#shippy's writing

[shipsgaysfordays]

Chapter 1: Introduction

finally getting the first chapter of “but if you feel like i feel, please let me know it’s real” out, so that’s exciting. here’s the ao3 link if people prefer that.

so yeah, finally my Minnie and Poppy fic, here it is. we start with the fluff but in later chapters we’ll get to some angst.

also, i want it to be known that this fic is so fucking far away from cannon and you fuckers better not start complaining about that now.

After a long time of studying medical magic at St. Mugos, Poppy Pomfrey made the decision to finally go to the school that always struck her curiosity, Hogwarts. Despite having been homeschooled in magic, the school always intrigued her. A new situation to tackle, a huge group of people, students and teachers all around…children. Now surrounded by students and teachers who know the school like the back of their hand, she feels like a bit of a fish out of water. At least she’s not the only new staff to the school. 

A gorgeous woman, called Mc–Something, Poppy hadn’t entirely learned the names, there were so many to attempt to memorize, it was all a bit much. Everything was a bit much, so she put her head down and focused on the injuries, on her job, that was all. She’d always been taught to know her place, and Poppy always sort of knew she was more of a side character, a bit less important, just do your job and that’s it. But when she caught sight of that green green gown, or the pinned up swirling brown hair, Poppy would wonder: what more is there to this life? Why does this woman capture all my thoughts? I need to just focus again, but I can’t with her image always coming back to the forefront of my mind. What adventures has she been through? What stories does she have to say? I’ve done so little and she has the confidence of having done so much. 

Poppy turned a corner, back to her brewing pot, new medications to be made, this was all to worry over when the medical wing was this close to empty due to it being the beginning of the year. 

…

Minerva racked her brain for hours and hours, why don’t I recognize her, we must have gone to school together for ages, we’re just about the same age? I would know those eyes, those ice blue eyes that make my heart race just a little bit too much. As she flipped through the pages of her textbook, making sure to think through any questions or mistakes that could occur in her first lesson, Minnie’s mind could not escape from the meal in the great hall just a few minutes prior. 

The long process of sorting that was a bit of a bore given the years upon years that she had had to sit through the ceremony as a student, except this time she would be observing as a teacher, trying to ensure the students wouldn’t be misbehaving during the torturously boring time of watching first years. Though, wondering about the personalities of these children did intrigue the new teacher, just who would be a troublemaker and who might decide to make her life just the slightest bit easier (unlikely to happen but a lady could hope). 

Her eyes also darted to the students around, some of whom she used to tutor, but now she wasn’t just Minerva the seventh year quidditch hotshot, now she was a teacher. There was a small sense of anxiety over if they would respect that, Dumbledore would make sure they did, McGonagall could make sure they did—still, there was that anxiety there. 

As she laid in bed, staring at the ceiling, hoping to brush aside the worries, think of something else, anything else from the day. Ice blue. No, not this, I’m not–I’m not having a stupid crush ruin my life again…but, ice blue, sky blue. A sky blue you could fly in.

…not again.

…

At least Poppy didn’t feel so useless within the first few days, students constantly coming in with new ailments, and even a teacher who seems to get herself into trouble just a bit too often. Something about flying higher and higher, it was always quite dangerous, Poppy didn’t understand this school’s obsession with it. 

It made the hospital wing quite busy, just a bit too busy, but nothing the medi-witch couldn’t handle. Or at least nothing she wouldn’t have to handle. Plus there were some 6th and 7th year volunteers that came in every so often to help with simple recovery spells or to try (and most often fail) at replicating certain healing potions, but slowly but surely the students were gaining their skills as they came in again and again, practicing. 

A part of her began to understand why people go into this education thing, that look of eureka in a kid's eyes, the amount of simple joy that could bring was honestly a magic of its own.

…

The beaming late afternoon light shone through the medical wing making the cots appear to glow, it was all quite beautiful the brightness brought warmth to the currently sterile and empty room. Thankfully that Sunday had been pretty calm for Poppy, a few healing potions here and there, but no serious injuries or complex magic. Over the weekends the kids didn’t seem to work themselves to the bone, at least not as much as certain teachers, Poppy’s mind remarked as a certain professor with pinned up curling brown hair dragged her feet into the hospital wing yet again.

“Back so soon?” Poppy remarked.

The young professor gave a pained smile back, “Well someone needs to give you company on such a beautiful day.”

“By this point I fear you just never want to leave the hospital wing, you know there’s a world out there, right?”

“Oh, I know far too well. That world just happens to be a pain in my–” the woman covered her mouth and coughed, “heh, never know when the children are around. Sometimes one slips up…”

“What happened this time Professor…..?” Poppy trailed off.

“McGonagall, Minerva McGonagall, though my friends call me Minnie.”

“Have I heard some of the students call you Minnie too?”

“I haven’t been away from the school all that long,” Minnie’s eyes darted around the room, “anyways, to the business of me being here. While doing some flying practice I happened to get just a smidge distracted and…well this world decided that due to that fatal error it would give me as much pain as possible.”

“Quite a fall?”

Minerva nodded, “Quite. A. Fall.”

“Well, relax a moment, let me see what I can give you.”

Glass rattled and clanked around as Poppy sorted through the vials, jars, and general equities of her storage. Something for the aching, something to strengthen those bones, something for–

Pomfrey was brought out of her mind as she heard Minnie’s accent across the room, “You know, it’s quite unfair now.”

“What’s that?” Poppy peaked her head out, raising her eyebrows at the professor.

“Well now you know something about me, yet I know nothing of you.”

“I know your name, I would have learned it sooner or later.”

“And I still don’t know yours, and that’s just unfair,” Minnie faked a pout, though her smile was very clearly seeping through her mouth. 

“Pomfrey.”

“What?” the lady held a hand to her ear.

“Oh, have I got to check your hearing too now?”

“You’re muttering across the room, sorry if I don’t have the hearing of a hound, Miss…Pomey?” Minerva moved her arms and hands around, almost like conducting an orchestra of sass and sarcasm, it was honestly quite impressive to see this young confident woman. Though a bit more intimidating to be in a conversation with when all one can focus on is the movements of her fingers, or the way the light shines in her eyes. Nothing Pomfrey could think of for too long. 

“Pomfrey,” she finally corrected, “Poppy Pomfrey, there you go, now we’re even.”

“Not quite.”

“Oh, and what’s this now? Some new rule to your game?” Poppy sauntered next to the woman, holding out a vile. In a more professional tone adding, “Drink this, you’ll feel better.”

Minnie swigged it down in one go, drawing her head back as she did so, then immediately began speaking after swallowing it down, “Well, you see, I know exactly what you do at this school but you have no clue about me. I have the upper hand.”

“You’re a professor.”

“What do I teach?” she grinned as Poppy looked into her mind, trying to remember what it was Dumbledore had said about McGonagall that first night, that grand dinner. 

“Minerva I’m just here for my job. I’m just here for the kids you know, you’re just an added bonus.”

“And I feel quite the same, though it could be fun to try and get to know each other Poppy, Mediwitch of Mystery,” Minnie stood up next to the woman. 

Poppy held her hand out, Minnie thankfully returned the awkward favor and the two ladies shook hands, “Nice to properly meet you, Minerva.”

“Nice to meet you too, Poppy, if you ever want to drop by for a chat or a biscuit I’d love to talk.”

“I can tell, though I’m unsure if I could find the time. Medical wing is always busy, even certain teachers come in here needing my attention, could you imagine?”

“I couldn’t, though I must say, the fair share of fellow professors I’ve met have not been as cordial as I.”

“Nor as mysterious, though I’d love to drop by for a biscuit when I have time, I wouldn’t know where to find you.”

“Then I’ll find you,” Minnie smiled as she turned and left the wing. 

She’ll find me? Poppy raised her eyebrows, feeling just a bit of warmth in her face that hadn’t been there before. Must be the sun though, because of all the open drapes, must be the sun. 

[tubbytarchia]

Missed drawing these two too

Bonuses

[stars-obsession-pit]

try this fic prompt https://www.tumblr.com/leafyeyes417/777755108200120320/used-to-it?source=share

Danny’s not sure if living in a mausoleum is legal, but luckily he’s in Gotham. Most police are too corrupt to give a damn, and people aren’t likely to snitch on such a minor crime.

Heck, they might not even notice he’s living there. It’s not like he hangs around outside much, and his renovation work was all done below-board by ghosts. Even if someone does see him coming and going, they’d probably just assume he was a mourner who lost someone recently. He’ll be fine.

…and then of course just when he was starting to feel confident in that fact, he proven wrong.

Because leaning against the wall waiting for him was none other than Batgirl.

Danny was instantly on guard. “…Hi? Do you need something?”

He thinks the vigilante might have tried to smile at him, but her expression was partially obscured by the mask. “Nah. Not necessarily, I mean. B’s suspicious of you—”

Danny’s thought began to race, ‘Shit, did they connect him to the anonymous tips he left from the ghosts?’ and he almost missed her next words.

“—but I think he’s being overly paranoid. I get it; Gotham can be a mess, and a roof over your head is a roof over your head. I’ll admit, living in a mausoleum is a new one, but it’s far from the worst idea I’ve seen.”

Danny snorted. “Yeah, the rent’s killer.”

“Yeah— wait, was that a pun?”

He grinned. “What? Is there something wrong with trying to lift your spirits? Is Batman’s paranoia too grave a situation to joke about?”

“Never mind, you’re definitely evil,” she commented, theatrically rolling her eyes. “I’ll get out of your hair now. And I’ll try to keep Batman from stalking you too much, but he can be really stubborn, so you might still end up seeing him around.”

‘Well, that could have gone worse,’ Danny thought to himself ruefully as he watched the vigilante leave. ‘I’ll still have to be more careful though. This was already way too close.’

[asilentguardian]

Jason stands there for a while, leaning against the wall, watching Hal. It’s clear Hal is struggling to control the impulse to reach out and hold Bruce, his hands twitching and his body leaning towards the bed. But Jason was here first, and he’s not leaving.

Jason doesn’t break the silence, just watches. It wasn’t Hal. He had been possessed, totally and completely. But Bruce had held back. He could’ve laid Hal out, but he didn’t. And he’d paid the price. Broken ribs, a broken arm, sprained ankle. A ring of black and blue around his throat that Jason’s eyes have avoided since he first saw him, swallowed by monitors and the emptiness of the Watchtower med-bay.

It wasn’t Hal. But Jason had seen it, from afar. He’d watched Bruce go down and not get back up, because no one was fast enough to stop a Green Lantern out of his mind, especially when that Green Lantern was Hal Jordan. No one could get to him faster than he could have Bruce on the ground. If Clark had been two seconds later…

Jason eyes the fluorescent ring on Hal’s hand.

“Yellow light,” Hal says, his voice hoarse. Probably from the amount of yelling he had let loose, after he had been snapped out of it.

“What?” Jason asks.

“A Green Lantern’s greatest weakness. Yellow light. Preferably a Yellow Lantern. That would be the easiest way to– to stop me,” Hal explains, eyes still on Bruce, on the rise and fall of his chest. Hands still in his own lap.

Jason wonders what the rest of the Green Lanterns would think about Hal offering that information so freely. Probably they would be pissed. Jason doesn’t care.

“Bruce already knows that, doesn’t he?” Jason asks. Cause god knows Bruce would’ve figured it out a long time ago. He would have probably been thinking about all his little contingency plans all day, as soon as they knew metas weren’t immune. 

“Yes,” Hal says, voice hoarse, “but he didn’t use it.” And Hal sounds angry. Angry that Bruce refused to fight back, to hurt him. 

“He wouldn’t, not until the last possible moment,” Jason says, unable to stop his own anger from leaking into this voice. Because yes, he was pissed at Bruce. As fast as Hal Jordan is, Bruce is faster. Bruce could annihilate the whole League, if he had to. But instead, he’s here, unconscious in another hospital bed, narrowly avoiding death despite the 13 year old at home. Despite all the people who need him.

“Why the hell not,” Hal bites out. Jason lets out a dry laugh.

“I don’t know, Hal. Quite a mystery, that one,” Jason says. Hal’s jaw clenches at that. As if either had been subtle, as if no one had noticed the way they look at each other. Jason had certainly noticed. He’d noticed a lot, some things he’d like scrubbed from his memory, thank you very much.

But some things. Like Hal pulling his hand away from Bruce’s, cracking a joke anytime anyone tried to comment. Like the way he found a reason to leave the cave, whenever someone else entered. 

“If it– If it happens again, would you– Before I–”

“Fuck you,” Jason snarls, “take you and your suicidal bullshit somewhere else. He needs you here, not in the middle of a pity party. He’d rather cut off a limb than see some he loves die, you asshole.”

Hal turns towards him at that, blinks at him for a moment.

“He doesn’t– we’re not–”

“Oh stick a cock in it and hold his fucking hand already, you sorry excuse for a human. If that’s any kind of news to you then you don’t know him at all. Your eyes must have been closed for the past however long, maybe there wasn’t enough blood in your brain. No, shut up, let me tell you something else, dickwad, you’re fucking it up royally, is what you’re doing. I don’t know what you think you’re doing, but from where I’m standing it looks like you’re jerking him around, because god forbid Hal Jordan have a fucking emotion about anything, that would be too fucking much.”

At some point, Jason had pushed off the wall and ended up on the other side of Bruce’s bed. His chest is heaving as he stares down a wide-eyed Hal Jordan. Hal slowly reaches a hand out and places it over Bruce’s, fingers wrapping around it tentatively. Hal swallows, looks back down at Bruce.

“I might be really bad at this, it turns out,” Hal finally says, voice strained. Jason snorts.

“Yeah, no shit.”

They both sit there for a moment, watching Bruce’s chest rise and fall, listening to the steady beep of the heart monitor. 

“Hey Hal,” Jason says, finally breaking the silence that’s fallen over them. Hal looks over at him, meets his eyes.

“It wasn’t you,” Jason says. Hal swallows again, nods hesitantly.

“Yeah. Yeah I know,” he whispers, hand twitching, like he might pull away from Bruce. Jason holds his gaze for a few seconds, then looks back down at Bruce. Leslie said he’d be under until at least tomorrow morning. Jason figures that the amount of painkillers he’s on might be enough to kill someone who didn’t get beat up as a hobby.

“One more thing. If it ever is you, you’ll regret telling me the yellow light thing for the rest of your short, short life,” Jason says, low and steady. Hal just stares back at him.

“No, I wouldn't,” Hal says softly. Jason rolls his eyes. Gross.

Jason has to stare at Bruce for just a little longer, gather his strength before he walks out of the room. His whole body screams at him to stay, that’s there’s an active threat near– near his–

It wasn’t Hal. Jason knows this. But he saw it happen. The tight leash he has on his anger is fraying, and Jason suspects Hal wouldn’t fight back, not really. So he needs to go punch something else.

[vivitalks]

we don't talk about it enough but duck and billy's relationship in amnesty is truly a tragic one.

imagine: you rescue a mindless drone. you save his life, you give him autonomy, you give him language. you teach him trust. you protect him at your own expense. you name him billy. he knows three words in your language, and one is your name. you promise to keep him safe, and he betrays his programming to help you in return. he defies everything he was designed to do in order to aid you.

you save him from being a drone, but in doing so, you kill him. he was never supposed to be here this long. you gave him freedom at the cost of rapid decay, and now he's dying. and if he could just go back to his home planet, he would live, but he doesn't want to. because you're here. duck newton, his first friend, his savior, his guardian. you showed him that there is a better way to live - with free will, with pizza and playstations.

he's damned if he stays and damned if he goes. but you can't watch him suffer. that's not who you are. you're duck newton, local beefcake, defender of the disadvantaged. so you wait until he's engrossed in his video game - in humanity, in freedom of choice - and you strike him down out of mercy.

billy reverts to his original form: a four-armed being of light, once a drone, now a friend. he's beginning to disintegrate, but he has unfinished business here. he never finished his video game. and you give him one last gift of mercy: you lie to him. don't worry, you tell him - that character you're worried about? she's fine in the end. no, i know it seems bleak now, but she turns out okay.

you can't give him anything else, so you give him hope. it's the same thing he gave to you, all those months ago when you saved him.

[whenastrofell]

Both Fugo and Mista's stands are designed to kill and not much else. Fugo repressed his anger to the point that it manifests as a monster that can kill you in seconds and Mista's is related to the event that barred him from ever being a normal person again.

Fugo obviously doesn't like his stand. He only brings it out when he really needs to- it's so deadly it almost has no practical use and he isn't even immune to its virus.

Mista doesn't hate his stand, but I think there had to be a moment where he thought about it- That moment defines him now; he's a killer.

I don't think they would talk about it, but I wonder how it would go if they did.

[touchmycoat]

SVSSS BIG BANG'S ABOUT TO HIT THE FAN!! 🎉🎉

Bless all the hard-working mods over at @svsssbigbang for running the event, and for whipping me into shape to finally write the pride & prejudice AU I've dreamt about for so long

with art from my amazing partner @softdekus, can't wait for the fic to get published!

[dolphelecat]

I Will Follow - Chris Tomlin

Wonderhole Edition

[strohller27]

I'm sorry EXCUSE ME LADS but what is this ABSOLUTE SLEEPOVER BEHAVIOUR I'M

Hastings: Poirot are you asleep.

Poirot: yes

Hastings: oh good. me either. wasn't that seance thing that happened at dinner so creepy lol how do they do that

Poirot: *does that*

Hastings: OMG THAT'S AMAZING HOW DID YOU DO THAT

Poirot: yes. so amazing. alas it is only guesswork. now shut up and let me sleep

they're so funny I'm never gonna be normal about this

[willowser]

i had to call the awful evil witch from tech support at my job today, and it had me thinking about getting the little error message and feeling your heart sink and you lean over to your coworker to whine,

"i have to call and get an override,"

and she snorts because she knows what that means, and despite what she says—there is an evil little gleam in her eye. "maybe midoriya will pick up."

you throw your head back dramatically, letting it hang over the chair until you feel the blood rushing to your ears. "i never get midoriya! what menu options are you choosing to get him, because it's never him for me!"

your coworker shrugs, turning from her computer again to smirk at you. "i don't know, man, it's just whoever picks up."

you stare at the window box in the center of your computer, the red ! at the front of a set of codes you loathe to see. hard as you try to find hope that you'll get lucky and izuku will pick up the phone—you don't think it's likely.

"will you call for me?"

"oh my god, just do it already."

and that's how you end up biting at your thumbnail, staring down at the phone on your desk as the automated voice greets you—happily—and begins to list out the different menu options. you consider choosing something random, to see if that will get you to a different, nicer member of the support team, but you wait too long and the options repeat and you decide to just bite the bullet.

it only rings for a moment before you get,

"task solutions. 's'bakugou."

you roll your eyes up to the ceiling and back and snap to stare at your coworker, mouthing a soundless 'fuck!' as she bursts into a fit of laughter.

"y'got five seconds before i hang up the—"

"sorry, hi, sorry! hi! i'm here!" you muster up all the kindness you can, smiling politely so that it will transfer in your voice. "i just need an override, please."

there's not much he says that he doesn't have to, only grunting in acknowledgement when you give him your name and employee id, read off the error message that brought you into the lion's den.

the support team for your company works off-site, so you've never met him. bakugou. hardly know anything about him outside of the name he barks out when answering the phone, and you don't think you'd like to, really.

it's incredibly frustrating to have to call him for help because he knows the system better than you do, knows your job better than you do—and is quick to call it out when your math is wrong or your input is off. if validation didn't fail every once in a while when the program is overloaded you'd be fine—but here you are.

a tense silence fills between the phone as he works, and you know he can only log in and see your screen but it feels like he's watching you, entirely. to be polite, you ask, "are you, uh, goin' to conference this year?"

the silence becomes a void, all consuming, before he murmurs out a sharp, "no."

"oh, bummer," you chuckle nervously, sweat building on the back of your neck as you watch his mouse click around on your screen. "are midoriya and iida going?"

bakugou sighs, heavy with frustration. "probably," he answers, though, to your surprise. "they like to sit around and do fuck—nothin' all day at the damn booth."

you've been by the task solutions booth every year at conference, mostly because they hand out nice steel cups with metal straws, but the faces you've seen there are never unfamiliar. for a moment, you try to imagine it: walking up to get your free goodie from some sour asshole, only to have him bark at you as you try to reach for it.

the mouse stops in the bottom corner of your screen, hesitating. you hold your breath. this is usually when he chastises you for something he makes sound so simple.

"you goin'?"

"uh," your mouth hangs open for a second, because this is the most you've ever spoken to him that didn't involve scolding of some kind. "yeah, yeah! our team will be there for day 2!" there's a soft hum from the other end, and you see the opportunity for what it is: a chance to get on good terms with this guy, so you can stop being so afraid to call the help desk. "you should go! i don't—i don't think we've ever met before."

it's hard to tell how he takes that, but you only assume not well considering your screen flashes as he logs off, taking the error message with him.

"uh, yeah, whatever," he grumbles, "is there—you need anythin' else?"

"oh, nope! that's it, thanks!"

"alright," the line doesn't disconnect immediately and you curl into yourself, as if you could hear anything else by pressing the phone harder to your ear. then he says, "later." and is gone.

[ajokeformur-ray]

My thoughts on Jareth

If none of these thoughts or concepts are original or if they're canon elsewhere, then I'm unaware because I've never read any of the novelisations or comics etc. These thoughts are all based on over twenty years of loving this film; it raised me while I raised my younger siblings.

4.9k words, written during Labyrinth's 1 hour 41 minute runtime. Unedited.

Hesitant to post but doing it anyway because a friend read it last night and liked it enough to encourage me to post it.💖

I think a lot of who Jareth is, is contained within his music - “lost and lonely... no love injection... no one can blame you for walking away... don't tell me truth hurts, little girl, because it hurts like hell... that's underground.” - in this last one, he's telling her who he is and how his world works. He's lonely, the only one of his kind Underground, and in the end credit song it's rather heavily implied that his sister wished him away when they were children, and he begged for his daddy to come and get him, but he was never rescued and rather reluctantly was forced to become the King of the Goblins, somehow. Jareth knows the truth hurts, towards the end of the film he's hurting but he can't and won't stop it, because Sarah is his downfall and he knows it. He's doomed to shrivel up within her as a very strong childhood figure, lost and stagnant within her imagination, while Sarah will, at some point, grow up and thrive because of the lessons he taught her, the friends he gave her (or the creatures he put in her path, if you'd prefer to think of it like that) and his presence in her life. He was there for her when she was lost and lonely and wanting to escape from all of it. Jareth caught her as her world fell down, but when he fell... no one was there to catch him. He's doomed by his own narrative.

He watches her rehearse from the book he gave her in the park – he's getting to know her and who she is in the moments when no one's watching. A teenage girl who has had a traumatic time – the death of her mother/her parent's divorce and her father's remarriage (canon is shaky on whether her mother died or left to become a Hollywood actress and so her father remarried after their divorce, so I've included both possibilities for the sake of being thorough), the birth of a new sibling and the parentification that elder siblings get stuck with most of the time, – and is stuck in the uncomfortable stage of still being a child but not quite an adult. He's an owl while he watches her – suspicious in broad daylight but hidden; Sarah clearly thought nothing of it, and perhaps he was indulging her, giving her the audience and attention she craved, but also giving her and himself the company they both need - “lost and lonely”is repeated in the opening song; it's common ground they both share and is therefore a theme within the narrative. Jareth uses his music to speak, as do we all. Music binds love and humanity together, and Sarah's time in the park, her rehearsals, is clearly a more tangible deep dive into the world inside her mind – a world in which she is a heroine up against a villain who is as strong and powerful as she is, and an escape from her real life, which is always shattered by the chiming of the clock. Just like Cinderella, another fairy tale. This parallel with clocks, big white Cinderella ballroom dresses and reality shattering a fantasy, is evident also in the As The World Falls Down scene, in which Jareth's devastation is made clear. (More on this later!)

“But what no one knew, was that the King of the Goblins had fallen in love with the girl, and he had given her certain powers” - here's where my main theory starts. Jareth is doomed by the narrative – his own narrative – because it's been constructed by a teenage girl who doesn't know quite yet who she wants to be, and this narrative has been constructed because of the powers he gave her. Jareth doomed himself by falling in love with Sarah and he knows it, but he's powerless to resist because it's in the narrative that he can't. This ties into the “fear me, love me, do as I say and I will be your slave” scene later on, because Jareth is simply declaring them as equals with that line. He already fears the power she has over him, as she has revoked his power over her (or, the power that his character in her story has over her), he already loves her, he already is her slave, and he is already scared of what she could do, because now Sarah has realised that, while she does have to grow up and be a better person, she still has the time for childhood, and that is what she chooses in her rejection of Jareth; she chooses her childhood, delaying adulthood for a few years more. She's only fifteen, so I can't say I disagree with her decision.

Instances in which Sarah could have been harmed but she was not, showing that Jareth never intended her any actual harm and was merely fulfilling his role:

Threw a 'snake' at her, which turned into a soft furry goblin the second it came into contact with her (role here: Sarah wanted to be like the heroine she reads about in Labyrinth, so Jareth gave her a villain to go up against. He said it himself, he only took Toby because she asked him to. Prior to this, the only involvement he had in her life was giving her the book. Otherwise, he was a content silent spectator of this fascinating human who lives with her head in the clouds.)

Sarah got the riddle at the door right and she would have been able to progress through the tunnel into a deeper part of the Labyrinth, but then she said - “I think I'm getting smarter.” (this is confidence and therefore went unpunished; the trap door didn't open) “this is a piece of cake” (this did get her punished, because there's a fine line between confidence and arrogance and she tipped over the edge, so for being arrogant, Jareth hindered her progress and sent her into an Oubliette where Hoggle was waiting for her because, again, Jareth does not want to harm her. He's not an actual villain. He's doing this because she's written him as HER villain and he's merely doing what she asked him to do. Again.Another lesson here; he humbled her immediately and played the role of a mentor/guardian). She could have been hurt when she fell through, but she wasn't. There were Helping Hands to guide her way down gently, and then Hoggle was ready and waiting to take her to another part of the Labyrinth. No harm came to her, even though it very easily could have; Jareth could have let her fall through unguided, with no help on the way down. But, he opened up the world beneath her, and then manipulated his own world to catch her fall, like he promises in the romantic song As The World Falls Down (more on this later). For the second time, he threatened but did not fully follow through.

The cleaners!!! Second time Sarah got arrogant – this time, she looked down before she said “it's a piece of cake” so she was lying about it, and you do not lie to fae! So, Jareth punished her with the cleaners. This was a little more high stakes in terms of harm, but at the end of the corridor is a readily marked part of the wall which is obviously cut out with a darker arch around the outside and weakened enough for a teenage girl to push against it just enough to knock it over right before the cleaners got there and then there's a ladder taking her to safety away from the tunnels???? There is no way that's accidental – everything in the Labyrinth which challenges Sarah is put there by Jareth, who can manipulate his heart (I think the Labyrinth is a metaphysical representation of his heart – more on this later) – or, his world – to his own wants. He humbled her yet again but also punished her for lying to him (to herself, technically, since this story is hers), and gave her a good scare in the process. Sometimes, we need a good dose of fear, and Sarah clearly wants adventure and some excitement in her life!

The Bog of Eternal Stench – What I find interesting here is that Jareth spoke presumably through one of his crystals to warn Hoggle against throwing away the poisoned peach in a god-like over-seeing manner – this was an overt intervention. But minutes before that, he did nothing to prevent Ludo, Sir Didymus and Hoggle all working together to save Sarah from falling into the Bog when the bridge broke. We know from that exchange with Hoggle and previous scenes that he watches Sarah's progress and he manipulates his world/heart at will to hinder/help her, but in this particular moment when she is actually in danger, and not through his or anyone else's fault, Jareth does nothing to prevent his subjects from helping her. Therefore, he never intends to harm her, and I fully believe that if Ludo hadn't been successful in summoning up the rocks to save Sarah, that a barn owl would have swooped in out of nowhere and stopped her from getting hurt/falling into the Bog. There's a strong branch right above where she falls, and there are enough rocks in the Bog to get Sarah to safety. The world of the Labyrinth is built for Sarah because she's at the core of everything Jareth does and stands for. She has to get to the centre of the Labyrinth because the castle represents the core of Jareth's heart. Why else would he be so proactive the closer she gets, with the threats of danger becoming more real and yet she narrowly avoids harm every time? Jareth's mischief is just enough to scare but never enough to hurt Sarah. This over-seeing intervention in times of danger also happens when she jumps in the Escher room – Jareth gentles her descent so she lands delicately on her feet before he steps out through an alcove, implying that he was watching her and intervened when he needed to so that she wasn't hurt. It's no coincidence that all of her friends are able to help Sarah in some way! Sir Didymus' role is intellectual stimulation, giving Sarah the adult conversation she's craving, challenging her to challenge herself. She rises to the challenge every time, and Jareth's lesson here is that sometimes we just have to ask for help - “well, do I have your permission?” - sometimes things aren't always as they seem, but sometimes they are that simple. Family is loyal to family, which is chosen and not decided – Ludo and Sir Didymus are clearly different species, and yet they decide they are brothers and honour that throughout the rest of the film.

Instances in which he aided her progress through the Labyrinth because his real intention is to help her grow up, to help her become who she is supposed to be:

Had Hoggle stationed at the gate of the Labyrinth as her way in, but also as her first friend; we cannot travel through life or growth alone and a being as lonely as Jareth would know this. I feel like Hoggle represents Sarah's stubbornness & her inability to accept help or friendship when it comes from an honest place. “Hoggle is Hoggle's friend!” // “Hoggle, you coward!” - Sarah frequently says “it's not fair!” and doesn't accept responsibility for her actions, so here Jareth has prepared Hoggle to be Sarah's mirror – holding him up so that Sarah can see the error of her ways by observing her behaviour in someone else and realise why it's wrong. Also - “Who are you?” / “Sarah.” / “That's what I thought.” = Hoggle KNEW that Sarah was coming. The journey through the Labyrinth is one big lesson Jareth constructed, because stories have morals and they're meant to teach us about perspectives and other such things about life. So in a way, Jareth turned the powers he gave Sarah against her.

The worm at the wall who told Sarah how to get through the walls/access the actual Labyrinth instead of running through the outer walls; though, Jareth is a fae and Sarah needs to learn to be less naïve/stop taking things at face value so much, especially from strangers or people she doesn't know very well, so the worm lied about which way to go. Nothing is fair in life and this was Jareth's first little reminder for the important lesson. He said it himself - “You say that so often. I wonder what your basis for comparison is.” - which means, all the times he was in the park with her, he never quite figured that out = it's a part of Sarah she needs to work on, because if a silent spectator can't understand something revisited often, then it's likely not a valid viewpoint.

Hoggle frequently tells Sarah that she should give up, stop, turn back, not continue, and every time, Sarah snaps back and says she's not quitting or giving up, she's come too far. This links to my previous point about Hoggle, but here, Hoggle is showing Sarah that she can do something when she wants to, she can be responsible when she needs to be (by this stage of the film, she has accepted the consequences of her actions and has resolved to 'save' her brother from Jareth's very generous babysitting services), and that perseverance and a certain degree of being stubborn is necessary in life. The world doesn't stop when you're tired and Hoggle's role here is to nurture Sarah's resilience. She's already endured so much, “you've run so long, you've run so far” (Within you), and she can endure it better and easier when she has friends/a support network to get through it. Additionally, Sarah and Hoggle are both less resistant to each other's help and friendship as the film progresses – the reflection is completing itself, the mirror isn't needed so much as Sarah grows through the Labyrinth. Jareth has seen her potential through shining moments in Aboveground, and he's trying to help her reach it as best as he can, given he's a figment of her imagination and he knows it. By the end of the film, she's accepting her potential a little more, but isn't quite ready to step into it.

Ludo! His role is to reaffirm that things aren't always what they seem, and to teach Sarah that appearances are deceiving; Ludo is supposed to look scary, but in reality he's a big teddy bear who is resourceful (he uses rocks in times of trouble, or, translated into our world, he does what he can with what he has – an important lesson), afraid of the unknown but willing to venture forth if he has a friend beside him (and this humanises him in Sarah's eyes and makes it easier for her to befriend him), and he's bullied by others for things he can't control (i.e. being strung upside down because he's “a big yeti” and goblins like causing trouble). Ludo's role is to teach Sarah that face value isn't valuable all of the time, and his resourcefulness saves her multiple times. As the King of the Goblins, Jareth knows absolutely anything and everything which goes on in the Underground, and there is no way that he didn't deliberately choose the creatures he did to aid Sarah in her journey. They all fulfil a specific purpose and mirror a part of Sarah back to her so she can change her ways by seeing them in others and realising there's another way. Ludo is a big cuddly teddy bear who gives Sarah a hand to hold, he saves her, he keeps her company, and gives her some comic relief too. He may also be very slight practice for going back home to Toby, like when he gets the door handle stuck in his mouth and Sarah has to help him with it. Jareth here nurtures Sarah's kind nature – she makes friends everywhere she goes and is willing to forgive when Hoggle commits wrongs (abandoning her when they are afraid, giving her a poisoned fruit under the pretense of giving her actual food – which Sarah should have known not to accept, but sometimes we can't see the red flags even when they punch us in the face, and this may have been another lesson from Jareth, or perhaps it was his only way into fulfilling another of his roles; romance.)

This is where things start to fall apart for Jareth. When he says, “friends?” to Hoggle, the bitter undertone in his voice reeks of jealousy. He wants to at least be friends with Sarah, this human whom he's watching grow, but because of the multiple roles and challenges she has written for him to fulfil for her (as a figment of her own imagination, hence why he looks like David Bowie because, in the beginning, we see newspaper clippings of Sarah's mother with David Bowie, so there's a strange Electra-esque situation going on with Jareth looking like Sarah's mother's boyfriend), he's unable to be friends with her. His narrative has him being the villain, the challenger, the threat, the teacher, the nurturer, this all-knowing figure who holds a strange power over her (powers he gave her were then turned onto him and then turned back onto Sarah when she rejects him at the end), the suitor, and, above all else, the life lesson. Nowhere in the narrative she constructed is there room for friendship. He “can't live without her sunlight” (her attention on him), he “can't live without (her) heartbeat” (Within You) because Jareth literally exists within Sarah. He will dessicate inside her, shrivel up within her imagination and become a distant childhood figure as she grows up, while she will flourish and thrive because of everything he did for her when she was younger. And the worst of it is, Jareth is self-aware and he knows this, but he's doomed to do it all anyway because it's his narrative. He is a self-fulfilling prophecy, he's watching his own car crash and he's powerless to stop it because a teenage girl took the powers he gave her and made everything happen between them like it does. He does everything she asks of him, against his better judgement in some cases, and yet she still doesn't accept his love (which, if we follow the metaphor, is actually adulthood as a concept because he's nurturing her – another of his roles) and he's known all along that this doesn't end well for him (“don't tell me truth hurts, little girl, 'cuz it hurts like hell”) but he can't – or won't – try to change it.

The Garbage Lady who leads Sarah into a reproduction of her bedroom to try to trick her into thinking she is home until she opens her bedroom door – Jareth reminds her of what is important – her brother – and 'tests' her by presenting her with all of the material things she values in her bedroom; her childhood slippers and toys, but then she sees the Labyrinth book and she remembers her brother – she chooses reality over fiction and chooses responsibility over fiction, though she still leans into it when it is piled on top of her. Here, Jareth is showing her a balance between the two. They're both important, and they both have their place in helping us to do what we need to.

As The World Falls Down is a scene in which I think, while Jareth is fulfilling the role Sarah has given him as her suitor, he's also being quite vulnerable. Not with her, necessarily, he's teasing her by disappearing into the crowd and he makes her look for him. He makes her chase him, rather than him being the one who is chasing. And then, when he's had his fun, he finds her like he was watching her the entire time and knew exactly where she was and who she was with (notice that when the camera pans, he is always looking at her and barely glances at the other fae who address him in some way). He sweeps her into his arms and they dance. Sarah wanted romance and he was giving her that. In her bedroom at the beginning, Sarah has a ballerina figurine that looks exactly like Sarah does in this ballroom scene, and so parts of the Labyrinth – Sir Didymus' Ambrosius is her dog Merlin, she becomes in this scene that same figurine she has in her bedroom, she has an Escher wall poster in her bedroom, she has a grass maze, she has stuffed animals of the Fire Gang, she has a Hoggle puppet, she physically takes the same lipstick she applies in the beginning into the Labyrinth to guide her way... all these pieces of the Labyrinth which she encounters already exist in her bedroom, adding further evidence to my theory that the Labyrinth and, by extension, Jareth, are all figments of Sarah's imagination, with some added fuckery in that Jareth is the one who gave her the Labyrinth book, which is the source of the powers he gave her.

When they dance, Sarah falls into the illusion, she falls into the romance, but then like in Cinderella and as aforementioned in previous statements, the clock chimes and this shatters the spell, it breaks the dream, and Sarah frees herself. Jareth is visibly distressed, he looks so heartbroken and shattered because he knows no matter what he does, what role he performs for her or how good he does it, no matter what, Sarah is always going to reject him even though she is the one who assigned these roles to Jareth. He is under her spell, powerless to resist against his own powers – powers he gave her! How do you fight yourself? How can he convince Sarah when he only exists within her own mind and worse still, he knows this? He is doomed by his own narrative and it breaks his heart to follow it, but he has no choice. So he exhausts himself, as he states at the end, trying to live up to all the roles Sarah gives him, knowing the entire time that it's futile and he's not going to triumph.

That's not what Sarah wants – she wants a villain, he gave her one. She wanted an escape from a constantly crying baby – he gave her that. She wanted romance, mystery, intrigue, adventure, a good dose of 'safe' fear, friendship, companionship, he gave her all of that. But Sarah cannot give him the one thing Jareth wants – acceptance. Because he exists within her, and being a teenager is too tumultuous a time for Sarah to be able to accept herself, to accept that she needs to grow up and fight to be a better person, and she's not quite ready for that yet. Jareth knows Sarah will fight her way to his heart (the centre of the Labyrinth) and then destroy it – the Escher room dismantles when she jumps, effectively choosing her brother over Jareth. His love for Sarah destroys him, but aids Sarah in becoming someone more mature, wiser, and kinder. When Sarah breaks away from him in this scene and literally shatters the dream he gave her, is when Jareth starts to realise that he's been doomed from the start. Sarah wants pretense, she wants an escape. When Jareth shows her the reality of who he is (or, in the metaphor, the reality of reality), she rejects him, she rejects what it means to be an adult, and thereby chooses to be a child for a little longer. One who is more responsible, sure, but still. Jareth understands this, he knows why it happens the way it does, and though he pleads, the look on his face when he throws the crystal up in the air is ultimately,

“We could have had so much fun together”.

Additionally, there is a deleted scene where Sarah rejects him, but then he smiles right before he throws the crystal into the air. It's a proud smile, which lends support to my theory that he is using the journey through his Labyrinth to teach Sarah, to help her to be a better sister and daughter. She rejects him, and he's heartbroken by it, but he's proud of her too, though he knows he's doomed to just wither away within her. He's a complicated being, so full of grey areas, he's spoilt and ironically as childish as Sarah is, but that's why he's able to fulfil all those roles so well, and apply a mirror between her and the world she explores – self-reflection is, after all, taking a look at oneself, and Jareth has spent so much time with Sarah Aboveground while she rehearses her favourite scenes in Labyrinth that he's come to understand her, though he doesn't agree with everything; and that's why he put this journey into motion.

Another thing I find interesting is how, at the gates of the castle (at the gate of the core of Jareth's heart), is a very menacing scary metal contraption designed to invoke fear and keep people away from getting through the gates. And yet, Hoggle is able to intervene and prevent the attack, and once they're all through the gates, the goblin army don't seem to take it very seriously at all. I have no doubt that, if they needed to, goblins could and would cause serious harm, and yet really they just annihilate themselves and make it very easy for Sarah and her friends to make their way into the castle. This suggests that it's all what's on the surface – they don't treat Sarah like a threat because she isn't one – by this point, Jareth has accepted his own ultimate role is to lose in a love he was written to feel, and he wants her to succeed in running his Labyrinth, he wants her to triumph and become better and learn from him. He wants her to get her brother back, because her brother isn't the point of it all – Jareth only took Toby because Sarah asked him to. The point of it all is for Sarah to grow, to learn how to grow up, to learn to be stronger and kinder and wiser so she can grow up, and that is why Jareth makes it quite easy for her to get through the city into the castle. He only watches from the window, he does nothing to help his goblins or to help Sarah. He just watches from his window, looking down at life happening but doing nothing to stop it.

Once Sarah gets to the castle, it's quiet, still. No more resistance from Jareth, just a final plea to delay the inevitable. “I have to face him alone, that's the way it is done” - here, he is once again a villain, staged for the final confrontation, and Sarah has painted herself as the heroine. Likely because she has little to no control in her real life over anything, so in her head she writes herself to be heroic on adventures, saving other people in a way she wishes she could be saved. In Within You, “your eyes can be so cruel, just as I can be so cruel” - again, he's showing the parallel within them, his first declaration of them as equals, because writers always put a piece of themselves in the stories they write, and Sarah, as Jareth's writer, is no different.

Jareth is so tired in the final scene, all of his masks and roles are discarded, though Sarah still recites from the Labyrinth. Before, Sarah backed away from Jareth, but now he is backing away from her, though he pleads with her to accept him (her dreams, her fiction). The power is now hers, and she knows it. He knows it. The crystal ball turns into a bubble, which breaks at Sarah's touch. Jareth's world shatters, he returns to existing only within her, and Sarah takes away all of the wisdom and lessons and experiences he gave her. I find it interesting how “I need you, all of you” should include Jareth too, but he sits on the outside looking in once again, forced only to watch, and no longer able to participate in her world. The boundaries have changed, Sarah admits she still needs her childhood fantasies and stories to help her with real life, but the narrative she wrote for Jareth is set in stone.

When Sarah's world fell down, Jareth caught her (the comfort of fiction) but when his world implodes, no one is there to break his fall.

Don't tell me truth hurts, little girl, because it hurts like hell...

[rainbowberriesandcookies]

"Orihime being afraid of Ichigo's hollow power shows she doesn't fully accept him."

I see this take and similar ones pop up from anti fans of Ichigo and Orihime and try to say that Orihime is bad, in the wrong, etc. for being afraid of his hollowfication powers when her first encounter with a hollow was her brother Sora.

I know the anime did a lot of damage to Orihime's character - especially by taking these scenes out and altering them compared to the manga - but when Ichigo begins to undergo the same process as Sora, it only makes sense that she's afraid.

Not because she's afraid of Ichigo but because what he can become.

And just like Sora said, "It would be [her] fault"

Also - this is to counter the whole "Ichigo and Orihime were never close/barely friends/just acquaintances" that I see floating around often too.

But all in all - Orihime was never afraid of Ichigo. She was afraid of what he could have become.

As Acidwire, Sora targeted Orihime because of her growing bonds with Tatsuki and Ichigo. He even says that he attacked them because they tried to tear him and Orihime apart and that she already knew why.

For clarity - what I'm about to say isn't me saying that Sora was abusive in life and I'm going to specifically try to use his name as a hollow "Acidwire" as much as possible to express the slight separation between Sora as he was while he was alive and Sora as he was when he became Acidwire.

Especially since early on, it established that hollows - while they were once former humans - often end up being twisted versions of the people they once were.

Now onto the point -

The "You already know why" isn't dissimilar from how abusers, manipulators, etc. often talk to their victims when they're angry or upset. It's similar to the silent treatment in a way where it implies that the victim intentionally made the abuser upset.

He references her prayers for him every day helped ease his own suffering before she became friends with Tatsuki and entered high school before she stopped praying for him altogether. He then says how it hurt him that when she got home, all she would talk about was Ichigo.

For one - the fact that Acidwire knows this proves that Ichigo and Orihime were at least already friends by the time the manga started. In contrast to the anime where Ichigo outright says to Rukia that they've "never had a real conversation"

Anyways - this here in and of itself proves Ichigo and Orihime at least knew each other beyond just acquaintances - because they were close enough for Acidwire to notice and be hurt by it.

She tries to defend herself but he cuts her off before attacking Ichigo again

Acidwire tells her to come with him back to when it was just the two of them. In the context of the story, this would basically be him killing her.

However, this is also a tactic abusers use known as isolation.

When she questions why she should go with him and why he'd hurt Ichigo and Tatsuki before saying that the brother she loved would have never done anything like this.

I feel like in the anime, it kinda breezed by these moments which are honestly heartbreaking in hindsight and key for the leadup to why Orihime was afraid when Ichigo would use his hollow mask.

but Acidwire's response to her refusal and saying that the brother she loved would never do this is to not just harm her, but blame her and say that he is going to kill her.

In the time that she's become friends with Ichigo and Tatsuki and slowly grew happier, Acidwire blamed her for his own despair and sadness.

The kind, loving older brother that she had always known became a monster that would kill her and everyone close to her, and it would be her fault that he did because she stopped praying for him.

Here, it shows how Acidwire views Orihime not as a person who should live her own fulfilling life, but as an object who should live for him because he gave up his entire life to raise and protect her.

Once again, not to say that Sora was an abuser or abusive person, but this line of logic is the same one that abusive and toxic parents often use when it comes to emotionally abusing their children. Saying how the sacrificed so much for their children to control how their children live their own lives when the child never asked to be born. Similarly, Orihime didn't ask to be born or ask for Sora to raise her.

Sora did because that's the kind of person that he is, but Acidwire turns these loving traits of Sora's into a manifestation of abuse.

And even though she has nothing to be sorry for... She apologizes to Acidwire because that's the kind of person she is.

It also shows how she puts on a smile so that way others don't have to worry about her. She didn't want Sora to think that she was sad and hurting, she didn't want him to worry about her so she buried and hid her own sadness.

She apologizes to Acidwire for making him sad and (in what she thinks are probably her last moments) says that she loves him and that she didn't mean to hurt him.

As he's slowly regaining himself, Sora admits that he already knew that Orihime was just trying to shield her sadness from him but still wanted her to pray for him because it was only in those moments that her heart was his.

Ichigo then tells him that it's the same, those who die and those who survive are just as sad as the other.

It's in this moment Sora had fully regained himself, enough to know that he couldn't stay in a form like this or else he'd come to hurt Orihime again. If he killed the little sister that he raised like a daughter over his own heartache, would he have been any better than their own abusive parents?

And finally, the two get to say goodbye properly.

Also - a side note - a lot of people criticize Orihime's passive nature and how she never seems to fight or argue with anyone but it's because the one time that she did have a fight with someone, they died and became a monster.

This entire sequence emphasizes why Orihime always tries to reach out to others in need and never argues or fights. She doesn't want her friends or even strangers, to become like how Sora became Acidwire.

Now, Rukia had changed/erased Orihime's memories following this event but it likely didn't work as intended since during the Rukia rescue arc, Orihime mentions that she's been able to see hollows and spirits ever since the encounter with Acidwire.

Now let's go ahead and jump ahead to VL Ichigo -

Going to Hueco Mundo - Ichigo already knew without having to be told or convinced by anyone that Orihime was in danger. Aizen did his best to make it look like Orihime was a traitor to the Soul Society and Ichigo never bought it

It's being put in plainer and plainer terms that Ichigo transformed as a response to Orihime's call for help.

Even if you want to argue that there was a mistranslation or that Ichigo doesn't directly reference Orihime, even if you remove all of the text the sequence of events goes

Orihime's cries

Ichigo began to move and get up - functionally coming back from being dead

Once again, even if you want to remove the text avoid arguing about whether or not it was properly translated - nevermind the fact that in Japanese pronouns are often omitted and there is a big assumption to just know who/what you are talking about -

Even without text, the images show Orihime crying, and Ichigo beginning to come back to life.

Both she and Ulquiorra question whether that is Ichigo

Now that said, I think that Ichigo vs Ulquiorra is one of the most brutal and best fights in the series. Both Uryu and Orihime know that this isn't Ichigo.

Yet remember how it is established that hollows often become twisted versions of the people they once were? This is a power that Ichigo can't control and yet uses it to protect the person who called out to him.

While I don't disagree with the notion that this is also White protecting Ichigo, it doesn't change the fact that Kubo intentionally drew Orihime and Ichigo rising side by side multiple times. Even without text, Kubo places emphasis on her and her cries for help against VL Ichigo - not White or Zangetsu.

And when Uryu tries to bring him back to his senses what does Ichigo do? Put a sword through him.

Once again, even if you want to remove any and all text, Kubo puts VL Ichigo paneled side by side with Orihime, and when Ichigo comes back to his senses

The first person that he sees is Orihime.

As much as I want, I'll save my yapping about Ulquiorra for a separate time.

But for a moment, even if only briefly, his desires to protect were twisted in a way that hurt those around him, and once again - Orihime was the catalyst.

Ichigo says that he didn't want to win like this - showing that he views fights as something more honorable than what White/VL Ichigo had done. His last memory being that he had a hole put in his chest, also shows that he more or less "blacked out" and had no control over his actions.

What is one of the things established when people become hollows?

That they lose control of themselves and their desires are twisted.

The difference between Ichigo and Acidwire is that Ichigo wants to protect Orihime while Acidwire wanted to own her - which is why Ichigo never directly harms Orihime even as he loses control of himself.

But - all of this yapping is to show how from Orihime's perspective, hollowfication and hollow powers aren't good. They turn people into monsters that hurt their friends and loved ones.

It's also established that Orihime is the type of person who will internalize her own thoughts and feelings (it isn't ""hubris"" as some people call it).

Whether or not you want to argue that it was an assumption that Ichigo became a VL because she cried for help, it doesn't change the fact that she still cried for help and that Ichigo became a hollow/VL.

From her own perspective, she blames herself regardless of whether or not you think that it is an assumption on her part that Ichigo became a VL to protect her.

And after all - why wouldn't she blame herself when her first encounter with a hollow - Acidwire - blamed her for the monster that he became?

I know I skipped over him using his mask in the fight with Grimmjow, but I already yap too much and wanted to try to keep an already long post short(er).

Anyway - all of this illustrates the trauma that Orihime has regarding hollows and hollowfication. It's not truly her fault - yet in both instances she blames herself.

And not just Kubo, but Ichigo himself is fully aware of this.

Which is why when he tells her not to worry and that he's still himself is so important - because it shows that Ichigo has learned to control that side of himself while at the same time, being aware that Orihime is someone who has been traumatized by hollows and hollowfication.

Ultimately - she doesn't want Ichigo to become a monster like Sora. For Ichigo, it's growth in his own ability while for Orihime it's comfort in knowing that Ichigo won't lose himself fighting to protect those he cares about.

In short, she isn't afraid of Ichigo - she was scared of him becoming a monster like Sora had.

[asilentguardian]

Thinking about Tim being the second batkid to get married, after Dick. Thinking about how Bruce's hair is really starting to grey now, and how he goes out at night less and less frequently. Tim's wedding is a less public one, so most of the Justice League is there, and as the night goes on Bruce and Hal keep drifting towards each other. And Bruce sees his kids, older now, confident and healing and laughing with each other all night. They'll always need him, and he'll always need them, but even Damian has started handling things on his own. So for the first time, Bruce lets himself look at Hal. Really look. And he finds that Hal looks back. Maybe he's always looked at Bruce like that, and Bruce has definitely always stolen looks and wondered: what if? So they talk all night, disguise it as carefully contained bickering. They hover, exchange glances. Bruce leaves with Hal's hand resting in his back pocket and has a brief pang of regret that he didn't let himself have this sooner. Didn't let himself notice the heat in Hal's gaze, or the curve of his jaw. But Hal goes home with him that night, and he never seems to leave.

[veinsfullofstars]

“Quit laughin’, ya bastard, I’m dyin’ over here! Get me some starsdamn milk, for cryin’ out loud!”

(ID: Kirby series fanart comic of Dark Meta Knight and Daroach, in which lunch is interrupted by a disagreement on spicy food and some improper use of the Sharing mechanic. Transcript below the cut. END ID.)

Based on a personal headcanon that DMK enjoys spicy food and Daroach vehemently does not.

Started 04/06/24, finished and updated 04/09/24, updated for color correction 11/02/24.

---

Transcript:

Panel 1

*DMK and DR sitting side-by-side enjoying some lunch together - a sandwich for the thief, a plate of spicy curry for the knight. DMK (his mask pushed up to the side of his head, bits of curry stuck to his face) idly eats his meal with a fork as DR picks up and scrutinizes a small bottle of hot sauce the knight had set aside, a brow raised in disappointment.*

DR: “Ultra spicy,” huh? Blech. How can you stand this stuff, Dark? Like, can you even taste anythin’ anymore? (Besides pain?)

Panel 2

DMK: Aw, c’mon, it’s not that bad. Here, want a bite~?

*setting his fork upright in the curry, DMK pushes his plate aside and turns towards DR with the most mischievous expression, reaching up to grab the collar of his cape. DR turns his head sharply, dropping the bottle and the sandwich, as the knight starts tugging him towards him.*

DR: What’re you-? Hey! No! No! Don’t you friggin’ dare, Dark, I swear to Nova-

Panel 3

*DMK stands up and yanks DR down towards his face, a hand clasped on the back of the thief’s head to hold him there. DR flinches (VFX: two large exclamation points), knocked off his feet and holding his paws out in surprise. A wisp of steam rises from between them, curling into a little pink heart at the top. Text reading “*Face-to-Face SFX*” hovers behind DMK.*

Panel 4

*DR jerks away from DMK, red-faced and doubled over in pain, his eyes squeezed shut and his tongue hanging out with a fresh red burn on the end, steam emitting from his face in puffs. He frantically fans at his mouth with one paw while shoving DMK away with the other.*

DR: (breaking the dialogue bubble in places) AAGH!! Ow! Star-burnin’ son-of-the-void what is wrong with you piece a’- aaaughh dammit stars dammit ow ow ow ow!!

*DMK cackles, leaning away with one arm held up against the rat’s pushing paw, one eye shut and mouth stretched open in a wide smile, a single incisor prominent within and a touch of blush at the corner. Text reading “HA HA HA HA HA HA HA” hovers behind him surrounded by laugh lines.*

[giggly-squiggily]

Fireworks Beneath Our Feet (My Hero Academia)

Happy New Year!!!! 2025- holy canoli! :D Since I didn't write a Christmas fic last year, I decided to make something for the New Year! I hope you like it :3

@intheticklecloset (Girl you know I had to tag you in this- it's TodoBaku!)

Cloud 9 (Taglist Peeps):

@myreygn @thatbigbisexual29 @duckymcdoorknob @wolfyeatstacos @baby-tickles2022 @cupcake-spice13 @sarahmaystock5578 @rachi-roo @mochigiggle @chibisstuff @imjusthere07 @sevenincubistolemyheart @riisada @sp1racle @teddywriting

Summary: It's New Years Eve. Bakugou and Todoroki decide to celebrate together.

Bakugou didn’t care much for winter holidays. 

There were some good things that came out of them. Having classes off was always nice, and he’d be a liar if he thought Eri in her little Santa outfit wasn’t the cutest thing in the world. 

He also liked eating; the food was always good- especially Shoto’s sister’s cooking. He had a whole new list of recipes to bribe out of her next time he visited the Todoroki household. Besides that though- he didn’t care much for it all.

What he did look forward to however was New Years. Especially fireworks.

How he loved fireworks.

“Come on, Icy-hot! It’s not even that cold up here!” Bakugou called behind him, pushing the roof door open with a shiver. Okay-maybe it was cold up there, but whatever. “We’re gonna miss them if you don’t hurry up!”

“I’m coming, I’m coming! Why are you in such a rush- they always go off exactly at midnight.” Todoroki reminded him as he came into view, arms full of things. “We’ve got at least half an hour.”

“Half an hour my ass- you know time moves differently in the dorms!” There were so many people to navigate past, not to mention the stairs they had to climb. If they left too late, they’d miss the show. “Here- I’ll take some of that.”

“Did you forget your arms are already full? Go ahead- I’m fine.” Todoroki caught the door with his hip, shivering as the wind cut through his jacket. “Not that cold my butt.”

Soon they were set up- a warm blanket spread beneath them with another thrown on top of their laps. A thermos hot chocolate sat nearby, two mugs filled to the brim with marshmallows and cream steaming in their gloveless hands. Todoroki made it a point to sit on Bakugou’s right, his left side acting as an impromptu furnace to keep them toasty. They were ready to go- now was the hard part. Waiting.

“Are you warm enough?” Todoroki asked after a few minutes, seeing Bakugou shiver. He leaned in closer, pressing their shoulders together. “Let me know if you need more heat.”

“I’m fine- ugh, why do they drag it out? It’s the best part of the freaking year!” He tapped his fingers impatiently against his mug, watching the sky for any sign of light. It was only then he felt the shoulder against him shaking. “What?” Bakugou asked, narrowing his eyes at the growing smile on his boyfriend’s lips. “What is it?”

“Nothing- truly. I just think it’s cute how excited you get over things like this.” Todoroki grinned, watching Bakugou blush. “It’s sweet- you’re like a little kid.”

“Bah, what do you know?” Bakugou huffed and turned away, a clear pout forming on his lips. Todoroki chuckled around his mug, taking a sip before putting his and Bakugou’s aside. He wrapped an arm around him again when he started to shiver. “I’m not some brat..”

“I know you’re not. You’re an amazing hero who actual kids look up to and admire. When we reach Pro and you make your official debut, you’re gonna have tons of fans.” He kissed Bakugou’s chilled cheek, feeling it twitched with a restrained smile. “Of course, I’ll be your number one.”

“You’re gonna pull a Deku and collect all my merch?” He asked, laughing some when Todoroki nuzzled his neck and ears with his chilled nose.

“Sure. I’ll have a whole museum dedicated to you and your merch.” He gently poked him, feeling Bakugou twitch. “Wall to wall, floor to ceiling of your face for all to see. Historians will find it after we’re gone and wonder to themselves: “Just who is this handsome man?”, and I’ll rise from the dead and go “He’s mine- back off!””

“Ghe-ehahahahahhaa, thahaht’s so creheheheheepy!” Bakugou laughed, falling into Todoroki’s chest as he swatted at the hands tickling him. “I’ihihihll bloohohow it ahahah up behehefore I dihihie. I whahahant yoohohou to stahhahay dead wihihihth mehehehe!”

“Erasing yourself from the narrative, huh? I’ll have to invest in explosive-proof walls.” He snickered alongside the blonde’s giggle fits, his touch incredibly light as not to draw anyone’s attention to them. Call it what you want, but he liked having Bakugou all to himself in these moments. “Maybe I’ll have it built in the clouds, or on the ocean floor. You’ll be really popular among the mermaids.”

“Thohohohose fihihihsh cahahan suhuhuck it!” Bakugou cackled, feeling ticklish from both Todoroki’s touch and the insane thought. Late hours sure knew how to bring the silly out of them. “Oohohohonly yohohohou geheheht me, yohohou here? Ihiihhih’m yoohohhours!”

Todoroki sucked in a breath, pausing his tickles. “Say it again.”

“Whahaht?” Bakugou blinked, confused. “Ihi’m yours?” Then he went bright red, covering his face with his hands. “Gahha! N-No, don’t fucking lohohok at me like thahaht!”

Todoroki was just as red, his heart racing a mile a minute. Such simple words, but they meant the world to him. “Like what?” He leaned down, gently pawing at Bakugou’s hands until he could meet his eye. “Tell me, Kats. How am I looking at you?”

“Shoto..” Bakugou knew where this was going. A part of him wanted to hide away knowing how his emotions would so easily show on his face. Another part of him wanted Todoroki to just say it already.

“Look at you..like I love you? Cause I do. You’re my whole world. The night sky and the stars above.” He leaned down and kissed Bakugou’s brow, smiling against it. “I’m so forever grateful to have you in my life.”

“Ugh, you’re so fucking sappy!” Bakugou growled, earning a laugh. He looked up at the moon for a moment, finding the courage to say what he wanted- no, needed to say. “I love you too. If I’m your night sky, you’re the sun that comes over the horizon. You make my path in life bright when I need it most. You make me so damn happy, even when you’re being annoying about it.” Todoroki let out a wet laugh at that, kissing his brow again. “Now stop kissing my face and kiss my lips already, you half-and-half bastard.”

“So swoonworthy.” Todoroki did as requested, kissing him fully. His lips tasted of cocoa and marshmallows. He smelled like winter air and firewood at the same time. Bakugou nearly lost himself entirely to such a simple but soothing gesture.

The familiar whistle cut through the air when they pulled apart. Bakugou practically sprinted out of Todoroki’s lap and to the roof fence as the sky exploded. “Look! Shoto, look, it’s happening!”

The sky was a rainbow of shimmers, fireworks popping above them in a breathtaking lightshow. Bakugou leaned against the roof’s edge, standing on his toes and breathing in the smoke-tinged air. If he stretched his hand out, he swore he could touch them- grab them in his hands like falling stars.

A warm hand brushed against his, and he made short work collecting it- intertwining their fingers. Forget falling stars- he was holding the brightest one of all now.  “It really is beautiful.” Todoroki breathed beside him, just as awestruck. Bakugou let out a laugh as he leaned into his boyfriend, watching the twinkling flames dance.

“We’ve probably missed the countdown, but Happy New Year, Shoto.” He felt Todoroki lean back into him, resting his cheek against his spiked out hair. “Thanks for making this year a good one.”

“You too. Thank you for loving me.” He heard him whisper back, bringing their conjoined hands up to kiss Bakugou’s knuckles. “Happy New Year, love.”

Thanks for reading!

[convexicalcrow]

"Kneel."

The ConVex Cathedral was cold, and the stone was as hard as it ever was as Cub knelt before the altar. The voices of the Vex were dancing all over the walls, creating a cacophany of presence. But who was he to refuse a summons? If the Vex needed him, of course he would respond.

"I obey."

"You do, when you are not beholden to that filth."

Cub shivered. Okay, so maybe he'd let the skulk obsession get a little out of hand, but it was fine, right? He was fine. He was cured. Pix and False cured him, he went back through the Rift with everyone else, he was fine. He was Fine.

"Remember who you serve first."

Cub felt his body pushed down against the stone by some invisible force as a stinging pain flooded through him. He had been waiting for this, if he was honest. The Vex had ignored him for the rest of the season, and now that the season was over, well. It was time for his reckoning. There was a small whisper from the skulk, of course, but he ignored it.

"How can I make things right?"

"We have a plan for you. See."

Images filled his head of Grian and himself working on something. Lots of pieces of paper with the word 'permit' on them. That did ring a bell about something Grian had said earlier after the season was done, but not enough to remember, not in this moment.

"He will become a Vex."

"Nah, I- he'd never agree to that. Besides, we're not that close. Scar would have a better chance."

"But Scar is not here, and Scar did not forsake us."

"So I don't have a choice."

"He will become a Vex."

Cub understood he had no choice here. The Vex had decided Grian needed to become a Vex, and it was Cub's job to make it happen. Okay, he might have exaggerated how close they were, but he still hung out more with Scar. But, well. He'd wait and see what happened when the new season began. See if Grian wanted his help with something. That'd be his in, if they had a shared project to work on.

"Go now. Do not forget that you belong to us."

"Yes, of course."

Cub almost got to his feet before the Vex yanked him up and shoved him backwards out of the Cathedral. Clearly, they were still angry at him. And, to be fair, maybe he did deserve it, just a little bit. He turned away from the Cathedral, and closed his eyes, returning to his body.

-

Cub forgot all about that conversation by the time Grian approached him once the new season had started. He'd been so busy with the early game grind, he'd forgotten all about the Vex and what they had asked of him. At least, until Grian turned up, needing his help.

"You know like, everything about the resources in the world, right? You can help with the permits. I'm sure I've forgotten half of them," Grian said, handing him a list.

"I mean, sure? I'll take a look," Cub said.

"Thanks, Cub. I can't think of anyone else with the amont of knowledge you have. I'd appreciate all the help I can get," Grian said.

And that was how he spent the rest of the day, pouring over lists with Grian, sorting them into tiers based on previous seasons' experiences with the shopping district, and hoping like hell it all felt balanced.

They crashed, asleep, close to dawn, making a makeshift bed in the hole they'd dug as a base. Cub remembered his orders as Grian curled up beside him, resting his head on his chest. What had felt like just doing Grian a favour had become a partnership. He was in it for the long haul now. He just hoped he could find the right time to Vexify him, by choice if at all possible. A prankster like Grian was perfect for the Vex. They'd get along famously. But he wouldn't act right away. The timing had to be perfect. Let them just work on the permits and get them all set up and running, and he'd evaluate then.

The worst thing was, he couldn't tell Scar. And he usually told him everything about the Vex and their plans. But they didn't want this shared, and Grian wanted the permits to be private until they were ready to launch. So he was stuck in silence, compartmentalising his memories and knowledge of the permits and the Vex's plans away from Scar. A Vex never works alone, hey? Well, there was always an exeption to the rule.