#posting drafts cause i miss them part 1
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kazu-naito Ā· 11 months ago
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makuzume Ā· 2 months ago
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Toge Accidentally Uses His Cursed Speech on You (Part 4)
šŸ”…content: Light angst/light comfort; gn!reader; no pronoun mentions
šŸ”…synopsis: It's been 2 days since you last seen Toge... How do you go about this? What are you supposed to do? You wonder how to address the situation at hand...
šŸ”…a/n: "What happened to posting part 4 soon" I ended up scraping the entire part 4 draft and remade it because I didn't like it :'D Thank you everyone for being so patient and putting up w my bs aaa Let me know if you want to be in the tags list and enable ur tagging :3
[JJK Masterlist] [Part 1 & 2] [Part 3]
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šŸ”…Word Count: 2.2K
"...Should I... open it...?" You asked yourself quietly, looking down on your phone as you stared at the multiple notifications you received from Toge.
13 missed calls
31 new messegaes
All unopened, all unanswered.
Slowly, you hover your finger over to his chat box, however, you hesitate- quickly shutting off your phone and plopping down on the soft mattress where you sat.
While the rest of the Okkotsu family went out to watch the movies, you decided to stay in the house by yourself. "You should come...! I'm sure it will help lift your spirits." Mrs. Okkotsu offered, to which you kindly declined her offer.
You figured you needed some time to be alone for now, but the lack of presence in the house ended up cauing a deafening silence to fill the halls, creating more opportunities for you to overthink the recent events between you and Toge.
'...I wonder... what did he say...'
'...why am I so scared to read it...?'
Over the past two days, you've been comfortably staying over Yuta's family home in the city. But since Yuta wasn't there at the moment, his parents and sister have been kindly accomodating you the entire time.
You were incredibly embarassed and reluctant to stay over, afraid of becoming only a nuisance to the Okkotsu family, especially since current situation between you and Toge was not at all very dire, just an arguement between two lovers.
Fortunately, Yuta and his mother were understanding and very insistent that you were welcome for as long as you'd like. Afterall, you were also one of Yuta's closest friends.
Trying your best to not cause them too much trouble, you help out with minor chores like the dishes, setting up the table, throwing out the trash- but each time you do so, you were met with gentle scolding.
"We told you to rest! You're still very hurt!"
"No no no, you're a guest, put that down!"
"We are not letting you wash the plates. Go back to bed and lie down for a nap! We'll bring you some snacks later."
"Nonsense! You are not a burden! You are a good friend of Yuta, and he asked us to take care of you, so sit down and don't worry about us."
Though that did seem to reduce the amount of guilt you felt, you were still rather embarassed for staying over someone else's family home just to hide from an ongoing dispute with Toge. So, you figured you shouldn't overstay your welcome, at least.
You look at your phone once again, staring at Toge's contact name as you remember your last encounter with him.
Staring at the ceiling above, you allow the memories from the incident flood your mind once more- remembering the sorrow, the pain, the sadness....
The entire time you knew Toge, he had always felt like the safest person to be around with, and you trusted him more than anyone- be it about your safety or your feelings. Naturally, the shock from accidentally getting cursed would shaken you up quite a lot.
You were badly hurt, both physically and emotionally.
And even for a short moment, you even felt afraid of him for the first time.
A feeling you knew would devastate him if he knew.
As shy as you were to admit it, all you did the entire day after the incident was quiety cry inside the guest bedroom in Yuta's home.
You can say that you rather had mixed feelings about the whole thing. Not a moment has passed in which you weren't thinking about it.
At first, it was shock, then fear, followed by pain before sadness, eventually leading to worry- the feeling you were experiencing right now.
Why 'worry'? You think to yourself, curious as to why there was this sense of longing to see him despite the accident.
It was a strange feeling in your chest. Most certainly, you were still very much upset and hurt about what he had done to you, but still-
"...I wonder how he must feel right now..." You hug the pillow nearest to you closer to your chest, unable to stray away the concern you felt for him.
Perhaps it was the way he looked at you the moment he misused his speech on you. The way Toge's eyes expressed so much shock, the way his voice was filled with so much guilt and fear... You have never seen him act in such a way before, especially considering the fact that he was always the more calm and composed one between the two of you.
You couldn't get the desperate tone of his voice out of your head, and you frequently find yourself vividly remembering the panicked expression he displayed on his face.
"...He must be worried..." You whisper to the pillow you held tightly, your eyelids closing as you replay the events of the accident.
More than anyone, you understood him the most, and you knew that this must be really messing up his mind right now.
It was one of his deepest fears, hurting someome he loves unintentionally with his speech, and you knew how deep this sort of wound would cut him on the inside.
More so, there was also the fact that Toge had personally witnessed the tragic events that happened to his allies in Shibuya... not to mention the fact that he had also been heavily pinning the blame on himself for the death of innocent civilians' lives.... lives which he felt responsible of protecting, all because he led them to take shelter to the same area Sukuna had unleashed his Malevolent Shrine.
'Truly...' you thought.
'this must be really messing up his mind right now....'
You turn over to your side, eyes staring blankly into the empty air in front of you.
"...He was distant and acting different from what happened in Shibuya afterall... I know he didn't mean to hurt me..." you whispered quietly, trying to think of how to address the situation.
You sat up, your hand firmly grasping your phone, a hesitant but concerned tone evident in your voice "I... don't want to make him feel any worse than he already does..."
Without a doubt, Toge was always so good to you. So protective, so understanding, so kind, so loving...
He was always there for you at your lowest points... and you never even had the chance to return such comfort to him before, so you think to yourself:
'...it's my turn.'
Your previous attempt to aid his sorrow didn't end up so well, but that's why you were willing to try again; To try again for him.
He probably hasn't been consoled ever since the incindent in Shibuya either. You, Panda, Yuta, or even Maki hadn't heard from him the entire time, and that's considering that all of you are his closest friends.
You ponder about it, and then you realize he probably wouldn't have ended up hurting you by accident or behaving so distant towards everyone if he had just allowed himself to be comforted- to be held and be told 'it's okay.'
...And you couldn't help but want to be that person who does that for him.
The more you thought about this, the more you wanted to see him.
You already released all the shock, hurt, and sadness for the past few days through a few weeping sessions in the small guest room before, and you think it's about time to come out of hiding.
You try to gain back your composure.
"...I wonder where he is... I hope... he's not pushing himself." You glance at your wallpaper, looking at a picture of Toge holding up a silly little peace sign while he sat next to a cute little dog you randomly met on the street.
You couldn't help but chuckle softly for a moment, then, your smile slowly fades back to form a serious expression on your face.
You miss the smile in his eyes like in the photo.
The idea of him in such sadness, worry, and pain ended up hurting you just as much as well.
"...I should talk to him."
So, you unlock your phone, open messages, and look for his contact name once again.
His contact nickname and his silly little photo appear.
'Bonito Flakes'
"...There."
Just when you were about to tap his name, you paused.
"Uh... wait... what should I say...?"
You pull back your thumb from the screen, suddenly having a bit of a panic on how to address the situation.
"..How do I reach out to him...? What... did he text me..? Is he upset with me? Is he looking for me...?"
His last text was from yesterday night, so you weren't sure what should be the best mood to approach him at this moment.
Just then, as if fate had timed this moment perfectly, a notification suddenly pops up on the top of your screen.
1 new message from Bonito Flakes
You gasped, completely taken aback from seeing his name.
'Wait... I'm not ready...!!'
You panicked slightly, causing you to drop your phone on the hard wood floor by accident, a loud thump echoing throughout the room. Fortunately, the Okkotsu family still hasn't returned from their outing yet, otherwise, you'd give them another reason to be worried about you.
You sigh, picking it back up as you lightly shook your head to gain back your composure.
As you check your sceen, you see another text from Toge come in.
Then another.
And another.
It made you slightly nervous but curious as to what his multiple texts were saying right now, and it sort of made you even more worried to know what he sent.
Is he sad? Does he need you? Is he just reaching out? Is he leaving the school? Does he want to distance himself from you?
"I'll... wait a little..."
Ultimately, you decided to let him finish sending his messages before you view it.
He sent quite a handful of texts, and it took a while before the messages stopped coming in. But just to be sure, you waited for a few minutes in case he had any late follow ups.
"I'll.... wait a little more..." You whisper to yourself as you stare at the phone in front of you, hoping to view his messages during a time when he's offline- You just wanted to make sure there was enough time for you to process and react to his texts without the pressure of him waiting for your response.
But the green dot next to his profile picture was still lit up, meaning, that he would be able to immediately see your replies the moment you send it.
But you would prefer he only sees it AFTER you're done sending your responses.
Sighing heavily, you whisper once more '...I guess I'll wait again...'
You check again after a few minutes, it was still green. So you wait again.
More time had passed but still- the green dot remained.
You wait again.
It was all you could think about for the past few hours as you move back and forth from checking your phone to lying down, staring into nothing...
Untul finally, at hour three, the green dot turns dim.
And with that, you were left with no excuse to delay opening your inbox any longer. "...alright... here we go.... I guess..."
With a hefty sigh and a single tap of your finger, you open his inbox.
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Your eyes widened suddenly, immediate shock at the realization.
With a quickened pace, you hurridly limped towards the nearest window, the cast on your leg creating a slight scratching sound as you drag it across the floor.
Pulling away the curtains, you scan the street below in search for the white haired boy.
You squint your eyes slightly, trying to adjust your eyes to the darkness of the night.
Then, you see him.
"He... he's still there...?"
On the opposite side of the street, there sat Toge on the small pavement across from Yuta's house.
His head rested on his arm and his head hung low, perhaps taking a bit of a nap as he waited for your reply.
A wave of guilt suddenly washes over you as you realize how long you've made him wait out in the cold for a single reply.
You text him.
Toge???? Why did you wait for me?
You look drenched, what happened???
How long have you been there???
But your messages didn't seem to get through, not showing a mark of it being delivered.
"His phone battery must've died...."
Instictively, you hurried out the room with a more detemined expression, carefully treading the stairs with your injured leg, and rushed out the door.
Unintentionally, the noise of opening the door a little too quickly echoed across the dead silent street, casuing Toge to immediately jolt himself awake.
He made eye contact with you while he remained seated across the street, shocked at your sudden appearance.
Embarassed for startling him, you slightly lose your confidence and shy away from his gaze, a small lump in your throat preventing you from voicing out any words.
Toge stood up slowly, his eyes widen but his chest beated out of nervousness.
He doesn't expect anything positve, but still, he remained hopeful, as much as he felt like he didn't deserve you.
"...um...." you started, hoping to break the akward silence that filled the air.
"...I-...."
"....."
"....p-...please, come in...."
....
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[Back to JJK Masterlist] [Part 1 & 2] [Part 3] [Part 5]
a/n: So happy I finally finished this :')))))))) Shoutout to anon that poked me abt this that genuinely helped me lolol I just really needed a little push to finish this
NOTE classes are back ^^ and I'm doing some part-time comms sooo I'll be a lil busy but ofc I won't abandon this I luv this series <3
Credits to @makuzume on Tumblr || Do not steal, translate, modify, reupload my works on any platform.
tags list: @zhenyuuu @cowcreamers @mushroommorgue @yunho-leeknow @lemonnotade @exodiam @an-ever-angry-bi @cirieria @chifuyufirstwife @strxbxrrylover @sturns55
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feliciasharpclaws Ā· 5 months ago
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āœÆ š‘ŗš‘¶š‘Ŗš‘°š‘Øš‘³ š‘“š‘¬š‘«š‘°š‘Ø
we met because you didn't understand the language | m. verstappen
max verstappen x fem! ex kpop idol! reader
faceclaim: seo soojin*
summary: max moves out of monaco after breaking up with kelly and goes to a new destination where he would meet an ex (not so ex anymore) idol that would changed his life.
a/n: hi. my first language is spanish, not english, so there are most likely spelling errors. if you like it, please tell me so i can keep writing things like this. also this probably will have several parts idk.
warnings: use of the translator for the korean, mention of j*s verstappen (cause that man needs a warning himself).
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maxverstappen1
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liked by danielricciardo, landonorris, charlesleclerc and 935,184 others
maxverstappen1: goodbye monaco you have such nice moments on my mind. i'll see you again at the monaco grand prix.
view all 638,108 comments
charlesleclerc: bon voyage mate! šŸ‘‹
ā†³ maxverstappen1: thanks charles
ā†³ username: LESTAPPEN!!
ā†³ charlesleclerc: no.
ā†³ maxverstappen1: no.
username: 'goodbye monaco' he's leaving?
ā†³ username: seems like it
ā†³ username: i would leave too if i had too much memories with my ex girlfriend there
danielricciardo: i can't believe I had to found out this way man šŸ˜‘
ā†³ danielricciardo: just wherever you're going don't die there
ā†³ christianhorner: be safe, you still have a contract till 2028, max
username1: @/christianhorner you should not remind your son he still has a contract. šŸ¤·
ā†³ username: max is not horner's son
ā†³ username: i know but horner seems more like a dad to max that j*s
landonorris: see you soon mate šŸ™‚
maxverstappen1 liked this comment
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yourusername
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liked by yourfriend and 189,385 others
yourusername: ė˜ ė§Œė‚˜ ė„¤ģš” :) we meet again :)
view all 463,167 comments
username: y/n!!!!
yourfriend: ź“œģ°®ģ•„ģ„œ ė‹¤ķ–‰ģ“ģ•¼ glad to see you're okay
username: MOTHER IS BACK!!!
username: we missed youu šŸ˜­šŸ˜­
username: she looks beautiful
username: does this mean she will debut again?
ā†³ username: i hope so
ā†³ username: i don't think so
ā†³ username: yeah i think that in korea her scandal still is something bad
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maxverstappen1
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liked by danielricciardo, christianhorner, charlesleclerc and 653,167 others
maxverstappen1: hello japan, i hope you have good intentions with me.
view all 367,482 comments
username: JAPANā‰ļø
username: does he even know japanese?? šŸ¤”
danielricciardo: amazing pic man!
ā†³ maxverstappen1: i'll thank the photographer
ā†³ username: EXCUSE ME??
ā†³ username: HE'S NOT ALONE??
ā†³ username: perhaps he met someone fron there
username: that looks like the chill part of tokyo
ā†³ username: nah it looks more like nagoya
ā†³ username: hold on where's nagoya??
ā†³ username: it's like hour and a half away from the suzuka circuit
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yourusername
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liked by yourfriend, em1lian and 983,027 others
yourusername: new city, new me
view all 102,152 comments
username: am i crazy or is the 3rd pic the same one max verstappen recently posted???
ā†³ username: who?
ā†³ username: a formula one redbull driver
username: mother and that vroom vroom guy šŸ¤”
ā†³ username: NO.
ā†³ username: am i the only who kinda ships them? šŸ¤ØšŸ¤­
ā†³ username: probably yes
username: em1lian like max emilian verstappen??
ā†³ username: you right now:
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a/n 1: I FINALLY GOT TO POST THIS! (honestly i forgot it was on my drafts). I used the woman who pulled me into kpop CAUSE SHE'S ICONIC AND SOOO MOTHER!! Her name is SEO SOOJIN, right now she's a soloist (she used to be on a girl group), she has a beautiful voice and she's an amazing dancer. If you like go check her out on Spotify or wherever you want.
a/n 2: is most likely that there's gonna be a second part, i don't now when am i gonna post it *cough start writing it cough* but i'll try.
That's all thanks for reading :) likes, reblogs and comments are always apreciated <3
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coffeeandcalligraphy Ā· 2 years ago
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things I do to unstick my book
(Iā€™m a pantser!)
Ask if this scene really needs to be a scene or if I can just summarize it
Ask if this summary really needs to be summary or if I need more scene
Write a very focused, very pretty sentence
Circle back a couple scenes & ask if one of them is causing ā€œsymptomsā€ later in the book
Get in and get out (push through a tough scene as fast as possible & then run forward and fast like wind to the next bit)
Add an exciting element (a new character, a change of location, otherā€¦ things ;))
Pause and revise if Iā€™m feeling destabilized
Be specific about what I DONā€™T like (example: I canā€™t get past this scene because the dialogue is so mechanical instead of ā€œahhh I hate it allā€)
Read what I last wrote aloud (to hopefully sink into some momentum) OR get a robot to read it to me
Try a teeny tiny writing sprint (1-5 minutes of nonstop writing)
Write a flashback (bonus points if itā€™s connected emotionally or plot-wise to the fictive present)
Read from a literary godparent (this is when you pull out the books/stories/poems etc that make you excited about writing!)
Write or brainstorm every possible direction of a scene (sometimes grueling, sometimes worth it)
Sit and think (in a bathtub, on a walkā€”try to immerse yourself in your story like youā€™re a random character who got plopped in there; what do you see?)
Method write
Find a word that excites you and use that in your next scene
Double check if youā€™re hitting the right story beats (or if you skipped one, spent too long on one, spent too little on one, etc)
Write ā€œbare bonesā€ and come back to fine tune it later (similar to get in and get out)
Write with your eyes closed (be warned of incomprehensible text if you canā€™t type with closed eyes)
Break down your causal chain bit by bit (even the boring parts) and see if thereā€™s a broken link. Then delete the boring parts (sometimes we just need to see how EXACTLY we got to a place and how EXACTLY that leads us to the important bit--I find I missed something critical when I do this).
Rely on crutch words, boring details & trust you can edit it later (sometimes the idea of perfection in draft 1 can be unproductive)
Ask a friend to read the work & tell you what they think (sometimes we need help; writing is hard)
Ask a friend for a compliment read (sometimes we just need to be hyped up)
Change the tense (temporarily & be warned that different tenses may require different approaches when drafting, I only do this when Iā€™m not sure what else to try)
Talk myself through the problem as if Iā€™m talking to a friend (I pull up my notes and literally start typing: ā€œso Iā€™m struggling with XYZ scene right now for XYZ reason and I donā€™t know what to do. What if XYZ happened, or what if I changed XYZ?ā€)
Take a breakā€”sometimes Iā€™m just tired/burnt out/not in the mood to write (thatā€™s okay!)
I post more tips Iā€™ve picked up along the way on youtube!
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rei-ismyname Ā· 2 months ago
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X-Men/Mutant Dynasties
Something I've always felt uneasy about is when offspring of Marvel mutants basically inherit their mutant gift 1:1. The X Gene (though I don't love that either) is supposed to be a naturally but randomly occurring thing in humans that causes them to develop a strong mutation. In many cases, a superpower as opposed to six toes. I'm sure people experience such minor mutations as well but it's not due to the X Gene.
A character that exemplifies the my dislike of this is Raze, the alternate reality/'future' child of Wolverine and Mystique. Them existing in a pretty ridiculous era with a constant nostalgia recycling is a factor too.
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This idiot. He literally just has both parents gifts - shapeshifting, claws, and a healing factor. Keep in mind those are metal claws too - something Logan doesn't have biologically. Maybe it's a Mystique thing and she's like a ditto in PokƩmon breeding because her kid with Xavier is this chump.
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It's just Charles Xavier again! I'll admit part of the dislike is them featuring in such mediocre, unimaginative stories, and they're pretty transparent Nostalgia bait. Has it lead to good stories? I don't think so, not as a critical element. Could you honestly tell me what either of these idiots' motivation is without looking it up?
Also, I think taking the randomness out of it just leads to eugenics and bioessentialism - a place the x books should not go, or at least not have nominal heroes doing it. Leave it to Mr Sinister.
Mutant trait inheritance has been around since almost the beginning. Polaris has Magneto's powers but weaker, Siryn has *similar* powers to Banshee, Nightcrawler looks like Mystique (though that makes sense through retcon. Shit, maybe she IS a Ditto.) On the flip side, there's even more Mutants that inherited none of their parents' mutation.
IRL Mutation is supposed to be, well not random per se, but the result of damage to genes. In our universe it's neither a good thing nor bad thing. In 616 it's pretty muddled tbh. I'm not a scientist - I'm a writer, so I'm not going deep on something that doesn't have internal consistency. I'm always going to dislike thin characters trying to evoke familiarity through mashing two iconic ones together, but it's more than that. What's the source of my discomfort then?
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Yeah, it's the eugenics. HoxPoX actually took it further, revealing that Moira and Charles intentionally sought to breed reality warpers, to the point of researching partners that would give the desired result. They were successful too, resulting in Proteus and Legion, two of the most powerful mutants alive. The ethics of these actions aren't editorialised but I think they're meant to be read as horrifying - especially when you consider the context of the 'pairings' and the lives these poor kids have had. Maybe it's not so surprising Xavier views David as a weapon and Moira seems to hate Kevin. It makes Chuck and Moira look terrible.
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Pic unrelated, I just wanted to break up the text and what better than Beatnik Namor?
The superbaby schemes never come to light and they're not really punished for being shit parents. Certainly not socially. I'd love a book where they were, but the time has kinda passed. Maybe the fairy tale morality of big two comics doesn't have the framework or the desire to explore it, though I think that if you're going to put eugenics in your fiction you probably should.
I've been sitting on this draft for months because I feel like I don't have the knowledge or vocabulary to explore it properly. I'm probably missing something. I've decided it's been edited and rewritten enough and I'm posting it as is, so if you have any thoughts on this I'd love to hear them. Join the conversation!
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skullwillow155 Ā· 10 months ago
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Fanfic Draft - Sanji x oc (+More than likely Zoro) Sanji and oc had a sort of relationship before the time skip was fully official and depending how I go zoro develops feelings for oc. The split starting that up. This is post time skip and only the first draft so I may rewrite this slightly. Its no means finished and there will be more adventure with everything happening.
I hope its not too bad. I haven't wrote fanfiction in years and I haven't wrote for one piece before. So it may not be brilliant yet until I get my writing groove back on but I had a small idea and wanted to start something. Inspired by a chat I was having.
Story is also on A03 if anyone wants to follow so they don't miss any updates
Part 2 is up
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It had been two years since The Strawhatā€™s all saw each other after the incident on Sabaody and now the whole crew were finally reuniting back where it started. Jeshika couldnā€™t contain her excitement and if she was honest her nerves. Two years was a long time to be apart from everyone and she wondered if everything would be the same.
The anticipation was killing her as she stood on the Thousand Sunny with Nami and Robin. That had already been an emotion reunion, only just finishing hugging and crying with each other. Well the crying was mostly her and Nami but Robin was smiling. She had changed so much from when she last saw her. Her appearance was so much different but she would deal with everything later she was just grateful that she had her friends back. It was too surreal and she honestly never thought this day would come. How 3 months had turned into two years, that had broken her heart when Luffy told them to stay away but in her heart she understood that they had to get stronger. She never liked it but she trusted her captain that it was the right choice.
She got stuck in her thoughts of the last two years that a few hours passed and the sky began to get darker. She didnā€™t realise how long she had been in thought until Nami and Robin were sorting things out on the ship, calling to her to come with them and sort things out. She snapped out of her thought and refused the offer, not wanting to move until she saw them; instead she stood waiting impatiently for Luffy to return with Zoro and Sanji.
She wouldnā€™t leave the deck, waiting for her captain to return, almost wondering if they would. She didnā€™t to lose them again not when she was this close to having everyone back together again. She bit her lip and sighed, feeling the anxiety bubbling up. She knew things never went to plan with them but she hoped this was one of the days where she could just have a little bit of peace. Waiting on the ship was agonising. She kept tapping her feet on the ground and biting her nails, feeling herself get more frayed as the minutes turned to hours. All she wanted was to be reunited with everyone and she wanted to see both Zoro and Sanji. Her heart aching at that thought.
After what felt like hours she finally heard a light holler in the distance before seeing Sanji wave her way. His eyes going wide as he looks over. ā€œAhhhh~~ Jeshika ā€“ Swanā€ He hollered and waved happily, a pool of blood leaking from his nose, he goes to cover that and his eyes weā€™re bright. The blood, excitement and movement caused him to fall off the small ride the three were on and being thrown onto the ship near your feet.
She sees them coming back and smiles as she waves back at them, letting out a squeal. Luffy hops off the boat with a wide smile and Zoro making his way behind Luffy onto the ship; not before looking at the chef in disgust and taking a step over Sanjiā€™s body.
Jeshika took in the sight before her and couldnā€™t help the wide smile on her face. Luffy was talking fast and loud almost bouncing over the ship which took her attention away briefly before seeing Zoro in the corner. She immediately goes to Zoro first giving him a long hug as she took in his scent and appearance for the first time in two years. It was similar but also different and that made her feel a little sad at the thought he seemed different but she let that thought slide trying to revel in the here and now. They were here that was all that mattered. Zoro was quite stoic and rigid at the hug but she did feel him give a small squeeze back. That was more than she needed. Just to know he was happy to see her, he had a small smile on his face which he tried to hide but Jeshika saw it. She smiled back not needed to speak. There was no need for words between them, she could still feel the connection they once shared and let out a small almost inaudible sigh of relief. Maybe things could get back to some normality now.
She let out another smile at Zoro almost getting lost in the feeling of having him back that she almost forgot everyone else. Just for a moment that is until she felt movement by her feet and realising Sanji was still on the floor. She let out a chuckle before pulling away from Zoro and bending down to pull Sanji into a tight hug.
She saw the blood coming from his nose still and let out a small chuckle. ā€œSame old Sanjiā€ she whispered in glee. She was grateful that there was some familiarity after all these years. The blood going on her bikini top but she didnā€™t care, almost pulling him into a much tighter hug. Two years was too long. She pulled him even closer to her chest and hugged him tight. Just letting all her emotions wash over her.
She could feel his body trembling against hers, His grip on her tightening, as he knuckles almost turns white. She could feel him digging into her skin but she didnā€™t mind. It made it feel real.
Sanji had been yearning to feel Jessā€™ warmth again so badly for a long time, being stuck on that island made him yearn for her touch more than he would like to admit. He could see Zoro raise an eyebrow at his behaviour but he didnā€™t care. They were both over the moon to see you and neither were going to ruin this moment even if it was tempting to snap at the other.
Blood had covered Jeshikaā€™s chest from his nose as he tried so hard to stop it but the sight of her was too much, she had changed too but it wasnā€™t in a bad way. Her figure and her aura just made him want to soak in everything about her once again. He was embarrassed beyond belief but he just couldnā€™t stop himself. He doesnā€™t want to move away from fear of her not being there anymore.
He continued to hug back with all of his strength and leans his head into her before pushing his face against her breasts. It was done without thinking but the scent of her and the softness was all he wanted, craved even. He needed the warmth and the comfort only she could give him and he was going to be greedy and take it all. Relief also washing over him at being in your grasp again.
Zoro felt a hint of jealousy run through him at the two of you hugging, a flash going though his eyes but he didnā€™t make a move to stop it. He could feel the tension, knowing they both needed this, even if it was killing him to not be able to touch her. He wouldnā€™t let Sanji win and show what he was feeling. He had thought long and hard throughout the two years as he was training with Mihawk. Thoughts of Jeshika always staining his mind in the quiet moments of day. The thoughts became more and more as the years passed by. Almost wondering what would happen if and when he finally got to see her again. He couldnā€™t pinpoint those feelings gnawing at his chest at the sight of the idiot cook and Jeshika hugging but it pulled him into his thoughts. Zoro was lost in thought just taking in her appearance realising how much she had changed but there was still the same old Jeshika underneath the change in appearance and it made him twitch his lips a little; grateful no one saw that. He couldnā€™t stop looking at her.
Jess lifted her head to look at Zoro almost expecting him to have disappeared with the captain, usually first to follow when Luffy was to leave, when she noticed him staring. She felt a light blush creep on her cheeks and looked away bashfully before holding onto Sanji tighter, burying her nose into his blonde hair; one to avoid Zoroā€™s intense gaze and two to try and remember the scent she has missed so dearly. Zoro caught Jeshikaā€™s glance and cleared his throat before turning away and pretending to inspect his swords.
Jeshika didnā€™t know how she had coped in those two years. Being away from her captain and the crew was bad but being away from both Sanji and Zoro had almost broken her. Many a nights she thought of her crew, wondering what they were doing but each and every night the thoughts always came back to one of two Strawhatā€™s; Sanji or Zoro. Her and Sanji were close, probably the closest she was to any of the crew, before they had separated and her and Zoroā€™s relationship was complicated but there was always an undeniable bond between those two that they had; even if Zoro never voiced anything they both cared for each other deeply.
She was pulled out of her thoughts at the feel of wet on her chest, She looked down to see the blood pouring but didnā€™t care that she was covered in it. All that mattered was the man in front of her. With shaky breaths she kissed the top of his head and lets him soak her presence up like a sponge.
She had a warm feeling in her chest knowing she was back with the two most important people in her life and felt a calm wash over her.
As they hugged Zoro teased Sanji at his behaviour trying to cover his own thoughtā€™s and feelings. Sanjiā€™s head snapped up to give Zoro and glare but was brought back to Jeshikaā€™s presence quickly. The words he wanted to say to Zoro dying on his lips as he tried so hard to stop the blood from flowing. ā€œStupid moss headā€ He whispered but there was no malice to it.
In the background the rest of the crew were laughing and talking and all Jeshika could think was she was home. Everyone were all so happy to be together again. Everyone had changed in someway she could tell but the bonds they had seemed to just fall back into place and that was all that mattered. She was just happy that Sanji was still Sanji no matter what else may have changed in the two years apart. She was sure there was some change in him but this, this was still the same man she knew.
ā€œI missed you...ā€ She whispered with shaky breaths; a couple of tears staining her cheeks. She looked at both Sanji and at Zoro as she said those words. Zoroā€™s heart swell but didnā€™t move, wanting to say he missed her too but the words got stuck in his throat.
She felt Sanji pull his head back from her chest and wipe his nose one more time not noticing how much blood was stained and wiped away the tears with the pad of his thumb. ā€œI missed you too suteki naā€ He said intently as his nose bleed started to dry up.
It was true. He had missed her terribly. He took in her beauty and her smile and fell in love all over again. Her hair had grown longer and she had grown a tan since she had been gone but she was still beautiful to him. ā€œMy god Iā€™ve missed you so muchā€ He pulls back and stared into her eyes Intently, feeling like he was finally home.
Now he had pulled back she finally took in his appearance and noticed how much heā€™s changed just by glancing at him. His blue eyes had come more intense, his hair had grown, covering his face a little bit more. She noticed his fringe changing sides on his face and the stubble he had grown and looked him up and down drinking in his appearance. Both the men in front of her had different auras about them but she couldnā€™t help feel soft inside at the two men in front of her. This wasn't an entirely new feeling but she was glad the last two years could now finally be ended. She didn't have to be lonely anymore.
Part 1? Might change some of it not too sure.
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sporesgalaxy Ā· 2 years ago
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Gee. You know. Looking at this? I am not eved making a comic this long. I've just kept slowly adding to this thing and it's too big to do anything with now. So. Uh.
3 part final version of my TOHsona dream sequences I guess? cw for violence and unreality
Part 1: (the pitchfork dream I posted a draft of a while back)
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There is an old myth on the Boiling Isles that Humans, because they cannot cast spells, lack a heart.
This myth predates the discovery of the bile sac. In ancient times, it was understood only that the heart was the source of a witchā€™s magic.
This is the origin of the modern superstition that witches with round ears are heartless in the metaphorical sense.
--
[12 YEARS BEFORE THE DAY OF UNITY]
Philip watches as Caleb walks away from him, towards the figure of a witch silouhetted against an obscuring light, her hand outstretched.
Philip cannot move a muscle. He grips the rock he's crouching behind and his wooden mask so tightly that his knuckes are white.
Caleb reaches the witch, and discards his pitchfork. The loud clatter makes Philip twitch, but he remains frozen. He wills himself to stand, to shout, to do something, anything, but it's useless. His body simply refuses to listen.
The witch puts an arm around Caleb so gently that Philip wants to be sick. They enter the light slowly, agonizingly. Philip watches as their forms blur around the edges more and more, until at last the final hint of their shadow vanishes, and the door slams behind them.
Philip leaps to his feet, knowing he is too late. He jumps over the rock anyways, running full speed towards the door.
P: CALEB--!
Abruptly the door swings open again, and a new figure rushes out of the light, toward Philip, causing him to stop short and almost fall over from momentum. She leans back through the doorway to say one last thing--
S: --no thank you! Sorry!
-- then closes the door hurriedly and backs away from it nervously. Philip finds himself at a complete loss for how to react. This girl is not the witch who took Caleb, she's too short-- closer to Philip's height-- and her hair is too long. She shows no trace of the demonic pointed ears, either, but one can never be too cautious.
From behind the door, Philip hears the muffled voices of a few more young girls:
?: What's her problem?
?: You're missing out, scardey cat~!
?: She wouldn't've been much help, but it would've been fun...
?: C'mon guys, lets pick a doll!
[giggling]
The girl sighs, staring forlornly at the door as the voices fade away.
P: [now weilding Caleb's pitchfork] Who are you?!
S: [jumps violently] Agh! Uh--!
She rubs her face and sniffles. Her cheek seems shinier, but it's not quite how tear streaks should look--
S: I'm Signey-- Sorry! I thought this was...my room...?
She looks around, only now registering that she is in a cave.
P: Well, you don't belong here! Begone!
P: A-and bring my brother back! Or...or else!
He thrusts the pitchfork toward her threateningly, with much more confidence than he feels. She lifts her open palms in front of her to mime surrender, and leans away from him for good measure, back pressed against the door.
S: I didn't see any boys on my way here! I just came down the hall!
She points unhelpfully at the door.
P: I don't care!! Get out!!!
She reaches for the doorknob as if to heed him, but then pauses and stares nervously at it, chewing her lip.
S: Uh...can I stay here for just a minute, actually...?
Shw turns toward him a little, but doesn't make eye contact. She is wringing her hands.
S: I just...don't want to be in there during the conjuring spell...
P: Spell?! [gasps] Caleb!
Frantic, Philip runs toward the door, and fhe stranger has the good sense to swiftly step out of his way. His hand hesitates over the doorknob for just a moment. He takes a deep breath, barely manages to steel his resolve, and throws open the door.
On the other side is a hallway, apparently inside of a house. He hears girls giggling around the corner and runs toward the sound
He's met by a circle of witches that look a little bit older and are dressed even more strangely than the girl he just spoke to. Candles are arranged throughout the room, and tbeir wicks burn an unnatural green color, casting everything in an eerie, flickering light.
P: [wielding pitchfork at them again] Where is Caleb?!
The witches look at him with confusion, disdain, and annoyance.
??: Uh.
??: What the hell?
?: Get out of here! No one invited you!
??: Cool witches only.
P: [voice shaking] Just-- just tell me where my brother is and I won't hurt you!!!
??: Oh my Titan.
??: We don't know who you're talking about, weirdo!
??: Seriously!
Signey shuffles timidly around the corner behind Philip.
S: Uh...Sorry. He's confused, I think...Sorry...
?: Whatever. Just get him away from us.
Signey walks toward Philip, lifting a hand as if to touch his arm, but stopping short.
S: Hey, come on--
He stumbles backwards a couple of steps, twisting to face her.
P: Get away from me!! I can't allow these witches commune with the Devil, or-- or whatever it is they're doing!
S: [raising her voice to match his] Can't you just leave them alone?
S: You're ruining the conjuring! [she steps toward him]
[Philips shakey grip on the pitchfork tightens]
P: What is wrong with you?! That's clearly dark sorcery!!
??: Ugh, shut UP.
?: It's not a big deal. It doesn't even count as Wild Magic. Everyone knows that.
S: Yeah! It...it doesn't count. Just let them do whatever they want!
??: Yeah!
??: Yeah!
P: But...You don't really think that!!
S: !
P: Just a minute ago, I saw how scared you were! You must be able to tell this is evil!
S: No! I-I just...I'm nervous, 'cause...!
[The other witches are all staring at her silently. Signey cannot meet their eyes]
S: I just am! I'm a baby, okay?! It's me, not them!
P: How can you defend them?! They took Caleb! They're evil!
S: SHUT UP!!!!
[Philip is shocked into silence]
S: NO ONE CARES!!!!
S: No one cares about your stupid brother!!!! He's not even here!!!
S: No one wants YOU here, either!!!
S: So GET OUT!!!!
As the witches shout in agreement, Signey suddenly lunges for his arm-- he elbows her away. She reaches for the pitchfork instead, managing to grab the handle. She tugs on it hard, and nearly wrenches it out of his hands. He needs to act fast, or he's going to be defenseless. In a moment of desperation, Philip twists the pitchfork out of her grip and swings the sharp end towards Signey, succumbing to the childish impulse to squeeze his eyes shut. He feels the pitchfork catch.
The room falls dead silent. The light seems to change. Signey, who had flinched reflexively, looks down to see the prongs of the pitchfork sticking into her chest.
Philip stares, frozen with shock. The direction he'd swung in and the place she was standing should have made this impossible.
Signey is not moving, barely even breathing. The two children stay stone still for a moment that seems to stretch on for ages.
Then, the witches behind them start laughing.
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Philip whips his head around to look at them. They are shrouded in shadow, their facial features becoming unclear and their grins seeming to stretch to uncanny extremes in the dim light. They take turns jeering between fits of giggles.
??: Wowww!
??: Seriously?
??: Don't just stand there!
?: Suck it up!
??: Use a spell!
Philip's skin crawls.
P: Stop laughing!! This isn't a joke!
Laughter roars again.
?: Yeah it is!
Pointing a shadowy finger toward the pitchforkā€™s prongs, a witch with long, dark hair continues, barely stifling her own laughter,
?: Look! Thereā€™s nothing in there!
When Philip looks again, he realizes itā€™s true. Itā€™s as though heā€™s poked through the shirt of a scarecrow. The fabric puckers inward, but thereā€™s no indication of flesh or blood underneath.
Despite everything, the unnatural sight gives Philip a rush of vindictive courage.
P: Sheā€™s a witch, like all of you! Itā€™s sorcery!
His comment renews their laughter a bit too well. The lead witch says, as though it is the most obvious thing in the world,
?: Yeah right! She canā€™t even handle a moonlight conjuring!
Signey is trying desperately to speak, but her jaw will not move far enough, and her vocal chords refuse to cooperate. She can't even will herself to look up. She is helpless. Still, Signey hears the wide smile in her sisterā€™s voice as she continues:
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?: Don't you get it?
?: Youā€™re both human!
Philip's blood runs cold.
?: And he still hates your guts.
The witch erupts into hysterical giggles. Philipā€™s eyes reflexively snap to Signey, and he regrets it. Her wide-eyed, desperate terror reflects his own too closely.
Philip steps backwards in a futile attempt to separate himself from what heā€™s done. The fire encircling them, dancing with derisive glee, prevents him from getting very far. When did the flames get so tall? Philip feels the bloodied knife slip out of his weak grip.
Signey's skin prickles. It's forming scales that dry out and catch on her hair. She presses a forearm against her stab wound, which is feeling strangely cold. Her breaths are shallow.
With no one around to impress, the things Signey said come crashing down on her. Of course he hates her.
She wants to let herself collapse. She wants to cry. She wants to apologize. She can't form the words. She wonders how it feels to burn to death. She wonders if his poor brother will be okay.
Philip's blood feels like ice. He canā€™t doubt himself now, not after heā€™s come this far. Not when there is still so much to do. His opponent is only a silouhette against the flames, curling in on itself pathetically. He can't indulge the pity or the grief. It's too late for that, now. ā€œYouā€™re not human,ā€ he mutters desperately instead, shaking his head, ā€œNot anymore.ā€ The figure staggers, struggling to hold itself upright. His dread and panic, allowed a tiny foothold, now refuse to release him; Philip feels himself teetering on the edge of sickening, unbearable uncertainty.
Eager to drag him deeper into terror are the hundreds of grating, childlike voices that swiftly flood his mind. They bury all coherent thought under a shrill cacaphony of accusation and animal distress. Philip feels his muscles slithering painfully beneath his skin, spasming more violently when he reflexively tenses them, only ceasing after theyā€™re stretched taut by aching, malformed bones. He shifts his weight, fighting the burden of his own greusome anatomy.
A round, golden mask snaps loudly beneath his heel, and he lurches backward, into an unseen abyss.
Too shocked to control the transformation, with nothing to support his weight, Philip falls backward--
In two very different places on the Boiling Isles, Signey Shale and Emperor Belos jolt awake from a nightmare.
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three--rings Ā· 1 year ago
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So it turns out there were a lot of things from S2 I was waiting to pass judgement on until I saw how they played out and...I ended up not thrilled about. And it's all these little things that keep bothering me.
Things I'm not happy with in OFMD S2:
-Jim and Olu feel retconned into not being in love. Like I know we want to talk about happy polycule but it feels like they aren't even very close this season? They were even more of a secondary ship than Lucius and Pete in S1 but we got essentially no good Jim/Olu stuff in S2. Instead we got the Olu/Zheng Yi Sao romance which on paper sounds good, but lacked chemistry. Especially from Olu's side. I feel like they kept repeating that "break in your day" thing cause they didn't have anything else. IDK weird weird decisions were made. I don't mind the Jim/Archie stuff at all but that was also not given any real romance time. They kissed and then I guess that was that?
-While on the subject of Zhang Yi Sao...why was she there? Like, don't get me wrong, I love her character and her inclusion in the show, but while the build-up in the first few episodes was great, then...they did basically nothing with her. Her entire plan was foiled by a moron in a split second and then..IDK she's now just riding on the Revenge and not even in charge? She's come way down in the world and I don't like it.
-Izzy dying. I don't mind the death scene itself, (though i wanted Izzy's friends on the crew more involved) but I think having him die shifts the genre and is disappointing in a way that feels unlike this show. more to be said obviously but not in this post.
-Speaking of that scene I grow more and more annoyed with Izzy saying "they love you, Ed." Not because it's not a great sentiment that would be narratively meaningful, but because it's NOT DEMONSTRABLY TRUE. Who loves Ed on that crew? Maybe Fang? There was absolutely no moments between Ed and crew after ep 3. They tolerate him for Stede's sake is all I can say. They love Stede. They love Izzy. And then Ed just leaves them and they are probably relieved.
-the way the central problem the whole season with Ed and Stede was communication but they never actually do anything about that, just declare victory.
-the way there was no climax or resolution with any antagonist in the last episode, they just barely escape, swear revenge like they're gonna head into battle, and then retire. Which makes ZERO sense and it bothers me SO MUCH.
-The lack of Stede and Ed costuming. IDK if it's because I've been writing a fic for a year centered around the clothing but like the show feels incomplete if they're not getting to dress up. I was looking forward to Ed wearing more than his leathers and we got a rice sack. This is entirely a personal gripe and not important but, yeah.
-Zero focus on the crew and no new info about any of them. I was really, really looking forward to getting more backstory, more personal info on characters like Roach, Frenchie, Wee John, but no.
And yanno, the thing is that I'm not unhappy with what S2 GAVE us. I like most of it. I love eps 1-6. Though 6 is showing the pacing issues badly. But what I miss is what we DIDN'T get. None of the stuff on screen was bad per se or couldn't have fit into a very excellent, cohesive season of TV. But I feel like all the connective tissue, all the thematic resolution, all the stuff that would have made it shine was missing.
Like they had a bunch of notecards of great scenes and filmed them but forgot to write the parts to connect them in a meaningful way? IDK this season feels a little like a first draft?
Not eps 1-3 though. I feel like they were perfect, and then they ran out of time/energy to polish the rest. (4-5 were also great, but they could have fit in with the rest better ultimately.)
I feel like people who are happy with this season are like 'we got this moment and this scene!' and that's great and cool and I also love that moment but I'm still left unsatisfied by the whole, yanno. Sigh.
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pinkpeccary Ā· 1 year ago
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i'm SO SAD because i just wrote a fucking essay about this scene and it just deleted itself. i'm going to attempt to rewrite it. but. very upset.
this is from The Boost Job (season 3, episode 8). Parker screwed up the con by tipping off the mark when she warned Josie, because she didn't want Josie to go down with the rest of the carjackers.
the thing i think is interesting here is Sophie's comment about this being "huge for Parker." she's right, but she's also wrong. she's delayed. there are two other moments this season i want to highlight that are focused on "Parker trying to do the right thing."
the first is in episode 3, The Inside Job: Parker is the one to make the call that they stay and finish the robbery, to prevent the mark from intentionally starting a famine. the focus here is on her choosing Nate's method (helping people) over Archie's (don't get involved).
why is this different? why is it "huge" for Parker to think about the right thing when it comes to helping Josie, but not earlier when it came to stopping a famine?
well, it's been well-established at this point that Parker does care about helping people in context of their work as a team. it's why all of them are there, at least in part. here she is going out of her way to do good, outside of (and in fact, counteractive to) the overall plan.
the second is in the episode right before actually, The Gone Fishin' Job. that's when we get this scene.
there's a version of that post i can't find right now (edit: found it, disregard) pointing out the significance of that moment for Parker's character. that it used to be she wouldn't notice because in order to protect herself she had to drastically narrow who and what she allowed herself to care about. that now she is in a place where she can care.
why isn't this moment factored into Sophie's comment? because Sophie doesn't know. none of them do. while Parker is deleting strangers' medical debt, the others are all busy on other parts of the con, and she wouldn't tell any of them about it because (to her) it's not noteworthy enough to mention. as far as Sophie knows, helping Josie might actually be the first time something like this has happened.
so Sophie's comment makes perfect sense in context, even though we the viewer know it's not necessarily accurate. and i think this is very cool of the writers for a couple reasons:
first, it highlights that no matter how perceptive they are (and Sophie is hands-down the best at reading people) they can still miss things about each other. we know about the medical debt. Sophie doesn't. we only know because the viewer gets to be omniscient in a way the characters can't be. this is really good foreshadowing for Parker's arc in season 5- i have a draft from two years ago i never posted about how her ending up as leader at the end is something that is well-foreshadowed from the beginning (regardless of when the writers officially decided) but Nate doesn't figure it out until the very end, despite being the mastermind. this is a key part of that.
second is that it makes sense for this to be the first time the team realizes this about Parker because it's the first time it affects them. but it's important that it's not the first time we see it because in this case a) it causes problems for the team, and b) it's specifically someone she relates to.
if the first time we saw Parker doing good outside the team was a time when it backfired, even though it all worked out in the end, that would undercut the significance. she's trying to do the right thing, but she's not very good at it yet. instead we know that she's been trying, and it's been working. this time didn't go smoothly, but the other time did. there may have been more examples offscreen.
as for it being someone she relates to, we already know Parker cares about people she sees herself in. we saw it back in The Stork Job in season 1, with the orphans in Serbia. having the scene with medical debt come first is a big deal because she doesn't know anyone involved, doesn't have any specific reason to relate to them. she just helps them because she's there and she can and it's the right thing to do.
which means what happens with Josie actually demonstrates a different type of growth, as compared to The Stork Job- then, when confronted with a reflection of her past trauma, Parker freaked out. she panicked, and she tried to convince Hardison they couldn't do anything to help the rest of the kids and shouldn't try, and then she snuck away to break them out on her own without a plan.
now, with Josie, she doesn't panic. she has a support system and feels safe enough that when she's reminded of past trauma- even though the trauma in question is being abandoned by someone trusted- she doesn't fall back on old survival strategies of cut and run. she approaches the situation with a level head, and while it doesn't quite go as planned, it's a lot less haphazard and chaotic than two years ago.
this is less a sign of Parker growing and changing (though that is a part of it) and more her environment. the fact that she notices and tries to help strangers first, that shows she is allowing herself to care more than she used to. once we know that, the question this episode answers is "but what if the strangers remind her of herself? will her trauma get in the way?"
and the answer is yes, a little bit! it's definitely a factor, and without the personal stake she probably could have handled it better. but also, while it factors into the execution, it doesn't stop her from trying. because she knows that she's not alone anymore.
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bnhaobservation Ā· 3 months ago
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Ramblings about the Todoroki family - Part 1: Todoroki Enjiā€™s origin and teenager years
So itā€™s finally time for me to try to dig into the Todoroki family, their dynamics and their history.
PREMISE
Someone might have been wondering why I waited so long before making a post for my very own favorite family, the Todoroki family.
Well, truth is Iā€™ve plenty of drafts for a Todoroki family post, taken from various different angles which never ended up being posted because the Todoroki family has some HUGE narrative problems that have nothing to do with the family problems.
The first problem isnā€™t really a problem but a fact: as BNHA is a Japanese manga, most of the Todorokisā€™ issues are tied and being seen through the Japanese culture, and Japanese culture is different by the various western ones, so one needs to dig into it to understand whatā€™s going on with themā€¦ which is long and time consuming and can end up distracting from the main topic, the Todorokisā€¦ never mentioning Iā€™m not really an expert in Japanese culture.
The second, which is, if possibly, even huger, is that the Todoroki family suffered plenty of retcon through the serialization of the manga. This is not a complain, this is generally how manga work. Many manga donā€™t necessarily follow a detailed and pre planned storyline but, at best, a general outline so the author makes up the story as they goā€¦ and might be asked/forced to change it as they go, or decide to do it on their own because they came up with something better or realized something wasnā€™t working. If you decide to read a long manga, this can very well end up being part of your reading experience, one youā€™ve to accept and that however brings, as a consequences, that things can end up being tossed in without foreshadowing or that a present development can clash with a past oneā€¦ which cause troubles when we place the facts that form the past of the Todorokis family in a chronological order and try to study their impact on the characters and their psychological behavior and stumble upon contradictions or behaviors that make no sense or give the ā€˜wrong impressionā€™ (as ā€˜not the impression Horikoshi wanted us to have of the characters) becauseā€¦ such past facts were inserted retroactively and so couldnā€™t influence certain scenes when they should have.
So, how Iā€™m going to go with this meta?
So as to give a more cohesive talk about how the Todorokiā€™s history was Iā€™ll still analyze the familyā€™s history chronologically (where with chronologically I donā€™t refer to the printing order but to the order in which facts were supposed to happen according to the BNHA timeline) but Iā€™ll go at it in this way.
Iā€™ll divide their history in parts so yeah this will be a multipart meta. Each part will be analyzed in 4 sections.
The first section will be labeled ā€˜Canon informationā€™ and will be a mere retelling of the canon info with transcriptions of the dialogues in it and images/panels/pages from the manga so as to refresh everyone what the canon says about a certain part and also because Iā€™LL STICK TO CANON AS MUCH AS ITā€™S HUMANLY POSSIBLE, WHEN ITā€™S CONRADICTING Iā€™LL POINT IT OUT AND, IF SOMETHING IS NOT CANON BUT A LOGICAL SPECULATION OF MINE, Iā€™LL LET YOU KNOW.
The second section will be labeled ā€˜Cultural infoā€™ and will be a quick listing of topics tied to Japanese culture with a minimal explanation. It doesnā€™t exist to give you a deep and comprehensive explanation, just a quick reference so, if youā€™re interested, you can document yourself about it on your own and better understand the story. Mind you, Iā€™m not Japanese so I might miss something or not explain something clearly enough, which is why I recommend YOUā€™ll be the one to document yourself using the info I share merely as a crutch to make your research easier.
The third section will be labeled ā€˜Doylist commentaryā€™. Doylist commentary takes the name from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the Real Life author of the Holmes stories. They consider the Todoroki history as a created object, and prefer exegetic explanations with particular attention to the authorā€™s intentions. Doylist commentaries can include ā€œThe author changed his mindā€ or ā€œThe author forgot thisā€ or ā€œThere was no time for inserting thisā€ or ā€œHere the author is just using/referencing a certain tropeā€ or ā€œThe author is just applying the Anthropic Principle (for any given story, there exist basic elements that, no matter how improbable or impossible their occurrence, are required for the story itself to happen, or there would be no story) or the MST3K Mantra (some details in the story donā€™t need to make sense because they ultimately donā€™t matter), asking us to suspend our disbelief on how it wouldnā€™t work logically in the storyā€ or ā€œWith this scene the author is trying to carry on this theme/messageā€. Please DO NOT view the Doylist commentary as a ā€œletā€™s complain about the storyā€ corner. As said before, things like the author changing his mind or deciding that something impossible can indeed happen or forgot he previously said a certain thing and now heā€™s saying the opposite are part of the creative process of a manga, but understanding why the author had something happen can be useful to have a better grasp of the story and not give certain scenes a meaning they werenā€™t intended to have. Of course Iā€™m not Horikoshi nor I worked with him to make the manga so, in this section, Iā€™ll often talk of what Iā€™ll assume was Horikoshiā€™s purpose to add a certain scene or why a certain problem happened which means I might be wrong.
The forth section will be labeled ā€˜Watsonian commentaryā€™. Watsonian commentary takes the name from Dr. John Watson, Holmesā€™ friend and supposed chronicler of his adventures in-universe. They explain the Todoroki history within the logic of the narrative. Watsonian explanations are things like ā€œCharacter X was lyingā€, ā€œThis happened in a scene we didnā€™t seeā€, and ā€œCharacter X did this because he was thinking thatā€. So, basically, when Iā€™ll make a Watsonian comment instead Iā€™ll focus on the characters, their lives, their psychology and the effect everything has on them.
With this said letā€™s start with the Todoroki family.
TODOROKI ENJIā€™S ORIGIN AND TEENAGER YEARS (Chap. 356 + Chap. 3-86-192-319, Team Up Mission 33, School Briefs I Epilogue and School Briefs III Dramatic Makeover!)
Canon information:
Chronologically speaking, the earliest bit of Todoroki history is in Chap. 356 and shows a middle school Enji standing under the rain looking at a disaster area while his fatherā€™s body is being carried away after the man died fighting a man in an attempt to save a girl, causing her too to die as well.
This scene is labeled by the narrator (a high school Enji) as ā€˜Enjiā€™s originā€™ and the proof heā€™ll never be a superhero.
We also then see Enji at U.A. choosing his Hero name, ā€˜Endeavorā€™ the narrator calling this choice the proof of Enjiā€™s menial nature. Students in U.A. choose their Hero name on their first year of high school short after the sport festival so, while we can see that the Enji who chooses his Hero name is older than the one who watched his father die, although comparatively they should be close in age (from 3 to 1 year of difference).
Todoroki Enji (young) ā€˜Sara ni yowaku natta.ā€™ č½Ÿē‚Žåøć€Œę›“ć«å¼±ććŖć£ćŸć€‚ć€ Todoroki Enji (young) ā€œYou became beyond weak.ā€
Todoroki Enji (young) ā€˜Tachiba to tsugunai to ayamachi to sekinin ga. Omae no seirai no yowasa o abaki dashi miru ni taenai guzu e to hikizuri oroshita. Chōjin ni wa narenainda yo Enji (read: omae) wa. č½Ÿē‚Žåø怌ē«‹å “ćØå„Ÿć„ćØ過恔ćØč²¬ä»»ćŒć€‚ćŠć¾ćˆć®ē”Ÿę„ć®å¼±ć•ć‚’ę›ćå‡ŗ恗見悋恫å Ŗ恈ćŖć„ę„šå›³ćøćØå¼•ććšć‚Šäø‹ć‚ć—ćŸć€‚č¶…äŗŗ恫ćÆćŖ悌ćŖ恄悓恠悈ē‚Žåøļ¼ˆćŠć¾ćˆļ¼‰ćÆ怂怍 Todoroki Enji (young) ā€œPosition, atonement, mistakes and responsibility. Your innate weakness was exposed and I canā€™t bear to see how you were dragged down into an indecisive person. Enji (read: you) canā€™t become a superhuman.ā€
Todoroki Enji (young) ā€˜Genten o omoi dase. Teki ga nandatta no ka o?ā€™ č½Ÿē‚Žåøć€ŒåŽŸē‚¹ć‚’ę€ć„å‡ŗć›ć€‚ę•µćŒä½•ć ć£ćŸć®ć‹ć‚’ć€‚ć€ Todoroki Enji (young) ā€œRemember your origin. Who was the enemy?ā€
Todoroki Enji (young) ā€˜Akkan kara shōjo o sukuou to shi kekka shōjo moro tomo nikukai to ka shita chichi oā€™ č½Ÿē‚Žåø怌ę‚Ŗę¼¢ć‹ć‚‰å°‘å„³ć‚’ę•‘ćŠć†ćØ恗ēµęžœå°‘å„³ć‚‚ć‚ćØć‚‚č‚‰å”ŠćØåŒ–ć—ćŸēˆ¶ć‚’ć€‚ć€ Todoroki Enji (young) ā€œYour father tried to save a girl from a scoundrel and, as a result, he and the girl were turned into a lump of meat.ā€
Todoroki Enji (young) ā€˜Shin no chōjin e no senbō to higami o.ā€™ č½Ÿē‚Žåø怌ēœŸć®č¶…äŗŗćø恮ē¾ØꜛćØ僻ćæ悒怂怍 Todoroki Enji (young) ā€œYour envy and inferiority complex toward a true superhuman.ā€
Todoroki Enji (young) ā€˜ā€œDoryoku (read: ā€˜ENDEAVORā€™)ā€ to nanoru hikutsu na shōne o.ā€™ č½Ÿē‚Žåø怌思åŠŖåŠ›ć€Ÿļ¼ˆć‚Øćƒ³ćƒ‡ćƒ“ć‚”ćƒ¼ļ¼‰ćØåä¹—ć‚‹å‘å±ˆćŖę€§ę ¹ć‚’ć€‚ć€ Todoroki Enji (young) ā€œYou called yourself ā€˜effortā€™ (read: ā€˜Endeavorā€™) due to your menial nature.ā€
Todoroki Enji (young) ā€˜Kojishite inakereba tamotenu teido no minikui kokoro o.ā€™ č½Ÿē‚Žåø怌čŖ‡ē¤ŗ恗恦恄ćŖ恑悌恰äæć¦ć¬ē؋åŗ¦ć®é†œć„åæƒć‚’ć€‚ć€ Todoroki Enji (young) ā€œUnless youā€™re putting on airs you canā€™t sustain your ugly heart.ā€
Todoroki Enji (young) ā€˜Sō. Omae wa ALL MIGHT ni mo DEKU ni mo narenai Enji (read: ore) wa itsumo jibun no yowasa to shika tatakatte nakatta kara, dakara umare kawarou nante kangaeruna.ā€™ č½Ÿē‚Žåøć€Œćć†ćŠć¾ćˆćÆć‚Ŗćƒ¼ćƒ«ćƒžć‚¤ćƒˆć«ć‚‚ćƒ‡ć‚Æ恫悂ćŖ悌ćŖ恄ē‚Žåøļ¼ˆćŠć‚Œļ¼‰ćÆ恄恤悂č‡Ŗåˆ†ć®å¼±ć•ćØć—ć‹ęˆ¦ć£ć¦ćŖć‹ć£ćŸć‹ć‚‰ć€ć ć‹ć‚‰ ē”Ÿć¾ć‚Œå¤‰ć‚ć‚ć†ćŖć‚“ć¦č€ƒćˆć‚‹ćŖ怂怍 Todoroki Enji (young) ā€œYes. You canā€™t become All Might or Deku because Enji (read: I) was always fighting only against his (my) own weaknesses, so donā€™t think about being reborn.ā€
Todoroki Enji (young) ā€˜ā€œOnore no yowasa (read: teki)ā€ o noroi tsudzukero, yuiitsu sore dake ga omae o ikashite kita no dakara.ā€™ č½Ÿē‚Žåøć€Œć€å·±ć®å¼±ć•ļ¼ˆć¦ćļ¼‰ć€Ÿć‚’å‘Ŗ恄ē¶šć‘ć‚ć€å”Æäø€ćć‚Œć ć‘ćŒćŠć¾ćˆć‚’ē”Ÿć‹ć—ć¦ććŸć®ć ć‹ć‚‰ć€‚ć€ Todoroki Enji (young) ā€œKeep cursing ā€˜your own weakness (read: the enemy)ā€™, because that is the only thing that has kept you alive.ā€ [Chap. 356]
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Prior to this bit, the manga and other source mentioned how Enji had been an U.A. student from pretty early on, as Enji as always been planned to be tied to U.A. and in Horikoshiā€™s early plan later scrapped he was also meant to be a teacher at U.A. High. Weā€™ve in fact a mention of him having been a U.A. student as early as in Chap. 3. Itā€™s not said who does the narration, in the anime this bit is said by Midoriya so Iā€™ve assumed this applies here too, though another recurring narrator is Present Mic. As he wasnā€™t introduced yet though, I think choosing Midoriya as a narrator made sense.
Midoriya Izuku ā€˜U.A. kōkō HERO-kaā€¼ Soko wa PRO ni hissu no shikaku shutoku o mokuteki to suru yōsei-kō! Zenkoku dōkachÅ«, mottomo ninki de mottomo muzukashiku, sono bairitsu wa reinen 300 o koeruā€¼ Kokumin eiyoshō ni dashin sa reru mo kore o kojiā€¼ ā€œALL MIGHTā€ā€¼ Jiken kaiketsu-sÅ« shijō saita! Nenshō-kei HERO ā€œENDEAVORā€ā€¼ BEST JEANIST 8 nen renzoku jushōā€¼ā€BEST JEANISTā€! Idaina (read: GRATEFUL) HERO ni wa o U.A. sotsugyō ga zettai jōken nano daā€¼.ā€™ ē·‘č°·å‡ŗä¹…ć€Œé›„č‹±é«˜ę ”ćƒ’ćƒ¼ćƒ­ćƒ¼ē§‘ā€¼ćć“ćÆćƒ—ćƒ­ć«åæ…é ˆć®č³‡ę ¼å–å¾—ć‚’ē›®ēš„ćØć™ć‚‹é¤Šęˆę ”ļ¼å…Ø国同ē§‘äø­ć€ęœ€ć‚‚äŗŗę°—ć§ęœ€ć‚‚é›£ć—ćć€ćć®å€ēŽ‡ćÆ例幓ļ¼“ļ¼ļ¼ć‚’č¶…ćˆć‚‹ā€¼å›½ę°‘ę „čŖ‰č³žć«ę‰“čØŗ恕悌悋悂恓悌悒å›ŗč¾žā€¼ć€Žć‚Ŗćƒ¼ćƒ«ćƒžć‚¤ćƒˆć€ā€¼äŗ‹ä»¶č§£ę±ŗę•°å²äøŠęœ€å¤šļ¼ē‡ƒē„¼ē³»ćƒ’ćƒ¼ćƒ­ćƒ¼ć€Žć‚Øćƒ³ćƒ‡ćƒ“ć‚”ćƒ¼ć€ā€¼ćƒ™ć‚¹ćƒˆć‚øćƒ¼ćƒ‹ć‚¹ćƒˆ8幓連ē¶šå—č³žā€¼ć€Žćƒ™ć‚¹ćƒˆć‚øćƒ¼ćƒ‹ć‚¹ćƒˆć€ļ¼å‰å¤§ćŖļ¼ˆć‚°ćƒ¬ć‚¤ćƒˆćƒ•ćƒ«ļ¼‰ćƒ’ćƒ¼ćƒ­ćƒ¼ć«ćÆé›„č‹±å’ę„­ćŒēµ¶åÆ¾ę”ä»¶ćŖ恮恠ā€¼ć€ Midoriya Izuku ā€œU.A. High Schoolā€™s Hero Course! Itā€™s a training school where students acquire the qualifications necessary to become professionals! Itā€™s the most popular and difficult course in the country, with the competition rate exceeding 300 every year! The one who was offered the Peopleā€™s Honor Award but firmly refused! ā€œAll Mightā€! The person who solved the most cases in history! The burning hero ā€œEndeavorā€! Winner of the Best Jeanist award for 8 consecutive years! ā€œBest Jeanistā€! Graduating from U.A. is an absolute requirement for being a great (read: grateful) hero!ā€ [Chap. 3]
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Best Jeanist also remarks how Enji is an alumnus so he should help U.A.
Todoroki Enji ā€˜Nande ore ga U.A. no shirinugui oā€¦ kochira mo isogashÄ« nodaga.ā€™ č½Ÿē‚Žåøć€Œä½•ć§äæŗćŒé›„č‹±ć®å°»ę‹­ć„ć‚’ā€¦ć“恔悉悂åæ™ć—ć„ć®ć ćŒć€‚ć€ Todoroki Enji ā€œWhy should I have to clean up after U.A.? Weā€™re busy here too.ā€
BEST JEANIST ā€˜MaA sō iwazu niā€¦ OB deshou.ā€™ ćƒ™ć‚¹ćƒˆć‚øćƒ¼ćƒ‹ć‚¹ćƒˆć€Œć¾ć‚”ćć†čØ€ć‚ćšć«ā€¦OB恧恗悇恆怂怍 Best Jeanist ā€œWell, donā€™t say that. Youā€™re an alumnus, arenā€™t you?ā€
Tsukauchi Naomasa ā€˜U.A. kara wa ima HERO o yobenai. Taikyoku o mitekure ENDEAVOR. Konkai no jiken wa HERO shakai hōkai no kikkake ni mo nari eru sōryoku o motte kaiketsu ni ataraneba.ā€™ 唚内ē›“ę­£ć€Œé›„č‹±ć‹ć‚‰ćÆä»Šćƒ’ćƒ¼ćƒ­ćƒ¼ć‚’å‘¼ć¹ćŖć„ć€‚å¤§å±€ć‚’č¦‹ć¦ćć‚Œć‚Øćƒ³ćƒ‡ćƒ“ć‚”ćƒ¼ć€‚ä»Šå›žć®äŗ‹ä»¶ćÆćƒ’ćƒ¼ćƒ­ćƒ¼ē¤¾ä¼šå“©å£Šć®åˆ‡ć£ęŽ›ć‘恫悂ćŖć‚Šå¾—ć‚‹ē·åŠ›ć‚’ć‚‚ć£ć¦č§£ę±ŗć«ć‚ćŸć‚‰ć­ć°ć€‚ć€ Tsukauchi Naomasa ā€œWe canā€™t call in any heroes from U.A. right now. Look at the big picture, Endeavor. This incident could be the start of the collapse of hero society, so we must use all our strength to solve it.ā€ [Chap. 86]
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Later weā€™re also told how he knows Recovery Girl by a long time due to this.
RECOVERY GIRL ā€˜OB no yoshimi de kite ageta yo. Soreni ima wa mō No.1 HERO da mono ne.ā€™ ćƒŖć‚«ćƒćƒŖćƒ¼ć‚¬ćƒ¼ćƒ«ć€ŒOBć®ć‚ˆć—ćæć§ę„ć¦ć‚ć’ćŸć‚ˆć€‚ćć‚Œć«ä»ŠćÆ悂恆No.1ćƒ’ćƒ¼ćƒ­ćƒ¼ć ć‚‚ć®ć­ć€‚ć€ Recovery Girl ā€œI came for you since you were an alumnus. Besides, youā€™re also the No. 1 hero now.ā€™ [Chap. 192]
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Chap 319 also remarks how Enji is an U.A. alumnusā€¦
Uraraka Ochako ā€˜ENDEAVOR-tte U.A. sotsu da yo ne............... Gōin ni ikou.ā€™ éŗ—ę—„ćŠčŒ¶å­ć€Œć‚Øćƒ³ćƒ‡ćƒ“ć‚”ćƒ¼ć£ć¦é›„č‹±å’ć ć‚ˆć­ā€¦ā€¦ā€¦ā€¦ā€¦å¼·å¼•ć«č”Œć“ć†ć€‚ć€ Uraraka Ochako ā€œEndeavor is a graduate of U.A., right?... Letā€™s go for it forcefully.ā€ [Chap. 319]
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ā€¦ and the fact Nezu comments on his growth seems to imply he too, same as Recovery Girl, knew him from that time.
Todoroki Enji ā€˜ā€¦ā€¦ā€¦Soto wa kiken da chitsujo ga nai. Omae-tachi madeā”€ā”€ā€™ č½Ÿē‚Žåø怌ā€¦ā€¦ā€¦å¤–ćÆ危é™ŗ恠ē§©åŗćŒē„”ć„ć€‚ćŠć¾ćˆćŸć”ć¾ć§ā”€ā”€ć€ Todoroki Enji ā€œā€¦Itā€™s dangerous out there. Thereā€™s no order. Even you guys...ā€
Nezu ā€˜Otona ni natta neā€¦ Todoroki-kunā€¦!!ā€™ ę ¹ę“„ć€Œå¤§äŗŗ恫ćŖć£ćŸć­ā€¦č½Ÿćć‚“ćć‚“ā€¦ā€¼ć€ Nezu ā€œYouā€™ve grown up/matured... Todoroki-kun...!!ā€ [Chap. 319]
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The side material also tried to expand a bit on Enjiā€™s past school life.
There is, for example, this bit in the spin off manga ā€œTeam Up Missionā€:
ÄŖda Tenya ā€˜Sorezore ga hirotta GOMI no sōryō o kiroku! Tadashi ā€œkoseiā€ shiyō-fuka! Onore no junsui na tairyoku nomi de shinkiroku o mezasu nōkin EVENT nanda! Chinamini rekidai No. 1 kiroku hoji-sha wa ENDEAVOR da.ā€™ é£Æē”°å¤©å“‰ć€Œćć‚Œćžć‚ŒćŒę‹¾ć£ćŸć‚“ćƒŸć®ē·é‡ć‚’čؘ録ļ¼ćŸć ć—ć€å€‹ę€§ć€Ÿä½æē”ØäøåÆļ¼å·±ć®ē“”ē²¹ćŖä½“åŠ›ć®ćæ恧ꖰčØ˜éŒ²ć‚’ē›®ęŒ‡ć™č„³ē­‹ć‚¤ćƒ™ćƒ³ćƒˆćŖ悓恠ļ¼ć”ćŖćæć«ę­“ä»£No.1čؘ録äæęŒč€…ćÆć‚Øćƒ³ćƒ‡ćƒ“ć‚”ćƒ¼ć ć€‚ć€ ÄŖda Tenya ā€œEach person records the total amount of trash they have picked up! However, they cannot use their ā€œquirksā€! Itā€™s a muscle-brained event where they aim to set a new record using only their own physical strength! Incidentally, the all-time record holder is Endeavor.ā€
Todoroki Shōto ā€˜!ā€™ č½Ÿē„¦å‡ć€Œ! 怍 Todoroki Shōto ā€œ!ā€
Midoriya Izuku ā€˜ENDEAVOR gaā€¦ ALL MIGHT no kiroku wa?ā€™ ē·‘č°·å‡ŗä¹…ć€Œć‚Øćƒ³ćƒ‡ćƒ“ć‚”ćƒ¼ćŒā€¦ć‚Ŗćƒ¼ćƒ«ćƒžć‚¤ćƒˆć®čؘē¦„ćÆļ¼Ÿć€ Midoriya Izuku ā€œIt was Endeavor...what about All Mightā€™s record?ā€
ÄŖda Tenya ā€˜ALL MIGHT wa igainimo yoi kiroku ga nokotte inai. Ippanjin ni hanashikake rare GOMI hiroi dokorode wa nakatta sōda.ā€™ é£Æē”°å¤©å“‰ć€Œć‚Ŗćƒ¼ćƒ«ćƒžć‚¤ćƒˆćÆę„å¤–ć«ć‚‚č‰Æ恄čØ˜éŒ²ćŒę®‹ć£ć¦ć„ćŖ恄怂äø€čˆ¬äŗŗć«č©±ć—ć‹ć‘ć‚‰ć‚Œć‚“ćƒŸę‹¾ć„ć©ć“ć‚ć§ćÆćŖć‹ć£ćŸćć†ć ć€‚ć€ ÄŖda Tenya ā€œSurprisingly, All Might doesnā€™t have a good record. Apparently he was approached by members of the public and had no time to pick up trash.ā€
Midoriya Izuku ā€˜Tōji kara ninki-sha sugiruā€¦!ā€™ ē·‘č°·å‡ŗä¹…ć€Œå½“ę™‚ć‹ć‚‰äŗŗ갗者恙恎悋ā€¦ ļ¼ć€ Midoriya Izuku ā€œHe was so popular even back then!ā€
Todoroki Shōto ā€˜Oyaji gaā€¦ā€™ č½Ÿē„¦å‡ć€Œč¦Ŗēˆ¶ćŒā€¦ć€ Todoroki Shōto ā€œMy father wasā€¦ā€ [Mission 33]
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And then these bits from ā€œSchool Briefsā€ show first Enji and Recovery Girl interacting, confirming they know by a long timeā€¦
ā€œWell, if it isnā€™t Endeavor. How long has it been?ā€ It was U.A.ā€™s school nurse, Youthful Heroine: Recovery Girl. Contrary to her title, the elderly healer walked with a syringe-shaped cane and had her hair tied up in a neat bun. ā€œRecovery Girl! Good to see you,ā€ said Endeavor, managing to mind his manners for someone heā€™d known nearly all his life. [ā€œSchool Briefs I Epilogueā€]
ā€¦and then Recovery Girl saying so to Shōto as well, also trying to tell him how his father was at school.
ā€œIt still hasnā€™t hit me that Endeavorā€™s boy is so grown up already.ā€ ā€œHuhā€¦?ā€ ā€œIā€™ve been at U.A. a long time, you know? Known your father since he was a student here.ā€ This mention of his father darkened Todorokiā€™s face, as if by reflex. ā€œI was always treating him for scrapes, cuts and bruises back in those days. That boy put himself through the wringer, hoping to be the number one Hero someday.ā€ Recovery Girlā€™s reminiscence triggered Todorokiā€™s memories from childhood and beyond-the sound of his fatherā€™s voice shouting at him. The voice always commanded the boy to succeed where his father had failed and grow into a Hero who could surpass All Might. Todoroki hated that voice with a passion. ā€œWhy, your father was so driven that, one time, in classā€¦ā€ ā€œIā€™d rather not hear anything about that bastardā€¦ maā€™am,ā€ interrupted Todoroki. [ā€œSchool Briefs III Dramatic Makeover!ā€]
...and ultimately deciding to let him know in a more veiled manner.
ā€œAll the boys and girls at U.A. tend to do their darnest. They always have. So be sure to give yourself credit where credit is due, now and then.ā€ ā€œYes, maā€™am.ā€ Todoroki popped a gummy bear into his mouth. The chewy candy gave his tired body the small burst of sugar it needed. ā€˜Guess sheā€™s saying that my bastard of a father did his best when he was here, tooā€¦?ā€™ [ā€œSchool Briefs III Dramatic Makeover!ā€]
Cultural info:
Oyakoko (č¦Ŗå­č”Œ ā€œfilial pietyā€): An important Buddhist virtue of respecting and caring for oneā€™s parents and that therefore requires the children ā€˜to be goodā€™ to their parents, often through acts of great respect, kindness and support. It might sound nice but, although things are changing currently, in the past this meant doing what the parents wanted, including marrying who they were to pick up for you, provide them with grandchildren who would continue the family line, pursuing the career path they wanted (usually continuing the family business), fulfilling their ambitions, carry onĀ  their grudges or even avenging them, plus taking care of them when theyā€™re old, handling their funeral and taking care of them through Butsudan in which they would be enshrined.
Chōnan (長ē”· ā€œfirst male sonā€): Again, things are changing but in the past the first male son was the one who would inherit everything and therefore the one on whom would fall most of the duties that came from filial piety, like taking over the family home, like continuing the family job, fulfilling his parentsā€™ wishes and aspirations, marrying who his parents wanted, provide his parents with grandchildren, taking care of his aging parents and, later on, of their funeral rites and maintaining the Butsudan in which they would be enshrined. Nowadays thereā€™s less pressure to do all this but expectations remain. The firstborn were to be educated more than his other siblings, often receiving special education that would help carry on his duties. The result was also lot of pressure was put on him, while lot less was placed on his siblings.
Butsuma (仏間 ā€œroom/space of the Butsudanā€) and Butsudan (仏壇 ā€œBuddhist altarā€): The Butsuma is a room/space whose principal or exclusive function is containing a Butsudan, a shrine whose primary use is for paying respects to the Buddha, as well as to family members who have died and ancestors. In fact the Butsudan becomes the house/room of said deceased people. The fact we see what is likely Enjiā€™s fatherā€™s photo in the Todoroki Butsuma implies heā€™s resting there and therefore, since Enji is taking care of that Butsudan, Enji should be the male firstborn. Also the Todorokis should have had a Butsudan and a Butsuma before Tōyaā€™s death so, contrary to the fandomā€™s expectations, the Butsudan is clearly not in Tōya and Natsuoā€™s childhood room (whatā€™s more, the room looks different from their own) but it always had its own room.
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Doryoku (åŠŖ力 ā€œeffort/endeavorā€): In Japan there is a stronger belief in effort as opposed to innate ability. Effort is seen as necessary to fulfill a social obligation to family, peers, and community. From when theyā€™re children Japanese people are forced to focus on their effort, seeing it as the cause of success. According to society, if a child does not succeed, they were not trying hard enough. This is unrelated to the childā€™s grades; children always need to put forth more effort. This gives you a better idea of what exactly Enjiā€™s Hero name stand for, an acknowledgement he has no inborn talent like he thinks All Might has, that heā€™ll just compensate by putting more effort, that his effort will never be enough as heā€™ll continue to push himself.
Doylist commentary:
Soā€¦ letā€™s start with which probably was Horikoshiā€™s aim as he added this bit about ā€˜Enjiā€™s originā€™.
All the main characters in BNHA have an origin story, be they Heroes or Villains. Some of them go so far as to have a chapter titled with their name and the word ā€˜originā€™ (Midoriya, Shouto, Bakugō, Tenko & Tomura, All Might), sometimes going so far as to also name the volume in which that chapter appeared as such, some others have their own origin story but with a lot less fanfare (as in no chapter or volume named as such like, for example Kirishima, Jin, Himiko, Touyaā€¦).
It makes sense Horikoshi had wanted to give an ā€˜originā€™ to Enji too, one that gives him more deep and that explains why he is the way he is.
The drama of Enji losing his father and having been helpless to act to stop it, which made him feel like he can never be a true Hero (remember how Midoriya instead is a TRUE Hero because he jumped into action despite being weak, timid and Quirkless?) isnā€™t a bad idea either.
Whatā€™s more, having Enji seems as if heā€™s about to give up then think at his origin and come back strong enough it seems he can take down All for One is undoubtedly a way to make the fight more interesting. The fight was stalling, then the Villains seem to have the upper hand then the Hero gets a boost in power and turn tables. Itā€™s an old narrative trick but it always works.
Visually, Horikoshi uses the old trick of rain in place of tears which never gets old as far as Iā€™m involved. What can I say, I like it, I like the way it expresses the pain of a character in a discreet way.
It alsoā€¦ kind of try to smooth again Enjiā€™s position.
In his prototypeĀ  Enji was meant to be just a guy obsessed with respecting rules. In Shoutoā€™s prototype he valued strength and married Rei to create a strong child but it seemed as if it was Rei the ā€˜bad guyā€™ as Shouto hated her and wanted Enjiā€™s love. The final plan, the one we read, had him forcing Shouto to endure abusive training, Rei trying to protect Shouto and ending up being abused in turn, with Rei snapping, losing it and ending up in hospital and Shouto completely rejecting Enji.
He went from a guy who was just obsessed with rules to the BAD GUY of the Todoroki house.
Apparently though, Horikoshi was never fond of this evolution for a character he originally created with the purpose of him being cool, respectful to law, well liked by people and kind of a comical relief (he said Enji would stop at traffic lights even when chasing a Villainā€¦) which is likely why Horikoshi ended up on placing him on an atonement path.
Giving him this ā€˜originā€™ feels like one of the many attempts through the story to make Enji more sympathetic, this time by giving him a sad backstory as a motive for why heā€™s the way he is, instead than just his jealousy and this is totally fair. Thereā€™s nothing wrong into wanting to give a character more deep by giving him a sad backstory. People who do bad things donā€™t necessarily have to be two dimensional bad guys, especially if you want to put them on an atonement path.
However there are problems with this new bit.
For startā€¦ the fact that Enjiā€™s ā€˜originā€™ wasnā€™t foreshadowed at all (just think at how we could have seen previously Enjiā€™s fatherā€™s photo in the Butsudan room, and instead itā€™s shown only now, or how Enjiā€™s father could have gotten mentioned, even with a random ā€˜he lost his father when he was young, so he doesnā€™t know how to be a fatherā€™) seems to imply Horikoshi came up with this bit way too late in the story, possibly when the final war started. I mean, All Might gets an ā€˜originā€™ chapter even much later (chap. 398), but it was teased and foreshadowed long ago. Thereā€™s nothing of the sort for this extra bit of story. Even in the many bits mentioning how Enji attended to U.A. thereā€™s no hint of such revelation, I donā€™t know, by having someone say he had to go to a part time job to pay for his living expense/scholarship or comment on how his teachers were the only adult figures he had in his life or that he didnā€™t have his fatherā€™s support or that he was trying so hard for his father also. Although this revelation is supposed to be important it comes out of nowhere, way too late in the manga for the story to build up upon it.
Secondā€¦ the readers were persuaded they already knew Enjiā€™s ā€˜originā€™, that he became the way he was when he realized he couldnā€™t surpass All Might despite his attempts in terms of strength. We had plenty of scenes telling us this. Yes, it can be Horikoshi wanted to surprise usā€¦ but when the surprise comes out so late and in such a rushed manner that not even the anime felt like investing in this (in the anime the scene is not expanded but exactly as it is in the manga and they even cut the bit hinting Enjiā€™s father photo is in the Butsuma) readers find hard to invest in it as well. This is a story with 430 chapters, chap 356 is way too late to have a revelation on one of the main charactersā€™ ā€˜originsā€™, especially when, until chap 356, there was already an origin story for Enji of some sort, which was the one that chap. 31-93-165-188 pushed forward.
Third, as I said, it feels rushed because Enjiā€™s fatherā€™s death takes a grand total of three panels for half a page. There is no other ā€˜originā€™ story that takes so little, especially if we compare it to all the time Horikoshi spent talking about/showing his other ā€˜originā€™ story, the one of Enji being forced to accept he couldnā€™t surpass All Might. Horikoshi wanted the focus to be on Enji, so has no real interest in explaining what exactly happened with Enjiā€™s father, with the result it creates more questions than answers which end up shifting the attention away from Enji himself as people try to figure out what happened that day. So, while the message seems to be that Enji, was indecisive (of if you like more how Touya put it, a coward) and, like Kirishima, came to believe he wasnā€™t Hero material because he didnā€™t sprint to action like All Might and Midoriya would have done and, differently from Kirishima, didnā€™t manage to cope with the revelation in the right wayā€¦ well, this is just my speculation. Itā€™s unclear if this is really his problem, and the lack of clarity makes the scene even weaker.
Forth, itā€™s a pity Enjiā€™s fatherā€™s death scene isnā€™t connected to All Might, since All Might should have returned in Japan around the time Enjiā€™s father died and the incident in which Enjiā€™s father died could have also been the one in which All Might for the first time saved so many people. It would have added to the Enji-All Mightā€™s feud, with Enji failing to save his father and Enjiā€™s father failing to save the girl but All Might succeeding into saving everyone else except his father. Mind you, it wasnā€™t mandatory but since the two incidents happen close in time, if weā€™ve been done they were one and the same this incident might have felt less tossed in and more foreshadowed. Not much butā€¦ a bit more. Instead it wasnā€™t.
Fifth, yes, Enji has hesitated and had been indecisive other times and they all regarded his familyā€¦ but each time the circumstances were so different itā€™s hard to see a pattern, it seems more like a coincidence.
So in the end Enjiā€™s ā€˜originā€™ feels like something Horikoshi didnā€™t really plan in advance, and that merely used as a device to give Enji a boost of power, to make him stand again after receiving a serious hit and fight even harder. Since it feels like itā€™s something ā€˜forcedā€™ into the story at the last minute, itā€™s emotional impact is lessened than it should have been.
People were delighted when Dabi turned out to be Touya and felt satisfied when the guy who carried Tenko back home turned out to have been All for One because both facts were foreshadowed. Even Geten being a Himura or Touyaā€™s Quirk being more than just a fire Quirk had some foreshadowing but this came out of nowhere and whatā€™s worse, it went nowhere.
Thereā€™s no consequence for this reveal beyond the power up Enji receives, the strength he finds inside himself, when he thinks at all this. This story is not touched upon again, and, while I compared it to Kirishimaā€™s backstory, not only Kirishimaā€™s backstory got more deep and more time to be developed, but it even came back late in the story, when he and Ashido faced Machia.
Enji instead wonā€™t think at his father ever again, Horikoshi not using it for any other part of the story to the point that it becomes the equivalent of giving to a beaten Saiyan a Senzu beam (for whoā€™s unfamiliar with ā€œDragon Ballā€ senzu bean if eaten fully healed people and when Saiyan healed they became magically stronger). Itā€™s a peep talk his younger self gave him to make him stand up and thatā€™s all.
Itā€™s a pity because the idea was actually instead really good, not only if explored it could become more moving but it could fit very well with Enjiā€™s characterization and the whole theme of fatherhood opposed to focusing on heroismā€¦ of trauma that pushed him to do the wrong choices like it did for his son, of accepting he chased after the wrong thing, strength opposed to wish to help (which is what moved All Might and Midoriya) but no, it just will end up being shelved a moment after being used. It wonā€™t come up again so that it feels more like one of those little bits of info Horikoshi put in his profiles than a real scene of the story.
On a special note letā€™s look at two sentences.
The first is this one:
Todoroki Enji (young) ā€˜Sara ni yowaku natta.ā€™ č½Ÿē‚Žåøć€Œę›“ć«å¼±ććŖć£ćŸć€‚ć€ Todoroki Enji (young) ā€œYou became beyond weak.ā€ [Chap. 356]
ā€¦which seems to be chosen purposely to mockingly remind Enji (and us) ofā€¦
PRESENT MIC ā€˜Sara ni mukō e! ā€œPlus Ultraā€!!ā€™ ćƒ—ćƒ¬ć‚¼ćƒ³ćƒˆćƒ»ćƒžć‚¤ć‚Æć€Œę›“ć«å‘ć“ć†ćø! 思Plus Ultra怟ā€¼ć€ Present Mic ā€œFurther beyond! ā€˜Plus Ultraā€™!!ā€ [Chap. 3]
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This sentence is said by Present Mic in Chap. 3 and itā€™s U.A. high school motto and you might remember hearing it at the end of each preview of the anime episodes.
The other sentence is the one about young Enji asking to his older self who was the enemy.
Todoroki Enji (young) ā€˜Genten o omoi dase. Teki ga nandatta no ka o?ā€™ č½Ÿē‚Žåøć€ŒåŽŸē‚¹ć‚’ę€ć„å‡ŗć›ć€‚ę•µćŒä½•ć ć£ćŸć®ć‹ć‚’ć€‚ć€ Todoroki Enji (young) ā€œRemember your origin. Who was the enemy?ā€ [Chap. 356]
Itā€™s hard to catch it in the English version but in the Japanese version ā€œVillainā€ is written with the kanji ā€˜tekiā€™ (ꕵ) which means ā€œenemyā€ but is given the reading ā€œVILLAINā€ (ćƒ“ć‚£ćƒ©ćƒ³), while the sentence might be using the word ā€œenemyā€ merely because it fits to drive home the concept, it can also be itā€™s implying Enjiā€™s real enemy arenā€™t Villains but his own weakness.
Also teenager Enji talks of a ā€˜Shin no chōjinā€™ (ēœŸć®č¶…äŗŗ ā€œtrue superhumanā€). ā€˜Chōjinā€™ is how the name of the DC Comics Hero Superman is translated and itā€™s likely used it to show a parallel between All Might and Supermanā€¦ however, ironically, not much after Enji himself will use a Supermanā€™s move. In fact Superman can project beams of heat from his eyes which are hot enough to melt steel and Enji will do just the same in his fight with All for One.
Whatā€™s more, in Japanese this word sounds tied to ā€˜Chōjōā€™ (超åøø ā€œsupernaturalā€). Where supernatural comes into play in the story? This word appears right from Chap. 1, although the English manga translated it as ā€œexceptionalā€ and later decided to translate it as just Quirk (even though in Japanese when they want to say ā€œQuirkā€ they use ā€˜koseiā€™ (å€‹ę€§) or ā€˜Inōā€™ (ē•°čƒ½ ā€œMeta Abilityā€ lit. ā€œExtraordinary Abilityā€).
Itā€™s a series of interesting nice bits that get lost in translation but are worth mentioning.
Thereā€™s not much to say on the tiny bit that referenced how Enji had been a U.A. student as theyā€™re not much more than that, tiny bit that reference how Enji had been a U.A. student. Theyā€™re many but through the manga, theyā€™re not really attempt at flashing Enji out beyond the fact he knew Recovery Girl and Nezu from back then.
It kind of clashes with how, in Enjiā€™s ā€˜originā€™, Horikoshi decided to depict him as an U.A. student as if that had been important butā€¦ we hardly learn something about his time there, his origin happening PRIOR to it. Itā€™s not a sin itā€™s justā€¦ a pityā€¦ especially because it also clashes with how Class A is represented as close even after 8 years while neither All Might nor Enji seem to have friends, or at least ex-classmates, from their time at U.A. among the other Pro. Sure, as said before it wasnā€™t super important for the narrative but it still feels weird (especially in All Mightā€™s case as he was a social person) how no one of their classmates is, at least, in the business. Sure, Horikoshi might have thought he had ENOUGH characters tied with U.A. so it makes sense he didnā€™t want to give them classmates, especially since he likely didnā€™t know he would late add that bit o
The only two which made an attempt to flesh him out more are the bit from ā€œTeam-upā€ which remarks how he put hard effort in doing things to the point he surpassed All Might and the bit in ā€œSchool Briefsā€ in which Recovery Girl wants to tell Shouto how hard Enji used to work as a student. That second bit again can be seen as again an attempt at presenting him in a more sympathetic light but, especially for western readers, it doesnā€™t work so well as, in the narration, it comes in contraposition with how he mistreated Shouto when training him. It would have worked much better if Recovery Girl had just thought at all that by herself. I donā€™t really want to dig any further in this because Iā€™ll talk about Shoutoā€™s training later, when itā€™ll be time for it, so for now letā€™s leave it at this.
Watsonian commentary:
The scene of Enjiā€™s fatherā€™s death is more like a flash so we donā€™t really know the details, but we can still extrapolate something out of it.
For start Enjiā€™s age. Heā€™s likely at middle school when his father dies as what heā€™s wearing seems a summer school uniform, but itā€™s different from U.A. school uniform. Enji seems as tall as an adult, considering how tall heā€™ll become itā€™s possible he was already that tall in middle school, but it would be too much of a stretch to assume he was that tall in Elementary school.
We arenā€™t told if the guy threatening the girl is a Villain, which is interesting as well as the text content itself with calling it a ā€˜akkanā€™ (ę‚Ŗę¼¢) literally a ā€œbad/evil manā€ (alternatively you can translate it as ā€œthug, rascal, scoundrelā€).
In BNHA a Villain (ꕵ ļ¼ˆćƒ“ć‚£ćƒ©ćƒ³ļ¼‰ ā€˜teki (read: VILLAIN)ā€™) is ā€œsomeone who uses his Quirk to commit crimesā€.
Iā€™ve hard time thinking weā€™re prior to the time in which people started using the term ā€œVillainā€, so all I can assume is that the guy wasnā€™t using his Quirk to commit that crime, hence he couldnā€™t be labeled as such.
We arenā€™t told if Enjiā€™s father was a Hero or someone who just decided to act to protect a little girl, just that instead that saving her he ended up causing his own dead along with hers. Since the place is a disaster area and kids inherit their parentsā€™ Quirk, it is possible Enjiā€™s father too had a fire Quirk and, attempting to use it, either in attack or self defense caused an explosion that killed everyone, included the girl he wanted to save.
We see Enji witnessing as his fatherā€™s corpse is taken away. We donā€™t know if heā€™s standing there because he froze when he should have instead acted and helped/saved his father and/or the girl or if he just came there too late, but the message we can extrapolate is he feels his ā€˜originā€™ is one of a person who canā€™t be a Hero because he had failed to jump in action to save people (and especially his father) because heā€™s been indecisive and this had lead him to stalling instead than saving.
Possibly it wasnā€™t just fear, possibly he let himself be caught up by other thoughts, for example that if he were to use his Quirk he would commit a crime (itā€™s unknown if the whole thing was inspired by Horikoshi but in ā€œVigilantesā€ Enji expresses views which strongly disapprove of Vigilantismā€¦ this might be a consequence of what happened to his father if he acted even if he werenā€™t a Heroā€¦ or it could have been inside him already and might have caused him to hesitate) or maybe it was just his father who told him to wait there and he didnā€™t want to disobey.
Of maybe it was cowardice, Touya will blame him of being a coward and he wonā€™t deny it, back then he was afraid to act , to go against a scoundrel and just stalled.
Or, as I said before, weakness was the problem. His father was weak so he failed to save himself and the little girl. Enji knew he was too weak to defeat the Villain so he didnā€™t act because he was weak, and therefore he failed to save his father and the little girl.
We donā€™t know.
Now this little scene can have plenty of consequences for Enji (which, unluckily, the story never explored).
Middle school is a time in which children are in a delicate age.
Teenagers start to search for a sense of self and personal identity, through an intense exploration of personal values, beliefs, and goals. Having his father die in such way under his eyes or reaching the place too late, could have been a very formative moment for him, one that might have radically changed his perception of himself, sadly not in a positive way.
If Enjiā€™s father was a Hero, his dying while doing his duty like Kōtaā€™s parents, might have further pushed on Enji the burden to become a Hero (inheriting his fatherā€™s mantle the way ÄŖda Tensei first and ÄŖda Tenya after did as Japanese society kind of expects the firstborn to inherit his fatherā€™s job), the need to be strong (otherwise heā€™ll die), the sense of inadequacy, as his father died as a Hero while Enji either watched or got there too late.
If Enjiā€™s father wasnā€™t a Hero the fact he got involved, couldnā€™t save the girl (the text implied he caused her death) and stop the devastation of the area (or caused it directly) would reflect negatively on Enji.
Even though heā€™s absolutely not responsible for his fatherā€™s actions using Quirk if one isnā€™t a Hero is forbidden (we saw how they should have punished Shōto, Midoriya and ÄŖda because they saved Native from the Hero killer, wounding him) and, whatā€™s worse it didnā€™t end well (think at how Tobita and his family ended up bullied and ostracized for Tobitaā€™s failed attempt to help someone who didnā€™t even die!) so Enji might have had to live with the pressure of all this and might have felt the need to become a Hero to wash away the shame of his father having tried and failed to be a Vigilante.
Regardless of Enjiā€™s father having been a Hero or not, Enji doesnā€™t feel like a natural born Hero but still wants to be a Hero and tries to compensate with hard work.
As said in the cultural corner, society taught him to focus on effort, basically telling him if he were to put enough effort, he would succeed even though he lacks natural talent. Therefore Enji does his best to become the strongest while at the same time being plagued by feelings of not being good enough, which he tries to hide by acting cold and putting up on air.
Enji becomes a faƧade, he talks moves and act to give a certain impression of himself that Enji doesnā€™t feel match with the reality, he puts on airs, he holds himself together by keeping distance and presenting this fake image of him being confident, powerful, he feeds a lie, which is a very stressing thing to do.
All Mightā€™s existence, or better the existence of someone whoā€™s a natural born Hero and doesnā€™t even have to put effort in it, rubs salt on his wounds.
I want to dig into the presentation of the scene a bit as we discover what happened with Enjiā€™s father in a discussion between adult Enji and teenager Enji, an Enji who wear U.A. high school uniform. Many other characters are shown also as their younger selves, but in that case is teenagers shown as children. In this case itā€™s a teen, as if Enji still have inside his teenager self, which is full of hate for him and canā€™t grow out of it.
The scene ends with adult Enji metaphorically murdering teenager Enji in a way thatā€™s meant to represent how he wonā€™t let himself be crushed by his own weaknessā€¦ overcoming it through murderous rage. Teenager Enji encourage him to curse his own weakness, basically fuels his rageā€¦ which feels more like the representation of unhealthy coping mechanisms. Enji silences his own teenager self by murdering him and doesnā€™t overcome his weakness and leave it behind but justā€¦ fight it back with rage. But Iā€™m probably running ahead this was meant to be about teenager Enji.
Thereā€™s also to wonder how his fatherā€™s death affected him practically.
Enji is the one who takes care of the Butsudan in which his father is enshrined. It makes him his firstborn. Was his mother still alive? Did she provide to Enji? Did Enji had to start a part time job to provide his living expenses? Did U.A. allowĀ  it since many high school in Japan donā€™t allow it, and U.A. has its own internship program but previously it was the norm to start it on the second year? Or did his father have a life insurance (Iā€™ve heard theyā€™re pretty common in Japan) which allowed Enji (and his mother) to survive until Enji became a Pro? Or did someone else from the family helped him? We donā€™t know but itā€™s interesting to wonder.
All this could have contributed in how Enji as a father is lackingā€¦ but weā€™ll discuss about his fatherhood later.
Even in this Watsonian corner thereā€™s not much to say about the bits referring to Enji at U.A. if not that they confirm even back then he put endless effort in training. He focused, he did all he could. Maybe he even deluded he could surpass All Might because he is the one who holds the record for collecting the most trash. Still, thereā€™s something thatā€™s worth wondering.
Neither All Might nor Enji are shown as having developed longstanding friendships in their school years which starkly contrast with how Class A was instead a close group even after 8 years.
Thereā€™s to wonder if back then they just werenā€™t educated in a way that encouraged friendship and teamwork.
Thatā€™s all for this part. Please stay tuned for the next!
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ace-trainguys Ā· 1 year ago
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What if I posted the draft of the prologue to a fic of an au I haven't talked about on Tumblr. For a Halloween treat.
It's not edited up to where I want it. That and because this is only the first part of this au and it will be a long while before I write the rest is why I'm not posting it on ao3 yet. But if you would like a little something spooky, here is:
Heart of the Subway, part 1: Descent
Ingo sweeps his flashlight out in front of him. Even though Chandelure floats beside him, it is the proper safety procedure to illuminate the path ahead. The sensor that went offline is rather deep in the maintenance tunnels, but it shouldn't be too far now. Ingo hums to himself and Chandelure whistles along.
He reaches the next intersection and pauses. Instead of the two branching paths he was expecting, there are three. Ingo consults his mental map- he had been certain he was going the right way, but he must have made a wrong turn. A rare occurrence - one that hasn't happened since Ingo and Emmet became Subway Bosses, in fact. But that's the only explanation for the discrepancy. Each tunnel has the even shape of a man-made structure - no chance of a subterranean pokemon causing mischief.
All three paths slope downwards.
"Chandelure," Ingo murmurs. "Have I made a wrong turn?" She, too, knows these tunnels well. Chandelure chimes in confusion, confirming that she is also in the dark. Ingo had presumed as much - if she had noticed something wrong, she would have stopped him earlier. But he had to ask. "Very well. Let us retrace our steps."
Ingo turns around and heads back the way he came. He could have sworn that this tunnel had a slight downward slant when he had originally gone through, but he must have been mistaken. It's certainly sloping lower now.
Sooner than he expected, he reaches another intersection. It's wrong. There should be an opening to his left, and an opening forward, but there are four tunnels splitting off. This is not the way he came, but how could he have ended up somewhere else?
"Chandelure, do you sense anything?" Ingo asks. If it is a trick by a ghost, she will certainly be able to tell. When he doesn't receive a response, he turns and finds the space beside him empty. "Chandelure?!" He calls, but only his own voice echoes back to him. His loyal partner would not wander off and abandon him, but her purple tinted light is gone. Where is she? Ingo whips around to the direction he came from and-- it goes down.
No, no, he definitely descended coming this way. Did he get turned around? Which way did he come from? He shines his flashlight into the other tunnels, but all four slant deeper into the earth.
That's not possible. It-- the direction he came from, he went down. He didn't hear anything. Nothing could change the tunnels so silently.
It feels like a dream, but Ingo bites the inside of his cheek and feels pain. He's awake.
Ingo pulls out his radio and gets blasted by static. No matter how he tries to tune it, the results are the same.
Ingo... does not know the protocols for a situation like this. But he cannot simply stand around. He picks a tunnel and descends.
After several yards, Ingo turns and shines his flashlight back. The tunnel does not appear to be going back up like it should. He shudders and turns around again. What a horrible optical illusion, he tells himself, and desperately tries to believe it.
As he walks further and goes deeper, he begins to see cables run along the walls. He shines his flashlight on them, and though they are in line with the electrical wiring used in the subway, their placements and directions do not make logical sense. Ingo is intimately aware of how messy the wiring of the subway system was when he and Emmet began their careers. It was one of their highest priorities to repair when they became the bosses. It would make sense that there could have been wires they missed when doing the power system overhaul, so deep in the maintenance tunnels, but... these cables dip in and out of the walls in a way he's never seen before.
As he continues going deeper, he encounters cables drooping down in loops from the ceiling. An egregious safety hazard in five ways he can count off the top of his head. No one must have been in these tunnels in decades.
The wires grow thicker on the walls, running in all directions. Yet it is quiet - no hum of running electricity, despite the forest of cables. The only sounds Ingo can hear are his own careful breaths, and his rapid heartbeat.
It is not long before the cables have grown so thick that the walls are no longer visible. Ingo nearly trips before he realizes there are wires reaching out of the floor as well. He trains his flashlight and eyes at the ground, stepping carefully around the growths.
The tenuous beam of light hits a slab of solid metal. Ingo raises it to view an ancient door, wires twisting around every inch. Thick cables have entirely replaced the walls and floor - and a quick look upwards confirms the ceiling is covered as well. He swallows his dread and turns the doorknob with a shaking hand.
Immediately after stepping through, the door closes behind him with a sense of finality. The chamber he has entered is much wider than the tunnel he was in previously. Cables twirl and flow all around, congregating in a massive pillar in the center. Ingo realizes with a start that he can see outside his flashlightā€™s meager view - the whole room is filled with a dim sourceless light.
When he returns his eyes to the central pillar once more, he feelsā€“
welcome happiness home
Whatā€¦?
Ingo finds himself relaxing despite the incongruous nature of the emotions. It doesnā€™t make sense to feel this at home in such a strange, alien location, and yet. Itā€™s as if heā€™s sitting on the couch, one arm around his brother, surrounded by their pokemon. Comfortable, safe, warm.
He canā€™t hear anything, but he can almost feel a noiseless sound. A pulse. Gazing upon the monolith of intertwined lines, he gets the sense that these wires, despite the lack of electricity flowing through them, are not lifeless.
He is suddenly, indisputably sure that this is the heart of the Unovan subway system. There is no logical evidence, nothing that could have led him to this conclusion, but he is certain.
Ingo is awestruck. Nothing could have prepared him for the power and life that the core of the subway emits. After all these years, all the effort Ingo and Emmet put into restoring a run down transit system - seeing that it has blossomed into something like this makes him want to laugh and cry. It was worth it.
The corners of his eyes pinch, his version of a wide smile. He wonders if he should feel reverence, in the core of the place he and his brother dedicated themselves to, but instead heā€™s filled with love, love, love that is not his own. Ingo realizes that itā€™s the subway itself, communicating with him in pure emotions, and he laughs. His own joy is reflected back at him. He loves and adores the subway, and it seems it loves him back.
With a noise like leaves rustling in the wind, cables shift in the pillar, opening a small entrance. Ingo feels a gentle pull forward, an invitation to enter the heart. happy closer appeal. Ingo notices heā€™s taken a step closer without realizing it.
He steps back and plants his feet firmly to the ground. Come come come. No, Ingo will not do anything blindly. Love safety stay happy, the subway croons wordlessly, yet he feels himself start to sweat.
Suddenly heā€™s sure that if he enters the heart, he will never be able to come back out.
Comfort love safety. Itā€™s not bad, down here. Pleasant, really. The subway loves him. He could be happy, nestled securely in the heart.
But he cannot do this. To stay here would be abandoning his responsibilities. It would mean leaving his job and his passion behind. Never seeing his friends or his pokemon or his brother again.
Negative false reassurance. Still there still there
Ingo shakes his head and shudders. He doesn't understand how staying here could be anything other than abandoning everyone. He tries to turn back around and--
He canā€™t move.
Despite the subwayā€™s faith confidence trust, Ingo feels his breathing speed up. It wonā€™t let him leave. It wonā€™t-- he doesnā€™t want this but he canā€™t even lean backwards.
Ingo shivers, and thinks of Emmet alone. Not knowing what happened to his brother. Worrying about Ingo. Worrying Ingo left him, falling into those old self doubts. Ingo promised he would never leave. He promised - and in a burst of frantic energy, he turns and manages to take a step away.
No love safe comfort stay stay STAY
Ingo struggles to take another step, while a whispering rasp hisses behind him. As he pushes his frozen legs as hard as he can, he spots squirming black shapes approaching in the edge of his vision. Cables reach out to him, wrapping around his arms, ever so gently. More circle his wrists, his legs, his feet, his chest, his neck, with extreme care. Like handling fine china, like holding a precious treasure, the wires cradle Ingo, embracing every inch of him. Ingoā€™s terror and panic fight the calm safe love, but he canā€™t move at all in the wiresā€™ tender hold.
Paralyzed, Ingo can do nothing as the cables begin to drag him into the heart. He tries, he desperately tries, but he can't even twitch a finger. He can't move, he can't move, he will be stuck down here for the rest of his life and he will never see his brother again-
adoration safe calm belonging stay
Drawn into the subway's heart, a path made specially for him, all Ingo can do is scream "EMMET!"
Then the wires fall back into place, as if the entrance was never there at all.
Noā€“ stop- what's going on? He doesnā€™t want this! He can't move! He doesn't -
Home safe belonging love love love
the pressure, it's everywhere- he's being crushed, he - air? Is he breathing? He can't move, he can't move- help-
Calm safe peace secure
What is that sensation- running through him, he's never felt something like that, he doesn't understand- rumbling stopping and starting, in him - pinch and itch and drag on parts a body doesn't have, how- he doesn't want this, please stop-
Right belonging acceptance
There's no color- How is he seeing so much at once - too much, it's too much, he can't- make it stop, please-
Rest reassure love
It doesn't hurt but he doesnā€™t understand- he's not supposed to beā€“ he is supposed to beā€¦what is he supposed to be?!
Right correctness cherished belonging
help, he can'tā€“ it's so quiet- this is too much, he can'tā€“
Reassure calm love adoration
He can't- he can'tā€¦
Acceptance belonging home
H-helpā€¦ Emā€¦ metā€¦
Belonging belonging belonging
He...
Calm safe belonging
ā€¦
Calm.
He calms.
Emmet is doing paperwork in his and Ingo's office when the lights flicker off for a second. They're back on almost immediately, but Emmet groans regardless. The subway's backup generators prevent essential functions from shutting down, but a power outage, no matter how brief, means there are many safety checks that must be run.
Emmet blinks, and places a hand on his chest. Nothing happened other than the lights going out, but he feels like something is different. He can't put his finger on what or how, exactly, butā€¦
Hm. He'll have to ask Ingo if he felt it too after he gets back.
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sonkitty Ā· 6 months ago
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Earthly Objects Part 1 - LINK - Update
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Reworded everywhere so just read the whole thing if you're actually curious.
The most notable change that really made me want to update the thing at all is realizing the Threshold Tricks have at least two rounds of play. I sure hope there isn't a third round because I don't think I'll ever pass Round 2.
The idea struck me while drafting up the next post for the Sideburns Scheme in trying to explain the monster that is The Pocket Trick starting.
Round 1 is finding the Threshold Tricks, naming them, and getting core concepts for all but The Pocket Trick. An audience player does not have to check things frame-by-frame to complete Round 1.
Round 2 starts with looking at The Pocket Trick again, in part due to the likely missing core concept. Once Round 2 starts, an audience member does have to check things by frame-by-frame to keep playing.
...
I'm going to check the other parts for possible updates and probably update the main Threshold Tricks post itself.
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synergysilhouette Ā· 7 months ago
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"A Wish to the Stars" (Aion solo; possibly just a draft)
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Finally making significant progress on Act I of my "Wish" rewrite, and I realized I was neglecting something that "Wish" did as well: the friend group! Who are the Dreamers? What are their wishes? How does it motivate them throughout the film? Here's the answer to one of them. Introducing Aion, a Native American-inspired young man who lost his brother to magic and fears Talia will lose to it if he's not careful. He tries to keep up a bubbly attitude (most similar to Dario from the Teens), often using sign-language since the aforementioned trauma has him rarely speaking. Despite my commitment with Talia/Anselm's romance, I wanted our star to make friends with other characters as well, and the Dreamers are the perfect group. Check out the song I wrote for Aion's first encounter with Anselm (or rather, his energy; I do like the idea that he vocalizes similar to the voice in "Frozen 2"), and just how much he's been holding in. However, in reference to the last part of my title, I'm not sure about this song just yet. I kinda think I should go for something more theatrical; a lot of the time when I write these songs, it flows naturally, but perhaps that's too easy...And while I made a post about the characters before, maybe I should do a new one. Whaddya think?
(Verse 1)
You know I always believed in fairy tales.
A dream's a wish your heart makes.
You told me everything happens for a reason,
But what happened was a mistake.
You were incredible,
Talented, unforgettable,
So why did your story end?
"Let it go,
Forget it,"
But I still regret it,
It's the same as playing pretend.
(Chorus)
So I
I make a wish to the stars
That you can hear me
That you'll return to this world,
I miss you dearly!
If I lost my voice for real,
Could you return? That's the deal.
I would trade every part of me
So you could change the way I feel!
(Verse 2)
(Shuddering breath)
You know, they cleaned up your room
We don't talk about you now.
I can't say much of anything
I keep my feelings down.
But if I go the distance
Can I restore your existence
Find you in an endless sky?
"Be prepared,
You're almost there,"
When should I not care?
Your place in my heart won't die.
(Chorus)
So I
I make a wish to the stars
That you will return
That you'll ruffle my hair
And ease my concerns!
Second star to the right
Is that where you are tonight?
I feel a darkness moving in
Can you send me some of your light?
(Bridge)
Can I still chase after you?
I can't can't keep up.
Busy trying to fill your shoes
Please don't leave me behind,
I still got more of my heart to lose!
When will I start healing,
Stop this aching feeling?
The stars are gleaming, but I can't tell
What are they revealing?
(Chorus)
So I
I make a wish to the stars
'Cause that's all I've got!
Yes I have friends and family,
But to keep them, what is the cost?
How far will I go to face this danger,
To let out my anger?
And if I got you back, it's been so long,
Can I be healed by a stranger?
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fountainpenguin Ā· 1 year ago
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hi my friend shared one of ur rancher posts with me on twt and i went INSANE- so i wanted to know if u had a twt? (cause thats where im most active for ranchers stuff) :0
?? My post has broken containment??? Incredible. If that's the one I just posted tonight then that's insane skldjf
No, I deleted my Twitter back in like... 2019 or 2020? I was only there to keep up with publishers and PitMad but then I never used it... never looked back, ha ha.
You're welcome to hang around my blog if you like (I use the tag #Team Rancher for all my Rancher commentary, reblogged art, or original art and I like to think I have a pretty good tag system so you can follow me if interested and blacklist stuff from other fandoms you don't care about; I try to talk positively about my fandoms, keep things clean, and not hate on anything since I like having a peaceful fanspace I can sink myself in and step away from the outside world :) But I'm multi-fandom, so I've got a mixed amount of stuff and it's okay if that's not for you).
-> If you haven't looked yet, I encourage you to browse my Team Rancher tag and check out some of those awesome artists and fellow fandom members!
I do have a very active AO3 account. I regularly post MCYT and non-MCYT content there, but you can specifically subscribe to my Pixels Imperfect series on AO3 if you only want emails for my MCYT content. It's a series, but it doesn't have to be read in order (It's just where I keep all my "morally gray pixel people living their best lives despite the outside world being total anarchy" stuff).
Specifically, tomorrow I'm posting the first part of a short story called Criminal Experience and Chapter 1 involves Tango visiting Mumbo's llama farm. Jimmy's not there, but maybe you'll still enjoy if you like Tango, ranch animals, and/or are curious to see if you like my stuff and my Tango portrayal :) [EDIT - Link]
-> I also posted some Jimmy content this past Tuesday; he makes his first big appearance in Chapter 6 of Dog's Life.
Again, totally fine if this doesn't fit what you're looking for since I'm giving you "Tango content" and "Jimmy content" but not specifically "Team Rancher content"... that's just all I've got right now! But I love talking about them and their characterization and you're always welcome to hit me up if you like!
I don't have anything that is specifically Team Rancher on my to-do writing list, but I'm working behind the scenes on a "put all the Life series into a single coherent timeline and making everything as canon as possible" project, so there will probably be some Team Rancher there. It's Scar-centric so I only have the Clockers nailed down right now, but the Ranchers were my faves so they'll probably exist in some shape or form in that series.
That series is called Neighborhood Watch, though I don't have anything posted for it on AO3 yet so I can't link you that one :')
-> If you are a Team Rancher fanartist/fanwriter and you use Twitter to post Rancher content, feel free to reblog or reply to this post and self-advertise! (But keep this post sfw, please)
[Psp psp even if you don't use Twitter, feel free to reblog or reply because I'm firmly a Tumblr user but I'd also love more Team Rancher in my life <3]
I'm glad you enjoyed my post! I really like Team Rancher... they are just very kind to each other and I could talk for ages about how they passed Scott's compatibility test with flying colors even though he was trying to rig it so they break up SLDKFJSLDFJ <3 Tango and Jimmy were just super kind to each other and incredibly comedic... Double Life was such a fun series. I miss them.
I've got a ton of Rancher fanart reblogs in my drafts/queue but I'm trying to space them out to avoid slam-dunking my followers, sldkfj. We love Team Rancher in this household. Thanks for stopping by!
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meanlesbean Ā· 1 year ago
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Chapter commentary
are people interested in seeing my chapter commentary for Cadence of a Legacy? idk. I'm posting it anyway. voila.
Chapter 1 notes are longer than the others because I included more detail about the planning of the fic. Anyway, here there be: musings on family and brotherhood and how it shows up in linked universe fanworks, Hyrule as an arsonist, Wild's economy, and more info about card games than anyone else probably cares about. minor totk spoilers about one sidequest but nothing plot related (if you need, skip the bullet that starts "pre-totk release".) Here we go:
Chapter 1 - The Woods Between
I am not joking about having a phone note that says ā€œmaking peace with your inner child when your inner child has physically manifested and wants to cause problems on purposeā€. I would include a screenshot of said note, but then you would all see how long I have been toying with this idea and thatā€™s too embarrassing
IMO, there is an astounding lack of fic focusing on the relationship between Time and Twilight even though they are the only ones who interact in game canon. And Iā€™ve read every good Time-centric fic probably a dozen times. So unfortunately that meant I had to go write my own. Unfortunately the plot that I came up with doesnā€™t work with Time (or Mask) as the POV character, so it evolved into a Twilight-centric fic as well.Ā 
The bones of this chapter were mostly written in a notebook last year at my terrible job when I had a desk in the corner and nothing to do 85% of the time. Large parts of the set up of the chapter remain the same from this draft, with even a select few of the lines staying the same word for word. But the handwritten version, which covered all of Chapter 1 and parts of Chapter 2, was only about 7 pages front and back (rip to the 11k monster it became)
Literally I never would have posted this fic if I hadnā€™t read the the FMA fic series demon alchemist and realized that the reason I hated my draft so much was because the narrative voice was too impersonal
So I started working on this fic again last fall with a lot more attention paid to establishing a clear voice, and I finally started making solid progress, to the point where I made it a goal to share it on AO3, which I have not done in a long long time
Hyruleā€™s missing fingers are a reference to the demon alchemist series btw. I do imagine he lost them from an enemyā€™s throwing ax or mace. Twilight complaining about the number of enemies with throwing weapons is also me complaining about how hard Zelda II is. fucking Dairas.Ā 
Other fic inspiration includes: Call Them Brothers, for getting me thinking about situations in which Warriors doesnā€™t know that Time is the kid he fought with in the war, and more generally, Sinnatiousā€™ LU and LOZ fics for inspiration on Timeā€™s voice.Ā 
I cannot tell you how much time I spent rewriting and reworking the first half of the chapter. Honestly writing that first part was just like. Agonizing. Nothing was working for so long. Every time I tried fixing a problem, I created two more. I was very close to cutting out the scene of Twilight scouting and the camp shenanigans and skipping to Twilight meeting Mask, but then it felt like everything went way too quick. I was very relieved when people liked the wrestling scenes because that whole section had me tearing my hair out. The things that kept me going were spite and also how desperate Iā€™ve been to get back into writing. Literally that one defunctland tweet.Ā 
In contrast, the second half of the chapter (everything from the Epona grooming scene on) came so easy. All of the latter stuff was written and edited within like 2 weeks. My favorite scene from this chapter actually ended up being that part with Twilight and Time taking care of Epona.Ā 
More specific notes:
My take on Twilightā€™s aversion/distrust of magic is that he has a really strong sense for it, but he doesnā€™t have much of a knowledge base of how magic works. So this results in Twilight frequently getting a lot of information that he canā€™t make sense of, and it really fucking freaks him out.Ā 
I know fandom likes to characterize Wild as the group arsonist, but I think Hyrule would be just as big if not a bigger arsonist, which was why I had him be the one to suggest using fire. If you want to uncover all the hidden items/heart pieces in the OG Zelda without a guide or walkthrough, you have to burn so many trees. Like, if you are ever stuck in that game and donā€™t know where to go next, 70% of the time your solution is either bombs or fire.Ā 
I played ten thousand rounds of ā€œshould their titles (ie. rancher, captain, etc) be lowercase or capitalized?ā€ while writing this.Ā I know people usually have them call each other their fandom names, but tbh that always throws me off just a little, even though I 100% get why people do it because good lord it would be easier.
I feel like a lot of LU works (speaking generally about the fandom output as a whole, not about any particular fic) leans heavily into the emotional support and comradery aspect of the chain as family, and does not include nearly enough of like. annoying each other on purpose and play violence and rubbing each othersā€™ faces in the dirt.Ā which is a big reason for why I kept the wrestling scene.
Maybe itā€™s because me and my family members were little demons but like. I have brothers and mostly boy cousins, and a solid 60% of our time as kids/teens was spent playing some variation of King of the Rock. I appreciate the found family softness, and there will definitely be a lot of that in this fic, but my experience with siblinghood includes a lot of chasing each other around with wiffle ball bats and trying to strangle each other. The Links are brothers! and sometimes that means that you will try to ruin your brotherā€™s whole day just because you are mildly bored.Ā 
Warriors and the teens are playing Rummy. I imagine that the group plays a lot of card games, and since I grew up playing tons of cards, I have put way too much thought into all of this. Other popular games among the group (depending on how many people they have) probably include Texas (Ordon?) hold em, whist, knockout, BS, gin rummy, and hearts. Hearts can get contentious with them though because you can engage in coordinated sabotage. Four and Legend are not allowed to be partners in Whist because theyā€™re the only ones who can count all the cards in play. There is a near-unanimous group ban on Spoons because it got too violent. Ā 
Legend having heterochromia is inspired by an Oracles manga panel redraw someone posted on here years ago that I cannot for the life of me find again
I have this headcanon that Wild, in comparison to the rest of the gang, is absurdly rich but does not really realize it because he just does not have a ton of shit to actually spend money on. This is based on the ridiculous amount of rupees/gems I have on my 100% botw file and also my own musings on the state of Hyruleā€™s economy post-calamity. Mostly I think that post-calamity Hyrule does not have super discrete classes like most other Hyrules do, and that a luxury economy does not really exist.Ā 
Pre-totk release I actually thought: okay, Wild has a lot of money, but his luxury purchases are limited to like fancy armor, which is directly related to doing his job as the hero. Itā€™s not like most other eras where you can go build wealth by buying up a ton of land. And then totk came around and let you go buy a sizable swatch of land. I still think my original idea mostly holds true, if only because the monster-free areas of Hyrule where someone could safely make a land claim still seem to be pretty limited (even the totk house has monster camps right across the road from it).Ā 
Mask is not dressed in the green tunic for two main reasons, one of which Iā€™ll keep to myself because it felt way too spoilery when I wrote it down. Most importantly, it shows that time has passed since Majoraā€™s Mask. In fact, in chapter 3 we'll learn that it's been just about a year since then. The Kokiri tunic is no more because he grew out of it :(Ā 
I didnā€™t find this reference until after publishing, but I imagine heā€™s dressed more or less like this. Except he has his green cap and a leather belt, baldric, and boots.
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elshells Ā· 1 year ago
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WIP Wthursday
Thank you so much for the tag, @writernopal! Check out her post here!
Rules:
In a reblog (or new post/w rules attached) post up to five filenames of your WIPs, not titles, file names
Post a snippet from one of them. Snippet must be something you wrote in the last 7 days (we're posting progress here. If you haven't made any, go make some and come back to post!)
After you've posted, people can send you an ask with one of your file names. You must then write 3 sentences in that file. If the filename is one you can't share from, write 3 sentences on it anyway and then 3 more on another to share!
That's it! You can invite others to join in or just post. If you tag me in your post, I will send you an ask request.
Tagging @sam-glade, @writingmaidenwarrior, @outpost51, @talesfromaurea, and anyone else who wishes to participate!
AA - SOPHIA
Sophia awoke to daylight, though she didnā€™t remember when she drifted off. Her bones ached as she peeled out of the bed and shuffled over to the bathroom, dull pain shooting through her with each step. In the mirror, she discovered the sourceā€”a brand-new array of colorful bruises from her tumble down the stairs, along with two finger-shaped burns along her jawline where [REDACTED] had touched her. It was like being a Guardian all over againā€”except with all the parts she didn't miss.
2. AA - HARLEY
ā€œThatā€™s the spirit!ā€ Harley grinned and shoved open her door. ā€œI hope you like slapjack. Ahrenā€™s terrible, and since Momā€™s still not here, I might actually win.ā€ "I've never played." Jade picked up the can of spray paint from the backseat and gave it a playful rattle. "Though I have been told that I am a beast at cribbage." Harley laughed. She'd played cribbage with Jade enough times to know that she'd never stand a chance.
3. Encore Draft 1
ā€œWhatā€™s the matter, love?ā€ The magician curled her fingers over the coin and rose from her seat. ā€œTongue-tied?ā€ Cece tightened her grip on the neck of the cider bottle as she took a step toward her. With a guttural scream, she swung the bottle overhead, gasping as the magician caught the bottle deftly in one hand. In a swift motion, she wrenched the bottle out of Cece's hand, popped off the cork, and took a swig. Cece groaned. "Oh, fuck me." "Come, now." The magician lowered the bottle from her lips. "I thought we were friends."
4. EDITED EMBR of the Earth
Tana made her way to the back of the room, stepping around tables and equipment with care. Her bot waited for her in the first receptacle, just as she'd requested. She reached inside and lifted it out, cradling it gently in her hands. A tingle ran through her fingertips at the touch of its cold metal carapace. The drone itself was round and no larger than a brick. Tana checked its fans and motors for signs of damage, but they appeared to be in the same pristine condition they'd been in when the bot left. "Hey, you." She held the bot close to her chest as she carried it over to the centrifuge machine. "You better have something good for me."
5. TOS: Chapter Outline
Leonidas and his band of mercenaries camp out near the shore of Lake Leto. They have captured the Witch of Velon, a young but powerful magical user who has recently been gaining notoriety. After realizing she can still use basic magic despite being neutralized, Leonidas confronts her and questions her about the whereabouts of the lost god Sofengari. Even though she refuses to cooperate, they are interrupted by villagers retreating from a burning town, and are then captured by the town guard after they assume the mercenaries are the cause of the damage.
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