#then it hit me that i don't think this is intended as a serious suggestion

[phantom-chirp]

Missed opportunity to call it the "pawsona cats au"

I feel like I'm going to hear these types of jokes a lot

[finsterwalds]

Got my hands on the script of Anatomy of a Fall, and I couldn't help but compare it with some scenes from the movie because that's how deep I am rn :'D Anyway, here are some of my finds and things I personally enjoyed. I'm sure there are more things to dig out but these are what I wanted to share with the world. The order of my finds will be chronological, for the most part, but keep in mind that sometimes, some scenes were edited to show up later, or earlier than originally intended. Spoilers for the whole movie obviously so you've been warned!

Takes place when Vincent first visits Sandra to discuss Samuel's death. In the movie, Sandra stops Vincent and cuts him harshly, saying "STOP, I did not kill him". Vincent then says a line that I think is pretty iconic in the movie, a sarcastic : "That's not the point. Really". His line is much harsher than on the script, where he's a bit softer. "You don't need to tell me that" implies that he has some deep, loyal faith in Sandra, while "That's not the point" cuts any further discussion. He really doesn't wanna know if she actually did it. Comes from a wish to remain blind still, but with less innocence and a lot of denial. Oh, Vincent.

In the movie, his last line is way better imo, he says "No one's gonna believe that. I don't believe that." I like the emphasis on his opinion rather than the fleeting and impersonal "it's really hard to believe". Truly hits way harder and puts Vincent back in the position of a lawyer.

The rest will be under the cut because I think it's gonna be a wall of text I apologize guys...... This movie does things to my brain.

There's a scene that was cut where Vincent phones Nour while still at Sandra's, which I would have enjoyed a lot but I'll admit it's a bit filler-y. Doesn't add a lot and kinda cuts the serious tone of Sandra's confession, imo, as they discuss the judge's antics in a pretty comical manner. I just love Nour so I'm based......

Another, REALLY long scene that was cut where a medium comes into Sandra's house to feel Samuel's ghost and foreshadows Daniel poisoning Snoop with aspirin. I had a good laugh at that one, honestly. It feels pretty out of place with the tone of the movie, and the personality of the characters even... I can't picture Sandra calling a medium. I'm glad they removed it because the foreshadowing was unnecessary too. It's still interesting that they had planned it however.

This takes place after Vincent finds out about the tape. Interestingly, his whole line was cut after "before he died". In the movie, he never comments on Sandra's affairs/sexuality. He never really asks much about her life at all. He truly is blinded by his wish to shield himself from her inner demons, in order to maintain his undying loyalty towards her. To see what he wants of her...

Another scene that was completely cut (a flashback, I believe?) where Sandra makes Daniel pose for a german photographer to make some money, which Monica dislikes, and then they argue. I think it really frames her as too unsympathetic, so I'm also glad it was cut.

Okay, so now, here comes The Big Change. The scene where Vincent and Sandra drink together after the first trial was heavily altered, because its tone in the movie is pretty tense when compared with the lightheartedness of the script. In the script, they laugh and reminisce together about the past and even kiss at the end of the scene. In the movie, none of was I screenshot happens : instead of playing along with the 'firing Vincent' suggestion, the scene ends with Sandra scolding Vincent for judging her in his head. Vincent backs off and the scene ends. Another instance of him not pressing emotional depth to shield himself.

There are other scenes I liked (many that touch upon Sandra's books) but I'll stop there. Hope you'll enjoy that... I might draw some of these so stay tuned... This movie has absorbed my soul but it feels good to be alive, thank you Justine Triet.

[tsukimefuku]

Team fighting

You decided to train team fighting with Higuruma in an unorthodox way.

Tags: Jujutsu Kaisen, f!reader, light Higuruma x reader, crack taken seriously, fluff.

WC: 1.1K

The song (heh): Aozora Lonely - Sunny Day Service (on YouTube)

This is part of my "Jujutsu Partners Canon Divergence AU". A sequence of short stories and random drabbles for a Nanami x Reader x Higuruma long fic I might write. To see the ever-growing list of one-shots and short stories, please visit my masterlist :) 

Disclaimer: they’re NOT written and posted in chronological order of events. To see where this story fits in the timeline, please check the masterlist mentioned above.

"Are you... Serious? Aren't we a little too old for that?" The former lawyer asked, sat beside your makeshift dorm room bed, incredulous, as you pointed at your phone, showing him a video of two teenagers playing Dance Dance Revolution. You sighed, because even though he had a point, you thought it'd be beneficial to try it in order to develop your synergy in the field.

You had been working alongside Higuruma for two weeks now, and on your third mission by his side, you had to save the sorcerer from being hit by the poison curse both were fighting, rendering you bedridden. Furthermore, you still had a couple of days to rest, but thought that, as long as there wasn't any actual fighting or cursed energy manipulation involved, you'd probably be just fine.

"Look, playing things like these has helped me improve my control over my cursed energy. It teaches you to move without thinking." You pointed out. "But if we do it together, maybe you will learn to sync your movements with someone else's. God knows you need it."

He scratched the side of his temple with his thumb, pensive, without any faith this would work. "I can get behind the principle in what you're suggesting, but aren't you still in your recovery period?"

"I am, but this is just dancing, not actual heavy training, you know? I think I'll be fine."

He looked at you, wearing pajamas and sitting on your bed. You still had a few wound dresses around your face and neck. The video showed an extremely vigorous dance game session, with all the jumping, stomping and pirouetting. Higuruma thought to himself that sparring would probably be a lighter exercise routine when compared to this. 

"This looks pretty intense, and no offense intended, but you don't seem to be ready for this much exercise at the present moment." He said, still staring at the screen.

You sighed, a little defeated, and leaned back against the wall on the side of your bed to think of an alternative. Even if he wasn't right — and he was —, there was still the issue of leaving Jujutsu High's headquarters and walking around Tokyo to find a joint that had Dance Dance Revolution.

Then, you had an idea.

"Higuruma, get up and put your chair over there." You said, pointing to a corner of the room. Curious, he followed suit, as you got up, and started to search around the songs you had saved on your phone. "I had an idea."

"And what was that? I might get behind it, or leave you to your own devices. You still need to rest and shouldn't be coming up with these kinds of shenanigans." He said, putting one of his hands inside his pants' pocket. Even if he was more open to collaborating accordingly with Jujutsu High, his demeanor was mostly uncooperative, overall. Higuruma was still feeling like a wild animal in domestication process, and you noticed that, trying to propose this exercise to chip away at his aloof facade. If this got him to fight less like a suicidal maniac, you'd be satisfied enough.

"I'm doing this in order to not get hurt again when trying to protect you from your lack of practice fighting alongside other people" you told him, still searching for something to play. He opened his mouth to answer you, but felt a light surge of guilt, choosing not to say anything instead. After all, it was his fault that you were injured like that. These little pinches of guilt and remorse creeping up on him were bringing Higuruma back to the real world and its consequences, after what happened when he awakened his cursed technique.  

"Ah, here it is." You finally found a song, and let your phone on standby over the bed. "We will dance together, and you'll let me lead, okay?"

He huffed, somewhere between a sigh and a sardonic chuckle, still in disbelief at your idea. "I have no problem with that, but is this really necessary?"

"Firstly, I'm bored out of my mind. If I don't do anything, I might actually go insane locked up in this room." You began answering. "Also, you're great when fighting alone, but an absolute menace to any ally around you when fighting with company. We can't have that being the norm when you're stuck working with me, and I'm stuck working with you."

Higuruma sighed, defeated, and acquiesced.

You took both of his hands and pulled him to stand right in front of you. Then, raised one of them to rest over your waist, holding the other around shoulder-high, and rested your own palm on his shoulder. "Are you ready?" You asked.

He simply shrugged. "I guess. I must warn you that I am not very good at this, though."

You smiled and parted from his hand briefly, extending your finger to press 'play', beginning to waltz around to the beat of the song. You chose something easy and slow enough to start out. Higuruma was stiff as hell, so you tried the simplest thing you could, trying to guide him two steps back, two steps forward. Your efforts were fruitless. He was sturdy and his body would simply not budge. The sorcerer was clearly having a lot of difficulty following your lead, ending up stepping over your toes a few times. On top of that, he was trying to follow your movements by looking at your feet, as opposed to feeling the movements of your body and following along.

"Ouch! Higuruma, what the hell? I feel like I'm dancing with a rock." You told him, stopping for a second.

"In my defense, I informed you I wasn't good at this" he pointed out.

You sighed. "This isn't difficult." You looked at Higuruma and pulled him closer, so he wouldn't have room to be looking at your feet in between your bodies. "Come on, look at my face, not our feet."

You felt his body tightening, as his shoulders stiffened and rose up slightly, startled at the sudden way your bodies had pressed against each other. You tapped the hand you had over one of his shoulders and said, "relax. If you don't, I won't have toes at the end of this. Inhale, exhale, you know the drill."

"Fine." Higuruma closed his eyes, inhaled, held his breath, exhaled and then looked at you. He seemed more focused now, and you began to dance again, pulling and pushing him slowly to the beat of the music. This time, he had his eyes locked on yours, and followed your steps appropriately, so you began to increase the difficulty. You started to dance circularly, and he followed your waltzing effortlessly, as you smiled at him.

"There you go. See? You're not so bad," you said, "not bad at all."

For the first time in months, he truly smiled. This was the first time you saw him smiling, actually, and you returned the expression.

Higuruma began thinking to himself that this, maybe, was really not bad at all. 

[lookingfts]

If I lose myself tonight Anthony is on a whole category of his own. What makes someone so desperate for Kate and so convinced that they would be good together to make such a proposition. The power imbalance. The obsession. The fact he already had a contract drawn up. His lawyer must’ve raised an eyebrow or two. It blows my mind. Like is this ego or love or both? And their first time while fighting about Edwina and when he said “it can’t make you stay”. That hit me. And then I died at “where it belongs”.

I’m in awe at all the details you’ve thought of like the no kissing in the first part and then her using it in the second part to let him know she was serious. So good!

I am unhealthy obsessed with this Kanthony and just thankful for you and the way you brought them to life.

Hahaha thank you so much! Anthony definitely has an ego, but he's also so in love with Kate and truly believes that she's the one. He thinks that she has feelings for him too, or at least a strong attraction to him (that much is obvious to everyone) but won't let herself act on it, so he needs to give her this opportunity where she can act on her attraction while telling herself that she's just doing it for the money. And of course, he hopes to get past her walls and have a few real, intimate moments with her.

I know I've been dragging my feet on the Say my name Anthony POV...I still intend to do it, it just requires reading through those fics again and figuring out what needs to be in the companion piece (I did get so many great suggestions from you guys, thanks) so I don't accidentally retcon any important piece of information haha. And with work being so demanding on my energy right now, I just haven't had the mental space for that kind of a story. Fingers crossed that will change.

[atamascolily]

One thing that I love about Rebellion as a movie is that its plot is a direct result of two decisions made by the characters in the original series:

1) Homura's decision to tell Kyubey about the possibility of witches -- something which made me beat my fists and shout "NO, YOU FOOL, DON'T DO IT!" on my first viewing -- results in him kidnapping and experimenting on her in order to turn her into a witch. Oops? 2) Madoka's decision to give her hair ribbons to Homura, thus ensuring Homura retained her memories of her (the soundtrack for this scene is titled "ribbons of memory" to further emphasize the point), which results in Homura ripping Madoka from the Law of Cycles and becoming the Devil. Also oops but it's complicated.

Thus, I think the seeds for Walpurgis no Kaiten were already sown in Rebellion: Homura's decision to become the Devil will have unintended consequences that will drive the plot going forward. Based on what we know so far, those consequences likely include

1) the appearance of a second, duplicate/doppelganger Homura (the one with the insouciant smirk and the black and white striped headband). 2) the return(?)/creation of Walpurgisnacht - her name is in the title, after all.

If I had to pick a scene from Rebellion that I think will Hit Differently in Hindsight, it would be this conversation between Homura and Sayaka:

Sayaka: Do you intend to destroy the universe? Homura: *hairflip* After all the wraiths have been destroyed, perhaps I will. When that time comes, I suppose I can be your enemy. But do you think you'll be able to stand against me?

Can we unpack this for a moment? Homura's remark about destroying the wraiths (and the universe) is so jarring to me--is she serious about this? Why would she do this? The wraiths are what happens when you don't have witches--once they're gone, what will arise to take their place? Does Homura have a substitute in mind (the Incubators?) or a vision of what this world might look like? Is she really going to remake the world again to match those visions?

(ngl, having magical girls target an endless stream of Incubators would be very satisfying on an emotional level, but somehow I don't think this is where this is going)

Or is Homura just messing with Sayaka here? Is she reminding her here that wraiths, not the Devil, are the true enemies of magical girls, and that's what Sayaka should be focusing on instead? Is she saying, "Yeah, ring me up and fight me when the wraiths are gone" because she knows it's fundamentally impossible, that there will never, ever be an end to the wraiths as long as the status quo continues?

But look at what she says again:

When that time comes, I suppose I can be your enemy. But do you think you'll be able to stand against me?

Be careful what you wish for, Homura. You might will get it. Especially if you've become a being whose words and emotions shape reality... and might have other effects you're not aware of.

It's funny because up until now the obvious interpretation was that the next film was going to be Homura vs. everybody else... and while that still might technically be true, it's probably not going to be the "Homura" we were originally envisioning.

I think Homura's question has more teeth than she realizes, and will come back to bite her before the end. Can she stand against an enemy with her name and her face and her powers? Can she stand against herself?

On a thematic level, I think it's inevitable that Homura will (directly or indirectly) create her own enemies in an ironically self-fulfilling prophecy. And the wording in her speech suggests that this will happen in conjunction with something going haywire with the wraiths, i.e., the current system starting to break down, which in turn implies the likely return of witches (or something to replace them). What she promises Sayaka here will likely come to pass--just not in a way Homura ever wanted or expected (or can control).

This scene ends with another choice that I think will be important in Walpurgis no Kaiten: Homura erasing Sayaka's memories while Nagisa laughes and dances joyfully (spinning in circles!!) in the background. The context implies that Nagisa retains her memories of all that has happened, but unlike Sayaka, she has no interest in antagonizing Homura, and is perfectly happy with her new situation. For all that Homura wages an all-out brawl with Mami over custody of Bebe, Homura barely interacts with Bebe, let along Nagisa--she certainly doesn't have the same antagonism/history with her as she does with Sayaka, and thus no reason to go after her.

I think it would be fitting if Nagisa's knowledge proved pivotal in the end, and if she's forced to choose between living the kind of life that her existence in the Law of Cycles denied her and her loyalty to Mami. It would also be an ironic echo of Nagisa's role in Rebellion, where she is the one to tell Mami the truth of what's going on in Homura's labyrinth, which causes their previously idyllic life together to come to an end.

[butts-bouncing-on-the-beltway]

So if you're making a food forest, you need to gently noodge the land towards something that looks a little like this

using all edible plants. Or at least all plants that function towards the goal of food production for someone or something within the forest.

Because we intend to make biomes within our food forest for each livestock pasture, tailored to the needs of the animal that lives there, we'll want each biome of the food forest that we rewild to feed either us or the pastured livestock intended to live there.

Take the chicken biome

At it's barest foundations, the chicken biome is centered around the following plants:

Mulberry and weeping mulberry trees, fig trees, yucca, raspberry and blackberry bushes, climbing roses, nasturtium, pumpkin and squash, wormwood, oregano, thyme, lemonbalm, yarrow, comfrey, clover, sage, plantain leaf, rosemary, dandelion, beebalm, echinacea, calendula, turnips, carrots, and beets

While the final ecosystem we cultivate will obviously have far more biological diversity than that, these are the starting blocks of the biome. Functional plants that chickens and humans both love to have easy access to, including some that help us measure the environmental impact of the chickens themselves.

While there will ideally be lots of room to range free during the days, the goal is still to coop the chickens at night, so a recycled wood coop with climbing roses trellised on it, recycled crates for nesting boxes, and hay or wood chip litter. Some chicken friendly puzzles around, a few climbers/perches, and a watering trough hooked up to a rainwater collection system. We want them to lay their eggs in the nesting boxes as often as possible because frankly I don't plan to go egg hunting in the biome or cracking open fertilized eggs that were laid fuck knows how long ago because who knows how long it took me to find them. So obvi we need the chickens to like the coop as much or more than they like the biome lol. And considering the biome will be really nice, this will involve both training and a serious dedication to making that coop a lil chicken heaven.

The form of all these things obviously can not be determined until there is actually specific land to be cooperated with for a variety of fairly philosophically overwhelming reasons. But having the amorpheous theme of what will need to take shape when that day comes is exceptionally helpful to hitting the ground running, so to speak. It lets me build up my ecosystem mentally beforehand so that I can begin as much of that rewilding work as soon as possible and let nature take its course with little nudges and suggestions from me. By far, my preference I think in how to tackle all of this.

And the really cool part for me is going to be seeing it all come to life and getting to cultivate my home into a symbiotic wilds.

[olderthannetfic]

Escapade Dance Party 2023 Writeup 2/3

Here is the playlist I ended up with this year, plus my commentary:

First Half

Good Omens | Running in the 90's by Maria Morningstar

Good Omens is so tricky. On the one hand, there are a billion fantastic vids, many with editing that's better than this one. On the other, a lot of the preferred music is syrupy and slow, and GO fans are actively seeking out vids and have already seen many of the ones intended for cons in the English-speaking world.

I wanted something high-energy to open the dance with, and this ridiculous song fit the bill. It woke people up and got them noticing the music had started.

I don't know Maria, but her channel has a bunch of things with cyrillic titles, so I'm guessing she's Russian. That meant a higher chance of this vid being new to people at Escapade.

Tubthumping by Aaronantium

To be perfectly honest, I do not care about this anime, but I was chilling with Aaron at Vidders Chat and discussing my plans, and he offered to make me a vid for his vampire fandom.

I don't generally accept premieres because it means wrangling more people and dealing with uncertainty, but Aaron suggested this song, and it's always a crowd pleaser as is the vid everyone makes to it. This fandom is also unusually perfect for said joke, featuring as it does a repeatedly dying vampire who… well… gets back up again.

Actually, despite it not being most people's fandom, I think this vid got one of the biggest laughs and reactions of anything during the party.

Kirk/Spock | I Knew You Were Trouble by mogo nit

K/S is a perennial favorite with con attendees—more TOS but AOS too. I don't recall why I was specifically looking for it this year. Probably, it ranked best out of things people mentioned on their site profiles.

This is an old-ass vid from 10 years ago, so if people have seen it, they probably haven't seen it lately. It's also a song I love, cliched though it might be for vids.

Word of Honor - Wenzhou - Hit and Run by CelestialMoonDragon

I knew I wanted to include WoH, both for its many fans and for people still dragging their feet about checking out Asian live action m/m stuff. The fandom has a wealth to choose from from vidders all over the globe. The big issue was simply finding vids that weren't too plastered with show audio.

When I heard this song choice, however, I knew it was the one. WoH has some unusual genre elements for wuxia, specifically all the central government focus where wuxia characters usually stay away from politics. The song really highlights that aspect. Those lyric matches! Genius!

【夜访吸血鬼】【莱斯特】【Young and Beautiful】献给我最心中最美艳的吸血鬼——莱斯特 by 欧阳夏右

Obviously, if I was going to celebrate the new IWTV, I couldn't leave out the old movie!

This is a brilliant song choice given what happens to Lestat. It's interesting to me how many Chinese vidders use music I know well. It's always fun to see what they do with a Western source and Western music, and I think bilibili is largely uncharted territory for most Escapade attendees.

【The Sentinel】【Jim/Blair】It's consuming me（Lash视角）美剧-哨兵 同人mv by ozakikaoru

The Sentinel still has monofannish fans, but covering it for a dance party is a pain in the butt. I generally end up scraping the depths of Bilibili, and this year was no exception…

So how excited was I to find this refreshing and freaky take! This audio is apparently from some short film and has become something of a meme amongst vidders, but I hadn't heard it before and I don't think anyone at the con had either.

It's always extra surprising and wonderful to find a more serious and darker vid for fandoms everyone associates with camp and retro cheese. The Sentinel fans I included it for were blown away too. It's apparently a pretty good representation of the episode in question.

Forever Knight Vampires | Darkness, Darkness | Gothic 90s by knightvision1228

Because I had the vampires theme, I made a huge list of vampire fandoms to try to include. Forever Knight was one of my fandoms of the 90s and very popular with het shippers and slashers alike. Finding a vid that didn't look like bad VHS transfer, however, was easier said than done.

This one won out for featuring a rare song from the FK soundtrack that was never released. The vid also showcases the main trio instead of just being Nick/Jeanette het.

Megatron x Optimus (Song: Wrecking Ball) by Mellew

We have a lot of Transformers fans, and it's always so hard to find something I can play in the dance party… well… something that's not a 10-minute compilation of explicit fan art to horny reggaeton. Personally, I'm all about that reggaeton, but I've been looking for actual shipper vids that are a little more representative and a little less likely to make the fans combust in embarrassment.

When I heard the song choice… well… no other vid could compete.

But don't let the literalism and hilarious if one-note joke fool you: this is a fantastically edited vid that makes excellent use of the song's varying tempo.

And yes, I made sure to loudly say "WHY ARE YOU ALL LAUGHING? THIS IS A VERY SERIOUS VID" as the vid started.

BakuDeku AMV - Lucky Strike by caliowl 333

Do I watch BNHA? No. Do people at the con watch BNHA? No. Do antis hate this ship? Absofuckinglutely YES!

I love stupid shonen nonsense, and this fandom provides it in spades. It took a while to find an AMV that wasn't littered with not only show audio but dubbed show audio. (What am I, an animal?!)

I also just really love this song for dance parties.

Dancing on My Own - Robyn (Izzy Hands Edit) by auxiliarywardrobe

OFMD is another tough one. It's not due to a lack of vids: if anything, there are too many. But so many aren't suitable for a dance party and many are already familiar to people.

While I did find this on AO3 (honestly nearly a requirement for finding non-show audio vids in this fandom), it hadn't gotten any attention from people I recognized as an Escapade type crowd.

I loved the indignity of pairing Izzy with this ridiculous song. OFMD was a little anodyne for me in some ways, so the sleazy obnoxiousness of Izzy is a welcome antidote to all of the fluff and angst vids about the main ship.

At the same time, I don't particularly ship Izzy with anybody. I enjoy watching him be miserable, and the song is actually quite a good lyrical match for his impotent frustration.

Do You Wanna Touch Me? [Fanvid] by resurrecho

Okay, this one is cheating on my own rules. I'm sure people had every opportunity to see it… But it's also a femslash vid that is very, very horny.

This one's for you ladies tired of ~dewy flower~ soft bullshit!

Cult of Dionysus - Leverage OT3 - Eliot/Parker/Hardison by leverage brain worms

Leverage remains a perennial favorite and the new show had attendees talking,  but people often request the same tired old vid choice. I went looking for something that hadn't been played at every con over and over.

I liked that this vid was relatively recent. The song with poly lyrics was a fun touch.

HeiHua FMV~|| Hei Ye falling for the Thorny Flower by Black Flower

When I saw this vid, I said to myself: I don't know who they are, but I ship them!

AND GUESS WHAT? SEEING THE SHOW DID NOT CHANGE THAT OPINION!

Yes, this vid is directly responsible for me watching all these DMBJ adaptations.

I knew a lot of Escapade attendees were vaguely familiar with Reunion because of Zhu Yilong, but I didn't think most had checked out the rest of DMBJ, and this vid was so diametrically opposite of both that adaptation and the vibe of the big ship that I knew I just had to include it.

But seriously, this vidder actually has an excellent grasp of narrative. Now that I've seen the show, some of this stuff is repurposed and out of context, but you wouldn't know it from the eyelines.

Cover Me - A Fanvid by TinTurtle

Ah, Pros. The Professionals has the most dedicated fans at Escapade, hands down. They keep the con afloat and keep their fandom vibrant even after decades. Finding a dance vid to include for them, however, is a bit of a trial.

Realistically, I'm never going to find a vid they haven't all seen unless I make it myself, so I look for songs with a better beat than the typical old fandom vids tend to have.

The Fanged Four - Play with Fire (BTVS/ATS) by SlayerVid

People were talking about the Buffyverse again this year. Was it an anniversary of some kind? I can't recall, but it's a big nostalgia fandom for a lot of attendees, and it's one of the bigger vampire fandoms, so I wanted to include it.

While there used to be a billion vids for Buffy and Angel, only a fraction of them are findable online now. I went hunting for something not by a con regular and with visual quality that would play okay on a projector.

This is a great song for its grinding beat, and the vid is both recent and features a variety of vampire characters.

BL | Mobu ✘ Kikuchi S2 || So What by rosenana708

I suspect I found it by looking for Kei x Yaku vids, but as soon as I spotted it, I knew it was a must-have.

Yes, this is full of stupid show audio, but too bad: Nobody at a slash or BL con should be allowed to escape without knowing that A Man Who Defies the World of BL exists.

The Locked Tomb | Fences (SPOILERS!) by peachy 💕

This fandom was the latest hot flavor for many and f/f to boot. I was skeptical about finding a vid, but what do you know!

die for you / beyond evil by butillmissyou

After being pimped in by last year's vid find, I knew I wanted to include it again.

This music grabbed me by the throat. I'd never even heard of LÉON, but the soulful sound is perfect for this fandom.

Personal Jesus by killabeez

I desperately wanted a vid to this song. The cover isn't my fave, but I couldn't turn down the combo of a vampire fandom and this classic.

True, Killa isn't exactly obscure to anyone at Escapade, but this is a relatively less seen older vid and excellently edited.

BTS Vampire FMV | Bad Things (True Blood OP) by GoldenArmy7

I'm so clever.

Yes, this is mostly here so I can follow the True Blood vid with one to the True Blood theme song. Also to inflict BTS on people.

● Ichiro + Shiro | 'dope' (KeixYaku: Dangerous Partners FMV) by xXScarshadowXx

And now some BTS music, LOL

Sadly no longer online from what I can tell

WEDNESDAY | “Sweet But Psycho” Netflix Serie [HD] by SHIK

There are like thirty vids to this fandom using this song. This one blew the others out of the water.

I'll be honest, everyone was trying to push Wednesday/Enid around the time of the con, and that ship is the most boring thing you could possibly take away from this show. I wanted a vid that showcased what's actually fun here, which is not sucking all the creepy out of an Addams Family adaptation, for fuck sake.

ALIEN SUPERSTAR | Wanda & Scarlet Witch by LittleLaceBoots

MCU is still big with attendees, but it's so sprawling that knowing what to choose is hard. I found this music choice quite interesting for how it showcases the weird schtick of this particular show.

A Cowboy's Love by lilly_the_kid

If there's one AO3 vidder I will always play, it's lilly_the_kid! I wanted something for Star Wars, and I wanted it to be slash. This classic and ridiculous vid fit the bill.

Is it appropriate for a dance party? It is IF I SAY IT IS!

Boss Bitch | Lan Wangji (陈情令 The Untamed FMV) by slowparade

Everyone vids this song, but this example is particularly great!

I like aspects of The Untamed a lot. Sadly, those aspects do not include the central ship. I'm always on the hunt for vids that actually work for me. This take on Lan Wangji is hilarious.

Geraskier - Fine By Me by CainnetreIt delights me to find vids to other versions of popular canons. This is such a classic slash vid. It's not particularly danceable, but it's so fun that I wanted to include it, so it needed to go at the end of a section. It's the kind of song you wave your beer around to.

[centrally-unplanned]

I'm curious about the 'mythical “mid-production pivot” theory' that you mention Eva fans surmising. I'm given to understand that Anno took a darker and more psychological tack around episode 16, after reading a book of poetry about depression, and certainly the show's original proposal and the first draft of episode 24 seem to bear this out: Tokyo 3's destruction and Asuka's depression seem to have been later additions. Am I wrong or are you referring to something else?

You aren't wrong per se, it just wasn't nearly as dramatic a turn as these stories tended to suggest. By episode 24, for example, you already had Episode 16 full diversion-into-Shinji's mind; you already even have Episode 4's focus on Shinji's depression and 'auteur' delivery approach. So while there would be individual back-and-forth about individual episodes, and the show got edgier over time, it wasn't a large shift from the initial plan.

The specific draft of episode 24 you can see here; it was written by Akio Satsukawa, and most importantly never reviewed or approved by Anno. So its tonal shift isn't a directorial choice, instead just another creator's vision of the project, and one that was scrapped. I don't think it reflects strongly a debate about the show's direction - instead it can be viewed as bit of a leaked, unofficial document.

The poetry book you are referring to is Bessatsu Takarajima's "Understanding Mental Disease" - you can see some details on it here. The cited Newtype November 1996 interview I think really gets at how this was used:

Anno: I was stuck on Rei's monologue in the recap episode. One day, my friend lent me a psychology special of Bessatsu Takarajima. I was shocked by poems from that book. I was blown away. They switched my mind. Rei's monologue suddenly came to my mind.

It isn't really a depressed man trying to find solace that incidentally changed his work; he was hunting for inspiration for the show actively. So sure, reading this book 'changed' the direction in a certain sense; but only because the direction wasn't known and Anno was doing creative research, not because he was depressed and decided to change things up based on his own his turmoil.

Anno's depression was a bit more over the *production*, not his own mental health per se. He trying to Make It Work as an artist and hitting huge roadblocks at the end. Episodes 25 and 26 are absolutely different from the intended vision - but due to physical inability to complete that vision resulting from production delays, not a mood swing. He was at his most depressed after the completion of the show due to this, feeling it has drained him; his most famous "depression" comments are actually about that period:

After the television broadcast finished, I became worse and worse, and went to see a doctor. I even seriously contemplated death. It's like [I] was empty, with no meaning to [my] existence. Without the slightest exaggeration, I had put everything I had [into Evangelion]. Really. After that finished I realized that there was nothing [left] inside of me. When I asked [the doctor?] about it afterwards, [he said?] "Ah, that is an 'identity crisis'

There is also an interview with longtime Gainax staffer Evangelion producer Hiroyuki Yamaga where he pretty-much says Anno was exaggerating the drama in interviews for clout, lol:

On Anno’s severe depression, his “crisis of the soul,” as a motive in the development of Evangelion. YAMAGA: Well, I think Anno may have appeared in the Japanese media as you suggest; he’s made comments about wanting to die, and so forth, but at least from my perspective, things were never as serious as they appeared in the press. [LAUGHS]

Finally, and I don't have like one link or anything for this, but its just when you go through what we know of the production history, you can't really find a break point like this (outside of episode 25), there doesn't seem to be a turning point. All the themes are there from the beginning. Evangelion changed a ton during production, don't get me wrong, but here - look at the 1993 Evangelion Proposal document. The summary for episode 24 is:

Rei breaks down. Her secrets are revealed. At last awakened, the twelve strongest Apostolos descend from the Moon. Both Eva Unit-06 and the American continent vanish completely. Humans acknowledge their helplessness in the face of the Apostolos' crushing power. The promised time, when people will return to nothing, approaches. A human drama in the depths of despair.

Here is part of Shinji's character summary:

The young protagonist believes he can do nothing by himself, but, as new experiences change him and he is able to look reality in the face, he learns and grows as a person.

Naturally, we believe adults must give children self-purpose and the strength to act on their own, for the cause of passing on knowledge and technology. However, today's children can be found by themselves in front of the television, not interacting as part of a group. Other issues such as substance abuse, and never doing anything manually, leave children not knowing what they should do.

Children stuck in a reality wrought with pressures are left unable to act on their own. Are things really okay the way they are?

Its all there, right? Instrumentality, depression, commentary-on-otaku, etc. It was always the intent of the show.

I think this myth as I call it comes from the fact that episode 16 can seem jarring to audiences - but I don't think its jarring *thematically*, its jarring directorially. Some of that is the production getting a little stretched at that point; the abstract, introspective approach does require less animation cuts. But when Anno is asked about the dive-into-Shinji's-mind choice for the episode:

Anno: As far as that goes, I thought it was fine, but then when [the angel] speaks Japanese that was the end [of my initial conception]. Kaworu-kun had been prepared as a “human type” [angel] from the start, and I wanted to hold on to the idea of [an angel] conversing in human language until then. When I wondered, well, what will [Shinji] do after he gets taken into the angel, I wondered if this might be [his] chance for self-reflection. Episode 16’s “inner space”-like environment was the first [of that sort]. That went relatively smoothly.

Its like "oh yeah i was gonna have him talk to an angel, but I thought oh crap that will impact Kaworu's reveal too harshly, so what to do....ah, what about Shinji talks with himself?" This isn't a depression-pivot, this is just the creative process, the team was learning and experimenting as they went.

[forever-will-last]

How did this amazing polycule come to be? Both in verse and in the discord if it isn't too much trouble

Sooooo in verse? I don't have an answer LOL the lovely thing about crackfic is you don't always really need an explanation for stuff like this. I have no idea how this polycule came to be but what I DO know is that the in verse characters do NOT follow canon. There was no burn book. There was no bus. Regina still got her back fucked up at one point (not entirely sure how yet, or if I'll go into the details of whatever accident she did have at all) but that's just bc I love disabled and chronically ill Regina and want to write her into some of the one shots.

When did these characters meet? Was it high school? Was it college? Who fucking knows! All I know is the EARLIEST in their four years we'll see is the fall semester of their sophomore (second, for the non Americans) year of college with occasional references to things that happened spring semester freshman year (I only mention this bc I literally reference exactly one thing from freshman year in chapter 3, not sure if itll ever pop up again) because I'm being purposefully vague about it. Maybe later on into writing in this verse I'll have more of a concrete answer but I wouldn't count on it lmfao.

As for the discord server, that I CAN give a better answer on! And this is going to be the WILDEST answer of all time so hang in there.

So we have channels for three different poly ships in our ships channel list on that server: one for Polystics (Regina/Gretchen/Karen (and sometimes Cady, depending on the person/mood/setting/etc)), one for Nightmare Blunt Rotation (Regina/Cady/Janis) and one for Dream Blunt Rotation (Cady/Gretchen/Karen). Now, Nightmare Blunt Rotation as a joke predates me joining that server, so I can't really give you much on how THAT came to be, but Dream Blunt Rotation's name was spawned as a riff on the other, obviously.

Literally just last week we were having one of our "blending sessions" where we basically just brainstorm back and forth about what a specific character or characters would do in a specific situation that can be varying degrees of angst. For example, one of these blending sessions is actually how the entirety of the first Dead!Aaron AU Fic came to be.

In this particular session we were taking a deeper dive into "what if Regina jumped in front of the bus and it wasn't an accident" essentially and I had said something along the lines of "Sui***** Regina in any partnership (take your pick from the standard and adjust their reactions accordingly) where she doesn't let on that there's anything wrong until an attempt."

I was primarily thinking of Cady, Janis, and Gretchen when I sent that, as those are the big three Regina x ___ ships in that server, but someone else said "consider Polystics where she attempts bc she thinks the other two would be better off without her" and this had me thinking. What if there was an insane polycule of Polystics + Cady + Janis...

So I asked the fateful question of "do we have a silly name for this yet like NBR and DBR?" The original suggested names were "Pile of Lesbians", "99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall", "Mean Girls", and then... The brilliant Tumblr user Sexycornenthusiast busted out "The Psych Ward" and that was it. We all laughed really fucking hard and knew that had to be the insane name.

This all happened on 4/17 and then on 4/20 I got astronomically high as god intended but I really wanted to write. Now, I have a rule for myself where I don't write fic I intend to publish when I'm high or drunk bc I generally write very serious fic (I cannot imagine what hell chapter of a thousand pictures i would have put out with the level of high I was). But I still REALLY wanted to write so I was like fuck it and asked for one-shot suggestions.

Someone recommended hitting Regina with progressively weirder things throughout the day, as we have an ongoing joke about the various shit Regina gets hit by in fanfic (there's a PHENOMENAL cadina fame au another server member wrote where Regina gets hit by a golf cart and then in my main fic a thousand pictures Regina gets hit by a chair). I loved that idea but was like "wait what ship should I write this with bc I want the first thing to be her getting elbowed by her partner when she wakes up" and someone suggested psych ward and that was it. I knew what I had to do.

After I wrote that one shot i started getting more ideas for this crackfic and decided to make a one shot collection set in the same AU because fuck it. The world needs more crackfic and by God does the world need more psych ward.

(final fun fact before I end this behemoth of a post - I tagged every possible duo/trio of psych ward on the fic on AO3 because I do intend to have at least one chapter dedicated to each possible pairing or trio and there are SEVERAL tags where this is now the only fic in its tag and SEVERAL of the trio tags I had to fully type out because they straight up did not exist at all LMFAO)

[boomandblehhhh]

Day 4:

I felt better today. He asked me to give him his space and i thought i would. It was hard and it was not breezy. It was one of the hardest things I've done in a while. He was probably looking for that girl in the office today and then as per my suggestion he found out that he can check on the app whether she's in office or not. That's a good thing i guess, I'm not too sure.

Not that i want him to stay stuck up on me but I'm genuinely concerned he's gonna waste his time again. I have a very strong gut feeling that she's in a serious relationship with someone already and given that she has no idea about his intentions, she's not even telling him about her relationship. I don't want him to get hurt again.

Let's talk about me.

My thoughts? Umm okay so. It was hard today. Giving him the space but still thinking about him all the time. I'm gonna have to get used to not calling him so much. I think I'm strong enough to do it but at the end of the day i just want some encouragement that yes girl you did this really well today irrespective of how hard it was for you. And I'm really proud of you. And i want it from him. I know it's wrong but ugh it's so fucking hard.

I've realised that i need something to take up my time that was previously taken up by him. Or even my ex. I need to do some activities that help me improve myself. I'm just not sure what they are yet. I'm sure I'll figure it out soon enough. Something to take my mind off of him. I'll get there i know.

Positives:

1. The girl in the office stories didn't hit hard today. Atleast not as hard as yesterday. Given that I'm pmsing i did very well.

2. I started meditation and i intend to keep it going. I'm not really sure what this did for me but i do feel less anxious and i will make this a habit.

3. I was able to feel at peace today most of the times. I guess all i needed was the friendship security and with that given, i guess i am feeling a little better. I hate that he's my only best friend here. I'm gonna have to gear up coz he's not gonna stay forever.

4. Oh another thing, I've realised that he's not gonna be with me forever, and today i accepted it. No anxiety or panic. I just can't have all the same people in all the phases of my life and so can't he. This right is reserved for a lucky few and I'm not sure he'll make it to that list. I know he'll always be my friend but i don't think he'll be there forever. And i hope that doesn't hurt me.

Conclusions:

I don't think anything gets better with time. You just give yourself the time to accept things. I'm not saying I'm at the peak of it, but I'm getting there. And never think that if it's a peak, there will be a low after a high. This is the peak of your life and acceptance and time are only going up. This was just a bumpy area and you have got this. You're always ever only going up and to better things. Trust this and trust God. Do your best in everything, even if it hurts and just get on with the day. One day at a time, one moment at a time. You got this. I got this. We all got this.

See you tomorrow. I love you guys so much. Remember to love yourself.

Good night, see you tomorrow❤️

[chatonnoir]

Hi, i started watching ML yesterday with the french dub because of your suggestion, and because cartoons in french make me nostalgic so I thought why not. Why do you recommend it so much, though?

Yesss I always love seeing more people watch the French dub! God where do I begin with all the reasons I love it?? I went in to it a bit in the ask where I was highlighting some script differences between the French and the English dubs. Note that I watch every episode in both dubs and think the English dub has a lot of good things as well (like that Chat Blanc performance hoowee). I push the French dub agenda a lot mainly because the English dub is so widely watched and a lot of more recent or casual fans don't even really know anything about the French dub, which is sad to me because it's honestly so charming. I also just think its good to watch media in its original language, especially if the story takes place in the country where that language is spoken. Going in to why I love it in detail:

It's more mature

A lot of the script choices in the French dub are more mature and make ML feel more like an animation that can be enjoyed by all ages (like the vibe I get from ATLA), whereas the English dub will often make you reaaaally aware that you're watching a show for 7 year olds ("TiMe To dE-eViLizE" my detested). Like, Hawkmoth/le Papillon sounds a lot more dramatic and menacing when he says "darken their heart" in the French dub, whereas when he says "evilize them" in the English dub, he sounds like a joke, like some kind of nonthreatening idiot villain from some low-budget Nick Jr. show for preschoolers where the heroes he fights are puppets.

I've found that they tone down the emotional weight of lines in English (as well as the romance, which I cover in its own point later) to the point where I find them less impactful. In Animan, for example, after Chat Noir thought Ladybug had gotten eaten by that T-Rex and pulled her in to a hug, he says "That was a wild ride," in English, versus "I thought I'd lost you..." in French. Another example: in the Eng dub of Copycat, Chat Noir says "his crush just got crushed! ... That makes two of us." In the French dub, he says "you just broke his heart, after all! ... Not just his, by the way." So, yeah, in both cases the English lines sound a lot more childish/less heavy and I really can't take them that seriously, but the French lines hit you like a punch to the solar plexus.

If you've ever tried to get a friend in to ML only to have them refuse because it's "too childish" or "cringy" etc., tell them to watch the French dub.

It's sweeter & more romantic, and the characterization of Ladybug and Chat Noir is more faithful to what was originally intended.

Let's be real, I'm here for the romance, as are a lot of us. Ladybug and Chat Noir are far more affectionate with each other in the French dub. In addition to the usual "my Lady" and "Buguinette", Chat Noir has called Ladybug "ma belle" or "beautiful"/"my beautiful" in Dark Cupid, "lady de mon cœur" or "Lady of my heart" in Frightningale, and "my Buguinette"/"my little bug" in Miracle Queen (as opposed to just "little bug" in the Eng dub). Ladybug often calls him "mon Chaton" and "mon minou", or my kitten/my kitty/my kittycat, and she uses the possessive "my" fairly often (totally normal thing to call someone whom you insist you're Not Dating lmao /s). One lighthearted not really serious fanfiction pet-peeve I've had is when people write Ladybug calling him "Chat." She calls him "Cat" a few times in the English dub, which is what fic writers are undoubtedly going for, but "Chat" is French and pronounced completely differently (like "Sha"), and in the French dub she only calls him "Chat Noir" in full when she's not using a petname, never "Chat". However, I've always felt like she uses the affectionate "Chaton" even more often than she uses "Chat Noir" in the French dub or "kitty" in the English dub. Calling him "Chaton" all the time comes as easy to her as breathing. I think fic writers are missing out on the chance to have Ladybug just be stupidly affectionate in every other sentence she says to Chat Noir. Like, guys, replace "Chat" and overuse "Chaton" all you want, it's actually canon and in-character

In this same vein, I have a lot of annoyances with how their relationship is characterized in the English dub, especially Chat Noir. His characterization in the English script seems to go for a more “Cool Guy Ladies' Man” vibe (which, I'll be honest, is not my cup of tea) whereas the French dub goes for more "endearingly corny overly affectionate hopeless romantic who acts like he stepped out of an old cartoon", which is how he's supposed to be characterized. I mean, come on, roses, puns, hand kisses --- he may be a cool hero but he is not a Cool Guy by any means. I feel like this line from Stormy Weather highlights it best: after Ladybug helps Chat Noir up and teases him about cats landing on their feet, and right before the iconic hand kiss, he says "thanks, miladybug, but I had it covered" in English, whereas in French he says "it was on purpose, my Lady, for the pleasure of meeting you again." In a choice between the Chat Noir who tries to play it cool VS. the Chat Noir who uses it as an opportunity to cutely say he fell on purpose because he knew his Lady would be around to pick him back up, the second one is indisputably cuter and wins by a landslide.

I'm not a fan of how English dub Chat Noir sometimes feels like a different character, but more than that, that difference in characterization is what feeds the stupid false idea prevalent among some fans/hate-watchers that he's a Nice Guy(TM) who is harassing her. This is especially exacerbated by the small differences in the way they characterized Ladybug to play off of him in the English script. The most glaring offense that comes to mind is the attempted kiss in Prime Queen, where Ladybug stopped him with "not a chance, Kitty" in English, versus "now is not the time, my Chaton" in French. Just a few words completely change the tone of this line and the impression it gives of how Ladybug feels. Both the delivery and wording of the first one give the impression that Ladybug is irritated by Chat Noir asking for a kiss. In the French version, her tone of voice, the wording, and her use of "my Chaton" give you the impression that she's unamused but still patient and soft with Chat Noir, and her gentle chastising highlights what she's actually annoyed by -- not his flirtation, but his bad timing. They're flirty best friends. She enjoys their flirty banter. What she hates is when he gets distracted/tries to flirt during tense moments. Ladybug's affectionate exasperation with and soft spot for Chat Noir are far more apparent in the French dub.

The English dub characterization also feeds the bad alphahole romance novel-esque fanfics that characterize him as his uber confident alphamale sexual badboy for their bad smut but we're not getting in to that

The platonic affection is sometimes better shown in the French dub as well, like Chat Noir telling Ladybug "you're my best friend" in Glaciator, or Adrien telling Marinette "I'm happy to have you as my friend, you know" in the French dub of Troublemaker rather than the English line, "I'm glad to have you as one of my fans."

Overall, I just find the characters more likeable and the relationships between them more tender in the French dub. The English dub is fun, but the French dub is just undeniably sweeter.

The French voice castings, especially Adrien / Chat Noir's voice

I definitely prefer Tikki & Marinette's French voices, as well as the French voices of most of the secondary characters. One thing I hear often from people who watched the English dub first is that they don't like is Plagg's French voice but ... I actually love it lmaooo. I adore both of Plagg's voices for different reasons, Plagg's English voice sounds like "cute mischievous gremlin sprite who will cause problems on purpose but you love him anyway", and Plagg's French voice totally sounds like "millennia-old cat god who invited himself in to your home and demanded wet food only, and who pretends to be nonchalant when he's actually already adopted you as his son in his mind."

Now on to the boy, the myth, the legend, the best part of the French Dub: Adrien. Like I said earlier, I do think the English VA does a great job as well (especially Chat Blanc GOD), but his French voice sounds far more age-appropriate most of the time. He sounds like the sweetheart shy boy he's supposed to be. His voice is so unbearably soft and sweet and warm, especially during tender/romantic moments, that it will literally melt you.

Then there's his Chat Noir voice. Honestly, I think French dub Chat Noir is unmatched. Sorry to English dub enjoyers but honestly to me 90% of the time English Chat Noir sounds like Spongebob. Benjamin Bollen's voice as Chat Noir has this musical quality to it that's so fun to listen to and that no other dub pulls off, and it fits his cartoony, overly affectionate, hopeless romantic dork vibe so well. It's like he ends every sentence he says with heart emojis. There's also the stupidly cute pouty voice that he uses when he's being dramatic/teasing, which you can listen to here and here. Also, the way he says “wo-ow” gives me so much dopamine. (Also very important: his singing voice is Angelic.)

This got long af because I have a lot of thoughts and feelings about the French dub, but TL;DR: The French dub is superb because it’s charming and sweet and romantic and emotional and stays true to the characters. People who are used to the English dub may have a hard time adjusting from the voices they've gotten used to but I guarantee if they stick with it a bit they'll get used to it and it's absolutely worth it.

[uchihaclansslutt]

THIS WAS SO FUN TO WRITE @sslutf0ryel3na

captain's daughter; connie springer

things to know: drabble, fem!reader, lowercase intended, suggestive language, captain levi has a daughter, angst if you squint?? right person, wrong time

"i fucked up."

the survey corps were making a railroad to further develop paradis, especially with the insane events that were coming soon. although eren could've done it himself using his titan form, he insisted the rest help in order to "train their bodies." at the moment, you were helping jean hammer the wooden boards down.

you looked up and sighed when you saw your ex, connie springer. the heat was already annoying you and now he was here. "connie, genuine question," you wiped the sweat off your forehead and scrunched your brows, "when are you not fucking up?"

you heard a snort coming from your left. "sorry, carry on," jean brushed off as soon as you turned towards him. you completely forgot he was nearby, the heat and connie were definitely starting to get to you.

"i need your help, y/n." he sounded desperate but you weren't going to give in.

you were still a bit salty about the breakup. your relationship with him was perfect until he decided to get all immature—you hated him for it. you never understood how he could let go of something that meant so much.

you looked at jean, who just suppressed his snickering, and then back to connie again. "i'm not helping you."

"i'm serious, please." you ignored his begging and continued working on the railroad. connie took a deep breath in and rubbed his nape, "i slept with the captain's daughter."

"WHAT?!" you and jean exclaimed at the same time, dropping your equipment right away. there was no way.

"oh i'm definitely not helping you now, springer," you scoffed and chuckled. "have fun dealing with that."

jean was still in disbelief, he could not process the fact his best friend messed up so bad. "captain levi's daughter?" he asked once more just to clarify. connie nodded, disappointed of himself. "god, are you out of your fucking mind?!

"she was just cool! we hit it off right away and well shit, one thing just led to another," he defended. you watched him crouch on the ground and cover his face, "i think he saw me climbing out the window too."

jean's eyes widened, "don't tell me that's why he's visiting us today."

you laughed sarcastically. "well, if it isn't the consequences of your own actions."

"you're fucking done for man." you'd expect jean to be laughing his ass off and making fun of connie's mistake, but he seemed rather stressed instead. he rubbed the side of his head, "but i'm lost. why would you need y/n's help for that?"

you thought about it for a moment and realized jean had a point. who in the right mind would ask their ex to help them with something like this? you glared at connie, pressuring him to answer jean's question since your curiosity piqued too.

"captain levi doesn't know we broke up-"

you cut him off, "captain knows everything. believe it or not, he's a big gossiper and word gets around quick." you knew this personally, only because levi went out of his way to ask if you were okay. "you're not making it out alive. good luck."

he started getting restless—he was pacing, fidgeting with his fingers, it was honestly written all over his face too. to make things better, in a distance, you heard the sound of horses marching towards you all.

"shit, shit, shit," connie cussed. "jean?-"

the taller friend scoffed, "listen man, i love you but i'm not fucking with the captain. short stuff's scary."

they got closer, you were now able to see hange and levi on each horse. hange looked the same—energetic as ever. you couldn't say the same for captain levi though.

you three continued working on the railroad, acting as if nothing happened in the last fifteen minutes. all of you thought if you were doing a good job on the railroad, the punishment wouldn't be as bad for connie.

"cadets! here, now." captain levi looked furious. in a matter of seconds, everyone stood in a line in front of hange and levi. "were any of you with springer last night?"

he shot an eye at sasha and jean specifically, considering the fact the three of them were best friends. both of them shook their heads, "no captain."

"do you wanna tell me what you were doing last night?" levi wasn't asking, he was demaning an answer from connie.

connie was sweating more than usual. you didn't blame him though, the captain was intimidating. sleeping with his daughter was basically asking to get killed by levi's own hands.

"i was," he started before pausing for a while. great, he's gonna mess this up for himself. "i-"

"he was with me captain."

"tsk." levi turned to you slowly with a scowl on his face. "you can get into big trouble if you're lying, y/n. you guys broke up, i already know this. nice try."

"no captain, i'm serious. we were together last night and talked about some things." you didn't know how you managed to keep a straight face, considering the fact you were laughing at connie's misery not too long ago.

you didn't understand how you were able to lie with ease.

levi stared at connie, waiting for him to speak for himself. "she's right captain. we talked it out."

the captain walked away from the line, getting back onto his horse. hange waved goodbye and did the same.

"did we seriously come all the way out here for that?" the brunette asked as she sweat.

"we need to find the fucker that was in her room last night and rip his fingers off."

hange sighed, "whatever you say shorty."

the six other survey corps let go of a breath they didn't know they were holding onto.

"holy shit," jean exhaled, "he bought it."

"what did you even get yourself into?" sasha asked while nudging connie.

connie wiped the sweat off his face. "long fucking story." suddenly, he started looking all over the place. he was looking for you because he wanted to thank you, but you were nowhere to be found.

later that same evening, everyone returned back to their rooms. after an overwhelmingly long, hot day, all that was needed was a cold shower and a good night's sleep.

you were in your room, drying your hair with a towel when you heard a knock on your door. you went to open it to see who it was and to your surprise, it was connie.

he pulled you into his embrace instantly, hiding himself in the crook of your neck. "you saved my ass, y/n." his hand was caressing the back of your head ever-so-gently. "thank you so much."

being in his arms was so nostalgic. part of you missed him—the warmth and security he provided, his natural scent, the way he made you laugh so effortlessly.

you were about to throw your hands around him as well. "hey, connie-" you whispered but, he didn't seem to hear it.

"i'll never bother you again," he said as he let go of you and walked away, "i promise."

you brought your hand up to stop him but pulled it back. you wanted him to keep annoying you to death, you wanted him to be the first thing you saw every morning, you wanted to tell him you missed his presence—you wanted him back. how could he be so fucking dense?

there was so much you wanted to tell him but you realized it could never happen. besides from his immaturity, you two were born in a world where tomorrow wasn't guaranteed.

while standing at the corridor dumbfounded, you finally figured out how you were able to lie to levi's face so easily.

deep inside, you wanted it to be true.

[totheblood]

totheblood's sleepover

hi all! hope you are having a fun night, i wanted to do something fun in honor of me hitting 800 followers. i just recently started writing and can't believe i have hit this milestone and that this many people enjoy my writing! also a huge thanks to everyone over at @tshwritersnet, thank you for the endless support, kindness and friendship.

ships. send me a description about yourself and I'll ship you with a character (not limiting to marvel)

cast your mutuals. tell me what to cast my mutuals/friends as and i will!

character playlist. send me a character and i'll make a playlist for them

song recommendations. tell me about yourself and i'll give you a song that reminds me of you

fmk. fuck marry kill, pretty self explanatory?

moodboard. give me a vibe and a person and i'll make a moodboard for them

movie reviews. send me a movie and if i have seen it i will give my honest review on it

graphics. do you need a graphic? send me an ask with what you need it for, what you want it to say, colors and overall vibe, and i will do my best to make it for you

fic recs. tell me what you like, and i will suggest a fic for you

free compliments. send me your work, (fics, moodboards, playlists, graphics) and i'll compliment it

questions. ask me anything, and i will give you the honest answer.

advice. need advice? great! im great at giving advice.

rant/vent. if you need a place to let out your thoughts i'm here

get to know me. send me one of these prompts and answer it for yourself! so we get to know each other

blurbs. send me a prompt from the following list, who you want it written for, and i'll write a short blurb

broken trust

“ you broke your promise. “ “ i never intended on keeping it. “ “ thought you were one of the good ones. “ “ i can’t believe i'd be so stupid... [to trust you]. “ “ you broke your promise. why? “ “ you promised me. “ “ so? “ '' don’t bother with an apology. '' '' it’s my fault for being so naive. '' '' you don't deserve me. not anymore. '' '' trust goes both ways. '' “ you lied to me. “ '' trust is earned. you have to give it to get it. '' '' this wasn’t supposed to happen. '' '' you weren’t supposed to lie. “ “ why couldn’t you just be honest with me? “ “ what else did you break? “ '' i thought we could be honest with each other no matter what. '' '' why don't you trust me? '' “ think you can forgive me? “ “ maybe one day. but it’s gonna take some time. “ '' you don't think i trust you? '' '' well, clearly not! '' '' i know you don’t trust me... '' '' you should have known better. '' “ did i break your heart? “ “ i promise — “ “ don’t. “ '' you seriously expect me to trust you after the shit you just pulled? '' “ trust you? are you [fucking] serious? “

grumpy/sunshine prompts

“ it's different when [he's] with me. “ “ honestly, i don't get you two as a couple. “ “ you can do so much better. “ “ i love [her]. i know that might not be enough for you, but it is to me. “ “ [B] hates everyone. “ “ everyone but you. “ “ how could you possibly love someone like B? “ “ it's really none of your business who i'm dating. “ “ he's always been there for me when i needed him. “ “ you don't know [him] like i do. “ “ [he's] more relaxed in private. “ “ you love me, don't you? “ “ too much to function. “ '' how did you pull someone like that? '' '' how come i'm the one with a resting bitch face but you're the one with an attitude? '' '' you are sunshine incarnated. i hope you know that. '' '' but you're so cheery, and [he's] so... weird. '' '' [he's] not a bad person. '' '' you might be the only person i can tolerate, but not even you can bring out the best in me this early in the morning. '' '' you're lucky you're cute, because your eternal optimism is super annoying. '' '' you complement each other well. '' '' i've never seen you this happy with anyone before. '' '' [she] makes you smile. that's quite the achievement. '' '' oh my god, you're smiling? '' '' just because i happen to hate everyone else, doesn't mean i don't want to spend every second of my day with you. '' '' you're the only one who's ever going to see me this way. '' '' this way what? '' '' this happy. '' [beat] '' not counting our wedding day. '' '' smile. it's not gonna kill you. '' '' you're angry. '' '' i'm not angry, this is my everyday face. '' '' so what exactly did you do on your parents wedding day? '' '' uh... counted the hours until i could go home and play mario kart. ''

[thekimspoblog]

I was hoping the fact that I included "Act 1 is too hard" as my closing talking point would convey that it was intended as a joke. But apparently that's putting too much faith in people who watch seven hour videos explaining the Shakespearian tale of "Five Nights at Freddy's".

Incidentally, I did beat Act 1 only a day after writing my original post. But the thing is I probably wouldn't have done that if I didn't know a completely different gaming experience was waiting for me on the other side. Yes, the battles are technically more difficult in Act 2, but the game also has regular checkpoints and more frequent intervals of exposition. In fairness, the environmental puzzles of Act 1 are actually fairly straightforward, so it's not like the inaccessibility of the game becomes particularly egregious early-on. But I'm still left wondering how many people bought this game assuming it was just a more polished version of "Sacrifices Must Be Made", kept dying on the snowy hill, concluded that the game was endless, and gave up.

My real point is that the player isn't "stupid" if they have that reaction. If Mullins gets to take all the credit for making a game full of secrets, he also has to take the blame for anyone bouncing off and calling this thing a rip-off. The debate about "Difficulty and Reward vs. The Player has the Right to the Entirety of the Media they Purchased" is ultimately a matter of subjective opinion. But as a perpetual n00b who plays games for the story and doesn't appreciate getting told to Get-Gud, my sympathies lean towards the latter.

I don't care about Kaycee or Luke. I don't care about the Mullinsverse. I don't even really care about the Nazi Bombs Under Berlin besides simply wanting to praise the devs for delivering some actual (if contrived) payoff for the mystery of the OLD_DATA. For me, a narrative lives or dies by its characters, so in my opinion the best part of this story is just watching the chemistry between the Scrybes play out. THE DIALOGUE FOR THOSE FOUR IS VERY GOOD; you can immediately feel the ongoing rivalry and alliances of convenience. So all I'm really saying is I wish the game gave a few more breadcrumbs of that a little sooner. Ultimately I realize I'm basically just complaining that this program doesn't function more like a conventional RPG, and it's not like there are NO leg-ups given to people who struggle through Act 1, (the death cards are a very clever mechanic) but I still gotta ask "How many times are you going to make me fight this *****ing prospector?!"

Here are just a few minor tweaks I would make, in order of how good an idea I think they are:

Just add more dialogue between the Stoat, the Stinkbug and the Stunted Wolf, so it feels less like the player has hit a brick wall once they exceed three or four run attempts. It doesn't even have to be lore relevant. Even some flavor text of just them bickering would make things feel not so repetitive. Maybe allow them to continue to transform into their true identities even if the player keeps losing, so we're not distracted spending three days wondering why an insect is wearing lipstick.

Put at least one screenshot of Act 2 on the Steam Store page. Just my preference, but IMO the incentive that would give the player to keep at it outweighs the drawback of spoiling the "twist".

After 25 runs or so, the talking cards get fed up and just start telling you what moves to play. I especially like this idea because it incorporates my first suggestion as well.

After 25 runs, the glitches from the Karnoffel Code cause Leshy to become nerfed to a comical degree, in a way that is clearly mocking the player by patronizing them.

Just give the player the option to return to a checkpoint after beating each of the initial bosses. This one would do the most to interfere with the gameplay and story the piece is trying to tell, so I'm not as serious about this suggestion.

I've heard rumors that there's a mod for Act 2 Endless Mode, and that really appeals to me. The off-kilter presentation of this story is obviously part of the charm, but I also don't think it's wrong for players to want a more vanilla version of this experience.

Making a compliment/criticism sandwich for "Inscryption"'s final twist ending.

Criticism: The OLD_DATA is your classic example of mystery box writing. You make an audience work hard enough for a piece of information, they're going to be disappointed if the payoff feels picked at random.

Compliment: I wasn't able to guess the twist! When I initially started down the rabbit hole of "This video game hides a dark secret", I expected it to be one of three things - (a) absolutely nothing; the true horror was the time we wasted along a way, (b) a mind virus which is a pretty cliched concept for a horror video game at this point, or (c) some really tasteless drivel about child abuse. I WAS NOT EXPECTING HITLER! Granted, this sort of "Inglorious Bastards" style decontextualization of real-world tragedies is still a little tasteless, but this game gains massive points with me for at least being creative with the choice of shock value.

Criticism: The game still seems to be trying to have its cake and eat it too, in terms of whether the OLD_DATA is cursed. I don't think the found footage movie with Luke is very good; I get that it's cringey on purpose but I don't find the joke funny; to me it just subtracts from the atmosphere where those segments are SUPPOSED to be the part of the game most grounded in realism. It employs too many cliches I'm already sick of from creepypastas which were written over a decade ago. And while the secret of the OLD_DATA is cool and indeed dangerous, it would not drive someone to madness. I think the story is more interesting if we cut out the "King in Yellow" homages altogether.

Compliment: Like I said, "Nazi Bombs Under Berlin" was a good twist! That's such a more tangible threat than your run-of-the-mill Polybius clone. It makes perfect sense that this game about secret codes would have its final secret be a detonator created during an age of cryptographic warfare. It ties in well with the game's theme of how all information is useless without context. I don't like interpretations where the game itself is the doomsday device, because that's been done; it's a lot harder to falsify the claim that this game holds the KEY to a doomsday device. And that makes the danger a little scarier even though obviously fictional.

Criticism: The story of how the floppy disk ended up on Luke's desk makes no sense. Kaycee just did that thing characters in creepypastas always do, where instead of just destroy the stupid game when she had the chance, she gave it to someone else hoping they would do it for her. Why tho?!

Compliment: Not exactly a compliment so much as a negation of the previous criticism. This game's subplot utilizes mystery-box storytelling, but at the end of the day Daniel Mullins wasn't angling for any Pulitzers. ARGs are still a new art form, and maybe it's a low bar, but the fact that the treasure map lead to ANYTHING narratively satisfying still puts the game head-and-shoulders over tedium like "Who's Lila?". Personally I like the multimedia nature of ARGs in theory, but in practice they usually end up being too much work for little reward. But it seems like the people who did participate had fun, and now we all get to profit from the fruits of their labors.

Criticism: The steps to learn about the Nazi Bombs Under Berlin were still way too hard though. Deeply into "How TF was anybody supposed to get that?!" territory. I can only assume people dug into the game's code for some of these... which is kind of the point anyway, isn't it? "Manatee##" is especially where you've officially lost me. Inscryption is all about the violability of barriers, and for me, that riddle was the moment "Daniel Mullins" went from some name attached to this cool little artifact, to an AUTEUR who wanted me to notice him. And I hate auteurs.

Compliment: This is the main point I wanted to get to! The reason this game ultimately gets a thumbs up from me is that the story is not INCOMPLETE without the twist ending. I criticize a lot of indie games for using metafiction to distract from a lack of conventional narrative, but Inscryption fascinates me because it cleverly avoids that trap. Like "The King in Yellow", the point is not the contents of the forbidden knowledge. The point is the effect the forbidden knowledge has on the characters.

And maybe I'm just a sucker for a quadradiestic magic system, but I do like the characters and the ideas the surface-level story tells! Leshy and Magnificus have made peace with the inherent suffering of existence. PO3 wants an escape from the purgatory, but his idea of a greater purpose is really just to spread the misery. Grimora wants to end it all out of mercy, but really I think she's just a pessimist who has no right to project her desire for suicide onto everyone else. The chemistry between these four characters manages to say something interesting about the meaning of life. It's HELPFUL to understand what the Karnoffel Code is, so we can better understand why the characters did what they did, but you don't actually need that information to understand the events of the story.

There is something dangerous buried at the bottom of the game's software, and it's a nice touch how the difficulty accessing this power is symbolized by a literal sea of data. The four main bosses of the game's world had gained self-awareness through enough playthroughs, and are now stuck in a cycle of each one trying to remake the game in their own image. With each iteration of this struggle, the characters were getting more powerful and the situation was getting more and more out of hand, until eventually one of the four (implied to be the youngest) finally hacked the game so badly that it was able to breach containment onto the internet. Grimora tries to kill everyone including herself, to prevent whatever the dangerous thing is from falling into the wrong hands, but she's too slow and the game ended up in the Steam Store anyway. That's all you really need to know, and that's a plenty enough operatic story to sustain a three hour game.

Criticism: Even with all this laid out on the table, the stakes of this story don't make a whole lot of sense. I can see why Grimora would be worried the detonator could fall into the wrong hands, but if that's the case it's kind of a happy ending that the floppy disk was recovered by the authorities, wasn't it? As much as I distrust the FBI, it's not like they're going to use the Karnoffel Code to blow up Berlin. It sucks that Luke had to die (I wasn't very attached to him), but this probably means the bomb has been diffused. I mean if this story supposedly takes place in the real world, and last time I checked Berlin is still standing, then logically the largest crisis of the game's lore has already been averted by the time we started playing.

Compliment: This does just make the ending funnier/more interesting. If the Nazi Bombs Under Berlin have been located and dismantled by the government, then the Karnoffel Code is now a useless string of data that's just buried in a normal video game for no reason. Except the "normal" video game is still a glitchy old RPG, modified beyond recognition into a multiplayer online download, containing sentient characters trapped in a time loop.

And I'm just curious where we go from here; how the Scrybes are taking this turn of events. Leshy is probably happier than a pig in shit, to have thousands of new challengers flooding into his cabin every minute. PO3 is the only one who actually got what he wanted, but he's probably going to find out enslaving humanity from the comfort of the Steam Store is easier said than done, especially with the weapon neutralized. We don't really know Magnificus well enough to gauge his reaction, but I assume he's just relieved to not have been deleted. But what of Grimora? She was pretty excited that her misery was finally coming to a close, and now because the game is online, her suicide was not just prevented but made impossible. It's just so mean; I love it.

Criticism: Most players of this game won't get to ANY of this story, because Chapter 1 is just so damn difficult. I get that it serves a purpose, but come on man how many times are you going to make me fight this prospector?

[san-fics]

In The Wrong Bed?

Maribat: Daminette, Robinette, Damibug, Robibug

Ao3

[Author’s Note: I will make a reservation right away that in this story I do not take into account the time difference between cities and countries. Therefore, when the morning comes, it comes to everyone. This is very clumsy of me, but I haven’t figured out how to address this aspect without disturbing the storyline as it was intended]

Part 2

“You won’t believe what happened to me tonight!” Alya whisper-shouted to Marinette as soon as she sat down in her seat in the classroom.

The lesson had already begun, but it was clear that the journalist was so excited that she could not wait until the break and wanted to urgently tell Marinette about something.

“Nino somehow ended up at my house, can you imagine that?!” She continued her loud whisper. “I almost screamed in surprise when I saw him…”

Alya giggled and then abruptly changed her expression to a serious one and pretended to be immersed in the learning process as the teacher turned to her with a suspicious look.

“I think it’s all because of yesterday’s akuma.” Alya carried on with her story as the teacher turned away and continued to write something on the blackboard. “They hit Nino, and at first nothing happened to him at all, and then bang! – and he himself doesn’t remember how he ended up in my room.” The Ladybloger smiled at her memories. “You should’ve seen how I secretly took him out of the house so as not to wake up the twins...”

Marinette listened to her friend in confusion.

It seemed very strange, because Nino and Alya were dating, and in Marinette’s case – she saw this crazily handsome boy for the first time!...

‘Crazy handsome boy!’ – Marinette corrected herself. ‘No, just crazy boy!’

She decided not to say anything to Alya yet though. If the journalist finds out about Marinette’s strange journey, she will never see peace again...

*

“Would you like to come to my place after school today?” Adrien suggested to Nino when the four of them were having lunch at the school cafe.

“Won’t your father mind?” The DJ was concerned.

“No, he left for a while.” Adrien said evasively.

“Really? Nino was surprised. “I thought he didn’t leave the house much. And where did he go?”

“To be honest, I don’t know.” Adrien admitted. “Nathalie said that father had to urgently leave for one of our remote branches, so my photoshoots were also canceled for the time being…”

“Well, this is just great news, dude!..” His friend exclaimed, and seeing the disconcerted face of the model, added: “I mean, not that it’s cool that your dad left, but that we can spend time together!” He glanced at his girlfriend. “It will be great to arrange some man-time and relax after my night adventures…”

Marinette sighed, looked away from them and stared down at her plate.

It was as if this akuma, whose blow seemed to change nothing, had turned everything upside down!

And now she was supposed to enjoy the rare moment when she can be in Adrien’s company, but instead, the image of a completely different green-eyed young man didn’t leave her mind...

*

Marinette flopped into a chair in her room and dropped her face into her hands.

“If this is an Akuma effect, then by what principle did people move in space?” She asked Tikki, sighing and leaning back in her chair.

“I am not sure, Marinette.” Tikki replied. “What do you think?”

“Chat Noir thinks it’s matchmaking, but he can’t be right! Nino and Alya are in love, and I don't even know this guy! Plus he spoke to me in English with an American accent.” She reasoned. “So either he is an American living in Paris, or I was transported to the United States.”

“It’s good that we both moved there and were able to return together.” Tikki said as she sat down on the table across from Marinette.

“Why do you think it happened like that?” Marinette asked. “The effect of the akuma should have spread to you as well, since I was transformed during the impact.”

“I think since I am tied to the miraculous, this connection turned out to be stronger than the akuma’s influence, so I moved to the same place as you and your earrings.”

“I guess we’ve been very lucky with that.” Marinette sighed. “All that remains is to find and neutralize that akuma.” The girl pursed her lip thoughtfully. “And why is Shadowmoth silent and not actively attacking as he usually does?” She asked rhetorically. “I don’t even know how to search for this Akuma!” Marinette said, getting up from her chair to get ready for bed. “Well, at least our unexpected journey is now over.”

*

Marinette woke up in a familiar room, and this time she immediately realized that she was not in her bed.

When she opened her eyes, the handsome brunette on the other side of the bed was still asleep.

‘I need to stop thinking of him in that category!’ She thought sternly to herself. ‘It’s distracting and confusing.’

The girl forced herself to stop admiring his swarthy gorgeous face and bare muscular shoulders, which were clearly visible since today he slept bare-chested and pushed the blanket down in his sleep.

Marinette was trying to force herself to be annoyed that she was back in his bed, but she couldn’t get upset. The sight in front of her was way too pleasing to the eye...

And how long will it continue now?! – she thought, – all her life?!

But for some reason this thought didn’t horrify her.

‘Only because I will soon capture this akuma and reverse its effect! So the for-the-rest-of-my-life thing is out of the question!” – She explained to herself. “That is why this thought does not frighten me, and not for any other reason!” – Marinette was trying to prove to herself, carefully getting out from under the covers so as not to be noticed.

It won’t be possible to transform right here on the sly, she thought – it’s too big of a risk. But she could try to get to the same closet as last time.

Marinette took a cautious step towards the door when something on the desk caught her attention.

Curiosity outweighed fear and the girl turned to the table. She froze in amazement, looking at a sheet of paper on which a very skillful sketch of a portrait was drawn in pencil.

Her portrait.

There was no doubt that he drew it. Out of whoever else lived in this house, only this gorgeous green-eyed boy saw her. “This boy with a completely ordinary, uninteresting appearance!” – Marinette corrected herself persistently, – “Bewitching the eye,” – her inner voice resisted.

And how did he manage to remember her face in so much detail?..

Marinette’s hand itself reached out to the sheet, and the girl looked with interest at the finely marked features of her own face, as if she were seeing herself from the outside, in a completely new light.

And what she saw was… beautiful.

“Hey! Put it back!” Marinette heard behind her and turned around sharply.

The boy stood next to the bed, frowning at her.

How did he manage to get out from under the covers so quietly that she didn’t even notice?!

Marinette started to run towards the door, but the boy rushed in front of her and grabbed her arm.

“Let me go!” Marinette screamed. “My partner is waiting for me in China!”

Probably in surprise, he was slightly taken aback and loosened his grip for a moment, but that was enough for her to escape along the already familiar route and hide in the same back room.

The rest was just a matter of technique.

“Tikki, spots on!” Marinette whisper-shouted, holding the paper tightly in her hand.

.

[part 1] ... [part 3]

Chapter 3 in avalible on my Patreon

Chapter Preview: “At least now we can say with certainty that the girl exists.” An unfamiliar male voice whispered in English.

“Which means we don’t have proof that he is crazy.” Another slightly younger voice whispered back. “Which is sad by itself…”

.

Daminette Tag list (ask me to join)

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@uknowninglydead

[stressy-enby]

Hello! So here's my request:

The 1-A girls including reader are having a girls night in one of their dorms playing Minecraft (teaching Momo how to play for the first time), giving out study tips, eating snacks and watching movies, etc... When their in a topic about their crushes and reader shyly tells them it is Tenya Iida... While the girls are shocked and ask a lot of questions why iida much to reader whos not really liking the questions, the girls decided to help reader out by setting both iida and reader on a date by grabbing readers phone and texting iida, much to readers protest and what the girls don't know is that the boys are having a boy night at the common room too and doing the exact same thing, helping iida out to finally ask reader on a date.

so yeah, haha that's all and you can add your own ideas there and can this be a oneshot? I also want to see the perspective of iida if that't possible? I hope this is okay? thank you!! ☺

Took a few liberties, included some personal touches, I’m really happy with how this came out and I hope you are too!

Risks

Masterlist

Weekend nights in Heights Alliance were arguably the best. 

Mr. Aizawa was more flexible about curfew on Friday and Saturday nights, so the class took those nights as opportunities to have slumber parties and late night get-togethers. 

This was one such night. You, Ochaco, Tsu, Momo, Toru and Kyoka had gone to Mina’s dorm room with snacks and games in hand. Your hostess had offered up her wide selection of video games and her Netflix, Hulu, and Disney+ accounts. Toru had even come through with an impressive assortment of face masks, nail polish, and hair accessories. Needless to say, everyone was more than set for a night of careless fun.

“Wait, how do I craft something?” Mom held her controller out to Kyoka, brows pinched together.

“This button, here,” she took the controller, demonstrating by crafting an axe.

Upon realization that Momo had next to no knowledge of Minecraft, the party had abandoned its Super Smash Bros. tournament in favor of showing her the ropes. You’d vowed to help her make a simple house by the end of the night.

“Pro tip: make sure you collect all the same type of wood.” You suggested, eyes focused on the white stripes you were attempting to paint onto Tsuyu’s light green nails with some success. 

“Yeah, unless it’s on purpose, like if you use a different wood for the roof or floor, it’s just gonna look like you hobbled it together in less than a minute.” Mina agreed, before promptly shoving a handful of popcorn into her mouth.

Ochaco gasped playfully, swiping the bowl away. “Don’t eat all of it!”

“I’ll eat whatever I damn well please!” Mina retorted, making a grab for the snack as Ochaco floated it over to Toru.

“Okay guys, I can’t take it anymore.” The invisible girl grabbed the bowl out of the air. “We’re all together, hanging out with zero stress for the first time in months! Does anyone have anything juicy to share? Someone’s gotta have something!”

Kyoka rolled her eyes. “I don’t know about the rest of you, but I didn’t come to gossip.”

“This class is a pretty tight-knit group, ribbit. Nothing really happens that we don’t all know about.” Tsu pointed out.

“Okay then. Crushes.” Mina prompted.

“What about them?” Momo asked.

“Who’s got ‘em?”

There was a moment of silence. You noticed how a few pairs of eyes flicked to Ochaco, who had gonna very red and very quiet. You sighed, musing to yourself about the things you did for friendship.

“I, uh, I kinda like Iida?”

You hated how you phrased it like a question. You hated how you mitigated the confession with the word “kinda”. You hated that silly, totally inadequate word “like”. Your feelings for Iida went beyond a simple crush. You’d had them for him for months now, you were long past the “like” phase. You were head-over-heels in love.

Toru gasped dramatically. “Really? Iida?”

Ochaco smiled at you, gratitude evident in her eyes. “You two would make a sweet couple.”

“What do you like about him?” Mina asked excitedly. “When did you fall for him? Are you gonna confess?”

“Take it easy,” Kyoka chuckled lightly.

You also laughed, albeit uneasily. You were beginning to regret not keeping your mouth shut. “Okay, I’ll take those one at a time. He’s kind and attentive, and he’s very loyal. I think I realized that I liked him a few weeks after the sports fest, and absolutely not.”

“Why don’t you want to tell him?” Momo asked, pursing her lips. “I think he’d appreciate the honesty.”

“Be that as it may, I don’t wanna make things weird between us or potentially ruin our friendship.” You explained “I don’t wanna jeopardize what we have now by confessing.”

“Plus, Iida doesn’t seem like the kind of guy who’s want to date someone, ribbit.” Tsu put in, examining her newly painted nails. “He’s very serious. He’d probably see it as a distraction, these are really pretty, (Y/N), thank you.”

You smiled weakly at your frog-like friend as Toru threw a piece of popcorn at her head. “Tsu!”

“No, she’s right.” You sighed heavily, motioning for the popcorn bowl, intending to drown your sorrows and maybe yourself in it.

“I’m sorry, (Y/N).” Momo patted your back sympathetically as she passed the bowl down. “I can’t imagine how frustrating it is.”

You hummed in agreement as you shoveled the snack into your mouth. “Whatever. It sucks, bur I’ll get over it.”

“Like hell you will!” Mina snapped “Ochaco: our romantically challenged friend’s phone, if you please?”

Ochaco dutifully and bemusedly took your phone from Mina’s bedside table and handed it over to her.

“What are you doing?” You questioned, suddenly on high alert.

You were ignored. Mina instead took your hand, and placed your thumb over the home button on your phone, unlocking it.

“Seriously, what are you doing?” Kyoka asked.

“Texting Iida.”

It took you a few seconds to process her words and what they meant. Once you had, though, you made a sudden grab for the phone. “Oh no you’re not!”

“Chillax, I’m not gonna send him anything embarrassing.” Mina swatted your hand away as she scooted safely out of your reach. “I’m just gonna suggest that you two go out sometime and heavily imply that it’ll be a date.”

“Now hold on,” Momo cut in, setting down her controller. “We shouldn’t be interfering. This is between (Y/N) and Iida.”

“Yeah, if (Y/N) wants to ask him out, they’ll do it themselves, ribbit.” Tsu chimed in.

Mina sighed, slumping. “I know you’re both right, but I can’t just let them wallow! Iida really likes you, (Y/N)!”

“Oh yeah?” You raised both eyebrows.

“Yeah! He’s a lot softer with you then with anyone else!”

“He does tend to let you get away with things,” Kyoka admitted. “Remember the other day when you were sitting on your desk? The guy didn’t even bat an eye.”

“He also seems like he talks to you more than he does the rest of us!” Toru pointed out.

“Plus he worries about you more than the rest of us!” Ochaco added on.

“He looks more relaxed around you.” Tsuyu threw in.

“Sometimes when we have class representative meetings, he’ll offhandedly mention you.” Momo reported thoughtfully. “He’ll tell me about something you said or did that he found funny or endearing. It’s actually pretty adorable the way he talks about you. It’s like his whole face lights up.”

You were quiet for a very long moment. It was too good to be true. You liked playing it safe. You kept your cards close to your chest until you were absolutely sure you had the wining hand. And if you’d learnt anything in your hero education, it was that sometimes you needed to take a risk.

“Can I have my phone, please?”

Mina tossed it to you. Without another word, you navigated to your messages, and typed something out quickly. Before you could reconsider, you took a risk.

You hit send.

. . . 

This isn’t actually all that bad.

When Kirishima and Kaminari had suggested a “boys’ night”, Tenya had been apprehensive at best. He was all for class bonding activities, but what was the point if it was only a fraction of their group?

“(L/N) and the girls are having a sleepover, so we may as well something ourselves.” Sero had pointed out.

Despite his skepticism, Tenya found himself thoroughly enjoying himself. After admitting he’d never seen a Marvel movie, Midoriya had immediately logged the common room TV into his Disney+ account and began the first ever 1-A Marvel movie marathon.

“Ugh, does this mean we have to watch Age of Ultron?” Ojiro groaned “That one sucks.”

“Yeah, but at some point I’m going to make Iida watch Wandavision.” Midoriya replied “Ultron is important to understanding it, sucky as it may be.”

“That’s not gonna be for a while if we’re watching every single Marvel movie, though.” Sato chuckled. 

“Yeah, we’re definitely gonna need more than one night for this shit,” Kaminari chortled “Wandavision not withstanding.”

Tenya smiled, not quite following but listening all the same. He suddenly felt his phone vibrate in his pocket.

(L/N): Random question. Want to go out and get dinner tomorrow, just the two of us?

It was indeed a random question. He had no qualms about spending time with (L/N) though. Even if it was just the two us them. Especially if it’s just the two of us. Tenya quickly shook the thought away though, feeling he’s cheeks flare.

Me: That would be great! Do  you have a time and place in mind?

(L/N): Would 6 be ok? As for the place… would you be up for a surprise?

Tenya hesitated. Usually he’s say no. He liked everything to be perfectly planed to a T. But something about (L/N) made him want to be spontaneous. They made him want to take risks. So he decided to do precisely that. He threw caution into the wind as he sent his response.

Me: 6 is more than ok, and I’m always up for a surprise if it’s with you.

Tenya cringed immediately after hitting send. The instant regret was crushing and depressing. He wished he could be honest about his feelings, about (L/N) without overthinking every move he made.

Oh well. What’s done is done. He slipped his phone back into his pocket, praying you wouldn’t respond. However, his plea went ignored a minute later when he felt his phone vibrate yet again.

Biting back a groan, Tenya opened his texts, inwardly bracing himself.

(L/N): Awesome! I’ll meet you at 6 in the common room tomorrow, then. Can’t wait! ❤️

He gaped. That tiny red emoji wormed not his brain and burned itself behind his eyes until that was all he could see. He barely even registered the rest of the message.

“Whatcha lookin’ at, Iida?” Kaminari, never one to understand personal space, leaned over to glance at the class rep’s phone phone before he could angle it away. “You sly little- IIDA HAS A DATE!”

“No I- that’s not- Kaminari!” Tenya sputtered incoherently, arms flailing. “That was entirely inappropriate. You shouldn’t look at other people’s devices without their permission. It’s rude, demeaning, and an invasion of privacy!”

“Forget that, what’s this about a date?” Sero leaned in on Kaminari’s other side.

“Iida and (L/N) were texting,” Kaminari announced “They asked him out to dinner, he said yes, and they send a heart emoji.”

“What color?” Aoyama demanded, squinting.

“Red.”

“Oh my,” Aoyama leaned back in his seat, a coy smirk playing across his lips.

Sero chuckled, leaning across Kaminari’s lap to pat Tenya on the arm. “You lucky bastard.”

The blue haired boy brushed his hand away, bristling. “Not that my personal activities are any of your concern, but it’s not a date. We’re just going to get something to eat.”

“I’m not an expert or anything, but I don’t think many people go out one-on-one for dinner if it’s platonic.” Midoriya pointed out. 

“Yeah, plus, that emoji says a lot.” Kirishima added “(L/N) clearly means this to be a date. If you don’t feel the same way about them, you need to tell them.”

“You don’t want to go on a date with (L/N)?” Todoroki asked, raising an eyebrow “I would’ve thought you’d be happy for an opportunity like that.”

“See! Even Todoroki can see you’ve got it bad for them!” Sato exclaimed, pointing an accusatory finger at the confused heterochromic boy.

Tenya ignored his overly-excited classmates. He flipped back through his conversation with (L/N), staring at every text until he’d inadvertently memorized them all.

Me: Is this a date?

. . .

“So much for subtly, I guess.” Kyoka remarked.

“Subtly gets you nowhere with Iida!” Ochaco insisted “You have to be upfront with him!”

“But I sent him a heart,” You groaned for the fourth time.

“Well, there’s no sense in bemoaning it now.” Momo reasoned.

“It was a calculated risk.” Toru admitted, an undercut of worry in her voice.

“A risk, huh?” You chuckled humorlessly “I seem to be taking a lot of those tonight.”

Ding!

Seven pairs of eyes darted to your overturned phone at the same moment. No one moved an inch.

“Well,” Tsu nudged you “are you going to look at it?”

You gulped, shakily taking the device. The girl’s gathered around you. As you opened your text messages.

Iida: Is this a date?

“No backing down now!” Ochaco squealed, gripping your shoulders tightly and shaking you.

“Go, go, go, go, go!” Mina bounced on her knees like it was a sporting event.

You took a deep breath, then texted back.

. . .

(L/N): That was the idea, lol. It doesn’t have to be if you don’t want it to be, tho

Tenya pursed his lips, showing the response to Midoriya.

“C’mon, Iida.” His friend chuckled lightly “Just tell them the truth.”

The truth. He did want it to be a date, but a simple “I want to go on a date with you” didn’t seem sufficient. It wouldn’t do justice to how he really felt.

Tenya had already taken a risk tonight, so what was one more? But knowing what he now knew about your feelings, it didn’t seem quite so scary anymore.

Me: I’d love nothing more than to go on a date with you, (L/N). Truth be told, I’ve wanted to for a while now, I just haven’t had the courage to ask you myself. I look forward to seeing you tomorrow. ❤️