#there are so many specific situations... and so many specific objects to fit those situations

[songofsaraneth]

this next Object will fix me i swear

[111angelstheme111]

𝐀 𝐆𝐮𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐓𝐨 𝐁𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐆𝐢𝐫𝐥—𝐈𝐧 𝐒𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐥

DEFINITION— Simply put, ‘that girl’ is who everyone wants to be. She’s healthy, knows her priorities, and most importantly, she puts herself first. She is determined and sets her goals straight, no one can distract her and she knows she’s bound to achieve whatever she wants. 

STEP 1— Set A Goal

As previously mentioned, that girl is the epitome of determination, a true girlboss and she knows exactly what she wants and stops at nothing to get it. Now, let's take a moment to envision her daily routine and lifestyle. Picture how she's always striving toward one goal or another, whether they’re academic or fitness achievements, she’s always in constant motion with an occasional break. 

Here's the exciting part: those qualities you admire so much, you can make them your own. You can turn those aspirations into your reality. It's not about copying her, but rather drawing inspiration from her and crafting your unique path to success.

So, take a list and start setting milestones. Imagine the perfect girl and write down everything you admire about her. Is it her perfect grades? Her body fitness? How she’s never procrastinating? Her time-management skills? Determination? Write it all down!

Now, with everything written down. You’re going to make these points of hers into yours. You’re going to stay committed and actively pursue these qualities until you find yourself in a place you once deemed remarkable. 

STEP 2— Plan Your Success

In this stage, you might be a little overwhelmed. There are things you want to work on but you don’t know which one to choose, or whether you have the time to do so. But don’t worry, because it’s all about choosing your priorities and having to manage your time. 

The first thing you want to do is get a journal or you can use Notion/Google Calendar if you’re lazy like me. Then, write down all of your fixed schedules (like classes, tuition, or part-time) and make out at least an hour at the end of each weekday. 

Ask yourself specific questions to clarify your priorities. Is your main goal to get fit or have an academic comeback? Or do you want to focus on both fitness and your studies?

Build your schedule around your key goals. This means you should prioritise and allocate time for the most important objectives or ambitions you have in mind. 

 !!⠀if you’re having trouble with making up a schedule, feel free to dm me/send in an ask. I’ll be more than willing to help ♡︎

STEP 3— True Competition Is Determination and Discipline

It’s not about how much you’re doing in a period of time, in the end, you’re going to be burnt out and tired. It’s more about how consistent you are. Yes, it might get tiring at one point; and that is when you slow down and cut yourself some slack while keeping the drive going.

You are really training your discipline instead of running on motivation that is bound to run out. That’s why you don’t see ‘that girl’ everywhere. Because everyone lacks discipline and commitment, they’re afraid of being in uncomfortable situations and would rather mindlessly scroll on tiktok than really challenge themselves.

Working on a goal is all about determination. It tests how badly you want it and how much you’re willing to sacrifice for it. But let me tell you, your sacrifices will never be a waste.

STEP 4— Breaks Are Part of The Process

What I hate seeing the most is how people work non-stop with no breaks. If your goal is to be burnt out within a or two week, feel free to be my guest and do what you’ve got to. Your body and mind is not a machine, because you are human and you deserve breaks. 

Whether that is self-care nights, going out with friends, or literally just laying in bed and watching Netflix. You choose your breaks and how often you get them. But be careful not to get carried away and lose sight of your milestones (because I’ve fallen into this trap once too many times).

In the end, balance is key! You want to be on the grind, and still be able to maintain connections and have fun. If you’re capable of finding your balance, let me tell you you’re just on your way to success. 

TIPS— 

ꕤ Romanticise The Hell Out of The Process 

One of the best advice I can give is literally romanticise everything. Get cute stationaries to study with, dress up all pretty just to go study at a cafe/wear your pretty pink gym outfits, listen to songs that put you into the mood, or imagine yourself as the main character of your movie to success (I use this sometimes when I’m really desperate and also bc I’m a delulu).

ꕤ Don't oversleep on weekends; wake up early to make the most of your time.

Tbh I get low-key annoyed when people sleep in during the weekends because of the time wasted you could’ve used to get ahead of others!! 

ꕤ Use Social Media To Your Advantage

I’m never one to be against social media unless you’re not using it to your advantage. For example, your tiktok feed is most probably about trendy videos and memes. But, why not make your feed about motivation, videos that educate you on certain matters and actually bring you knowledge? 

ꕤ Take Inspirations/Motivations From Others

I’m personally a pretty competitive person so looking at people who received Academic Achievers awards really pisses me off and makes me motivated to study harder lol. Try to find your tick and make use of it.

Now that you’ve finished reading this post, it’s time to set your mind on your goals and girlboss your way to it. So my angels, good luck and don’t stop working until you are her.

[slugghee]

Welcome to my lengthy and disorganized attempts at analyzing Quarters 14 from the Felt I guess

(Well, "analyzing" is quite generous. It's more like me digging myself into a deeper and deeper rabbit hole for 30 minutes.)

Quarters's power is so incredibly weird to me. Every other leprechaun with an object juju directly uses those jujus by themselves. Yet Quarters's quarters must be distributed across at least 7 other people in order to function. Like... what's even the point of them being his? (Not a dig at Quarters, I find this rlly interesting even if it probably isnt meant to mean anything).

The nature of the power itself is also strangely convoluted. The quarters can switch individuals of ostensiblble thematic connection between timelines, sure okay. That fits in with the rest of the Felt's timefuckery. But then they added a luck and doom element to it. Only by flipping your coin counterpart's side can you summon then. If you flip your own side you die. Not to mention the choices of pairings. Every other Felt member's powers are pretty simple to understand, so why does Quarters of all people have so many details and caveats to his?

Then the pairing decisions themselves are quite confusing, having less to do with the actual relationship between the members of that pairing and more to do with connections between their defining character traits. For example, Itchy starts fires via his reckless speed/Matchsticks puts them out, Die has a death doll and Stitch has a lifey one -> (https://homestuck.net/official/formspring/)

But then Hussie says that some of the pairings just "don't make much sense." So is it just arbitrary? Based on the numbers they happened to be assigned and nothing more? All and any connections between character traits are just coincidences?

(Snowman, of course, gets her own special pairing with herself. Is the fact that she cannot be replaced with a different individual a commentary on her increased relevance as a character? Or just smthing to do with her space/timeline powers? And what does that mean for Quarters's power???)

The practical use for Quarters's quarters seems tailored for oddly specific situations. I guess they could be used as a last resort — at the cost of potentially ending your life, you bring in someone else to deal with your sticky situation, whether they're better qualified for it or not, in hopes that they will either resolve it or take the fall for you. It's shifting responsibility, tying someone to your situation rather than facing it head-on. That, or knowing you yourself have no use in this situation, and for the sake of the team, you bet on your life to bring in someone who's more qualified for the job. In which case it's more like a brave, quasi-heroic sacrifice (given that if the sacrifice actually happened, you'd fail to bring the replacement anyhow.)

Landing on your coin partner's side could refer to characters replacing each other's function in the narrative once one becomes defunct (for the situation at hand). (Supplantation? Being interchangeable? Or being succeeded?) Meanwhile, landing on your own side could refer to characters being treated as irreplaceable — leaving behind a space that cannot be filled and consequences that can't be ignored, letting the narrative situation fester or resolve itself without them. And whether or not either happens is a 50/50 apparently. Purely based on luck... or probably just the illusion of it.

In this interpretation I have no idea what the luck element means. Is the coin flipping heads/tails thing just there to show that there are two potential outcomes? Does the luck part not actually matter? Realistically, if a writer were to make the decision to "replace" a character in this way it would not be a random, 50/50 choice. Is this a commentary on the divide between the characters' understanding of fate and the writer's hand in it? AM I LOOKING TOO MUCH INTO THIS?? (yes)

The most important coin pairing (and the only coin we ever actually see iirc) is the one between Quarters and Clover. Clover can utilize the boons of this power without any drawbacks for himself. Despite being a pretty unimportant character in the grand scheme of Homestuck, Clover's luck is integral to his funny gimmick in the Felt (who in its entirety is majorly defined by being a funny gimmick), and thus must be sated at all times. He can call Quarters to take his place in any situation he's too lazy to handle. Though this still has the effect of ripping Quarters out of whatever he's currently doing to deal with a potentially fatal situation. Can't imagine he'd appreciate that.

The significance of Clover/Quarters's coin pairing is most likely just an logical extension of their powers and not meant to have any broader meaning. Just thought it was worth mentioning. (Though if I could figure out the significance of luck in Quarters's power, maybe I could come up with something. Unfortunately I'm pretty stumped.)

Back to Quarters (the character.) His power is not using these coins. Anyone with a coin can do that. His power is just... existing to have them, I guess. And perhaps distributing them once. (We never actually see anyone other than him and Clover use their coin so it's technically possible he's just keeping the rest to himself). Perhaps being the most knowledgeable about how they work, given he's the one that gave his own coin to Clover for tactical reasons.

Also interesting that Quarters flipped his own quarter so nonchalantly that one time. Like... did he just not know what his juju did at the time? Does he trust in fate? Was this his first time flipping one of his coins at all? Did he want so badly to get away from socially interacting with Cans and Caliborn that he flipped the coin for the chance of getting away from them, even at the potential cost of his life? (I'm going with that last one actually that's rlly funny)

Unfortunately, we don't get to see all that much of Quarters. He almost kills Spades Slick that one time I guess. His character is defined a bit more in TIDOMS, where he's a man of few words who looks perpetually grumpy, but even then he gets less screentime than most of the others. We get a quick non-explanation for his power and welp time to move on guys! (He's not even in any of the background wall paintings like come on!!)

Finally, Quarters's design stands out to me. Almost every other Felt member has a clear philosophy behind their design. Doze is hunched over and slow, Die has 6s for eyes, Stitch has stitches, etc. Meanwhile, Quarters resembles... a bird? A lizard? A skull, perhaps? I really do wonder if there's an reason behind the quirks of his character design, if at all. It's not like there's no other leprechauns with unique animalistic mouths but they usually have a clear reason for it (and Sawbuck has other elements of his design that more obviously align with his power.) In addition, the other Felt members are often seen with their portable object juju if they have one, such as Eggs with his timer or Biscuits with his oven. Even in Matchsticks's case, though he doesn't have an object juju, he constantly carries around an item related to his power (a fire extinguisher). However, Quarters is most iconicly seen with a minigun. Unlike basically every other member of the Felt who shoves their power into your face every chance they get, Quarters feels quite divorced from his own power. He's a badass with a minigun first and foremost. And I don't know if there's a thematically significant reason why but it sure tickles my brain.

In conclusion, Quarters is THE weirdest felt member. Thanks for reading this far 👍

(Also its been like 5 years since I've actually read any homestuck lol so srry if I missed anything)

[natolesims]

MY HEART IS YOURS | A Sims 4 Legacy Challenge

Written by @natolesims AKA @dustbon

I did a thing! This challenge is based on the mexican telenovela "Mi Corazón es Tuyo" (My Heart is Yours) where the main character, an exotic dancer, ends up working as a nanny for a millionaire by accident. I used to watch it every single afternoon with my abuelita and since I was feeling nostalgic, this challenge came to life. Hehe.

This is a 10 gen, story-driven challenge with detailed objectives and dynamics for each generation. I hope you like it! I'd love to see if you play it, so feel free to tag me or use #myheartisyourslegacy

Rules under the cut! Or if you prefer it, here's the Google Doc~

NOTES AND GENERAL RULES

Adult themes are included in some generations. You’ve been warned.

There might be some aspects of the gameplay that might not be included in the game by default (for example, earning money as a nanny or a dancer). If you play with mods, feel free to use how many you’d like to enhance the experience! 

Alternatively, you can always make your own twist and interpretation of the challenge, its features and rules. It’s your gameplay, so have fun and do your thing!

Since the story revolves around wealthy families, I’d suggest to create / download  some rich sims or households if you’d like to have more options.

You can skip, add new or change the order of the generations.

No cheats allowed besides freerealestate or funds modification (according to some situations)

I created this challenge considering multiple aspects of the game and its DLCs. If you’d like to change or substitute something, go ahead!

Each generation is a bit specific, so I’d suggest to play on normal / long lifespan or pause aging whenever you consider necessary.

Again, have fun!!

GEN 1 - THE NANNY

You are an orphan who learned to survive on your own at a very young age. After years of working as an exotic dancer you finally managed to buy your own little house, but you lost everything unexpectedly. In an act of desperation, you asked for a large loan from your horrible boss who has you trapped in their grasp and  the money they gave you is still not enough to get by... so you signed up into an employment agency to get the expense off the ground. As if it weren’t enough, they mixed up your papers and now you've been hired as a… babysitter? Are you kidding? Welp, thank goodness you love children.

Traits: Good, Family-Oriented, Loyal

Aspiration: Super Parent / Big Happy Family

Skills: Max dancing,  charisma and parenting 

Job: Make-believe nanny and part-time exotic dancer. 

Rules:

Move to an empty house and set your funds to 0.

Alternatively: Move to a furnished home and destroy everything through an "incident" (you can cheat for this) and break all the plumbing. You can’t fix those items, only replace them after you get your loan money.

Have a night job as an exotic dancer in a local club. None of your day job clients should recognize you while you’re working at the club, and vice-versa.

If you have mods that fit this situation, feel free to use them! Save the tips you earn :) 

If you play this vanilla, disguise your sim and send them dancing to a club each night. You'll earn $200 per day if performance.

Ask the nightclub owner (your boss) for a loan of $8,000 simoleons. You’ll have to keep dancing there until:

A) You earn the money and pay your debt, or

B) You’ve been working in the club for 1 in-game year, but then you can’t keep the money you’ve earned from dancing.

Optional: Consider paying $1,000 for a renovation permit and another $1,000 for plumbing and electrical installation per story.

Start a day job as a nanny. You’ll earn $300 per family.

To do so: Meet sims with children and visit them often to take care of the kids. You can only help one family per day.

Alternatively: You can choose a particular household to be working for. The wealthier and more kids, the better.

Give your sim the always welcome trait so you won’t have issues with cooking and stuff. 

For super wealthy families: You can build a room for yourself in their homes or use the visit room if they have one, but you can’t move your sim into their households at all. You’ll still have to work at the club at night and work on rebuilding your little home. 

Befriend all the kids of the families you’ve worked for.

Fall in love with the head of family of the wealthiest household that hired you. To marry your potential spouse, you must:

End paying the nightclub debt

Finish rebuilding your house again :)

Become friends with the live-in services, if they have (butler, chef, maid, gardener, etc.)

Max your friendly relationship with each kid the love interest has. Only then you can start building a romantic relationship with them.

If they already have a spouse, make them your enemy and have the love interest divorce them. 

Have as many own kids as you can. 

GEN 2 - A GROOVY GRANDPA

You come from a rich family that cares for its wealth with fervor. You did everything your parents and your parents' parents taught you: work hard, make money, have an heir and make even more money. You always felt that working was the only purpose of your life… but now that you are older, you realized how wrong you were. Now that you're old, loades, and your family can fend for themselves, you have the opportunity to do everything you couldn't in your youth.

Traits: Materialistic, ambitious, loner.

Aspiration: 1) Mansion Baron and 2) Inner Peace

Skills: All the skills needed for the career of your choice, mixology, dancing, wellness and a hobby of your choice (as an elder).

Job: Business (Investor Branch) or Salaryperson (Expert Branch)

Rules:

Go to university and get a degree that’ll help you get a jump start on the career of your choice (options above).

University can be tedious and long to play, so I’d suggest using a mod that makes the terms shorter :)

Reach the top of your career as a young adult. 

Marry a wealthy sim out of tradition and have only one child. That’s our heir.

Have a so-so relationship with your kid and your spouse.

Your spouse should die as an adult (you can cheat for this).

Focus on making all the money you can while being an adult. If you can get fame points while you’re at it, perfect.

Once you reach elderhood, have a life crisis and embrace a new “you”.

Change your traits to: Romantic, adventurous and goofball.

Change your aspiration to: Inner Peace.

I’d strongly suggest to turn aging off so you won’t die of old age.

Enjoy life! Be self-indulgent, go partying, pick up new hobbies, make new friends, visit new places. 

Try getting the emotional mindful moodlet often.

Find true love with a humble sim significantly younger than you. 

The next heir must disapprove your new relationship.

Have a child through pregnancy or adoption with your new partner. Move out of the family home and go live with your new little family.

Focus on being an excellent parent and spoil the little one rotten until the last of your days. 

GEN 3 - THE WORKAHOLIC

Your father lost it and messed up his life's direction... and stained the family’s values. You carry your last name with pride and you’re determined to put it back to its former glory by doing what you do best: working. You will rescue the company that your father nearly ruined, return wealth and good fortune to your family and lead an exemplary life, whatever it’s the cost. Your children constantly complain about how absent and cold you are, but they are too young to understand the importance of your priorities. They will thank you one day.

Traits: Proper, Ambitious, Perfectionist.

Aspiration: Fabulously Wealthy

Skills: All the skills needed for your career only. You’re not interested in anything else.

Job: Business (Management Branch)

Rules:

Always excel as a student.

Don't have a social life.

All sims you meet (except the future spouse) must stay as acquaintances.

Always turn down any kind of social invite.

Never throw a party of any sort.

Never celebrate a birthday, not even your own. 

Go to university and study communications at U-Brite. At uni you must:

Enter the secret society.

Enter the debate guild.

Graduate with honors.

Meet the love of your life during your time as a student. Your spouse must:

Have good traits only.

Belong to a wealthy family.

You can only marry if you have a full romance bar.

Also: no woohoo before marriage!

You two must live in the family home / manor. Refurnish it with  expensive items, fine art and decorations if it isn’t.

Have a butler. If you play with mods, also have all sorts of live-in services. If not, hire a scheduled gardening, maid and nanny service via the phone.

Don’t have any kind of pets. Not even fish.

Fill up your sim's fun need by doing "boring activities". For example:

Only listen to the talk radio and classical music stations.

Only watch the news and the weather channel.

Don't tell jokes.

The only game your sim can play is chess.

Only read non-fiction or skill books.

You get the idea by now :)

Dedicate your entire existence to your career, completing your aspiration and your loving partner.

Earn fame points through situations or interactions related to your career only.

Get the workaholic lifestyle and live accordingly.

Have as many children as you can with your spouse. After the last family slot is taken, your spouse has to die unexpectedly (you can cheat for this)

After your spouse's demise, change two of your traits to: Hot headed and gloomy.

Have a rocky relationship with all of your children:

Try to limit your interactions with your children. Have the helping sims (butler and nanny) take care of them.

Develop the strict family dynamic with every single child.

All of your kids must be top students and gain the good manners character value trait.

Your kids must have a tight schedule: School, after-school activities, homework time, limited playtime, music lessons (for girls), sport lessons (for boys) and early bedtime. If they develop a dislike for an activity, accept it but they’ll have to do it anyway.

Marry a co-worker as an adult, but do not love them. On the contrary to your loving spouse, they must only have negative traits. Bonus points if they have the hates children trait.

Start a recurrent affair with one of your service sims.

The next generation starts when the heir is a teen. 

GEN 4 - THE INDECISIVE ROMANTIC

You grew up in a large family that seemed more like a military company. Being the smartest of all your siblings, your father always sought to train you in such a way that you would take his place when time comes, but you don't want to be remotely like him. You are still young and you have enough time to change the course of things. You want adventure, you want love, you want happiness and wealth… but the pursuit of hedonism may not help you make the smartest decisions.

Traits: Genius, bookworm, snob

Aspiration: 1) Nerd brain 2) Serial Romantic

Skills: Logic, writing, research and debate, fitness

Job: Law career (Private Attorney Branch)

Rules:

Be the typical nerdy teen. Embrace the stereotype at its fullest.

Always excel in school 

Complete the nerd brain aspiration as a teenager.

Frequent intellectual lots like libraries and museums.

If you can, become a valedictorian and/or achieve early graduation.

Start a romantic, toxic relationship with the first sim who is constantly rude to you.

Your sim has to still be a teen.

Break-up and get together again frequently.

Enter the U-Brite Communications program as your parent did, but drop out shortly after. You want something else in life. 

Improve your physical appearance and start working out. After your makeover, change your bookworm trait for the self-absorbed trait. 

Move out on your own, live the party life and date around! But keep coming back to your toxic ex.

Don’t have any source of income after moving out.

Have an accidental pregnancy with your ex, but don’t take responsibility for the baby. 

Have another accidental pregnancy with one of your affairs, and also don’t take responsibility. 

This other sim must have the good or cheerful trait.

After spending all your simoleons on parties and vice and, go back to the family home and enter the Law career to become a private attorney. 

After getting your life in order again, look for your previous partners and decide to take care after the kids they had with you. 

Don’t have any more kids after that.

Start building up both romantic relationships again, but keep them in the shadows from one another. Never make a final decision.

Write books as a hobby, but only publish: non-fiction, poetry and biography books.

The least disciplined child will be the heir.

GEN 5 - THE ADVENTURER

You grew up in a millionaire family that has everything you could imagine, but somehow you always felt like you didn't belong to it. There is a certain indomitable spirit of adventure within yourself and when you came of age, you decided to fully embrace it. Your parent disapproves and would rather have you not prefer an unstable life of artistic adventure to the safety of a well-established profession... but he has no place to tell a you a thing, knowing the kind of life he led in his young years. Leaving all the responsibility of the house and the family business to your half-brother, you packed your bags and took the first plane to the jungle.

Traits: Active, creative, loves outdoors.

Aspiration: 1) Jungle Explorer 2) Mt. Komorebi Sightseer, 3) Beach Life and 4) Archaeology Scholar.

Skill: Selvadorian Culture, Archaeology, Fishing, Fitness, Singing and Guitar.

Job: Freelance photographer.

Rules:

Always be a laid back, cool type of person. 

Frequent museums and parks as a kid and teenager.

Once you graduate high-school, travel the world to become a nature photographer! Think of a globetrotter-ish kind of generation:

1: Selvadorada. 

Build a luxurious villa as your jungle home (you’re still a millionaire, so no problem with this). You’ll frequent it a lot during the generation.

Complete the Jungle Explorer Aspiration.

Once you reach level 2 of the photography skill, you can travel to the next destination:

2: Mt. Komorebi

Complete the Mt. Komorebi Sightseer Aspiration.

Visit each festival.

Once you reach level 3 of the photography skill, you can travel to the next destination:

3: Sulani

Complete the Beach Life Aspiration

Max the fishing skill.

Max the photography skill.

Be a flirt and have multiple lovers across the worlds, but find true love with one in particular.

Optional 1: have this sim travel with you as a companion.

Optional 2: have your half-brother fall in love with them as well.

Complete 3 collections of your choice.

Become famous by publishing your photographs.

After ending your stay in Sulani, your half brother must die (you can cheat for this). You’ll have to go back to the family home and take care of the generational fortune.

Keep traveling often to Selvadorada, the world you like the most. Work on completing the Archaeology Scholar Aspiration during your short visits. 

Decide to settle down with the sim you fell in love with and form a family of your own. 

Have lots of children.                                     

GEN 6 - THE STAR

You don't understand the tendency of past family heads to get rid of a life full of all sorts of comfort. Dirt? Ew. Luxury and fame are everything to you, but since you were young you had a problem with your appearance and awkward personality. But you know what? That is going to change. You are not interested in a boring company or looking for love: you just want to shine as bright as the sun.

Traits: Self-absorbed, materialistic, high-maintenance.

Aspiration: World-Famous celebrity.

Skills: Charisma, mischief, acting.

Job: Social Media (Internet Personality), Actor (optional)

Rules:

Be the “ugly duckling” of the family while growing up. 

Have the socially awkward trait as a teen.

Have your first puppy love as a pre-teen / teenager, but be heartbroken. Never believe in true love after that. 

Have a bad relationship with every single family member. 

Move out on your own to a luxurious home as soon as you become a young adult and cut ties with the rest of the family, previous friends and acquaintances. You’re on your own now. 

Have a radical image change after becoming independent.

Enter and reach the top of the Social Media career as an Internet Personality. Only then you can enter the Actor career if you wish. 

You can only actively work as a Young Adult.

Start building your own fortune through fame and gold-digging. 

Have an accidental pregnancy and use it to your convenience. Keep the baby. 

Never develop the parenting skill

Have a bad relationship with your kid

Mold your child to your image. They must be conventionally beautiful.

Your child must be well educated and skilled, but have terrible character value traits.

If you marry, become a widow everyone shows their sympathy to. Keep being a gold digger after that and never remarry.

Quit your job(s) right after entering the adult lifestage and spend your fortune as if there were no tomorrow. 

The next gen starts when the heir becomes a young adult. By then, you must be broke and have lost all your fame.

GEN 7 - THE HOMEWRECKER

You always meant an instrument for your parent, even before you were born. Thanks to them, you are an expert in the art of manipulation, seduction and performance. You are beautiful, intelligent, cold and calculating. Such confidence and mettle has carried you far from childhood, but now that you're an adult, it's time to think big and not make the same mistakes as your stupid parent... even if it means carrying them around for the rest of your life. Now, time to choose a victim to pay the family debts and live a perfect life.

Traits: Evil, hates children, hot-headed.

Aspiration: 1) Drama llama, 2) Mansion Baron

Skills: Charisma, logic, writing, acting, research and debate.

Job: Salaryperson (Supervisor Branch)

Rules:

Be the perfect, spoiled brat your mother made you since childhood. 

Always have a pristine image, even if you’re broke as hell. People doesn’t need to know your family is in bankruptcy

Become the unreachable, popular meanie in highschool and embrace those vibes throughout teenagedom, but never start a serious relationship. 

Complete the Drama Llama teen aspiration.

Move out on your own as a young adult, but have the previous heir move in with you shortly after to live at your expense. Your parent:

Cannot get a job or have any source of income of any sort.

Has to have the slob trait (you can cheat this),

Has to follow every whim related to their personality, and

Has to spend $5,000 simoleons by the end of each week. If you don’t have the money, add it to a “debt” list you must pay. 

Enter the salaryperson career (Supervisor Branch)  and reach the top of it quickly as a young adult. As soon as you reach it, get relaxed and don’t pay much attention to your career anymore.

Optional: get an university degree that’ll help you get a jumpstart. If you chose to do this, you’ll have to study at home, ask for all the scholarships you can and graduate with honors (of course).

If you get the workaholic lifestyle, go to coaching to get rid of it. 

You must choose only one ultimate spouse candidate.

They must be attractive (to your sim), successful and ridiculously wealthy.

They must be already in a serious romantic relationship of any sort with another sim.

Bonus points if they have at least one child. 

Once you decide on a love interest, develop one-sided feelings for them and do everything in your reach to gain their favor, but they should never love you.

Get to marry your love interest one way or another. Move your sim and the previous heir into their home and enjoy your new fortune :))

Once you marry, adopt your spouse’s last name.

Have only one own child: the result of a one-time affair with another sim.

Use mean interactions only with every child you meet (even your own), any “low-class” sim you meet and service sims. 

Gain the Twisted Heart reward trait.

GEN 8 - THE BEAUTY 

You've lived in a bubble all your life. Despite having a lousy relationship with your parent, they have given you everything you wanted and more: a good education, luxury, travels and gifts. You have always tried to fulfill their expectations and desires... until you met the love of your life in someone you would never have expected. After a terrible argument with your family, you decided to run away with your love and start a new life from scratch. The plan sounded good in your mind, but then you realized that you don't know how to do anything other than being cute.

Traits: Good, Clumsy, Romantic

Aspiration: 1) Admired icon 2) Soulmate 

Skills: None in particular

Job: None in particular

Rules:

Be the stereotypical perfect, beautiful and shallow rich kid. 

Have a bad relationship with your parent, but respect their authority.

Try not to do activities that make you gain "useful" skills (or any skill). Focus only on having fun and enjoying life.

Complete the Admired Icon aspiration in your teenage years.

Have your parent arrange your future marriage with a wealthy sim and start a forced relationship with them, but reject their romantic advances often. 

Enter university in a conventionally well-respected degree program. Become engaged with your current partner at the same time.

Find true love with a service sim.

They can be either one of your household's employees or a NPC like the mailman, a street vendor, a mixologist, a firefighter, etc.

They must be poor.

They must have the creative trait.

They must be a single parent. 

Keep your affair with the service sim in secret until a family member, a close friend or your partner discovers you. Only then you can break your current engagement and escape to live with the love of your life.

Move your sim with their new partner and their child, but bring no simoleons or material goods whatsoever in your inventory.

You can only move to a Needs TLC starter apartment or a starter home with the Gremlins and Grody lot traits. 

The lot or apartment cannot be pretty when you first move to it.

You cannot move out of it on this gen.

Drop out of university but don't get a job. Your spouse must work as a starving artist (Painter career level 1) and don't let them get promoted. 

If you play with mods, keep them in the service career they were when you met them.

Spend all the household's funds on useless things.

Optional: Everytime your sim breaks anything (even the plates while washing them), cheat -$100 simoleons of the household funds.

Get a job only when all your services are cut down after not paying your bills.

You should go through all the basegame careers before deciding on a permanent one. You may start with part-time jobs, then full time careers. 

After you decide on a career to stay, focus on developing the necessary skills for it. When you reach level 3, your spouse can finally work on their artistic career.

If the spouse sells their art, they can't gain fame out of it.

Have only one own child after your household has a stable income. 

GEN 9 - THE NONCOMMITTAL ENTREPRENEUR 

In your family there was never a lack of love, but money definitely was a problem. Your parents made an effort to give you everything that was within their reach, but the truth is that you could never shake off the itch of having something more… something “big”. The thing is that working seriously is not your thing. Never has been, in fact. However, you have brilliant ideas that you just have to materialize with the right investment. But first, let’s go to the party everyone’s talking about.

Traits: Lazy, party animal, noncommittal

Aspiration: 1) Live Fast 2) Party Animal

Skills: Juice fizzing, dancing, entrepreneur skill.

Job: Odd jobs

Rules:

Be a terrible student and surround yourself with lots of friends.

Complete the Live Fast teen aspiration. Then, drop out of high-school but keep living with your parents.

Gain the Irresponsible character value trait.

Earn money only through odd jobs or in-game activities that doesn’t require "intellectual" skills (like writing, programming, painting, etc.), but have Juice fizzing as your main interest.

Frequent party lots every single night like bars, clubs and lounges and spend at least $500 simoleons each night on bar drinks.

Accept every party invite you get, no matter who they are or what your sim is currently doing. 

Meet a love interest in one party night and start a relationship right away, but don't commit to it:

Never take the initiative to go on dates with them, only accept their invitations and make them pay for everything.

Be unfaithful.

Ask them for loans and crash their place frequently to take care of your needs (eating from their fridge, using their shower, etc).

Only visit them to woohoo if your fun levels are low.

Have unprotected woohoo often (try for baby instead of regular woohoo or use mods for this)

Have an accidental pregnancy with your partner and get excited by it. 

Once the baby's born, you'll have to take care of them and your partner will have to dump you and lose all contact. You can then move out of your parents' house.

Now that you're a parent, take your side hustles more seriously and even get a part time job if you decide to, but keep partying at nights and spending most of your earned money on vice.

Don't have any more kids and try to nurture your child as much as you can.

Have an unexpected death while the heir is a child.

GEN 10 - THE (UN)LUCKY MIXOLOGIST

When you were little, you listened with amazement to all kinds of stories that your father told you about the adventures and misadventures of your ancestors. That’s why you have always been a dreamer who wants to achieve success and, above all, to know true love, but that is something that only happens on TV. It seems life had other plans for youm and the only thing left is to work hard and try to move on with a smile.

Traits: Good, foodie, music lover.

Aspiration: 1) Master Mixologist 2) Soulmate

Skills: Mixology, DJ mixing, cooking and baking.

Job: Culinary career (Mixologist Branch)

Rules:

Since you'reunderage, move into a shelter or an orphanage.

Once you become a teen, dropout of high school and earn money through odd jobs and buy a dj mixing station. Only then you can start working in secret as a freelance dj in local clubs and bars:

To do so, create an alternative persona or character your sim must disguise as whenever they're on a show. 

Save all the money you earn through tips.

Don't gain fame.

Once your sim becomes a young adult, join the culinary career and help out at the shelter/orphanage until you have enough money to move out on your own, but keep presenting as a dj each night.

Buy and move to the starter home the founder fixed.

Present yourself regularly at the bar your founder worked at as a dancer, and also work as a hired mixologist some nights. You'll earn $300 per night.

If you have mods that adjust to this, feel free to use them!

Have 10 failed relationships throughout your Young Adult lifestage. Give up on finding love after your last relationship.

The relationships will only count if you get to become boyfriends or more and get to break up, divorce, cancel engagements or separate through other circumstances. 

Once you become an Adult, fall madly in love with a sim you meet in one of your work nights. This sim:

Must be an elder.

Must be visiting the lot you're at for the first time.

Must be super rich. 

Start a sugar-ish relationship with your love interest. Have them gift your sim money ($1,000 simoleons) everytime they see each other. You decide if they keep, donate or sell the gifts.

Break up with the love interest, but get back shortly after and get into a serious relationship.

Only then, start working on the soulmate aspiration with this sim.

Move in with the elder sim only when you have a full romance bar.

If the elder sim has family, make them disapprove of your relationship together.

Wait a minute… isn't the story kind of repeating itself?

You decide what happens next ;)

[plantify]

Toontown Corporate Clash: Grunt Cogs

Intro

This is an except from the Clash Crew's latest QNA session. This doesn't outright state too much about Grunt Cogs, but I do not like the implications of them not having "fully developed personality chips". This could be taken in many ways which I think would only serve to weaken Clash's writing, as well as cause minor to major contradictions to things already shown in-game. Corporate Clash is pretty defined by giving Cogs more of a personality. They already had some semblance of this in TTO, but they are closer to humans in Clash. Every single Suit has their own complex personality and life story. Sure, it may be infeasible to actually show this for Grunt Cogs in normal gameplay, but it's important. Even if Cogs Inc is objectively in the wrong, you still have to think about all the lives of Suits who work for the company. If the Grunt Cogs are "less human" than more important Manager Cogs, then a lot of that element is stripped away. I will quickly analyze some specific in-game examples of this.

Rainmaker:

Misty explains that she has been hurt by her own kind in ways that Toons would not understand. We can infer that her personality traits make her a poor fit among colleagues, which leads to poor treatment towards her as a result. This is something that often happens in real life, so we don't need the perpetrators to be robots that only act mean because it's all their programming tells them to do. Real people already act this way. Assuming that Grunt Cogs are the main perpetrators against Misty, this situation would lose some nuance under the implications that they aren't as human as Managers. Why would Misty care about what someone tells her if they aren't on the same level of sentience she is? It would be akin to having AI Chatbots insulting you; there isn't any actual person telling you how much they hate you, so it loses all meaning.

Witch Hunter:

Prester's fight revolves around him using his voice and words to empower Grunt Cogs to fight for a common cause. Sure, this may just be yet another battle against Toons, but he wants to go greater than just that, talking of Cog Communities, using fear tactics, and more. If we are under the assumption that the minds of Suits are just as complex as those of humans, than this notion becomes really cool; he's convincing others to fight for him, and all these Cogs that join him must have their own personal reasons for listening to Prester. It makes Prester himself also seem like he's great at uniting others for a common cause. HOWEVER, under the assumption that Grunt Cogs just have really basic personality traits, and not much going on in their mind aside from what they were programmed for, there is no variation whatsoever in the reasoning for listening to him. It becomes a lot more like just telling a bunch of programs to do something, and they all obey, with no nuance whatsoever. There are also two Cogs during his ending cutscene which resist his words, explaining that many employees have complained about Prester. These two are already showing individuality just by doing this, as well as explaining that other Suits genuinely do not like Prester in the workforce. If they were all practically the same, these two should not be able to resist his words, and there also likely wouldn't be as many complaints regarding Prester.

Major Player:

Dave's fight already shows some variation between Grunt Cogs. Some of them are eager to get on stage and perform with Dave, whilst others are more timid, confused, or unbothered by being called onto the stage. This could be seen as a minor retcon under the assumption of Grunt Cogs having less personality. Adding onto this, why would he perform to a group of Suits that are less likely to feel heartfelt emotion or interest in what he's doing? At that rate, he should simply just perform to Manager Cogs and whatnot.

Chainsaw Consultant:

While the focus of Chip's fight is the override itself, bringing in the fact that Grunt Cogs have less developed personality chips brings in interesting implications. Why does Chip even have the override installed? It is a experimental, untested feature, and they're testing it on Chip. Yknow, one of the guys with a fully developed personality. Someone who's much more likely to suffer from having it installed. Someone who's much more likely to try and resist it BECAUSE he has a life of his own, and is his own person. If the company has countless non-important workers with no personality, why wouldn't you just test the override on one of them? If they don't really have a life of their own, or are otherwise devoid of a real personality, wouldn't it make more sense for the override to work more flawlessly on the Grunts? Of course this wouldn't be an issue under the assumption that Grunt Cogs are just as well-developed as Manager Cogs. They would face the same issues that Chip does under the effects of the override. Also, unrelated to the override, but this also makes the fact that Chip uses the Grunt Cogs as weapons hit less hard. He shoots them out of cannons at the Toons, against their will. He fires them en-masse to use as cannon fodder. Obviously, under the context that they don't matter nearly as much, this makes it harder to care about them and weakens that aspect of the narrative.

Conclusion

This was a quick look at some of the in-game examples of things that could be put into question under the assumption that Grunt Cogs aren't as fully developed as other Suits. There are absolutely more examples in-game, as well as more narrative factors that could be discussed and delved into concerning this topic.

[coralhoneyrose]

fun chrom and or robin headcanons? chrobin headcanons?

alternatively what are some widely accepted or constantly brought up things in the awakening fandom that you hate?

my fun headcanon is they try to both be objective and somewhat professional as leaders but when c&r are alone together they love to gossip. you know theyve seen some stuff

Oooh what a fun question! I’m sure as soon as I hit post I’ll remember a bunch more but here’s what I was able to come up with~

Robin: I actually like head-canoning Robin as having ADHD. I could ramble about that for ages tbh but I think they fit the “twice exceptional” profile really well and that a combination of being an anxious perfectionist and having an attention disorder would make a lot of sense given that we know Robin is both very confident in their tactics and intelligence but also prone to workaholic tendencies with pushing themselves to extremes to make sure they’ve thought of everything. I also headcanon Robin as being kind of a slob LOL like I think their room would always be a mess with things strewn everywhere but *they* know where everything is meant to be so don’t even think about moving anything, Frederick >:(

Also this may be obvious from my writing, but I like headcanoning Robin as having darker skin than in canon in large part to circumvent Awakening’s unfortunate tendency to only feature that trait for Plegians who are antagonists. OH! And I love the idea of Robin being touch-starved when the shepherds first find and adopt her too.

Chrom: I headcanon he has very pretty cursive handwriting that he was forced to learn by his tutors growing up; that he low-key kinda likes PDA; that he’s mindlessly touchy with Robin specifically, even before he realizes his feelings; that he has a praise kink; that he is a morning person; and that he’s not particularly religious, despite being….ya know, the exalt of a halidom.

Idk if it’s cheating to also list that I headcanon him as biromantic demisexual (given that I have a whole fic about that) but I’m restating it anyway because that one is very dear to me. Also! I did not come up with this one myself, but I saw a tweet from another Chrobin author once about how they hc that Chrom would abdicate the throne before he gets particularly old to help ensure that Lucina’s coronation is a happy and celebratory event, and I love that idea and thinks it suits both of them really well <3

I think the one you shared is cute and fitting for them too! Both of them take their jobs really seriously so I can absolutely see them making an effort to keep too many court politics out of their work but then debriefing about stuff and laughing at all the stuffy nobles together after to help maintain their sanity.

As for things brought up / widely accepted in the fandom that I dislike and / or strongly disagree with, the three that come most immediately to mind are:

- That Chrom and Robin have a dumb one / smart one dynamic. I think they’re both very competent leaders and that while Robin is clearly the smarter of the two, I’ve always interpreted Chrom as probably having above average intelligence and just being really blunt and kind of oblivious / not tactful in certain delicate social situations which….tbh I fully believe Robin can be guilty of that sort of thing as well LOL

- That the f!Chrobin supports are “objectively” some of the worst in the game”. I can definitely understand and sympathize with some of the complaints about them, but that doesn’t change the fact that they’re my favorite supports in awakening full stop. And I do also think that a subset of the complaints leveled at them are wildly off base

- That male and female Robin have different personalities. I just do not think this is true. I think the differences we see in their supports are pretty much always a direct function of being treated differently by the other character on account of their gender and responding to those differing circumstances accordingly

I have started drafting and ultimately aborted so many posts making arguments for all these points but somewhere along the line I usually remind myself to take a deep breath and that people can enjoy these characters and ships however they want to. Ultimately if I don’t like something, it’s easy enough for me to tune it out and keep doing my own thing and I’ve found fandom has become a lot more pleasant that way LOL

Andddd I think that covers everything? Thanks so much for the ask—I had a lot of fun answering it as probably evidenced by how long this turned out to be asjfk

[coveholdenmyluv]

I. Midoriya - New Beginnings

Synopsis. Stained and calloused, the commission has nurtured your palms into silent artillery and trained you to fight the wolves they throw you in with. Not at all accounting for the possibility that you too might learn to bite the hand that feeds you.

- or alternatively - in which the hero commission recruits YOU to go undercover as a student in UA to keep a certain class, who already seems to be a magnet for trouble, in check…

It’s safe to say you get a little more than what your briefing covered.

A story of the finding of self love, a family, and a new beginning.

Series masterlist.

Chapter warnings. Class A shenanigans at one point, reveal of reader’s quirk, this chapter is full of action idek if I did it justice, abuse of carotid artery to knock ppl tf out, not many warnings.

Chapter synopsis. It’s time to meet the trouble makers! You plan to show them that you are leagues above their skill level.

2| The Color of Vitality. 8.9K words

The air felt stale, the room oppressive, and your uniform fit constrictively. Glancing around the office you stand in, you note the large mahogany desk before you, and you're drawn to the broad glass window behind it, or more specifically, the landscape it overlooks. It almost reminded you of the view you were more accustomed to in the HPSC headquarters, though you noticed you preferred this greenery over the latter.

City buildings consisting of cement and glass panes were replaced by vibrant lively leaves and chocolate colored tree trunks. The warmth that enters in the form of vivid rays of sunlight highlight the specs of dust that waft around your figure, and although the scenery was nothing short of mesmerizing, it surely was not aiding your current state.

Your limbs are jittery, and you can feel yourself begin to perspire, but your uniform was supposed to be a perfect fit, even tailored to your body specifically... so why did your collar feel as though it was getting tighter by the second?

You confirmed numerous times that all details were finalized, preparations taken care of, analyzed every file in scrutiny, and attended each meeting pertaining to your mission. Your objective was shallow, perhaps the most straightforward it has ever been - nothing more than keeping tabs on the students, blending in as one, guiding them on the paths that would best benefit hero society, and if they were to not fit that mould? Taking care of the situation immediately.

A mission that includes classmates, classes, and attending one of, if not the, most prestigious academy in Japan.

"Am I... nervous?" You mutter to yourself, bewildered by the mere possibility. "There's no way in hell. I've completed assignments that required hundreds of files to be ingrained into my subconscious, encountered countless life threatening situations, and I did so impeccably... So, why is such an elementary task making my stomach feel as if I've drunk expired milk?"

Heeding the crease forming itself between your brows, you gaze bounces off of the walls of the vacant room. It was clearly lived in, the personal touches had described so. Inspirational posters and golden plaques decorated the surfaces, giving clue to just how successful the institution has become over the years, which didn't surprise you, considering the first-rate list of alumni it held in its arsenal. Though, UA hadn't always had its names spoken about in such a favorable manner as it is now. It was once deemed a school for wistful teens with dreams bigger than they would ever become.

The drastic turnaround to those whispers was instantaneous, taking a sharp turn when the current principle rose to the vanguard. Those golden plaques with his name engraved within them spoke for themselves.

The silver door handle jiggles from behind you, and the abrupt swing of the door causes your posture to fix itself, surmising that the new arrival was surely the man himself. The pressure you felt on your back only furthers your thoughts, he feels exactly like you had thought he would, exuding power, competence, and business with every step he takes. You haven't even seen his face, but you were sure it was one that could make even the strongest of heroes lower their head when subjected to his stern gaze.

You prepared yourself, you had to, for you would not give him the satisfaction of knowing he had the same effect on you. You were not like the other students, no, you were far better.

You had years of experience in your arsenal and have undergone exponential training that even Endeavor himself would break a sweat at, or at least that's what you think. You are nowhere near the level of your new "classmates", if you could even consider them as such, and though this man would have no way of knowing this fact, you are going to make sure he heeds it.

You won't be intimidated and intend to stand your ground, not cracking under an ounce of pressure. You are your own army and he will know so by the time you have taken your leave in the abrupt meeting-

"Good morning and happy Friday, miss Aeron! It's an honor to have you as a new addition to our found family."

Turning your neck in surprise at the sound of his buoyant voice, your confusion only furthers when you find nothing in your line of sight. Was this a surprise attack? Your gaze bounces repeatedly off of the walls, attempting to catch sight of the suspect, but of course, your eyes hail nothing.

Unexpectedly, the chair to the desk in front of you begins to move, followed by two silky white paws anchoring themselves onto the edge of the desk and a body matching in color finally unveils itself. "I hope the walk here didn't bring you too much trouble in the task of navigating yourself to my office." Says the unique animal before you, sitting prettily on leather.

Completely taken off kilter, your breath staggers at the surprise of the fact that this small creature, who for some reason reminds you of your own furry companion at home, is the principal to the institute that practically breeds A-list heroes.

"No, I was fine. The signs you have displayed on your walls aided me well enough. And the pleasure is all mine, I assure you." You replied, disregarding the fact that you were lying out of your ass. You did get lost, in fact, three times. You thanked your past self for arriving earlier than the agreed upon meeting time, though he did not need to know that.

"I'm glad." He smiles warmly, "You can call me Principal Nezu, and let me welcome you to what is to be your new second home, UA High School! I assure you, we will do everything in our power to make your transfer from homeschool to public school go as smoothly as possible." He reassures.

"Thank you, Principal Nezu." Calling him such an infamous name felt weird to your tongue. "It's very much appreciated. Although, if you don't mind me asking, why summon me on a Friday? I was under the impression that I would be starting in the upcoming semester."

The principal only chuckles softly, his fur crinkling around his eyes as he does so. "My apologies, miss Aeron. Unfortunately, I am not the one at fault for that. Forgive me, the man can be very persuading." He informs you as one of his paws makes its way across the desk to press a sleek black button. "Let EraserHead know he can join us now, please and thank you." He speaks into a speaker.

'EraserHead?' You questioned internally, 'Why would he want me here, of all days? Surely such a successful underground hero and teacher wouldn't throw me into class on such a day just for the hell of it, right?'

For the second time that day, the door opens abruptly, though this time eerily slowly, nearly causing you to crawl out of your own skin. So far, your experience in this school has not gone how you had imagined it would. Your nerves wouldn't shut up and caused your posture to appear rigid, you hate this feeling of being on edge, as if you were awaiting to be attacked at any second. And though you've grown used to it, it has never been as intense as it is now.

The cause for your vigilance enters the room in the form of a tall and lanky male with under eyes hinting at his horrid sleep schedule, his unruly hair and uneven chin scruff portrayed his lack of care for vanity or societal expectations. In other words, he was truly the human personification of what the commission has relentlessly warned you of becoming, for how could a true hero ever be loved if not aided by what they had to display in regards to societal norms?

"I hope you don't mind, but EraserHead here enjoys torturing his students and, surprisingly, it makes for great training regiment, so I allow it! I'll allow him to explain the rest." Principal Nezu continues, gesturing to the man who places himself at your side.

As he shifts his body to face your own, you feel the weight of his piercing gaze on the side of your face awaiting you to do the same. "You can look at me, you know? I'm not medusa." His deep but smooth voice tells you.

The truth was, the man scared you.

Not for his intimidating presence or his lofty height, but for the fact that he was everything you strived not to be. He placed a seed of doubt into your mind. The president has always proclaimed that a hero not driven by the people was not a hero at all. You believe that to be true, or at least, you think you still do. Appearances and attitudes have everything to do with the people. But, this man was a teacher of heroism at the school gifted with the title of being the best at exactly that, heroism. UA would never allow someone not worthy of being deemed a hero to lay a foot on campus, right?

'This is so confusing.' You think to yourself, 'Madam President always speaks the truth, so for now, I'll be wary of this man.' You decide as you finally allow yourself to return the potent stare he wore. 'I'll add EraserHead to the list of people I need to find out more about. There's no way this guy is a true hero.'

"You can call me Mr. Aizawa." He begins, his heavily lidded eyes so dark that even black holes couldn't replicate the depth of which his irises held.

'I won't be doing that.'

"As of today, I am your homeroom teacher, and as your homeroom teacher it's part of my job to be honest with you. So, I'll give it to you straight." He continues, and that heavily lidded stare morphs itself into serpentine slits paired with a mischievous grin that drew chills to your spine. "You won't be participating in any actual classes today, instead, you'll be joining us in our practical exams for finals."

"Oh... what does that mean-"

"Where you'll be put to the test and go up against your new classmates." He finishes.

"...cOme again?" Your voice crack was almost humiliating.

The principal was not joking when he told you EraserHead enjoyed torturing his students. Unfortunately, the fact that you were merely a new addition does not exempt your from the same treatment.

'So this is UA. I should've known they wouldn't cut me any slack.'

"Think of this as a quirk apprehension test. I'll be watching from the sidelines and evaluating your performance. I simply need to see where you're at with the ability to control your quirk as well as your combat abilities." His statement was exactly that, a statement laced with finality, implying there was no argument to be had.

You were clearly taken aback by the news of what you were to partake in, having not been prepared to enter combat at all today, though you didn't mind the notion. In fact, you don't think you dislike it.

This is the perfect opportunity to claim your place above the class in regard to your abilities, by the end of today they'll know where they stand in this superhuman society - anywhere below your feet. It might have not been covered in your briefing, but you doubted the addition of informing these students of just what Vitality was capable of was not welcome.

This was beginning to excite you.

"Where do I suit up?"

The sky was vivid and clear, with only a small amount of drifting fluffy clouds doing little to obstruct the intense rays of sunlight. Before a small building with only two automatic sliding doors acting as an entrance and exit, stood various teachers and students alike.

"Now, we will begin the practical exams." EraserHead begins, "Of course, it is very possible to fail this exam. So, if you want to go to training camp, don't make any stupid mistakes."

"There are a lot of teachers here..." Jirou hesitatingly mumbles.

Though, her teacher pays her no mind and continues his explanation, "I expect that you all have gathered your own information from outside sources as to what you will be doing."

Kaminari juts his fingers and creates finger guns, "We're fighting those big'ole metal robots! Like the ones from the entrance exam, right? Piece of cake!"

"More like s'mores! Fireworks and camp fires, here we come!" Ashido exclaims buoyantly.

"Actually!" Interrupts a voice from within EraserHead's scarf, still wrapped snugly around his neck, and a white paw emerges from between the lines of cloth. "For various reasons, the test will be entirely different this year." Principal Nezu announces, unveiling himself in the process, thwarting the teen's cries of enjoyment.

"Wait, Principal Nezu? You're changing things?" Yaoyorozu asks.

"From now on, we want to focus on hero work and person to person combat! So, what does that mean for you?" He ends the suspense by pointing a paw in their direction. "You students will be venturing the world of teamwork, and your opponents will be none other than your esteemed UA teachers! Well, secondly. Isn't that fabulous?"

"We're fighting the teachers?!" Uraraka shrieks in terror.

"Yes, additionally your partners and opponents have already been chosen and they were determined at my discretion." EraserHead continues flatly. "Based on various factors including combat styles, grades, and interpersonal relationships. Though, before you fight us, you'll have to complete the first test."

"First?!"

"The second is simply a chance to redeem yourselves when you inevitably fail the first." The principal adds gleefully. "After all, she won't have the burden of a handicap that the heroes do."

An aura of silence emerges onto the crowd of students, only being disrupted by an obnoxious growl.

"What'ja say about me?!"

Midoriya hesitantly lifts a finger in question. "Um, what exactly is the first test, Mr. Aizawa? And what does he mean, we'll inevitably fail?"

A mischievous grin forms across the instructors face, displaying the rare sight of his pearly whites. "That's a great question, Midoriya. The test is fairly similar to the second, only instead of working in pairs, you will all be working together as a class and there will be no escape route. Both require you to secure the handcuffs onto your opponents before the time runs out." He explains, and holds out the handcuffs in topic. "When it comes time to fighting against us teachers, we'll be wearing ultra compressed weights as a sort of handicap. Like the principal briefly mentioned before, your opponent for the first exam won't be given that burden."

"Wait, opponent? As in, we'll only have one opponent for the first exam?" Yaoyorozu asks dubiously.

"Yes."

"So, what you're alluding to is that, all the twenty of us have to do is apprehend one person?" Todoroki asks, uncertainty obvious in his tone. "I'm assuming it's not a teacher since we'll be fighting against you in the second test, and unless this is another pro we are speaking about, don't you think that's a bit unfair to them? What is their obvious advantage?" He adds.

"I appreciate the concern, pretty boy." Abruptly, almost startling the entire class, the sliding doors of the building frame your exit and entrance onto the platform they stand on. "But, I assure you, I can handle myself just fine."

Donning your all black body suit, with your matching fingerless gloves and combat boots, your eyes glide across the group before you, displaying mild distaste for the sight. Lime green, mimicking the abnormal color of your irises, accents litter your suit arbitrarily, decorating your boots, gloves, utility belt, and the grey detailed lines matching those of Hawks' own hero suit on your torso. Your hero alias was printed in small letters at the very edge of your long sleeves, leaving no question to whom its owner was.

"I thought I told you to wait for my signal, Aeron." EraserHead scolds, throwing a petulant frown your way.

Cocking your head, you retort, "Sorry to ruin your fantasy of a dramatic entrance, teach, but I think my idea was better. Just look at their faces." You jut your chin towards the students, "Plus, you were taking too long."

"I've told you plenty of times, it's Mr. Aizawa to you, Aeron. It'd do you well to learn respect."

"Wait a minute..." Ashido interrupts your conversation, "Aeron... give me a sec, I almost got it..." She squints her eyes at your face, inspecting it for an ounce of recognition.

Shifting uncomfortably, you glare back at the girl, taking her stance as a form of threat. "What are you looking at-"

"Oh wow! You're Aeron! Hawks' sister! Of course, there's no one else with that solar symbol on their face!" She exclaims, pointing at the green mark in the shape of a sun between your brows, a detail that the awakening of your quirk had brought along with it.

"I'm... what?-"

"Hold on," Kaminari comments, "You're telling me this uber hottie is related to the number three hero? They look nothing alike."

"Siblings don't have to look alike, dunce face." Bakugo reminds the boy. "Maybe she has a deadbeat that never came back with the milk."

EraserHead takes that as his cue to step in before this conversation turned too personal. "Whether or not she has a deadbeat does not concern any of you." He says in a stern voice.

"Yeah, I definitely don't have a deadbeat." You confirm, before you tilt your head and ponder to yourself, "Although, I'm sure both of them are dead." You add.

Todoroki hums in agreement, "I wish my dad was dead."

The awkward silence that follows after your failed attempt to withhold a short snort is deafening, though the dual toned boy hadn't seemed to mind. It seemed both of your brief trauma dumps were amusing to no one but yourselves.

"...I literally don't know how to respond to that." EraserHead utters.

"I'm not related to Hawks, by the way. Just close to the guy." You say, swiftly altering the subject.

"This is going to be just as much of a test for her as it is for you all. So, to answer your question, Todoroki; her advantage is the time limit. I'm sure that's all she needs."

"What is it that she is going to be tested on, sir? And, how does she pass?" Midoriya asks and for some reason, his voice births a scowl onto your lips.

"The first question is irrelevant for now, and as for the second, all that she would have to do is evade the handcuffs until time runs out. Either that or knock you all unconscious, quirk or no quirk." He answers.

The green haired boy places his chin between his thumb and index as he begins to mutter incoherently, "Knocking us unconscious with or without her quirk implies that her quirk holds the ability to knock us unconscious. Perhaps her ability is similar to Ms. Midnight's, in which she simply needs to approach a certain proximity for it to be effective? If that is the case then it will be difficult to get close enough to place the handcuffs on her, whether we go for her wrists or legs. Unless there is a way that we can somehow avoid being affected, just like how we could simply hold our breaths if Ms. Midnight was to be our opponent instead-"

"Shut the fuck up, Deku."

"Language." EraserHead states with a roll of his eyes, "Alright, we don't have time for this. You have two tests to get through, so let's get this over with. We've already prepared the stage, which means we're just wasting valuable time here, let's go."

"All we have to do is put the handcuffs on her before the timer goes off. This could even be a one man job... so please, no extra shit, guys." Kirishima says, not without side eyeing some students in particular.

All twenty students have gathered in the location their teacher has designated as the battle field for their first test. You have already separated from the group and left for your own designated start location in the field. The class is simply awaiting the chime of the buzzer to indicate the commencement of the exam.

The ground chosen was decorated with empty buildings, houses, and what looked to be massive pipes interlaced within each other. All in all, it truly was a match made in heaven for your specific fighting style and you doubt your new instructor was ignorant in this fact. Of course, being blindsided by your presence meant that the class was not aware of such information, unfortunately for them.

"Speak for yourself," Starts Mineta, "All I'm gonna do is find a way to destroy her hero costume-" Though, the small teen is unable to complete his sentence as tape encompasses his lips.

"You are such a little scumbag." Sero scolds, obviously disgusted by his classmates intentions.

"It's just one person, how hard can it be? Plus! It's safe to say that we have more experience than the average Joe." Hagakure reassures, her invisible shoulders shrugging, not that anyone could tell so.

"Uh, do you guys live under a rock or something?" Kaminari asks sarcastically, "Sure there aren't that many photos of her online, bar some candids that the paps have taken, but there's been definite buzz about a young hero in training that's been seen to be real close to the number three. People are already guessing that she'll crack the top twenty within six weeks of her official debut! Some say that Hawks trained her himself!" He exclaims.

"I'm genuinely surprised, and a little worried, that some of you are this clueless." Ashido adds, "But, that's why I'm here! What would you guys do without me?"

"Can you two shut the hell up? I absolutely give zero fucks about who she's trained with, I'll annihilate her either way." Bakugo grits at his two classmates.

"No, Kacchan. It'd be stupid to just go in and attempt to cuff her. What we need to do is try to guess her quirk and then-"

"Did I ask for your opinion?!"

"No... but, Kacchan-"

"Listen idiot, we don't know what the hell her quirk is. Chances are, we won't be able to guess it. The best bet we have is to go in, scope out her abilities, and then work around whatever the fuck we find."

"But, that's the thing. I'm thinking that her quirk has to be similar to Ms. Midnight's, in which neither of them have to get too close. If we go in blind, we'll be wiped out in two seconds."

"Bitch, please. No damn extra could wipe me out."

"Kacchan! You shouldn't say-"

"I'm going in."

"Wait!-"

Unbeknownst to most of the group, being distracted by their own classmates, the blaring buzzer has already rung. Despite how deafening the sound seemed to be, it was as if it had never even existed with how the teens had blatantly ignored the signal, preferring to continue arguing and prohibiting each other from speaking.

Some akin to oil and water.

First, it was the simple swing of a leg, and in an instant, Koda was down. Sato and Hagakure were next, and in noticing the commotion, Ojiro sprung into action by swinging his tail at the attacker. Though, his efforts were all for naught as you swiftly dodged the large mass and knocked him to the floor with the use of your legs. He lands with a grunt and you seize the opportunity to climb atop of his body and strike his carotid artery to knock him unconscious. By then, a few more students had noticed Ojiro's tumble and moved to stop you.

Upon rushing towards you and activating their quirks, Iida takes the liberty of announcing your arrival. "She has arrived class!-"

Before the class representative could complete his warning, you arise from the ground and the dainty sun on your forehead begins to swell in brightness.

One by one, bodies fell slack onto the dirt.

"Night night." You said and with each step you took through the crowd, more students fall slump. - Aeron, one of the few students admitted into the hero course by recommendation.

Quirk: Vitality; she can basically do whatever she pleases with the energy around her. Including materializing and the taking or giving of physical energy. It is through sedulous training that she is able to control the amount and from whom she does or doesn't affect. Though she usually uses this quirk to aid her in combat, her main source of energy originates from the sun and moon. Range and drawbacks are unknown to any records. - Thirteen students remain unaffected due to their further proximity, and two of those students had yet to seize their bickering.

"What the fuck is that-" Kaminari begins, though interrupted by a boisterous shout.

"Dark Shadow!" Tokoyami commands, stepping forward and allowing his shadow to materialize and grow in size.

Discharging your energy into your palm, you swiftly sculpt it until it resembles several green daggers and throw them head on to the dark entity. The light emitting from the small weapons forces Dark Shadow to hesitate upon noticing just how bright they seemed to shine, ultimately terrifying the poor thing and coercing it back to its owner with nothing but eyes full of lachrymose.

'Aww, it's kind of cute... kind of.' You entertain yourself internally.

The being thrusting itself into its owners arms disrupts the boy's eyesight, giving you a vivid opening that you don't miss. Kicking the center of his chest, your leg does not leave Tokoyami's body until the boy is laid on the ground and you've stolen enough of his energy to knock him unconscious.

Before you're given the chance to celebrate, another shout rings clear in your ears.

"One million volts!"

Holding his hands above his head, the electricity charging in Kaminari's palms is promptly brought down and released into the open air around him, not halting his assault until he feels his brain turn into mush. As he takes in his surroundings, albeit as thoroughly as his winded body could, he's startled to find... nothing?

"Time for bed, Chargebolt." You drawl by his ear, and the boy has no chance to protest as his body drops like deadweight.

To avoid his strong attack was simple really, you were the personification of the words agile and nimble on your feet.

Though again, before you're allowed to even think of thrusting a fist in the air in victory, another ambush rains down on you in the form of... tape? You forgot about that quirk.

The sticky but durable ribbon snakes itself around your waist snuggly, and you're pulled up into the air. Your assailant cackles without restraint at your yelp, and another piece of white tape attempts to glide its way over to you, though this one is accompanied by a pair handcuffs. Noticing its direct trail towards your left ankle, you avoid its path by simply moving your leg and grasping the tape around your waist to pull you forward and away. Now clear from the handcuffs you are to avoid, you enwreathe your wrist in the tape that lays in your palm and yank with all your might, pulling Sero in your direction.

"Hey." You greet. "Bondage isn't really my thing, to be honest. Or at least, I'd prefer it if I'm not on the receiving end."

"Ah, shit." He grits, before foregoing the tape that held onto the handcuffs and releasing the responsibility onto whichever classmate caught the object first. "You know, I didn't have much hope of succeeding in the first place." The boy admits.

"Smart on your part." You reply, and the unfortunate student falls unconscious at the touch of your palm.

Free falling back onto the large pipes that Sero had used to veil himself, you grab onto his body and hold him close as you stick your landing, only placing him as gently as you could manage onto the surface when you spot the handcuffs on the ground.

"Such an easy dub. Good job, Aeron, you're as sharp as ever. Oh, why thank you, Aeron." You mutter to yourself, and hop off of your post, aiming to grasp them into your safe hold.

All this garners you is another assault hindering your path to victory. Bright blue laser beams wipe the boastful grin off of your face and force you to dodge spurious attacks, though it seems the students don't deem that enough since sudden balls of acid begin to rain from the sky.

Not allowing yourself to be deterred, your body evades the ambush in the shape of your acrobatic talents. Growing tired of performing backbends midair, your eyes scour the battlefield for your assailants, before spotting a fluff of pink hair squatting atop of a small building, as well as the origin of the almost blinding bright beams of light that were being released arbitrarily. Neither of the two seemed to be putting much thought behind their attacks, so you gathered it shouldn't be too hard to make your way towards them. The boy at the bottom seemed to even have his eyes squeezed shut in fright.

"Closing your eyes leaves you with too many blind spots, surely you know that." You argue, figuring you might as well offer him the obvious advice. "Especially if you have your hands preoccupied behind your head like that. For instance," You begin, before you propel yourself off of the closest surface for a boost of speed, and swoop in behind the boy to strike at the back of his knees. "Your limbs should be your best friends during battle, never a hindrance. Your body is one of the only things in the world that you have complete control of, don't waste that potential, idiot." You chide.

Stealing his energy proved to be as easy as you had expected since he didn't put up much of a fight after you had him splayed on the ground, only uttering a faint, "Je suis... désolé..." as he succumbed to the calls of slumber.

"Don't apologize." You answer, shaking your head as you prepare to take down the remaining assailant.

Ashido remained on her post, mindlessly tossing out the acid that she materializes out of her palms. Sneaking up on the girl was out of the question since, unlike her classmate, her unique eyes were not hidden behind her eyelids. So you guessed there wouldn't be a problem with simply making your way towards her, evading her ambush as you went.

"Not fair! I thought aerobics was my thing!" Ashido whines, before she too displays her talents as she begins to dodge your own retaliating attacks. Though, her panicked frown suddenly morphs into an excited grin, "What's your favorite move? I love bridges, they're just so nice when my muscles feel too tight!" She exclaims.

Placing your hands onto the ground, you thrust your legs in her direction as an answer, aiming at her stomach. Of course, such a simple move did not phase the girl as she simply performs her own favorite maneuver instead.

She's fast.

"Wow! That was like an inverted donkey kick in the air! Your upper body strength must be through the roof!" She squeals in excitement, already having recovered her stance and repeatedly dodging your attacks. Back and forth, the both of you all but bounced off the surfaces around you, simply awaiting one of your quirks to finally land a hit on the other.

If this were to go on any longer, the rest of the students would be allowed time to gather and even conjure up a viable plan to defeat you.

'Okay, time to end this.'

Dropping low to the ground unexpectedly, counting on taking the girl off her guard, you sweep your legs her way and luckily, you catch her ankles, forcing the teen to fall on her back and she lands with a coherent 'ack'.

"Sorry Ashido, but endurance and aerial acrobatics are literally my entire brand." You tell her as you slowly drain her of her energy.

The girl sighs in defeat and nods her head, "Yeah, that's fine. I've gotta respect your talent. Maybe we can practice together sometime? You were amazing!"

"We'll see." You answer, before you decide to just put the poor girl out of her misery and will your quirk to work faster. Once she falls unconscious, you rise from your spot on the ground, "I really like your hero costume, by the way."

Taking the time to catch your breath, you place your hands on your hips, before you are forced to watch a tall and sturdy wall of ice emerge before you, effectively blocking your path towards the remaining eight students.

On the other side of the barrier stands a nervous Uraraka, nibbling on her manicured fingernails. "Holy crap, she's scary!" She exclaims.

"You've got to admit, that's a heavily versatile quirk." Kirishima comments.

"Though, it's her combat prowess that likely sets her apart from us. Whether it was Hawks or not, there's no doubt she's had professional training." Todoroki adds.

Yaoyorozu nods in agreement, "We'll have to be wary of her agility." She warns and looks toward the girl on the ground that had her earlobes placed on the surfaces around her. "Jirou, alert us if you hear her and from which direction she is coming from, alright?"

"Got it."

Midoriya stood only aways away from the ice with his chin in his fingers as he mutters, "It seems my hypothesis was correct, in which her quirk is very similar to Miss Midnight's. But, the main difference is that I don't see a way we could avoid the effects. The way it works is activated by either touch or proximity - when she approached Sero, he fell limp, but he did so slowly; When she grabbed ahold of him, he was immediately out. So, I'm guessing actual skin to skin contact speeds the process up dramatically, hence her fingerless gloves. In a battle of endurance, she's damn near indomitable. That being said, everyone has limits. We need to find out what those limits are and as fast as humanly possible-"

"Found ya, you damn human generator!"

Jirou nearly spasms on the ground due to her surprise, "How did I not hear her?!"

You stood on a huge pipe as the boy uses his explosions to grow closer to your form, and as you watch him, you wonder just how stupid he must be to charge straight towards you.

Unfortunately for you, he was anything but stupid.

"I hope you know, I have great aim!" He grits and throws the handcuffs, that you hadn't even realized he had in his possession, with the utmost precision that allows the detainers to curve in their path, making a bee-line towards your ankles.

Swiftly, you grab the small black staff attached to your hip and place both hands on either of its ends, pulling them apart and revealing a pair of nun chucks.

"That's great, kid. So do I!" You satirize, your tone almost sounding like you were mocking his attempt. Reeling your weapon back, you thrust it forward so that they collide with the cuffs, causing them to spiral like a pair of yo-yo's back to the aggressor.

Not expecting your quick reaction, Bakugo's eyes widen as he registers the objects barreling his way, having not foreseen a way to dodge in time. "Shit." A coherent crack, or was it a crunch?, could be heard at the moment of impact.

Music to your ears.

The blond grunts and ricochets towards the ground, having lost his momentum.

"Kacchan!" Midoriya yells, activating his own quirk and using it to bounce off of multiple surfaces to enhance his speed towards his classmate and reach for the boy.

Challenging his attempt, you jump off of the metal pipe you stand on and race him in his mission of grabbing his friend. Though, as you grow closer, you notice a change in the air. As if someone has suddenly applied pressure all around your body.

Throughout the time you've honed your own ability, you've grown sensitive to the energy that surrounds you. Energy is not specific to physical. Energy is a vague description of your quirk, therefore your abilities extend to far more than the manipulation of a persons state of consciousness. After years of extensive training, you've grown the aptitude of sensing auras. Specifically, the aura of power that comes with an individuals quirk.

And in those years, you've never felt anything that compares to that of Midoriya's.

Faltering in your attempt, your hand instinctively retreats back to your own body. "What the hell is with you-" You begin to utter, though you aren't given the chance to complete your sentence, before Midoriya notices your fumble and shoves Bakugo back towards the ground and into the safety of the care of his classmates, resolving to body slamming you onto the rough concrete below you.

Skidding harshly across the ground, you land on your back with a heavy weight settled atop of you, "Ouch, that's going to bruise." You wheeze in pain as your eyes sting with moisture. "You ever heard of a gentle touch?" You ask, though your comment was mostly to taunt the boy, considering you hadn't expected any of the students to actually take it easy on you. In fact, that would have probably offended you.

"I'm sorry," He utters and your surprised at the fact that he has the audacity to sound genuine. "But, if we can't find a path around your quirk, we'll have to force our way through it instead, and this is our only chance!"

"I didn't need your damn help, Deku!" Bakugo, unsurprisingly having a fast recovery, yells, already making his way towards you once again.

Not wanting to get tagged teamed, you activate your quirk in an attempt to deprive Midoriya of his consciousness, but you notice the significant delay in which you feel his energy flowing into yourself. The cooling feeling it is supposed to bring you is nothing but a mere draft of the wind. Why the hell is this taking so long? That doesn't matter now in this instant, touching the boy should speed up the process dramatically.

The second your palm is a centimeter away from his face, Midoriya takes ahold of both of your wrists and pins you to the ground.

"The physical technicality of your quirk, it means direct skin to skin, doesn't it?" He asks as he struggles to keep you beneath him, "Five percent!" He yells and his grip somehow tightens, causing your wrists to ache.

"No way... your power increased?!" You grit through your clenched teeth, still struggling against his restraints.

"It's amazing how well of a fight you are putting up against one fo- ehm, my quirk! Especially after I've ramped up to five percent!"

"And now you're mocking me? You've got some balls." You pant.

"No, I'm not mocking, I didn't mean it like that!"

"You know what? I don't mind acknowledging them personally."

The boy physically stutters, the green aura of light electricity surrounding him even dimming for a split second, "What does that me-"

Using your knee, you hit Midoriya in his crotch area, causing him to groan and his face to contort in pain as he doubles over. "Oh crap." He rasps.

Flipping him onto his back so that your positions are reversed, you shove your palm onto his face. "You left multiple weak spots wide open. Next time, make sure to restrain my entire body, otherwise you'll get this same outcome, rookie."

He lifts a hand and gives you a faint thumbs up in acknowledgement, before he succumbs into a deep slumber.

"What a dirty move!" Kirishima winces as the sight.

The hairs on the back of your neck stand at attention as you sense a presence growing closer and you act immediately by twisting your torso and planting a palm on the ground, coming face to face with your attacker.

"You lose." Bakugo says as he propels towards you with the handcuffs, yet again. "I won't miss this time!"

As he nears you, you swing your legs his way and wrap them around his torso. "What the hell?!-" He exclaims and goes to place the handcuffs around any limb he can reach, though he isn't successful seeing as you use your hold on him to drop you both onto the floor. Instead of stealing his energy, you decide to target the object of desire amongst the group of teens you are currently engaging in combat with.

"Nuh-uh, you are not stealing this victory from me again." The blond retorts, noticing your attempt and pulling the handcuffs away from your reach and above his head.

"I don't want to steal victory, I want to steal those handcuffs." You reply, grabbing the opposite end of the cuffs and yanking them away.

"It's the same thing, give those back and get off of me, you weight a ton." He insults, which has your jaw dropping in offense, and fights you for custody. Though, when he realizes your current objective is to simply pry them away so that you could run and hide them for an easy victory, he decides to deal you the same damage you had paid him just a few moments earlier.

"Ow! You asshole!" You cry as he lands a strike on your nose, "You know what? I change my mind." You decide, and lay your palm on his chest. He realizes you aim to steal his energy, and as a last ditch effort to thwart your attempt, he releases an explosion towards your face, though it only reaches your ear before he falls limp.

The ringing that the explosion deals you is enough to force a wince and a whine of pain out of you, causing you to roll off of his chest and clutch your head in agony.

"Midoriya and Bakugo?!" Mineta yells from afar, "You both had an uber hottie sitting on top of you and you decide to pass out?! You guys are so ungrateful!" He finishes, before getting interrupted by the sound of Jirou's sound waves which effectively shove you back and cause you to skid across the ground, yet again.

"Shit." You heave. "I'm over heating, and that sound wave Jirou just hit me with is not helping the pain in my damn head." You utter aloud, and decide it'd be best if you disperse the energy you've taken so far, as to halt the rise in temperature in your body.

And just as you're regaining your breath, a net gets thrown upon you.

Inspecting your surroundings, you notice Yaoyorozu approaching. "It's done." She announces, and suddenly a thick block of ice forms at your heels, enveloping you feet and rendering them immobile.

"Who the hell-"

"Everyone's got a limit." A cool and monotone says from behind you, and the rest of the students begin to surround where you sit. "I wonder if you've reached yours, Aeron."

'Baby Todoroki. I should've known he'd be the one to take a step back and think.'

Uraraka hands the handcuffs to Jirou who in turn hands them to Yaoyorozu, and the girl begins to open them for detainment. Once she reaches a close enough proximity, you slip your hands through the holes of the netting and offer your wrists in surrender.

She stares at them dubiously, questioning your motives and if she should trust that'd you'd be willing to hang up your coat and know when you're being held by the throat.

"Come on, it's not like I'll bite you." You purr, tilting your head and wiggling your wrists in invitation.

Deciding to take her chances, she moves to enclose the metal restraints around you. But, before she can render you harmless, you take ahold of her left hand and pull her towards you, twisting her arm so that her back presses up against you instead. Placing your palm onto her forehead, she goes unconscious.

Thrusting her aside and before any of the other students can reach you, you quickly pour as much energy as you could into your hands and repeatedly smash the ice around your ankles until it shatters around you, slicing and bloodying your knuckles.

Having the fastest reaction time out of the classmates left, Todoroki slides himself behind you and wraps his arm around your neck, slowly applying heat where his hand laid on your head. "Kirishima, Now!-" He begins.

Doubling over, the boy's body follows your direction allowing you to reach behind yourself and yank him forwards by the back of his hero costume. The puzzled teen falls before you, his bi-colored eyes questioning how the hell you were able to handle his entire body weight with a single arm.

"What? Never seen a girl with great arms?"

"Not recently, no-"

You don't allow the boy to finish his sentence, before you place your hand over his face and leave it there until he begins to snore.

"I'm slowing down," You notice, "I need to take care of the others quick."

You aren't given much else of a choice as Kirishima barrels in your direction. "You still have some left in you?!" He shrieks, and attempts to swerve your form in search for the handcuffs.

Standing from the ground, you materialize your energy into the shape of a spear and use the sharp blade to slice through the net that captured you, releasing yourself from their trap. Kirishima, shocked at your ability to liberate yourself, instead lands a punch on your stomach, causing you to groan but not deter.

Grabbing the arm he used to hit you, you pull the same maneuver you used on Yaoyorozu only instead of knocking him unconscious using your quirk, you strike his carotid and he falls to the floor.

Uraraka approaches you next from the sky, reaching a hand towards you. Once she makes contact, you feel your body grow weightless and your feet lift from the floor.

"Jirou! The cuffs!" She yells to the purple haired girl.

"Not so fast, cheeks." You counter and grab her arm to pull her close. "Making me float won't grant you victory, I'm a very adaptable girl."

"I didn't count on that." She retorts, "Gunhead Martial Arts!" She yells as she uses your grip to her advantage.

Twisting your arm, she forces your back against her chest, attempting to join your wrists behind your back. Noticing her technique, you swing your legs up above your head and find yourself upside down above the girl. Rotating your hand in her grasp, you force yourself against her back and strike her neck.

"Gotcha," You boast, and as she loses grip on her consciousness, so does her quirk with it's affect on the gravity, causing you to begin to plummet.

Grabbing hold of her body, you break both of your falls by rolling back onto the ground. As soon as you stand to your full height, Jirou tries her hand at apprehending you but fails miserably as you simply swipe your leg and pull the earth from under her. The impact having been enough to render the girl harmless.

You stay still and allow yourself a moment to catch your breath, inspecting your surroundings as you do so.

"Is that all of them? I feel like I'm missing one-"

"For the titties!" Mineta yells as he hurls his purple balls at you.

He runs towards you and a few of his balls attach themselves onto the bottom of your legs. Leaping from the ground, eyes trained on your breasts as one of his weapons lays in his hands, you realize he intends to latch himself onto you.

Reaching your hand out, you halt his attempt mid-way as you grab hold of his face and absorb his energy. Though before he can fully fall under your spell, he makes his last move and places the ball in his hand onto your arm.

"What was the point of that?" You ask between heaves.

Looking around you, you confirm that he was truly the last of the students left.

"This was... harder than I thought it was going to be. Surprisingly." You utter to yourself as Mineta swings loosely from your arm.

The sound of the microphone crackling loudly throughout the field makes you wince.

"All twenty students are down and with four whole minutes to spare! Aeron wins this round! Great job!" A voice that you recognize as Principle Nezu's, announces.

Smiling wearily at the praise, your eyelids begin to droop. "Yay..." You whisper in an attempt to celebrate your victory, before falling to the ground and laying against the girl with pink cheeks.

You too join your new classmates in a much needed rest.

"She's joining our class?!" Class 1A exclaims in sync.

Aizawa had just broken the news to his students, all of which were now conscious.

You laid upon a bed in recovery girls room, amongst the many teens, snoozing your day away. The main side effect of your quirk was your constant need for naps, due to the relentless fluctuating trend of your body's energy. So it's no wonder why you're out cold after you single handedly defeated twenty heroes in training.

"Please, quiet down." He scolds the group, many of which were currently eating the calorie bar recovery girl had given them. "I know it's sudden, but that's just the way things are. Do your best to make her feel welcome. All of you."

"Well, it is pretty out of nowhere, but we can't deny that she rocked our shit."

"Language, Kaminari... but yes, yes she did." The teacher agrees. "You should all take this as even more motivation to pass your next exam that allows you to attend the summer training camp. Use this as an opportunity to better yourselves. Speaking of which, you have half an hour to prepare. I'll be in the teachers lounge if you need me." Aizawa informs them, before wearily dragging himself towards the door.

"Aww, she's adorable when she's sleeping! Way less scary." Uraraka squeals as she gazes at your drooling form.

"The sun imprinted on her forehead glows, like when she uses her quirk, while she sleeps." Midoriya points out.

"Does anyone have a sharpie?" Bakugo asks, glaring at your resting face in irritation.

Iida gasps before exclaiming, "Bakugo, you will do no such thing!" He then reaches into his pocket and hands the item he retrieved to the blond beside him. "Here, use a washable marker."

"I call dibs on going after him." Sero declares and causes everyone else to groan in despair, to which he simply sticks his tongue out in their direction. "Yeah, deal with it."

Tokoyami vehemently shakes his head in disagreement. "I will preform no traitorous act, I have too much respect for Aeron." He states.

"She probably wouldn't even be able to tell it was you, just blame it on Kaminari." Jiro offers, causing the blond in topic to whine coherently.

Tokoyami seems to mull the decision over in his head, debating if it was worth the risk, before finally deciding. "Fine, but only because she stepped on me earlier."

"The bitch broke my nose." Bakugo states angrily as he doodles devil horns onto your forehead. His nose had already been healed by recovery girl but that didn't mean he couldn't still be salty about your assault.

"I don't know, I'd say she fixed it." Todoroki mutters.

"Say that shit to my face Ice Spice!"

"Please use your inside voices class, we should let the girl have her rest." Yaoyorozu attempts to quell the rowdy group of students.

"She means you Bakugo, ribbit."

"Kacchan I thought you were making her evil, what is that- Kacchan, ew!"

"Bakugo please refrain from drawing anything inappropriate!" Iida reminds the boy as he chops the air, but to no avail.

Unbeknownst to his students, Aizawa stood just outside of the door observing the class's antics with a slight smile threatening to grace his lips.

From the moment Principal Nezu had informed him of the new student he would have to guide, he knew there was more to be known of the situation. He was wary and dubious, but as he gazes at your snoring figure being doodled on heavily by the teens surrounding you, he feels he has nothing to lose even more sleep about.

Perhaps it will take a while for you to find your place amongst the already large group of teens, but he doubts most of his students would ever mind aiding you in finding your place. And if you found that you didn't fit the moulding, he figured you could learn to make your own spot within. After all, there was no malicious intent being sensed by the man, or any need to watch his or his student's backs around you. In fact, the way the children seemed to be enamored and comfortable around you in such a short amount of time serves as further proof for his observations.

Though, he can't help but chuckle at the thought of the journey he is sure you have ahead of you. You clearly have a lot to learn.

"Never be the last one snoozing around teenagers, Aeron. You'll learn eventually." He mutters to himself.

Fun fact: these chapters a couple of years old. I’ve had them pre written but they underwent many stages of heavy editing. Though, I still get really insecure sometimes, but that comes with the territory of writing fanfiction!

[utilitycaster]

i feel like for the critical role trauma thing i HAVE to ask about caleb even if that’s a subject that’s been talked to death. i’m also super interested in your thoughts on Yasha in this conversation

The thing about Caleb is he is very visibly not okay from the get-go. He has a mechanical penalty to killing humanoids with fire which we see very early on. Then his backstory came out pretty much in full quite early as well. And before I continue, I want to stress: I really love Caleb as a character. I think his story is fantastic. He is hands down my favorite Liam character. He is complicated and difficult and sympathetic and heartbreaking.

He also garnered some of the most unbelievably toxic type 2 (ie, "um he is traumatized and can do no wrong?") fans I've seen in my LIFE, and many of them were also mixed with the "there's only room for one traumatized person in this d&d party and therefore whoever fits my idea of What Trauma Looks Like and/or whoever I personally project onto the most is the winner." I'm talking people actually getting on my posts and saying "why haven't the Nein stopped all the pesky adventuring and world-saving they're doing and taken him to Duasad Keef (an NPC only mentioned in the EGTW at the time, ie, post hiatus when the plot pretty quickly went to Eiselcross and stayed there, whose methods of therapy would actually probably be triggering for Caleb and who was probably well out of their paygrade and frankly unlikely of anyone else in the party to have heard of)." Those people have largely left because they hated that Caleb decided the best revenge was doing what he could to heal and living well and ensuring no one in the future would suffer as he had, rather than murdering the entire assembly and presumably dying in the process, but man, they left a mark.

There's definitely his detractors too, and I have no patience for the "ewwww sadboy attention hog" people, many of whom were either of the "I am feeling uncomfortable when we are not about Beau?" variety or that bizarre cohort of people who just fucking hate Liam for reasons I have never been able to fathom, but I'm not going to lie, as someone who likes Caleb a lot, the fandom response was rough because there was definitely a noticeable faction who really just did not accept the idea that basically everyone in the Nein had some degree of trauma. The High Richter Heist is a great example. Fjord holds Caleb at swordpoint for deviating from the plan. We later learn that while Caleb is acting from his trauma (trying to collect as many books as possible to achieve the purpose that is frankly his main reason for living at that time), Fjord is just as much acting from his (was very recently betrayed by Sabian deviating from the plan in an all hands on deck situation, stabbing him, and blowing up the ship leaving everyone, Fjord included, to drown). The infamous Bowlgate, not long after, is also a similar case of Beau and Caleb's respective traumas clashing. It's why Campaign 2 is so good, but man, it really is a litmus test if someone's like "actually Caleb is objectively 100% right in either of these situations;" you know you're dealing with either an idiot or someone who can't conceive of the possibility that trauma isn't a competition that Caleb has obviously won.

So, with that, Yasha: I think Yasha is tough for a few reasons. The first is that she wasn't around a lot early on, so while we learned the basics of her backstory in episode 46 we simply didn't see how she reacted in all situations. The second is that the fandom is specifically really fucking bonkers about people whose romantic partners die young; see again how people were like "see? Orym would be happier dead with Will!" like that isn't the kind of statement anyone with a brain would be MORTIFIED to say. So there was some of that with Yasha. I think the extent of what happened with Obann came up in a pretty dense arc and only got unpacked after the fact (and once Ashley was at the table regularly). And finally, Yasha got a lot of hate from shippers that was not strictly related to her trauma but did sometimes include it. So she's an interesting case of "trauma not so much ignored as frequently misconstrued or taken in bad faith to support interpretations barely related to Yasha herself, compounded by the fact that you had to read between the lines to understand her trauma in the first place."

[hell-raven]

absurdly long tangent/analysis

EDIT FROM THE FUTURE: this isn't to dissuade anyone from interpreting the canon as they want i just wanted to share my personal opinions based on the preexisting canon that may or may not be very passionate, please just have fun do whatever you want none of this is fact

i really hate how utsuho is flanderized to death and constantly boiled down to "the dumb bird girl" because if you actually sit down and Read her dialogue instead of relying on secondhand information you learn quite a few things about her (when i say this is absurdly long i mean it so keep reading at your own risk)

extrapolating from her own dialogue:

she actually wanted to blow everything up in th11 for real and it wasnt just a "hehe whoops" kind of thing. she was bestowed an extremely powerful ability and deliberately wanted to use it to cause destruction/take over gensokyo

she is extremely knowledgeable about her ability and job (anything related to nuclear power and regulating the flames of blazing hell, or just things about former hell itself)

she takes her job very seriously and supposedly does it very well

but there are a few things that get people: she has poor memory, other characters refer to her as "birdbrained" or "empty-headed, and there are a select few instances of dialogue from hisouten/gouyoku ibun that catch peoples attention. its one of those things where because other characters (and people) say shes stupid, it influences everyone else! in my opinion, i think her own actions straight from the source are much more indicative of who she is rather than the quick judgements of other characters.

=======================

the first major point before i get into the specific dialogue in the fighting games: "kanako needed an empty-headed hell raven, and utsuho fit the bill"

what exactly is meant by "empty-headed"? this is going to be more of an abstraction, so definitely take it with a grain of salt. we dont know much about utsuho before she gained her powers, just that she worked as a lowly hell raven that helped around the palace of the earth spirits/hell. to me, it sounds like an incredibly mind-numbing job that really doesnt require much thinking to begin with, so of course you wouldn't expect some kind of supergenius from it. im also going to go out on a limb and say that utsuho was a candidate for kanako's plan because she's also considered a pet. many unfortunately conclude that pets can't be intelligent, and even the title of "pet" carries the connotation of inferiority. even if she was truly empty-headed as previously suggested, this doesn't mean that she stayed as such with no change at all. when i first played th11, i would have never guessed that she would be "the stupid one".

small note: ZUN's comment on her theme ("even a fool that possesses great power can't cause too much harm")

the problem i have with this is that she really would have caused a lot of harm if the protagonists hadn't stopped her. you could say shes a fool for letting the power get to her head, but objectively i cant exactly point to anything in th11's dialogue/scenarios that suggests she's foolish unless you really want to count bad memory-retention as such. not gonna argue this too hard, but it seems like "fool" is a word thrown around very freely with little thought to how you can actually apply it to a situation.

=======================

IN HISOUTEN: sanae beats her up and afterwards says "youre trying to help me, actually" to which utsuho is like "Oh Ok". you could argue this is probably her dumbest moment, but would you really not follow or listen to the person who defeated you in battle? its not the most defensible point, but she didnt even seem completely oblivious either when she was asking sanae about the incident. my personal interpretation is that she has a bit of a short temper related to how important her job is. there are plenty of other 2hus who are generally sillier than this, it doesnt make much sense why utsuho is the only one who gets this treatment.

IN GOUYOKU IBUN: utsuho doesnt notice reimu before she starts blasting her to bits, which to be fair reimu wears all red in Hell (her fault honestly) + correct me if im wrong but is the power of nuclear fusion not extremely blinding? supporting this, in the events of GI its also implied that shes being overworked due to the oil incident, and we already established that she takes her job very seriously, so to me it makes sense that her first thought is to "remove the contaminant" and to use a lot of her energy in the process. a lot of people in general sometimes get wrapped up in their own work to the point of hyperfocusing, i say the bird can do it too

i also havent brought up the fact that we dont exactly know wtf eating a god does to your brain, whos to say it didnt fuck with you a little bit?

past all of this though i still think utsuho is funny as hell with her particularly bold and uncaring personality, its just that people seem to think that a couple of goofy moments make up her whole character and its just mildly annoying to me.. subterranean animism will probably be my favorite portrayal of utsuho because of how seriously they all treat her (mostly) but overall i wish more touhou fans would actually indulge in the source material and think a bit deeper about this neat little piece of fiction that i am WAY too passionate about (also its just way more fun to look at characters from a complex perspective)

[adrift-in-thyme]

@thepinklink Plink you lovely human I come bearing Legend whump for you <33

I'm so glad you met and I've absolutely loved chatting with you these last few days! I look forward to many more conversations <3

Now, this fic kinda got out of hand (*stares at word count* I...did not expect it to get that long I promise), so I'm gonna hide it beneath the cut. But first, warnings!

CW for poisoning, vomiting, blood and injury, harm to animals, and some trafficking vibes (it's not trafficking specifically and isn't related to such harm to humans. But still, be careful)

Oh yeah and you can also read this on ao3

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

Legend moves on feather-light feet. His cape swishes gently around him, its silken folds embracing his slight form. Not for the first time he thinks how lucky he is to have it. To possess the ability to become invisible is an invaluable skill. Especially, in situations like this one.

“Come on, rancher. I know you’re here.”

He steps around another row of empty crates, their metal bars dinged and scratched from previous occupants. He can feel their presence still lingering, calling out in panicked voices few humans can understand.

“Help us!” They cry and every word makes his ears prick up, listening even as he tries not to. “Set us free!”

Roughly, Legend swipes at his eyes. 

Find Twilight and get out of this cursed place — those are his only objectives. And the sooner he completes it, the better.

He tugs his cape closer about his throat and tightens his grip on his sword. Determinedly, he moves forward.

It seems like forever before the telltale sound of snuffling reaches his ears. Legend perks up, ears pricking at the noise. He can hardly pick out the rancher’s distinctive wolf scent through the stench of dozens of past captives. Still, this place has been empty up until now. Empty and horrid and dark.

So too have been the countless cages scattered about the wide space. But the one Legend can see now tucked awkwardly into a tight corner…that one is occupied.

A large, gray wolf is curled within it, ears drooping in defeat and blood on his paws. His breaths come fast, an edge of panic and pain hitching the end of every one.

Legend’s heart clenches despite himself. 

I’m coming, Twi. Just hold on.

Furtively, he glances around. No figures move in the shadows, no one steps into the dim light. But the goddesses only know how long he has before someone arrives. 

Legend takes a deep breath and rushes forward.

Twilight’s ears prick up at the sound of pattering feet. He raises his head, tired eyes searching for the disturbance. Fear quickly turns them razor-sharp. A growl rumbles in his throat, low and hoarse, but threatening all the same.

Quickly, Legend lowers his hood. He’s sure that a floating head isn’t the most reassuring thing in the world, but still, it’s better than nothing. And he is unwilling to remove his entire cape just yet. With luck, he can conceal Twilight beneath it as well. 

“Hey, hey quiet,” he hisses, holding up invisible hands. “You’re gonna alert the creeps.”

Twilight pauses in the act of rising to his feet, head cocked like one of the stable dogs in Wild’s Hyrule. Legend’s lips lift slightly. He reaches for the lock with one hand, retrieves a cluster of keys from his pouch with the other. 

He found them earlier, hanging on the wall from a hook. A paltry attempt at looking professional, in his opinion. Real villains conceal the keys in their cloaks or attach them to their souls with the darkest of magics, unreachable by any who lack the strength to defeat them.

He’s fortunate, though. Fortunate, that they weren’t smart enough to do either. 

“I’m gonna get you out of here,” he murmurs. 

Ring-adorned fingers slide over the collection of keys, magic rifling silently through them, searching for the one that fits the cage. It weaves with elegant grace between them, selects the right one, confidently raises it like a pointing finger. Legend grasps it and fits it into the lock.

The padlock plummets into his waiting palm.

“Alright, let’s get out of this place,” he breathes. And burn it down on the way out. “Can you walk?”

Twilight dips his head. Slowly, he limps out of the cage. A cold nose bumps against Legend’s cheek, leaving a smear of wetness there. The veteran swipes grumpily at it.

“Yeah, yeah you’re welcome. Now, let’s get out of here before somebody discovers us.”

Pulling his hood back over his head, he nudges the rancher into the safety of his cloak. Matted fur scrapes against his legs as they begin to walk. No doubt Twilight is leaving a trail of bloodied paw prints behind. But there’s nothing much Legend can do about that. Except, of course, pick up the pace.

At the rate they’re going, it’ll take them thirty minutes just to reach the double doors. By that time someone will have entered the room, noticed the marks, and begun a search. And though the cape is wonderful for concealing physical forms, it does little in the way of softening sounds.

Twilight stumbles, a low whine escaping before he can stop it. Something damp and clammy slides down Legend’s legs. The veteran reaches down and sets a hand on the rancher’s head.

“Hang on,” he whispers, and the wolf nudges him again in response.

Legend inhales deeply and blows it out. His eyes flit back and forth, searching for hidden adversaries. Every limping, laborious step brings them closer to their escape. Yet, it seems so far…

If he could lift the wolf, that would be helpful. One kick of his pegasus boots and they’d speed right on out of here. But Twilight isn’t light and Legend is already expending quite a lot of magic to keep them both hidden. 

Slow and steady is their only choice, then, he thinks, with a huffed sigh. Because it can just never be easy. 

If he’s lucky, though, it will be enough. 

But he is hardly the luckiest guy on earth. 

They have made little in the way of progress when a door slides open behind them. It glides softly on its hinges, showcasing a rather large grouping of shadows. They stretch along the floor in front of the two heroes. 

Legend stares down at them, heart in his throat. He dares not turn around to see who they belong to. Instead, he eases down into the shelter of a small enclosure of crates. 

Twilight lowers himself with a haggard sigh. But that terror still remains poignant in the piercing blues of his irises. And when he turns to peek at the doorway, his breathing speeds up.

What were those sadists planning to do to him? Legend wonders, fingers coming to rest in thick fur. He hopes it’s a reassuring gesture. What have they already done? 

“You said you had another test subject for me.” It’s a woman’s voice, sharp and calloused, like a hand that has held a weapon too many times. “Where is it?” 

“Right this way ma’am.” 

Large figures fumble to allow her a way forward. Legend tenses as the shadows grow darker, shorter. His fingers tighten, drawing a small comfort from the feel of his sword hilt in their grasp. 

The group approaches, passes by without even turning in his direction. He doesn’t allow himself a sigh of relief. They still haven’t reached the cage.

When they do, he knows it.

“He’s right — wait a minute! Where’d he go?”

Panic pitches gravelly voices higher.

“He was right here! I swear!”

“What you swore,” the woman hisses, “was that there would be a wolf waiting for me. A wolf with the power to turn into a man. 

“You swore to me that your price would be worth paying. Evidently, I trusted the wrong people.”

The room suddenly tenses, air thickening and growing sharp. Like a dagger readying to be thrown. 

Legend’s breath catches in his throat. Dark magic. He’s suffocating on it.

Somewhere, something makes a sickening squelch. A scream sends the pressure spiraling.

“No, n-no need for further violence! I can fix this, I swear!” 

The shadows darken once more. A man backs towards their spot, hands raised. 

“He’s here,” she says with icy decisiveness. “I can feel him.” 

The air goes taut again. She is closer than ever now, eagle’s eyes scanning for her prey. Twilight is rigid. Legend’s fingernails dig into his palm. 

“Them. I can feel them. There’s two of them now. Find them both, or suffer the same fate as your companion.”

Burly men the size of his uncle trip over themselves, sputtering promises and reassurances. They fan out, weapons in their hands. 

But the woman only grows closer. Legend can smell her now — rotting flesh and chu jelly and bokoblin innards, all attempting to hide beneath a layer of costly perfumes.

Legend presses a hand to his nose, fighting not to retch. Beside him, Twilight shudders.

“You’re near,” she purrs. Hands marred by too many magical experiments reach out, taloned nails beckoning. “I can smell your fear. Come out and I won’t hurt you.” 

Nearby, a stack of cages topple with a deafening crash. Legend flinches despite himself. Loud noises have always affected him strongly. Every one feels like an assault to his ears. But in this moment, with the tension and the terror, with a hundred different plans whirring in his mind, it feels like an explosion in his skull.

“Yes. I feel your despair as well.” 

She is even nearer now. Legend can see her hideous form, monstrous and gnarled and emanating dark power. Like a witch from the illustrated story books Uncle read him as a boy.

“Come out, little heroes. Come out.”

Legend inhales a shallow breath. He’s going to have to, at some point. She isn’t going to let up — that much is certain. 

But that doesn’t mean he can’t still try to evade her.

Closing his eyes, he sections off some of his magic. There is a separate path from the main one, one more violent, more…explosive. A simple nudge and eagerly, his magic streaks down it.

Legend nudges Twilight in the side. 

Get ready.

One second passes, then two more. Off to their left, crates and cages and men go flying in an eruption of crackling detonations. 

Legend works quickly, pouring more magic in, causing more explosions. They heat the air, send objects and people hurtling. Screams of pain and shouts of fear ring out.

The woman whirls for just a moment. And that’s enough. It has to be.

The veteran leaps to his feet. They can’t run — what Twilight achieves is more of a hobbling jog than anything else — but maybe, just maybe if they keep up this panicked pace they’ll have a chance…

Something streaks through the air, sharp and vicious, searching. It’s pure magic at first, a dark power he tries to evade, to shield them against. But his efforts only draw it to him further. It speeds up, ravenous and eager, zipping towards him. And the next thing he knows, a dagger is embedded in his bicep. 

Legend chokes on a sudden mouthful of blood. He tries to remain quiet, he tries. But the cry breaks free anyway, agonized and cut off, screamed through gritted teeth. 

Wrong, his body and mind screech as something horrible and icy slides off of the blade and into his veins. Wrong, dangerous, getitoutgetitoutgetitout

Trembling fingers reach for the hilt. But before he can drag it out another wave of magic hits. He screams, grip on his own spell loosening. He clambers to grasp it again, slips, falls. The cloak retreats into his pouch.

“There you are,” the woman hisses.

The ground bucks beneath his feet.

The desperate spark of hope that had blossomed in Legend’s chest shatters completely. And he falls along with it, colliding with the ground with skull-shattering force. 

Stars explode in his vision, bursting in eruptions of blinding, electric lights. Somewhere, past the roar filling his ears and head, past the thundering pound of his heart, Legend hears Twilight’s growl.

Nails clatter over the ground. Seconds later, a heavy object slams into the floor beside him, whimpers, and goes terribly limp.

Panic splits through the agony and confusion. Legend curls his hands into fists, blinking furiously in an attempt to see straight again.

Come on. Get up. Fight before they kill you both.

He grasps the dagger, yanks it out. His limbs scream as they move. Blood splatters onto the floor, creating large puddles of greenish-maroon. He tastes the tang of iron, the bite of bile, and…something else. It seems to emanate from him, a strange, vile thing. Tasteless, yet disgusting; icy, yet flaming hot. 

Legend shudders, suddenly nauseated. But he hefts his sword more firmly in his grip and turns to face the woman. 

“You are a strong one, boy,” she says, face splitting in a leering grin. “That dosage should have killed someone your size, instantly. Yet, here you are.” 

“What can I say?” The words are slurred. Legend stumbles as he steps forward, struggling to see past the blur the room is quickly becoming. “I’m full of surprises.”

He thinks the woman’s grin grows larger. But maybe that is only one of the illusions his eyes are forcing upon him. Either way, he hears her words quite clearly.

“I’m certain of it. Not to worry, though. You’ll be dead soon enough.” She nods to the men that have gathered around her. “Go. Get what is rightfully mine.”

They start forward. Legend grits his teeth and steps back toward where Twilight lies, still twitching from the effects of the spell that had hit him. 

“Just try and touch him,” Legend growls. “Know that spell that blew your friends sky high? There’s more where that came from.”

For a split second, there is the slightest glimmer of fear in their eyes. But then the ground dives down, down, down beneath his feet. Pain streaks through his head, as though someone has driven a stake through his skull.

Legend pitches forward and vomits.

Laughter assaults his ears as he fights to compose himself. Darkness tinges the edges of his vision. Oblivion beckons him. 

Let go, it whispers. It doesn’t hurt here. 

He bats it away, steels himself, straightens. Blood and bile dribble down his chin, and he doesn’t bother to wipe them away.

“Give up,” one man orders between barking chuckles. “You’re already dead.”

Legend lists to the side and grins, all sharp, blood-tinged teeth. 

“Not yet, I’m n-not.”

Magic streaks through constricted veins, scraping as it goes. With an agonized scream, he sends it forward. The room lights up with streaks of greenish light. 

He crumples in the wake of it, choking on a mouthful of blood, dragging thin gasps of air through failing lungs. His stomach heaves again, desperate to rid itself of the poison his heart pumps through him. But there is nothing for it to expel. 

Agony holds him in an iron-fisted grip, turning his limbs stiff and immovable, making his head spin and pound. The darkness claims more of his sight. Still, he battles it. 

He has to stay awake — for Twilight’s sake, for his own. He’s made it this far. He’ll be damned if he gives up now.

Cackles reach his ears. Slowly, he lifts his head.

The fallen bodies of his enemies lie strewn about, still smoldering. The sight brings bile back into his throat. He hates killing, no matter what the deceased people might have done. And yet, there had been no other choice. 

The woman, however, seems to have come out relatively unscathed. 

Shielding spell, Legend’s mind so helpfully supplies. A harsh curse bubbles out from between bloodied lips. 

“You truly are full of surprises, aren’t you?”

A bolt of electric power collides with his chest. Legend goes flying, hits a stack of crates, and collapses. His breath is merely a wheeze now, though he can’t tell if that’s from the poison or the broken bone currently skewering his lung. 

Both, probably. 

The woman advances. Legend tries to sit up and fails. His entire body is on fire now. Shudders wrack him. Everything smells of blood and vomit and poison. The room spins like a leever; his surroundings blur like smudged charcoal.

He coughs and more greenish-red hits the floor.

“I would keep you, you know. To examine and experiment on. But it seems the poison has already done irreversible damage.” 

A flick of a finger and Legend is propelled upwards. Seconds later, he hits the floor again with an earth-shattering crack. 

The pain of broken bones joins all else. He thinks he screams. He can’t be certain. 

He knows that he can’t breathe anymore. All his lungs are capable of are paltry, wheezing attempts. He’s suffocating, drowning in blood and poison. He’s back on the sea, battling against waves taller than Hyrule Castle, fear growing stronger with each one that floods the deck of his little boat.

“I see no reason to spend precious power on saving your life. Perhaps, you can save yourself. I doubt it though. After the spells you cast, you likely don’t have enough magic left within you to heal a nicked finger.”

She is right upon him now, presence smothering. Legend blinks, slowly. Everything feels very, very far away. If he releases his grip now, will he plummet? Or will everything simply fade away, leaving him to float on waves of grayish nothingness? Empty. Alone. 

Maybe it will feel better then, being unattached, emotionless. Maybe…maybe it won’t hurt so very much…

Fire screams in his veins, burning muscle and flesh and bone, devouring his insides. Blood fills his throat. His breath rattles in his veins. A tear slides down Legend’s cheek. Its icy touch is almost soothing. 

His grip on something resembling consciousness slips. He tries to inhale again. His lungs do not expand to fill his foggy request. 

The last thing he sees before his eyes flutter closed is a wolf leaping forward and closing its jaw around the woman’s neck.

She shrieks, blood spurts, and it all goes dark.

….

“...end! Legend!”

Protesting eyes flutter open, beckoned by a voice he knows. Sharp, gray-blue eyes gaze down at him from a pale face streaked with crimson. 

“Ra-ranch–”

Legend drags in a wheezing breath and chokes on the word. Twilight holds him closer, nudging his sweat-soaked bangs aside.

“Yeah, it’s me. I’m here.”

A calloused hand encases his frigid one. Legend tries to squeeze it. But his muscles won’t cooperate. Everything still burns. He yearns for the darkness to cover him again. He yearns to not feel.

Are you okay? Is what he means to say.

“Hurts,” is all that comes out.

Twilight’s expression shatters. There are tear streaks on his cheeks, the veteran realizes, dimly. They shouldn’t be there.

“I know, buddy.” The world shifts and Legend squeezes his eyes shut against it. Something cold and smooth presses to his lips. “Drink this. It’s all I’ve got but it’s enough to keep you alive.”

Bittersweet silk slides down his throat. Obediently, Legend swallows it. It soothes all the way down, knitting bones and flesh back together, nudging the wrongness out of his veins. 

Not completely. Not even close. But it’s something, and Legend is grateful for it.

“Okay?” Twilight asks, and the veteran offers a jerky nod. “Alright, then I’m gonna get you out of here.”

Again, his surroundings tip. Legend swallows against the urge to vomit.

“No,” he croaks in a barely audible whisper, “…I-I was ‘posed to get y-you outta here.”

The world begins to move like the endlessly churning walkways he had endured in the dungeons of Koholint. His head bumps against something wonderfully soft, and he leans into it. A heartbeat drums softly in his ears.

“‘M sorry.” 

It is merely a sigh. Twilight hears it anyway.

“It’s okay, vet,” he assures him, as thick darkness envelopes him again. “You did great. You saved me.

“Now, let me save you.”

Somewhere in the fuzz of oncoming unconsciousness and potion and pain, Legend has the urge to laugh.

Save him? He’s the veteran of hero business. He shouldn’t need saving.

But the heart keeps beating like a distant drum; and the softness drags him into it, tickling his nostrils and caressing his face; and the arms that hold him remain steady even as the world churns like waves on the sea. And before long Legend is gone, adrift once more in an abyss of blessed oblivion.

[bell-system]

Its been said before (and probably more eloquently) but I do think any discussion about how self-dx is "problematic" is meaningless until the systems under which diagnosis exists stop being ableist, racist, fatphobic, etc-- I would much rather, for example, that a person identify with the plural community and then later decide that they're a singlet, than have more parts of the plural community face trauma, oppression, prejudice, humiliation, etc from doctors just to 'prove' they're 'really plural'.

Setting that to the side-- I'll get back to it later-- the current process of medical diagnosis itself often includes people who are ostracized from parts of the plural community online.

The main schism between people who are anti self-dx and those who are not (at least as far as plurality goes...) is that those who are against self-dx have a misguided belief that there is a criterion for diagnosis that a patient must have early childhood trauma-- a criterion not present in the DSM in the first place. Though the 'early childhood trauma' theory of dissociation is the most supported and most likely theory for disordered, diagnosable plurality, that doesn't mean that that theory will in all cases be correct, in the same way that a similar chain of events could happen to two people and leave one traumatized for life and the other fine after a few months.

Its true that in many cases, disordered plurality has potential correlation with traceable traumas from early childhood, but that doesn't mean that all cases of even disordered plurality specifically come from trauma (and, of course, since disordered plurality comes often with memory problems, even if there IS a trauma it is likely the memory of it is obscured or inaccessible, and the people who are now experiencing plurality-related distress may not believe that trauma exists), and this is something reflected in the fact that the DSM only looks for current symptoms and experiences, and does not question the traumatic history of a patient whatsoever in screening for dissociative disorders.

Its provable that non-disordered forms of plurality exist (integration - both into a single being, and the more modern definition of the memory gaps and conflicts that cause distress being reduced), whether those forms come after a period of disordered plurality, or if, in some cases, a collective never experiences a clinically significant amount of distress, its scientifically and anecdotally recognized that these forms of being exist.

It is also true that many forms of plurality (even forms that do cause significant distress) are difficult or impossible to discover or diagnose. In many cases, the dissociation experienced by nature is intended to hide/conceal itself as a form of protection, which categorically makes it significantly more of an ordeal to discover-- and even more of an ordeal to have clinically recognized to the degree of an official diagnosis.

Going back to my original point about the system of diagnosis, its also objectively true that massive parts of medical institutions (psychologists and psychiatrists, doctors and other health practitioners, and insurance companies) have implicit and explicit bias against so-called "rare" or "severe" disorders, behaviors, and experiences. Even if there were a hypothetical person who fit EVERY criterion for DID in the DSM, and experienced a provable trauma at an early stage of development that could be connected directly to their experience of dissociation, and was conscious of their dissociation, there's still many cases where they would be completely reasonable to not pursue a diagnosis-- because of prejudice in the medical system, fear of reduced chances of employment, societal ostracisation, a lack of safety in their situation of living, the desire to not be institutionalized-- I could go on.

The truth is; we don't know enough to say for certain the cause of plurality in every or even any case, and it seems much more valuable at least to me to create a community built on a basis of curiosity about different modes of existence than it is to create one functioning on a system of suspicion and gatekeeping.

[staywhelmed8801]

Mc carries around a tiny backpack, one of them cute kids ones or a small pretty leather one

It has been charmed to fit anything like hermione grangers bag or mary poppins' bag

Its feather light

They take it everywhere, school, dinner dates, EVERYWHERE

It is filled with specific things for each brother in case of emergancies while they are out: extra cash, chargers, snacks, water, bandaids, anything.

It is either:

1. Charmed so mc will just reach in there for something (lets say nail glue or a bag of chips) and the object will automatically go to their hand

2. It has 14 library bags in it (yk those draw string book bags) that either vary in clour or have a little image of a demon/angel/solomon(face it hes not human) on it

The second option has specific stuff in each of them in cases of emergancies

Like in satans bag theres a whole ass book collection for when out, a few snacks, a dry brush(his tail gets rlly dirty ok?), and pens, water, first aid(specific first aid for each demon or angel), chargers and headphones

or maybe in lukes bag theres extra sugar( luke crashes and almost passes put when he doesnt get enough and thats why he makes so many desserts(i make the rules)) this sugar can also be for when hes baking and doesnt have enough or for his tea ( he likes it really sweet

i just had a thought and wnated to write it

Tl;dr mc carries a small charmed backpack with everything in it for emergancies/everyday situations

BONUS:

Belphie either sleeps in it while they are out and just gets carried around in it(mammons idea but he likes it bc its like sleeping in a void )

The brothers have each climbed into it to hide from lucifer( lucifer refuses to get in it)

Sometimes noone can find belphie or levi or mammon and they give up only for them to emerge out of the bag a few days later/at dinner. (Mc never knows when one of them has snuck into the bag)

[yotsubaclover]

explaining my blorbo associations pt2: jules who i do not draw often im so sorry u look like that babygirl

song: i actually... have never made a jules playlist LMAO my jules brainrot is so academic i could spit theories for him but not songs. so i had to dive into my spotify likes and find something. goldilocks spot is actually from a very old jolyne playlist i made but i think it also fits jules. to me it's a song about being painfully aware of how... average? not-outstanding? just there? you are and the angst that comes with it, the bitterness towards other people (in jules' case, for not seeing him as who he knows himself to be—a noble). but there's also a stubborness and pride that keeps you from fully confronting those feelings/that dilemma and finding peace within it, which is fitting for the persistent turbulence within jules... a lot of this is my (quite liberal?) interpretation tho so yeah

color & object: purple is the color of royalty and lavender is pretty and calming and healing. quite the nice set of descriptions for someone like jules :)

animal: i dont kin assign animals often so this was hard. but i chose raven as a parallel to doves... because jules' dove of happiness was/is rosemarine, and because jules is almost like rose's shadow in many ways... also ravens are kinda bad omens i feel like for all the gentleness jules shows he is also obviously capable and willing to do terrible things, he's selfish and prideful and even a little greedy... and lol i think the negativity also fits some of his self-image

drink: tea! of course! what else would i put

aesthetic: i think classic dark academia with all its elite-ness and occult-ness and general fucked up-ness would be a very average jules genre. smack him in a dark academia plot a la secret history and he's right at home lol. even his fallen noble status makes for an interesting pov in a dark academia story. the genre's potential for class analysis and commentary too is jules de ferrier

other: i think it was a fic which was about jules and perfume which made me think about this association... lavender was the scent too so that is another explanation to the above lol. as for the shadows again it's cos of his duo thing with rosemarine but also everything he does is kind of... in the shadows... he has engaged in shady shit (gang moment???) and is often lurking/observing situations (as the right hand man yk) and also just him looking out for the people he cares about even if in incredibly convoluted ways (see: rosemarine and jules' deal with the thugs who wanted to beat him up when they first arrived at lacombrade). he does the dirty work in the dark or smth like that. tbh there are a lot of oppositions with rosejules, the light/shadow thing is pretty on the nose i think but my favorite is probably the feminine/masculine. (disclaimer thisis an idea spitball Only so pls do not sue me for incorrect use of terminology; im sorry feminist theory i promise ill read more of you BUT a lot of the ideas kind of branch out of 2nd wave ideas/concepts i believe)

because publicly rose seems to take the patriarchal role as the superintendent (ie. being the disciplinarian, having power, being the symbol of the institution) while jules assumes a more matriarchal role as advisor, someone more approachable and "kinder" than the patriarch... then it all gets skewed because of auguste's presence, so they actually switch with rose being "feminized" and jules being "masculinized" but anyway LOL i have many thoughts on this specific kind of. feminist/queer inspired reading of rosejules

i hate his ass so much cos it's so fucking hard to break his character down in a comprehensible way. the thesis topic thing is only partly a joke. i genuinely think with the depths i am going to look at this i can find something in him or maybe im just delusional lmao i probably am

[pebiejeebies]

Where I got info ^^^^^^

Four exhibits very surreal mannerisms, one of them is the screech to stun them.

I screech earbleedingly aswell, screaming and screeching is my middle name lmfao

Although Four seems to be calm most of the time, they do get angry in many episodes, but he does have good manners every now and then, plus they have a mysterious, sadistic and narcicist personality where they use their powers to harm the contestants just for their own fun.

I have that issue aswell, I’m very sadistic and narcissistic when it comes to my ocs.. sadly I enjoy tormenting them (mentally is my favorite way <33) and in the past when I was younger, I used to abuse my sisters for my own pleasure, since I thought I was the best out of all of them..

Four was shown to want a sense of dominance in the show

Me to my sisters.. the feeling of being under someone is so unbearable, I have to deal with that is school everyday, so being dominant towards my sisters is bound to happen..

When provoked, Four would show no mercy and would even do things such as dissemble close friends out of anger, even lacking remorse in the process. In "Four Goes Too Far", Four mistook Nickel's response to calling David and Roboty "the only two non-objects on the team" criticism (which they could not tolerate very well). Four threatens to zap Nickel, with A Better Name Than That's plan being the only thing stopping the attack.

Sooo if disassemble was like unfriend/block, and the criticism being taken personally is very relatable, in fact, when my sister ever tells me any constructive criticism I always see it as an insult to my hard work, which sucks.. And for the “disassembling” part, I can be very close to a friend but if they piss me off/trigger me just once in a bad way, it would definitely make me ignore/block them, plus if disassemble counted as hitting, In the past I used to really abuse my sisters which I guess fits

In "Enter the Exit", Four seems to be a lot calmer, friendlier, and humbler, most likely because the contestants recovered them. They were noticeably less violent than before. After their return, they didn't screech anyone until "Return of the Rocket Ship", adding onto how friendly they became, but still will not hesitate to zap those who bother them.

The change in hostile behavior is something that I really went through, and the fact that four still hurts when someone irritates them is something I still do (as I’m typing this I literally hit my sister because she said my XO board was drawn wrong lmfao,,)

Then this shows Four's personality in more depth as well as their possible motivations: they seem to be childish. They act like a control freak because they want everyone to stay with him forever, explaining their narcissism and cruelty when hosting the show. Four throws tantrums when things don't go their way and strongly dislikes being abandoned (possibly due to them losing their playthings) to the point where they cry and refuse to let X console them since they think that X will abandon them too. After the split, Four seems to be nicer to the contestants and shows more personality. Toward the end of the episode, after the split took place and Two took nearly all of the contestants, Taco tells Four that they lost over half of the contestants. Instead of being angry or sad, Four makes light of the situation by saying BFB has "advanced" to its final 14 contestants.

This whole thing is just me, specifically when something huge bad happens like the split, I end up just trying to see the good side of everything, specifically the fact that I’m a bit obsessed with the fact of being some sort of host for something 

In "Uprooting Everything", when it comes to Purple Face asking if he could be a co-host, Four immediately declines, stating they have a better co-host. Four was down about the last four contestants complimenting X's position and saying they were a "good host" than not recuperating the same to Four.

If purple face was my younger sister and my middle sister was the better co-host,, this would definitely fit, then the growing jealousy from the better co-host because of how much they’re liked irl is way too fucking relatable

In "Chapter Complete", it is shown that they have an insecure side. They become upset that the contestants do not want him as their host, and instead chooses to leave them forever. 

This ^^^^

However, Gelatin told him that they indeed like him, but it was just that they did not like being hurt and tortured for his own benefit. Hearing this, he has a change of heart. He starts apologizing to everyone and becomes nicer to them.

After I started to change this is what I did, I specifically apologized to my sisters, since they were the ones I hurt the most

In "The Great Goikian Bake-Off", Four reverts back to his pre split personality and acts chaotically again. This is most likely because he is still mad at the old contestants, or he is just doing his job to protect the hotel's food.

Mad at old friends or protecting my room, iPad or literally anything that’s mine

Wow I guess that just makes me the silly billy—

UURGEHJRUEJEHHRGEGHEJURUEGHRURUEHEURUUURHEHHRHHR YAYYAYYYY

NOT ME BIEING HAPPY THAT SOMEONE CARES???!!?

@scrollinonhere

YYEGAGHEHYAYYEYEYYAYYEYHEHEYYYEEE!!

[doctor-badadvice]

You know, I often make fun of Bishop, as one does. I call him a man of strong fashion opinions, a nerd and a wretched little gremlin. It’s all part of the process and it’s necessary when you end up liking an idiot of his caliber.

I’ve talked about his personality before. Yes, it’s very black and white (and red) under many aspects. I made a whole post about how that affects his outfits throughout the show.

Though when it comes to relationships, it isn't all so straightforward. Bishop has obviously invested all his charisma points in intimidation. This definitely helps him work as a villain, but his short temper and ingrained need to feel in control of the situation often get in the way of his objective.

Having to deal with people isn’t easy for him. Almost impossible, even. He can spit some raw lines but it also took some real effort to stop himself from strangling the president, which may not be the best course of action, you know?

The only situations in which we see him succeed to some extent are whatever concerns his organization since there is standardization. Times change and so do people. Keeping up with new costumes over the decades is time consuming but military practices? Those rarely change.

Bishop is obviously a good leader. His men execute his orders without questioning and with the highest professionalism, despite the occasional threat of being subjected to unspeakable experiments in case of failure. He also historically enjoyed the respect of at least one president, where again he just has to act like a good agent to get what he wants. Yes, the fake invasion counts in this regard since it proved to the president just what a good investment EPF was.

He even keeps Baxter in line for the most part since they have a very clear deal they both surprisingly stick to (though Baxter has a major hand in this since he knows what’s the amount of snark he can afford on the workplace).

Anything else is a disaster. Romance would be a tragedy from the very first moment. Friendship? We know how that went. Becoming a good person?

Yes, about that.

Bishop’s presidential outfit is extremely accurate. He’s not the man he once was. He has changed his methods and he sees aliens as people he can negotiate with and manipulate when fit. His work has fundamentally changed, as in he at least tries to create something which not only Earth will benefit from.

But he also has a whole room dedicated to spying on everyone through satellites and he personally leads the rescue mission at the Moonbase. The agent never really left, he just comes out whenever Earth is directly threatened.

Do I think that Bishop is still evil in FF then? Not quite.

Having done my fair share of writing for this nerd, I'd say it's somewhere in the middle. Specifically it's a mix of an opportunistic person seeing the chance for a different approach and most importantly, accepting that's actually possible, and a character who was born in part as a critique to real life events that were happening at the time of the show.

At the time of FF, the bigger picture kind of guy has started down a path of good but he still only relatively cares about other people. The public is obviously up there on the list since he has a public image to curate now. Aliens are more or less people. Turtles and random rich teenagers can pick fights with evil (very stupid) shapeshifting aliens if they can make themselves useful. Baxter deserves a second chance despite the little dissection prank he tried to pull.

Still, I can't say it's all Bishop's fault because when you think about it, his two most formative life experiences were both very traumatic events. The alien abducting him right after he got wounded on the battlefield set him off on a path of paranoia and blind revenge. The lab experiment that almost killed both him and Baxter and a symbolic act of kindness diverted him on a more open-minded path, even if the paranoia is still very much there.

Add that Bishop spent like 65% of his life under the military and it's no wonder even when he's genuinely making an effort, he still comes off as manipulative.

Head of State specifically deserves a whole analysis of its own that I might just do at some point because it's a fun episode. But in brief, I think Bishop, in his heavily skewed perception, genuinely considers Baxter as an old friend. He feels remorse for leaving him to die and he actually wants to make up for it.

But again, agent and president are still the same person, even if they may be one clone away from each other. Bishop both resents Baxter for chasing him and the dissection thing (you bet that brought a lot of trauma back. I wouldn't be surprised if people were left wondering what could have possibly prompted the president to take a short period of rest for the first time since ever), and cherishes that the scientist is still alive.

He's just not the best at showing it. But what can you do. Even the most peaceful person will be a bit messed up after living for so long. Bishop has been through really traumatic stuff and definitely wasn't encouraged to be anything but an efficient sadistic bastard for a good while. Even when relearning how to behave around people, he couldn't exactly explain what he has been through so at best, Bishop had to sit on his own and design new procedures like “smile, bring a gift, write a nice speech about friendship and respect”, or “introduce a problem and make it so the one in front of you will suggest the solution you want while thinking they came up with it to ensure they will care”. Or even, “traumatized people need reassurance and physical comfort. I guess I'll have to pet the talking brain and offer him a job”.

If anything, 2105 might be a bit too early. Bishop is still consolidating the PGA, there's no way to get him to work on himself some more.

Perhaps, in a better timeline, FF would have received a second season with a real seasonal arc all about redemption. There's a certain other set of clones who could have benefited from it as well.

[secretlywritingstories]

I am not a gift person. Not a gift giver and not a gift receiver. It feels like there are so many rituals involved in it and most of all it just stresses me out and makes me feel like I'm constantly one step away from tripping up.

Like, I can see how the concept is lovely in an objective sort of way. You appreciate the people in your life and you want to get them something nice that'll make them happy or make their days easier or anything of that sort. It's a noble thing! I can see that.

But the fact that gifts in a lot of instances is "required" makes me tense. Birthday parties, Christmas, anniversaries, weddings, accomplishment celebrations, house warmings. So many things! I don't like shopping, not even for myself, and now you want me to find something for you?

I want to give people things that they like or need but I am also stumped at every turn when it's usually gift-giving coming up on some sort of deadline. Oh, I have to figure out something before this date or it'll be too late and I'm a bad friend/guest/family member/etc. I don't want to be! Just please don't make me buy gifts.

The only times where I'm not stressed out is if people have a very specific wish list and I can grab an item off the list. I'd happily do that. Tell me exactly what you want and where to get it and I'll do it. Or if I am aware of some niche interest or preference that makes it easy to come up with a thing that fits with that.

And I have bought spontaneous gifts now and again when the opportunity has presented itself. When I was in a bookshop and saw a cool bookmark, I just bought it for my mum. When I was buying a cute bracelet online and I saw a friend's fave animals on another design, I bought it for a friend. But those instances are rare and far between.

It's not even that great for me to receive gifts because I worry about having a poor reaction if I don't like something (or having to pretend). And the fact that it reminds me that this is a reciprocal relationship and next time it'll be my turn. And I still smile and say thank you, and I have gotten some absolutely lovely things through the years that I do treasure, but it still wears at me.

Generally, I'd much rather spend time together and just chill. (When I was younger, I was very appreciative of my family getting me things that I couldn't legitimately afford, but I'm an adult with adult money now and I know that's a privilege in itself). Go to dinner, see a movie, go for a walk, just exist with each other.

And I wish I could do the same, but no, there are expectations and I will continue trying to stumble my way through, stressing over which gifts to get (in particular for the ones that have nothing specific they wish for but the situation still requires a gift), except when in rare instances inspiration and opportunity strikes.

Maybe I'm alone in feeling like this. I promise I do love the people in my life, gift giving just isn't my love language, I suppose.