#its not like i cant form attachments to animals like i think i can i think im just. entirely too scared to at least rn

[vhsdruid]

terribly sorry if this is a weird question but i would LOVE to hear more about wasps . funky little dudes

wasps are a relatively new species in terms of insect evolution, having appeared in the jurassic period alongside the first dinosaurs. there are hundreds of thousands of species, which could include ants and bees depending on your exact definition. they're all included in the group apocrita, or the "wasp waisted" hymenoptera. they are some of the most successful insects on the planet.

DID YOU KNOW?: the stinger of apocrita is a highly adapted ovipositor, the organ used for egg laying.

STEP ONE: their ancestors, the sawflies, had evolved a serrated ovipositor that could bore into plant material as a safe place to lay their eggs.

STEP TWO: the first wasps would use the ovipositor to instead lay their eggs inside of other animals (parasitoidism), which then provides the developing young plenty of food. many of these wasps would develop a unique variety of venoms to aid in the capture of prey, often by paralysis.

DID YOU KNOW?: there are more parasitoid wasps than any other kind of wasp, with an estimated 100,000 species! this includes the iconic cicada killer wasp.

STEP THREE: the transition from egg laying to defense is not entirely understood, but is believed by some to have been a direct response to predation by vertebrates. if you think about it, it's not all that easy to sting through a tough exoskeleton (though it can be done), it's much easier to sting soft, fleshy things that are trying to eat your delicious grub children. these wasps no longer lay eggs with the ovipositor, instead having an opening at the base of the stinger. the venom would be adapted to illicit a pain response, a harsh lesson to not mess with wasps!

DID YOU KNOW?: male wasps CANNOT sting as they do not have an ovipositor. though, some males will still mimic stinging, or even have pointed abdomens to help sell the illusion.

QUICKFIRE ROUND:

while wasps are famously eusocial and will often live in large communal hives, the vast majority of wasps are solitary and live on their own.

the largest species of wasp is the northern giant hornet, who's queens are around 2 inches in length. the smallest species of wasp is also the smallest insect ever! dicopomorpha echmepterygis males have been measured as small as 139 micrometres in length.

its common knowledge that wasps can sting multiple times and honey bees cant. this is a unique adaptation of the honey bee, who deliver a more potent sting by leaving the stinger embedded in the victim as it continues to pump rounds and rounds of venom. unfortunately, the stinger is directly attached to many vital organs, which are then damaged in the process, causing the honey bee to die.

insects breathe by absorbing oxygen directly into their "blood". wasps aid in this by rapidly expanding and collapsing their abdomen to force air in and out. if her butt is vibrating, shes just taking a breath :)

the iconic coloration of the wasp, usually yellow and black, is part of their defensive strategy! this is a form of aposematism, the advertising of danger to potential predators. they want you to notice them, so you know to steer clear!

the coloration is SO iconic that thousands of insect species mimic it in hopes of also warding off predators. this includes flies, moths and butterflies, and even their own ancestors, the sawflies.

parasitoid wasps are very specific in their choice of prey, likely due to the unique cocktail of venom they must possess to influence any given species. for any arthropod, there is a species of wasp that specializes in parasitizing THAT specific arthropod.

because i know some people are wondering, the venom of parasitoid wasps can only effect arthropods, there will be no wasp based mind control within the next few million years. some parasitoids have been known to sting defensively, which is still quite painful depending on the exact species.

some wasps are HYPERPARASITOIDS, meaning they will lay their eggs on other parasitoids that are already parasitizing something. its parasitoids all the way down.

one of these hyperparasitoids is the velvet ant. despite it's common name, they're actually a species of wasp with flightless females. the males do possess wings, and in some species, will assist the female by carrying her to an environment with better resources.

the venom of gall wasps will, when inserted into a tree or other vegetation, cause it to grow a mass, known as a gall. basically a bootleg fruit, filled with nutrients. these wasp galls will then safely house the wasp's young which eat it from the inside out, before emerging as adult wasps.

obviously, theres wasps that parasitize the gall wasps inside the gall.

fig wasps are the only animals that can pollinate figs, and do so by crawling inside to lay their eggs before dying inside the fruit. well, the only animal other than humans, which find figs quite tasty but don't typically enjoy eating dead wasps.

i probably wont ever get a better opportunity to share this information, sorry: the queen honey bee mating with a drone is audible to the human ear, making a popping sound. the drone's endophallus (penis) is violently detached in the process and he dies soon after.

lastly, lets just marvel at the beauty of the wasp. they have some of the most striking appearances of any animals on earth.

i am just fillled with awe when i look at them. a powerful and intimidating predator that takes great care in raising the next generation. perhaps my favorite animal.

[metfell]

What you've said about Michael has opened my eyes to new levels of anguish hitherto untapped! any further thoughts on how this...less than ideal childhood would manifest?? Its always such an interesting thing to incorporate into the baseline of the character I their habits and behaviour and such!!

GLAD YOU ASKED. i mean. obviously this is because he is in fact just a zombie piglin child in canon so its not like beeduo really HAD to be there taking care of him. but what that ends up manifesting as in canon is cbeeduo hardly ever really being there for him. tubbo is there for him more than ranboo is, because ranboo is THOUSANDS of blocks away at the commune. and so i really think it would manifest in michael not really knowing ranboo very well, and i imagine later on once uhm. the.... canon...... ending happened, that ranboo would have a HARD time raising michael on his own, because lets face it tubbo did 90% of the work there. i think it would probably lead to a lot of arguments, and michael missing tubbo a LOT.

i imagine that michael is probably a very independent kid, and i dont know if ranboo would know what to do with that. hed probably take after tubbo a LOT with his personality, which means hes stubborn as all hell and does not like to talk about how hes feeling in any kind of productive way. and its one thing to navigate that with your spouse whos on equal ground to you, and another thing entirely to navigate that with your child, especially one you realize more and more that you barely know. and ranboo is only in their 20's, so i cant even imagine how stressful that would be for both of them.

later on, i think that they would have to come to some sort of compromise and start from scratch entirely. ranboo writes down everything that michael likes, his favorite color. his favorite foods. what he likes to do for fun. and they dont talk that much about tubbo because thats a really sore spot for both of them. michaels bitter, and ranboo because of their memory problems never really stops grieving tubbo in an intense way. honestly i can see later on MICHAEL moving on and ranboo not, and that being a sore spot for them too.

michael is so fascinating because while we dont actually know his direct personality because in canon he... doesnt really have one, we can probably get an understanding of him based on what happened to him. hes most likely got some sort of social anxiety from the isolation growing up, probably tubbos brand of shoving everything down, he has his chicken so he probably would grow very attached to- if not a bunch of animals- his pets as a form of comfort rather than the people around him. there are some different possibilities for the things he enjoys as he grows up, either he tries to connect to ranboo by getting into mining and armor and tools, or he leans into tubbos likes because he mimicked him as a child and builds things, or he resents either or both of those, and becomes the type of player who mainly just explores and stays away from any kind of permanent settlement. i can honestly see him leaving his family and traveling just to get out of snowchester or the greater server. he needs to find himself, and i think neither tubbo nor ranboo grasped that because they were all HE had, but THEY had other people.

[apriltempleos]

october 1st 2024: drafts!

preacher: i'm attaching slightly improved versions of our original drafts, but i'll also include mine and scott's garbage sketches under the cut because i think they're a little bit funny

(image id available through tumblr's accessibility options)

this is a slightly revised version of my original concept for "APRIL".

the main functionality i wanted for "APRIL" was for her to be able to read out words from the templeOS god word app, and ideally without needing keyboard input – hence the microphone. ideally all of her parts are going to fit inside a hollowed out mannequin or doll, which will probably just be the torso, so that she's more portable. for the same reason, i want her to run off a power bank – i want to be able to take her places!

if we manage, we're going to give her an animated LED face which moves to indicate when she's speaking. the way i first pitched it, i wanted it to also change a bit depending on how she "felt" – for example, frowning if the environment was hotter than ideal for the raspberry pi to operate on. but that's a bit beyond our current scope right now. i don't think we even ordered a thermostat.

scott drew the following wiring diagrams based off my original sketch. here revised digitally for readability's sake.

(image id available through the tumblr accessibility options although i fear it's not very good in this case. feedback appreciated).

scott: I decided to go with the raspberry pi zero 2w because it's what I've got experience coding on, it's relatively cheap for the "brains" of the operation (heh) and can perform both tasks from the godword prophecy generation, speaker operation and led matrix operation simultaneously. Plus its small enough to keep the circuit lightweight and fit inside the initial mannequin design.

This drawing fits no kind of engineering standard by the way lol. It was an initial sketch closer to a wiring diagram to see how it'd physically setup and wrap my head around transforming it from mains power to being theoretically portable and running on powerbanks. Unfortunately the LED matrix is really fucking power hungry so needs its own power supply of really specific voltage and current draws hence all the converters.

Also because Im using the smaller and cheaper pi, as oppossed to a stronger system like the pi4, it doesn't have any audio out jack so I plan to use the micro usb for audio out which means yet again I need another adapter for a soundcard and usb to micro usb adapters and all that jazz. Usually sound out can be done through the GPIO pins but the LED matrix takes so many pins that I cant really take anything form them so I had to look for other ways of doing it. Plus this way I get to add a soundcard so if we wanna add microphone support or anything later on we can :)

(Also this is all a little obtuse because I'm trying to do it as much as plug and play and screw terminal style as possible rather than actually solder connections for ease of access and initial setup, but this also works for modular design and component swapping later too so its cool.)

preacher: another reason we're going with plug&play is becauuseeeeee i don't own a soldering iron 😭 it's ok. it's ok.

our silly initial drafts under the cut for your viewing pleasure.

preacher: these were made around 2 weeks ago, so about september 15th ish.

as you can see the first "APRIL" drawing was beautifully drawn with my fat fingers in the facebook messenger photo editor. i think it holds up. lol.

[e-102]

I cant stop thinking about pap the more I read. I think its important that Pap and Ai were mentioned in the same breath here, it means they have something in common. I think that may just be that its the only other calamity that has mentioned victims to show up on the other side. We've seen a possible source for many Ai victims being Nanika (Still there could still be multiple Ai besides her in the known world) but we have not seen any source of pap. We've also seen how Ai's victims come to be in the case of Nanika's requests and granted wishes which match Ai's description as "codependence of desire" (Still Ai could function differently on the dark continent than it does in the case of Nanika inhabiting Alluka) but I'm left to wonder about how pap actually works.

Pap as far as we can see hides in the dark and has at least two bright white eyes. When it leaves behind the corpses of its prey they have a strange bulb at the top of the cord that attached to them. Its worth noting that the attached people pictured above are in almost the exact same state as the corpses recovered, meaning that this is probably the last stage of keeping them where Pap leaves them behind not long after. It seems to always hook in the victims heads and drain them until they're small and shriveled looking. It looks similar to how people who are drained of aura look

At the same time Pap's work seems more extreme, like its draining its victims of literally everything. I've seen people theorize that Pap can inhabit people like Ai can, but I'm not so sure considering that Ai was specified as a gaseous form, I think that implies that most other calamities have a physical form. Pap is also not a granter of wishes like Ai, it instead grants pleasure, but what could that mean in practice?

Ai grants wishes at a high and often violent price, that is the codependent aspect, it needs something to ask for the things it itself desires. So the trade off between life and pleasure probably alludes to being granted unimaginable pleasure that you pay for proportionally with your life force. This is pretty straight forward and I cant think of another interpretation of it. What leaves a lot to interpretation is "A beast that keeps people as pets"

What does that look like? Is it just that Pap seems to keep the humans its draining on a 'leash' attached to their heads? Maybe Pap keeps people like that for a very very long time, I think this line implies that Pap likes to play around with its victims. Moreover, how many victims can Pap have at a time? Does it like to stay still when its feeding? Is it even feeding? Ai doesn't seem to ask for anything to fulfill itself, and not many calamities really appear to function like animals, even Hellbell's power isn't in relation to eating or hunting prey for sustenance. Causing your prey to be homicidal only functions to kill either its predator or other third parties. Looking at what is theorized to be the work of Hellbell (the mutated hand) It seems like a malicious power beyond human comprehension.

So what is Pap doing in the known world? In Ai's case victims can appear across the known world without ever having to touch them. But Pap is attached to its victims, it even keeps them as pets. Supposedly Pap is physically loose in the known world and one of the strongest characters we know of in the whole story, Ging, says that calamities are impossible to deal with.

Conclusion: What the fuck.

[wishhalcyon]

Do you want to read HALCYON?

do you like...FREE BOOK NO STRINGS ATTACHED?!!?!?!?

if so im posting it online! but its not going to be as cleanly edited as my other works.

i only have like, a few things id like to request, and its kind of on an honor system i'm not going to really get mad or upset if you don't do it, but its something really sweet you can do to help me as an author!

but first a description of the book!

book is: about a not nessisarily romantic but definitely bizzarely close feel free to read it however you want im not making anyone kiss project whatever you want onto them, story of a bunny girl superhero with a murder problem , and her wholesome supervillain bestie who wants nothing more than to save her, with fun themes such as found family , memory loss, and of course, miserable children, also the supervillain is a theater kid with a heart of gold and a cup of tea <3

a mix of silly and serious, I put a lot of my heart into it! And it would have been done sooner, but well i kind of got kidnapped so that kind of slowed down most of my writing and other projects for a bit there, it was only for an afternoon, no one got hurt, but it was kind of weird. it was a sort of well intentioned kidnapping though and the lady who did it is getting professional help now which is great, so im just happy she and everyone else is okay :)

I made this book wanting to make a fun world and characters and setting and stuff anyone could enjoy and find interesting, and I think the magic system in place in this lil superhero book (based somewhat on magical girl anime-) will be a fun setting for fanfics and fanart and stuff, and im SUPER excited to see if anyone makes ocs or anything for it because that'd be super cool and I love seeing other people be creative-

anyways onto the rules.

if you read it, please reblog where you found it and that i'm the author, and tell me what you thought!

im posting this online *because i want to interact with people and share what i made with others*, and celebrate other peoples craeativity too in line with that, I dont want to sue you for writing ANY fanfiction or fanart you write about my story, as long as none of you don't try to sue ME if i get inspired by them and or make fanart of them or things like that myself. I want to be an active participant in whatever fandom may or may not form around this, I want to have fun with you guys and enjoy my story WITH you guys. this means you also MAY have more control over how any future things with halcyon goes, and you may be able to help guide some decision making! But I still own halcyon it's not public domain- like i dont nessisarily expect or think i 'deserve' (though it would be so cool) a fandom like that over my book, but i think itd be neat and as someone who really heavily participates in fandom, I really want to be a part of it if i have my own. A lot of times I and other readers are VERY bothered that companies and authors dont litsen to their fans...but oftentimes they legally CANT or theyll get sued.

(Though I still get the final say in any decisions since...my book)

3. If you make anything related to it or post about it at all pretty please @ me, i WANNA SEE ALL OF IT please dont be shy, please ask questions, please say hi to me, Im posting this online because i wanna talk about my blorbos with you, @ing me is like, the reader tax- gimme your headcannons and weird cursed creations, idc if youre photoshopping Acianne into the backrooms ominously or posting about like, alternate universe where Ciero's a rabbit who's wildly daydreaming all of this up, or if youve decided to make thirst traps of hearts, go ahead, @ me, I wanna see it, if i suffer the cost so be it. Carve a watermelon to look like Cieros dad and throw it at the concrete, go splat. just go wild, have fun, just like, no hateful stuff and everyone be nice to each other.

4. im doing this partially with the thought that i could mostly make money off this via selling my own art of it and possibly a game based on halcyon...if so, then i may just post any future books online too, any thoughts guys? are these fair rules? any additions youd add? things like that? thoughts? I also have other books that I plan to publish more traditionally, This is kind of a test to see what works best really. I guess! If this takes off i might stick to free books only, if not, well publishing traditionally it is, whatever I need to do to get by you know? gotta make a living.

the biggest rule is just dont sue me please or pursue me legally im just trying to be a silly lil author who actually engages with their fandom and can get away with it i dont want to steal your stuff, i want to share headcannons with you guys and confirm or deny stuff and give you sneak peaks and PLEASE I JUST WANT TO READ FANFICTIONS WITHOUT BEING SUED IT WOULD MAKE ME SO HAPPY I LOVE FANFICTIONS LET ME FANDOM WITH YOU GUYS I DONT WANT TO BE SHADY PLEASE BY READING MY BOOK LETS JUST HAVE FUN PLEASE- CAN WE PRETTY PLEASE ???? FANFICTIONS ARE SUCH A VALUABLE AND EXCITING FORM OF LITERATURE- AND THEY MAKE ME SO HAPPY SO PRETTY PLEASE BE NICE THANKS

remember DONT RUIN IT FOR EVERYONE ELSE BY SUING ME FOR GIVING YOU SOMETHING TO ENJOY, if you want nice things, don't misuse the nice things!!!! okay? okay so everyone agrees to be nice?...okay then! enjoy!

Ciero/Darling says "Please enjoy chapter 1~"

PLEASE ENJOY CHAPTER ONE I PLAN TO POST THE OTHER CHAPTERS DONT WORRY IM NOT JUST DANGLING A WORM IM JUST TRYING TO EDIT IT AND THERES A LOT OF WORDS SO IT MAY TAKE A BIT OKAY- SO YOURE GETTING IT ONE CHAPTER AT A TIME

: ) enjoy! and tell me your thoughts please <3 all i ask in return for letting you have a free book is some validation and maybe sharing it iwth others if you want-

full book is about 49 almost 50k words :) so look forward to it! it's all written i'm just trying to clean them up with a rough edit through before posting them-

also sorry for emphasising dont sue me so much but im trying to cover myself as much as I can safely I REALLY love writing and my favorite part of it is engaging with my readers, but ive been scared of doing this for a while out of fear thanks to a lot of horror stories ive read online. so please dont be mean : (

[shhh-no-ones-home]

future friends 2/2

james 'logan' howlett

+++++++++

part one

song: gold medal ribbon my pierce the veil

+++++++++

i sat on my bed and thought about what had happened in the danger-room. it had been a little over a week already and i still couldnt stop thinking about it. his face, the way he sounded. so broken. it was an accident. and of course i couldnt think to face ororo either. im sure she already got an earful from him about it.

but the thing is, i hadnt seen him or his reading since that day. and that worried me. all of his classes had been cancelled but i couldnt exactly blame him. i think i wouldve done the same. i half thought to go find him but i wasnt sure i could face him again. nonetheless i picked myself up off the side of my bed and walked out of my room and out into the hall. kids were rushing past me to get to their next class but i ignored them as best i could.

some of them were harder than others, all of the images of their pasts behind my eyes as i paced by them. but then his made its way into my brain and i stopped. i had already made it to the end of the hall but it wasnt his room he was in. it was the library. some place i hadnt ever seen him go. he didnt find place in there like the students did. but it was quiet. i pushed the door open slowly and there he was, sat at the table with a book open in front of him. it was a book about the civil war. oh. i watched his face as he looked up.

"hey kid, or uh, y/n."

he corrected and i drew my brows, walking slowly to him like you would a wounded animal.

"hello logan."

he closed the book and placed it flat on the table, folding his hands on top of it.

"first of all i wanna apologize-"

"dont worry about it."

he cut me off and i tilted my head to the side in confusion.

"but i lied to you?"

i questioned and he nodded, a half smile making its way to his features.

"i know. i talked to storm. and though i wish someone would have helped me sooner i understand she was just trying to keep the professors wishes. damn bastard."

he laughed.

"so youre not mad? at me?"

i asked hesitantly and he scooted his chair back, standing up to meet me.

"storm explained a bit about you. how your powers work, how old you are, the god that cursed you."

i looked down and he took my hand in his. i gasped and tried to pull away but he held on tight. i looked up with wide eyes, trying to study his face.

"i made peace with not knowing anything about myself but you changed that. now i know who i am. or was, at least."

he squeezed my hand and then let it go.

"you arent scared?"

i asked and he laughed.

"terrified actually. but if youre willing to work with me. id like to get to know myself. and you."

i watched as he put his leg up and sat on the side of the table.

"logan i want to but with my powers only a handful of things can happen. the more i look into your past the more i will get attached to you and i dont want you to resent me for something i cant control."

he nodded, studying my face.

"y/n you are the only person ive ever met that is my own age and is willing to help me. i dont think i could resent you even if i tried."

i laughed, tapping a finger on the table next to his leg.

"you say that now."

he reached forward and grabbed my hand again but i didnt pull away this time. he closed his eyes.

"they dont come in waves like the first one did."

he said softly and i drew my brows.

"each time i touch you i get isolated stories. ones that i only got glimpses of the first time."

he said coolly. opening his eyes and looking up at me.

"is that how you see them?"

he asked and i nodded.

"if i focus hard enough yes, or if im around the person a lot. the glimpses get longer. especially if im not trying to suppress them."

"you are extraordinary."

he complimented and i could feel some heat forming in my cheeks. i knew to much about him to not blush. it didnt help i already had a crush on him.

"tell me, whats something that youve been wanting to know? more than anything else."

he sat and thought for a second

"striker said i volunteered for his program but i cant believe that. i want to know what actually happened."

i nodded, stepping towards him a little more. he drew his brows and watched me.

"bare with me please."

i whispered, looking over his face and stopping at his lips. i took a deep breath before closing the gap between us. as soon as our lips touched i was overrun with his memories. i searched through them like a file folder, stopping on his time at alkali lake. i could feel my body tense and i shared that memory with him, his recruitment, the experiment, taking gallons of his blood and storing it, the wires and machines he was hooked up to, keeping him in a cage like an animal, and his escape.

i held on as long as i could but it got too overwhelming. i pulled away from him and seized, my head falling back and my eyesight going white as i looked to the ceiling. i fell limp against him, feeling his arms wrap around my body as he caught me, slowly guiding me to the floor and into his lap. i shook against him and breathed heavily as my eyesight came back. i could hear him shushing me and stroking my hair, rocking back and forth.

"logan."

i gasped out, gripping at his arm.

"its okay, im right here."

he said, and i could hear the fear in his voice.

"i held on as long as i could."

i whispered and i felt him kiss the top of my head.

"you gave me just what i needed, now relax. please. ill take care of you while you do."

i nodded against his chest, feeling my eyes heavy.

"im gonna sleep now okay?"

i asked and i could feel him chuckle to himself.

"ive got you. you go right ahead."

i hummed to myself.

"lets hold off on any more memories for a little bit okay?"

i asked and he laughed.

"youve got a deal. kid. now just take it easy."

the last thing i remember was my body going limp against him and everything going black. at least i could help a little. give him some part of himself back. and i could hear it in his voice. he was sincere.

"thank you y/n."

[t4tcecilos]

omg tell me abt josh crayton .....

hiiii omg twirls my hair <3 its essay time <3 @itawalrus also asked ^w^ tagging bc. i can.

okay im super attached to him as a character first off. hes just. hes SO night vale.

like!! to me. he really represents one of the core aspects of wtnv, which is showing humans being humans, and overall humanity being humanity. hes a shapeshifter!!! and yet!!! hes still so HUMAN and REAL!!

hes described as "a boy of many forms but only one self.” which first of all. cool as hell. second. hes genderqueer to me. tbh.

he got stuck. as a waterfall. for A While. because he was anxious!! which yeah ive never done that personally BUT I GET IT!!!

theres one moment in it devours! that ive been thinking about which when nils is questioning him about one of the pits that appeared, and he says: “I wish I could help you more. You seem like a nice lady with good intentions. But I don't want to get in any trouble. And I'm just a kid. I like to think I'm more than that, but sometimes I'm just a kid. I'm sorry.”

hes a highschooler at that point in the story and it just. hits so much. hes just a kid!!! hes a shapeshifter yeah, and he likes to think hes more than just a teenager but at his core hes still a kid. which. IDK i related to that lol

i just think its so interesting how this background character who’s not technically human is written to be so realistic and real. he’s literally a highschooler hes my friend josh!!!!! he’s insecure and he pretends he isn’t!!!!! hes struggled throughout his life in many ways (not just bc hes a shapeshifter)

he loves his mom and he loves his sister even if he struggles w that sometimes!!! he likes multiple genders!!!! people understand him and his emotions even when hes a creature/idea/thing that cant show them!!! he loves being cute animals….

im a sucker for inhuman characters being some of the most human characters <333 ilove josh crayton hes my best friend

[aura-bug]

favorite yo-kai from each tribe?

Brave: Either Asura or Hovernyan, I fucking love Asura's designs/origins (<- nerd) and I am just VERY attached to hovernyan bc ykw2 is my favorite game

Tough: Toadal Dude. no contest. "surfer dude war general who is also a frog" is the funniest possible combination of character traits you could come up with. AND his name is TOADAL DUDE? thats peak. amazing. wonderful. Robonyan is very close in 2nd though

Mysterious: oughhhhh mysterious is one of those tribes where it's hard to pick a favorite bc there's so many I like 😭 if you held me to gunpoint and forced to me choose just one, though, I'd probably say Tengu. Neat design, I'm a folklore nerd, and he's just one of the guys I got weirdly attached to for no reason. idk. I liked his anime episode with Tenguriginal a lot omg

Charming: ouGGGGGHHHHHH another hard tribe,,,,, probably either Whirlweasel or Princess Pearl. Whirlweasel's anime episode was so fucking cute ??? like??? it had no right to be that adorable. what. also their design is just very gender

Princess Pearl bc I'm a sucker for all of ykw3's added legendaries asdfgh,, I like her little fish guy and the story of Otohime/Urashima Taro is just very iconic

Heartful: Predictabull. I can't explain this one. I just think he's a silly little guy. his folkloric origins are also very cool I like the kudan/other prophetic yokai a lot

Shady: Either Hidabat or Wobblewok. Hidabat's entire existence is just so insanely funny to me. Imagine allowing some loser recluse to live in your closet bc they're scared of the outdoors, then you slowly start finding out they're actually some sort of multi-millionaire that can just casually call up limousines and buy out entire houses and get in touch with extremely famous people n shit. headcanon: hidabat mines bitcoin

also wobblewok is just one of my favorite yo-kai in GENERAL. friend form AND boss form. people have died trying to confine this thing to the depths of hell and it looks like a big chocolate pudding cup with a dopey face. and its named WOBBLEWOK. thats a name that people were so afraid of that they DARED not to speak it out loud. WOBBLEWOK. its so silly I cant

I love its name I love its design I loved its goofy anime episode I love the way it goes "hiiiiii :)" when you fight it in blasters. everything abt wobblewok is perfect to me

Eerie: Arachnia!! Arachnia!!!!!!! also sort of Arachnus but I love Arachnia so goddamn much. I've talked at her before so I'll spare all the details but I want to *holds gently in hands* her. if you add a tsuchigumo/jorogumo character to your franchise they're basically guaranteed to be my favorite

Also Arachnus bc the donut war plot line is so fucking goofy I love it. It's one of the reasons why I'm biased towards 2. I was a bony spirits kid 💔

Slippery: OURGHHHHHHHHGHGH,,,,,,, dude this is the hardest,,,,,, there's so many slippery tribe yokai that I love to deathhhh 😭

Noko is so cute... I'm biased towards Venoct bc dragons...... I'm biased towards Draggie/Dragon Lord/Azure Dragon bc dragons.......... I'm biased towards Draaagin bc dragons................... I'm biased towards Mython bC DRAGONS.............................. I'M BIASED TOWARDS WHYVERN KING BC DRAGONS...................................... ARE YOU SENSING A PATTERN HERE

oh also whisper ig

If I HADDDDDD to choose, I guess I'd go with Whyvern King. Out of all the other dragons he has my favorite origins, being based on Nanda Ryuo, the most powerful of the 8 great dragon kings from folklore. and I was WAITING for SOMEONE to make that "nanda = why" pun eventually

Wicked: Unfairy, my favorite little piece of shit rat. their medallium entry literally calls them a pain in the ass. they're so goofy. sorry to all the unkeen fans out there ily all but UNFAIRY should've been the face of the wicked yokai. UNFAIRY shouldve been the main poster child for psychic specters. unfairy shouldve come in plushie form and I shouldve been able to bulk buy hundreds of them. I think it'd be funnier to have this little shit's face plastered on everything like some sort of parasite that'd be soooo funny

Enma: Lucas. "But aura, he's-" I don't care. Lucas.

[sunset-bridge]

Also just talking to the void but like

I like looking at other peoples furry art and sonas and stuff and sometimes drawing art of others characters but like.. i just cant connect to furry characters that easy lol...

I mean. Ok like. I kinda can! But only when they look the specific way i like which is honestly like almost human LOL basically the more animal they look the harder i find it to attach to them. I love animals but like. I dont really see the appeal if the average wolf or dog furry Disney style guy.. its so bland to me.. i dont miiind drawing them but i couldnt make a character like that for me you know! I just cant get attached at all.

A good example of guys i DO like is my furry version of Sergio.. yeah hes a cat with cute ears but his face is way more human looking, flat faced anthro like. I like these. There are some exceptions like when its an animal with a weird head shape like a bird, i usually keep that and i still like em. But yea..

Hair , eyes and muzzle are a big thing i think. It has to have human like hairstyle. I love these. Anime ass warrior cats etc. Eyes too. And muzzle, the shorter and flatter the better for me.

Idk i just wanted to share lol. I also ofc love humans with animal ears AND i actually really like when like a human has a monster beast form or smth but i will usually always prefer the human form..

[mycartoonmonster]

Stanley loves his family.

He was treated as an unwanted and bad, stupid child by people around him excluiding Carynn, constantly compared with his smarter brother. So he can understand the feeling of being less than your sibling given his talents.

He sees himself in this sweet weird kid (And someone pointed out that Carynn looks like Mabel with her hair down so maybe he does also feel inclined towards her) but has enough self awareness not to project onto her like Ford does with Dipper, even if the similarities are there.

(I love Ford but again Fildbrick turned him into the egocentric man we see later on always looking for approval to the point of making Ford an easy target for manipulation and he played a part in the Stan twins relationship souring that Ford cant let go of a mistake of many years ago and without noticing he projects himself onto Dipper-not unlike Bill did with Ford but also having his nephew's best interests in mind- and tries to live through him by giving him the chance he never got in life; not taking into consideration his life in California, his studies nor his relationship with Mabel nor how she might feel about it too csuse he cant help but view another case of a twin holding the other one down even if unintentionally. Also lets be real Stanley's life is messy but Ford was alone and choosing his studies over his family led him to ruin his friends life and be haunted by a demon)

Both are artists (Lil Stanley and the Mystery Shack's attractions plus some artwors that depict him drawing), both like animals (Stan's relationship with Shanklin the Opossum is a parallel to Mabel's relationship with Waddles not to mention they inmediatly get attached to the mutated cow in the shorts) and often are seen as the dumb one even if they're street smart and more emotionally mature (Despite her selfishness at times, Mabel is very empathic, tries to help others out and do the right thing and apologizes for her mistakes and Stanley has a sense of family loyalty and recognizes when he messed up and tries to make up for it)

He makes sure this little girl doesn't feel like a dissapointment; he indulges her in some of her schemes (as long as they aint too crazy) and even after she loses in minigolf and comforts her with the fear of highschool looming over her future. Constantly using terms of endearment like Pumpkin and Sweetie, not unlike his mom did with him. He even has some of the things she gives him in his room.

Although he does struggle with Dipper, he loves him still and does give him advice when needed and he's not nearly as cruel as his dad was to him with his attempts to toughen him up so he can defend himself against the world which works as seen in his fight with Bill and Gideon Rises and other instances throughout season 2.

He even states he's reminded of him in Dipper in a couple of occasions which could explain why hes so proud of him when he stands up to others even himself included, cause he couldn't do it with his dad nor the bullies in their youth that tormented him and his brother in a definitive way.

He makes sure both him and his sister are loved and that they know.

Stan's not perfect of course, in trying to shield him and protect him form Gravity Falls's weirdness he ends up gaslighting Dipper into thinking hes crazy and that the weirdness and paranormal stuff isn't real which pushes him into doing something dumb and dangerous in his desperation like raising the dead and this is where Stan stops pretending and promises to stop hiding the truth about Gravity Falls but continues hiding the truth about Ford and the portal until the day where the portal is ready and he tries telling them but can't cause its a lot. And after everything hes not mad at Dipper for not trusting him after everything they went through that day.

But despite everything he never raises his hands nor his voice at them; the worst he did was intending to ground Dipper after possibly getting them into trouble with the goverment.

And after Ford comes back, he warns Dipper not to get too close to Ford in order for him to be safe as Ford's work is far too dangerous for him and just wants to keep them safe.

Also he's okay with them spending time with Ford as long as they're okay, since Stan sees Dipper clearly likes Ford. He's just mopey about being alone or the twins liking Ford more cause he's been alone for 40 years.

And in Weirdmageddon he goes against the plan to rescue Ford not cause he doesn't care about Ford (he does and had no idea what Bill was doing to him) but because of his niece and nephew's safety (alongside the surviving creatures and townsfolk) and when the plan goes sour (Ford didn't need to correct his grammar and Stan didn't have to fight him) he's more than willing to basically lay down his identity (his life) to make sure his entire family is safe, even if it meant the possiblity of not coming back to his old self ever again.

Heck he cares so much for them that he wrote "Come back soon" in the "See you next summer" note Dipper was given by Wendy

So yeah its nice to see that in spite of all the trauma Fildbrick made Stan go through (as well as Ford and Shermie), Stanley cant bring himself to have anything but love and affection for his niece and nephew, even if its hard for him to show it.

I love Stan's relationship with the kids so much.

GF emphasizes a lot of very real trauma in Stan's past. Everything from child abuse, homelessness, drug abuse, and survival sex work. And the way that meshes with Mabel being this truly genuine depiction of a weird little girl creates something that is very unique to the series.

It's really touching how Mabel just being Mabel heals Stan's inner child and the way he naturally clicks with her. The weird and creative little boy he used to be, before his father's abuse and toxic masculinity beat that joy and optimism out of him.

It's just damn good. It's a really beautiful depiction of an intergenerational relationship. And I haven’t really seen anything else quite like it. Because there’s also Dipper.

There’s this wall between Stan and Dipper that goes beyond his similarities with Ford and its gender.

Dipper is a boy and Stan clearly doesn’t really know how to handle that. He was taught that boys are raised in a very specific way. And like we see how Stan really struggles with his past, the way he talks about the boxing lessons in particular.

Masculinity is so deeply entwined with Stan's pain and it’s something he can’t easily unravel. How is he supposed to be able to criticize his father for 'toughing him up' when he feels like punching things is one of the only things he’s good at? It's fucking sad.

[xiuminscheeks]

WOOO new ep yet again :D and im on time too! Last ask i sent was a couple days after the ep aired, cos it took me a while to get round to watching it 😅 anyway ok so:

-How did mr lee get away w that. How did mr jin just accept him pulling a sword on him like WHAT sldjksk. in what world would he not be terrified or at least concerned. Or call for help or something? He just walks off????

Then when he does bring it up its like ahhh he just seemed kinda off yknow? LIKE YEAH he threatened to kill you with a fucking sword in his hand T.T

-GIRL cover your mouth when you cough...

-The snuggling is so soft goddamit, and im a sucker for a sick character being gently taken care of >.< theyre so endlessly sweet ARGH i need someone to cuddle. Where is a guy supposed to find a man like eunwoo in this economy tho. Sigh

-Please..PLEASE cover your mouth when you cough i beg. The whole lot of them theyre just as bad as each other help

-Yul: "ah with your superior instincts youve sensed theyre dating 😌 theyve been trying to keep it a secret, so keep quiet please 😉"

Min ji: "😐"

Yul: *silently, but with a lot of emotion* "..fuck"

-FUCK YEAH MORE HISTORICAL FLASHBACKS!!!!

-Are we finally gonna get the backstory... i bet its gonna be a misunderstanding plot how much do we wanne bet its a miscommunication plot. They've set up mr lee/mountain spirit too kindly to have him be a full villain i feel. Like they show an equal amount of moments that paint him in a positive light to ones that portray him as a villain. So its gotta be something like a miscommunication plot or a 'redeemed at the final moment of death' or some shit, i can feel it.. (and if im wrong. Well fuck me lol)

-Aw even back in time they were fucking adorable. But I have to say the mountain spirit romance plot takes the cake this episode for me, the tsundere storyline always wins 😔 im easy to please,,, now if only they couldve stayed happy on the mountain with the puppy kid T.T altho it feels weird when translated to the modern day cos while she was a married woman in the flashback shes a whole student in present day 💀

-But i am endlessly charmed by the mountain spirit and his pretty brown eyes and his trying so hard not to get attached to the fragile mortals <3 Also i think i reaallllly vibe with the historical aspect so ill pick up a historical drama from your list next (i still havent started another one yet sksjsk)

-My misunderstanding plot theory gains momentum! Mountain spirit looked away for literally the exact second she got stabbed and just assumes it was the dude like. I mean i get it but gAHHhhh!!

-Now now mountain spirit. Step away from the dog. Please dont kill the dOG-.... Ah.. Too late ... (unrelated but why is the vet sleeping at the animal hospital sksjsj? Protestant work ethic strikes again)

-So anyway this episode was made just to make me fall deeper in love with mr mountain spirit 😔 and im really looking forward to confict and confrontations next episode >:] (also thank you for the new recs!!! Ive added them to my list ^.^)

- 🌱

henlo! its always so fun reading your asks!!!!

pls, the coughing with the mouth open had me so mad afsfgsg i cant stand that. at least we got cute ass snuggling tho, so I felt better

the flashbacks had beautiful cinematography and we finally got some answers! the mountain spirit is cute :( he really has such pretty puppy eyes.

I agree that something major happened when he looked away. my theory is that she shaman girl will remember what really happened and let him know, and end that 200 year beef.

also, I'm pretty sure that the uncle wont die. I feel like he wll return to his human form, cause the mountain spirit will break the curse.

2 more days for the new ep!!

[brittlebonesguy]

season 7. i have high hopes for this one

sandra <3. i have only seen her in one other season and i LOVED her so i hope she’s not a let down like boston rob. well at least they get their sneakers. love that rupert stole all the shoes from the other tribe and they straight up didn’t even notice. sandra bartering queen! the morgan tribe is an absolute mess. so unorganized. and so loud. toothbrushes, live chicken, dead chicken, fishing supplies, wine, hot sauce, lanterns, kerosene, knives, blankets. the drake team is so stacked. can that guy dear god PLEASE pull his underwear up and stop flashing crack. two meatheads shawn and burton already alienating themselves? perfect. ......teenage girls jon? hes insufferable. “i didn’t know they made such an animal��� okay i kinda love rupert. good i didn’t like nicole. 

rupert just loving life and catching fish <3. ya’ll chill. sandra was told to get the tarp so she took the tarp. i know for a fact that that when morgan steals from drake they’re gonna be a lot less about it than sandra. she initially came for a water jug which you guys straight up didn’t have so? what is she supposed to do. and she was trying to be civil and you call her a bitch? men just have to be men huh? you broke ruperts spear?? “he got attached, it was kinda his thing” or maybe that spear was your only source of food and losing it is terrible? the morgan tribe is honestly so pathetic. the problem with the morgan team is that its too dude bro heavy.

jon is so incredibly annoying. jokes in him sandra is a survivor legend. and what about you? a little no buddy from season 7... the morgan tribe my god.... they seem cursed. three tribals in a row?

i hope everyone gangs up against shawn burton and michelle <3. tijuana running out into the water without the goggles because she wasn’t supposed to go and then complaining that she cant see.... it’s really so sad that morgan’s first challenge win was thrown to them. thank god it was burton

it doesn’t shock me that osten is the wait until something becomes an immediate problem to deal with it person. rupert absolutely carries its crazy

maybe if jon didn’t make that stupid we threw the first challenge you guys won then andrew wound’t have won that edurance challenge on pure spite alone. trish really tried to stir up the game and i respect that so much but i’m so happy her plan to get rupert out fell through. 

love the outcast twist wonder who they’re gonna vote back in. chill andrew it’s just survivor. i do not like andrew. his presence and his anger make me uncomfortable 

love that lil is sticking up for herself! don’t let andrew push you around. you know you’re at the bottom of the morgan tribe so you might has well jump ship to drake. bye andrew! thank god. 

love the whole rest of the tribe getting together to form an alliance against sandra, christina, and rupert. and them saying alright we made our deal let’s never talk about it again so we don’t get overheard. slay. can lillian just chill out with all this “i’m the worst person ever” crap. its annoying. sandra hiding out in the bushes to eavesdrop ajbdajdb. “very excitable”? i don’t think i like lillian. not sandra being the one to take rupert out of the immunity challenge that sucks for her. burton is a little dangerous in this game. he has a lot of allies and he is shockingly good at like every challenge. he should probably cut back on the challenges a little if he wants to keep a target off his back. also i like rupert and all but his confidence is a little annoying and also i feel like he takes things too seriously. not with this alpha male shit again jeff. sandra wtf was that random jon vote?? like girl....

burton just immediately jumping down sandra and christina’s throat about the missing fish. i just feel like in a lord of the flies situation burton would kill somebody because he’s gone insane and is suspicious of them. SANDRA? IT WAS YOU? no wonder she’s a survivor villian. .....jon? that’s so fucked up. lying about your grandma dying? asshole. honestly really happy burton got the immunity idol snatched off his neck. this grandma stuff is really gonna come back to bite jon.

Sandra is so evil for hiding all this stuff. I love it though. it's so vindictive. survivor men are the worst breed. they are so sexist every time. they have an "intellectual advantage" over them 🙄 love all these darrah immunity wins. bye bye burton AGAIN 🤭 that's what you get for being sexist. now see, burton, if I were lill I wouldn't give a shit about our alliance considering I would be in third place and you've bad mouthed my intelligence. bitch.

wow jon is just gonna double down on that sexism huh? stop this immunity challenge is so funny. I hope the jury wins. hysterical. so sad they didn't. however i do love that you can see jeff's comment about lil having too big of morals to even let jon have the CHANCE to win the money seep right into her head. bye darrah, i don't really care that you're gone. ......all jon had to say about that woman was rocking body? foul. and they did ryan s so dirty by showing that clip of him with snot falling out of his nose. greattttttt lil gets to decide.....😒 thank CHRIST jon is gone. and hes STILL GOING WITH THE SEXISM. lil is absolutely bombing this. she's rubbing the jury wrong from every angle. but truly at the end there, i have no clue where the jury stands.

damn jeff finally stopped his stupid traveling montage that went on for way too long. i'm gonna miss it. yessssss!!! sandra winning was the best possible outcome with that final 4 thank goodness. so true whatever your name is, i also don't like that those men are saying lil isn't allowed to lie in a lying game just because she happened to be wearing her scout uniform. the dogging on jon is so fun. and when he tries to lean into the villian thing with "maybe my grandpa will die for all stars" and the crowd just BOOED. hysterical.

okay so in conclusion i think 9/10 season. very enjoyable, fun game play and sandra <3

[autisticstarseed]

this is not meant to like,,,, idk guILT anyone with pets or smth like you are all great but anybody else out here have personal traumas with pets or just grew up in poverty and didnt get to have them and feel like for most ppl its so integral to their life and just completely normal to them to have these little animals constantly around and they even fantasize all the time abt having their dream pets someday whereas u really are so unfamiliar with that concept you struggle to even imagine having One of them 

[listen-to-the-inner-walrus]

honestly?

i think shes a badly written character that actively hampers the rest of the show.

though in the lost fable, we're told her and oz's backstory, it does little to deepen what is a very shallow character. unicorn of war has highlighted all of this fantastically. the episode just doesnt establish a fully formed character; instead, we get a series of cardboard cutouts so thin youd have to use beta radiation to measure them.

i know that theres supplementary material that adds depth to "her dad was cruel and locked her in a tower but then a heroic man showed up to save her" but thats just not how anything works. that should just be in the show.

instead, we get an animated version of a sparknotes plot. by the time salem is insisting the god of light brings ozma back to life, all im thinking is she looks like a rich teenager throwing a hissy fit because her mom bought her idk prada instead of gucci because i have no emotional attachment to her or this story.

if wed been told things like why her father locked her in a tower, or was he cruel just for locking her in a tower or did the cruelty go further, or why couldnt salem escape by herself, or was her desire for freedom literally just not being in that tower or was it escaping her father; or if wed just seen ozma and salems falling in love or "falling in love" rather than being told it and oh tragedy ozmas dead, maybe id have a better idea as to why she felt she, specifically, deserved to have ozma back and why she demanded the fucking gods do her bidding.

locked in the tower!salem doesnt seem like like the type to be this entitled and selfish, but then, that version banks entirely on your preconceived notions of that kind of story which is probably early disney princesses. and that certainly does jive with the almost femme fatale version we get post-immortality and its not like this is a character arc because you need to have a character for that.

the only part of the lost fable where i feel like i can remotely grasp onto salems character is the ending because its basically show!salem, who is still a shallow, boring character.

and all of that isnt getting into how her actions dont often make sense given her character or her end goal. the obvious one is that she sure recruits a lot of men to her evil council when a key part of the plan is getting the maiden powers.

also her end goal is, i think, to get the relics together at a time when humanity is divided so the gods destroy them all so she can finally die which is kinda dumb because why does she think that this time the gods will let her die? thats kinda dumb and like, you can have villains whose evil plans will not work but like you need to write a reason as to why the villain cant see that. if not, congratulations, youve made your villain seem stupid and incompetent, and good luck getting that tension back.

which is kinda my whole problem with salem. everything about her character is a mess and considering shes the primary antagonist, thats a giant snowball of a problem thats rolling all the way down denali. the only thing the snowball isnt accumulating is tension. we all already know its gonna get to the bottom of the mountain.

For those of you who have watched RWBY what are your opinions regarding Salem and her actions? I am asking for science.

[creweemmaeec11]

The Gift of Panic Pt#2

First part

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

After a moment of silence, the villain finially spoke.

"The last birthday present I got..." they started in a quiet, almost whispered tone, "was a bomb..."

"What!?" the hero replied in shock.

"Someone I cared about... though it would be funny to open my present before me as a joke..." they took a deep breath, "they didn't..."

Their voice cracked before they trailed off, and the quickly wiped at their face, abruptly standing up, keeping their back to the hero.

"I don't even know..." the hero replied, trailing off as well. They didnt know what to say, how to respond, what to do. What could they?

"Its fine I just," the villain started, before taking a deep, recomposing breath, "Sorry, I've never told anyone about it,"

"No no, it's okay. God, I can't even imagine..."

"Its alright, I got my revenge in the end," the villain replied, turning back toward the hero.

"Really? How?"

The villain looked at them with a confused expression, before it shifted into an amused smirk, "For legal reasons, and because I don't want to prolong my time in here, I probably shouldn't tell you,"

The hero laughed, "fair point. For what it's worth, I'm glad you got justice, even if it probably isn't the kind of justice I'd agree with,"

"Really? You think I deserve justice?"

"Of course, I think everyone does," the hero said in confusion, as if that was obvious.

The villain huffed a half laugh, giving a small smile, "I need to remember who I'm talking to,"

Both their gazes fell back to the long discarded present on the floor.

"I can take it, if you'd like, but-"

"No no, it's okay, I... I cant believe the words 'I trust you' are coming out of my mouth but I at least trust you didnt gift me a bomb,"

"I don't know if I'm hurt or flattered,"

The villain laughed again, walking over to hesitantly pick up the gift. They turned back to face the hero, holding the box with both hands as they just stared at it.

"The question still remains..." they drawled, before looking up at the hero that was still sat on the bed, "Why would you get me a birthday present?"

"What do you mean?"

"Why would you get me a gift? Why would you do something like that? For me? I dont think I'm very... deserving of a gift. Especially from you. Unless whatever is in here is some form of mockery- I mean- I guess I shouldn't assume..."

Their eyes dimmed slightly, as if they realized the only thing that could be in the box was something mocking, a heros form of bragging that they had won.

"Okay now I'm definitely hurt,"

The villain looked back up at them.

"Your my friend, I realized your birthday was coming up, so I thought back on our previous conversations, and tried to get something I thought youd like," the hero replied, moving to sit it a more casual position, "There wasnt any more thought put into it then that,"

The villain was now staring at them with wide eyes.

They blinked, seemingly trying to process what they'd just heard.

"I... have questions..."

The hero smirked, tilting their head as a prompt to continue, amused at the normally silver tounged villain being thrown so off their game by something so simple.

"Friend?" The villain responded almost instantly.

"Oh I'm sorry, what would you call this? Marriage?"

"I'd call this me tolerating your visits, whenever you decide to drop by because you've nothing better to do,"

"Maybe at first, but I've seen the way you recently light up whenever I come in,"

"Then you've *recently* begun going blind. I'd suggest seeing an optometrist,"

The hero laughed, "also, for your information, I make time for these visits, I dont just swing by cuz 'I'm bored',"

The villain squinted at that, "You... make time... for me?"

"Yes, that's what friends do,"

"I am not your friend," the villain replied stubbornly.

"Oh yeah? When was the last time you let someone hug you? I have to have passed the friend mark by now,"

The villain blushed, realizing they *had* allowed the hero to hug them, and they couldnt remeber the last time anyone else had even tried, nevermind been *allowed*.

"this is a dysfunctional work relationship at best"

The hero snorted another laugh at that.

The villain glanced down at the box once more.

Finially they knelt down onto the floor, placing the box infront of them. The stared at it for a few seconds, hands shaking slightly as they hovered over it, before taking a deep breath and tearing the wrapping off.

It was a simple brown box with a lid.

The villain chuckled under their breath slightly at that.

"What?" The hero questioned, not seeing anything funny.

"No, sorry I just-, had a thought,"

The hero raised an eyebrow at them.

"I just thought how funny it would be if after all this it turned out to be empty, but that would be cruel, even for-"

Their sentence came to a halt as the lid came off and they saw what was inside.

Now their wasnt anything incredible inside, it wasnt like they had gotten a new iphone, but there was *many* things inside.

They looked up at the hero, mouth open slightly, not even attempting to hide their shock.

The hero just smiled.

Slowly, the villain began taking things out of the box. A book of puzzles, like crosswords and word searches, a small sketch book and a pack of markers to go with them. A small puzzle, showing the picture of a fox, which was the villains favourite animal. There was also a rubix cube that was already messed up, and a set of other small puzzles. At the bottom, there were two more boxes, one much bigger then the other.

The bigger box contained the Harry Potter book series. The second, contained a small device that looked like an airpod, along with earbuds.

It was fascinating for the hero to watch the villain open their gift. One would expect a villain to be clumsy, rushed, or aggressive, ripping into their present, but they were the opposite. They removed every item slowly, delicately, like it was a peice of glass that could break, examining it with the same gentleness before laying it down carefully beside them.

When they had opened the last item, they looked back up at the hero, completely flabbergasted, jaw on the floor and eyes wide.

The hero laughed quietly, "do you like it?"

"I..." the villain sat back onto their heels from where they were kneeling, looking over the items like they were unsure what to do now, "what..."

They blinked, gathering their thoughts, "how did you...? I mean what-"

They picked up the puzzle as they spoke.

"That's your favourite animal right? A fox? Now I wasnt sure what kind of fox but-"

"How?" The villain asked, almost breathlessly, looking back at the hero.

"How did I know that? You mentioned it, once. I was talking about being a cat or dog person, and you said youd always been a fox person, something about them being 'sly and underestimated, yet smart enough to know when to strike'" they recited, making quotations in the air.

The villains jaw hit the floor again.

"That was actually one of the first things you ever told me about yourself,"

"You bothered... to remeber that...?" they muttered under their breath.

"Yep. The rubix cube is because you bragged to me once you were good at puzzles and could do one, and I didn't believe you," the hero smirked, "still don't,"

The villain huffed a small laugh, before glancing over at the books.

"the puzzle book and sketch book are just something to do, I know markers arnt ideal, but obviously I wasnt allowed to give you any pencils or pens,"

The villain nodded in understanding.

"the books are because I was talking about game of thrones one day, and you said youd always preferred Harry Potter,"

The villain smiled, and shook their head at that, chuckling, "I've never actually read them, I just wanted to disagree with you," they joked.

They both laughed.

"What's this?" The villain asked, picking up the small device with the ear buds.

"Its a little mini portable radio. I didnt know what songs you liked, and obviously, I'm not allowed to give you anything with acsess to the internet, but at least now you can choose what station you want,"

The villain sat back again, looking over everything with the same stunned, almost lost expression.

"You... remebered all those little details... and here I thought I was doing a good job at not letting anything about myself slip..."

"Oh you have been, trying to figure out what to get you was near impossible, but I managed to remeber a couple little things youd mentioned,"

They picked up the rubix cube, playing with it aimlessly, "I... don't even know what to say..."

"Well, most people would say thankyou,"

The villain shook their head, "that dosent seem like enough. I... I cant even remeber the last time someone gave me a gift, nevermind one without strings attached, and esspecially nevermind one with actual thought put into it,"

"I get the feeling you need better friends," the hero joked, trying to keep the mood light.

"Yeah well, I guess I'm on the right track, I've already got one," they replied, but couldnt bring themselves to look at the hero while they did.

The hero in question was lit up like a christmas tree, heart swelling happily in their chest.

"I hate to cut this short, but don't have long today, I'm going to have to get going, I just wanted to make sure I got to swing by today," the hero said, looking at their watch.

"Oh! Yeah, of course, you -"

"Do not have 'more important' things to do, I simply have *other* things I need to do," the hero interrupted sternly, giving the villain, who blushed, a pointed look.

"yeah, that."

The villain stood up, standing awkwardly in the middle of all their gifts, watching the hero leave through the finger print locked cell door. They approached the switch to turn on the force field, when the villain stopped them.

"Oh, hey, wait!"

"What's up?" The hero asked.

Suddenly the villain tossed something through the bars with effortless perfect aim. The hero caught it, and this time it was their jaw that hit the floor.

It was a completed rubix cube.

They looked back at the villain in shock, who laughed, giving them a real, large, and although greatly amused, no less genuine smile. The first real, true smile they'd ever seen on the villain. They couldnt help but stare in awe for a moment.

"What..?" The villain asked after a moment.

The hero shook their head to snap them out of it, "sorry! It's just, that's the first time I think I've ever seen you actually smile,"

Instantly the smile vanished as the villain steeled their features, crossing their arms and shrugging, trying to ignore the blush on their face, "yeah well, that's cuz it dosent happen often, so,"

"I'm honored,"

"Shut up,"

The hero laughed, before looking at the cube in their hand again,"this is like, actually really impressive though, that was so fast!"

The villain shrugged again, "the 3 by 3 ones are easy, the 4 by 4 or 5 ones arnt that much more difficult, the 6 and 7 ones take me a while though, 8 is an actual challenge, and I dont think I've ever done above that before,"

The hero was still staring at them wide eyed.

The villain just chuckled and shrugged at them again, "I was an outcast kid, had alot of time on my hands. Anyway, get going,"

"Yeah, right," the hero replied, tossing the cube back before flicking on the force field. They began walking toward the door, before the villain spoke out to them one last time,

"By the way... thank you... really..."

The hero smiled, "your welcome," they replied, before disappearing out the door.

The next time they visited, they would make sure to bring a 9 by 9 rubix cube, and a fox calendar.

Third part

[adorable-deku]

to flesh out the idea i had earlier:

the hspc wants to train a quirkless hero bc right now quirkless ppl have no attachment nor loyalty to the hero system, they are not represented among them

that makes quirkless ppl a threat, so the hspc needs to create a quirkless hero who will settle and satiate the quirkless masses

enter 1 midoriya izuku, a four year old who wants to be a hero so bad and just found out hes quirkless

the hspc swoop in and offer the boy a deal he cant refuse. inkos a little more wary but theyre offering her sons dream and she can trust the hspc to keep her boy safe, right?

....

little midoriya izuku starts being trained to be a hero: 4 hours of the day on physical training, 4 on mental.

he gets no break days and whenever he complains abt being tired (rarely) they call him ungrateful

"we're giving you the chance if a lifetime, and you cant even tolerate this much effort? what kind of hero could you possibly be?"

they increase the amount of training as he gets older so by the time hes thirteen: 7 hrs physical, 7hrs mental

whenever hes not sleeping is 'free time' but he cant go outside and he only has books about heroes. he gets into quirk analysis bc its really his only option

hes kinda friends w hawks, since they were often trained together. they werent allowed to be around eachother v often to prevent them from forming a bond and to maintain a sense of competition

the issue with izuku is that he asks too many questions, pokes his nose where it doesnt belong

hes very polite about it, extremely well mannered, but he still has morals, has faith in heroes

is trained to call all his handlers and teachers 'sir'

he figures out that the hspc is doing some fucked up thing (havent firgured out what yet, maybe they experiment on villains that they dont even bother holding trials for. is that too tongue in cheek?)

hes like, u better stop or im leaving one way or another

the fucked up thing is nore important than izukus value as a quirkless hero, so they let him leave

not w/o ensuring (violently) that he wont tell anyone

izuku is thrown out in the snow bc i think blood on snow is dramatic and cliche and i love dramatic cliches

he is picked up by afo who was actually planning to go back and help inko raise izuku after finding out he was quirkless but he was taken in by the hspc

getting him out of the hspc would jeopardize many things, izukus life probably included

he knows immediately once izukus out and goes to pick him up

shigaraki and izuku dont get aling at first bc izuku loves heroes but they mesh weirdly well bc izuku is super diligent and always practcijg and shigaraki forces him to learn to relax

izuku doesnt like violent video games

the first present izuku gets from his newfound family (inko also moved in dont think im forgetting her) is animal crossing and a ds to play it on

its his favorite thing in the world

one issue: he calls afo 'sir' and afo simply does ot care for that. he doesnt do it to inko bc shes mom or shigaraki bc hes a peer. hes hawks age so izuku doesnt consider him to be old enough to be a 'sir'

the rest of the fic is fluff with all for one trying ridiculous schemes to get his son to call him 'dad'

they go on some sort of mission where all for one and izuku pretend to be father and son (even though they are that) and izuku just calls him father

afo's smile is weirdly strained for this entire incident and next week on the news it turns out an hspc agent died huh wonder who did that

the fic ends w him succeeding bc i think itd be nice