#it's already starting here at the end of arc I

[h50europe]

BUCK / TOMMY - HELL HATH NO FURY LIKE A FANDOM SCORNED!

I did some thinking. Never good, but my brain can't wrap around the breakup that came out of the left field.

Recently, it was announced that a spin-off of "9-1-1" is in the works. While no locations have been finalized, Hawaii and Las Vegas have been suggested as potential settings. The showrunner is already working on the project, with filming set to begin in March 2025.

However, one of my biggest fears has come true: the focus of the showrunners is being diverted from the current show to concentrate on this new spin-off. All the energy runs in the new project. Also, at this point, we don't know if the mothership will be renewed. Without an early renewal, we must wait until May for the announcement. That is another reason why they are focusing on the new show. I wonder if this is why the plots feel rushed and repetitive. It's nice to revisit the past, but not ad nauseam. 9-1-1 does it too often lately. What's the point in bringing back Gerard and turning him into the butt end of a joke? What's the point in digging out Abby's Tommy and hanging it around Tommy Kinard's neck when nothing was ever mentioned in the past. The focus is clearly not on the current show. It feels like Tim abandoned the ship to board a new one. It's fresh, it's crisp, it leaves room for a lot of things. Even if the breakup was meant as a shocker. If your focus is somewhere else, you don't see it. Right now, the mothership is leaking and starting to sink. If Tim keeps his focus on the new project and isn't invested in the current show, the lights will go out sooner rather than later.

Bringing in an established character was probably the biggest mistake Tim could have made if he wasn't meant to stick around. Bring in Mary Sue or Marty Stu to be a LI but not a character with a history that connects to so many people on the show. You can't sideline them forever. Especially as Buck's bi-arc was announced as something big. And it was big. A bit too big to be treated the way it was. The fanbase that had built around TEVAN, or BUCKTOMMY, within weeks, was massive. It drew so many members of the queer community into the show. Suddenly, many of them felt seen. Tommy and Buck were different from the other queer characters out there. Different from what was represented on any other show. People were willing to watch to get the slightest glimpse of them. Because they felt real. Their chemistry shot into the stratosphere.

And then you go and end it on such a horrible note? I don't care if the haters call Tommy a plot device. Everyone on the show is one at some point—even Christopher, Eddie, or anyone else from the main or recurrent cast, Karen, for instance, the Wilson kids. You name it. Tommy Kinard came, saw and conquered. So why not give him more room? They did it with Taylor (yes, I know JLH was pregnant then, but that's reason enough? I doubt it). As I said in my other long post, you could cut in a sequence of 5 minutes and show a summary of Tommy's and Buck's life.

Tim makes the same mistake as many showrunners do. Cramming a shitload of plots into 42 minutes of airtime. Is it really necessary to tell that many stories in such a short amount of time? That feels like speed dating. You blink, and you miss an important scene. Every episode, you jump from plot A to B to A to C to B. We didn't have this fast pacing in season 1 or 2. Stop it. Make Quality plots over quantity stuff.

In Tommy's voice: And for God's sake, clean up that mess you created with that shitty breakup, or the audience will wither away.

I'm sorry. I could write a book about what is happening in my head. You'd get Super Brownie points if you made it here.

[lover-of-mine]

hi! let me just start by saying I've been seeing your posts about wardrobe and color theory a lot lately and i LOVE them so thank you for posting!

you mentioned, in a reply to an ask, that white is Eddie's color when he's going through emotional moments. i was wondering if those are usually negative (maybe the white shirt from the birthday video will be about something related to chris?) or does he ever wear white in other moments? sorry if it's a bit of a complicated question 😅

Hi!! Okay, first of all, thank you for reading!! The white with Eddie is interesting, they're not negative as a rule, but they are usually transformative in a sense. A white moment I didn't add to the other post, mostly because I already had this image, is right before the tsunami.

I personally think they are using white with Eddie for beginnings, in a sense. Eddie was always written as a widow archetype in mind, even when Shannon was still alive, so I think her funeral is a beginning for Eddie since her death defines his character. The tsunami is a beginning because it kickstart buddie the way we know it, he's is starting the arc that makes Buck his coparent. The outside looking in dinner kickstarts his breakdown arc. The scene with Kim kickstarts him deconstructing himself. The scene with Weston's dad is the start of Eddie's arc starting to figure out who he is. Is about beginning to change.

White is used for simplicity, purity, honesty, stuff like that. But I think they use the way they use it with Eddie is about the ending of a cycle and the beginning of the next, kinda like the way we use white for new years for example. It's a clean slate for Eddie to be built upon. And that pairs with my theory that Eddie is finding his yellow (you can read about that here), they are playing with lighter shades with him, until he figures himself out.

I will taglist this one (interact with this post if you wanna get tagged)

@sparkedblaze @caw-salem @dreamofsomepiphany @100ceruleaneyes @linus-lucy @chaosqueery @gina-spike @chimchiminie98 @elvensorceress @singitforthegirls @dangerpronebuddie @182daysof @steadfastsaturnsrings @sparklespiff @inell @miles--to--go @jesuisici33 @wolfdeans @lunarsolar1 @joshwritesfics @glasscities @kejfeblintz @stagefoureddiediaz @mosaicstardust @eddiedisasterdiaz @hermioneindisguise @queerprincesseddiediaz @lookforanewangle @becausebuckley @lemotmo @thenainitaldisaster @epiaphany @trudayss @shelfthe-reader @alliaskisthepossibilityoflove @buckgettingstruck @scoupsahoy @the-whispers-of-death @iced-coffee-jesus @izzysbeans

@dingdongfries @angelcamael

[bibibbon]

My Hero Academia is the first series ever where the main character get throw in the sideline so much he is not the main character anymore for another character. Like holy shit wtf man. I am still struggling to understand the ending despite rereading the entire time. There are rushed endings but my god at least the author in rushed endings do give him some of respect to main character. In MHA, it is nothing

When it comes to shonen anime and manga (i say shonen because that's where i have seen, it mainly happen tbh)

Heck, this is a common thing to the point that there are YouTube videos based on showing it. Take, for example, this👇.

In this case, you kinda get the obvious, which is the main character : izuku midoriya and the one who stole the show : katauki bakugo.

See here is the thing a lot of the time mangakas due to the competitive and toxic industry they are in will prirotise and parade the fan favourite character as that's what gets them money. While you can argue that this may not be true for every series, you have to admit that it's weird that just right after bakugo started getting popular after the sports festival arc he also ended up getting a lot more screentime and that in my own opinion is due to the money that bakugo can bring into the series.

Now add this and combine it with the fact that horikoshi has stated that his favourite character is also bakugo katuski, and then you get well a certain mixture (unpleasent to say the least)

Due to this combination, the focus of the story shifting to bakugo makes sense while izuku becomes an accessory piece to the story that the author uses to vaguely delve into the intracies he built in his story.

I wasn't particularly surprised by the ending as the treatment of the izukus character and the way the stories themes were being handled were already quite poor from the beginning of the bakugo vs. izuku 2.0 fight, meaning that my expectations were low.

There are various posts talking about the characters' assassination that izuku has been through, and honestly, I agree heck I was one of them.

[flightyalrighty]

Crazy to me that people follow you for a horror comic then get upset with you when it’s a horror comic.

Killing children in horror is a well regarded theme in horror. It’s not “wow it’s so cool when kids die” but the fact that the story addresses vulnerability and the narrative purpose that serves. Like I can vaguely understand why people would be so shocked to see a well beloved character die, but y’all signed up for that when reading a HORROR comic.

Anyways as someone who is just starting to get into making horror comics I deeply deeply admire your work here. You’ve been doing an amazing job at building suspense especially with traditional webcomic style of page-by-page release. Keep it up, I hope you are having as much fun making this story as it’s been to read :D

Thanks so much for this ask, and for reading Infested! I'm wishing you, as well, absolute best of luck and much glee in the creation of your own horror comics! It's one heckavuh ride, making comics, that's for sure, but even if not every part of the process appeals to you, the end result will always be worth it. Longer stuff ahead.

As one person in the Infested Discord pointed out, I can't understand people (there have been three so far) griping about Tails being killed for the narrative when Maria, who is also very much a child who was murdered for the narrative, exists in a game that isn't labeled "horror."

Do these same people have a problem with that? Do they angrily write to Sonic Team about it, claiming the E10+ rating for "mild cartoon violence" was not enough of a warning? Or do they let that slide because Maria's death is integral to the story of Sonic Adventure 2, and to Shadow's character arc. As if Tails's death doesn't fill a similarly important role in Infested.

I seem to not be allowed a bit of trust that I know what I'm doing by killing Tails. It's treated like a mistake. That last person called it a "plot hole" (???), sharing a similar sentiment with someone else on Twitter that felt that Tails was simply too smart to die. Whatever that means. Never once do these folks consider that it is IMMENSELY important for this story that Tails dies, and does so in the way that he does. I can't simply change who dies, because who dies is deeply important to the soul of Infested. To the point of it. It, and it's sequel.

Yes, Tails's death is just as important to the sequel.

The story isn't over yet, and the means in which that event played out haven't been revealed. As many obnoxious people have already said many times before me; Patience is a virtue.

[valenshawke]

In Defense of Caitlyn Kiramman

No, this is not a defense of any of her actions or decisions she made after she donned the beret. This is a defense of the writing of her character and what (I believe) the writers are trying to do. With only one act down, there’s many ways the writers can take this. They could very well fumble it. However, I will give the writers the benefit of the doubt. With that out of the way…

The descent into darkness and the corruption arcs are classic storytelling. Where the protagonist, hit with so many traumas and setbacks, gives into her darker feelings, sometimes aided by a more devious figure in the background.

Given all the traumas that Caitlyn has experienced as explained by @bramblebeau, something was going to happen. Without Ambessa Medarda being that devious figure, would Caitlyn have gone full authoritarian at the end of episode 3? Maybe. I still think she would have, but perhaps not as far. But to argue that this is bad storytelling because Caitlyn did not keep her idealism and morality is… horrible missing the point. 

What are the points? When faced with trauma and the desire to retaliate and seek revenge, it is very easy to manipulate those who want those two things. And, in the world we actually live in, we have seen this time and again. Need I bring up the US War on Terror? Whether directly or indirectly, the cultural impact of the 9/11 Attacks, second Iraq War, and the US War on Terror has been and will continue to do so (and if you want a less subtle commentary on that, check out Naoki Urasawa’s Pluto also on Netflix). 

Ambessa Medarda not only manipulating Caitlyn, but the Piltover Elite, was masterful because it showed how easy it is when you can control the flow of information, control the rhetoric, and eventually dehumanize your “enemy” as something less than human. It’ll be fascinating to hear how Caitlyn’s speech changes and what type of language she uses when talking about Zaun.

At this point, we don’t know exactly what the writers are going to do. But it does raise some intriguing and exciting questions from a storytelling perspective. Caitlyn, right now, is at the edge of (the heart) of darkness. Is her blood-lust for revenge going to cause her to fall in? Will someone be able to talk sense into her? Can anyone in Piltover talk any sense into her? How, if at all, can Vi be the one to help/save her? Or will they save each other? How can Vi be that tiny light in the darkness when she has her own trauma to deal with? (There’s another point to examine how both dealt with the trauma by the end of Act 1. Vi went inward and, based on the trailers, went full self-destructive mode. Caitllyn went outward and became the public face of a fascist regime). 

Caitlyn already started taking steps to that darkness after she got the Kiramman key and decided that GASSING ZAUN (and all the implications THAT brings)  was the best option for her strike team to open its mission to capture Jinx, dismantle shimmer, neutralize any agents loyal to Silco. Whatever justification given, especially by Vi, is naive at best and delusional at worst. Vi might have gone along simply because she feels some blame and wants to support Caitlyn. But what Caitlyn did was unjustifiable. The moment you simply accept “collateral damage” as simply being a Tuesday, your moral dipstick is bone dry (credits to Fox Mulder for that one). But that isn’t bad storytelling. I’m supposed to feel that way.

Caitlyn’s descent, as it stands, allows the writer to either give her something of a redemption arc where she realizes the horrors of what she has done and what has to be done to fix it. 

This is classic storytelling 101.

And I am fucking here for it.

Thanks to @caitlyn-kirammans for listening to me ramble this out first.

[tiagobarros1699]

W.I.T.C.H: List of Editions by Alessandro Ferrari

This is a small list of all the original editions of witch that were scripted by Alessandro Ferrari (yes, the author of the reboot). He started writing scripts for the magazine from issue 65, during the sixth arc, and continued until the last arc. I decided to bring this list so that anyone who reads the new version can also see what his script was like in the old series and even elements or characters that may return in a new version. (I can tell you There are three editions that I consider very important for this. And I also hope that some characters he created also appear in the future). The editions are as follows:

65: Only a flower https://readcomic.net/w-i-t-c-h/issue-65/full

71: Glimmers of fear: https://readcomic.net/w-i-t-c-h/issue-71/full

Capítulo 65: ONLY A FLOWER

I highly recommend reading this edition if you've seen volume 1 of the new generation. In addition to being his first work in the franchise, he didn't even hide when bringing the beings from this edition back. Hmm... Ghosts in cloaks and masks attacking the Guardians and an evil Kandrakar.... Where have I seen this before!?

74: Whisked away: https://readcomic.net/w-i-t-c-h/issue-74/full

77: Of all the stars: https://readcomic.net/w-i-t-c-h/issue-77/full

82: Energy: https://readcomic.net/w-i-t-c-h/issue-82/full

CHAPTER 82: ENERGY – I recommend this edition to anyone who has already read edition 2 of the reboot and finds it strange that Will's power is "Emotion" But this edition, in addition to being one of my favorites, I consider it one of their best scripts and delved deeply into Will's life and how important everyone is to her.

92: No longer alone: https://readcomic.net/w-i-t-c-h/issue-92/full

95: Endless Tears: https://readcomic.net/w-i-t-c-h/issue-95/full

About these two editions: I intend to talk about this later because it would require a long explanation, but I will leave it here that the way Speedworld is portrayed in this arc is very small similar to Metamoor do reboot. AND PLEASE FERRARI, BRING BILLY AND FLEA TO TARANEE, I NEVER ASKED YOU FOR ANYTHING.

103: the one you're not: https://readcomic.net/w-i-t-c-h/issue-103/full

109: the Green truth: https://readcomic.net/w-i-t-c-h/issue-109/full

115: a special journey: https://readcomic.net/w-i-t-c-h/issue-115/full

122: mathemmatically possible: https://readcomic.net/w-i-t-c-h/issue-122/full

126: Lady kimikal: https://readcomic.net/w-i-t-c-h/issue-126/full

128: Just One word: https://readcomic.net/w-i-t-c-h/issue-128/full

130: a New friend: https://readcomic.net/w-i-t-c-h/issue-130/full

135: Similar at heart: https://readcomic.net/w-i-t-c-h/issue-135/full

And with that I close the list with all the editions scripted by him. I only tell the stories from the main arc here, but he also did some of the secondary stories that accompany the magazine. He is also the author of the Halloween special, "Magic Night".

Yes, issue 128, where Will and Matt break up, is his, but the next issue is scripted by Augusto Macchetto.

About issue 135 there is a catch. It is said on a website that he is the screenwriter of this edition, but on the Inducks website, where you have the credits for all the editions, it was stated that the screenwriter was a certain by "Andrea Ferrari". However, I have never seen this person being credited in any other edition, so it may have been a clerical error on the website. I decided to include this edition anyway.

Finally, I want to comment on the final post-Ludmoore arcs. Many people prefer to pretend that the following arcs don't exist and that's it, largely because of the loss of quality in the art and script and the lack of continuity in the magazine. And I agree that this took away a lot of the magazine's shine and made it decline until its end.

However, I still defend many of these editions, even if not all of them, the authors still manage to bring plots that could be very serious and mature if they were used well. (But they weren't, and that ends up being a problem) They often bring more details about the Guardians' personal lives, small, everyday things from their past that many people prefer. ignore, but I love it for deepening characters that remained in the background (Irma, Taranee and Hay Lin). In addition to being from the seventh arc in which we finally see Peter and Cornelia together, being a happy and healthy couple. (For more couples like this) .

In addition to having among all these loose editions some of my favorites from the entire magazine, Hay Lin arriving at her new house, the story of the girls taking care of the baby dragon, the story of Mareeve and others.

So I can say that you can always find something good in these latest editions.

[emilykaldwen]

I know that I'm the only one who will know 98% of the prep work I put into layouts and what's going on where and what exists inside those places. It won't all show up on page.

But it's all here on a printed out castle layout with four post it notes and my own shuffling around and a sheet of legal size paper with the first 200ft of this one particular tower mapped out.

[beif0ngs]

LUFFY’S DREAM

Huh? Have I never mentioned this to any of you before...? I guess I only told Shanks, Ace and Sabo then.

[jakowskis]

"i hated owen for all/most of s1 i only started liking him in s2" weak. i liked owen since he got choked against a wall by an angry woman and then told her he wanted to shag her immediately afterwards. and then even more when he spent ep3 trying to intimidate and murder a rapist

[decarbry]

hey,, what’s up friends, I bring you... a literal summary of the Yabureme story up until around war arc events. obviously this is spoilery so if you don’t want to know what happens until the relevant comic pages come out don’t expand the post! this is just for people who don’t mind spoilers. also keep in mind that this is a summary so I kind of just. word-vomited. it’s... weird? short and sweet but not in some places. a literal mess. I put 0 effort into writing good and some sections are more wordy than others because I've thought them through for longer and have them more solidified. also things are subject to CHANGE between this and the actual comic pages so read with a grain of salt. the major events are probably gonna remain the same though. things might get inserted or removed. idk. also it’s LONG I’m so sorry. enj... oy ?? ?

Aizawa has been taken. Midnight and Nezu attempt to comfort Mic; there are no leads, but the faculty have already started working schedules out to help search, which reassures him. Though he is desperate to join the search, Nezu refuses to give his blessings until he knows Mic won’t act rashly. Mic hosts the Sports Fest in an attempt to ground himself and find unity with the students.

Hidden away, Garaki has begun his work on Aizawa. The injuries are bad; though Garaki is an accomplished and varied medical professional, he can’t do what Recovery Girl can, so Aizawa is merely stabilized and the bio-engineering in later dev stages will be relied on to do the heavy lifting. Aizawa suffers 2 days and nights of infusions (one for each new quirk) and barely powers through an intense fever on the last night. The capsule is the final and longest stage to allow the quirks to take hold and the body to heal. All for One is a regular voice in the background during the entire process, though those visits stop after an incident in the capsule in which Erasure activated for a solid ten seconds and strikes everyone in the room before going inert again.

Time passes with no news. Mic is becoming frustrated and less willing to listen to reason. Classes 1-A and 1-B attend their summer camp with Vlad and various other heroes that have substituted since Aizawa’s absence. Bakugou is kidnapped by the League in an attempt to recruit. Though the topic is raised, Shigaraki refuses to do more than tease Bakugou about his missing teacher, as well as use him as a bargaining chip. We still have yet to see him since his abduction. The mission to rescue Bakugou begins.

All Might engages in combat with AFO at Kamino. His weakened form is exposed to the world and he musters up his strength for the last strike. Instead, OFA fails, and all heroes present immediately know why. Edge Shot rushes to interrupt Erasure while Endeavor attempts to reach All Might. Neither get there in time and All Might takes a blow straight through his chest. Endeavor takes over the fight against a wounded AFO and Edge Shot engages in battle with Yabureme. Edge Shot is killed and Endeavor manages to subdue AFO.

Hours after the battle ends, Kurogiri searches for Yabureme, who has not reappeared as he was meant to. He finds Yabureme badly injured and hiding after his fight with Edge Shot and warps him back to where the League has taken up to recover. Shigaraki only knew that AFO had plans for Aizawa, not that Yabureme was to be a gift for him, but Kurogiri informs him of this. Shigaraki is unimpressed considering Yabureme’s wounds after only a single fight, but he’s going through some stuff, so he has license to be a bratty child for a night. Once Kurogiri hears from Garaki, he takes Yabureme to be patched up. Later he’s returned to the League, who as a whole are unsure about what to do next now that AFO is captured.

While everyone else is appalled to hear rumors that the supposed-missing Eraser Head was present at Kamino and had a hand in assisting the villains, Mic suddenly has a new fire lit under him. He breaks away from UA and strikes out on his own, against the pleas of friends such as Midnight. He manages to track the League’s movements after much work and finally sees Yabureme for the first time… but is unable to reach or speak to him as his quirk is erased during their escape.

Class 1-A witnessed Mic depart and, with the help of other pros, manage to convince Mic to let them help in catching Yabureme. He is very resistant to putting them in danger but relents with the alliance of Midnight and Gran Torino. During a previous sighting it was noted that Yabureme’s movements slowed and stiffened the more eyes were open on his body, so a plan is hatched to surround Yabureme with as many enemy quirks as possible in order to stun him.

Yabureme is located. He’s alone, which is odd, but not wanting to miss their chance, the operation is launched. Surrounded by what he believes are hostile enemies, Yabureme opens enough eyes to erase the quirks of every student, stunning himself. A short battle ensues; Kaminari is injured but proves instrumental in the discovery of a weakness in the Nomu: that an electrical current will force all of his eyes to close and subsequentially interrupt Erasure. Mic, Gran Torino, Midnight, and Class 1-A succeed in capturing Yabureme.

Too much of a threat for any normal prison containment, Yabureme is taken to Tartarus. They learn: about the nature of his engineering, that exhaustion has nearly killed him, that unlike every other Nomu contained so far he is not a corpse, and that three quirk factors were combined to create Yabureme. Erasure and Dupli-arms (or related) are confirmed, but the third is still being investigated. Because the third quirk is still unknown, containment is at a risk and a shock collar is placed to help mitigate any attempts at escape. The students are brought in to speak to him after everyone else, including Mic and Midnight, fail to get any response out of Yabureme. Unfortunately, the students are also unable to get through to him. Their failed efforts leave them dejected. Yabureme doesn’t speak a word the entire time he is inside Tartarus.

After a few days, the third quirk is activated by an unknown trigger. Yabureme and AFO escape Tartarus with the help of Kurogiri— the timing of the pieces prove that this was orchestrated from the beginning.

In the wake of the escape, Mic is told in secrecy that Yabureme has not removed the shock collar, probably because of its failsafes. It’s been tracked, and his location is known— a new operation is underway to recapture him. Mic rushes to get there first, finding Yabureme in solitude at an abandoned building, having split ways from the League temporarily to avoid getting them tracked while he tries to find a way to remove the collar himself. Mic and Yabureme have a tender moment, or so Mic thinks… but Yabureme slyly uses Mic’s obvious obsession with him to get the hero to take the collar off. Mic falls for it and Yabureme flees.

Though it seemed to be just manipulation, this kind interaction has left the first shred of uncertainty in Yabureme. He returns to the League and resumes his role in protecting Shigaraki and the others. A long period ensues where the League and the heroes play cat and mouse, Mic returning to society in order to accept help from friends and family rather than trying to go it alone as he had before.

Day after day, Yabureme’s doubts deepen as small things burrow into his mind: things like a song on the radio, a familiar black cat, names that he’s heard before. He can’t shake the face of the hero that spoke to him gently and had something warm in his eyes. He meets Eri, but seems to be merely a moment of warmth in her life before departing. Time passes.

The League grows frustrated with Mic, considering his constant interference as troublesome and annoying. Dabi sets a trap for Mic and attempts to kill him. Without any understanding of why, Yabureme takes the worst of the trap himself. He drags an unconscious Mic away from the inferno before collapsing with horrific burns across the right side of his body. Mic wakes in time to feel Yabureme’s heart stop, and in his anguish accidentally causes it to start again with the impact of Voice against the Nomu’s chest.

Mic manages to smuggle Yabureme to a hiding spot, containing him with the only thing available: simple metal handcuffs. Recovery Girl answers his call to the secluded site warily, unhappy that she is asked to keep such a dangerous secret. She stabilizes Yabureme and begins healing some of the burns, but considering his physical deterioration and exhaustion, can’t do much in one sitting.

When the Nomu wakes, Mic and Yabureme have their first real conversation, speaking mostly about the latter and how he’s feeling, what he’s thinking, and why Dabi, his supposed ally, would harm him so badly. He also points out that Yabureme could get out of the cuffs easily, and yet, for some reason, hasn’t.

On the second day, Recovery Girl returns, but so does a second guest: All Might. He is partially wheelchair-bound, the apparent repercussions of the wounds he took at Kamino. He expresses his unhappiness with this situation: Yabureme needs to be properly contained, not hooked to a chainlink fence with fragile metal handcuffs. Mic wants his blessing but plans to keep Yabureme here at least for a short while, highlighting the fact that he’s behaving more openly now than he ever did while in Tartarus. They notice Yabureme watching them and All Might speaks to the Nomu alone. He and Recovery Girl have agreed to give Mic a few days with Yabureme until his burns have been treated, but that he will be returned to Tartarus after that— and now that the third quirk is known, escape will not be possible a second time. He shares some belief that Mic is right that there is hope for Yabureme and that if anyone deserved a path back to normal, it was Shouta Aizawa. He urges the Nomu to try his hardest to remember anything he can.

In the ensuing days, Mic spends time conversing with Yabureme. Unlike the catatonic state he was in while at Tartarus, Yabureme is nervously conversational, answering questions and asking them on his own. He admits his confusion and doubts to Mic, and Mic learns that the whole reason Yabureme was unresponsive while at Tartarus was because of the lights and the intense head pain they cause, utterly decimating his senses and thoughts. He wasn’t shutting down because of his programming or a need to be disobedient— he simply could not function in those conditions.

The morning of the intake comes. Tsukauchi and numerous officers arrive to take Yabureme into custody. Mic attempts to keep everything smooth, warning Yabureme about their arrival and making sure that there aren’t too many men appearing at once. Yabureme nearly panics anyway at the sight of firearms, but is calmed when Mic holds his hands and gives encouragement. Yabureme is taken into custody without a struggle, though he shuts down when he’s led away from Mic.

Mic apologizes to Tsukauchi for hiding Yabureme, but is forgiven considering the relative ease of the capture. The detective promises to keep Mic with Yabureme as much as possible this time around, since his presence clearly helps. He also acknowledges Mic’s request for accommodating Yabureme’s aversion to the bright lights of the prison, especially with the confidence that it might help with getting information out of the Nomu. Yabureme’s shutdown reverses some when Mic reappears in the police transport to travel with him to Tartarus.

Yabureme and Mic arrive at Tartarus and the Nomu is immediately assaulted by the lights. He’s given relief in the form of a sedative. His wounds are checked over while he’s out: it’s discovered that his right eye took far too much damage from Dabi’s flames and must be removed before the dead material causes an infection, shock, or worse. The majority of the burn scars will be permanent because of the lack of proper immediate care in a supplied burn ward. Aside from a handful of new scars and wear and tear, nothing else is noted.

Yabureme startles awake, finding himself in a Tartarus cell with Mic at his bedside. The lights are dimmed rather than blindingly bright. Mic gives him the rundown of what happened, and proudly tells him that the hardest part, getting to the start line of his recovery, was over. He is questioned for the first time the day after waking, and though he is much more responsive to interrogation compared to his last stint in Tartarus, Yabureme still shies away from answering questions that would cause the League a disadvantage… though he is clearly conflicted.

So begins Yabureme’s long road back to someone he didn’t know he used to be. Mic becomes the only foothold of stability Yabureme has, finding that his physical reassurances such as hugs and hand-holding are intensely grounding. The second time he is questioned, he holds Mic’s encouragement in his mind, and manages to talk shortly about some of the Leagues’ hideouts.

He still has doubts about all of this Shouta Aizawa stuff, but Mic works him through stories of his past gently and at a slow pace. The first bit of information that helps Yabureme see that the possibility exists of a connection between himself and this other person is a story Mic tells about Aizawa feeding cats on the street; Yabureme shyly, but excitedly, admits that he does that a lot too. After this, things begin to come more swiftly. Mic brings him his wedding ring, and Yabureme asks to hold Mic’s as well, and remembers the sensation of them clicking against one another in his hand.

With Mic’s help, and the help of a therapist that meets with him daily, more and more begins to come back. Even memories he reclaims are left blurry and dull, but once the flood gate opens, it doesn’t close, and Yabureme’s progress quickens the harder he works. When his memories begin to focus on Class 1-A, he asks to see them. Plenty is still missing, but he apologizes for the things he did to them, focusing on Kaminari and the wounds inflicted during his first capture. He wants to work for their forgiveness, but doesn’t expect it. Midoriya mentions that he seems a lot more like his old self, which fills Yabureme with a hidden relief and encouragement.

Time passes. Yabureme continues to work hard at getting back to himself, and the image of Shouta Aizawa gets more clear by the day. His old mannerisms begin returning in small amounts: rolling his eyes at stupid things Mic says, muttering about things that annoy him. When he gets a surprise visitor, both Mic and Yabureme are surprised to find Kaminari requesting advice for a hitch in his hero training. As Yabureme converses with Kaminari in an observation room, Mic and Tsukauchi watch, and both are amazed to see the clearest image of Aizawa they’ve seen since before his abduction. Mic takes the opportunity to ask about a road that leads outside of Tartarus and, though Tsukauchi doesn’t shut it down, he admits there are many concerns— specifically regarding hidden triggers that might still exist inside Yabureme’s mind. An idea is floated: bring someone in with a voice-copying quirk, and see what happens when Yabureme is faced with orders from Shigaraki or All for One.

Yabureme (Aizawa? Yabuzawa by this point?) agrees to the experiment, though he is clearly discomforted by the idea, unsure of how he mind be effected. The experiment begins. Yabuzawa is secured heavily just in case, but he is clearly determined, if nervous. The voice-copying quirk speaks in Shigaraki’s voice first, ordering him to turn his head to one side. Yabuzawa doesn’t seem to have a problem disobeying, but when the speaker doubles down and becomes hostile about his refusing to obey an order, Yabuzawa spirals and has a panic attack. All for One’s voice cuts in with an order that is obeyed immediately, and Mic is only able to snap him out of it with a slap to the face. The results are clear: Shigaraki’s orders can be ignored with enough work, but AFO’s orders seem unquestionable. Yabuzawa is frustrated by his own perceived failure in the experiment, understandably upset that despite all of the progress he’s made, they still hold some power over him.

Time passes. Yabuzawa improves with his response to Shigaraki’s voice, though still shaken after being faced with it, can do so without panicking. AFO’s orders seem unbreakable. Mic once again breaks the topic of getting him out of Tartarus, and after some debate, it’s agreed that the UA students and the hero efforts (and Yabuzawa himself) would benefit more with Aizawa back in the world. By this time the unknown of the League and AFO and the PLA have long been poisoning society’s trust in heroes; Erasure can’t be hidden away in a bunker with tensions growing by the day.

Mic is permitted to confine him to their apartment under police guard for increasingly longer periods of time, regular check-ins and evaluations, and lots of rules. Yabuzawa isn’t permitted to be alone with anyone aside from Mic, and when outside of the building must cover his neck, arms, and hands. Finally, the shock collar is back as a last resort. If you read this whole thing you’re a certified #1 Yabureme fan sorry I don’t make the rules

[im-still-watching-anime]

i am officially, FINALLY all caught up again in both the manga and the anime for bsd and OH BOY there are thoughts and opinions but also WHO CARES because my tags are finally FREE to be unfiltered

[deus-ex-mona]

winter 2k24, huh~~~~~~ _(:3 」∠)_

[sundial-bee-scribbles]

In case it's hard to read/understand: "If I had a nickel for every time I had a story with a blonde girl named after a plant, who has a German father and a French mother but absolutely hates said mom, I'd have two nickels. Which isn't a lot, but it's weird that it happened twice."

weird, extremely-specific tropes in my stories: pt 1

[starlitevening]

What if... I wrote an Ib fanfic in the year 2023... hahaha jk...

u n l e s s ? ?

[moonlight-eternal]

I do recall now, this childlike figure you show, when they traveled here.

I met them in town, saw pokeballs on their belt, and invited them // to come to my gym. They declined and said to me that they could not stop.

Pursued by evil, they said they were to all there. A hostile Faller.

The nerve of this one! Everything they do accuse of me is their own. I wish that I knew just who from Lordran they are. Perhaps nobody. I am a goddess – of course they would know my name. But me, to know them? Any young Undead... but so skilled in illusion, that is rare indeed.

I might have a plan. If I see this one again, a mental alert: a psychic trigger, to force all my attention to focus on them. Coded to the sight, this tiny redhead in black, so when they appear, // I can't look away. I would hope my memory is also preserved. As a trained psychic, I have techniques that should help. If I can use them...

Well, I wish you luck. I will keep recording all that I see around.

Let us trade numbers. For contact in the future. I am curious // about this stranger. And if they do pose a threat, I can help stop them.

A good idea. Two pairs of eyes are better than just one alone. My journey points west toward the city Lumiose, and I should away... once the bread is done. Shall I come to your abode? Perhaps I can help?

Come, yes, but caution: you have no experience. Royal in your home, // and without the need to eat something every day... Let me work the dough.

[bingus-bing-bong]

Finished series 3 of wolfblood :( and it reminded me that kid me had the best habit of rejecting cannon

Theres a Big villian speech about his reasons for doing The Bad Things and i straight up as a kid went "oh he must be lying" as it sounded like utter bullocks to me at the time.

And honestly bringing this back. Characters lie whenever i dont like them of think its bad writing <3