#i didn't really want to write any more

[mackmp3]

Dress could be interpreted to be about feeling the pressure to be a stereotypically girly girl and trying to navigate social situations where it's expected you have a boyfriend

sorry but this is not "Gender nonconforming behaviour" this is female behaviour. literally 100% of female children experience this, because this is a cornerstone of misogyny - enforcing male-invented social stereotypes of how a girl should behave (aka "femininity"). please read some feminist theory instead of saying basic female experiences are queer gender experiences! this is why we have a million white afab they/thems who think not liking pink and having a personality means they aren't really a girl and that the evil cis dykes are oppressing them by saying gender is a rightwing social construct that no one actually has.

warning for transphobia towards non binary people, please keep scrolling and don't read the ask if this will upset you

nice to know i found a terf! please kindly unfollow me now if you haven't already thanks :)

i'm pretty sure i say at least twice in that post that what PJ is singing about is totally normal experience for cishet girls, and that there are lots of cishet readings of her music that make sense, just that i personally find them interesting to view through a queer lens.

yes, i'm sure a lot of cishet girls also experience discomfort with having to wear a dress and find a boyfriend! i never said they didn't! but to an audience that is sapphic *and* is gender non conforming, the song is more likely to really resonate with them. which i say about two paragraphs down, if you'd have read the rest of the post -

'[...] but failing to do so because it's just not you. feeling uncomfortable in a dress, trying and failing to have normal interactions with guys - which of course cishet girls can feel as well, but hits particularly hard as a queer, gender non conforming, girl adjacent person'

i don't think i need to read feminist theory to post my *completely subjective media analysis* about pj harvey on the internet, these things are just theories after all! this is how *i personally* interpret some songs. in any case, whatever you have going on is clearly not as feminist as you might like to think, as feminism last time i checked was about trying to get equality and fairness for *all* genders, not annoying teenagers on tumblr for daring to think about gender on their own.

also 'the evil cis dykes are oppressing them by saying gender is a rightwing social construct that no one actually has.' i'm really sorry that you think that way but literally no one thinks this. i have never seen one single thing ever saying that someone thinks cis lesbians are oppressing them. they think terfs are harassing them. which now you are too! the world isn't seeing some major downfall in gender because there are now 'a million white afab they/thems', it's because on the last few years, some parts of the world at least have had a massive shift towards accepting non-binary people as a thing that exists, and more visibility, which had led to more people, especially young people, having more tools and language with which to understand their own gender. even just five years ago i probably wouldn't have been able to think of a non-binary character, now i could list you dozens. non-binary people were always there, there just weren't always conducive environments, or the words, for people to realise that that is what they were feeling. also by implication you're saying that liking pink and not having a personality are parts of being a girl? i don't think that what you meant to say but that *really* isn't feminist. in case it's not clear enough

NON BINARY PEOPLE ARE VALID YOUR GENDER OR LACK THEREOF IS REAL

TERFS GO AWAY

[hangryshawn]

charmed + disarmed

[thekittyokat]

you ever just have a lot, a LOT of feelings all at once about a character and not even remotely enough words or brainpower to FORM the words to describe everything you're feeling. so it feels like you may explode. yeah

[inkskinned]

this is sort of pathetic, but when you were younger, you were sort of puzzled by the cartoon representations of fathers: how a kid would be outside with a mitt, waiting to play catch.

it's not that your father never played catch with you, but you also didn't like when he did. something about a hard ball coming quickly towards your face doesn't seem exciting. not that you'd ever say you don't trust him. you trust him, right?

it's not like he never tried to teach you anything. or never tried to parent. on rare days, a strange person would walk in your father's skin. bright, happy, magnificent. this version of your father was so cheerful and charismatic that you would do anything to keep him. and this is the version of your father that would laugh and gently coax you try again. this is the version of your father that would break down the small elements of a problem and point them out so you have an easier time with them.

as a kid, those days happened more often. but somewhere around 11, you started being too much of a person, and he was often cross about it. when he'd try to sit you down to learn something, you spent the whole time with your shoulders around your ears, nervous, uncertain. terrified because you didn't immediately understand how to navigate something. worried you will run out of his goodwill and then you will have the Other Father back, and you will have ruined a good day for your entire family. something about you being visibly afraid - it just made him angry. he would accuse you of not wanting to learn and storm away.

on tv, it's not like there's a lot of versions of men-who-are-mostly-fathers. they can be good dads, but usually their stories are not told in the household. so it's normal that your father is there, but he's never around. you know he was in the house, somewhere, it's just not that you guys ever... "hung out". he just seemed to get kind of bored of you, annoyed you weren't made in his perfect image. frustrated with how much energy it took to raise a kid. over time, you kind of adopt a bittersweet band around your throat - he knows nothing about me. he says at least i never abandoned my family.

and it's technically - technically - true. he was there for you. sometimes he even made an effort and made it to the big moments; the graduations and the dance recitals. he grins and tells everyone that he taught you. it almost erases the days in between, where he complains because you need a ride to school. the weeks that go by where he doesn't actually ever speak to you. the times you say i am struggling and he says figure it out on your own. i can't help you.

and that's fine! that's all fine. you can call him if you are having a problem with your car. or if you need a ride to the hospital. he loves playing hero, he just doesn't like the actual work that comes with being a father. and you've kind of made your peace with that; because you had to, because you don't want to live your life like he does; the whole world at a managed distance, a little rotating and controlled orb he can witness and take credit for but never truly love.

as an adult, you are rewatching some dumb cartoon - and again, the child standing in the rain, with a mitt, waiting for their father to come play catch. as an adult, there's this strange creeping dread - this little thing? this little thing, and their dad can't even show up for that? oh god, holyshit, it's not about the mitt, is it. oh god, holyshit, your father spent most of your life leaving you hanging.

[ratwithhands]

Decided to polish some jacket designs!

Emmet originally received a strait from the League after they thought he posed a safety risk to others and mandated him to wear it. Big surprise, they literally just went to a Unovan hospital and asked if they had any of the old jackets lying around. It's ill-fitting and unpleasant, not to mention the hasty edits they made to his uniform to act as a secondary restraint looks awful. As much as he is still operating as usual, having to walk around in the strait is humiliating and dehumanizing, especially because of the stares from other people.

Of course this crime against dignity and fashion had to be corrected, so Elesa called her designers and offered to make the League Council a more appropriate uniform for him. The only rule given was that it must still restrain as well as the original straitjacket, so Elesa ended up modelling the jacket after a vest and the secondary restraint after a double-breasted greatcoat. It's meant to look like clothing, more like everyday wear than something out of an asylum. It also uses hand covers (i.e. socks) instead of a grossly oversized sleeve to keep the hands restrained.

It resolves a lot of the issues Emmet had with the original, namely that it blends in with the crowd rather than making him stick out. It also has an air of professionalism and formality that the original didn't have. He's much more willing to wear it and keep it on, as well as being more comfortable in it.

I'm struggling to describe this in sentences so as for the differences:

League Straitjacket:

actual retired straitjacket from hospital storage

made of old canvas and leather

uses oversized belted sleeves to restrain arms

uses belts and buckles to restrain upper arms and tighten back

can't fit anything thicker than a tank top underneath

Elesa's Modified Straitvest:

bespoke articles custom tailored to Emmet's measurements

made from stiff cotton and fabric straps

uses belted cuffs and hand covers to restrain arms

uses straps and locking slide buckles to restrain upper arms and tighten back

able to fit a collared shirt underneath

Elesa's outfit also has the added bonus of being more breathable, soft, and being able to function as regular clothes.

Anyways bonus sketch comic:

Dignity restored.

[theminecraftbee]

okay now that i'm no longer trying to keep a project secret from certain people i can complain publicly about a thing i've been losing my mind about:

why the fuck is the evo wiki like that.

listen. i know. i know fandom wikis being decent entirely relies on whether there are people who both want to obsessively categorize things enough to fill out the wiki, with the free time to do that kind of obsessive categorization, and the desire to manage it all as a wiki. believe me, i know. but please i'm just trying to do research please, please at least bigb's page was just Entirely Empty so i knew i had useless information and just left. why the fuck did the mafia's page, by contrast, have this:

a sentence that is actively LESS USEFUL THAN IF IT WERE NOT THERE.

and then grian's page - GRIAN'S. GRIAN'S. THE ONE PAGE I THOUGHT MIGHT HAVE A SHOT OF BEING FILLED OUT. JOKE'S ON ME I GUESS.

BECAUSE IT HAS THIS????? I'M LOSING MY MIND. WHY ON EARTH IS THE WIKI LIKE THIS. WHY IS IT THIS BAD. PLEASE I'M JUST TRYING TO FIGURE OUT WHAT EVERYONE'S RELATIONSHIPS WITH JIMMY AND MARTYN WERE PLEASE,

anyway thankfully i had friends who could help me with their own knowledge and who also found the evo recap but in conclusion i have been being driven mad by this for weeks, thank you for coming to my ted talk.

[hailsatanacab]

"give me a fandom and a prompt and i'll give you at least five sentences"

Ok then.

Jazz, Danny and Bruce are in the same age range, and Bruce has been harboring a massive crush on 7'foot tall Jazz since just after he began his training journey.

His kids know about and are mercyless. Danny thinks he's a bit of a fruit loop and 100% knows Bruce has a crush on his sister.

Into the future his coworkers find out that batman has been quietly pining after the Ghost Kings sister for years.

Chaos.

love that this reads as a challenge. Ok then. Write it. i will, let's goooo!

(sorry i kinda took it so that Jazz, Danny, and Bruce were all old friends but in that horrible adult way where you can only hang out with each other once in a blue moon when your work schedules miraculously align)

——

"Respectfully, Batman, you can take your "it's not necessary" and you can shove it up your arse. There's a demon the size of a skyscraper heading towards Metropolis and we need reinforcements."

"Superman can—"

"Superman can't. You do remember the part of the report I made telling you this, right? Or did your stubborn little bat brain just shut down when I mentioned magic?"

"Actually," Nightwing interrupts from the side, a shit-eating grin on his face, "I think his brain shut down when you mentioned the Ghost King."

"Nightwing." Batman growls in warning, his jaw clenching so hard Constantine can swear he hears the bones creaking.

Nightwing just snickers, and turns away to press a finger to his ear, no doubt letting the rest of the bat brood in on what's happening here... Whatever that is. All Constantine knows is that Batman is standing between him and fixing this mess for no God-forsaken reason.

Luckily, some of the more reasonable members of the League step in to try and talk some sense into Batman. It gives him some time to calm down.

"Batman. We need him. I know you dislike working with unknowns, but he's our best shot."

It actually looks like Wonder Woman might be getting through to him, Batman even opens his mouth to actually explain some things—a huge step forward for this incredibly emotionally constipated man.

Instead, Nightwing snorts and beats him to it. "Unknowns? More like—"

"Nightwing, please."

"Oh, for Pete's sake, get your head out of your arse and let me do this. The Ghost King is our only hope. I'm summoning him, no matter what you say."

For a long second, Constantine thinks that he'll refuse and he might have to resort to more violent methods of persuasion—which, honestly, Constantine has fantasised about many times during the more boring JL meetings—but eventually, Batman relents and steps out of the way.

"Fine. Nightwing, go check in with Red Robin."

Nightwing has the kind of devious smile that makes John glad he doesn't have kids.

"Oh, don't worry about it, B. Red Robin's coming here. So's Red Hood, I don't need to go anywhere."

"Nightwing—"

"Sh, it's starting." So saying, Nightwing then very obviously ignores Batman's protests with a poker face that even Constantine envies. What he wouldn't give to be able to shut the bat out like that.

The summoning goes quickly, thankfully. The lights flicker, the temperature drops, and the chalk circle erupts in green flames. Standard summoning practices, sure. Even the impromptu appearance of Red Hood and Red Robin—"Did we miss him?", "No, not yet! I got 2:37, what about you guys?"—doesn't throw him off.

It does pique his interest, though. Just what the hell is going on with them? Constantine's weighing up the pros and cons of asking them once all of this is over when the ground splits open and the clawed hand of the Ghost King begins to pull himself out of the ground.

John's a seasoned summoner. It's practically his job, he's done it countless times.

The icey fear that grips his heart, that freezes his breath in his chest, is new.

Pure, unadulterated power floods the area and he feels small, so, so small, like a child playing with things he doesn't understand. When he finally tears his eyes away from the portal, he catches a glimpse of the other magic users in the room, the same horror he feels clear in their faces. Even Captain Marvel stares slackjawed.

The pressure rises, death magic screaming in his ears, almost forcing him to his knees, and suddenly he's not so sure this is a good idea.

Too late to back out now, though.

Sickly green light pours from the crack in the ground, growing brighter and brighter as the giant figure rises, until Constantine has to close his eyes and look away. The last thing he sees are eyes, teeth, horns, a crown so bright that it burns an afterimage into his retinas.

When the light dies down and he opens his eyes again, a humanoid man floats in the centre of the circle. The ground is whole, nothing is burning, the man doesn't even have a crown. Instead, other than the wispy white hair, slightly green skin, and the—you know—floating, the Ghost King appears pretty normal. Huh.

Constantine blinks, rubbing his bleary eyes, and checks around to make sure everyone's okay. Most of the League are doing the same as him, taking fortifying breaths and trying to appear as if they've not just been completely blinded.

Most of them, that is, aside from the Gotham vigilantes.

Batman himself stands upright, arms crossed, looking completely unbothered by the whole thing and John's got to admit, he wishes he could do that, too. That was... a hell of a show.

The others, however, are waving frantically with huge smiles on their faces.

What?

There's a brief, taut silence, as everyone else tries to catch their breath.

As much as he would rather take a bit of a breather, John should probably start making introductions. Unfortunately, he only gets as far as opening his mouth before the Ghost King beats him to it.

"Oh, Ancients, hey guys! It's been forever, how are you? Look at you all, so grown up, wow—Nightwing, buddy, do a flip!"

It doesn't take much to get Nightwing going, and he certainly doesn't leave it at one flip. The whole of the Justice League and Justice League Dark watch with open mouths as Nightwing performs for the Ghost King.

What, and John can't stress this enough, the fuck?

As soon as Nightwing rights himself, Red Hood swats him across the back of the head and calls him a show off.

The Ghost King just laughs as he claps. "There's my little monkey, look at you go! And I'm loving that leather jacket, Hood, is that new? Looks good on you, really your colour. Brings out the red in your helmet."

"Thanks, Uncle D. At least someone around here appreciates fashion."

"Are you kidding me, you know I breathe fashion, need I remind—"

"Need I remind you of the Discowing incident?"

"That was era-appropriate and you know it! Uncle D, tell him it was era-appropriate!"

"It was era-appropriate, but so are crocs and it doesn't make them fashionable." The Ghost King—and holy shit, is this actually the Ghost King? Or did Constantine just accidentally summon a deceased family member, what the fuck is happening here?—turns to look at Red Robin with a smile, resolutely ignorning the argument he created. "How you doing, Double R? You get that tablet Tucker made for you?"

"Yes, thank you! It's so cool, how did he—"

"How's Tucker doing?" Batman interrupts, his hands now hidden underneath his cape.

As soon as the question leaves his lips, everyone groans. Red Robin makes a show of lifting up his wrist and staring at it intently.

"Incredible," Red Hood mutters with a shake of his head.

Even the Ghost King seems put out, rolling his eyes and answering in a flat tone as if he knows Batman isn't interested in what he has to say.

Not for the first time, Constantine feels like he's missing something.

"Tucker's doing very well, thank you for asking."

What follows is the most awkward silence Constantine has ever had the pleasure to be a part of.

All three of the Gotham vigilantes, including the Ghost King, are staring at Batman, waiting for something. Batman's cloak shifts as if he's moving his hands, fidgeting. If Constantine didn't know any better, he'd say he was nervous.

"Good. That's good, I'm glad to hear it."

Instead of saying anything else, the Ghost King just raises his eyebrows and continues to stare at Batman. Has he offended him in some way? Are they all going to die because of this?

After what seems like an agonising few minutes but could only really be a few seconds, Batman's shoulders dip and he takes a breath. "And Jazz?"

They all erupt into shouts, the Ghost King being the loudest. The only thing John can make out is when the Ghost King throws his hand in the air to point at Red Robin with a shout of "Time!"

"1:30.91, we got 1:30.91 on the clock, who's closest?"

"Did you even try to hold it in at all, old man? I'm so disappointed in you. People think you're cool. People think you're suave, I don't understand how they could be so wrong."

"Thank you for that, Hood."

"No, thank you, I won. Again. Because you're so predictable. Actually, I had one minute seventeen, so you held out longer than I thought you would."

Batman pinches the bridge of his nose and sighs loudly.

Constantine feels like doing the same thing.

Whatever. He's going to have to interrupt... whatever this is. There's still a rampaging demon heading their way that they've got to bargain for. He can untangle Batman's personal connection to the Ghost King later. Or he could leave it alone and forget everything about it.

Yeah, he'll do that one.

But before he can actually open his mouth to say anything, the Ghost King, again, beats him to it.

"So, B-Man, did you summon me here for a particular reason, or was it really just so you could ask about Jazz?"

There's a beat of silence before Batman mutters, "I asked about Tucker, too. We've not seen each other in so long, it's only polite."

"And I'm sure you meant it, you're the paragon of manners." The Ghost King nods slow and wide-eyed as if he doesn't believe him at all.

At this point, even Constantine doesn't believe him.

"It has been forever, though." The Ghost King muses, bringing his hand to his chin and folding his legs underneath him. "We should all get together sometime! If you get Alfie to make some of his cookies again, I'll get Clockwork to lend us a pocket dimension where we can spend as much time as we want, deal?"

"It's a deal."

No hesitation at all, incredible.

Hold on. Wait. John has to fight the urge to pinch himself, because this has to be a dream, right? Is Batman actually smiling? He didn't even know he could do that.

An itch niggles at the back of John's mind. He's starting to get an inkling of what's going on here and it's... weird, to say the least.

"Oooh," Nightwing singsongs, like a child in a playground tickled by the very idea of romance.

But then, who's he to judge? John's no stranger to strange bedfellows, that's for sure. Whoever this Jazz is, she must be something incredible—she'd have to be, if Batman can't even go two minutes without asking about her.

"Batman and Jasmine sitting in a tree," Nightwing continues, with both Red Hood and Red Robin joining in for the rest. "K—I—S—S—I—"

"Stop," Batman growls, completely drowned out by the Ghost King's laughter, but...

But.

It all suddenly clicks for John.

The Ghost King Phantom.

Her Royal Highness, Princess Jasmine Phantom.

Jazz.

"Holy shit, mate," John breathes, unable to stop himself as everyone looks his way. "You have the hots for the Princess of the Infinite Realms?"

The Justice League meeting room has never descended into chaos quicker.

[can-of-slorgs]

I'm personally blaming @starbiology and everyone who has reblogged or commented the other piece for this.

Bonus comic featuring my grundo:

[crownedwille]

.

[babybirbb]

Just started watching suits recently and was wondering if you had any good fic recs, particularly AUs. The nature of the show really lends itself to Selkie fics imo but also I just love selkies

anon i need you to know that as soon as i saw your ask i immediately went scouring through the AU tag on ao3. i’m not gonna lie, i'm not usually an AU reader but i wanted to challenge myself to provide some recs as unbiasedly as possible.

at first observation, i noticed a lot of the AU fics were still in some way canon (divergent and adjacent)-- usually splitting off somewhere along the show or a situation where Mike or Harvey is still a lawyer, while the other was not. i will say i skipped over smut-based (omegaverse, bdsm) and lengthy fics (under 20k is nothing, anything more than 50k is pushing it for me) cause i just did not have the brainpower to even try to get through them :/

so of course the ones i ended up liking were mostly canon divergent/adjacent but i tried my best to get you something different. what i managed to dig up for you is under the cut and i really hope you like them anon (also fyi these are all pretty much marvey fics, hope that's okay!) <3 also thanks so much for the ask! i enjoyed this little scavenger hunt haha!

As the World Caves In by SupernaturalIdjit16 | Mature - Zombie Apocalypse, Warning for the usual triggers that come with zombie apocalypse. It’s not a complete work but it literally got updated today!

Here at the end of all things by tattooedsiren | Explicit - Apocalypse, Hurt/Comfort, Mike and Harvey protecting each other, Mike does shoot someone and goes a bit into the psychological aftermath, light smut towards the end

The Haunting of Penthouse B by Skara_Brae | Teen+ - Supernatural Elements, Happy ending, Mike’s a ghost…or is he?

Meet Me at Midnight by butdaddyilovehim | Teen+ - Superheroes/Superpowers, Protective Harvey, he's also Batman…need i say more?

Complications by LearnedFoot | Teen+ - Canon divergence, Fake/pretend relationship, Harvey decides not to hire Mike, instead asks for his help to spite Jessica, of course they end up falling in love

The Touch by FrivolousSuits | Teen+ - Magic, Angst, Soulmate inspired, it’s also from Donna’s pov which was super fun and interesting, as was the nature of the magic

TBR list:

Wear My Name by Lunarflare14 (Teen+) and whatever the question by tattooedsiren (Explicit) - These are both Fake/Pretend relationship AUs based/inspired by The Proposal movie! (a very good movie imo)

The Game by FrivolousSuits | Teen+ - It’s a Hunger Games AU so i am intrigued, just haven't gotten around to reading it yet

Ocean Dream by Blue_Five | Mature - i apologize for being unable to provide you with a selkie fic so the best i could do was the incomplete merperson au... i hope it's enjoyable...😅

[problemswithbooks]

BNHA Ch. 429

So, I guess Toga is dead, and people are losing it.

I get why people liked her--she was actually queer, being pan/bisexual. She was representation for them and that's rare in shonen manga. But here's the thing--she was bad representation at best and insulting at worst. Nor do I think she was made queer because Hori really wanted to represent a queer girl. Himiko was always the author's poorly hidden fetish--she just was. She liked girls as much as boys because Hori wanted to draw a girl touching sexually on another girl. You can see this in how he draws her and Ochako in solo pics together.

I mean, people seem to understand this when it comes to Momo and her outfit being overly sexual or that both Himiko and Hagakure's Quirks either leave them naked or they have to be naked to use them. These are excuses to draw girls in a sexual manner. Himiko being into other girls is the same thing and that's the kindest interpretation.

Given how Himiko acts and her Quirk being heavily coded sexual desire, and therefore her use of it against someone unwilling being sexual assault, it could just being playing into harmful stereotypes of predatory gays.

As a queer person myself I just found Toga insulting. She was designed to be overly sexual and give the male author a female character that he could draw being suggestive with his other female characters. When he did flesh out her character, her backstory was eventually the trope/fear of straight people, that gay people will be so overcome with their lust that they end up sexually assaulting them.

In the end Ochako accepts this part of Toga and says she'll giver her blood forever, but as much as a lot of readers took that that as some deep lesbian confession, for me it really fell flat. Hori never really gave any of the main kids time to actually learn about their villain or show how that changed their minds toward them. Shoto only works because Touya is his brother (even though he admits he barely remembers him). But Ochako goes from not thinking of Toga at all pre-first war, to one thought about her during her speech, to suddenly caring about her so much she--given how Toga's quirk is coded, is willing to essentially fulfill Toga's kink for the rest of their lives.

It's weird and it comes out of nowhere. It's made even stranger because Toga doesn't actually change or show remorse for anything she did, which included personally hunting and murdering people before she joined the LOV. None of the death and destruction she is also partially responsible for is brought up either, something that Ochako was rightfully upset about during the first war when less people and property had been destroyed. Ochako just accepts everything about her suddenly and her past serious crimes are forgotten so they can cuddle and cry.

Am I shocked Toga died--a little. I didn't think Hori would have the guts to kill off a young girl character, especially one that he clearly got a lot of joy drawing in sexy poses. But at the same time, once he killed off Shigaraki and ended Touya's story with his slow death, I'm not surprised he went the same route with Toga.

This isn't Naruto--Hori isn't really kind to characters that do something wrong, especially if they don't try and change. Enji, Bakugo, Hawks, and Aoyama all sort of got punished for what they did. Enji is the worst off, being permanently crippled, missing an arm and burned everywhere. Bakugo's hand is damaged, his heart weaker, plus he feels bad that Izuku lost his Quirk so they can't compete the same way he wanted them to. Aoyama, despite doing way less wrong and even helping his class during the forest raid, still leaves school because he doesn't feel he earned being there yet. Hawks lost his Quirk and even though him running the HPSC could be seen as good for him, Hawks always wanted a break, but now he has one of the most time consuming and stressful jobs out there.

So, if this is what characters who actively did good things and even changed and fought to be better get, what would characters who never changed and never did anything positive for anyone but their friends/themselves get?

Before the last Arc started, when so many people said the LoV were 100% going to be redeemed I had doubts and always thought it wouldn't make sense with how the story presented redemption or treated other non-LoV villains in the past. That if the main LoV did get some happy ending where they were bffs with the main cast it would clash with how other characters had been treated.

That doesn't mean that I think how Shigaraki, Toga, and Touya ended up in the manga was well done. I think their endings fit far better then a last minute redemption would have, but at the same time you can feel how rushed everything has been since the end of the first war arc. Hori was done with this story months if not years ago, yet he was contractually obligated to finish it. Because of that I think he left out as much as possible. As much as I think he's written some pretty obsessive stuff, particularly towards women, I can't really fully blame him cutting corners or the story being shit at the end.

We know Manga authors, particularly those that work with Jump are treated like shit. That they suffer incredibly long hours at times not even getting to go home for days. We've gotten messages for Hori saying he's sick quite a few times. On top of that, weekly story telling is not a great way to tell a cohesive narrative. Ideas probably change week to week or at least month to month and you can't go back and change the last chapter no matter how much you need or want to. Then you remember he also gave a lot of ideas to the people who made the movies, which would also change his plans for how he wanted the main story to go.

The story is bad--it has been for a while, but I think a lot of people put their hopes on their favorite characters getting a happy ending, even when there were signs that probably wasn't going to be the case. I know how much it sucks when a character you love gets a shitty ending (Stain was my fav, but he got an absolute dogshit ending) but at least, knowing what I know about the industry I can't really blame Hori the way I see some other people doing. Criticize it, sure, but saying Hori hates his readers or is horrible writer isn't true. BNHA was popular for a reason--he's great with characters and the beginning of the story had some great pacing. We'll never know, but I wouldn't be surprised if BNHA could have been amazing if Hori had been treated better and the story hadn't needed a chapter every week.

If anything BNHA has taught me how much a story suffers when authors/artists are treated like crap and forced to work past burnout.

[crossbackpoke-check]

Why I Am Not Coming In To Work Today [abridged], Jess Zimmerman

part one | part two

[sciderman]

peter parker must be a brokeass bitch no matter what. it's a universal constant. the only loophole is for him to date someone with lots of money from their own jobs (former assassin, supermodel/actress, whatever johnny storm does, etc)

whatever johnny storm does (his johnny stormiest)

[shiroganeryo]

So… I made another lovechild, this time for Chuuaki 💦 The ideas kept coming, and I really liked what I came up with for his ability, so I decided to go ahead with it.

Since I wasn't able to find information on any of Yosano-sensei's children (all 13! of them!), my go-to source of inspiration was Nakahara-sensei's first child, Fumiya Nakahara. His ability is called Singing Cicadas.

Please check under the "Read More" if you're interested in knowing more about the hcs and literary insp I put into this OC, but please be warned that there will be ⚠️ spoilers for the Stormbringer novel at some point & some knowledge about SB is also required to understand what I wrote!

Breaking the news Given they're from rival organizations, Chuuya and Yosano had a somewhat "detached" romantic relationship going on - loyal (and undeniably in love despite trying to shrug it off), but not officially tied to each other. They stayed this way for some years, in this state of "lovers but not really". Both were careful regarding contraceptive methods but it seems Lady Fate had other plans and decided disregard that and land them a lucky roll. Being a doctor, Yosano was quick to catch on to the symptoms but didn't tell Chuuya until she was able to wrap her head around the situation they had just gotten themselves into.

Naturally, Chuuya was surprised, if not a little shocked, to hear the news; he then asked her what she wanted to do, and when Yosano told him she planned to carry the pregnancy to term, he couldn't help but happily sweep her away her feet.

Neither had ever planned to, nor had thought about becoming parents, but it didn't sound so bad… And if it's them, they were sure they could make it work.

Yosano hadn't expected anything but support from Chuuya, but seeing such a positive reaction brought her much relief; she then went on to remark that it was too early to even feel anything, and Chuuya, with both hands on her lower stomach, simply said that 'doesn't matter, it's already in there, right?'

How that affected their relationship There weren't any changes in how they acted toward each other as lovers, but the emotional distance between them grew shorter. In a way, the news strenghtened their already stable bond and the two started seeing each other more often, sometimes calling whenever meeting wasn't possible, albeit always keeping professional and personal matters from mixing up.

On their days off, you could either find them relaxing by spending some quiet time together at Chuuya's apartment, or outside, either doing shopping or on a fun date. They would also attend the antenatal classes together whenever possible.

Chuuya had some concerns regarding his identity as Arahabaki, unsure if that could somehow affect their child and, consequently, Yosano. Thankfully, her pregnancy was not only healthy but also well assisted by a doctor competent in the area of ability-related studies.

Yosano gave birth to a boy in late October, during the Autumn.

Personality Fumiya was a surprisingly calm and easy-to-soothe baby. In contrast to his parents' confident and assertive personalities, he's always been on the quieter, more shy end. Loved being held, as that made him feel safer, and would fall asleep pretty quickly if pressed against either Yosano's or Chuuya's chest, lulled by the sound of heartbeats.

Fumiya is a little spoiled due to overprotection but, as first-time parents, Yosano and Chuuya are both doing their best to raise him in a loving and proper environment. When it comes to looking after their son, their routine also works in their favor, since the Agency is open during the day and the Mafia's busiest hours are during nighttime.

Despite everything, Yosano hasn't (yet?) permanently moved in with Chuuya so there are times she and Fumiya stay at her place instead, whenever he's absent due to being busy with work. They're not your usual traditional family but they're happy and closely knit, and Fumiya cherishes both his parents very much.

As a child, he's started coming out of his shell little by little, encouraged by his parents as well as thanks to the few friends he made at school.

Ability Initially suspected not to even have an ability, it revealed itself when Fumiya was 7 years old.

One day, a bird that had fallen from its nest caught the boy's attention, causing him to call out to his parents for advice on what to do. The two adults shared a hesitant glance, having quickly realized the fall had killed the young, now unresponsive bird.

Before they could even do anything, a nearby cicada cry was heard, having more and more join in as if a chorus. The illusion of several iridescent cicadas rose in front of their eyes, taking flight and fluttering about around their source - Fumiya - before dissipating into thin air. The next thing they knew, there was a chirping bird nested in their son's hands.

Completely clueless that he had just brought back to life a formerly dead being, Fumiya seemed happy to see the bird become responsive again; he then passed out right afterwards, giving his parents the fright of their lives.

"Nothing Will Happen When Spring Comes" Fumiya's ability was dubbed Singing Cicadas (鳴いてゐる蝉, Naite iru Semi), discovered to be an extremely rare revival ability - the remains of Chuuya's original, unnamed enhancing ability (before merging with Arahabaki to create For The Tainted Sorrow) had fused with Thou Shalt Not Die, thus enhancing its healing capabilities to a higher level; Fumiya is able to bring back the dead, but in exchange of some of his own life force.

Such conditions sparked a discussion between the couple regarding what they should do to next; that was a burden too great for such a young child to carry, and as his parents, they were obviously worried about his wellbeing.

Chuuya's intuition was pointing him to the key that could settle the matter, however; if the genetic data Fumiya had inherited from him had played a major role in the origin of his ability, it was also highly probable that there were strings of code present inside of Fumiya as well.

Much to his dismay, that's where they would require Dazai's assistance. Regardless if that theory held up or not, he was the best person (as much Chuuya wouldn't admit it) to come up with something based on that possibility alone.

Be it out of respect for Yosano as his senior or if because he simply felt sympathy towards them because he's also a father, Dazai listened closely. He agreed that the odds were high even if uncertain, and if proven true, the presence of code strings meant that Singing Cicadas was able to be contained within a seal that kept it dormant until its willing activation, just like Corruption was.

He then made a suggestion: have the boy join the Agency. He mentioned it was just a wild guess of his, but with the knowledge he had on Chuuya's ability and former Project Arahabaki, putting Fumiya's ability under the effect of the President's was worth a try.

Chuuya sighed, gaze fixating on Yosano's; he had never gotten into too much detail about his past with her, but he knew from the way she looked at him that it did not bother her - their son was the priority, and that was the only thing mattered to both of them in that moment.

Fumiya was then subjected to a test and passed, turning him into an honorary Agency member.

Literary Background Abusing such a taxing ability could result in Fumiya's precocious death, which is a nod to Nakahara-sensei's son having died very young. The name "Singing Cicadas" is a reference to the poem "Cicadas", a poem he wrote after the passing of his brother and that mentions the Nakahara family's gravesite.

蝉が鳴いてゐる、蝉が鳴いてゐる The cicadas are singing, the cicadas are singing

In the story, the ability was named taking into account the report given by Chuuya and Yosano after witnessing its first activation; a reference to the second line of the poem:

蝉が鳴いてゐるほかになんにもない！ Other than cicadas singing, there’s nothing else!

Fumiya does have strings of code inside of him that he inherited from Chuuya so, at a later time, it was observed that Singing Cicadas had indeed been "sealed", and there were alterations present in said code strings. Reverse-deciphering these revealed the incantation necessary to release the ability, which they kept a secret until Fumiya was old enough.

The incantation itself is a line from Nakahara-sensei's poem "Spring Will Come Again", which he wrote after the death of his first son, Fumiya:

春が来たって何になろ　あの子が返って来るじゃない Nothing will happen when spring comes That child will not come back

Cicadas are often associated with being a symbol of resurrection, and I thought such imagery would be a perfect paralell to the imagery Yosano's butterflies have as well as the two of them having healing abilities.

Trivia

He takes after Chuuya a lot, so he naturally also inherited his father's tiny person genes. Fumiya won't grow past 163cm tall even after puberty hits.

Fumiya has met Adam Frankenstein when he was 4 years old, when his father and the detective stumbled upon each other by chance during one of the latter's work-related trips to Japan. Running a facial structure analysis scan, Adam amusedly took note of the way the boy's eyes were shaped just like Chuuya's, but the nose and chin resembled his mother's more. "The mix and match characteristics of human offspring are certainly intriguing."

Fumiya did laugh at Adam's signature joke "Look, I'm a pigeon", much to Chuuya's surprise.

Usually calm and gentle, but if provoked, his surprisingly sharp tongue reminds everyone whose son he is. Notoriously hard-working in anything he does. His favorite saying is "my parents didn't raise a quitter".

He's very close to Osamu Dazai's daughter, Yūko, and while Yosano finds it amusing, Chuuya laments how often this requires him to be in Dazai's vicinity.

He has always admired Yosano's kindness and strength as a doctor very much. Her being someone who helps others inspired him and would ultimately lead him to pursue a medical career in the future, as a veterinarian.

Just like Verlaine was able to peer inside Chuuya to fumble with his code strings, Chuuya did the same practice on Fumiya to figure out the release incantation for his ability, albeit in a much gentler way; Fumiya described the sensation as "the warm feeling of holding hands".

Despite being so shy, he has wondrous acting skills and is part of the drama club in school during his junior years.

Has an unexplainable distaste for Japanese Folk Music (it dampens his mood).

As a teenager, he has braces to fix large front teeth.

One of his favorite activities when young was making paper crafts such as origami and collages together with Yosano; Chuuya was invited to join them once and produced a pair of disgruntled papercraft birds. He then stubbornly practiced as he read a How To book until he could master at least 15 different papercraft shapes.

…Yosano and Fumiya put the disgruntled birds Chuuya made on display in the kitchen instead of the newer, perfect ones regardless.

In case you read until here, thank you so much! I wish you a wonderful day, please know that I love you and am sending good things & vibes your way 🫶

[swinging-stars-from-satellites]

I don't know how to write this without it being horribly obvious who I'm writing about

[shannonsketches]

something something foils moving in opposite directions Goku's always happy to seek and fight stronger opponents because he spent most of his life being the strongest guy in the room and Vegeta wants to be the strongest/is always exhausted to find stronger opponents because he spent most of his life having to navigate his survival around the whims of the strongest guy in the universe room and so Goku has a foundation of safety and stability and so spends his time craving challenge and adventure and Vegeta has a foundation of challenge and adventure and spends his time craving safety and stability and the overlaid section of their venn diagram is that the only way they know how acquire and maintain those things is through battle