota in the first place.

And Starboy—fucking laughs.

“Even through that stupid mask of yours, I can tell you’re disproving.” He musters up a bit more strength to speak, for all the good that’s doing him. “You’re really worried, huh?”

“I don’t trust Shirokuma,” Dice said simply. “You shouldn’t either.”

Starboy swallows. No doubt swallows back blood. He sucks in his breath. He shakes. He tries to shake his head specifically. Ends up slumping against him. Dice isn’t as gentle with him as Saihara was, but Dice still has little choice but to help him up.

“Stay with me,” Dice ordered. “You’re not allowed to die.”

He’s wasting his breath. Starboy’s definitely going to die at this rate even if it’s not today. All because—

“I’m a hero,” Starboy is slurring. “Heroes don’t—take breaks...they don’t leave people to die.”

“You’re not a hero,” Dice snapped. One step at a time. “You’re just an idiot.”

“It’s not...not about trust...” Starboy huffs at him next. “Not that...you’d understand that... Ouma.”

Dice doesn’t pause. Far from it.

...idiot.

Ouma Kokichi wonders if it’s a coincidence that he and Momota ended up in this situation together.

...

That’s right. Momota Kaito is going to bring you down. The hero! The Luminary! Won’t that be the Ultimate Despair?

(That’s how she would respond.)

Ouma Kokichi, always so close and yet so far, can’t focus on that right now. He has to save the life of a dying man after all. The results are sure to be favorable.

And yet, also so very—predictable.

Boring.

#oumota #oumotaweek2021 #Magi fics

33 notes · View notes

bitch-for-a-rainbow · 3 years ago

Note

So there's a blanddcheadcanons post that says that "Kara is the mortal avatar of Rao" and I really don't like it, especially in the context of SG 3x04 (The Faithful). At best, as was pointed out to me by a friend with whom I discussed this post, the House of El is likely blessed and somewhat sponsored by Rao, which probably doesn't do much but produce Krypton's greatest heroes, given what the word "El" **means** in Kryptonian. I'm interested in your thoughts on this (pls post your answer).

I reject the headcannon solely because if it were true it would mean Coville was right and I fucking hate that bitch.

In all seriousness, though, this is an idea I've seen a lot and I'm not a huge fan of. I don't know much about Raoism beyond what appears in the show and that which can be inferred off of the show. One thing I would point out though is that El in Kryptonian (while obviously being intended to mean God by the original comic writers) can mean Sun or Stars, and since the Kryptonians in the show are, as far as I can tell, monotheistic, and worshipped only one particular star, the El family is not necessarily named God. It would, however, signify their enormous prestige on Krypton and contribute to the famous El pride (or rather, arrogance). I’m not sure it would necessarily have to mean anything more than that-- that the Els are a respected house who have produced a variety of successful politicians, civil servants, and scientists. And (this time reaching a little bit) that they are perhaps so old and respected that their house name was once a title.

There is a certain allure to the theory, for sure. Kara is a paragon character. She always, always does what she thinks is right, regardless of the cost, personal or global, and regardless of what other people might think of it. She has a very direct moral compass, and there are only a handful of times when she doesn’t follow it, all of which involve saving Lena. Ship who you want, but it is notable that Kara routinely prioritzes Lena’s life over that of others given the rarity of that happening otherwise. She never even considered breaking Rick Thompson’s father out of prison when he kidnapped Alex, and all he’d committed was bank robbery. Kara has lines she does not cross (though murder is clearly not one of them). She is a character that has seen some of the worst that sentient life is capable of, has seen more death and suffering than most people could imagine, and she came out of it with an all-encompassing desire to protect others. She lives to give people hope. Plus, the humor of having Kara-- the one person most offended by the idea of being an Avatar of Rao-- turn out to be an Avatar of Rao is great.

But, I would also say that having Kara want to do good because she is the avatar of a benevolent god is reductive and not particularly true to her character. It is true that helping and protecting people is a large part of the core of who Kara is. But there is a difference between altruism and the self-destructive, bordering of suicidal desperation to save absolutely everyone that Kara practices. And to anyone who doubts the suicidal bit, I direct you to the season 1 finale where Kara literally goes on a goodbye tour because she thinks if she goes out to fight Non she’ll die. She still goes because she has hope, but that hope is that she can at least save Earth with her life. She doesn’t fight because she is certain in the ultimate victory of good and justice. She does it because she more afraid to lose another family than she is to die. Kara doesn’t become Supergirl and risk her own life because she believes in good, she does it because she can’t stand to listen to people suffer-- because she has suffered. To use Alex’s words in 1x13 “You fight everyday to keep people from struggling like you have.” Notably also in 1x13, Kara wakes up from the Black Mercy and her first words are “Who did this to me?” and then she goes after Non in what could arguably be described as a homicidal rage-- a rage that is fueled entirely for personal reasons, not the greater good of Earth (though that comes as an added benefit), which is.... not very befitting the avatar of a benevolent god.

A major part of season 1 is Kara dealing with grief and rage. She nearly breaks a guy's arm in episode 6 because he screamed at her for damaging his car, to hell with the children he'd almost hit with it. In season 3's Midvale flashbacks we see her first put both hands through a lunch table, then attack Jake when she suspects him for Kenny's death. She gets better at controlling it as the seasons progress, but during Crisis she very nearly melts Lex. Also not particularly godly of her.

Then there is the fact that so much of who Kara is is shaped by fear: fear of the government, fear of humanity, fear of abandonment, and fear of herself. In her civilian life, Kara is, for the most part, unnoticeable. She's polite, soft-spoken, doesn't wear a lot of bold colors or styles, and is often a pushover. As shown by her encounter with Red Kryptonite, Kara would not dress or speak the same way to people without the pressure of hiding her identity (though much of her dialogue is purely the loss of her "don't be an asshole" filter, some of it is stuff she had every right to say before and just didn't). I have always found that episode to be very interesting purely for the fact that Kara doesn't actually seem to be seeking harm on others so much as seeking their attention. Her argument with Alex is almost entirely about how much she hates having to hide and pretend to be less than she is. Kara drops Cat off the balcony and then catches her. She attacks the police when they point weapons at her but doesn't kill or even hurt them that badly, instead of destroying the car they're using as shelter. Red-K removed her inhibitions, made her angrier, yes, but if her goal was to actually hurt people, she could have done so-- would have done so, and with great ease. She goes to a public bar and uses super strength to smash bottles by flicking peanuts. Why do that at a crowded bar? Why not just flick potato chips at the windows in her own apartment?

This is Kara at her absolute worst-- but does she seek out the DEO agents who shot her out of the sky? Does she go after Maxwell Lord or Non? No. She tries to make people pay attention to her. Her most shameful and hideous desire is for people to give her respect. (Admittedly, respect gained through fear, but still.). Kara's a nice person-- much, much nicer than average-- but a lot of that "nice" is just her avoiding conflict to avoid attention.

Kara is a good person. Kara inspires people. But that is because Kara gets up every day and chooses to be good and to inspire. It's one of the reasons I enjoy Non as a villain so much-- he and Astra are Kara's narrative foils. They also remember Krypton and grieve its loss. They also were trapped in the Phantom Zone. But where Kara had the Danvers to convince her that some good people existed and would risk themselves just to help others, Non and Astra had Alura sentencing them to eternal suffering rather than helping them save their planet (through the means they thought necessary) and then landed on Earth and found it headed on the same path as the planet they'd just lost. Kara had people to help her grieve. Non and Astra were surrounded by misery. They lost hope. Kara discovered it.

Kara is the Paragon of Hope because she has been hopeless. Because she has suffered so much, seen so much, and because she chooses to believe in a better future. She didn't have hope her first time in the Phantom Zone. She didn't even have hope for a while on earth. From what we can gather, Kara's choice to start actually believing in the future was a gradual shift that occurred sometime after Kenny's death and has lasted her ever since. For Kara, hope is learned. She chose to hope and she won't let it go, and to assign that incredible victory off to her being a God is an insult to her growth and to her character.

Now I personally thought “The Faithful” handled this concept very well. 3x04 is one of my favorite episodes of television in general, let alone in Supergirl. Season 3 is my second favorite season, and that says a lot for its good episodes when the bad of season 3 is so, so very bad (To say nothing of the episode to episode production value, we have the waste of Argo, Mon El’s return as obviously he’s grown he has a beard Mon El, and whatever the hell was going on with Kryptonian genetic engineering eclipse causing witches). To this day I don’t know why Kara had magic dreams. The show did nothing to explain it and I can’t imagine up a reason.

But “The Faithful” works because it highlights the whole paragon part of who Kara is. When you realize that every person in the room of Coville’s cult is a person she has personally saved-- that hits hard. Especially since only a fraction of the people she’s saved would ever set foot inside that building with the totally not-creepy, entirely wholesome way they deliver the invitations. (“Your daughter is special. She has been chosen. As have you.”) It works because it focuses on how the average human must view Kara, the ones who don’t see her argue with her sister over potstickers and crush her phone when she gets mad. It works because of how desperately hard Kara tries to be a human. It works because the writers know that we, the audience, do not see Kara as anything but a regular person with irregular abilities: a kind and remarkably devoted person, but not a god.

#I didnt discuss it above. but Kara gets REALLY mad about Covilles whole deal #I really love watching her reaction to kryptonian artifacts #girl goes suspicion first and anger second #and it highlights her humanity #even as it puts her on a pedastal #Kara saved all these people but she will still tear her holy book from your hands #and scream at you for daring to quote it #Supergirl 3x04 #Supergirl 1x13 #Supergirl 1x20 #Supergirl #Kara Danvers #Supergirl meta #Kara Zor el #Raoism

20 notes · View notes

writingonjorvik · 4 years ago

Text

Jorvegian Myth: Aideen Is Dead

That's a big claim (and kinda an overdone one in fandom) so let's just get into the reasoning. Spoilers for the most recent quests under the cut.

We've known for a while that Aideen hasn't intervened with, anything on Jorvik really, for a really long time. This started me on two theories on why that might be. Generally, I don't believe Aideen is the only entity of her kind. If that was the case, what about the rest of Earth? Aideen is only described as to have saved Jorvik, but what about the rest of the world? Did is not die? Was is just left alone to recover from Jorvik's survival? This gets supported by a comment Ydris made in the most recent quests if the MC chooses to say that they have faith in Aideen. Ydris laughs at the comment, implies Aideen is unreliable, and suggests putting your faith somewhere else. I'll address the fact that she's unreliable to him later, and just point out that this implies there are other entities to put one's faith in in Ydris's mind.

The assumption then was that either a) Aideen is like a Shinto kami or b) she can no longer be corporal because she was wounded/killed. In the instance of situation a, Aideen can't help Jorvik because there isn't enough faith in her and/or the land has become too wounded. In situation b, which I'm finding more likely, she can't intervene because she's dead. In either situation, I think this better sets up narrative agency for the MC but I will get to that in a bit.

We know that Aideen now is in all living things. She's basically the Force and this reveal from the Catherine quests has been widely debated in the community. However, we also know she had to be, at some point, corporeal. If for no other reason than the fact that we have physical depictions of Aideen, Aideen had to, at some point, be physical enough for people to have the legend of a girl coming to the island, riding over its waters, and healing it (likely started by Fripp and the JWHs). This fact is consistent so far with all three versions of the creation myth of Jorvik. So how did Aideen go from a physical form to an incorporeal one?

The answer actually fits into the myth that seems to be the basis of the Soul Riders, a myth I covered forever ago on this blog: a variant on the myth of the Triple Goddess and her fourth form. Most of you probably know the Triple Goddess myth, Maiden, Matron, Crone/Matriarch. It is a highly prominent goddess archetype in Celtic and Norse mythos, which SSO has always drawn from. But the Triple Goddess excludes a fourth Soul Rider, the Lightning Circle in particular, unless you include her fourth form. The Tempest. And the Tempest is the dead version of the Triple Goddess and the wild magic that came out of it.

So to return to the point, both things are true about Aideen. She did come through with Fripp as an incredibly powerful entity on a cosmic scale, likely to deal with Garnok. In healing Jorvik though (and potentially binding it to Pandoria), Jorvik needed more power to restore itself so that one day it could be cut off from Pandoria again. And Aideen's life force was enough to do that. So Aideen, after gifting Jorvik with horses and the Soul Riders and magic, gave herself to become the life force of the island. She died but her power lives on in the island, feeding it so one day it can survive alone once more. And that's Fripp's job to solve on how to separate. But now that she's dead, like Ydris said, she's not exactly a reliable source to call on.

This I feel is more supported by the comic @ellipuukangas just released with SSO. We see Aideen in a corporeal state here. But the text is what interests me. "Seeds of a dead world." Jorvik was dead, it was a dead rock, that's been in the Jorvegian and witches' creation myth. "Life and death at once." The two are inseparable, trading spaces. Jorvik's survival for Aideen's life. One has to die for the other to live. All magic comes with a price. Fripp has been the biggest proponent of that mantra. Aideen, his friend whom he traveled to Jorvik with, gave her life so that Jorvik would live. He knows the real risk of magic more than anyone because he say the greatest price paid. (There's a whole aside to have here that this specific event might be what shattered Fripp's memory because PTSD can do fun stuff to memory, but not the point now.)

As to how this all comes back to the story now, I think it sets up the opportunity for a better version of the "Aideen is in everything, so everyone is special." Because that message is rather mixed in this medium. I've talked about it before, so briefly, the MC has lacked a lot of agency in the story. They don't have any powers that we as players can actively control and they rely rather heavily on coordinating others to get things done. Which is more of a book hero than a video game hero. The one thing the MC had going for them was that they were Aideen reborn/champion/whatever and the Catherine quests took that away. They made everyone special. Which, grand scale, is an ok message and it sets up for more multiplayer focused narratives, but it takes away the importance of agency and choice for the player themself.

Yes, everyone is special and unique, but there are people who choose to be more. Who drive themselves to be better, to do better, to make a difference. Who stand for the fact that all things are special and therefore deserve the right to live. And the choice to go beyond should be what sets the MC apart, not above, but apart, from Catherine. And that's the same thing Aideen would have done. That some have to sacrifice more so all people can live in peace.

I think Aideen, along with her gifts, foresaw her death has being required to save Jorvik. And in doing so she created a challenge, a series of trials. Someone who was incredibly in tune with her magic, like Catherine and the MC, could choose to take up the mantle of Aideen, could take on these challenges, to become her chosen, to become the solution to Fripp's quest to free Jorvik, and the one would who defeat Garnok. And the choice to accept that destiny is what makes the MC different from Catherine. Catherine choose to reject destiny, to reject that mantle. She didn't want to be a chosen one, she didn't even really want to be a Soul Rider. She wanted to be loved and to love, and she finished that with Justin. However, the MC can choose to take up that challenge and both what Catherine said can be true along with allowing the player to maintain that agency.

Aideen may have died, but her power lives on. Her gift wasn't destiny, it was freedom. But sacrifice is required to maintain freedom from pure chaos. That is the choice of the Keepers, of the Soul Riders, and that the MC has to make. Someone has to make that sacrifice for the rest of Jorvik to survive. That was Aideen's choice, now it's the player's.

#sso #star stable online #star stable #starstableonline #starstable #woj theories #woj writing #ssoblr #sso blr

35 notes · View notes

exn0bisstudios · 4 years ago

Note

hiya! if it isn't spoiler-y or you won't be making a separate post for it, could you tell us a bit about the work hunters and seers do? does being a member of the order as a hunter always guarantee that you'll have a seer for a partner, or do they have different kinds of work that don't require a partner, or maybe require a bigger group to work with?

I will be making a post about it. After that, you'll obviously get a more in-depth look during the game itself. Still, since I have some other things lined up first, I would be happy to give some cursory notes here in this ask!

Please be aware that this info might seem a bit jumbled since I'm just tossing out notes (also I’m running on two hours of sleep lmao). This also got really long, so I apologize for that! As I said, I'll eventually get a much more organized & concise post up for you guys!

About Seers of The Twilight Order

What is a Seer?

Seers are magically gifted individuals of strong mentality who have been soul-bound to a Nightmare, which allows them to use Void magic. Said magic is the only thing that can actually destroy a Nightmare - yes, they can be hurt by weapons. Still, they'll eventually reform from the damage unless a Seer comes along and wipes them out. Since the Void is essentially power in its most raw form, it is not meant to be used by mortals. So, the Order devised the binding to allow an adept enough mage to use a Nightmare as a proxy. It's a messy necessity since, without Seers, Yereth-Shai would have fallen to the Nightmares a long, long time ago.

Unfortunately, this proxy system is hugely flawed. Nightmares, by their very nature, are corrupted, as is the Void. The forcible melding of a mortal soul to this corrupted being will eventually erode the mortal, no matter how mentally resilient they are. The more they use the Void magic, the faster that corruption sets in. Not to mention that the binding ritual itself can be deadly outright.

In short, becoming a Seer is a death sentence. Most last for around 5 years before corruption kills them. Unfortunately, it's also common for Seers to go insane, either from corruption or just from having a primordial creature that hates them living in their head. The Order has a care facility set up for any non-violent Seers who have lost their minds, where they can live out what's left of their lives in peace and safety. Sadly most that go nuts are also violent, though, and are mercy-killed by The Order before they can cause civilian casualties.

If you're asking, "why would anyone want to be a Seer" the answer is, again, purely because it's necessary for the survival of mortal-kind. Many people who volunteer to become a Seer do so because they see it as a way to atone for past sins. Some do so to be a hero, however short-lived it might be. Some just see it as a civic duty. Regardless of why the Order won't turn away volunteers.

Who can become a Seer?

The only actual requirements are that the candidate must be willing, mentally resilient, and magically capable. Of course, it's always preferable for a candidate to be young and healthy. Such individuals typically prove more resilient to both the required training and the ritual itself. However, so long as they meet the core necessities and make it through Seer training, the Order won't turn anyone away.

A candidate will go through 5 to 8 years of relentless training to prepare for the binding ritual. The training is brutal and has been deadly but is necessary if the candidate hopes to survive the binding. In addition to physical and mental exercise, a Seer candidate is trained in advanced magic techniques. A particular focus on personal control is crucial, considering the Order has no desire to give someone prone to violence access to raw power.

What can a Seer do?

In addition to their ability to wield Void magic as a weapon, they can manipulate it in other ways that benefit the general public. Destroying Nightmares is always a Seers primary duty. Still, they are also often called in to clear an area of Void corruption. A little-understood phenomenon, Void corruption tends to occur in populated areas and acts as a beacon for Nightmares. A Seer can absorb and neutralize the corruption at their own expense. They can also 'see' Void energy, appearing as a kind of smokey aura, which helps them find problem areas or address concerns of corruption/possession.

Some Seer facts

The tell-tale sign of a Seer is the solid black sclera, resulting from their tie to a Nightmare. Black stripes/spots in the sclera are typical in corruption or possession cases, but only Seers have solid black.

Even though many Seers were previously criminals, they are almost always received with respect. Regardless of their past deeds, people recognize the altruistic sacrifice they've made by becoming a Seer and honor them for that. On the flip side, most Seers are understandably received with an equal amount of fear.

Seers cannot comprehend or cohesively communicate with their bound Nightmare while awake, getting at most snippets of violent imagery or projected emotions. They are also plagued by violent nightmares when they sleep due to their subconscious trying to process the foreign presence in their mind. The more a Seer's mental barriers deteriorate, the more the Nightmare can torture them inside their own head.

While they are given combat training, Seers are adamantly encouraged to stay out of active combat as much as possible. They are under strict orders to not use their Void magic unless against a Nightmare or Void-related emergency. They are too valuable to risk on the front line, and using their Void powers speeds up their corruption (and thus, demise) too much to just use them recklessly.

Regarding our dear MC...

Take everything you just read about Seers and throw it out the window.

MC is an entirely unique, never-before-seen case. To start, they never underwent a binding ritual. As far as the Order can tell, MC's Nightmare has been there at least in a cursory sense for their whole life because it has chosen to be there. MC's sclera went black when it finally bonded with them (age depends on MC's background but from 8-11 y/o). It was an entirely painless experience for MC.

MC is the only Seer who has been able to actively communicate with their Nightmare in any capacity. The fact their Nightmare introduced itself and keeps a running commentary on what MC is up to during their waking hours is seemingly inexplicable. MC doesn't suffer any nightmares due to The One's presence, either, and is instead able to interact with a dream manifestation of them.

The MC shows no signs of possession and seems to suffer no ill side effects from the One's presence or from using Void magic. They are also the most potent Void magic user the Order has ever had. This penalty-free relationship has allowed them to be the only Seer to hold the position for more than 8 years.

The general public is not aware of pretty much any of this, however. The official story is intentionally vague, saying that the MC is a prodigy and ends the conversation there. They're somewhere between a myth and a legend to the general public, and the majority would not recognize them in person. The MC is under strict orders not to reveal the truth of their situation unless they deem it absolutely necessary. This is mainly for their own safety. After all, just because the Order trusts them doesn't mean the rest of the world will.

In short, the MC is very special. You'll have to play the game to find out why.

About Hunters of The Twilight Order

What is a Hunter?

A Hunter is a specialized member of the Order's main military force, highly trained in martial and magical combat and tactics. Their primary function is to suppress Nightmare and Void-related violence to allow for a Seer to safely end the engagement, as well as to serve as a Seer's protector and right hand.

They put themselves in danger so that a Seer doesn't have to. However, they are not seen as expendable or as shock troops. Instead, they are provided years of highly specialized, rigorous training to ensure they survive the impossible odds they're frequently up against. As a result, hunters are, without exception, the most effective and impressive fighting force on Yereth-Shai.

Who can become a Hunter?

Anyone, so long as they are willing and survive the training. Hunter backgrounds are incredibly varied, from noble to urchin, but all of them give up their old lives for the sake of the Order. Most candidates are given over to the Order young and spend near their entire lives as members of the Twilight family.

It should be noted that orphans make up the largest demographic, as the Order provides food, lodging, education, and eventually a salary for life. For a child with nothing, it's often the most stable option they have.

What can a Hunter do?

In addition to killing virtually anything with appropriately nightmarish skill, Hunters are known for being brilliant - if unconventional - tacticians and skilled generals. Many a monarch has tried to buy themself a Hunter with a laughable pittance of a success rate.

Hunters are also gifted with a unique soul-bound weapon upon graduation. While these weapons are not strictly sentient, they have a sort of will of their own and are inextricably part of their owner. This bond gives a magical boost to the Hunter's natural prowess, in addition to acting as a powerful channel for their own magic. Soul-bound weapons cannot be used to harm their master. In fact, most cannot even be touched without their master's permission, causing grave injury to the individual attempting. These weapons cannot be broken and, if lost, will find their way back to their master. A Hunter also takes their weapon to their grave, as it will decay upon its master's death.

The forges of Twilight Order are the only place to create these weapons, and the technique has never been shared outside of Order smiths and enchanters.

Some Hunter facts

Hunters almost always outlive Seers simply because, as dangerous as their job is, their powers aren't slowly killing them. As such, there are a lot more Hunters in the Order than there are Seers.

The mass majority of Hunters will never be paired with a Seer. Bodyguard duty is reserved for the elite. The Order takes excellent care in choosing these pairs, and transfers to a different partner are rare. Once a Hunter is assigned to a Seer, they are expected to stay together until one of them dies.

Most Hunter-Seer pairings develop an unshakable bond, so much so that Hunters that lose their Seer struggle to function as well with a new partner. As such, a Hunter who has lost their Seer will return to regular troop duties, often as an officer. Their career as bodyguard is over.

That said, if a Seer needs to be neutralized, it is traditionally their paired Hunter's job to strike the killing blow. While being a Hunter is usually a lifetime career, those who have had to kill their Seer can retire from service. The Order is not unsympathetic to their trauma.

Regarding our dear Mira...

Mira is unique in their own way, though not to the same extent that the MC is.

In Mira's case, they genuinely are a prodigy. They've been with the Order since they were a child and took to the training like a fish to water. Their proficiency is precisely why they were paired with MC - who better to protect the Order's most precious Seer than their most skilled Hunter?

Mira is also special in that they have four soul-bound weapons. No touchy.

About The Twilight Order

The Twilight Order is a neutral faction that pays no homage to any nation but demands fealty from them all. It was formed for the sole purpose of defeating the Nightmare threat, and they have stayed true to that through the decades. Members of the Order are strictly forbidden from meddling with politics unless it furthers their mission. The faction itself takes no interest in the rise and fall of kingdoms outside of keeping their funding secure.

The Order is given a begrudging kind of respect on the global politics scale. Many people view the Order with suspicion, especially considering the number of secrets they keep and how they pointedly disregard whatever laws suit them. However, no one dares rise against them - not just because the Hunter army could decimate a country, but because they're the only ones who can tame the Void.

Though thankfully most governments are content to leave the Order alone, it is a delicate diplomatic balance, so long as they stay out of the political sphere.

Some relevant facts about the Order

Once you are initiated into the Order, you leave your old life behind. Each member takes on the surname 'Twilight' and is encouraged to completely sever ties to their old life. This rule is less strictly enforced with members who have been with the Order for a while. It's common for commanding officers to look the other way if their subordinates exchange letters with their original families. So long as the individual isn't compromised by these engagements, it's quietly allowed to happen.

The Order takes a similarly vague approach to romantic relationships involving its members. Physical relations & romance are not forbidden, nor is marriage or attempting to start a family. However, if such a relationship compromises the participants, it will be condemned, and those involved are punished. Duty above all, for the sake of all. No exceptions.

#THIS IS REALLY LONG #i'm basically edging on incoherent at this point in the day so hopefully this made sense #i was typing whole wrong words towards the end of it :')#Anonymous #answered #TTO: Main Tag #TTO: Lore #TTO: Answers #Mira Twilight

38 notes · View notes

dappercritter · 4 years ago

Text

Godzilla vs Kong: Brutally Honest Thoughts

(Took me long enough, eh? Depending on home video releases be like that.)

So first things first, I have a confession to make: I spoiled the movie before I watched it. I was impatient and they had only announced an HBO Max premiere in the states and a theatrical run in Canada at the time. Afterward, I got heads-up from a friend and immersed myself in the opinions of those lucky enough to see it early. I’m just saying that I have some preconceived opinions that I’m sticking to.

That said, Godzilla vs Kong turned out to be more fun than I expected! But you already knew that. Everyone did. The two kings of movie monsters had their rematch and this time it was with glorious Hollywood SFX powering it this time.

The human story was fun but it’s clear they stopped trying at this point. Team Kong stole my heart, especially Jia. Team Godzilla (although the Conspiracy Crew would be a more fitting term since they spend more time chasing down mysteries than trying to back or understand Godzilla) was more fun than I expected and their dynamic was surprisingly enjoyable. Bernie is actually kind of funny, it's nice to see Madison acting more assertive, and Josh was fine--he was the only sane man of the bunch but he was also the butt of the jokes. Still, all the hardcore conspiracy jokes got old fast and it feels off seeing the daughter of two scientists turn into an edgy conspiracy crackpot. Why not an edgy science major?

Team Apex are fun villains, especially Walter Simmons who's a great megalomaniacal CEO type, but Ren Serizawa is a joke. I like his actor's performance but he's just another footnote. Nobody bats an eye at his last name, although the only heroes he interacts with are Nathan Lind and he just misses Team Godzilla. He really could have just been any other villain, but instead, they had to sully Serizawa’s legacy further while robbing a good actor of some interesting material. (As is, it turns out he was just an egotistical jerk with daddy issues--an easy puzzle to solve on day one--after all...)

However, I still cannot and will not approve of the fact that somebody thought it would be a good idea to make the heroes of a sci-fi story into hardcore conspiracy theorists in this day and age. Likewise, I’m not a huge fan of how they essentially made the Hollow Earth into its own universe complete with a crazy portal and an environment with its own laws of physics, nor am I totally crazy about the huge leap in technology that was made between this and KOTM, or G’14 for that matter.

The monsters as awesome as they are, are the biggest mixed bag in the show.

Kong is at his best in ages, and while I am all for the new heroic warrior character that Legendary have crafted and I acknowledge that making him a worthy opponent for their god-tier Godzilla was going to be a hurdle, I think they did a splendid job. Seeing Kong using agility and acrobatics was a glorious sight to behold, and something about Kong becoming a tool-user and weapon wielder just feels right. It’s a far better demonstration of Kong as a “thinking animal” (*wink, wink*).

I’m much less thrilled about their treatment of his greatest opponent ever. After everything they’ve done to build up Godzilla as the incredible force of neutral good fighting to maintain balance and all the build up to ancient rivalry debating back to a great Titan war--even going as far as putting his name in front Kong’s this time!-- they’ve reduced Godzilla back to glorified bully for Kong. He only gets the minimum amount of sympathy from the cast of his movie before they go off to deal with the conspiracy plot or focus on Kong and the Hollow Earth. Worse still, he is somehow more powerful and more aggressive than ever for a good chunk of the movie which leads to an outcome I’m sorry to say we all saw coming. Somehow, I suspect that the reason behind this was how Wingard cited Godzilla vs. Mothra, vs. Destoryah, and Shin-Godzilla as influences for the monsters scale and story, which while cool and all, are all movies where he was played up as a mostly stoic antagonist rather than a three-dimensional character like Kong. (Though ironically vs. Destoroyah and Shin did a better job of making Godzilla feel more sympathetic and in both of them he was a walking nuclear reactor meltdown.)

Due to the unfortunate time constraints of the three-way deal between Toho, WB, and Universal at the time this was in production, Kong was unable to secure a proper sequel that could develop his skillset like Godzilla’s did. Nevermind the fact the filmmakers completely surrendered to the “nothing matters but the monsters” mentality that a chunk of the fanbase has been spouting since this universe unofficially kicked off almost 10 years ago. (Sidenote: Oh god, I’m turning in an old fart already.) As a result, the movie trips over itself trying to set up Godzilla and Kong’s rivalry as well as building up Kong as a worthy opponent to Godzilla while expanding on their shared lore, and as a result countless plot points set up in in the previous movie and tie-in movie are thrown out the window. I’m sorry to say but in spite of all hopes and illusions of grandeur, it’s safe to this damn thing is a Kong movie with Godzilla as the bad guy.

...at least until HE shows up. Yup, Mechagodzilla. The biggest spoiled twist of the centuries steals the show so the movie can pull a Dawn of Justice. But! It does it much better than the fractured DCEU’s most controversial entry ever could. Mechagodzilla’s inclusion gets a decent amount of build up thanks to Team Godzilla/the Conspiracy Crew, and when he shows up, does he make an impression! At first, I wasn’t sure how to feel about his inclusion or his design, but I’ve come to like this one. He’s basically a kaiju terminator built in Godzilla’s image made purely out of heavy machinery piloted by the best Ghidorah head. It’s a jarring change of pace compared to previous MechaG’s but it grows on you after a while. With the abundance of weaponry stuffed into him, he feels like a fitting update of the original killing machine, and even if his inclusion feels like an easy way out of the big showdown, it’s fun to see him played as a literal colossal heel for the kings to team up against. Not to mention he looks shockingly good with those red highlights. However, one still can’t help but wonder how and why he was made in this universe, or how he feels like pure heavy machinery one minute and then an extra-large Ultron unit the next.

As for the the big throwdowns we’ve all been waiting for... well, we’re still in the mixed bag deparment. While the fights are all exciting and excellently choreographed, and benefit from some more eclectic lighting and cinematograph, I’m sorry to say that as far as the rematch of the century goes they dropped the ball on this one.

Don’t get me wrong, the fights are all great in their own ways, but there’s a drastic change in the feeling of weight and power with the monsters. Godzilla, Kong, and even Mechagodzilla all feel strangely floaty in most of their fights. One moments they feel like true behemoths shaking the very earth with every movement and then it’s like they’re in Godzilla Unleashed, running, jumping, and throwing each other around with speed that feels that almost makes you wonder if the Hollow Earth’s gravity inversion stuff is leaking out into the world. While it’s all perfectly cool, you can’t help but wonder how Kong is able to leap between aircraft carriers and buildings, when Godzilla got the ability to blow a hole through the Earth itself, or how a colossal machine is able to move so nimbly or why it has to be flashing blue all the time.

It’s fascinating and fun but you just can’t help but wonder how we got from almost posthuman disaster and war movies exploring how we’re at the mercy of the ancient almost mythical forces beyond our comprehension, we’ve found ourselves smack dab in the middle of Bayformers meets Jurassic World levels of Hollywood absurdity where anything and everything can and will happen in the name of getting to the monster fights. Although I can’t say I’m surprised given the director’s take on Death Note made some questionable choices with it’s take on the infamous cast while still coming up with some genuinely inspired choices. Still, all things considered we could have gotten worse compared to ther cinematic universes made by WB and Universal.

As for some misc. thoughts to close up this rambling mess:

-The soundtrack is fantastic. A great continuation of the feel of Skull Island’s mixtape with some truly wonderful picks. Special mention goes to the opening and ending songs, and they GOT AN ELVIS PRESLEY SONG IN HERE! YES!!! The three kings of pop culture together at last!

-While this movie didn’t need to be any more overstuffed, it would have been nice if the rest of the Titans didn’t disappear entirely from this movie. I get that Godzilla: Dominion already explained what happened to them all more or less, but it really is a missed oppurtunity that we never got to see another Titan war. Or Rodan attacking Kong to avenge his pterosaur bretheren from days long past. Speaking of which...

-“Save Mothra” jokes be damned, Mothra would have been a welcome gues star, not just to help break up the big fight, but to show off Godzilla’s softer, more protective side. And yes, I want more Mothzilla. Shut up, we deserve it.

-Boy, Monarch sure does a whole lot of nothing up-top, huh?

-The cinematography is a great update but there’s a little too much neon lighting, especially in the Apex HQ and the Hollow Earth throne room. It feels like they’re trying just a little too hard to sell the more futuristic, Hollywood sci-fi feel.

-The score is... great but not that great. Of course, I’ve always had mixed feelings about Tom Holkenburg (AKA Junkie XL)’s music. I liked Kong’s themes, but they REALLY dropped the ball with Godzilla’s theme. Mechagodzilla’s works really well as long you ignore that it’s just Godzilla’s theme in this movie with an ominious choir added in.

-The new Hollow Earth creatures are all perfectly fine. Actually, I thought they were another highlight! Especially the Warbats, Hellhawks, and Doug the Titanus Foetodon Man.

-I want to do a release the extended cut campaign but I don’t think any of us have the energy for that s**t anymore.

24 notes · View notes

adrinoir · 4 years ago

Text

Who will be the next Hawk Moth?

Alright, well there’s a lot of different theories on who will be “the next Hawk Moth”. So I wanted to do a break down on some possibilities (warning: this analysis is REALLY long lol)

Lila

I feel like Lila is very likely to be the next one. She already has a leg up in working with Gabriel (despite not knowing he’s Hawk Moth).

Even though Hawk Moth hasn’t reached his goal of getting Ladybug and Cat Noir’s miraculouses, he’s made good progress. With Lila’s help, he’s gotten PRETTY damn close to getting them since she has that deep hatred of Ladybug. Without her, he wouldn’t have had his invasion of scarlet moths possessing Paris.

Additionally, Lila is pretty full of herself and does just about everything for her own benefit. She could easily grow a bigger hatred towards Ladybug and find out about the benefits of their miraculouses to have her own wish granted.

It’s really difficult to see her as a redeemable character since she has yet to show any redeemable qualities. But, hey, maybe there will be a plot twist where she’ll change her ways.

Chloe

As much as I’d LOVE to see Chloe develop into a better person since we see she is the way she is, I don’t have too much faith in Thomas Astruc’s writing.

Thomas initially started Chloe off as the annoying and conceited bully, then she started seeing the error of her ways, and finally...she was pulled back to square one.

It’s obvious that Chloe is pretty strong. She knows Hawk Moth is evil and has fought off an akuma even when she was super angry with Ladybug. However, Hawk Moth IS a rather powerful man and was able to akumatize Chloe on many occasions. She became his most successful akumatized victim as Miracle Queen. I feel like the fandom doesn’t talk enough about how Chloe managed to get almost ALL the miraculous holders to reveal their identities. (Don’t come for Hawk Moth in saying he hasn’t made a lot of progress - he HAS.)

The main issue with Chloe is that she can easily be manipulated into doing things for Hawk Moth because she has that disliking for Ladybug, deep down. She doesn’t want to hate Ladybug but obviously it’s been tough since she won’t let Chloe have her bee miraculous, and being Queen Bee is very important to her. Chloe wants to be powerful and heroic to feel good about herself since her mom doesn’t see her as something special (which is awful, I feel so bad for Chloe, honestly.)

Even though the likelihood is there, I really don’t want Chloe to become the next Hawk Moth. In season 4, it’d be nice to see some of her character development come back, and hopefully her and her mom build a stronger relationship now that Audrey has decided to stay in Paris with the family. Thomas Astruc needs to make Chloe better but KEEP it that way. She’s shown redeemable qualities and we know why she acts the way that she does. There’s a ridiculous amount of potential for her to be a wonderful, well-rounded character instead of just the evil bully Thomas makes her out to be.

Felix

So far, we’ve only seen Felix in one episode, but we already have a good idea of what he’s like. He’s very manipulative as a form of coping with his father’s death.

Felix already has a bit of a vendetta against Gabriel for keeping Emilie’s family heirlooms, and managed to steal them from Gabriel. He also wasn’t very nice to Adrien in pretending to be him and attempting to hurt his friendships. All of those things Felix did just prove he’d make a *good* villain.

My theory is that he’ll come back for at least one more episode, since he took the wedding rings that were very precious to Gabriel. However, it’s kind of strange to me that Felix hasn’t even been mentioned since his debut episode. So, we will see if this devilish boy makes a comeback.

Adrien

People have had this theory a while back, but it’s just incredibly unlikely at this point.

Adrien cares deeply about his mom and wants her back, of course. However, we see in Cat Blanc that he tried to cataclysm his own father for what he’s done. He was so hurt by his father’s motives, he triggered the end of the world.

There could potentially be an episode where Adrien hears his father out and tries the butterfly miraculous out for himself, but Bunnyx would come out of her burrow and shut that shit down.

OR, we know Gabriel is an awful father and he could somehow manipulate his own son to take his spot as Hawk Moth. (But again, Bunnyx could easily shut this down, too.)

Adrien loves being Cat Noir; he’s shown to be the Cat Noir in the future. He has an extremely good heart. So they’ve pretty much denied Adrien becoming the new Hawk Moth, at this point.

Luka

I think this is the most interesting idea I’ve seen on who the next Hawk Moth will be. (I recommend watching Cat Blanc x Princess Justice’s YouTube video analysis on this. It’s really good! I mention some of her points in here.)

Luka is almost too nice of a character. He cares a lot about other people and just sort of lets Marinette take advantage of his kindness, which is really sad, BUT there could easily be a motive we don’t know behind that, or he’s secretly bothered by it deep down.

There’s that theory that Luka knows Marinette is Ladybug. He could be trying to get closer to her to take the miraculous from her since he might know the power the ladybug and black cat miraculous hold.

Or, like I mentioned before, if Luka is bothered deep down by Marinette’s romantic feelings for Adrien, there could be something that happens that pushes him over the edge. We’ve even seen that Luka makes a terrifying villain as Silencer. He was super manipulative and had a lot of good tactics. Ladybug and Cat Noir DID in fact have a really hard time fighting him. Luka is also not the type of person to get angry like that, but Hawk Moth needs STRONG emotion to feed off of. So, considering how powerful of a villain Luka was, there’s clearly some anger boiling within him.

We also don’t have that much of a backstory to work off of. We’re slowly learning more, but think about it, for instance, we don’t know who his father is. Some people have theorized it’s Jagged Stone but we’re REALLY not sure. So, maybe it’s a motive of his to find his father.

Thomas Astruc made Luka a very likable character, enough so to get most of the fandom to actually like the Lukanette ship. Luka could have been made purposely likable so that the fandom won’t believe that he will be the next villain.

Another good point Cat Blanc x Princess Justice had made was that Miraculous World made a tweet that Miraculous will be introducing a new villain in season 4 - but it’s a character we already know. Lila and Felix are already known BUT they’re also already well-established villains....

Kagami

If Luka is a possibility, so is Kagami. Half the fandom thinks Kagami is great, the other half thinks she’s awful.

Kagami is shown to have a very strong personality (that sometimes comes off as a bit threatening). She’s very blunt about everything, very uptight, doesn’t beat around the bush. Those three characteristics are similar to Gabriel, HOWEVER Kagami has a caring soul and she really wants to be good to Adrien and Marinette.

So, it’s possible, but unlikely and definitely hard to pinpoint what intentions she could possibly have of becoming a villain. Maybe her mother pinches a certain nerve, or she can’t understand why Adrien doesn’t love her.

Additionally, Thomas Astruc doesn’t cut Adrien a lot of slack, let’s be real here. Adrien’s father is already Hawk Moth, he could switch it to his “girlfriend” being Hawk Moth.

Alya

So, I have a bit of an interesting theory on this since I haven’t really seen anyone else mention anything about Alya potentially becoming bad.

Despite Alya/Rena Rouge having a strong bond and trust with Ladybug, there’s that possibility she still wants to unveil who Ladybug really is - she still runs The Ladyblog, after all. And of course, unveiling Ladybug’s identity is extremely dangerous. She even posted the museum exhibit to her blog in Feast, which she didn’t realize was dangerous. It shows that she might slip and reveal something that she shouldn’t have.

Or, maybe Alya manages to lose Ladybug’s trust. Something monumental could happen. There’s already that bit of danger surrounding Ladybug and Rena Rouge since they’re such close friends in real life and know nearly everything about each other.

Hawk Moth also now knows that Alya is Rena, and could do something to push her to reveal something on The Ladyblog, therefore turning her into a villain.

Also, Alya already knows SO much of the Ladybug lore. She’s dedicated so much time to researching the lore behind the miraculouses. Also pretty dangerous and suspicious.

Nino

Like Alya, there’s a chance Nino also loses Ladybug and/or Cat Noir’s trust. When Nino first got his miraculous, he wasn’t very good at acting like a different person in his superhero persona. He could easily slip and reveal an something he isn’t supposed to.

He is the least likely possibility, but not completely impossible.

Tom or Sabine

I put these two in the same excerpt because they have about the same amount of likeliness to be the next Hawk Moth (or maybe one is Hawk Moth and the other is Mayura 👀)

Tom and Sabine are both super sweet, but also, we don’t know a whole lot about them. Since Gabriel - father of sweet cinnamon roll hero Cat Noir - is Hawk Moth, who’s to say superhero Ladybug’s own parents couldn’t become evil? It’d create a super interesting dynamic in the plot because it’s like how would Marinette react if one of her parents was Hawk Moth?

I have a stronger theory that Tom and Sabine used to be the old Ladybug and Cat Noir, but still. Don’t put it past Thomas Astruc to trick us somehow.

How would Gabriel fail (or lose his miraculous)?

One last thing I’d also like to analyze relating to this is this question.

Does Gabriel NOT end up ever getting Ladybug and Cat Noir’s miraculouses? Let’s look over some possibilities:

1) One of the villains he creates or senti-monsters Nathalie creates becomes too powerful and doesn’t give him the miraculouses once they’re captured.

2) He gives up and realizes all he needs is his dearest son Adrien.

3) He gets sickly and can’t fight anymore and passes on his miraculous for someone else to do the job.

4) Simplest answer: His miraculous is stolen.

#miraculous ladybug #tales of ladybug and cat noir #miraculers #miraculous #hawk moth #hawkmoth #gabriel agreste #lila rossi #adrien agreste #luka couffaine #alya cesaire #nino lahiffe #miraculous kagami #kagami tsurugi

58 notes · View notes