#sorry you get to suffer for me taking a classics class guys

[zalrb]

okay so i ended up watching queen charlotte against my better judgement (read: bullied by my close friends) and i just have to say that the lady danbury storyline was even worse than what folks were saying online and you are absolutely right to steer clear of the show because of that because it’s ANNOYING.

essentially, since she was 3 she was trained to become this man’s wife, and so she talks about how she never had any identity outside of that. and of course, we see scene after scene of her enduring sex with him—completely checked out an staring at ceiling. and every time she immediately bathes and vents to her servant about it. and like, i understand that this was a very real reality for many women of the time period, but i don’t understand why everyone else gets to have this deep experience of love except for her. and that’s not even the worst part for me. basically, her husband ends up dying, and she’s feeling all of the de complex feelings because 1) she’s free from this awful man but 2) she also doesn’t know what to do now because he was her entire life purpose and 3) with him dead, her title in danger.

as she heals from her grief, she connects with this married guy within the same class and they fall in love pretty much and end up sleeping together once. and of course after that one time he ends it and chooses his family over her. which duh. and then the queen charlotte’s brother asks her to marry him (which would solve all of her problems and potentially give her the ability to experience a healthy marriage) and she denies him because she never wants to marry again.

sorry for the long winded background, but my point is that i’m tired of Black women being written in a way where freedom is always equated to loneliness. that for us, choosing to experience love cannot be a revolutionary or liberating act. this is the only dark-skinned Black woman on this show and for the half a dozen times we see her forced to have sex with her husband, we only see her experience pleasure once. one scene!! and it’s immediately snatched away in the next scene. and i feel like this also kind of illustrates my problem with this idea that Black people can never truly exist in these fantasy worlds. not in period dramas set 100+ years into the past and not in science fiction set 100+ years into the future. it’s like there’s always going to be suffering to endure for Black folks in these worlds even when the very concept of it being fiction means that anything can happen. it’s just frustrating.

No need to apologize, everything sounds absolutely terrible, and this part

and then the queen charlotte’s brother asks her to marry him (which would solve all of her problems and potentially give her the ability to experience a healthy marriage) and she denies him because she never wants to marry again

feels particularly insidious to me because rather than portraying Black love, Black pleasure in general but specifically in an AU period piece that's supposed to, for the most part, ignore the realities of the time in order to showcase these grand, epic love stories in which Black women/Black people are meant to be central so we can find ourselves in the type of "classic" romances that are meant to stand the test of time and are so entrenched in Western canon, Shonda et al. instead have Lady Danbury choose being alone. That feels so incredibly pointed.

I was also skimming through some threads on twitter and reddit debating Queen Charlotte with some people saying they liked this season the best because it was the most realistic and grounded season but the fact that it's this season with a biracial lead and Black women at the centre being the "most realistic" which I take to mean shows the most suffering is incredibly problematic and I just don't think classical renditions of songs by Black women make up for this.

[colorful-white-ideas]

I agree with what you just said about this place, basically Bill's fandom and I use that word loosely, being dead AF. It's, he, is so boring lately. It took me awhile to really mean that bc I wanted to hope his light would come back again. But he doesn't seem to care about his fans or even himself anymore. Have you noticed he wears the same black outfit (black shirt black pants or jeans) all the time now? He only manages a smile when he's not with you know who. And yet he keeps showing up with you know who. If he can't bother to care why should his fans? I just hope his acting hasn't suffered like his life has. I loved watching him in pretty much anything. Dude can act and it comes naturally. That's something other actors would kill for.

I see hes trying to give some content and trying to look good, younger ( thus the rings and earring , and all that dark clothing) BUT is not enough. He is always hiding , the news that get to come out its because fans are looking for them ... his team is most of the time silent. There is no hype around him , not even in this fandom ( not as it may have been 4 years ago x example) and next year is key , he will have at least 3 movies out in different times of the next year.

Sorry for the following rant it's just to get it out of my chest. I won't talk about that anymore from now.

I want to also say something since sometimes I get some ask that I later erase with the typical " you just hate you are not with him".

Im not stupid , I'm not in love of someone I DONT KNOW. Also I have nothing personal against Alida M, I don't know her personally to hate her. But I DO HAVE A PROBLEM with wasted privilege.

The reason why I started to like Bill and - why not- his family is because you can see they all worked to get what they want. They may have had it easier in some ways but they always wanted to go beyond , try something else to make a name on their own. I admire that. They are not the classical nepo rich kids.

A is the very opposite. She wanted to be a public persona and that's fine but only promoted her rich kid personality while traying ( in interviews ) to portray herself as a working woman. I hate fake humility. It's ok if she just wanted to be a socilite ... why lie ? why say you are an actress but don't look for more projects? why dont take classes? and if its not for you then why not USE THE POSITION you have to build something else? There is alot to do for the industry : casting, writing, make up, production, etc. She bragged on her personal social media acc about the wrong things. Contradiction at it's finnest

A contradiction that reflected onto Bill later on , the humble funny likable guy aware of his upbringing disaspeared before our eyes , he sounded in interviews more and more cocky and selfcentered. He claimed being private but at the same time was being recorded on intimate moments very often. We started to see him stressed , tired ,a shadow of who he was.

There were no changes... 'till now. I gotta acknowledge her attemps to change, also what Bill is trying to do to save - idk - his image and maybe his family too ¿? . Still the damage has been done

Anyway i'm just one among millions in the world , if I or all the people in this fandom leaves , new ones will arrive. We are replaceable.

I wish him luck in whatever he is trying to do.

And yes he can act , thats the only things that keeps his fandom slightly breathing.

[aphaskengland-bitter-tea-drinker]

[atlabeth]

transferred part 20 - atla smau

part 19 | masterlist | epilogue

summary: trying to run from your past is hard, but falling for your brother’s roommate is even harder. little do you know that he’s falling for you as well.

a/n: me when i have to write more than 5 words in a series thats supposed to be a smau

anywho! basically the last chapter?? which is crazy?? filled with heartfelt emotions and the moment that you've all been waiting for, it's a wild ride. so strap in and enjoy. the epilogue will be posted later today so i can finally wrap this series up!! and dont worry theres a super long sappy authors note on the epilogue. LETS GET INTO IT

wc: 2.3k

warning(s): cursing, mentions of alcohol, hurt/comfort, one suggestive comment, mentions of toxic relationships, reader talking about her self sabotaging behavior and burnout, Bad Coping Methods (dont disappear kids)

-

“You haven’t seen her?” Zuko sighed as the same words he had heard on repeat for the past hour played through his ears again. “It’s alright, thank you. Have a good night.”

He shook his head at his friends, their defeated expressions mirroring his own as he leaned against the kitchen island. He ran an exhausted hand through his hair, and he couldn’t help but think of the countless times you had done it for him.

“Your sister doesn’t play when it comes to theatrics,” Aang lamented as he plopped on the couch next to Sokka.

“Tell me about it,” he muttered. “I mean, she doesn’t pull stuff like this. Sometimes she went over the top when she was younger, staying out a little too late or doing something stupid, but she never just… she never just tried to disappear like this. I.. I guess she was too worried about Katara and me to do anything like that, but still.” He knocked back the rest of the seltzer and tossed the can on the table — alcohol was tempting, but none of them wanted to be any less than completely aware tonight.

“We all knew she was hurting,” Sokka continued. “Not even she could be fine after everything that happened with Hahn, especially the day after, but I— I guess I thought that she would open up before just dropping off the radar completely!

“No news from the girls,” Aang announced, prompting a collective sigh from the other two boys. “I gotta give it to her, she’s been very thorough with this.”

“Of course she has. It’s classic Y/N — she can disappear without a trace, sure, but she can’t put enough effort into picking up some supplies for my project on her way home.” It was a lame attempt to lighten the mood, and though he got a weak chuckle out of Aang, it was radio silence on Zuko’s part.

“Hey, buddy.” It didn’t snap him out of his reverie, and Sokka seriously contemplated throwing his empty soda can at him. “You okay?”

“She didn’t even say anything to me,” he finally murmured, eyes trained on his phone screen. “She said she would tell me if she was having a hard time, but she didn’t say anything to me. Just suffered in silence until it got so bad she just up and left. She just… left. Without a single word to anyone. To me.”

Aang’s eyes softened and he let out a loose exhale. “Zuko, she didn’t mean to hurt you — I know that much. She’s just been under a lot of stress lately, and… I guess it didn’t manifest in the best way.”

“Stress...” he muttered, trying to piece it together. There was something nagging at the back of his skull, something on the tip of his tongue, but he just couldn’t get it. “And you guys are sure she hasn’t put anything anywhere? No texts that you missed, nothing?”

“Believe me,” Sokka said. “I’ve refreshed her pages a thousand times by now. It’s radio silence on her side. God, I wish I was more invasive and put like, a tracking device on her car or something! For all we know, she could be back to Kyoshi.”

Kyoshi. Stress. This whole thing, your disappearing act.

And suddenly, it clicked.

Zuko stood up abruptly, nearly knocking over the stool in the process and warranting puzzled looks from both of his friends as he grabbed his keys off the table and practically ran to the door.

“Zuko, where are you going?” Aang questioned.

He tugged the door open and shot a glance back at them, tension having noticeably dissolved from his shoulders.

“I know where she is.”

-

Zuko tapped idly against the steering wheel, once again glancing down at his phone screen but to no avail. His relationship with you had become infinitely more complicated since the kiss through fault of both of them — he supposed that was what happened when two people who didn’t know how to talk about their emotions caught feelings for each other. Zuko was very skilled at sticking his foot in his mouth whenever he tried to talk about anything like this, and

But you had accepted his offer to talk on the way home, so that meant something.

He had originally suggested just talking on the way home like he had proposed earlier, but you had a different idea. ‘Trust me,’ you had told him. ‘It has a good track record with making people feel better.’

Your proposition was a wildflower field on the outskirts of the city, just out of the way that someone would go en route to the university. Far enough from the city to emanate an aura of peace, but close enough to be a feasible trip.

“I found this place when I was missing home,” you smiled as he parked the car. “I love it here, don’t get me wrong, but sometimes I just feel homesick for Kyoshi. You passed a field like this on the way into town, and when I stumbled here, it just kinda felt like fate. So now whenever I’m stressed, or overwhelmed, or just need a break, I come out here. And I think this is the perfect place to talk about… well, whatever’s going on with us.”

“Sounds good.” He returned the sentiment then cleared his throat. “As long as we don’t go in there. I can admire it from afar, but just looking at that field is making my skin itch.”

You laughed and nodded amiably. “Deal.”

-

One hand was splayed against your chest, the other trailing lazy circles with the pads of your fingers against the metal as you gazed up at the sky. You had the best and only seat of the view, the flora drifting softly in the night breeze as the stars twinkled from above.

You didn’t know what you were thinking, being here. The past couple of weeks had just been… crushing you. It was like your heart was stuck in a vice and no matter what you did, it just got tighter and tighter.

You had been treating everyone you knew horribly, but you couldn’t stop. It felt like a game — how terribly could you act towards them until they snapped too? Until your friends, your siblings, Zuko, recognized that they had made a mistake by trying to help you?

And you didn’t know what it was about today, but… something inside of you just broke after that morning with your roommates. So you did what you were best at, and you ran. Skipped class, skipped work, just drove around aimlessly until even that was starting to feel like too much of a trap.

And then you ended up here.

It would’ve been laughable if you weren’t on the verge of breaking down.

You had been here, just laying on the hood of your car parked a few feet away from the field on an off road path, for the better part of an hour. If you were going to drown underneath the weight of your thoughts, it was better to do it alone.

But as you heard the crunching of gravel underneath car tires, your eyes instinctively shot towards the noise — so much for being alone — and you sat up. Your brows furrowed in recognition, you knew that car, and it felt like your heart was going to beat out of your chest when Zuko stepped out.

“You remembered,” you breathed after a moment of silence. “You’re here.”

“Always.” He said it so obviously, so easily — why wouldn’t he remember? Why wouldn’t he be here?

You scooted over to make space on the hood and patted the space next to you softly, pulling your knees up to your chest in a moment of shame as he walked around to the front and pushed himself up next to you. What were you going to say to him? What could you say?

“I’m sorry,” you said out of the blue, your words pouring out of you like an emotional waterfall. “I’m sorry for just— for just leaving, I know it was stupid and I know they’re all probably worried out of their minds, but I couldn’t do it, Zuko. I-it was like I was trapped, and I know it was irrational, but I had to get out of there—”

“You didn’t have to,” he said quietly, effectively stopping your rant. “If you really had to get out, you could’ve at least said something to one of us. I don’t know what things were like back at Kyoshi, but here— here, you can’t throw yourself back onto the knife every time something goes wrong, because— you just can’t do that anymore.”

“I’m not mad, believe me, I’m relieved that you’re okay. I just..” he sighed and glanced up at the night sky, the light of the moon illuminating his features as he faced you once more. “I know you’ve felt alone before, but you’re not. You have Katara, and Sokka, Suki, Toph— you have me, Y/N! And I’m not going anywhere, trust me, but— but you can’t keep doing this to yourself, because they care about you, and I care about you.”

You swallowed the lump in your throat and chose to concentrate on the hood of the car, tapping your fingers against the metal as a way to use up your nervous energy. “You’re… you’re right,” you said after a long moment of silence, the beginnings of a mirthless smile on your lips.

“After that night at the party, I just— I couldn’t stop thinking about what happened. There was a part of me that just wanted to lock myself in my room and never come out, but I— I told myself I was better than that, and I refused to let myself fall back onto any of it. So I worked. I took extra shifts, I helped out my professors, I did anything and everything I could to try and keep my mind off of Hahn. But I wasn’t helping anything, I was just… I was destroying myself. It was just like you said. I was a candle burning at both ends but still convinced that I was doing the right thing, and eventually.. I just couldn’t take it anymore. So I ran.”

“And— there’s always been this… this voice in my head that pops up after things in my life are going good, and it tells me that something is going to go wrong. A-and it tells me that if I’m the one that ruins it, then I don’t have to ask myself what I did wrong, if I could’ve stopped it from happening— if it’s inevitable, then I should be the one to ruin it. It’s how most of my relationships ended, and— well, the only thing it’s succeeded in is making me miserable.”

You don’t even notice your hands are shaking until you feel Zuko placing his own over yours — a simple gesture asking an unsaid question, one you answer by intertwining his fingers with your own.

“That same voice popped up again once I started getting close to you,” you admitted quietly. “And this whole time, I’ve been so terrified of falling that I never considered you would catch me. But I’m tired, Zuko. I’m tired of constantly looking over the edge.”

As you turned your head to meet his eyes again, your breath caught in your throat at his close proximity. You were sure that no matter how much time you spent with him, your heart would never stop beating out of your chest for Zuko.

“I will always be there to catch you,” he affirmed softly. “And I’m not going anywhere.”

And just like before, he brought his hand to the side of your face and tenderly brushed a loose strand of hair behind your ear. His hand, slightly calloused but emanating comfort all the same, lingered on your cheek for a moment before he posed the question.

“Can I kiss you?”

You nodded, and his lips captured your own immediately. You reciprocated with an almost desperate fervor and— and it just felt so right. You had grown so accustomed to the constant warmth he carried with him that it had become a part of you, he had become a part of you, and now a life without Zuko was just unimaginable.

He was right — he already was there to catch you, each and every time. Giving you endless rides when your car broke down, sitting through the world’s most boring anthro projects, letting you bare your soul to him, telling you it was all going to be okay when nothing felt okay, and managing to find you when you had gone out of your way to not be found. And all of it— it all made you realize.

You didn’t want to keep running. And you didn’t have to. Not anymore.

Zuko pulled away and pressed his forehead to yours, breathing slightly labored as the two of you sat in comfortable silence. That is, until you broke it.

“So,” you started, a nervous chuckle following. “Are we… are we a thing now?”

You could tell that caught him by surprise by the laugh that escaped him, a sound of unfiltered joy. “I’d say that we are.”

You could feel the heat rushing to your cheeks once more as he slid off of the hood of the car and held out his hand, an offering you took happily. “We should get home,” he said, somewhat reluctantly. “It’s past midnight, and—” Zuko glanced at his phone and grimaced. “They’re all still worried out of their minds.”

“Right,” you muttered. “I’m gonna get the lecture of my life from Sokka and Katara.”

“Probably,” he chuckled. “But they’re just doing their job as concerned siblings.” He pressed a chaste kiss to your forehead and glanced back at his own car. “I’ll see you back at the apartment?”

You nodded, an uncontrollable smile pulling at your lips. “Thank you, Zuko. For this, and— for everything.”

He returned the sentiment, golden eyes filled with adoration.

“Always.”

-

if your name is crossed out it means i can’t tag you!

perm taglist: @dv0412 @siriuslyslyslytherin

transferred: @ourbestfriend-mishacollins @lil-lex1 @xxshad0wxb1rdxx @zuko-is-the-sun @akiris @irohs-teapot @thatarthistorynerd @charlenasaxen @minninugget @marvel-ousnesss @count-thotticus @what-ye-egg @furblrwurblr @thesstuff @mariachiii @ietss @dizzy-miss-lizzieeeeee @xbarrjallenx @tommy-braccoli @dreamsluvrr @floofybread @thelovelylolly @lin-biefong-is-my-life @tiffanyy-21 @sistheselenophile @theincredibledeadlyviper @bakugouswh0r3 @loganrwebb @mikaslilworld @matsunshine @iris-suoh @aizameow @h3llbun @kozuelle

atla: @marianne1806

[baku-bowl]

broke 1,000 followers (the fuck? I don't even make content people), so decided to write up a list of some (but not all, I'll make other lists later) of my favorite Bakugou-centric fic recs. my tastes run towards hurt/comfort, as you'll probably figure from the list. if there are some Baku-centric fics that you've enjoyed that aren't on here, please add them - this is definitely not a complete list of the ones I've read and love, but I'm always up for some recs. <3

fair warning, most of these are wips.

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

Social Media 101 by WindsChild8178

Part 1: Survival Guide to Fucking Up

[Solely Bakugou’s point of view]

Katsuki Bakugou doesn’t have a gentle bone in his body. He’s aggressive in everything he does and does everything with 100% of his heart in it. After the Sport’s Festival, Katsuki starts to get harassed by strangers for his unheroic demeanor. It starts with letters but it doesn’t end there. The moment Katsuki realizes the harassment has entered dangerous territory and he needs to tell someone, it’s already too late.

Part 2: Post Traumatic Life Disorder

[Point of View opens up to Bakugou, teachers and classmates]

When the Dorms are finally built, everyone is settling in well, but things become tense as people begin to realize something isn’t right with the recently rescued Bakugou.

[Cannon compliant right up to after the License Exam]

hands down my favorite fic in the fandom right now. it’s the one that converted me into a Bakugou lover. if you have any fondness for Bakugou as a character then it’s likely you’ve read this one already, but if not, I can’t recommend it enough. incredibly depressing, but with the hope that comfort is coming soon in the next few chapters.

The Kids Will Be Alright, Eventually by NotWithThatAttitude

Bakugou is spiraling in the aftermath of Kamino and his friends are starting to notice. He's stubborn, aggressively independent, and less than willing to dig into his past, but after a breakdown that ends with a painful secret revealed, he starts to get help.

Whether he likes it or not.

Meanwhile, a new kind of villain threatens an uneasy peace following the loss of Allmight. Whispers build as a new narrative slowly takes shape:

Hero society needs to change.

Feat. Therapy, Dadzawa, best boy Kirishima, dysfunctional families, healing, growing up, and the mortifying ordeal of being known

guys.. the medical accuracy of this fic is just... *chef’s kiss*

I rarely see mental health genuinely handled well in fics, but this one goes above and beyond. kudos to the author for doing such excellent research into psychology, and making the application of it in here not-boring. also, while this one does have abusive!Mitsuki, it’s done in a way that feels realistic, and how I usually will see it occur in real life, rather than just for the hurt/comfort feels.

fair warning, the fic can be incredibly triggering (themes of severe depression, PTSD, panic attacks, rape survival, abuse survival, suicidal ideation/attempted suicide, among other things), so be safe and heed the tw’s if you decide to read. legitimately one of my Top Favorite fics in this fandom.

Lock and Key by autochorystalize

Bakugou made a choked, gravelly noise before croaking out a low, “You can’t be serious.” His fingers ached to blow up everything in the room.

“I’m sorry, young man, but you can’t change reality! This sometimes happens.” Recovery Girl clicked through his file, adding a new symbol in a previously empty slot.

- - -

A pair of eyes discreetly locked on to an explosive blond plowing his way forward, parting people in his path. He recognized the kid, of course. Anyone in the underbelly of society would recognize him, after the publicity of both UA’s Sports Festival and the events leading up to All Might’s fall. The uniform he was wearing cast away any doubts about the young man’s identity.

It was a bit of a surprise that the little firecracker presented as an omega.

- - - - - - - - -

Or: there are certain types of evil that seemed too distant, archaic violations and perversions that would never actually threaten bright-eyed heroes-in-training in the clean, modern world...but sometimes those evils aren't as distant as one might think.

remember when I said that I love a/b/o fics that are full of plot and world-building and gender-induced tension? that’s this one. the OC’s are fabulous and you love to hate ‘em. also, it’s the fic that made me fall head-over-heels for the TodoBaku dynamic, so it’s got a special place in my cold, dead heart. 

be warned, there are rather explicit non-con scenes between an adult (OC) and a minor (Bakugou) in this one, but the author warns for them in advance, and you could likely skip those parts without missing too much if you need to.

Never and Always, Eventually by Wawa_Boonliang

"Katsuki can remember the exact moment that he and Deku…that he and Midoriya Izuku became friends. He can also remember the moment he and Izuku became fierce rivals, a time when they were almost enemies.

However, what he remembers most clearly about their relationship is the moment that they moved passed rivals and became something more close than mere friends. Something more like brotherhood, something forged in fire and secured in the middle of a battlefield or in the midst of natural disaster where the number of the dead was climbing ever higher. And then it was torn from him."

Katsuki is given a second chance. A chance to save everyone. A chance to change everything.

But should he?

y’all. I’m a slutty, slutty whore for time travel fics. a time travel fic with autistic!coded Bakugou? it was love at first read.

Lessons Learned by Sif (Rosae)

Rather than the police station, Katsuki's friends bring him to a hospital after rescuing him from the villains. His wounds were minor, but it didn't make having them treated any less important. As it would so happen, Best Jeanist was also brought to this hospital after the attack.

Sometimes, small choices have a big impact on how a story plays out.

classic Bakugou hurt/comfort. this fic opened me up to the potential that could be a genuinely good Best Jeanist & Katsuki mentor-mentee relationship, and I kind of dig it and search ravenously for it in other fics now. I’m also a huge fan of the behind-the-scences Pro Hero Chat group.

Slope by sunfleurmoon

“I’m not a hero. Or a good person,” Katsuki says, giving Aizawa a pointed look, “So leave me alone. I don’t care about the League or UA, or you—” The two years he’s been away have been fine, more than fine, fucking fantastic actually if you ignore the bi-monthly near-death experiences. He doesn’t need this place. He doesn’t miss this place.

And yet, longing, a childish desire to tear up, or maybe blow something to bits, they all twist in his chest like a band of traitors regardless. “—I just want to go home.”

Or: the one where Katsuki and Izuku fail the first term exam, Aizawa discovers their pasts, and Katsuki is booted from UA. Featuring questionable descriptions of villain organizations, a slightly illegal moving shop, and your favorite emotionally constipated badass in distress with a newly discovered penchant for collecting strays.

paaaaaaiiiiiiiin. the hurt is ALIVE in this one. lots of tortured, angsty exploding child goodness. the OC’s are excellently crafted, and the Bakugou & Eri relationship? beautiful. definitely deserves a read.

Ground Zero by WindsChild8178

In the wake of Kamino, Katsuki is tested more than anyone could imagine. Bound by a villain’s quirk to keep his silence or die, he lives each day knowing it might very well be his last. He continues to work towards becoming a hero, keeping his secret from his classmates and teachers, focusing on making it through each day and trying not to allow the panic or depression to get the best of him. When the villain finally corners him with demands in exchange for his life, there is really only one answer Katsuki Bakugou can give.

honestly don't know which I want updated more - social media 101 or ground zero. this author's fics are amazing, and I really wasn't expecting the twist in this one. can't wait for windschild to come back to this fic some day.

The Defect by LadyGreenFrisbee

"Why do you want to win the Sports Festival so badly?" 

Because I want to see if the defect could usurp the masterpiece.

(In which Endeavor holds a terrible secret and Bakugo has to suffer since childhood for it.)

a great concept, and I adore the shouto and Katsuki sibling interaction here. hoping the author will come back to this one some day.

A Name That You'll Remember by Heronfem

Kirishima Eijirou is a Hero. Bakugou Katsuki... is not. Trapped in his toxic workplace and increasingly desperate to get out, Red Riot's days are only brightened by a new villain known as Caution, who's not exactly villainous and keeps accidentally doing good deeds. But when a real villain appears, a threat from the past that demands that Red Riot make the ultimate sacrifice to keep the public safe, Bakugou is forced into saving the day... and eventually, Red Riot himself.

sob story good guy villains are my weakness, this fic is a gem, and I'd kill for the sequel.

Our Hero by AnonymousTwit

He felt everything jerk to the side and throw his balance off before he saw anything, dust clouding his vision and irritating his lungs as the earth itself opened up to swallow them whole. For a single moment, in a millisecond's time, his wild eyes locked with Raccoon Eyes', hers alight with fear and adrenaline-fueled desperation. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he realized that it was the first time she'd looked at him with something other than long-deserved hatred in days.

And then he was free falling.

Or

After a particularly nasty encounter between childhood friends, the class learns about Bakugou and Midoriya's dark history and practically ostracizes Bakugou while trying to defend Midoriya. An earthquake during an outing has all sides regretting their decisions.

just fucking tear apart my self-sacrificing faves in every way imaginable while their loved ones watch on in terror. 💖🥰💖 this one is heavy on the Bakusquad and Class-1A feels, and VERY heavy on the Mina & Bakugou relationship (platonic).

Running back the tape, watching it replay by Faralyne

For someone ripped from their time, ripped from the few but strong relationships built by time and personal development, by self-reflection and swallowed pride, ripped from the one thing that made him feel worthwhile and needed and put-together, and forced to forge everything over again—Katsuki thinks he is handling it pretty fucking well.

Or

A villain’s quirk sends a 29-year-old Bakugou back in time to his middle school days.

am I a sucker for time travel? yes. am I a sucker for vigilante!bakugou? also yes. am I a sucker for this fic? literally refreshing the page in wait for an update as we speak.

Liability by sandelf

After All-Might dies rescuing Bakugou from the League, Bakugou is determined to prove it wasn't for nothing.

But the world is against him, his grief is overwhelming, and his stability is splitting at the edges.

very self-indulgent bakugou angst. tw for harassment, severe depression, and suicidality.

Special Mentions:

How To Win The Sport Festival: A Step By Step Guide by mhwright

Short re-imagining of the Sports Festival Arc if Shinso had planned a little better and worked a little harder to win the Sports Festival and if the match-ups had been slightly different. Self-indulgent fic of watching him succeed.

this is completely Shinsou-centric, not Bakugou-centric, but I love and adore it and am dying for a sequel. Shinsou is Best Boy here and you'll be rooting for him the whole time.

[fallingappleshurt]

My Best Friend in Blue

Hey so the creator of this AU is @antarctic-bay !! It’s really amazing and I want to say that I things I write are not canon! And my writing style is very weird in this I am so sorry, I can’t form cohesion sentences for shit

That being said take this shit

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My Best Friend in Blue

Techno didn’t have a lot of friends growing up, it wasn’t something that really upset him, he had his brothers and everyone else was either annoying or just didn’t seem to like him. He didn’t care, he was perfectly fine on his own, he was quiet, more reserved with a cold demeanor, loud things were distracting and got on his nerves, so how’d he end up with this guy?

It started when he was 10, he was at the park with his brothers, Wilbur was on the swings, Tommy was on the playground equipment and Phil was making sure Tommy didn’t fall off of said playground equipment and Techno wasn’t sure what to do so he wandered the park until he heard a loud voice say,

“I can SO do magic! Just watch!” Techno looked over to see someone his age, dressed all in blue, chest puffed out. He stood in front of two other kids, Techno stopped to watch. The boy pulled off his bright blue beanie, it had a stupid face scribbled on it with marker.

“I’m going to make this hat,” He paused dramatically, “Disappear!”

He spun in a circle, throwing the hat behind himself before stopping in front of his friends, waving his hands, “See! Magic!”

One of the blue boy’s friends gasped but Techno just rolled his eyes. “You didn’t make it disappear, you just threw it behind you,” He pointed out, crossing his arms. The boy whipped his head around rapidly before spotting and making direct eye contact with Techno.

“No! I made it disappear! You’re probably just jealous you can’t do it!” He said, voice raising slightly.

“No you didn’t and I’m not, you just threw it over there,” Techno said,not unkindly, pointing to where the hat laid, bits of mulch stuck to it.

“No! It- I was-Ah!” The boy frowned before yelling, “Shut up!”

Techno just raised an eyebrow and walked away.

He had started fifth grade, walking into school everyone told him that the fifth graders were the oldest at the school so they were the role models, they had to set good examples for the younger kids. That made Techno think of Tommy, he wondered what stupid thing his little brother was doing. The teacher told them to find the desk with their name and sit down.

The desks were arranged in groups of 4, Techno found his and sat down, fidgeting nervously. He took a deep breath, trying not to let his anxiety get the better of him, he decided to look at the names of the people who would be sitting around him.

‘Milo’ was in front of him, ‘Hannah’ was next to him and diagonally was someone named ‘Skeppy’. Milo, Hannah, Skeppy. He repeated the mantra in his head, maybe they would get along, maybe he could make friends.

His thoughts were interrupted by a familiar loud voice and a chair screeching across the tile, it was the blue boy from the park. Of course it was, why wouldn’t it be. He sat at the desk with the name tag ‘Skeppy’ and he was still wearing a blue shirt and the beanie with the scribbled on face.

Techno froze and looked at his desk, refusing to look up, his anxiety spiked. He wanted to make friends but this would definitely ruin it, Skeppy would tell the others what he said and how much of a jerk he was, why did he say that at the park? He was so stupid, Skeppy wasn’t doing anything wrong, he was so stupid, this is why he didn’t have any friends-

He was ripped from his spiral by other voices, Milo and Hannah had sat down and Skeppy was introducing himself. Techno took a breath, made a fist and started running his thumb across his knuckles, maybe if he just laid low, Skeppy wouldn’t notice. His plan worked for like two minutes before Skeppy said, “Is that a pink pencil case?”

Techno jerked up as Skeppy leaned over his own desk to look at Techno’s, “That’s so cool! It reminds me of my friend-”

Techno just sat there in shock as Skeppy babbled on about his pencil case, unsure on what to do. Skeppy continued until he made eye contact with Techno.

“Wait, you’re that kid from the park! The one that doesn’t believe in magic!”

Milo and Hannah gave him a weird look, not cruel, just confused. Techno didn’t know what to do, he just quietly stammered it was barely more than a whisper. The desk clump stayed like that until the Teacher started talking loudly, Techno wrapped his arms around himself, feeling nauseous.

This was going to be a long year.

For the first few weeks of school he barely talked to the other students, he didn’t see the point, he answered questions in class and finished most of his work early, gaining the quiet, smart kid title from the rest of his class. His teacher had told him if he kept this up he could make it into honors classes in middle school. So even if he didn’t have any friends, he still had that going for him.

Until the dreaded;

“And for this assignment you are going to need a partner!”

Hannah and Milo reached across their desks to shake hands, so both of them were out. Techno bit his lip and stayed seated for a moment, before getting up to ask the teacher if he could work alone.

“No, this is a partnered assignment, could you not find a partner?”

Techno shook his head then immediately wanted to die as the teacher did that thing where she loudly asked who didn’t have a partner, basically broadcasting to the class that he was a friendless idiot.

She didn’t say that exactly but he knew she was thinking it.

“Okay, look, go work with Skeppy, you guys should make a good team!” Techno nodded and swore under his breath, apparently the universe just wanted him to suffer.

He walked back over to his desk only to find that Milo was sitting there and had pushed his stuff over so he could work with Hannah.

“Just take my desk for now, since you’re working with Skeppy,” Milo said, before going back to work.

Techno sat down stiffly as Skeppy looked him up and down, “Look I don’t want to work with you and you probably feel the same way so let's just do this on our own, okay?We can just turn it in at the same time.”

Techno nodded slowly, turning to his own paper, it was a math worksheet, he breezed through it effortlessly.

Techno had finished half of the first page in about five minutes, he looked over to see Skeppy still struggling on the first problem.

“You’re still on the first one?” Techno asked, trying not to sound rude.

“Yes! Shut up! Not everyone is as smart as you so just shut up!” Skeppy snapped, erasing aggressively.

“The teacher explained it though,”

“Yeah well the teacher did a bad job!” Skeppy stuck his hands in his hair, tugging at it.

Techno gently laid a hand on Skeppy’s shoulder, “Do you want help?”

“No from yo- Yes!- But- I don’t know!” Skeppy snapped.

“Here let me see,” Techno looked at Skeppy’s paper, he looked over the work before saying, “You’re dividing too early.”

“What?”

“You’re dividing too early, you gotta add this part first, then divide,” Techno said, pointing to the different parts of the equation.

Skeppy moved slowly, then started on the problem, solved it, then looked at Techno nervously, “Did I do it right?”

Techno scanned his work then nodded, “Yeah!”

“Wait really?”

“Yeah! You did it!”

“That’s awesome! I can’t believe it!”

Techno grinned, maybe this year wouldn’t be so bad.

He grunted as the same jackass from his class ‘bumped’ into him again, making him drop his stuff.

“Heh, my bad!” Jacob, the jackass, said in his stupid cocky voice, then continued down the hall as Techno stared daggers into his back, he wasn’t allowed to swear at school and he was supposed to be a role model, those were the only things stopping him from cussing the taller boy out.

It was the next day as he walked down the hall, he could hear Jacob’s shoes squeak against the tile, Techno tightened his hold on his things, bracing himself only to see Jacob flop on the floor next to him.

Techno jumped back, surprised as Jacob groaned, he looked to see Skeppy standing behind him, adjusting his beanie.

“Heh, my bad.” He said grinning at Jacob, then he looked up, “Come on Techno we’re gonna be late!” And with that, they took off, Techno smiling softly to himself. This was just the start of a blooming friendship.

He was walking to the middle school with Tommy to wait for Wilbur, when Tommy asked, “Are and that loud kid with the blue hat friends?” Techno thought about it for a moment, then “Yeah, he’s my friend,”

Tommy gave him a weird look, “That doesn’t make sense!”

“How so?”

Tommy looked deep in thought then declared loudly, “No wait it does! Because you like pink and he likes blues, so even if you guys are opposites your colors look nice together so it still works!”

“Really? That’s how you judge friendships? By each person’s favorite color?” Techno asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Yeah! That’s how me and Tubbo are such good friends! Red and Green just go well together!”

“Okay, whatever you say.”

“Yes! Whatever I say!”

They were 12.

“You’re seriously telling me that you don’t know how to play kickball? When you live with that little ball of energy?”

“I don’t hang out with him and his friends,” Techno defended himself, “Okay I gotta teach you how to play, come on!”

“Can you help me with this worksheet?”

“Of course.”

“You haven’t seen that movie? How? It’s a classic!”

“I don’t know!”

“I can’t believe you actually dyed your hair blue!”

“I know right! I’m so happy my mom finally let me!”

They were 13.

“I don’t know Skeppy, he just gives me weird vibes, there is something off about him!”

“There is nothing wrong with him! You’re just jealous of the fact that I have been sending more time with him!”

“I’m not jealous of that nerd! I’m just trying to warn you!”

“I hate to be the one to break it to you Techno, but you are not God, you don’t know everything even though everyone tells you do you! I’m not going to stop hanging out with him! He’s my friend!”

“I don’t think that, jackass! I just want you to know-”

“I don’t care! Now if you don’t mind, I’m going to go hang out with my friends!” And with that he was gone.

Techno was quietly fuming, which made the walk home with his brothers hell, his whole demeanor was angry. He walked quickly and quietly, glaring daggers at anyone who dared to look at him.

They were half way home then Wilbur joked;

“Listen, I know you broke up with your boyfriend or whatever but could you atleast-”

“Shut up Wilbur!” Techno snapped back, Wilbur actually jumped. He looked between Techno and Tommy nervously.

“Okay, wow, I’m sorry geez, just trying to lighten the mood,” He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, “Touched a nerve there,”

They were still friends, of course they were, but they didn’t spend as much time together, Techno focused on school, his classes were harder now and Skeppy had gotten a job and spent more time with Bad and some other guy that gave Techno weird vibes.

They still talked. They were still friends.

They could never not be.

They were 14.

“You dyed your hair pink?”

“No, my brothers did as a prank.”

“It looks amazing!”

“..Thank you..”

“Look at us! Pink and Blue buddies!”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right, Pink and Blue do go together nicely.”

They were 15.

Techno was working on homework when he got a call from Tommy, who was at a practice.

“Hey man, uh, Skeppy is sitting on the roof of the school, I don’t think he’s gonna do anything stupid but he won’t respond to anyone else, even when we throw stuff up there.”

“Is he okay?”

“I’m not sure, he won’t answer me, but he’ll probably talk to you,”

“Probably, okay, thanks for telling me, I’ll be right there.” He hung up before hearing Tommy's response and pulled on his shoes before starting heading towards the school.

He had heard rumors at school. Skeppy’s former friend, spreading rumors and other things about him, lies, trying to ruin his reputation. Techno had debunked and told everyone he could otherwise but that damage had been done.

He rushed around the school until he found Tommy, who pointed at the roof, “He’s up there!”

“Thanks for calling me,” Techno scanned the building, “I need to get up there.”

“Well I don’t know how he got up there but what if we got on the dumpster and I boosted you, you might be able to get up there.” Tommy suggested, Techno nodded, not taking his eyes off the roof, “Yeah lets try that.”

Both of the brothers climbed onto the dumpster, Tommy cupped his hands together and boosted Techno who grabbed the ledge of the building, pulling himself up.

“Thanks Tommy!” and with that he set off across the roof, looking for his friend.

Techno found him sitting on a vent, looking across the horizon. He didn't move as Techno sat down next to him. They sat in silence for awhile until Skeppy said;

“You were right.”

“That doesn’t matter,”

Techno put an arm around his shoulder. They sat in silence, staring at the sky.

“I thought he was my friend.”

“He acted like he was,”

“I’m such an idiot,”

“No you’re not.”

“I can’t believe I defended him,”

“It’s not your fault.”

Skeppy leaned into him, “Thank you, for being here.”

“Of course, we’re friends.”

Skeppy laughed lightly, “Yeah, Blue and Pink.”

Techno smiled softly,Blue and Pink always went so nicely together.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Hey Skeppy?”

“Yeah?”

“How are we gonna get down?”

“Oh shit-”

[tanzaniiite]

Prompt #25 with iwai please ;; btw your writing is very tasty !! Keep up the good work & stay safe !!

WORTH IT • IWAIZUMI H.

prompt: “apparently everyone has a bet going on that we get together”

requests: OPEN

warnings: none!

word count: 1.5k

i’m so sorry this took as long as it did! with everything going on in the world my motivation has plummeted but i hope you enjoy! thank you for the request!

"Ugh can you two stop flirting and just get together already"

You rolled your eyes at Matsukawa's comment as you helped put the volleyballs away. "Aw, I'm sorry is it bothering you that my love life is more interesting than yours?" You retort, smirking a bit. Mattsun just gaps at you, "Rude" He replies narrowing his eyes. You giggle as you hear Oikawa cackling on the other side of the gym. Iwaizumi comes to you and puts the last volleyball in the bin, "He's just laughing because it's not him that's getting made fun of for once" He whispers, which causes you to laugh some more.

Iwaizumi looks at you a small smile gracing his features, "Someone's giggly today" He mentions, poking your side. You smack his hand away, "It's sleep deprivation and don't do that" You explain. Hajime smirks, "That's right, you're ticklish. You do that little snort thing too" He mocks, fake snorting which makes you blush slightly. "Oh shut up! Are you ready to go? I got homework to do" You say, grabbing your bag.

"Actually I'm gonna stay, practice a bit more with Shittykawa" He states, pointing at Oikawa fussing with Mattsun and Makki. "Booo, you suck" You tease, shaking your head disapprovingly. "You swallow" Iwaizumi countered not missing a beat. You groan and punch his shoulder, "You're gross" You remarked, scrunching your nose in disgust, causing Iwaizumi to laugh loudly.

Oikawa walks up to you two, smiling like the Cheshire Cat. "Ugh, what're you up to dumbass?" Hajime asked, already fed up with Tooru from earlier today. Oikawa gasped, "I'm not up to anything Iwa-chan! I'm hurt that you think so low of me" He declared, feigning hurt or maybe he actually was hurt. Who knows? Iwaizumi rolled his eyes, "Spare me the dramatics. What do you want?" He inquired, crossing his arms over his chest.

"So direct" You commented while texting your mother on your whereabouts. "I know right? Anyways, I can't do extra practice today, my sister called and needs me to watch Takeru. Sorry" Oikawa said. "That's fine, we'll practice another time" Hajime nodded. Once Oikawa was out of earshot, you turned to Iwaizumi, "Does this mean you can walk me home now?" You asked, already putting on your jacket.

Iwaizumi chuckled, "And why would I do that? Your house is in the opposite direction of mine". You pout a bit, "Uh because you always walk me home, asshat" You retort, crossing your arms. Hajime ruffles your hair, "I'm just teasing, relax. Toss a few sets for me then I'll take you home" He requests, getting a volleyball from the bin. You shake your head, "Hell no, your definition of a 'few sets' means we'll be here all goddamn night" You claim, turning to leave. He grabs your backpack and pulls you back, "I'm serious, just a few". You narrow your eyes at him before groaning, "Ugh fine! But only a few, I already told my mom I'm on my way home" You say, shrugging off your bag and jacket.

"My mom is going to kill me"

Iwaizumi laughed, "I'm sorry," He said, rubbing the back of his neck. You glare at him, "No you're not" You reply, furrowing your eyebrows. "You're right, I'm not. But hey at least your sets are getting better, you're welcome" He laughed. You just rolled your eyes and continued walking. The rest of the walk to your house was in comfortable silence. You turned to look at the brunette next to you. Damn, he was gorgeous. You could confidently say that you have a massive crush on Hajime. But it wasn't always that way. When you two first met, you couldn't stand each other, you thought he was rude and standoffish while he thought you were a major bitch. You couldn't help but smile thinking about how much your relationship has grown. It was your classic 'enemies to lovers' trope, except that you guys weren't lovers. Best friends? Sure. Lovers? Definitely not.

Although the average person looking in on your relationship with Iwaizumi would say differently. You two flirted constantly as if there was some sort of competition on who could rile up the other more. And it didn't help that you and him were practically attached at the hip. Hajime walked you to class, walked you home, helped you study, hell, he's even met your family. The two of you were practically dating by default! You want to ask Iwaizumi out but you're scared of rejection, obviously. You didn't want to fuck up the good thing you two had going now. You didn't want to make a move unless you were absolutely sure he felt the same. And unfortunately, Hajime didn't wear his heart on his sleeve, the only way you would know his feelings is if he told you.

"Damn Y/n, do I have dirt on my face or something?"

You snapped out of your thoughts and looked at Iwaizumi who was staring at you, mild concern written on his face. You just shook your head and focused your attention on the pavement in front of you, "W-What? No, you're fine" You replied, embarrassed. Hajime just blinked before nudging you slightly, "You good?" He inquired. You nodded and offered him a small smile, "Yeah I'm good". The silence that was once comfortable was now awkward. Iwaizumi wasn't stupid, he knew something was on your mind but what? He wasn't sure. The last thing he ever wanted, was for things to be uncomfortable with you. The relationship you two had was strange enough but he loved it. He even felt selfish for wanting more, thinking this is as good as it's going to get with you. The brunette racked his brain trying to think of something that would break the suffocating silence. Suddenly he remembered something he overheard the team talking about a few practices ago. "Hey, so... apparently everyone has a bet going on that we'll get together. What'd you think of that?" He asked, also looking ahead of him.

You turned to look at him again. Was this his attempt of finally asking you out? Or were you reading into it too much? "Oh yeah? Well, what's the bet exactly?" You inquired, genuinely curious. Iwaizumi glanced at you, "So it's between Mattsun, Makki, and Oikawa. The disaster duo bet that we'll get together by the end of the year. Because we're too oblivious to realize our feelings for one another. And the dumbass believes that we'll get together by the end of this month because it's Oikawa. The wager was that if Shittykawa wins, the duo has to serve him for a month. And if the duo wins, Oikawa has to ask out one of his psycho fangirls" Hajime explained. Wow, those were some pretty high stakes. You smirked a bit, "Is it bad that I want Oikawa to lose?" You asked, laughing slightly.

"Yeah, I kind of want him to lose too" Iwaizumi laughed, "But the only downside to that is that I'll have to wait until after this month to ask you out," He said. You looked at him with wide eyes. Ask you out? He was planning on doing that? Since when? "A-Ask me out?" You repeated, your voice wavering a bit. "Yeah, I was gonna do it this weekend but I really wanna see Oikawa suffer with one of his fangirls" Hajime sighed, shaking his head. You quickly step in front of him, grabbing his shoulders and looking at him with a serious expression. "Are you serious? This isn't a joke, right? I'll literally hate you if you're joking" You claimed. Taken aback by your sudden movements Iwaizumi stared at you blankly before answering, "Y-Yeah I'm serious. I, um, I really like you". You felt like throwing up but not in a bad way. Your heart felt like it wanted to beat right out of your chest. Is this what it was like to have a heart attack?

"If you really like me, then ask me out now"

Hajime's face suddenly became red, so much so that he looked like a strawberry. "H-Huh? What about the bet-" He started. "Forget the bet! I like you too stupid, I've liked you for longer than I'd like to admit. So please, ask me out" You pleaded, looking at him with those beautiful eyes of yours. Iwaizumi swallowed thickly, "Okay then, this is really happening. Y/n, want to go out with me this weekend?" He asked, shyly looking to side trying to avoid eye contact. You smiled so wide, one would think your face was about to tear in two. "Of course I'll go out with you" You answered, finally letting go of his shoulders and embracing him tightly. Iwaizumi smiled and returned the embrace while burying his face in your hair. "I've waited for this moment for so long" You confessed, your voice muffled. Hajime chuckled, "Well, I hope it was worth the wait," He said. You pulled away, holding Iwaizumi's face in your hands before kissing him deeply. When you two separated, you giggled at his dazed expression.

"It was definitely worth the wait"

tanzaniiite © 2020 — all rights reserved. do not repost, modify, or copy. do not plagiarize. thank you.

[kyoupann]

Please do more of the writing head canons. It’s really interesting to see other people’s ideas on the topic, so if you can be bothered, I would highly appreciate more, thanks bye <3

Y’all don’t know how happy I am to talk about these headcanons, they are my babies and I love them so much :’) thanks for asking g <3

Handwriting Headcanons

Same dynamic as before, try to guess whose handwriting it is before reading and tell me how many you got right! <3

You can find the first post here (no need to check it tho)

Quick disclaimer: halfway through making my initial notes, I remembered I had one (1) single lesson of graphology in my applied linguistics class, but that was a year ago and some information might be off. I just thought it was neat to include.

Another quick disclaimer: I don’t know much about Hylian, but I like to think it has a similar stroke system to Japanese, so the pressure and accuracy of your strokes play a major role in your handwriting (among other things, ofc.) so there are some parts where I focus more on that

(First Row, from left to right)

Sky

Our first boy is mother hen! Believe it or not, he has the prettiest handwriting out of all of them! Sky: probably has nice, even elegant handwriting because Sun forced him to practice when they were little. In the end, that paid off because his handwriting is the prettiest one. There’s no pressure, but he is confident in what he writes that his lines aren’t thin. Mistakes? what is that? this boy has impeccable grammar and spelling. No mechanic errors to be found in his letters! I’d like to think that many of Hyrule’s classic/staple poems were originally written by the firt king aka sky child. Like, imagine, after a retiring from being a Person of Power (as the first ruler), Sky finds comfort in the arts: revisits his old woodcarvings and starts writing poetry about the world he still doesn’t fully understand. wowie. tldr: sky writes poetry and you can pry it from my cold dead hands.

This is what one of his letters would look like: 

Next one is the one and only, our Hero of Time

2. Time

I’ll die on the “Time didn’t know how to read and write” hill. His handwriting is simple, not pretty but not messy. It has some grammar and spelling mistakes here and there. Can become unreadable if writing in a hurry, he sorts of forgets spaces between words are a thing/letters have different sizes and lowercase letters end up the same size as capital letters. I’m not saying he sometimes forgets to write articles: he just doesn’t want to. Honestly, he just has this dad-neat handwriting. He is a gentle dad and writes like a dad, if he puts too much pressure onto the paper, his handwriting become too sharp/angle-ish and ends up looking ugly. And as much as he would like to not care about it, in the end he does (:

Malon taught him how to write and it was quite the experience. At first he didn’t want to because he was ‘too old’ to learn and it was torture at first, but now look at him devouring his cowboy novels. 

A chunk of his handwriting: 

*sniff* such a dad quote.

3. my mansss, your  4x1 deal at Target: Four

Look, my boy is patient! He could do some nice and fancy lettering if he wanted to. He was taught that handwriting and spelling said a whole lot about him as a person, you know, like a first impression kinda thing; so he always proof reads more than twice before sending ­a letter. Super rare grammar mistakes.

The faster he writes, the more slant his writing becomes. Under stress/ when not sure how to write things down, run-on sentences are everywhere and his handwriting is inconsistent in general (I don’t headcanon each part of him having completely different handwriting because handwriting becomes muscle memory over time. It’s just slightly different variations of the same, like idk  Vio’s handwriting is neater than Green’s and Red writes hearts instead of any dot/circle and no, I do not take constructive criticism on that, jk i do.) Adding on to each of the colours’ handwriting, I’d think Red and Green write with words slanted to the right( inclined), Vio is a mix of the opposite, so reclined and straight, and my mans blue a true neutral writes straight (kinda like Time’s).

The logic behind this is that inclined writing supposedly means honesty and need for giving (and getting) affection; reclined means, as you can probably imagine,  defensiveness and repression of true feelings, but also shows great concentration; straight handwriting means self-control, observation and reflection as well as distrust and indifference. But as complete being (tm), Four just writes as in the image example which is not too straight and not too inclined, and I believe that’s a good middle for him

HOWEVER, if I’m feeling in the mood for crack, I totally accept this boy to have the ugliest, chicken scratches-looking handwriting! :’D It’s just funny to think that someone like him, who has to be precise and careful in his work, can't write neatly to save his life. 

One of his letters would look like this: 

Also I just LOVE how his hero titles look in this font ksksks

and that’s

(Middle row, from left to right)

4.- Mister Bunny Boy - Legend

His uncle taught him how to write. I’d call his handwriting pretty and neat at a first glance, but he presses too hard on the paper, most of the time staining the back or the following page. Sometimes will retrace some words if he doesn’t like how it looks (which only makes it messier). According to my notes, a thick or strong handwriting represents determination/commitment.

As I also headcanon him to know many languages, mechanical errors are more present than grammar ones; that is, weird capitalisation of words. Punctuation is somewhere in between; uses too many commas when he should just cut the sentence. he mixes punctuation from two languages or more in writing when too distracted (or too focused, because, well, pressure.); when he writes for himself, he has almost no problem following said language’s punctuation rules. Also, this is just polyglot culture, and I’m projecting a bit, but when he forgets a word in the language he’s writing, he just replaces it with its equivalent in another language because we don’t care about fluency, but rather functionality. in this household (more on that in my language hc, ksksks).

An example of his writing:

so powerful

4.-  Mr. Wolfman, howl me a song - Twilight

I don’t have much for him because 1) I don’t think he writes a lot and 2) he is a hands-on/visual learner, I’ll die by that. He only learnt how to write because Ulli insisted it was important and he was not about to disrespect his momma; he IS That Guy, but doesn’t really write enough to have neat handwriting.

Many people seem to overlook the fact that his house is filled with books and write him as completely illiterate (which if not explored properly, ends up feeling a bit disrespectful and full of prejudice, but go off I guess; and that’s on my core Headcanons for Twi); however, he sticks to simple sentences. Knowing how to read and understanding a text is different from knowing how to write them. Like, when we would see a semicolon and understand its position in the text, but didn’t understand the nature of it. Is this clear? idk i’m sorry. So yeah, boy reads a lot, writes very little.

As for his Actual Handwriting, as opposed to Legend, his handwriting is thiccc but not because he presses into the paper; he is just that messy, he has no sense of ink-flow-control, he does what he can with what he has. To the untrained eye, his handwriting illegible letters like v, n, u are very similar; when he makes notes for himself he does it in the form of doodles or small ‘icons’. But! He reads a lot, so he rarely makes spelling mistakes (: he is your go-to guy when you don’t know how to write a word.

An example of his writing:

He keeps a journal, sue me.

3. My first born- Warrior

Okay, first off... I accept this is completely biased. I saw the idea and said “That’s True”. If you haven’t, please read Effective Communication; or The Lack of Thereof by htruona, a fic where the boys reflect on the language barriers between them. It’s incredibly funny and probably what made me start making these silly notes. So, if you’ve read that fic, you know where I’m going.

My man, Warrior, can’t fucking write. I mean, he physically can, but it’s very bad. Here’s the reason for it, tho, and it’s not his fault: Technically, he knew how to write alright but he joined the military and whatever note he had to write had to be concise or in the worst case coded. He mixes capital and lowercase letters. If we consider that he joined the military at around 15, his handwriting and grammar had yet to continue developing. Just think about how after summer break, your handwriting was always slightly worse than before because you didn’t write for an entire month. Now think what 2 years can do to that. Hmm, not cool, dude. He makes quick notes, when writing he’s all gotta go fast. he is the lighting mcqueen of writing; good for emergency messages, not ideal for love letters. His punctuation also suffered a lot, he only know full stops and commas and hardly uses them. A sentence for him is either one word or fifty without a single comma, no inbetween.

His hero title and an example of his writing.

(Bottom row, or what I like to call “fuck cursive” row)

7.- Magic man - Hyrule

I’m basic and I do agree with the popular headcanon of he not knowing how to write because well, y’all know his Hyrule. He only knows how to write his name because that’s important, same with numbers. I don’t see why would he write/read except checking the roadsigns. (he can even use this as an excuse for getting lost frequently; he thought it said something different.) But I do think that because his habitual reading consists of roadsigns, his ‘punctuation’ is weird af and places full stops/points/periods at the same level of his words and his commas/question/exclamation marks below them. Yk, creative license. Sadly, I don’t have much about my magic hands man so here’s what his writing would look like if he actually wrote a paragraph:

Man, I love Hyrule.

8.- Man, I don’t understand this boy -  Wild

Cursive? ain’t nobody have the time for that. He woke up and had to save the world in his underwear while not knowing how to read nor write.  He learnt during his journey and was taught by multiple people from different regions, that explains his inconsistent spelling of things and names for them. So Wild knows language variations for many items and uses them interchangeably (even if they aren’t exactly the same). Another headcanon related to writing/language skills that I’ve been thinking about is that if the shrine was able to cause amnesia, I’m sure there were other areas in the brain affected which leads us to language disorders such as agraphia and aphasia. But that’s a story for another day ksksksk

An example of his writing (after relearning)

9.- The best of sons - Wind

I don’t have much for him and that makes me sad. Look, he’s a kid, doing kid things like stabbing dudes on the head. This boy was taught cursive by his grandma, but could never do it and no one needs it anyway. His handwriting is good enough for his pirate life, Tetra is the one to handle Official stuff, he just gotta sign. Spelling and grammar mistakes abound. He is still relatively young and can correct his handwriting if he desires. But same as Wild, with how many times he’s been thrown out and hit his head, I’m starting to consider some language disorder for him as well.

An example of his writing:

aaand that’s it.

Thanks, y’all for showing interest in this silly thing uwu it was fun to finally talk about this. If you ever want to discuss ideas/headcanons(especially if they are related to language and culture), I’m your person (: I’m always happy to hear new headcanons. Feel free to add anything to this post either in a reply or in a reblog, I’d love to hear from y’all <3<3

[pyraffin-drgo]

All Heavy interactions in Poker Night at the Inventory.

For you to interpret however you wish.

Video Version

(They have [bootleg movies] in your country?) "I like movies, yes." (Yeah, like what? [Lists movies]?) "No. My favorite are The Dirty Dozen and the first twenty minutes of Rocky four."

(We can talk Tetris?) "Hmmph. Tetris is baby game." (Tetris Attack keeps it hood!) "Why does everybody think I love this Tetris? It is just stacking!"

"[To Strongbad] Tiny Heavy." (What is it?) "Do you get the nightmares?" (I get the jibblie nightmares. [Describes silly nightmare, shivers].) "I am talking about the visions of endless suffering. Dead doctors everywhere. Spy can not be found. (No, but that sounds like the Jibblies.) "I do not like these 'jibblies.'"

"Strong and bad. How is boxing career?" (These. Are. My. HANDS!) "I was boxer, once. In school. We have to either box or learn to herd goats." Silence, looking concerned. "I am not good with goats..." (Too much information, man.) "At first, I do not like punching other boys... But then I learn to love it." Punches his palm menacingly.

(Find any rare drops lately?) "I do not understand." (When you get a kill, you get a present?) "When I get kill, I get honor of team." Smile drops. "Sometimes... I also get nightmares. A man does not go home to his wife and children." (So, no loot?) "Oh! You mean hat! Yes, I love hats! Sometimes, I get these. They are the best."

(Hey, Heavy. You know any hot Russian spies?) "I hate spies." (But you gotta have the inside line on some deadly minxes.) "You want hot spy?" (Am I not wrestle man?) "I have friend who gets you a hot spy. (Get em on the two-way, man!) "His name is Pyro." (Tycho, to Strongbad: The spy is hot because it is on fire.) (Oh...)

"[To Tycho] What do you do with life?" (Me?) "Yes. What is possible with tiny, frail body?" (I occupy myself with simulations... of various kinds.) "What is these?" (Struggles to explain.) (Strongbad: He lives in his parent's basement.)

(So, is there a Mrs. Weapons Guy?) "No. Sasha is my only love." (Sasha kills people, I presume?) "No." (Oh?) "WE kill people."

"[To Strongbad] Maybe you and I box?" (I can't risk my beautiful face, it's the franchise.) "We spar. For fun." (I don't think so.)

"Strong and bad. You wrestle? With mask?" (No, I'm a wrestle man, not those hack wrestle-LERS.) "Not like Iron Sheik?" (No, Iron Stake is a LER.) Heavy nods. "Hmm. This is too bad."

(So how long you been with those Team Fortress fellas?) "I do not understand." (The game's been on Steam for like 3 years. I imagine there was some audition process?) "Ohhh! Yes, I understand! I kill many men VERY quickly." (Excuse me?) "I kill record number of soldiers, and I am commissioned to join RED team."

(Mr. Weapons. I am in the market for a new firearm. [Specifications].) "Hmm, for you I do not recommend minigun then. You know, there is this fast baby man that annoys me greatly with shotgun." (Oh! Oh! What are the available options? I'll spring for leather!) "Da, this is good for you. I suggest Force-A-Nature." (I'll tell them [shop owner] Heavy Weapons Guy sent me.) "It is no need. I know guy."

"I will make hat from you, little bunny." No reply from anyone. A reference for the player to the Max hat in TF2.

"You look familiar, bunny." (How closely do you follow the Manhattan Crime Blotter?) Also a reference to the hat, Tycho then takes over conversation.

(If I need someone snuffed out, what's your going rate?) "Five hundred thousand U.S. dollars." (Steep.) "Cash." (You can do it discreetly?) "Sasha... not so discreet." (That's fine.)

(How did you guys hear of the inventory?) "My engineering friend brought me one night."

(This reminds me of the time Artie Flopshark rigged an entire poker tournament to pay off his loan shark.) "I know of this. This is respectable profession in motherland." Conversation is stolen by Tycho.

(This reminds me of [story]!) "I am reminded of time Engineer kill my entire team." (Damn Heavy, that's... heavy. Sorry to hear that.) "I search entire base for him. He tries to kill me with turret and mini turret, but I crush his toys like they are made of paper." (Sounds like crappy toys.) "Then I find him. Hiding by teleporter. I take his gun away from him. He tries to hit me with wrench! Hahohoh! So I take wrench away from him. I take his wrench and shove it down his throat, all the way down to the handle." (Christ!) Heavy laughs. "Then I rip off all his fingers one by one!" He talks while laughing. "Lets see you build toys now!" He breaks out in laughter. "There's blood- everywhere! And- he's crying!" More laughter. "I think he cries out for mother, but- but-" Crumples over laughing. "The wrench is stuck in his throat! And it sounds like-" Makes choking motions and noises then laughs. "Is this not the funniest thing??" (Horrified looks) (Head shakes slowly.) (That's some bleeped up bleep, man!)

(How about you, Heavy weapons? I'm guessing you're a vodka guy?) "Peach Bellini. But bubbles can give me headache."

(Mr. Weapons, how do you like your line of work?) "It is good. There are many benefits." (Oh! Like a free pass to snuff out bad guys or a waffle bar?) "Both. And full dental."

(I wonder if this dump is haunted.) (I hope so! Roughing up who can't die is fun!) "...I do not like ghosts..." (It's okay, Mr. Weapons. I have [extensive experience]. I can handle a few ghosts.) "...You will take care of ghosts for me?" (You bet cha!) Heavy nods at him. "I like you, tiny rabbit."

[Story including a union] "I am union. RED local six fifteen." (You guys unionized?) "Eh. It was necessity for group medical."

"Tycho. This sweater, is special equipment?" (No, standard issue.) "You have no class specific head gear?" (Got a motorcycle helmet that protects from 100% of UV rays.) "This sounds beneficial."

(Why do you keep calling me 'Tiny Heavy'?) "You are Heavy. Tiny. No? You are RED team. You have killing gloves of boxing. You earn these for being great killer! You should try out for RED team." (Hmm. Guess I could join your team of ruthless killers and lame hat wearers and watch you get grenaded by 8 year olds.) "You will take many bullets before dying I think."

(Hey, Heavy. I just finished [Russian fantasy book]. Ever read it?) "No." (Oh. What's your favorite book?) "I prefer war." (Ah, War and Peace. Tasteful.) "No. Just war." (Art of War?) "Nyet." Silence. "I like 'Tsar Hunger' by Leonid Andreyev. You know this?" (...No.) "Is classic."

"You have hands like young girl." (I keep them shits moist.) "...So you are more of sneaky, stabbing type?" (In an extreme circumstance, I guess.) Heavy looks at him suspiciously. "I keep my eyes on you." (No, no no- I wasn't implying that-) Heavy looking at him angierly. (Shit.)

(Ever listen to music while you work?) "Yes! I just buy new walkman." (What gets you in the killing mood? Icelandic death metal?) "I just get Huey Lewis tape. Keeps spirits up on battle field."

"[To Tycho] You have woman?" (Not with me) "She is pretty?" (Yeah, cute, glasses, red hair.) "She has the red hair??" (No, Heavy! She is not on the other team! Don't have to kill her!) "No. But I love the red hair!" (Well, you can't have her, either.) Re-used image of Heavy looking at him angrily. (Well, maybe we can work something out.)

(Hey, Heavyman. You think you can 'take care' of the King of Town for me?) "I can assassinate king, yes. It is expensive, though." (By take care of I meant sneak in and shave off half his mustache.) "I am not best at sneaking." (Confront him in a dark alley then?) "This is better. That way blood wash away in rain."

(You have any interest in moonlighting?) "WHAT? I am not moonlighter!" (Just a little work on the side with Sam and me beating up goons!) "Oh. I can not do this." (C'mon it's fun and free!) "No, I am sure it is." (Then what's the problem?) "I have non compete." (Ah, yeah. Lawyers.)

(All these aces reminds me of [weird dream]. You have any weird dreams, Mr. Weapons?) "I sometimes dream that I am killed. There is blood everywhere. (Tycho gives him a weird look) But then I wake up and I realize this is ridiculous! Nobody can kill Heavy weapons guy! (Riiiight...)

"[To his chips] This is good Solider. This one is good Doktor. You are demolition man."

"Saaaandvich, sandvich, I love you sandvich!" (Would you like someone to order you some food?)

"Blue man." (Tycho.) "Tycho. What college do you go to? You are educated, no?" (Actually, no.) "No?" (I studied at Gygax Polyhedral if you catch my drift.) "I do not. This is good school?" (Uh. The best.) "I went to Soviet College of Mines, Farms, and Science. I have PhD in Russian literature." (Do you.. use that in your work?) "More than you think."

"Tiny Heavy, who is your favorite to kill in war?" (Those discount three-pack green helmets.) "To kill spy is glorious thing! How about you, Max? You are killing type." (My favorite enemy? Like asking me to choose between my children!) Heavy laughs. "You crack me up, little bunny!"

(Hey, Hefty Bag, you ever play video games?) "Just one." (Oh yeah?) "It is called-" (Tycho: WoW?) "Nyet. That is not popular. It is called 'Where's an Egg'." (Strongbad: I love Where's an Egg!) "Where's an Egg is as big as Tetris in homeland."

(Concerning your firearm, whay caliber we talking?) "Big." (What, we talking 300 Weatherby Mag here?) "Bigger." (50 cal, whereabouts?) "Bigger than 50 caliber. They are hand made custom tool cartridges with classified diameter." (Why's that?) "So enemy canmot use ammunition. But Sasha can chew through theirs." (Diabolical!) "I think so." Nods.

(Alright, big pretend killer man. Tell me the most awesome story you have with plenty of senseless violence!) Heavy thinks. "When I was boy, I was at camp, being trained in many ways of combat." (Assassination camp for kids! This is gonna be good!) "There was sparrow sitting on fence. Snow falls quietly around me. Without notice, another boy jumps from behind tree and kills sparrow with throwing knife. The boy runs away." (And then??) "I pick up sparrow, and hear his last breath before digging him tiny grave..." (Tycho crying) (Max silent) (That's not even a little bit funny, man.) Heavy shakes his head solemnly. "No..." Sits back. "It's not."

(So, what do you do for fun?) "Clean Sasha. Use Sasha... Clean Sasha again." (Proper maintience is crucial.) "I also collect old coins." (A fellow numismatist!) "Which I melt down to make custom bullets." (Of course.)

"I am hungry for sandvich." (Then order a sandvich, man.) "Oh, I can not have sandvich! I become unstoppable killing machine!" (Yeah, maybe order a water.) "Is best."

"You wear blue sweater." (All the time.) "What are you?" (Haven't we went over this?) "You are not Scout. Maybe very tricky blue Spy? Maybe... new class?" (I can use a keyboard to sabotage your entire team, steal your intelligence, and have your sister delivered to my doorstep in one afternoon. Yes, I'm a new class.) Heavy, shocked, "This is true??"

(Hey, Heavyman, what's your living situ-aysh?) "I live in RED barraks. Is nice. There is foos table." (How about taking a room in the house of Strong?) "There is vacancy?" (First you'll have to dump the current person in your room.) "This is enemy?" (He won't put up much of a fight.)

Hope you enjoyed, spent most of the day copying all these down. The non-Heavy lines are paraphrased for shortness. Heavy's are full, how they are in game.

[char-lotteral]

I agree with Kishimoto never trying to use the girls. The hate they get is not fair. I used to defend Sakura back in the days because I hoped kishi would do her justice. When shippuden started I WAS SO HAPPY because I thought this was the start of something great for Sakura and the girls but NOOOOO. Every time, Sasuke showed kishi turned her brainless. If you compare Naruto's actions and Sakura's actions to sasuke, you'd see they're completely different. What's up with that weird fake love confession scene 😭? It makes her look like she was manipulating Naru. JEEZ.

Also he literally had badass Tenten and Temari with cool useful abilities and he didn't use them ?! TF ?! Thank god for modern authors who treat their characters with respect :)

okay2 you know how i am with these longass rants so click readmore and brace yourselves

The way I see it, Sakura's character development in shippuden was always one step forward, two steps back. She gets this really badass scene (like her fight with Sasori and those cool ass medical skills) but is then regressed back into a pining girl in love every time Sauce is on screen or Kishi just throws her in the background YET AGAIN.

I love Sakura's abilities actually. Her brute strength, intelligence, vast knowledge and skill as a medic nin. But what I dislike about her character is how kishi handled her feelings for Sasuke. Naruto and Sakura's obsession with Sasuke was so???? huh??? it was so damn toxic and i never once understood why both Nardo and Sak were so obsessed with him. They were a team for one year???? I mean its great that they care about him alot but Sauce's feelings were kinda valid. His freakin clan died. Id go batshit crazy against my own village too. BUT BESIDES THAT. Both Nart and Sakura's Sasuke obsession was so annoying. 80% of shippuden was literally Keeping up with the Uchihas or Naruto yelling SASUKEH. BUT what irks me so much is the fandom's double standards with both Naruto and Sakura. "Oh Sakura shouldve gotten over her Sasuke obsession" but then turn around and call Naruto's obsession cute and gush about how he's so in love with him!!

Hot take but the only reason why sasunaru is "the most developed ship with the most chemistry" is because theyre both male characters.

I guarantee you if Naruto was a girl and SHE would be the one to have this unhealthy obsession who was chasing around Sasuke, the fandom would shit on Naruto just as much. And if Sasuke were a girl, Sauce would be sidelined like the rest of the female cast and Naruto would have another male character to have a "brotherly bond" with, because thats the only bond Kishimoto is actually good at developing. Yey for male characters having all the screentime and cool assets <333

And about that confession scene, I get her intentions. I really do. I understand that she did that in order to bring him home and that she cares about him but honey, w-why?? Why lie to him about your feelings?? Supposed he DID believe her, then what? then what kishi???? huh??? Some of her fans point the blame on Sai or whatever but I personally dont see why that scene was at all necessary. Maybe to establish Naruto's feelings for her wasnt all that serious? or his maturity? idk man. That scene was such a clusterfuck.

In the end her development in The Last and in Boruto was immaculate. She had one of the best glow ups in the old gen and ironically enough, her character wasn't butchered in Boruto. She got badass scenes she was cheated from in shippuden. I also love how she's finally getting the spotlight she deserves. Unlike the other konoha 12 :,)))

Okay onto the next female character that Kishi completely wasted. My baby. My light. 🙈 AAAHHH HINATAA.

I DONT EVEN KNOW WHERE TO BEGIN OKAY2 DEEP BREATHS.

Let me just establish this real quick. Hinata's goal was to get stronger because of Naruto, her goal was never to be with Naruto. She wanted to become someone who is worthy enough to stand beside him, someone whom he can consider as an equal, as a partner. She NEVER once said "marrying Naruto-kun is my all time goal UwU" (if youre one of those weirdos who interpret her character that way, youre immediately invalid, go take a hike)

I personally dont have anything against their crushes but to the point of making their personalities revolve around these guys every time theyre onscreen is so fucking frustrating. And with the way he writes their dialogues is so.damn.cringey. Like that one scene in the war arc with Tsunade and Madara

"I mAy bE a WomAn but I aM nOt WeAAKKKK"

BAAHAHAAHHA WHAT?? Everyone else gets coolass monologues and one liners but thats the best you can come up with Kishi?????? Hilarious.

If im being honest. Hinata's character is actually kinda well written. Not well executed. Dear God no. But with the way he set her story, her personality, her chracterization. She's honestly one of the best written female characters on the show. IMO. By Kishi's standards of writing women ofc. She's hands down one of the most complex characters. Her shy personality wasnt out of the blue, it wasnt a cutesy waifu trait. Her abusive upbringing made her that way. Her trauma turned her that way. So yeah, sue her if she looked up to Naruto as an inspiration when everyone else in her family treated her like dust. Shit on her for having Naruto's love light in her dark when her own damn father wouldnt even look her in the eye and her entire clan shunned her because she was "weak." She doesnt owe her family shit so idgaf what they do with the Hyuga clan. Neji and Hanabi aren't included btw

Im not gonna deny that her role in the show was only as the love interest but tbh for a love interest, Im glad her character wasnt so one dimensional. It just pains me SO MUCHHH how fucking wasted she is. Every time she's with Naruto, they always make her into a damsel in distress. They always feel the need to turn Naruto into the heroic prince. How cute.

LIKE THAT ONE SCENE IN THE LAST WHERE SHE'S THROWN IN THE CAGE?? WHY??? LET NARUTO AND HINA FIGHT THAT FREAKING ALIEN GOD TOGETHER. QUIT WITH THE TOXIC MASCULINITY. WE GET IT. NARUTO'S STRONG. GOOD FOR HIM. NOW LETS SEE HINATA THROW HANDS AND PUT NARUTO IN THE CAGE GODAMMIT

Hnggggg dont get me started with her role in Boruto. She's as relevant as a damn houseplant in the manga. They made her into an invisible trophy wife and "the mc's mother" and we all KNOW what happens to the shounen mc's mother once mc is in need of character development :) Quit putting her in the background. Give us that scene where she won against Hanabi DESPITE being retired for years. Give us that scene where she trains Boruto. GIVE US ANY FIGHT SCENE OF HER WHERE HER POTENTIAL ISNT WASTED WTF?¿

Now if you say that Hinata didnt have development. YOURE INVALID. She came from an abusive household, the shyest girl in her class, her insecurities got in the way of her own confidence, had difficulty of standing up for herself now became a loving mother of two, has the guts to kick her husband out of the house(with whom she couldnt even keep eye contact with when she was a kid) became the strongest hyuga, most supportive wife and mother, and has given her kids the comforting childhood she never had as a kid.

She has one of the most beautiful stories in the show and if you think her personality is only Naruto-kun and big boobs, then im sorry that you cant appreciate such a heartwarming story.

And I agree, killing her would honestly make me feel more at ease than continue to see her suffer because of godawful misogynistic writers. But at least let her die in an epic fight. Please. PLEASEE. She got nerfed so bad, i feel a physical pain every time i think about it

Okay what else. I think Ino got pretty good development. Another wasted potential in shippuden but she's doing good for herself in Boruto. I dont know what Temari is up to. They basically made her into another classic angry mom who beats up her husband for comedy trope. Haha very funny and original! Im not sure with her career, im not that invested in the anime.

Tenten??

oh G O D Tenten. The dirtiest of all. Her jokes about her screentime is so mean and i hate that its true ahsjhs. She was the only female character in OG who's goal wanted to be as strong as Tsunade but what did Kishi do to her?? Sidelined. Forgotten. Irrelevant. Like every damn female on the show :D

Konan shouldnt have died. I blame plot armor. I know in my heart that Konan wouldve kicked Obito's ass if it weren't for Kishi's boomer mindset.

Tsunade had so much hype when she was introduced but died down in the war arc. Madara wiped the floor with the kages. Holy shit. Not only that, but yipee! Naruto is there to save the day AGAIN!!!!

AND UGHHHH If the female characters were given proper treatment then maybe MAYBE all the endgame couples wouldve made fucking sense????¿¿¿

I think that ends my rant. Im not sure how the female characters in Boruto are handled. Except maybe Sarada (she's pretty well executed in the manga imo). But arguably they are sooo much better handled in Boruto than how the old gen girls were. And thats because Kishi isnt anywhere near the new gen female cast. I cant formulate a solid opinion with the other new gen female cast since im not entirely invested in the anime. Not ashamed to admit that I only watch it for the sunshine moments and for Hinata :DD

[outerbxnks]

runaway kook - jj maybank

word count: 2.3k

pairing: jj maybank x reader

warnings: bad writing? nothing serious.

a/n: my first imagine in so long, and first of this blog! please let me know what you think, and requests are open <3

requested: n/a

-

you stood off to the side of the party, scowling as you watched the mechanic-like movements of the people dancing around you. you were used to these sorts of events, but they never got easier to tolerate. usually, at least, you’d have a friend to hang around with. here, you had no one. you were forced to suffer alone.

you’d just recently moved from the mainland to the outer banks on account of your father’s business. he wanted to branch out to further customers, hence why you were forced to suddenly pack up and leave behind the life you knew. even more so to your disadvantage, your move took place during the summer, so you hadn’t had a chance to meet anyone yet. with your father’s connections, your family were invited to an event a short time after you’d arrived; the (supposedly) infamous midsummer’s party.

hence why you were currently standing alone, simply observing the various faces passing by as they swayed to the classical music being played. you didn’t need to talk to any of them to know the kind of people they were, you could see it in their faces. stuck up, rich, self-absorbed. you knew the type all too well. you also knew you were probably going to have to befriend them, and the thought alone made you want to gag.

you were lost in your thoughts when a small tap on your shoulder shook you from your daydream. you turned to see a girl around your age, her blonde hair cascading gently down her back and a beautiful flower crown situated delicately on her head. “excuse me, are you y/n?” she smiled kindly, and your distaste for everyone around you disappeared momentarily.

you took a second to assess her. she seemed genuine, and you had a feeling she wasn’t like the others. it was quite easy to force a smile and fake kindness, and it was actually very common for people of your social class to do so. however, over time you’d learned to notice when someone was lying - and she wasn’t, or may she was just really good at lying. regardless, you knew you would have to make friends eventually, so after a moment you offered a polite smile and replied, “that’s me.”

“it’s nice to meet you, y/n! i’m sarah cameron, your father and mine are associates.” she beamed, making a small face at the end of her sentence. you gave her a questioning glance, and she leaned close, her voice no louder than a whisper in your ear. “sorry, they’re watching. gotta be on our best behaviour.” she tilted her head backwards and you subtly glanced in that direction, seeing your father next to a man, presumably sarah’s father, and watched as they both looked away at your gaze.

you shook your head with an amused smile, just as the music shifted into a more upbeat tune. sarah seemed to brighten at this, turning to face you excitedly. “care to dance?” she offered you a hand, quirking a brow. you smirked, taking her hand and setting down your drink, allowing her to lead you out into the crowd.

the two of you began dancing carelessly, and you couldn’t help but enjoy yourself. something about her made you feel comfortable, maybe it was because she understood you. you were mid-spin when sarah sharply turned, letting go of your hand and causing you to stumble. you barely managed to catch yourself, looking up to see sarah talking to a server. you watched curiously as he passed her a note and talked to her in hushed whispers. her face suddenly lit up in realization, and you were so caught up in watching her that you didn’t see the boy backing up until he walked right into you, sending you tumbling to the ground.

“shit, are you okay?” he cursed, reaching out a hand for you to help you up. you groaned, placing your hand in his and allowing him to pull you to your feet. he began to look you over, shamelessly checking you out. “well, hello there.” he flirted, and your cheeks warmed up significantly. he was attractive, you couldn’t deny that. the suit he was wearing complimented his figure (very) nicely, but you wouldn’t let him have the satisfaction of knowing that.

“perv.” you muttered instead, forcing yourself to look away. he gasped in mock offence, holding a hand over his heart dramatically. he opened his mouth to retort, when a few boys marched over, grabbing him by the shoulder and aggressively swinging him around, getting in his face. you backed away, and before you knew it he took off running, and the other boys were chasing him through the building. you stood there, in shock for a moment. you quickly snapped out of it and spun around hopelessly looking for sarah, or for anyone that could help him, but no one seemed at all phased by the situation.

you looked around in a panic, when you spotted a security guard. not knowing what more you could do, you begged him to check the room you’d seen the group run into. he had rolled his eyes at you, but agreed and told you to wait outside, you doing so hesitantly. those guys who were following him - the boy whose name you realized, you still didn’t know - looked absolutely terrifying. sure, you could handle yourself against some rich assholes but you were severely outnumbered and decided it was best to stay put.

you paced anxiously and jumped when the security guard came storming out of the room, but much to your surprise the server was the one being dragged out by the collar. “hey, what are you doing with him?” you called out, and though the guard ignored you, the boy looked back, an expression of surprise on his face when he saw you waiting outside. he smirked, shooting you a quick wink before he was dragged outside. you followed the two, wanting to make sure he was alright, at the very least.

you saw him struggling against the guard as you walked out, and he began making a scene. “i see you got your drink! good, that’s really nice of you. i’m actually gonna down that.” he snached the drink right out of the older man’s hand and chugged it, and you were shocked, and slightly in awe. you’d wanted many times to act out at one of these formal events, but you couldn't ever bring yourself to do such a thing. you were enjoying the scene in front of you however, probably a bit more than you should.

he began yelling, catching the attention of everyone in the club. “it’s okay everybody! do not panic. let’s leave it to the men and women in uniform!” you glanced around, finally catching sarah’s gaze. you subtly motioned towards the boy, as if questioning her about his actions; she only shrugged in response, and you turned your attention back to him. he was still being forced out, though you didn’t have the courage to follow him, not with your father who was standing only a short distance away.

“let go of him!” a sudden voice called out, and a beautiful girl with her hair tied up beautifully into a bun stepped out of the crowd. “you can’t just boot him! i invited him here, i’m a member of this club!” she argued, and despite the protests of the people around her, she continued defending the blonde boy.

suddenly he shoved away the guard, and gasps were heard all around. “sorry about that!” he smiled, turning to the girl. “hey, mandatory power hour at rixon’s, kie!” he was walking out now, “pope, you as well, alright? rixon’s cove - let’s roll.” you had to admit, him acting out was really hot. the urge to step out was too great and you gave in, walking directly into his line of sight. he saw you and smirked, eyeing you up and down, then pointed directly at you. “new girl, you should come too. alright, guys! c’mon!”

you watched as the girl who defended him, kie, quickly escaped her protesting parents and watched as the other boy, pope, had as well. it looked liberating. you didn’t even know them, but one quick glance at your father’s warning expression was enough for you to give in and run after them, laughing as you heard the desperate calls of your parents behind you. surely you’d regret this later, but hell, you’d been dreaming of this your whole life, you weren’t letting the opportunity slip away so easily.

you met up with them, and the mysterious boy dramatically bowed, offering you his hand and you took it with a mocking curtsey. you both laughed and you allowed him to pull you to wherever it was you were going. it was then that you realized you actually had no idea where that was, but you figured anything was better than a party full of rich snobs, and besides, you couldn’t exactly back out now.

there was a worn-down looking van parked outside, and the group piled in, you hesitating momentarily. “hey new girl, you coming or what?” he teased, and all eyes fell on you. you never backed down from a challenge, so against your better judgment, you climbed inside, situating yourself with your back to the passenger seat in which pope had occupied. kie slid the door closed behind you, and you pulled out onto the road, a series of cheers arose from the group.

kie turned to you, a curious expression on her face. “so, what’s your name, newbie?” she asked, smirking deviously. it was a bit intimidating, and you straightened your body at her intense gaze.

“y/n.” you answered simply, and you became hyper-aware of everyone’s attention being on you. an awkward silence followed, and you weren’t really sure what else to say, so you cleared your throat. “what about you guys?”

she glanced at you up and down, sizing you up. a moment later she smiled, offering a hand. “i’m kiara, but call me kie.” you took it graciously, returning the smile. “that’s pope, and john b in the front.”

“nice to meet you guys.” you responded, feeling much more at ease. you turned curiously towards the boy who had consumed your thoughts for the entirety of the night. “and what about you? what’s your name, lover boy?” you flirted casually, having gained confidence.

“jj, you mean to tell me you invited someone to run away with us without even having told her your name?” pope asked, confusion written all over his face. he looked at you through the mirror, “and you followed someone and got in a car with him and his friends without even knowing his name? what if we were kidnapping you!” he exclaimed, and you laughed at his words, because they were very much true.

“hey, kidnapping sounds better than sticking around those jerks at the club.” you joked, and everyone agreed, and soon kiara, pope and john b took off in their own conversation, causing you to smirk at jj. “jj huh? cute name. what does it stand for?”

“you and i don’t know each other that well, sweetheart.” he winked, and you felt like you died a little inside at the pet name, but forced yourself not to show him the effect he had on you.

“fine. maybe you’re not a perv.. but you’re a shit server, by the way.” you commented airily, smiling innocently as he scoffed.

“i’m going to take the fact you don’t think i’m a perv as a compliment and choose to ignore you insulting my top notch serving skills.” he shot you a wink, and you rolled your eyes in response, falling into a comfortable silence before kie turned to you, breaking it.

“so y/n, tell us your story.” she pried, leaning forward in anticipation. you shrugged, taking a moment to think.

“not sure what to say, honestly. my dad’s a businessman, he wanted to “expand his horizons” with his customers and next thing you know, we’re packing up everything and moving here.” you explained, and she nodded thoughtfully.

“why come with us then?” her questions were merely fueled by genuine curiosity, and you were happy to answer.

“why not? look at the club, it’s filled with preppy, narcissistic assholes who flaunt their money and constantly fight over who has the biggest house. i can’t stand those people, and i never understood the whole superiority thing. it’s annoying and honestly, so unattractive.” you rolled your eyes, and the group laughed at your comment.

“look at us boys, sounds like we’ve got ourselves a kook princess gone rogue.” she spoke proudly, a smirk on her face.

“what’s a kook?” you asked, tilting your head slightly in confusion. the group laughed, and kie spoke up again.

“those who live on figure 8, with their extremely overpriced properties and huge egos. basically everyone you saw at the club, that’s a kook.” kie explained, and you groaned, affirming you indeed fit into that category. “don’t worry though. you seem cool, you can hang with us.”

“wait, really?” you lit up at her words, looking around at the boys, all who nodded in agreement. your gaze lingered on jj, who seemed a bit relieved. you imagined things would not have gone so well had you actually been happy with the “kook” lifestyle.

“yeah, you can hang with us..” john b spoke for the first time, and you arched a brow, silently asking him to continue. “if you can keep up.” he winked, and kie scoffed at him, shoving him lightly. you smiled at the group around, perfectly content.

“can i ask a question?” you spoke up hesitantly, and kie nodded, encouraging you to continue. “if i’m considered a kook, what does that make you guys?”

the group shared a quick laugh, before jj decided to speak up this time. “oh please, princess. you’re no kook, you’re one of us now. you better like it, cause you can’t shake us that easily.” you rolled your eyes, but couldn’t keep the smile off of your face at his words. “and to answer your question…”

“welcome to the pogue life, y/n.”

[justwritethatdown]

High school au set somewhere around 2009 - it’s gonna be a multichapter but I don’t have a title for it yet… Avril Lavigne is gonna be the soundtrack for this 💜

Beca is an introverted fifteen years old who loves music and is about to start high school. Chloe is The Popular Girl™ and they meet because their parents are friends. There’s a lot of Jesse but Bechloe is gonna be endgame (obviously) It’s supposed to be a slow burn but i’m an impatient idiot so we’ll see about that…

Words Count: 2K

Rating: T

Read it on AO3 or under the cut ↓ 

Please tell me what is taking place (‘cause I can’t seem to find a trace)

“Bec, can you please be nice tonight? It would mean a lot to Sheila and me" repeated her father for the millionth time. Beca just sighed heavily at that and crossed her arms around her chest. They’ve talked about that ad nauseam, there was no way for her to get out of this stupid dinner at Sheila’s friends.

Sheila – a.k.a. the step monster – was the most irritating being on the planet. Beca was sure she only acted nice to her to make a show for her father and actually hated Beca just as much as Beca hated her.

“Oh come on sweetie, they have a daughter your age, I’m sure you’ll become very fast friends” she promised in that annoying high pitched tone she had “I don’t want to make any friends” Beca grumbled and could swear she heard Sheila whisper something to her father about her being weird and having no friends, but decided to ignore that.

She didn’t need new friends, she had Amy and that was enough – more than enough sometimes – Amy was a lot, mostly to someone as introverted as Beca, her loudness and recklessness were pretty hard to handle, but they knew each other since forever and Amy stood by Beca’s side during her parents’ divorce, which meant the world to Beca.

“Come on kiddo, I’m sure you’ll like her. She goes to Barden high, so you can ask her advices for next year" said her father turning in his seat after parking the car “so she’s older than me!” stated Beca “oh for God’s sake what’s one year, specially at your age?” gasped Sheila, her nice facade starting to crack at Beca’s brattyness “never mind" spat out Beca under her breath getting out of the car.

Her father stopped her when he saw she was about to put her big headphones over her ears “don’t make me take these away from you" he warned her with a glare, so she just snorted and left them hanging around her neck.

__

Beca suffered immensely all through dinner, Chloe – the girl she was supposed to become best friends with to please Sheila – was hideous, she barely introduced herself without stopping pushing the buttons on her Blackberry, obviously more interested in her text than in Beca. Her parents were two pompous idiots – just how Beca imagined Sheila’s friends would be.

As soon as they finished eating, Chloe left the table without even excusing herself, focusing on her phone again.

“Chloe why don’t you show Becky your room, honey?” encouraged Chloe’s mother “sure" answered the redhead without any kind of emotion and left.

Beca gulped, she didn’t know what to do – was she supposed to just follow her? Did she had to wait there for Chloe to come back and invite her to her room? – it was clear that Chloe didn’t want her in her room.

“Beca? Go" pushed her Sheila and the girl found herself following Chloe’s path, she thought she heard someone whisper “that kid is so weird" but she shook it off, too focused on how weird she felt to intrude into a stranger’s room like that.

It turned out that Chloe didn’t mind her intrusion – one could say she didn’t even notice it, if not for the short nod she gave Beca along with a “this is it" before sitting in front of her computer and spending the night chatting on MSN.

After standing awkwardly in Chloe’s room for some moments, Beca decided to sit down on a pink fluffy bean bag sofa and finally put her headphones on. She spent the night with her iPod Classic, as she did most of the times.

Beca had the time to properly look at Chloe, to study her – something she liked to do with people.

The sixteen year old was definitely a popular girl in school – definitely someone Beca would have never wanted to be friends with – she seemed to be coming straight out of Mean Girls – that stupid Lindsey Lohan high school movie Amy made her watch once.

A shiver run down Beca’s spine. She didn’t love the idea of starting high school at all, with all those jocks and beautiful girls who thought they were better than anyone else – Beca could totally see Chloe being one of them.

Chloe was undeniably attractive, the computer light flashing on her face highlighted the perfect traits of her face and the sharp angle of her jawline, her red hair was coming down in large soft waves and her soft blue eyes made her look like a Disney princess. Her slender fingers flew quickly over the keyboard of her computer while she replied to the dozens of beeping notifications blowing up on her screen. Beca had to look away, feeling a weird grasp at her stomach she’d never felt before.

__

To Beca’s displeasure these stupid dinner dates became a thing, and she was forced to see that girl at least a couple of days per month, even if Chloe seemed to have the power to defect those events, since she never showed up when the dinners were at Beca’s father’s.

Beca wasn’t sorry about that, she was just upset she didn’t have the same luxury.

Chloe smiled at her once, greeting her with a soft “hi" when the brunette went to her house to yet another dinner, and Beca kept thinking about how warm that made her feel for a long time – because it caught her off guard obviously, she wasn’t expecting that, it’s not like she stopped thinking about how beautiful Chloe looked when she genuinely smiled or why she smiled at her anyway.

__

Months passed and it came the time for Beca to start high school. Amy was out of her mind excited about that and it only made Beca more nervous.

Her first day – the first month even – could have been described with one word, better yet a name: Jesse.

Jesse was in most of her classes and for some reason he was obsessed with her. He managed to learn more about her in only the first week than most people have ever tried to know in her life – he asked so many questions.

At first Beca was annoyed by him and tried to avoid the guy every time she spotted his stupid face in the hallway or at the cafeteria, but it was pointless because Jesse always managed to find her. Amy even started to tease her about her new boyfriend and Beca hated it.

She started to get used to his intrusive presence somewhere during week two, when he casually mentioned a concert of a Sum41 cover band he was sure she would have liked.

It opened up a crack in the big wall she spent so long building up – obviously what Jesse was trying to do since day one – but she didn’t push him away like she would have done with any other intruder trying to tear her defences apart, she instead decided to show him something she considered super intimate and private, something she had never shown to anyone before, she decided to show him one of her playlists.

She even agreed to go with him to the concert – telling herself she really wanted to see the band and couldn’t go without the fake ID Jesse had promised her.

Thinking about it, it didn’t take a genius to understand Beca would have liked such topic. After all, the girl always wore her headphones and from her style – heavy dark eyeliner, pierced ears, studded bracelet and dark boots – it wasn’t that hard to guess her musical tastes either.

“I knew you liked Avril Lavigne” was his first reaction scrolling through the titles in her iPod, Beca blushed at that; there were many other artists on there, such as Linkin Park, Green Day, Evanescence, Blink182… and he decided to point out the one that meant more to her.

“I love her, I think she’s great" he added pressing play on Sk8er Boi “you kinda remind me of her" he shouted over the sound filling his ears. Beca’s eyes widened for a moment and she looked around the schoolyard to check if he had drawn any attention towards them, she still couldn’t believe she was letting him use her headphones.

__

“It’s Be c a, with one c" she repeated to the guy who was paying very little attention to her anyway – Luke apparently.

“All right guys, it’s gonna be 50 bucks each and it’ll take a couple of days” he said looking at them with a charming smile “to pay now" he clarified clearing his throat and Jesse rushed to pay him “thanks Johnny. I’ll reach out to you when I got them" he said before leaving.

“It’s Jesse…” sighed Jesse when Luke already had left.

“Dude, I’m giving you the money first thing tomorrow, don’t think I’m letting you pay for my ID" “I could’ve never thought something like that" he joked smiling at her.

Okay so maybe Jesse became her friend and maybe Beca liked that – not that she would admit it.

__

After a month Beca thought she was starting to get used to the whole high school thing and she had to admit it wasn’t as bad as she thought, classes were boring and had nothing useful to form her regarding what she really wanted to do in life, but at least she had Amy and Jesse to lighten her mood.

The brunette was walking down the hallway, headphones on as usual, when she saw Chloe. Beca’s breath caught in her lungs at the sight of the redhead leaned against her locker animatedly chatting with a group of friends. She looked so different from the girl she was used to see at dinners; she looked radiant, like a ray of sunshine. Beca could tell all her friends were hypnotized by her energy and enthusiasm.

The sudden collision with a guy running in her opposite direction brought her back to reality “Dude! What the fuck?“ she hissed, but the guy didn’t bother stopping to check on her, so Beca shook her head and walked to her classroom. She didn’t notice Chloe looking at her.

From that moment Beca’s high school experience became a little different, she was always looking out for any signs of Chloe, she turned her head at any glimpse of red hair around a corner or every time she heard a particular kind of giggle – yes, she stopped wearing headphones in the hallways just to hear that – she’d even learned the faces of those she believed to be Chloe’s best friends and, obviously, her boyfriend – Tom, or something.

During the course of the first semester there had been almost zero dinners and her father told her she didn’t have to attend them because he was sure she was busy with homework, so the only occasions she had to see Chloe were those when she ran into her at school – not that she cared – they never interact and Beca understood, Chloe was a popular girl and with that role you have to maintain the appearances, she couldn’t risk to be seen interacting with some freshman alt girl just because they ate at the same table a couple of times, it wasn’t like they were friends anyway.

__

Beca was nervous. She would have never expected to open her front door to find Chloe Beale standing in front of her. She felt her ears heating up when the girl smiled at her “h-hi… you’re here too” she babbled hating herself immediately, but Sheila appearing behind her to greet the Beale family gave her enough time to disappear into the kitchen.

Now they were in Beca’s room after dinner. Chloe didn’t feel as awkward as Beca did entering her room all those months ago – or as awkward as she felt right now, for what is worth – she immediately made herself at home sitting on Beca’s bed, bounching on it a little while looking around.

Beca blushed at the amount of posters – mainly Avril posters – hanging on her walls. Her room was much darker than Chloe’s and she was sure the redhead must have thought she was a freak.

“I like your room, it’s pretty cool" “…you do?” asked Beca in shock “yes! And your bed is so much softer than mine" added Chloe lying down. Beca was silent for a while, her brain was filled with so many thoughts she couldn’t speak, she’s never been good with words anyway.

Beca gasped when she saw Chloe stretch to reach for the iPod and headphones resting on her bedside table but couldn’t stop her from taking them.

“What do you always listen to anyway?” asked Chloe sitting back up “beside Avril Lavigne” she added with a giggle that made Beca feel more attacked than she should have, the brunette moved to sit on her bed next to Chloe and took the device from her, holding it protectively against her chest “stuff… you wouldn’t like it" she scoffed “try me" said Chloe tilting her head, smile still in place.

Beca couldn’t find it in herself to say no.

They laid on her bed with her headphones placed between them, listening to Beca’s playlist until Chloe drifted off to sleep. Beca kept laying beside her, looking at the redhead sleep on her pillow and completely ignoring the weird feeling she had in the pit of her stomach that was starting to be something not unusual when it came to Chloe.

[marvelsdc22]

Speaking Through Dance

Intro: Hello, lovelies!! I hope you guys are having a good day/night!! This was requested by an anon and let me tell you, I have been so fucking excited to get to this request, so I hope you enjoy!! :) (Title subject to change)

Note: Y/N is deaf, but can understand lip reading, pure fluff, with some slight teasing from readers end.

Word Count: 1155

I had this idea stewing for a little: Jade West taking interest in Deaf!Dancer!R in her classical dance class, and when they are assigned as dance couples, she tries her best to communicate (speaking, lip reading) but after a while it’s the motion of their bodies they understand? :D

When Jade first walked into her classical dance class, she thought she was just going to have to suffer through it since it was one of her requirements; looking around, she spotted Cat in the class so she made her way over to her, rolling her eyes when Cat immediately started rambling to her and glancing at the door when it opened, watching as you entered the room in a rush “You were almost late, Y/L/N” the professor said, seeming to wait until you were looking at her and you nodding before giving an apologetic look “Sorry, ma’am” you apologized, sounding quieter than Jade would’ve imagined, her staring being interrupted when the professor clapped her hand “Alright, class…”

As time went on, Jade found herself focusing on you more and more, you were an incredible dancer but you didn’t seem to talk to many people, currently you were doing your stretches in the corner of the room until you caught a glimpse of Jade staring at you, you giving her a small smile and a tiny wave before the professor approached you “Jade, you’re staring” Cat pointed out, playing with her hair as she looked at Jade who jumped since Cat was not there two seconds ago “I am not” Jade snapped, glancing at you one last time before going back to her stretches.

“Hold on everyone, I have to assign you to your partners and I suggest you talk to them before you leave because there will be no time during class to work on your dance routines for the final” The professor said once it hit time for class to be over, going through the list of names “Cat and James… Jade and Y/N…” Jade tuning her out as she looked over at you, you staring back at her with a small smile before you went over to her “I’m Y/N” you introduced, having noticed her staring at you plenty of times but neither of you introducing each other “Jade” she responded, looking at you and taking your hand “So, I was thinking that we could meet up about 5ish” she continued, her having turned to her bag about halfway through the sentence so you only caught the first part, her raising a brow at your silence before she turned to see you with a confused look “I didn’t catch that” you said, idly gesturing to your ears and watching Jades eyes widen in recognition “Oh… I’m sorry, I didn’t-“ You cutting her off with a raised hand “Don’t… I’ll see you tonight around 5” you said, making a quick escape.

Jade felt terrible after that whole event, but came into the room at 5, seeing that you were already stretching and catching a glimpse of her in the mirror before you turned to look at her “Hey… Sorry about earlier, I’m not really upset” you assured, knowing you overreacted a small bit and watching her shake her head “No, I should’ve stopped at the ‘I’m sorry’” Jade said, making you raise an eyebrow “Hmm” you hummed, looking at her and going to grab something from your bag as she raised an eyebrow at you “What?” She asked when you looked at her once more “I just find it a little funny that the Jade West is admitting to fault” you chuckled, knowing her reputation and swearing you saw red across her cheeks now.

Clearing her throat, Jade set her bag down before going over to you “So, since you seem to know your stuff more than I do, what are we doing?” She asked, looking at you and feeling her face heat up more at how intently you were looking at her lips they’re just reading your lips, dumbass she scolded herself, watching as you scrolled through your ipod “Well, I was thinking we could do a dance to Chopin’s Nocturne Op. 9 if you’ve ever heard of that?” You said, looking back at her and watching her just stare at you “Right, more of a rock person” you laughed, shaking your head and going to hook your ipod up to the speakers “Just do what I do” you said, pressing play and going slow for her.

About halfway through the dance, you felt Jade knock into you and looked over at her, seeing the frustration on her face so you stopped, going and stopping the music before going over to her “You’ll get it” you assured her, reaching out and touching her arm, watching as she met your eyes “Will I though? Classical is not my thing” Jade said, knowing she sounded way out of her usual character but she was frustrated “It takes time, here” you said, having her stand up straight before you placed your hands on hers “Hold your arms here and…” continuing to mutter as you put her into the correct position “That’s the opening move” you said, walking around her so you could see her better and watching as she struggled to hold it “Lets call it a night” you suggested, watching as she gave you a relieved look before you both started to pack up.

As the weeks went on, you and Jade started to slowly get more into tune with one another, while Jade wasn’t with you practicing or just hanging out, she couldn’t help the fact that you were constantly on her mind, no matter what she was doing, you were there in the back of her mind “Jade” Beck said, causing her to jump and look at him “You’ve been staring at the statue for five minutes now” he pointed out, looking at her and watching as she shook her head “What’s on your mind?” He asked, unfazed by the glare she gave him until she sighed “It’s my partner for my dance course… When we first met, I thought I screwed up, but now I feel like we know each other, we’re in tune with everything we do, and…” Jade said, seeming to lose her train of thought “You like them” Beck suggested, looking at her and watching as Jade seemed to fight it before she nodded and looked at him “I do” she said, watching as he smiled “I’m sure they like you too, shoot your shot” he said, nudging her gently before they went back to what they were doing.

Finally, the week of the final came and at this point, you and Jade seemed to be able to read each other like the back of your hands, all you guys had to do was a simple dance move together and you guys could have a full conversation in those small movements, when the song started, you both moved in graceful movements, knowing exactly when the other was going to break off or come in close, by the end of it, both of you were panting and smiling, resting your forehead on Jades as you waited for some indication of applause, Jade pulling back and taking your hand in hers so you could face the class and take your bows.

After your dance, the professor told you guys to go and change out, so you guys escaped to the locker rooms “That was amazing!” You exclaimed, grinning at Jade when the door shut behind the two of you and raising an eyebrow when she just stared at you “Jade?” You asked, gasping when she rushed forward and pressed her lips to yours in a heated kiss, melting into the kiss and wrapping your arms around her neck “Go out with me?” You breathed, smiling at her and feeling her nod before she pulled you into another kiss.

Permanent Taglist: @rianncreates​​ / @5aftermidnight​​ / @youngandwildx7​​ / @stewie-castle​​

Jade Taglist: @supergirl-imaginess​​

End Note: I hope you guys enjoyed!! If you want to be added to a Taglist, shoot me an Ask or a DM!! Have a good day/night!! :)

Requests Open

[himbeaux-on-ice]

Sorry! Lehner had around a 10 minute rant today about how he feels like the NHL lied to the players about loosening up the restrictions placed on teams and forced teams to get the Covid Vaccine. ESPN and the New York Post released an article about it today.

(this is a follow-up on this ask)

Ah okay, I found a TSN article about it, which covers the fact that he also apologized for some of his remarks (mainly comparing the restrictions to being “like prison” which is a bit cringe when you’re a millionaire in a free hotel, yeah), and also significantly clarified some of the intent behind what he was trying to say at the presser:

I’m gonna put my full thoughts this under a cut because it’s ended up running pretty long and rambly, but tl;dr: after considering his more precisely clarified points here and with the perspective I know he’s coming from, I can honestly see and empathize with what Lehner seems to be expressing here about how the NHL has chosen to handle player vaccinations and informing them about what that means for the restrictions on their lives, and I actually don’t disagree with his criticisms overall. Some of the phrasing could have been better, but he’s acknowledged that too.

All in all, it sounds like the NHL may have done a poor job of honestly managing expectations around what vaccine rollout would mean for the extra restrictions placed on the players and their families with each team, and that they’re also up to some version of their usual NHL schtick of prioritizing some platonic ideal of Competitive Parity (remember “the Vancouver Canucks will play a 56 game season”, anyone?) above all else, even when that is no longer realistic and/or comes at the expense of the short-term and long-term mental and physical wellbeing of the players. Classic NHL.

Right, so, long thoughts are down here. Also gonna copy the majority of his comments directly because I think it’s worthwhile for people to read exactly what he said:

"As I’m frustrated like a lot of people in the world right now everything didn’t come out of today’s press in the right way," Lehner wrote. "Main point is that we need to start take the mental health important as well In this situation. It has a huge impact on everyone in society right now. To put competitive edge before well being of people's lives is wrong. As I said, people are struggling with many different things mentally and we need to consider that, as well. Then, being lied to makes it worse."

I love hockey and the league has done a lot of good things," Lehner continued. "But this missed the mark. My bad to say it’s like prison and I apologize, but with mental health issues that are developing in the world, it develops problems mentally. We will see exactly how this affects everything with time. I don’t mean to offend anyone. I hope we can all work together to help people that suffer through mental help from this going forward. I’ve heard how a lot of people are doing through this as people talk to me about it."

During his briefing, Lehner said that the league has misled the players about how vaccination will lead to the loosening of restrictions.

"They told me yesterday that they're surveying all of the teams to see who has taken the vaccine and who has not taken the vaccine and they're not going to change the rules for us as players until all of the teams have a fair [amount] of [vaccinated players] at the same time, so there's not a competitive edge," Lehner said. "And that made me go crazy, to be honest."

Lehner said the league is failing to look at its players as people first and lied to them about taking the vaccine.

"These are human lives and people are struggling with this stuff a lot in society and we are humans just as everyone else," Lehner said. "So there's a twofold problem for me here - the first one is we got promised something to take something that not necessarily everyone wanted. So that was lie - a blatant lie. Second, to put competitive edge over human lives in terms of going back - and I'm not saying we're going out to a party or whatever, but we had a meeting when the season started, at the beginning of camp, that pretty much told us we can't go outside of our house, can't do anything, can't go to the grocery store, can do nothing on the road. You can take a meal out of the meal room and go sit up in your room, don't be with your teammates, don't do this, don't do that. Nobody thinks about the mental impact."

The Gothenburg, Sweden native says his peers are struggling through this pandemic season.

"I know people will say, 'Oh, you're millionaires' and this and that or 'What about these guys?' but we care about that, too, man," Lehner said. "No matter what people think, this is a society problem. But when government, corporations, NHL, whoever are taking decisions in terms of irrelevant things like competitive edge over the human being? It's not okay."

It seems pretty clear to me from this article that his main issue isn’t really with getting the vaccine or being required to do so (my understanding is that it is still opt-in for all players, not mandatory. It’s that he doesn’t view the League as having provided players with a realistic expectation ahead of time for how being vaccinated would or would not change their daily reality. That they were led to believe that getting vaccinated would lead to things that didn’t end up happening, and therefore weren’t empowered to make an informed choice about when to get vaccinated.

The way he describes it, the League was not clear enough ahead of time about the fact that individual players being vaccinated would not make them individually exempt from league-wide restrictions, and this created a feeling of false hope about what getting vaccinated would mean in terms of not just having to stay in your house or hotel room literally all the time. If you were looking forward to getting vaccinated because you were led to believe it would mean finally not having to live in that isolated, mentally draining environment all the time, and then only found out at the last minute or after the fact that no, you actually still have to keep following all these rules that are making your life so isolated and difficult, that’s gotta be pretty emotionally jarring. If you were a player who was a little unsure about getting vaccinated quite yet (for whatever reason, including possibly being in a risk group for side-effects or just not wanting to get waylaid for a week with the smile symptoms it induces during a crucial stretch of games), but decided it was worth it for the tradeoff of getting back to a life that was less of a strain on your mental health, and then got told AFTER you made that decision and got the shot that no, that tradeoff isn’t happening the way you were made to expect it to, I think it would understandably piss you off.

It also sounds like part of what he has taken issue with is that, from the sounds of it rather than ease internal restrictions on a team-by-team basis as determined by each team’s vaccination rates (which would mean that if for example the Wild had 95% of their team vaccinated, the Wild only the Wild would get to start living a life with slightly less restrictions), the League is instead opting to say “no, we’re only going to ease the rules for EVERYONE at the same time once all teams have reached similar numbers of vaccinated players and staff to ea other, because we would see having different rules for different teams as giving some of them an unfair competitive edge”.

Lehner takes umbrage with this approach, because he thinks that focusing solely on “competitive edge” by making more-vaccinated teams keep having to live incredibly isolated lives (even isolated from vaccinated teammates) is a case of the League prioritizing parity over the toll that barely being able to interact with other people or leave their houses is taking on players’ mental health. And I can really really understand his point here. We have all seen what quarantine has done to our individual mental health, and even if they are millionaires, those impacts also exist for the players.

I actually just recently re-read the Athletic piece about the intense mental health and addiction struggles Lehner has gone through and done the incredibly difficult work of getting help for in the last five years. This man has fought incredibly hard and done a massive amount of therapy and other work to sort out his head, deal with his demons, and get himself to a place where he can cope and wants to be alive. That kind of recovery journey is a battle which will continue for the rest of your life and requires constant maintenance practices (again, speaking from experience). He also spent most of this season not even getting to be around the team at all, stuck at home recovering from a concussion (which usually involves doing frustratingly little and waiting around impatiently in dimly lit rooms for your brain to heal). And now, upon returning to the team, road games mean more time spent sitting in a room trying not to be bored out of your skull, while possibly also having to have some limits on things like screen time as a post-concussion precaution.

Imagine being somebody like him, who has spent a lot of time working very hard to build up a lifestyle and a system of coping mechanisms in recent years which have allowed him to live a healthier and happier life, to then be thrown back into an isolated and highly restricted new lifestyle where probably at least half of all those habits and norms and support systems are taken out of reach, that has to be incredibly difficult (I’ve experienced something similar myself this year). Especially when you haven’t been able to even go and be with the team in the dressing room, or probably even do anything with your family that classes above “mildly strenuous”, because you’re out for six weeks recovering from a concussion, which is its own mental and physical health battle. And then, you are apparently given the impression from the League that “hey, if you’re willing to get vaccinated, that will lead to you being able to return to some semblance of a life that is less taxing on your psyche”, and you agreed to do so even if you were perhaps cautious about getting the vaccine before, because you’d rather accept whatever risk comes with the shot than gamble on keeping your sanity together for however much longer this isolation drags on, only to then find out that “actually no, even if your team and staff is entirely vaccinated you still have to spend most of your time sitting alone in rooms trying not to sink into a spiral of dangerous depression until other teams in other states with different vaccination programs are also immunized to similar levels, and our only real reasoning for holding that mental relief out of reach is mostly based on ‘competitive parity’”.

Yeah, I absolutely understand why he would feel very frustrated and even betrayed by that course of action! For Lehner, it’s not about competitive edges or the game on the ice, it’s about having made the decision to get vaccinated at this time with the understanding that it would allow access to an at least slightly less mentally taxing lifestyle, only to find out later that the League seemingly never intended to follow through on providing that despite you holding up your end of the deal. And it sounds like he is speaking for a number of other players beyond just himself who are also struggling with their mental health in these conditions. Even if he himself is managing to cope because of what he’s learned in his recovery, he would certainly be well-positioned to recognize signs in the people around him that they are struggling in ways that may be similar to what he went though before, and know how dire that can spiral into being.

Look, I don’t think Robin Lehner ever expected to be allowed to go out and lick people’s eyeballs or wander the supermarket maskless once vaccinated, but you heard the description of how intensely restrictive the NHL’s rules for players off-ice lives during COVID are. They are far more intense than the rules being enforced for non-NHL individuals in many of the same cities and states, because the NHL is trying to bring risk as close to zero as possible. And if you were a player told that being vaccinated was going to reduce contagion risks enough to mean that right away the NHL would finally let you and your teammates from “can’t go anywhere or see anyone, eat your dinner in your hotel room and try not to be depressed about it” to “you can go to the store with a mask on. you can eat meals with your also-vaccinated teammates. you can visit your parents or siblings while social-distancing/masking. you can spend free time around other people and/or in more public spaces without being chaperoned constantly by team staff. you can sit next to your also-vaccinated teammates on the plane/bus. you can hang out with them in their room”, and THEN later were told “sorry, we’re not actually going to let you do that yet. not for COVID reasons but rather because we worry not being totally miserable shut-ins will give you a competitive edge over that team in another state who aren’t getting vaccinated as quickly”. That has to feel like a slap in the face in terms of how much the league actually cares about your well-being or about being honest in its role in your personal medical decisions. Perhaps when he says “forced” he is expressing a feeling of being stuck between choosing “either get vaccinated or let your mental health keep degrading in isolation”, only to find out that making the deal doesn’t get you the relief you were promised.

Idk I feel like I’m repeating myself a lot here trying to circle in on my precise point bc my brain is a little scrambled today, but like. If the players made their decisions to consent to vaccination (at this time, with whatever version of the shot was offered, under whatever circumstances they may have going on personally or medically) based on one understanding of the situation, and then NHL really said “lol NOPE actually that was a false premise” and changed things after the fact, that’s kinda an informed consent issue and I think he’s right to call it fucked up! And everything he says about how mentally taxing such a super-isolated lifestyle is honestly only repeats worries I myself had right from the moment the “stay in your hotel room alone” rule was announced — that the League may be underestimating the toll (especially with some of the long road trips this season) that forcing players to live in total isolation like that was going to have on individual wellbeing and team morale.

Robin’s comments this morning could have been put better, but as somebody who has ADHD and who knows about bipolar disorder, I know emotions for folks with brains like ours can run fast and intense and sometimes lead to not always planning out every word as precisely and you might later have liked to once that moment has passed. The fact that he apologized for the less tactful part of the comment and sought to clarify his words tells me he’s thought a lot about this and wasn’t happy with how he expressed his thoughts initially. Also, while his English is very good, you can sometimes forget it isn’t his first language, Swedish is — some thoughts don’t translate exactly as they sounded in your head. That said, also Robin Lehner one of the more outspoken NHL players about mental health issues in recent years, and he also doesn’t seem like the type of guy to mince his words or tiptoe around a point — I’m not surprised he’s the person expressing these concerns about mental health, and I’m not surprised he was a bit blunt about it either lol.

All in all, it sounds like the NHL did a poor job of managing expectations around what vaccine rollout would mean for the players and their families, and that they’re also up to their usual NHL schtick of prioritizing some platonic ideal of Competitive Parity (remember “the Vancouver Canucks will play a 56 game season”, anyone?) above all else, even when that is no longer realistic and/or comes at the expense of the short-term and long-term mental and physical wellbeing of the players. Classic NHL.

(also: the New York Post is a right-leaning sensationalist rag 90% of the time. take all spin it puts on things with a grain of salt)

[toziers]

how about a reddie barn party?

“a barn party?”

“yeah.”

“well what is it?”

mike looks at stan. stan looks at bill. bill, wide-eyed, looks back and forth between the two of them. 

“it’s… a party. in a barn.” stan speaks slowly, though the corner of his mouth twitches like he’s trying desperately not to smile. 

“well i nuh-know that,” bill says in exasperation, and mike lets out a breath he didn’t know he was holding and laughs, relieved. he knows bill is smart, he knows—the good grades and power essays will prove it—but sometimes bill’s brain cells took vacations. sometimes bill would write the coolest shit in creative writing class: the kinda shit that mike and bev and richie (so, by proxy, eddie as well) liked to read. horror stories, like the slasher films the losers stayed up to watch (ben and stan preferred anything but horror), though bill has a habit of adding corny romantic subplots that appealed more to ben than anyone else. bill would write those, would blow the whole loser’s club away with those, and then turn around and introduce himself as dilliam benbrough. 

his braincells took vacations, but they always came back. 

“i meant what is it fuh-for?” 

mike shrugs. “for fun.”

“why, do you have other plans that day, bill?” stan crosses his arms, and bill grins. 

“i’m in. on wuh-one condition.” 

* * *

“are you kidding me?” eddie scowls. “cowboy attire mandatory?”

“i don’t know why you’re complaining, eds; it’s your fantasy come true. i have two words for you, bro.” richie strikes a pose and the sound of his hand slapping against his thigh is too loud in the small space of the clubhouse. “assless. chaps.”

“take it back, bill, please.” eddie looks at bill helplessly, but bill’s too busy flipping through a Sears catalogue to see it. 

“shuh-should i get classic brown leather style boots? or should i g-go for a buh-bold black instead?” 

bev leans over his shoulder and points to an image on the sheet, her nail polish still wet. “these. they’ll match that plaid you got at the thrifty mart today.” 

eddie turns to mike, eyes desperate, but mike just shrugs. 

“i’ve been looking for a reason to wear my cowboy hat. sorry eddie.” 

richie slaps his thigh again and raises his eyebrows suggestively at eddie. “c’mon cowboy. saddle up, eddie, we’re goin’ full gay cowboy. wanna share a tent with m—.” 

eddie, red with fury (and flushed with embarrassment) punches richie’s shoulder. richie cackles, and cackles, until eddie’s pout twists like he’s holding back his own giggles; until stan turns to mike with a flat look and asks if they can be uninvited. 

“we need eight to square dance, stan.” 

eddie stops mid-tousle with richie and squawks. “we have to dance?” 

bill looks up from his magazine and sighs. “it’s a barn party eddie.” 

eddie flips him off, and this time they all laugh. 

* * *

“oh my god.” 

“wow.”

“holy shit, benny boy!” richie puts his hands on his hips and slowly turns in a circle, surveying the empty barn. “you out-fuckin’-did yourself, now!” 

“richie tozier!” calls a warning voice from the corner, and jessica hanlon gives him the stink eye from thirty feet away. “you watch your mouth while i’m around.”

richie holds up an apologetic hand, though his mouth quivers with the shadow of a smile. “you got it, mrs. h!” 

“nice, richie,” bev smirks. she turns to ben. “seriously ben, this place looks incredible.”

the lights were the hardest part: stringing them up in the rafters, wrapping them around the old wood and across the walls… ben had suffered his share of splinters and spider encounters. it’s a big barn too, and ben’s hands were sweaty from the early june heatwaves (and nerves from the spider encounters). but he’d managed, with the help of mike and his uncle, and now the whole barn was strung with fairy lights and chinese lanterns. 

“it’s dreamy,” bev says, looking ben in the eye as she does. “romantic.” 

ben goes as crimson as the barn and looks at his feet.

“thanks bev.” 

“are you guys gonna’ help set-up or just stand there like raisins on a celery stick?” jessica stands behind the group now, a sheen of sweat on her forehead. “your poor friend is struggling over there and you all are looking at the lights like a bunch of moths.” 

mike turns to where bill’s currently putting up the big banner he and bev painted. well, trying to put up the banner. actually, struggling is really the word he’s looking for. every time bill would get one side taped up he’d walk to the other, but just as he’d get that corner taped down the first side would fall again. mike bites his lip and tries not to smile too wide. 

they all stand there for another few seconds, watching bill continue to struggle, before mike shakes his head and jogs over to help. 

“oh!” bill says as mike pressed his palm to the paper to keep it up as bill fought with the tape dispenser. “th-thanks, mikey.” 

“no problem, bill.” mike watches bill attempt to rip the tape with his teeth. “are you going to the barn party with anyone?”

bill pauses, looks up at mike with the strip of tape still in his mouth. “uhh. the rest of yuh-you guys?”

“i meant as a date.” mike’s face is perfectly calm, but the cage of his rib bones shakes noisily with the thumping of his heart. “are you, you know, going with anyone?”

bill starts fighting with the tape again. “uh, n-no.”

“do you want to go with me?”

bill manages to rip off the tape he needs, and finally secures the poster. mike steps back cautiously from the wall, just in case it decides to fall again. nothing moves. mike looks back to bill, who still hasn’t answered. 

“yes. yuh-yeah.” bill smiles, a soft thing, and nods. “that’d be awesome, mikey.” 

“cool,” mike says, feeling very, very cool. “very cool.” 

* * * 

“whoa, eds, slow down—eddie, damn, what’re you running for?” richie’s keeping up pretty easily with his long legs and therefore long strides, but eddie’s practically jogging at this point and soon richie’s going to have to do the same. “what’s goin’ on, cowboy?”

“don’t cowboy me,” eddie grumbles, his boots making a little click click with every step as the fake spurs tapped against the sidewalk. 

richie stops. “eds, are you mad at me?” eddie’s still walking, albeit a little slower now. “eddie.”

“i’m not mad!” eddie says, madly, though he stops walking too. “i’m just. i’m. ugh!” eddie makes a little noise of frustration and richie tries desperately not to feel so fucking fond about it. “why didn’t you ask me to go with you to the barn party?”

if richie wasn’t already frozen to the spot, that would’ve knocked him out cold. “wh… what? whaddya mean? i’m here, with you, right— “

“but you didn’t ask. you just showed up unannounced like you always do.” 

“well yeah that’s just how it is—”

“but why didn’t you ask?” eddie turns, sparks of red on high cheekbones turned orange in the lamplight. he looks like a puppy, ears turned down and big brown eyes hiding sadness under the brow of anger that covered it. the pieces clicked together in richie’s head. 

“oh. ohhh. i get it.” richie shoves his hands in his pockets. “you wanted to be romanced.” 

“that is not what i said.” 

richie takes a few steps forward. “you wanted me to get down on one knee and lend you my kerchief as an invite to the debutante ball.” richie, playing up the western twang he’s taken on, over-pronounces every syllable in debutante. eddie scoffs to hide the beginning of a laugh. 

“shut up richie, i was just saying—“

“well, mistah edward j. kaspbrak— 

“don’t call me that.”

“— would you do me the honor of bein’ my pardner—“

“i hate you.”

“and accompanyin’ me to the hanlon barn party so i don’t haf’ta ride solo tonight?”

richie’s got his hand cupped under eddie’s chin by now, and the other arm curled loosely around eddie’s waist. in the early twilight glow, richie’s eyes shine with amusement and something else; something that’s always wrapped in every glance sent eddie’s way. love, probably, though eddie’s still scared to say it and richie’s no better. sometimes richie knows he’s in love but he also knows he was in love last year, and the year before, and the year before that one, and every year that goes by richie’s love feels deeper and stronger and real-er. richie used to think love was a peak at the top of a mountain of feelings but being with eddie has him thinking that maybe it isn’t, that maybe love is just a mountain and richie never wants to stop climbing. 

“yes, asshole, of course i want to go to the barn party with you.” eddie’s not even trying to look angry anymore. richie wants to kiss him, and he goes to do so, but the oversized rims of their cowboy hats bump together and it makes them both laugh. 

“gay cowboys sure have it rough, huh?” richie asks. “let’s try that again.” then he tilts his hat back, leans down, and kisses Eddie properly. 

* * *

the lights looked good in the day, but they look downright magical in the dark of night. there’s still a purple tint to the sky, leftover from the stretched out sunset, and though there’s no cracks in the roof to see the stars through, they cast a foggy glow on the grass outside. 

the music is loud, but not too loud, and cheerful, but not overtly so. dancing music, is what it is, and most people are inside making the most out of it. stan’s in there with patty, mike knows—he’d seen them spinning circles around everyone else. mike knows for a fact stan doesn’t take dancing lessons, but the way he and patty swing and dance with such ease and grace makes you think it was practiced. mike just thinks that true love shows in the way you move together. you can always see it in the way people dance. it’s about… well, richie and eddie have it too, and richie’s got two left feet and a tragic lack of the “being able to take things seriously” bone. 

it’s in the way they look at each other, though, the way eddie’s face pulls into a joyous adoration when richie spins him around the room obnoxiously even though he’s telling richie to put me down, put me down! it’s in the way bev brushes her fingers against ben’s when he hands her a cup of punch, and the way ben’s knee lingers when bev’s knee rests against his where they sit on the bench; like every touch is infinite, and worth every second. it’s in the way stan holds patty as they dance, like she’s something to be held, and the way patty holds him just the same. 

fuck, mike knows he’s only eighteen, but he knows what love, true love, looks like. 

“the p-party is inside,” bill says. an adjacent thought to mike’s last, suddenly here before him: bill, in all his plaid and leather fringe glory. mike’s heart, a racehorse poised at the startling line, takes off.

“i needed a break from the line dancing. your mom is kicking my ass.” it’s true. ms. denbrough sure knows how to country-shake it. 

“she was muh-more excited for this than i was,” bill jokes, and then walks the rest of the way from the barn to the edge of the field where mike is standing. 

“you look good.” it’s a bit sudden, maybe, but that thought evaporates when bill lights up with a shy smile. “the cowboy look suits you.” 

“thuh-thanks, mikey.” bill’s hand twitches, like he’s going to reach out, but it stays at his side. “your shirt. it’s a g-good shirt.” 

nice one, denbrough. bill makes a face. 

“i mean yuh-you look strong it it. i mean, handsome. and strong, tuh-too.” bill’s bright pink, and mike couldn’t think him any cuter. “yuh-you know what i mean.”

“i wear this shirt all the time,” mike says, just to see if bill will flush darker. he does.

“yuh-yeah, i know.” 

mike’s eyes flick to the barn and back. out here, the music is muffled, but mike can still tell hear andy williams crooning his familiar tune from the speakers inside. 

“do you want to dance with me, bill?” 

bill’s hand twitches again. “out here?” 

mike nods. bill nods, and mike bets his heart is knocking against his ribs just as hard as the one in mike’s chest. mike offers his hand, and bill takes it, and the next moment mike’s got bill denbrough against his chest as they sway to the easy beat of moon river.

it’s in the way bill steps on my feet, mike thinks. it’s in the way he apologizes every time, even when i just laugh and promise him it’s okay. it’s in the way he keeps apologizing, cheeks flushed and hands curled around mike’s arms, until mike kisses him quiet. 

it’s in the way that mike’s only eighteen, but he knows what love, true love, feels like. 

[wizardysseus]

@veliseraptor replied to your post “if you think i’m an insufferable odysseus liker now, imagine if homer…”

tell me how people talk about book 5 wrongly please

there two things in particular i want to hit on.

(1) calypso’s speech to hermes

when hermes comes to tell calypso to let odysseus sail back to ithaca, she rails at the double standard of male gods separating goddesses from their human lovers. and readers love it. twitter loves it, emily wilson seems to love it, freshman english majors in my classic lit class loved it.

“You cruel, jealous gods! You bear a grudge whenever any goddess takes a man to sleep with as a lover in her bed... So now, you male gods are upset with me for living with a man. A man I saved! ... I cared for him and loved him, and I vowed to set him free from time and death forever.” (5.118-20,129-130,135-7, tr. wilson)

i’m going to bounce translations a bit, because i have, uh (checks notes) three on hand; wilson emphasizes the gendered double standard most. and... yeah, i get why everybody wants to talk about it. the odyssey is chock full not only of those double standards, but of female characters speaking for themselves (especially relative to, say, the iliad). but it drives me up the wall when people talk about how persuasive or sympathetic calypso’s speech is and refuse to acknowledge one sort of incredibly crucial detail --- that the thing calypso is arguing for is her right to own a human man.

by the time we meet odysseus, he’s been on ogygia for seven years and wants very much to go home. here’s wilson again:

She found him on the shore. His eyes were always tearful; he wept sweet life away, in longing to go back home, since she no longer pleased him. He had no choice. He spent nights with her inside her hollow cave, not wanting her though she still wanted him. By day he sat out on the rocky beach, in tears and grief, staring in heartbreak at the fruitless sea. (149-158)

and my other translations, just for fun!

fitzgerald:

[She] went to find Odysseus in his stone seat to seaward---tear on tear brimming his eyes. The sweet days of his life time were running out in anguish over his exile, for long ago the nymph had ceased to please. Though he fought shy of her and her desire, he lay with her each night, for she compelled him. But when day came he sat on the rocky shore and broke his own heart groaning, with eyes wet scanning the bare horizon of the sea. (158-66)

fagles:

[She] found him there on the headland, sitting, still, weeping, his eyes never dry, his sweet life flowing away with the tears he wept for his foiled journey home, since the nymph no longer pleased. In the nights, true, he’d sleep with her in the arching cave---he had no choice--- unwilling lover alongside lover all too willing... But all his days he’d sit on the rocks and beaches, wrenching his heart with sobs and groans of anguish, gazing out over the barren sea through blinding tears. (165-175)

this isn’t odysseus retelling his story --- it’s the narrator, who is at least arguably more reliable. (spark notes, which i occasionally consult because i forget what chapters things happen in, says that odysseus is “sulking,” which, wow.) 

when calypso says he can leave, his response is wary at best. in each of these translations, he meets her news with a shudder, accuses her of plotting against him, and exacts an oath from her not to harm him. “Goddess, you have some other scheme in mind, / not my safe passage” in wilson (172-3), “Surely you’re plotting / something else, goddess” in fagles (192-3), and in fitzgerald:

“After these years, a helping hand? O goddess, what guile is hidden here? … I take no raft you grudge me out to sea. Or yield me first a great oath, if I do, to work no more enchantment to my harm.” (183-4,188-90)

it massively weirds me out that i regularly find people online who characterize odysseus as swanning around the mediterranean having sexy fun times. (there’s also circe, and it’s interesting that odysseus refuses to sleep with her until she swears a similar oath not to harm him. but i’m talking about book 5, when odysseus is several years older and much more desperate.) this is not a happy guy!

your mileage may vary as to how sympathetic you find odysseus in all of this. i like odysseus because i like Terrible Con Men Who Are Very Sad And Cry A Lot. but of course, we meet a lot of other characters in the poem who are in just as bad a way, if not worse. most of them get neither the freedom odysseus does, nor the same compassion from the narrator, the gods, and odysseus himself --- most notably, the twelve slave women he and telemachus hang at the end of book 22. if we’re going to talk about double standards, surely that deserves attention.

and yet! and yet. none of that changes the fact that odysseus wants to go home (his most, if not only, sympathetic trait), and calypso won’t let him. 

calypso is interesting! her speech has ramifications for the rest of the epic, for sure! i just wish more people could talk about it without sounding like calypso effectively utilized girl power by keeping odysseus as a sex slave for seven years.

(2) odysseus’ response when calypso offers him immortality

calypso gives odysseus permission to build a raft. but before he begins work on it, she tries to change his mind, even offering him immortality... and odysseus wants nothing to do with it. 

So Odysseus, with tact, said, “Do not be enraged at me, great goddess. You are quite right. I know my modest wife Penelope could never match your beauty. She is a human; you are deathless, ageless. But even so, I want to go back home, and every day I hope that day will come. If some god strikes me on the wine-dark sea, I will endure it. By now I am used to suffering---I have gone through so much, at sea and in the war. Let this come too.” (215-24, wilson)

wilson calls him tactful, fagles “worldly,” and fitzgerald “the strategist”; in each of these translations, he couches the rejection with a plea not to be angry with him. and yet... people want to pretend like what he says is how he actually feels about penelope? give me a break.

(granted, i see this take less often than the one above. but it still irks me! i’m irked!)

he finally has the chance to go home, and a goddess who has held him captive makes a last-ditch effort to insult his wife to convince him to stay, and you think that’s the moment odysseus is going to choose to be sincere?

like, this is what wilson has to say about it in her introduction: 

Why exactly does Odysseus make this surprising choice? The poem never gives us an explicit answer---an omission that makes the hero’s yearning for home all the more resonant and moving.

YEAH, WHAT A MYSTERY.

odysseus’ entire Thing is that he isn’t straightforward. you don’t have to like him and you certainly don’t have to feel sorry for him. but --- of all the flaws and questionable-at-best decisions you could choose to pick apart! --- i strongly object to this idea that odysseus’ motives and actions in book 5 don’t make sense. just because, what, you think he should have stayed with calypso? you don’t buy that he loves penelope? come the fuck on. i’ve said it before and i’ll say it again: if you don’t read odysseus’ identity as absolutely rooted with his home and wife and son, no wonder the poem falls apart.