#saving everyone including heroes and villains? Saving spirits as well as physically saving them?

[delawaredetroit]

Best hero Suneater?

Not only did he defeat his villains, but he also saved them from the person exploiting them. Yes, Overhaul was defeated by other heroes. However, if these three defeated Amajiki and left to find Overhaul, at best they would have left with him for further exploitation and at worst would have been absorbed by him to fight Mirio and Izuku.

On a symbolic level, it's implied Amajiki saved their spirits by removing the villain masks that Overhaul made them wear. As previously stated, Overhaul gave masks to his underlings as a form of dehumanization. Amajiki sought to free these villains by removing the masks/roles assigned to them.

[guesst]

some of the best fantasy au fics for bnha that i've read

i decided to make a fic rec list of one of my favourite aus/fusions. mostly midoriya-centric, there are some crossovers (with hp), and a lot of different ways in which the authors have taken them - so it could be Quirks, ghosts, outright fantasy aus, spirits, witches etc etc. there isn't a specific order and there aren't a tonne (these are the ones i could find buried in my bookmarks lol), but the ones on the list are all really well written i love them.

i've tried adding relevant information, the summary (shortened if it's pretty long) and just. adding some random tags that may be important. not all of them though. obviously this is not a complete list and there will most definitely be more fics out there, if there are some really good fics that you know that aren't on this list, feel free to tell me, i'd love to read them!!!

i hope someone enjoys these!

Faith Becomes You by SugaSuga

oneshot | gen dfo, quirkless midoriya summary 'There's a tiny shrine in Musutafu that's overgrown with kudzu vines between Izuku's apartment and his middle-school. There may very well still be a god inside it. There may be nothing but the myth of a man from when Quirks were first emerging. Izuku hides in its walls for a while and ends up tending to the forgotten shrine. All good deeds have their impact, don't they?'

Of Mythos and Men by Oceanbreeze7

oneshot | gen spirit animal au, kinda summary (shortened) 'When he was young, Midoriya always wondered what his mythos would be. The matching half to his quirk, the ancestry of its power. Mythos were strange things, not linked genetically like quirks seemed to be. [...] Midoriya hadn't met his mythos. Even in UA. (In his dreams, something called to him, 'Chase me!')'

what a lion cannot manage by LadyLiterature

multichapter | ongoing | f/m, m/m kitsune au, female izuku, future bakudeku summary (shortened) 'She wants to be a hero. Wants to save everyone she meets and even the people she hasn’t. [...] A smart fox avoids fights. A smart fox does not seek them out. A smart fox does not fight for everyone. A smart fox, when they absolutely must, only fights for themselves and what is theirs and nothing else. Izumi, for all that she tries to be, is not a good fox.'

My Magic Academia by Kiterou

series | oneshots and multichapter | ongoing | gen HP crossover, wizard midoriya, platonic bkdk, some ocs summary (shortened) ' [...] In which Midoriya Inko is a witch and Izuku a wizard and even after 150 years of quirks taking over the world, Izuku still couldn't tell Kacchan that he isn't worthless and that he still could become a hero all on his own.'

A Lonely Windchime Makes No Sound by Musecookie

multichapter | ongoing | multi reader/shinso, total fantasy au, very wholesome summary (shortened) ' [...] You enjoy visiting your slightly creepy local library. When you accidentally befriend the elusive owner's familiar, he begins to appear more and more when you visit. You don't really mind, and he doesn't seem to hate you, even when the two of you become tied up in each other's fate as you pursue the secret to reviving a magical species of flower. Soft Strangers to Friends to Lovers type beat with lots of fluff and naps! Sleepy cuddles included.'

The grapes of friendship by Gentrychild

oneshot | gen crack, dfo, vampire izuku summary 'Izuku, a dhampir hiding his real identity as he goes to UA, the best wizard school in the country, spends the day with his friends. None of them are aware of it.'

Yesterday Upon the Stair by PitViperofDoom

multichapter | complete | gen less supernatural, izu's quirk lets him see ghosts, he still has ofa summary (shortened) 'Midoriya Izuku has always been written off as weird. As if it's not bad enough to be the quirkless weakling, he has to be the weird quirkless weakling on top of it. But truthfully, the "weird" part is the only part that's accurate. He's determined not to be a weakling, and in spite of what it says on paper, he's not actually quirkless [...] Not that anyone would believe it if he told them.'

sum of all (and by them driven) by Elemental

series | multichapter | ongoing | gen dadzawa, spirits give quirks, izu sees these spirits series summary 'Quirks aren't what you think they are.' first part summary (shortened) 'Midoriya Izuku is medically quirkless, not technically homeless, perpetually exhausted and doing his damned best despite it all. He also sees spirits, which might be cool if not for the fact that a) no one else does, b) they really don't like him very much, and c) he's pretty sure the heroes now think he's a villain working for the League [...]'

The Struggles of a Modern-Day Vampire by miraculousemily47

oneshot | gen crack, 1-a shenanigans, vampire midoriya summary 'After Midoriya Izuku is turned into a vampire towards the end of his first year at U.A., he decides he wants to tell his classmates about his condition. The only problem is that he can't physically say the words, and his classmates are fucking idiots.'

Lights in the Dark by FrostKitten

series | oneshots | ongoing | gen supernatural au, izuku can see demons etc, quirkless/magic au summary (of first part) 'Midoriya Izuku, like most young kids, knows there are monsters. They live in closets, under beds, and occasionally in the park. As he grows older, his friends stop seeing them...but he still does.'

Hand in Unlovable Hand by jumbletea

series | oneshots | ongoing | gen vampire midoriya (and aizawa), dadzawa, toga n dabi n mido being siblings summary 'A collection of stories surrounding a not-quite-human Izuku and everyone he meets along the way.'

Simply Superstitious by CryCaladrius

multichapter | ongoing | gen lots of folklore and yokai and stuff, 'quirkless' magic user izuku, decent dad hisashi too summary (shortened) 'Izuku Midoriya’s father is a Hou-ou — a Japanese phoenix. For some reason, this means yokai have a standing invitation to pester Izuku with their existence. Birds assemble choirs for his birthday. If there’s no cedar leaf under the welcome mat, the amazake babaa that lives two apartments over will be knocking on their door by evening. His yokai-purifying excursions get mistaken for vigilantism far too often. [...]'

Cuckoo Bird (anonymous author)

multichapter | ongoing/maybe discontinued | gen it may be discontinued but theres lots of fae folklore, deku is a changeling, deals etc, plus some platonic shindeku building up?? summary 'There's something off about Midoriya Izuku. (change·ling /ˈCHānjliNG/ noun a child believed to have been secretly substituted by fairies for the parents' real child in infancy.)'

tread softly as you go by IceEckos12

oneshot | gen if you read any fae au please let it be this! has faeries but mido is not one summary 'Humans used to be good at the old ways. They used to know how to bait the trap, to spin a web of words and lies that would ensnare even the most wily. Humans used to be able to twist deceptions around knots of iron and turn them into weapons of power. They forgot a long, long time ago. A boy unwittingly makes a deal with one of the fae, severing his ties to humanity. However, he finds that the fae world is far more strange and complex than he ever could have imagined.'

Hell is just a shoujo manga by supercrunch

multichapter | complete | f/m fantasy au, bakudeku, fem!izuku, isekai, dekusquad stuff, also some iidachako summary (shortened) 'Izuku wakes up crushed under a statue, trapped in the body of a princess who doesn't exist. Turns out she's a demon, which is weird. What's even weirder is the déjà vu that surrounds Kamino palace, reminding her of the events of this one manga she used to love. [...] But that's probably just a coincidence. [...] The problem here, obviously, is that Izuku's the demon princess. Ergo, she's a villain. And that means she's going to die at the end of this manga. Again.'

hold your breath as you cross by cassiopeia721

oneshot | gen dadzawa, another 'quirks are from spirits au' (expect more of those actually), mido is sad :( summary 'As the bridge between the world of guardian spirits and the quirk users who are blessed by them, Izuku's duty is to clean up the mess his predecessor left. It's taken what feels like an eternity worth of work, but Izuku's finally finished, and he's ready to rest at last. Unfortunately, the pro heroes who just watched him take down the Scourge of Kamino have no intention of letting him just wander off, and he finds himself stuck in an interrogation room with a bunch of humans who he's sure will never believe a word he says.'

To See with Eyes Unclouded by CrazySatan

series | oneshots | ongoing | gen witch au, witch midoriya, quirkless mido, bkg is not a good friend series summary 'Midoriya Izuku is a witch. A powerful witch. And even though he doesn't have a quirk, and magic doesn't Work Like That, Izuku ends up a hero. Somehow.'

Demons and Darkness by wolfsrainrules

series | oneshots | ongoing | gen dadzawa, shinso and mido and bkg are becoming friends, they can see monsters/spirits/bad things summary of first part 'Izuku has believed in the things that go bump in the night since he was small. That means he can see them, and almost everyone he knows....can't. So he decides he's going to be the shield humanity needs, no matter what. Eventually, he finds others that See too.'

know what i've made by the marks on my hands by simkjrs

multichapter | ongoing/maybe discontinued | gen dadzawa, quirk spirit au (this inspired most of the others on this list), also eri summary (shortened) 'Midoriya Izuku just wants to lead a quiet, peaceful life. This is foiled by the fact that a) he can see spirits, b) his good nature demands that he help anyone he sees in trouble, and c) he, by all rights, should not exist. [...]'

Izuku haunts class 1-A by Artistic-Gamer

series or multichapter whichever floats your boat | incomplete (hiatus) | other there are some triggering themes! such as suicide, blood, body disfigurement! please take care of yourself and avoid reading if this will hurt you! in other news: so much dadzawa, so much friendship, hurt mido summary (of first part) 'Class 1-A is rumored to be haunted, only the residents are aware it’s more than just a rumor..'

U.A's Resident Ghost by BeyondTheClouds777

multichapter | ongoing/maybe discontinued | gen ghost midoriya, dadzawa, friendships!!!! summary 'There is a ghost at U.A. Not haunting U.A. Not even hanging out at U.A. There is a ghost. Enrolled. As a student of U.A. And it's just Shouta's luck that he has everything to do with it.'

and now, the weather by xylophones

oneshot | gen CRACK, paranormal/ghost hunters au, dekusquad stuff summary 'Izuku runs a fictional horror radio show. Because ghosts aren’t real. Right? (“Holy shit, ghosts are real,” Izuku whispers. Then, with the smugness of a sixteen-year-old who just won a decade long bet, “I knew it! Kacchan owes me five hundred yen!” “Midoriya,” Todoroki sighs, “this ghost is trying to kill us.”)'

U.A Unsolved by handcrusher(ameliafromafairytale)

oneshot | gen (it's a fic of a fic, so if you've read yesterday upon the stair then you'll understand better) izuku can see ghosts thats his quirk summary ' "Hey there, ghosts," Midoriya says, "it's me, ya boy." The dorms are haunted. Shenanigans ensue.'

The Haunting of Class 1-A by BritishRobutt

multichapter | ongoing/maybe discontinued | n/a ghost midoriya, vigilante au, crack, the ghost bit is izu's quirk summary 'Everyone always told Izuku he couldn't be a hero, so when he dies and discovers his quirk, he becomes a vigilante out of spite. Whoops. After becoming Spectre, Japan's most wanted vigilante, Izuku realizes he can just fulfill his dreams of going to the top heroic school- after all, who can physically stop him from attending UA when he's a literal ghost?'

Caged by SternStunde

oneshot | gen tododeku, fantasy au (todo is a dragon, mido is a princess), genderbent deku (fem deku) summary 'Then she held up one of the books and smiled. "Want to learn an ancient language with me?" She was kind of a nerd, and she really hoped the dragon was too.'

Magic Runs Deep by draconicschinx

multichapter | ongoing/probably discontinued | gen mido has a quirk and he can see mythical creatures. summary '"Midoriya Izuku has always been good at making friends. Not human ones, really, but they are good friends nonetheless. " Izuku can see and talk to and interact with mythical creatures. It's not exactly the quirk he was hoping for, but he's going to use it to help humans and his non-human friends all the same.'

[hamliet]

Penny and Death in Fiction

Musings more so than meta, brought to you by frequently receiving asks accusing me of hypocrisy for having different opinions on characters dying in different stories, and as a way of me working out why I feel very, very differently from most of the RWBY fandom about Penny’s death. Obviously this is not to say people can’t have their own feelings or disagree (clearly the majority do disagree) but these are just my thoughts based on how I read death in fiction and the themes/set up or RWBY in particular.

"Anyone can die" and "redemptive death" and "sacrificial death" are overused tropes for sure. But that doesn't mean they never work or never fit. They just are often used as cheap ways to hook an audience (instead of relying on the substance of the story) and/or avoid difficult questions in a story that would demand exploration (like what happens to the mass murderer after redemption?). The oversaturation, and frankly, misuse, of these death tropes almost seems to have led to a sort-of knee-jerk reaction in fandom in the other direction, where death can’t happen at all or it’s bad writing, and I just... I don’t agree.

A story doesn’t need to avoid the topic of death to be hopeful. In fact, to many of us, it’s comforting to see grief on screen and to be encouraged to grieve.

SnK’s main theme is “the world is cruel, but the world is also beautiful.” We see that death is one of the cruelest parts of the world from the very first chapter, with Carla’s death. And yet, we’re shown that risking lives for a greater cause--the Survey Corps in the opening pages--is a part of that beauty. So, while SnK is sometimes very critical of self-sacrifice (Armin, Reiner, and Historia are all suicidal and looking for a hero’s death as a way out), it isn’t always. There’s nuance. Erwin’s and Porco’s and Zeke’s deaths, for example, are framed as moments of heroism because of the desperate circumstances. The circumstances are cruel, but within a cruel world, they were capable of beautiful choices because choice is in some ways all we’re guaranteed; we can’t choose our circumstances. The reason Eren was never going to survive SnK after this turn was because he acted against the main theme, against the concept of choice, removing it for many people, and against the concept of being born into the world being enough to give life value.

BSD is my favorite and probably the most flagrant about redemption and not killing its characters (any main ones so far). But it makes sense when you look at what the theme is--it’s specifically about looking for a reason to live. However, BSD  doesn’t avoid death either: all of its characters’ backstories are steeped in death (most are orphans, Oda, Atsushi’s headmaster, etc), and Dazai’s suicidal ideation forces the characters to confront the helplessness of grief and pain without actually killing characters. Our main characters probably won’t die--they’ll find a reason to live--but they still have to deal with death around them, and learn to grieve when appropriate. Death, the high cost of living.

Tokyo Ghoul was probably the most blatantly critical of self-sacrifice, exploring the ways self-sacrifice hurts those around you and was often just a desperate attempt to find a place in the world and assert you matter via a glorious sacrifice. Thus, its main message was “it may not be stylish, but... live.” But even so, characters died all the time in TG and TGre. Grief and learning to carry on in a brutal world where some types of people (ghouls) were forced to kill were major presences in the story. In fact, it seemed to suggest living was a valuable enough premise itself that to keep living even in the face of impending death was beautiful.

BNHA’s main theme is “heroes save.” BNHA has established someone dying as distinctly not saving them (see: the Ending fight, where our MCs literally say that they won’t let anyone die); hence, it doesn’t make sense for the heroes to “save” the villains only to have them die. If you’re gonna reward your MCs for upholding the main theme (you should), they should have their decision matter.

Tonally, RWBY is most similar to BNHA in that they are both fundamentally hopeful, optimistic stories. However, RWBY and BNHA frame death differently because of their particular themes and storylines.BNHA’s premise is based in superhero genre, where death is usually meaningless; RWBY’s is in fairy tales and alchemy--both of which have death as a central tenet. Yes, fairy tales, while we think of them as being very kid-friendly, almost always include an aspect of death and/or loss. RWBY frames death as part of life, BNHA frames death as something that villains utilize to hurt and thus needs to be stopped. For RWBY accepting death is literally the main conflict (Salem's motivation is her inability to do this!) while BNHA saving people from being hurt is the main conflict.

I’ve seen so many takes that RWBY is critical of self-sacrifice, and it is just... not. It doesn’t glorify it, but it doesn’t deconstruct it either. Pyrrha’s death is not a sacrifice; she’s not trying to gain time. She’s just trying to do the right thing for herself, to be the hero she knew she was. Her death is somewhat pyrrhic, yes, because everything still collapses, but Pyrrha’s life--of which her death is a part, not the end--is far from futile. The scene with Pyrrha’s mother at the statue of her shows that Pyrrha’s heroic legacy, her determination to do all she could to stop Cinder even when she knew it was hopeless to stop her--that helps Pyrrha to live beyond her death. I mean, RWBYJNROE are facing the possibility of never being able to defeat Salem, but they’re still fighting, just like Pyrrha.

As for actual sacrifices in the story, Hazel’s death saves the kids. Vine’s saves his friends. Penny’s saves her people for now, but it doesn't immediately solve the conflicts either. Thus, it doesn’t glorify her death or hold death up as a worthy goal, but it does respect her choice and does not frame it as a bad or futile thing (if it was a bad thing, she wouldn’t have saved everyone even if temporarily).

Penny wanted to be a human being; that was her greatest wish, even with the guarantee of eventual death and no guarantee of tomorrow. She always was human, of course, but she wanted to be human in all senses, including the physical as well as the spiritual (which she always was).

Is her resulting death a negative framing of that choice? No, I don’t think so. In RWBY, death is not punishment. Grief is not a punishment. Death is a part of life, and learning to live with death (grief) is essential to a peaceful, healthy world. We see what happens when people cannot accept death and grieve (Hazel and Salem). 

Penny’s whole thing was that her choices weren’t respected. She was constantly objectified. Yet choice is a fundamental part of being human, and the repercussions of our choices are a part of that. She wanted to choose. Like with SnK, sometimes all we have is choice in RWBY. It’s one of the gifts of the gods, after all. All they can do is choose to keep fighting, keep trying in a broken world.

Yes, I do think it’s a bit of a valid criticism to have had Penny suicidal a few episodes ago, but she was not suicidal in the moment of her death. She wasn’t hoping to die. She had gotten everything she wanted; she could not be controlled anymore, not in the way she had been. She was giving it her all against Cinder to save her friends and her people; if Cinder hadn’t shown up, she would have just gone to Vacuo. Her final choice was to decide what to do with her power, sometime Cinder could not take from her. And like Pyrrha, she will continue to live on in those she loved--in Winter via the powers, and in spirit with her friends and their memories.

Penny’s death is not a negative thing, but bringing her back against her wishes would be.

[sarahjtv]

BNHA 296 Spoiler Thoughts

Ok, wow.  I was just sitting down enjoying my Sunday when the next chapter suddenly decides to drop onto our laps and bring us all to tears.  I did not expect it, but I welcome it with somber feels.  Of course, since this is the aftermath chapter, I have a lot thoughts.  Here we go:

•The chapter starts off with narration from Deku on what happened after the big battle.  This tells us that he’s still alive (presumedly) thank god.  There’s a panel later that shows him on a stretcher (I think) or a bed, but he’s unconscious.  Regardless, I don’t see Deku’s limbs going back to normal after all this unless something comes in to fix them.  Eri’s not an option here because she used all her energy on Mirio recently, so don’t go thinking that’ll work unless there’s a time-skip.

•So far, Pixie Bob, Wash, Present Mic, and Thirteen are still alive and fighting.  Thirteen, however, seems to have lost an arm when she was in the lab... We do see some of her face, so that’s a reveal if anything.  

•Deku says that their were at least 10 Near High-End Nomu in that battlefield.  3 of them were disposed and 7 escaped.  We did see one get captured by Best Jeanist in the last chapter so maybe they can get some intel from it.

•Mr. Compress is alive!  I’m honestly glad that he’s alive because I could’ve sworn he was going to die.  That reveal we had about him being the descendent of the Perilous Thief was just too big for him to be killed off right away.  I’m hoping we can learn more about him and the Thief later.

•Back at the resort: ReDestro, Getten, Trumpet, and more than 16,900 PLF soldiers were caught.  Edgeshot is still alive too, but he looks tired and his arm is messed up.  I do not see that Old Samurai hero from the top 10 around, so my best bet is that he’s alive.  I hope...

•Now, we REALLY get a look at all the death and destruction that this war has caused.  Adults, kids, and families are either injured or dead.  Everyone is traumatized.  Thankfully Froppy and Uraraka (I can’t spell her first name right to save me...) are working on rescuing (Uraraka in particular is good for this thanks to her Zero Gravity).  A lot of other heroes like Koda and Manga are helping out too, but the screams of people in pain and horror do not leave the pages and it’s honestly haunting to read.

•And poor Uraraka.  As she’s saving people, you can see her hair get messier and messier.  There’s one really well-drawn, but sad, panel of her with spots of blood on her and her hair isn’t “floaty” like it normally is.  It’s droopy and straight down like she’s been caught in rain or something.  I’m not used to her being like this.  This war is going to make her rethink things, I think.  

•There’s one hero, who in the mist of all this, says that this whole thing was a mistake.  He’s thinking about finding a new job.  I highly doubt he’s the only on thinking this.  War affects people badly.  They want to fight for the greater good, but the cost is their own mentality, physicality, and even their lives.  Sometimes other people’s lives.  So, in a world of heroes where things like this happen on a devastating scale, you have to wonder “Is being a hero really worth it?”  I’m sure more heroes, maybe even students, will be thinking about this in the future.  I won’t be surprised if some quit entirely.   

•And now the hero death toll.  Oh my god...  The first thing I saw when I saw the leaks was Midnight’s death.  I’m devastated.  Her horniness aside, I loved her character.  Midnight genuinely cared for her students and wanted them to grow into amazing heroes.  She supported her high school friends, Present Mic and Aizawa, the whole way through including Shirakumo’s death.  She adopted the cat the 4 of them took care of during high school and I believe it’s still alive today.  I can’t imagine what Mic and Aizawa are going to feel when they hear about this.  I honestly thought she was going to make it out alive.  I thought that she was safe and had some plot armor on her.  But no.  She’s dead.  Midnights’s not coming back.  The students are mourning her especially Mina, Kirishima, and Momo.  The three main players in the sedative plan.  Their plan worked, but had it worked sooner, a lot of lives could’ve been saved.  Ultimately, none of this is their fault, but it’s going to weigh on them heavily.  Please give these kids therapy.

•Adding onto Midnight, heroes like Crust, Majestic, X-Less, and Native are dead.  We know about Midnight, Crust, and X-Less now, but the rest were not known yet.  I doubled out Majectic and Native here for reasons.  Majestic was Momo’s 2nd intern mentor before the war.  We didn’t know much about him or his Quirk (it was some sort of levitation via ring platforms), but he did save the student’s lives when they were about to be run over by Gigantomachia.  Looks like that was a sacrifice.  Native, if you remember, was the hero Iida, Deku, and Shoto saved back in Hosu back when they fought Stain.  We didn’t know much about him, but it sucks to know that he was saved then only to be killed now.  This will probably hurt Iida, Deku, and Shoto real bad knowing that saving him became pretty null and void in the end.  

•Aside from that, the rest of them look like they were young, in their prime, or veterans in the world of Pro Heroes.  It just sucks in general to have to see all these lives cut short.  But, that’s how war goes, unfortunately.  

•Endeavor...  I’m one of the people who actually like Endeavor.  I will never forgive him for what he did to Shoto and his family pre-Sports Festival.  But, I wanted to see how he would redeem himself after Kosu.  So far, he was doing well.  He didn’t expect forgiveness and only wanted to atone.  Everything in the Todoroki family was finally going well.  And then Dabi/Touya showed up and screwed up everything.  Now, everyone knows about Endeavor’s past as an abuser and they will never see him in the same light again.  I don’t think he has a choice but to admit to his sins publicly and then retire.  I hate the idea because he is a good hero, but I don’t see any other way he’s going to get out of this.  Same with Hawks.  I don't see him going back to hero work either.  

•There’s one small panel with 2 kids from the short Remedial Course Arc we got with Shoto and Bakugo.  Rough translation, one of the kids asks if things will be okay and the other says that they’ll be fine because “That’s what Five Weenies told us after all!”  This broke me.  “Five Weenies” refers to Shoto Todoroki.  As funny as this should be, hearing that Shoto, the one who arguably got mentally scared the most in this whole battle, still gives those kids hope that everything will be okay... I just don’t know what to say.  I’m glad Shoto kept those kid’s spirits alive (Bakugo did too; neither are visibly in this chapter for some reason), but he is by no means “fine”.  #GiveShotoTodorokiTherapy2020

•And finally All For One.  Fuck this guy.  All that death and destruction and he wants more.  The translation’s still rough, but based on what he says in the end, I think we are going to get a Prison Break Arc.  He says “Go free my main body.” to the Nomus  AFO is still in Tartarus.  Guess who else is there?  Stain, Overhaul (the Ultra Analysis said that he got prosthetics or something for his arms and his Quirk adapted to that) , Moonfish, Kurogiri, I think Muscular, and plenty of other villains.  Horikoshi hinted that Moonfish might come back (he was apparently going to executed, but idk...) and the preview says “The worst is yet to come”...  Yeah, this war is over.  We’re really only just beginning. 

[revchainsaw]

Nausicaa and the Valley of the Wind (1984)

Prayers and Salutations Cult Members! I am your mysterious minister Reverend Chainsaw and this is another nights revival service at the Cult Film Tent Revival. I bring you a special word tonight. Tonight's word is about a person who roamed the earth, in a time where people were backward and warlike. A leader emerged into a kingdom full of eschatological expectation. This leader came preaching peace, and was killed for the sins of the world, but was resurrected. In that resurrection a new hope was brought to the planet, and true healing through the power of love in the face of violence is made possible. I am talking of course about Princess Nausicaa from the Valley of the Wind.

The Message

Nausicaa and the Valley of the Wind is the film that put studio Ghibli and Hayoa Miyazaki on the map. No animated feature this grandiose and epic had been achieved by 1984, as much as Disney may beg to differ. The tale may be simple, and it may feel super 80s to us today, but Nausicaa is a masterpiece, and the fact that Howl's Moving Castle is brought up alongside Princess Mononoke and Spirited Away more often than Nausicaa is a farce and a tragedy.

The film takes place on a fantastic planet that seems to have suffered the ravages of an apocalyptic war. A war that involved gigantic warriors with powers so devastating they about made the entire planet inhospitable if not uninhabitable; save for a few areas. The fall out of this ancient war has left the earth in a state of repair, where the natural processes of a planet healing has creating giant toxic jungles.

Beyond these jungles lie two imperialistic factions, they seem almost to be city-states but it's not terribly clear. The Kingdom of Tolmekia, a militaristic proto-fascist society of almost Spartan sensibilities. Tolmekia is governed by the ambitious and cynical Princess Kushana, But I like to call her Furiosa. Just like Furiosa, Kushana is physically missing parts of herself, a visual metaphor for her metaphysical lacking and the parts of her humanity she has cut away. Kushana's world view is one of fear, a fear that can only be quelled by waging a genocidal campaign against her enemies.

Speaking of enemies, the Athens to Tolmekias Sparta would be the Pejite Kingdom. The Pejites might like to view themselves as simply responding to Tolmekian aggression, but the narrative of the film, and the story told quite visibly on the body of Kushana, is quite different. The Pejites are just as bloodthirsty if not more palettable in their approach, but like the Tolmekians, they believe only their own lives have any value. And thus, in this theatre of war, a Giant Warrior from the ages before is unearthed by the Pejite Kingdom, Stolen by the Tolmekians, before the forces of nature themselves, seem to conspire to drop the Giant Warriors "egg" right into the Valley of the Wind.

The Valley of the Wind is populated like the world of Avatar the Last Airbender, that is mostly of children and the elderly. The people of the Valley have been able to remain untouched by the ravages of war and the toxic jungles of the damaged world primarily due to geographic luck that's explained in minor exposition in the film. They are ruled by a King, and they are all deeply enamored by their beloved Princess Nausicaa.

Nausicaa is a gentle soul. She is kind to animals, she is empathetic, unreasonably patient, and bears pain and grief inflicted on her out of cruelty with a saintly understanding. She really is a thinly veiled Christ figure, scratch that. There is no veil. But she's also my favorite Christ figure. She does not preach a message, as much as she tries to save everyone from their own short sighted goals. She is not perfect, she does lash out and do some fantasy sword fight murder, but she regrets her actions so deeply that it seems to have played a part in motivating her to become even more compassionate and patient with the evils of the world.

Nausicaa discovers yet another plot by the Pejites, who are afraid of the possibility of the Tolmekians awakening the Giant Warrior, to use animal cruelty to enrage a group of almost invincible giant insects known as the Ohm. By luring the Ohm into the Valley of the Wind where the Tolmekians have become an occupying force, they hope to completely wipe out everything that threatens them. The Tolmekians DO awaken the Giant Warrior and pure pandemonium ensues. Nausicaa manages to save the Baby Ohm and calm the rage of the bloodthirsty Ohm swarm, and to defeat the warlike tendencies of both the Pejites and the Tolmekians. All the while fulfilling a prophecy fortold about a messianic savior figure called the Man in Blue.

Now that you have heard the Gospel of Nausicaa, please stand to receive The Benediction.

Best Character: Half a Person

Now that I've spent the better part of this review gushing about our Lord and savior Nausicaa. I have to admit, she's at times a bit too perfect, a bit too saccharin. Even her flaw, or her one weakness and her failing to be perfect, just adds to the perfection. I can't even say she never makes mistakes cuz she made one, and that's infuriating. It's even more infuriating that I still think she's a great character. Normally this kind of thing really kills a hero. Most Chosen Ones are the most boring and least likeable characters in their narratives. I don't know how Nausicaa avoids this trap, but she does. I'll have to do some meditating on that.

However, just like in your typical Chosen One fantasy narrative, the hero is a lot less fun than the villain. I'm going to say the best character in Nausicaa is Kushana. I want to be like Nausicaa, but I don't understand her. She's almost alien, even though we learn all about her. Kushana is mysterious, secretive, and enigmatic, yet I understand her. She barely has an arc, she doesn't really change. She's cold and cynical to the bone, but I don't need to see much of her situation to completely understand why she is the way she is. I usually hate totalitarian bad guys, but Kushana I like. Sue Me.

Also fun fact, did you that Nausicaa means 'Sinker of Ships'. That's kinda fun.

Best Scene: Spoiled for Choice

I'm going to be lazy and say take your pick. There is really not a bad seen in this movie. If the action isn't going, then there's intriguing dialogue. If there's no dialogue then you may be about to get hit with a forceful burst of whimsy. There's horror, there's swordfights and aerial dogfights. The only thing in Nausicaa I don't like to see, is the bloody tortured Ohm Baby. It's like a god damned Sarah Mclachlan commercial.

Best Creature: Foxy Shazam!

The Ohm are so simplistic yet so detailed. The number of eyes is alien, but the way they are used is expertly expressive. Who'd think you could get me to love what basically amounts to a silverfish with the intensity that I love a kitten. How did Miyazaki pull an Okja with a creature that should be haunting our dreams? I don't know.

And what about the Giant Warrior! If you are an Evangelion fan then you probably already know that Hideaki Anno designed and animated the melting goopy biomechanical beast. Surely a sight that would make both H.R. Giger and Clive Barker giddy with excitement. Just the image of the silhouettes marching amidst the desolation of the old world is burned into my brain.

So which of these is the best creature from Ghibli's first outing? It's fucking Teto. It was always gonna be Teto you idiot. Just look at Teto, he's adorable. He's too cute to exist. I'm so alone. I need a pet.

Best Character Design: Tolmekian Regalia

I originally included this category to talk some about Kushana, however, at that time I also thought I was going to say Nausicaa was the best character. I thought hard about deleting it, but I think it's a different category and you can't accuse me of playing favorites because my favorite character is clearly Teto. Just to keep it simple. It's the two costume shift from full military regalia in white and gold, to the one metal arm, warrior princess get up. It's a great costume and a great look. Get on this shit cosplay nerds. It's great for Cons in Canada, you have to think about layers, and you can't keep going as Mr. Plow. It's lazy.

Best Excuse to Talk About Patrick Stewart's Character: Lord Yupa

I just realized that I was about to write this whole review without talking about Lord Yupa. Lord Yupa is a sword saint and all around badass I think a lot of entertainment, especially in the west is lacking bad ass old men. Lord Yupa particularly shines in the early half of the film as a warrior and as a wise council to Nausicaa. If she's Jesus then Yupa is John the Baptist. He is also voiced by the elegant and eloquent Patrick Stewart. He also comes with 2 chocobos!

Worst Character: For Whom Asbel Tolls

This might also be the worst actor category as well. Actual Cannibal (haha meme) and actual monster (haha real life) Shia Labeouf doesn't so much act in the role as he read the lines and it was recorded. The good news it doesn't effect the film too much because Asbel is completely forgettable. He is a catalyst to some of the action, but besides that I don't really care for him.

Worst Aspect: To Be Fair ...

It would be unfair to completely ignore anything negative about Nausicaa. I have already mentioned in many places that there are some pretty corny, or pretty predictable tropes to this movie. But what I can't capture in words is exactly why it feels fresh when it's done in this movie. I suppose that's what makes it good. It's just so good that it's weak points are lifted up by it's strengths. Some people may bored of Nausicaa's unyielding goodness, or that she very rarely chooses to take action as much as she chases and pleads with her surroundings, but I mean, she does pay for that eventually. It's a fantasy story and it hits a lot of timeless themes that have been hit in stories for as long as human beings have been telling stories. Some people may feel that it doesn't do enough to stand out.

Summary

I have defined the S tier for myself as "near perfect and personal favorite" films. I like to think that Nausicaa and the Valley of the Wind is near perfect. Some may say that it looks like it might just be a personal favorite. In the case of Nausicaa, I'm having a very hard time telling the difference. I think it would be overly simple to claim that Nausicaa is just an ancient archetypal heroes journey with an 80s anime coat of paint. I think it's doing quite a few new and interesting things with that formula, those things are just playing out all around that narrative as opposed to being at it's center. For a first full length outing by the studio, you can really see Miyazaki's heart and the values he holds close to. I'll repeat myself so that we are completely clear on the matter. I think Nausicaa and the Valley of the Wind is a near perfect movie.

Overall Grade: S

[every-kirishima-eijirou]

The Beauty of Red Riot’s Origin Story: Episode 72 Analysis (LONG POST AHEAD)

Well, here we are! I’ve been waiting ages to watch this episode, and now, it’s finally done, and I am more than happy with how it turned out. I’ve seen it in both Japanese and English, back to back, and both Toshiki Masuda and Justin Cook knocked their performances out of the park, and the emotion conveyed in their voices only made our boy’s origin story that much more emotional. But WHY is it so emotional? What makes such a seemingly ordinary backstory have such an impact on a viewer? (Especially viewers like, you know, US). Well, this is the purpose of this lil analysis here, so let us explore how Kirishima’s backstory contributes so nicely to his character. (Disclaimer: Manga screencaps are not my translation).

Let’s start from the beginning:

This panel shows us what we already knew to begin with: Our boy Kirishima is good-natured, stands up for others, and has strong, manly convictions. Nothing special, really, and the revelation that he was like this long before he entered UA is a great foundation for his character. In that regard, he has a similar foundation to Deku, but what differs is their struggles. Now, we know Deku grew up without a quirk in a society where quirks have been thoroughly normalized, but what does Kirishima struggle with, if anything? Is that even possible, what with him being so outgoing and boisterous?

As it turns out: yes. It’s VERY possible. This is where we see that our Red Riot is not as infallible as we may have thought. Yes, Deku had a hard time growing up without a quirk, and while Kirishima was born with a quirk just like most others, he grew up being ashamed of it, which if you think about it is a lot worse in some ways. Quirks are hereditary, and for many people, including Kirishima, quirks are also an important part of one’s own identity. This can inspire feelings of depression and even envy towards people with “better” quirks, like Mina. In contrast with Kirishima’s more traditional view of heroism and chivalry, Mina has a flashy quirk and bubbly personality, which is really effective for diffusing the situation with the bullies. This is where Kirishima’s manliness fails him, and no, not because he got shown up by a girl (thank GOD for that). It’s because heroism in the “modern” age favors heroes who can provide entertainment. Someone who’d be right at home in, say, the idol industry (like Mina). According to his friends, Kirishima’s hardening quirk, which he sees as boring, would not fly in today’s society. Now, Kirishima doesn’t care so much about what his peers think of him, but he’s still ashamed of his quirk, so he trains to harden his body and spirit, both literally and figuratively: 

Also much like Deku, Kirishima has his own hero he looks up to: Crimson Riot. He serves as Kirishima’s main source of inspiration. It’s where he gets his hardline traditionalism from, and also how he copes with having a quirk he sees as “boring”. Again, this is where he and Deku differ. Deku looks up to All Might in a fanboyish sort of way, which inspired him to strive to be a hero as well. Kirishima, on the other hand, not only sees Crimson Riot as an inspiration to be heroic, but also because they have similar quirks. It’s only natural for a child who’s been conditioned be ashamed of something they can’t help. It’s something I can personally relate to as someone who struggled a lot with sexuality as a teenager, and something many others can surely relate to as well. This makes our boy an effective source of inspiration as well. 

However, no matter how hard he trains, both physically and mentally, Kirishima still can’t train himself to not feel fear. It’s only natural for ordinary people to feel fear. After all, fear was what kept humans alive back when they were just starting out. Still, this goes against all of Kirishima’s ideals of what being a hero means. Sure, he has no problem standing up to some regular school bullies, but unlike him, Mina didn’t hesitate to act when her friends were cornered by a 30-foot tall villain in the street. She’s a prime candidate for UA, so what chance does he have of getting in if he can’t stand up to a literal supervillain?

So, he gives up on his dreams of getting into UA. He didn’t act when it mattered. That was it for him. Even worse, the incident where Deku saved Bakugou from the slime monster made headlines. It was good that Horikoshi showed how this affected Kirishima, who was totally uninvolved, because it makes you think of what exactly that implies. After that incident, Deku was miraculously given a powerful quirk by All Might. Maybe if Kirishima were the protagonist, he would have been so lucky, but that’s not the case (more on this later). Despite this, Crimson Riot blesses Kirishima in a more indirect sense:

In his frustration, Kirishima throws a book against the wall, and coincidentally, this hologram-looking thing of Crimson Riot starts playing, and it’s exactly what he needs to hear. As he listens, Kirishima realizes that not even Crimson Riot is immune to fear, but he copes with it by telling himself that failing to save someone because you didn’t do anything is far worse than charging in and giving it your best shot. That way, he can live his life without regret, which is, from then on, what Kirishima strives to do. 

Finally, with a fresh motivation to get into his dream school, our boy pulls through (and gets 2nd place in the entrance exams!). To commemorate this, Kirishima dyes his hair and vows to leave his past behind him, and Red Riot as we know him today was born. 

This should surprise absolutely nobody, but Kirishima’s is my favorite backstory in the whole series, and to conclude this lil essay, I’m going to explain why. As I said before, his backstory is something a lot of people can resonate with. Feeling shame and self-doubt is something many people go through, and it’s prevalent with people who have conditioned themselves to feel ashamed of something beyond their control. Coming to terms with my bisexuality was a struggle for me, so I can definitely relate indirectly. 

This ties into the SYMpathy vs EMpathy argument. A lot of backstories in My Hero Academia, or even media in general, are tragic in a way that not everyone can relate to (not criticism, just observation). Let’s take Todoroki, for example: he was essentially quirk-bred by his father and was abused by him, being trained to the point of overexertion. On top of that, his mother gave him the scar over his left eye, and he has carried that trauma with him his whole life. Not everyone had such a toxic upbringing, but Todoroki sure did, and many people feel sorry for him. In other words, they sympathize. Kirishima, to contrast, had a much healthier upbringing, but has a lot of internalized self-esteem issues that everyone can relate to (or empathize with). While sympathy is the capacity to feel sorry for someone, empathy is the capacity to UNDERSTAND someone. Don’t get me wrong, tragedy is often a crucial element to a story’s narrative (if it’s done well), but it’s sometimes more cathartic for the viewer to see a character overcome more everyday struggles, especially if they can understand them on a fundamental level.

The last argument I will make goes back to what I was saying about Kirishima not being the protagonist, and I think if he WERE, his origin story would not be nearly as impactful. One might say that Kirishima embodies the more stereotypical “hot-blooded” shonen protagonist than Deku does, and I agree to some extent. However, it works better for him to be a supporting character. In most shonens (like Naruto), the protagonist’s backstory is established right away, and as such, the viewer always sees their character in the context of what they were like in the past (we get it STOP SHOWING US THE FUCKING SWING--) In Kirishima’s case, his backstory comes into play much later, and by that point, we are already so familiar with his Red Riot persona that the revelation that he wasn’t always so eager and optimistic hits that much harder, and seeing how it contrasts with Kirishima as we know him in the present feels more rewarding. Yes, we get to see bits and pieces of it early on, like when he feels inadequate after meeting Tetsutetsu and seeing that their quirks are nearly identical, but seeing those feelings fully presented in his backstory only serves to drive that home. In short, we see, at a glance, how far he’s come since then, instead of being forced to watch the whole process from start to finish, and it works really well. 

Another common trend among shonen protagonists, as I said before, is their tendency to be blessed with miraculous new abilities to make them special (and that includes Deku). Obviously, that didn’t happen with Kirishima. He had no pro-hero mentor to guide him, nor an all-powerful booster quirk to bolster his hardening abilities. He got to where he did through sheer perseverance and hard work, with only his idol’s words to keep pushing him forward. While Deku also had to work hard to get to where he is, fortune was on his side, and the fact that Kirishima pulled himself up by his bootstraps (so to speak) is, to me, a lot more admirable. 

And THAT, my friends, is the core of why Kirishima means so much to me as a character, and even if he doesn’t become the #1 hero in the story, he’s my personal #1 hero. So, on that note, thank you for all your support, and as always...Stay sturdy!

tl;dr I FUCKING LOVE KIRI SO MUCH YOU GUYS

[cinnamoonsworld]

A Harsh Meal [Fatgum x chubby fem!reader]

Hi everyone! Before continuing the Aizawa's ff, I wanted to give myself a short story about another pro hero I love so much, Fatgum. What is written comes from my personal experiences and from people I know very well, and I hope everyone in life will find a person like Fatgum in their life <3

Happy reading, see you next week for the new chapters of "Two Worlds Collide"!

You can also find me on Ao3!

Words: 2,666

Trigger Warnings: eating disorders, eventual smut

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

You and Taishiro have been together for several years. You met during an attack by a villain who had begun to destroy everything that happened to him without any reason, and you were among the civilians that Fatgum had saved. Unlike all the other people, Fatgum was impressed with your smile when you thanked him for protecting you and all the other people.

For days he had dreamed of your smile and your (Y/E/C) eyes, until he saw you one night while he was on patrol and you were lowering the shutter of a store. He took note of the place and its location, and the next morning he showed up inside your little bakery. He was almost breathless to see you in your work uniform, which included a pastel apron and a dress with a wide 50s skirt.

From that day on, Taishiro began to come into the shop every day and you began to become, as time went on, more and more intimate. Sometimes he would come there with two shoulders of his own, Tamaki and Kirishima, and he would never fail to list the whole menu by heart and say how good everything was. You started to make sweets just for him, inspired by his character.

One day he did not come to see you. Initially you did not worry, thinking that he would pass later in the day. When you closed, you went to his agency to ask if anything happened to Fatgum. His secretary informed you that he had been hospitalized following a raid that he and other heroes had carried out that morning.

You got the name of the hospital, and you went straight to the bakery to make her favorite cupcakes, the Oreo's one. You were upset that Taishiro was in a hospital bed alone, without you beside him to lift his spirits.

You rushed to the hospital with a box full of cupcakes. You went to a nurse and showed her the tide of candy you were carrying, and she took you to her room. They were all desperate, because it was from the moment he arrived that all he did was asking for food and that he never stopped being hungry.

"At least, if he asks to eat, it means he’s fine!" You thought feeling a little more relieved.

The nurse let you in the room, and on the bed there was a thin, tall, blond boy who was watching TV and laughing.

You looked at him in a daze, thinking the nurse had taken you to the wrong room.

As Taishiro saw you, his face lit up and he jumped out of bed to hug you. Your doubts passed when you saw him smile: even if he was thinner, that was Fatgum. He almost cried when you showed him the box of cupcakes at the Oreo, and made you promise that at least a couple of them would be saved for Suneater and Red Riot, who were also there.

You went to see him every day with something different to eat, and the nurses were extremely grateful because he was literally draining their kitchen supplies. The longer the days went by, the more he was returning to his giant teddy bear form with which you had known him.

On the last day of recovery, you noticed he was extremely agitated. You were afraid he wasn’t feeling well, and you were going to call the nurse when he came between you and the door and kissed you. It was a long, sweet and exciting kiss. Detaching himself, he looked into your eyes with an expression of pure panic. He was afraid you’d laugh at him or, worse still, that he’d disgust you with his gesture. Instead, surprisingly, you embroider that kiss without hesitation.

From that moment on, you and Taishiro started dating first and then, noticing that it worked and you were both taken by each other, you decided to officially get together. At least three years passed before they decided to move in together. You were both very happy, you were looking forward to cooking for your boyfriend and he was looking forward to coming home to eat what you had prepared for him and to spend time with you. You filled him with food and attention, while he did everything to see you always happy.

Everything was going great until you started having problems with your body. By now you knew that Taishiro, when he used too much strength, dried up and became a sweet and very high muscular boy. He hated being like that, couldn’t work and felt very vulnerable. Needless to say, in that form, it attracted the attention of many girls who were flirting with him shamelessly. It also happened while you were together somewhere, and many times you had heard these girls tell Taishiro to let you lose, because an Adonis like him did not make a good impression to be seen around with "someone like you".

You had never been thin, and you knew it very well. For you your body had never been a problem, and you always liked it the way you are. Taishiro, then, saw you as the representation of a Goddess descended to earth, he found you perfect in everything and everything. He always pointed it out to you, even when you were making love. You were perfect in everything and for everything to him, and he never failed to let you know even with small gestures. Whatever you was wearing, from a tracksuit to a fancy dress, you made him lose his mind.

You began to spend more and more time in front of the mirror, touching your belly or your thighs and finding more and more imperfections. It started out as a few minutes a day until it became an hour or more, and on the worst days you stared in the mirror until you cried because you felt ugly and shapeless. Fat, cellulite or stretch marks: you hated yourself, and you couldn’t find something of yourself that would change your mind.

Even Taishiro had noticed that something was wrong, and he began to notice it when, gradually, you started to eat less and less.

One of the things that made Taishiro one of the happiest men on earth was to share food with you, and he was alarmed to see that you were offering him your leftovers from dinner even though you had eaten only three mouthfuls of what was on the plate.

You started to wear clothes that were getting wider and wider so you could hide your shapes. You were convinced that when you left the house, everyone looked at you and commented on your body. You could feel people’s judgmental looks on you, even though they weren’t even looking at you. When you and Taishiro were out, you were always trying to get as little food as possible. You didn’t want people to judge you for what was on your plate.

Since you started eating less and less, you were always getting tired and in a bad mood. You stopped talking to Taishiro about what was going on at work or what was going on in your head, and sometimes you felt so weak that you didn’t even have the strength to cook. For Taishiro there was no problem, he was more than happy to take away to spend more time with you, but you barely ate something and went to sleep with the excuse that at work had been a hard day and that you wanted to rest.

Finally, you began to think of the worst thing: that Taishiro was only with you because you prepared food for him and that in reality he only felt disgust for you. This little thought slowly began to creep into your head until it became a recurring judgment. You started to really meditate that you were only convenient for food, and you were sure he would run off with a girl much prettier and thinner than you as soon as he had the chance.

Even at work these thoughts did not leave you, and the situation worsened when, a few buildings from your bakery, opened a gym. Every day, in front of the windows, it was a parade of women, young and not, in brilliant physical form and with nothing out of place. They were so happy, so skinny...everything you weren’t, and they’d rub it in your face every single day.

You also stopped eating, and drank only water. Taishiro was increasingly alarmed, you were turning into something that wasn’t you. You started fighting more and more about the food issue, he wanted you to eat but you told him that you were fine and that you had already eaten something at work and so there was no need to stress about these things. He just wanted to help you whatever was going on with you, but you had built a wall between you two.

You didn’t want him to touch you anymore, you thought he was ashamed to go around with you, with a "shapeless being". He deserved a better person, a girl much prettier than you, and that made him look better when they called him to the charity nights.

You were so short of energy, you had trouble getting out of bed. One day, in particular, it seemed to you that even breathing was an inhuman effort. You went to the store early like every morning to start baking. As usual, your mood was under your shoes, and the fight you had the night before with Taishiro certainly didn’t help. The walk you took from your apartment seemed like a mountain hike, even though it was only two blocks away.

You had time to turn on the lab lights that you collapsed suddenly.

Around lunchtime, Taishiro became seriously concerned. Even if you fought a lot, when he wrote to you, you always answered, even if in a cold tone. You didn’t even see the messages that morning, and you didn’t post anything on any social media.

Driven by anxiety, in the early afternoon he went to your shop where he found the half-shutters lowered. When he tried to call you, he clearly heard your phone ring go off, but no one answered. He was getting more and more agitated.

Luckily, when you moved in together, you gave Fatgum a copy of the keys to your club and the lab door in case of need. The lab door was looking at a dead end, and he came in through it.

He had a heart attack when he found you lying on the ground and very pale. He immediately called an ambulance and they rushed you to the hospital. Taishiro was in the waiting room waiting for some news of yours. He was so agitated that he had not touched food and the feeling of hunger, for the first time in his life, had disappeared.

After several hours, finally, they called him inside to talk to the doctor who was taking care of you, and the diagnosis shocked the hero: malnutrition. You were passed out because you hadn’t eaten anything for who knows how long, and in your stomach they had found no trace of food, only water. You pushed your body so far, you couldn’t take it anymore.

The doctor took Taishiro to your room, and his heart stopped again to see you attached to all those tubes so that you could ingest some nutrient so that your body would not collapse again. He sat down next to you, fondling your hand lovingly. He didn’t understand how all this could have happened, and he was afraid of losing you forever.

He fell asleep next to you, and woke up in the middle of the night when he felt a familiar sensation of a kiss on his forehead. He immediately opened his eyes and almost wept with joy at seeing you awake.

"Cupcake..." He whispered with clear eyes. "You don’t know how happy I am to see you awake..."

"Tai..." you answered with a nervous stomach. "I’m sorry...I didn’t want it to end this way..."

"What happened to you, my love?" asked the blond.

You could barely hold back your tears after that question.

"I hate myself." You finally answered without being able to hold back the crying. "I hate myself Taishiro. I’m horrible, I’m fat. Anything about me disgusts me, and I don’t know how you can be with a freak like me. Those girls are right, Tai. You deserve someone better than me, not someone who makes you look bad."

While you were sobbing, Fatgum was really sad and angry at what you thought of yourself. Of all the things he thought about your behavior change, he never imagined it would be something that would make you suffer so much that you would go so far as to refuse food. He didn’t think even remotely that some girls' comments could hurt you so deeply, and he felt terrible that he had always downplayed it and had always just not listened to them. But not you, you listened to them all too well.

"My sweet cupcake." Tai said, wiping tears from your eyes. "Do you remember the first time I kissed you? I felt terribly stupid. I was afraid you’d turn me down because of my looks. I know perfectly well that I am not perfect, and that when I am in my low-form I am very ashamed...and yet you accepted me as I am. You never let me weigh my physical form, both thin and fat..."

"You’re such a wonderful person that I never cared about your body, my teddy bear." You spoke with a slight smile trying to stop crying.

"And the same goes for you, too, (Y/N)." Fatgum said with a kiss on your forehead. "I love you for who you are and for what you give me every day, your little gestures and how you make me feel happy every day. And I don’t care if you’re skinny or fat, I would love you in all forms of this world."

You felt very relieved to hear those words, and at that moment you realized how much unnecessary harm you had done just because your head was telling you. You embraced each other in silence, a silence full of love and meaning.

In the days of your hospitalization, Taishiro came to see you every day and had literally camped in the hospital. When he had a free moment he would come to spend with you and every night, after having left work, he would rush into your hospital room because it was the part of the day that made him exalt like a child in front of a toy store: Having dinner with you while you told each other what happened to you during the day. You started eating again and God, how you missed the taste of food and talk to Tai. You almost forgot about this feeling of happiness, and you almost cried with joy when you ate together. He wouldn’t even go home to sleep, he’d sit next to you in a chair and watch TV together until you fell asleep on each other’s shoulder.

The day you were discharged, when you returned home, all the colleagues from Fatgum’s agency were waiting for you. They too were very concerned about you, and seeing you smiling and strong again made them very happy. They filled you with flowers and gifts, and when the party was over, when everybody left, you and Tai made love, and you didn’t care if the neighborhood heard you or not. You finally came back, and you had to celebrate. He kissed you from head to toe, to show how much love and veneration he felt for every inch of your being, whispering sweet words to you until, exhausted, you fell asleep hugging each other.

It was nice to be back.

[mediaeval-muse]

Book Review

In Search of Scandal. By Susanne Lord. Sourcebooks, 2015.

Rating: 2/5 stars

Genre: historical romance

Part of a Series? Yes, London Explorers #1

Summary: All of London is abuzz with the tale of Will Repton. The lone survivor of a massacre in Tibet has returned to England a hero, but the traumatized explorer has no time for glory. Another dangerous expedition awaits. Nothing will deter him from his quest, and no one will unearth his secret—until Will meets Charlotte Baker. Vivacious Charlotte Baker also has a mission—to find a man whose bold spirit matches her own. When she meets Will Repton, she immediately recognizes him as her soul mate, and she’s naively willing to turn her back on the rules of propriety to ensnare him. Will is torn between his fascination with Charlotte and his vow to finish his quest. He knows what it is to risk life and limb—but what if his most perilous adventure doesn’t lie across an ocean, but within his own lost heart?

***Full review under the cut.***

Content Warnings: graphic sexual content, poisoning, physical assault (not sexual), near miscarriage; mentions of: disemboweling, blood, violence, corpses, murder (including the murder of children)

Overview: I will admit that I felt a little uneasy going into this book. Seeing “a massacre in Tibet” in the summary gave me the impression that there could be some Orientalism (or, if not, some straight up depictions of racism), but since my favorite romance author blurbed and recommended it, I decided to give it a try anyway. I can’t speak to the book’s treatment of China and Tibet, though given the history of Victorian imperialism, it felt somewhat “accurate” here; I didn’t get the impression that the region was over-exoticized, though it was treated as a subject of curiosity and characters bring back “artifacts.” I suppose it wasn’t too bad, given the book’s setting, but I still don’t know how I feel about the whole massacre subplot. That aside, the author’s prose was well-crafted, which was impressive for a debut novel. My main reason for giving this book a middling rating, therefore, had less to do with the premise or writing craft and more to do with the characters and the romance itself. I had a hard time rooting for the main couple, and I wish Lord had spent less time forcing them into awkward situations that made for a tumultuous love story and more time exploring characterization and meaningful connection. As it stands, this book receives an average rating from me, but I would be interested to see if (and how) Lord improves in her future books.

Writing: Lord’s prose is surprisingly well-crafted for a debut novel, achieving a nice balance between description and exposition using a straight-forward style that is characteristic of many romances. While Lord’s prose is easy to read, it doesn’t lack fun flourishes, vivid imagery, and compelling figurative language, when appropriate.

I do wish, however, that Lord had been more attentive to how she crafted the scenes in her book. Many individual scenes felt like they were drawn out for no reason other than to provide Charlotte and Will with a chance to encounter one another, which is fine, except that they didn’t really build on one another to create a meaningful progression in the protagonists’ relationship. They seemed rather like a series of awkward moments, following a pattern in which they would awkwardly try to make conversation, get to a point where they were feeling comfortable around one another, do something like kiss or have a sexual encounter, and then Will would push Charlotte away, usually by insisting that he’s not good for her, that he is going on his expedition no matter what, etc. which would upset Charlotte. They would part, and Will would do something to try to make up for his behavior, and the process would start again in the next scene. It was somewhat cyclical and even frivolous at times - many of Will and Charlotte’s encounters didn’t quite end with the two developing as characters or as a couple, and I wish Lord had built her encounters on something more substantial.

On the flip side, this book was also missing scenes that could have helped with characterization. We’re told, for example, that Will has nightmares, but we’re never shown him having one until very late in the book. Having a scene earlier (not necessarily the beginning) might have helped establish why his expedition was so important to him, while also revealing something about his personality that informs his behavior in his encounters with Charlotte.

Plot: The plot of this novel basically follows Charlotte, a well-educated woman entering her third season, as she attempts to find a husband that will accept her family, and Will, a man attempting to raise money to go back to Tibet to make amends for a role he played in a violent encounter. Charlotte’s predicament in itself was very compelling; torn between wanting to be accepted by London’s upper class Society and her love for her family, she struggles to find a husband that will simultaneously make her happy but also raise the status (and thus, social security) of her brother and sister. I do wish Lord had put more emphasis on this aspect of the plot, and perhaps let it be a defining characteristic of Charlotte’s personal growth. Charlotte is torn between selfish desire and doing what she thinks she must for her loved ones, and I think there was a lot of room in there for an exploration of, say, women’s self-effacement in the name of “duty” or “responsibility,” or even more of an exploration of the hypocrisy of Society.

Will’s plot is a bit less compelling. Though we do see moments when he is meeting with potential investors to fund his second expedition into Tibet (and China, by extension), it never feels urgent. While the expedition holds a lot of personal significance for Will, so much is shrouded in mystery that it was difficult to see the stakes of going versus not going, and I personally didn’t care whether Will stayed in London or traveled abroad. I think revealing more to the reader could have helped with this, and the climax of the novel could have been less focused on revealing Will’s involvement with the massacre to the reader and more on revealing it to Charlotte.

In terms of the romantic plot, I’ll discuss that in more detail below, but I will say here that a lot of the drama felt manufactured. Every situation seemed set up to throw the main couple together, allowing them to express their physical attraction while still allowing Will to be obstinate about getting emotionally involved. I especially didn’t find the marriage of convenience compelling, nor anything that happens afterward, and I wish Lord had spent more time thinking about what the conflicts in the relationship might look like if it were built on something other than Will’s own stubbornness.

Characters: Charlotte, our heroine, is something of a social butterfly. She attracts people to her and is beloved by almost everyone, and she always has something to say to fill gaps in the conversation. While I did like that she was very agentive, pursuing her desires and doing what she wanted despite what was considered “proper,” I did think some of her more interesting characteristics were overshadowed by her obsession with Society and her single-minded pursuit of Will. Lord writes of how Charlotte reads Will’s more scientific reports by begging her brother to acquire copies from the Geographical Society, which is exclusive to men. Charlotte also meets with a group of women weekly, and Lord mentions that part of what guides their conversation is the fear of men seeing them as “too intellectual.” I honestly think Charlotte’s character could have been better served by having her thirst for exploration and knowledge denied to her by her gender competing with her desire to provide for her family by marrying well. It would have presented an interesting conflict for when Will comes along, who has traveled and seen the world, but doesn’t hold the social sway of a duke or earl.

Will, for his part, wasn’t an enjoyable character. He spends much of the book speaking gruffly to others, and when he’s not wallowing in self-loathing, he was saying things to Charlotte that were at best awkward and at worst cruel. He starts out reserved, but quickly grows possessive, and his temper could become violent. His main saving grace is that he’s attentive - he brings Charlotte the flowers she likes when all other suitors ignore her preferences, and he notices the care she puts into things like her appearance. But other than that, I did not find him likable, and my sympathy for his on account of his trauma ran out quickly.

Supporting characters were a bit more enjoyable to read. I liked the bond that Charlotte had with her brother, Wally, and wish more was done to showcase their closeness. I also liked that Charlotte’s sister, Lucy, married for love, and despite being socially shunned, their happiness seems to set the bar for what Charlotte wants in her relationship. I would have liked to see some of the main, unimportant scenes between Charlotte and Will cut and more scenes devoted to Charlotte’s relationship with her family, and perhaps even more done with Wally, whose sexuality caused the family to fall from grace in the first place. Perhaps if Wally had a subplot where he finds happiness again would have been a nice compliment to Charlotte’s arc of defying Society for the sake of her passions.

The antagonist, however, was not nearly so intriguing. Starting as one of Charlotte’s admirers, he quickly becomes over-the-top evil when rejected. I guess powerful men can be reactionary when it comes to not getting their way, especially if they’re sexist to begin with, but I just didn’t care for the conflict with the villain. I was much more intrigued by the possibilities of the protagonists’ inner conflicts.

Other: As I mentioned above, I had a hard time rooting for Charlotte and Will as a couple. Charlotte admits to imagining herself with Will before they even meet, and her reaction to him when they do come face-to-face for the first time is something like insta-love. For the majority of the book, Charlotte’s one-sided love for Will and pursuit of him despite his behavior towards her feels juvenile. It felt a lot like hero worship or a celebrity crush, and even though Charlotte says she becomes disillusioned with him and sees Will as a person, the fact that she sticks around when he’s acting like a jerk did not endear me to her or their relationship.

Will, for his part, seems to fall in love with Charlotte for no reason other than she’s pretty, and even though he’s attentive to her favorite things, I couldn’t see what Charlotte saw in him. He constantly pushes her away and says or does things to upset her, including directing his unattractive anger at her, and I was wishing that Charlotte would just cut her losses and find someone better. I think their dynamic could have worked if more focus was placed on Will’s social awkwardness rather than his self-imposed denial of romantic affection. For example, if he’s shy and awkward in Society, maybe Charlotte’s social personality draws him out of his isolation and allows him to connect with people. Maybe her influence also allows him to attract investors, and he finds himself so impressed by her abilities and support for his expedition that he finds it harder and harder to leave. Something more than the manufactured drama that makes every interaction between the two feel cyclical.

Recommendations: I would recommend this book if you’re interested in historical romance (especially set in Victorian England), 19th century exploration, botany, love triangles, and marriages of convenience.

[mariolucario493]

A Frozen 2 review no one asked for! (POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD)

Okay, hear me out. I’m probably in the minority when I say this, but...

I think it’s better than the first one.

I liked the original Frozen just fine. I liked how it depicted anxiety and how it subverted a lot of Disney tropes, but I probably wouldn’t put it in my top ten.

(Which, in case you’re interested, is:)

10. Tarzan

9. Aladdin

8. Beauty and the Beast

7. Frozen 2 (this one!)

6. Lilo & Stitch

5. Wreck-it Ralph

4. Moana

3. The Lion King

2. The Hunchback of Notre Dame

1. Zootopia

(And that’s not even including the Pixar ones.)

But it seems that the general consensus of Frozen 2 is the same as a lot of sequels (especially Disney sequels): that it’s not as good as the first one. Or, dare I say it, that it’s just the first one all over again. But here’s my argument against that. I think being similar to the first one actually works in its favor.

What do I mean by that? Well, after the prologue, the movie opens with a song called “Some Things Never Change,” in which all the characters sing about how happy they are in their current life. Although Olaf worries that change might be inevitable (I love how woke he’s become, btw), no one is really seeking anything new. Now that sounds like the setup for a lot of recent Disney movies, I know. But it's an idea that’s really explored throughout the entirety of the movie.

Every character reacts to change differently. Elsa is nervous, but tries to embrace it anyway; Olaf dismisses it as something he will understand when he’s older; Kristoff feels like he and his friends are drifting apart; and Anna struggles to accept it overall. And we see how each of them goes through it. Even the inclusion of darker themes allows the audience to react similarly to the characters onscreen. Kids probably won’t always understand what’s going on; but they’ll have a good time anyway. And just like Olaf, they’ll understand it when they’re older. That does seem to be one of the major criticisms I’ve seen for Frozen 2, that it’s too dark and too complicated for kids. But Disney’s never been afraid to tackle heavy subjects before, because they know that challenging the audience helps them grow. And hey, at least it’s not Crimes of Grindelwald, right?

I think the reason they made Frozen 2 similar to Frozen 1 was the same reason they used similar themes in Frozen 1 that we were already familiar with - princesses, magical kingdoms, curses, goofy sidekicks. And that’s to deconstruct and subvert them. In fact, I might even go so far as to say that this was an attempt to remind Disney to always try new things, which they have had trouble with recently. Just look at all those live-action remakes that no one asked for. The exact same thing all over again disguised as something new, but without all the stuff that made the originals so good in the first place.

Frozen 2 also continues the tradition of having interesting female protagonists. Well, interesting ANIMATED female protagonists, anyway. It’s not like the Aladdin remake, where Jasmine has a whole new song about girl power, but then she becomes the damsel in distress anyway and does nothing to fight back. It’s not like Captain Marvel, who makes a big deal about being a female superhero even though the Avengers already have several much more interesting female members. It’s not like the new Star Wars movies, in which they’re so focused with making Rey a strong female role model that they forget to give her a personality. And it’s not going to be like the Mulan remake, which I’m just going to assume is going to be another soapbox feminist’s wet dream. Oh, wait, I forgot this is Tumblr, and they love that shit.

But really. Starting with Tiana, Disney’s animated leading ladies have become such well-written characters. From Rapunzel to Vanellope to Judy Hopps to Moana to Elastigirl, they are fully fleshed-out characters first and agenda pushers second. Anna and Elsa are no exception. Elsa battles magical spirits and tames a water horse, and Anna has a crisis of ethics that feels really genuine. All without saying something dumb like “Look how capable I, a female, am in this situation, in comparison to my less competent male companions.”

Oh, by the way, for those of you who wanted Elsa to be revealed as a lesbian, I think we have a few more hints that she may be. She does not end up with a love interest, but I noticed she does seem to get along really well with Honeymaren. So maybe? Definitely better than the live-action Beauty and the Beast, am I right?

Oh, and the songs are great. We get not one, but TWO big numbers from Idina Menzel. Olaf and Kristoff both get new songs that are pointless, but still really funny. Anna has a new song that is one of the emotional highlights. The lyrics are just as clever, and they help further each character’s story arc. Even the lame pop versions of the songs over the end credits, which I usually DESPISE; hearing Imagine Dragons’ cover of “Into the Unknown” was actually pretty decent.

So, those darker themes. The reveal that one of Anna and Elsa’s ancestors was a genocidal tyrant who built the dam as a way to restrict the Northuldra tribe’s resources, and then declared war on them. Pretty ballsy, I have to say. And pretty creative that the villain of this movie is a character who is already dead before the movie even begins. Kind of like Coco, but they don’t even interact with him as a spirit or anything. What I like about this is that it kind of explains why the father in the first movie didn’t always do the right thing when it came to raising his kids. Locking up one of your daughters because she has supernatural abilities seems like a terrible move. But when you consider that Agnarr’s father was also distant from his son and had the goal of suppressing magic, you realize that it may have been a subconscious choice on his behalf. And hey, it’s also revealed that the reason Agnarr left on the ship that would eventually be his grave was to find answers about Elsa. So he probably felt remorse about it.

And now it’s time to compare this movie to today’s political climate. And before you start typing about how I’m wrong like Tumblr users are prone to do, maybe take a hint from the first movie and let it go. This is just my personal analysis.

The Northuldra tribe is clearly inspired by the Sami, the indigenous people of Norway, who have been persecuted for generations. But I don’t know much about Norwegian history, so let’s just compare it to America. Now let’s see...does America have a history of persecuting its indigenous population and disguising acts of war as offerings of peace? Hey, didn’t this movie come out just a week before Thanksgiving?

That’s right, I’m going there. Come to think of it, this whole movie radiates Thanksgiving vibes. It’s set in autumn, and it opens with everyone having a big feast with pumpkins and stuff.

King Runeard is a historical figure within Arendelle, and he is considered a hero. The dam that Runeard built is a monument that is ultimately destroyed by Anna in the film’s climax. And Anna initially refuses to do so because she believes the dam represents all that her kingdom stands for. I might be crazy, but this reminds me of how people are starting to take down statues of Confederate soldiers or how many cities have stopped recognizing Columbus Day as a national holiday, despite others saying that they are important parts of our heritage. One of the lines in “Some Things Never Change” is “Arendelle’s flag will always fly.” Sounds kind of like those conservative nuts who think the American flag is an infallible symbol and anyone who disrespects it (say, by taking a knee during the national anthem) is not a true patriot. Might be grasping at straws with that one.

And what Anna decides to do ultimately makes Arendelle a better place, even though she worries that it will be an unpopular decision. So we have a person in a position of political power who puts aside her own hubris for the good of her people. She asks for nothing in return, and knows that the right choice is not the easy one. She destroys a physical bridge, but builds a metaphorical one. Anna really is the type of leader we need. And if you think that it’s ethnocentric that a white person saves the day for a minority, remember that Anna and Elsa are actually half Northuldran on their mother’s side.

Yes, I believe Frozen 2 is up there with Zootopia as one of the great Disney flexes on right-wing extremists. But it’s subtle enough that we can enjoy the characters, the music, and the story first; and the message second. It reminds us to step outside our comfort zones and to always think about what it means to do the right thing.

If you didn’t like the first Frozen, you probably won’t enjoy this one either. I can understand what people mean when they say the movie throws a lot at you and doesn’t always feel focused on a coherent story. But regardless, I think it is an important movie.

[low-budget-korra]

Lets talk about Korra

Today I will speak of her, which in my opinion is one of the greatest characters everr : Avatar Korra.

 At first we see a 17 year old girl who probably had her first contact with a lot of things. First contact with a big city, first crush, first handful of responsibilities, first threat...

It is worth mentioning that since day one, Korra has embraced the role of Avatar with all strength and love. She felt proud of her position and willing to do her job as the Avatar

(look at this precious little thing)

Remember that she spent her entire life locked in a training center, without contact with the rest of the world, so her knowledge of everything beyond the gates where she lived was new.

Right in the beginning  we see her dealing with some Equalists Protestants, which she does not take seriously. And only when she witnesses the power of the leader of this movement, she begins to take the threat very seriously and also, to fear this man more than everything in her life until then.

What does Amon represents for Korra?

I think this question can be easily answered by Korra's simple argument of love being the Avatar. And at least in the beginning of the book one they hinted that her life was just about that, Being the Avatar.

We are not introduced to any friends of Korra, except for Naga, or past boyfriend / girlfriend. Nothing. We only know that this girl is the Avatar. And I would not be surprised if that was the only way she saw herself.

Maybe that's why fight in pro-bending was so important. Not only as a means of socialization, after all it was thanks to the pro-bending that she met her friends, but also as a training and more important, search for identity. I think part of the journey of Korra in the first two books is a lot about that: search for identity.

Then, answering the question, Amon is the only person who can destroy that image, which can destroy Korra. He can destroy it without even needing to kill it. And that's exactly what he does.

In episode 4, we have, in my opinion, the darkest episode of the entire Avatar series. To be honest, I'm sure that if TLOK were a live action series for example, we may have a scene of sexual assault or an explicit threat of this there , because of the power struggle there between those two characters, no, power abyss and the way Amon touch her, her face, without her consent . Some people felt some kind of sexual tension there, no wonder there are people who shiped Amorra (Korra and Amon) back in the day.

That scene is powerful because Amon did not have to sexually touch Korra to violate her. At least, this whole situation served for her to open up with Tenzin over her fears and consequently learn how to deal with them, because I'm sure Korra did not get over what happened there so fast.

Still about Power Dispute we have another character who exemplifies this: Tarrlok. Tarrlok is a rising politician who uses  Korra as a pawn in his goal to seize the power of Republic City. Amon also uses the same trick, after all, the moment he defeats the Avatar, the city would be his.

So we have this young woman who will stop right in the middle of a political power dispute.

Tarrlok also serves as a comparative. While Amon wants to dominate and destroy the avatar figure, not caring about who she is, Tarrlok wants to dominate and use Korra. And this makes me think that, that metal box was made exclusively for her. Like if that shit was for Amon, he didnt know Amon was a bender so an simples cell would be good. I think Tarrlok knew that Korra may ruin his plans so he had that as his plan B.

In the end Korra lost the physical battle but won the ethical battle against both. But at what price? Amon was able to remove the bends of the Avatar. And without them, how could she be the Avatar?

I also strongly believe that one of the final scenes of the season, when Korra is facing a cliff, I believe she might be thinking about taking her life. After all, everything she was, everything she'd trained so hard for, had been destroyed in minutes.

She, with the help of Aang and the other avatars, recovered her bends and with the help of everyone, including her then boyfriend Mako, she "moved on."

In the next one, I used to hate the first half of book 2, but then I came to see with different eyes.

In that first half, Korra is unbearable. Everything she learned in Book 1 how to be more mature, less spoiled and all, was thrown in the trash and she was the same "child" of the book one only worse.

Until I stopped and realized that I was also unbearable and childish like this when I had my bad phases of anxiety and depression, as defense mechanism and keep people away. Returning to Korra, and if this way of acting of her was nothing more than this defense mechanism?

Whether or not she was betrayed by her own Uncle. Imagine, shortly after having your life turned upside down, when you are recovering, trying to recover your image as Avatar and suddenly your own uncle betrays you? Yeah.

"Oh, but she should not have stayed on his side against her father"

Yes, but remember that our, still young avatar, has fallen into the trap of believing and trusting someone just because that person says everything she want it to hear.

In the end, Korra again goes through a traumatic moment when she has her connection with past lives destroyed. We see how it affected her when she apologizes to Tenzin, through tears. And Tenzin, as the excellent master he is, tries to motivate her to face Vaatu again (now merged with Unalaq, her uncle) and so she is able to beat him and secure another 10 thousand years of Light to the world.

In the final moments, we see the (somewhat innocent) decision to reconnect the world of spirits and the world of men. And we also see Korra and Mako permanently end their turbulent relationship, which I will speak more ahead.

Book 3 begins in a more mature, we see all the characters being presented in a more mature way and it seems that Korra, now, has overcome everything that has passed. We have the relationship between Korra and Asami deepening as well, and I will also comment further on.

In Book 3, called "Change" we have a great sacrifice from Korra. Her life goes down a notch when she decides to save the new airbenders from Zaheer and the Red Lotus, the strongest villain she's ever faced.

Zaheer, unlike the other villains, who had not explicitly intended to kill Korra, had as goal just to kill the Avatar. And he almost succeeded.

Not only that, Korra was physically and psychologically defeated. She won the battle but not the war, we can say so.

So book 4 begins and we only come across Korra in the final minutes and she is unrecognizable. We see that, once proud and courageous avatar, in someone depressed and cowed.

I think it's visible that Korra is afraid of being the Avatar again, Toph even tells her that  during the season. And I think it's totally plausible.

Korra's fight against PTSD is one of the most honest and realistic things I've ever seen. Do you think that after a violent battle and almost die, even winning in the end, the hero returns home and everything is okay? I think not.

Not only what happened in the end of book 3 , but i believe that she also has having flashs or thoughts about all her fights and all the traumatic shit that she passed 

Another thing I think is worth quoting is that Korra took 3 years to feel safer and re-embrace her duties as Avatar. It was not 3 weeks or 3 months, it was 3 years. And anyone who suffers from some mental illness knows very well the stigma that is, the fight that is, because everyone wants you to be well in 6 months when the truth is that many times you spend years fighting against this. And this is a pressure that falls on you.

Imagine, seeing all your friends moving forward while you continue "stock in the same place"?

Only after Korra confronts Zaheer, I think that was a way to show her coping with the trauma, she improves to the point of returning to be the great Avatar we know. The once "monster Zaheer" who almost kill her now is some dude in chains who fail at his plans and created an big problem and needed Korra to solve it

One of the quotes that struck with me most was in that filler episode thats a summary of all what happened in the show , and in the part narrated by Korra she says "I was so naive" and the way Janet delivered that line..., with some pain and I know the sadness but at the same time, stronger and more mature ... I think it means a lot.

here in tumblr I think, I saw a phrase that until today marks me that is :

 "The Last Airbender is a story of a boy who becomes a god. The Legend of Korra is the story of a goddess who becomes a girl "

This is strong!

And I get very angry when someone comes to downgrade my baby Korra because she is such an incredible heroine and her journey is also incredible.

The story of how life can be hard and unfair, how it can hurt and paralyze, but there is always a reason to move on. We should always move on.

Korra is definitely not weak, quite the opposite, she is one of the if not the strongest heroine I have ever seen. Korra inspires overcoming.

Now l will let to talk about the relationships tomorrow. I promise 

[alexthegamingboy]

Toonami Weekly Recap 12/14/2019 (The Forge Edition, Week 6)

My Hero Academia Shie Hassaikai Arc Season 4 EP#69 (06) - An Unpleasant Talk: Sir Nighteye organizes a massive meeting with the pro heroes and minors to discuss the situation of the growing and threatening organization the Shie Hassaikai, led by Overhaul.

JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Golden Wind EP#07 - Sex Pistols Appears, Part 1: Bucciarati's gang take some delight in trying to torture information out of Zucchero, but without success. Abbacchio then uses Moody Blues' replay to discover that Zucchero's partner is already waiting for their boat on the island of Capri. Giorno takes Mista on ahead to the island to find Zucchero's partner before their boat arrives. With help from Giorno, Mista uses the power of his Stand Sex Pistols, which creates six autonomous bullet-like beings that can redirect Mista's gunshots mid-flight, to locate Zucchero's partner, Sale. Sale escapes to a getaway truck, and Mista grabs on before it drives away.

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba EP#09 - Temari Demon and Arrow Demon: Susamaru destroys Yushiro's Blood Demon Art and uses her temari to pummel the house, revealing that her and Yahaba are members of the Twelve Kizuki (Demon Moons), powerful generals that serve directly under Muzan. Tanjiro struggles to dodge all her temari, which swerve in physically impossible directions and are difficult to slash, until Yushiro helps him see the arrows that Yahaba is using to telekinetically control Susamaru's temari. Although Nezuko attacks Yahaba, the siblings are forced to change opponents, with Yushiro joining in to fight Susamaru using his Blood Demon Art of concealing objects. At first, Yahaba overpowers Tanjiro by altering his trajectory as he tries to get close, and Nezuko's leg is cut off by a temari. However, Tanjiro recalls his training and despite his fatigue, unleashes a combination of movements to move the arrows with touching them, managing to decapitate Yahaba.

One-Punch Man 2 EP#10 (22) - Justice Under Siege: Saitama loses to King multiple times in a video game. While taking a break, Saitama notices King's phone, in which King explains the phone is used to call for hero emergencies. Gyoro-Gyoro and Destrochloridum take control of an executive in the Hero Association, in which they negotiate for a future where monsters and humans coexist. Destrochloridum then kills an executive, revealing that they were lying and instead outlines their true plan to the Hero Association: for the heroes to assemble and face the entire Monster Association in an all out battle, before the vessel that Gyoro-Gyoro controls explodes. Destrochloridum grabs his pistols to attack the remaining executives but Superalloy Darkshine (S Class Rank 11) arrives and kills Destrochloridum after it fails to take control of him. Gyoro and Monster King Orochi hold a meeting for monsters to fight against the heroes, when Orochi notices Awakened Cockroach and eats him due to Awakened Cockroach losing to Genos earlier. Do-S is spared from Orochi when Gyoro Gyoro notes she has special abilities. Orochi asks Gyoro Gyoro where Gouketsu is, but Gyoro Gyoro finds out that Gouketsu was killed. Leaks that the Monster Association are going to war with the Hero Association reach the public and the monsters (who reside in the city) plan to go kill humans and join the association, but they are all slain by Saitama, who is late for garbage duty. Garou wakes up from Saitama's kick, and sees A Class Hero Death Gatling, but is too tired and goes to a shack to rest, with Death Gatling noticing him. Tareo and his friends find someone in their shack and force Tareo to get that person out. Garou and Tareo meet again, and Garou tells Tareo if he doesn't want anyone to bully him, he should get stronger. Genos gets upgrades from Dr. Kuseno to better handle villains. Death Gatling arrives with his crew (Stinger, Smile Man, Wildhorn, Chain Toad, Glasses, Gun Gun, and Shooter) to confront Garou. Garou notices the crew, and looks at Tareo's almanac briefly before facing off against the heroes. Loudly proclaiming that after defeating them, he will have beat 100 heroes, Garou lunges at the heroes but is knocked back and kept unsteady by the barrage of attacks, taking two poisoned arrows to the back. Noting their teamwork, Garou targets Glasses, the presumed weak link, only to learn that Glasses is ready and able to fight as well. The heroes give the weakening Garou one last chance to surrender.

Dr. Stone Village Origins Arc EP#16 - A Tale for the Ages: Ruri reveals that she learned of Senku's name through a tale passed down to her by her mother. The tale speaks of Senku's father, Byakuya, who became an astronaut after Senku made an electric suit to help him pass the swimming exam for JAXA. Five years after passing his exams, Byakuya travels to the International Space Station, alongside cosmonaut Shamil Volkov and American songstress Lillian Weinburg, joining fellow crew members Connie, Dalia, and Yakov. During their stay, Byakuya and the crew witness the phenomenon that turns everyone on Earth into stone, leaving them as the only six humans left.

Fire Force Netherworld Arc EP#19 - Into the Nether: Licht explains to Company 8 that he believes that the White-Clad are hiding in the Nether, a forbidden area of abandoned subway tunnels beneath the Tokyo Empire. The next day, the company enters the Nether, the place which is seen as a place of dread. As they walk into the darkness, they are enveloped in a mysterious fog and encounter impostors created by Yona and Mirage and become separated. Sho sends in Assault the Slaughterer, to eliminate Company 8, meanwhile Maki encounters Flail and a group of White-Clad alone. She defeats the White-Clad and faces Flail whom she attacks and defeats with her two fireballs, Splutter and Flare, which are encased in devices created by Vulcan which concentrates their power. Elsewhere in the tunnels, Assault finds Iris and Tamaki and attacks them with his flaming missiles. Tamaki withstands his attacks, and gets close enough to disable him when her uniform falls open. Before he can react, Iris pummels him to the ground with a metal pipe and they go in search of the others.

Food Wars!: Shokugeki no Soma Totsuki Autumn Election Arc EP#22 - That Which Transcends the Norm": Miyoko scores 87 points with her pineapple cha-han, while Yuki gets 86 points for her wild game curry. Afterwards, the Aldini brothers face off against each other, with Isami presenting a curry calzone that scores 87 points while Takumi presents a curry pasta dish using tamari soy sauce and cheese filled pasta, and scores 90 points. Alice then presents her deconstructed curry dish that leaves the judges bewildered and amazed, earning 95 points and taking the lead. Finally, Megumi presents her dish, monkfish dobu-jiru, which emphasises the taste of her hometown, earning her 88 points and landing her a spot in the main tournament alongside Alice, Hisako, and Takumi.

Lupin the 3rd OVA: Is Lupin Still Burning?

Black Clover: Elf Tribe Reincarnation Arc EP#98 - The Sleeping Lion: The Crimson Lions are attacked by Randall, their elf possessed vice-captain, who overpowers them with wind magic. Leo realises that as they cannot see the air magic, he must sense the magic behind the air to avoid being injured and is able to briefly fight back. The remaining lions insist that he flee but Leo refuses and almost unlocks a new spell, but his unfamiliarity with the magic drains all his energy instantly. As Randall moves to kill Leo the entire base becomes engulfed in flames as Fuegoleon furiously awakens from his coma, his destroyed right arm replaced by one made of flames. He reveals he has been chosen as the new host of Salamander, the Spirit of Fire who once belonged to Fana. Furious that Salamander would choose a human royal as his host Randall attacks Fuegoleon, but is swiftly overpowered and restrained by Salamanders fire. Fuegoleon recalls that after Patry severed his arm and took his magic stone he left Fuegoleon alive, though Fuegoleon decides to keep this secret until he learns why. At the Golden Dawn headquarters, many Golden Dawn members are now possessed, including Langris, now possessed by Patry's cousin, Latry. Elsewhere Finral is forced to wake up from his coma by Yami violently kicking him out of bed. To save Langris, Finral decides to join the battle.

[astreetcarnamedwynn]

bnha rewatch: episodes 3 and 4

In which I analyze the first tentative steps Midoriya takes toward self-confidence, Iida’s and Uraraka’s initial contrasting characterizations, why Present Mic is the next big hero introduced after All Might, and the recklessly clever and somewhat shady UA exam. I’ve posted this on AO3 as well if that’s easier to read; the link to the account is at the top of my Tumblr. 

The first two episodes of My Hero Academia explore, in part, the negative consequences of doubt. No one believes in Midoriya’s ability to become a hero, not even his own mother, and in the first two episodes, he’s clinging to his dream by a small thread. He hasn’t given up on it, but he’s not actively fighting for it either.

Enter Toshinori.

All Might dismisses Midoriya like everyone else, stating bluntly that a person needs power, and thus a quirk, to become a hero. When Midoriya tries to save Bakugou against the sludge villain, he knocks Toshinori out of his All Might persona and reminds him of himself. Midoriya reminds Toshinori of who he used to be, and thus of what heroism used to be and should be. Toshinori tells Midoriya this and tells him that he believes that Midoriya can be a hero, that he already is a hero in the most important way.

We see the positive consequences of this belief in episodes three and four. Just one person believing in Midoriya (or perhaps the right person believing in Midoriya) motivates him to accomplish great things. In 10 months, he completely cleans the beach and transforms his body, which, despite the upbeat montage to the contrary, would not be easy. Every minute of his life for 10 months is planned out: what to do, what to eat, when to sleep. It’s hard. Midoriya struggles. He falls asleep in class and spaces out in a quintessential mumble fest. Yet he pushes himself beyond this. Now going above and beyond in his initial training is not good, and Toshinori calls Midoriya out on this when he realizes what is going on, but it’s serves as a dynamite example of the importance of belief. Again, just one person believing in and helping Midoriya motivates him above and beyond.

This, of course, contrasts Bakugou at the end of episode two, who furiously declares to Midoriya that he was fine by himself against the sludge villain and that he didn’t need any help. He did, and Midoriya did, too. It’s interesting that it’s Toshinori who is the first one to help Midoriya to become a hero when he’s partly responsible for the notion of heroes going it alone. He is THE symbol of peace. Singular. One. And yet the All in One for All seems more important in BNHA. Midoriya even comments at the end of episode four that his life changed completely because of the help that he received.

Yet he hasn’t changed completely. Midoriya still doubts himself in these episodes. He doesn’t think that he can clean the beach at first (in a nice allusion to The Empire Strikes Back and Luke Skywalker doubting that he can lift his X-Wing with the Force). And even after 10 months, even after all he’s accomplished, he still questions whether he’s worthy of receiving All Might’s help, much less his power. Additionally, when he runs into Bakugou at the UA entrance, he still cowers before Bakugou, “out of habit” despite the fact that he’s not “defenseless Izuku” anymore. And in the mock battle, Midoriya is too afraid to fight the first robot he encounters; he can’t even move he’s so afraid. He’s taken big first steps in believing in himself and his ability, but progress and healing are slow, especially for Midoriya who wants so desperately to be a hero, yet who lives in a society where the very notion of heroism has been twisted.

I don’t think it’s an accident that Present Mic is the second hero we’re introduced to in the show. No offense to Mt. Lady, Kamui Woods, and Death Arms in the first two episodes, but they’re on a different level than Mic and All Might and the other heroes associated with UA, if only narratively. So why is Mic the second hero introduced, why is he overseeing the hero exam and not Eraserhead or Vlad King, who become some of the first year homeroom teachers? It’s because Mic is ALL FLASH. It goes back to the sham and show aspect of heroism, how a hero’s career “depends on their ability to stay in the spotlight.” Or as All Might says in these episodes, heroes just focus on “capturing flashy villains and showing off these days.” Mic has the showing off aspect down to a T. He puts on the old RAZZLE-DAZZLE in front of the prospective students, so much so that some of them come to view the test as a video game. Being a hero is a game. It’s a show. It’s all fame and fortune.

And yet it isn’t. All Might tells this to Midoriya in his training. Midoriya has to clean the beach not just to improve himself physically, but to serve the community, without any gratitude or acknowledgement from the town. Service is what matters, helping others is what matters, and the UA exam assesses this.

I’ve always been struck by how UA kept the full parameters of the test hidden from the students. They know about combat points, but not about rescue points. Why keep this hidden? It seems like it’s to assess their character, to see if they really have a heroic spirit. Tell students that rescue points are a parameter, and most will act selflessly yet for a selfish reason: to succeed in the test, not to genuinely help others. So UA keeps this parameter hidden, and they place students in situations that assess how willing they are to aid others. Most aren’t, which we hear in the exam when the students start sniping at each other in their efforts to get more points. We see it too when the Zero Pointer is unleashed. Midoriya is on the ground, clearly afraid and in need of help, yet all the students, including Iida, run right past him. Additionally, Uraraka is in even more distress than he is, pinned beneath some rubble as the Zero Pointer approaches. And yet no one helps her. No one except Midoriya.

I love this moment, maybe even more than when Midoriya tries to save Bakugou from the sludge villain, because, before Midoriya hears Uraraka, he’s in full selfish mode. He’s only thinking of himself and getting points to pass the test. Then he hears Uraraka, and everything goes quiet. He stops thinking about what he needs, he stops thinking altogether, and he just acts. He runs, and in a mimic and expansion on what he did against the sludge villain, Midoriya slugs the Zero Pointer right in the eye.

Midoriya is not the only one with this heroic spirit. Uraraka has it, too. It’s her first defining characteristic. Before we know anything else about her, her name, her gender even, we know this character is someone who saves others. She saves Midoriya from falling on his face as they enter UA. It’s a small moment, but it’s in stark contrast to how everyone else treats Midoriya here. Bakugou is Bakugou. Iida chastises Midoriya twice, first for his mumbling during Mic’s explanation and then for wanting to speak to Uraraka before the exam, suspecting him of trying to sabotage her. All the other students, including Aoyama, smile at the thought of Midoriya being a weakling because it means one less person to fight against in the test. But not Uraraka. She saves Midoriya from falling on his face not once, but twice, saving his life the second time though she must sacrifice herself physically to do so (paralleling how Midoriya sacrificed himself to save her), and she demonstrates her selfless, heroic spirit a third time when she tries to get UA to donate her exam points to Midoriya. Ignorant of the true parameters of the exam, she calls UA out for failing to award Midoriya for saving her. That’s more important than destroying some random robots.

This attitude is in stark contrast to Iida. Iida’s introduction does not highlight his helpful, saving side. Rather, we see him chastise and call out people three times: Mic when he thinks UA has made an error in their robot explanation, Midoriya for mumbling during the explanation, and Midoriya again when he’s trying to thank Uraraka for helping him. Then we see Iida run right by Midoriya when the Zero Pointer comes. It’s only afterward, after Midoriya’s shocking display of heroism, that Iida reflects and reassesses both Midoriya and the exam. Iida directly contrasts his own selfish action of running by Midoriya to Midoriya’s selfless action of saving Uraraka, and he wonders if rescuing others is a hidden parameter of the test. In a move reminiscent of Bakugou at the end of episode two (when he tracks down Midoriya and doubles down on being fine on his own and not needing anyone’s help, when he denies the truth basically), Iida tries to deny that his actions here say anything meaningful about him. Rather, they were a reflection of the situation, not him. Iida thinks that, if this were real, he would have acted as Midoriya had. That’s not true, as seen in the Stain arc. Iida is an inversion of Midoriya in these episodes. He looks more like a hero than Midoriya does, he’s taller and stronger, and he has a serious, competent air, which contrasts Midoriya, who mumbles and trips and flails and generally fails to impress. At least until the moment of truth comes, and then the truth comes to light, and like Bakugou (though he denied it) and like Toshinori (who maturely admitted it), Iida is affected by Midoriya’s heroism and has started his path of growth.

[vincent-frankenstein]

Shatter

Chapter Eight: Dragon Quest

Summary: Logic is a storm. He’s a furious fire, raging deep inside; thunder strong enough to tear the mindscape to pieces, lightning bright enough to take control. And the storm grows with each time he’s ignored or disregarded, each time his so-called “family” pushes him aside. This is a golden opportunity — how could Rage not take it?

When lightning strikes, Deceit is left to pick up the shattered pieces left behind. The light sides are the only ones who can stop Logic and take Rage off his throne, the only ones who can save Thomas. Deceit just has to fix the damage Logic wrought. He just has to bring back the light.

(And maybe, maybe fall in love with them in the process.)

Warnings: violence, manipulation, blood, corruption, sympathetic deceit, villain logan, swearing, dark side ocs, basically just logan and rage being ASSHOLES and hurting everyone including thomas

Pairings: eventual DAMP (starting with Roceit, then Moceit, and finally Anxceit)

{ Read on AO3 | Prologue | Chapter One | Chapter Two | Chapter Three | Chapter Four | Chapter Five | Interlude | Chapter Six | Chapter Seven }

@dante1138 @unlikelynightmareconnoisseur @dealings-ofthe-raven @nerdypandastuff @sammy-the-eye @spirits-in-my-thoughts  @c0re0psis @just-a-baby-bee-witchblr @theultimatemomfriend (lmk if u wanna be added to/removed from the taglist!)

reblogs > likes

There really wasn’t as much to the kingdom as Deceit had thought. At first glance, it seemed a sprawling, unique landscape, but up close it was fractured and glitched, the same towns again and again, the same forest paths leading through the same woods and out into the same valleys. It was a stitched patchwork of the same pattern, over and over again. The one and only point of uniqueness was the tower — and the very, very foreboding dragon guarding it.

He found some weapons hidden away in one abandoned town, and though he didn’t know how to use them, he felt safer with the twin daggers fastened at his side. He nicked a shield, too, and it hung awkwardly over his arm. They were a hollow comfort, though. He wasn’t much of a fighter, after all. Working in the shadows was so much easier.

He didn’t know how long he’d been walking, or how much longer the path stretched ahead of him. The timeless realm played tricks on his mind, until he felt like he’d been frozen in time, too. The sun never set. But he kept walking, his gaze never wavering from the tower as it grew closer and closer. He studied the dragon as he walked, watching how uncertain it seemed, committing its movements to memory. Soon enough, he’d have to face the beast, slay it, somehow.

And then… then, he’d have to fix the prince.

And wouldn’t that just be the easiest thing in the world? He didn’t know the first thing about helping others. Or, well, he did — but he didn’t know any methods that didn’t involve trickery, deception, or manipulation. Could Roman be tricked into feeling better? He had always been the easiest of the light sides to fool, so eager for validation that he threw himself at the feet of the first person to give it to him.

But he had a feeling that that wouldn’t be the case here. Whatever Logan had done to him, it had caused more damage than a few false compliments could heal. Roman wasn’t even creativity anymore; Deceit had to re-teach him to do his own job.

He sighed, leaning against an ash-gray tree to rest. This was ridiculous. He’d never be able to manage this on his own. And even if he could get past the dragon, who’s to say Roman would even trust him? He wasn’t the same Roman he used to know. Maybe he’d see through him. Maybe he’d hate him.

He probably would. No, he definitely would. He’d already started to see Deceit for the horrible person he was before Logan had decided to explode; he’d never believe that he was there to help. And why should he? Deceit had never given him any reason to think of him as anything but a liar. All he did was cheat and deceive and manipulate — all he did was hurt.

He’d hunched over without realizing, his breathing short and panicked, his hands clenched so tightly around his arms that they’d begun to ache. He forced himself to step back from the voice screaming insults in his head, analyzing the situation. He wasn’t in Anxiety’s room. Where had this wave of self-loathing come from?

And then it hit him. The flood of insecurity he’d felt when he’d touched Roman’s door, and the dread he’d felt ever since… it all made sense, now.

He wasn’t in Anxiety’s room — but he was in Insecurity’s.

He closed his eyes and slid to the ground, forcing himself to focus on his breath and only his breath. He couldn’t afford to let the self-loathing tear him apart now; he usually scheduled these attacks for more convenient times. The voice began to fade, though it never disappeared completely, whispering sour nothings in his ear.

Now he knew what Roman had become. What Logan had turned him into, what he would have to reverse. Somehow, somehow, he had to reverse it. Even if Roman didn’t trust him, even if no one trusted him, it was better to be a hated part of a healthy Thomas. He had to get Creativity back.

He heaved a heavy sigh and pushed himself back to his feet. Insecurity fluttered like wasps in his lungs, but there was something deeper beneath it, overpowering it, something burning hot and powerful. Determination renewed, he continued down the path.

The tower sat on an island in the center of a sea of brambles, razor-sharp thorns pointed every which way. The dragon clutched the tower like it was afraid it would fall in, its wings curled tightly against its back. Couldn’t it fly? Deceit hoped not. If all he had to do was send it plummeting to a sharp death below… well, it made his job a lot easier.

He stood under the cover of the forest, watching the beast. Its massive chest heaved as it strained to keep itself upright, flames spurting from between its teeth and sending curls of smoke into the air. He didn’t see a path through the brambles, but he could easily cut one through, and he could climb the ivy trailing along the tower to the top. Surely, he’d find the prince locked away inside.

All he had to do was kill a dragon.

He winced as a wall of flames spouted from the dragon’s maw, curling back into the safety of the forest when the heat became almost too much to bear. “I’m not scared,” he whispered to himself, glaring at the dragon as it curled up around the tower’s roof. All it was was a stupid, terrifying scaly thing. He was a terrifying scaly thing! He could do this.

But he didn’t move. His hand shook, hovering just above the hilt of one dagger. He sighed, biting his lip. “...I’m scared,” he admitted, finally, his voice far too meek for his liking. He lifted his head, tilting his chin as bravely as he could manage, defiance sparking to life in his eyes. “And I’m going to do it anyway.”

With a growl, he drew his dagger, and set off towards the sea of brambles. Hidden in the overgrown tangle, he could avoid the dragon for just long enough to sneak up on it. Then he could… what did heroes do in these situations? He could… take the dragon’s heart, perhaps? Present it to Roman as proof of his dedication?

The dragon let out a slow, sad trill in the back of its throat, eyes half-lidded as though it was falling asleep. It hit Deceit, then, what he was about to do. He’d done some awful things in his life, things even he couldn’t be proud of — but he’d never killed anything before. His stomach turned and he hesitated, grip tightening around the hilt of his dagger.

Maybe… Maybe he could sneak past it. The dragon was obviously falling asleep; he could see it relaxing through the gaps in the brambles above as he cut his way through. If he could get Roman out before it woke up, and take him somewhere else to help him, he wouldn’t have to kill the poor beast at all. He was a snake, after all. Sneaking was his specialty

It was slow, tedious work, slicing his way through the maze. The thorns tugged at his clothes and tore at his skin, and the dagger was awkward in his unpracticed hands. But he was making progress, however slowly, and the tower came closer and closer with each bus he cut. The dragon’s deep snoring became the background noise to his work, and he sliced in rhythm with it.

He hated how timeless the realm felt. The sun never set, and the world never changed. He could have been working for hours, or for five minutes, and he wouldn’t know. The monotony of his chore left him tired and frustrated, and he vowed right then and there to someday trap Logan in a maze of brambles and let him cut his way out, when all this ridiculousness had passed.

Finally, he emerged onto the other side, scraped and bloodied but victorious all the same. He craned his neck to gaze at the tower and the long, off-white mass of scales sitting atop it, shifting ever so slightly as it slept. With a steadying breath, Deceit sheathed his dagger, hefted his shield over his shoulder, and grabbed an ivy trellis.

If the bramble maze was frustrating, this was torture. Thomas had never been an athletic sort, and neither was he; a life spent orchestrating things from the shadows didn’t call for physical strength, after all. But this — this sure as hell did. By the time he reached the window, he was soaked with sweat, his breathing labored and heavy. He wished he’d never grabbed the shield. All it did was tug him back towards the ground, far too heavy to be legal.

He crouched on the ledge outside the window, chest heaving as he fought to catch his breath. Hands shaking and raw, he cradled the intricate lock, turning it over and narrowing his eyes. Why hadn’t he realized it might have been locked? He had no key, and he certainly hadn’t had time to grab his lockpick before Logan had kicked him out. He had to —

Above him, the snoring abruptly cut off, and dust fell from the roof as the scaly mass began to shift. Deceit froze, a gasp hitching in his throat, and a litany of curses tore from his lips as he fumbled with the lock. “Shit, shit, shit —” He gave up on the lock and shoved his shoulder into the thick glass. Pain exploded up and down his arm but still, he kept trying, kept pushing, because he couldn’t be caught outside when —

A puff of hot air pushed against his back and he froze, his scream of fear dying in his throat. Slowly, he turned, the blood draining from his face, and faced the dragon. It glared at him, bright golden eyes flooded with fear and disbelief and too many other emotions to name. Wisps of flame jumped from between its gritted teeth, washing Deceit in their too-warm glow.

“Ha,” Deceit laughed weakly, his voice trembling so badly he could barely speak. He tried for a charming grin, but his eyes were probably too full of involuntary tears for the effect to do much good. “H-Hello, nice dragon —”

The dragon roared.

[n0verias]

This is a gift for @yabakuboi for the @bakudekuflowerexchange event. I hope you enjoy it!

Title: Can You Hear Me Fandom: Boku no Hero Academia Pairing: Bakugou/Izuku Prompt: Spider Lily Rating: Teen Word Count: 3,937 Warnings: Non-graphic depictions of blood/violence, hospitals, comatose AO3 Link

Summary:  When a powerful villain puts Izuku in a coma, Bakugou is there to watch over him. He knows he must be strong for Izuku's sake, but he can slowly feel the magnitude of the situation closing in on him, breaking down his walls. At this point, he'll believe in anything if it means Izuku wakes up.

[Spider Lily: Loss, Longing, Abandonment, Reincarnation]

“Bakugou-san, visiting hours are almost over.”

Bakugou paid no mind to the dimwitted nurse who tried to tell him the obvious. He’s been going to this hospital for a month, he didn’t need some damn nurse telling him something as stupid as that.

“Bakugou-san—”

“Fucking hell, I know!” Bakugou lashed out, causing the nurse to physically recoil. “…Sorry, just…give me a moment. Please.”

The nurse looked conflicted, but in the end nodded and scurried down the hallway. Shit, he’ll have to hurry if he didn’t want the doctors to call security on him. Again.

He brought his attention back to the lanky form lying on the hospital bed, IV in arm and tubes attached to what seemed like everywhere possible. Izuku. That’s right, he described Izuku as lanky; probably because all he’s had to eat was whatever the fuck they were feeding him through that tube attached to his stomach. It brought him both grief and almost uncontrollable anger just thinking about how Izuku got here in the first place.

“Kacchan!”

Bakugou looked up just in time to see a million sharpened shards of crystal flying at him. He was on the ground, his legs too injured to react in a timely manner. All he could do was hopefully block them with a large explosion blast. He had to hurry.

As he tried to lift his arm, a sudden jolt of pain caused him to cough violently, blood splattering on the ground. Fuck. But he couldn’t give up. Not now, not when Izuku was watching. There’s no way in hell he would be seen as weak, especially to HIM!

He didn’t have a chance to prove himself. Didn’t have a chance to defend himself. He watched in pain as Izuku leapt in front of him, taking the full force of the crystal shards. Bakugou couldn’t see his face, but he could tell that Izuku was angry. He watched as Izuku charged up an attack so powerful that Bakugou could see every inch of Izuku’s body vibrating, or at least that’s what it looked like.

“D-Deku…Deku don’t—!”

It was too late. Deku charged at the villain with incredible speed, nothing like Bakugou had seen before. All it took was a single punch and the villain plummeted to the ground below, creating a huge tremor that seemed to go on for miles. Bakugou watched in horror as Izuku fell to the ground as well.

Bakugou was sitting in the waiting room, anxious to know what the prognosis was. And as much as he hated to admit it, he wasn’t alone in this terrible waiting game; Kirishima had been the first to arrive, trying to comfort Bakugou as best he could. Uraraka, Iida, and Todoroki arrived at almost the same time. It was obvious that Uraraka had been crying for quite some time beforehand, evidenced by the puffy redness around her eyes and the frequent sniffling noises she made. Iida wasn’t crying, but Bakugou could tell that he was even more upset than Uraraka, if that were possible. Of course, Bakugou was also aware that Iida had been in this position once before, with his older brother. Todoroki, to his credit, tried his best not to look upset, and instead take a calm and rational approach, so he could comfort his friends whenever possible. Shinsou and Kaminari were the last to arrive, having been doing a job prior. Kaminari was freaking out to the point that a few nurses had to tell him to be quiet. Shinsou looked like someone had kicked his puppy, but he was in better shape than Uraraka.

Everyone was anxiously sitting around each other when the surgeon entered the room, his expression grim. They all stood up.

“There was extensive damage to his organs, including his heart from the strain of using his powers while already injured. He slipped into a coma shortly after the surgery, and we’re doing what we can to stabilize him, but…” The surgeon sighed. “I’m going to be frank, the chances of him fully recovering are close to zero. I’m not even sure when he’ll wake up, IF he’ll ever wake up.”

It was at that moment that Bakugou’s life came crashing down.

“Dammit…Dammit!” Bakugou clenched his fists as he stared down at Izuku. “Why the fuck did you have to do that, huh?! I had it under control! Now because of you—” Bakugou’s voice cracked. “I have to deal with this shit. When you wake up, I’m gonna kill you for trying to be my hero, you hear me?!”

He stormed out of the room, pushing away the doctor and security guard who came to seize him.

.

.

.

He ended up at All Might’s grave. From one depressing place to another, Bakugou couldn’t help but laugh to himself. He couldn’t help but notice all of the red spider lilies growing around it; even stranger was that All Might’s grave was the only grave with the flowers. Although given what he understood about All Might’s power, maybe it wasn’t so strange after all.

“Why’d you have to go and die when Deku needs you the most right now?” Bakugou scratched his head with irritation. “And don’t give me that shit that you live within Deku. If you did, he wouldn’t be in this mess!”

When Bakugou found out that Izuku basically had the spirits of the previous All Mights within him, at first he thought Izuku was fucking insane. It was like some reincarnation bullshit, something that Bakugou never believed in. But he’s seen the result of the previous All Mights come to Izuku’s rescue on multiple occasions now, so he had no choice but to accept that this was real. Until that day, that is. That day when Izuku needed All Might to save him; the day that Izuku nearly died and is practically on his death bed right now.

“Were you the one who gave Deku the power to go beyond his limits? Because of you, he’s in the hospital with little hope of recovery…” Bakugou’s fury was surprisingly subdued. “He still hasn’t found a successor yet. If he dies now, the power of All Might dies with him!” Tears were beginning to flow. “Don’t you dare take Deku away from me, Old Man!” His palms began to crackle like firecrackers, which told him he had to reign in his frustrations before he did something he would regret. “What are you waiting for? Say something!”

The wind blew harshly just then, though Bakugou paid no attention. He glared angrily at the grave, when his eyes were suddenly drawn to a peculiar white spider lily. It was the only one amongst the red, and Bakugou was surprised he hadn’t noticed it sooner. Acting on impulse, he picked the lily and glared at it. “What the fuck is this supposed to mean, Old Man?” He mumbled to himself, before walking away with spider lily in hand.

“What the fuck did you just say, Deku?”

He stared at Izuku with a mixture of confusion and disbelief. Izuku was trembling, his cheeks flushed pink; Bakugou couldn’t help but focus on those freckles because of it.

“I-I like you, Kacchan. Like, as more than a friend!” Izuku’s voice somehow got even higher than it already was. “I know you hate me, and I know we haven’t been great friends since we were kids,” Izuku’s eyes suddenly gained some resolve. “But I noticed how much you changed over the course of our high school years, and before our graduation I realized that my feelings for you changed as well.” The last part was a near whisper, so much so that Bakugou nearly missed it.

Bakugou was caught speechless, his mouth hung slightly agape.

“Please, can you say something?” Izuku pleaded. “Anything is better than silence right now, even if it’s a rejection or—”

“…You have shit taste in love interests, Deku.”

Izuku’s eyes widened at that. “W-What do you mean?”

Bakugou scoffed. “I treated you like shit for most of our lives. Hell, I told you to kill yourself back in middle school! Just because ‘I’ve changed’ a lot, as you put it, doesn’t make what I did right.”

Izuku looked down. “Who you were back then never mattered to me. What matters to me is who you are NOW!”

“Just what do you see in me, Deku?!” Bakugou shouted.

“You’re my best friend, and I care about you!” Izuku shouted back.

Bakugou recoiled, so Izuku continued. “You push me around, say all things unkind things to me, and never listen to what I want to say. But you also put yourself in harms way to protect others, even if it meant you might get injured. You’ve even protected me a few times, even when I didn’t need you to.”

“You idiot, that’s just what being a hero is.” Bakugou said, to which Izuku nodded in agreement.

“You’re right. But that’s what makes you MY hero. That’s what made me…f-fall in love with you.” Izuku’s eyes began to tear up. “And I promise to one day be YOUR hero, when you need it. You might get angry at me, but if it means that you come out of the fight alive, it will be worth it!”

Bakugou’s gaze softened, and he was having a difficult time on how to properly respond. “You always put yourself in a life-or-death situation to save people, Deku.”

Izuku’s body stiffened, which signaled to Bakugou that Izuku was well aware of that fact.

“Did you ever stop to think how those around you feel when you pull shit like that?” Bakugou’s voice was eerily soft, with no hint of anger. “How I would feel if you did that for me?”

Izuku’s gaze drooped a little. “I imagine you would be angry.”

“Angry, sure. But not angry at you for taking away my moment to shine.” That was the old him. “I’d be angry because you don’t think of the consequences. If you died to protect me, literally all of our classmates would be crying their fucking eyes out and I would have to deal with that.” Bakugou placed a hand on Izuku’s shoulder, which brought out a surprised reaction from the other man. “But I would also be sad to lose you.”

Izuku’s eyes widened.

Bakugou scratched the back of his neck. “I care about you more than I like to admit. And I’m sorry, but I don’t think I can answer your confession yet. I don’t think what I’m feeling towards you is love, but I definitely like you as more than a friend.” He couldn’t believe he just admitted that. “Sorry that I have to keep you waiting a little while longer.”

Izuku’s eyes widened and he shook his head quickly. “I-It’s alright, Kacchan. Just knowing that you like me in some form is good enough for me. I’ll continue to wait as long as I have to!”

Bakugou couldn’t help but chuckle. “I’ll try not to keep you waiting that long.”

Izuku smiled at him; it was that smile that convinced Bakugou that maybe he wouldn’t have to keep Izuku waiting after all.

.

.

.

The next day, Bakugou bought a small, slender vase to put the white spider lily in. He filled it with water and walked all the way to the hospital, going up to Izuku’s room in silence. As he entered, he noticed a pile of ‘get well’ cards on the table, along with a plate with a couple of apple slices still left on it. Their friends must’ve been here, as well as Izuku’s mother, he guessed. He cleaned a spot on the table and placed the spider lily on it, staring at it with scrutiny.

‘Is it bad luck to bring a flower like that to someone in the hospital?’ Bakugou thought but shook off that feeling.

“See, Deku, there’s a hell of a lot of people who miss you, so get better already.”

Bakugou observed Izuku’s peaceful expression. “It’s funny how you were the one waiting for me, and now I’m the one who has to wait for you. Piece of shit.” He said with slight affection. He glanced at the heart monitor, the only thing besides himself making any kind of noise. “Please get better. If you die, I won’t be able to tell you how I feel.”

He glanced at the spider lily again, as if searching for some sort of sign that All Might heard him back at the cemetery. He let out a frustrated sigh. “I don’t believe in signs from beyond the grave or any of that reincarnation bullshit, but I’ll gladly believe anything if it means I get Deku back.”

He left the hospital earlier than usual, deciding that it was time he focused on hero work again. He’s sure that’s what Izuku would have wanted.

.

.

.

In the blink of an eye, summer turned to autumn, and autumn to winter. Bakugou hated the cold; how the fuck could he use his quirk if he couldn’t even work up a sweat? He was thankful that most of the villains who he’s had to deal with so far were small fry, not even worth using his full power.

He met up with Kirishima for a quick bite to eat, listening as Kirishima talked about this villain he took down earlier in the day.

“And get this, he was GIGANTIC! But also super slender so somehow he still managed to not be an easy target to hit.” Kirishima smirked. “But in the end, I got him! He tried to step on me a few times but my quirk was his worst enemy in that scenario. Almost a one-hit KO!”

Bakugou rolled his eyes. “I say that villain was a straight-up idiot; it had nothing to do with you.”

“C’mon man, at least let me bask in the glow of my awesomeness for a few minutes before you take it away from me!” Kirishima laughed as he munched on his burger. “Any news on Midoriya’s condition?”

Bakugou stopped eat his own burger and set it down on the tray. “The doctors still aren’t sure how long it’ll take. Though they did say he’s finally stabilizing so it’s just a long waiting game now.”

“Hey, that’s great news!” Kirishima grinned. “So be honest. How many times have you visited him?”

Bakugou sent him a glare that could kill. Kirishima held his hands up. “No need to look at me like that, I’m well aware of your feelings for him.”

Something that Bakugou instantly regret confessing to his friend.

“I’m just worried about you, is all. Everyone is.” Kirishima said with a concerned expression. “Not even Uraraka and Iida visit Midoriya as much as you, and they were practically joined at the hip in high school.”

Bakugou sighed. “Uraraka and Iida were nice to him from the beginning, while I was nothing but an asshole to him from childhood until far into our first year. Even in our second year I was still standoffish towards him. I’m just making up for lost time, I guess.”

Kirishima nodded. “That’s real nice, man. And I’m sure Midoriya appreciates it.”

“How can he when he’s unconscious?”

“Dude, unconscious people can still hear voices outside their little world.” Kirishima pointed a fry in Bakugou’s direction. “That’s why they say it’s good to speak to comatose patients, because kind words might have a chance on them recovering faster.”

Bakugou scoffed. “You’ve watched too many movies.”

“It’s true!” Kirishima argued. “Just you watch, Midoriya will wake up before you know it.”

.

.

.

He visited Izuku again.

He softly caressed Izuku’s cheek and said a few nice words, before his eyes drifted towards the white spider lily.

He was shocked to see that not a single petal had yet to fall.

.

.

.

This villain was unlike anything he’d ever faced off before; not since his first year of high school when the League of Villains made their move. His quirk allowed him to steal other people’s quirks for a short time, while at the same time preventing the person from using their quirk while the effect was still in place. Even worse was that this villain could steal multiple quirks at once, so long as he was able to grab hold of a part of the person’s body for a few minutes without the contact breaking. He was careless, and the villain managed to hold onto his arm; he had to fight without his powers until the effect wore off.

“What happened to all that confidence at the beginning of this fight, Boy?” The villain taunted as he picked up Bakugou and flung him towards a building.

The impact caused Bakugou to hack up some blood, but thanks to his vitality and endurance, it didn’t instantly knock him out cold.

“I don’t need my quirk to beat the living shit out of you!” Bakugou grinned, although he knew that right now he was all talk.

The villain just laughed, and Bakugou instantly noticed the sparks coming from the villain’s hands. One massive explosion was being charged up, and he could feel his body being uncooperative.

‘Heh…this is just like last time, when Deku had to jump in and save me.’ Bakugou smirked to himself. ‘I refuse…to let that happen again!’

Through his sheer force of will, Bakugou managed to stand up, his legs shaking from the pain. “I’m a hero, and therefore I refuse to fall back down!”

The villain grinned and dashed towards Bakugou, the massive light of the explosion imminent. Bakugou was powerless, but he couldn’t give up. He would never forgive himself if he did that.

But the explosion never came. When the light died down, Bakugou could see that the villain’s hands were incased in ice.

“Made it just in time!” Kirishima became visible to his left. “You okay, Bakugou?!”

Bakugou was too shocked to respond.

“I’ll take that as a ‘maybe’!” Kirishima then looked to a spot behind the villain. “Nice job, Todoroki!”

Todoroki nodded. “Uraraka, you’re up.”

“Right!”

Bakugou watched as Uraraka touched the villain, rendering him weightless and allowing Kirishima to pin him down with no trouble.

“You think you’ve won, heroes?!” The villain sneered. “Just you wait, I’ll get my revenge on you yet. If I can render even the great Ground Zero useless, I can do so with all of you!”

Bakugou’s fists clenched. Useless. He hated being described by that word. He used to use it to describe Izuku all the time, and even though he still referred to him as ‘Deku’, it was used in a more affectionate tone as of late. But for him to be described as useless…that made him unimaginably angry.

“Haven’t you said enough? Just shut up already.”

Bakugou heard Todoroki say.

The villain laughed. “What was that? No one can silence me, not until I—”

And then, silence. Bakugou noticed the villain’s pupils were strangely out of focus, as if he was staring into space.

“Great job, Shinsou.”

Bakugou’s head turned to see Shinsou walking towards them, with that unique mask attached to his mouth.

“His gloating was giving me a headache.” Shinsou commented.

They all smiled gratefully at Shinsou with the exception of Bakugou, who looked like he was still in shock. Kirishima stayed behind to make sure Bakugou was alright, while the others went to turn the villain in. It was a long day for all of them, and Bakugou decided it would be best to just head back home, letting Kirishima know that he was fine.

.

.

.

Deep down, he was suffering. Instead of heading back to his apartment, he ended up in front of his parents’ house. His hand trembled as he reached for his key and opened the door, to which his mom looked at him from the kitchen.

“Wow, what a surprise! Look, Honey, our son decided to visit us for once!” As his mom got a closer look at her son, however, she could immediately tell that something was wrong. “Katsuki, is everything alright?”

Bakugou collapsed in her arms and held onto her, something he hadn’t done since he was a small child. He didn’t cry, but his trembling form was enough to get the message across. His mom held him tight on the hallway floor.

He’s never felt more useless in his life until now.

.

.

.

A few weeks later, he received a call that made his heart beat fast and his mind racing into overdrive.

It was from Uraraka.

“Deku is awake!”

.

.

.

He ran as fast as he could to the hospital, panting from near exhaustion as he made it up to Izuku’s room. No one else was there, and Bakugou hated thinking that they planned it so Bakugou could be alone with him. When he opened the door, he saw Izuku sitting up, staring at that stupid white spider lily that still had all its petals, with no hint of withering.

“D-Deku.”

Izuku turned his head and his eyes widened. “Kacchan…”

Bakugou hesitantly walked closer, taking in the fact that Izuku had far less tubes attached to him since the last time he was here. “You’re awake.” Fucking smooth, Katsuki.

Izuku let out a light chuckle. “Yeah, I woke up sometime this morning. The nurse heard me choking on the tube down my throat and well…here I am.” He smiled.

Bakugou had no idea how Izuku could be so cheerful after what had happened, but maybe that was for the better. When he noticed the other’s attention drift back to the flower, Bakugou scratched his head. “I uh…went to visit All Might’s grave and I found that growing next to it. I wasn’t sure if I should bring it to you, but I figured anything growing by All Might’s grave can’t be all bad.”

Izuku smiled softly. “Maybe All Might looked after me, and that’s why I’m still alive.”

At this point, Bakugou believed him.

“But you also helped too, Kacchan.”

“I didn’t do a damn thing except be the reason you were in this mess in the first place.”

Izuku shook his head. “I heard your voice while I was in a coma. It’s what gave me the strength to fight.”

Bakugou’s eyes widened, and he bit his lip. “Fucking idiot.”

Before Izuku could respond, Bakugou pulled him into a hug. It was awkward as hell given that one of them was still lying on a hospital bed, but he didn’t care.

“Kacchan, what—”

“Don’t you ever do that again, you hear me?”

Izuku shut his mouth mid-sentence.

Bakugou’s voice was muffled by Izuku’s hair. “Stop treating your body like you’re expendable. There’s only one Deku…there’s only one Deku that I love, and he’s in a hospital bed because he decided to protect me from something that could have killed him! Didn’t I tell you once before not to do that?!”

Tears fell from Izuku’s eyes, and the motion of him wiping his face with his arm got Bakugou to pull away and look at him directly. “I love you, you fucking moron. And I’m not ready to lose you just yet, so don’t scare me like that again, got it?”

Izuku laughed through his tears and sniffles. “Got it…”

Bakugou smiled a bit and gave Izuku a quick, soft kiss. The instant blush on Izuku’s face was well worth it. “Hurry up and recover, alright? Fighting against villains isn’t the same without you by my side.”

Izuku held tightly onto Bakugou’s hand and nodded, both unaware that at that very moment, one petal finally fell from the white spider lily.

[mx-bright-sky]

Masterlist for all my bnha AUs

you can ask me about any of these, at any time. I love to talk about my ideas. asking about them will never ever both me.

Warning: the descriptions on the aus are accurate, but not at all written seriously, and i got more bored and wacky as the list went on, enjoy

Ones that have been published on AO3 so far:

Green Lightning: vigilante!izuku au, featuring gadgets, a smug ferret, loopholes, and Shinsou and Hatsume as main characters + two OCs

My Neighbor Midoriya: best friends au with Shinsou and Izuku, featuring lots of fluff, Tsuyu in the Izusquad, actual Bakugou character development, and the complete disregard of just about everything that happens in canon

A Shadow In An Empty Room: ghost quirk!izuku au, featuring NANA SHIMURA, ghostly puns, and lots of various ghosts which may or may not eventually include Touya Todoroki

Crossover AUs/ AUs where the characters are just in the setting of another story:

Hero Emblem: Awakening: Fire Emblem: Awakening au, featuring prince Shouto who adopts random hobos he finds on the ground, izuku who is the random hobo on the ground and also has amnesia, incredibly fed up royal guard Iida, awesome big bro Natsuo, and Shigaraki who hates the good guys because Endeavor is a dick, which is Understandable Have A Nice Day(TM)

Hero Emblem: Fates: Fire Emblem: Fates au, featuring izuku with more low key amnesia, family feud medieval edition, More Shinsou Love, and other worldly shananigans. Also no one dies because I Said So. (also, like in the game, after the chapter where the crossroads comes the audience will get to choose which path to take, and i might end up writing all three paths which would be exhausting but Worth It(TM) )

Hero Emblem: Echoes, Shadows of Valentia: FE: SOV au, featuring an author who Definitely Does Not Have An Obsession with fire emblem, they swear, secret prince Shouto, rowdy boy Izuku, general good friendship, and Darth Vader twists that I saw coming from a mile away in the original game

Rune Hero: Rune Factory 4 au, featuring more amnesia izuku because that’s just how the games i like happen to start, weirdly, Dragon Dad Might, incredibly badass moma Inko, and as much or as little fluff as anyone wants

Puella Magi Izuku Magica: Madoka Magica au, featuring pain, suffering, and ooowwwchhh feelings, but also in the end (because of time shenanigans) everyone lives i promise

Delta Rune au that I don’t have a name for, featuring Shouto eats moss, Shinsou eats chalk, Izuku has the power of fluffy boys, and I Don’t Know Who Lancer Is Yet, But It’s Either Eri Or Prototype Bakugou, Help Me Choose, People

Magnus Chase au that I don’t have a name for either, featuring Norse Mytholigy shenanigans, literally a ray of sunshine Izuku, magic elf Shouto, I Forgot Who Blitzen Is And I’ll Edit It In Later, Fuck, Valkyrie Jirou, chaotic good kids of class 1-A that fuck shit up as a Family, shapeshifter Shinsou, and some good wholesome momojirou

Fossil Fighters Champions au and i’m starting to realize i’m not good at naming things yet, featuring It’s A Pokemon AU But With Dinosaurs, where are all my fossil fighters kids at, Literally A Skeleton Man Toshinori, and low key causing the end of the world by accident

Mekakucity Heroes: Kagepro au (finally something else that actually has a name), featuring One Big Damn Family, whoops I think Kirishima is dead, Bakugou is more depressed and less of a bitch, Izuku is actually 150 years old but is basically 15 in body and spirit so details details, Actually, Technically Everyone Is Dead, But Not, everyone has crazy powers but not the same powers that their quirks are, and Kagepro is fucking weird and also niche so probably a very small fan base here

Sword Hero Online: sao au but it’s 1000% better than sao in every way and makes sense, featuring Everyone Is A Gamer, Bakugou being that douche who cusses people out online in chat, Izuku playing DPS, Kiri playing Tank, Uraraka playing Support, and a story that actually has an end and doesn’t drag out forever

AUs set in the BNHA universe:

Shinsou with One For All AU, featuring bffs Izuku and Shinsou, again, because that’s just my brand at this point, Izuku having a quirk and it’s basically that he’s a dnd character (luck and dice rolls), not much else because I came up with this idea like yesterday and haven’t had a lot of time to plan rip

A Bit Of Irony: Hisashi Midoriya is a villain au, featuring slightly pyrophobic Izuku, bonding over garbage fire dads, and a lot of other things that I don’t want to give away just yet but it’s good trust me I promise

Mirrored Fate: Okay, it’s an au of the above where Izuku has both his parent’s quirks, featuring not really a villain and doesn’t actually want to hurt people but is kinda stuck here Izuku, Shouto befriending the technically not a villain, villains not every getting the hint that Izuku will never stop helping the heroes with shit, and Izuku eventually getting saved I promise

again, because I cannot stop, it’s another au that sort of follows the one above but in this one it’s Villain!Endeavor and Number 2 Hero!Hisashi Midoriya, featuring absolutely horrible garbage fire dads, the number two hero spot must be cursed to make you a douche unless if you’re Hawks, a villain second only to All For One who just wants to beat the shit out of All Might, and like izuku in the au above, shouto helping the heroes at literally any opportunity because the villains can’t catch the hint that these kids are just good kiddos

Shouto and Izuku swap AU, featuring Shouto Midoriya as achey brakey bone hurt juice boy, Izuku Todoroki as oh god stop the feels no, Shouto taking absolutely none of Bakugou’s shit except he can’t actually physically do anything to stop it, making friends and being nice out of spite, and Shouto using support gear which may or may not include a taser which solves a lot of problems to be honest

MY Hero Academia: it’s bnha but I do literally whatever the fuck I want to it when it comes to fixing things, featuring a sentient narrator who is too sassy, Izuku staying quirkless, Bakugou being less of a douche and then getting actual character development, no Mineta, well designed costumes, and much much more

Is It A Crime To Have A Good Time: Fun little one shot where the villains just spend the day at an amusement park. Not doing malicious things, mind you, but just general petty things, such as popping kids’ balloons, cutting in line, playing bumper cart in the go karts that explicitly say ‘do not use like bumper karts’, etc. 

Secret Identities: au where it’s only 8% of the population that has quirks and so they’re more like vigilante heroes that you see in comic books, featuring identity hiding shenanigans, accidentally falling in love with both a person’s secret identity and real person, oblivious lesbians (written by a hella oblivious lesbian), and hiding quirks badly

AU where kouta replaces bakugou and bakugou replaces kouta, featuring an actually decent childhood friendship, Kouta being incredibly done with his reckless bff who just got the ultimate quirk of breaking his bones, and becoming a hero to stop your best friend from getting himself killed smh

it’s bnha but I randomized who ends up in Class A and who ends up in Class B, featuring lots of Class B kids, and honestly, isn’t that enough to make you want it?

The Purrfect Hero: CAT QUIRK AU!! featuring cat boy Izuku, lots of obscure cat facts, absolutely always fucking tired and has sleepy bitch disease Izuku, sometimes knocks things off tables on accident, sometimes knocks things off tables on purpose, feels like he doesn’t get taken seriously, and immediately bonds with Shouto over mmm left side warm and bonds with Shinsou over ‘OH MY GOD YOU’RE A CAT’

Underground Avengers: okay, you know how in like episode two when All Might is explaining his injury he says he got it in a fight five years ago, and we as the audience now know that it was against AFO??? Okay, in this AU, the result of that fight was reversed and AFO won and All Might is in hiding and unable to use his quirk anymore, featuring dystopian au vibes, Aizawa Is Always A Mom, secretly used to be a pro hero Inko, and actually on the side of the good guys for once Stain even those he’s a bastard and I hate him in canon

there’s probably more that I’m forgetting, but I’ll edit it and add what I’m missing later

[the-nysh]

Lines from the dub’s script for Deku vs Kacchan 2

Since Crunchyroll’s subs had several translation errors, I was interested in seeing for myself how much better Funimation would do for the dub. I went in and transcribed most of the notable lines for ref and/or comparison’s sake. (Not for the purpose of comparing the voice acting however.) Also included are some of my thoughts/impressions for particular word choices at the end.  

K: Kacchan D: Deku AM: All Might A: Aizawa

Also bolded: important key lines to browse at a glance

K: “When you and I were kids, we both wanted to be like All Might, but I…had the potential. Then somehow a little nobody like you was singled out by the person I admired most, and I didn’t even realize it. That’s why we’re here. We are settling this. Right here, right now.

“I wanna know what made All Might give his power to a loser like you. (1) Lemme see for myself. Is it because you looked up to him more than I did? And if that’s the case…does it mean everything I’ve done to be like him is wrong?

“You were always behind me our whole lives! You were stuck to me; I couldn’t get rid of you. No matter how much I tried you kept coming back! (2)

“Don’t you dare worry about me! Attack me! (3) Why won’t you fight back!? Why did I end up having to chase after someone who was always so far behind me!? Why did a damn small fry like you get strong, and become the number one hero’s sidekick – his favorite!? (4) You got so much better! And I destroyed All Might! I admired him so much…but it’s because of me that he ended up losing his power! (5) If I had been stronger…if I hadn’t been kidnapped by villains, then it never would have happened. All Might knows it was my fault but hasn’t said anything. (6) Everyone has to know though! I can’t get it out of my head! It’s like it’s constantly playing on loop, so what the hell am I supposed to DO!?”

D: “No…he’s been carrying this guilt with him the whole time? Even more than me. He’s been blaming himself, obsessing over it…  

“It turned out our fight wasn’t what I thought it would be. It didn’t really matter who won or lost. That wasn’t the point. Even so, I felt like I had to go through with it. Because in that moment…I was the only person in the world who understood how Kacchan felt. (7)

“If I’m gonna do this, I’m going all out! I refuse to be your punching bag, Kacchan! Let’s go!

“He just needed to vent his emotions, and fighting was the only way he knew how. I couldn’t ignore him…or run off, not after everything we’ve been through. Our relationship to one another was totally screwed up: kindergarten, elementary, middle school, high school…  We’ve known each other for so long but until that point, we’d never talked about how we really felt.”(8)

K: “Can’t let him think!”(9)    

D: “My reaction times have gotten faster, much better than the last time we’ve fought. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised…that we’ve both been getting stronger.”(10)

K: “What are you smiling about!? Huh!? I thought you weren’t gonna be my punching bag?! I bet you’ve got some kinda plan up your sleeve! That’s one of the things I hate most about you! (11) I can never tell what you’re thinking…no matter how much I beat you up you keep coming back! It’s obvious you’ve always looked down on me, even when we were kids! You think you’re better than me, but if you seriously believe you’re gonna surpass me as a hero, even with your new power! You better think again, Deku!”

D: “Wait…is that what you actually believed, all this time? Think about it, Kacchan. If I looked down on you I wouldn’t want anything to do with you anymore. But I’m still here. I noticed things you couldn’t all these years because I had nothing at first. There were things I hated about you, sure. But I could clearly see how amazing you were! You had so much going for you that I didn’t have. All Might was my hero, but you were the one actually in my LIFE! (12)

“I thought you were incredible, Kacchan. I wanted to see…what you’d become! That’s the reason…I kept chasing after you!

“I’d never admit something like this to your face, but the truth is…when I get riled up and my desire to win surpasses my desire to save someone…without meaning to, I start talking like you. You’re so mean sometimes, and I hate it, but my idea of victory is so tied to the image of you in my head, that in those moments I can’t help but imitate you. (13)

“You’re the best, that’s why I want to defeat you! I have to, in order to meet the expectations that All Might has for me!”  

K: “That’s it. We’re done here, I won this fight. You have All Might’s power, but even…using his strength, even after making it your own, somehow you still managed to lose to me. …Why? How could you lose?  

*to All Might* “Why did you pick Deku? It started when the Sludge villain came, didn’t it? So why him?”(14)

AM: “He was powerless, but still more heroic than anyone else. I knew you were strong, that much was obvious. You were someone who could already fight, so I decided that he should have a chance to stand in the ring.”

K: “…But now you know I’m weak too! I always wanted to be like you which meant being as strong as possible! But look what I did to you! Because I’m not good enough…”(15)

AM: “This is not your fault, young Bakugou. I was always going to lose my power. You couldn’t do anything to change that. You are strong, but I focused too much on your physical strength, and overlooked what was important. This isn’t your burden. I apologize; sometimes I forget that you’re children.

“After being a hero for so many years you learn a few things. Striving to be the best, like you, young Bakugou, and caring deeply about people, about rescuing those in trouble, like you, young Midoriya; both of those feelings are necessary in a hero, otherwise they’ll never truly be able to represent justice. That’s why you admire his strength so much, young Midoriya…and I know that’s why you’ve always feared his heart and spirit, young Bakugou. Now that you’ve laid your feelings out on the table, maybe you can understand each other. If you have mutual respect and focus on making one another stronger, I’ve no doubt you’ll become the ultimate heroes, winning and saving people at the same time.” (16)

K: “Dammit…that’s not what I wanted to hear. *to Deku* You…you had the strongest guy in the world lay the groundwork for you. Don’t you dare lose again. 

*to All Might* “Don’t worry, your secret’s safe with me. I won’t tell anyone what’s going on. Unlike Deku I can keep my mouth shut. This will stay between us.”

D: “Thanks, Kacchan.” (17)   

AM: “I don’t deserve this; I should be down on my hands and knees begging for you to keep this secret for me. Yet here you are being considerate and helping me out. Thank you.”

K: “I’m not doing this for you. It would just be a real pain if this got out and messed stuff up.

*to Deku* “If this got out people’d be confused and they’d start wondering where the power is. You idiot, what were you thinking when you first told me about it?”

AM: “It was my own choice to use up the last of my abilities. I said this earlier, but…that was in no way your fault.”

K: *internally* “Yeah, sure. (18) It doesn’t change what I have to do. Things aren’t gonna be the same though, Deku, you got that? You’ve been watching me and everyone around you, absorbing what you see to get stronger. Well I can do the exact same thing and keep getting better myself! I’ll go higher than even you, chosen one.”

D: “Right…then I guess I’ll just have to be better than that!”

K: “You what?”

D: “I have to go higher than you!”

K: “Dammit nerd! I just said I was gonna be the one to surpass you!”    

D: “I know! And now I’m saying that I’m gonna go beyond that level!

K: “What?!”      

AM: “They’ve become proper rivals now, in a way that they weren’t before.

*to Aizawa* “It seems young Bakugou has been feeling like he was responsible for my retirement. He had to face the licensing exam with those pent-up emotions and then his inferiority complex exploded, and this happened. It’s all because I didn’t realize I was being negligent. This whole fight was brought about because of the failure of his teacher.”(19)  

A: “Who threw the first punch!?”

K: “I did.”

D: “I also went pretty hard. It wasn’t just him.”

*After credits scene*

D: “So…about my Shoot Style…what did you think of it?”

K: “…Your movements are too obvious. Even when you got faster I was able to dodge them. You’re not gonna win any fight that way.”

D: “Oh, right.”

K: “…And when you added in punches it really pissed me off.”

D: “Got it!”         

My thoughts, as listed numerically where noted (my sub commentary is here): 

The choice to include ‘loser’ here is kinda ‘hmm,’ since it adds another insult to the line that’s otherwise supposed to be his most honest/sincere. The prev line already had him say ‘nobody’ (instead of ‘pebble’) so this one felt a bit unnecessary. Other than that, I’m ok with this line, (actually it gives off a more accusatory/jealous vibe in general rather than genuine incredulity/confusion at the truth), but I do like him questioning ‘everything he’s done’ to show just how lost he feels.

I like how it’s worded here how much Kacchan tried to get kid Deku to stop following him to no avail. Because it’s an important distinction to make vs actively seeking him out (which would be untrue for Kacchan’s behavior). No matter what he did to either avoid or discourage him to stay away, he couldn’t understand why Deku would keep coming back to him regardless.  

I like the demand, ‘attack me!’ (as opposed to ‘fight me!’) because just as mentioned in this meta, it gives off the feeling of him seeking self-destructive punishment for his guilt.    

The words ‘sidekick’ and ‘his favorite’ used to describe Deku’s relation to All Might are new here! :O I didn’t expect either, (honestly being a sidekick doesn’t seem like a role Kacchan would want to have or be envious of Deku for) but the word ‘favorite’ was delivered nicely painful.

The timing for this line felt off, since the actual ‘wham’ part, and therefore the full impact about destroying All Might, was revealed before the pause where Kacchan raised his head. The part where he bares his face and rawest feelings to Deku then felt a bit lessened/repetitive because of that.

Whoa!?! :O This line punched me in the gut! ‘AM knows it was my fault but hasn’t said anything!’ (vs AM tried to keep it a secret, with ‘it’ being vague) NOW, there’s no doubt what he’s referring to, plus that he believes the person he admires most even blames him for it. That everyone, including AM, gives him the cold shoulder behind his back because they just know it was his fault. Holy fuck yikes, drive that guilt and self-loathing up to 11! D8

Deku’s the ‘only person in the world’ for even more EMPHASIS! 8D

:’))))) I’m emotional. I like how this was worded.

Ah good, the pronoun was fixed where Kacchan refers to Deku.

Oho? Manga had Deku referring to Kacchan, while crunchyroll had Deku referring to himself, now here’s the middle ground with Deku praising them both for their growth. :P

Ah, the first showing of the word ‘hate.’ (1 out of 3) The use of it is kinda eehhhh, but if there’s any solace, it’s only used to refer to traits about the other, rather than directly saying they outright hate the other person. So there’s a distinction (and it’s not that bad).

Hhhh, my heart. ;A; (2nd use of ‘hate’ referring to things about the other) But the ‘I’m still here/you were the one actually in my life’ get me right in the feels. Emphatically proclaiming that declaration to Kacchan’s face is pretty good! 8D

(3rd use) But only about ‘being mean sometimes.’ So as it’s worded, we have Deku disliking when Kacchan’s mean (understandable), yet he unknowingly imitates that same meanness when he strives to win like him too, adapting both his virtuous and unpleasant traits as his image of victory, ayyy. And of course, Deku internally confesses he could never admit this to Kacchan’s face out loud. :P

Oh. ;.; ‘So why him?’ made Kacchan sound so soft and small, like a betrayed and hurt little kid. Oof, that bit got me.

The ‘I’m weak/I’m not good enough’ lines just uurghghhhh hurt so good. Kacchan’s vulnerability/humility in front of All Might is done well. :’)  

Ayyyyy, All Might’s speech to motivate them to mutually improve together. :’))) I like how he summarizes the feelings they both have (Midoriya: caring deeply for others; Bakugou: fearing that heart/spirit). It’s clean and heartfelt.

Wah, :O I didn’t expect Deku to thank Kacchan for promising to keep AM’s secret. (AM thanks him too, but still…) It’s like…now they’re both genuinely surprised Kacchan is an honorable man who keeps his word (when, at least in Deku’s case, he should know how much Kacchan values AM and wouldn’t betray his trust, so that kinda thing should already be a given. So Deku thanking him for that, on top of his soft amazement, feels a bit odd???)  

Oooh, this bit said internally in response to AM’s reassurance now gives off the impression that Kacchan’s guilt isn’t completely gone/mollified; there’s still lingering doubt in the back of his mind that he caused this, even if he knows now what to do next.  

AM’s summary to Aizawa is pretty similar, yet it doesn’t mention mental heath/care, hmm.

Overall: pretty good! :) Worth a watch for those interested in the alternate available official translation! (At least until the subs are officially released on the blurays!) I give props to Deku’s voice actor for his sincerity and range throughout the whole ep. I preferred Kacchan in the latter half when talking vulnerably in front of All Might, since in much of the first half, he seemed to be yelling with sustained anger/frustration rather than choked anguish/pain that I would have liked to hear more. (Ahh, there’s really no comparison to Nobu’s performance, so that’s why I’m not going to discuss the eng vs japanese acting.)

The overall script was clean with several moments of improved polish over the subs that still got me unexpectedly in the feels. (’AM knows it was my fault.’/’You were the one actually in my life!’) Since many lines had to be reworked to fit for mouth flaps too, probably the only unfortunate consequence of that was the timing for Kacchan admitting to AM’s end. Most other additions I was ok with in the sense they weren’t bad, (meaning I can overlook them for the sake of overall enjoyment). Including an extra ‘loser’ and the word ‘hate’ 3 times was pretty ehhhh, but thankfully only used in the context of ‘things they hate about x‘ rather than they hate each other entirely (which would be incorrect). Therefore, the meaning of most key parts were conveyed mostly intact. 

Hopefully this will be useful to those interested in seeing (most of) the eng transcript without the means to watch the ep itself (or, according to individual availability/viewing preferences). :)